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It’s always about her.
A small self-reminder you tell yourself constantly.
You didn’t even realize when you started to feel something for the spiky-haired brunette. It may have been early on; from when he saved you from a horde of heartless back in your home world, or even when you decided to tag along on his journey in search of strength to fight for the light. It may have happened just recently; when the two of you were dancing happily together with Rapunzel and Eugene, or when you even caught yourself staring at his awe-stricken face as he watched the lanterns fill up the night sky.
Regardless, you have feelings for him.
But...It’s always about her.
You, Riku, Mickey and Sora are standing just below the cliff where Master Xehanort stood. You watch as his eyes gleamed, a twelfth key appearing before him, joining the other eleven in their circular motion around the old man. The four of you were pushed to your limits; heavily breathing, barely able to keep your guards up.
“Twelve keys we have now,” Xehanort proclaims, the keyblades circling him at a quicker pace. “Leaving just one more!”
The Master summons his keyblade and raises it to the sky. Your eyes follow as a dark orb forms at its tip, shooting a ray of darkness into the clouds above. You fixate your gaze higher as the clouds part, revealing a small but warm light underneath. It seems so long since you’ve seen light in this cold, unforgiving wasteland.
You soon snap out of it as Master Xehanort speaks, the grip on your keyblade tightening.
“Now, Sora,” he begins, raising his head up to the light above. “Darkness and light’s final clash.”
Your ever moving eyes land onto Sora. Even with his back towards you, there’s an aura of anger surrounding him. You didn’t need to see his face to know that he’s tired–not only physically, but emotionally. You knew he was tired of everything Xehanort and the darkness had put him through. He simply wants things to be over.
You hear the brunette gasp.
Your attention turns back to Master Xehanort, and you release a small gasp as well. Kairi’s unconscious body is floating beside him.
“Kairi!,” Sora exclaims, as the redhead moves in front of the old man. Sora leaps, making his way up the cliff where the two were.
You gasp again as Xehanort draws his weapon back.
“Kairi!” You cry, raising your keyblade and pointing it at the helpless girl. Immediately a small ball of light emerges from your weapon, making a beeline towards her. The ball expands, encasing her in an orb with hexagons around its circumference.
You’ve casted a barrier spell.
Time then seemed to slowed down.
Your eyes are glued to Master Xehanort’s movements; his arm swings forward to slash at Kairi’s back, which would have just hit the barrier instead. Your ears await for the faint click as your proof, but it never comes. A single second has never felt this long in your life. You hold your breath, and blink just once.
Immediately, your eyes widened as you suddenly realize three things:
One, Master Xehanort has disappeared.
Two, a wisp of cold wind tickled your back, sending chills down your spine.
Three, instead of the click you hoped to hear, you hear a faint chuckle behind you.
In this split second you tried to turn around, but you were just too late.
You feel a numbness surge through your chest as Xehanort’s blade stabs right through you. You arch your back slightly, the shock causing this reflex. Your once tightened grip loosens from your keyblade, causing it to fall to the ground with a clang. Your lungs burn as you take in a deep breath, Xehanort unsheathing his keyblade from inside you before disappearing once again.
Your vision clouds and your ears ring. You can barely hear Riku and Mickey call your name as you fall to the ground face first. You feel the ground tremble slightly as the two run towards you, kneeling on either side. The silver-haired man picks you up gently and turns you around, your breathing shallow. The burning heat you once felt throughout your body is now ice cold, but the numbness stays and continues to grow.
You can see Riku right in your line of vision, yet his voice calling your name over again sounded so distant; it’s almost as if you were drowning. You glance over to your left and can see the King as well with a pained expression on his face as his lips move, but his cries too sound so far away.
You soon strain your eyes to look at Sora, who manages to grab Kairi’s body before leaping back to the ground where you were. Amidst your clouding vision, you watch as the nimble brunette lands on his feet just a few meters behind Riku, kneeling as he laid the redhead gently onto the ground.
You couldn’t help but wish in your head that Sora turn around to look at you, as you take your final breaths. You wished, that just this one time, these final moments, it could be about you; you could finally tell him everything you felt, and maybe– just maybe – he would return the same feeling.
But deep within your heart you knew that it was never meant to be.
Your eyelids begin to feel heavy as you watch Sora gently shake Kairi’s shoulder. You can barely hear it, but he calls Kairi's name instead of yours. You could not even see his face, as his back was turned towards you. The aura of anger has now faded, but in its place an aura of sadness and concern for the Princess of Heart. From your fading peripheral vision you can barely make it out, but your body let out a faint glow as it felt a little lighter.
You close your eyes, a small tear running down your right cheek as you exhale for a final time.
It was always about her.