Le gasp! The Mizu updates! Don't die in shock children, this is chapter is fun. In fact, this is the chapter I've been waiting for. It's the beginning of a lot of things that I enjoy very much. Hopefully you guys'll enjoy it too, yes? If the rest of this story ever gets posted . . . I'm going to try and be better about that . . . but I'm not going to make any promises. It just seems that when I take a break from writing this, six months pass and I'm never sure where all that time went. Anyway, please enjoy the goodness, and remember, I am beta-less, so all mistakes are mine and mine alone. :D

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything that has to do with Kingdom Hearts. If I did, well, this would be a game and not a fanfic. So please don't sue me; it probably wouldn't be worth the hassle.

Story Key:
italics means emphasis
". . ." means speaking
- - - means scene switch
'. . .' means quotes/thoughts

Anyway, onto the fic . . .

Open Up
Part IX: Dive Into The Heart

Riku stumbled backwards through the portal with a roar, ignoring his surroundings and stepping back towards the vortex as if he intended jumping through it again. He was screaming something about the king when the gateway spiraled away into nothingness, sucking up his cries in a swirl of oxygen and leaving silence in its wake.

"Riku," Kairi asked tentatively, reaching out a gloved hand and pausing momentarily before resting it on his biceps. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he all but snarled, sliding out of her grasp, shadows visibly darkening around him.

"Where's King Mickey?" she asked, eyes growing sharp with concern as she glanced back towards where the portal had been moments before. "Was he in the portal when-?"

"No. He's not coming," Riku cut in with a growl, almost hunching in on himself, the shadows around him feeding on his fury. His features were dangerous, pale and hollow in the twilight. "He said we'd have more luck with a 'Trinity.'"

His eyes were more alive in that moment than Kairi had seen in the past five days – a deep flash of betrayal that was gone in an instant, searing itself into her memory so instantly that she was startled into taking a step backwards.

"A 'Trinity?'" she managed to choke out, trying to shrug away Riku's hostility and ignore the shadows shifting around him. "You, me, and Sora?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?" the older boy hissed.

The redhead narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, only to shut it again with a audible click, shocked at herself and the words she had been about to say. They had been vicious, biting, her chest burning at the mere thought of them – the tugging in her heart, the one that had had her snapping at Riku and Sora on the islands, stronger than it had before.

Resting a hand lightly on her breast, Kairi whipped her head around, searching for Sora. He had felt it before – maybe it smoldered now, just as heavily, in him too.

But Sora was in no state to quell Kairi's fears. He was crouched on the ground, both hands clutching at the side of his head, face hidden in the dim light. Forgetting her distress, Kairi cried his name as she dropped to her knees and grabbed hold of him, startled to find his features warped with pain.

"Sora! What's wrong?"

The Keybearer ignored her question, grinding his teeth and crouching down further into himself as he did so. His breathing was ragged and choked, as if the air had suddenly turned to water.

"Focus on ignoring it," Riku said, suddenly on the ground and opposite of Kairi, his mask back in place with a firm vengeance. "You need to tune it out, at least part of the way. The magics in the coat should help you."

Riku's words were dim in the back of Sora's mind, all but buried beneath a melodic scream that kept resounding louder and louder. The brunette thought that maybe his very bones were vibrating, teeth clacking together uncontrollably as his fingertips went slick with blood. The stinging in the back of his head had morphed into something completely different, smothering, like a blanket that had been thrown over his head. How could he ignore that?

Sora thought that maybe someone was trying to cure him, a fleeting sensation that passed over him almost unnoticed. There were voices resonating around him, familiar voices crying his name and begging him to wake up from whatever nightmare he was trapped in. They were steadily growing louder, drowning out the warped screaming in a sudden, white hot flash.

"-ri can't do this for long!" His green eyes were sharp and serious. Like a sword. Alive. "Sora! You need to ignore it! Focus – once you get focused enough, the coat's magics will hel-"

And then the voice was gone, swallowed up as whatever had been projecting it died. But Sora thought that maybe he could trust its advice, it sounded kinder than the discordant music, and he could understand it without having to try. So he focused on the screaming, gave it his full attention, and tried to shove it into the back of his mind, to not let it overwhelm him so.

He wasn't sure how long it took, how much he pushed at a sound that didn't want to budge, but at a certain point, the shriek dampened suddenly to a low humming, as if the world suddenly realized that someone had noticed its call. The change was a like a cut, almost too sudden, tearing at itself dully and sending Sora staggering forward onto his hands, a headache already blooming behind his temples.

But he could see again, could think, and that was good enough for him.

Kairi was off to the side, hastily pulling out the cork of an ether, downing it in a single gulp. She grinned tiredly at Sora as color returned to her features. Her scepter was hanging loosely from her other hand, the tip of it pointing downward and glowing faintly. Residual power from very strong magic.

Riku caught Sora's glance, interjecting, "She used a shielding spell and directed it like a spear. You couldn't hear us otherwise."

Sora flushed. Had he really been that far gone?

Pouting at the older boy's stoic composure, the brunette felt a little pathetic after his episode. Why wasn't Riku just as affected? "Why can't you hear them?" Sora asked, smearing blood across the sides of his face as he tried to wipe it away.

Riku's smile was thin and brittle. "I can, but barely. They've gone silent. They know I'm here now."

That was kind of creepy and somewhat unfair, and Sora would have said so if Kairi hadn't interrupted, staring up at the sky with bright eyes.

"Look. There aren't any stars." Her voice wavered. "We can't see any other worlds from this place."

And Kairi was right. The horizon looked like someone had smeared watercolors across it – wet and shimmering with the finality of a sunset, pink blurred across the horizon with deep purples and blacks still streaking upwards. Dark clouds hovered across the city, hiding the twilight away, yet there was no sign of any stars in the scattered patches of sky. The darkened streets were lit by nothing but streetlamps and blinking neon signs.

"This is the forgotten world," Riku pointed out. "It's supposed to be all alone."

"That's horrible." Kairi frowned, shivering and pulling her coat tighter around herself.

Sora almost agreed as he pushed himself up wearily, feeling a deep unease in his very bones as he glanced about. Something seemed to be missing – people, light, movement, life. Something was wrong with this place.

"Hey, where's King Mickey?" he asked suddenly, eyes searching for the mouse.

"Come on," Riku said, ignoring the brunette's question as he stepped forward, peering out into the city. In a way, he looked darker. "Let's go."

Sora frowned, turning to Kairi, who winced at the pointed gaze.

"He didn't come," she whispered as she walked past him, timidly following Riku down the dark of the alleyway. The scepter in her fingers vanished in a blaze of white, the shadows in the city growing darker without its presence.

"What?"

There was no response and Sora trotted off after the pair, questions circling in his head. He had trusted Mickey to follow them – but maybe there was something more important? He didn't know the mouse that well, but Donald and Goofy had always vouched for him, had spoken of his courage and virtues with respect. There must have been a good reason for him to lie. Wasn't there?

Sora almost wanted to ask Riku what he thought, but the other boy's reaction to the first question quelled the urge. It meant that no one but Mickey had known, that he had lied to all of them.

The brunette frowned, stepping into a pool of water and sputtering as he hopped away from it. In fact, the ground was littered with puddles – something Sora had failed to notice. There was a thin sheet of rainwater coating everything, glittering as if it was fresh. It was eerie.

And it was if Sora's thoughts were a trigger, a light curtain of rain descended down on the trio as they walked through the abandoned city. Veil-like, the thin, white mist settled across the landscape in glittering patches.

"It's raining," Riku hissed sharply, though he did not pull up the hood of his coat to block the haze. "I already don't like this place."

The empty city didn't do much to negate that opinion, all ethereal in the rain, neon lights softened by the misty wetness and buildings ominous in the darkness. It felt like there were eyes painted on the sides of the buildings, and a flash of yellow flickered from a secluded alley. The streets themselves were throbbing with a barely contained tension, the silence all but deafening.

Standing tall above the skyline was a building that dwarfed the other skyscrapers, the pale lights of its windows glowing dully and the neon laced vid-screens mounted to its sides blinking static. Structurally it wasn't terribly different from any of the other buildings, but Kairi was unable to draw her eyes from it, and when the two boys looked over, they felt the same attraction.

"What is that building?" Kairi asked warily.

"The Tower?"

She frowned at the dazed quality to Sora's voice, "'The Tower?'"

"It's a place of power," Riku answered, eyes narrowed at the sheer sight of it. He tilted his head to the side, as if listening for something. "There are more voices there. It must be where the Keyhole is. We might even be able to find Kingdom Hearts there."

"You think so?"

Riku's eyes narrowed. "Maybe."

His tone was almost like a warning – 'don't ask me questions that I don't know the answers to' – and Kairi watched as Riku turned away and Sora's face darkened. The brunette opened his mouth to respond before pausing and turning to Kairi with wide eyes.

'He feels it too,' she realized in an instant, hand drifting back towards the burn in her heart. 'He feels it too.'

"You-" she started, voice quiet.

"'Be careful that your heart doesn't betray you,'" Sora cut in, glancing towards Riku and looking almost like he had finally figured something out.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"That's what King Mickey said to me before we left," Sora replied, turning back to her. Something sparked in his eyes as he continued. "He said this place brought out the powers of Keyblades. So I guess they're stronger here. But remember what we were talking about – my Keyblade attracts Heartless wherever I go. That power will be stronger here too."

"And?" Kairi couldn't really see where Sora was going with this.

"My Keyblade is for worlds, and because I'm using it for good, it brings darkness to those worlds," Sora said simply. "Riku's Keyblade is for hearts – do you think that it could bring darkness to hearts?"

"That's what this is?" Kairi all but hissed in shock. The fingers on the breast of her coat slipped into a fist, shaking just the slightest. She felt cold. In her whole life she had never been so angry and so sad at the same time. "It's all the Keyblade?"

Sora's eyes were wide and very blue. "Doesn't it make sense?"

"Look, are you two coming, or not?" Riku's voice cut in before Kairi could answer, abrasive and bold. Sora jumped and both he and Kairi looked towards the other boy, almost like deer in the headlights.

Riku blinked at them, a trace of confusion passing across his features before it was snuffed out. "Are you two okay?" he asked, that trace evident somewhere behind his tone. "What's wrong?"

Sora opened his mouth, but Kairi cut in. "Nothing," she assured, smiling and walking towards him. Riku didn't need to know. It would just hurt him more. "Nothing at all. Let's get going. Come on Sora."

She stepped out in front of him, ignoring the stare that she could feel burning through the back of her coat. Tucking a wet chunk of hair behind her ear and glancing towards the looming skyscraper in the distance, Kairi wondered just how long the hearts had been waiting there, and if Riku's Keyblade could do anything for them.

The scepter that she carried in her heart glowed, almost reassuringly as the three islanders trudged through the dirty streets. There wasn't a soul around and the rain was pitter-pattering quietly onto roofs and awnings with no signs of stopping. It had turned Riku's silver hair a darker shade of grey and had sent Sora's spikes a-drooping. Kairi couldn't imagine what she looked like, though she suspected that 'drowned rat' might be an accurate descriptor.

They walked block upon block, but all of the buildings looked the same and the Tower didn't look any closer than it had been before. Kairi breathed in deeply, glancing around at the buildings, at how they all looked exactly the same.

"Are we even moving?" she asked suddenly, stopping and staring upward and into the rain. It was trailing from the sky slowly, dripping off of something that looked almost like spider threads. She blinked, squinting and tried to see if it was an illusion or not. But the longer Kairi watched them, the more they glistened into visibility.

Sora blinked at over at the girl, obviously befuddled. "We've been walking this whole time."

"It's an illusion," Kairi murmured reaching out and poking at the thin trails of magic – or whatever it was – floating in midair. They snapped at her, and the redhead quickly pulled her hand back, staring down at the steaming fingertips of her glove. But the image had shuddered, rippling at her touch.

Narrowing her eyes into blue slits, Kairi ignored the two boys behind her, bringing her hand up again. The scepter she had gotten from Mickey materialized into her grip and she touched the tip of it to the magic threads.

Akari was its name and light flared from the bulb at its tip, the image of the skyscrapers noticeably rippling. The illusion was weak and when Kairi pushed the tip of the scepter farther into the threads, softly whispering its name, they shattered away.

Sora blinked in shock at the change. While it was still raining and all of the buildings still looked the exactly same, everything seemed clearer. Like Kairi had cleaned a window that he hadn't realized was dirty in the first place.

"Wow, Kairi. I didn't even notice that," he admitted. "Good job." He patted her shoulder softly. She smiled at him, her scepter vanishing away into nothingness as she did so.

Riku, however, said nothing. He had, in fact, had stopped moving, glancing down the street like a hunted animal, eyes narrowing as the neon flickered ominously. Like he could hear something that the illusion had been hiding.

"Nemo?" he hissed.

"I don't think so," Sora replied before he could help himself. But wait – when had he started to understand those words? Not recognize them, but truly understand them? He blinked over at Riku, just missing the ghost of a smirk. Sora stared for a moment before tilting his head to the side and listening for trouble.

"What is it?" Kairi asked, blinking through the mist at something that she was blind to. She felt like they were being watched, that something was looming overheard, but it was more of a feeling. Nothing like the acute hearing of Riku or Sora.

"These streets are alive," Riku whispered in explanation, eyes darting across the asphalt in search of movement. The statement seemed absurd, but something in Kairi clearly believed it, her muscles tensing on their own accord. "They were watching us through that illusion. Measuring us up. And now there's something here – I can feel it."

"The Nobody?" the girl asked, the hair on the back of her neck rising at the thought. They still had such a long way to get to the TV Tower.

"No . . . it's too familiar," Sora replied, also watching the ground with an unnatural focus. His hand clutched at the air, looking for a weapon that had not yet been summoned. "But how could they be here? There shouldn't be any left . . ."

Kairi didn't get the opportunity to try and decipher the guarded words because at that moment the ground suddenly shifted, a vein of violet and silver flashing near Riku. The older boy jumped to the side as the shadows pulsed and the pavement flattened again.

Not a split second later electricity crackled through the air and the asphalt surged once more. Up from the shadows pushed a pair of lidless, butter eyes, shoulders twitching as the warped, humanoid form slid from the ground. Bent and jagged, more and more pushed themselves out of the shadows – amassing, watching, waiting.

"Are those-?" Kairi managed to choke out, shocked at how eerie it was to be instantly surrounded by dozens creatures that hadn't been there moments before. "Heartless?"

"Yeah . . . but I've never seen these particular Heartless before," Riku muttered, eyeing them with a frown.

"Neo-Shadows," was Sora's clipped reply.

"Oh, how appropriate," the older boy snarled wryly, eyes darting, trying to count the growing numbers. "They fit the part."

"Why are there Heartless here?" Kairi asked quietly, voice higher in pitch than usual. When Sora turned to look at her, he saw the white of her eyes, wide and terrified and a little overwhelmed. She was shaking her head from side to side, as if the motion itself would convince them more than her next words, "There shouldn't be any left."

"Why are the Heartless here?" Sora asked. "Riku?"

"How should I know?" the older boy snapped, glaring darkly at the Neo-Shadows, sizing them up. It was hard to tell, but it looked like there were Shadows darting between their legs.

"Did they follow you?"

"No one followed us," Riku hissed in response, turning his full attention to Sora as if the mere suggestion was an affront to his pride. "It didn't work that way."

"Then why are they here?"

"I don't know!"

"Shouldn't you?"

"Sora, stop it," Kairi snapped abruptly, sending him a look. He blinked at her, glancing over at Riku and looking somewhat abashed.

Continuing in a softer voice, Sora asked, "You have no idea? None at all? Could they had learned from whatever it was that you and King Mickey did?"

"No. It didn't work-"

"Of course," Kairi murmured, voice muted by a sudden realization as the ground continued to throb and expand into an even bigger legion. "No, Sora. They didn't follow him. Because . . . a Heartless is a body without a heart. Sora, didn't you say that everyone who's been born in the last three years has been stillborn . . . because they never got a heart?"

"They're all children?" the brunette snapped, glancing at the writhing bodies, black as midnight.

"It seems that way," Riku quipped.

"But Sora, Riku . . . if there are both Nobodies and Heartless here . . . what happens if they meet up? They're two halves of a whole, but they can't become one, can they? What would happen?"

"I-I don't know." And Sora didn't know, wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He had the distinct feeling that it wouldn't be a good thing if the two met up. "But are there any here? Where are the Nobodies?"

"I don't know!" Riku called back. The Heartless shifted like they were one, flowing back and forth like an ocean of black. They sounded like leaves, dry and crackling underfoot, blowing in the breeze. "They should be here – I can feel them!"

"Are they watching us?" Kairi asked, voice strained. She couldn't see anything past the Heartless. "Was that them before? Are they still watching us now? Waiting to see what we'll do?"

Riku didn't respond, a sharp streak of silver and black flashing outward from him and a Heartless shrieking as it vanished into nothingness. In his hand was a sword – a long katana – the metal a dark charcoal, as sharp and hard as diamond. Arching across the blade a set of intricate patterns was burned into the steel, glowing a shade of silver that was so pure that it could have been white.

Kairi could feel it humming with power.

Sora's Keyblade sliced through a second daring Heartless, the white of Oathkeeper blazing brightly. The brunette turned to Kairi, his eyes strangely dark.

"Kairi!" Her name was like a command, and Akari flashed between her fingers at the sound of it, pulsing brightly. She could feel the scepter's power, burning strongly at the sight and sound of the Heartless chattering together.

They hissed at the scepter, their eyes narrowing just the slightest. Kairi was proud that she could even tell that they were disturbed, the horror pawing at her gut burning too much like acid now.

She hadn't imagined something like this. The idea of Heartless was less scary than actually facing them down. She glanced towards Riku and Sora – both stoic as they faced the enemy. What was it that made her think it would be a good idea to come with them?

Kairi shrieked as a Heartless pounced. It would have tackled her had Riku not dashed in the way, his sword slicing the creature in half. A pale pink heart floated up into the sky – something the Heartless had consumed in hopes of becoming whole.

"Calm down, Kairi," Riku said, voice clean and cold. She glanced towards him as he sliced his sword through another Heartless; protecting her.

"Yeah, Kairi!" Sora called from behind her, Keyblade gleaming strongly. He struck through one of the Neo-Shadows, darkness curling away into the twilight. "It's gonna be all right – just stay calm!"

"But-" Kairi trailed off. Terror choked her words as she looked out and saw the hundreds of Heartless amassing on the three of them. What kind of fight was this going to be? How could she stay calm? She wasn't even near qualified for this kind of thing.

'Why am I here?' she wanted to ask. 'Why did I come? What can I possibly do to help either of you?'

She had never been a fighter. On the islands, she had always opted out of fighting, preferring to watch and cheer as the others duked it out. Yes, she could do a little magic now, but magic wasn't necessarily fighting, and really, despite what she had told Sora, she hadn't ever really fought any Heartless. Kairi had seen Aerith fight them, but never anything as terrifying as the Neo-Shadows, whose very breath chilled her bones.

"I-" she tried again, catching the glance of Riku.

"What is it?" he asked, voice heavy. His sword danced through a group of Shadows like it was alive. He didn't have any qualm with protecting her yet again.

'But I don't want to be protected. I want to fight,' she continued silently, watching the two boys as they effortlessly cut through the Neo-Shadows. Akari grew warm in her palm. 'I want to fight! I don't want to sit on the sidelines again! I don't think I could stand that a second time! I don't want to be useless!'

"Thundaga!" she screamed, the spell vibrating electrically through the air. Akari burned white and a giant spiral of lightning arched down with a deafening crack, obliterating every Heartless within a three meter radius.

Riku blinked over at her with wide eyes, the green of his irises stark and bright.

"I can fight too. I'm going to fight too," she said to him, eyes hard like gems. The older boy nodded and out of the corner of her eye, Kairi caught a glimpse of a smile from Sora.

The Heartless didn't resume their attack immediately; rather, they stared and shifted their weight from foot to foot, their eyes glowing like fireflies. It was almost like they needed to reconsider their enemy. If Kairi had had more interaction with Heartless, she might have been more concerned at this group effort.

She didn't have a chance to say anything though, as the mass of Heartless pounced, like a giant black wave, separating the three islanders almost effortlessly. Kairi was swallowed in darkness, the only light that she could see being Akari, who was almost blinding in contrast.

Swinging the scepter around like a madwoman, Kairi cleared away the group of Heartless that was immediately around her, searching blindly for Riku and Sora.

Riku's sword was flashing through the twilight like a whip, the dark blade reflecting the neon streetlights like a mirror. It was strange sight to see, as any and all light seemed to be absorbed by the Heartless.

Kairi slammed her scepter through a Neo-Shadow, ignoring the outcome of her attack and searching for Sora. He wasn't difficult to locate. His Keyblade was clearly slicing through the Heartless – a sudden burst of pink and red hearts spiraling upward from his position. Sora roared a battle cry and the Neo-Shadows screamed at his attack, burning from a fire spell and cleaved by the Keyblade again and again.

But the harder Kairi tried to keep track of the two boys, the clearer it became that they were being pushed away from her. Soon enough, she could barely catch sight of where they were, too swarmed by Heartless to do anything about it.

'We're supposed to be a Trinity,' she thought blindly, trying to find any hint of light that wasn't coming from her or the glowing neon signs. 'How can we do that if we're separated?'

"Riku! Sora!" she cried as loud as she could as the wave of moving shadow pushed her farther and farther away.

"Kairi!" she heard Sora scream in response. Warmth flooded her and she would have been glad, but Kairi couldn't even tell where his voice was coming from anymore.

"Sora?" she yelled back, not sure if anyone could hear her in the uprising.

"Head to the TV Tower!" She thought that maybe it was Riku this time – but his voice was so warped under the rustle of the Heartless. "We'll meet at the Tower!"

"Okay!" Kairi yelled, trying to project her voice as much as possible. "Okay!"

She wanted to tell them to be careful, but wasn't sure if they would hear her, so she hoped that at least the thought projected to them.

The whole area was a mess of black and Kairi vaguely heard someone use a lightning spell – though she couldn't tell who – and was grateful as a stray bolt struck down several of the Heartless around. She quickly cast her own electricity spell to improve the odds.

"Thundaga!"

Lightning crackled around her satisfyingly and any Heartless in the vicinity disintegrated into a flash of nothingness. But more Heartless pounced forward, their faces shining in the rain.

"Get away from me!" the red-head screamed, slamming the end of her scepter through a Neo-Shadow, ripping through the torso and then across a small group of Shadows that had been crawling out of the asphalt. They shivered from the light's touch, keening before they were torn from the ground from the sheer force of her blow. "Sora! Riku! Where are you?"

Kairi spun to the side and flipped the butt of her staff up into the face of a flailing Heartless, completely destroying it. However, in mid-spin, the girl's feet slid across the wet ground and she lost her balance, falling forward through cold bodies that only seemed to push her faster into the swarm of darkness.

She landed hard on her left arm, the bone cracking loudly and pulling a tight scream from her throat. Too focused on the sudden pain, Kairi never realized that Akari had been jarred her grip in the fall, and was slowly rolling to the side.

The girl clutched her arm before twisting sideways in a dizzying attempt to avoid the Heartless who had started to fight each other in their frenzy to reach her. But her vision was rimmed with black from the continuous pressure on her arm and she crawled up onto her knees at the first opportunity.

"Curaga," she coughed, rainwater tickling the back of her throat, directing the spell out through her fingers and into the shattered bones. She would have sighed in relief, but felt a cold hand reach out of the ground beside her and quickly rolled away into a crouch before it could get a feel of her heart. The Shadow hand merely ducked back into the earth for a later attack.

Ready to get back into action, Kairi swung upward from her crouch to obliterate a hovering Neo-Shadow with her scepter and finally noticed that the aforementioned weapon was not in her grip. Eyes widening, she quickly screeched out a time spell at the awaiting Heartless before leaping up and trying to find the white glow of Akari amidst all of the black heads.

A flood of uncharacteristic curses ran through her mind as she eyed the weapon lying a good fifteen meters away, a glowing white beacon in the distance. Taking off in a panicked sprint, the red-head plowed through the armada, bolting towards the weapon and thus drawing every stray Heartless' attention to her small form. Not that most of them weren't watching her anyway.

The redhead didn't know what had hit her under she was slammed backwards into the ground, breath escaping her lungs at the impact. A small group of Shadows who had strategically sprung from the ground before her. They crawled all across her sprawled body and as claws scraped across the surface of her heart, Kairi let lose yet another spell in frantic horror.

"Thundaga!"

The Heartless burst into screaming clouds of darkness and Kairi winced at the immediate lack of strength she felt. She was using up her magic capabilities too quickly; at this rate she only had two or three spells left in her and the scepter was still not nearly as close as she would have hoped.

It never even occurred to her to summon the weapon.

Hissing broke her from her thoughts as she quickly rolled to the side, nearly avoiding a clawed hand that rammed into the ground, cracking the pavement and sending water flying. But Heartless was quick and tackled her, looming over her with strangely empty eyes.

"Firaga!" she screamed in desperation, thrusting her right hand into the sleek face of the Neo-Shadow and flinging it away in a whirlwind of flame, the warmth of the fire caressing her slick fingers reassuringly.

Kairi sprang to her feet, only to be viciously yanked down by a Shadow half in the puddled ground, barely missing a flying attack in the process. Using her leg as leverage, the Heartless dug its claws into her flesh and ripped itself from the pavement before looking towards the girl with dead, yellow eyes. She kicked the creature in the head, sending it flying into a wall before directing a quick healing spell towards her bloody ankle and rolling to the side in order to avoid being smashed beneath another enemy.

The red-head glanced towards her right in the confusion, eyeing Akari lying barren and off to the side. It seemed that the Heartless were doing their best to both avoid it and keep the blue-eyed girl out its reach. But if she was to get out of this mess and meet up with Riku and Sora, she was going to need that weapon, if not a miracle.

With a battle cry, Kairi got in a crouch and leapt forward between the legs of a Neo-Shadow, rolling forward into a lopsided run as she tried to gain her balance and get as far away as possible at the same time. Time slowed at that moment as Kairi scrabbled across the slick asphalt, footsteps loud in her ears when the Heartless rounded about towards her in the chase.

It was only ten meters away . . . she had never heard so much pounding. The adrenaline was echoing through her mind dizzily . . . but there were only five meters.

. . . two . . .

The scepter was almost within reach when Kairi was tackled behind by a Shadow, cold fingers plunging through her skin and into her heart, wrenching at it lustfully.

The pounding died abruptly and girl choked from the sudden intrusion, her chest tightening painfully at the sensation of her heart getting ripped at. The feeling was so great she fell to her hands and knees and stared at the ground fuzzily, the focus on the pattering raindrops shifting into nothing but a confused mess that quickly rushed forward to meet her as she fell.

Dazedly, Kairi realized that this was the end, her consciousness was threatening to slip completely. But this wasn't as concerning as she thought it should be. Rather it was comforting, oddly familiar.

'Because I've done this before,' she thought, the vague memory of when she gave Sora her heart flashing behind her eyes. Yes, she had lost her heart, but she hadn't gone cold – Sora had taken good care of her, hadn't he?

And what more was there then the peace she felt looking out on what her fogged vision allowed her to see? It was like staring at the sky without a telescope – a fuzzy world of black dotted with golden stars darting across the sky's map.

But it felt so wrong.

How could there be stars when then had all blinked out? And how could this be a good thing if she felt so cold? It wasn't like this last time. Last time she had no choice. But now, there were things to do? Weren't there things that she needed to do?

'I'm always with you too. I'll come back to you. I promise!'

The voice rang sharply through her head, sparking a new burst of determination with the memory. She couldn't leave Sora by himself – she couldn't leave Riku by himself!

With a small mewl, the red-head stretched out her hand towards the white blob in her peripheral vision, fingers closing around the familiar surface of her scepter and a warm light flowing down her veins, momentarily flushing everything out. Then as the world spun back into focus, time speeding up again, the red-head jerked the scepter back, ramming the butt into the Shadow on her back and obliterating it.

Breathing heavily Kairi reared around towards the enemy, who had paused in their movements, staring at her like tense animals as she brought the scepter up with flaming eyes. She whirled the staff around like it was an extension of herself, the weapon slamming into the Heartless effortlessly, evaporating them in swirls of darkness as they vanished into the twilight.

Akari spun in the darkened light like a white star, and Kairi, the flame behind that new life, burned in an adrenaline fueled fury, annihilating all shadows within sight. But as the darkness fled, so did the girl's light, and it faded out completely as all signs of the enemy disappeared.

Relying on the primal instincts, as not much else was left of her, Kairi stumbled backwards drunkenly and up against the wet brick of a building, leaning against it precariously, breathless and shaking with wide-eyes that saw nothing but a blur of neon and black.

Was this what Sora and Riku had gone through?

She vaguely felt the scepter slip from her fingers to clatter hollowly against the ground and she followed it, collapsing to the ground in a pile of shivering nerves. She felt old and weak, all the adrenaline flushed from her veins, caving in on herself like a wilting flower with its petals dripping to the ground in a hurricane of glory.

She laughed, choking on sobs and wrapping her arms around her legs as if to ground herself. Kairi hugged them tightly and rocked back and forth, feeling more and more like the child she was as each second passed.

There was a new ache in her heart: cold and foreign and a little ripped. She wondered how close she had really been and then realized that it didn't matter anyway. What mattered was getting up again – but Kairi couldn't find the strength in herself to move.

'Be careful that your heart doesn't betray you.'

Just what had King Mickey meant by that?

To be continued . . .

Hmm, hmm, hmm . . . but what of Riku and Sora? Are they lost and fighting within this mysterious city? Oh, no, whatever will happen to them? Next time, children, next time. :D Also, since this was based before CoM of KHII, yes, this is Deep Dive world (I can't remember what it's call) and yes . . . I am calling it Twilight Town in this fic . . . so there. Yay for artistic license!

But yeah . . . I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter. I've just realized how different my fic is from everything else. It seems that there aren't many epic KH fics around anymore (unless I'm blind), in fact, it's interesting, the direction that the Kingdom Hearts fandom has gone. At least, from what I've seen - a lot of it scares me and I don't have the ambition to hunt through the masses to find good fic anymore. Does anyone want to recommend something? I don't know . . . wow, I've digressed and gotten whiney, so I'll stop now.

Rightio - please make my day and review! Comments, questions, critique - it's all good. Also, please you guys, you have to tell me if this chapter is any good . . . I'm not entirely sure if I can write battle scenes as I've never really done them before. I'm afraid it's a little wordy. Ugh. So yeah, help, maybe? Or not?

As always, go read my other KH fic, Yellow Coats, because I love it and it will never stop being my baby.

To my lovely reviewers . . . why are you so amazing? You guys equal love!
: Thank you:D It's good to hear that someone likes how I write the infamous trio - I'm always wondering whether I'm doing them right or not . . . of course, Disney people are worse, so I shouldn't complain. XD
Lapse - Raevn: Yes . . . Mickey had to go . . . because I hate writing his dialogue (selfish plot twist). Well, there's more to it than that, but whatever. But yeah, actually the language I'm using is Latin and the random Riku babble translates roughly to complete nonsense, or "I carry a heart locked up against my will, but a golden key opens any door." It has nothing to do with the scene, but I enjoyed it. Anyway, thank you for your review!
IrishPotatoes: Yeah, I like the Sora/Riku/Kairi group better too . . . they're easier to write than the Disney characters (who make me paranoid because their dialogue is so difficult for some reason). Of course, the group is now split up . . . so we'll have to see how well that goes down. XD
RcA: Aww, you're not terrible with feedback! It actually just nice to hear from someone instead of watching the hit counter. But yes, so thank you very much for commenting in the first place:D
Reiko x 3: Well, I know that you reviewed quite a while ago, but I hope you got over being sick quickly. :D Sadly there isn't too much Riku torture in this chapter (as you probably could already tell, this was Kairi's time to shine) . . . but he'll show up and angst-ify next time.