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Chapter 17

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Author: Kintora

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A/N: I just noticed that this story has been 5 years in the making, and it only has 16 chapters – now 17. Sorry guys, but multi-tasking is not easy, as you can tell. Even if I'm on vacation now, I still find myself getting tied up with everything else I do. So here's my gift to you; a summer update for this story. Keep a look out though! I'm working on Deja Blue next.

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(Previously)

First, she had to find justice. Cara had literally murdered her family, and Kairi could not forgive her. But what could she do to right all that had been wronged? One informal confession couldn’t sustain a whole argument, though it could provide some back up to the case she would build. It was better than nothing.

At least, she had somewhere to start.

A rusted, squeaking sound startled Kairi out of her musings as the white kitchen door swung open revealing a very sleepy Yuna. If Kairi hadn’t gotten up, the poor girl might have tripped over her. But the instant Yuna saw Kairi, she immediately snapped awake; firing off a barrage of questions as she grabbed Kairi by the sleeve and shoved her into the warm kitchen.

“Why didn’t you knock?” Yuna asked as she scuttled around, brewing them both some hot chocolate, “It’s totally freezing outside!”

Kairi smiled, gesturing sheepishly with her hands, ‘I didn’t want to wake you guys up.’

“You know what we’re like every morning,” Yuna said as she set some homemade banana muffins before her friend, “One of us will be up to grab the newspaper. You wouldn’t have woken us.”

‘I guess I just needed some time to think then,’ Kairi told her. She took a bite out of the bread, the soft muffin practically melting on her tongue, ‘Wow, thanks! This is really good.’

Yuna grinned broadly, her duel-colored eyes brightening, “I take it you skipped breakfast at your place,” she turned serious, “Speaking of which, how did yesterday go?”

Kairi swallowed the piece of banana bread in her mouth thickly; suddenly not so hungry anymore. She dug into her jeans and took out the slender digital recorder, ‘It… it might help. If you could… Could you save it to your computer later? Just listen to this first though.’

Yuna looked curiously at the recorder, “Where’d you get it?”

‘Sora,’ Kairi answered, ‘But that’s not the point.’

Yuna looked into Kairi’s eyes, sensing the dread and profound sadness in her friend. Turning the recorder in her hand, Yuna pressed play and listened to the Cara’s voice. As she listened, Kairi sat quietly by, listening with her. Each word that Kairi heard felt like knives piercing her insides every time. She would never get used to it. Kairi shut her eyes and squeezed her fingers together till they prickled and hurt; and all the while, trying not to squirm.

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Before she knew it, two weeks had passed. Since then, she had avoided Cara and Barry Burns like they were the plague. Kairi would only show her face now and then, to let them know she wasn't sneaking out or anything. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but feel anger boiling in her veins every time she saw her foster parents – especially Cara.

She had never been a violent person, but Kairi shocked herself with the amount of malicious thoughts that swarmed her mind every time she thought of them. It was like a disease, poisoning her mind with creative thoughts of how to murder the,; each thought more violent and cruel than the last. She would become so restless at night that she could hardly sleep at all, in fear of acting any bloody scenarios out.

When she was at school, she worked feverishly to block out the stress and anger. Luckily, school really was becoming more like a safe haven than anything else.

Kairi didn’t feel any particular change in her relationship with Sora at first. But she could sense that the wall between them was breaking down, brick by brick. Just a while ago, they didn’t even meet each other's eyes in the hall. But after a week after agreeing to “go out” together, they began to greet each other to the surprise of others. The attention made her feel uneasy, so she kept that to a minimum. The only time she didn’t feel self-conscious was when Sora would spend three lunch periods a week with her in the art room, and when he would walk her back to her house after school.

With each day that passed, Kairi realized that having friends really was what saved her.

After showing both Sora and Yuna the recording of Cara’s cruel confession, he began to warm up even more. She wouldn’t forget the looks on their faces when they heard her stepmother’s voice. Yuna was shell-shocked, and too angry to speak. Sora’s eyes just hardened even more, though he too remained quite silent. She could still remember what Sora did say after his moment of silence though.

“Unfortunately, it’s not enough to warrant an arrest,” he told them, “But it is motive for murder. The police will definitely conduct an investigation. Even though all the mechanical evidence has been gone for years, they might be able to do something.”

‘I know,’ Kairi agreed, dejectedly, ‘There has to be a way somehow.’

Sora ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair out of a habit, “We’ll find it. The police are still looking into your case after all. I’ll download the voice recording onto the computer and send it to my mom. She’ll know what to do. Meanwhile, keep that recorder on you at all times. It’ll help you dig up dirt.”

There wasn't much luck after that though. Kairi didn't dare try confronting the Burns willingly. That was suicide. Who knows, she might end up doing some she regretted once Cara and Barry Burns' backs were turned.

So all Kairi could do was try to stay optimistic, even if she couldn’t bring herself to smile. Every attempt only turned out looking like a grimace. After all, it was beginning to feel like there would never be enough information to bring justice.

And sometimes, Kairi would think that Sora understood her silence better than anyone else. Where Yuna and Tidus had tried to cheer her up by bringing up other topics, such as the Arts Fair or Christmas Dance, Sora just let her be. All she needed was someone to be there.

Kairi shook her head as she waited by Yuna’s locker at the end of the day. She couldn’t compare Sora and Yuna together. It was wrong. Both of them had different ways of showing their concern. The point was that they both cared. All she needed was somebody who cared.

The next thing she needed was closure. She just hoped that Sora's copy of the recording would be enough to remove her from the Burns' custody. Detective Risado was already doing everything in her power to help. She even gave Kairi her emergency number. Any day now, there would be an answer. And every day, her friends stuck with her and encouraged her.

Trying to end her life had definitely been the wrong thing to do. She understood now. Her purpose was to live and fight. She would bring light to what really happened the night her parents died.

“Hey Kairi,” Yuna said as she met her friend, “Tidus wanted to go out for a movie and maybe grab some dinner. You want to come along?”

'That sounds more like a date,' Kairi began uncertainly, 'I don't want to intrude on you guys.'

Yuna yanked her locker open and began to exchange her books and folders, “That's why Tidus is asking Sora right now. It'll be like a double date.”

'But...'

“If you don't feel comfortable, we can all go on a group date. I got a few chances to talk to Wakka and Rikku. They're actually not bad people, provided they just liked practical jokes. They want to apologize for the things they've done to us in the past, and wish they can do something to make up for their actions,” Yuna explained, her eyes pleading with Kairi, “You can really get to know Sora's friends this way.”

'I know,' Kairi relented as she tried to bottle the butterflies in her stomach, 'I just don't know how I can communicate with them. It's hard... having to rely on you and Sora to do that for me.'

Yuna nodded, “I don't want to push you, but this just might be the chance you need to get out there and meet other people. Why don't you bring a notebook with you to write on?”

'Okay... I'll go,' Kairi motioned, 'But how will I get my foster parents to let me go? They hate it when I return late.'

“Maybe Sora can help you with that,” Yuna suggested.

“Maybe I can help Kairi with what?”

Yuna smiled as she and Kairi turned around, to face Sora and Tidus. “Speak of the devil.”

“Hey Yuna,” Tidus said, grinning at her. He flashed Kairi a smile too, “What do you say, Kairi? You wanna go with us?”

Kairi nodded, but bit her lip.

“What's wrong?” Sora asked.

She mouthed her words at him, 'Could you... ask my foster parents for me? I'm afraid they won't let me go. They get really annoyed with paper messages.' Kairi looked down, feeling a embarrassed.

“I don't see why not,” Sora told her as he took her hand. He turned to face Yuna and Tidus, “Did the other guys want to go too?”

“Wakka and Rikku are free,” Yuna nodded, earning a surprised look from the boys.

Tidus smiled and shrugged, happy that she was getting along with his friends. “Selphie as a date with her boyfriend already. And I didn't hear back from Riku yet. He left school already, so I left a text on his cell.” He flipped open his own phone, “And would you look at that. He says he's working tonight, but said to have fun.”

“All right,” Sora said, “Why don't we all meet up at the theater at six then? I need to talk to the Burns first and then drop off dinner for my mom.”

Yuna and Tidus agreed, so the two pairs parted ways.

Some students still stared wide-eyed at Sora as he led Kairi out of the school with a hand on her shoulder. They must have looked like such a mismatched pair. Sora rarely dated, but when he did, it was usually a beautiful girl clinging to his arm. Kairi considered herself as nothing of the sort.

The only nice things on her were her pink converses and purple backpack. Her old jeans were fraying at the ends and her big sweatshirt looked more gray than light blue. She just didn't think she'd ever get used to the attention.

Kairi was dragging her feet, and Sora knew it. When they were about to turn onto her street, he stopped and turned to talk to her.

“Why are you so nervous?”

Kairi sighed silently, 'I've never really talked to them before and... every time I try, they just get annoyed.'

“Annoyed?” Sora asked, wondering what she was hiding.

'Yeah,' Kairi shrugged, nervously stuffing her free hand into the pocket of her sweatshirt, 'I used to try writing messages for them to read. You know, for school – parent-teacher conferences, medical forms... They just... told me to do that stuff on my own.' Try as she might, she couldn't get her hands to stop shaking.

Sora didn't speak for a moment, trying to identify the emotions flickering across her face. Something was definitely wrong, and then it struck him.

“Kairi, did they hurt you?” his eyes hardened, “If they did, tell me.”

His words had a strange way of making her want to tell the truth. Just then, she wished she was a turtle. That way, she could stick her head into her shell and pretend that she hadn't heard him. His hand tightened around hers when she tried to slip her fingers from his grip.

“Kairi...” he began again, more softly this time.

'Cara, my... my aunt. She gets really angry sometimes. I once tried to write her a message, back when I first started living with them. She said she didn't believe I was mute,' Kairi was visibly trembling now. She breathed deeply before continuing, 'So she held my hand against the tea kettle while it was boiling, saying... saying that she'd believe me if I couldn't scream.'

Kairi couldn't bring her eyes up to meet his, digging her left hand further into the front of her shirt.

Sora could only stare wordlessly at her in shock. He knew they treated her horribly, but he didn't know how bad. Without a word, he flipped over her cold right palm, knowing that the burn had to be there somewhere. But, Kairi shook her head.

'The other one,' she swallowed, tentatively pulling out her clammy left hand. With surprising gentleness, he took it and flipped over to see her palm.

The white scar spanning over her palm was years old, although it was still quite visible. He could only imagine what the original second degree burns must have looked like. His thumb ran over the rough texture of the scar on her small hand. Kairi couldn't help but shiver as he slowly dropped her hand. It was almost strange having him caress her hand.

“I never noticed it,” he said, his voice hiding the thinly veiled frustration he felt, “All this time, and I didn't know.”

Kairi looked up at him, only to see that he was still staring at her hand. She waved her hand in front of him, bringing his attention back to her.

'It's nothing really, Sora. I've had the scar for years. And even if anybody asked about it, I told just told them it was an accident,' she assured him.

“No, it's not just that burn,” he said, sitting down on the curb. Kairi looked at him questioningly as she took a seat beside him.

Sora stared at the empty street, before fisting a hand into his hair. He kept his head low as he squeezed his eyes shut. A thousand questions ran through his mind, but he didn't even know where to start. He could only wallow in silence, unable to even look at her. And though his actions only made Kairi feel more confused, she rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it, to let him know things were better now.

“I'm...” Sora began, staring at his feet. He couldn't stop thinking about the terrible things he said to her.

“Are your feet really that interesting to look at?” he asked sarcastically.

“Hey? You can hear, right? It’s just a bunch of crap. You can fix it all later,” he said uncertainly as she knelt before the ruined papers around her.

“Looks like someone’s off to a bad start this morning. Hey, how are you doing? You need a hand or something?” he taunted her, “Oh, wait. I forgot. She can’t even speak, can she?”

How could he have been so cruel to her? He thought he knew her back then... but he really didn't. He never really did. He just thought it was fun and games, but now that he really thought about the things he said, nothing he did could ever justify what he did.

And what made it worse was that she never complained. She never retaliated. Sure, she got annoyed and angry, but the only time she ever confronted him was when she whacked him across the face in the beginning of the school year. It was also the only time he began to feel bad... and that was also when the truth about her life began to come out.

His skin crawled just thinking about it.

And when she had come so close to committing suicide on the roof... he was probably one of the leading factors for that. If he hadn't been so heartless towards her, making her life hell at school, maybe she wouldn't have even thought about it. His self-righteousness really made him sick, now that he thought back to that fateful afternoon.

What if Kairi died that day? Would he have ever deserved forgiveness? Does he even deserve forgiveness now?

No, he decided. He didn't deserve any forgiveness, especially not from her.

So how could she stand being near him now? How could she have forgiven him so easily after he tormented her for so long?

Feeling Kairi's gentle hand on his shoulder was what brought real tears to his eyes. He touched his face, and felt the tear streaks to his surprise. Embarrassed, he turned his head so that she couldn't see his face even if she tried. That was when he realized that...

He never cried.

Not since his father died.

“Oh god,” Sora sucked in a breath as he folded his hands over his face, his body trembling as he doubled forward. If his dad could only see him now – see what he has done – what would he think? His dad was handicapped just like Kairi. If he had been responsible for her death, he might as well have been responsible for his father's death too.

Kairi was growing very worried. Nothing she seemed to do was helping him. She didn't know why he was feeling so awful. If she really had to admit it... It frightened her, seeing Sora curled up with his head against his knees. He was normally so full of confidence and pride that his weakened state made him look so unfamiliar. She didn't know if her scar had triggered a traumatic memory or whatnot. She just didn't know what to do.

'Sora. Sora!” she mouthed his name uselessly. She moved so that she could keel down in front of him, as if she were trying to talk to a child.

Grabbing his shoulders, she shook him. When that didn't work, she put her hands over his and gently tried to pry them away. After a while, she gave up trying to see his face. Just then, she didn't care if anyone saw them.

Leaning towards him, she put her arms around him and pressed her lips against the top of his head. Her arms moved, rubbing his back comfortingly – trying to remember exactly how her mother used to comfort her after a bad dream... how Yuna's mother had comforted her when she told them what happened.

Kairi sighed softly, rocking them both. The cold wind had picked up, blowing over them and lifting her long garnet hair from her scalp. A few minutes of cold silence passed. Kairi just hoped that even though Sora couldn't hear them, he still heard the words she couldn't say aloud.

“Why?” he suddenly asked. It was so quiet that she almost mistook his voice for the wind. “Why are you helping me?”

She looked down in quiet confusion as she slowly loosened her hold on him. Although his hands were no longer folded over his face, she still couldn't see his eyes, for his bangs still hid them from view. There was no way she could answer him, even though she desperately wanted to.

Keeping him at arm's length, she ducked her head a little, trying to make eye contact with him. What she did see only shocked her momentarily before her heart went out to him. So he had been crying...

Without warning, Sora pulled her into his arms and buried his face against her shoulder. She pat his back, ignoring the little pieces of gravel digging into her knees. He could only tighten his arms around her.

“I'm sorry. I'm so... so sorry,” he swallowed thickly, his voice muffled slightly by her sweatshirt, “All these years, I only helped make your life a living nightmare. It's like I helped those bastards! If my father was still alive, if he could see me now... God, he'd hate me so much...”

Kairi shook her head, her own eyes starting to tear up. She pulled away from him, taking his pained face into her hands. Using a frumpy sleeve, she carefully dabbed his cheeks dry. Seeing that she had his attention again, she brought a hand up and pointed to her lips.

'I know you're sorry and doing your best to make up what you did. That's what really matters, Sora. And if you didn't save me that day, I wouldn't be here right now.' Seeing the shame on his face, she assured him, 'Look. I was stupid, trying to end my life. By then, I'd already forgiven you. So it's not your fault. All I wanted that day was to end everything and start over, because I thought there was nowhere to go.'

Sora didn't know whether to believe her or not, wondering if she was just trying to comfort him with a white lie. But the the regret in her eyes was so real, he couldn't help but believe that there was more on her mind.

'This is going to sound weird, but...' Kairi looked up at the sky, 'I thought I saw my mother that day. I tried to picture her smiling at me when I left this world. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember her smiling face. It was only after you saved me that I realized she wouldn't have been happy to see me end my life, especially since she sacrificed hers to save me in the crash. Once I understood that, I was able to imagine her smiling again.'

She looked back into his sky blue eyes. 'So you know what I think, Sora? Your dad is watching over you too right now. He may not always be proud of what you do, but know that he can never hate you.'

Sora couldn't speak. It was as if a knot the size of a golf ball was lodged in his throat. He grimaced, trying not to cry in front of her again. It was embarrassing for him, even though she didn't appear to care either way. Toughing it out, he managed to suppress the tears by thinking about what he came here to do.

Once he was sure he didn't look like he'd been crying, he stood up, helping Kairi back onto her feet.

“Come on,” he spoke, his voice sounding a little gruff, “Let's go talk to your evil stepparents.”

The corners of her lips lifted slightly as she thought of how Cinderella-like her life was turning into.

The corner of Sora's mouth lifted into a slow half grin upon seeing her smiling again. He was now positive that he preferred to see her happy than anything else. It was then that he made a promise to her, and to himself.

“I won't let them hurt you. Never again,” he said, hugging her close. I won't hurt you anymore. Never again.

Kairi didn't have to voice her understanding to let him know she trusted him. All she had to do was relax in his embrace, where not wind nor fear could reach her.

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A/N: There you go. That was quite a bit of SoraxKairi. Hope it will satisfy you guys for now, no matter how long overdue this update is. Like I said, multi-tasking ain't nothing but a headache for me. It's pretty hard, writing three very different Soras at the same time. You've got a bully-turned-good here, a cold-blooded assassin in When Love Blooms At Opposite Ends, and an utter goof-ball in Deja Blue.

So, I was pretty stuck on what they should do at first. And then half way through, I was like, 'Hey! Kairi's been through a couple meltdowns already. Why don't I make Sora suffer a bit too?' It's character-building and cathartic for him. In other words, Sora's got to shed a few tears and understand what jerk he was. Even I hate the 24/7 asshole routine.

Please don't forget to leave me a review! I love hearing from you guys.

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Question of the Chapter:

Say you were only allowed to choose ONE favorite song you wanted to hear, what would it be?

My Answer:

Mine would be, “Radical Dreamers – The Unstolen Jewel” by Yasunori Mitsuda. If you guys have never played Chrono Cross, but loved Kingdom Hearts, then I totally suggest that game.

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Many thanks and kisses to Chapter 16 reviewers!: ShadowSpooky , Izzyv1o , chococrepes , Bobsies , Akane Naomi , AquaFlameElementalist , thepurplemaiden , Nears Twin , Sora's GuardianAngel , KHfan22 , RoxasxLoverxDarius , leeny , Craxuan , FemmeSquall , vballqueen1792 , disasterpiecex. , Meep Forever , Leelee488512 , Wint , crazyasian45 , FrozenFire42 , raieraieraie , lamatikah , CerberAsta , ejaculatedteabag. , Hikoru Aniki , xTwilightxDestinyx , -x-StaarGiirl-o- , BlueNobody , Manga-Fanatic , Frank Was Not Like Other Sheep , brolly501 , Kuroi Raikage , Gox19 , LILMISSS , MoonCastic , EYES to LIE , jcola0823 , uriko , VerdantSeraphim , Lycoris Calantha , sara-kate , satan966 , Favored , Lucari0knight , Silent Vampire Ninja , blank-pages1 , and mexicankitten .

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