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It was hard to be in Radiant Garden and not hear the rumours. In the marketplace, or the streets, people huddled in groups and whispered about one of the latest arrivals to their ever-growing world.
Kairi recalled what Aqua told her. Though it was tempted she should try not to get caught up in idle gossip and stay focused on the task at hand, as they weaved in-between the crowds of people.
It was heart-warming, thought Kairi, to see people gathering without fear of the Heartless, or the Nobodies, or any other evil that might try to ruin their peace.
And despite her mentor’s advice, Kairi couldn’t help but feel drawn into the whisperings that floated in the air.
Some said this stranger was a witch, some said she was a Sorceress. The image of Maleficent floated into Kairi’s mind, quickly, and she had to shake the thought away. Stay on the task at hand, Kairi remembered.
Others insisted they saw this woman appear with Leon, and that’d he been acting strangely ever since. They said he started going by the name of ‘Squall’, and he’d been happier than they’d seen since their world returned.
Maybe it was naïve, but Kairi couldn’t seem to find anything suspicious about Leon – or Squall, or whatever he called himself now – being happy. From what she could remember, he was a stoic man, and quite gruff.
Happiness was rare, Kairi thought sadly.
“We’re here,” Aqua said, to get her attention, and Kairi was glad for the interruption. She tried not to think too much, these days, not when there was so much that was still unknown.
Still-
Sora…
“Aqua! Kairi! What a marvellous surprise!”
“Merlin, it’s good to see you again,” Aqua said, shaking hands and smiling at the wizened mage who had trained Kairi for a good part of the last year.
Kairi nodded her head towards him and smiled; though she couldn’t deny how forced it felt.
“Master Merlin, you’re looking well.”
Merlin eyed her knowingly. Of course, he knew there was something wrong because everyone did. Everyone knew that Sora had disappeared after using the Power of Waking to find her again. Everyone knew, as well, that she’d been doing everything she could to find him again.
And everyone knew, and none more so than herself, that Riku was out there now, trying to find him in a completely new world.
It had been weeks already, and Kairi struggled to find a light at the end of this long and excruciating journey. A journey that had started, and hadn’t stopped, since that fateful night on the Destiny Islands.
“So, you’re the famous Master Aqua, huh?”
“In the flesh,” Aqua replied, to the new voice, who’d turned from behind the computer he was hunched in front of. “And you must be Cid Highwind, right? The gummi ship engineer?”
Kairi found her smile not so forced, as Cid stood up in greeting, puffing his chest out proudly, and flicked the side of his nose.
“The very one,” he said. “Good to see ya again, Kairi. Any news on-“
But Kairi shook her head, and Cid quickly took this as a cue to say nothing more on the subject. Besides, they were here for a different reason anyway.
Aqua cleared her throat, at the tension in the air, and turned to Merlin.
“Merlin, you’ve been training Kairi, is that correct?”
Merlin nodded.
“Yes, she and Lea have been my pupils,” he replied, with a twinkle in his eye. “Though I have a feeling that her training has progressed even past my own expertise.”
“It’s not that-“
Merlin held a hand up.
“Don’t humour an old man, Master Aqua,” Merlin insisted, but not in a rude way. “I knew this day would come,” he admitted. “As one of the Guardians of Light, Kairi needs more support than I can give her. I know you will guide her well.”
Aqua looked humbled at that. Kairi smiled.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Master Merlin,” Kairi said, and this time her smile was completely genuine. She would miss the company of the elder man; his stories were fascinating, and his talent with magic was unparalleled.
But her path was different now. And with Sora still to find, Kairi was determined she had to learn all she could as quickly as possible. Maybe if she did that, then she’d be able to follow Riku to wherever he’d gone, to wherever Sora now was.
Merlin smiled at her, and then sighed.
“Besides, given recent circumstances,” Merlin began, “I may have been unable to take your training any further, myself.”
“Recent circumstances?” Aqua asked. “What are you talking about?”
Cid cleared his throat, shaking his head pointedly at Merlin, at this question.
“Nothing you need to know about,” he replied, sharply.
“Does it have to do with the rumours?” Kairi asked, quietly, and somewhat bravely, especially at the look in Cid’s eyes. “About the witch who arrived here a few weeks ago?”
Cid tensed at the word ‘witch’. Merlin watched him sternly; a look between the pair that Kairi had seen as funny many times before, when they were having an argument over whether magic or technology would be able to solve whatever problem they were trying to fix.
It wasn’t all that funny, now.
“If there’s a threat to this world-“
“She’s not a threat.”
Without anyone hearing, the door must’ve opened and closed behind them, because a new voice joined the conversation, interrupting an irate-looking Aqua mid-sentence.
“Aerith,” Merlin said, with a smile. “How good to see you, my dear. How are things?”
“Fine,” Aerith replied, and she swallowed carefully, looking first at Aqua and then smiling when her eyes landed on Kairi.
“Kairi,” she said. “You’re looking well. Is there news on Sora?”
Kairi shook her head.
“No,” Aqua answered for her, sadly. “I’m Master Aqua, a Keyblade Master, and I’m going to be taking over Kairi’s training. We only came to inform Merlin.”
Aerith strained a smile to Aqua. Kairi didn’t think she had ever seen the kind young woman look like that before.
“A pleasure to meet you, Master Aqua.”
Aqua sighed and looked around the room.
“I think I’ve said something wrong,” she admitted. “Can we start again, please?”
Rinoa, her name was Rinoa.
The Sorceress – and Aerith stressed that term, though even she admitted there wasn’t much of a difference between Sorceress and Witch – who had arrived in Radiant Garden was an old friend of the Restoration Committee from their time spent in Traverse Town. She had been believed dead following a Heartless attack when she’d saved Leon’s life.
He’d recently returned from a journey to find her.
They all cared deeply for Rinoa, Aerith had said, but Leon – well, she was someone very special to him indeed.
Only Aerith didn’t really have to say that. It was clear from reading between the lines and what she didn’t say, what she meant. Kairi guessed that even Aqua could tell that much too.
“I’m sorry,” Aqua said, once Aerith had explained. “I didn’t realise.“
Aerith smiled, and this time it was full of warmth, just as Kairi would expect from her.
“You didn’t know,” Aerith replied, as she held a hand up to stop her apology. “The rumours have gotten quite out of hand. Still, Maleficent took our home from us; I can’t blame people for being wary about a Sorceress in town.”
“Maybe if Rinoa went into town, talked to people, they wouldn’t see things that way.“
“Eventually,” Aerith agreed to Kairi’s suggestion. “She spent a long time without her memories, without anyone, in the darkness. With her powers, and the things that the people of Traverse Town thought in the past, she doesn’t want to go to crowded places right now.”
“I don’t blame her,” Aqua said, in solemn agreement. Kairi could tell she was thinking about the time she had spent alone in the Realm of Darkness, as well.
“I hope she finds peace soon,” Aqua added, with a nod, before turning her attentions back to Merlin. “I wanted to discuss some parts of Kairi’s training before we go, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course, of course,” a sombre-looking Merlin said, with a nervous smile. “We can discuss it in my study.”
“Should I come?”
Aqua shook her head at Kairi’s question.
“Go have a look around town, and try to relax,” she said, with a reassuring hand on Kairi’s shoulder. “I’ll come find you soon.”
Looking up at the imposing castle in the distance, Kairi felt a strange pang in her heart, most likely inspired by the memories she’d recently recovered. At least, she thought, her long sleep had given her more clues about Sora’s whereabouts.
Kairi thought about her grandmother too, a memory locked so deep inside, she still had trouble recalling it with complete clarity. Her grandmother told her all about the different worlds. Though she couldn’t remember much of her childhood here, Kairi thought her younger self would be shocked by how many worlds she’d visited since then.
How her grandmother’s stories were not just that – stories – and were actually completely true.
Behind her, Kairi heard footsteps, and she turned to see a dark-haired woman standing in the field. The woman’s back was to her. Kairi wasn’t surprised to see someone else out here – she knew the flowers were the pride of the Garden.
On the other hand, the woman looked shocked to see someone else when she finally turned around.
Kairi suddenly felt bad for staring.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just thinking and got distracted…”
She trailed off, unsure what to say next.
The other woman shrugged her shoulders and smiled. The smile was enough to put Kairi at ease. She knew, call it intuition or her powers as a Princess of Heart, that this woman wasn’t a threat.
“I understand,” the other woman said. “I was just doing the same thing. Thinking about everything I’ve lost, and what I still have to gain.”
Kairi found the words cryptic, but strangely, she understood.
She too had lost her fair share in this world, but she’d gained wonderful things too.
“The flowers are wonderful, aren’t they?” Kairi said. “I used to live there, you know,” she nodded to the castle, “years ago. I only have a vague memory of the woman who looked after these flowers, but I remember she would always bring extra to the castle, just for me.”
“Her name was Raine, wasn’t it?” the other woman said.
Up until this point, Kairi couldn’t have said what her name was. And yet, that sounded right, and familiar, and she had the vision of a woman with a kind smile delivering flowers to the castle, with a younger girl – her daughter, Kairi was sure.
“How do you know that?” Kairi asked. “Did you used to live here too?”
The other woman shook her head.
“No, no,” she said. “I’ve only been here a few weeks. But this is my favourite place in town. Someone told me about Raine, and her daughter-“
“Ellone,” Kairi recalled, stunned as the name came back to her.
“Ellone,” the other woman repeated, with a nod and a smile.
“Rinoa, there you are.”
Kairi blinked in surprise at the new voice, though it was one she recognised.
“Squall, there you are,” mimicked Rinoa – the Rinoa, Kairi realised, the one Aerith had told her about.
“Leon?” Kairi asked, without realising.
It was then that Leon turned to her, and he smiled. A real, genuine smile. Kairi couldn’t claim to have spoken with him much, but she remembered how sad and serious he always looked. This smile was something completely different. Still, it suited him.
“Kairi,” Leon replied, surprised, looking as though he was about to say something else, and then thought better of it.
Probably something about Sora.
Kairi was grateful that Leon had the tact to say nothing at all. He knew that if she had anything new to tell them, someone would have found him and told him already.
“We were just talking about the flowers,” Rinoa said, softly, a wide smile on her face, as she looked up at him. “Kairi said she used to live here. She remembered your mother and Ellone.”
Leon blinked in surprise, again.
His mother?
Raine was his mother?
Leon’s smile eventually deepened.
“Come on,” he said, to Rinoa, “Cid’s going to give us both a talking to, if we’re not back soon.”
Rinoa nodded.
“I don’t want to go through that again.”
They looked at one another, and shared a laugh, as if there was no one else around. Kairi felt awkward, to say the least, that she was interrupting this moment between them. With the way they looked at one another, all the love and devotion in their eyes, Kairi thought she’d be able to walk away quite easily, without either of them noticing.
This moment was theirs, and after talking to Aerith earlier, Kairi wanted them to have it.
“Kairi, wait.”
It was Rinoa. She stepped forward, holding on to Leon’s hand.
“Squall’s told me all about Sora,” she said, looking sympathetic. “Promise me you won’t give up hope, Kairi.”
Kairi was shocked, though she supposed she shouldn’t be that Rinoa had heard all about Sora. Given her relationship with Leon, it wasn’t much of a surprise, and she did seem genuinely concerned.
“I won’t,” Kairi said, with resolve she wasn’t quite sure of.
Rinoa tilted her head, wrinkling her nose. She didn’t look convinced, and Kairi wondered if that was just the way she was, or her powers as a Sorceress. Maybe it was both, Kairi told herself, and she found herself doubting her own convictions.
Rinoa let go of Squall’s hand and came to stand in front of her. Leon – or Squall, Kairi supposed she could call him now – folded his arms, and watched intently, with a sorrowful smile on his face.
“You can’t give up that hope,” Rinoa finally said, with an air of wisdom Kairi wouldn’t have associated her with at first glance. “No matter how long it takes.”
She looked behind her, to where Squall waited, patiently. Kairi couldn’t help but think, by the look on his face, that he’d wait for Rinoa forever.
Then again, judging from what she’d heard, he already had.
“Trust me, people who are linked by destiny, fate, love. They always find a way back to one another.”
Was it her words? Or the sure way she said them? Kairi wasn’t sure, but somehow her shaky resolve wasn’t so shaky anymore. Kairi recalled the day she and Sora shared the Paopu on Destiny Islands, just before they’d been torn away from one another again.
She recalled every time he’d make the same promise, that he would be with her, no matter what.
Every time he kept it.
This time wouldn’t be different. Kairi was sure.
Rinoa smiled warmly, one more time, before turning around, and returning to Squall’s side. They took one another’s hands and walked away.
Kairi couldn’t help her grin, even though there were tears in her eyes.
She couldn’t wait for the day that she and Sora walked together again.