- Chapter 11 -

The End?

A few months later...

Sora once again found himself standing in the training yard alongside Hikari. After a bit, two girls entered.

One of them was tall with black hair in a ponytail and green eyes, wearing tasteful green lipstick and eyeshadow. She wore a green bandana around her head, a midriff-baring long-sleeved green top with purple lines extending down her arms from her shoulders, matching green pants with similar purple lines extending down her outer legs to her calves, and green gloves with purple fingers and green. Strapped to her back was a metal pole.

The other girl had long, wavy brown hair and hazel eyes. She had a white bandana tied around her forehead and wore a pink uniform with dark blue trim and belt, along with gold-and-white armor on her chest, with an ōdachi (1) sheathed at her hip.

"Sora, these are more of my friends." Hikari explained. "Jade and Hana. Papa asked them to test you today. Put everything you've learned to practice."

"Alright." Sora nodded. "Nice to meet you".

"Nice to meet you too." Hana said, bowing.

Jade gave a two-finger salute. "Hey."

"So... training." Sora said with a questioning look.

"Basically, you spar with us." Jade replied. "Two-on-one. That's about it."

"Sounds good." Sora agreed. "Let's go."

Hana drew her sword, while Jade drew the pole on her back, pressing a button on the side and extending it. Jade charged in first, twirling her staff and swinging at Sora. He ducked and jumped over the various swings, before catching a kick from Jade and throwing her into the air.

The staff-wielder recovered in mid-air, rapidly spinning her staff with such speed that she managed to hover before dropping down and landing a kick to Sora's face. Sora fell back, but recovered quickly, just in time to duck a slash from Hana. She swung again, but Sora brought up his Keyblade to block before forcing her back, throwing his blade at her with Strike Raid, knocking her back.

Jade tried her luck again, twirling her staff before her with blinding speed and creating a whirlwind that blasted Sora back (1). He landed heavily, before vaulting to his feet. The two crowded around him, before Sora decided to go for broke.

Focusing all the magic power he could muster, Sora unleashed the Ars Arcanum technique, surrounding himself in a golden aura and slashing at the two with a flurry of powerful blows, laying them out flat. The two panted, before pulling themselves up.

"Good job." Hana congratulated.

"Thanks." Sora told her. "You two aren't half bad either."

"Not bad." said Jade. "I'd say our work here is done."

She and Hana bowed to Sora, before walking off hand-in-hand. Sora blinked at the sight, before turning to Hikari.

"Are they..." he began.

"Yep." Hikari confirmed. "You... don't have any issues with that, do you?"

"No, of course not! I was just asking." Sora assured. "Levi and Marion Kumo didn't raise a bigot."

-X-

With that done, they went to talk to Hiro, informing him of Sora's latest success.

"Well done, Sora." Hiro told him.

"Thanks." Sora said with a smile. "So... what's next?"

"We can train more if you want." Hiro replied. "But to be honest, there's not really anything left I can teach you."

Sora nodded silently at that.

"Well, mind if I just hang out for a while?" he requested.

"Of course not." Hiro answered. "Do as you like."

Later, Sora was once again visiting Oukoku's crypt.

"I wonder what you two would do if faced with Xehanort." he told the coffins with a sigh. "I just... I'm trying my best here, but... I just want to go home."

After a minute, he managed a smile. "But... Xehanort started this war, and I'm gonna finish it. Live up to the legacy you two left behind. I'll make you proud."

He sat there in silence for a while, eventually falling asleep. As he slept, two silhouettes slowly shimmered into existence, revealing to be the spirits of Oukoku and Kokoro Gatsu themselves.

"He really is just like you at that age, honey." Kokoro mused with a smile.

"Yeah..." Oukoku agreed. "He'll do amazing things."

Kokoro walked toward Sora, placing a hand on his cheek.

"I know you can't really hear me, Sora... but you've already made us proud." she assured him

"You'll finish what we began so long ago." Oukoku declared. "And I have something that'll come in handy. A little magic of my own."

He walks over, touching two fingers to Sora's forehead.

"My Ethereal magic." he said as his fingers flashed with light. "Helped me through the trickiest of situations back in the day. I don't have much use for it nowadays. Use it well."

They smiled, their arms around one another, and disappeared just as Hikari opened the crypt door.

"Sora?" she asked. "Hey! Wake up!"

Sora stirred before blearily opening his eyes.

"Aw Mom, I'm too tired to go to school!" he whined before getting his bearings. "Oh... hi."

Hikari giggled. "C'mon. Wanna spar?"

Sora yawned, stretching his arms. "Sure, why not?"

He got up and followed her out, taking a moment to pause and look back into the crypt one last time.

"Someday, I'll come back." he said quietly before departing, closing the door behind them.

With that done, Sora followed Hikari to a clearing in the forst, the two facing one another.

"You ready?" Hikari asked.

Sora nodded. "Your move."

They drew their weapons, facing off, before charging at one another.

Author's Note:

(1): A type of traditionally made Japanese sword used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The Chinese equivalent and 'cousin' for this type of sword in terms of weight and length is the miao dao, and the Western battlefield equivalent (though less similar) is the longsword or claymore.

And with that, that marks the end of Chronicles of Wutai. Decided to take a cue from Rocky III and have it end with a sparring match, leaving it ambiguous who wins. Sora and Hikari's first scene in Darkest Storm takes place right after the match.

Jade and Hana are from my story Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows. And to clarify, yes, they're a gay couple. I'm keeping it subtle, but Disney has used gay characters in the past. LeFou is confirmed as gay in the live-action Beauty and the Beast, for example.

I apologize for the lackluster fight scene above; writer's block kicked my ass, and I've never been that good at writing them anyway. But hey, it goes to show how far Sora's come either way.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Jade- Trina Nishimura (Lan Fan from Fullmetal Alchemist, Akeno from My Bride is a Mermaid, Mikasa Ackerman from Attack on Titan)

* Hana- Eden Riegel (Bianca Montgomery from All My Children, Hauyn from World of Final Fantasy, Hitomi from Dead or Alive)

* Oukoku- Jason Liebrecht (Tapion from Dragon Ball Z, Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicle and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Yato from Noragami)

* Kokoro- Kristi Kang (Levy McGarden from Fairy Tail, Cathy Lockhart from Freezing, Irina Shido from High School DxD)

Thanks for sticking with me throughout this little side-story. Please R&R.