Guys I've had so many chapters of this story finished and ready to upload for years and just left them there. Please hate me. Also, I've revamped and changed the previous chapters so go check it out! You probably should anyway since it's been almost two years.

I'm so sorry.

Hope you enjoy the chapter and please don't forget to review!

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Chapter 7: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Kairi was pacing around inside of Merlin's house with Sora and Roxas watching her and Namine asleep on the only bed in the room.

"This looks familiar." Roxas joked, but made sure to whisper so Kairi wouldn't hear him. Sora only chuckled.

Kairi stopped pacing to sit next to her sister, "I did this to her. Last time it was that stupid man but this time it was my fault! I didn't know what I was even doing. I just kept trying to focus and eventually I felt some sort of magic building up inside of me! I never would have done it if I knew it was so dangerous! How is she hurt and none of us are?" Kairi looked helplessly at Namine.

Namine's entire torso and forehead was bandaged and there was a medium sized bandaged on her left cheek. Kairi shivered at the memory of how many cuts were on Namine's body. There were so many deep gashes, Kairi knew they would never heal. "All of these scars will remain on her body and it'll be all my fault." Kairi whispered, tears brimming her eyes, "She'll never forgive me."

Sora couldn't stand to see a lady cry so he went to Kairi and embraced her. "I may not know Namine like you do but from what I've seen, she's a tough girl. I doubt scars are going to make her hate you. A true warrior wears her scars with pride." Kairi looked up at him, wondering if there was truth to his words. She looked at Namine and then back to Sora. Sora gave her a toothy grin, "Besides, scars heal."

Roxas stood up, "I doubt she'll be any less hot with a few scars." Both Kairi and Sora looked at him with raised eyebrows. Roxas blushed, realizing what exactly he said, "Uh, I mean, well- ah I didn't mean that. I mean I did but-"

Sora shook his head, "You're an idiot." Roxas nodded his head and quickly sat back down. Sora turned back to Kairi who was looking at his chest with a slight blush. Wondering why she was so flustered, he looked between them and suddenly realized how close they were to each other. At the same time, they quickly let go of each other and took a few steps back. "I'm sorry!" They both said at once, trying to hide their embarrassment.

"Idiots." Roxas muttered.

At the same time, Merlin had walked in. The moment was forgotten and the air around them was full of tension.

"Is my sister going to be okay?" Kairi asked after a long silence. Merlin had come back with a tray full of tea and began serving it to them.

"She will be. I did what I could however it still wasn't enough. The rest of the healing will have to be done by herself. A lot of rest and no fighting for a while and she will recover within a month or two."

Roxas' eyes widened, "A month? We can't stay here that long!" Kairi glared at him for being so loud. Namine stirred slightly.

"Don't give me that look Kairi. You need those feather things and Sora and I can't stay in a world for too long." Sora glared at his brother for being so selfish, "You don't give me that look either! You know it too. Our wish was to escape and we can't do that if we're sitting on our asses." Kairi marched over to Roxas and raised her fist to punch him, "How dare you be so selfish? Why do you only care about running away?"

"To save my brother." Kairi just stared at him, her fist frozen in mid air. "Just like you would do anything to save your sister, I would do anything to save Sora. We can't fight the man we're running from, so that's why we're here. We're trying to escape. I get that you want to save Namine and if you need to wait a month or two, that's on you. But Sora and I can't wait that long. We can't risk him finding us."

"You don't have to worry about staying here for that long." Kairi and Roxas turned to see Sora supporting a now awake Namine, "We aren't going to stay here for a month or two. I don't sense any more of my feathers here, so there's no point in staying." Namine turned to Merlin, "I thank you for healing me and for letting us stay in your home."

Kairi was shaking her head, "You need to rest Namine!" Namine glared at Kairi, her eyes full of ice. It made Kairi shrink back a little. Namine always had such a powerful aura around her, it sometimes intimidated Kairi. "I need my feathers. The more I get, the more powerful I become." Kairi opened her mouth to retaliate but Merlin stepped in, "This is true." Everyone turned to him, "The more feathers she gets, the more powerful her magic gets. Healing herself with her own magic would fix her up faster than resting would." Namine nodded, "Exactly. So, we're leaving now. Right now."

Kairi sighed, her shoulders drooping in defeat. Once Namine made a decision, there was no changing her mind. Kairi collapsed on the bed. All the day's events finally caught up to her and she could barely keep her eyes open.

Namine rushed to her sister but Merlin stopped her, "She's tired. She exerted a lot of energy today and needs to recover her strength." Merlin looked around and saw Sora and Roxas sprawled out on the floor, fast asleep. "Maybe it would be best to leave in the morning?"

Namine nodded. She had been sleeping this entire time so it didn't occur to her that the others must've been exhausted. She felt so selfish, being asleep for so long and missing the entire reason they were all travelling together. Namine knew nothing about Sora and Roxas except for their names. How did Kairi meet them? Why was Kairi even here, doing all of this?

Namine looked at Merlin, her eyes full of question. Merlin chuckled, already knowing what she wanted to know and proceeded to tell her everything. He told her how their journey started, what they were searching for, what Namine had almost done to her home, and what he had told Kairi when they had first landed in this world.

"How do you know all of this?" Namine questioned.

"I'm a powerful wizard." Merlin laughed, finding himself funny while Namine just stared in confusion, "Tifa, the woman who granted their wish and gave them the ability to travel, is a dear friend of mine. She informed me of your coming, which was another reason I was looking for the feathers when you all had arrived. I wanted to be able to give them to you myself so there would be no trouble."

Namine nodded, wishing she had been awake at the time. She wanted to know who this Tifa woman was and how she could grant wishes. "I have one more question for you. Why did Kairi's magic injure me the way it did? I could have easily died had Kairi been more experienced."

Merlin nodded, "You are correct. Had Kairi knew how to correctly use her magic, you would have been obliterated just like that Heartless was. You see, Kairi is the Princess of Heart. The Princess of Heart has the purest heart in the world. There is not an ounce of darkness within her. Because her heart is so pure and full of light, she is the most powerful against beings made up of pure darkness. That is why the Heartless died so easily, and why you had almost died."

"But why did it affect me?"

"Because you are the Cursed One. While Kairi is made up of pure light, you are made up of pure darkness. You are the darkness that she lacks and she is the light that you do not have. There must always be a balance in the world. That is why her magic affected you the way it did. You are only darkness, you are meant to bring ruin to the world. Her pure magic could be the death of you."

"Does she not know?"

Merlin shrugged his shoulders, "I do not know. I am unsure if she knows but refuses to admit it or if she truly is clueless."

Namine walked to the door of the house, wanting to be outside and by herself. "So pretty much, I'm the darkness and she's the light. Her magic can kill me so I'm going to take a wild guess and say my magic can kill her too." Merlin said nothing. Namine knew his silence was the answer to her question.

Namine squeezed her eyes shut as she closed the door to Merlin's house and allowed the gentle breeze of the wind to dance around her. She didn't realize her magic had such destructive power. She didn't realize her purpose in this world was to destroy it.

"Hey." Namine turned to see Roxas standing there.

Namine briefly glanced at him before returning her gaze back to the night sky, "Where you awake that whole time?"

"I don't know what happened in your hometown, but it was serious enough to the point where you were going to die. I don't know about all this heart and destruction crap, but I do know that Kairi would do anything to save you because you are her sister. Are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same?"
"I might end up destroying the world at the end of this journey. If I had to choose between my life or the world, I would pick the world."

"But if you had to pick between Kairi or the world, which would you choose?"

Namine remained silent, taking his words into consideration. What would she have done if it was Kairi or the world? She knew that she would do anything to save her sister.

"Saving Kairi wouldn't lead to the end of the world."

Roxas sighed, "You're right. But what's done is done, and you can't dwell on the past. What you can do is get your powers under control so maybe you can stop yourself when the time comes. Kairi paid the price for you to be alive right now, don't make her regret it."

Namine's perked up at hearing this, "What price?"

Roxas face palmed at his stupidity. WHY would he tell her that? Why couldn't he ever just keep his stupid mouth shut. "Um, the price I paid? My Oathkeeper and Oblivion, my prized weapons. I miss them so much."

"That sucks, but I was talking about Kai-"

"Sora? He also had to give up his weapon. His was the Ultima Weapon."

"Roxas, I'm talking about Kairi." Roxas looked at her while trying to come up with an excuse. Realizing he had nothing, his shoulder sagged in defeat and he let out a sad sigh. "I can't tell you."

Namine just glared daggers at him, making Roxas shrink back a little, "Woah, I'm suddenly so sleepy! Good night Namine!" Roxas rushed back inside of the house before Namine could say anything else. Namine sighed, deciding to let it go for now. She would ask Kairi herself when she got the chance.

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The next morning, everyone was all packed and ready to go. Merlin had given the group some food for their journey. Kairi was trying to explain the concept of the gummi ship to Namine and Sora and Roxas were trying to eat as much food as they could before they left.

Merlin waved at them as a huge shadow flew past them, which they all assumed to be the gummi ship, "I have a feeling I will be seeing you again soon!" Namine briefly remembered Squall and Rinoa, remembering how they told her they would meet again. Kairi beamed at Merlin, "Thank you so much for your help! I know we will meet again!" Sora and Roxas had just smiled and waved at Merlin. When the gummi ship was directly above them, a beam shot at the group, trapping them within it. Within a second, the beam had vanished, and them along with it;

Merlin looked up at the sky, feeling their magic fade from the Hallow Bastion. "The hardships they face, the choices they make, it will all lead them into that very moment. The fate of the worlds rests in those children's hands."

...

Namine was the first to wake up, and the first thing she noticed was that her surroundings looked very large. She wondered what kind of world they were in.

The wind picked up and her hair had gotten all around her face. She tried to slightly move her head in hopes that her hair would follow as well. However, it seemed that today her hair decided to be stubborn and not listen. Namine rolled her eyes and lifted her paw to move it instead.

Wait.

"PAW!?"

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I really want to finish this one (I think I'm almost done) since it's been here for so long. I hope you guys stick with me.