Edited September 15th, 2012

Life after Death

"Who are you… again? Its weird. I feel like I'm forgetting something really important."

"You'll be… better off now… Roxas"

"Am I… the one who did this to you?"

"No… it was my choice… to go away now. Better that, than to do nothing… and let Xemnas have his way. I belong with Sora. And now, I am going back… to be with him. Roxas… I need you… to do me a favor. All those hearts that I've captured… Kingdom Hearts… Set them free."

"Kingdom Hearts… Free them?"

"Its too late… for me to undo my mistakes. But you can't let Xemnas… have Kingdom Hearts. You can't. Good-bye, Roxas. See you again. I'm glad… I got to meet you. Oh… and of course, Axel, too. You're both my best friends. Never forget. That's the truth."

"No! Xion… Who else will I have ice cream with?"

The worst part about being in Sora's heart is that now I can feel.

All those memories of the Organization, my best friends...Roxas and Axel, now I can actually feel what I never truly could before I faded inside Roxas' arms and into Sora's heart. They sear on inside of my mind. Projecting little flashes of images. Forcing me to recall them. Think about them. What could I have done differently? Did I even make any type of difference?

And the memory that comes up the most? That one. The one when I see Roxas for the very last time.

And here come the tears. Those liquid reminders of how I, a "nothing", now have emotions. They run down the corner of my eye and, eventually, make it to my mouth.

"Salty."

It reminds me of the sea-salt ice cream we used to eat together in Twilight Town. Just the three of us. Happy.

"The saltiness of these tears won't ever be the same as those times, though."

The thing about sea-salt ice cream is that when you first take a bite, the salt is so over-whelming. Then, the sweetness rushes in. It enters your mouth with its your mouth with small wisps of deliciousness. You forget about how terrible the salt was. That mix of emotion, that bitter-sweet feeling you get - just being able to experience that within one bite is what made that cream so unique.

But these tears… they don't have anything to rush in and save you from the salt. Those unexpected sensations don't come to relieve you from the pungent taste. The salt...just remains.

So crying doesn't make me feel any better, but it's the only thing I can do to make the pain go away. Having emotions is going to take time getting used to.

After being absorbed into Sora's heart, I was taken to this place. It's a vast universe filled with circular stained-glass platforms with paintings of different people on it. It's being held up upon an unknown structure that disappears from sight inside a bottomless abyss of darkness. In fact, everything is dark in here. The only light source is the mysterious gleam coming from the platforms.

The first platform that I end up being on is my own. I can see myself, eyes closed, looking as if...maybe I'm sleeping. I stay here or a while. Contemplating on whether or not I should go to any other platform. This one is nice enough. But...maybe I should keep moving. I don't know what's lurking in this... this Heart.

The next one I'm on is of Kairi.

I know that it's Kairi because of the memories of her that flood into my mind. Random memories. Memories of times when Kairi and Sora were with each other. Memories of happy times. Memories of sad times. All of them that involve her pound into my head. Sometimes, I can't tell when I'm seeing a different one. They almost merge together. The final memory I see is when Sora and Kairi were at Kingdom Hearts and Destiny Islands was being out back together. They say their final "goodbyes". The sudden shock of memories stop and I go to the next platform.

I keep wondering among these fairly large circular things. Rapidly learning more and m,ore about Sora as I delve deeper into his heart. But, I know that the deeper I get into his heart, the harder it will be to get out… and to see Roxas again.

How long have I been wondering? Hours? Days? I wonder who this is…

I come up to a painting of a girl with platinum blonde hair. Her eyes were a hypnotizing blue color. They were...moving? Her head stayed in place but her pupils were swinging along the whites of her eyes almost as she's looking at an object moving back and forth. I walk down further to the base of the platform where I can see that she is holding a sketch pad. She's holding a pencil and her hand was moving across the page. But the rest of her body remained as still as a board like a picture should be. Only that pencil, her hand, and those blue eyes were moving! Something's...different about this girl. She...

Namine.

Her name suddenly came to me. And at that very second when it did, her eyes stopped moving. Her whole body is now like a mannequin. As if mimicking her, my body stood perfectly still with fear. Her eyes were looking straight at me.

Something about this "Namine" makes me feel so uneasy. Her whole platform was different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but she felt empty and alone… just like me. Her looks...sort of remind me of Kairi. My body still isn't moving. It's like I'm in a comatose state. I close my eyes to see if any memories would come to me from her

Nothing.

"What is going on? Why can't I move?" Then, almost like her platform can read my mind, I hear a voice.

"You can move any time you would like."

Wait, it wasn't just one voice. It is like a whole crowd of voices. I can recognize Sora, Kairi, Riku, and even Roxas' voice.

Then my body suddenly collapses and I am able to move again.

"See? I told you that you could move. Why didn't you believe me? No one ever believes me. Maybe that's why I'm always alone…"

I stood up and tried to summon my Keyblade but it doesn't come. Oh yeah… I forgot. The Platform begins to rumble and disappear from beneath me. It dissolves into...birds? I fall into the darkness only to I softly land onto another platform. This platform had… Riku painted on.

This is Riku's platform? But… I already saw his platform. Riku is painted differently, though. He has a Keyblade in his hand and he wore some kind of blue and red suit. I need to get out of her. I need to go…to go back to my platform. But it's not like there's an exit door. If I try to just run off the platform some kind of barrier keeps me from leaving. The only thing I can do is climb the stained glass stairs and hope to find a way out.

Deeper and deeper I go into his heart. Everyone of his emotions I can feel. His triumphs and his downfalls. Eventually, I'm able to see enough memories to piece his whole journey together, all the way up until he says goodbye to Kairi again. I feel so glad that I was a piece of his heart… Sora was such a beam of light in the dark-filled world that I once was a part of.

A smile spread across my face when I go up the stairs that lead to the next platform. Even though I don't know what darkness can lie this deep inside his heart, I know that there will always be a small spark to catch me if I fall again.

I step onto the platform. I cover my mouth and my eyes open wide because of the sight I see:

Sora.

But… no, it's not Sora… is it? His eyes are a glowing yellow color and his hair is ebony black like mine. I don't know why, but I feel nothing but pure darkness. This platform even has a smell. It smells like rotting death. The smell is overpowering. I feel faint. My body goes limp and I feel to the floor. Darkness clouding my vision.

The last spark of light is just about to fade away when I see a hand reaching out towards me. I don't hesitate to grab it. The hand pulls me out of the darkness. Then all I see is light. It's a blinding light. But I don't mind it though. I just let my body bathe in the light. It's so comforting. Then, I start to see blurry images of things. First I saw a hand waving in my face. Then I saw…

Rox...as?

It can't be! If Roxas is here then that meant… Did he decide to be absorbed by Sora too?

"Hey! Can you hear me, miss? Wake up! Please! Helloooo!"

I fully open my eyes to see Roxas. His voice is music to my ears. "Roxas…?" I try to say his name out loud but my mouth won't open.

"Hey! You're awake. Are you okay, miss?"

Miss…? Why isn't he calling me by my name? Who is this person? Am I dreaming?I start to feel scared. One of my worst fears is things I don't know of.

"Can you hear me? Oh no! Are you deaf? Please don't be deaf..."

I sit up from my position and I see that I am lying on sand. A light breeze whips on my face. When I look around, I see an ocean. I am sitting right at its shore. I also see palm trees and a dock. Am I at Destiny Islands…? Roxas notices my confusion.

"...You are in the heart of someone named Sora. You see, a long time ago I came to his heart. This place is his home and this is his strongest memory. And because of that, I guess this is wear the people who live inside his heart reside. But...so far, it's only been me living here. And then, you washed up on the shore and… here we are."

I only nod my head not knowing what else to do. I guess...this must be the deepest part of Sora's heart. His core.I stand up and wipe the sand off my cloak. When I look back up at Roxas, his hand is stretched out towards mine.

"My name is Ventus. But call me Ven."

His name is, Ven…tus…? Why does he look so much like Roxas? I start to feel those dumb tears well up in my eyes and fall down to my knees. I'm starting to hate emotions. "Roxas! I...I miss you so much!" I say.

I cover my face with my hands and begin to sob. Ven...tus kneels down next to me and tries to comfort me. He rubs my back. These actions only made me cry harder.

"Shh. It'll be okay."

I look up at him. He looksjust like Roxas! Why? Why does he have to look so much like him? I look back down and keep crying. We stay like this for an hour. My eyes are puffy, I have a major headache, and I feel drowsy. Roxa- erm I mean, Ventus rows me to the main island. It is empty like the other island. No other souls in sight. We step off the boat and walk to a house. He shows me a room for me to sleep in. I begin to see a memory of Sora. A new one this time. His mom was calling him for dinner, but then he sees a storm that would ruin the raft that he, Kairi, and Riku made. He immediately goes to save it. This must be his room. I lie in the bed thinking about Roxas and Axel and the Organization. I would have cried again, but my eyes couldn't produce any more tears. So I just lay there. Before I know it, it it's dark outside. I started to fall asleep into a deep sleep…

Epilogue:

Ever since Ven took me out of the darkness of Sora's heart, I have never felt better. We walk and talk about little things. I never told him about Roxas or Axel or the Organization. I didn't feel that it was necessary. He told me about a man named Xehanort and his friends Terra and Aqua. I told him about my time in Sora's heart and everything about Sora's journey. I enjoy my time with Ven. He is just such a nice and caring person. I still think about Roxas, though. I don't cry anymore but I still feel sad. But then, Ven makes me feel happy again. I do hope to see Axel, Roxas, and Riku again. And maybe I will even get a chance to meet Sora… But, until then, I am glad to have Ven by my side.

Thank you for reading! :D

xxxHikari-Kuraixxx (xxxLight-Darkxxx)