Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Sora!"

As soon as he touched the sand, Kairi tackled him in a hug.

Sora hugged back, a bit hesitantly due to his confusion. "Woah, Kairi, what's with the hug? Not that it's bad! Just... unexpected?"

"Yeah, it's not like he died or anything," Riku said as he rolled his eyes and tied their boats to the dock for them.

Kairi flinched and pulled away. "I know. I just... had a nightmare?"

"Well, I'm here and I'm okay!" Sora pointed a thumb at his chest proudly. "And you can always see me every day, so you'll know I'm still okay, right?"

"Right..."

Riku scoffed lightly with a smirk tossed over his shoulder. "It's not like he's going to have a chance to get hurt when he's sleeping the day away."

"Hey! What if someone kidnaps me in my sleep!" Sora protested, pouting.

"Who's going to come all the way out to the play island just to kidnap you?" Riku finished tying the boats, leaving him free to turn and raise an eyebrow at Sora.

"Yeah..." Kairi's eyes went distant, and her words went flat and oddly dry. "Who would do that."

"Huh?" Sora stared at her in confusion.

"What's up with you?" Riku asked her accusingly. "You've been acting strange all day."

Kairi averted her eyes. Instead of responding, she walked a few paces out on the beach, gaze drawn out to the ocean. "Sora, Riku," she said distantly. "You won't leave me behind, will you?"

"What? No! Of course not!" Sora said instantly, the thought preposterous to him.

"What, you worried about that?" Riku said.

Kairi turned to Riku, the look in her eyes and the set of her jaw making it all too clear that she was, in fact, worried about that.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Kairi, come on. Like Sora would let that happen."

"Yeah! I would never!" Sora agreed, sounding offended at the thought. He paused, then lunged for Riku's shoulder and started shaking it frantically. "Wait, Riku! You wouldn't let that happen, either, right?"

Riku bowed under Sora's pleading eyes, brushing his hand off. "Of course not."

"Of course not," Kairi echoed. She took a breath, then pasted a familiar smile on her face. "Race ya!" And she took off running.

"No fair!" Sora whined at her headstart.

Sora and Riku ran after her, and then they overtook her. Like usual.

Kairi clutched seashells and twine to her chest and stared unseeingly at the beginnings of a raft that would never get a chance to sail.

"Maybe this time..." she whispered to herself.

That night, Kairi traced a hand down the door to this world's heart. It was too late. Her keyblade wouldn't come to her. She couldn't lock it.

Everything was the same.

She winced, rubbing at her chest like she could wipe away the burning feeling that overtook her heart.

A gust of wind. Sora reached out to catch Kairi, but she disappeared.

Two clusters of seashells clattered to the floor. An unfinished project.

Sora sat in the dingy alleyway, curling and uncurling his hand in front of him, and remembered.

Kingdom Key answered his call. He laid it in his lap and bent over it. Teardrops stained the dirty pavement under him.

"I can't do this again," he whispered, a confession, a plee.

Bleeding broken lost confused, friends turning away lost unreachable, a wooden sword alone alone, a smile the keyblade the princesses the heart a light, the door a hand reaching out both his best friends locked away from him in the span of a moment.

And everything that came after...

He liked the way it had turned out.

Sure, he was going to disappear, but it was worth it. Everyone else got their happy ending. Everything was working out! They were all safe and happy and alive! After everything, all that hardship... Finally, everyone was okay.

But now...

I can't do this again.

Then let me take over.

"Kairi?"

Shhh, it's okay. You can rest now.

"But..."

Even heroes need their rest.

An impression - Hercules, the colleseum, Megara, the Hydra, Herc's despair, his exhaustion-

You've done so much for me. Let me do something for you.

"Kairi..."

Rest. I'll take over.

...

Okay.

"Donald Duck." He extended a hand.

"Name's Goofy." He put his hand over Donald's.

"I'm Sora," said Kairi with a guilty smile. Her hand hovered over her heart for a second too long before joining the circle of hands.

"All for one, one for all!"

Kairi didn't join in, even as she felt the urge to mouth along with the words - It was familiar. Familiar to Sora, that is.

"Oh come on..."

This worked before! She even remembered how it felt and everything!

You're not going to be able to recover all your spells at once.

Oh, really? She guessed that made sense. Hey, Sora, you've done this before-

again and again and again, yes-

-so you should have all the best tips, right?

Sure! Start with Fire, for now. Not the full spell, just like... Like when you were first beginning, remember that?

She did... Her eyebrows knit together, trying to recall. It was so long ago... What did it feel like again...?

The memory escaped, like a word on the tip of her tongue but dancing ever out of reach. Like smoke, it scattered when she tried to reach for it.

Even still, she tried, and tried again.

Her grasping hands snagged on something tangible, a solid memory of the way it felt the first time, under the coaching of both Merlin and Axel.

Fire shot out the tip of Destiny's Embrace, weak but better than anything she'd managed recently.

"Hey, watch it!" Donald complained, stomping his little webbed feet in anger as he patted out the singed spot on the top of his head.

"Uh, whoops?" Kairi smiled sheepishly.

Goofy was the first to break out into laughter, but the rest of them all followed suit.

It was nice. So what was with that pit in her stomach...?

Sora?

...Sorry. Hey, good job with the Fire!

Sora...

Kairi tried to mentally poke Sora. She had just finished fighting some Heartless and she wanted to know what this was like for him but he didn't seem to be around.

Sora? Soraaaaa... Sora!

No response.

Kairi kicked the side of a building in frustration (not too hard though, she wasn't that frustrated), then looked for another fight to get into (not seeing Donald and Goofy's exchanged look of concern)

Ugh. She bet Riku wouldn't have this much trouble getting Sora's attention.

Riku?

Oh, there you are. I've been calling for you for a while. Figures the thing that could get your attention was thinking about Riku.

Uh... Whoops, sorry? I didn't hear you before.

Kairi ignored the burning in her chest as she continued to search for more Heartless.

Whatever, it's fine. Where were you anyways?

I'm... not sure. Sleeping? I feel like I was dreaming...

A few scattered shards of memory drifted in. The smell of the sea breeze, the sight of a palm tree waving in the wind. The feeling of warmth, safety, familiarity.

Huh. Neat.

...What did you want, anyways?

Oh, I was just wondering how long you spent killing Heartless here before you left for a new world.

...I pretty much went straight to Wonderland from here.

Ah.

It had been an entire day of her wandering around hunting Heartless for more munny so she could buy more supplies before heading out.

Oooh, that sounds smart. Maybe I should have done that.

Kairi hummed to herself, pleased he thought it was a good idea (unlike Donald, who was impatient, and Goofy, who recently also seemed to think they should get going already). Ooh, look, more Heartless!

Kairi fell down from a hole in the forest into the strange room with the doorknob and the weird drinks - and that was fine, really, the other exit had dropped her onto the faucet and let her find some evidence (and then the Chesire Cat had dropped in to re-teach her how to use Blizzard?) - but this one really took the cake. When she left this exit, it was the same area as the other exit led to, which was fine, but she was standing on the wall now like it was the floor! And because the faucet was there and accessible, she figured why not turn it on (and she swore Sora was nudging her towards it, too) - and the water that spouted from it was fine and normal and expected, but not how it somehow turned the pot on the ground from a flat image to a proper 3-dimensional pot? And then, when she poked her head in to investigate, she was back in the Queen's Castle!

All in all, it was weird.

An impression of laughter- I always wanted to show you this world. I wondered how you would react.

That thought came with a sense of amusement tinged with melancholy.

Well! You're here with me now!

That's true... I just wish I could have seen your face.

Oh come on, is feeling my emotions not enough for you?

Oh, right. The confusion as she poked the drinks on the table, the feeling of snickering and gleeful anticipation as Sora waited for her to figure it out, the surprise at shrinking, the way she shrieked and threw her keyblade at the Chesire Cat and the embarrassment mixed with Sora's amusement as an aftermath, the bewilderment at giving flowers potions and ethers and the way one made her bigger, the surprise-exasperation at finding herself elsewhere when going through a door in the Lotus Forest that should logically (like logic was worthwhile in Wonderland) not bring them anywhere near the Bizarre Room... And finally the exasperation-acceptance from this newest experience... Yeah, this was pretty great, actually.

Yeah... She was glad she got to experience this with him.

"Sora, look!" Donald squawked.

Kairi looked. She was getting used to responding to that name. It was still weird, though.

Sorry.

Not your fault. I could have explained the situation to them ages ago.

...Then why haven't you?

"It's a gummiblock!" Goofy exclaimed, pointing to a brightly coloured object nestled in the corner of the hedge.

"Score!" Kairi crowed, scooping up the gummiblock.

"Oh boy!" Donald said, "I can't wait to find out what this one does!"

"Me too!" Kairi said, already thinking about the possibilities with glee.

Kairi hesitated, staring with wide eyes up at the flaming club swiftly approaching, (like at the Keyblade Graveyard, freezing up again and again and getting herself in trouble-)

Sora blocked it, Kingdom Key holding steadfast against the Trickmaster's swing. He swiftly followed up with a counterattack and charged back into battle, casting a quick Cure the instant he got enough space.

...Thank you, but...

Their keyblade shone bright, stuck in an undefined state as they shot Blizzard at the Trickmaster. It swung at her again, and this time Kairi dodged out of the way.

She was strong enough to do it herself. She had to prove it.

Kairi...

And she managed it, the Trickmaster bowing under her and Donald and Goofy's assault. With one final swing of the keyblade, it collapsed and its heart released, dissipating.

While Donald and Goofy cheered about their victory, Kairi breathed alone, staring at the spot where the Trickmaster had disappeared.

You know it's okay to need help sometimes, right? It doesn't make you less strong.

Kairi breathed out a near-silent laugh through her nose. Sure would be nice if Sora believed the things he was saying.

What? No, really, I mean it!

Then why don't you say the same thing to yourself?

No, no, it's... It's different. You, you're so strong in and of yourself. It's... really inspiring.

Kairi couldn't help the soft smile at the compliments. Even still, she waited for him to finish his thought.

But, well, I... My friends are my power.

I'm nothing without them, the statement echoed, somewhere quieter and deeper.

The smile fell off her face.

Sora... You know that's not true. You're so strong! Ridiculously strong! Why else would I be trying so hard to be catching up to you?

...Trying to catch up to an idealized image of him that he could never live up to, maybe.

...Maybe. But! Still-!

But the thought was cut off before it could be completed, because the doorknob started yawning, and then there was a keyhole to seal.

"Riku! There you are, you dummy!" Kairi marched up to him and grabbed his arm and refused to let him out of her sight. He wasn't leaving her this time.

"Sora? What are you-"

"You're coming with me." She dragged him towards Donald and Goofy and glared at Donald challengingly when he looked like he wanted to complain.

"Wh- Hey! Shouldn't it be the other way around?" What, her coming with him back to hang out with him in the evil darkness castle full of kidnapped princesses and manipulative bad guys?

Really, her answer to that was simple.

She tossed her head back and gave Riku a disingenuous smile. "No."

Riku disappeared in the night before they could even get to the next world.

She didn't even get the chance to give him that lecture she'd been preparing in her head.

"Aw, don't worry, Sora! I'm sure you'll see him again." Goofy put a hand on her shoulder in support.

Kairi just kept glaring at the empty bunk in the gummiship that Riku was supposed to be sleeping in. She should've just forced him to share her bed so he couldn't escape so easily, screw whatever embarrassment Riku might feel.

She started drafting a new lecture, this one starting with, 'Riku, you idiot, stop isolating yourself and get back here or so help me I will kidnap you myself'.

Actually, storming Hollow Bastion and stealing Riku away from Maleficent sounded more and more tempting by the minute. Such a shame the gummiship couldn't reach that far yet...

Kairi, no.

Kairi, yes!

...I wish he stayed.

Oh, right, it wasn't just her who was upset. Kairi considered the cloud of sadness and disappointment and whatnot that was lingering in her heart. She had no idea how much of that was hers and how much of that was Sora's.

...I think a lot of it's mine. Sorry.

Don't be sorry for feeling emotions, silly.

A flash of a memory. Happy faces, the gummiship, silly ridiculous expressions pasted over an ever-widening gash of dark emotions...

They were just trying to cheer you up, you know? That's not... You're allowed to be upset, you know.

...

She waited for a response, but nothing ever came.

...Oh well. Back to drafting a letter in her head to Riku, that flighty jerk who couldn't bother to stick around for even one day-!

(Maybe the burning in her chest came with anger?)

"You only seem interested in running around and showing off that keyblade these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?" Riku said with all his dramatic angsty glory.

What a question.

"Of course I do!" Kairi said, feeling more and more like a liar by the day.

"Really? You don't sound so sure. What, your new friends more important to you than her?" He smirked, and Kairi realized just how much of a mask that smirk had always been.

(Much like the mask of a smile Sora had been using more and more-)

(-and wasn't that familiar-?)

"No!" What else could she say?

Let me handle this.

Okay.

"Riku," Sora said, "You and Kairi are so important to me. I'd do anything to make sure you're both okay!"

...And you did.

Yes. And I'd do it again.

Sora...

"But, Riku, don't you see?" Sora urged, voice rising, "This isn't what Kairi would want!"

Like he'd listen to me.

Sora slumped, out of words. "You... You're better than this." His voice cracked.

Riku clenched his fist and looked away, smirk long since wiped off his face.

But before he could say anything, there was a scream. They both turned around - this would have to wait, Pinnochio was in trouble.

(At least Riku stuck around to help fight this time, too. Small blessings.)

Sora went to bed early that day, which gave Donald and Goofy the opportunity to talk.

"...Say, did you notice-"

"Sora was fighting a lot different in the battle with Riku," Donald noted, keeping his voice down as low as he could.

"He had a different keyblade, too," Goofy said, his voice equally low.

They exchanged worried looks.

"I sure hope he'll be okay..." Goofy said quietly.

Donald sighed. "We'll just have to try to be there for him, I guess."

Goofy nodded, and that was the end of the conversation.

Kairi buried her face deeper in her pillow.

Ugh. 'Sora', 'he'. It chafed.

She rubbed at her chest (Sora's chest, really, because it was his body-). That burning feeling again, chasing her...

And they noticed something was different when Sora was the one fighting instead of her... She really should explain something to them. Ugh.

...It was nice to know they cared, though.

Kairi gasped.

I get to be a mermaid? Wait, Sora, you got to be a mermaid? And you never told me?

A feeling like rubbing the back of his neck. Hehe, yeah? Guess it slipped my mind.

Sora! How could you forget about this? Sora!!

Whoops?

Kairi tried to do a few flips in the water and failed miserably but the fact that she could do that - and she was breathing underwater and she was a mermaid! a mermaid! - meant she didn't really care because this was awesome!

Isn't it?

She just... wished her chest wasn't so bare. She kept having to stop herself from trying to cover it up. It was a bit silly, really, this wasn't her body and it was fine, really-

You can be uncomfortable, you know.

...Yeah, okay. It was uncomfortable.

We can find something to cover it?

...No, it's fine.

If you're sure.

"Woah..." Kairi swam around to examine the many things Ariel had collected into her little grotto. Mirrors, vases, candles, chests, silverware, jewellery, hats, clocks, and so much more. All ordinary things - in fact, most of the jewellery looked cheap and many of the utensils were bent and unadorned, so it wasn't even that these were high value ordinary objects.

And yet, Ariel collected them with such fascination, like they were something fanciful - because to her, they were.

"Someday, I'm going to see what's out there." Ariel slowly spun in a circle, admiring her collection with a wistful expression. "I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?"

"No..." Why would she, with the friends she had? Kairi never really understood the need to leave, never really understood why anyone would want to leave Destiny Islands and its familiar comforts. It wasn't perfect, sure, but...

She didn't understand it, was the point, and she still didn't, even having an adventure of her own. She still missed her home and her parents and the island... But, the point was also that her best friends wanted to leave and while she never did, she wanted more than anything to be wherever they were (to not be left behind), so if that meant leaving, so be it.

(Stuck on the islands when they were gone, forever aware of what she was missing even if the name of one of them eluded her. Left behind and left behind until she took a step to chase after them, to be worthy of being brought with them-)

That burning feeling ripped through her chest again- maybe not her chest, actually? More in her heart, maybe.

...Where was she going with that? Oh, right. She might not understand the desire to see other worlds, but she could respect it. So, no, it didn't sound strange to her that someone else might want to see other worlds.

Kairi drifted along as she thought, and found herself distractedly picking up a bell to see if it'd ring.

It only barely made a sound. They were underwater. That was what happened to bells being rung underwater, she supposed.

"Oh, hey!" Ariel said, swimming up beside her. "You're from far away, right? Ooh, maybe you'll have some different ideas about what these are for!"

"Maybe," Kairi said noncommittally.

"Like this!" Ariel plucked the bell out of her hand. "What do you think this is for? Flounder thinks it's just for decoration, but I'm not so sure."

"Hmm..." Kairi took back the bell and considered it, running it over in her hands. She could tell the truth. Or... "Maybe it's for a game. Like," she held it upside down and shook it, "maybe to see how fast you can make the thingy in the center hit the side."

Ariel gasped and snatched the bell back to shake it herself. "You're right! Maybe it really is!" Once she was satisfied with playing that 'game', she shoved it at Donald. "You try!"

Donald gave Kairi a funny look for the lie, even though she was totally following world order by lying, make up your mind you silly duck!

(She felt Sora laugh at the thought. Small victories.)

But in the end, Donald took the bell and shook it violently.

"Are you sure you're doing it right?" Goofy said, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes!" Donald squawked, glaring at Goofy.

"It's not even hitting the sides," Kairi pointed out with a laugh. "No points for you!"

Donald grumbled and handed the bell back to Ariel, muttering to himself as he turned his back to go pout.

...Did I ever say I'm sorry?

What for?

I didn't even notice it hurt you to be left behind all that time. I'm sorry. I... I thought I was keeping you safe but...

Kidnapped by the Organization... Captured by Xemnas, helpless, cut down by Xehanort...

("You can't... I don't want you to get hurt."

"Do as I say and go home... I don't want to put you in harm's way.")

...I'm sorry.

It's okay. Just don't do it again.

I won't.

Promise?

Promise.

Kairi curled up tighter in her gummiship bunk, pulling the thin blanket up to her chin. Her heart burned, and she felt her muscles relax forcefully.

A distant thought. Where did those other memories come from?

(Sora thought he knew. How easy it was to forget...)

They drifted off to sleep.

I've been wondering something.

Yeah?

How come you don't use defensive magic that much? I know you know how, you at least know how to use Aero like a shield now.

Oh, that's easy. I just forget I can.

Huh.

I think I'm used to Naminé doing those spells for me. She's better at defensive magic than me, anyway.

Wait, how would Naminé be doing that?

She was with me when I was training, in my heart, remember?

Kairi hovered a hand over her heart. 

She kind of, leaned over my shoulder sometimes when we were learning magic. Metaphorically, of course, but... I think it might have been Naminé doing most of the lessons for spells like Reflect and maybe even Cure, I'm not sure. But when we sparred... Yeah, I think it was Naminé using those spells. She was at least way better at remembering to use them at all than me!

Hmmm... So that's why you never heal yourself!

Hey! In my defense, I'm used to Donald and Goofy healing me!

Donald never healed me...

Did you talk to him about that?

...Nooooooo?

See! That's your problem!

...

What's up?

...Maybe you should've been doing this from the start.

Huh?

...Never mind.

...Okay.

During a routine Heartless battle in Halloween Town, Sora spoke up, but not to her.

Hey, Ven, are you there? he called out.

Oh right, Kairi thought to herself, Ven's heart's in here too. She had forgotten about that. (DESCRIBE ACTION OF BATTLE)

He must still be asleep, Sora thought to himself. But just in case...

Ven? I just wanted to say... I'll make sure we get Aqua and Terra back this time too, no matter what. I promise.

Kairi was nearly bowled over by the sudden bone-deep tiredness that swept over her.

I know you will, Sora.

The thought was distant, accompanied by the feeling of a soft smile.

Me, too! Kairi added. Don't forget me! I'll do whatever I can to help as well!

A chuckle. Thanks.

The tiredness receded just as Ven's presence did.

Kairi shivered at seeing her unresponsive body, carefully positioned to be sitting listlessly, like she was just zoning out. But something about the unseeing eyes, the mouth drooping open with saliva dripping down, the way the body jostled around with every steady breath it took...

It was... It was...

Uncomfortable.

"What? No reaction? I guess you really don't care about your old friends, huh?" Riku said, some real hurt laced in his words. "I do all this work to find her while you're off goofing off, and you don't even care."

It took a few seconds to shake off his stupor, the strange feeling of being pulled back to awareness roughly. "Of course I care!" he said once he recovered enough to talk.

"Oh yeah? Funny way of showing it," Riku replied with all that- ugh, he hated this, hated everything about it, hated seeing his friend like this when he knew Riku was better this, when he had seen Riku grow and change.

"I could say the same about you!" Sora shot back, anger and hurt and frustration and every other complicated (dark, dark) emotion rushing to the surface. He found himself guility wishing someone else was here to deal with this instead of him.

(Kairi was so much better at living his life than he was-)

"At least I'm doing something!"

"What, letting the darkness take over you?"

"It's not taking over me, Sora, it's making me stronger! I control the darkness!"

"Ha!" Sora couldn't stop himself from barking out a humourless laugh. "Keep telling yourself that."

(That didn't feel like himself.)

"I'll show you," Riku said darkly, raising a hand.

Oh, that shadow version of himself rose out of the ground. Right. That happened.

And then the floor fell out from under him and everything went the same way it did last time.

Sora was fighting Heartless at the Colleseum when Kairi spoke up next, Kingdom Key carving into the horde.

...How long was I out?

He stumbled - they stumbled? and ended up in the direct path of a fireball from one of the little floating elemental cone Heartless things - Red Nocturne - right, that.

...I dealt with all of the stuff on Hook's ship.

Oh. Right. Thank you.

You're welcome.

They got their footing again and backed away from the Heartless to take a little breather, or as much as they could in the middle of an arena full of Heartless seeking to devour their hearts/light.

...Sorry.

Not your fault.

I know. I just... I was supposed to take over for you.

...Not your fault.

Okay.

Kairi took a breath to recenter herself, then dove back into the fight, Destiny's Embrace flashing.

"-But it all ends here. There can't be two keyblade masters."

...Yeah. That was definitely how it worked.

Oh, cut him some slack, we were all working on limited information.

Despite the intent to lighten up the conversation, Sora's words were subdued, even in the unspoken form they took.

Kairi didn't respond to Riku, she just watched, tense and prepared for battle. This is where everything came to a head, she knew.

"Let the keyblade choose its true master!" Riku stretched out a hand, and...

Nothing happened.

(Come to think of it, how did he even steal Sora's keyblade last time? Was it because it had been technically Riku's? Why did it even go to Sora in the first place?)

"...Huh?" Riku looked at his empty hand. "...Oh."

(...And who told him that would work? And how did they get the idea?)

"Ha! Of course it didn't work, dummy! This is my keyblade, got it?" And she just barely stopped herself from saying 'got it memorized?'; she couldn't just steal Axel's thing without him there to complain about it!

Riku closed his fist and pulled out his sword instead, drawing Kairi into a battle while sputtering something about proving himself in a battle.

Kairi just felt victorious, and even more so once she won (it was a hard battle, but not end-of-the-world difficult).

Sora, though, Sora... Kairi felt him drift away as he retreated with his complicated bundle of emotions.

Kairi held the keyblade made from the hearts of the other Princesses of Light. She made a face at it. It felt like it was crawling over her skin, like something poisonous and wrong was coating her bare fingers from where they gingerly held onto the grip of the keyblade.

Do I have to...?

It's okay. Let me.

But... do you really have to?

Don't you want your body back?

...

And what about Roxas and Naminé? I... I want them to live, even if it means they have to deal with all the horrible things that happened to them. I want them to live...

Even if it means...

Yeah.

Sora... I don't want you to.

That's okay. I'll do it anyways.

A breath in, a breath out. He positioned the keyblade.

Sora! No!

He smiled.

Not again!

And everything went black.

Kairi lunged to grab Sora even as his body dissipated (and reformed somewhere else, as Roxas, while his heart wandered somewhere around this castle as a Heartless), even though she knew it was fruitless.

"Sora... You- How could you?!" She screamed, she seethed, she looked for a target to direct her anger on.

"Come back, Sora!" Donald screamed as well, pleading at the last shreds of Sora's presence.

"Sora..." Goofy said, voice full of grief.

(It's kind of funny, she thought distantly; this version of Donald and Goofy don't even know Sora very well. They're crying for someone they don't know.)

Ansem showed up.

Kairi lunged for him immediately, summoning her keyblade with a cry of rage, interrupting whatever stupid thing he had to say.

"That keyblade..." Goofy said to himself, like half of a revelation.

Donald quacked in surprise. "What are you doing?!" Despite his surprise, he still joined the battle.

"Kairi, no! We should retreat!" Goofy yelled even as he rushed in to support her.

She almost ignored them, her anger too loud to let anything else be heard, and too used to 'Kairi' being used to refer to her comatose body and responding to 'Sora'. But she knew just how inefficiently she was fighting, in a body that wasn't used to fighting and as a heart that wasn't used to this body anymore. She would lose sooner rather than later.

So, she listened, even if only because Ansem had thrown her bodily across the room.

(Ow.)

(...and it was also a little bit the burning feeling took over her heart again, leeching away her anger and will to fight with every pulse of caustic whatever-that-was.)

And just in time, Riku worked his magic and fought off Ansem from within, giving them time to escape just like before.

And because she didn't get a chance to last time, she called out as she left: "Thanks, Riku!"

Even if this whole thing was his fault, in a way, this was the first thank-able action he'd had in a long while and she, with the benefit of time and lots of reflection, was willing to at least give him that.

(Kairi waited for Sora to say something about the idea of this being all Riku's fault.

Sora didn't comment.

Because he wasn't there anymore.)

Light rained around them as Kairi hugged Sora, restoring him with her magic back to his normal self.

She felt him hugging back, same as before.

"Kairi... I'm sorry," was the first thing he said to her.

Kairi pulled back just enough to flick him on the nose. "You better be! You were supposed to stop leaving me behind!"

"Sorry..." He looked so... so...

Ugh. She hugged him again so she wouldn't have to see the expression on his face.

"It's fine, you're forgiven. But I'm coming with you for the final battle this time!" she insisted, burying her face in his neck. Her heart burned.

"Kairi..."

She wasn't sure whether he was thinking she was too weak for this (he was too kind to say that outloud, of course), or if he was worrying about both their strengths, as he hadn't fought in a while and her body hadn't fought ever. Either way, she made sure to head it off pre-emptively. "It'll be fine, we'll have an epic training montage, it'll be great."

Sora chuckled weakly. "...Yeah, okay. Sure."

It didn't hit until they were clambering into the gummiship for the night.

Kairi went for the bottom bunk where she normally slept. Sora went for the top bunk where he was used to sleeping.

"Hey, that's my spot!" Donald complained at Sora.

"Huh? No, it's not!" Sora argued.

"Yes it is!" Donald retorted, stomping his feet.

"No, I've always-!" Sora cut himself off, his sleepy mind finally catching up to him. Right. As far as Donald and Goofy remembered, 'he' always slept in the bottom bunk. Instead of finishing his sentence, Sora settled for tiredly glowering at Donald.

"Just let him have it," Kairi said, sounding like she was seconds away from falling asleep.

"You can always sleep in the bunk above mine!" Goofy offered.

Donald huffed and turned away to climb up to the other bunk.

Sora stared up at his ceiling, something heavy curling in his gut. Memories flashed through his mind, all the time he spent with Donald and Goofy, the friendship they built.

They didn't know him anymore.

Maybe it's better that way, something in him whispered.

Sleep didn't come easy that night.

They decided to train in Olympus Colleseum. Kairi still hadn't sealed the keyhole, anyways.

(She was so going to beat Sephiroth one day. Even if Sora said he was probably holding back, he was still a tough challenge... But she could do it! She would!)

But first...

Kairi sighed and set down her cup of tea. "I guess I owe you an explanation."

"I'm sorry, I should explain," Sora said at the same time.

Kairi nudged Sora with her elbow, an action which would have made him spill his cup of tea if he had any left. "Come on, I can do the talking."

Sora frowned. "No, I'm the one who-"

"Nope! I'm explaining and that's final!"

"Kairiiii," Sora whined, the edges of his lips threatening to turn up into a smile.

"It's my adventure now, I do the explanation!" Kairi said, poking him until he relented.

"Okay, fiiiiiine," Sora said with a little smile, fully giving in to being more lighthearted.

"Okay, so!" Kairi said, clapping her hands together as she gave her full attention to the others gathered around the little hotel room in Traverse Town. Donald, Goofy. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid. All looking at her attentively, waiting for her to say something.

Hmm... Where to start?

"Start with the-" Sora started to suggest.

"Nope!" Kairi smushed her hand on his face before he could say anything. "My explanation!"

Sora stopped struggling and gave in, so she took her hand back victoriously.

"So!" Kairi said again. "You know how my heart was with Sora all this time?"

"You did just explain that, yes," Aerith said, looking amused.

Donald and Goofy both looked deep in thought, then seemed to have a revelation at the same time, turning to each other with shock plain on their faces.

"Right, so. Uh. This whole time it's... not really been Sora you've been interacting with. Surprise! It's been me!" Kairi punctuated that admittance with jazz hands and an awkward smile.

"What?"

"Why didn't you say something!"

"...Why?"

"Did you really think I was going to say something when I wasn't even sure if you would believe me?" Kairi said. "Like, yes, hi, so I'm Kairi, my body was lost in the storm but Sora took in my heart and then I took over his body," she paused, realizing how that sounded, "with permission! So you should call me Kairi but Sora's also here and-"

She could see Sora fidgeting, opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, then shooting looks at her and deflating.

So, she stopped talking and instead pivoted towards Sora. "What, did you want me to tell them about the-"

"Well, yeah? But also..."

"Not every detail?"

"Not every detail, please," Sora requested quietly, his eyes distant.

"Okay! Got it!" Kairi turned back to her audience. "Another thing! We're time travelers."

Donald choked on the sip of tea he was trying to take. Aerith put down her tea and hummed in consideration, looking strangely unbothered by the idea.

"You see, we already lived through this year. Uh, Sora did this last time, but I took over this time because..." She paused, realizing too late that she didn't want to have to admit on behalf of Sora (who was already tensing and sinking lower in his seat) that it was because Sora really couldn't do it again. So, she changed gears without much further thought. "Because I deserve a turn in the spotlight too! I slept through most of last time, I wanted to experience it this time."

And that wasn't even that much of a lie! Good job, her.

She saw Sora relax and send her a grateful smile, so mission success!

Once all the explanations were over and everything all calmed down, they went out to the hotel balconies, the two of them, and decided to sit on the hotel roof after clearing out the Heartless in the area.

"How do you feel?" Sora asked her, holding her hand as he tugged her towards what he deemed as the best spot to hang out on the roof.

"A little bit stupid," Kairi admitted as they sat down. "I could have said something a long time ago."

"That's okay. It worked out, didn't it?" Sora smiled at her, still holding her hand.

"Yeah." Kairi looked down at their joined hands. "What about you? How do you feel?"

Sora was quiet for a long moment, choosing to look up at the stars instead of answer right away. "I'm sorry I ever put you in this position," he admitted quietly.

"What do you mean? You didn't do anything!" It wasn't Sora's fault they were in this situation, after all.

"That's kinda the point." He turned to look at her, a sad smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

Sora disentangled their hands, bringing his hand up to his heart. "I wasn't strong enough - You shouldn't have had to take over for me. You shouldn't have had to deal with everything I did."

Kairi jabbed him in the side.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Sora rubbed his side with a wince.

"Dummy," she said, "Strength isn't doing everything by yourself all the time. Strength is knowing when to accept help."

Sora lowered his eyes, looking down at Traverse Town. "You think so?"

"And don't you dare call yourself weak!" Kairi continued vehemently. "You're the strongest guy I know!"

"Am I really?" he murmured.

"Yes!" Kairi answered without a second thought.

He went quiet again. Kairi wished she knew what he was thinking.

They watched the stars for a while.

Another one blinked out as they watched.

"So, how much time do we have, do you think?" Kairi asked Sora to change the subject, distantly thinking how weird it was to have to ask him out loud.

"Hmm..." Sora hummed in thought, absentmindedly rubbing his chest. "Well, last time we spent quite a bit of time recovering and finishing up things on other worlds, right?"

Kairi laid a hand on her own heart (or an approximation of where it would be), thinking about how empty her heart felt now, and wondering if Sora felt this empty just before the end of the last timeline. "I wonder if Ansem just hung out around there waiting for a dramatic confrontation."

"...You know what, I think he did."

Kairi giggled at the thought. "What if we just, take our time?"

Sora shook his head immediately. "No, I don't want him getting bored and deciding not to wait any longer."

"...Right."
Sora got up and held out a hand to Kairi, a smile plastered on his face. "Come on, we have an awesome training montage to get to."

Kairi pursed her lips at his fake smile. A heartbeat later, she laughed and took his hand, letting him pull her up. "Wanna see how much training we can fit into a week?"

"A week?" Sora considered it, then smiled at her confidently and held their clasped hands up like a promise. "Yeah, let's do it."

As soon as they got into the gummiship to leave for the Colleseum, Sora raced for the driver's seat, while Kairi moved more tranquilly to the seat in front of the weapons system.

Donald and Goofy look at the scene in brief confusion, having expected Sora to go for the weapons like he normally did - and then they remembered that that was Kairi the whole time.

"Hey! What makes you think you can drive?" Donald said to Sora as he wrestled for the seat.

"I'm better at it than you!" Sora responded, sticking his tongue out and staying stubbornly in the seat.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try!" Donald shouted, stomping his feet.

"Uh, Donald?" Goofy spoke up. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"You want me to try? Okay!" Sora pushed Donald away and started the engine, sending a brilliant smile at them as he did so.

Kairi laughed as they lifted off and Donald and Goofy shouted. She knew Sora had years of experience flying the gummiship, so she wasn't worried. And, well, as long as she got to shoot things, she was happy.

And she had to admit, it was really fun working together with Sora as he piloted the ship and she shot at Heartless and whatnot. And the smile on his face... it wasn't the same as experiencing his emotions first-hand (second-hand?), but...

The smile on Sora's face could fuel the gummiship for years. Kairi wanted to protect it.

"Sooooo," Sora said as they landed on Olympus Colleseum, sending a smug look at Donald. "How'd I do?"

Donald grumbled and looked away, but in the end he sighed. "Fine, you can fly the ship," he reluctantly acquiesced.

"Of course I can," Sora boasted, "What do you think I used all those years of experience for, huh?"

Donald and Goofy had matching weird looks on their face as they were reminded that Sora was from the future.

"Soooo..." Donald spoke up.

"Yeah?"

Donald nudged Goofy and gave him a signficant look.

Goofy looked briefly confused "Huh? Oh! Right! We were wondering, if that's your keyblade," he pointed to Destiny's Embrace and then he pointed to the Kingdom Key, "and that's his keyblade..." He trailed off.

Kairi sighed. "Yeah, generally the keyblade matched the one in control."

Donald and Goofy nod, looking like that was confirmation for something they had already realized.

"Tired?"

"Ughhhhhhhh," Kairi wheezed, heaving in deep breaths as she leaned all her weight on one of the columns around the colleseum. "It's no fair," she said between breaths, "I made sure your body got all sorts of exercise."

"Hehe, yep, thanks!" Sora struck a pose, showing off the muscle that his body had gained.

Kairi shoved him, then made a face when he barely budged. "Ugh. Can I go back?"

The smile fell off Sora's face as he stared at her in open-mouth surprise.

Feeling a bit awkward now, Kairi added, "Or at least can I get back all the muscle I rightfully earned? Like, come oooon, Sora, at least share some of it."

Recovering from the change in mood, Sora smiled half-smugly at Kairi and flexed again. "Nope! Mine now!"

Kairi shoved him again. Sora let himself be moved this time.

In the break between matches, Kairi and Sora sat on the benches around the Colleseum and regrouped about how it was going.

"Hmmm... You keep expecting to have a longer reach," Sora commented.

"Yeah, so do you!"

"Oh, yeah, you're right. I was taller in the future, wasn't I?"

"You also keep expecting Donald and Goofy to back you up," Kairi noted hesitantly.

"Well, yeah..." Sora rubbed the back of his neck. "They've always been there."

"...I think they're confused, now. They don't know which one of us to back up."

"...Huh." Sora looked down, and that was the end of the conversation.

At least she was still good at magic.

Kairi cast a very beautiful Blizzaga then shot a smug smile at Sora, who was still stuck on first-tier magic. He stuck his tongue out at her and cast Gravity on the Defender that was about to attack her.

"...Hey, what happened to your lucky charm, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, that... I tried to make one for Riku this time, too, but... I didn't finish either in time."

"Oh..."

They both looked down. Kairi rubbed her chest.

"...That's okay. Oathkeeper suits Roxas better than me, anyway."

"Oathkeeper?"

"Your lucky charm turned out to be a keychain. Gave me Oathkeeper..."

"Huh."

Dodging and blocking, they determined were both important for Kairi to retrain. Even if she couldn't hit very hard (yet!), she could at least survive longer and shoot off magic spells in the meantime.

The only problem was, Kairi still wasn't used to being in her body again.

Sora valiantly held off from laughing as Kairi flopped to the ground after another failed dodge roll attempt. He held out a hand and bit his lip to hold back a snicker. "Good try."

Kairi rolled her eyes and took his hand. "I'll get it next time."

"That's what you said the last few times!"

"Sora! You're supposed to be encouraging me!" Kairi set hands on her hips and tried to give a stern look at Sora, though she couldn't help but break into a smile.

"Hey, I'm just saying!"

Eventually it was time to make it back to Hollow Bastion, and then to what Sora said was called the 'End of the World'. Dramatic, much?

Oh, right, she had to say that out loud.

"Dramatic, much?"

"Hey, it's fitting!" Sora contested, then stopped to think. "Actually, it was Jiminy who named it the first time."

"Huh? I did?" Jiminy said, hopping out from his usual perch in Sora's hood. "Hmm..." He tapped his tiny pencil against his chin in thought. "You know, that does sound like something I would come up with."

"You never told me we had to fight everything and the kitchen sink on the way there!" Kairi huffed at Sora as she cast Curaga after the latest battle, casting a smug look at Donald as she got to the healing first. It wasn't often that she got to it first, but she was trying to remember more often, now. (Naminé wasn't there to pick up her slack.)

"I'm sorry, I kinda forgot about that part!" Sora protested, checking over their equipment again and judging if they had enough healing items left.

"How did you forget that?!" Kairi gestured wildly back at the weird portal that led to a small arena that was chock full of Heartless, then snatched a Mega-Ether from the pile Sora was counting.

"I don't know, the battles start to blend together after a while!"

Kairi had a weird expression on her face as she considered that. "True..."

"Destiny Islands?" Kairi said in confusion as they stepped through the door. She was expecting... Hmm... A void? From what she understood from the shards of memory Sora had (accidentally) shared with her, the upcoming battle included Ansem fusing with a boat at some point.

"Get ready," Sora said, drawing his keyblade.

They all slowly walked up to the Secret Place, keeping watch around them.

And then Ansem appeared saying dramatic things, and the fight started.

"Ohhh, that's the part with the boat," Kairi said once Destiny Islands fell away to be coated in darkness and they finally spotted Ansem again (and they remembered they could fly here). "Finally!"

"The part with the boat?" Sora wrinkled his nose.

"What, it's the only part I know about!"

"Wait, did you get that from my memories?"

"Yeah, a bit bled over."

"Would you two focus!" Donald squawked at them.

"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!"

"Good luck with that," Sora snipped, anticipating what he already knew would happen. He could say what he did last time, something about being sure that Kingdom Hearts is light, but eh, he wasn't feeling it.

And then the door opened, and Ansem dissipated as light consumed him or whatever.

"Riku!" Kairi called when she could only see him through a sliver of rapidly-closing door, "Bring back Aqua this time!"

The split-second confusion on Riku's face before the door closed would keep her satiated for a long while.

"Kairi..." Sora said in a long-suffering tone.

"What? I can say all the other things I have to say to him," and oh, did she ever have a lecture for him, "after he gets back to the Realm of Light."

"Kairi... I don't know how long that'll take. I don't know how long that took the first time!" Even as he said that, he leapt back to lock the door with the Kingdom Key.

Kairi froze. "You know what, I didn't think of that."

The door faded into sparkles.

"Eh, I'm sure it's fine," Kairi shrugged, and then grabbed onto Sora's arm when the ground shook. She held on with an iron grip as light burst into being like rain, bringing the worlds back from the Realm of Darkness.

She would not let go of him this time.

Sora sighed, and held her hand with a grip as tight as hers. "We'll find him again."

Kairi nodded. "We will."

Chapter Text

Kairi smiled at Sora and Donald and Goofy, delighted to be here on this endless path of dirt and grass and not stuck on Destiny Islands, even despite not knowing where they were or how to get out of there. It would be fine, right? It worked out last time, after all!

...And then she remembered Castle Oblivion.

"Kairi?" Sora asked, wondering why she stopped walking.

Naminé only shared a little bit about what happened in Castle Oblivion, and offered her only the barest hints of memories for more context. In the end, Kairi didn't know a whole lot about what went down, only that it was Bad.

"Sora," Kairi said evenly. "The part you don't remember is coming up, right?"

"Oh. I guess it is, yeah."

She smiled at him, big and wide and with frantic eyes. "We're not going let that happen again, right?"

"Well, sure, but I don't really remember anything."

"Is it bad?" Donald asked with narrowed eyes.

"Very!" Kairi said. "I don't know a whole lot myself, but we need to help Naminé."

"Oh! Naminé!" Sora brightened up at her name, excited to see her, then set his jaw in determination. "Is she in trouble?"

"Yeah, the Organization's threatening her."

"Then we gotta help her!"

"Yeah!"

"Um, guys?" Goofy spoke up, him and Donald looking confused. "Who's Naminé?"

Kairi and Sora looked at each other.

Kairi sighed. "She was resting in my heart similar to how I was resting in Sora's."

"Ohhh, I see." Donald and Goofy nodded in understanding, barely understanding anything.

The doors closed behind them with a resounding thud.

No going back.

"So, what's the plan?" Sora whispered to Kairi once the Organization member - Marluxia, Sora knew - left.

"Ooh, a plan, right," Kairi winced. "Uh. Give me a sec."

"What are we supposed to do without our fighting abilities?" Goofy asked.

"My magic..." Donald complained plainitively.

"I still have my powers," Sora whispered, glancing around the room to make sure no one was listening in, "despite what Marluxia says."

"Huh... Thanks, Naminé, I guess- wait, did you say Marluxia?" Kairi raised her voice to a whisper-shout.

"Yeah?"

A wicked grin stole over Kairi's face. "Great! He's on my list of people to beat to a pulp for being mean to Naminé!"

Sora recoiled a bit from the poison in her smile. "Oh." He set his jaw in determination. "We'll beat him." Again.

Kairi smiled at him, then it fell off her face as she went back into business mode. "Right, so, I think you should pretend not to have your powers for a bit until..." Her brows furrowed in thought. "Well, I have to get to Naminé somehow, so maybe until we run into Axel? I think I can bully him into making me a dark corridor..."

"Axel was here?"

"Yeah, keep up. Oh, but what if he doesn't show up until a long while from now... Hmm..."

Donald and Goofy looked between them and their continued planning, then looked at each other, utterly lost.

"-if we just run through it like normal, though, that's still leaving Naminé in trouble and... I don't want you to lose your memory again, and I don't think she wants to do it either."

Sora nodded, trusting Kairi's judgement.

"Oh, but we still have to wait for Riku to show up-"

"So Riku's really here?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Yeah, he shows up at some point, I don't know when, him and King Mickey too-"

"The king?!" Donald and Goofy chorused excitedly.

"-not that I know how either of them got here, but I'm pretty sure they show up, just don't know when, and what if we leave too soon?"

Sora laid a hand on his heart. "Riku..." he said quietly, his eyes distant. He really wanted to see Riku again, but... Would Riku still recognize him?

Kairi made a small noise of frustration. "Ugh! I just can't figure out what to do."

Sora expected Goofy to make a comment about following your heart, but... He didn't say anything.

And then the conversation was halted when he sensed a dark corridor being opened behind him.

They all whirled around, breaking up their formation into something more battle-ready.

Oh. It was Axel.

(And where was that familiar pang in his heart at the sight of Axel?

...Oh right, that always came from Roxas, didn't it. Xion too, probably.

They weren't in his heart yet. And hopefully never. He didn't want to ruin their lives a second time...)

"Geez, guys, what's taking so long? Is it really that hard to figure out?" Axel drawled, tone full of empty exasperation. "You have a World Card, you use it on the door, it's not that hard."

"Axel!" Kairi shouted, marching towards him.

Axel narrowed his eyes. "I'm glad to hear you have it memorized but- where did you learn my name?"

She summoned her keyblade for effect. "Nevermind that, you're going to take me to Naminé right now or you're going to find out what the business end of a keyblade feels like shoved up your-"

He barely budged at the sight of the keyblade. "Woah, someone's feeling feisty. And what makes you think that's going to work on me?"

Kairi glared at him, considering her options now that that didn't work (A shame really, she wanted to fight him, but he knew how to be slippery when it was to his advantage. He would just leave if she tried to pick a fight with him for real). Blackmail? She did bully a few embarassing childhood stories from him. It would be a shame not to use them, but now maybe wasn't the right time. Something about Saïx? Or about being a good little dog for the Organization? Hmm... No, too harsh, and she wasn't sure how to word it.

Oh, she was taking too long, she had to do something- "What about Roxas? And Xion? You think they'd be happy to hear about what you've been up to over here?"

Axel went eerily still, his sharp eyes piercing right through Kairi's heart. "Nice try," he said slowly, any trace of emotion wiped from his voice, "But I'm not rolling over that easy."

And with that, he disappeared in a cloud of darkness. Destiny's Embrace clattered to the floor from where she threw it, missing him entirely.

Kairi took a breath and let it out in an angry huff that burned on the way out. "Fine. I tried."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy exchanged glances, not sure what to make of that little interaction. And now what, if 'bully Axel to make him bring Kairi to Naminé' didn't work out? Not that any of them felt like it was a very viable option in the first place, but there was no stopping Kairi once she got going.

(And now what would happen, now that Axel knew that Kairi knew more than she should?)

Suddenly, a dark corridor opened up, beckoning.

Kairi looked at it. "That works!" It could be a trap, but something told her it was Naminé who opened that. "Thanks, Naminé," she whispered under her breath as she hurried towards it.

Sora followed her.

Kairi stopped at the edge of the corridor and turned back to face Sora. "Sora... You can't follow me."

"But..."

Kairi shook her head. "I'm a Princess of Heart. I can go through this safely. You can't."

Sora bit his lip, looking ready to protest again.

"Sora... Trust me?"

Sora looked away. "Okay."

And Kairi stepped through, leaving Sora behind with Donald and Goofy.

The dark corridor hurt.

No, that wasn't it. The darkness couldn't hurt her, her heart was too full of light.

So, then, why did the walls feel like they were closing in on her? Why did it feel like the burn in her chest upgraded to dozens of tiny needles stabbing her heart?

It didn't matter. She had to get to Naminé.

It went something like this.

Naminé was born in a white, empty castle, and a group of individuals in black coats found her and plotted to use her powers over memory. Naminé spent her days sitting in a lone white chair and running colourful crayons over blank white pages while she dreamed of tranquil days spent on an island with friends.

She went over Sora's memories again and again until her sketchbook was half-full of childish drawings of a life she wished she got to live.

And then one day, Sora entered the castle along with... her. Kairi. The one they said she came from.

The instant those two stepped foot in the castle, something shifted, and Naminé found herself combing through memories she didn't have access to before.

Memories of the future. Sora's memories.

And in these memories, the girl called Naminé was brave. In these memories, the girl called Naminé took Kairi's hand and helped her to the best of her ability. In these memories, the girl called Naminé joined up with Kairi's heart and became whole. 
In these memories, Naminé was no longer a lonely shadow of a girl sitting alone in an empty room.

And in that moment, Naminé decided to be brave.

When Marluxia had told her to use her powers to make Sora and his friends' forget how to fight, she had been prepared to simply follow along because she had nothing else. But now...

Instead of taking away all their memories of how to fight, she left in Sora's. She rebelled, secretly, quietly, and a thrill went down her spine.

And when Kairi was in trouble because Axel knew that she knew too much, Naminé threw caution to the wind and opened up a path. She didn't even know she could do that before she tried anyway!

And then... Kairi stood before her. Naminé's breath hitched. She couldn't believe she did that.

Before anyone could react, Naminé threw herself towards Kairi, and Kairi stretched out her hands towards her and she caught her and-

Something clicked. She breathed out a sigh of relief. She felt whole again. One body, one heart (two hearts, Kairi whispered).

Just the way it was meant to be.

And all those memories... Hers, from the future. So much to sort through...

Can't relax yet. Kairi pulled out her keyblade and glared at the organization members in the room. Larxene, Marluxia, Axel.

Kairi, you have to run! There's too many to take on at once!

A knife sailed through the air, barely missing Kairi's face. More knives swiftly followed.

And Marluxia had out his scythe and was swinging towards her and Axel had out his chakrams and-

Run!

Kairi dodged backwards and into the dark corridor Naminé summoned for her.

The instant Kairi disappeared into darkness, Sora slumped.

He needed to be there with her. He needed to... He...

What use was he?

Before that line of thought could continue, another dark corridor popped up, and out popped Kairi, beaming like everything was okay again.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Kairi said breathlessly, dragging Sora by the hand towards the door.

"But- Naminé-"

"She's with me!"

"But what about Riku?!"

"And the King?!"

Kairi stopped, then made a tsk noise. "Darn, I forgot about him." She tapped her foot rapidly, glancing between the door to the outside and the door to the next floor. "Hhh- Okay, fine! Get ready to fight!"

"Fight?" Despite his confusion, he still steeled himself for battle, and to his sides he saw Donald and Goofy getting into combat stances as well.

Three dark corridors blossomed into existance.

The battle was rough.

Really. Really. Rough.

The first bit of the battle, Kairi spent trying to find an opportunity to let Naminé focus on giving back Donald and Goofy their memories of fighting - which was relatively easy, she just needed to be able to focus on it, and that was incredibly hard with three deadly opponents and only one other person on her side that could even remotely keep up - but somehow they managed, and then with Donald and Goofy back at their top fighting capacity, it was way less difficult - but it was still so, so rough fighting three very strong people at once.

At least Naminé was there to back her up. It was so easy to slip back into fighting with Naminé at her metaphorical side, filling in the gaps in her battle style and boosting her magic.

And it was so nice to fight with Sora.

It was still really, really hard, and several times Kairi thought that was it before Naminé or Sora or Goofy or Donald healed her just in the nick of time - but somehow, they scraped through it.

Right as it started to looked like they were somehow going to manage it, Axel took a step back from the battle, shrugged, and left.

Just like that, the tides of the battle completely turned. It was still hard fighting two opponents, but Kairi knew that with so many friends at her side, there was no way they were losing.

And they won. Larxene and Marluxia faded away, and Naminé breathed out a sigh of relief.

And Kairi... She didn't know how she felt. Well, other than exhausted.

Sora had an unreadable expression when they faded away. Kairi wondered if he got used to killing people. She wondered if she would get used to it.

"Let's go find Riku," Sora said, turning away.

Kairi bit the inside of her cheek. "Okay."

Sora started to turn towards the door to go up.

"Ah," Naminé spoke up hesitantly. "Not that way."

Sora looked around. "What other way is there to go?"

"Ah... Here, let me." She brushed past him and gently set a hand on the door. She directed it to the memory of 'down' instead of up, then bypassed the World Card system so the next room would be empty. "Riku's downstairs. Try this."

"Hold on," Sora said suddenly, stopping in place. "What happened to Naminé?"

"Hm? She's right here?" She hovered a hand over her heart. Was it not obvious what 'she's with me' meant?

"Oh." Sora looked sad. "Is she... okay?"

"Why would I not be okay?" Naminé asked. "This is where I'm supposed to be."

"Oh. Uh. I mean, I was just..." He looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck, but there was still a worried slant to his eyebrows.

"It's sweet of you to be worried," she said with a smile, "but I wasn't really..." She looked away. "I'll be happier and safer with Kairi than I was ever before," she said quietly.

"Oh. Okay."

Kairi continued to walk, but Sora lagged behind, lost in thought.

(Was she just saying that? Did she really believe that...? But wasn't it... How could she really live when she couldn't live her own life, having to live the life Kairi had more than anything?

...But if she said she was happy...)

(...He still had to thank Naminé, didn't he. But... Was it the right time...? How would he know it was really Naminé he was talking to? It didn't feel right to tell Kairi to tell Naminé that he said thanks.)

It was awfully quiet, their footsteps echoing in empty room after empty room as they made their way downstairs.

Goofy broke up the silence first.

"Say fellas, I've been wondering," he put a hand to his head and looked pensive, "Why did the wacky time stuff happen anyways?"

"Oh." Kairi stopped moving. "I didn't think about that."

And yet, she had a feeling she knew why it happened.

Sora stopped walking and looked at her with an unreadable expression.

Isn't it obvious? Naminé whispered, passing a memory to her with gentle hands.

A sunset. A paopu fruit. Sora disappearing before her very eyes.

And... She remembered thinking...

'No. He won't leave me again.'

And that surge of light...

"It was me," Kairi whispered. That sounded right. She nodded to herself, assured. "Yep! It was me."

"What?" Sora stared at her with wide eyes. "Why?"

"Wh- Why?" Kairi stared at him incredulously. "Why? You're asking why? You? Sora! You disappeared!"

Donald and Goofy both jumped in shock at that news.

"And?" Sora's surprise leveled out into something harder, a stern, maybe even angry slant to his eyebrows. "We won! Everything we fought for, everything we did... We won, Kairi! Everyone was okay!"

"Everyone except you!" Kairi shouted. Was it really winning if Sora wasn't there?

"And?" Sora repeated, a hard set to his jaw.

"Sora..." Kairi searched his expression, trying to find the words to say. "You disappeared. I can't- I won't accept a world where you're gone."

"So you sacrificed everything we fought for? Everything I bled for?" Sora started to raise his voice. His voice cracked.

Donald and Goofy exchanged worried glances, both unsure what to do. But the wisps of darkness starting to rise off Sora were concerning, and they both had a feeling this confrontation would not end well.

"It's not a sacrifice! We can do it all again, maybe even better this time! Look at what we've already accomplished!" Naminé free from the Organization, Sora not having to go through getting his memories taken - that alone was worth something, wasn't it?

"Maybe you can do it all again," Sora said bitterly, "But did you ever think about me? What I want?"

"But- You don't get it! Isn't this better?" She didn't know what to say. How could he not understand? Wasn't it obvious?

Sora spoke quietly, but with no less conviction and no less bitterness. "Better for you, maybe."

"Wait- hold on, guys!" Goofy broke in.

"Maybe we can talk this out?" Donald tried to deescalate.

But it didn't work.

The wisps of darkness swirling around Sora clumped together, congealed, gathering faster and faster, until Sora was no longer visible- until two piercing yellow eyes blinked out of the darkness and finally the shape of Sora started to become visible in the darkness.

Oh, Naminé thought quietly. She recognized this form.

He clawed at the air and turned his blazing yellow eyes on his friends, angry beyond words, rage and darkness clogging his throat. He had so much he wanted to say to them but he couldn't speak so how could he communicate it? It was so- frustrating-! He swiped at the air, darkness trailing through the air behind every action.

...I could speak for you, if you want.

Yes! Please!

Okay.

He cracked open his jaw, darkness escaping his mouth in a puff of smoke. He ran his tongue over his teeth (were they sharper now...?) and spat out a glob of darkness.

"Kairi..." he creaked. He cleared his throat again, spitting out more darkness. "You're such a fool."

He took in a deep breath and let it out, feeling it rattle through his throat. He whirled around and leapt at Donald and Goofy, bodily pushing them out of the room, ignoring their cries - of betrayal? shock? - as he shut the door behind them. He didn't want them here to see him like this. He would deal with them later.

"Sora...?" She took a step back. She looked horrified.

"You... You... You..." He couldn't form the words. He laughed instead, a sharp thing that felt like knives lodged in his throat as it escaped him. "You don't understand what you've done, do you?"

Kairi's eyes were wide, like a deer in the headlights.

Banging noises erupted from the door. Muffled shouts came from behind it. He tuned it out.

"It's alllll just a fun little adventure for you, is it?" He took a step forward, letting out a gravely chuckle. "You. Don't. Understand." He took another step forward with each word, until he was looming over her, nose to nose, his darkness caressing her light. "You've never lived through... through..." He jerked back and snapped at the air again, lost for words and frustrated.

He backed away and paced in a circle, snapping his legs out in a purposeful stalk, hands clawing through the air.

"This isn't better!" he snarled, whirling around to glare at her with bright yellow eyes. "I can't do this again, I can't do this again, I can't-" he snapped his jaws closed, glaring at the ground.

He made a wordless noise of frustration and spat out another glob of darkness. "You- If you want to be the hero so badly, why don't you just take it? You'll learn soon enough..." He looked away so he wouldn't have to face her reaction.

His tone turned mocking and frantic. "A hero, a hero, a hero, that's what they want, that's what I'll be, I'll tear myself apart for them because maybe they won't realize I'm not a hero, I'm not good, I'm not strong." He twitched and snapped his teeth at the air again. "I'm nothing! I'm empty! It's them, it's you, it's everyone else! You, you're strong, you, you're what they want. A hero! Someone good!" He hunched over and started pacing the room on all fours, claws clicking rapidly against the tile.

"But me... Me... I'm never enough. My friends are my power because I have none of my own. I am nothing on my own, do you understand? These hearts I have carried with me - who am I without them? I'm empty! Empty!" The tile screeched as he dug his claws into it, snapping at the air with too-sharp teeth.

"Why won't you... Why won't you realize I'm not worth it? Why didn't you just let me disappear?" He whirled to face Kairi, wild eyes seeing through her. "You'll be better without me!"

"Sora..." Thick tears rolled down her cheeks. "I- How could you say that about yourself?"

He snarled soundlessly and gouged more claw marks in the tile.

"Sora- I-" She made a noise of frustration in the back of her throat. "What am I supposed to say? Sora, I love you. I care about you so much I'd tear apart worlds to keep you safe, to bring you back. It's you I care about! I wouldn't do that for anyone else! And Riku too, it's you he cares about, it's you he'd do anything for - and that's because we love you! You're our best friend and- and... Is it so hard to believe we care about you?" She reached out a hand towards him and took a step forward.

He hissed and leaped away, his back brushing against a wall. "Don't you see? I'm not worth caring about. I'm not good - don't you see all this darkness? This rage? I've tried so hard to be good, to lock away all the bad parts of me - but don't you see? This is who I am at my core! I'm a monster, not a hero! I'm-" He snapped at the air again and shuddered, a full body movement that disturbed the wisps of darkness trailing from him.

Kairi shook her head. "You're not bad, Sora. You're the most purehearted person I've ever met. You're not a monster. You're my friend." She took another step.

He pressed his back against the wall, the darkness encasing him bristling.

"Your darkness doesn't make you bad," Kairi said slowly, like she was testing the words as she spoke. She took another step, as slow and cautious as her words. "What about Riku? He has lots of darkness."

"That's different! Riku knows how to handle the darkness, he's- He's so good and he's worked so hard to be good, he's nothing like me!"

"Sora." Her tone turned pleading, coaching. "What about Riku made him handle the darkness like that? Why can't you do it too?"

"It's different!" he hissed.

Kairi took another step. "Why don't you ask him? You can figure it out together! And, and, I'm here too..." She bit her lip, suddenly unsure of what she was saying.

He snapped at the air as a warning to not get too close.

Kairi took another step. She was close enough to reach out and touch now. His darkness was suffocating. The light in her bristled and blistered and ached to reach out and eradicate the darkness taking over her friend. She took a deep breath, then spoke. "Sora... Your darkness, your anger... It's just a part of you. It isn't bad. You aren't bad."

His eyes were as frightened as they were feral, and he was taking in quick heaving breaths like a cornered animal. His back was as pressed against the wall as he could manage.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Kairi started to raise a hand. "Sora... I can accept this part of you. Why can't you?"

His breaths got even faster as Kairi gently laid a hand on his cheek.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I've got you."

She held back her light, even as it churned and roiled and threatened to break the dam and sweep away all his darkness. It didn't feel gentle, and she didn't trust it.

Slowly, slowly, his breaths became more even, and the darkness started to drift away.

He fell forward into Kairi's arms just as the darkness receded completely.

Kairi supported him as he buried his face in her shoulder and started to sob.

"Riku," he said between sobs, "I need to see Riku."

"Okay," she said, and she didn't hold it against him.

In the background, Naminé reached out with her magic, reached out further than she thought she could, reached and reached and reached, and spoke to the castle. She asked it to redirect the doors so that Riku could be brought straight to them.

And the castle resisted, either because she was too far or because she was not its master, but she pushed harder, and in the end it acquiesed.

"Sora!" The instant Riku reached the top of the stairs and spotted Sora, he was rushing towards him. "What happened?" He fell on his knees beside Sora and Kairi.

"Riku!" Sora pulled away from Kairi just long enough so he could collapse on Riku's shoulder. His shoulder was quickly soaked with cold tears.

Riku froze, not sure what to do.

Kairi pulled away, rubbing her chest. "We had a fight," she admitted quietly.

"What?"

Sora sobbed and pressed his face further into Riku's shoulder.

Kairi opened her mouth, then shut it again and shook her head. "We had a fight," she repeated, then retreated to the opposite corner of the room.

Riku refocused on Sora. He hesitantly hovered his hands over Sora's back, not sure whether to push him away or pull him closer. "Sora? Wh- why are you acting like such a child?" He winced after he said that. Of course he had to immediately say the wrong thing.

"I am a child!" Sora cried, his voice muffled.

"Sora..." What was he supposed to do? He didn't know. All he'd been good at lately was pushing people away and being a jerk - what was he supposed to do? He didn't know how to comfort people!

Sora kept crying, his sobs the only sound in the room.

And in the corner, Kairi watched.

Maybe it really was cruel of me, Kairi thought to herself. If nothing else, it's cruel to bring him to a time where all his friends that he went through so much with don't remember all of that.

...Maybe I really did mess up.

Maybe we can fix it?

How?

Well... I have power over memory... And he remembered after your heart, your light, touched his... So, maybe with my power and your light...

Oh. Well... We can try it.

They reached out together, memory and light and willpower, reached out and-

Riku stiffened when her light touched his heart.

Sorry, they whispered to his heart. Just one moment.

They trailed their power lightly over his heart, testing, carding through it for-

Ah, there.

Riku froze, feeling a strange power wash over him. And then...

Then...

He remembered.

"Oh, Sora..." He finally laid his hands on Sora's back and pulled him closer. "I'm sorry."

Sora sniffed and adjusted his head, cold nose brushing against his neck. "What for?"

"For not being there for you," he responded quietly.

"Oh. Well. You're here now," Sora replied simply, like that was all that mattered.

"Yeah. I am."

The door closed behind her with a quiet click.

Donald and Goofy watched her walk down into the room properly, faces full of worry.

"What happened?" Donald was the first to ask, more gently than usual.

"Is everything okay?" Goofy asked with concern.

"Riku's got it handled," Kairi said, and no bitterness made it to her tone, good. Her words ended up sounding flat, though.

Donald made a worried noise and reached out to her.

"Kairi..." Goofy said, sounding equally worried. "Are you okay?"

Kairi took a few more steps into the room, her back turned to them. "I'm not the one you should be worried about."

Behind her, Donald and Goofy looked down and back to the door.

Kairi sniffled quietly.

Donald and Goofy both stepped closer to her, making matching noises of concern.

Goofy laid a hand on her shoulder in support. Kairi sniffled again, but she brushed the hand off and stepped away.

"Anyways, I should..." Her voice broke. She shook her head lightly. "I should... Your memories..."

If she could do it with Riku, then... shouldn't she give back the memories of the ones who had been with him from the start?

Kairi... Naminé spoke up hesitantly. I'm not sure... Time travel has consequences, right? You know what the consequences were for Sora.

Right... Where was she going with this?

What if you're just making the consequences worse with every person more you give memories of the future?

...Too late now. And Sora deserved the support of his companions anyways.

...Okay.

(There hadn't been any consequences yet, anyways. Maybe there wouldn't be any.)

They reached out once more, and Kairi ignored the burn in her chest (was it getting worse...?), and they reached out to the two hearts near them. Memory and light reaching for that special bond of friendship... Forged through time and hardship... And if they just brought it to the surface, then just like with Riku...

Ah, there. Something clicked, like a lock giving way.

Donald and Goofy froze, then called out, "Sora!" in unison and raced up the stairs and through the door.

(The door let them through now. Naminé made sure it would.)

Kairi watched them go, left alone in an empty room.

Riku stared at the opposite wall, absentmindedly rubbing Sora's back as he cried.

"You know," he murmured, "I'm so, so glad you're okay."

Sora sniffled. "Yeah? Even though you have to go through everything again?"

"Yes. Even if I had to go through it a hundred times, if it meant you'd be okay."

Sora lifted his head to scrutinize Riku's face. Riku looked back at him.

"What about a thousand times?" Sora asked, a bit more spirit to his voice.

"Even a thousand times," Riku assured.

Sora's eyes traced over his face again, and then he broke into tears again, burying his head in Riku's shoulder again.

"Sora!"

Donald and Goofy came racing into the room, catapulting at Sora and Riku into a group hug, knocking the two of them over.

Sora was startled into a watery laugh. "H-hey guys!"

Riku laughed a little from his position at the bottom of the dog pile.

Sora wiggled around until he could hug Donald and Goofy back, and then they all extricated themselves from the group hug.

Sora offered a hand to Riku to help him stand up, which Riku took (though with no small irony that Sora was offering him a hand when he was the one crying in the first place).

Once they were all standing up again, Donald made a worried noise and then hugged Sora again, Goofy following suit just behind him.

"I'm so glad you're okay..." Donald said, tearing up himself.

"Woah, what's up?"

"We remember now, Sora!" Goofy said excitedly.

"Really?" First Riku, now Donald and Goofy?

"Really!"

He teared up again, hugging them tighter.

In the back of her mind, Naminé was monitoring the events of the castle. Subconsciously, mostly, just absentmindedly trailing her hands over the chains of memory of anyone in this castle she had access to.

Axel was still in the castle, watching, and looking for something.

Riku and Sora were still huddled together on the room above, now joined in a group hug by Donald and Goofy.

And... the Riku Replica... So new, his memories untampered with, his heart young and still forming... She watched him, too.

So, she noticed when he was sent out on a mission to fight Riku.

She noticed, and she couldn't stop him from entering the dark corridor that would lead straight to Riku and Sora, but she could ask the castle if it would change just enough that the corridor would lead to a dead end.

She asked the castle. It resisted. She pressed it the memory of a maze mixed with memories of cave walls, a maze with Sora and Riku protected at the center and the Replica ending up in a place where the only option was to go to the door to the next floor. A bit like the memory cards the Organization members wanted Sora and Riku to be forced to use, only one completely made up and not truly based on real memories. Something for her own uses and not theirs. Something new and shaky. A gamble, really.

It paid off. The castle acquiesed.

Sora pulled away, wiping his tears on his (already damp) arm. "I'm... glad you're here, but..." He looked away. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this again."

"Aww, didn't we say before? We're with you until the end!"

Sora smiled at them. "Thanks, guys."

Suddenly, the room shifted and warped around them. Thick, unnaturally flat cave walls sprouted from the ground around them, boxing them in.

Mission: Beat the other Riku.

He could almost see the mission objective in the corner of his vision, reminding him and keeping him focused.

The other Riku... The real thing... Yes, he would prove he was stronger.

But when he exited the dark corridor, he was faced with a cave wall.

That's not right...

A distant thought popped up; a glitch? No, it's not quite the same...

He followed the wall, laying a hand on it as he went. It kept twisting and turning, almost like a maze... Where was Riku in all this?

At the end of path, there was a door.

He paused, looking around to see if there was another path out - Riku was supposed to be here on this floor, not through another door. But if it was the only way out...

He wrapped his fingers around the door handles and pulled. It gave way easily.

(Wasn't there supposed to be some weird confusing card system here...? He had a whole deck of cards with him for fighting... Zexion liked to boast about the card system and Vexen liked to complain about how annoying it made getting places but the fact was that he needed cards to fight and cards to open doors. Hence the dark corridor to curcumvent that. So why did the door open so easily for him...?)

On the other side...

A blank white room.

And... A girl.

Kairi cut off her sniffling the instant she heard someone enter the room. She wiped her tears off with her hands, steeled herself, then turned around.

A very familiar boy was standing in front of the door. He was hunched over a bit, looking uncomfortable.

Riku...?

Ah. No, that's his Replica.

...What?

Did no one tell you? Riku had... has... a Replica. Like Xion?

Huh. Hm. Okay.

(What happened to him last time...?)

"Can I help you?" Kairi asked, wincing at the wavering quality of her voice. She clearly sounded like she had been crying.

The Replica of Riku straightened up (puffed himself up, really), opened his voice, snapped it shut, then barked out a, "No!" as he whirled around and back towards the door.

"Wait," Naminé called out.

The Riku Replica yanked the handle of the door hard, but it refused to give. (Because Naminé was exerting her influence again)

He yanked at it again, pounded on it a couple times, then sighed and gave up. "What?" he snapped as he turned around again.

Naminé hesitated, unsure of what she wanted to say. 'In another life, I tore you apart and put you back together worse and I wanted to apologize for that'? 'I broke the last version of you in a way that could never be put back together in quite the same way but you still chose to care about me over yourself and I still want to know why'? There was nothing she could say to him that would make sense (nothing she could say that would make what she did better, especially not to the one she didn't even do it to this time). But she had to say something, so. "Do you want to leave this place?"

"Leave?" He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

Oh, no, she had to commit now. "We're going to leave this place very soon. Do you want to come with us?"

He scoffed lightly, looking at her with distrustful eyes. "And why would I want to do that?"

"You'd be free," Naminé said, thinking of a birdcage with a doll in it. "You wouldn't have to be a tool for them any longer."

"A tool...?" He scowled. "I'm not a tool."

"Aren't you?" She spoke softly, like she was trying not to startle a songbird away.

His face twisted, and he summoned his weapon in a cloud of darkness.

Soul Eater, Naminé whispered as she faded into the background. Or a copy of it, anyway.

I recognize it, Kairi thought, taking a deep breath in as she summoned her own keyblade.

Do we have to fight? Naminé wondered.

It doesn't matter, Kairi thought back. If he wants a fight, I'll give it to him.

There was something about fighting, Kairi thought, that was so cathartic. The pull of her muscles, the grit of her teeth, the clang of her keyblade, the give as it sliced and tore...

It felt good.

It felt like she was getting somewhere. It felt like she was strong. Like she was useful.

(She wondered idly why she didn't do this earlier. How much she missed by not joining in on Sora and Riku's wooden sword duels...)

And it wasn't Riku that fell to the ground under her assault, but it still felt good to feel like she was better than him at something (even if it wasn't Riku she was beating up, and it wasn't really him she was better than in this moment. Still, that fleeting moment where she could pretend...

It was cruel of her. To treat the Replica like an extension of someone else.

But apparently being cruel was all she was good at doing lately, so what else could she have done?)

Riku Replica was across from her, driven to his knees. Battered and beaten.

Kairi twirled her keyblade. She took a deep breath. Okay, time to pretend to be a good princess again. "Good fight," she said as kindly as she could manage.

"Good fight," Riku Replica repeated in a high-pitched voice, mocking her. He moved like he wanted to say more but couldn't find the energy to think of anything. Instead, he just blew out air through his nose and glared at her.

"You can still come with us, if you want," Kairi said with her best Good Princess voice. Or maybe it was more a Good Hero voice? (It seemed Sora was as much of an inspiration for her as ever...)

"And what would that get me? A rematch?" He spoke dismissively, tossing his head for an extra layer of not-that-I-care-why-would-I.

Kairi perked up, liking the idea of a rematch more than she thought she would. "As many as you want."

Riku Replica raised his eyebrows, then gave a put-upon sigh that she instantly knew was just bluster. "Sure, fine, whatever. It's not like it matters either way."

Kairi beamed at him, and she had no idea how much of her smile was genuine.

Only one problem with getting him to come with them...

Naminé?

Hm?

Is Sora still...

...I think it should be okay to go upstairs now.

"Okay! Let's go!"

The floor above was empty like it was earlier, with Sora looking a bit more cheered up, surrounded by his friends.

Kairi watched from across the room as the three seemed to laugh at some joke, as Sora looked up at Riku and Riku gazed at Sora.

"You're travelling with him?" Riku Replica bristled, glaring at Riku. "Why didn't you think to tell me before?!"

"Huh?" She was not aware he had problems with Riku?

(He's in the shadows of Riku, always compared to him... Feels the need to prove he's better so that he can prove that he's useful enough to keep around.

...Oh.)

Before Kairi could think of something more coherent to say, the Replica huffed and grumbled, "Whatever," to himself, ending the conversation before it could start.

"Huh. Okay," Kairi muttered to herself.

Whatever was going on in his head was a mystery to her. Oh well.

"Hey guys," she called out in a subdued tone, walking up to Sora and his friends. "Room for one more?"

"Hi Kairi," Sora said quietly, giving her a wobbly smile. He then tilted his head at the Replica behind her. "Who's that?"

"Oh," Riku said, finally noticing his Replica. "It's you." He opened his mouth to say something, visibly changed his mind, and instead said, "Are... you coming with us?"

"Got a problem with that?" the Replica said, stance shifting to something even more defensive.

"No, no..." Riku said, smiling a bit sadly at him. "I'm glad."

The Replica looked away. "Sure."

There were some loose ends before they could get out of Castle Oblivion and move on (move on? To what? Where was there to go? Kairi wanted to go home to the islands but... They'd all outgrown it by that point. Was it even home anymore?

She still wanted to go back. Back to simpler days...)

First of all, and most importantly, King Mickey and Master Aqua were still in the Realm of Darkness. And Riku had a general idea of how to get there and how to find them, so.

"Can I come with you this time, Riku?" Sora pleaded.

Riku closed his eyes and inclined his head slightly, a small smile forming on his face. "Of course." He spoke so warmly, with so much affection.

(Affection...)

"Oh!" Sora turned towards Kairi, "Do you want to come too?"

Kairi's head jerked up (when had she lowered it?) in surprise. Her lips curled up in a smile. "Yes."

(Maybe he really would keep that promise this time...)

Chapter Text

"We should probably go get some coats before we go to the Realm of Darkness," said Riku, breaking the silence.

"Oh, right!" Sora said, back to something approaching his usual exuberance. He then deflated. "Uh, where do we find those?"

(Back to putting on airs, huh. Was it just because Riku was there? How much of it was real?)

"I know where," Naminé spoke up, drifting towards the doors. She brushed a hand against the off-white panelling of the door to the next floor. "Go through here."

"Thank you," Sora said gratefully to her with a smile.

She smiled back at him.

As a group, they drifted towards the door.

Before they could open the door, she spoke up again. "Ah, just a word of warning. It's very close to the Organization members in the basement."

The Replica Riku tensed, but didn't say anything.

"No worries!" Sora said, posing his keyblade over his shoulder. "We can handle them!"

Donald and Goofy cheered alongside him and also held out their weapons in agreement.

As they all walked towards the door, she hung back a bit.

The Riku Replica didn't move, just watched the others leave through the door with his lips a thin line.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Fine." He brushed past her, disappearing past the doorframe.

She followed.

Kairi rubbed the sleeve of a coat between her fingers and winced at the strange otherworldly feeling of the magic interwoven into the fabric.

"Look at me!" Sora said with a snicker. He had put on an oversized coat and was whipping around the dangling sleeves at Riku.

Riku playfully batted back at him. "You know you can resize these, right?"

Sora stopped throwing his arms around. "Really?"

"Yeah, how else do you think we found a coat for Mickey?" Riku stepped forward and lightly tapped the side of his keyblade against the dangling arm of the coat. As if by magic (because it was in fact magic), the coat began to shrink until it fit Sora perfectly.

"Woah... Cool!" Sora examined his newly-shrunk coat with wonder.

Riku smiled proudly as he went to go pick up a coat for himself from the pile of coats tossed haphazardly in the corner of the room.

Kairi didn't miss that Sora's eyes went distant and his expression more complicated the more he looked at the coat on his body. Not that she knew what to do about it.

She brought the coat she was examining up to her nose on a sudden impulsive thought and took a whiff.

Sora and Riku both turned to her when she reeled back.

"Woah, what's up?" Sora asked.

Kairi held the coat as far away from her as possible, her nose scrunched up in disgust. "When's the last time this has been washed?"

"Huh?" Sora took the coat from her and sniffed it himself. He pulled back with a considering expression. "I've smelled worse?" he offered.

"What do you mean you've smelled worse?! It smells like someone rolled in garbage then went wading in a sewer to wash it off!"

"It's not that bad," Sora insisted, handing it off to Donald and Goofy to smell.

Donald recoiled and shoved it away. Goofy took it from him and sniffed it. His nose scrunched up and he handed it over to Riku while waving a hand in front of his face to clear the smell.

Riku took a whiff, then considered it for a little while with a neutral expression. "I agree with Sora," he concluded.

"Ugh, we need a tiebreaker. Hey, you!" she called out to the Riku Replica from where he was skulking in the corner, watching the doors. "Come smell this."

The Riku Replica seemed skeptical, but he did come forward and gingerly took the coat from Riku, carefully avoiding brushing against Riku's fingers. The Riku Replica then brought the coat up to his face, took a sniff while staring warily back at them all, and lowered the coat. "I don't know what you're talking about. Isn't it supposed to smell like that?"

Sora obligingly raised the arm of his coat up to his nose to check. "Hmm... No, that one smells worse."

"Huh. Well. I don't see the problem." He then threw the coat back at Kairi, who caught it instinctively then dropped it out of disgust.

"Oh come on! It at least needs to be cleaned, right?" Kairi protested as she kicked the coat back into the pile of disgarded coats.

"Oh, absolutely," Sora agreed, nodding.

"Hmm, I don't know," Riku said in a light-hearted tone that indicated he was just joking around, "I think it can still go a few days. Why don't you try it?"

Kairi stuck out her tongue at him.

Zexion watched silently as the children picked through their pile of dirty laundry.

Riku, Sora, the girl - Kairi?, the dog and the duck, and even Vexen's little experiment. All teamed up and pawing through coats that desperately needed to be cleaned.

He, for one, did Not want to go out there. A dusk came by to tell them what happened to the upstairs crew; Revealing himself now would only mean he would share their fates. It was only logical to hold back.

Which is why it was interesting that Vexen was trying to get out there.

"Unhand me-!" Vexen sputtered, struggling against Lexaeus's grip. "I have to retrieve my ungrateful experiment!"

It was only a mild strain on his power to maintain the illusion that ensured the Keyblade wielder and his lackies did not hear or see them, but it remained true that it would not be so much of a strain if Vexen did not struggle as he did.

Lexaeus didn't budge, a brick wall that refused to let Vexen pass by and get himself killed. Again, only logical. They needed Vexen's mind to continue experimenting, and the Organization needed the science crew.

(...Right?)

Vexen finally stopped resisting. Lexaeus let him go, though he still kept holding an arm out between him and the doorway.

"I just don't understand how they lured the boy over to their side so quickly..." Vexen fumed to himself, "Some sort of magic perhaps?"

Zexion and Lexaeus exchanged glances.

"Or he left on his own volition. That boy!" He huffed. "I raised him better than this," he mumbled to himself as he turned around and left, gathering his notes as he went. "I suppose I will have to start anew. What a waste of good material!"

Lexaeus silently passed Zexion a small candy. A reward for good behaviour (not rushing out and getting himself killed). A simple but effective method of conditioning, not unlike training a dog.

Zexion quietly unwrapped the candy and popped it in his mouth, trailing behind Vexen on his way back to the lab.

"Here, this one doesn't stink that badly," Kairi said, passing a coat to the Riku Replica.

"I don't need it," he said, not even reaching out to take it from her.

"Neither do I," Kairi said bluntly. "But I'm taking one just in case."

The Riku Replica looked away, shoulders nearly up to his ears.

"You don't even have to wear it," Kairi cajoled, shaking the coat at him enticingly.

After a long, tense moment, he finally reached out and snatched the coat from her.

Kairi smiled to herself victoriously.

It wasn't really a lie, saying she didn't need it. She would probably be fine, her heart was all light and having Naminé in her heart too didn't really negate that.

But... If the dark corridor hurt - didn't hurt, it couldn't, she was a Princess of Heart, the dark couldn't hurt her - then...

Well. It didn't hurt to have extra insurance.

They all ended up finding coats in the end - Kairi even found one whose smell she could tolerate. She didn't technically need it, but Sora understood her reasoning of wanting it just in case. The Realm of Darkness was dangerous! Extra protection sure wouldn't hurt...

Well, the best way to protect her would be to simply not bring her along, but... She didn't want to be left behind again and... Well, she could take care of herself.

He just... wished she didn't have to deal with all the stressful things he had to deal with. If only he was strong enough to deal with it himself...

(If only none of this happened in the first place.)

Anyways!

On the way out of Castle Oblivion, they hashed out who was going where.

With Sora and Riku and Kairi going to the Realm of Darkness to pick up Aqua and the King, that left Donald and Goofy with the Riku lookalike (Who was that, anyways? A Replica? No one told him about that. Should he ask what was up with him...? Did he have a name? He should at least ask about his name. And were they even a he? Xion's a she, so he really couldn't just assume that Riku's Replica would also be a he. Hmmm... He should ask later).

"What are you going to do?" Sora asked the group that wasn't going to the Realm of Darkness.

The maybe-Replica looked to Donald and Goofy, who looked to each other.

"We could look for the gummi ship?" Donald suggested.

"Oh I know! We should look for gummi parts!" Goofy said.

Donald nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, probably easier to find that than the ship..."

"Does that sound okay?" Goofy asked the maybe-Replica. "You don't have to come with us if you don't want to!"

"Whatever, it's fine," he mumbled, crossing his arms and avoiding their gaze.

"Oh, look!" Sora said, running to the door at the end of the hall. "Is this the entrance?"

"Yes," Kairi said, or maybe Naminé. It was prooobably safe to assume it was Naminé who knew her way around here, right? Should he ask? Hmm... Maybe later.

"It'll open, right?" Sora said nervously, pausing with his hand on the door handle.

"Of course," Naminé (?) said with a warm smile, gesturing with her head to 'go ahead'.

With a deep breath, he pulled, and it opened easily.

He never thought he'd be so grateful to see the dark and ominous opening path of the castle. It was like he'd been in there forever.

(But it hadn't been that long...?

...Maybe it was a feeling left over from last time, the time he still didn't remember. The feelings were still in his heart even if the memories weren't, right?)

Everyone all started down the path, one after the other.

Sora paused on the path, looking back at the castle.

"Ven's still there." Or at least his body. But they needed Aqua to be able to access him... Did he still have the power of waking? Or did he have to recover it?

"We'll get him back," Kairi promised.

"Yeah..."

They soon drew near to the edge of the path. They idled near the end, knowing it was time to say goodbye.

"Well?" the maybe-Replica said when no one was saying anything. "Are we going to get going or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're going," Kairi said, but she had a complicated expression on her face as she watched Donald and Goofy walk over to stand by the maybe-Replica.

Sora wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was - it was weird to see Donald and Goofy leave on an adventure with someone else. They'd been with him all this time, and now Kairi's experienced having them by her side.

Sure, he'd have Riku and Kairi by his side this time, and that was awesome in and of itself, but... still.

"I'll miss you guys," he found himself admitting.

"Aww, cheer up, Sora! We won't be apart that long!" Donald said.

"Yeah, Donald's right! And don't forget, as long as we keep each other in our hearts, we'll never truly be apart!" Goofy reassured him.

"Aww, guys!" Sora drew them into a hug.

When they pulled apart, Donald waggled a finger at Sora. "Just don't get into too much trouble without us!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Sora protested with a laugh.

They all started laughing, the three of them.

Kairi hung back. She didn't say a word. Neither did Riku, for that matter, but, well, it was different, wasn't it?

The maybe-Replica tapped his foot impatiently and crossed his arms.

"Okay!" Sora said, grabbing an arm from both Riku and Kairi and tugging them forward. "Time to go! See you later!"

"Woah, Sora!" Riku said, letting himself get pulled. "I can walk for myself you know!"

Kairi just laughed and shifted so her arm was hooked with Sora's at the elbow. "Let's go!"

"To the Realm of Darkness!" Sora said, pointing dramatically forward.

"To the Realm of Darkness," Riku agreed with amused resignation.

Riku watched the others leave, swallowed up by the dark - and Riku wasn't his name but it was the only name he had so what else was he supposed to call himself? The real Riku was gone galivanting in the Realm of Darkness with his friends, so it wasn't like there was any one else named Riku in the area to contend with.

...What was he even doing here?

What was he doing anywhere? He was promised a rematch and that was why he was here but now it was just him and the dog and the duck. And what were they even doing?

(And why did it feel familiar to have them at his side? Worse, why was it comforting?)

The dog, whatever his name was, scratched his head. "Say, fellas, do you happen to know where to find gummi parts?"

"What do you mean you don't know?!" the duck squawked, "It's easy! They're... You just gotta..." He narrowed his eyes and trailed off with a grumble.

I'm sure there's plenty around here! If you just look around, maybe beat up some Heartless... I'm sure you'll find what we need.

(Ugh, that thought sounded way too much like Sora. Did their brief interactions leave such an impression on him? Gross.)

Still. Anything was better than standing around uselessly.

Riku brushed past the others, stomping forward.

What a lame and boring place to end up in. Green empty hills and simple endless dirt path. He glared at the path and stepped over it to go search the grass.

(A feeling of approval. Yes, that was a good idea- interesting and useful things were usually off the beaten path.)

He heard the dog and the duck follow him. Good.

Not that he needed them, obviously.

Roxas bit into his ice cream. Salty but sweet, like usual.

Xion sat beside him, eating her own ice cream.

Were they friends? Axel said friends ate ice cream together and laughed with each other. Did that make him and Xion friends? He still didn't know. Hopefully Axel would get back from Castle Oblivion soon so he could ask.

You don't have to ask him. Do you think she's your friend? Does it sound right?

It did.

He held his popsicle stick in his lap. "Maybe we are friends. Maybe we can just decide that."

"Really?" Xion looked over in his direction. "You really think so? We can just say we're friends?"

"Yeah! Why not!"

"Okay. Then we're friends," Xion said, nodding firmly.

"Friends," Roxas confirmed.

He couldn't wait for Axel to come back. Maybe they could all be friends together!

Kairi looked around the Realm of Darkness. She'd never been here before, it was kind of interesting getting to see it.

It was... more detailed than she expected. Kind of beautiful in an eerie way. Crystals and strange rock (?) formations wherever she looked...

She peered closer at a crystal. It was the only real source of colour around here, even though it was just as dark as everything else, pretty much.

But there was something familiar about it...

(Is this what gummi blocks are made of?)

Kairi reared back. Nope, nope, not touching that existential crisis.

Instead, she turned to look at Riku and Sora. Riku had his eyes closed and his hand over his heart, and Sora was looking at him expectantly.

"Which way?" she asked.

Riku opened his eyes. "This way."

Ohhh, was he following his heart? Very Sora of him.

They all marched off in the direction Riku pointed out. Another adventure, and this one she was a part of.

She couldn't help the little bounce in her step.

"Hey," Kairi asked partway into the walk. "What's it like to be in a dark corridor without protection?"

(Oh, I know this one.)

"Huh? Why bring that up?" Sora asked.

"Just curious!"

"It's not fun." Riku clenched his fist, his back to them. "It's all your pain, all your insecurities, everything you're scared to face, all thrown in your face at once. It's the cloying feeling of darkness sinking into your heart and dragging you down."

"Oh."

(If you're fast enough, you can get through without that being too bad. But it also slows you down, when the darkness is reminding you of all your guilt... All the bad things you've done...)

Naminé? Are you okay?

...I'm doing better now.

Okay.

...Are you worried about...

Dark corridors never hurt before. Why now...?

...

"Roxas, you're with Lord Xemnas today."

"Huh?" Roxas looked to the side, where Xemnas was standing, looking out the windows. It was already weird seeing Xemnas in the Grey Area - Demyx had even stopped strumming his sitar when Xemnas walked in. Though, he had continued when Xemnas gestured for him to go on, so it wasn't quite as weirdly quiet as it could have been.

Still. Seeing the Superior in the Grey Area never happened... except in special cases.

So, what was his mission and why did it involve Xemnas...?

"Ah, Number XIII, the Key of Destiny..." Xemnas said, turning away from the windows with a flourish of his coat, "Roxas."

Roxas stayed quiet, because Axel told him you had to stay quiet when talking to the Superior unless you had something really important to say or he was asking you a question.

"Come," Xemnas commanded, summoning a dark corridor and stepping through.

Roxas followed.

And followed.

Into another world, by some unfamiliar machinery.

And followed.

To a room with weird computers, where Xemnas put in a disk and entered a password.

And followed.

Down some stairs. And down some more stairs. And a long hallway.

All in complete silence because he wasn't supposed to talk (even though he had so many questions about where they were and where they were going and why), and because Xemnas wasn't saying anything.

Eventually, they came to a door with black chains painted on it.

As soon as the door opened and he could see inside, a gasp tore itself from his throat.

"Aqua!" he cried, running into the room and dropping to his knees by the armour on the ground.

Xemnas watched impassively, looking down at him with empty eyes.

"That's- That's her armour- her keyblade!" He stood up so fast he almost got whiplash, whirling around to face Xemnas. "What did you do to her?!" He summoned his keyblade - though something felt weird - and held it wrong, backwards - and ready to attack the Superior.

Something shifted imperceptibly in Xemnas's gaze. "Ventus," he intoned tonelessly.

"Wh- I'm not-" Roxas stumbled backwards, keyblade dissipating, "I- I don't know-"

Xemnas made a "hmmm" sound deep in his throat.

And that was the last thing he could remember.

Xion said that he was brought in by Xemnas later that day, passed out and unresponsive.

The sight of that armour, and that keyblade, chased his dreams in circles that night.

Sora lagged behind Riku, until there was just enough space for him to ask Kairi a question.

"Did you really mean all that?" he asked quietly.

"Hm?"

"What you said before." Before, when... His darkness took over...

"Oh." Kairi was silent for a brief moment that felt like an eternity. "Yes."

"...Okay."

"Riku?"

"Yeah?"

Sora looked back at Kairi for support. She gave him a thumbs up (She didn't even know what he wanted to ask, did she?).
"...I've been wondering how you learned to handle darkness," he asked finally.

"Oh." Riku hummed as he thought, still scanning the road ahead for Heartless as he did so. "I guess I just... I faced up to the darkness, and I realized... The darkness might be a part of me, but I'm not going to let it stop me from protecting what really matters to me."

"Woah... Cool..."

(Face the darkness? No, he wasn't ready.

Riku was just so strong and cool... He could just do that, face the darkness and come out the other end a stronger person.

Sora could never...)

A group of Neoshadows formed out of the ground, breaking up his thoughts as they prepared to fight.

When the battle was done and Sora dismissed his keyblade, Kairi kept hers out, staring down at it contemplatively.

"Hey," she said, finally dismissing the keyblade in a burst of light. "Do you know what light is?"

"Huh." Riku considered the question, turning to her. "I've never really thought about it."

"Why are you asking?" Sora asked.

Wasn't it obvious what light was...?

Sure, he couldn't really... put words to what it was. But light was light. What was there to say?

Kairi clenched and unclenched her fist, still looking at where she had been holding her keyblade. "I dunno. Just thinking about what it means to be a Princess of Heart."

"Ooh, huh. That's a good question."

Come to think of it, he didn't really know what a Princess of Heart did. He knew what they were, hearts full of pure light, and he knew what they ended up being used for (like whatever weird plot Ansem had going on), but did he really know anything else...?

"Hmm..." Riku put a hand on his hip as he thought, gazing out around them. "You know, you have a lot of good questions that I don't know the answer to."

"I know!" Sora said, "How about after this we all go figure it out!"

"Yeah!" Kairi agreed with the same level of enthusiasm.

He had no idea if she was actually enthusiastic about it or not.

Jiminy had been forgotten again. Thankfully, hiding in Sora's hood was enough protection from the darkness, so he didn't have to worry.

And he didn't mind being forgotten, really. A good chronicler disappeared in the background so they could do their job, after all! And it wasn't like these kids needed a conscience super bad at that moment.

And wow, was there some interesting things happening... He bet these conversations wouldn't be happening the same if they remembered he existed! And really, he was content with balancing precariously in the hood while looking out and furiously writing down what he was seeing and hearing. Wasn't every day you got to see the Realm of Darkness safely!

Riku was So. Bored.

Hours of looking for gummi blocks! And guess what? He found nothing!

(Hmm... I wonder... Does the radar work here...?)

Goofy was convinced they just needed to find a Heartless, beat up the Heartless, then magically they'd get gummi blocks?

Riku had beat up Heartless before. They'd never dropped any strange blocks.

(Oh, looks like it doesn't work...)

But then Donald said something about Gummi Heartless, and apparently that made sense, so whatever.

But none of that mattered when there were. No. Heartless.

"Aww, don't give up!" Donald said, patting him on the back from where he was sitting on the ground with his arms crossed.

Riku leaned away from Donald, still staring morosely at the awful green grass, empty of anything useful.

"Yeah, come on! You're not going to find anything useful sitting down," Goofy encouraged.

Riku leaned away from both of them and glared hard at the stupid blades of grass with nothing hiding in them.

Above his head, Donald and Goofy exchanged glances.

The air shifted as Goofy plopped down on the ground beside him. On his other side, Donald sat down too.

"I guess it's a good time for a break," Donald said.

"We have been looking for hours," Goofy agreed. "Breaks are important!"

Riku huffed, but he didn't say anything.

Roxas sat down at the clocktower, three icecreams in hand for the first time in many days.

He passed one to Axel.

"Hey, what's with the second icecream?" Axel asked. "You're not hogging two for yourself, are you?"

"No! The other one's for Xion!"

"Huh? What about me?" Xion turned the corner and sat down on Roxas's left.

Roxas passed her an icecream.

"I was just telling Axel that I've been inviting you up here for icecream," Roxas told her.

"Oh." Xion peered over Roxas's shoulder. "Oh! Hi Axel!"

Axel didn't respond right away, but he seemed to jolt back into awareness. "Hey, Xion. I, uh, didn't know you'd be here too."

"Is that okay?" Xion asked, fiddling with her icecream.

"Oh, no, no, it's fine! Just... surprised."

"Oh. Okay."

"So, it's all good, then? We can all eat icecream together?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah. Of course." Axel took a bite of his icecream and turned to face the sunset.

Roxas took a bite of his own icecream. It tasted sweeter than usual for some reason.

(Axel, meanwhile, was busy thinking. Just what did Kairi know... and how?)

Riku paused at a beach in the Realm of Darkness, strange organic structures in the distance.

He frowned. "She was here last time," he said.

Sora hummed as he looked around. Something about this was familiar, but what about it...?

"That was the future," Kairi said, sounding like she was holding herself back from tacking on a 'dummy' at the end. "She's probably somewhere else, no worries."

Riku sighed. "Yeah, that makes sense." Still, he lingered, gazing at the water with melancholy in his eyes. "I guess I just expected that, well, since everything else important seemed to happen here..."

"Oh, like what?" Sora asked, still trying to figure out what was familiar about this place.

"Like what- Sora, you were there. Both times!" Riku seemed shocked - and a little hurt?

"I was?" He didn't remember that. It seemed right, though, so... "Ohhh, right, right."

Kairi pursed her lips at him.

Riku turned around to face him fully. His eyes were worried. "Sora, you don't have to lie. If you don't remember, you don't remember."

"Right..." Sora said, looking down. He didn't even think about the fact he was lying, it was just... how he reacted. Too normal to remark on.

"I hope he isn't losing his memories," Kairi said worriedly.

Riku set his jaw.

"Aw, it'll be okay!" Sora said, trying a smile. "Even if I forget, the heart still remembers."

Kairi tsked. "I can't believe you can say that so genuinely."

"Huh?"

Kairi shook her head, opened her mouth - then looked to the side and visibly changed her mind on what she was going to say. "Aren't you scared? I hate the idea of forgetting things that matter to me."

"Oh, well." Sora put his arms behind his head in a relaxed position. "Been there, done that. And I came out okay, right?"

Riku grimaced and clenched his fist. "Yeah," he said levelly.

"Sora, if there's something going on, we can't just ignore it. Who knows, maybe we can even fix whatever's going on before it's a problem?" Kairi said.

(Kind of funny that she would say that.)

"I'm sure it's nothing!" Sora waved off the idea.

"Sora, last time it wasn't 'nothing', it was the farthest thing from 'nothing'," Riku said tensely, still visibly worried.

"Aw, come on," Sora said, "It could be just a one-time thing. Why don't we wait and see?"

"Kairi," Riku said, turning to her instead of responding to Sora, "What does Naminé think about this?"

Kairi looked at him for a long moment. She sighed and closed her eyes. "Give me a second," she murmured.

After a little wait, she opened up her eyes again. "I think I know what the problem is," she said with a lopsided smile, holding her hands clasped in front of her. "But I need more time to confirm. Why don't you focus on Master Aqua and King Mickey for now?"

Riku nodded. "Okay, Naminé. I trust you."

Naminé smiled and nodded back.

Woah, how did he know that was Naminé? Well, there was something different about her posture and the way she talked, come to think of it... And it did make sense in context...

"Okay!" Sora said, pointing onwards dramatically. "Let's go!"

Riku wiped the sweat from his brow.

Finally, there were Heartless to fight - and they even dropped 'gummi blocks' - but of course they couldn't just show up a few at a time. No, there was what seemed like an endless wave of them. Just his luck.

"Heal!" Donald squawked.

Soothing magic swept through him and his wounds closed. Donald had healed him.

And it wasn't the first time he'd done that either - and Goofy had even passed him potions or ethers sometimes too.

(But why? He could keep fighting. He wasn't that injured - he wasn't weak. There was no need to waste time or energy on healing him when he was perfectly capable of continuing on without it.

Oh, they're just like that! And besides, it's not weird to want to help people when they're hurting.

Sure, whatever, weird Sora-like voice in his head.)

Another wave of Heartless. He had to keep his head in the game.

"Oh! Riku! Is that you? Sora!" King Mickey called before they even noticed him, running up to them excitedly.

Kairi made a face. Guess he didn't know her enough to call out to her. That's... fine...

"Mickey!" Riku called out with relief. "I'm glad you're okay."

Mickey chuckled. "I should be saying that to you!" His smile fell. "But, what are you all doing out here?"

"Finding you, of course!" Sora said. "And Aqua, too."

"Aqua? Gosh, how'd you know about her?"

"Uhhh..." Sora exchanged glances with Riku and Kairi, realizing explaining that requires a big long explanation about time travel and things.

"And, gosh, Riku, there's something different about you..." Mickey scrutinized Riku. "Did you get taller?"

"Oh, no, uh," Riku floundered, not sure what to say.

While Riku dealt with Mickey's focus, Sora sidled over to Kairi.

"Can Naminé do the thing again?" he whispered.

"Uhhh..."

Naminé? Can you?

No response.

Kairi furrowed her eyebrow, metaphorically poking Naminé again to see if she was awake.

No..., she finally said, really faint - almost distant.

No? Kairi asked, poking again, but Naminé didn't reply. She got the feeling that Naminé had drifted away - to sleep? Somewhere deeper in her heart? Whatever it was, it made it so that she couldn't reach Naminé anymore.

"No, she said no," Kairi said to Sora, though with an edge of confusion. She wasn't entirely sure that no was an answer to the question or just... in response to something else?

...And maybe she just imagined the interaction in the first place.

"What? Why not?" Sora asked.

"Well... I'll ask again later but..." Kairi sighed. "She was talking earlier about how she was scared of it having consequences."

"Oh..." He turned between Kairi and Mickey, looking pensive, then started marching up to Mickey. To Mickey he said, "We'll explain later - let's go get Aqua!"

Mickey nodded. "Right! This way!"

They followed him.

"I just found her again a little bit ago," Mickey said in a low tone, like he was trying not to wake someone. "She's... Well, you'll have to see for yourself."

They turned the corner around some sharp spires of... veiny glowy chunks of maybe-rock, and there she was.

Aqua, and it had to be Aqua, because although Kairi only saw her for a brief time, it was hard to forget one of the very few other girls in their little army of keyblade wielders, even if that hadn't happened... yet? anymore?

Anyways.

Aqua was pacing, right in the center of land where it levelled out in a big uneven circle (almost like a battle arena...). She paced and paced, back and forth, twitching at every shadow and glaring out at her surroundings.

Darkness streamed off her in waves.

Strangely, she was wearing a headband with cat ears.

Mickey took another step forward, gravel (?) crunching under his feet.

Aqua jerked towards him instantly, yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness.

(Yellow eyes...?)

And then, as suddenly as she moved, her whole face lit up and the darkness fled.

"Mickey!" she called out in joy, running towards him and sweeping him up in a hug. "You came back!"

Kairi peered at Aqua's face as she eventually lowered Mickey to the ground. Her eyes were blue, like they were never yellow in the first place.

"Aw, shucks, of course I came back! I couldn't just leave you here, could I?" Mickey said cheerfully, giggling when Aqua tugged at his cheeks to double-check how real he was.

Aqua then squinted at the others. "I... know you, don't I? Sora... Riku... and... Kairi..."

Kairi blinked. "You recognize me?"

"I... saw you as a little girl. On Radiant Garden."

"Oh." Right. That's what she was talking about. Not any future knowledge she shouldn't have. "I don't remember that," she added just to clarify.

"Oh. Well... I'm glad you're okay." Aqua seemed worried all the same.

"Come on!" Sora said, breaking up the moment. "Let's get out of here."

Aqua nodded. "Let's."

"Roxas, you're with Xemnas again today," Saïx said.

Roxas didn't really need to be told that. He could see Xemnas, staring not out at the emptiness outside of the window, but at him.

"Roxas. I have a task for you," Xemnas said. Without looking, he stretched out a hand and opened a corridor of darkness behind him. "Come, I will explain on the way."

Roxas stayed quiet while he followed Xemnas into the corridor, even though he had questions. Like where they were going, or why it was him who had to do it.

They exited the corridor to white.

"Castle Oblivion," Xemnas explained, or maybe just stated.

"Oh! That's where Axel and the others went," Roxas said before he could stop himself.

"Correct." Xemnas didn't move far from the door on one side of the room. He simply stood and watched Roxas.

...If this was Castle Oblivion, it was also where Larxene and Marluxia died. They went here and didn't come back.

But Axel came back... And Vexen and Zexion and Lexaeus also were fine...

Roxas looked around the room, finding himself drifting over to the walls, tracing the detailing with his hands.

He caught himself, looking back to Xemnas to see if he was allowed to be doing that.

Xemnas just looked back, nothing in his face or body language indicating he was supposed to be doing that or not.

"Um, what am I supposed to do?" Roxas finally asked.

"Continue as you have been doing," Xemnas instructed.

Roxas blinked at him. "Uh. Okay."

He kept exploring, tapping the pillars on the side of the room and wondering why they were there, or looking all around at the details on the walls and floors and wondering if they mean anything or if they're just to look cool.

Eventually, he wandered over to the door opposite to the one Xemnas continued to stand by.

An off-white door, framed by white spirally things.

Resting a hand on the doorhandle, he glanced back at Xemnas briefly before pulling the door open.

There was something about this place...

He had to know what was on the other side of the door.

"The Realm of Light..." Aqua whispered reverently, shading her eyes with her hand. "Terra, Ven..." A tear slid down her cheek, sunlight glinting off of it and highlighting its path as it fell. "I'm coming."

And with that, she collapsed.

Mickey jumped, then leapt to Aqua's side to check on her.

"Is she okay?" Sora asked worriedly, hovering behind Mickey.

Mickey sighed with relief, his shoulders slumping. "She's okay! I think she's just exhausted."

"That's good!" Sora said. "But, uh, there's just one thing."

"What's up?" Riku asked.

Sora smiled awkwardly at him, bringing up his hands to the back of his own neck. "Who's carrying her back?"

Like in a dream, Roxas walked on through Castle Oblivion.

He was hardly paying attention to where he came from or where he was going, he just knew...

There was something here...

Something he had to find...

In a trance, he opened one final door.

On the other side was a reflection of himself.

His face, asleep, sitting on a white throne.

He stepped forward.

He reached out.

His fingers brushed the cheek of his reflection-

-and the reflection shattered.

Like an illusion.

There one moment, gone the next. Vanished in a shower of sparkles.

Oh no.

Something undefinable shifted, and everything went black.

Riku was the first to volunteer to help carry Aqua, and then Kairi muscled Sora out of the way before he could offer to help too.

Sora pouted, insisting he could help, but Kairi stuck out her tongue at him and said no.

They were just starting to move when Sora stopped suddenly.

"Something's wrong," he said.

Kairi stopped too. With slow, careful movements, she set down Aqua's feet and stepped closer to Sora. "Something's wrong," she echoed.

Sora doubled over, mumbling to himself over and over again. "It's wrong it's all wrong everything's wrong it's gone it's gone it's gone-"

Kairi stood eerily still, her eyes blank.

"...Guys?" Riku said with trepidation, carefully laying the over half of Aqua on the ground so he could step over and check on Sora and Kairi.

"What's wrong?" Mickey cried out frantically, jumping up and waving his hand in front of Kairi's face.

Slowly, Kairi blinked, and then looked around. She pushed Mickey's hand down and away, then turned to Sora.

"What's wrong?" Riku repeated, crouching down by Sora.

Sora blinked at Riku, slowly trailed off, stared uncomprehendingly at Riku for a few more seconds, then slowly started to straighten up.

Riku helped him up.

"I don't know," Sora murmured. "But, it, it hurts..." He laid a hand on his heart, his expression lost. He looked to Kairi.

Kairi looked back. "It hurts," she echoed.

Roxas sat on the clocktower that evening.

He was glad he only fainted for a short time, but...

Something happened, and he didn't know what.

Something had changed, and he didn't know what it meant.

(Whose body was this, now? Was it even real?)

And then Axel and Xion came, and they ate icecream together, and so he put it out of his mind.

Chapter Text

(Below is an excerpt from Xemnas's journal.)

I have located the Keyblade Wielder's Nobody.

He was hollow and listless, as all Nobodies begin.

And yet, upon spotting me, he uttered one word: "Terra."

I will have to keep an eye on No. XIII.

This kid was weird, Axel decided.

Like, okay, he looked so much like that kid he met years ago - Ven - it was uncanny, but there was no way this was the same kid.

For one, Ven was probably not still a teenager ten years later, wherever he was (although, it was always possible...). For another, the letters that made up Roxas did not spell anything close to Ventus - there wasn't even a V in there! And that was the most obvious part! So, unless Ventus decided to change his name to Sora in those ten years, maybe pull a little bit of identity theft just like their dear Superior, then Roxas was very much not Ventus.

And that sass! A week as a Nobody, zombie-like the whole way, and finally he shows some hint of a personality and it's to sass him! Honestly, from what little he'd seen of Ven, he didn't seem the type to sass like that. So, case closed! Roxas and Ven, different people, easy.

But...

On one of the days before Roxas's first mission, when the kid was still so much like a zombie...

Roxas had just been sitting around blankly in the grey room, and Axel had been there to babysit him because apparently something about him was great babysitting material, and everything had been the same as it was for the past who-knows-how-many-hours, with Roxas slumped on the couch staring straight ahead and Demyx lounging around playing on his sitar when he almost definitely had a mission he was supposed to be doing instead (and why have not Demyx as the babysitter, if he wasn't going to be doing anything useful anyways!), when...

Roxas had turned to him, and something in his eyes cleared up a bit.

And Axel had commented, of course, because finally the zombie does something interesting! Back to the land of the living or whatever!

But, Roxas had just stared at him, his head and torso wobbling back and forth with every steady breath he took. And then he blinked, swallowed, and opened his mouth.

And he said...

He said, "Lea...?"

And then he passed out, his head hitting the coffee table with a loud thunk as he fell over.

...

It was weird.

If he still had a heart, he would even call it eerie. But he didn't, so it was just a weird event that threw doubt into his understanding of Roxas and Ven as different people.

But, well, it was just an isolated event, and if Demyx wasn't there to bring it up and laugh about the way Roxas just collapsed whenever he got the chance, Axel would even be able to convince himself it never happened.

Just an isolated event... it meant nothing.

(Below is an excerpt from Xemnas's journal.)

I brought No. XIII to the Chamber of Repose today.

He seemed to recognize the armour within, though he did not react otherwise.

He is still... waking up, so to speak. I did not expect much.

I will attempt the same again later, when he is more aware.

Roxas opened the treasure chest. A potion. He put it away.

He stepped away.

He wandered around.

What was he doing, again?

Defeating Heartless, something whispered to him.

Oh, right.

Axel raised an eyebrow at him and twirled his weapons.

Right. He was on a mission to collect hearts and Axel was with him.

Heartless, Heartless... Where were the Heartless? Where had he looked already?

He wandered around.

He found Heartless. He killed the Heartless.

And then Roxas learned what a friend was. And then he was friends with Axel. And then he offered ice cream to Xion. And then they were friends.

And with each day, Roxas felt a little more present. It was like lifting away the fog on his mind, like waking up from a dream.

(Below is an excerpt from Xemnas's journal.)

Today, I brought No. XIII back to the Chamber of Repose.

He had a stronger reaction this time. Roxas seemed confused.

An interesting development.

I will bring him to Castle Oblivion soon. Perhaps he can succeed where all the others failed.

(Below is an excerpt from Xemnas's journal.)

No. XIII found the Chamber of Waking.

And yet, as soon as he made contact with the sleeping body within, it shattered.

I suppose the only remnant of Ventus lies in Roxas, now.

After all, now that body that lay waiting in the Chamber of Waking will never wake.

No matter. No. XIII will be enough.

He lied awake, laying on the stiff mattress in Roxas's grey bedroom and staring at the ceiling.

Ven had a lot to think about.

...Start from the beginning, he thought to himself.

His heart was shattered long ago in the battle with Vanitas. His heart fled to Sora to recover. Once he was recovered enough, Sora helped his heart find its way back into his body, and he woke up.

And then he fought in a war. And then he made eye contact with a near-exact copy of himself - Roxas - who he only vaguely recognized.

And then the war was over, and Ven got to play with Terra and Aqua again.

And then Sora disappeared.

And then...

That's where he was a little less sure.

His heart was back in Sora's, recovering again. From what he understood, they went back in time? He was still recovering, though, and was unconscious for most of the time still, so he didn't really know what was going on besides... Kairi was there?

And then... However Roxas came to be, he ended up here, in Roxas's heart. Or... body? Did it matter?

That might have happened last time, too. Some of the locations here in the Castle that Never Was were familiar, and so were the people. But he must have been asleep for the majority of the time he was in Roxas's heart last time.

That wasn't the case this time. Somehow, he was more awake. More recovered than he should be? And while most of the time, he was just hanging around in the back, giving advice where he thought he could help...

Well. That was hard when he saw Aqua's keyblade and armour, left discarded on the ground in a heap.

And even harder still when- his body.

...His body...

He saw it. It was so close.

But then... Something went wrong the instant he touched it.

It... vanished.

Did that mean this body he was in at the moment was his real body now? Did that mean he didn't have a body to go back to anymore? Was he stuck here now? In Roxas's body, or in Sora's heart, it hardly mattered.

...He didn't know what to think of it.

But. Roxas was so young. So unsteady on his feet. So unsure of the world. He didn't remember the future like Ven did (not that it mattered much).

So... While he was here, he might as wise help where he could, right? It wouldn't hurt, right?

He could figure it out later.

Terra and Aqua would still recognize him, right? He could still talk to them, once they were better? They could still be friends, still hang out?

He hoped so. That was all that mattered to him, really.

Oh! And he had so many questions for Lea and Isa - or whatever they called themselves now. They were so tall now! Could they still be friends?

...Oh, but he shouldn't... just take over...

...He should talk to Roxas. Let him know he was there. Then they could figure it out together?

But. A little later. Once Roxas was more assured of himself. He didn't want to just take over Roxas's valuable time figuring out who he was!

...But wouldn't that be nice?

He drifted away to sleep.

Roxas woke up with wet cheeks and tears in his eyes.

He didn't know where they came from, or what they meant.

One day, after finishing up her mission and hanging out at the clocktower, Xion went somewhere else instead of to bed.

She just... Swore she remembered something. It was on the tip of her tongue and she had to figure it out.

Her memory led her to the Realm of Darkness. Somewhere all Nobodies knew about as an improperly made Dark Corridor will lead you straight there.

It was a beach. She didn't know the Realm of Darkness had beaches.

She started combing the beach for anything interesting - like a seashell! She liked seashells.

Aha- she held up a shiny piece of... gemstone? victoriously up in the air. She didn't quite know what it was, but maybe Axel would know. He knew a lot of things.

But as she was holding up the shiny thing she found, her gaze caught on the view of the little lake again.

Something about it...

She remembered this, didn't she?

A fight...

She fought someone here?

Weird. Maybe Axel would know what that was about.

Chapter Text

Riku went through and meticulously organized the gummi parts they had again. He already had them organized by shape and whether they looked like weapons or not, now he was going to organize them even further by colour.

Because why not.

Not like he had anything better to do.

He shot a glare at the duck and dog as they argued over what they wanted to prioritize in their ship construction.

"Offense!" Donald insisted.

"Defense!" Goofy countered.

Or, at least, that was the gist of the argument. He wasn't really following the technical terms they were using.

He did understand, though, that Donald wanted the ship to be fast and with really good weapons so they could quickly kill any Heartless trying to shoot them down, while Goofy wanted to sacrifice speed and strength for a ship that could survive anything.

And, yeah, he agreed a little more with Donald, but he didn't really feel like getting in the middle of that argument.

(Would they even listen, anyway...?)

(Of course they would. What a weird question.)

(...Really?)

So, he organized the gummi parts.

(Why were they so colourful, anyways? And what were they made of? And why did the Heartless have them?)

Ugh.

He huffed, deciding not to think about it. It didn't matter. He didn't care.

Though the weapons...

He admired the strange rectangular blocks with barrels sticking out of them. They were a bit weird looking and he didn't know how they worked - but he wanted to see them work. And what did each one do?

(And the blocks were so light, could the ship really take a few hits if it was made out of that...?

And how did they stick together? Was it really sturdy?)

"Guys!" a familiar voice yelled excitedly.

He looked up - Oh, they were back.

Sora was waving, followed by Riku (the real one) and Kairi, holding an unconscious woman (the one they were trying to find?) and- was that a big rat? No, mouse.

(And, oh, it felt so weird to look out and see his face reflected back.

...But why did it also feel the same kind of weird to see Sora's face...?)

Donald and Goofy stopped their argument, spotting the new arrivals.

"The King!" the two of them shouted in glee, running towards to greet the... rat? Mouse?

Whatever.

What did he care.

He ignored all the greetings and walked up to Kairi, who was putting the unconscious woman down.

"You!" he declared, pointing his sword (not really his, was it) at her. "You owe me a rematch!"

"Oh. I guess I do." She grinned at him, smile full of teeth like a challenge and summoned her keyblade.

"Oh, you couldn't figure out what to do for the gummiship?" Sora asked. "Don't worry! I got this!" He pointed a thumb at his chest and grinned.

"You sure?" Donald grumbled, "Because I still remember the first ship you designed-"

"Hey! The Tank Extreme was perfect! It flew like a dream no matter what it looked like!" Sora protested. It was his pride and joy! It survived anything! Its weapons were awesome! Who cared if it looked like a big lump of parts, gummiships will fly with whatever as long as they had a cockpit.

"Uh huh, whatever you say," Donald teased lightheartedly.

Goofy chortled. "But you gotta admit it did look a little funky."

"Yeah, but- I've gotten better!"

"Yup, you sure have," Goofy agreed, still chuckling.

"This one's gonna be awesome," Sora grumbled to himself, starting to pick through the parts.

(Aw, did someone organize it? That makes it easier. He'd have to figure out who did that later and thank them.)

He was about to pick up one of the plain gummiblocks when an entire person - Kairi, still in the middle of a spar with the Riku Replica - fell into it, scattering the blocks everywhere.

"Aww..." he whined to himself.

"Hey! I worked hard on that!" the Riku Replica complained.

"You're the one who threw me into them!" Kairi argued, counterattacking.

Sora lept back and away from the two of them, weapons wayy too close to where he was trying to work.

"Guys?" he said. "Could you bring that elsewhere?"

"Sure!" Kairi said, dodging backwards and out of the way of everyone.

"Fine," the Riku Replica said, following her.

...They seemed to be having fun. Good for them.

Anyways.

Gummi ship time!

Every time he started working on the gummiship, he slipped into a focus where he just kept working on it until it was done, and only realized afterwards that he'd been doing it for hours.

He could really use that, right now.

(Too many things he didn't want to think about.)

"Not going to help?" Donald asked Riku as he stood and watched Sora work.

"Hm? No, I think I'll stay out of his way. I don't know if I'd be any help." It was Sora who knew what he was doing when it came to assembling a ship. "What about you?"

"Sora doesn't like it when we try to help," Donald grumbled with ruffled feathers.

"I still remember the Great Gummi Part fight," Goofy commented with a chuckle.

Riku chuckled along with him.

Mickey sidled up to them. "Say fellas, I was wondering if I could get that explanation now?"

"Oh! Right." Riiight, the explanation... He forgot Mickey didn't really understand what was going on. "So, I don't have all the pieces, but from what I know..."

"It's done!" Sora exclaimed, examining his work with the ship. He even used every piece. He was quite proud of it.

He should do fun things like this more often! Ooh, now that he was done, maybe he could play with Riku and Kairi and maybe even the Replica Riku would want to join too? They could have a really fun race!

But... wait... Stupid, he thought to himself, he couldn't just neglect all the big important things just because he wanted to have fun. Organization XIII was still out there, after all - and Roxas and Xion were still in the Organization! He couldn't just rest and forget about them, now could he?

Feeling a little chastised, he decided to look around and check on what happened when he was busy building the ship.

Riku, Donald, and Goofy were busy talking to Mickey about something. Looked like an important conversation - Everyone looked serious and Mickey looked deep in thought.

Kairi and the Replica Riku had finished their sparring and were lying on the ground side-by-side, staring up at the clouds and not talking as they caught their breath. Were they friends now? That'd be cool.

Aqua was still passed out. Hope she'd be okay... But she was probably just catching up on sleep she didn't get in the Realm of Darkness, right?

Kairi was the first to notice it was done, standing up and walking over to admire it.

"Wow, looks great," Kairi said with a snirk. "What's the crown on the top for?"

"Hey!" Sora objected, knowing she was laughing at his design. "The crown's there to look cool! And it helps with defense..."

Riku walked over and nodded thoughtfully (and a little dramatically) at the ship. "Nice ship," he said, and Sora couldn't tell if he was teasing or not. "Is it supposed to look like a frog?"

"What? No! It's supposed to be a Meow Wow..." Sora pouted. "Does it really look like a frog?" he muttered to himself.

Donald walked over. "What's its stats?" he asked skeptically.

Oh, right, those were important. He peered at the ship, humming to himself as he thought. He just used up whatever they had, which ended up being... "I don't think it'll be very fast, but it'll have good defense and it has lots of weapons so it should be fine."

Donald scrutinized the ship himself. "Hmph. Should be good enough for now."

Goofy nodded. "Yep! That'll do! Good work!"

Sora beamed at them. "I'm glad someone appreciates my work," he said pointedly (and lightheartedly) in Kairi and Riku's direction.

"Sorry, Sora," Kairi said sarcastically. She then sighed and said in a more serious tone of voice. "It's great, thanks for making it."

Riku nodded. "I joke around but really, Sora, you did good," he said sincerely.

Sora ducked his head to hide his blush, scuffing at the ground. "Aw, thanks you guys."

"Are we going to get going or what?" the Riku Replica butt in, visibly annoyed.

"Oh! Right!"

They ended up working out where they were going: First to Disney Castle, where Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were going to be dropped off. If Aqua woke up in time, she would get to decide where she wanted to go, but otherwise she'd stay at Disney Castle. Then, they would go to Destiny Islands to get a couple things sorted (like telling their parents they're not dead...), and then figure out where to go from there.

The Riku Replica didn't know where he wanted to go, so he would just have to make a decision later.

Both Kairi and Sora jostled for the front of the ship - Kairi for the weapons, Sora for the controls - but Riku pulled them aside and asked if they could talk.

Sora stared with big sad eyes as Goofy and Donald took over for them at the front. "Fiiine," he said with a pout.

Kairi was quiet, contemplative. "What is it?" she asked.

Riku led them to the bunkbeds in the back and shut the door. "It's about a couple things. First of all, what was that, earlier? Are you okay?"

"What was what?" Sora asked, tilting his head.

"When you both said 'it hurts'. What hurt?" Riku asked, looking worried.

"Oh. That." Sora looked down, pulling up a hand over his heart. "My heart, that's what hurt. Or... something like that, I don't know."

"I really don't know what happened," Kairi added.

"Oh. Okay... Guess that's another mystery." Riku's eyebrows drew together as he thought. "Alright, then onto another problem: Sora's memory."

Sora groaned. "What if I don't want to talk about it?" he said petulantly, sitting on one of the beds.

"We have to talk about it sometime, Sora. I don't want a repeat of..." Riku looked away.

Kairi didn't join in the conversation yet, busy looking inwards.

Naminé? she poked around.

She didn't answer.

Naminé, do you know anything about why he's losing memories...? You said you had a suspicion?

...No response.

Riku looked at Kairi. "Naminé said she knew something, right?"

Kairi frowned. "She's not responding."

"Hm..." Riku looked thoughtful. "I guess we have to figure it out ourselves, then, huh?"

"...So, why'd it happen last time?" Kairi asked, not entirely in the loop. She was pretty sure Naminé was involved but didn't know much more.

Riku looked away and clenched his fist. "Last time, after... Sora lost his memories of you," 'because of Naminé being forced to take them away' goes unsaid, "Roxas kept picking up loose memories, which Xion then absorbed from Roxas... And because of it, they both had to... return to Sora... for him to wake up."

...Geez, what did Riku deal with alone while she was left behind on that island feeling like she forgot something important? He really could have gotten help from her at some point. Or like, checked in, said hi.

Whatever.

"And you think that's happening again?" Kairi asked instead of pointing any of that out.

Riku pursed his lips and looked away, which counted as confirmation.

Kairi looked around for Sora, trying to gauge how he was reacting to this.

Sora had lied down on the bed - in fact, he was curled in on himself.

"Sora?" she said.

Sora curled in on himself more. "I don't wanna talk about it," he mumbled.

"But, Sora, it's important-"

"I don't care!" Sora burst out, turning on his side. "So what if I lose a few memories? At least they..." he trailed off.

"You want Roxas and Xion to be okay," Kairi guessed.

Sora mumbled something that might have been a yes.

"Sora," Riku said, crouching by him and hovering a hand over his shoulder hesitantly. "They're never going to be okay in the Organization. And, it worked out last time, so-"

"Did it? Did it work out?" Sora spat. He sighed, and spoke in a quieter tone. "They were okay last time in the end. But... but they had to go through so much and..."

"I know," Riku said. "But you matter too, Sora, and I want you to be okay too."

"So what? It's just a few memories. It doesn't matter." Sora pressed his face further into the mattress, curling in on himself more. "Leave me alone."

"Sora..." Riku said, a million emotions in one word. He finally set down his hand on Sora's shoulder.

Sora shrugged it off. "I said leave me alone," he hissed.

Wisps of darkness were starting to come off of him.

"I'm not going to," Riku said steadily.

Kairi sighed and exited the room, shutting the door behind her as silently as she could manage.

She doubted she could help at this point.

Not without starting to yell.

She walked over to the front.

Goofy seemed to be showing Riku Replica how to pilot the ship. The Replica was listening intently. Good for him.

Kairi sunk into one of the spare chairs and shut her eyes.

And sunk down, down, into her heart station.

As her feet touched the stained glass, she looked around for Naminé.

She couldn’t find Naminé, could barely see past her heart station. Instinctively, she knew Naminé was okay, just out of reach or asleep.

Kairi sighed and looked around at her heart station. The stained glass was intact, and every face on it made sense. Sora, Riku, Naminé - oh, and Axel. A few designs of paopu fruits circled the edge. The image of her in the center hadn't changed from the last time she'd seen this.

Nothing was visibly wrong.

She didn’t know why she thought something would be wrong.

She chose to sit down. She couldn’t really feel the surface of the glass, but somehow, she felt like it should be cool.

“Naminé,” she said out loud, “I hope you’re okay.”

No answer, not that she really expected one.

“Naminé, I’m scared,” she said, more for her own benefit than anything, “I don’t know where you are. I don’t know how to reach you, and… I’m scared.

She looked down as she continued talking. “It just. Feels like everything’s wrong. Or, different. I don’t know what’s happening. There’s a lot going on that’s beyond me. And I… I don’t know if I can help.

“Riku’s here now. He and Sora, they’ll handle it, like they always do. And, me? I’ll just… be here. They don’t need me. They never did.

“…Things made a lot more sense when I knew he couldn’t leave me. But… then he did. Again. And I can keep insisting on going with them, but what use will I be? I’m no hero. I can’t fix everything just by being there.”

Kairi sighed and shifted around, tracing aimless patterns in the glass beneath her. “Naminé, I just… I need you. I can’t do this alone.”

A thought occurred to her. She stopped tracing patterns, staring blankly out into the abyss surrounding her. “You’ll never leave me, right?” she whispered.

She shook her head. “No, no, I’m sorry. I can’t ask that of you. You can go wherever you want. I… shouldn’t hold you back. Shouldn’t hold anyone back.”

Kairi braced her hands against the glass and slowly stood up. “I… hope you’re alright, wherever you are.”

“Kairi?” a voice said faintly.

“Naminé!” Kairi called back instantly, casting her gaze around to look for her.

“Kairi!” A faint outline of Naminé appeared before her.

“Hi,” Kairi said for lack of words, wondering faintly if Naminé heard anything she had been saying.

“Hi,” Naminé said back. “Sorry, I know I’ve been kind of distant. I just… I’m checking on some things, and that takes all of my attention. I’m sorry. I don’t know how present I’ll be for a while.”

Kairi shook her head. “No, no, don’t apologize. I’m just glad you’re okay.” She smiled her best relieved smile – and she was relieved, don’t get her wrong.

“Kairi…” Naminé drifted closer, her outline getting more solid. “I can stay, just for a little bit, if you want?”

…So she saw through her.

…Well, they did share a body now. Hearts as connected as they could be…

“Yes, please,” Kairi broke immediately. She felt guilty for it – Naminé was probably doing something really important!

Naminé shook her head and stepped forward. It wasn’t important enough to not be able to take a little bit of time out of it, she thought. Although… she should probably get back to it shortly… But, no, it wouldn’t hurt to take a little break.

“You don’t have to!” Kairi said, even though she really didn’t want Naminé to leave.

“No,” Naminé said. “I’m staying.”

Kairi smiled, out of genuine relief this time. “Thank you.”

Sora curled in a ball on the bunk bed and closed his eyes, trying his best to ignore Riku fussing over him.

He dove into his heart station.

It was dark and empty.

He couldn't see anything around him, but he knew he was standing on his heart station. He sat down slowly and drew his knees up to his chest, staring blankly at the darkness around him.

There was no one else there.

(Was there?)

That was how it was supposed to be...

Right?

Chapter Text

Vanitas stirred awake.

Somewhere close to his consciousness, that thing known either as Anti Form or Rage Form paced.

Both of them had been drawn closer to the front by the presence of darkness in one of the hearts so close to them.

So, Sora the Hero was feeling a bit down again?

Hm.

If only he would stop. Vanitas just wanted to slumber, unnoticed. But the more his darkness festered, the more Vanitas would be conscious… and the more chance he had of being noticed.

…Oh well. At least he could hide behind the more obvious ‘Anti Form/Rage Form’ Sora.

(It would be harder if that thing wanted to use his voice again, but hopefully they would just assume it could talk on its own.)

He sought sleep once more…

At least this time he was lying in a bed and not in the middle of an argument. It would be no trouble to simply… fall asleep…

The fake Riku sat back in his chair and stared blankly at the ceiling of the gummiship.

This was apparently a more perilous part of the trip, so Goofy was distracted with piloting and couldn’t pay attention to showing him anything.

Whatever. It was just as well. He wasn’t that interested in it anyways.

(…You seemed pretty interested in it earlier.

Shut up.)

Besides. It gave him time to think.

Like, for instance, where he wanted to go. Disney Town, with Donald and Goofy and ‘The King’, where he had no place? Or Destiny Islands, with Sora and Riku and Kairi, where the only place he had was stolen?

Neither option sounded appealing. One was slightly more tolerable than the other, but that was it.

(Destiny Islands… I want to see what it looks like, but…

No. That was the worse option.

…But at least Disney Town might be fun!)

And what was he supposed to do there, sit around and twiddle his thumbs? No. Disney Town was hardly an option either.

(…There’s some things I want to see there. And maybe…)

And that was another thing. What was with this strange Sora-like voice in his head? Was there something wrong with him? Something that messed up when he was made?

No! No, there’s nothing wrong with you.

And that’s how he knew something was wrong. He would never say that to himself, and he didn’t get the feeling the original Riku would say that to himself either. And as much as he would’ve liked it to be that it was just an echo of meeting Sora lingering in his head… He didn’t know Sora enough for it to be this present, this persistent. It didn’t make any sense.

…Sorry. I don’t mean to be confusing.

Then what are you?

…Hi. I’m Data-Sora. I don’t really know how I got here, but… I was living in the Journal with my Riku - Data-Riku – when… Well, here, let me see if I can share the memory…

Data-Sora exited the system sector and merrily accepted the rewards. Another Chain Rave, sure, another Judgement Triad, why not, another Strength +4, cool! None of those were useful anymore, but it was fun to upgrade his commands to the max level. And maybe he still had a few low-level chips to replace...?

The music cut out suddenly.

"It's ready."

Data-Sora startled at Data-Riku's appearance, as the system sector faded around them and turned into a blank room. It was just the two of them in that room empty of anything else, Data-Riku standing across from Data-Sora.

"Riku! Hi!" Data-Sora waved excitedly, running up to him.

Data-Riku didn't react or smile or anything, just stood there with an unflinching gaze staring straight at Data-Sora.

Data-Sora finally processed what Data-Riku said. "Huh? What's ready?" he asked.

"A way out," is all Data-Riku said, his expression unchanging.

"What do you mean?"

"A way out to the outside world."

"The outside world..." Data-Sora started getting excited. "Oh! Like an adventure! So much to do, so much to see! We can do that?"

Data-Riku nodded. "I've found a way. A way... to be free..."

"I wonder who we'll meet... Oh, oh, do you think we'll get to see what real sand looks like? Oh! You think we'll get to make a sandcastle?!"

Data-Riku smiled slightly. "You'll have to find out."

"Ooh, that's so exciting- wait, me? What about you?" Data-Sora asked. The strange way Data-Riku was acting was starting to catch up to him, leaving him with a strange sense of dread.

Data-Riku turned away and pulled up his hood. "I'm not going."

"Wh- Hey, that's not funny! Of course you're going!"

He shook his head. "No, Sora. My place is here. I am the Journal. I can't leave. But you..."

"What are you talking about? Of course you can leave!"

"Sora... I see I have to make you understand." He turned back to Data-Sora. "You were never supposed to have a heart. Everything in this world... it's just a record. You were just supposed to play your part, carry out your duties, without ever having a heart. But you have one. And now you don't fit in anymore."

"But- But don't you have a heart too?"

"No. No, I don't. I act the way I do because the Journal says that's the way Riku would react. I never really had a heart."

"That doesn't make any sense! Of course you have a heart... Right?" He went into Data-Riku's heart and everything to get rid of all the bugs! Of course Data-Riku had a heart... But why would he lie?

He continued without acknowledging what Data-Sora said. "The Journal says that the real Riku would think it's cruel to keep you in a small world that was never big enough for someone with a heart. So I'm letting you go." He turned away again, his hood still up. "Don't worry. The Journal will still have a Sora when you're gone. This one won't have a heart, I'll make sure of it."

"Riku... You're sending me away? What if I don't want to leave you?" Data-Sora stepped closer, half-preparing to tackle Data-Riku in a hug and then cling on with everything he had so he couldn't leave.

Data-Riku looked down and away. "I knew you'd say that. That's why I'm not giving you a choice."

Something blinked onto one of the walls behind them. Black screen, white text crawling across the screen at a rapid pace- was that a progress bar?

Data-Sora didn't even get a change to protest. All he managed was a single step forward before the bar on the screen spiked up to 100%, and the entity with a heart known as Data-Sora disappeared from the world in the Journal.

It took him a while to be conscious enough to figure out what happened.

In fact, for a long while he just went through the motions - whenever he was aware of anything, he wasn't very... awake? He wasn't really thinking about the full implications of what was happening around him.

Seeing his own face reflected back to him was a shock to his system. Something that felt so weird that it forced him to reboot so he could process it better.

He assembled facts slowly as he 'woke up' more.

Donald, Goofy, and Mickey were all there. He hadn't seen them in a while - but they never said anything about him.

Instead, they were focused on the original Sora. The one who was there - really there! The real one! Flesh and blood.

(He could feel himself trying to adjust the way he acted to better match what the real Sora was like.

He didn't know how he felt about that.)

And the real Riku was there, and he was so nice, and it made him miss his own Riku. In fact, missing his own Riku that much made him remember what happened the last time he saw Data-Riku.

...

(He replaced Data-Sora? With another Sora without a heart? Was he not good enough?

And no way Data-Riku didn't have a heart. No way. He refused to believe it.)

And the Riku whose face he saw in the mirror now - that was another Riku entirely, a Replica? Who he was sharing a body with now?

He wondered what happened, how he got here.

(In truth, it was something more like this:

Data-Riku had planned to send Data-Sora out into one of the waiting Replicas in a far away lab, replacing whoever was supposed to be using that body.

He had poor timing, though, as time moved backwards in the exact moment that Data-Sora was being uploaded.

In the mess-up that followed, Data-Sora did end up being uploaded into a Replica body, but this one already had someone in it. He ended up tagging along with Riku Replica from the first moment said Replica woke up, unbeknownst to either.)

Oh well! Data-Sora was here, he might as wise make the most of it until he could find his Riku again!

Data-Sora explained all this and more to the new Riku, passed along in memory and feeling and word.

The new Riku took a while to process that, utterly baffled about everything that implied -- and a little disbelieving that this was happening. But those memories… He couldn’t have come up with those on his own, he thought.

That’s right! I’m real and here, you’re real and here, cool! Data-Sora thought back at the new Riku.

Would you stop calling me the new Riku? he thought at Data-Sora.

Oh! Whoops, Data-Sora apologized. It's just that there's Riku (original) (real), Riku (data) (his friend!) (Jiminy's Journal) (replacing him...?), and now Riku (new) (Replica?) (his friend?).

We're not friends.

Oh. Okay. Data-Sora amended the (his friend?) tag and replaced it with (sharing a body with him).

...Are you sure you don't really understand how you got here?

Nope! Not really! He was data and Replica bodies were at least partly based on data so it made sense that he could be uploaded into one, but other than that he had no idea!

…Huh. Now, could you explain some more about whatever this ‘Journal’ is? And what you are again?

Okay, so-

“We’re here!” Donald and Goofy declared gleefully, startling Riku (Replica) into processing the world around him again.

…I’ll tell you later, Data-Sora said faintly, as if from a distance.

You better, he thought back, even as he sat up in his chair to get a better look at the world outside the gummiship’s window – Disney Town, presumably.

Chapter Text

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all started to say their goodbyes as they left, though each of them seemed worried and tried to offer to let them stay over for a day or two to recover from the long trip.

Sora shook his head and smiled like if he just smiled wide enough no one would notice its plastic nature. “Nah,” he said, linking his hands behind his neck in a facsimile of being carefree, “there’s still stuff I gotta do. But don’t worry! I got Riku and Kairi with me, I’ll be fine!” He shot a grin at them both in turn, his smile only a touch less fake.

Kairi’s mouth twitched into a semblance of a smile in response, but Riku just furrowed his brow and pursed his lips.

Sora’s smile briefly turned into more of a grimace at their reactions, but he fortified it quickly as he turned back towards Donald and Goofy and Mickey.

“Gosh, are you sure?” Mickey’s gaze was drawn in the direction of the ship’s cabin, where Aqua still lay sleeping. “We can look after Aqua until she wakes up, you don’t have to bring her along!”

Sora’s smile was blinding in its falsehood. “Nah, it’s okay! I figure she’ll want to be on the gummiship and ready to go get Ven when she wakes up!”

Riku startled, not having been made aware of this plan. And besides, there was something not quite adding up with Sora’s logic…

Kairi was too distracted to really process anything strange about the statement. She was just nodding along absentmindedly, mind on other things.

Mickey was hesitant, but he nodded his acquiescence nonetheless. “Alright, if you’re sure…”

“You better not do anything too dangerous while we’re busy sorting things out at the castle!” Donald insisted, looking worried.

Goofy nodded vigorously in agreement. “And we’ll come help out the instant we’re done!” he promised.

Sora’s smile softened at the edges as he adopted a more truthful expression. “Aw, guys… You better keep that promise!”

Donald said, “You bet!” cheerfully while Goofy chuckled and agreed.

It went quiet for a moment.

Kairi turned to the Riku Replica. “And what about you?” she asked.

Everyone turned to look at him, to see his decision on whether he was leaving with them to Disney Castle or not.

The Riku Replica was quiet, arms crossed and looking away. After a long moment, he sighed and stepped forward to join the group leaving for Disney Castle. “Not like I have anywhere better to go,” he said.

“Aww, sure you do!” Goofy said jovially, “But don’t you worry! Me and Donald’ll show you around – you’ll be comfortable here, promise!”

“Yeah! Just give it some time and you’ll be so comfortable, it’ll be like home here!” Donald boasted, pointing to his chest with his thumb.

Mickey nodded and made a “Uh huh!” noise, smiling welcomingly at the Riku Replica.

“Home...” the Riku Replica said quietly, then scoffed. He crossed his arms. “Well, whatever. Are we going to get going or what?”

Mickey jumped. “Oh, right! Bye, fellas! And don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it!”

Sora smiled and nodded and waved goodbye.

Donald, Goofy, and Mickey all waved back cheerfully (though not without worry), then turned away.

As soon as they were out of sight, Sora dropped his hand, his expression falling with it.

Riku stepped closer and put his hand on Sora’s shoulder, pursed lips and conflicted expression as he struggled to find something to say.

Sora heaved a sigh, his gaze dropping the ground.

Kairi came around to his front and squatted down so her face was in his line of sight. She visibly hesitated, as lost as Riku as to what to say. “Sora... I... You’re- you’re not alone. You know that, right?” she said softly, haltingly.

Sora avoided her gaze.

“Please don’t...” Kairi paused, then her expression pinched and hardened. “You’re not leaving me behind again, okay? So don’t you dare think you have to do it all by yourself!”

Riku kept his hand steady on Sora’s shoulder. “Kairi’s right. You’ve had to deal with so much, too much for anyone. And... I wasn’t there for you in the ways I should have been. But I’m here now. And so is Kairi- you won’t have to be alone ever again. Just... let us shoulder some of that burden too, okay?”

Sora shuddered, his head still lowered. A small wet spot formed on the concrete path under his head, then another – silent tears falling to the pavement. With a sniffle, he wiped his eyes with his arm, then suddenly straightened up (displacing Riku’s hand on his shoulder in the process) and turned to face the other direction. “We should get going,” he said in wavering voice trying hard to sound like nothing was wrong.

Kairi and Riku exchanged glances, equally worried about him, but they followed anyways.

The flight on the way to the Destiny Islands was quiet, no one quite willing to break the silence.

Sora drove, Kairi manned the weapons, and Riku either watched quietly from a seat in the front, or went to go check on Aqua.

A few hours in, the silence was broken.

“Terra! Ven!” a strangled cry arose from the cabin.

They all jumped and glanced back at the interruption.

Riku was the first to get up and run to check on her.

Kairi fidgeted and kept glancing back in between blasting every obstacle in the area.

Sora frowned and started to guide the ship to an area just quiet enough to rest in for the time being. Once he was confident it was good enough, he sent one last glance at the space around the ship, then jumped up and ran towards Aqua.

Kairi spent just enough time blasting every rock and strange gummi object and Heartless in the area to bits, then joined the other two.

Aqua was awake. And just as Sora suspected, she wanted to drop everything to go find Ven.

"Sure!" Sora said brightly. "Let's go to Castle Oblivion and get Ven!"

Aqua furrowed her eyebrows. "Castle Oblivion…?"

"Oh! Sorry," Sora rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "It used to be… uhhh, that place where you trained?"

"The Land of Departure," Riku confirmed.

Aqua's eyes tracked the movement of Sora's arms - then suddenly jolted when she processed what they said to her. "How… How do you know that?"

Sora blinked, confused. Then- "Ohhhh, right, the time travel thing."

Kairi snorted. "Yeah, the time travel thing."

And then Riku and Sora tag-teamed explaining the situation to Aqua. She only seemed to be processing some of it, but hopefully she at least understood that there was time travel involved and Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Donald and Goofy all remembered the past timeline.

"Well, what are waiting for? Let's get going, already," Aqua declared once there was an adequate gap in the explanation.

Riku paused with his mouth open, poised to get into the explanation about the Organization and then the Real Organization and what had happened to Xehanort.

Sora elbowed him playfully, and then raced off to plop himself down in the captain's chair. "Yeah, come on! To Castle Oblivion!"

"The Organization's still there," Riku warned, following him.

Sora waved a hand dismissively, "Oh, we can deal with them, it's fine!"

"No," Kairi found herself saying, walking to the front of the gummiship with them. Her hands were clasped at her front and she felt a tremor go through her.

Sora and Riku both froze and looked back at her.

"No?" Aqua echoed, standing tall behind Kairi.

She turned to face Aqua, looking up at her with a serious face. "No. Ventus's heart isn't there," Naminé said.

"Yeeeeeaaah?" Sora said, "I know that, it's…." He paused, then looked confused.

"Wasn't it with Roxas?" Riku pointed out, mostly for Sora's benefit. "Not that it matters, we can grab Ventus's body and then go find his heart."

Naminé shook her head and looked down at her hands. "Go to Twilight Town. Find Roxas. It… It'll make more sense then."

"Huh? But… why?" Sora asked.

Naminé kept her head bowed, an expression of anguish crossing her face, her eyes distant.

"Naminé?" Riku said softly, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Kairi jolted and shook her head violently, unclasping her hands to scratch at her elbow. "Sorry, guys, I don't know what Naminé meant by that any more than you do. I just… get the feeling it's important."

Aqua stalked closer to the controls. "Doesn't matter where we go, as long as Ven's okay," she growled, visibly impatient, muscles tensed like a wild animal backed in a corner. Her appearance had gone back to normal after exiting the Realm of Darkness, but somehow in that moment… Was her hair lighter?

Sora took a breath and then smiled. "Sounds good to me! I want to see Roxas, anyways! Let's go, then, to Twilight Town!" He pointed dramatically at the distance for a while, then deflated and lowered his arm. "Um, how do we get there, again?" he asked in a small voice.

Riku came around to the front of the captain's chair and gently started to lift Sora up. "How about I drive for a bit?" he suggested softly.

Sora set his jaw and glared faintly at nothing, but he let Riku lift him up and out of the chair. "Fiiiiiiine," he whined childishly and then pouted theatrically.

They set a course for Twilight Town on vague instructions from Naminé.

…Naminé? Kairi called to her heart.

I'm sorry, she heard faintly back. I'll explain when we get there.

And then Naminé retreated, and Kairi was left alone again.

Donald and Goofy showed Riku (…and Data-Sora) around the Castle, and then to his (their?) new room with the instruction to 'get some rest'.

Oh, wow, I've never had a room before, Data-Sora thought, amazed by how big the room was and how soft the bed was (and how weird it was to feel actual textures and not just know he was colliding with a particular category of object).

…Neither have I, Riku thought, still reeling from all the colour and how big everything was.

They explored the room some, running their hands over every new texture and picking up the various knick-knacks left on shelves for… decoration?

They then discovered the ceiling-high bookshelf had actual books and didn't just look like it had books, and then they were sifting through all the books, reading titles and peeking into the books themselves and.

It was a little overwhelming.

He snapped the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf where it came from.

His feet moved decisively out of the room and through the hallway before he could think about it.

…Where are we going…?

I. I just have to see something.

…Whatever.

The computer - the Computer - the one Jiminy's Journal was uploaded to- it.

It wasn't there.

Chip and Dale looked up from the mess of computer parts lying on the floor.

"Oh hi there!" Chip said with a cheerful wave.

"We're building a computer!"

"A SPECIAL computer!"

"You'll be able to upload books to them and make them into DATA!"

"So, so, it, it doesn't exist yet?" he finally managed to choke out.

"Nope! But it will soon!"

And then somehow it dissolved into arguing, the two chipmunks shouting back at one another in high-pitched, rapidfire words that he couldn't process.

He backed out of the room and shut the door.

Satisfied?

…He started to walk back to their room. Maybe everything would make sense in the morning.

Doubt it.

Roxas finished up a rote mission in Twilight Town - clearing out Shadow Globs again, even more boring than the usual Heartless extermination - and headed to go get some icecream, finding himself lost in thought.

Axel had been really weird lately, quiet and contemplative for long moments - Roxas or Xion had to pull him out of his thoughts a lot when he went quiet in the middle of a conversation.

And then there was Lord Xemnas… He kept… staring… He was always just around the corner, it felt like, waiting to just… watch. In the Grey Room or in random hallways, the Superior kept appearing, looking at him almost the same way he looked at Kingdom Hearts…

Roxas didn't get it. It was weird. What about him was so… interesting?

Um, about that-

Roxas shook his head as he rounded the bend to the icecream shop. Maybe his friends would know why Lord Xemnas was acting like that. Either way, he had to focus to get icecream.

So, he focused on his surroundings and headed to the icecream shop and-

In his path, there were four people he had never seen before.

He felt…

He felt like he… like he knew them.

There was this… pull.

He found himself walking towards them without even thinking about it.

Sora saw Roxas and the relief was just so immediate, it was like a towering wave crashing into him, knocking him over.

The relief was so strong, it took him a while to realize there was something else.

This something else was…

-a great yawning hunger opening its jaws wide-

- the inescapable pull of gravity, tugging him in deeper, deeper, not into peaceful orbit but headed directly for a collision-

- he was a thing made to devour, and right in front of him was something that was his-

The thought disturbed him so much, it knocked him out of his dazed state enough to realize that he and Roxas had been stalking a circle around each other, orbiting like two celestial bodies about to collapse together.

Sora froze, and across from him Roxas froze too in an eerie parallel. Reflections.

It took all the strength within him to take a step back and hide behind Riku. It felt like wading through water, like fighting against the strongest magnetic force he'd ever encountered.

It physically hurt to pull away, to deny the merging of Heartless and Nobody, two unnatural existences begging to be made whole again-

(Heartless? No, he wasn't a Heartless right now, Kairi fixed that!)

But that wasn't right. Roxas wouldn't want that.

Wouldn't it be so cruel to rob him of his life like that? Wouldn't it be so selfish? No. No, he couldn't. He had to resist it.

Roxas didn't even have time to process that strange encounter when another one started.

"Ven?"

And she was stumbling forward, reaching out to touch-

"Aqua!"

And then he was surging forward, crashing into her with a hug and-

Roxas ripped himself away, stumbling back with faltering, sharp breaths-

"What- Who are you?" Roxas breathed out, clutching his chest (the zipper of his coat was cold and hard, something solid and familiar to focus on).

"V-Ven? Don't you… Don't you recognize me?" Aqua said, the most heartbroken look in her eyes, like everything was crumbling down around her-

And she stepped forward, hand outstretched and-

"No, of course I do!" The words tumbled out of his mouth in a rush. "It's just that-"

Roxas snapped his mouth shut and took another step back, drawing his Keyblade. "What… What's happening?"

Sora- and he just knew that was Sora, even not knowing what a Sora even was - peeked out from behind the taller boy. "Roxas," he breathed out, like breath torn out of you from an impact to the stomach. "Roxas, I'm sorry, I, I'm sorry, I- We can explain, I promise!"

"Start explaining, then," Roxas snapped.

And then- His arms moved on their own- Hand rested on his chest, over his heart- His eyelids closed-

His mouth opened. "Roxas," he said - his own mouth - "I'm sorry, I was going to explain, it was just… It was never the right time."

His heart raced. The world tilted on its axis and out from under his feet.

What… What was happening?

I'm sorry, Roxas, I should have told you before.

His mouth opened again. "I… My name's Ventus, call me Ven. I've been… here, with you, since the start."

"What?" The sound punched its way out of his throat before he was conscious of the fact that it was really him this time making the noise.

"What?" Echoed another voice- Aqua. "Ven, what's going on?"

His face turned up and his eyes opened. "Sorry, Aqua. Um. My body's kind of… gone? Looks like I'm stuck sharing with Roxas here for now." His face twisted into an awkward smile and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Gone…?" Aqua spoke quietly, like any louder would shatter her.

"Yeah, gone. Like. Um. Poof." His fingers stretched out to accentuate the sound. "Turned into sparkles or something. Uh. Sorry?"

A memory flashed in his head - that day at Castle Oblivion, with the sleeping boy that was a reflection of him - the way it disappeared-

That… That was you?

"Uh, yeah, Roxas. When we - well, you - visited the uhh the white place, where my body was - When you touched it, I guess… Something weird happened? It got confused? I don't know. It's gone now."

This- What?

What?

Nothing made sense anymore.

"Roxas? Everything alright over there?" Axel called out in a sharp drawl - an offer to fight on his behalf if he needed it, he was pretty sure.

Roxas turned immediately and ran over to Axel - nothing made sense anymore but- but- Axel was the same. Axel made sense. Axel was his friend. They were going to get icecream.

"Let's just get icecream," Roxas pleaded, tugging Axel towards the icecream shop.

"…Sure."

(Behind them, Kairi waved to Axel with a sharp grin.)

Chapter Text

"Well, that could've gone better," Kairi commented cheerily once they regrouped at a nearby café. She took a big bite of her pastry.

Riku snorted behind his muffin. "No kidding."

"Ven…" Aqua murmured. She turned to the rest of them with a desperate, pleading expression, not even giving her tea or her breakfast bagel a second glance. "That was really Ven, right? I'm not… just… making it up, right?"

"Yep," Kairi confirmed. "That was him. Sharing a body with Roxas, I guess…" Her face fell and she started to look contemplative, wrapping her hands around her hot chocolate.

"…Who's Roxas?" Aqua asked.

"My Other," Sora explained in a subdued tone of voice, staring forlornly at the last place they saw Roxas.

Riku finished his muffin, then looked around at Sora and Kairi, both too preoccupied to elaborate. He sighed and resigned himself to playing the role of the person who explains things again. "Right, I guess I can explain…"

Before he could get started on the explanation, Kairi pointed accusingly at Sora and Aqua. "C'mon you guys, you gotta at least try to eat your food while Riku explains."

"Really, Kairi? Not even going to offer to help?" Riku complained lightly.

Kairi stuck out her tongue. "Nope! You got it. Besiiiides, you're the only one finished eating. You don't want me to talk with my mouth full, do you?" She took another pointed bite of her pastry. The jam staining her cheek from the pastry made it an amusing sight.

Riku sighed theatrically and shook his head with a smile peeking at the corners of his mouth. "Fine, fine." He did not point out the jam on her cheek.

While they had been bantering, Aqua and Sora had both picked up their bagels and put in at least a token, reluctant effort to eat. Good.

Okay. He had an explanation to get to.

"So, uh, Roxas, mind explaining what that was about?" Axel broke the silence atop the clocktower.

Roxas fiddled with his icecream, not sure where to start - especially when even he was unsure what that was about.

"Huh?" Xion turned to look at him. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," Roxas replied. He took a bite of his icecream and studied the sunset as he formulated his thoughts. "Have you… ever met someone and… you just feel like you know them, even though you've never met?"

Xion furrowed her eyebrows, perplexed by the question.

"Can't say I have, myself." Axel turned to face him, studying his face.

"I… I knew his name. Sora." The admission felt like pulling at a wound and peeling back the skin to reveal the flesh underneath. No, more like… Something you can't take back.

Xion gasped.

Axel narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"I… I ran into some people. Sora… Sora was one of them. But then there was this woman… She called me by someone else's name, and then something… responded. Like. Whenever the Superior brings me somewhere. I… I knew her name, too."

Roxas paused, unsure how to continue.

I… I'm sorry. I didn't know this would freak you out so much. I… I'm sorry, I think I'm stuck with you. I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. I'm sorry I'm making this more complicated for you…

A small breath escaped him in the form of a gasp. That- that- How do you begin to explain that?

…It's not that hard to understand? I can explain if you want?

"No!" Roxas said immediately - out loud.

Xion and Axel jolted, confused by his sudden outburst.

"No?" Axel prompted, leaning around to study his face closer.

Roxas stuffed the icecream in his mouth before he could make any more noises.

Just. Who are you? Why are you here?

…And what… What did this mean?

My name is Ventus, and as I said before, you can call me Ven… Um, I was a keyblade wielder like you, but then, uh, well, some… stuff happened… and my heart had to flee and find shelter so it could heal. That was… My heart went to Sora. And then when Sora… became a Heartless, I guess, and you were made, I guess my heart came to join you?

I… I don't know what this means for you. I just, I just want to help where I can, if that's okay? And… I want to talk to my friends again. Like Aqua, and… Terra, wherever he is. That's… not too much to ask, is it?

And. Roxas didn't know how to respond to that either.

It's okay. Take your time.

"Roxas? Heyy, earth to Roxas, you still with us buddy?" Axel waved a hand in front of his face.

Roxas blinked at him, then pulled the now-icecreamless stick out of his mouth.

Xion was also watching him closely. Her icecream was starting to melt, dripping onto her coat.

"Sorry," Roxas said. "I'm okay, it's just. There's someone else in this body. He says his heart came with me- Axel, is that possible?"

Axel's icecream stick fell through his slackened fingers and landed with a distant clatter to the ground far below, staring at him with wide eyes. "I- What?"

Xion tilted her head. "But that would mean that you have a heart, even if it's not yours." Implied was the idea that that was ridiculous - after all, if he had a heart, he wouldn't be Nobody anymore.

"I- I know. I don't know. It's. It's weird, right? I… I dunno." What do you even say in this situation? Roxas kinda just wanted to go back to his room and write about this in his diary then go to sleep and deal with it in the morning. "Anyways," he said abruptly, "how did you guys's missions go?"

Xion blinked. "Um. It was fine?"

Axel continued to look at Roxas with narrowed eyes, but he eventually rolled his shoulders back and leaned back, faux-casual. Waving his empty hand around, he started describing his ordinary day with embellished details and commentary.

Roxas felt something tense in his gut unravel, and he took a deep breath in.

Sorry again. I… I promise it'll be okay. Alright? I'll, uh, be here to help if you want.

Once the explanation was all done and everyone was done eating, there was still the matter of what next?

Aqua fiddled with her crumpled up napkin with tense eyebrows. "I… Okay. Okay. I kind of understand. But what I don't understand… I… I just don't think I'll believe it until I see it myself. Is Ven's body really just… gone?"

Riku nodded. "Then we'll go to Castle Oblivion."

Sora hummed in absentminded agreement, but his gaze was fixed on the distant clocktower.

Kairi placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "We'll come and see him later. Just give him some time to process, okay?"

Sora pursed his lips and sighed. "Yeah…"

"I'm sure he'll be ready to talk when we get back. And then we can explain everything - Oh! And we can see Xion, too," Kairi continued, sounding excited by the prospect.

Sora jolted, then turned to face her with a distraught expression. "Xion- Kairi, I forgot about her again. How could I forget about her?"

Riku placed a hand on his other shoulder. "Sora, it's not your fault if you forgot. You're having issues with your memory right now, it's only… natural." He winced, having a feeling that was not the right word choice but not knowing what else to say.

Sora screwed his eyes shut, tears gathering at the corners. He ducked his head and covered his eyes with an arm, his shoulders going tense under their hands. "But-" his voice broke, "but Xion."

To the side, uninvolved with the teary situation, Aqua sat with pursed lips, tearing apart her napkin. She wrestled between the urge to offer what comfort she could - but what would she even say? And with all this darkness, what if she made it worse? - and the urge to snap at them to hurry it up so they could get a move on already. The latter was incredibly tempting - but so cruel. She… she couldn't be that cruel, she couldn't let the darkness in (more than she already had, that is), she couldn't.

…But she could, and it would be so easy. And then they'd stop the cryfest and she could check on Ven already. But no. No.

She wanted her armour so bad. If she had it, she could just hop on her glider and sail the Lanes Between back home all by herself, no unnecessary waiting testing her patience.

With one particular vicious twist of her wrist, she felt a scratch down her palm - she blinked and looked down. A thin trail of blood beaded on the surface of her palm. Looks like her hand slipped and drove one of her claws into her skin - her claws. Her claws, like a Heartless, darkness staining her heart and leeching out into her very form.

What a mess she was.

What kind of Master was she? Maybe Master Eraqus made a mistake giving her the title. She didn't really deserve it, now did she? Fail her friends and fall into the darkness - not just fall into the darkness, let it in, fail to supress it!

"…Um, Master Aqua, are you okay?" Kairi spoke up, startling Aqua.

Aqua snapped her head up, cutting off the growling noise she belatedly released was coming from her, a deep rumbling noise tearing out of her throat.

Kairi, Sora, and Riku were all staring at her.

"I'm fine," she said as levelly as she could. "Can we get going now?"

Awareness trickled in slowly.

His first thought was, it's so bright. Or was it so dark that any speck of light cut through the darkness with intensity?

"I don't know if the distinction matters," a voice commented.

Roxas looked for the source of the voice. Above him, where the light shone the brightest there was a face peering down.

A face, attached to a body sitting on the edge of some thin, flat, floating platform.

It was hard to make out details. Roxas squinted, trying to make sense of what was there through all the light.

"Oh, hold on," the voice said. The figure jumped down, landing lightly on Roxas's platform.

Roxas stepped back instinctively, suddenly aware of how small the circular platform he himself was standing on was. There was enough room for them both to stand on it at a comfortable distance, sure, but only if they were both at opposite sides.

The action of jumping down served its intended purpose - without all the light pollution, Roxas could finally properly see the other person.

He looked exactly like the sleeping boy in Castle Oblivion. The one with his face. The one who disappeared.

The boy smiled softly at him. "Yep, got it in one. That's me. Or, that was my body, I suppose." He spoke with Roxas's voice, but he used it differently. "It's nice to meet you face-to-face!"

"I-" Roxas cleared his throat, suddenly aware he could speak in this place. "Where are we? What's happening?"

The boy's smile changed, but Roxas didn't have the words to explain the warmth in his eyes or the patience in his smile - or the sadness lingering behind it all. "This is the Station of Awakening. Your heart. I… wanted to talk a little more… personally? So I pulled you in here. I… hope you don't mind."

"My… heart? But… Nobodies don't have hearts."

"That so?" The other boy tilted his head with a wry smile and gestured at the platform beneath them. "What's that, then?"

Roxas looked.

Under their feet, a stained glass circle formed. At regular intervals around the circle, there were three smaller circles. One with a picture of Axel, one with a picture of Xion, and the third… Blurry. He couldn't make it out.

Interspersed around the outer edge of the circle, three symbols repeated. The Nobody emblem, the Heartless emblem, and between it all, a stylistic depiction of icecream.

The center of the circle was left mostly blank, though a few scattered lines wiggled their way through it in no particular pattern. Like a barely started sketch, too early to see what it's supposed to depict.

"Sure, it's small right now," the boy continued, his tone soft and gentle, with the sound of a smile curled into it, "but it's just started growing. Give it time, and it'll be a fully-formed heart."

"How… How can that… be possible?" Roxas said, still not fully believing it.

The boy shrugged. "Dunno."

Roxas couldn't help the look he shot at the other boy. "Great," he said dryly.

The boy laughed.

It went silent again, and Roxas went back to studying his supposed heart.

…It didn't feel real. Was any of this for real? Was it all just a dream?

"I mean, I think it's something like a dream? But that doesn't mean it isn't real," the boy offered.

Roxas startled, and turned to study the other boy. Did he… know what Roxas was thinking?

The boy smiled apologetically and shrugged with one shoulder. "We are connected, you know." He seemed to get an idea, and beckoned Roxas over. "Hey, you want to come see my heart?"

A stained glass pathway appeared to the side, leading up to the platform above.

Roxas worked his jaw, bereft of a reply or an understanding of the proper reaction to a situation like this. Wordlessly, helplessly, he followed the other boy up the glass pathway.

"It's Ven, by the way," the boy explained conversationally. "The same person talking to you in your head earlier."

Ven…?

…That probably made sense.

Ven glanced back at him and shot him a reassuring smile. "I know it's a lot to process. But don't worry, you're not alone."

…That was kind of the problem, wasn't it?

Ven laughed, and continued leading the way.

After some walking, they reached the top. Ven skipped ahead and presented the platform - his heart? - with a dramatic flourish of his hands.

While the platform was blinding from below, as soon as he stepped onto it, it seemed to dim. Or maybe his eyes adjusted? Either way, the light gave him no issues.

The station, the heart, it was… big. Way bigger than his own small circle. A large illustration of Ven asleep took up the majority of the center.

"Oh." Roxas walked around to peer at one of the faces set in smaller circles surrounding Ven's head. "That's… that lady from before."

"Aqua," Ven confirmed. There was so much… warmth in his voice. It was alien to Roxas.

"Huh? That looks like Lord Xemnas," Roxas pointed out, looking at other smaller portrait.

"That… That's Terra." Ven walked closer to also scrutinze the little face picture. "Does Xemnas really look like him…?" he muttered to himself. "No. Nuh uh. No way."

"But the face is the same and the hair's the same… Other than being brown…" Roxas continued to point out.

"Nope! Not touching that with a ten foot pole! I don't want to think about it!" Ven protested, turning away and crossing his arms.

"Are… are you sure?" Roxas asked.

"Oh, look at that," Ven said in a rush, physically pushing Roxas off of his heart station, "it's time to wake up!"

"Woah, what are you-"

The 'dream' ended.

Contrary to Ven's words, Roxas did not immediately wake up, but rather slipped into a dreamless sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, however, he remembered the strange encounter vividly.

Roxas lied awake, staring at his grey ceiling, thinking of precisely nothing.

Then he got up. He had to go do the day's mission.

…And maybe he could talk about it with Axel and Xion later.

Stretching out before them was Castle Oblivion, the warped form of the Land of Departure. To either side was a deep expanse of nothing.

Aqua, Sora, Kairi, and Riku stood at the base of the path, staring resolutely up at the towering castle.

Aqua took a deep breath.

In.

Out.

Enough stalling.

She took a step forward.

Whatever was waiting in the castle… She would just have to face it.