For a reason that Kai couldn’t explain, no matter what he did, he couldn’t find the courage that he needed to find to help Cielle and Yuffie and Leon fight the Guard Armor. He didn’t even know what it was that refused to let him do what he did best and that was helping those who needed his help. The one thing that seemed to be a constant since seeing the Guard Armor was the sinking feeling that he not only experienced this thing before, he had a terrible memory that accompanied this experience

As he continued to back away, Aerith grabbed his arm as an attempt to get him away. Kai didn’t know what happened next, but when he looked up after crouching, Kai was brought to the sight of a smiling Aerith. The gentle smile that reminded him so much of his own mother. The peaceful, protective eyes that reminded him of Aira. And the desire to do everything in her power to make sure no harm came to him reminded him of…

And then, as Kai felt a sudden wave of force hit him and Aerith, the two were sent flying against the door behind them, Kai taking most of the hit, resulting in him wincing in pain. Though he was experiencing a large amount of physical discomfort, Kai’s first action was to make sure Aerith was okay.

[color=20b2aa]“Why did you do that?”[/color] Kai asked her. He hated himself for being so helpless and hated that he couldn’t do anything.

“To protect you, silly.”

When she spoke those words, Kai didn’t know what to say. He was at a loss for words because that was the same exact thing his mother said to him when he was younger. He didn’t know why, but to hear those words come from Aerith’s mouth gave Kai something he’d been lacking for a while. Sure, he was able to fight before, but that was nothing compared to now. 

Kai stood up, smiling once more at Aerith. It seemed she lost consciousness. Kai looked over at Cielle, who seemed to be relatively unharmed. He gave her a nod and then held out his hand, summoning his Keyblade. And without warning, the same aura from before surrounded Kai. 

[color=20b2aa]“Cielle, think you can do that lightning magic like you did before? I want you to strike me with it.”[/color]