Kingdom Hearts {Reader Insert}

25. Unfinished Business

Too quickly, you all left to return to Hollow Bastion. It was decided that Kairi would go with you, but she would stay on the ship. Cid had taught her how to start the engines so that if needed you could all make a quick getaway. Ansem was fast, so you and Sora had been focusing on your speed while you were training over the past week, and how to battle against speed. Yuffie had been a great practice buddy because of her quickness, but you were fairly sure she wasn't as fast as Ansem.

Now you sat in the main cabin, going over the week in your head. Your nerves were making you play with your fingers and bounce your leg. It seemed others were also affected. The ride was quiet and even Yuffie was subdued. You watched her sit and go through her inventory of shuriken, large and small, making sure they were all sharp and clean. Leon was taking inventory of his ammo for his gunblade. Tifa was making sure that the potions and ethers were ready and that everyone would get enough. Cloud and Cid stood at the controls, making sure the ship was flying well and ready for anything.

Sora wasn't sitting next to you. He had joined Donald and Goofy back on their ship for the trip to Hollow Bastion.

"So is this what it's like before every, uh, battle?" Kairi asked you, appearing by your side and sitting down in the chair next to you.

You picked your head up, slightly startled. "Oh, uh, I mean just the big ones."

Kairi nodded in understanding. "You guys got this. I've seen you all training. There's no way Ansem can stop all of you."

"You were there- you saw him. He's probably the biggest bad we've ever faced."

"I'm willing to bet you're the biggest good he's ever had to face," Kairi smiled, turning your words around.

"Thanks, Kairi," you smiled at her despite your nerves.

You spent most of the rest of the trip with Kairi, speaking softly so as not to disturb other people's calm. Eventually Cid called her forward to remind her and test her on her knowledge about the ship's controls. You spent the time focusing on remembering what you had learned during training and going over your mental notes.

It had felt like forever, but all too quickly the ship was landing on Hollow Bastion. You met back up with Sora, Donald, and Goofy on the ground, and you were surprised but happy to see Beast coming over to greet you. He explained that Belle and the other princesses had woken up and they were inside, doing what they could to keep the darkness back.

"What about Ansem?" Tifa asked him.

Beast shook his head. "He disappeared into the darkness. He's no longer here."

You turned to Sora with a sigh. "Now what do we do?" We've been preparing for this for a week and he's not even here.

"There's still the keyhole," Leon reminded you.

"Right," you nodded.

"Should probably get that shut," Sora grinned and scratched at the back of his head.

"I'll go get Kairi," you turned back to the ship. "She can help the princesses hold off the darkness until Sora and I figure out how to close that keyhole."

"Good idea," Tifa agreed.

Everyone regrouped, slightly relaxed now that you all knew Ansem wasn't even here, and then walked into the castle. You found all of the princesses except for Belle in the room before the chamber where you had fought Ansem. Belle was apparently in the library. They explained that they were holding back the darkness and that Ansem had gone into it. They couldn't feel him here anymore, but the darkness was still trying to take over. A couple of sentences in particular stuck with you.