EPILOGUE

XIII

IN THE CORNER OF THE GREAT HALL, THERE WAS A little staircase.

“Does this go to the thirteenth floor?” asked Sora.

“Yes,” Naminé’s tiny voice replied, and she went up the stairs.

They went through more white rooms and finally came to a bigger door. When Naminé stood before it, the door opened without a sound.

“What is this place…?”

“A secret room.” Naminé turned and smiled at them.

The room was filled with strange devices shaped like huge flower buds. Donald walked closer to one. “So…if we sleep in these things, our memories will come back?”

“It’s going to take a little time. But I’ll take care of you.”

“Gawrsh…when we wake up, we won’t remember who you are anymore.” Goofy slumped over sadly.

“How are we gonna know to thank you, then?” said Donald, poking the pod.

“No need to worry about that!” Jiminy Cricket exclaimed, sticking his head out of Sora’s pocket with a grin. “I’ll just make a big note in my journal. And it’ll say, ‘Thank Naminé.’”

“That sure makes me feel better!” Donald smiled, too, and Naminé finally joined in.

But will that really work? Sora worried. Didn’t something happen to Jiminy’s journal when we came into the castle?

He shook his head, shaking the thoughts away. Naminé would make sure it was all right.

“Well, then… G’night, Naminé!” Goofy waved to her.

She nodded in return. “Good night, Goofy.”

Donald and Goofy each settled themselves into a pod.

“You too, Sora!” Donald scolded.

“Okay, okay…” Sora went to the big flower bud thing in the middle of the room.

“All of this may have started with a lie,” said Naminé, “but…I really am glad that I got to meet you, Sora.”

He turned, smiling at her. “Yeah. Me, too.”

It was still hard to believe that his memories with Naminé could be lies. But his feelings now were real.

“When I finally found you, and when I remembered your name…I was so happy,” he told her. “The way I felt wasn’t a lie.”

She smiled back. “Good-bye.”

“No, not good-bye!” He took a step closer to her. Determination came into his voice. “When I wake up, I’ll find you. And then there won’t be any lies. We’re gonna be friends for real. Promise me, Naminé.”

She shook her head. “You’re going to forget making that promise.”

That’s why this is good-bye, Naminé thought. When you wake up, Sora, you’ll have forgotten all about me.

“But even if the chain of memories comes apart, the links will still be there, right?” Sora insisted. “So the memory of our promise will always be inside me somewhere. I just know it.”

She wanted to believe him.

If anyone could remember her, Sora would—that much, she could believe.

“Okay…you’re right. It’s a promise.”

“Yeah!” Sora held out his pinkie finger to her. She linked it with her own.

“Promise, Sora?”

“I promise.”

Then he stepped into the pod. It felt warm inside…comforting. He was getting a little sleepy…

“Hey, Sora.”

“Hm?” His sight was going hazy.

“Some of your memories’ links are deep in the shadows of your heart, and I won’t be able to find all of them. But don’t worry… You made another promise to someone you could never replace.”

Naminé’s voice felt like a lullaby. Gentle…like the sound of the waves on the island.

“She is your light. The light within the darkness. Remember her and all the memories lost in the shadows of your heart will come back.”

“Another promise…” Behind his closed eyes, he could see a faint light.

“Look at the good luck charm. I changed its shape when I changed your memory—but when you thought of her just once, it went back to the way it was.”

The light glimmered and turned into the good luck charm. Beyond that glow stood Naminé. He murmured her name—but Naminé was already fading into mist, and someone else was standing there.

Who is that? I can’t remember…

All of his friends… And Riku.

There, standing in the middle… It was the red-haired girl.

Someone special to him.

“Kairi!”

The moment he said that name, she smiled.

And all the rest of his friends… Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid… And Riku. They all smiled.

“My friends…”

“See? Your memories are coming back.”

He turned around. Naminé was there, barely, shrouded in mist.

“Naminé?!”

“Don’t worry. You might forget about me…but we made a promise. So I can come back.” She held up her little finger that she’d joined with his.

“A promise is a promise.”

“That’s right. One day, the promise we made will become the light that brings us together. Till then, I’ll be in your heart…”

“I know. Forgotten, but not lost.”

He wouldn’t lose his memories of Naminé.

No matter what, those feelings…those pieces of memory would stay with him.

Promises would turn into light. The pieces would call to one another and link together into a chain.

That’s how I know…I won’t forget.

The light softly surrounded him.

And Naminé watched Sora fall asleep.

—The End – Sora’s Story—