Well…um…never thought I'd be here again. Writing fanfiction that is. Something other than dragons as well. Gotta say, it is kinda weird not writing about dragons, but hey…I need practice other things. This story I had fun to write, but not my best. I know what I wanna do with it, but I was kinda stuck on how to start it. This is mostly a reliever story and to practice on pacing and a bit of description. That said…

This story comes second to my original work. If I don't update for a while, check my deviantart on the website button. I may be updating stories there. So yeah, don't whine if I don't update. Fanfiction is secondary work and if I don't have any ideas for my own stories.

Anyway, this is kind of how I pictured the end of Kingdom Hearts 3 to go…with a little twist at the end. Let's dive into the heart of this thing and see what comes out.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This is a non-profit story that I just made up on the spot for the reader's enjoyment.

Sora dove down and landed on a white diamond platform that seemed out of place in the middle of the swarming darkness surrounding him. Clutched in his hands was a weapon that many had sought, but only a few could wield. This weapon was known as the Keyblade, which could open any lock or door. The blade took on many forms and it had different abilities depending on who used it or what chain they used.

For Sora, it was a silvery white Keyblade with a small star on top near the tip. Although the blade itself was not sharp, something that worked with most Keyblades except for a select few, it was the only way he and his allies could finally defeat the Heartless, which were living shadows that took form after someone's heart was taken.

Funny how something that could be summed up in a sentence could be so frightening and strong. Sora thought to himself as he continued to fall, wind pushing his spikey brown hair back to the point where it looked like it had turned into a mullet. Sora cracked a smile at this; mullet was such a funny word.

His clothes were primarily red with black as the secondary color. Sora wore bright white shoes that seemed far too large for him, but was actually nice and comfortable to wear. Running around and defeating the Heartless did require shoes that wouldn't try and kill his feet after an hour. Sora's red jacket threatened to come off from the speed he was traveling at and the black hood flapped behind him like a tiny cape.

Landing on the platform, Sora swung his Keyblade, which was called 'Oathkeeper', and delivered a mighty blow to a Heartless that started to form. The Heartless was flung backwards and slammed into a Large Body Heartless that was barreling straight at him before exploding into purple smoke. The Large Body was stunned, granting Sora enough time to leap into the air and bring his weapon crashing down on its head.

Fighting the Heartless did get dull after a while, and the fact that this was all they had for their last stand was sort of pathetic. He was hoping for a large Heartless so he would feel satisfied in defeating, but he supposed that this wouldn't exhaust him too much for the battle against Xehanort, the mastermind behind all of this fighting and suffering. Sora clenched his left hand into a fist; beating him would end this and he could finally be at peace.

In his thoughts, he didn't notice that a Wyvern Heartless was about to smash into him and knock him off the platform. Seeing how he couldn't react in time, Sora made a desperate swing to defeat it before it would knock him off. He was a second too slow, and it seemed that he would be hit.

However, just before he could, a shield with a giant pair of mouse ears slammed into the spine of the attacker, making it vanish into the familiar mist. Sora looked up into the sky and a wide grin formed on his face.

"Ya shouldn't run ahead like that Sora!" A dog shouted before landing face down onto the platform. Sora chuckled at this.

Although he was a dog, this new figure walked on two legs and wore blue plated armor and orange clothing underneath. His face reminded Sora of a bloodhound; especially the ears. It took Sora quite some time to get used to this cartoonish fellow, and once he did, he was glad he met him.

"Still haven't learned how to land on your feet, Goofy?" Sora jested, hitting a Heartless that was trying to sneak up behind him without even turning.

"I woulda if I wasn't savin' ya!" a warm smile formed on Goofy's face.

Seconds later, lightning shot down and zapped all of the Heartless that were forming. Looking up the sky, a white feathered duck wearing a blue sailor's cap and shirt came down, gripping a stick in his right hand. The stick glowed with magical energy and the duck shot a large fireball at the Heartless, shouting something that Sora had a hard time identifying. He would dwell on this later; for now, he had Heartless to defeat.

"About time you showed up Donald!" Sora shouted over the spells that the newcomer was shouting.

"Trying to clean up your mess in your reckless charge!" Donald shot back playfully. Donald had a weird voice that took Sora ages to finally comprehend, but like a moment ago, things still eluded him. It reminded Sora of air being let out of a small area.

"Glad ta see that you're usin' that wand Merlin gave ya!" Goofy said to Donald, deflecting an attack that a small red Heartless floating in the air made at him. It bounced back and eliminated it.

"Yeah, I thought you hated it!" Sora teased, holding his Keyblade forward and launching a large ball of ice at the Heartless that splintered into thousands of ice shards, taking out five of his foes.

"I never hated it!" Donald shot back. "I simply didn't want to use it!"

"Uh huh." Sora and Goofy said in unison, much to the annoyance of Donald.

For a while they fought what seemed like an endless stream of Heartless that made Sora retract what he had thought about this final stand. Although he would have taken a large one over thousands of miniature ones that he had fought many, many times, this was at least starting to become enjoyable. The only irritating part about this fighting was that everytime Sora struck one down, two more would seep from the shadows to replace it.

Eventually the trio was backed into a corner, and no matter what they did, they could not escape from it. Not even launching multiple spells from Sora and Donald could drive them back. Things were looking grim once again, but Sora never gave up hope. For every Heartless he destroyed, that was one who could not plague the worlds again. Whenever he grew exhausted, he looked at his Keyblade and remembered all of the promises he made to his friends and gained strength to fight again.

"Where are they?" Donald complained after a bit, casting a cure spell on Goofy, who had taken a rather nasty hit upside the head. Although Goofy had been struck there multiple times before, it was better to be on the safe side.

"They'll be here soon." Goofy reassured. "We just have ta hold this for a couple more minutes!"

"Yeah, we've overcome more obstacles than this!" Sora panted. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was getting tired. "What's a few Heartless to us?"

"A few?" Donald shrieked as a gargoyle one nearly decapitated him with it's shadowy axe.

"Okay…maybe a lot." Sora corrected himself. "Still, we can do this!"

Not a second after he said that did something land in the middle of the Keyblades before a figure landed on it, creating a shockwave that knocked most of the Heartless back, giving them a chance to breath. Another figure landed beside him, taking a defensive stance against the regrowing horde.

"Riku! Kairi!" Sora shouted with glee, making his way to them.

"Miss us?" Riku gave a heartwarming smirk. Riku was a boy a bit older and taller than Sora with short, flat silvery-purple hair that Sora once thought was a bit odd. That was, of course, until he changed into a lion. Purple hair wasn't exactly strange to him anymore after that experience.

Riku's outfit was a yellow shirt with a black harness around it and blue pants, contradicting Sora's shorts. Sora was also quick to notice that he wasn't wearing as many straps anymore, and it made him feel a bit sad. Riku was the only one besides him that wore multiple belts. Did he not think it was cool anymore? Maybe Sora should rethink his style after this.

"You bet!" Sora exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself." Donald muttered. Everyone ignored him.

"We'll have time to chat later!" the other figure, a young woman with long red hair in brown leather armor shouted. Sora was still having a hard time accepting this over the pink she always wore, but she supposed that Riku, in his training, had told her that it wasn't exactly battle worthy. She was a lot thinner than the two males, and wielded a reddish-brown Keyblade with engraved flowers near the tip. Turnign around, she cast a Cure spell on Sora, who had just taken a hit from a Large Body.

"Thanks Kairi!" Sora exclaimed as Riku rushed past him, a rather unique Keyblade in his hand. It was blue and red and reminded Sora of a bat's wing, but a little angle wing near the tip seemed to dispel the scariness it may have held. This was also one of the Keyblades that was sharp, slicing apart the Heartless with ease.

Reinvigorated, Sora leapt back to Donald and Goofy, who looked like they were struggling. Slamming his weapon into the ground, rays of lights shot out and pierced the Heartless through the check, destroying or knocking them back. A circle of light now shone brightly in the middle of the platform, but Sora felt his strength drain with that. He'd better now use that again unless he desperately needed to.

Working his way back to Riku and Kairi, Sora suffered deep cut from one of the smaller Heartless that had leaped at him from the shadows. Blood seeped down his shirt and onto the platform a bit, staining it crimson. It was a sharp pain too, as if something was working his way through the wound and into his system. Paying it little mind, Sora dispatched the one who did this with a spinning attack from his Keyblade, vanquishing any foes nearby.

A loud yell from above made Sora gaze up in shock before a tall man slammed a greenish-brown Keyblade into the ground. Shards of black earth rocketed in all directions and a dark aura shrouded the Keyblade wielder, but instead of worrying, Sora almost leapt with joy. Two seconds later, three other figures dropped down.

"Sorry it took so long fellas!" A short bipedal mouse wielding a golden Keyblade with a silver handle applogized. "Had to repair the portal before we could arrive."

"King Mickey!" Donald and Goofy shouted out. They looked like they would have kneeled if they were in a calmer condition.

"The time for formalities will have to wait!" the mouse narrowed his eyes. "We're at the final stretch, and we gotta end this once and for all!"

"Agreed." The figure who slammed down first agreed. He had long brown hair that was curled backwards, making the back of his head look like a porcupine's spikes. At least, that's what it looked like to Sora. He wore armor that matched the color of his Keyblade with black spots on it and a billowing white cape.

"We're not gonna let them win! Not after we came this far! Right Terra? Aqua?" A scrawny armored boy said to the beige armored man and a female in blue-grey armor with short blue hair that reminded Sora of the ocean. He was wearing dark grey armor and a similar cape. He had spikey yellow hair and endless amounts of optimism in his face and blue eyes. His fighting style was unique; his short Keyblade held behind him with the blade going towards his head, and attacking his foes with light, yet swift, attacks mixed in with a small tornado every now and then.

"Of course we're not gonna lose!" the woman, Aqua, smiled as she shot a vararity of spells melded together with nimble strikes from her storm colored Keyblade. "We beat him before, we can beat him again." Terra looked away at this comment, smashing the Heartless with slow yet powerful attacks that took out multiple enemies at a time.

"Everyone, come together and unite our Keyblades!" Mickey announced. "That should be enough to dispel the darkness around us!"

Sora cleaved his way through his foes, the wound on his side still hurting despite being cured. Hopefully it wouldn't bother him too much in the final battle. Donald and Goofy were in tow, beating back the Heartless that Sora couldn't fight. It was at times like this that Sora was greatful that the Heartless didn't bleed. Blood unnerved him and the thought of the ground being slick in the vile fluids of his enemies and being covered in it sent shivers down his spine.

They all met in the circle of light that Sora had made earlier, and the Heartless seemed almost afraid to enter. That one second of hesitation bought them enough time to unite the tips of their Keyblades together and sent light shining in all directions. The darkness around them seemed to vanish and the Heartless were burned away in a matter of seconds as a blinding flash erupted from their unification.

When the light died down, all of the Heartless had vanished and a massive, black door replaced them. It had the symbol of the Heartless, a black heart with red lining with a split running through the middle, and seemed very forbidding. Sora gaped at the sight of it; The one that Xemnas, Xehanort's nobody, which were the bodies of those taken by the Heartless, had was nothing compared to the size of this one.

"What is with these big shots and doors?" Donald grumbled.

"What is with you and complaining?" Kairi shot a smug look at him, amusement in her blue eyes. Donald glared at her.

"All of our adventures are about doors and keys…" Riku mused, crossing his arms, green eyes narrowing. "They should learn not to use doors, but I suppose they have to have one fatal flaw somewhere."

"Yeah, don't they see that we have Keyblades?" Ventus, the scrawny one from earlier, held his at the door.

"Anyone else think that this may be his plan?" Terra asked morbidly. "Like he wanted us to come here and unlock the door?"

"Well gosh, I didn't think of that." Mickey scratched his head. "Not like we have a choice though. We need to stop him before he unleashes the Prime Darkness."

"Mickey is right." Aqua agreed. "Whatever traps lay ahead, we can overcome them. We have seven Keyblade bearers plus Donald and Goofy. He'd be hard pressed to deal with us all at once."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Sora said with optimism, pointing his Keyblade at the door along with Ventus. "Lets finish this and go home. I wanna try that drink again."

"Ya mean that Cherry, Banana, and orange shake?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah that!" Sora exclaimed as the rest pointed their Keyblades at the door. Once all of them did that, a silverly light burst from the tips, striking the door and creating another blinding light. Once it faded, a faint sound of something unlocking could be heard, and everyone placed their Keyblade's down.

"Wait a second…" Goofy said, stopping Sora's advance. "Where's Lea?"

"He's keeping the Heartless at bay from the portal so they don't escape." Riku explained. "He told us to go on without him and that he'd catch up."

"Alrighty then." Sora beamed as he approached the door, placing his gloved hands on the cold obsidian handles. "Let's do this!"

3 years later

Sora stood in a small white room, staring at the shattered remains of his Oathkeeper that was hanging on the far wall. Only the handle and a few inches of blade remained, ending in jagged tips stained with a familiar red substance. Sora didn't believe that Keyblades would be broken, but here he was, three years later, the shock still settling in on him.

His blue eyes looked left of the weapon, where Riku's Keyblade hung next to Sora's. It was cracked along the blade and the angel wings on it were ripped off, creating ball in Sora's gut that tightened every second he looked at it. On Sora's right, Kairi's Keyblade was also against the wall. There were nothing physicically wrong with it, but one look at it felt like something had gripped at his heart like a vice.

The three years since they fought against Xehanort were hard on Sora, but he pressed on like every other time he had suffered defeat. He had grown to about 5'11 and gained some muscle, and his hair was now flat and short with some of his natural spike remaining. His attaire had changed too. He wore a black overcoat with two yellow circles on the shoulders and small tendrils that looked like a Heartless's antennae grew from the edges. His shoes were a lot smaller and also purple, matching his pants. Sora's gloves were yellow with black stripes, and were a lot thicker than when he wore them in the past.

His shirt was the only thing not dark in color; in fact, it was almost a blinding white color, going well with the silver chocker around his neck. Sora reached down and pressed a hand to his chest above his heart and squeezed hard, trying to calm himself down from the memories that were resurfacing.

"Riku…Kairi…I'll find you. Just hang on…wherever you are." Sora whispered, unable to look at his Keyblade.

"Nice to see you haven't given up hope just yet." A voice said from behind, causing Sora to turn around and face Terra.

Terra hadn't changed much since the battle. His hair was the same, and his casual clothes still consisted of a purple shirt with beige pants. Heck, even the bronze armor covering his left arm didn't fade. The one big thing that did change, however, was the long scar across his eye.

"I can't give up hope." Sora said with a painfully forced smile. "If I was lost in darkness and they were here, I know they would be looking for me as well."

"Of course they would." Terra placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "We'll find them. Mickey got some new allies that could help us in our quest and drive the Heartless back."

Sora blinked in surprise. New allies? He hadn't heard that phrase in ages. "Who'd he find?" Sora asked, a grin forming on his face.

Terra chuckled. "Well, that's what we both are going to find out soon. We're being summoned to greet them, and maybe even get out of Travese Town to take the fight to the frontlines."

"Really?" Sora exclaimed, stepping outside to behold the wonders of Travese Town.

Travese Town didn't change that much either; It was always in a state of eternal night, but Sora never really minded. The stars shone beautifully and every time he was feeling down, he'd look up at the sky and see that worlds still existed out there, their light acting as a beacon of hope. Sora wished that the Gummi Ship was repaired so he could venture off and free the worlds, but maybe it would be finished after the meeting.

The town itself was bustling with activity from those who survived the destruction of their world. Although it was relatively grim to know where they came from, they were all unified in their resolve to see that Heartless wiped out once and for all. Sora looked down from where he was at the fountain, reminding him that he was in the second district. There, a priest spoke to a large crowd to grant them courage to survive another day. The sight of the priest did made Sora's side twinge a bit and he clutched it out of reflex.

"It still hurts after all this time?" Terra leaned over a balcony, eyes focused on the crowd.

Sora also leaned over the balcony and looked down at the water below. "Yeah, but I got used to it after a while. It comes and goes randomly, but a little pain isn't gonna stop me!"

"Always good to hear." Terra cracked grin. "How's the management of your darkness doing?"

"Well…" Sora placed a hand under his chin, face contorted in thought. "I think I'm doing okay. I haven't had any incidents in the past few months, and the little bursts I do get vanish within seconds. I think with a few more sessions, I'll finally have a lid on it."

"Excellent." Terra stood up and stretched. "I'll have to see it for myself after the meeting…which starts in three minutes." Terra turned pale as he looked at the clock tower in the distance. "Come on, we're going to be late!"

"Why did we stall here then?" Sora shouted after him, running after him, the pain on his side vanishing. For the first time in three years, Sora felt like he could take on the entire universe and not break a sweat.

Of course, this feeling was replaced by panic as he had forgotten to shut off the lights and close the door to his home. Rushing back, he quickly turned off all the electronics and went to shut the door. However, before he did, he took one last look at Riku and Kairi's Keyblade's, holding the door open, reflecting back at the happier times the three shared together.

"I'll be with you soon." He whispered as he shut the door before trying to catch up to Terra.

P.S. I am dyslexic so sorry for grammar mistakes