Fanfiction ► Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom Series

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVI: Naught's Approach, pt. 2
​

“Okay,” Sora says, looking over his friends with the most serious expression he can muster. “Let’s go show Xemnas what… AH!”

A Dusk suddenly pops up over the walkway rail, reaching out to wrap a limb around the Keybearer. Everyone reacts, summoning or grabbing their weapons as several more Dusks, perhaps a dozen in total, slither onto their path.

Sora quickly pivots and bashes his accoster on the head, dissipating it into a single blow. Two more pop up, and he quickly decapitates them as well.

Riku avoids a headbutt, lashing out with a kick that knocks the lesser Nobody into the air. Mickey leaps and swings his golden Keyblade, cutting the creature into ribbons.

Kairi is forced back by a trio of Dusks, whipping her Keyblade around more or less at random. The technique keeps the Nobodies back, but doesn’t manage to stop their advance.

Until a fireball crashes into the leftmost creature, smoke rising from the impact point. With its focus interrupted, it’s an easy matter for Kairi to nail it. Spinning from her swing’s momentum, she also manages to knock the other two Nobodies back with one hit. Azlyn jumps in there, slashing both to ribbons with her shield’s edge.

Sora slides around a whipping arm and horizontally bisects the Dusk attacking him. That dealt with, he can’t help but take a look around, marveling at the sight of all his friends and allies working together as a team.

“Geeze!” Azlyn exclaims, knocking aside one Dusk that Riku quickly chops down. “I know that look, Sora!”

“You’re thinking something sappy again, aren’t ya?” Riku finishes, laughing as he incinerates a Nobody in dark fire.

“No!” Sora protests, charging forward and working with Mickey to keep a Nobody trio off Telary’s back. “I was just, um…”

“We gotta move, fellas!” Mickey interrupts, leaping up and batting away an approaching Dusk. “Those Heartless are closing quick!”

“The Dusks are thinning!” Telary calls, bashing away an opponent. “Get moving, I think I can use a spell to cover us!”

The others heed his words, rushing toward an entryway back into the castle’s interior. Once they’ve all passed, Telary focuses his concentration and prepares his large spell. Muttering an incantation, he summons a large orb of flame, almost as tall as Azlyn. Grunting, the wizard thrusts his creation into the air. It hovers there, and after a moment several smaller fireballs issue from it, the barrage burning several Dusks and serving as a warning to others. Satisfied, Telary turns to retreat. Azlyn is waiting just behind him, and the two rush inside after the others.

Rushing through white hallway after white hallway, the sextet eventually reaches a massive chamber, platforms in open air spaced meters apart and on several different levels, like a catwalk no one bothered to finish. A strange mist hovers over everything, dark purple and blue smoke mingling. Even with the obscuring fog, everyone can tell it’s a long way down.

“I guess when you can teleport, stairs become kinda optional,” Sora quips with a sheepish grin.

Mickey shakes his head. “You all are too tall to see it, but there’re walkways all the way up. Must be some kinda magic.”

Gingerly, Riku nudges the air in front of the entrance platform with his toe. Suddenly a light sound, like wind chimes in summer breeze, rings out. In a burst of light, several transparent hexagons show themselves.

With everyone satisfied, the group continues their charge upwards. Everywhere they go, Nobodies rise to accost them. And no longer merely Dusks either. Assassins, Snipers, Dragoons, Berserkers. All the lesser Nobodies seem represented, each presenting a particular challenge and obstacle.

Telary is still drained from his Firaga Burst, unable to summon any more energy until sufficiently recovered. Azlyn’s shield seems to barely touch her hand before it’s flung back into the air. Sora and Kairi stand side-by-side, the more experienced Keybearer intervening where his girlfriend can’t quite handle things. Mickey is a nigh-untraceable whirlwind of aerial motion, his golden Keyblade flashing out to decapitate and cut Nobodies in two. Riku handles the heavy hitting, in one case slicing through a Berserker and two attending Samurai in one swing.

Overall it’s slow going, but they manage to make progress through the thicket of creatures. Despite lesser numbers, their strength lies in great coordination and teamwork. When Azlyn misses, Telary is there to knock an opponent down. When a Dusk dances away from Sora, Kairi lashes out and disperses it. Mickey’s orbs of Light and Riku’s dark fireballs crisscross each other midair, providing the long rage support Telary is unable to at the moment.

The climb goes on for several minutes that feel to the combatants like mere moments, everyone lost in the flow of combat. Eventually, after much gruel and hardship, they reach the exit.

“Ugh!” Azlyn exclaims, too exhausted for words at the moment. The others echo her wordless statement.

“Uh,” Kairi speaks up, raising a weary hand. “I hate to be the one to, ugh, give the bad news but…” She points the tip of her Keyblade up, drawing the drained heroes’ attention upwards.

High windows, tall as Merlin’s house in Radiant Garden, open the indoor cavern up to the night air. Shadows swarm in those windows, wiggling and crawling together in a slimy mass. Once over the lip, they drop. Some miss landing entirely simply falling down into the misty abyss. But far more reach nearby platforms, gathering together to form a horde unlike any even Sora, Azlyn, and Telary have seen.

“Shit,” Telary breathes, clenching his teeth at the sight. His magical energy has mostly replenished, but he knows it won’t survive long against that endless swarm.

“It’s gonna be endless!” Riku exclaims in frustration, gritting his teeth and gripping Way To Dawn’s hilt until his hand hurts.

“No, c’mon guys!” Sora encourages the party, mostly succeeding in keeping his voice steady. “We just gotta work together, just like with the Nobodies!”

“By the dark powers,” a familiar cold, feminine voice rings out suddenly around the room. “Trite to the end, I see.”

Flames burst out before the heroes, their color a distinctive green and yellow. When the fire fades, Maleficent and Pete stand before Sora and company.

“Well, this is certainly interesting,” the jade-skinned woman observes. “Everyone who’s ever stabbed me through the heart, all in one place.”

“Oh, just what we…!” Azlyn starts to complain, drawing herself up and preparing her shield.

But she stops short, mouth dropping open, when the villainous duo turn their backs to them.

“You misunderstand me, child,” Maleficent explains. “Once again it seems you shall require my assistance to hold back this tide.”

Pete looks taken aback. “Hey, that ain’t what I signed up for! We’ll never be able to…”

“Whatsa matter, Cap’n?” Mickey mocks the bit cat, grinning slyly. “You weighing anchor?”

Pete’s face hardens with resolve. “You mean like abandon ship? Ha!”

“Maleficent…” Sora says, slowly mustering the will to thank a hated enemy.

“I remind you this is nothing so sentimental,” the witch snaps. “Once this horde is tamed, I shall be sending them after Xemnas. And once he is dealt with, and this castle is mine…” She grins wickedly. “Once again the worlds will learn to fear the name Maleficent.”

“Ya, sure,” Azlyn scoffs, already turning away. “See ya crazy lady!”

The others follow her lead, only Riku pausing to turn back to his old treacherous mentor.

“What is it?” she demands, sweeping forth a line of fire to incinerate several dozen Heartless at once.

“I actually do wanna thank you for something,” the silver-haired Keybearer remarks. “Reminding me that not everything I did when Ansem possessed me was a bad thing.”

To his surprise, the witch laughs. It’s long, loud, and backlit by the sound of Pete’s bombs detonating.

“You may have been designated a pawn, boy,” Maleficent admits with a rueful smile. “But there was always something I genuinely liked about you.”

There’s nothing more to be said, and Riku quickly turns to catch up with the others.

“Do you think she meant it?” Sora ask Azlyn as they climb a narrow staircase upwards. “About taking the castle and sending the Heartless?”

The knight scoffs loudly. “Oh, she meant it alright. Whether or not she can actually pull it off, though…”

A loud roar suddenly rips through the air, the sound shaking the entire passageway. Not a moment later, green and yellow light shines through the lower doorway to illuminate the group.

Azlyn grimaces. “On the other hand…”

---

Luckily enough, now you CAN read the whole thing C! Keys to the Kingdom II is officially complete! Can't wait until your journey takes you to the end!

 

[KingdomKey]

Whoa, Maleficent actually liked Riku as a person. :O And Riku actually saying thank you to her has me quite astounded! I do like how Mickey makes the call back to Pete about weighing anchoring and abandoning ships. Oh how fondly I think of Timeless River. <3 Except when I was fifteen playing KHII and freaking dying from those stupid car punching things. x'D lol. Anyways, I didn't expect Sora to feel sappy about everyone working together. It's kind of nice to think they can work together as a unit though. Anyways, bring on the chapters! I'm super excited and hype to see the finale to this story.And yet, I feel so sad to know it's coming to an end. ;__; It was so, so, good!

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVI: Naught's Approach, pt. 3
​

A long white staircase stretches upwards in the open air, wrapping around a thick central column. The strange mist is behind them, falling from just below the high tower. Steeling themselves, Sora and his compatriots slowly ascend the steps.

Up here the aching hum of the Organization’s broken Kingdom Hearts is louder, more present. It resonates within each of the heroes, pulsing in time to their heartbeats.

Xemnas stands before Kingdom Hearts, his hands raised to the sky like he’s about to fall to his knees in worship.

“Oh, my Kingdom Hearts,” the Nobody laments, his voice its standard dull monotone. “You have been damaged by these meddling fools, your power diminished. Once again, you require hearts.” Lowering his arms, Organization XIII’s Superior turns to the heroes. “Wielders of the Keyblade, you must gather more hearts!”

“NO!” Mickey, Riku, and Sora simultaneously exclaim, weapons blazing into their hands in columns of light. It takes Kairi a moment to get the gist, but with a determined frown she calls her weapon to hand as well.

“Why must you hate me so?” Xemnas sighs, the barest hints of actual sincerity dripping into his voice. “Why must you hate all who teeter on the edge of nothing? Neither Light nor Dark would accept us, leaving this emptiness as our fate. I and my Organization merely wished to fil that void. Is that such an ignoble goal?”

“Not when it involves Heartless feeding frenzies across the universe,” Azlyn quips in reply. “Or, hey, any of the times your flunkies have tried to kill us, personally.”

“Kidnapping’s a pretty low move, too,” Kairi adds.

“After a while, it does tend to create a natural hostility,” Telary chimes in.

Sora shakes his head, lowering the Keyblade. “I know you’re suffering, living without hearts. Roxas saw it, and I did too when Saïx faded. But just because you’re hurting, that doesn’t give you a right to hurt others!”

“But all this is academic anyway, isn’t it?” Mickey declares, his Keyblade still raised for combat. “Whatever you told your flunkies, however you got them on board with this Kingdom Hearts scheme, in the end you’re no better than Xehanort’s Heartless! All you want is its power!”

Xemnas chuckles, the amused sound so foreign coming from the usually stoic man that it chills everyone present to the bone.

“Very good, Your Majesty,” the Superior admits, slightly inclining his head in acknowledgement. “The other Organization members imagined themselves superior, but in the end they were inspired by nothing more than what motivates any common Dusk. Each desired a heart to call their own, but what is one heart compared to thousands!”

Xemnas flings his arms back, levitating off the platform and into the air. The heroes gasp, rushing forward in a charge much too slow. The Nobody rises until he finally meets Kingdom Hearts, resting in the yawning gap in its center.

“Ansem the Foolish claimed that the heart’s true nature is unknowable, but not to me!” Xemnas practically screams, Kingdom Hearts beginning to shake and rattle in the sky. “Unlike those before me, I have seen the truth! Hearts are power! Whether that power be Darkness or Light, in the end it all amounts to the same!”

“What are we supposed to do?” Telary cries out, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. “He’s gonna…!”

“You are incomplete, Kingdom Hearts,” the clearly insane Nobody rants, no longer seeming interested in the beings below him. “I alone can truly understand such a feeling! But perhaps together, we two incompletes may form something whole. I beseech you, Kingdom Hearts, lend me your power so that we may both be complete!”

Azlyn hurls her shield upwards, but it barely gets within a hundred feet of Xemnas and his broken moon. Kairi tries an orb of Light, but it hardly comes any closer before shattering. It seems that now, Xemnas truly is unstoppable.

“Heart quivering with hatred, burning with rage,” Xemnas incants, screaming into the sky like the madman he is. “Join me, and together we shall make a new world! The only world worth existing in… A world of Nothing!”

Light, as pure and white as anything Kairi could muster, sheathes the Superior of the fallen Organization. It spreads out, brightening and intensifying until no one can stand to look at it. The heroes fall back, hands rising to shield their eyes. Even so protected, the illumination is intense.

It takes them all seconds before they realize it is once again safe to look. When Sora lowers his hands and opens his eyes, he sees that Xemnas is gone. Kingdom Hearts, still naught but a broken shell, floats alone in empty air.

“Where’d he go?” Kairi asks, eyes darting around as if the mad Nobody is likely to casually stroll up next to the group.

“Inside,” Mickey replies, lowering his dejected gaze to the floor. “I think he’s… inside Kingdom Hearts.”

“Well, how are we supposed to get in?” Azlyn demands. “I recall a whole thing about seven Princesses. Well Your Majesty, we only got one!”

“You got behind the Door to Darkness,” Sora recalls. “How’d you manage that?”

Mickey sighs. “I never went inside the Kingdom Hearts the Heartless put together in the Dark Realm,” he explains. “I just had to get into the realm myself. And that wasn’t easy either! I had to hitch a ride on a world being consumed by Darkness and hope for the best!”

Telary stutters nonsensically for a moment. “Hang on, the Heartless built that Kingdom Hearts? Like Xemnas did with this one?”

Mickey nods, sharp and to-the-point. “It was made out of harvested worlds’ hearts, though. Not peoples’.”

His young royal wizard drops his head in frustration. “Has anybody else reached the conclusion that our universe just makes no sense?”

“That’s beside the point,” Sora cuts in, drawing all attention to him. “There’s gotta be a way in! There’s gotta be…”

Light swirls in the air, gathering in front of the broken moon. It comes together with a brilliant flash, shaping itself into a massive, towering door. The design is familiar, two white halves with colorful stained glass across the arch.

“Though I did before, now I gotta say I’m with Telary on the ‘no sense’ thing,” Azlyn sighs. “What the hell is this now?”

“Door,” Sora says, trying not to smirk.

“The worlds,” Mickey breathes, taking a slow step forward. “Just like they prepared paths for you to travel, they’ve given us this door, it has to be! They know the threat Xemnas poses, and they want us to stop him!”

“Ya know what,” Telary sighs. “I’ll take it!”

“We’re coming for you, Xemnas!” Sora declares, loud and proud.

“This is it Sora,” Riku cautions his young friend. “Once we’re step through, there’s no turning back. There’s no telling what could happen, so this may be our last chance for…”

“We’re gonna get married!” Azlyn suddenly blurts, apropos of nothing. Jaws drop as her companions turn to stare at the knight, none more than Telary’s.

“Huh?” Sora blurts.

Offered another silent moment, Azlyn looks around before speaking. “Yeah. Uh, well, the thing is…”

KH-KH-KH

“Sora!” Azlyn cries out into the night, gaze darting everywhere she can think of to look. It’s not easy, this being a fairly sprawling city with many, many nooks, crannies, and alleys to hide in. “No sign of him. He just ran off.”

Telary sighs, leaning against the wall of a skyscraper. “I’m sure he just got lost. You nearly left him behind anyway, rushing after the king like you did.”

Azlyn lets out a breath and shrugs, leaning against a building. “Yeah, I did didn’t I?” She huffs once. “I just hate how he’s always running off somewhere. And now, hey, Sora’s gone missing too!”

Telary walks over to her side, laying a hand on his girl’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’ll find Sora soon, okay? Maybe we should just stay here until he comes back this way.”

Azlyn nods appreciatively, sinking to the ground. “Good idea. You have so many good ideas, Tel.” She gives him a smile, sweet instead of seductive. “It’s nice to have you around.”

The wizard shrugs, taking a seat next to her. “I like having you around too.”

“You’re always around when I need you, right here by my side,” the knight continues praising, her head dropping onto his shoulder. “Even with all the chaos going on around us, there you are.” She sighs. “Sometimes it’s like you’re really the only person or thing I can rely on.”

Telary turns his head to kiss her cheek. “And I always want to be, Azlyn.”

Her head lifts from his shoulder, eyes giving him a look he can’t decipher. “Is that a fact, Tel?” At this point she stands, backing up so he’s looking down at him. “Always?”

“Always.” The wizard replies easily.

“Forever?”

Now, Telary can’t help but hesitate. Just a slight amount. “Uh, yeah. Forever.”

Azlyn nods. “Okay.” She pauses, turning away. That lasts for all of two seconds before she’s spinning around again, boldly declaring, “Then let’s get married.”

Taken by shock and surprise, Tel’s head snaps back into the concrete wall supporting it. It hurts, but that minor pain is so not the wizard’s focus at the moment. “What?”

Azlyn nods a few times, becoming seemingly more confident with each one. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get married, as soon as this Organization XIII mess is dealt with.”

Telary stands, approaching his girlfriend (should it be fiancé?) as if she’s a wild animal ready to pounce. “Azlyn, what are you saying? I, I know we just had that really nice moment, and I meant every word but…”

The knight gives her man a hard, daring look. “But what?” she asks plainly. “Give me some reasons, Tel.

He’s in no way prepared for an argument at this moment, but he ventures on the best he knows how. “We’re, uh, we’re so young!”

Azlyn only snorts at that, hands resting indignantly on her hips. “Tel, after all the shit we’ve been through I feel like I’m a hundred years old. We’ve faced life and death situations more times than I can count. More than you can count probably. We’ve been to the edge and back.”

It’s hard to argue with that. “Okay, I guess you’re right. But, y’know, the future is…”

“The future is what it’s going to be, whether we’re married or not,” Azlyn interrupts, tone strong but tender. She steps toward Telary, and he can’t find it in him to move back. “And whatever happens, I know it’ll be better if I’m your wife and you’re my husband.”

“How do we know if…”

She takes his hands gently in hers, gazing into his eyes. “Nobody knows me better than you, Tel. And I’d bet every munny piece I’ve ever seen that you’d say the same about me.” Her countenance gets a touch mischievous. “And if you think about it, we’ve been living together on the Gummi ship for a while now.”

Telary swallows hard, wracking his brain for anything he can say. “But, but let’s be practical…”

“What, are you worried about a job? Telary, you’ve got one hell of a secure position as Disney Castle wizard, and at this point they couldn’t keep me out of the Royal Guard with a moat. We’re as stable as can be on that front.”

Telary opens his mouth, but no words come out.

“Worried about where we live?” she continues. “In the castle for a while, then when we’ve saved up we can move out to our own place in Mouseburg.”

At this point, the wizard is only capable of sputtering. “You, you’re already making plans like that? You never make plans!”

Azlyn shrugs. “‘Til now there’s nothing I thought was worth planning for.” She lets go of his hands, instead wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Looking into his eyes, she says, “But you like plans, so here I am making one so you’ll understand how serious I am.”

This close, Telary can see the tears in her eyes, sincerity shining through them.

“I want to marry you Telary,” she says, as simple a statement as she can make “Do you want to marry me?”

Silence reins in the dark city, Telary just looking into the eyes of the woman he loves. The one he’s always loved.

“Yes, I do.” The words are quiet, and Azlyn’s face lights up in a smile as soon as she hears them. “I freaked out a moment there, bu then I realized something. The feeling I had when you asked me, when you said you wanted to get married… It was almost the same thing I felt when we took off on the Gummi ship. I’m still scared, worried about what the future holds, but…” His speech stutters, the young man taking a single, shaky breath. “But your heart has a remarkable ability to steer you in the right direction, no matter what anyone might say. And if it’s steering you to me, to this union between you and I… then I trust it, and you. I trust you with everything I am, Azlyn. And I know you won’t let me down.”

Telary gently grabs Azlyn’s arms, pulling them down from around his neck. Freed up to move, he drops down to one knee.

“I know I don’t have a ring, but…”

Azlyn laughs out loud, the most beautiful sound Telary’s ever heard. “Tel, I wouldn’t care if you gave me a ring you won in a claw machine. As long as it’s from you.”

He nods, tears swimming in his eyes and making it hard to see. “Anyway…” He takes her hands. “Azlyn, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes, Telary,” she says, barely breathing the words out. “A million times, yes.”

Azlyn slips her hands out of her fiancé’s grasp, grabbing his forearms and pulling the wizard back to his feet. After a brief moment to look into the eyes of the man she loves, the two come together in what they’ll both easily agree is their best kiss ever.

KH-KH-KH

Nobody says anything after the Disney Castle pair are done relating their story. It hadn’t been an easy tale to follow, coming out in stutters and stammers, mixed between the two lovers’ mouths. But in the end, everyone gets the gist.

“Uh, well,” Azlyn says after a moment that seems paused. “Anybody gonna say anything?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the second I saw you again!” Sora blurts once he’s sure no one else is going to step up. “Or when I asked on the stairs?”

Telary laughs sheepishly. His eyes haven’t left the face of Mickey Mouse, the small king’s mouth dangling open in a way the wizard has never seen before.

“Well,” the wizard explains, “we kinda just wanted to tell everybody once, at once. Y’know?” His gaze slides to Azlyn, slight disapproval evident. “In fact, I was pretty sure we were waiting until after this entire thing got sorted out.”

Azlyn shrugs. “Hey, blame Riku! He’s the one who was all ‘this is it Sora my man, final battle coming up. Now or never dudebro’!”

“Hey!” Riku objects. “I do not sound like that!”

“I don’t care whether it was planned or not!” Kairi exclaims, excitedly clapping her hands together. “I’m way too happy for that!”

She rushes forward, grabbing the couple in both arms and pulling them into a hug. After a moment, Sora sighs and joins in.

They embrace for a long minute (during quite a bit of which Sora is trying his hardest to get Riku to jump in, an effort that fails spectacularly), before pulling back. Looking down at Mickey, the mouse who had taken them from their home and raised them as his own, the couple just wait.

“Uh, Your Majesty…?” Azlyn starts, only to be stopped when the king raises his hand. Her mouth instantly snaps shut.

“There’ll be none of that anymore, Azlyn,” the king declares, causing only more confusing. All tension, however, is completely lost once he grins. “Anybody I’m gonna give away at their wedding gets to call me Mickey.”

Azlyn and Telary let out cries of joy, falling to their knees and pulling Mickey into an embrace.

Sora watches the scene, surreptitiously swiping away a few tears. This is it, he decides. Xemnas is a threat to existence, all the worlds he has visited, every friend he’s made. But that seems so far away, hard to focus on.

This right here is what he’s fighting for. A universe where two people can fall in love and pledge themselves to each other for eternity. If Xemnas has his way, such a heartfelt and steadfast love would not be allowed to exist. And to Sora, that is the ultimate in unacceptability.

“That’s why I’m ending this my way,” Sora declares privately, his ears the only ones hearing the words. “I hope you’re ready Xemnas, ‘cause here we come!”

 

[KingdomKey]

OMG OMG OMG OMG THAT MARRIAGE PROPOSAL HAS ME IN TEARS. OMG THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED. TELARY AND AZLYN ARE GETTING MARRIED. OH MAN, YOU GOT ME TO CRY! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME CRY! AND AZLYN ASKING HIM TO MARRY HER WAS- IT WAS BEYOND WORDS! AND SO MOVING! <3 AND MICKEY BEING ALL LIKE, YOU GUYS GET TO CALL ME MICKEY FROM NOW ON FOR GIVING THE BRIDE AWAY. ;__; <3 IT'S JUST SO PRECIOUS!

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT. SORA, WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOUR WAY?! BEST CHAPTER EVER!

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVII: Nothing And Everything, pt. 1
​

“Okay, Kairi,” Sora says, looking at the redhead standing across from him, “just follow our lead here. Ready?”

“Ready,” Riku says from his position on Sora’s left.

“Ready,” Mickey parrots, standing next to Riku with his golden Keyblade drawn.

Kairi takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and focusing for a short moment. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do it.”

Concentrating, the four wielders draw upon the power of their blades. Pointing them into the middle of the circle so all their tips connect, they begin summoning the weapons’ unique powers of unlocking. Light gathers where the blades meet, and slowly the quartet raise them to the sky.

Every Keyblade takes a bit of the shared power, orbs of white Light surrounding the tip of each. Once pointed straight up, the powerful lights concentrate into beams, shooting into the night sky.

The massive door reacts to the presence and power of the four beams, slowly creaking open. What lies beyond is impossible to discern, covered in a shimmering curtain of energy.

“Well, it’s open now,” Azlyn says, stepping forward casually. “So, how are we supposed to get inside?”

As if in answer, a shining bridge of blue energy stretches out from the door’s entrance to the edge of the tower. Sora puts a foot on it just to test, but its similarity to the bridge into the castle has him confident in its solidity.

“Now, everyone remember to be careful,” Mickey cautions the group as they slowly make their way up the shimmering ramp. “Xemnas is gonna have power in there like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The power of Kingdom Hearts,” Telary moans, eyes resolutely upward and not on the huge drop beneath his feet.

“True,” Riku agrees. “But I’ve traveled pretty extensively between realms, and one thing I learned is that things aren’t always the same from one to the next. Who knows what we’ll be able to do once we’re inside.”

Passing through the bright curtain at the door’s threshold is like walking through a Destiny Islands waterfall. One moment Sora is hundreds of feet above the city, a stiff breeze blowing his clothes and hair. The next, the sound and sensation of wind ceases, and he’s in another world entirely.

At first glance it looks like a plaza in the Dark City, black asphalt surrounded by high buildings. But white lines glow everywhere, running through the ground and up and down the surrounding buildings. The sky has become a hazy curtain of red and purple smudges that instantly remind the Keybearer of Gummi space.

Sora feels different in this place too, like something is buzzing just beneath his skin. It’s like the opposite of the Betwixt and Between’s effect on him, empowering rather than corrupting.

There’s one exit out of the plaza, black buildings bending down over it to form an archway. In front of the path out stands Xemnas. Seeing the group, a smile comes to his face. Unlike the Nobody’s other attempts, this seems genuine.

Which only makes it all the more terrifying.

“So,” he says, voice echoing like that of a god on high, “this is what you have chosen.”

“We choose to stop you!” Sora retorts, Keyblade in hand. Behind him, he can hear the others draw their weapons as well.

Xemnas nods. “Your hearts have led you to oblivion.” His smile becomes a cruel, arrogant smirk. “I suppose it doesn’t pay to be too loyal to one’s heart. I shall have to remember that.”

Sora rushes the Nobody, the rest of his posse following behind him. Xemnas only smirks, leaping forward with a blade of red laser-light extending from his right hand. He somersaults midair, bringing the blade down on Sora.

The Keybearer raises his weapon to block, smoothly deflecting the blow. With a push, he sends Xemnas back a few feet. The Nobody hardly seems to mind, smoothly landing on his feet and raising his free left hand.

Cries ring out from behind Sora, and he turns to see his companions all skid to a stop before a huge rectangular barrier of crackling energy. Grunting, Riku and Kairi make swipes at it.

Sora doesn’t’ see what results from their efforts, as once again Xemnas is charging at him with all speed. Kingdom Key comes up to block the Superior’s sword, turning it aside. A flash of red on his left side has Sora reversing, batting away another strike. The Keybearer skips back a foot, noting that Xemnas now wields two red laser-swords, one in each hand.

That barely has time to register before the Nobody is charging again, whipping both swords at his opponent. Sora quickly blocks each strike, but he’s forced to give ground each time.

He takes another step back to avoid a swing, his flank coming into contact with something solid. Suddenly he feels energy coursing through him, seeming to burn him from the inside. Xemnas must have set up a barrier behind him.

Organization XIII’s former Superior charges, right-handed blade raised to cut Sora in half. It doesn’t reach the boy, Riku suddenly flying in with a shield raised. Xemnas’s blade bounces off it, and the Nobody steps back in surprise.

Azlyn is there to meet him, flying in with a kick into his side that sends the deranged Nobody rolling along the ground. He rises again several yards away, lips twisted into a dark scowl.

Rage turns into shock as King Mickey jumps behind him, slashing his golden Keyblade into Xemnas’s back. The Nobody cries out in rage and pain, falling to his knees before fading out into thin air.

Everyone relaxes, smiling at their victory. Except Riku and Mickey, who both look dismayed and puzzled.

“There’s no way that was it,” Riku declares with a vigorous shake of his head. “Too easy.”

Mickey nods in agreement.

“Perceptive as always, Riku,” Xemnas says mockingly. Everyone turns towards the sound of the madman’s voice. Once again he’s standing calmly near the plaza’s exit. “I’m afraid that such paltry attempts won’t be enough to defeat me now. Not with the rage of thousands of hearts to fuel my power.”

“Copies or not, you don’t look so tough!” Azlyn yells, angrily stepping forward.

Xemnas only shrugs. “Perhaps. But, looks can be deceiving.”

The Nobody raises his hand, and a shadow falls over the plaza. Looking up, everyone gasps to see the blocky black column of a skyscraper, falling quickly towards them. Naturally they all run, fleeing the descending concrete block. Xemnas watches it without moving from his vantage point, amusement in his cruel golden eyes.

Sora just manages to get clear as the skyscraper hits, cracking and bursting into dozens of huge chunks that all fall to the ground. After a moment, the stone fades as if it were never there.

“I guess he’s getting used to those power fast,” Azlyn remarks.

Kairi shakes her head. “I don’t think so. Look!”

Everyone raises their eyes to the sky, watching with awe as the swirl of red and purple in the sky seems to flicker, patches twitching into black abyss. The scenery closer to the ground reacts to, the black buildings twisting like reeds in the wind. After a moment, they settle down.

“What was that about?” Telary asks.

“I think it means that Xemnas isn’t used to controlling the power of Kingdom Hearts yet,” Mickey explains. “I thought I saw somethin’ funny going on when the copy put up that second barrier behind Sora.”

The mouse king falls silent a moment, eyes darting back and forth in their sockets as he ponders something. With a nod of his head, he rushes forward into the small corridor beneath the archway. After a moment of hesitation, the rest of the group follows.

When they emerge on the other side of the black tunnel, a black asphalt street stretches two miles into the abyss of red and purple. Blocky black rectangles continue on either side of it for a few hundred feet, then fall away to leave nothing but the void beyond.

At the end of the street, a white tower with an uncanny resemblance to the Castle That Never Was juts into the sky. A black Nobody symbol proudly decorates its front.

“What’s with that?” Sora asks.

“Xemnas is gonna need time to consolidate his new power,” Mickey explains quickly. “And I’m betting that if he’s doing that, he ain’t gonna be good for much else.”

“So you think he’s in that tower?” Kairi asks. “Gathering up his energy so he can use it properly.”

“Once he knows how to work with all this power…” Telary says, shaking his head as he thinks through the implications.

“So, we gotta get there,” Azlyn states, nodding once. “Doesn’t seem too hard. As long as we don’t get any more buildings thrown at us.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Riku disagrees. “That Xemnas back there may have just been a copy, but he was almost as dangerous as the real thing. And there could be more.”

“Not if we take Xemnas himself out,” Sora declares, eyes hardening with determination. “C’mon, let’s hurry!”

The six of them rush off down the massive street, laser-focused on the tower ahead. Perhaps too focused, as all of them ignore the ground’s slight trembling.

Except for Telary, who’s about to say something when the small tremors turn huge, and massive skyscraper springs from the ground a few hundred feet away. Then another one closer to the group, followed be a third, a fourth emerging in short order.

“Uh…” Kairi tries to point out, unsure of the exact words to use at the moment.

“I see it!” Sora confidently declares, his words almost lost beneath a fifth rising building only about a dozen feet from him. Gripping the Kingdom Key tight and hoping he’s right about this, the boy leaps forward with his blade drawn back.

Encountering the first building, he slashes out and through, leaving a gaping hole in the skyscraper. Everyone else stops in their tracks, watching through the hole as Sora cuts through the second building, then the third.

Finally Sora breaks through the last building, landing on his feet and skidding into a crouch. Behind him, the buildings fall into chunks that disappear before reaching the ground. Grinning like a loon, he turns to face his oncoming friends.

“What in the holy flying shit was that about?” Azlyn boisterously exclaims, gesturing emptily to where five skyscrapers used to be. Mickey and Telary don’t even admonish her for the harsh language, merely staring at Sora in disbelief.

“Riku said things might work differently in here,” Sora explains, trying his hardest not to shrug. He taps his chest with a finger. “In this place, the power’s in here. Tell me you guys feel it too?”

Everyone pauses, examining themselves from within. Sure enough, they each feel something there, now that they’re looking with their hearts.

“But what about Xemnas’s power?” Kairi asks, looking around with the unspoken question of whether or not anyone bothered to check the sky.

“Flickers, definitely,” Mickey reports, Telary nodding along to confirm. “But not as many, and smaller ones. Time’s runnin’ out fellas.”

“Next skyscraper’s on me!” Azlyn cheerfully exclaims, rushing ahead.

The white tower’s entrance, a massive set of double doors with a black Nobody symbol emblazoned on it, lies across a sunken circular plaza. A few feet in front of the stairs leading down, small Creeper Nobodies seem to ooze up from the floor like Shadows. The extremely lesser Nobodies are a minor nuisance, but potentially a costly one.

Sora cuts through the pair that first leap at him, kicking another one away before making a single jump down the half-dozen stairs into the pit. Dusks spring up to meet him there, but those he decapitates.

The others make their way down the stairs after him, Riku leading the charge as they fight off the silver and white creatures surrounding them on all sides. Azlyn brings up the rear, her shield and kicks making sure no Creepers have a chance to dive at anyone’s back.

Sora dodges a Samurai’s sword, runs it through, then ducks around an Assassin to reach the tower’s door. There’s no handle, and for a moment he isn’t sure what to do next.

The others maintain their tight formation, driving away the Nobodies to clear a path. Seeing Sora’s momentary pause, Riku breaks from the group to help him, Kairi easily rotating into his spot at the front.

Grunting fiercely, Riku brings Way to Dawn down on the doors, shattering a thin layer of energy barrier with the blow. He pushes at the metal entryway, only to get a shock for his trouble.

“Still strong,” he mutters, shaking his hand. Behind him, the others have caught up, reformatting from a wedge to a wall. “Must be more layers.”

“One thing to do, then,” Sora says with his trademark grin, demonstratively raising Kingdom Key. Yelling, he bashes the blade into the barrier. More protective layers shatter with the strike’s force.

While the boys bash away, Kairi, Mickey, Azlyn, and Telary hold the line. Luckily for the quartet, it only seems to be small fry Nobodies, Creepers and Dusks with the occasional Assassin or Samurai mixed in.

Kairi knocks a Samurai far back with a two-handed swing, quickly pivoting and relocating her Keyblade to block another Samurai’s thin blade. Grunting, she pushes that blade off hers, then runs the creature through.

Telary, empowered by the surge of energy in his heart, isn’t pulling any punches with spells. Orbs of fire as big as Mickey rocket forward from his staff’s tip, and massive Blizzaga spells freeze three Nobodies at a time.

Mickey struggles a bit, his style better suited to mobility than acting as a protective wall. But he still does his best, golden Keyblade swinging so fast through the air it leaves afterimages in its wake.

Azlyn’s shield blocks strike after strike, mostly just holding enemies until Mickey can get to them. When one Gambler comes diving in, she kicks its shin to send the creature to the ground. Batting away a Sniper’s crystal bullet, she stomps down on the fallen Gambler’s head hard enough to crush it into the pavement.

A blow from Riku shatters the doorway’s last layer of protection, and the silver-haired young man smiles in triumph. He looks to see if Sora’s wearing a similar expression, and is caught off guard as the right door suddenly bursts open with enough force to send him flying back.

Xemnas bursts through the door, light-blades swinging for Sora. The Keybearer blocks both on his Keyblade’s shaft, pushing the hooded copy away. With the Nobody off-balance, he pursues.

Two strikes go for Xemnas’s torso, easily blocked. The third goes low, but it’s a feint and his next hits high, smashing into the counterfeit Superior’s nose with enough force to make it fade out.

There’s no visible reaction from the sky above. Xemnas, the real Xemnas, is close to fully consolidating himself.

“We have to get inside!” the boy calls to his companions, still holding against the Nobody tide.

“Can’t now,” Riku grunts, rising and absentmindedly bisecting an Assassin. “Bottleneck.”

“Go!” Mickey calls out, shooting out a Pearl spell that knocks away three Dusks and a Creeper. “I can hold them here!”

“Your Majesty!” Azlyn yelps, not sounding pleased with that notion at all.

“I’ll stay with him,” Kairi resolutely declares, cutting through a charging Dusk.

“Kairi…!” Sora, Riku, and Telary all protest at once.

“He needs it!” the Princess of Heart argues. “Besides, it’s even more dangerous for everybody if Xemnas gets his act together!”

The Nobodies are hanging back now, gathering strength for another push. The moment’s rest won’t last long, but it is a relief.

“I’ll stay with you too,” Telary offers.

Kairi shakes her head. “Sora’s gonna need you, Azlyn, and Riku in there with him. Mickey and I can make sure you have the chance.”

“Kairi…” Sora says, stepping towards the girl with an outstretched hand. He almost reaches her when Telary’s hand clamps around his wrist.

“She’s right, Sora,” the wizard says, surety and finality in his voice. Turning away, he quickly releases Sora’s hand and summons a coconut-sized blue fireball, hurling it into the gathering Nobody line. It explodes, decimating several creatures and breaking up the whole group’s cohesion. “Okay, let’s hurry!”

The quartet race into the tower, Sora sparing one last glance toward Kairi. She looks back at him, grinning. With that last look burned in Sora’s mind, the doors slam shut.

---

What can I say, C? I'm just a big ol' sappy softy, and you better believe that transfers over to my writing!

 

[KingdomKey]

This was way better than what happened in the game on so many levels. Kairi joining in to open the door feels right. I love that she takes part in it along with battling nobodies and heartless alongside everybody. Furthermore, I like that she stays behind to help Mickey out. I know the two of them together will be able to handle it, while the rest take on Xemnas! I also like how Sora cuts through the buildings like butter. It's kind of funny when you think about it. But the explanation of how that's plauisble is nice. <3 If I could hug you, TelaryCri, I would. <3 And i can totally believe it because, your feelings reached my heart enough to move me to tears. You're one of my favorite writers on here!

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVII: Nothing And Everything, pt. 2
​

The interior of the white tower is deceptively huge, reminding Telary of Yen Sid’s mysterious haven. Also like that place, staircases seem to float midair at random, an entrance and exit portal at each end.

Sora barely wastes any time observing the spectacle, rushing up the first set of stairs and into the portal waiting there. Charging out, he looks down to see that the ground is easily a hundred feet below him. That second is all he spares, reaching the portal at the stairs’ end just as Riku, Azlyn, and Telary come running through the entrance.

The Keybearer runs on and on, moving from one floating staircase to the next. He doesn’t bother stopping to check, to get his bearings. He just keeps going, mindful of Kairi and Mickey facing the Nobodies outside.

Then, after running up what must be the hundredth disembodied stairway, he’s right back at the tower’s bottom. He skids to a stop, looking around incredulously.

The others emerge behind him, all equally bewildered.

“Great, a maze,” Azlyn groans. “How are we supposed to get to Xemnas?”

“Maybe another route?” Telary suggests feebly. “We could try to, um, jump from one staircase to another, not use the portals…”

“What if there is no way to Xemnas?” Sora posits, his voice full of quiet horror. He turns to his friends with a disturbed look. “Maybe he’s already gotten too powerful to beat. He could’ve already…”

“Sora,” Riku says firmly, clamping one hand on his young friend’s shoulder. “You can’t give up now. There’s gotta be a way.”

“Besides,” Azlyn chimes in, “if Xemnas had gone all ‘phenomenal cosmic powers, a whole lotta livin’ space’, for sure he’d have already wasted us by now.”

“There has to be a solution,” Telary adds, nodding his encouragement. “If we just think about it a second, that could be the key to…”

“Yes!” Sora exclaims, smacking himself on the forehead. “Genius, Telary!”

Before the wizard can even ask why he’s a genius, Sora has Kingdom Key pointing at the portal at the top of the first floor stairs. A beam of light shoots from the blade to the doorway, breaking up and covering the square entrance in white. Still grinning, Sora rushes in.

For a second, he thinks he was wrong, and he’s back in the entryway. The room is similar, just a circular floor surrounded by walls of white. But there’s one, obvious difference.

At the other end of the room, seated on a white marble throne, is a huge suit of armor. It gleams silver in the eerie light shining from above, a massive suit of iron armor covered in Nobody sigils. Three gold spikes, a kind of deadly makeshift crown, top the helmeted head, Xemnas’s true form completely covered in metal.

“That must be where he’s getting himself ready,” Sora says, stepping forward. The Keyblade is gripped in both hands, raised to block a torso attack.

“Looks pretty safe in there,” Azlyn notes, something like mirth sneaking into her voice. “Not for long though…”

The knight is cut off by a sudden sound, the sharp click of guns being cocked. Looking up, the group barely have time to register Xigbar’s crossbow pistols hovering in midair on either side of Xemnas’s throne. By the time everyone does, they’re already firing.

Azlyn raises her shield to block, while Riku and Sora dive left to avoid the line of sharp crystals. The right gun swivels to face them, firing again. Sora bats away three bullets, but one gets past him and shatters on his sleeve.

Riku fires off a dark fireball, but one of Xemnas’s trademark barriers flashes into existence in front of the seated armor. The silver-haired Keybearer’s spell shatters against the wall.

Telary has a fireball of his own ready, but instead of aiming for Xemnas, he goes for the lefthand pistol. The spell lands, scorching the gun into melted metal. Picking up on the wizard’s strategy, Riku cooks the righthand gun before it can get off any more shots.

But the Superior isn’t done defending himself. Claymores fly forward like saws, cutting through the air with a shrieking whir.

Azlyn pivots and throws, her shield neatly intercepting the closest claymore and pushing it into the other. Both blades, and the shield, uselessly fly into the room’s wall and bounce off.

Sora moves on the resting Xemnas, noting that his posture is improving, sitting up straighter in his throne. Consolidating his power.

Water clones shaped like quarter notes whip out at the Keybearer, but he beats them into puddles with a contemptuous swing. Razor sharp playing cards fly as fast as Xigbar’s bullets, but fire spells from Riku and Telary deflect them. One of Xaldin’s lances stabs out, but Sora ducks it, then moves quickly way from the follow-up. Xemnas is only steps away now.

Close enough, Sora strikes. But a sparking wall intercepts the blow. Grunting, the boy tries again, minute cracks spreading out from the impact point. With a yell he attacks, more cracks spidering out while the extant ones widen and elongate. With one last blow, he shatters the barrier.

Xemnas sits before him, out of weapons and tactics. Sora chops downward, but the armor is thicker than the energy shield. It holds against Kingdom Key, showing no signs of weakness. And if the hair rising on the back of Sora’s neck is any indication, the Nobody has almost reached full power. But he can’t break through, Xemnas safely locked inside…

Ah, that’s just it.

Smirking, Sora leaps back, powering gathering at the tip of his blade. All out of witty banter and frustration, the boy is silent as a thin white beam slams into the Nobody symbol displayed prominently on Xemnas’s breastplate.

The segments of armor begin to separate, tiny cracks sounding as the each piece unlocks from the next. Light, pure and white, radiates from every opening.

“No!” Xemnas cries out in anguish and alarm. “No, I… This can’t be… I… GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The Light continues to shine out, and Sora’s vision is taken by it. For a moment all is white. Then, it fades out to black.

 

[KingdomKey]

You know what's hilarious? I only just realized the foreshadowing of Xemnas/Xehanort having control of the other organization thirteen's powers. Which I never questioned why he had until it dawned on me that it leads into KH3D because, he has control of their bodies/vessels/ect. On the other hand, I love how SAT and Riku work along side each other like that. Or how Sora smirks at certain situations. Telary is definitely a genius. And Xemnas should've been more careful with his armor. lol. Gosh, this is wrapping up so fast. But they're that much closer to ending this! Go Sora! <3

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVII: Nothing And Everything, pt. 4
​

“Sora?”

That voice is the first thing Sora hears, although his vision remains blacked out. He nearly freaks out, before realizing that he merely has his eyes closed.

“C’mon, you can’t stay like that forever!”

And suddenly, Sora’s eyes shoot open. He recognizes that voice. He’d know it from anywhere.

Kairi stands above him, Azlyn and Telary huddled behind her. All three look down at the boy, smiling widely.

“Huh?” Sora says dumbly, slowly sitting himself up. At first he feels too stiff, his limbs locked up. But then a warm hand presses on his back, and he can rise.

They’re back at the Altar of Naught. Riku and Mickey stand off to the side, both happy to see him awake.

But before Sora can get any more reaction than that, there are arms around his neck. Strands of red hair drift into his vision, and since he can see Telary standing a few feet away, this must be…

“Kairi,” Sora breathes, reaching out to hold the girl back. They stay locked in an embrace for several long minutes, the Keybearer just closing his eyes and taking this all in. “This is real…”

“Okay, c’mon,” Azlyn grumbles.

Sora and Kairi separate, each blushing.

“You know, Sora,” the knight continues haughtily, “if I were a petty, insecure person, I’d make you pay for rubbing your new happy relationship in my face.”

“Good thing you’re so understanding then,” the Keybearer laughs, allowing Telary to help him to his feet.

“Gosh,” Mickey says, stepping towards the teens (and Telary) with a smile on his face. “You all did great!”

Everyone is smiling, exchanging congratulations and kudos. There’s a lot of hugging, but Sora only notices Riku. The silver-haired young man turns away from the celebration, stepping to the altar’s edge.

“A lot of what just happened was thanks to you,” Sora says, approaching his best friend with caution. “I probably won’t forget that, but if I do I guess you can remind me.”

Riku says nothing, only staring out into the emptiness.

Sora frowns. “You are coming back with us, right?”

“I gave into the Darkness,” Riku replies, finally turning around. His expression is a strange mixture of downcast and panicked. “I probably drew the Heartless to the island when they destroyed our world. How can I face everybody after that?”

Sora thinks on it a moment.

“Like this,” the Keybearer declares, contorting his face into a hideous expression. His eyes bug out, his jaw partially dislocates, one ear wiggles, the works.

For the first time in a long while, Riku lets out a hearty, genuine laugh.

Azlyn notices, looking over at the Destiny Island boys with concern. “Well, if that ain’t sign of the apocalypse…”

Suddenly the entire platform rumbles and shakes, throwing everyone off balance. They manage to stay upright, but Kairi has to lean on Telary. The king falls a bit to the side, luckily intercepted by the wizard’s leg.

“I was kidding!” Azlyn yells up at the sky.

“We’ve gotta get outta here, quick!” Mickey exclaims, righting himself.

Riku nods, stepping forward. “Okay, I’ll open a portal.” The silver-haired young man extends his right hand, palm out.

Nothing happens. Riku stares at his hand.

“You don’t belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku,” Mickey says with a small smile at his old traveling companion.

“You would lose your freaky Darkness powers right when it’s inconvenient for me!” Azlyn indignantly declares. Telary gives her an admonishing look.

“So, how are we supposed to get out of here, Your Majesty?” the wizard inquires of his king. The small Keybearer just shrugs, out of answers.

Faintly, Sora hears the sound of shoes on metal. Turning his head, he sees that Kairi is facing the platform’s other end. Curious, he turns too.

A girl in a white dress stands there, blonde hair falling to her shoulders. Sora’s heart leaps at the sight of her, but he’s at a loss as to why. From the corner of his eye, he can see that Kairi is beaming.

The blonde girl says nothing, merely extends her hand. In a wink, the familiar black egg of a dark portal appears.

The others turn at the sound, hands on weapons. But when nothing emerges from the darkness, they relax just the slightest bit.

“Where’d that come from?” Azlyn asks, walking closer to the portal. Her eyes sweep it suspiciously. Sora swears her gaze passes the mysterious blonde, but the knight gives no sign of it.

“Dunno,” Mickey admits. “But it sure is convenient, eh?”

“Too convenient,” Azlyn declares, frowning at the dark energy. “How do we know if this thing is even…?”

Three loud barks sound into the night, and before anyone can react beyond a twitch, Pluto leaps from the dark portal. The retriever barrels into Azlyn’s chest, knocking the knight down to the altar’s floor.

“Pluto!” Mickey exclaims.

“Do you think he opened it?” Telary asks, his voice taking on a nervous edge.

“You just live to make me suffer, don’t you?” Azlyn accuses the royal pooch, glaring at him intensely. Some of that intensity owes itself to affection, and there are tears in her eyes, but of course she’d never admit that.

“I say we go for it,” Mickey says, his voice sturdy and resolute. “I’ll even go first!”

“C’mon, Pluto, get off her,” Telary orders the retriever. “That’s my future wife you’re pouncing, ya know.”

Azlyn holds her hand out for Telary to help her up, but the wizard does her one better. Grinning, he takes her into his arms in a full-on bridal carry.

“Tel!” the girl protests, her cheeks flaming red.

“What?” he responds, shrugging. “Just getting in some practice! C’mon, guys!”

As Azlyn and Telary fade into the portal’s depths, Sora and Kairi step towards the strangely unnoted blonde.

“Thanks, Naminé,” Kairi says. Sora gasps, taken aback. This girl is the person Jiminy’s journal said to thank.

“Why couldn’t the others see you?” the Keybearer asks. “Were you invisible?”

Naminé shakes her head. “No, I just removed myself from their memories as they were making them. Wasn’t easy.” For a moment, she just stares at Sora with soft eyes. “Well, I told you we’d meet again.”

Sora is puzzled. Obviously they’d met before if he was supposed to thank her, but…

“You said we might not recognize each other,” answers a familiar male voice. Suddenly, Roxas simply steps out of Sora. The boy gasps, staring dumbly at his nearly translucent Nobody. “But I knew you right away.”

“Me too,” Naminé agrees with a giggle. “I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into Darkness, but I guess that’s not true.”

“We found ourselves,” Roxas jokes with a thumb poked at Sora. “Now, we can be together again.”

“As long as Sora and Kairi are.”

Kairi turns to Sora with a smile. “We’ll be together every day. Right?”

“Uh,” Sora replies awkwardly, caught off guard in a big way. “Sure we will.”

“Good enough for me,” Naminé declares. She holds out her hand, and Kairi takes it. Light surrounds the Nobody as her form fades out. A second later, an answering light covers Kairi.

Sora is dumbfounded by this until Roxas interrupts with a hearty, “Look sharp!”

The Keybearer gazes at his Nobody. Roxas closes his eyes, fading out in an aura of light. Warmth fills Sora’s body as the same aura surrounds him. Once Roxas is gone, the Destiny Islands boy quickly checks himself over.

“Don’t worry,” Riku says by his friend’s side. He’s giving his best reassuring smile. “You’re all still you.”

“Best way to be,” Kairi states with a smile. She walks into the portal. “Now c’mon, boys. We’re long overdue for a homecoming.”

Sora and Riku take steps forward, but before they can go further the platform shakes again. Both boys pause in alarm, and Kairi turns back in the portal.

“Sora!” she yells, stepping forward even as the portal collapses. “Riku!”

Abruptly, the portal, and Kairi, are gone.

“Where’d it go?” Sora demands of an answerless Riku. “Where’s Kairi?”

“I don’t know,” the silver-haired young man admits. “I don’t know how…”

“Allow me to provide an answer.”

Both Keybearers freeze, looking at each other in shock. Slowly, they turn to the voice’s origin.

Xemnas stands before them, glaring at the pair with pure, burning hatred. No longer the composed killer he once was, half of the Nobody’s face is covered in ugly black burns. His coat has changed too, now white with swirling black patterns.

Without another word, the Organization’s last survivor raises his hands. In front of him, right in the exact center of the platform, it seems reality begins to melt. The altar’s white glass liquidates, running into a hole in the ground that has white light glowing from it.

The heroes rush for Xemnas, but he only stares them down. Sora brings his foot down on melting floor, and suddenly he feels stuck, pulled into the deranged funnel.

Riku stops and grabs his friend’s arm, trying desperately to pull him out of the pit. But all that manages is to trap him too. Together, they fall into the light.

 

[KingdomKey]

I couldn't help but to laugh in this chapter. Telary getting in some practice in carrying Azlyn makes my heart wanna burst. <3 It's so adorable and precious. <3 I'm glad Sora could tell Namine thank you despite not remembering who she happens to be. At the same time, it's nice to see Sora and Kairi are finally whole as they should be with their nobodies. On the other hand, gosh darn it Xemnas. You just had to come back to ruin the moment. xD lol. Of course, I knew he'd come back. But a girl can dream. Good luck Sora and Riku! You two can kick his butt!

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVII: Nothing And Everything, pt. 5
​

The silver-white abyss surrounds them, strange vortexes swirling all about on the “walls” and “floor”. Nothingness twists even below them, but the Keybearers seem to stand on a transparent disc. Xemnas is floating across from them, once again cold and calculating.

“Heroes from the Realm of Light,” the Superior of a defunct Organization says in a pleasant tone, as if he’s run into the boys on a walk around town. “Welcome to my realm. I may not have achieved the power of Kingdom Hearts, but here I rule!”

“What a nice place for a kingdom,” Sora quips, looking around with contempt.

“A final question,” Xemnas continues as if the boy hadn’t spoken. “Light and Darkness are eternal, yes? Then surely a Nothing such as I, must be eternal as well?”

“You’re right,” Riku answers confidently. “Light and darkness are eternal. And hey, Nothing probably goes on forever too.”

“But that doesn’t mean you’re eternal!” Sora declares, Kingdom Key springing into his hand. He and Riku both drop into fighting stances.

Xemnas laughs, just as disturbing now as it had been before. “No more eternal than that radiance of yours.”

The Nobody moves impossibly fast, flashing into Sora’s space before the boy can blink. He grabs the Keybearer by his jacket, tossing him high into the air.

The acceleration robs Sora of anything that could be called his bearings, his stomach sickening as gravity takes hold. From the corner of his eye he can see a round white portal opening, black Nobody wisps flying out of it. Xemnas follows, red blades in hand.

Twisting his body, the Keybearer manages to block his opponent’s attack. He pushes Xemnas away, flips over, and lands neatly on the ground. Xemnas still floats above, thrusting his hands forward. Suddenly, the blades he holds shoot out.

Sora gasps as they spear towards him, but Riku dives in to intercept. Xemnas doesn’t seem to mind, fading out and reappearing closer to the ground a few feet away.

Sora and Riku rush forward, separating as more shafts of red energy fly at them. Sora deflects one, dodges another, and jumps at his opponent.

Xemnas is ready, reaching out a hand covered in an orb of crackling blue energy. With a monstrous roar, the Nobody shoots the orb forward, still tethered to his hand.

The energy hits Sora, and suddenly he can’t think, can’t focus on anything but the intense pain surrounding his body. Within seconds, the boy is already beginning to believe it will never end.

But Riku will have none of that. The silver-haired boy leaps at Xemnas, his own hand reaching for the Nobody’s. The energy holding Sora is cut off, all of it instead blasting into Riku. But still he holds on, his other arm bringing Way to Dawn up for a cut.

He slashes downward, right into Xemnas’s chest. The Superior screams, breaking the lock and flinging his opponent away.
With a neat backflip, Riku lands at Sora’s side.

Screaming again, Xemnas raises his hand. Portals open all around him, each shooting dozens of black tendrils towards the heroic pair.

They both dodge, then dodge again as the strands sweep back around for a second chance. Now within striking distance, the Keybearers swing simultaneously at their insane enemy.

Xemnas flies back, rising into the air with a cruel sneer on his face. Darkness gathers in both gloved hands, and with an enraged growl he thrusts them upwards.

All around Riku and Sora, grey and silver and white are replaced with black, a void like a starless sky. And when the stars appear, they’re not the small white, twinkling things stars should be. A hundred thousand angry red points of deadly energy surround the heroes. Sora swears he hears another grunt from Xemnas, but there’s no time to process it.

The stars are falling down.

Operating on nothing but instinct, Sora and Riku swing their blades around to deflect the lasers. It seems an impossible task, dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of deadly spears diving at them. But the boys press on, whirling and twirling. They strain to intercept each one, covering not only themselves, but each other. The black still surrounds them, but it hardly even seems dark now. Nothing but light, bright and red and deadly. Nothing but…

It stops, though whether that takes a minute or years Sora cannot say. He’s completely out of breath, pushed to his limits and then past them. But Xemnas is still there, and he’s got to…

A cry from Riku draws Sora’s attention to his right, but all he sees when his head swivels there is more red light. The blade rests just above his shoulder, perfectly positioned to decapitate him. Swallowing his fear, Sora turns to face Xemnas.

The Nobody’s face is perfectly still, but a horribly ugly madness shines in his golden eyes. It seems that the Superior has finally found emotion after all. Just not a good one. Not a good one at all.

Xemnas raises his arm, ready to strike Sora down for all time. But Riku will not allow it, diving in to save his best friend. He puts himself between the blade and Sora, Way to Dawn barely saving both their lives. With his free hand, the silver-haired young man pushes Sora back, out of range.

He’s mentally congratulating himself for keeping Sora safe when the blade in Xemnas’s left hand slams into his side.
Surprisingly, the shaft of light doesn’t cut through his flesh, only strikes him like a steel baton. Electric pain spreads from the impact point, engulfing Riku’s entire world in nothing but sheer white hurt.

Hearing Riku’s cries engulf the entirety of Sora’s own world. Not in pain, but rage. Righteous anger, fueled by the love he has for his best friend, fills the Keybearer’s whole being, so full he fears he could overflow. Without a rational thought in his head, Sora charges.

Riku finally pushes through the intense pain, just in time to catch Sora leaping for Xemnas. Gritting his teeth, the silver-haired young man puts a plan into action.

“Sora!” he calls, letting go of his Keyblade as Sora passes by.

The brunette grabs Way to Dawn in his free hand, Kingdom Key reared back in the other. Yelling in rage, frustration, defiance, and even a little guilt, Sora strikes.

The first hit is Kingdom Key, a blow that would shatter ribs on any normal man. The next sweeps in from Way to Dawn, cutting through the Superior’s black and white coat.

Not anchored by gravity, Xemnas flies up into the air. His only indication of any feeling is a small grunt, and somehow that enrages Sora all the more. With another roar, the dual-wielding Keybearer leaps up and slams both Keyblades into his opponent’s back.

Finally a real reaction is elicited, the Nobody crying out in pain and rage like Sora has never heard.

The boy lands, watching as Xemnas hurtles even high into the empty space of the gray void. He’s not getting away that easy.

“Riku,” Sora says simply, holding out his blade towards the silver-haired young man and trusting his best friend to know what to do. Riku does know, placing his hand atop Sora’s at the hilt.

Reaching inside, both young men summon their power. Light runs along Kingdom Key’s shaft, shooting up in a beam easily twice as large as any they may have conjured alone.

It seems as if time has slowed, events moving at one-third speed. The beam of Light approaches Xemnas, and Sora can see as the Nobody’s face contorts. The Superior of nothing opens his mouth as if to ask for something. But before any request can be made, the beam slams into his chest, burns through the torso, and flies out the other side.

Xemnas doesn’t scream or cry, nothing but a choked off croak escaping his lips. The pain must be extreme. The beam of energy seems to hit a wall a few feet behind the Nobody, a swirling portal of Light opening where it stops. A powerful rush of air, a hungry vacuum, pulls what remains of Xemnas towards it.

He reaches out, as if there’s someone waiting to grab at his hand. But there’s no one there, nothing for him. His body, all that he has left to his name, disintegrates into black particles that are quickly sucked away. After a moment, the swirling portal disappears, leaving behind nothing.

Not so eternal after all, then.

 

[KingdomKey]

This is the most epic battle scene ever. You nailed it head on in describing/writing it, TelaryCri. <3 Sora acting on his feelings gave me chills. Riku doing his best to protect Sora made my heart beat twice as fast. It's like I got a front row seat as if I was there to see Xemnas get taken down by these two goofballs. lol. Probably one of my favorite battles within the game itself. Next chapter please! <3

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVIII: The Door To Light, pt. 1
​

“We did it Riku!” Sora shouts exuberantly, punching the air. “No more Nobodies for us!”

The older boy can only grimace at his best friend, staring cautiously into the void. “Uh, you might want to rethink that.”

Dusks emerge from the swirling pits, dozens from each. The creatures gather together and surround the pair, easily numbering in the hundreds. For Sora, it unfortunately calls to mind the army of Heartless back in Radiant Garden’s canyons.

“Well,” he says, dropping into his trademark fighting stance, “still, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? After Xemnas, this is easy!”

“Sure thing, Sora,” Riku replies with a smile, barely holding back a sigh. He draws back to fight, only to cry out. He falls to one knee, free hand clutching his side.

“Riku!” Sora cries, his head swinging down to look at his fallen companion. Seeing the state he’s in, the Keybearer frowns. “Riku, are you…?”

“I’m fine!’ the young man shouts back, hurtling up into a standing position. Secured on both feet now, he eases back into his combat posture. “It’s fine.”

Sora opens his mouth to say more, but the Nobodies attack before a single word can escape. The entire horde seems to come down at once, pressing the boys on all sides.

Just as he had against the Heartless pack, Sora lets himself give in to natural instinct. Thoughts and plans will only slow him down, and he knows Riku is thinking the same thing for himself.

The fight is long, grueling, and complicated by both Riku’s injuries and the Destiny Islanders’ fatigue. Even giving in completely to the flow of the battle barely serves to keep them both aware and alive against this massive attack.

Finally, after another eternity of combat, it ends. The last Dusk flashes out of existence in a burst of silver light. Once again, the void around Sora and Riku is empty and lifeless.

Sora relishes the chance to stop and take an actual deep breath, not merely as prelude to a powerful strike, but to calm himself.

“Aargh!” Riku groans, falling back to his knees. He bends over, clutching at his side. The young man’s face is contorted with agony. “Sora…”

“C’mon, Riku!” the boy encourages his downed friend.

“I don’t…” Riku shakes his head, flinching against his ongoing pain. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it. You’ll have to…”

Sora holds up a resolute hand, shaking his head. “Just stop right there, Riku. You’re not just gonna give up now, alright? Neither of us are. We’re gonna get outta here and find a way home!”

“How can you say that?”

Sora moves to get his shoulders under Riku’s arm, grunting as he lifts the older boy to his feet. It isn’t easy, but for his best friend, Sora can manage.

“Look where we are!” Riku continues, gesturing with his free hand. “Even if we could go on, where are we supposed to go on to?”

Sora shakes his head, taking the first steps forward. Despite his protests, Riku stumbles along after him.

“Man, Riku,” the younger Keybearer chuckles, shaking his head. “You really were hanging out alone in darkness too long. It’s got ya all mopey. C’mon, it’s better to think positive!”

Riku opens his mouth, a retort on the tip of his tongue. After a moment of thought, he quashes the remark. Sora’s right, yet again.

Noticing a small shake of his best friend’s head, Sora raises an eyebrow in his direction. “What is it?”

“I was just thinking…” the silver-haired Keybearer sighs. “You know, I always used to think I was better at stuff than you.”

“What stuff?”

The older Keyblade wielder shrugs. “Pretty much everything.” There’s a long pause after Riku’s admission, the pair still walking on in the void. “Are you, uh… are you mad about that?”

“Well,” Sora says, pausing for a quick chortle. “To be honest, I always figured you were better than me too. Wasn’t always fun, but I got used to it. It was something I could rely on, I guess.”

Riku’s about to say something else, but when he notices his best friend’s expression he pauses. Sora looks shocked and bewildered, staring straight ahead. Curious, the silver-haired young man swivels his gaze outward.

It seems as if part of the “wall” up ahead has just begun melting, forming a small portal that funnels in the silvery material that makes up this odd dimension. It looks similar to the others at first, but where they all maintain their size, this portal continues to grow. The light in its center grows too, warmer and brighter.

Sora and Riku exchange looks, and after a few moments the oldest of the pair nods his agreement. The younger makes for the ever-growing swirl of liquid reality, nodding to himself with each step.

They’ve picked up speed, Riku spurred on by the possible exit. It still pains him to move, but now that he has a goal it seems easier. Especially with Sora holding him up, steadily motivating him forward.

Without hesitation or fear, the boys enter the light at the end of the tunnel.

KH-KH-KH

They arrive on a beach at the edge of an ocean, the starless nighttime sky above making its sand look black. It seems like everything is dark here: the sand, the water, the strange rock formations and boulders scattered around. Even the faraway moon, seemingly floating only inches above the water, appears dark despite its dim glow.

Despite the bleakness of it all, Sora can’t help but be calmed by what he hears. The sound of waves crashing against a shoreline, black sand or not, instantly brings home to his mind.

Feeling Riku shift over his supporting shoulders, Sora realizes that now he has a little piece of home by his side, too.

After a contemplative moment, Sora realizes that Riku’s shifting is in service of a purpose. Namely, removing himself from Sora’s assistance.

“This is the end of the road,” he explains, Sora finally allowing him to stand on his own. “I think it’s okay for me to walk now. We’re at a good place.”

Sora isn’t so sure he can agree with that assessment. Despite Riku being with him, his heart pines for his home, and all the friends that must be waiting for him there.

The Keybearer finds himself slowly wandering closer to the beach, looking up and down the shore as he goes. Some part of him, Roxas he imagines, is familiar with this strange place. It’s not enough to comfort him entirely, but it eases some of the burden.

Suddenly, he feels the water against his shoes, hears the sound of it splashing and lapping. He looks out across the vast sea, silent and thoughtful. What was initially familiar now seems cruel, reminding him of the home it seems he’s lost again.

“Maybe it’s harder to be positive than I thought,” he quietly admits to himself. “Maybe the darkness is getting to me too. I guess I can’t just ignore it for…”

His lonely monologue is interrupted by a strangled cry behind him. Spinning on his heel, the spiky-haired boy gasps at the sight of Riku, fallen face down on the sand. Grimacing, he rushes for his friend.

“Ugh,” Riku grunts into the ground, pushing himself up with great effort. He hears Sora sliding to the ground next to him, can feel the younger boy’s empathetic gaze on him.

“Riku…”

“I’m fine,” he says, rising up to his knees. The small act takes a lot of energy, and for a moment he just stares out, catching his breath. “This place is perfect for me, you know. Maybe I should just accept that, and fade back into the dark…”

Sora can’t help but groan, quickly choking the sound off. “Riku, you…”

“After all, why are we afraid of the dark?” Riku continues. His tone reminds Sora of a time long ago, discussions on the existence of other worlds. “It isn’t the dark itself, not really. It’s just what’s hiding inside of it.”

Thinking on it, Sora can’t deny that dark powers did come in handy several times on this journey. Without Riku’s lurking, they might not have discovered the digital Twilight Town. And it was Axel’s portal that led to the Organization’s world. Perhaps, occasionally and in small doses, darkness has its uses.

“But the world is made of light and dark, we can’t deny that.” Riku smiles, turning to Sora. “So maybe now, we’ll be the darkness.”

Sora nods slowly, settling back on his haunches. “Yeah.” He looks out over the ocean, his earlier melancholy fading into acceptance. “The Realm of Light is safe now. Kairi and the king are there, them and Azlyn and Telary will always have each other… that’s all I need to know.”

“Sora, I need your help.”

The younger Keybearer turns to his friend. That certainly isn’t a request he hears often. “Whatever you need, Riku.”

“Help me down to the water.”

Sora obligingly nods, slinging Riku’s arm over his shoulder again and pushing both of them to their feet. Walking downhill to the shore proves easy, and in a minute they’re sitting at the very edge of the seemingly unending water. For a long, long time, neither of them says anything. Unknowingly, though, the same thought is on both of their minds.

At least the waves sound the same.

Their silence stretches on, broken only by the constant beat of water upon the shore. It isn’t uncomfortable, or awkward. Just two best friends, alone together after so much time spent apart.

“What I said…” Riku mumbles after a few minutes have passed. “About thinking I was better than you.”

“Riku, you don’t need to…”

“Even though I thought that… Well, I was always kind of jealous of you anyway.”

Sora almost flops onto his back, stunned. “Huh?”

The older boy shakes his head. “It was just… The way you were always able to live your life. You always seemed so easy and carefree. I wanted to be like that. To just follow my heart, like you did.”

A snort. “Yeah, well, it isn’t always so happy-go-lucky. I got my share of problems too, believe me.”

“Oh yeah?” Riku tilts his head, one eyebrow raised. “Like what, for example?”

The spiky-haired boy looks away for a moment, gathering courage before he looks back. “Well, I always wanted to be just like you. So cool and strong. It was like you had everything.”

“There is one advantage to being me.” Riku laughs, smirking. “Something you could never imitate, no matter how hard you tried.”

“What’s that?”

The smirk stretches out into a genuine smile as Riku looks at his best friend. “Having you as a friend.”

“Putting it that way,” Sora replies, “I figure I should count myself lucky too. After all, I’ve got something you could never have too.”

Silence returns, both boys leaning back to look up at the starless sky.

 

[KingdomKey]

lol. I had another random thought. If Sora knows how to cast Cura, then why didn't he do that for Riku or himself? (I know this sounds silly for me to say at a time like this. It's just hilarious that i only think of it now despite how many times I've played KHII in the past. x'D) Anyways, I'm really happy Sora and Riku have each other in these moments because, it's better than the alternative of being alone. And Riku has a point about the darkness that it's quite poetic. Ah, this is so good and just like the game itself. <3 Aw man, I'm getting sad with how close the end is near. ;__; What will i do when this ends?!

 

[TelaryCri]

Chapter LVIII: The Door To Light, pt. 2
​

They stay quiet even longer this time, until Sora is lightly dozing with his eyes closed. Riku’s about to join him, when he feels an unexpected something tap at his shoe. It makes a tinkling noise. Glass then.

Upon feeling another tap, the silver-haired Keybearer looks down to find a glass bottle. Inside the bottle, safely waterproofed with a cork plug, is a rolled up piece of paper. A rather bizarre thing to find, especially in a dark realm.

Curiosity overwhelms Riku, and he leans down to pick the bottle up. He shakes it once, a reflexive urge he can’t quell. He’d always been scolded for shaking his wrapped presents at Christmastime.

The rolled up paper by itself holds no clues, so he decides that he might as well unroll it. After all, who else is going to?

The cork comes out with a hollow pop, and Riku turns over the bottle to shake its contents into his hand. After sparing a quick glance to Sora, who’s still sleeping soundly, he breaks the seal (a simple heart-shaped sticker) and unravels the paper.

It’s a note, written in neat and tidy handwriting. Familiar handwriting at that. He skims it quickly, pausing as he reaches the signed name at the end.

“Sora,” he says, nudging his half-conscious friend.

“C’mon, Tel, I just got to sleep,” Sora mumbles in reply. “Keep flying the ship, you and Azlyn can wait ten minutes.”

“SORA!”

This time Riku doesn’t pull his punches. Literally.

“Yargh!” Sora exclaims as he falls back onto the sand. A wave chooses that moment to swoop in, water splashing up into his face. He sits up and angrily swipes at his eyes.

Riku lets his best friend get himself together, but not without muttering a nigh-silent, “Gimme a break.”

“Sorry about that,” the Keybearer replies with a sheepish grin. “What is it, Riku?”

The silver-haired young man just holds out the letter. “For you.”

Puzzled, Sora takes the paper from Riku’s hand and begins to read.

“Thinking of you, wherever you are…
We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend.

Now I will step forward to realize this wish.
And who knows, starting a new journey may not be so hard.
Or maybe it’s already begun.

There are many worlds, but they all share the same sky.
One sky, one Destiny…”

Every line causes Sora’s heart and soul, his entire being, to sing out with joy, but it isn’t until the end that he discovers why. He gasps, reading the name signed there.

“Kairi!” he proclaims, tears gathering in his eyes as his mouth widens into a warm, wonderful smile. “This is from…”

A light glows in the darkness. It grows and brightens, driving off the dark shore’s oppressive gloom. Riku stares at it in awe and wonder, but Sora is still focused on the note in his hand. Kairi’s note. Somehow, he knows it was written just for him.

“Sora,” Riku says, his voice sounding dim and distant in the young Keybearer’s ears. “I know you’re pretty engrossed in that letter there, but I really think you need to see this.”

Sora heeds his best friend’s words, tearing his eyes from Kairi’s signature and up into the air before his face. His jaw drops at the sight before him.

The light is no longer an indistinct point, a mere source of illumination. Instead it has formed itself into a tall rectangle, open and inviting. A door.

“The Door to Light,” Sora says, unconsciously tightening his fist around Kairi’s letter. “It… I…”

He springs to his feet, giddy and free as a child on the last day of school, summer awaiting him. The Door to Line shines in the air, and Sora swears he can feel his heart glowing right along with it.

“C’mon, Riku,” he announces to his seated friend, holding out a hand in offering. “It’s time to go home. We’ll go together.”

Riku nods, taking his best friend’s hand and relying on Sora’s strength to help him rise.

The boys walk forward, their feet scarcely skimming the water as they enter the doorway. White floods their vision, pure Light resonating in every part of their beings.

KH-KH-KH

Two meteors fall through a sunset sky. A nimbus of blue energy surrounds each, not heat from an atmospheric entry, but protection for its cargo. They plummet towards the ocean, landing with two splashes that project water high into the air.

Riku breaks first, always the strongest swimmer between him and Sora. The spiky-haired Keybearer pops up next, shaking water from his brunet hair. He clears his eyes with a swipe, a gorgeous orange sky greeting him as his sight clears. A sky he’d know anywhere.

“Sora!” Kairi’s voice calls, the sweetest sound Sora ever has or will hear. He pivots in the water, gasping at the sight before him.

Kairi stands on the shore of the trio’s childhood play island, grinning and waving like a madwoman. Sora opens his mouth to call back to her, but the words won’t come. That’s alright, though. This moment is too beautiful for mere words anyway.

The sound of arms splashing into water breaks the Keyblade wielder from his reverie. Sora follows suit, long vertical sweeps of his arms carrying forward.

Riku may be the stronger swimmer, but whatever’s powering Sora forward at the moment doesn’t care. He easily outpaces his best friend, heading for the shore he’s longed to see for what feels like a lifetime.

Finally his feet hit the soft, shifting ground. The swim turns into a run as he charges forward, only one thought on his mind…

Until he sees Azlyn and Telary. The Disney Castle pair rush into the water with bright, eager grins that easily match Sora’s.

Azlyn reaches him first, leaping nearly a foot out of the ocean to wrap her arms around him. The force of the impact of course knocks him off his feet, a great splash rising around him as he falls back into the shallow water.

“Azlyn!” Telary butts in, grabbing his fiancée’s arms and wrenching them apart, pushing her away from Sora. “Honestly, you’re gonna hurt him.”

Without further ado, the wizard drops to his knees and stares intently into his young friend’s face. He solemnly holds up three fingers, and Sora has to go cross-eyed to get a good look.

“How many?” Telary demands, shaking his hand for a moment.

“Huh?” is all the Keybearer can get out, rather too stunned to do much else.

But Telary doesn’t seem to understand that he is in fact the cause of the shock, immediately reaching out and pulling Sora’s eyelids apart. He peers at the blue irises within, like he’s searching for gold. Sora vaguely hears laughing in the background, but is far too disoriented to focus on it.

“Tel!” Azlyn admonishes the redheaded wizard, rolling her eyes at his major overreaction.

The wizard immediately realizes that he’s going a bit far, letting out a nervous laugh and pulling back. “Uh, sorry Sora. It’s just… Well, I just…”

Sora doesn’t let him finish, unleashing a boisterous belly laugh and flinging his arms around the older man. Telary’s arms wrap around his torso, and within seconds Azlyn joins the embrace.

The trio laugh until they cry.

“Uh, guys?” Kairi’s voice suddenly cuts through. The Disney Castle pair pull back, allowing Sora to see her standing over him, an amused expression lighting up her angelic face. With the Destiny Islands’ sun streaming down on her, Sora thinks she’s never looked more beautiful. “I see how it is now, Sora.”

Further back into the ocean, Mickey leaps up into Riku’s arms with a hearty laugh. The silver-haired boy laughs right back, wrapping the mouse king up in a hug.

Sora still hasn’t said anything to Kairi, lost in her beautiful eyes and shell-shocked in the best way. His mind seems to have gone blank, until his earlier thought returns. Grinning, he reaches into his short’s pocket.

When Kairi sees the star-shaped charm he pulls out, the ultimate symbol of their bond and reminder of their eternal promise to always return to one another, she nearly falls to her knees at the sheer, overwhelming joy.

“We’re back,” Sora states simply, smiling up at the girl he loves with tears in his eyes. Raising his hand, he offers her the charm.

Kairi nods once, tears dropping into the ocean beneath her. “You’re home.”

Reaching out, she clasps Sora’s palm, the charm between them. Their promise is fulfilled.

Sora and Kairi. Two hearts, forever bound in one inseparable Destiny.

 

[KingdomKey]

It's over. ;__; <3 Sora and Riku came home. Oh my gosh, it's beautiful the way you wrote it, TelaryCri. I don't even have to turn on the ending theme of Sanctuary, cause I could hear it as I read it just now. <3 Telary and Azlyn checking over Sora was absolutely cute. I love that Riku still hugs Mickey. Or that moment when Sora and Kairi's eyes meet after showing her the lucky charm. *goes to cry in a corner* D-Don't mind me I'm just so moved right now. <3 This was awesome and incredible with every chapter. You really out did yourself. <3

 

[TelaryCri]

Epilogue: Sanctuary (After The Battle)
​

“Royal Flush, my friends!” Jack Skellington boisterously exclaims, grinning wide as his huge bony hands reach out to shepherd the pile of poker chips from the middle of the table and into his possession. “Am I hot tonight or what?”

The other holiday leaders say nothing. They’re not even looking to Jack, but instead to Santa Claus. The man who had broken rule number two (the first and foremost rule was the one that prohibited “clever” cartoon greeting cards from being exchanged even in jest) of their little weekly game: NO Skellington!!!

The jolly old fellow can only offer a sheepish smile and shrug. How was he to know the Pumpkin King’s skull could naturally hold such an excellent poker face?

“Oh, this is so much fun!” Jack cackles. “Deal ‘em up, Cupid. Sally needs a new pair of ankles!”

KH-KH-KH

The entire colony turns up to see off their “brave warriors”. The summer season is back, and that means gigs and paying customers await.

“And so,” Francis announces to the newly crowned Queen Atta, gesturing behind him where Manny is swirling two leaves around Slim’s open hand, “we leave you with this gift, from us to you!”

With a flourish, Manny pulls his leaves away, revealing the object held in Slim’s hand. Atta, and the rest of the colony, stare intently at the gift.

“Oh,” the queen ant says, remembering her lessons about grace under any circumstance. “How, lovely! It’s such a nice rock…”

Behind the befuddled queen, Flick and Dot giggle privately to each other.

KH-KH-KH

Li Shang, captain in the Imperial Chinese Army and the emperor’s personal bodyguard, takes a slow, calming breath.

In his short career, he’s faced threats of such staggering intensity, older officers would be liable to run in terror. Shadow monsters, avalanches, strange and powerful men dressed in black… Each and every one of those threats, he’s stared down without hesitation.

But at this moment, they all seem to pale in comparison to the small, wizened old lady standing before him.

“Grandma,” Mulan says, gesturing back to her guest. “This is Captain Li Shang, the one I told you about. We, uh, we work together.”

“Do ya now?” the senior citizen chuckles, giving Shang a good once over. She smiles at what she sees. “So, this is the kind of man you meet in the army, eh?”

Mulan giggles into her hand. “Oh yes, grandma.”

“Well in that case, go ahead and sign me up for the next war!”

Taking in the scene from his vaunted position of honor within the Fa family shrine, Mushu lets loose a long, hearty laugh.

KH-KH-KH

Olympus Coliseum is open for business.

Herc and Meg stand back, admiring the final result of the grueling construction process. It had taken a while, and even with godlike strength it was a real labor, but in the end, it’s all worth it.

If asked, Phil would swear to (and at) he inquirer that the cause of his tears is the bright sun, glinting off the golden sword of one of the gladiator statues. And, of course, he’d be lying.

Far away from any prying eyes, Auron watches it all unfold. Satisfied with what he sees, the grizzled old man turns and begins walking away. Before he reaches the coliseum’s outer gate, his body has already separated into a cloud of glowing pyreflies.

KH-KH-KH

“How are the apples today, Jean-Claude?” Quasimodo cheerfully asks his favorite fruit vendor.

“Excellent, Quasi, simplement exquisite,” he replies, gesturing to the tray where he keeps the red fruit.

“Good to hear!” the hunchback laughs, grabbing a few and placing them in his sack. After he pays Jean-Claude, Quasimodo goes on his merry way.

“Bonjour Quasimodo!” a young woman passing by calls out, nodding at him.

As he makes his way back to Notre Dame, several more people call out to him in passing. Their friendly greetings are a far cry from what he’d been taught so long to expect of the outside world.

The initial adjustment hadn’t been easy, and there still existed to occasional trouble spot, but for the most part things have turned out fine for the bellringer.

And so, the young man puts on a bright smile as he strolls down the streets of Paris, the city that is his home. His sanctuary.

KH-KH-KH

With a grunt of effort, Cogsworth pushes open the door to the castle’s library. As he suspected, the master and Belle sit together at the room’s long table, huddled together over some novel.

“I hate to interrupt, Master,” the majordomo sighs, quickly striding across the floor, “but we do have guests waiting in the ballroom.”

Belle and her husband heave twin sighs, reluctantly lifting their gazes from the book in front of them.

“C’mon Cogsworth,” the prince whines. “Just let us read one more chapter, then we’ll go! We’re at the best part.”

“Now, now,” Belle admonishes the former Beast. “You do still have a long way to go with reestablishing relations with your subjects. Keeping them waiting would not be the right thing to do.”

The prince groans inwardly, already able to tell where this is going.

“In fact,” the Princess of Heart continues, giggling, “I’d think it rather beastly, wouldn’t you?”

Oh gee, like he’s never heard that one before.

KH-KH-KH

“You know, we have servants for this kind of thing,” Princess Jasmine says to her fiancée, entering the small room he’s been staying in for the past year. Only three more months, and it will no longer be necessary. The young woman smiles at that thought. “In fact, they’ve already written nearly two hundred of them.”

Aladdin shrugs, not looking up from his project. The young man’s focus is tight, ever vigilant for mistakes. Writing and reading are still a bit new to him.

“Yeah, but that’s for all of your guests,” the former street rat teasingly replies. “A bunch of muckety-mucks from distant kingdoms. This one is for my friends, and I want it done my way.”

After a few minutes work, he holds up the paper like it’s the fabled lamp itself. “There, finished.”

“Do you want me to check it over?” Jasmine asks, holding out her hand.

“Sure, that’d be nice,” Aladdin admits, handing the paper over to his fiancée.

She quickly runs her eyes over it, smiling at its personal nature. Certainly it’s more intimate and familiar than anything the other guest are receiving.

“Well?” Aladdin asks, looking nervous despite himself.

“It’s wonderful,” the princess assures him with a big grin.

The former street rat lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Great, that’s awesome Jasmine. Okay, now read it back to me. Just to make sure.”

“Of course I will.” She takes a moment to clear her throat. “Ahem. ‘Dear Sora, Azlyn, and Telary…’”

KH-KH-KH

Joshamee Gibbs, loyal first mate of the Black Pearl holds his hand out for the captain to grab. Instead of the expected flesh, however, a grimy human leg bone slaps into his open palm.

Jack Sparrow pulls himself up onto the deck, allowing the coffin he had been using as a makeshift vessel to drift back out to sea.

“Well, captain?” Gibbs inquire, leaning in close. Not too close, of course. After days of separation, who knows what the good captain’s breath could smell like? “Success?”

Jack nods slyly. “Oh yes, Mr. Gibbs. Success indeed.”

The portly man grins wide. “Good to hear captain. I take it you’re one step closer to finding the way of wielding that Keyblade?”

Gibbs’ captain raises an eyebrow at his first mate, as if the very question is offensive. “Keyblade? What Keyblade, mate?”

“Um,” Gibbs bites his lip, grimacing at the taste of it. “You know, Captain. The one wielded by that Sora boy. The one that can open any lock? That Keyblade.”

Jack nods sagely. “Ah, yes. Keyblade.” He leans back and laughs, confusing his old friend even more. “Oh, I gave up that hunt weeks ago. Been to ten different so-called mystics I have, and none of ‘em had any inkling as to the nature or acquisition rights of such an item.”

“So, uh, then why did ya infiltrate that festering pit, if I may ask, if not to find our key?”

“Key?” Jack parrots, tilting his head in confusion. “Oh, I got us a key alright!” He reaches into the breast pocket of his coat, pulling out some slim object.

“Is that it?” Gibbs inquires. “The key?”

Jack shakes his head, chuckling as if his first mate has just told some funny joke. The pirate opens his hand to reveal a folded piece of parchment.

“What I have here is much more better than that,” the Black Pearl’s captain announces. “It is, in fact, a drawing of a key…”

KH-KH-KH

Hayner, Pence, and Olette sit on the lip of the Twilight Town clock tower, blissfully eating ice cream and enjoying their summer break. It’s a simple existence, but they don’t mind.

KH-KH-KH

Hands on his hips, Pete surveys the Hall of Empty Melodies. The sight isn’t exactly pretty, what with the glass roof pretty much all falling in. In fact, there are trouble spots all through the Castle That Never Was. Whatever had happened inside that giant floating door, it sure had one hell of a spillover.

“Well,” he finally says to his mistress, “I guess it coulda been worse, eh?”

“On the contrary,” Maleficent replies, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, then all the canary’s friends. “This is excellent! Exactly what I hoped for! Why, with this castle as my own…”

“WHAT!” Pete yelps, jumping a full two feet in the air. “Maleficent, ya can’t be serious! I already told ya, this place is too close to the Darkness! The Heartless won’t…”

“You told me, did you?” the jade-skinned sorceress shrieks. Her minion jumps back, covering his face. “I suppose you did. But remember Peter, I told you something as well.”

Maleficent waves her hand, a simple elegant motion. For a long moment nothing happens. Then, just when Pete is about to obliviously ask what was supposed to happen, a Neoshadow rises from the white floor. It looks around in bewilderment for a second, until finally it fixes its gaze upon Maleficent. Without any further ado, the shadow creature bow before the witch.

“I told you not to underestimate me.”

KH-KH-KH

“Okay,” Tron mutters to himself, all of his processing power queing up for this one, monumental task. “Are you boys sure about this?’

“Positive, Tron!” Phineas assures the program. He and Ferb stand before the system administrator, clad in the blue armor of all Space Paranoids residents and visitors. “We ran several tests, and only once out of six times did this program inspire homicidal mania.”

Tron nods, trying to remain calm. “So, that’s about a seventeen percent chance.” He shrugs. “Those odds are okay by me. Hit it boys!”

At the program’s command, Ferb presses the triangle-shaped button on the MP3-player’s window. On cue, a bouncy electronic beat streams into the room.

Tron takes a second to absorb it, carefully parsing out the time-signature. He begins nodding along, letting the music direct his body where it wants to go. Toe-tapping follows, a snap not long behind.

The second the base drops, the system administration program really lets loose.

KH-KH-KH

Quistis regards the men and women before her with a critical eye. Usually she can spot the stars in an instant, and this time is no different.

“Hello, recruits!” the young blonde calls out, every eye following as she paces the length of the newly rebuilt bailey’s courtyard. “Welcome to your first day of training for the Radiant Garden Defense Force!”

KH-KH-KH

LeBlanc and Cid sit side-by-side on a bench in one of the city’s many parks, sharing a meal between them. It’s a beautiful day, absolutely perfect for their date.

Or, as it turns out, a crime.

“Fly Gullwings, fly!” Yuna calls out, bursting out of a bush with Rikku and Paine right behind. “Operation Pie In The Sky is a go!”

LeBlanc springs to her feet, absolutely indignant. “Why you little, I’ll have you know I spent hours baking that pie just right for my Ciddy, and there is no way I’ll allow your grubby little hands anywhere near it!”

For his part, Cid decides to sit back and just watch the show unfold.

KH-KH-KH

“Quadrant three on the north wall is all finished up, boss,” Yuffie reports, skipping into Merlin’s house with a carefree smile.

Leon says nothing, his eyes carefully roaming the piece of paper in his hand. Yuffie frowns, tilting her head to get a better look. For a long moment, the only sound in the room is Perry the platypus’s quiet snore.

“That’s good news, Yuffie,” the Restoration Committee’s leader says, nodding absently. In a quieter voice, and mostly to himself, he adds, “Great news.”

The great ninja has no idea what to do next, so she just resorts to backing slowly out of the room. “Okay then. Uh, I’m gonna go grab some lunch. That okay with you, Squall?”

Sitting at a table across the room, Aerith shoots her young friend a gently reprimanding glare. Leon had been in such a great mood, and all it’ll take to tick him off again is a single utterance of his abandoned name.

“Sure thing, Yuffie.” No outburst, no reprimand. Not even a glare. This is truly unheard of.

It’s as if time stops. Aerith’s jaw drops, Yuffie lets out a gasp, and even Perry lazily opens one eye. An event has just passed that will live on throughout Radiant Garden history.

“Right,” Yuffie says, starting her creep out the door again. “Great, cool. That’s cool. See ya later… Squall?”

The man in question nods once. “Alright Yuffie. Don’t take too long, you’ve still got a bit of filing to do.”

Later on, Aerith surreptitiously sweeps her eyes over the paper Squall had been reading. She only gets a second’s glance, but that’s all it takes to note the small picture in the sheet’s upper righthand corner. Two angel wings, colored a faint pink.

KH-KH-KH

Sora leans back against the tree, watching as Azlyn and Telary explore the beach, laughing together as they run and splash at each other. After a few playful fakeouts, the knight charges her fiancée and tackles him to the ground, kissing the absolute life out of him despite the fact that both of them are laughing so hard they can hardly breathe. Mickey stands close by, shaking his head at the antics.

Riku joins him, taking a seat at his fellow Keybearer’s side.

“Well, we finally made it,” Riku muses, ducking his head away so no one can see his tears. His lifelong friend knows that they’re there, but decides to let him have his dignity. After a minute of composing himself, he brushes his hair away and looks up to Sora again. “Back home. Is it everything you thought it would be?”

Sora grins. “You know it is.” He takes another look around, focusing on the familiar landscape rather than the people. It’s all just as he remembers it. For a long time he’d feared that he would return only to find it all different, and he’s glad that it isn’t in the slightest. “What a small world.”

Riku shakes his head. “Yeah, but it’s part of something much bigger. Just like we all are.”

A sudden thought strikes Sora, and he turns his head to meet his silver-haired friend’s gaze. “So, Riku, what do you think the Door to the Light was? That’s gotta be how we got back here.”

Reaching out, Riku taps a finger against Sora’s chest, right underneath his pendant. Where his heart is. “Right here. Just where it’s always been.”

Sora grins, chuckles. “It’s always closer than you think, huh?”

“Ahem,” Kairi cuts in from behind the boys. They turns to see her approaching, her hair practically glowing in the light of the golden sun, like the auburn strands have a fire all their own burning deep inside them. “Am I interrupting anything?”

Sora shakes his head. “Not at all, Kairi.” He pats the spot next to him, obligingly helping her settle atop it. He looks from her to Riku, tears pricking at his blue eyes. “Well, would ya look at this? The three of us, together again.” The Keybearer throws his arms around his friends. “There were times I was sure this was never gonna happen again. But here we are.”
“Here we are,” Riku repeats, almost dreamily. He looks happy to be home.

“After everything we went through, all the time apart, trying our hardest to be together again…” Kairi marvels, watching as Mickey finally manages to break up Azlyn and Telary’s love fest. “I can’t believe that it’s finally ended.”

“Hey you three!” Azlyn calls out to the trio. Telary’s holding her around the waist from behind, his chin resting atop her head. “Get your butts down here and tell me where we can find a blitzball! Three on three, Disney Castle versus Destiny Islands! Prepare to be humbled by the superior world!”

As Mickey and Telary team up to admonish her about the equal importance of all worlds, Sora turns and presses a kiss to Kairi’s cheek, then locks eyes with her.

“Oh, it isn’t the end, Kairi,” he declares, pushing off the trunk and lifting up a hand to the girl he loves. “It’s the beginning.”

Smiling, she takes the hand and accepts his help down from the trunk. The future awaits, after all.

They go together.

In You and I,

There’s a new land…

---

Okay, NOW it's over! I just want to say a special thank you to Cinder for reading every chapter of this story and always leaving such gratifying, thoughtful, and just plain funny commentary. Another thank you to all the silent readers out there. You never had to say anything if you didn't want to, just your readership was enough.

But the SAT journey isn't finished yet! I'm still working on it now, but be prepared for the start of an all-new adventure coming soon!

In conclusion, once again, thank you thank you THANK YOU all so very much!

 

[KingdomKey]

Aww, this had so many good scenes. I really like Tron's, Belle and the Beast, Jack Skellington's, and most of all SAT's ending a lot. <3 Does the pink wings in the letter mean it's from Rinoa? I don't know much about FFVIII. I love how Sora, Riku, and Kairi are going to go up against Mickey, Azlyn, and Telary in a blitz ball match. lol. Or how Sora gets in that kiss. It's so touching! ;_; All of this was good and amazing. <3 Gosh, I love this so much. Love seeing how everyone is doing after the worlds are saved. And how Maleficent continues to be the Mistress of all Evil. xD Anyways, you're welcome, TelaryCri. It's been a pleasure reading this story to the very end, cause it was a blast. I still can't get over Azlyn and Telary being engaged to one another. <3 I love this story so much. And I'm glad to hear SAT journey isn't over yet. Can't wait for the next adventure for them! And thank you for taking the time to write this, TelaryCri, and sharing it here for all of us to read too. <3

 

[TelaryCri]

And now I present the next story in the Keys to the Kingdom canon: Sora and the Forty Thieves!

Chapter I: The Band, Back Together
​

Sora looks out over the waves, gently crashing into the shore of Destiny Island’s smallest landmass. To the seventeen year old, it’s the perfect place, as beautiful and pristine now as it was during his childhood. Closing his eyes, he takes in a deep lungful of sea air.

Once upon a time, this place had seemed so small to him. Not only this islet itself, but his entire world. He and his friends had longed to go beyond it, explore what else the universe had to offer.

But he was younger then, ignorant of just how comforting a small existence could be. Sora’s world had been taken from underneath him, a legendary weapon and grand adventure put in its place. Thus his longing reversed itself, and all he had wanted was to return home.

It had been a long, grueling struggle of over a year. Along the way he had faced unfamiliar new situations, and monsters of all kinds. He’d made new friends, experienced the betrayal then redemption of an old one, and even found love in a girl that had been his friend.

But only months ago he had returned home, triumphant and happy. What followed may have been deemed boring by some, but Sora had relished the chance for things to be normal. After all of his hardship, the Keyblade wielder was just glad to finally be home.

And now today, for the first time since his return, he is leaving once again. Thankfully, he gets to skip the destruction and devastation part this time.

“You look happy,” Kairi says as she walks up the beach to him.

He turns to give his girlfriend, also the (relatively amateur) owner of a Keyblade and one of seven Princesses of Heart, a wide grin. She smiles right back, her deep blue eyes lighting up.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he replies, looking up into the bright blue sky once again. “It feels like it’s been forever since I saw Azlyn and Telary.”

The pair in question had been his staunchest allies during his journey to defeat darkness and return home. Loyal servants of King Mickey of Disney Castle (though they’d actually been thieving fugitives when he’d first me them), the pair were his best friends. Or his non-Destiny Islands best friends, at least.

“I mean, sometimes I talk to them on that video chat the king set up for us,” he continues. “But it just isn’t the same as actually having them with me, y’know?”

“Mmm,” is all Kairi has to say to that.

“It’s just kind of strange, I gotta say.” The Keyblade wielder begins pacing up and down the beach, rambling all the while. “I go from living with them on a small Gummi ship, flying from world to world and battling evil, to having to see if they’re available for a fancy phone call. As much of an adjustment as always being around those two was, it’s just as hard to be without them y’know?”

“I bet.”

Sora frowns, turning to look analytically at Kairi. The first thing he notices, of course, is that she looks absolutely beautiful. He’s always thought that, of course, but today she seems even more radiant. She’s dressed in a purple off-the shoulder dress with a flowing skirt down to just above her knees, her long auburn hair tied back in a bun. Her shoes are short heels that perfectly match the rest of the ensemble.

But beyond simple beauty, the girl seems off somehow. Something in her eyes, maybe. They’re definitely less shining and enthusiastic than they normally are. Her arms are crossed, the fingers of one hand tapping against the opposite elbow.

“Are you okay?” he asks, approaching with a concerned frown.

Kairi tilts her head to one side, eyes wandering like they always do when she’s in deep thought.

“I feel fine,” she replies after a minute. “I just… Well.” Silence follows, whatever the girl was going to say kept off her tongue. She just stands on the beach, fingers tapping.

“Kairi…” Sora says softly, walking up to her and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you look kinda nervous.”

The redhead averts her eyes, thinking again. After a moment, she looks back at him. “I guess maybe that’s it.”

“Oh.” Sora steps back, frowning as he thinks on his girlfriend’s words. They don’t seem to make any sense, which is so unlike Kairi his mind is already jumping to ‘clone/robot’ theories. “Is it about the wedding? I know it’s royal and fancy and all, but I don’t…”

“The wedding is fine,” Kairi interrupts, letting her arms drop to her sides. “I’m actually really excited about that. Not just the whole royal thing, but also meeting Aladdin and Jasmine.”

Sora can’t help but grin a bit at the mention of his special friends from Agrabah. The desert world had been one of his favorite places to visit, and that certainly hadn’t been the case because of his deep fondness for sand. He, along with Azlyn and Telary, had become friends with Aladdin and his bride-to-be (who also happened to be the kingdom’s princess) very quickly.

Well, it seemed to Sora that he became friends with almost everyone he met very quickly. But Aladdin somehow held a special place in his heart. Probably because the two are so alike in morality and attitude.

“They’re gonna love you,” he tells Kairi, hoping to maybe quell her nerves just a bit. “Why wouldn’t they, you’re awesome!”

Kairi giggles, ducking her head. “Yeah, thanks Sora.” When she looks up, all traces of mirth are gone. In their place is that same apprehension. “But, once again, it isn’t them I’m nervous about.”

“Genie, then?” The big blue lug, a formerly all-powerful wish granting being whose powers were now reduced to flashy displays and bizarre transformations into people and things no one understood, could be a bit disorienting. But Sora thought he’d prepared his girlfriend well enough for those antics. “Or is it the sultan? Because hey, I’ve never met him either…”

Kairi sighs, loudly enough to curtail the Keybearer’s reassuring rant.

“It’s not anything like that,” she says after a second of visibly gathering her courage. “It’s actually, uh… Oh, never mind!”
“Kairi, please just…”

“It’s Azlyn and Telary, okay!” the redhead blurts finally.

Sora tilts his head, shocked and confused. “What do you mean by that? You know Azlyn and Telary super well! Heck, Tel’s your brother!”

“That’s the problem.” Heaving another heavy sigh, Kairi turns away. A moment later, she turns back. “We don’t know how to act around each other!”

“That’s ridiculous!” Sora argues, not noticing how that just makes his girlfriend’s eyes narrow. “You seemed fine when we…”

“When we were battling hordes of evil creatures in a race to save the universe,” she interrupts, hands on her hips. “Interaction is easy when you’ve only got a few seconds to talk before you’re in danger again. After that…”

“You didn’t seem so awkward when they left for Disney Castle again. You two had a very nice hug, I remember.”

“That was fine.” Kairi idly kicks at a small mound of sand the wind had just finished piling up. “We said we’d talk again, through the video link.” A deep breath. “Well, we tried that. Twice.”

“Not good?” Sora asks, as if the answer isn’t apparent.

The Princess of Heart shakes her head firmly. “Some ‘hi, how are you’ stuff, one or two attempts to talk about the past that neither of us remember very well, and a whole lotta silence.”

Sora frowns. “You didn’t talk about the wedding?”

The Keybearer isn’t referring to Al and Jasmine’s wedding now, but rather Azlyn and Telary’s upcoming nuptials. Along with being Sora’s staunch companions, the pair had been best friends since the days they’d both lived in Radiant Garden with Kairi. During Sora’s last adventure to defeat Organization XIII, the pair had finally announced their feelings for one another and subsequently gotten engaged.

Secretly, Sora gave himself the credit for getting the whole ball rolling. Not that he’d tell either of his friends that, of course.

“Only in the general ‘things are happening’ sense,” Kairi answers with a shrug. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just something that’ll pass after a while. I think that maybe there’s just this one big roadblock, and if we can figure out how to get past that…”

“You will,” Sora says, beaming his best smile at the girl he loves. He goes to her and takes her hand. “No matter how awkward things are now, you two are family. Remember that, and you can get through anything.”

Kairi returns the smile, but hers is thin. She supposes it can’t hurt to think like that, though Sora is admittedly prone to relentless positivity bordering on naiveté. In this case, that may be just what she needs.

“And if things keep being weird, just make sure to stick around with me,” the boy continues. “It’s just too bad Riku couldn’t come. Well, won’t come. I just think he’s being silly.”

“I dunno, Sora,” Kairi says with a slight shrug. “I think ‘never go to the wedding of anyone you’ve ever kidnapped’ isn’t the worst policy in the world.”

The Keybearer shrugs. “Whatever, I guess. His loss.”

Any further conversation is cut off by a buzzing in Sora’s pocket. Immediately his eyes light up, and he draws out a small plastic box. It’s a transmitter, designed to signal that Azlyn and Telary’s Gummi ship is approaching.

“Oh man, yes!” Sora basically sings, smiling down at the little device like it’s the best Christmas present ever. “This is gonna be great!”

“Uh huh,” Kairi agrees halfheartedly.

“Plus, I can finally get back at them for all their intense PDA!” He turns to Kairi with an exaggerated look of disgust. “Seriously, you should be glad you missed most of it. Whenever they thought I wasn’t looking, they’d just be all over each other. Well, wait until they get a load of what being disgustingly in love looks like from the other side!”

Two flashes of light blink into existence on the sand in front of Sora and Kairi. As they begin to coalesce into twin beams, then a pair of bodies, Sora flings his arms out wide. Surely Azlyn and Telary have been waiting for one of his famous hugs for a long time now.

“…Which is just gonna make us look stupid!”

The transportation sequence ends, Azlyn and Telary now standing on the island in the flesh.

Azlyn, her blonde hair still worn long around her shoulders, wears a short-sleeved blue dress in two pieces, her navel exposed above the long skirt. Telary is wearing a basic black suit and tie, with his red hair closely cropped to his head.

Neither of the pair seem to even notice Sora, too busy arguing.

“For the last time, it is a perfectly serviceable gift!” Telary shoots back, throwing his arms wide in exasperation. “From one castle to another…”

“Makes us look like we come from a cheap kingdom!” Azlyn yells, fists clenched tightly. She turns to Sora and Kairi, barely noting the fact that the Keybearer’s arms are still spread wide. “What are you two gonna give Al and Jasmine?”

“Huh?” Sora replies, letting his arms drop to his sides.

“Now that is just a terribly rude question!” Telary snaps at his fiancée. “You can’t just…”

Azlyn rolls her eyes. “I know, I know. I’m just this loud, obnoxiously rude…”

“Don’t go putting words in my mouth, I never said anything of the sort.”

“Oh, but I can tell you’re always thinking it!”

Sora has had enough of this. Placing both hands on his hips, the Keybearer yells, “HEY!”

Azlyn and Telary freeze mid-argument, turning toward their friend. After a moment, Telary’s expression morphs into a sheepish grin.

“Uh, sorry about that,” the wizard apologizes, scratching guiltily at the back of his head. “We just… There was kind of a…”

“Aw, who the hell cares anyway?” Azlyn cuts in. Without another word, she steps up to wrap Sora in her arms.

That at least seems to break the tension, and soon the two pairs are exchanging greetings. Hugging Azlyn is nice, if so tight it’s nearly painful. Sora hardly minds, well used to the blonde girl’s manner by now. After the knight steps back, Sora closely observes Kairi and her brother’s hug. Seeing it, he can hardly keep from wincing. It seems the awkwardness wasn’t just in his girlfriend’s head.

When partners are exchanged, Sora allows Telary to fully draw him in. The tall wizard’s embrace is as warm and gentle as the man himself, lasting maybe a few moments longer than is strictly “manly”. But, that’s just Telary. When the hug is over, Sora almost laughs at seeing Kairi rubbing her back with a small frown.

“Okay, now that that’s over,” Azlyn says, ignoring the frown from her counterpart. “Seriously, what are you guys bringing?”

Thankfully Telary chooses to not say anything this time, only stepping back with his arms crossed.

Sora reaches into his outfit’s pouch, drawing out a yellow star-shaped fruit. “We decided to go symbiotic.”

Kairi rolls her eyes, gently taking the paopu away from the Keybearer. “He means symbolic. You know the legend.”

Azlyn nods. She turns back to Telary and, in her first non-hostile interaction with the man that Sora has seen, says, “Well, I guess we won’t end up giving them the cheapest gift, eh?”

“What’s this present of yours anyway?” Sora asks before Telary seizes his scolding opportunity.

“A very nice serving bowl,” the wizard says. Azlyn makes a face, but he either doesn’t notice or isn’t willing to engage at the moment.

Sora nods. He hardly sees how such a small thing could cause the pair’s enormous argument. Noticing the lingering tension, he decides it could use some breaking.

“So, did you steal this bowl?” he asks with a grin. “Or do you just do Gummi ships?”

Telary smiles, and Azlyn gives a little sort of amusement.

“Piss off, Sora,” the knight says with a fond eye roll.

“It was a favorite of the king’s,” Telary explains, with a grin. “But Queen Minnie apparently has some new china she wants to start using, and the bowl just doesn’t fit in. So she gave it to me and told me to put it somewhere the king will never find it.”

“Well, should we get going?” Kairi asks. Sora nearly jumps, before guiltily realizing that he’d pretty much forgotten that his girlfriend was even present.

Telary looks over Sora with a frown. “Wait a minute. You aren’t just wearing that are you?”

“Honestly, Tel!” Sora scoffs playfully. Closing his eyes, he concentrates. Light surrounds his current, casual outfit. After a moment it fades, leaving behind a suit very similar to Telary’s. The benefits of wearing clothes made magically by fairies are many.

“We’re all ready then,” Telary says, grinning. “Good. Let’s get a move on, shall we?”

---

This one might be a little tough to read for a while. But no worries, I assure you everything will eventually work itself out!

 

[KingdomKey]

Oh no, seems like there's some trouble in paradise! I wasn't expecting an argument between Tel and Azlyn. o.o And Tel an Kairi seem to be having trouble bonding too. I kind of agree with Sora it'll take time before it becomes natural? Perhaps it'll get better with all of them going to the wedding. More importantly, I'm really surprised there's a new chapter already! Or that a year has passed for Sora to be seventeen now! xD Nah, not all that rough to read at all! And I look forward to seeing how things work out between everybody! Good chapter overall!