Author Notes:

It's been a long time, but I haven't given up yet. Life may get between me and writing Stygian Solace, but I refuse to stop!

Here's to you, SS, for giving me 7 years of love, laughter, torture, tears, and an incredible writing experience I wouldn't trade for anything. You're far from perfect, but you've taught me more about writing and about myself than I ever expected. Happy anniversary.

This isn't checked for errors yet, so please excuse the typos!

Chapter Twenty-seven: Come Full Circle

-o-o-

It was the sound of Sora's laughter that drew Riku out of that dark abyss.

Distant but distinct, full of life and light—he'd recognize that laugh anywhere.

Riku's heart reached for it out of the shroud that had settled deep inside of him, letting Sora's voice guide him back to consciousness. The temptation to sleep, to fall back to the darkness and let life slip away, shadowed his every thought. But every time he felt himself drift back into the great sea of silence, Sora's voice reminded him of his right to exist.

"...irst thing I'm gonna do..."

"...iku will......you!"

Another voice, familiar, flowing through him like a minty sweetness. As her giggles laced with Sora's laughter, Riku felt his mind rise from the dark solace that had encompassed his reality.

Sora... Kairi...

He wasn't imagining their voices.

Focusing through the haze, he recognized where he was. The colorful tomes of the bastion's library surrounded him as he passed through the aisles at a leisure pace. His body carried a poise he didn't recognize as his own—confident, yes, but too confident, with a vast power simmering just outside his control.

But not his control, Riku realized. Ansem's.

He could feel Ansem's darkness wrapped around every thought and emotion, laced in the delicate holes of his heart and saturating his entire being. Riku was awake and aware, but Ansem had complete command of his body.

"Maybe, but at least he'd laugh!"

"Heehee, I hope so. He needs that right now."

Sora and Kairi's voices were closer, just on the other side of the bookshelf he was approaching.

Riku realized then where Ansem was going. Riku's body was still swathed in the dark suit he had fought Nobody in, but he was Riku even though Ansem ruled his every action. And Ansem's darkness would want Kairi and Sora for only one thing—

The heart Kairi was protecting.

If you dare lay a finger on them...!

But Riku's threat only earned him a sinister smile that used his lips to form it. Ansem knew as well as he did that he had little choice but to watch, silent, helpless, and completely responsible for letting things come to this.

Ansem's smile didn't fade, not even when he stepped into the open and settled his gaze on Riku's best friends.

Sora and Kairi were sitting together on the stairs, still laughing, and Kairi's purse rested safely in her lap.

She was the first to notice Riku as Ansem approached them at a slow, deliberate pace. Her laughter died as he drew closer. Her eyes met his and widened.

Had she recognized something about Ansem?

"Riku?" she said, her voice small and tentative.

His lips curled into a triumphant smirk.

Sora seemed more relieved than anything when he saw Riku. "There you are!" he said, grinning wide as he got to his feet. "Everyone's been waiting for you. Cid and Leon are goin' over all those reports, and—get this!—there might be two Ansems!" He laughed again and folded his arms behind his head. "Weird, huh?" Then, still grinning, he gave Riku a funny look. "What're you wearing?"

Kairi's wide-eyed stare hadn't faltered. "Sora... I don't think..."

As Ansem came to a calm stop in front of Sora and Kairi, Kairi inched back, rising to her feet clutching her purse. She knew something was wrong.

It's not me!! Riku cried, trying to get through to them, but Ansem didn't even twitch.

His smirk only grew darker.

Kairi reached out to grab Sora's wrist as she backed onto the next stair. "Sora—"

But as Sora turned to glance at her in confusion, Riku knew Sora had just made the biggest mistake he could have. Even if he hadn't realized it, he'd taken his eyes off his enemy.

Ansem's power flared to life, and before Sora or Kairi could react, the darkness sprang out of the stairs and snared Kairi by her ankles, yanking her down.

"Riku" lunged forward, closing the distance between himself and Sora in the blink of an eye. Riku's arm drew back, and Sora's eyes filled with stark fear when he saw the concentrated shadows licking along Riku's hand like a ball of black flames.

Then that hand descended, striking right into Sora's chest.

There was no blood, only darkness, only the vivid blue of Sora's frightened eyes—as Riku's glove wrapped over his best friend's thundering heart—

Warm. Bright. Strong.

The heart of a keyblade master.

He heard Kairi scream Sora's name, echoing his own cries as he fought against Ansem's control, despair and panic and denial searing through his own heart, further fueling Ansem's strength.

SORA!! NO!! Let him go!!

All Riku could see was the confusion and fear in Sora's eyes as he gaped up at Riku, his strong fingers digging into Riku's arm out of desperation, out of why Riku why and a betrayal that tore Riku's world apart—because he was doing it. It was his hand. It was his body. It was his triumphant smile.

There, centered on Sora's chest, the crown pendant gleamed proudly with the princess's powers, useless protection against the darkness that Ansem wielded using Riku's body. It flooded Sora's heart and swathed its incredible light in its black depths, dragging it into a one-way abyss. Riku felt Sora's heart struggle—a fierce but brief flare of radiance—but the shadows smothered his resistance.

"R-Riku...?"

Sora's voice was soft, scared, like a whispered Are you still awake? during one of their old sleepovers.

The darkness spread from his heart and billowed out of Sora's chest, converging and growing within him, consuming. His fingers gradually lost strength, growing slack against Riku's arm.

Then the betrayal on Sora's face began to fade into a sleepy emptiness. His eyes drifted closed, black swallowing blue, and Riku tore at the boundaries of his own heart as he screamed at him.

SORA!! Fight it! Use the keyblade! You can't—NO—YOU CAN'T GO LIKE THIS!

Kairi thrashed against the darkness pinning her to the stairs, terrified and crying for Sora like he was, but Ansem responded to their suffering with a chuckle that held no remorse. He pulled Riku's hand back, ripping Sora's necklace off, and he cast the pendant aside.

The darkness enveloped Sora's body, not completely, leaving just enough of him free for Riku to witness the downfall of not just his best friend, but the one person who might have been able to save him, and the one person who had put faith in him above all others.

No no nono—not Sora—this can't be happening! This can't be happening...!!

Wearing the most peaceful expression Riku had ever seen on his face, Sora sank into the shadows.

Beneath the darkness, a golden light spread and encompassed his entire form, brighter and brighter—

SORA!!

—until suddenly, his body dissolved into hundreds of tiny lights, like a cloud of fireflies scattering free into the night.

They drifted past Ansem in gentle currents of warmth—Sora's warmth—and Riku felt it, struck by a deep desolation, as that trace of Sora almost seemed to say goodbye.

Then, one by one, the lights twinkled out into nothingness.

When the shadows cleared, all that remained of Sora was the broken necklace.

He was gone.

Huddled there on the stairs, Kairi remained trapped by Ansem's darkness. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she was glaring at Ansem with a defiance that rekindled a little of Riku's hope. This wasn't over yet. Riku wasn't the only one who had lost Sora, and Kairi was going to want to fight back. She had been able to fend off Id's darkness—maybe she could help free Riku from Ansem's.

"Who are you?" she demanded. Her tone wavered a little, but there was a strength there that reminded him of Sora's. She knew Riku never would have done this to Sora; she knew it wasn't him.

Ansem chuckled again and calmly stepped up to her, holding Riku's chin aloft as he looked down at her. The sultry voice that had haunted Riku was now his own, and it was laced with satisfaction. "Come now, Princess. You of all people should know..." He had nothing to hide, not from her.

Shrinking back, Kairi tugged at the tendrils of shadow that kept her bound to the stairs. "You're not Ansem!" she said with a subtle growl, and Riku felt a surge of pride in her.

"What?" Ansem laughed. He curled Riku's fingers in the air, darkness wafting off his skintight suit, and gestured at her. A thick ribbon of darkness wrapped around her purse. "And you think this is?"

As it was slipped off her shoulder, she gave sharp gasp and struggled harder. "Don't—" Her gaze clouded with worry as Ansem raised the imprisoned heart in front of her.

"He's nothing but a cowardly shell," Ansem continued, and Riku felt his eyes narrow with delight. "I would thank you for releasing me from my prison, but that would imply I owe you something."

A look of frightened understanding filled Kairi's face. "You're the darkness that got pushed out of Ansem's heart."

That was when Riku realized exactly what was possessing him. He hadn't been sure, but Kairi's words put all the pieces together.

It wasn't Id, and it wasn't even Ansem. It was Ansem's darkness, a blend of Ansem and Id. And it wasn't just Ansem's darkness—it was a heartless, one made of pure darkness, a natural heartless as Merlin had described it.

Back before Ansem's heartless had tried to possess Kairi, he had been an emblem heartless, one with a heart at its core. When Kairi's pure heart had pushed most of the darkness out of Ansem's heart, the heartless hadn't disappeared. It had become an entity all of its own, a sentient darkness.

Left behind, Ansem's heart had made a home inside of Kairi's body. This meant that the piece of Ansem that Kairi knew wasn't evil—he was just a heart trying to make amends; but the piece of Ansem that Riku knew sure didn't have qualms about relishing his own malevolence.

The surprise on Kairi's face quickly evolved into confidence as she came to the same conclusion.

"He's more Ansem than you'll ever be. You're nothing but a shadow!"

Another low chuckle, and Ansem shook his head. "Wrong again, Princess. You know nothing of the truth. Let me do you a favor and rid you of this burden..."

The darkness lifted the purse higher into the air and, with a scared cry, Kairi began to fight against her binds again.

"NO!! Let his heart go!!"

A blinding flash illuminated the room as Kairi's powers reacted to her panic and burned through the darkness holding her prisoner, but at the same time—Riku felt... something. It was like falling asleep without realizing and waking up in confusion—that sense of vertigo and rush of reawakening senses—only this time, when Riku's mind cleared, he felt even less like himself than before.

As the light died, he saw the darkness fading from around Kairi, and the purse containing Ansem's heart dropped to the stairs, halfway between Kairi and Ansem. But she didn't make a move to grab it. Instead, there was a stunned moment of silence as she gaped up at Ansem.

The expression on her face was all Riku needed to fill in the blank. He was no longer himself with Ansem in control; Ansem had shed Riku's appearance and taken on his own.

He wasn't slender and elegant like Yami, but he was tall and regal, even more built than Sephiroth or Leon, with supreme power beneath every muscle. He no longer wore the dark suit his powers had made for Riku, clad instead in a long gray and white overcoat, pulled open in the chest and flaunting a heartless emblem. His silver bangs were slicked back to leave his eyes exposed—and Riku had no doubt they would be the burning yellow of a heartless's.

Ansem's dark smile returned. "Why do you think I chose this boy's body?" He rested a gloved hand over the heart that still rightfully belonged to Riku. "Fully capable of wielding the light, yet so very receptive to the darkness. A unique blend of light and shadow. He makes a perfect shell—and weapon."

Weapon?

Riku's heart tightened with anger.

He realized Ansem was referring to what had just happened to Sora. Even though Sora had been protected by the enchanted necklace, something about Riku himself—his keyblade or powers or his friendship—must have allowed Ansem to bypass that safeguard completely.

All along... Ansem had preyed on his weaknesses, constantly made him doubt himself, manipulated him into thinking he needed more power, which Riku had finally taken out of sheer desperation... And it all hadn't just been a lie—it had been a set-up so Ansem could be in the perfect position to stage a coup!

Riku knew he was weak, and he knew it was his fault that he had let things get this bad—but to be reduced to this? By the shadow who had just killed Sora using his body?

Maybe I'm not the hero I'm supposed to be, he admitted, defiance rising, but I am not your puppet!

He felt Ansem laugh at him, but that only strengthened Riku's resolve as he pushed for control of his own heart, using Kairi's confidence to give him courage.

She looked Ansem straight in the eyes, and her voice didn't waver this time. "Riku makes mistakes, but his heart is always in the right place. He was chosen as the keyblade master for a reason! You and Id are exactly the same—choosing the wrong people to take over!" Rising to her feet, Kairi clenched her hands into fists and raised her voice. "Riku, if you're in there—fight him! I know you can! Don't let him use you! Think about Sora!!"

"Useless," Ansem said, but Riku wasn't listening anymore.

He thought about the promise he and Sora had made, he thought about the paopu they had shared and the memories of their brief relationship he had almost lost forever, he thought about the home they had all lost and how much he now missed it, and he thought about Sora's strength and honesty when he had said, I just want my best friend back!

Riku couldn't let Sora down now. If there was one reason to remain strong, it was to protect the light that Sora had given him.

You can't use me for this, Ansem!

He reached through the darkness laced deep throughout his heart and called to Sora's, wherever it was, he called out to Kairi's, to Leon and Cloud and Donald and Goofy's and all of the friends he had made, all of the people who had faith in him, all of the lives he had saved.

Silent but real, something reached back, like warm fingers wrapping around his own amidst a dark winter.

Don't give up!

Ansem felt the shift in his heart and hesitated, his deep voice struck with irritation. "What? Impossible..."

Part of Riku emerged from the darkness, the shadows clearing just long enough for his heart to shine through, and it did.

A soft glow grew between Kairi and Ansem, taking on Riku's form—and though he didn't know how it was happening, all that mattered was that was happening, and he refused to go down quietly. He threw his arms out in front of Ansem and screamed at Kairi.

"Take the heart and run! Get help!!"

He already felt Ansem's darkness digging into his light to smother it and draw him back under his control, and Riku grimaced, his influence weakening by the second.

"KAIRI, GO!!"

She didn't need to be told again.

As Ansem's darkness wrestled with Riku's light for control of his heart, Kairi leapt forward and snatched her purse from where it lay. Riku saw her worried eyes cast in his direction before she turned and sprinted up the stairs—

And just in time.

Riku felt his heart slip back into the dark abyss of Ansem's power, still a velveteen embrace, though Riku no longer found comfort in it.

As soon as Ansem had control once again, he took pursuit. He commanded the darkness at will, a tempest of shadows flowing around his legs and giving him the speed and agility to span the stairs in an instant.

Catching up to Kairi was an effortless task—she was clumsy with fear, stumbling every time the darkness tried to cut her off—but actually catching her was another story. Out of luck or desperation, she seemed to be getting the hang of her powers, a radiant light cutting through the darkness whenever it tried to ensnare her.

She burst into the upstairs hall and screamed for help, and Riku saw why as Ansem glanced to the floor below: Leon and the others had pulled together several tables in the foyer and were going over the gathered reports.

Kairi's cry caught everyone's attention, but Ansem only smirked down at them and threw his hand out.

Emblem heartless sprang out of dark portals all around them, attacking the princesses first. Riku heard Leon and Cid barking orders as chaos ensued, the cries of the girls being attacked, the thundering roar of the Beast as he leapt in to save them.

But Ansem didn't stay to watch—he was already moving deeper into the bastion after Kairi, who had gained ground during the distraction.

He could sense her terror in every frightened flutter of her heart as she ran through the hollow corridors. Ansem's heart, secure for now inside of the purse, was clutched to her chest, but she and Ansem's heartless and Riku all knew she was going to run herself into a dead end, and there would be nowhere to hide.

Desperate to get ahead, Kairi took a shortcut through the baths and skirted the edge of the pool, almost slipping, but Ansem was faster, gliding straight across the water. His darkness infected the pool, spreading like spilled ink over the surface, and as he reached the other side, a black flood rose up behind him—

KAIRI, LOOK OUT!!

Both water and darkness surged forward, whipping past Ansem, and crashed right into Kairi, sending her sprawling across the indigo stone.

She cried out as she landed on her side, and Riku screamed silently for her to get up and keep going, not to give up—she couldn't give up!—but Kairi had never been much of a fighter, and months without control of her own body must have left her weakened.

She shakily picked herself back up, fingers digging into the cloth purse, and she lifted her anxious eyes to Ansem as he approached.

Riku could feel Ansem's triumph as he drew closer to her, taking his time now that he sensed her imminent surrender.

RUN, KAIRI!!

But Kairi didn't turn to run.

Something changed in her expression as Ansem's shadow loomed over her—a narrowing of her eyes, one last, subtle defiance. Riku saw the fleck of amber amongst the blue of her irises and realized what she was going to do.

Ansem lifted an arm and gathered an intense concentration of shadows around it, ready to strike her heart and consume it with darkness as he'd done with Sora's, but as he closed in on her, Kairi's fingers wrapped around the shadowy sphere inside of her purse and pulled it free.

Ansem's heart pulsed gently beneath her fingers, its radiance shining through the cracks of the dark sphere Id had contained it in.

Riku felt his heart waver as he watched, disbelieving—

KAIRI, NO!

But she'd made her choice.

There was a small burst of light as Kairi freed Ansem's heart, its dark shell dissolving instantly in her hands, and as Ansem's hand came down to strike, Kairi pressed the glimmering heart into her own chest.

Darkness engulfed her in a merciless flood of Ansem's power, and this time her powers didn't react.

Instead, darkness met darkness.

In the blink of an eye, as the last of the light of Ansem's heart sank into Kairi's chest, a whirlwind of shadows sprang up around her, driving back the attacking darkness.

And when all of the black cleared, Ansem's hand and powers had been stopped—not by Kairi or her light. There, trembling from the pressure beneath Ansem's attack, was Soul Eater, clutched by tanned hands that should have belonged to Kairi.

Amber eyes met Ansem's from beneath Yami's messy bangs, and they were widened with alarm.

Ansem's lips pulled into a wicked smile, and he savored Yami's expression.

"Welcome back."

The darkness slid around and seized Soul Eater's blade, and with a fierce jerk, wrenched it out of Yami's grasp. Yami was too weak to stop him. Taking advantage of Yami's enervation and confusion, Ansem flicked his hand without thought, and the flood of darkness surged forward, catching Yami in its depths. It swept him across the wet floor and slammed him into the far wall, pinning him there.

Yami let out a hoarse cry, and even through the shadows, Riku recognized that look of pain.

The darkness held him there as Ansem slowly approached, and the formless wisps began to take shape—first a hand, massive and skeletal, curled tightly against Yami's shoulder—then a body, broad-shouldered and powerful, that tapered off into shadow, as if it were Ansem's shadow. Its head was topped with wide antennae, reminiscent of a neoshadow, only something about this heartless was much more sinister than anything Riku had ever come across.

"Come, Guardian."

At Ansem's voice, the heartless plucked Yami off the wall, its other hand wrapped around Yami's hip and thigh, holding him firmly even as he began to struggle.

As the guardian turned towards Ansem, Riku saw the rest of it—lips pulled back into a menacing grin, yellow eyes burning with a ferocity that belied the name heartless, and gauze crossed over its mouth and crisscrossing its chest, sinking into the creature's obsidian skin where its heart should have been. Its visage was terrifying, but Ansem looked on with a vainglorious pride as the heartless presented a helpless Yami to him.

Yami's back was to Ansem, but Riku could imagine the look that was probably on his face. He wasn't sure if Yami had been at all aware of what had happened while he had been trapped as just a heart, but he doubted it. Kairi had given her body up all over again—for nothing. Yami wasn't going to be able to help them. Not only was Yami obviously weakened from the sudden transformation, he had been caught by surprise. He must not have been expecting to wake up in Kairi's body again, let alone find himself face-to-face with his own heartless.

As Ansem approached his prisoner's back, Yami stiffened, hesitating in his struggles against the guardian's merciless grasp. Ansem could feel Yami's terror, much like he could Kairi's, and as Ansem paused right behind him, Yami visibly shuddered and lowered his head, his silky hair hanging in front of him.

"What use do you have for me...?" Yami asked, and the dread in his voice excited Ansem.

He grabbed hold of Yami's waist and pulled him against his chest, and the guardian relaxed its grip to let Ansem play with his prey. Riku felt Yami's entire body tense against Ansem as Ansem did exactly what he had done with Riku time and time again—embrace him from behind, nuzzle just barely against his neck, and breathe into his ear. Ansem's gloved fingers slid up Yami's thigh to his abs, a slow caress, before coming to rest right over his pounding heart. Hearts. Kairi's heart, and Ansem's.

"What use do I have for you?" Ansem said, his voice a smooth purr, before it turned as cold as the darkness itself. "None. I am simply eliminating the competition. And your foolish pet of a princess and her charming princes brought me right to you."

Yami's hearts raced faster, and so did Riku's, infected by Ansem's excitement. Exhausted but not giving up yet, Riku writhed inside of his own heart to try wrestling for control again, silently yelling for Yami not to surrender, not to let Ansem have those hearts, even yelling for Kairi to fight back and use her powers. But Ansem, undeterred by Riku's attempts, didn't even flinch.

"Sora," Yami breathed out in surprise, as if just realizing what had happened. Kairi must have been filling him in on the details. "And Riku..."

"Mm, ironic, isn't it?" Ansem whispered against his ear in that deep drawl. "You set them up to take down the one entity who coul—"

"THERE!"

Mushu's voice was like music to Riku, the sudden interruption distracting Ansem from Yami as the sound of running feet echoed through the baths. Ansem pulled away from Yami and calmly turned to face those who had come to save Kairi.

Leon and Cloud stood with weapons readied, Donald and Goofy flanking them, and the princesses hovered near the door with Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid, grim-faced but ready for a fight. In front of them, Mushu was perched atop Beast's head, who let out a roar of fury and barreled straight towards Ansem without hesitation.

Ansem must have been holding back before because the power he unleashed against them was like feeling Maleficent orId's darkness all over again, only now Riku was the one wielding it. It channeled through his heart with perfect ease, Ansem wielding it as his own as he summoned a horde of emblem heartless to take care of the would-be heroes.

Ansem's guardian heartless dropped Yami like an unwanted toy and intercepted Beast, clashing in an incredible display of claw and darkness. Nearby, Cloud was swiping through the heartless as if they were nothing, his wing carrying him over their heads as he cut them down, clearing the way—

And Leon leapt through the dissolving bodies of the heartless, suddenly appearing in front of Ansem out of the fray, gray eyes burning with a vengeance.

Ansem smirked.

The gunblade glided through the shadows, a flawlessly aimed attack, one that would strike Ansem right in the chest. Just as it was about to connect, Ansem's guardian lurched out of the ground, abandoning its fight with Beast to protect its master instead, its arm blocking the gunblade's formidable blow with solid strength.

Leon staggered from the recoil, and the guardian lunged to counterattack—

But that was when Donald and Goofy tag-teamed the powerful heartless, Donald's sharp cry ringing above the din as he launched a rain of magic upon the creature, and Goofy spiraled into a dizzying pirouette, crashing his shield repeatedly into Ansem's guardian.

Ansem himself was unfazed until Leon broke through the darkness again, Cloud at his side, and both of their weapons were emanating a brilliant light that hadn't been there moments before. A glance at the princesses explained why—they had banded together and were focusing their powers to help Riku's friends.

Ansem drew back, folding his arms across his chest as he glided backwards to the hall, summoning more heartless to distract his opposition.

"No! Riku!" Yami's shout broke through the ruckus, and Riku spotted him—still looking frail, but determined—with Soul Eater ready as he rushed past Leon and Cloud, heading right for Ansem. "We can't let him escape!"

Riku felt Ansem's hesitation, his deliberating on staying and finishing the job, wiping out the rest of the resistance... but Ansem's eyes lingered on the light wafting off Leon and Cloud's impressive weapons as they and Yami quickly closed in on him, and he decided to withdraw.

"Hmph. I have more important matters to attend to," he said, and it was quiet, almost to himself—or perhaps to Riku—as he turned away from them. The darkness swimming at his feet rose around him into a storm of shadows, and Riku felt their body being drawn into it.

Just before the black closed in around Ansem, he heard Yami's voice echoing behind them, calling Riku's name.

Riku stirred angrily inside of Ansem, vying for control again, but deep inside of the darkness where Ansem was taking him, there was no contest. He had all the power here.

And when the shadows peeled away, Riku immediately recognized their surroundings.

The cracked dais, the broken machinery, the dangerous blue magic spitting into the air, and the grand centerpiece: the portal to the heart of the world, open and waiting. Yami had opened it to finish his duties for Id, but Ansem's heartless would be the first to see what lay beyond the portal, and Riku had no choice but to watch.

"There's nothing to fear," Ansem said to him, a smile curling his lips as he approached the colorful portal. "After all... weren't you the one who said you weren't afraid of the darkness?"

Riku said nothing, his fury stewing within his heart, and he knew Ansem would feel it. He wondered if this was how Kairi had felt when Ansem's heart had taken over her body. Maybe... but Riku didn't have her light to protect himself from the intense darkness that Ansem's heartless had poisoned him with.

"Poison... An interesting choice in words considering how much you desired that power a mere hour ago," Ansem chuckled. He paused in front of the heart-shaped portal and stared into its swirling depths. "You place the blame in me, yet you were the one who called to me in the first place. You see, Riku... I wouldn't have had the strength to take you if you had not invited me, or if there had not been such a significant amount of darkness already blooming inside of that precious heart of yours. You submitted because you wanted to."

Whether all of it was true or not, Riku had made up his mind. One way or another, he was going to get his body back, and when he did, he was going to wipe Ansem's heartless from existence.

Ansem's smile spread at Riku's determination. "I welcome the challenge."

He lifted his white glove and sank it into the portal to test it. The magic was chilly, but it didn't repel him. It was official: Yami and Id had succeeded in opening the keyhole after all.

A feral hunger growing inside of him, Ansem gathered his darkness around him and plunged into the portal, heading into the unknown.

-o-o-

Freedom.

A cool, gentle weightlessness that surrounded him on all sides.

No light. Senses blanketed.

Only a pitch black void of comfort and peace, and the hollowed rush of the darkness's pulse.

Was this what it was like to die?

Something about it was familiar somehow...

It was there, lingering at the edges of his consciousness, along with the rest of his thoughts, along with the rest of his existence.

Feelings came and went, drifting aimlessly as if searching for a home to return to.

SORA!!

What?

What was that?

He felt... something... warm...

Sora... I'm so sorry...

A tug, somewhere deep, inside.

It almost... hurt.

If you're still out there, I'll find you. I promise!

But it faded, just like everything else, leaving him at peace once more.

There was no time here, only darkness.

He fell through the welcoming abyss, not knowing where he was going, not knowing where he had come from, not knowing what he was looking for.

Soon, he no longer recognized himself as a he. He hardly recognized himself as an it, or as an existence at all.

And when It finally emerged from the darkness, it felt its senses come alive, a brilliant flow of energies and deep hunger that crawled through its very being. It twitched excitedly, hearing its master's call.

Master wanted it come to him. Master wanted to meet it.

Don't give up! Reach for the light. I know you can do it!

It hesitated, ignoring its master's direct commands. Instead, it lingered where it had been born, confused as to the other voices that seemed to be overriding its master's.

Light?

But light was bad.

Light will save you. Trust in your heart. Listen to it.

Save? Heart?

Heart...

Someone's heart was crying.

It—He—He could feel something... that tug...

Someone was crying for him.

He twitched his antennae and began to move, not knowing where he was going, only knowing that he needed to find this heart. His master was telling him not to, but there was an even deeper need than his need to obey Master—and even though he didn't know what this need was, he knew he'd find his purpose if he found the end of the invisible string that kept tugging at him, tugging at his being.

His hunger faded.

He dove into the darkness, shifting amongst the worlds, hearing his master's disappointed comments.

"Great, not another rogue heartless... I finally get you where I want you and you wander off like an idiot. I'm sending a pet to guide you, then."

The words weren't spoken, but they flowed through his very existence, a calming presence. His master should have been the center of his purpose, he knew that instinctively. He could feel all of his brothers all over the worlds and in the darkness, and—except for one or two of them—they all obeyed Master.

There was a dangerous Brother, one who had gone against Master and used the darkness for his own gain. That Brother was causing trouble.

But there was another Brother... one who loved Master even though he didn't always obey him, and this was the Brother who Master sent to him.

Brother met him in the corridors of darkness on his way to find the end of the tug.

He didn't look like him, but something about him was... familiar.

Rikyu, Brother called himself.

He liked the sound of that.

He liked Rikyu a lot.

Rikyu liked him, too, and before he knew what he was doing, he was following Rikyu through the darkness. Rikyu didn't lead him exactly towards the tug, but as they left the darkness, he found something else that interested him.

There were many other brothers here, but there were also many bright, bright hearts—hearts who were hurting his brothers. Hearts who were filled with countless delicious emotions. Fear, frustration, despair.

Sadness.

Someone else was crying for him—someone close by. It wasn't the same Someone as before, the one tugging at him, but it was still someone. Someone who could give him what he wanted.

He didn't know how he knew that, but he knew it.

This Someone would save him.

Brother Rikyu led him along the edges of the battle, warning him not to get in the middle. These brothers were being sacrificed by the dangerous Brother, a rogue heartless named Ansem, or so Rikyu said. Most of this went over his head, but he trusted Rikyu and didn't enter the fight, not even to try tasting one of those tempting hearts.

Then he saw Someone, the Someone who would save him.

He froze nearby, watching through the swirling energies that made up his heartless world, and he saw what made this Someone so special. When all the other hearts had a shell to carry it, this shell had two hearts—both very powerful, dangerous...

But one of them was of the brightest of the brightest, and this was the one that could save him.

He shadowcrept forward, his goal driving him mindlessly towards the dangerous hearts, and into the battle, despite Brother Rikyu's attempt to hold him.

Two-hearts had just destroyed among the last of his brothers, but he didn't know fear. If he was destroyed, too—he couldn't process that possibility. Two-hearts would save him.

"Is that all of them?" one of the hearts asked.

"I think so..."

"Gawrsh, what do we do now?"

"We find out where Ansem went."

"Was that really him?"

"No," Two-hearts said, and those hearts silently cried again. "His heartless has possessed Riku. Riku is beneath that façade..."

"And... Sora...?"

"Sora..." But Two-hearts couldn't finish talking, his-her voice caught in his-her throat.

The silent crying intensified in those two hearts—a deep ache—and he couldn't resist that overwhelming drive. He slipped out of he shadows and emerged amongst the dangerous hearts, and with an excited twitching, faced Two-hearts so he could be saved.

The dangerous hearts reacted to his presence, one of them charging forward to take care of him. But even as he felt the creature's staff bop his head over and over to get him to back off, he stood there facing Two-hearts expectantly.

"Back off, heartless! Just you wait until my magic recharges!"

"Donald, wait—"

Two-hearts spoke. He-she was watching him. He watched Two-hearts back, waiting.

"Careful," another heart warned.

"It's just one heartless," another one pointed out.

Two-hearts hesitated, and then, almost as if sensing something, slowly stepped towards him. "There is... something there..."

"What?"

"How come it's not attacking anyone?"

Two-hearts paused in front of him, studying him for a moment, and he lifted his face to study him-her in return, antennae perking with interest. Something was familiar about this Someone. One of those hearts—it was crying for him. Calling to him. It wasn't as desperate or loud as the invisible tug that was trying to guide him, and it wasn't as powerful as his master's call, but it was there.

And something about it... made him feel at home.

Two-hearts lowered to their knees in front of him, their face filled with emotions that he recognized. Confusion, recognition, hope.

Then, whispered as if scared to believe it—

"Sora?"

There!

Yes—

Sora.

He knew Sora.

He twitched his antennae in recognition and shifted even more excitedly. The dangerous hearts began asking questions in confusion, but Two-hearts ignored them, his-her eyes focused solely on him.

Two-hearts bit their bottom lip and, coming to a decision, held something up for him to see.

He didn't recognize the something at first, but after staring at it for a moment, the tug inside of him grew stronger than ever, and he felt—

—always be your best friend, no matter what—

—whole, for just a second.

Nearby, Brother Rikyu slid back into the shadows and left him with Two-hearts.

Two-hearts...

No, there was a name...

Sora?

No, Sora was someone else.

Two-hearts cautiously wrapped their arms around him, and more than his desire for those hearts, there was something else—something more powerful—something that completely overrode his senses, blocked out all of the voices of his master and brothers and all of his hunger.

It was... warm.

Familiar.

It calmed him.

Oh.

What—

For the first time, he could hear himself.

He—He had a heart?

He could listen to what his heart was saying!

He could hear—

Reach for the light, pal! Don't give up yet!

He didn't know that voice, but it was there. It was real.

Sora—is that really you?

Ah—! That voice! He knew that voice!

Kairi!

Yes, that was it! Kairi's voice!

And if that was Kairi's, then the Someone tugging at his heart, that Someone crying for him that he couldn't reach—that had to be...

That had to be Riku.

Was that... the magic of the paopu..? Was it trying to reconnect them?

He relaxed further into Two-heart's arms—no, not Two-heart—this was Yami. And as he relaxed and listened to all of the hearts close to him, the mindless haze inside of him was beginning to fade. These were his friends. Yami was holding Oathkeeper. Riku had promised him they'd always be best friends, no matter what—and... Riku had hurt him.

He wasn't supposed to be a heartless.

All of this he knew. He remembered. He thought.

Yeah, he thought, mulling over what Kairi's heart had asked him. Sora—that's... that's me.

He had a name.

He had a heart.

He was Sora.

Sora.

Yami's arms tightened around him, his voice almost breathless. "Sora—it is you..."

Hang on, Sora—I'll help you!

Kairi's voice, loud and clear.

Then—

Pain? No—

Light.

His heart reached for the light, and then it was there, bursting between them, illuminating the entire room for one moment of pure brilliance, and the darkness enshrouding Sora's entire existence seared away.

Senses flooded him—the color of Yami's hair, the smell of darkness, the sound of surprised cries rising around the room, the ache of his heart as memories and emotions and thoughts came alive all at once.

"Riku..." He breathed deep, letting his heart settle. "Kairi..."

He didn't move for a long moment, letting Yami hold him as his mind cleared out of its daze. Then he lifted his eyes and saw the relieved, happy faces of all of his friends. Donald, Goofy, Leon, Cloud—even Mushu—everyone—

...almost everyone...

Sora slowly pulled back, focusing on Yami's face, beginning to grow confused. "Yami...?"

Everyone was smiling and laughing, celebrating the fact Sora was back, but Yami met his gaze, and his smile faded when he recognized the questions in Sora's eyes. He opened his mouth, but Sora beat him to the asking.

"Where's.... Riku?"

Everyone's smiles fell.

They began to exchange glances, but no one made a move to explain what had happened.

All Sora remembered was... the funny outfit Riku had been wearing. And then—darkness. That was all. But from the looks on their faces, he knew something horrible had happened. And yeah—something had to have happened if Sora had ended up as a heartless!

Sora focused back on Yami, his heart beginning to race. "Yami—why do you have Kairi again?"

"It was her decision," Yami said, offering him reassurance. "This is her way of protecting me."

Protecting him from what? Sora wasn't reassured at all. He had just gotten Riku back, he had just gotten Kairi back—and now they were both gone again!

"Someone tell me what's going on," he pleaded, turning to look at the rest of them. "What happened to Riku? Why was I a heartless? How did I get back...?" Oh man, he really didn't feel well.... Felt like someone had stuffed his head with cotton and stabbed his heart with needles. He couldn't concentrate, couldn't remember—had he seen what had happened? What had been all of that darkness?

Oh, but he did remember the voices...

Riku's voice, especially. And Kairi's. And someone else's—someone... he'd never met before. Telling him not to give up.

He flinched as two hands gently squeezed his shoulders, and he turned to look up at Aerith, whose smile was tired but genuine. "Take it easy," she said. "We'll explain when we know the details. We're not even sure..." Her eyes strayed towards Yami. "...but together, we can fill in the missing pieces."

Sora glanced at Yami, who looked about as haggard as he himself felt, but Yami nodded.

"Kairi was there for all of it. I will have her fill me in."

"All right," Leon said. He sheathed his gunblade and raked a hand through his hair. "We should relocate to the foyer."

"Yeah, this place gives me the creeps," Donald grumbled, and Mushu was quick to agree.

Sora realized where they were—the baths, and the place was a mess. Water was scattered everywhere, and it looked like a rampaging bull had been let loose with all of the architecture cracked in bizarre places. And scorch marks... Magic? There had been a battle here.

He was all too happy to let Aerith and the others escort him back to the main hall. He wanted answers.

About halfway there, Sora noticed Yami had fallen behind, and when he looked down the long corridor, he saw the other boy hesitating, staring back the way they had come. Sora came to a stop, knowing a bad sign when he saw one.

"Yami? What's wrong?"

Startled out of his thoughts, Yami faced everyone, his pale brows furrowed. "Kairi is telling me what happened, and... I thought I sensed something. Darkness. A lot of it..." He focused on Sora. "The seven princesses of heart unlocked the keyhole. Ansem has probably reached it by now."

Which meant this world would start falling apart like Agrabah had when Jafar had infected the heart of the world. Sora remembered that all too well.

"We have to stop him," he said, pulling away from the others to join Yami down the hall. He was worn out, but that wasn't going to stop him from doing what needed to be done. He caught Yami's eye and knew, somehow, he was thinking the same thing.

He glanced back at his friends and mustered a smile he hoped didn't look too tired.

"You coming?"

-o-o-

Light.

Color...

Sound. Trees, a part of him whispered. The sound was trees. Trees rustling in a warm breeze. Like palm trees. But as soon as the thought came to him, it floated away under a tide of...

Emptiness.

He saw, but he didn't recognize what he was seeing. A wrought iron gate, a rundown mansion, a forest.

He didn't belong here.

But... if he didn't belong here, where did he?

Why was he here? Where was 'here'?

Who... was 'he'?

A new sound—grass, leaves crunching—

Black moved in front of him, and he dazedly lifted his head.

"You seek answers."

A man. Something about him was... familiar. Those eyes... even his voice. The way he stared down at him...

A hand lifted into the air, forming out of shimmering light. Four letters, backwards. What did they mean?

"I can give you purpose."

The black glove gestured, and the letters drifted through the air, circling him—faster and faster—until they became a blur of light, and then—

The man's fingers spread out to stop the light, and the letters froze in midair, a large X now hovering in the center. Something stirred inside of him as he stared at the X, but he didn't have to wonder at its significance. He knew somehow that it was his.

He parted his lips and numbly read the backwards letters.

"Rox...as..."

The man in black formed the faintest of smiles. "That is right—the new you."

Roxas lowered his face again, not understanding. "The new... me..."

Another sound: a rush of wind, almost, but it wasn't wind. Then there was more crunching of grass and leaves as two more tall figures in black approached. Roxas hardly acknowledged them, his own thoughts coming and going like the waxing and waning of waves. He tried to hold onto the letters of his new name, running them over and over and over in his mind.

One of the new figures spoke, a smooth tone that interrupted the flow of Roxas's struggling concentration.

"Another stray... That makes three today." He was talking to the figure who had given Roxas his new name. "You came from the bastion—what happened there?"

"A change of plans. We'll take them both..."

A pause. Roxas lifted his gaze again at last and stared up into the hood of the inquisitive newcomer. Honey-colored eyes, hair bluer than the sky, face marred by an X like the one in Roxas's name.

He was staring right back at Roxas, but the empty expression on his face gave him nothing. "And what of the one I sent Axel to find?" he asked, shifting his gaze back to the first hooded figure.

"That one as well."

Finally, Roxas looked to the second newcomer, the one who had remained silent this entire time. Though he was taller than Roxas, he was shorter than the others, and his arm was clutched firmly by sky-blue's hand, almost as if... they didn't want him to disappear.

Roxas wasn't sure why he thought that, but to him, it just made sense.

Beneath this one's hood, he saw the same colored eyes and rich tanned skin as the man who had given him his new name. Only instead of pale hair, it was the darkest of blacks. His face, like the others, wore no expression.

But when his eyes met Roxas's—

"They were dating, I know they were!"

The grim interior of a castle suddenly filled with the color of life, of laughter, as one boy watched the other let his guard down and truly laugh for the first time since they had met each other. And even though it was such a rare sound, he cherished it, proud that he had earned the right to hear it.

This may have been the boy who had tried to ruin his life—but it didn't matter anymore. He was going to help him rebuild his own.

—amber eyes widened, just slightly, and Roxas breathed deep, feeling something stir inside of him again.

Then the feeling was gone, leaving him wondering what had just interrupted his thoughts.

A hand reached forward, cupping his chin, and Roxas lifted his eyes to the man who had named him, who was now studying him with the same eyes.

"What do you remember?"

The question was calm, knowing.

Even though Roxas felt inclined to answer, when he opened his mouth and really thought about it, he couldn't remember. He couldn't grasp onto that feeling. He could barely grasp onto his own name.

All he really knew was that there was this ache, this emptiness inside, where something important was supposed to be.

"Nothing," he murmured at last, and even then he knew that made him different than the others.

-o-o-

Sora and Yami skitted to a stop in front of the crumbled dais. Beyond it they could see the open portal of the world—no longer swirling with a myriad of colors, but spewing a torrent of darkness out, and it was darkness so thick that it saturated the air, making it almost painful to breathe.

"This looks bad," Sora said with a grimace. He tried not to choke on the air as he spoke, but it looked like even Yami was intimidated by the amount of darkness pouring out of the keyhole.

"The keyblade." Yami's voice was a rasp, but he stood his ground beside Sora. "Get it out."

"Think we can get rid of this darkness?" Sora asked. He wasn't so sure that he knew how to use the keyblade like that yet.

Behind them, the others were just now catching up, and Sora recognized the next voice as one of the princess's. "We can," she said, and Sora turned to face them. The six princesses stood in a group guarded by Beast and the team from Traverse Town. Even without Riku there, Sora knew in his gut that he was strong enough to help them alone.

Sora reached out and summoned the keyblade, not surprised when it came to him without hesitation. When the magic cleared, he was confused for a moment at its basic form—before he remembered that he had given Oathkeeper back to Kairi to finish.

Then he remembered what Riku had given him. Suddenly terrified that he might have lost Oblivion's keychain during his time as a heartless, Sora gasped and frantically patted his hoodie pocket. The gentle clink of metal filled him with relief, and he pulled the keychain out to transform the keyblade.

Oblivion's dark form shimmered into existence, and Sora's heart twisted with worry as he studied it.

Riku—where are you?

"Impressive. So Id was right—the keyblade found a new master after all."

Okay, that was not Riku!

Sora whirled back around, freezing in place as he spotted who could have been Riku... maybe in another ten years—the eyes, the hair—whoaaaa was that a wing?! Sora gaped at the man who was calmly stepping through the darkness as if it were nothing. Everything about the way he carried himself, from his head to his expression to his wing, was completely confident. Dangerous.

Really awesome.

"Sephiroth!"

Cloud sounded more surprised than scared, and Sora felt the dark-filled air shift beside him as Cloud approached and paused at his side. Still, he had sounded worried enough to get a reaction out of Sephiroth.

"Calm down," he said, forming a crooked smile.

Sephiroth... why did that name seem kind of familiar? Sora struggled to remember what little he knew about Cloud, but it had been weeks since his first encounter with the man at the coliseum and everything from back then was hazy. Sora would just have to ask Cloud or Leon about it later...

"I didn't come here to test the boy," Sephiroth continued, pausing at the edge of the crumbled dais above them. Sora's eyes went straight to Sephiroth's glossy black wing, fascinated by it, and Sephiroth's eyes went to Sora's keyblade. "Though I might have challenged him any other time to see if he really is worthy of wielding such a legendary weapon. Then again... anyone who irks Id as much as you do is worth investigating, regardless."

That was the second time he'd used Id's name.

Sora's stomach twisted, dread beginning to build inside of him. He realized he was missing his necklace. Without the princesses' protective enchantment, couldn't Id take him over again? Maybe that was why Sephiroth was here...

"Investigating—is that why you're here?" Leon asked. Sora didn't turn to look at him, but he knew from Leon's voice that his face would be filled with a guarded mistrust. He sounded like he knew Sephiroth well, and well enough not to trust him completely.

One look at Yami didn't make Sora feel any more comfortable. The other boy had his eyes thinned with a knowing suspicion.

"Um... am I missing something?" Sora asked cautiously.

"I used to work for Id," Cloud explained, his voice tense as if waiting for something to snap, "and Sephiroth was my partner. I was sent to escort Ansem out of the realm of darkness, where Id lives, to the realm of light, where Ansem was to carry out his mission. Ansem sabotaged the mission, and I lost my memories."

Sora blinked and looked to Yami again, but Yami hadn't taken his eyes off Sephiroth.

"Even then, my heartless was planning on betraying Id," Yami elaborated, and his tone clearly said he didn't appreciate being accused of something his heartless had done. Cloud let it slide, either because he didn't want to argue ethics with Yami, or he deemed Sephiroth's presence more important.

Sephiroth, however, finished the story. "Yes, and even though Cloud regained his memories, he decided not to join me back in the darkness." His wing shuffled as if miffed, even though Sephiroth's expression remained impassive.

"You didn't answer the question," Leon said, almost... defensive. "Why are you here?"

Sephiroth's catlike eyes focused on Leon, and that subtle smile tugged at his lips again. "Because of Ansem's meddling, there is enough darkness concentrated here for Id's powers to work as well as they do in his own realm. He let me come to investigate, yes. However..."

He trailed off, his eyes sliding past Sora to regard Yami.

"Id did have a mission for me."

Yami stiffened, and Sora noticed his fingers flexing as if ready to call out his own weapon.

"What mission?" Leon demanded.

Sephiroth rested a hand on the hilt of the long sword he had sheathed at his waist, but he didn't make a move to use it. Yet. "Id wants Ansem's heart back," he replied, eyes sharpening as he studied Yami. "I did not ask why."

"No way!" Sora cut in. His worries immediately went from Ansem's heart to Kairi's, realizing that in order to get Ansem's heart, Sephiroth might have to hurt Kairi. And Kairi—well, she was super protective of Ansem's heart for a reason, and Sora knew he had to help her. He frowned at Sephiroth, already moving to step in front of Yami in case Sephiroth made any quick snatch-and-run attempts. "You can't have him!"

Beside him, he felt Donald and Goofy, then Leon and Cloud move in to guard Yami—or maybe guard him, he wasn't sure. Sephiroth looked pretty powerful, but as long as it was to help a friend, Sora didn't care who he'd have to fight.

"Interesting," Sephiroth mused as he watched them. "Even you, Cloud? After what Ansem did to you?"

"This isn't about Ansem," Cloud said, his voice firm, "and it wasn't Ansem who hurt me. It was you. And if I found enough light in me to let that darkness go and forgive you, there's plenty left to forgive Ansem, too." Cloud lifted his hefty sword, readying for a fight. "Besides, these are my friends. I'll protect them, even if it means fighting you."

A tense silence followed, Sephiroth's eyes narrowing at them as a frown settled across his face. Then, when Sora was about to break the silence himself, Sephiroth closed his eyes and let out a sigh, his frown giving way to—amusement?

"I'm not surprised," he admitted. His wing stiffly folded against his backside, and he lowered his hand from his sword. His eyes focused back on Sora and Yami. "I had no intention to deliver you to Id. I came to see Cloud."

"Seriously?" Sora asked, hardly believing what he was hearing. All of that—and he was just messing with them? "You'd betray Id just like that?"

All around him, he felt his friends beginning to relax—tentatively, as if still not quite trusting Sephiroth.

"Not quite." Sephiroth began to step forward, climbing down the rubble of the dais with unnatural grace, his wing spreading to help him maintain his balance. Sora and the others moved out of the way, not wanting to stand near him. "There is a difference between betraying him and merely... waiting for the next opportunity to carry out my mission. I'm sure this won't be the last time I stumble across what Id wants. This is, however, a rare opportunity to see Cloud."

And as Sephiroth paused in front of Cloud and Cloud's own wing lifted as if in greeting, Sora got the weirdest feeling there was way more going on between those two than anyone was telling him.

"You touch any of them, and you'll regret it," Cloud warned.

Sephiroth formed a smirk that send a chill down Sora's spine, but then he reached out, grabbed the front of Cloud's red mantle, and pulled him in for a kiss that almost looked like a "shut up already."

Sora's jaw dropped open, but behind him, some of the princesses giggled, and Yami let out a relieved sigh—probably because Sephiroth wasn't going to snatch him after all. Sora turned to Leon for an explanation about Sephiroth and Cloud's thing, but the older man was awkwardly turning away, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"Ooookay," Sora said, not hiding his confusion. In the end, it didn't matter. If Sephiroth wasn't a danger, there were other things he had to worry about. "I guess it's time to seal the keyhole, then."

"Right," Yami agreed, then his eyes widened as the princesses suddenly gathered around him. For a second, he looked like a trapped animal. "Uh—yes?"

The princess with the long black hair—Jasmine, Sora remembered—gave Yami a smile that was almost... impish. "No need to be shy. We know who's in there."

"Even though we're not all princesses, our hearts all have something in common," Belle said, tapping him on the chest. "You may have two hearts, but one of you is one of us."

"And if we're going to help Sora clear out this darkness, we need to work together," one of the blondes said, the one in the elegant blue dress. Sora hadn't caught her name, but her glass slippers looked painful to wear.

Yami glanced at Sora, still looking somewhat trapped, and unable to resist teasing, Sora grinned at him.

"Go on. Show 'em your princess powers, Yami."

Yami's amber eyes promptly thinned in warning, but Sora only laughed. It felt good. Maybe Yami was half Ansem, but he was half Kairi, too, and Sora decided then that he'd try to bring more of that part of Yami out from now on.

The youngest blonde, in the cute blue and white dress, wrapped her arms around one of Yami's, standing close to him. "You can stand next to me," she giggled, and even though she only came up to his ribs, Yami didn't put up a fight.

"I don't know what you are expecting from me," he said, lowering his eyes. "I have far more experience in darkness than anything else."

"Kairi's light powers are there, just dormant," Aerith spoke up from nearby, and Sora glanced at her, catching her amused smile. "You should be able to use them if you give her a little control."

Yami hesitated, his lips parted as if to object, but he took a moment to catch Sora's eye again. Something about it was almost scared. When Sora gave him an encouraging nod, however, Yami's objection died before he could utter it, and he caved in.

Together, the seven princesses of heart—not that Sora would call Yami that to his face—turned to stand in front of the cloud of darkness emanating from the heart of the world. The thick darkness crept at their feet, a few solid tendrils trying to snake past them and spread throughout the room, but the darkness always waned again as if something was already holding it back. It was possible that, just by being present, the princesses had already slowed the darkness's growth.

The princesses took each other's hands, and Sora watched the odd team with a hopeful smile. All of them were a little different, strangers connected by their pure hearts, and somehow, just by standing there together, they looked unstoppable.

One by one, a soft light began to emanate from each of them, all except Yami, and as the lights began to intensify, leaving his behind, Sora cupped a hand beside his mouth and shouted to him.

"You can do it, Kairi!"

Almost immediately there was a change. Yami didn't just create a light, but the light itself spread, blossoming for just one moment into a recognizable figure—Kairi—a projection of light that looked almost like a ghost—and then she was gone, her figure becoming part of the spreading wall of light.

Sora shielded his eyes, trying to watch as long as he could even though the radiance was growing painful to look at, but then a large furry hand clamped over his eyes, and Beast's voice rumbled behind him.

"Don't be stupid."

Sora guessed that he wouldn't be very helpful if he went blind, so he listened. And all around him, as the magic thickened, he felt it, the little hairs on the back of his neck and arms rising on end as it grew intense enough it almost scared him.

Just when he thought it couldn't get anymore powerful, the light erupted—softly—like a flower blooming, and it rippled outward, passing through the large chamber in a series of gentle waves. Sora felt each wave pass through him, filling him with a comforting warmth, a deep sense of familiarity flowing with it. Kairi's power... Kairi's light had led him out of the darkness. If it weren't for her, he'd still be a heartless. He'd recognize her power anywhere.

When Sora cracked his eyes open, he was amazed to see the cloud of darkness dissolving right in front of them, particles of light corroding the shadows that had managed to linger. More darkness was already trying to pour out of the portal, but Sora didn't plan on waiting long enough for it to make a comeback.

He politely pushed past the princesses and climbed the crumbled dais without hesitation, his eyes set on his target. He hurried up to the portal and stood in front of its heart-shaped depths, feeling the power of the machinery and the chill of the darkness sting his skin.

Clenching his jaw, he swung Oblivion up and concentrated, opening his heart to the keyblade and its powers. He could feel all eyes on him, but it didn't bother him. It gave him even more courage, even more confidence that even if he wasn't Riku, he could do this job. It was okay, if just for a little while, he was the hero.

A stream of light trickled out of the keyblade and solidified before piercing through the darkness of the portal, and in that instant, the darkness disappeared in a burst of light. Sora felt his heart flutter as he watched, breathless, as the keyhole shimmered to life and made a resounding click.

Then everything began to fade, the light twinkling before dissipating, and the portal's colorful swirling magic falling still. Even though the portal still existed, Sora had a good feeling that it was useless now with the keyhole locked tight.

Smiling to himself, he lowered the keyblade and dismissed it.

His job here was done.

-o-o-

Surrounded by walls of white, she sat slouched on her knees in her white dress, tirelessly sketching the faces she remembered, somehow, but didn't know how. They had been there inside of her since before she could remember, and they were the only things in this colorless world that she did know for certain. Names, faces, places, memories—she had them all. All except her own.

There was nothing to draw with, no, but in this world of white on white and an unending silence, she had clung to the images inside of her. She felt as though if she could sketch them out, she could make them real. She wanted to.

So during her aimless exploring, when she had stumbled across one of the empty castle's few decorations—a crystal flower—she'd shattered it. One of the crystal shards had fit perfectly into her hand, and she had been drawing ever since.

The sound of the crystal digging into the floor and walls was comforting. It gave her world a sense of reality that nothing else here offered except the sound of her own breathing. And to maintain that comfort and fight away the loneliness she could feel without even feeling, she kept drawing. It hadn't taken her long to cover the floor with the ghosts of her mind—people she had never met in person, but people she did want to meet.

The only time she stopped sketching was when the first splash of color entered her world.

Her hand froze in mid-sketch, her eyes widening as she stared up at him.

Black.

Red.

Green.

He approached her with a calm confidence, and the sound of his footsteps were real. He was real, and his face wasn't one from her memories. It was new. Everything about him was new.

"Hey," he said, lifting a hand in greeting. Any uncertainty he might have had about her was long gone by the time he stopped in front of her.

She lifted her face a little more because he was so tall. "Hi..."

He planted a hand on his hip and looked around as if he wasn't really sure where he was, either. "You must be the anomaly I was sent to find," he said after a moment, focusing back on her. "You here alone?"

Anomaly? What was that?

Her fingers tightened around the shard of crystal. "I think so," she replied. She'd only explored a little, but the complete lack of life and sound here had been enough to draw conclusions from.

He curled his black fingers beneath his chin and studied her. "Hmm... Well, you been here long?"

Why was he asking these questions? Not that she minded. She was glad to see someone else here at last.

"I... don't know," she admitted.

He rubbed the back of his head, rustling his wild red hair. "Oookay. Well." For a moment, he seemed like he didn't know what to do, what to say, how to approach her. "Let's try something different," he smiled.

She tensed as he lowered himself in front of her, taking a seat on top of one of her drawings, probably without realizing it. He scanned the scattered etchings all over the floor, his red brows raised with interest.

"Whatcha drawing?"

For the first time, she looked away from him, examining the newest face she had scratched into the floor, one of a boy with crazy spikes for hair and a wide carefree grin. Sora. Then her eyes strayed to the face next to it, one with hair in his face—Riku. Then the man with the sad frown, that was Yami. And all of the others she had drawn...

She had never met them, but she knew them.

"The... things in my heart," she answered.

The stranger lifted his head with surprise. "Your heart?"

Her heart. When he said it like that, it didn't feel right. Was it her heart?

She rested her hand over her chest, unsure of whose memories these were. She didn't know who she was; she had no memory of this place or her own existence before these faces and memories had flooded her.

And they all revolved around one person. They had to be his memories.

"No... his heart," she clarified, more certain now.

The stranger sat back and wrapped an arm around his legs, studying her again in that way that seemed like he didn't know what to do with her. "A little girl all alone in a big empty castle, drawin' about things that don't belong to her." His voice was casual and friendly, but there was a hint of teasing there. "Heh. You're a weird one." Then, as he leaned forward— "Got a name?"

She met his vivid green eyes, stuck on his question.

A name.

She didn't even know her own name.

"I think.... maybe I did," she said, even more confused. "I don't know who I am..."

"That's alright." Undeterred, the stranger pointed at himself. "Mine's Axel."

She repeated the name, liking the sound of it. "Axel..."

"Yup, ya got it memorized?" He formed as smirk as he sat back again. "I get a feeling you're gonna be seeing a lot of me."

The way he said 'feeling,' it was almost like he was mocking himself. There was something about him that made her feel comfortable, and she liked how colorful he was compared to everything else in her world.

She recalled what he had said when he had first greeted her—an anomaly? He said he had been sent to find her. Maybe he knew more about her than she knew about herself.

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked, almost hopeful.

He didn't even falter, his words tumbling out of him as if he had always been born to talk. "Don't know, but now that I found you, I have to tell the boss." He started to get back to his feet, one of his hands brushing off his black coat. "Sorry, no-name, but you're gonna have to come with me."

No-name...

She lowered her eyes again and stared down at the face of the man she had drawn the most.

"Beats staying in this drab place, right?" he offered. "And I bet I can find you some stuff to draw with—like some colors—and a sketchpad. Yeah? Sound good?"

It did sound good. She didn't know him, but she liked his hair and his eyes and his name, and she liked that he was friendly even though he didn't know anything about her. He'd called her weird, but that was alright. He probably had memories of his own, but she had memories that belonged to someone else.

She reached out, brushing her fingers over the man's face carved into the crystal floor.

"Axel... Do you want to hear a story?"

"Sure," he said, but she heard his boots shuffle awkwardly as if he didn't really want to listen but would do it anyway just so he could get her to go with him. She didn't mind that, either. She just needed to talk to someone who was real, who wasn't part of these memories. And because he would listen, she'd go with him.

"There's a man with many lives—lives he's created for himself, and lies fed to him by other people," she began, not used to talking so much, but she had to tell someone what was on her mind. "He's been torn into so many pieces, I don't know what parts of him are real or make believe."

Her fingertips paused over the man's eyes, remembering the different colors they've been in her memories.

"In one memory, he's a man with a dark past, one who willingly hurt those around him and cast his future aside to seek the power of the darkness for himself," she said. "But in another memory... it was the darkness itself that called to him, pulled him into its arms, and brought ruin upon his life—and he couldn't stop it because it already had him under its spell."

Axel didn't say anything, his arms calmly folding across his chest as he listened to her.

"Sometimes, in his memories, he was raised in a rich family he hated, forced to learn things he didn't care about, and felt trapped no matter where he went. But other times, in his memories, he doesn't remember his past, and works so hard with so many different people just to try to remember where he came from."

There she trailed off, lifting her eyes back to his.

"So many different versions," she said, shaking her head. "Which do you think is true?"

Axel scratched his head, his brows wrinkling together as he admitted, "Kinda hard to tell. Maybe none of 'em are real."

Maybe he was right.

But then maybe, when someone believes something with all of his heart, even if it's not true, who was to say it wasn't? If the emotion was there, if the faces and words are there—wasn't that real enough?

In the end, even fake memories would be more real than whatever she knew about herself.

Slowly, she rose to her feet and smoothed her dress out, leaving the crystal shard on the floor with the sketches of her personal ghosts. She met Axel's eyes with a gravity that came from her own conviction.

"I think... they're both real."

-o-o-

Hollow Bastion may have been sealed, but its mysteries still haunted those who had stayed to protect it. They gathered in the main hall to run through everything that had happened and to clarify the facts they did know. Everyone was sitting or lounging on the mess of sofas and chairs they had dragged into the hall; in front of them, several tables had been lined up, littered with a slew of papers and trinkets they had recovered from Ansem's various studies and rooms and whatnot.

It was here that Sora finally got his answers.

As he sat there next to Donald and Goofy and listened to Yami describe what Kairi had experienced, he felt his heart sink lower and lower inside of him, disbelieving what he was hearing. But Sephiroth, armed with knowledge that only someone who worked for Id would know, backed up Yami and Kairi's stories.

Kairi may have saved Ansem's heart, but the darkness that had once been in that heart had formed a heartless, and that heartless had possessed Riku. Somehow, Riku had been so insecure, so desperate, that he had let a heartless burrow into his heart, and take over his body.

And when that had happened... Riku had turned Sora into a heartless. Riku had tried to hurt Kairi. Riku had...

Maybe not Riku, but Sora couldn't help being furious with Riku anyway. He may not have been the one doing all of these bad things, but Riku had allowed it, Riku let himself get that desperate. Instead of turning to Sora—or Kairi—or anyone else!—for help, Riku had let himself fall to the darkness, even after what he had seen Id do to Sora, even after all of the other stupid stunts Riku had done!

When Sora found him and beat that heartless out of Riku, Sora was going to beat Riku, too. HARD.

But at the same time...

Sora couldn't help worrying about him. Sure, Riku was the biggest idiots of all idiots, but... Sora should have seen this coming. He should have paid more attention to Riku. He should have helped somehow. Even if Aerith told him it wasn't his fault, that he shouldn't blame himself—Sora still felt responsible, just a little.

Riku was his best friend.

He was the one person who was supposed to know Riku the best.

What if... he couldn't ever get Riku back?

He didn't even want to think about that.

"Would Id be able to control Ansem through that kind of darkness?" Leon asked, still all business even when faced with the grim facts.

"Rogue heartless have minds of their own," Sephiroth explained. "Sometimes one will obey Id just out of respect or not knowing what else to do. However, if it has a mind of its own, it will follow its own desires." He paused, focusing on Yami. "Ansem's heartless is after the heart of all hearts, Kingdom Hearts, and wants it for its power."

"Kingdom Hearts," Yami repeated, looking lost in thought. "Id is after it as well, though he never told me what for."

"He failed to tell me as well," Sephiroth said.

"Does it matter what they want it for?" Sora asked with a frown. "If both of these dark forces want it, we have to stop them. Anything they want it for can't be good."

"I'm with the kid on that one," Cid said. He scratched at his stubble before returning to fixing Sora's necklace, which they had retrieved from the library. The chain had been snapped, but Cid had offered to reconnect the links with a set of pliers he'd pulled from the gummi ship outside.

Once Cid had given his opinion, most of the others followed suit, everyone agreeing with Sora's verdict.

"Then we'll stop them," Cloud consented. "It won't be easy finding them, though."

"Finding Ansem will be easy," Sora said. When everyone looked to him for an explanation, he held a hand over his heart and closed his eyes. "I don't remember much at all from when I was a heartless, but I remember a little, and it's starting to make sense. Kairi's light inside of Yami brought me back, pulled me out of the darkness. I was drawn to her heart—I felt her heart. But it wasn't just hers. I felt Riku's, too—and this really powerful tug—like it was constantly trying to pull me to him. I might have gone to find him if I hadn't found Kairi first."

He slipped his eyes back open, and most of his friends looked bewildered.

"Back home, we have this legend," he continued. "There's this star-shaped fruit called a paopu fruit, and the legend says that if you share it with someone you care about, your destinies are forever intertwined."

Yami looked directly at him, realizing where he was going with this. "You..." He paused, then, as if listening to someone else, and nodded. "Right... You and Riku shared one of those fruits. So then the legend is true?"

"That's the only thing I can think of," Sora admitted. "There've been times when I'm alone, but then I'll feel... something... some kind of emotion, or thought, one that doesn't seem like mine. I think they're Riku's. It's weird, and really really faint, but I think..." No, he knew—but it sounded so silly. "I think if I follow my heart, I can find him."

Yami cracked a small smile. "You probably can. Likewise, I know how to find Ansem's darkness. It's distinct—very different than the darkness that Id gave him to begin with. Together, we should be able to find our target."

Sora's heart jolted a little. Wait—Yami wanted to come with him? But...

"I don't think you should come," Sora said, mentally preparing himself for whatever guilt his friends might inflict on him. Then he quickly explained, ignoring the disbelief on Yami's face. "Really! Ansem is trying to kill you, Yami! Kairi let you have her body so she could protect you, so it's not fair if you run right into danger, right?" And when Yami opened his mouth to protest, Sora cut him off again. "And besides! You're still kinda weak from transforming, right? And even before then, Kairi's heart was making you sick. What if you go out there and can't use any of your powers?"

Just when Sora was running out of reasons why Yami shouldn't risk his neck, Leon came to his rescue.

"Sora's right. Your powers and body are too unpredictable," he said, and his tone left no room for argument. His eyes thinned at Yami as if daring him to challenge him. "And he's also right about Kairi wanting to protect you. Don't risk her life because you want to play bait for your heartless. It's a bad idea."

Ouch. All right, Sora hadn't wanted to put it that way, but Leon got the point across really well.

Yami was stunned to silence, and the look on his face made Sora feel sorry for him. He knew Yami wanted to help, but Sora's desire to keep Kairi safe was stronger than any comfort Yami's presence on the battlefield would give him. He'd just be in the way.

"Here ya go, kid," Cid called through the tense silence that had ensued.

He tossed Sora's necklace at him, and Sora broke into a grin as he caught it. "Thanks! It almost looks brand new, too!" he said, excited to have it back. He immediately slipped the chain over his neck, centering the crown over his chest with pride. When he glanced up, the princesses were smiling at him, and he rubbed the back of his head, feeling his cheeks warm a little at all of the attention.

Thankfully, Cid wasn't done talking. "No problem. And speakin' of Ansem," he said, and all eyes turned back towards Yami, who had his face lowered. Even though his white bangs were hanging in his eyes, Sora could see that he looked pretty upset. Regardless, Cid pressed on. "We need someone to clear up this damn mystery about the two different Ansems."

"Right!" Goofy said, and as if reading his mind, Donald was off his chair and digging through the pile of stuff on a table nearby. "We were talkin' earlier about what Cid and Leon remembered, and they saw this picture Donald found—"

Donald let out a triumphant squawk as he found a picture frame with shattered glass. He quickly wove through the chairs and brought the picture to Yami. Sora got up to look, too, interested to see what the big deal was.

As Yami hesitantly took the frame, Leon rose to his feet and stood at Yami's other side, pointing to one of the people in the picture. The man looked like Yami, maybe a few years older, and his bangs were slicked back. Instead of amber eyes, they were brown.

"This is the Ansem I remember," Leon said. Then he pointed to another figure in the photo, this one of an older gentleman. He was wearing an important looking sash over his coat, and something about him was very refined. "This is the Ansem that Cid remembers. Aerith has memories of him, too, but everyone else—Cloud, Sephiroth—they all remember you as Ansem..."

Yami's expression filled with confusion as he studied the photo, an almost haunted look in his eyes. "I... know these people. But..."

"But?" Leon prompted, sounding impatient.

"Give him a minute," Sora said, recognizing how genuine Yami's emotions were. Yami really didn't have a clue what was going on.

"This other Ansem," Yami murmured. "He feels... very familiar. But I remember calling myself Ansem since before the fall of the bastion... even Id called me that..."

Now that Sora thought about it... "You know, I remember finding this portrait of Ansem, it even had a plaque on it. He looked a lot like Yami. Remember?" He looked to Yami for support. "I found it buried beneath all of these papers. You caught me staring at it and told me all creepily that 'they forgot Ansem,' like you were sad about it."

Donald was back to rummaging on the tables, and moments later, he hefted up a large frame and called out. "You mean this one?"

Leon it took it from him to study it, the frown on his face deepening as he read the plaque. "It does say Ansem here. You said it was buried under papers?"

"Yeah, a huge stack of boring research-like stuff. Like someone was trying to hide it," Sora said.

Now other people were getting up to look at all of the evidence, and Cid came over to inspect the mysterious portrait Leon was holding. Yami was still staring down at the cracked photo as if lost in it.

"Take a look at this," Cid said, running his finger along the edges of the plaque. It wasn't noticeable at first, but there, just a line or two, there were definite slivers missing out of the frame, slivers that fed under the plaque. "Looks like something's under it. Hold on a sec..."

Moments later, Cid had grabbed his pliers and was using them to pry off the fine plaque, not caring how much he marred the portrait in the process. It took a lot of effort, but eventually the plaque came free, and Sora leaned in to see what had been beneath it.

There, carved into the wood of the frame in elegant golden cursive, was the weirdest name Sora had ever heard.

"Xee...han...ort?"

Yami's head snapped up, his face pale as if he'd seen a ghost. "Xehanort. I know that name."

Judging by the confusion on everyone else's face, Yami was the only one who recognized that name. Cid scratched at his stubble again, eyeing the portrait in a way he would a broken gummi console. The answer was there, maybe even staring right at them, but they needed to tinker with the mechanics a little more before everything fell into place. Sora felt much the same way. It was like they had all of the answers there in front of them, but they didn't make any sense yet.

"You'd think you'd know more about your own past," Sora sighed. All of this was too much for him to sit and think about. He'd thought the whole Yami thing had been confusing—and now Ansem wasn't Ansem? How much more complicated could one person get?

Yami was beginning to look frustrated, too. "This is not easy. I have the memories my heartless left me with—memories steeped in nine years of darkness."

"He has a point," Cloud admitted. "Id had a long time to corrupt his heart."

"So even if Kairi's heart freed him from that darkness, it doesn't change whatever lies Id might have been telling him over the years," Aerith said thoughtfully, and Yami seemed to relax a little when he realized no one was against him—they were just confused.

"Which also means the heartless possessing Riku knows as little as Yami does," Leon pointed out. "What I don't get is why the rest of us remember calling you Ansem if it wasn't true."

"No one tampered with your memories, to my knowledge. What you remember is probably real," Yami said, his voice... detached. He lowered the cracked photo, and Sora took it from him to take a better look at it.

Sephiroth calmly sifted through some of the papers he had retrieved from the table, speaking up again at last. "I have a theory about that, based on what I know about the heartless."

Sora sat down next to Yami, already interested to know what Sephiroth would have to say, and everyone else tuned in as well.

Looking up from the papers he had been scanning, Sephiroth focused on Yami. "Heartless are driven by three things: their master, their instincts, and their desires. Most heartless listen to Id or their instincts. Rogue heartless like Ansem, however, are driven by their own desires, as I said earlier. So, what do we know about Ansem?"

He threw the stack of papers onto the table and gestured to them.

"He was a scientist, and he was not the only one. The name Xehanort and some other apprentices are mentioned in the series of reports written by the Ansem with the formal handwriting. However, no other names are mentioned in the reports written with Yami's handwriting."

"We noticed that earlier, yeah. So what's your point?" Cid asked.

Sephiroth passed through the chairs and approached Yami and Sora, taking the cracked frame from them as he continued. "My point is that there were not two Ansems. Ansem is a rogue heartless driven by his desires. Perhaps he is only calling himself Ansem because he wanted to be Ansem—or replace him. And when he became a heartless, that desire became his reality."

Yami's expression darkened at the suggestion. "So you are saying... I was pretending to be Ansem."

"Or at least leading many people to believe you were," Sephiroth said. "I don't remember a Xehanort, but I remember you, as does Cloud—and Squall."

"And I remember the other Ansem, though not by name," Aerith added. "Cid's right. He did exist. We were too young to remember much about politics, but... Ansem was our ruler."

Sephiroth held the photo in front of Yami and Sora. "My theory is that you are Xehanort, one of Ansem's apprentices. Somehow you managed to run experiments without Ansem's knowing, even using his name instead of your own. You experimented with hearts using a variety of techniques, and somewhere along the way you not only discovered the heartless, you experimented with Cloud and myself, and caught Id's attention."

Yami slowly reached out to take the photo again, his amber eyes filled with a myriad of emotions as he stared down at his mystifying past. "And when I became a heartless... I only kept the memories I wanted to be real. My real memories..."

"Would be with your Nobody," Sephiroth finished for him.

"Nobody?" Sora asked, getting the feeling he was going to be even more confused soon.

Yami released a long breath and nodded. Maybe it was Sora's imagination, but he seemed to be calming down now, almost like he was accepting what he was hearing. "Yes. Do you remember the day I found you snooping near the postern?"

The postern? Oh—wait! Yeah! That was the first time Sora had found Ansem's other study.

"Yeah, I heard a bunch of voices talking about weird stuff, and when I went to peek in on them, you came up behind me and stopped me," Sora recalled. "You called them rats and told me to stay away from them, that they were my enemy... that they wanted what Maleficent wanted, but worse." Sora only remembered all of that because he had been so surprised to find other people in the bastion—even if he hadn't seen what they looked like.

"And it is true," Yami said. "They are Nobodies."

Sora blinked at him. "Huh?"

Sephiroth stepped in, looking amused. "Heartless are hearts shrouded in darkness. Nobodies are the bodies that are left behind. Much like rogue heartless, there are certain types of nobodies who maintain a sense of self."

"And while desires are transferred to the heartless through the heart," Yami explained, "the memories go to the nobody."

That's when it clicked.

"So you mean you have a nobody out there with your real memories?" Sora asked, eyes widening. "Wait—isn't that what Kairi wanted? To return you to your body? So then it's possible!"

"Possible," he agreed, his expression growing even more grim. "But unlikely. Wherever my nobody is now, he probably does not want to be found."

Leon sighed and sat back in his chair, rubbing a hand into his forehead. "So he's the one we need to look for if we want the truth."

"There are others who would know," Yami said. "But you are unlikely to get the truth out of Id, and no one knows what has happened to the other Ansem. The real Ansem, so to speak..."

"You're forgetting someone!" Donald cut in.

"His majesty King Mickey would know," Goofy said with a nod. "Says here in one of these reports that Ansem met a king from another world."

"How do you know it was your king?" Sora wondered.

Donald folded his wings. "Who else would it be?"

Well, Sora didn't have an answer for that. He didn't know much about their king. "Alright, so we look for the king while we're at it."

"That takes us back to square one," Leon sighed. "Find the king, seal the keyholes..."

"Not completely back to square one," Sora pointed out, curling a hand over his heart. "I'm just the benchwarmer, remember? I'm not replacing Riku. He'll be back."

"Sora."

Yami's eyes settled on his, and Sora got the distinct feeling that this wasn't just the fake-Ansem talking to him, it was Kairi, too.

"You can't count on anything," he said to Sora. "Until we find out more, you are the keyblade master, regardless of Riku's fate. The keyblade chose you in the end, and it must have chosen you for a good reason. Don't waver like Riku did."

Something tightened around Sora's heart, some sense of finality, a resolve. He knew Yami was right. Even though he didn't want to think about losing Riku, it was a definite possibility. He couldn't count on saving Riku and having Riku pick up where he left off. It was possible that Sora really might be his permanent replacement.

"Then it's probably time Sora decided who his trinity's going to be," Leon said, pulling Sora out of his thoughts.

"My... trinity? What's that?"

"You can't take everyone with you," Leon said, scanning those gathered in the main hall, from Beast and the princesses to those who lived in Traverse Town, before returning his gaze to Sora's. "Before we decided to join Riku, Merlin told us about the trinity."

Cloud nodded and picked up where Leon left off. "It's supposed to be a powerful team composed of three people who trust each other. Without trust, their power fails. With trust, their power grows unstoppable, and they create unbreakable bonds between them."

"We trusted Riku." Leon closed his eyes, his impassive expression gaining a hint of regret. "Don't know what we did wrong, but he didn't return that trust."

Sora shook his head, understanding where this was going. "No—don't say that. Riku's... always been like that. He acts tough, but it takes a lot for him to trust someone. And the person he has the worst time trusting is himself." When Leon's eyes settled back on Sora, Sora smiled to reassure him. "It's not your fault Riku can be pretty dumb." Then, to break the awkward tension: "So what makes a trinity? Just three people?"

Leon accepted the change of subject, but his tone had become reserved. "The head of the trinity is supposed to be light. That would be you, since you have the keyblade."

"The other two in the trinity represent protection and healing, basically," Cloud finished for him, watching Sora expectantly.

But even though Sora had caught onto their ploy, he wasn't ready to pick just anyone for his trinity. He hesitated and glanced at all of his friends, even the princesses, Beast, Mushu, the Traverse Town gang—everyone was watching him. Especially Leon and Cloud. And Yami.

Yami...

Sora couldn't help thinking about Ansem and Kairi—the way Yami had protected him when Sora had least expected it, and how Kairi had always supported him. And when Sora thought about it, Donald and Goofy must have been Riku's trinity, at least part of the time—that was why they had been on Agrabah and Atlantica. Maybe something had happened for Riku to lose faith in his friends.

Nevertheless, when Sora looked at all of their faces, he could honestly say he trusted all of them. It hadn't always been that way, especially not with Yami, but a lot had changed in the last twenty-four hours. Sora didn't know any of them that well, not like how Riku had. The one he did know the best was Yami, and, well... Yami hardly knew himself.

Sora didn't know who to choose. But...

He couldn't fight fake-Ansem's heartless alone.

Coming to a decision, Sora settled his gaze on Cloud and Leon, offering them a smile.

"Leon, Cloud..."

Leon straightened and nodded, but Cloud folded his wing behind himself, his expression calm.

"Sorry, guys," Sora said, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "You're really strong and I could use you in a fight, but... you should stay here. This was your home, right? Who knows if I'm ever gonna make it back here. You oughta take this chance while you got it. Rebuild your world, you know?"

Leon started to protest, but Cloud clamped his hand on Leon's shoulder.

"You find Riku for us," Cloud said, and when Leon sent him an incredulous look, Cloud squeezed his shoulder. "This is his fight, Squall. If what Yami said is true, there are nobodies interested in this world. Someone has to stay to protect it."

"Right," Sora agreed. "And to protect Yami."

That pointed look of betrayal returned to Yami's face, but after what Leon had told him earlier, Yami didn't put up a fight. He looked away and folded his arms, plainly not liking being treated like a fragile princess. But with Kairi in there somewhere, Sora wouldn't have it any other way.

He finally looked to Donald and Goofy. In that moment, he remembered Goofy's bravery when he had helped shield Riku and Sora from falling rocks in Agrabah when Jafar had taken over the Cave of Wonders. He remembered the freezing pressure of the water in Atlanica when he had teleported himself back to save Riku—and how Donald had been there to transform him into a merman before he could drown.

Sora still hardly knew the crazy duo, but he was certain about one thing.

He wouldn't be here without them.

"You guys are supposed to follow the key, right?" Sora asked.

"You betcha!" Goofy said with a smile.

Donald patted his chest. "You can count on us!"

"All right," Sora said, breaking into a grin. "Then I think I have my trinity."

And as Goofy let out his "A-hoo-hoo-hoo!" of glee and Donald tackled him around the waist, Sora laughed with them, already feeling confident he had made the right decision.

-o-o-

Riku knew only darkness after Ansem entered the heart of the world.

Using his body, Ansem had passed through into a state of being beyond Riku, and Riku had sunk further into the shadows, unsure of what was happening or where he was or what he could do to find his way again.

He could still feel Ansem, all around him, inside of him, a deep poison he couldn't overcome no matter how hard he tried.

And he did try. He hadn't stopped fighting.

It was too late to ask for help, but more than ever, Riku knew he needed it.

He thought about all of his friends and kept his heart open, hoping that they, if anything, would give him the strength to hold onto who he was. Kairi's faith in him, Sora's trust—he could still feel their hearts when he concentrated hard enough.

And there... was someone else.

Don't give up!

That voice...

He'd heard it before.

Not Ansem's—

Not anything like his.

It was warm, reassuring, like a child's—high-pitched—honest.

"Hello?"

Riku called into the darkness, knowing he hadn't imagined it.

After what had happened with Ansem, he wasn't going to ignore the things he thought were figments of his imagination.

You can hear me? Gosh, I thought I'd never get through!

"Who are you?" Riku asked.

He searched the darkness in front of him, which seemed to be thinning. He didn't know why, but he could faintly see the ground beneath his feet—a gray road leading into the black abyss.

A friend! I've been tryin' to talk to you all this time, but the darkness wouldn't let me reach you.

Riku contemplated the stranger's words, trusting them for some reason.

This wasn't like Ansem. The words filtered through his heart much like Ansem's had, but unlike Ansem, when Riku reached out to feel the person at the other end of the Voice, he felt... someone there. Someone real. Not just darkness.

Whoever this voice was, they had a heart.

Somehow, just by talking to him, they had already eased the darkness around him. Ansem had only tried to bury him.

"So why can I hear you now?" he wondered.

Your heart's calling for help. It's loud and clear now.

Riku rested a hand over his chest.

Beneath his palm, his heart thrummed with a steady strength.

Wherever he was, he still had his heart.

As long as he had that... he'd find a way back to his body. Then back to his friends.

So don't worry! I'm comin' to help.

"Thanks," Riku said, forming a small smile.

Even in the deepest darkness, it seemed like there really was a little light, and that light had found him. He wasn't sure how or why or who it was, but he was grateful.

He'd hold onto this light until he reclaimed his own.

And whatever you do, don't give up!

Riku stared down the long gray road into the unknown.

Slowly, he lowered his hand from his heart and began to walk, one foot in front of the other, his steps silent in the cold abyss. It didn't matter where he was going. Somewhere at the end of this road he'd find what he was looking for.

Strength, maybe. Ansem. Sora. His light.

He didn't know what.

But he sure as hell wasn't going to give up.

"I won't," he told the voice, and without needing further encouragement, he broke into a run.

-o-o-

One more chapter and a long epilogue to go, at least for this fic. Let's make it to the end together! Review?