HL:KH9 Sanity Lost and Gained

Don't own it yet!

Author's note: Extensively references Prayer, and the Judeo Christian belief set at the end of the chapter.

"You know, Captain, I'm surprised that the Heartless haven't--" Riku was cut short by a tendril of darkness emerging from the floor; he summoned his Soul Eater Keyblade.

"We need to make it so that everyone can fight these things!" Riku said.

"People who are allied with Keyblade Masters can fight Heartless!" Ashe said, before hacking at a Soldier Heartless, which quickly vanished. Gee, the Claymore was awesome but it was heavy!

"I hereby ally myself with the United Federation of Planets and those who bear rings in their war against the Darkness!" Riku yelled, swiping his Keyblade at the enemies...

After his proclamation, every phaser burst against the Heartless sung with a new resilience, and the shadows began to vanish.
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I jerked awake, feeling  something warm and fluid on my arm... BLOOD! Clayton had winged me while I was out! Get a grip on yourself, Chava! You CAN"T become a Complete Monster! I thought, willing the violet light within me to quiet and dim. I did, however, attempt to lift my Kanabo, and go after him with the six fire spells I could cast."Fire! Fire! Fire!" The other guys had done most of the work. Clayton was defeated. Now all I had to do was face Jane's wrath.

"What happened? You yelled Sora's name like it was an emergency, and Donald managed to distract him into only wounding your arm, and then you just blacked out with that violet glow about you!"

"The best I can say is that we both must've gotten each other very, very angry. My powers must have gotten out of my control, so I forcefully shut myself down, rather than become a horror, as he apparently did."

Jane nodded, some concern in her face.

"Where do your powers come from?" Alice asked. "I thought you said they came from love."

"Originally, the women who used the violet light didn't understand true love the way I do. They just weren't as gentle natured as I am. They were jealous as all get out. They got violent over slights toward women and womanliness. That is the darker purples of the violet part of the spectrum. True love is giving and motivation to give, and is incredibly close to white."

"Okay..." Jane said. "Your uniform was fairly dark when you were passed out."

Suddenly Tarzan seemed to smell something.  He grunted, and went out.

It was Kerchak.

"These people, they deserve to see it. The one in the purple, she has fought the darkness intensely. Her light is much stronger now--"

Kerchak and the Gorillas started to leave one by one. Good thing, because then the Heartless started showing up.
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Ashe was sitting in Ten Forward after the battle, sipping some juice from another planet with pineapple juice, a specialty of Guinan's.

"What I want to know is would've I been worth it? If I wasn't who I am?"

"Your name is Ashe, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Something I learned very early on is, everything that has a voice is valuable. Your communication, love and friendship would be invaluable to somebody, no matter if you had special powers or not. You are needed and loved, just because you are who you are. Your presence would give someone hope with or without that blue ring on your finger, and your being lost to them might cause them enough pain to destroy them. No matter what capacities you have."

"Thanks-- I do have someone like that."
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As you doubtlessly know, it was difficult to clear them out. My arms were super tired from trying to use just the Kanabo, but somehow, I had managed. It looked more like a golf club than a war club in it's current position, but I'd still survived. I thought about my little sister. I hoped she was well. She's probably with Riku. I had no idea who they were with. Yasher koach, Achoti. Be strong.

Soon we were off to Traverse town to see Cid. I was still thinking, rocking, and praying about Ashe.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Sora asked me.

"Just concerned, and davening."

"What exactly IS davening?"

"Davening is from daven, which is Yiddish for praying. It also means to sway lightly."

"You're concerned for a missing friend, too?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, and prayer's one of the only ways I can take care of her right now."

"How do you pray and what is it," Sora asked.

Wendy and I looked at each other. I started explaining.

"Well, prayer is just a way of talking to God. In a place outside of time, He created everything from the power of His love." Sora looked amazed and slightly humbled. "He has infinite power and wisdom, and He's working in the hearts of light siders, like us. He can hear us from wherever we are, and He likes to be praised and told how awesome He is, and doesn't mind doing things we ask Him to do, as long as we trust Him."

"I think I want to pray, and ask Him to keep Riku and Kairi safe."

"I want to talk to Him about Ashe some more. Let's pray." I said, offering Sora my hand.