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Sora stepped forward to follow the others and immediately stumbled. Pain pulsed through his chest as he heard his heart beat loudly in his ears.
"Ugh..."
"Sora?"
He glanced up at Kairi's voice and found her, Riku, Donald, and Goofy staring at him looking concerned. He was panting, suddenly feeling unsteady.
"What's wrong?"
He gasped and clutched his chest, wincing at another throb of pain as his heart thumped loudly in his ears.
"I… I'm not sure."
It felt eerily similar to when Ven's heart had started waking; the loud beating in his ears, the dizziness, the wrenching tug in his heart… but the pain was worse this time. Much worse.
Riku took a step back towards him. "Are you ok?"
The world around him was going hazy as the sharp pain in his chest intensified. "I…"
Fog was gathering at the edges of his vision and he swayed.
"Sora!" Realising what was about to happen, Riku broke into a run.
A third pulse of pain hit him and the ground tilted beneath his feet. As the earth rushed up to meet him the last thing he saw was Riku sprinting towards him, arms outstretched.
Riku caught him as he fell and carefully lowered him to the ground, resting his head in the crook of his arm. "Hey, Sora! Sora!" He gave his shoulders a shake but he didn't respond. His eyes were closed and face blank, mouth hanging slightly open. Aqua, Ven, Axel, and Mickey had all turned at the sound of yelling and, seeing Sora and Riku on the ground, rushed back.
Kairi dropped down on his other side and placed a hand on his arm. "Sora? Can you hear me?" she called out to him, but he remained still and silent.
"What happened?" Mickey asked anxiously as he and the others reached them.
"We don't know," Donald told them. "He seemed like he was in pain for a moment and then just collapsed!"
"Is he hurt?" Aqua asked.
She summoned her Keyblade to heal him, but as Kairi frantically scanned his body for injuries she found nothing. There wasn't a scratch on him. "I don't think so..." His breathing was steady and, when she checked it, so was his pulse. He seemed completely fine, aside from the fact he was still unconscious.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Jiminy popped up and bounced onto Goofy's shoulder. "I don't think he's hurt, I've been with him the whole time and I didn't see him get injured."
"Then what could be wrong?" Kairi asked him, trying not to panic. She'd thought she'd managed to bring him back safely, but what if something had gone wrong? Maybe it wasn't possible for him to have returned here without consequences...
"Hmm, I think the most likely thing is he's simply exhausted after everything that has happened."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked.
"Well, I'm not sure how much you all remember about what happened, do you know how your hearts returned here?"
They all paused and thought for a moment. "Not really," Ven replied. "I just remember feeling like I was falling away. It felt like something was dragging me downwards and I'd never escape. But then I heard Sora's voice calling my name and…"
"It was like the weight pulling you down disappeared," Axel finished for him.
Ven nodded. "Yeah, and then I was back here." Everyone else nodded as well; they had all felt the same thing. They had all gone through the same horrible experience, feeling as though the darkness would swallow them forever. Except Kairi. She remembered clearly how she and Sora had both survived and why they had made it back. But maybe they hadn't made it back as safely as she had thought...
"Well, to get to each of you Sora had to use the power of waking to find where your hearts were. They were scattered across different worlds so he dove into each of those worlds' hearts to get to you. He-"
"What?!" Mickey stared at Jiminy in horror.
"But how? That's not how the power of waking works," Riku said.
"It's not how it's supposed to work," Mickey explained. "It is possible to use it in different ways but it's… dangerous. You're meant to dive into hearts to travel to worlds, not dive into worlds to get to hearts." Jiminy nodded, remembering Young Xehanort saying almost exactly the same thing. "If Sora was using it like that…" Mickey trailed off.
Riku looked down at Sora and gave him another small shake, desperate for him to wake up. What if he'd dived too deep again…
Jiminy tried to explain what Young Xehanort had said when they encountered him, and the Lich that Sora had battled to win back their hearts. "You were all fading away and being dragged into the darkness by that Heartless so he needed to get to each of you fast before you disappeared completely. He dove seven times and each time it seemed to take some of his strength away I think… By the time he fought off the Lich and freed the last of you he could barely stand or speak."
They all stood in silence for a moment, trying to process what Sora had done for them. "Poor guy…" Axel said, looking sadly at Sora, still unconscious in Riku's arms.
"Without you Kairi, I'm not sure if he would have made it back." Jiminy smiled at her but she couldn't manage to return it.
Sora stirred and let out a small groan, causing everyone's hearts to leap. Riku placed a hand on his cheek and called out to him again. "Sora? Can you hear me?"
His eyes flickered open. "Ri...ku?"
Riku let out a deep sigh of relief. "Yeah, you alright?" Sora didn't reply but slowly raised his head, looking confused and bleary-eyed.
Kairi shuffled forward so he could see her. "Sora? Are you OK?"
"Y-Yeah…" he replied shakily this time. She smiled with relief and she and Riku helped him sit up. Sora looked around at all the people staring at him. "What's going on?"
"You fainted," Kairi explained.
"Huh?"
Riku nodded. "We were about to head out and you collapsed. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Umm… I think so." He felt drained, exhausted, and his chest was aching like he'd been tackled by a Giga. He massaged the point above his heart.
"You gave us quite a scare there Sora," Mickey said as he walked over and took an Elixir out of his pocket. "Here, this should make you feel better."
"Thanks your majesty." He accepted the bottle gratefully and drank, immediately feeling its restorative effects. The pain faded and he felt his energy returning rapidly. Riku and Kairi helped him to his feet and he looked around at them all, scratching the back of his head like he often did when embarrassed. "Sorry, I don't know what happened there."
"Don't apologise silly," Kairi smiled at him reassuringly.
"Yeah, we're just glad you're OK!" Goofy said, and everyone nodded.
He smiled sheepishly, still feeling like a bit of an idiot. He wanted to move on from the awkwardness quickly. "Alright then, let's go!"
And before anyone could mention what Jiminy had told them, or thank him for what had happened, he started the march towards the battle.