Kingdom Elseworlds: Darkness in Zero

by Cygna-hime

When Sora, Kairi, and Riku find a mysterious portal in Radiant Garden, they find themselves in...Radiant Garden. But there's something different. Maybe the strangely familiar people they meet can explain what's happened, and if they can get home.

Disclaimer: I do not own and am not receiving any money in exchange for this portrayal of the characters and settings in Kingdom Hearts. The words, however, are mine.

Notes: It occurred to me that this fandom was lacking in that staple of sf/fantasy fandoms everywhere, the interdimensional doubles story. So I wrote one. This is what happens when you read too many comic books. It was this or something with "Crisis" in the title. I went with the former; more interesting, and all.

Warnings: If established-relationsip slash or het bothers you, you don't want to be here. It's more a subplot if anything, though. And the threesome is barely even subtext. I mean, I saw it, but that's because it's my default way of looking at the characters.

Feedback: is always appreciated, especially if you have suggestions for how to make my writing better. The more detailed, the better I like it. Whether you like the story or not, please leave me feedback so I at least know you read it."Radiant Garden looks a lot better than it did last time I was here," Sora said as he strolled through the bustling town

---

"Radiant Garden looks a lot better than it did last time I was here," Sora said as he strolled through the bustling town.

Riku poked him on the forehead. "That's because you haven't been through destroying things lately. We all know how bad you are for property values."

"Hey! I am not!"

Kairi coughed something that sounded suspiciously like, "Tree house."

"That only happened once! And anyway, it wasn't my fault Riku didn't make the railing strong enough."

"The railing was strong enough for everything except your big feet standing on it. It's not my fault you're so heavy."

Kairi sighed. "You two, we've had this argument four times already. Can't we just accept that it was Sora's fault and leave it at that?"

"See?" said Riku. "Kairi agrees with me."

"Kairi! No fair ganging up on me!"

"C'mon, guys, let's get going. It's a ways to the castle still, and I'd rather not be in the middle of nowhere when it gets dark."

"Good point. Let's go!"

The self-proclaimed Great Ninja Yuffie was making her daily check of the town defenses when a familiar blur ran past her, towing two other, less familiar blurs behind him. Only her superior skills allowed her to understand what the blur said. "Hi Yuffie gotta run talk to you later say hi to the others for me bye!"

---

Kairi looked around at the castle library. "It's smaller than I remember. I guess it's because I was so young at the time that everything adult-sized seemed huge."

"But you do remember it?" Sora asked anxiously.

"Definitely. I was too little to have many memories of specific things, at least not memories that I can recall now, but this room…I've played here before, when I was little. There's a place under the stairs where I could hide and then pop out to surprise…I don't remember who. Maybe there was more than one person."

Sora punched the air in triumph. "I knew it! I thought it seemed familiar the first time I was here, but it didn't make sense, because I knew I'd never been here before. But it was really you it was familiar to, not me."

"So this is where I'm from," Kairi said, running a hand affectionately along a bookshelf. "You know, I talked about finding my home, but inside I never thought I really would. It's strange."

"Strange, how?"

"Well, I don't feel any different. I used to dream about who I 'really' was. I'd make up all these stories for myself, about how I was really a princess from a far away place whose parents had had to send me away to protect me from an evil sorcerer, but once the sorcerer had been defeated they would come and get me, and I would go back to their castle with them and be a princess. Typical kid stuff, you know. And now…now it turns out those stories were all true, kind of, but I don't feel as happy as I always thought I would."

"Dreams come true often aren't as good as the dreams were," Riku said unexpectedly.

The other two looked over at him; he had been so silent they had almost forgotten that he was there. That happened, sometimes: Sora and Kairi would discover all of a sudden that they had been the only ones talking for some time, while Riku watched them with a tiny smile on his lips and his expressive eyes saying everything his words weren't. This time, though, he was looking not at them, but up into the shadows on the higher level of the library.

Kairi wrapped her arms around him from behind. "I'm sorry, Riku. I shouldn't have made you come here."

"No, it's not your fault," he said, turning to hug her back. "It's a beautiful place. Only…I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it, last time I was here."

"All the same, you didn't have to come, but you did, so I'm sorry."

Sora snuck up behind Riku and ruffled his hair with brutal efficiency. "Cheer up, you big lummox. There's nothing to worry about anymore. Except maybe dying of boredom. Only Kairi would think the best place to explore is the library."

The corners of Riku's mouth turned up at last. "And where would you look for information, since you know so much?"

"I'd ask Tron! He knows everything."

"I want to find out for myself," said Kairi, turning to look at the nearest bookshelf. "Not just be told who my parents were."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to go explore the lifts. They're fun."

"Don't get yourself hurt or lost, and come back in two hours."

"Yes, mom." With that, Sora vanished through a door into the rest of the castle.

Riku joined Kairi in examining the bookshelf. "Where should we start?"

"We're looking for a census or something like that, so…" Kairi looked around at the rows of shelves and sighed. "…we should probably begin by figuring out how whoever designed this place organized the books."

---

Two hours later, Riku had given up on the quest for answers and was sleeping in a chair under the stairs. Kairi would have woken him demanding help, but she was too pleased to see him relaxed enough to sleep in the castle at all. So she resigned herself to looking for her past alone.

"This is the most recent census, but I don't know how the years of this world correspond to ours. I hope it's late enough," she said to herself, then chuckled. "Listen to me, talking to myself. You'd think I couldn't deal with silence." Still smiling at herself, she turned away from the bookcase to find herself face to face with a swirling portal, black against violet against navy against black, in the center of the room.

Two years of training had paid off. Without making a conscious decision, Kairi shoved the book back onto its shelf to free her hands, calling her Keyblade to her hand and shouting, "Riku! Sora! Trouble!"

Sora must have been only just outside the door; he was inside almost immediately, Keyblade at the ready. Riku was, for once, less graceful: not recalling where exactly he was, he stood up in his place and hit his head on the low underside of the stairs. All the same, his Keyblade never wavered from pointing directly at the open portal.

Nothing happened.

Nobody came through the portal.

Slowly, Kairi felt her heart return to its normal pace. "I just turned around and it was there. I don't suppose either of you have any idea who could've done it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Riku admitted. "Why open a portal you don't want to go through?"

Sora looked at it curiously. "Maybe it's for us." Before anyone could stop him, he stuck one hand into the spiral of darkness. "It feels okay, for a portal of darkness I mean. Not like a trap. Let's check it out."

Riku and Kairi exchanged a look that said as clearly as words, "There's Sora for you." Then they nodded. Kairi looked regretfully at the book she had been about to look at. Still, it and any information it might contain would still be there when they came back.

"Onward to adventure!" Sora proclaimed as they stepped through, side by side.

---

In the library of Radiant Garden's castle, Even pored over a thick tome taken from a particularly dark and musty corner of the library. He was taking notes rapidly in a cramped hand scarcely more legible than the fading print of the book. From time to time he would pinch the bridge of his nose as if to stem a rising headache.

"How's it going?" Braig asked as he shut the door behind him.

Even scowled. "Every time I turn a page I hate the old bastard more."

"No luck, then?"

"No, that's not it; from what's in this book, we should be able to make more powerful curatives in greater number than ever. And it was moldering in a corner where he'd put it, doing nobody any good! This book was written over thirty years ago! For thirty years we could have had more and better medicines, elixirs almost as cheap as potions…And he, may Wyverns devour his entrails, shoved it into a corner and forgot about it! Do you know how many people died because they couldn't afford medicine he could have made practically free?!"

Braig let out a long breath. For a moment, his good eye flashed with anger. Then he forced himself to grin. "At least we've got it now, yeah?"

"Don't play the fool with me," Even snapped. "I'm not desperate enough to need it."

"This really got to you, huh?" said Braig, looking at Even's pale and ink-smudged face.

He sighed loudly, leaning his head on his folded arms. "I had a little sister," he said into the table. "She died when I was ten years old. Nothing less than a megalixir could have saved her, and our house and everything in it wasn't worth half what one would've cost. I thought I'd gotten over it long ago, but…he killed her, just as surely as he killed my parents, and I never even knew. He killed so many people just by being lazy and got away with it because nobody knew."

Leaning over Even, Braig embraced him with unusual tenderness. "He's not getting away with it now. We'll get the pox-rotted old whoreson, and then he'll pay for everything. No half measures this time."

Even lifted his head, leaning it back against Braig's shoulder. "You do know how to cheer a man up, don't you?"

"I try. Now how about we go back to the part of this conversation where you actually greet me? Ahem. 'Honey, I'm home!'"

Even replied with a raised eyebrow.

" 'Welcome home, Braig. It's good to see you made it through the day safely.' 'I wouldn't dream of leaving you, sweetheart.' 'Still, I was so worried about you, sugar muffin!' " Braig grinned triumphantly. "Hah! There's a smile! I knew you had one in you somewhere."

"I was trying to picture someone insipid enough to call you 'sugar muffin' and failing," replied Even, but the smile didn't leave his lips.

"You know you wanna. Secretly. Way down inside."

"How about…no?"

"How about you pretend just for a second that your man just came back from fighting to keep you safe against the forces of darkness?"

Even's smiled broadened. "I can do that."

When Braig opened his eye again, he saw swirling darkness in the center of the room. With a muffled expletive, he broke away and drew his guns. Even snatched his shield from where it had been resting against the table leg and got out of Braig's line of sight. With grim faces they waited to see who would come out of the portal.

---

"That's…weird," said Sora. "We didn't even go anywhere."

"Uh, Sora?" Riku said, catching movement in his peripheral vision and turning to track it. "I think we did."

The boys shifted closer to Kairi, shielding her from the sides with their bodies, and three Keyblades sprang to three hands, but they could tell they were too late. They couldn't cover the distance between themselves and the man pointing a gun at each of their heads before he had time to fire, and the odds on all three of them being able to dodge even the first two bullets were too small for any one of the three to be willing to risk the other two.

"Put 'em away, boys," the man holding the guns drawled. "You gotta be smart enough to know when you don't have a chance."

Obediently, they banished their Keyblades. By way of compensation, Sora's and Riku's newly free hands wrapped around both of Kairi's. They tried to slide their bodies in front of hers, but she would have none of it. It was a constant fight to make them realize that her protective instincts were at least as strong as theirs, but at least by now it had become a natural reaction for the three of them to share danger equally in crisis situations, mostly because they all strove equally to take the lion's share of risk.

Unable for the moment to move, Riku felt as though his eyes were seeing more than usual in the desperate attempts of his mind to find a means of escape. The portal had snapped closed as soon as they had left it, and the windows were both closed and several stories off the ground; they would never survive both the glass and the fall. That left the doors, and as if reading Riku's mind, the second enemy slipped around to block the only exit they would have had a hope of reaching before bullets reached them. That avenue of thought blocked, he watched the enemies instead, trying to figure out who they were and how they had appeared in the library.

The man with the guns was, at a guess, slightly shorter than Riku was himself, and his dark hair was streaked with grey, but youth and height wouldn't be enough advantage; he looked tough and strong, and if the scars and eyepatch were any indication, was far from a stranger to combat. Besides, he was well out of blade range. Part of Riku found something familiar in the man's appearance, but it wasn't insistent enough to keep him from turning his attention to the other man, who was closer to him.

He was taller, but looked less like a professional fighter than the gunman, so Riku would try fighting out past him if it came to that. He was smart enough to be positioned between the shelves, so Riku could only attack from the front, though. He was wearing a shield on his left arm, which probably meant that he was a right-handed mage, but Riku had spent enough time with Goofy to know that the shield could be a formidable weapon in its own right. The most off-putting thing, however, was the creeping certainty that Riku had seen him somewhere before.

"Kairi!" the man with the shield yelled, and Riku felt the certainty take firmer root. "Let go of her!"

He and Sora would never have listened, guns or no guns, but when the gunman nodded and said, "You heard the man," Kairi's hands slipped out of theirs before they had a choice in the matter. Riku knew she crossed in front of him on purpose, placing her own body between him and the gun pointed at his heart, but it did no good: he could no more act with her in danger than he could shield her from bullets.

The hauntingly familiar enemy made a bad mistake: he drew Kairi close enough to him that she was behind his shield as well. "Are you hurt at all?" he demanded of her, a green glow around his right hand confirming Riku's guess about magic.

Kairi must have felt, as Riku felt, that there was something very strange about the way their enemies were behaving, but she didn't let it stop her. Before anyone else could so much as blink, her Keyblade was back in her hand, pressed to the throat of the man in front of her. "I'm fine," she said coolly.

Between the bookshelves and the shield, the gunman couldn't get a clear shot, Riku saw. Not that he seemed inclined to try; the muzzles of both guns stayed pointing at the boys' hearts, even as he turned his gaze toward the other two. "Kairi, what d'you think you're doing? Never thought you'd hear me say it, but this is no time for jokes like that."

"I'm not joking," she replied. Although Riku could see her swallowing hard, neither her hand nor her voice shook. "Let them go, or else."

To Riku's surprise, the result of her words was to send the gunman's attention back to him and Sora. The pure rage in his one-eyed glare threw Riku off, the more so as it wasn't directed at the person holding his ally at sword's point. "You fucking bastards," said the gunman, the words only more fervent for being said softly.

Kairi's hostage was, reasonably enough, still focused on her, but he didn't seem angry, which made the situation seem all the stranger. "Kairi, it's me." Her expression didn't change, although Riku, who knew her so well, could see the same internal struggle to remember that he was wrestling with. Her hostage still looked shocked and pained, but not angry. "What have they done to you?"

"Wrong question. The question is, can these two fix it? Well? 'Cause if not, I don't see why I shouldn't put you both down here and now."

"Don't you dare," said Kairi grimly.

"You don't want to do this," her hostage said. "If you try, I know you can beat whatever it is they did to you. You're too strong for this, Kairi. You're a Princess of Heart! They can't defeat you this easily."

There was something very off about the whole situation. To begin with, the two half-familiar men were reacting to Riku and Sora like enemies, but the tone of their words to Kairi was bitterly familiar to Riku. They were speaking to her like Sora had spoken to him, in a time Riku wished he could forget.

With the memory and the thought of forgetting came a sudden bolt of recognition. Riku knew where he had seen the man before, and why he had not recognized him at once. The man he remembered had blond hair, not brown, but the face was the same as one he had seen smirking at him over a slightly different shield once before. Knowing that, the other man, whom he had seen only briefly, was easier to place.

Sora caught on at the same moment Riku did. "Organization Thirteen!"

The two men—Vexen, the man with the shield was called Vexen, Riku remembered that—looked confused, which made no sense. In fact, nothing about this made sense. For one thing…

"But—you're dead!" Sora exclaimed.

The gunman looked nonplused. "Uh, no? Guess whoever tells you these things isn't earning their pay, if you get paid that is."

Kairi shook her head. "No, he's right. You died, or faded into nothingness…Xigbar."

He actually seemed hurt. "They even made you forget my name? C'mon, Kairi, it's me, Braig."

Riku had memorized everything they had ever found out about Nobodies, just in case. He knew the others had as well. It came to his aid now; he recognized the name. It made everything even more confused. Somehow, if this man was telling the truth, they were face to face with two of the people who had become Organization XIII—two completely human people, alive long after they should be dead and gone. There was something very strange going on.

Kairi had come to the same conclusions. "Okay, I'm officially so far out of my depth the shore is just a memory."

"That makes two of us," agreed Sora. Riku nodded. The two Nobodies-who-weren't didn't respond, but judging by their expressions they had been having very similar thoughts.

"We're not going to get anywhere like this," Kairi said sensibly. "Xig—Braig, if you stop holding my best friends at gunpoint, I'll put the Keyblade away and we can all talk about this like reasonable people."

He actually took time to consider it. The thought crossed Riku's mind that, whoever he and Sora were to this man, Braig really didn't like them. In the end, however, reason won out and he put his guns away. Riku noticed that they weren't a Nobody's weapons, holstered at his sides rather than called out of thin air. "Okay. I can do reasonable. Talk."

---

"The three of us were in the library—this library, I mean, or at least they looked the same," Kairi began. They were all seated at a table, Braig and Even on one side and the two intruders on the other. Kairi sat at the end of the table, within reach of both the brunet—Sora, Braig thought they called him—and Even, which made nobody happy but was enough of a compromise to allow them to move on to other things. "This portal just appeared, out of nowhere as far as I can tell."

"And you went through just like that?" Even snapped, protective as always. "Anything could've been on the other side!"

"We noticed," said the silver-haired boy dryly. Braig glared at him. He didn't trust this pair of doppelgangers as far as he could throw them.

Kairi continued, "It looked just like an ordinary dark portal, and those went from place to place, not…whatever this one did. Right, Riku?" The boy who had spoken before nodded.

"Wait a sec," Braig interrupted. "You mean you've actually used those things?" He grimaced, disgusted.

"A couple times. I didn't have much choice at the time," replied Kairi. "So do you."

"We do not!" Even exclaimed hotly.

"Well, the versions of you that I remember did," stated Kairi. "Anyway, somehow we ended up here, wherever here is. And that's all I know."

Predictably, Even could always be distracted by a scientific problem. He was already puzzling in his mind over what might have happened. Braig focused on the two boys instead. "And you? You claim you don't know anything either?"

Sora, if that was his name, said, "Less, even. I didn't see it, just came running when Kairi yelled." He seemed completely unaware of the gravity of his situation, sprawling in his chair as if he were at home.

The other one, Riku, just nodded in confirmation. He knew how much trouble he and his friend had walked into; Braig could see it in the way his eyes flitted around the room, looking for a way out. He wouldn't find one, unless he wanted to go through Braig to get to it, and Braig was confident that he could put a bullet in the boy's silver head, Keyblade or no, before he got across the table.

Even started thinking aloud, as he sometimes did when particularly fascinated. "Our studies have already suggested that an ordinary portal of darkness serves to provide near-instantaneous transport by twisting, in a manner of speaking, into another set of dimensions. It's possible that this particular portal ended up tying one end into the wrong dimension entirely…"

"So these three are from another dimension?" Braig put in. "Another universe, maybe—you know, there was that one book from that guy who kept going on about the 'Trouser legs of Time'."

"Could be. Then the…shit. Braig, when they came through here, the universes might've tried to balance out." Even grabbed for his pocket videolink. "Kairi! Kairi, can you hear me?"

Braig had to fight not to show on his face the relief when Kairi's voice responded, "Even? What's wrong?"

Even wasn't as careful about showing emotions as Braig: everyone at the table could see him relax. "Possibly nothing, possibly everything. Braig and I need you and the other four in the library, as soon as you can. It's urgent."

"Really urgent, not Even-urgent," Braig added, sharing Even's videolink rather than using a hand to hold his own.

"All right, I'll find them and come straight up," said Kairi. "See you then." She closed the link from her end.

The Kairi who was seated at the table was staring at the inactive videolink with wide eyes. "Wow. That's…weird. Really, really weird. She sounds just like me."

"If I'm right, she is you," Even said. "Or you're her, or…something even stranger and less plausible. Or maybe I've finally cracked and am hallucinating."

"Aw, you cracked years ago. Didn't start seeing things then, probably won't now. 'Sides, I see 'em too. I always heard hallucinations were more individual than that."

"You might be a hallucination too."

Braig pinched him. "See? No hallucinations here."

"Ow! That was completely unnecessary."

"Says you."

Braig caught a strange expression flitting across Riku's face. The boy tried to hide it, but he was looking at the pair of them with more than just confusion. Not until he raised his head all the way and Braig saw his eyes could he tell what it was: regret. "What?"

He was smart enough to admit there was something to ask about. "I was just remembering the…the versions of you I fought. You really are dead, you know, where I come from. I was wondering where those people went wrong."

"Couldn't say, not knowing what the difference is. I'd just as soon wait for the rest of the gang to get here before thrashing all that out."

"Fair enough."

Kairi—except, of course, she wasn't Kairi, not as Braig knew her—rested her head on her arms. In the girl he knew, he would see an echo of Even in the gesture, but this girl wasn't the same. Whatever tricks of gesture she had came from somewhere else. Another universe.

"Another universe," she said, echoing Braig's thoughts. "Just when I thought I'd seen everything. Why do these things always have to happen when I'm short of sleep?"

"C'mon, Kairi, it's an adventure!" Sora coaxed, resting a hand on her arm. One of her hands turned to grip his.

"Thanks, Sora. Where'd I be without you?"

"Still in the library, reading and ignoring that mysterious portal?" Riku suggested. Sora made a face at him. Braig was well on his way to being convinced that their story was true, not just a plant. The Warriors of Shadow, emotionless and implacable, might be as different off the battlefield as Braig was, but he doubted it.

"All right, what is it?" his Kairi said, opening the library door. "Did you find something we can use in one of the—" She saw the boys, and her reaction was a credit to her teachers (Braig mentally patted himself on the back): she drew her Keyblade with the same movement that took her sideways away from the door, giving the men entering behind her room to react and taking herself further away from the danger.

It was just their luck that Xehanort was first through the door. All it took was for him to catch a glimpse of silver hair, and he was lunging forward, short swords in his hands. The boy jumped to his feet, apparently equally prepared to fight; once they connected there would be no stopping them. Braig hated to do it, not least because Xehanort was deadly in a rage, but he managed to get himself between the pair of them before they were within range of each other.

"Hold up," he ordered, although he really had no authority to give Xehanort orders. "It's more complicated than it looks."

Xehanort was seeing, at that moment, nothing beyond Riku, but he still heard the other Kairi. "Hi. I guess I'm 'more complicated'."

Once everyone had been convinced that both girls were, in fact, Kairi, as far as anyone could tell (Ienzo spent five full minutes interrogating the new arrival about favorite foods, colors, and activities), and that the two boys were the other Kairi's friends, they were persuaded (by the girls) to sit down and talk. Elaeus seated Xehanort firmly as far from Riku as possible, although the two of them kept shooting suspicious looks at each other across the table.

"Explain," Dilan demanded.

After Even had explained his theory, occasionally allowing someone else to get a word in edgewise, everyone looked somewhat stunned. Ienzo recovered the fastest; if they could turn intellectual curiosity into armor against physical assault as well as mental, he would be invulnerable.

"You say the version of Radiant Garden you have come from is significantly different from our own," he said to the girl Braig was mentally calling other-Kairi. "Obviously, your two companions give this statement some weight from our point of view, but from your own perspective, what led you to believe that you weren't in your own universe?"

It took her a little while to think of the right thing to say. That and the way the three newcomers shifted closer together and farther from the table brought Braig's suspicions to life again, but considering what she said, he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. "You, mostly. You're alive, and you're…you're human."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Xehanort asked with narrowed eyes.

"Um, Sora was the one who found out—" Sora gestured at other-Kairi to keep talking. "—but I guess he doesn't feel like talking, wonder of wonders, so here goes. In my world, the six of you were the apprentices of the king of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise."

Braig scowled darkly, as he knew his friends were all doing. He knew that this other universe had to be different, but there were some names he would never be happy to hear. Even was on the point of bursting into speech again; Braig squeezed his hand under the table in a combined reassurance and warning.

Other-Kairi, not being blind, noticed the wave of tension, and her speech paused, but Kairi nodded for her to keep going, so she did, albeit speaking more quickly than before. "He started studying the darkness of the heart, but decided that it was too dangerous and stopped. You didn't. In the end, you all, led by Xehanort, banished him to the realm of darkness and unleashed the Heartless on the worlds."

"What?!" Xehanort leapt to his feet. "How dare you—"

Other-Kairi actually shrank back in the face of his anger. Braig was inclined to believe her, if only because of that. Although she faced him defiantly, she was afraid of Xehanort, and Kairi was far from easy to frighten. "It's true," she insisted. "I'm certain of it."

"Xehanort, sit down," Kairi commanded. "She's telling the truth."

He sat, looking like a kicked puppy. "Surely you don't believe that I would ever…"

"No, I don't. The Xehanort I know would never do such a thing. But the Warriors of Shadow I know wouldn't sit here when they could be attacking us. They're different in that other universe, and so are we."

"If we…did that, then how are you still alive?" Dilan asked other-Kairi. "You don't look like a Heartless."

"I don't know," she admitted. "I was only four at the time, so I don't remember much. All I know is that somehow I ended up on Destiny Islands after that. That's where I've always lived. Until a few years ago, I didn't even know I'd been born here. That's why we came to the castle; I wanted to find out about who I was." She looked closely at Kairi, and Braig knew she was noticing the gold circlet around Kairi's head, the signet ring on her finger, the way they were all grouped around her. "I suppose I did find out. At least, I can make a good guess."

Kairi smiled wryly. "You guess right. I'll tell you more about it later, if you want."

"That would be nice. Thank you. As I was saying, about four years ago the Heartless got as far as Destiny Islands. To make a long story short, Sora here defeated Xehanort's Heartless—I'm sorry, but he completely deserved it!—and since then it's been one thing after another. We've actually had a breathing space for a few months, so we came up to look for my past, and that's that." She looked challengingly at her listeners. "So that's our story. What about you?"

Elaeus was the one who told them. Kairi had been too young to understand at the time, and Elaeus was the most capable of staying calm while he related their history. "They called him Ansem the Cunning.

"He claimed he wanted apprentices. He lied. He wanted slaves. We did everything, and he took the credit. He threatened our families if we told or disobeyed. He used us to oppress the people. We didn't know…and then we couldn't escape. All he did was experiment. He used us for that too.

"It was after he found Xehanort that he started studying the darkness. We were his guinea pigs. He didn't know, but the darkness made us strong. Strong enough to defeat him. We sent him into the darkness. But first he let the Heartless free.

"It was…a bad time. While we were part of the darkness, we could fight the Heartless. But we were losing ourselves, our humanity. We didn't notice until it was almost too late. We were almost Heartless ourselves.

"Kairi saved us. He brought her to the castle, but we liked her, even then. She drove the darkness out of us, brought us back." From the affectionate way the boys looked at other-Kairi, Braig was willing to bet they'd had a similar experience themselves.

"He came back five years ago. We think it's his Heartless, not all of him. He calls himself Darkness in Zero—DiZ. He wants what he calls Kingdom Hearts, but he needs Radiant Garden to get there. Radiant Garden and the Princesses of Heart. So he besieges us. We fight. We lose more than we can afford. He has powerful allies. We have a Keyblade we can't risk losing. Little but the castle remains standing. It is well protected. And so we are here."

The silence left when Elaeus's steady voice ceased was broken by the sound of Riku's head hitting the table. "This is so screwed up, there are no words," he said. Braig was inclined to agree with him.

"C'mon, Riku, we've dealt with weirder things!" Sora said coaxingly.

If his goal was to get Riku to stop banging his head on the table, it succeeded, for what that was worth. "Sora, you don't remember half these people. It's more than a little bit surreal to be talking calmly with someone who made an evil clone of me, or someone who went strolling through my head poking me to see what would happen, especially when they don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about. And that's leaving him out of it," he finished, gesturing in Xehanort's direction.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Xehanort growled.

"It means your Heartless fucking possessed me, you—"

"That is a lie! You are the one who possessed me, so you have no right—"

"What?" Riku looked faintly green. Braig hoped he wasn't going to be sick. "I—I did what?"

Dilan nodded. "The Warrior of Shadow with your appearance is capable of inhabiting another's body. We discovered this when he took control of Xehanort." He wasn't going to tell these strangers, Braig knew, exactly how the Warrior of Shadow had gained a foothold in Xehanort's heart or how difficult it had been to remove him. None of them wanted to think of it, and it would have been needlessly cruel to the boy Riku, who already looked as though he had suddenly found himself in a nightmare.

"I—I possessed someone," he whispered, looking at his shaking hands. "In this universe, I've turned into him."

"No, you haven't," other-Kairi said. "You're still right here, aren't you? You're you, not him. Not ever him."

"It's not you," said Sora firmly, grabbing both of Riku's hands to still them. "That person isn't anything like you at all, I promise. Everyone in this world is completely different, except Kairi, I guess. But, uh, can we not get into a discussion of what the other me's done?" he added, looking around. "I don't think I really wanna know."

Part of Braig was tempted to tell him, just to see what would happen, but he didn't really want to have to deal with two teenagers having nervous breakdowns. Besides, that would have meant two versions of Kairi looking Very Disappointed In Him, and he wasn't willing to go through that just to take his anger out on a pair of innocent kids.

"So, what now?" he asked instead. "D'you believe 'em?"

"Yes," said Kairi firmly, holding up a hand to forestall the inevitable objections. "I know myself better than anyone else, and I would know if I were telling a story. Besides, if they could do all this, create another me and everything, what would be the point of all this rigamarole?"

"She has a point," Even said. "But I repeat Braig's question: what now?"

"Can you get us home?" Sora asked. "That's what we want."

Even's eyes fell. "Not right away," he admitted, "but now we know it can be done, we should be able to develop some kind of portal like the one that brought you here."

"We already have a significant amount of data on the ordinary function of portals of darkness. With some input from our guests, we should be able to acquire the information necessary to create them at the very least. From there, it follows that the creation of a portal between dimensions would not be too difficult," said Ienzo, already thinking a mile a minute.

"The problem's going to be tying into the right universe at the other end," Braig put in, already considering what they knew about portals of darkness. "It looks like them showing up here was random, so getting back's gonna be a real pain in the ass. If we figure a thousand different universes…"

"More than that," Dilan corrected him. "If you consider the principle that two universes diverge at any observable event, the total would be infinite. Even presuming that only events which cause a significant historical difference produce new universes, we could easily be looking at possibilities into the billions."

"It was an example, Dilan, lemme finish! So with a thousand universes, we'd still only have a tenth of a percent chance of finding the right one first try. And there'd be no way to test without going through. You can't bet on all of the universes having a world here at all, and I don't wanna be the one popping into gummispace without a ship."

"Even if a world exists, not all worlds are capable of supporting life as we know it," Elaeus put in. "There are records of ecosystems unlike anything possible on this world."

Before they got any farther, Kairi stood up. "That's settled then. Braig, you've been in charge of the portal project up to now, making you the expert. Dilan, Ienzo, I wouldn't dream of keeping you away from the chance to figure this out," she said when they were about to speak. "As of now, you three make recreating a portal of darkness a priority. I know the rest of you have work to do, and I'm afraid you just got more of it." As one, Elaeus, Even, and Xehanort groaned. "Somebody has to pick up the slack if they're going to hide in the laboratory all day, or sending them home will be a moot point. Back to work, gentlemen," she finished brightly. "It would be nice if we could ask for a cease-fire while we take care of unexpected doppelgangers, but we can't."

"I'll get you for this," Even muttered under his breath to Braig as they stood to go. He always preferred to research; only the fact that this was obviously not his specialty was keeping him from protesting at the division of labor.

"I hope your couch is comfortable," Ienzo whispered in Braig's ear, smirking.

"Duh," he replied succinctly.

Sora raised his hand, the gesture making him look very young. "What about us? I'd like to help you out if I can."

"Wish you could, kid," said Braig, "but I'm gonna need at least one'a you to help us work on the portal. You're the ones with experience using the things."

"I'll do it," Riku volunteered immediately. Braig wasn't about to question his motives; he and Xehanort were still watching each other like two cats in a box. In Riku's place, he would've been looking for any excuse to drop out of sight he could find.

"You should probably go with him, Sora," other-Kairi said matter-of-factly. "I don't think many people around here would be happy to see you anyway, and Riku could use the moral support, considering who he's going to be with." Braig would've been offended, except that it was obviously true. They weren't going to be at ease around Riku, and Riku didn't look like he was going to be at ease around them.

"What about you, Kairi?" Sora asked.

Other-Kairi smiled. "I'm going to spend some time with myself."

---

"There aren't as many people this way," Kairi said, taking her other self by the hand. "It's handy when I want to get to my room without going through half the population of Radiant Garden to get there, or when I want to smuggle a doppelganger in without having to explain."

"Somehow, I don't think that second benefit was what you used it for before now."

"You think so? Really?" Kairi affected shock, although she knew her other self could see through it as easily as Kairi herself could judge her honesty. "There are still guards at my door, of course, who'll have to know, but they can keep secrets. Anyhow, they don't have to know about anyone but you."

She looked curious. "I'm beginning to think you don't want anyone to find out we're here."

"To be perfectly honest, I don't. It's complicated, for your safety as much as ours. On the one hand, if you're who you claim to be, and I believe you are, you could easily end up harmed by someone who didn't believe you or who didn't hear the explanation until too late. On the other hand, if you're a very cunning trap, the fewer people you talk to, the less you can find out about us, and the safer we are."

"That really is complicated. So you're going to hide us away until we can go home?"

"I don't really have a choice. You do understand, don't you?"

She sighed and looked at her feet. "Not really. I wouldn't say that it was a good idea to hide things like this from people who depend on you. But then, I wouldn't know. Nothing like as many people will ever depend on me."

They were outside Kairi's room now. A quick explanation later, the door closed behind the two of them, and she could speak freely again. "Being Queen means making a lot of choices between two things that aren't exactly right or completely wrong. I've gotten used to that."

"And I…haven't," she said quietly, looking at her hands. "I feel like such a child."

Kairi looked at herself. They were the same age, apparently, and the same height and size. Her other self's hair was cut shorter, the ends just curling over her shoulders, and she was dressed like an ordinary girl in clothes suitable for travel. Those differences, however, weren't the ones that mattered. Her skin was tanned darker than Kairi's own, a mark of more time spent outdoors than Kairi had to spare these days. Her smile was light, with only a hint of the sorrow Kairi felt curling around her lips whenever she smiled. Most of all, she stood and moved differently, relaxed even here, as though there were nothing to fear.

Her other self had never known she was a Princess, had grown up without eyes constantly on her, playing like any other child with no lack of friends her own age. Fear had come late to her life, if it had come at all, and she had no experience of loss. Kairi felt a hot, shameful tendril of jealousy uncurl in her mind. She was almost tempted to say something cruel, to make this thoughtless girl understand how lucky she was/

But she wouldn't do that to herself. "It's not all bad. I mean, I can't imagine what it would be like not to know who I was."

"It wasn't as different as you might think," she said. "It's not like I have no memories at all. I have the memories of most of my life, as long as most people have. It's just that the very early pieces aren't in the same place as the rest. It was hard to adjust at first, when I was little, but now I hardly remember living here at all, much less being Ansem's…daughter?"

"Niece," insisted Kairi. "I'm no more a part of that old bastard than I can help. My parents died when I was very small. I wonder sometimes if he did it."

"I don't think so. I mean, I don't remember having parents, and I don't think the Ansem from my universe would've done something like that. Not from what I've heard, anyway. Ansem's niece," she said speculatively. "It doesn't sound like me."

"I never had parents, anyway. My grandmother took care of me when I was little, but she died in the first wave of Heartless. It's been just me and my big brothers for years. I always think of them as my big brothers," Kairi explained quickly. "They're no relation really, but they took care of me since I was little, and they're my family now."

She smiled, a smile with more bound up in it than any Kairi had seen from her before. "You're lucky to have them. They really love you."

"What does that mean?"

"It's just…I've seen them, in my world. They'd lost their hearts to the darkness; they couldn't care about anyone, even if they wanted to. Seeing them like this makes that hurt more, in a way."

There was something she wasn't saying, but Kairi was willing to leave her other self's raw places alone. "It's weird seeing your two boys like that, all happy. It makes me wonder what the ones I've seen are really like. I don't really know."

"Do you think it might be worth while to try talking them around to your side?"

Kairi replied with a very unladylike snort. "As if! I don't know where His Dizziness found them, but they're bad through and through. I couldn't ever forgive them for everyone they killed, or for what they did to Xehanort. He's been walking on eggs for a year, scared we'll decide he's too much of a risk to have around."

"He's afraid the people he loves can't forgive what happened to him, because he can't forgive himself for letting it happen," she mused.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Riku's been the same way, ever since…since we found him again. He tried not to let us even see him at first, he was so convinced we wouldn't be able to see who he was. Even now, I think there's a part of him that doesn't believe he deserves to be happy."

"I know what you mean. Xehanort was seeing Drace, she's one of our best warriors, and then after he was possessed he tried to break everything off with her. She didn't let him, but I think he still tries now and then. It's sad, how the bad things that happen still have so much power over us even after they're gone."

She nodded and looked at her hands twisted together on her lap. "I know."

At this rate, they were going to end up in tears before the day was through. Kairi made herself smile instead. "Do you want to try on some of my clothes? I've never been able to see how I look in them properly."

She smiled too. "That sounds like fun!"

---

Sora was bored out of his mind. They had been sitting in the laboratory for quite literally hours, doing absolutely nothing. Well, the not-Nobodies were doing something, talking amongst themselves about kinds of science and magic that Sora didn't think he'd ever be able to understand, but he and Riku had nothing to do unless one of them asked a question about portals of darkness, and even then it was usually Riku who answered. Any time Sora got near anything that looked interesting, someone snapped, "Don't touch that!" He almost wished they could have stayed in the library. At least there he could probably find something to read, or at least explore. The laboratory was too full of fragile things for exploring, and anyway there were no hidden corners. He could see everything already. The walls were grey. It was the most boring room he'd ever been stuck in, except maybe math class.

He started poking Riku, just for something to do. Riku put up with it for five whole minutes; he must have been almost as bored as Sora was.

"Stop that," he said at last. Sora ignored him. "Soraaaa…" Finally he grabbed the finger Sora was using to poke him. "I said stop." Sora started poking him with the other hand. "How old are you, five?"

"I'm bored," Sora complained, poking Riku again as he said it.

"And just what do you expect me to do about it?"

"Entertain me?"

"Do I look like a monkey trained to dance for your amusement?" Riku demanded. "Don't answer that. What do you expect me to do?"

"I dunno. Something. Hey, I think I have some cards somewhere."

"If you still have leftovers from Castle Oblivion, I'll be seriously worried about the state of your pockets."

"Nope, just ordinary playing cards. Well, actually it's that Organization Thirteen deck I found in my pockets when I woke up back then, but nothing weird's ever happened with them before."

"Works for me. I still think they're kind of creepy, though. What d'you want to play?"

"Agrabah War?"

Riku groaned. "This is your revenge for all those times I hit you on the fingers when we were sparring, isn't it? And it takes forever with two people."

"It looks like we'll have forever, doesn't it?" Sora pointed out, quite sensibly, he thought. "Unless you're scared to lose."

"You're the one who should be scared," said Riku with a smirk. "Deal 'em."

They were still about even but significantly more bruised about the fingers ten minutes later when Braig tried to ask a question and, receiving no response, wandered over to see what they were up to. He blinked at the card on top of the heap. "Is there a reason I'm on your card?"

Sora jumped. He hadn't heard Braig coming. From the way Riku was smiling, Sora was willing to bet that he had. "Yeah. I got this deck from…well, it's a really long story, but the guy who made them was in Organization Thirteen, like our universe's versions of you. I think he made the cards as a joke, sort of."

Braig shook his head. "Kid, the weirdest thing about what you just said is that it isn't even close to the weirdest thing I've heard today. Are we all on the cards?"

"Yup. Call it a draw?" he asked Riku, who nodded. Sora scooped up the rest of the cards. "Here's you, and…hang on a sec…"

"They're ace through six," Riku reminded him.

"I know that!" Sora flipped through the cards, looking for the right ones. "Three…six…ace…four…five…yeah, that's all of you. See?"

Braig looked more amused by the cards than anything. "Weird. Looks just like me. But why's Even blond?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno. It happens sometimes when people lose their hearts to darkness: their Nobodies end up looking a little different. I mean, my Nobody was blond, too, and so was Kairi's."

Suddenly, he didn't look as amused any more. "Your Kairi lost her heart?" He was looking at Sora like he could read his mind, which Sora wasn't entirely sure he couldn't.

Fortunately, Riku saved him from having to explain. "Not exactly. She did, sort of, but since she's a Princess of Heart she never had a Heartless, just a Nobody. It shouldn't happen to your Kairi, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"…Unless your world falls to darkness," Riku said, softly enough that Sora could barely hear him.

"Cheerful little brat, aren't you?"

Sora gave Riku's arm a squeeze. "But we got Kairi back in the end, so I'm sure if anything bad happens to your Kairi, you can too!"

Braig glowered down at them, arms crossed. "You've been hiding half your story, haven't you?"

"It isn't important," Riku said. What he really meant, Sora knew, was that it hurt him too much to think about, even now.

"Sure. Totally unimportant stuff about losing her heart. Dude, who d'you think you're gonna fool?"

The other two must have noticed that something was going on, because they joined Braig. Sora didn't have to look at Riku to know he was having trouble standing up against all their suspicious looks. He himself knew he hadn't done anything wrong, so he could meet their eyes without flinching, but for Riku even thinking about that time made him wallow in guilt until they dragged him out of it. Obviously, Sora would have to do the explaining if he wanted Riku not to manage to take the blame for everything, including the invention of cough syrup.

Just as he opened his mouth to start, someone knocked on the door. "Guess who!" Kairi's voice said.

Shooting them a look that promised more questions later, Dilan opened the door. Kairi—some Kairi—came in. "Guess which one I am," she said, smiling.

Sora looked at her. She was dressed like the other Kairi, but that didn't really mean anything. He ignored the clothes and just looked at her. "Not ours," he said firmly. Riku nodded.

She pouted. "I was hoping I could fool you," said the other Kairi. "What gave me away?"

"You're just…not the Kairi I know," said Sora, aware he was explaining very badly. "I'd know our Kairi anywhere, and you're not her."

"Oh, well. I really came down to say that it's past time for you to come have something to eat. Besides, you two must be bored silly in here."

"There is nothing boring about the lab," Ienzo said.

"Not for you, I know, but the rest of us disagree. We can all eat in my sitting room; no one will think it unusual."

Sora heard the scream from several hallways away, and before he knew what he was doing, instinct took over and he dashed around the last three corners, Keyblade in hand, Riku close at his heels. Part of him already knew what he would find.

The door to the other Kairi's set of rooms was open, and the two guards were inside, looking helplessly at nothing. There was no sign of Kairi anywhere.

---

"They must have thought she was me," Kairi said guiltily. "She was wearing my clothes, and in my room, and of course they don't know me well enough to tell the difference."

"It wasn't your fault," Even said for the twelfth time. "It could just as easily have been you there, and then where would we be?"

"I know, but—"

He never had much patience where emotions were concerned at the best of times, and now was very nearly the worst. "But nothing! It's done, one way or the other, and I'd rather you were safe." It was probably not a very comforting thing to say, but everyone who was better at being comforting was elsewhere, explaining to a people very close to panic what had happened and why the Warriors of Shadow were there looking so worried. "Thinking about it won't change a thing. If you need something to think about, think about how they managed to get into a locked room warded by the strongest spells we know, then vanish without a trace in less time than it takes to open the door."

That was what was worrying Even, far more than the loss of someone who was more completely redundant than anyone else in the castle. Kairi's rooms had the best security they had been able to find or invent: the guards were as nearly completely trustworthy as it was possible to be in Ienzo's suspicious eyes; the wards on the room preventing the use of portals of darkness were stronger than anywhere else in the castle; the windows would open only from the inside, and this other version of Kairi was not so sheltered as to open them for a stranger. If DiZ's forces had contrived a way to circumvent all their security measures, they were as good as dead already unless they could think of a way to counteract it before DiZ started sending armies of Heartless directly into the castle.

"The windows weren't forced," he said, thinking aloud. "If someone came in that way, he was let in and closed the window behind him. I suppose it's possible that there's a version of you somewhere foolish enough to open the window for something as petty as fresh air, but I hope not. That would be too much of a coincidence." His eyes lit on the two boys, who were standing by the door, bearing up quite well, considering, under the parade of suspicious glares from people who came to see what was going on. "Do you suppose the Warriors of Shadow could do a good enough imitation of her friends to get her to open the window for one of them?"

"No," said Riku flatly. He had obviously been listening, although his eyes never left the corridor. "Kairi's not stupid. She knows how we react. If something bad happened and we had to get to her fast, we'd be at the door, not the window."

"Besides, she'd know the difference between us and the evil us better than anyone," Sora added. Unlike Riku, he turned to look at Even when he talked. "She always knows—remember, Riku?"

"Yeah."

Even groaned. "No, of course it couldn't be that easy. It's never that easy. Someone can't just be gullible; we have to have a complete security breach. The wards weren't even broken! Whoever grabbed her didn't go in the door, didn't climb in the window, and didn't break the teleportation wards. And, just to make it even better, he vanished without a trace in seconds!"

Kairi had taken the time to get herself under control, as much, Even knew, to reassure the people still passing by as because she really was calm. Still, she looked almost as usual when she asked, "Did the guards see anyone at all go in or come out?"

"Of course not. And Ienzo questioned them, so if they said no one went in, no one went in. He went back over the whole day, just in case someone had snuck in earlier and hidden under an invisibility spell—not that those wards were set off, either, but they aren't as well maintained. Everyone they saw go in or out has confirmed that it really was them. As far as we can tell, she simply vanished into thin air."

"How do the wards you're talking about work?" Riku asked, still not turning around.

Even explained, "It was necessary to keep the Heartless from entering the castle by magical means, so we modified a spell generally used for individual rooms to affect the whole castle. No spells of any kind can pass into the castle from outside. In addition, no teleportation of any kind can either begin or end within the walls, thereby keeping our enemies from using portals of darkness to attack us."

"But we got here," said Sora, looking confused.

"That's—you're right!" All in a flash, he had it. His words fell over each other as they tried to keep pace with his racing thoughts. "We've been trying to find out how that portal worked, but we never thought to ask who made it in the first place. I didn't even think of it once you said it wasn't you, but it could explain everything! DiZ must have been trying to make a different kind of portal, one we couldn't block. The portal that brought you here must've been his first try. It didn't work, but his second one did."

Kairi got to her feet, all business. "I think you've got it. All right, let's go. We need to get the others and get them now. They deserve to hear this."

It didn't take long to track the other five down. Once they were, Even explained his reasoning again. Ienzo responded by swearing, quietly but creatively. "It was so simple," he said. "So simple I didn't see it at all." Ordinarily, Even would have gloated about having figured it out when Ienzo had failed, but in their state of nervous tension, it would have ended in a fight.

"We have no choice. We have to go after DiZ now, while we still can," Kairi declared. "Once he knows his new portal works, he won't waste any time. We have to get to him before he has a chance to move."

"It's worse than that." The boy Riku looked much more daunted by the situation than his companion. "To open the Door to Darkness, he needs the seven Princesses of Heart, a Keyblade, and the door here in Radiant Garden. Up until now, he's only had the Keyblade—at least, I guess one of our counterparts should have one." Even nodded; the one who must be their version of Sora had a dark Keyblade. "But now he has the last Princess of Heart, and he can get into Radiant Garden any time he wants. It won't take long for this whole world to fall to darkness if he manages to put them all together."

"But it won't, because we're going to rescue her. Right?" said Sora with determination. Even wondered with a pang of bitterness what his world was like, that he could be so sure of victory against such odds. It had been years since any of them had had such hope.

"Right," Kairi agreed. "Ienzo, Dilan, Braig: how long until you can create an ordinary portal of darkness?"

"If we're right in our calculations, as soon as we leave the castle," replied Dilan. "If we're wrong, maybe never. For what it's worth, I'm as sure as I'm going to get." Privately, Even hoped it would be enough. He hadn't known they were so close, or else the strangers had led them to the right conclusions very quickly indeed.

"All right. This is what we're going to do. Five people are going to go through the portal with the goal of rescuing the other me and stopping DiZ once and for all. Everyone else will stay here and prepare to defend the door to the world's heart by any means possible, in case the first team fails."

"What teams?" Elaeus asked, voicing the question in all of their minds.

"Sora and Riku are going, obviously. Among other things, we'll never have two Keyblade wielders to fight for us again. That leaves three people, and I think the best choices would be Braig, Dilan…and me."

"No!" Even shouted, one of six voices all upraised at once.

"We can't afford to risk your life," said Dilan.

"The people will lose hope without you," put in Ienzo.

"What's the point in giving him his choice of Princesses of Heart?" demanded Braig.

"We can spare her more easily than you," Even himself added.

Xehanort alone didn't offer a counterargument. The burning emotion in his eyes and the tight line of his mouth said everything he refused to put into words.

Kairi got to her feet. "Do you think I haven't thought this through?" she asked them all. "We have just one chance to get rid of him for good. If we lose, I'm as good as dead anyway, whether I'm here or there. I'm going to devote every resource I can spare to victory, because defeat means the end for everyone."

"Then we should all go," Ienzo said. "We are no more valuable than you."

"No. For one thing, he'll be expecting you. Sora, Riku, and I have to go, because he won't be expecting any of us, and so he won't have planned for it. As for the rest, I need to know my people will be taken care of, in case…well, in case I win but don't come back. You four are the best people for that."

There were so many things Even wanted to say, but the only one that left his lips was, "Without you, we'll end up fighting over everything and never getting anything done. You're the only one who can pull us together, who can make it all work."

"Xehanort can." Kairi smiled a little sadly. "I'm not sure if you believe it, but I know you can do it. You're the only one who can."

Slowly, he raised his eyes to hers. What passed between them, only they knew. After a long moment, Xehanort said, "As my Queen wishes."

"Then that's settled." The moment over, Kairi was all business again. "We need to get the portal device outside the castle for long enough to use it. Where would be best?"

"The rear courtyard," Dilan replied promptly. "It's not under the wards, but the wings of the castle give us two hundred seventy degrees of coverage. We can clear it in ten minutes and hold it for an hour before they break back in. After that, it will take another hour to make up more fuel for the guns and clear it again."

"Hopefully, that long won't be necessary. Here's the plan: we leave in fifteen minutes from the rear courtyard. The five of us will go directly to DiZ's stronghold. If we succeed in our primary objective, we will use the device to bring us back to the courtyard. If you can, clear the courtyard for ten minutes starting every hour on the hour. We'll come back in one of those windows if we can. You should see a dramatic change in the behavior of the Heartless if we succeed. If no such change occurs in three hours, presume us to have failed and prepare to defend the world's heart. At the very least, DiZ should be significantly weakened. It is possible you will succeed even if we fail. Good luck, everyone. Fifteen minutes in the courtyard."

Even caught Braig by the arm when they both stood to go and ducked into the nearest empty room with him. Once they were alone, however, he found that all the words seemed to have dried up in his mouth.

"Looks like this is it," Braig said awkwardly.

"Does it have to be you?" Even demanded, finding words at last.

At least Braig answered honestly. "Yeah, I think it does. There's no one but us I'd trust to keep her safe."

"But—why you?" At that moment Even would cheerfully have thrown any one of his friends to the wolves if it would have kept Braig from leaving.

"'Cause you don't need me as much. Dilan and I, we're at our best fighting. If this works, Radiant Garden won't need that as much as it'll need Ienzo to be sneaky or Xehanort to make the tough choices or Elaeus to put the world back together or Even to figure it all out."

Even laughed, although it felt more like a sob. "They won't need me for that, not as much as they'll need you to keep them sane."

"As if! Look, Even, I don't plan on biting it today, or tomorrow, or the day after. But if I do, I'd rather know it'll help keep you safe and happy for years."

"Happy!" Even's voice cracked on the second syllable. "Braig…"

"You're gonna be happy," he insisted. "Maybe not right away, but after awhile you'll sort yourself out and be happy, you cranky old sonufabitch. You better, or I'll haunt you."

Even couldn't bring himself to smile. Instead, he held Braig close and just felt with all his might, memorizing the feeling of his body and the smell of his hair.

When they parted, they both pretended to have dry eyes. "I gotta go put the finishing touches on the doohickey," Braig said. "You coming to see us off?"

"Of course. Nothing ever works right if I'm not there," he said, trying to smile and almost succeeding. Braig slipped out of the room, but Even stayed, using the time alone to pull himself together despite the cold, heavy clench of fear in his gut.

---

The courtyard was an oasis of silence. Around the castle, its defenders fought to repel the Heartless. Just across the courtyard, the guns cracked as row upon row of Heartless were mowed down, keeping the courtyard open long enough for the small group to leave. Dilan had just come from making one final inspection of the guns: they would last as long as their fuel lasted, however long that was. He had always intended to make them more fuel-efficient at some point, but there had never been the time. After this, there would either be all the time he would need or they would no longer be his concern.

The others were there to see them off. It was probably unwise to leave other matters to manage themselves at this critical juncture, but Dilan knew why they had done so. They all knew that this might be the last goodbye.

Kairi was no less resolute than she had been in the council room. She met their eyes with a smile that almost made Dilan believe nothing could go wrong.

"There is truly no way to convince you to stay?" Xehanort asked, deep voice mournful.

"None at all." When he would have knelt to her, Kairi stopped him. "I don't want to accept my subject's loyalty. I want my big brother to give me a hug."

Xehanort mumbled something into the top of Kairi's head, but Dilan turned away to give them some pretense at time alone before he could hear what was said. He found himself looking into Ienzo's deep blue eyes, eyes which as always seemed to see right through him.

"I suppose the thing to do is wish you good fortune," Ienzo said.

"Wish me good speed, rather," said Dilan, thinking of the time they might not have. "Keep your fortune for yourself. And—Ienzo—don't tell her, if I don't return. It would be a needless cruelty."

He nodded. "If you do return, however, you must tell her."

"If I return, the world will be so changed that I will." Dilan thought of her as he had last seen her: smiling at him from the corner of the palace garden, now given over almost entirely to the growing of food, that she had saved for flowers, seeming bright and vibrant even by comparison to the riot of colors around her. If by some miracle he returned, there would be room for flowers everywhere. He would like to see her among them again.

Even and Braig spoke to Kairi together, and then came to join Dilan and Ienzo in preparing the device for use. Dilan politely refrained from commenting on the tear tracks still visible on Even's face.

"It won't get any readier for staring at it," Braig said, tightening the last wires one more time. "Now or never, guys." He and Even carefully avoided meeting each other's eyes.

Dilan rested a hand on Even's arm. "I'll see them both home safely, if I can," he promised in a low voice. It wasn't, he knew, comfort enough, but it was the best he could offer without lying.

"If anyone can, it's you," replied Even thickly. It was all the goodbye they had time for.

It was Elaeus who found the right words at last. Bending, he pressed his lips tenderly to Kairi's forehead as though she were still a child being tucked into bed. "Go well, little sister," he said simply.

Everyone who was going gathered around Braig, who was holding the device in his hands. "Here goes nothing," he said, switching it on.

For a moment the courtyard seemed to twist in Dilan's vision, walls and ground and friends bending in impossible directions. Then they were gone, and he saw only blackness.

---

When the five adventurers stepped out of the darkness, they were at first uncertain if they had. The sky above them was sunless, although it had been full noon when they had left. The only light was faintly blue, coming from the sea which seemed to give off a slight glow of its own, making all of their faces look corpselike.

Sora gave a strangled cry. "It's—home! But what happened?"

It wasn't only the light that made Riku look ill. "The darkness is devouring the world. It's like…Hollow Bastion was."

"Where's Hollow Bastion?" Dilan asked. "Something else you neglected to mention?"

"After Radiant Garden was attacked by the Heartless, people started calling it Hollow Bastion," Sora explained. "But it's Radiant Garden again now. This is…this is our world, the world we came from, only it looks like Hollow Bastion did when we first saw it."

The trees were gnarled and half-bent, as though by some overwhelming wind. The sand itself was packed flat, and the glowing sea licked at the wreckage of what had once been wooden buildings. The island looked like a hurricane more powerful than any nature could have created had passed over. There was no sign of any living thing anywhere.

"They'll be by the door," Riku said, getting a grip on himself. "I think I know where that is from here. Come on!" He started to run, feet not even denting the packed sand. The others followed him, Sora quickly catching up to run beside him. Braig and Dilan each grabbed Kairi's hands when she stumbled over driftwood, catching her before she could do more than miss a step.

They hadn't gone far when the boys in front stopped at the edge of the water. "I think we found it," said Sora.

"Nah, really?" Braig asked sarcastically. "I figured your world always had castles made of shadow that covered an entire island. It matches the rest of the architecture, right?"

Over the small island where, in their own universe, Riku and Sora were used to playing, a towering castle did in fact loom. The entire island had become a part of it, trees turning into towers and wooden buildings becoming part of the dark walls. All around it the faintly glowing ocean flowed.

"So, now what?" Dilan stooped and poked at the water cautiously. "This seems like ordinary water, besides the glow. Safe enough to swim, if it comes to that."

"Hang on a sec," Sora said, clambering over a pile of rocks toward a cove off the beach. "All right! I guess the evil us are creatures of habit. They left their boats in the same place."

"Then let's get moving. I don't want to be here longer than I have to," said Riku.

Kairi was the first one to find the problem. "How are we going to get inside?"

Braig peered across at the island. "There looks like some kinda drawbridge over there. Where there's a bridge, there's bound to be a door."

"As for getting inside, it will depend on their security," Dilan added. "They may not be expecting anyone to come this way."

When they rowed across to the tiny island where the end of the drawbridge rested, however, they found that someone, at least, was expected: Riku's double was leaning against the gate, looking out over the water. He showed no sign of leaving, either.

"I'll handle this," Sora whispered, vaulting neatly up onto the bridge. He approached the gate casually, apparently deciding to pretend that he was his own double.

The Warrior of Shadow wasn't fooled. "Who do you think you are?" he demanded, a sword appearing in his hand.

Sora didn't flinch. "Don't you recognize me after all this time, Riku?"

"You're not Sora. You don't move like him or smile like him. Show your true self, and I may be merciful."

"This is my true self. I'm Sora."

"Liar." The dark sword would have sliced Sora's head from his shoulders if not for the Keyblade, which he called to his hand in time to block the blow. The other Riku stared. "How can you have a Keyblade?"

"Because I'm Sora." Sora looked at the dark Riku sadly. "If you don't believe me, come on and I'll show you. I beat you enough times right here on this little island, didn't I?" His most competitive expression on his face, Sora waited.

"You didn't beat me; I beat you," the other Riku corrected dismissively. "Without that overgrown latchkey, I could beat you again."

"Yeah? Prove it!"

As the pair started back across the wooden drawbridge, the other four hidden by the edge of the island held their breaths. They heard a sudden exclamation, a splash, and then Sora shouting, "Now! Quick!"

"What did you do?" Kairi asked, hurrying across the bridge. The sound of swearing from below her made her look down. The other Riku was in the water, cursing Sora and all of them as he swam quickly towards the way back up onto the island.

"I tripped him," Sora admitted. He tapped the gate with his Keyblade, and the lock slid obediently open. "Riku used to do it to me all the time."

" 'Used to'? Sora, I tripped you off the bridge yesterday. You never look where you're going."

"Obviously, neither do you."

The gate swung shut behind them, leaving the rescuers in a dark hallway.

"No signs," Braig observed.

"Of course not. That would be making things easy," said Dilan.

"So, which way?"

Riku shut his eyes and focused. "That way," he said, pointing left.

"How do you know?" Kairi asked, although she was already heading down the passage indicated.

"I can sense the darkness. It's thickest that way."

"Is how you can do that another one of those completely unimportant things you didn't feel like telling us?" Dilan asked suspiciously.

Riku only looked at his feet, but Sora spoke up. "It was a while ago, and it's mostly better now. Riku doesn't like to talk about it. I didn't ask you about the stuff about Ansem you didn't tell us."

"Fair point. As long as it really works and doesn't lead us into a trap."

"I'm hoping that it won't," Riku said. "We should hurry, before the evil me decides to warn DiZ about us."

"It may already be too late," said Kairi, speeding up. "Portals of darkness, remember? We should assume they're waiting for us."

---

Kairi was still undecided about whether or not to struggle against the ropes, if they were ropes, tying her to a chair. On the one hand, she had to get at least one hand free to summon the Keyblade if she wanted to free herself. On the other hand, every cell in her body was trying to shrink away from the touch of the smooth ropes, which left the slimy, hot-and-cold feeling she associated with darkness everywhere they touched.

She had been debating this question since she had woken up, alone, in this strange room full of machines whose purpose she couldn't even begin to guess. Considering the other people in the room, she wasn't sure she wanted to know at all.

The DiZ of this universe looked very much like the Ansem the Wise she had seen for a few minutes and a few shadowy memories in her own. If it hadn't been for his clothes, she might not have been able to tell the difference. The Heartless symbol, however, was a dead giveaway.

It had almost been better the last time she had been captured by the Heartless. At least then she had been unconscious and unable to be frightened. Now she was stuck here, aware but helpless, trying to think of a way to escape before DiZ realized that she wasn't the Kairi he had intended to kidnap and what that meant. Fortunately, he was so fascinated with one particularly nasty-looking machine that he had yet to ask her any questions. Possibly he was hoping to keep her on edge with uncertainty.

If he was, it was working. Kairi tried again to expand the ropes by pushing out enough to slip a hand free, but they only clung like barnacles to her skin and refused to be stretched. The movement, however, attracted DiZ's attention.

"I wouldn't struggle, were I you, 'Your Majesty'," he said in a hauntingly familiar voice, a voice she fuzzily remembered singing her to sleep. "It won't do you any good." He left the machine and stood over her, his attitude a parody of paternal interest. "Now, my dear niece, it occurs to me that it has been some time since we saw each other. Under such circumstances, it would be appropriate to ask you what you have been making of yourself."

She would have to guess what the other her would say, it seemed. The Queen of Radiant Garden, kidnapped by a man she had once loved as a father, perhaps, a man who had done terrible things to people she also loved, just out of her reach now, so smug while all the fury of light grew in her heart…Really, she knew exactly how she would reply.

Kairi spat in his face. "You have no right to ask me anything anymore."

He seemed more amused than offended; he still thought he held all the cards. "Clearly, your upbringing has not been what it ought to be. Does no one in that drafty pile of stone I was once forced to call mine have manners?" He smirked. "I suppose not. After all, the men you foolishly allow so near you are mere nobodies, the scum of the world. I could hardly expect them to be capable of imitating their betters."

He was trying to hurt the person he thought she was, Kairi realized. If he had been talking about Riku or Sora like that, she would've been more furious than she was already. But she didn't know these people well enough to have the same reaction. All he was doing was giving her the time to think of a plan.

The darkness was tight around her arms and legs. She wasn't strong enough to snap them like ropes, and wouldn't have been even if they had been no more than ordinary rope. Without a Keyblade, the only thing she could use was magic. As DiZ talked on, saying things that would've cut the other Kairi to the bone, she thought back to Disney Castle, and Donald ranting incoherently at her until she finally managed to cast…

"Fire," she whispered. Under the circle of flame that whirled around her, the dark bindings crumbled as if they had never been there. Before DiZ could react, she was on her feet, Keyblade held before her. "How dare you talk about them like that?!" she snapped on behalf of the girl who wasn't there to say it.

DiZ was taken by surprise, probably by the magic, but he was still quick enough to retreat that her first strike only cut the trailing cloth of his sleeve. "Sora!" he called, voice somehow echoing through the room and beyond. "To me!"

He was there before the last echo died, and Kairi's breath caught: he was so very much like Sora to look at that she almost smiled at him out of reflex to reassure him that she was fine. The edges of his smile, though, were like the smile of the Nobody she had known only briefly as Axel, as sharp and as humorless and as deadly. He was holding a Keyblade that seeped darkness from every inch of the black metal.

He grinned at her, a twisted expression that was too much and not enough like Sora. "I bet I'm better with it," he said.

Even as she brought her arm up to block his first swing, Kairi knew he was right. She had been really training for only two years, and nobody in her world could beat Sora. Maybe that wasn't the same here, but she wasn't good enough to fight him and DiZ at the same time even so. She ducked, jumped, and rolled until Sora-not-Sora was between her and DiZ, making it more difficult for DiZ to hit her with the magic she could see him preparing. He tried all the same, but it burst harmlessly over their heads. At the same time, Kairi tried to forget whose eyes she was watching for a hint at his next move. She couldn't kill Sora, but at the same time she had to, or she and this entire universe would die.

"Come on, Your Majesty," he drawled, parrying another attack, "why don't you join us? It's fun, the darkness. It's everything you ever wanted. You could join us, me and Riku, if you wanted. Wouldn't that be great?"

Kairi wasn't tempted, not even a little bit. He didn't know it, but he couldn't offer her anything she didn't already have. It wouldn't have worked on the other Kairi, either, albeit for different reasons.

She was good enough to hold him off, and even make him defend himself, but she tired more easily than he did with the darkness supporting him. She could feel the exhaustion creeping up on her, slowing her movements and tiring her arm. She hadn't slept in too long, not since a day and a half before and a universe away. DiZ was still trying to blast her with magic; if she stopped moving he would have time to really aim, and if she took the time to cast a spell on him then the not-Sora would get her.

"Sir, there's a problem," she heard behind her in a voice that was almost Riku's. It had just gotten even worse.

Before Kairi could do more than think that, however, she heard Riku's voice for real, calling, "Hurry! Through here!" The door slammed open, and suddenly her three enemies were falling back, expressions of shock on their faces.

Sora was the first to Kairi's side. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, gasping for breath. "You're not as…good as you…if that makes any sense."

Riku grinned. "Of course he isn't. He didn't have us."

DiZ's eyes flicked back and forth between Kairi and her other self, who was advancing o him menacingly between Dilan and Braig. Kairi couldn't really blame him for being surprised, considering. "You—but how—"

Braig smirked. "You're never gonna find out. Sucks, don't it?"

"Such a great scientist," Dilan added, saying the words as though they burned his mouth, "and the people you dismissed so casually know something you never will."

To his credit, DiZ spent no more time wondering. "Sora! Riku!" he ordered. "Kill them all but one of the girls. Either one will do."

Riku and Sora couldn't have coordinated their movements more perfectly if they'd practiced, Kairi had time to notice. They turned toward their doubles and attacked in perfect synch. The doppelgangers were almost as good at fighting together, but almost wasn't going to be enough.

Kairi would only be in the way in that fight; her boys were going to win anyway, she knew from the first. She could read even this other Sora and Riku as well as they could read themselves, and they were no match for her boys. Instead of helping, therefore, she turned towards where her other self was confronting DiZ.

The outcome of that fight was much less certain. DiZ was obviously a powerful mage, and his every gesture seemed to send another spout of dark magic up. Dilan in particular had his hands full just dodging them, much less getting close enough to put the lances gripped in both hands to use. Braig was having a slightly better time of it, being smaller and having weapons effective at greater distances, but his bullets were mostly cracking ineffectually against the oil-smear shimmer of a shield around DiZ. As for Kairi's other self, she was struggling forward, using magic of her own to fight the dark magic that threatened to overwhelm her. She was better with magic than Kairi was herself, a product of different training, but she had said before that she seldom if ever fought physically in the war. She was too valuable to risk, but now it was working against her.

Kairi ran forward, dodging bolts of magic with a trick she had learned from Sora. Her other self might not have fighting experience, but she had, and it might be enough to turn the tide.

She reached Dilan's side as he stumbled, a lucky magical attack having managed to strike him full on. Magic slipped out of her as she cured him; she wouldn't be able to do it again for a while. He nodded to her in acknowledgment, and then she was off again, trying to cross the treacherous ground that kept her from herself.

Her other self was forming a shield of her own, using it to reflect DiZ's attacks back at him, but his shield seemed to absorb them. They would never get to him at this rate.

"Magic doesn't get through," her other self said, breathing hard with the effort. "If he lost that shield…"

Kairi thought about it, dodging back and forth as DiZ turned his attention to her. His shield was absorbing all magic, but Braig's bullets seemed to hit it, even if they couldn't get through…"I have an idea," she said. "Go back to Dilan; he needs help closing in."

"And you?"

Kairi grinned. "I'll be taking the shield out."

It was easier said than done; as DiZ saw her getting closer, he focused his attacks on her, until it was all Kairi could do to dodge the biggest ones. Tumbling forward, she barely managed to duck under the beam of blackness he shot towards her, but when she had, she found herself next to him. All that was between them was the shield, which gleamed as nastily as ever.

It didn't give beneath her Keyblade at first, but she could feel her blows strike home, and each time she did, Kairi felt the shield bulge inward a little more, as if she were stretching it like rubber. It wouldn't take much more before it gave.

DiZ could see that as well as she could. The constant crack of his magic stopped as he turned it all on Kairi, blasting her full force before she had a chance to dodge. Her world exploded in pain as she flew backward, the blow too sudden for her even to scream. She barely felt it when she hit the stone floor in the haze of agony.

"Kairi!" The pleasant green feeling of Sora's most powerful healing spell washed over her, chasing the pain away, and Kairi gasped for breath, looking up into two pairs of worried eyes.

"I'll be fine now," she managed, still short of breath. "The other Sora and Riku?"

Sora wouldn't meet her eyes, but Riku would, staring back defiantly, the stubborn expression on his face that he wore when he was expecting to be yelled at. "We took care of them."

As always, Riku's idea of what she was going to yell at him for was very different from her own. "Good," she said.

Using Riku's arm as a ladder, she pulled herself to her feet and turned to look at the battle she had so unexpectedly left.

Her interference had at least given Dilan and her other self time to reach DiZ, for they were both there, standing on opposite sides of him and battering at his shield. It was bulging and shaking even more, and despite DiZ's best efforts he had yet to manage to hit them with whatever he had used on Kairi. As she watched, Braig took careful aim and shot, hitting the shield just as Dilan did in almost exactly the same spot, and it burst at last like a bubble. The three of them fell on DiZ at once.

"Do you think we should help them?" Riku asked.

Sora shook his head, voicing the same thought Kairi had been on the point of putting into words. "This is their fight, not ours. Besides, they don't look like they need our help."

Even without his shield, DiZ was tough, but Kairi could see that Sora was right. The other three were putting all they had into their attacks, and he had nothing capable of standing against them. Some of his blows struck home, but not enough to tip the balance. He was going to lose.

As Dilan yanked one lance free of where he had buried it in DiZ's shoulder, the Heartless let forth his final and most vicious attack. Crescent-shaped blades of dark magic slashed across the room, cutting through anything in their path. Kairi ducked as one whistled through the space where her head had been. From the scream of pain she heard, someone else had not been so lucky. Even as the scream reached her ears, however, it was over. Her other self's Keyblade sliced clean across DiZ's throat, and he crumpled like a poorly-made sandcastle, dissolving into the darkness.

"For Radiant Garden." Her other self's voice echoed in the silence of the room.

Kairi shared a smile with her best friends, but the moment of triumph could not last. Braig, she now saw, had been the one to scream: he was crumpled against a wall, one hand still gripping a gun, the other pressed against his stomach, blood seeping slowly around his fingers.

Dilan was by his side almost before Kairi had seen, his gentleness as he felt for a pulse at odds with the violence of his actions only seconds before. When he looked up, he was as visibly desperate as he had not been throughout the battle. "He's alive, but not for long. Do any of you have any magic left, or potions?"

One by one, they shook their heads. The battle had been long, and the end had seen them use most of their healing just to stay alive long enough. Kairi reached out to the place inside her where her magic lived. It was still gone, not quite enough time passed to regain it, but it should be only a few more seconds. She had used her magic the earliest; if anyone was going to get it back in time, it was—

As she felt once more the flow of magic within her, Kairi practically flew across the room. She knew only simple magic, but even a Cure might be enough…She forced the magic through her fingers into Braig, pulling him back as far as she could from the brink of death she sensed him on the point of falling over.

It was not a Cure. She knew the sensation of a Cure leaving her body, and this was different, more powerful and more exhausting. Apparently she had finally learned how to cast Cura, now when she needed it more than ever. And still, Kairi knew, it might not be enough. She did not dare lift her eyes from Braig's chest, still slowly rising and falling as he breathed, for fear that if she did that tiny movement would cease.

"He's stable," Dilan said, and only then did Kairi dare look up to see him smiling in relief. "He'll be unconscious for a while, but he should be fine to be moved. Just as well; we should leave. There's no knowing how this place will react with DiZ gone." So saying, he stood, picking Braig up as though the other man weighed next to nothing. Kairi realized she was smiling giddily with relief as the adrenaline urgency left her.

"We did it," she said to her other self.

Her other self smiled back. "That we did."

---

The light was fading in the courtyard, catching on the stone and turning it to gold. There were no Heartless in sight. Their ranks had broken about ten minutes before, folding in on themselves like a crumpled paper fan as the defenders took new heart from this proof of their Queen's victory. The army of darkness had been driven far back from the walls of the castle. Already people spoke of a campaign to retake the rest of their world.

But in the courtyard, there was no talk, no celebration. Instead, four men stood alone there, waiting. They alone knew in full what they had risked for this victory and might still lose.

Xehanort and Elaeus were still in the armor they had worn to battle. The once-smooth metal, forged by Radiant Garden's master smith before his death three years before, was dinted now, marked by three years of constant use, as were they.

Elaeus kept one eye on Even, who should not have been on his feet after the explosion that had destroyed his potions laboratory and killed two of his apprentices. He had refused to find a healer, insisting that he could wait until his own magic returned after healing the worst of the damage. He was still far from steady on his feet; only the support of Elaeus's hand on his back kept him from swaying. He was too still, all the same: all his habitual nervous tics were wiped out by exhaustion, and from the look on his face he did not even dare to hope for good news.

Of the four of them, Ienzo was in the best condition. In his capacity as chief intelligence officer, he had been away from the worst of the fighting, collecting reports and turning them into information and advice. Even he, however, was beginning to show the signs of stress and lack of sleep. Every few seconds he raked his hair back out of his face, a gesture that always meant only his exceptional self-control kept him from panic.

Xehanort only watched, tawny eyes burning, and no one could have read his feelings from the blank mask of his face.

To those who waited, it seemed like an eternity, but it was really less than five minutes before the darkness they were awaiting swirled into being in the courtyard.

The Queen came through first, looking slightly battered but none the worse for wear. Xehanort practically flew forward to meet her. In general he was shy of physical contact, but he returned her delighted hug in full measure, neither of them seeming to notice the discomfort of their armor. The other three smiled, Ienzo and Even, perpetual pessimists that they were, with some surprise.

The three children from another world followed through the portal, but the men waiting had no eyes for them, only for Dilan, tired and dirty, Braig's limp body cradled in his arms.

Even sobbed once, a dreadful choked sound, before Dilan said, "He'll be all right. Just unconscious." Then Even smiled instead, before exhaustion and relief both caught up with him at once and he collapsed, slumping against Elaeus, who had been ready for such an event and therefore caught him without difficulty.

"It seems too good to be true," Ienzo said, not bothering for once to conceal his grin, the first honest expression of delight anyone had seen on his face in too long.

"But it isn't," Kairi said over Xehanort's shoulder. "It's just good enough."

Elaeus hefted Even over his shoulder. "Come on, we should get these two to the hospital."

"Not that they'll stay there once they wake up," Dilan said. "They're both as bad as each other that way."

Ienzo quirked an eyebrow at him. "And you aren't?"

"I admit nothing."

Kairi looked over from where she, Sora, and Riku were dancing in a circle together, reveling in the joy of success. Smiling, she dropped her friends' hands and strolled casually toward the door. Then, calling over her shoulder, "Race you inside!" she broke into a run. Riku and Sora, laughing, chased after her, dodging deftly around the others.

"I think they have the right idea," Xehanort said, standing to follow his friends, who were also heading inside. Instead of letting go of Kairi, he slung her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Xehanort, put me down! I'm fine! Xehanort!" Her shouts, mixed with helpless laughter, echoed off the sunset-lit stone.

---

Braig woke up slowly. The tingling feeling of healing magic in his body dissipated, and he found himself in what he recognized as the castle hospital. This came as something of a surprise, since his last recollection, which he had been sure at the time would be his last ever, was of fighting DiZ, being hit by something impressively nasty even by DiZ's standards, and then blackness. He supposed they had won, and he had managed not to die in the process. This could only be a good thing.

"Aren't you awake yet?"

Braig grinned. That voice he would know anywhere. "Hey, Ev."

Even, a neat bandage wrapped around his head, which meant that it had not been on him for long, leaned over him. "You'll be pleased to know you didn't get killed, despite your best efforts to the contrary."

"I figured that bit when I woke up. What happened to you?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Heartless managed to blow up the laboratory. I—we lost Biggs and Wedge." From the way Even's lips were pressed together, Braig was willing to bet he had already spent far too much time trying to work out what he had done wrong.

He was no good at offering comfort, but at least he made an excellent distraction. "Sorry, man. How long've I been out, anyway?"

"A day and a half. You now have a new scar to add to your collection. What does that make, seventeen?"

"Yup." Braig grinned up at him. "I'm a crazy scarred old man, and you love me anyway."

Even rolled his eyes, successfully distracted. "Sometimes I can't think of a single reason why."

"That's easy. You love me 'cause I'm so good in—"

"Braig!"

He smirked. "Hey, you asked."

"Remind me never to do that again. Do you feel well enough to get out of bed?"

"Yeah," Braig replied automatically. If there was one thing he hated more than any other, it was enforced bed rest.

"Nice try," said a passing healer. "Actually think about it, and then answer."

Braig thought about it. He felt a vague ache where he knew his newest scar was, but other than that he felt…like he had been asleep for a day and a half. "Definitely."

"Excellent," said Even. "We still have to get rid of our unexpected guests, remember? And don't you dare tell anyone I told you, but Dilan and Ienzo are stuck. They need you back to work, you slacker."

"Yeah, yeah, work, work, work, that's all you ever say." As he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, his head swam and he almost fell right back onto the bed.

Fortunately, since Braig saw the specter of time spent being hideously bored in a hospital bed looming over him, Even caught him around the waist and steadied him. "Come on. Aerith's shift starts in five minutes, and she won't be fooled."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Braig said. "I'm just fine."

"Of course. And you're leaning on me because you missed me, not because you're about to fall over. But lean faster, all right? People around here just don't have their priorities straight."

---

Ienzo and Dilan both expressed chagrin at how quickly their modifications to the portal device were completed after Braig arrived. He just smirked.

"That had better be the last wire," Ienzo grumbled. As the smallest, he was the one to crawl under the now much larger device and connect everything. It was the part of building anything that he hated.

"I could have helped," Kairi pointed out from where she was playing cards with her other self and her friends.

"You don't know how it's supposed to be put together. If the wires are wrong, the entire thing might explode, at best."

Kairi smiled to herself. As much as Ienzo complained, he was too fond of control to let anyone else do such a difficult and necessary job.

Ienzo, covered in metal shavings and grease, squirmed out from under the device. "It's done."

"Great!" Sora shouted, jumping up and sending cards flying everywhere.

Riku and the other Kairi shared a wry smile that made Kairi's heart clench with wondering as they gathered the cards together. "Sora, cards," said Riku.

"What? Oh. Heh." Sora smiled sheepishly and took the deck Riku passed up to him. "What would I do without you guys?"

"Perish the thought," said Kairi's other self with a laugh. "It's a good thing you can't lose the Keyblade!"

"Heeeeey, I'm not that bad!"

Riku poked Sora in the side. "Yes, you are. 'Where did I put Kairi's birthday present? Riku, help me!' 'You mean this one right here on the table?'"

"You promised not to tell anyone about that."

"I did not. I said I wouldn't, but I didn't promise."

"Liar. Promise-breaker."

"Boys." The pair of them stopped arguing as soon as she spoke.

Kairi resisted the urge to giggle. She felt like laughing at anything, now that the future for the first time in years was to be anticipated, not feared.

Dilan coughed to get their attention. "We can only spare enough power for one portal, so if it doesn't take you home, you'll be on your own. However, that shouldn't prove to be a problem."

Her other self stood up, all business. "What should we do?"

"Each of you put one hand on these panels here. As Braig turns it on, you have to think of your home universe—people you know, places you remember, historical events, anything of that kind. Try not to be distracted." From the amused look on his face, Dilan had his own opinions on how well they would be able to concentrate. "It's simple enough in operation, considering the complexity of the theory behind it."

They did as he instructed, and Braig, glee shining on his face, switched the device on. The portal formed like a normal portal of darkness, in Kairi's limited experience, except for the way the device behind it glowed with energy.

"I guess this is it," said her other self.

Kairi smiled. "I guess so." It was the easiest thing in the world to hug her goodbye, communicating that way all the complicated feelings she could not put into words. "Thank you."

Riku tried to shake her hand, but she refused to let him get away with that, not with her all too clear impression of how uncomfortable this experience had been for him. He hugged her awkwardly and whispered in her ear, "Tell Xehanort I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "This me may not know you very well, but I know better than to let you start apologizing. She made me promise, you see." It felt strange, yet strangely familiar, to smile at him.

Sora did not even try to resist being hugged, practically lifting her off her feet in his enthusiasm. "Goodbye! …It feels weird to say goodbye, when I'm kind of not leaving you, 'cause Kairi's coming home too, but…yeah. Weird."

"I suppose so. Thanks for your help, by the way."

He grinned. "No problem! It's what we do."

Kairi waved to herself as she walked through the portal between her two boys. Then the portal flickered and was gone, and there was no proof that the three strangers who weren't strangers had ever been there.

"Well, that's that," she said.

---

The library was apparently just as they had left it. Outside it was evening, as though no time had passed at all. Even the books Kairi had been looking at were just as she had left them, not even any dust on them.

Sora grinned. "We're home."

---

Post Scripta:

---

"I feel kinda guilty about the other me," Sora said to the starlit sky. "I mean, he was evil and all, but he was still me."

"No, he wasn't," Riku said flatly. "He wasn't anything like you."

"Thanks, but that's not what I mean. What I mean is, I had to, but I feel bad about killing someone with my face. You know?"

Riku shut his eyes. "Yeah. I know."

Kairi poked Sora in the side. "He's being depressed again. Give him a hug."

Sora obliged. "Is it bad, if I feel bad about killing the evil us just because they were us? 'Cause I do. Killing you sucked." He paused. "Does that make me a suicide?"

Riku started laughing despite himself. "Only you, Sora. Only you."

Kairi sighed. "I wanted to know where I came from. I guess I should be more careful about wishing for things like that, huh?"

"If you feel that way, Your Majesty," Sora said, bowing as well as he could, which was not very, while lying down.

"At least we made a difference," said Riku. "They'll be better off now."

"Isn't it weird to think about all these different dimensions, just like ours but not, side by side all the time and we never know?" asked Sora, still lying half on Riku.

"Not really," Kairi replied, scooting over so that she could share the warmth. "I mean, compared to everything we've seen, other worlds and all the different people we've met, it makes perfect sense. It's just weirder because it's more familiar, you know?"

"You make no sense," Sora said, but he was already drifting off to sleep.

Riku smiled at Kairi over Sora's head. "I know what you mean, at least. It was different because it wasn't."

"Exactly. Now move Sora this way; I'm cold, and he makes a good blanket."

---

"Is it wrong to be jealous of myself?" Kairi asked Elaeus in between royal audiences.

He looked up from the town plans he was going over. "That depends on what you're jealous of."

"Her friends," she said promptly. "And her happiness, a bit, but I'm going to have that, even if it is later. So it's mostly her friends."

"You've been thinking about this," observed Elaeus.

"I suppose I have. I don't know why; it's just been coming to mind."

"In that case, you might feel better if you talk the problem out."

Kairi smiled. "As long as you don't mind…"

"Of course not. What are advisors and older brothers for if not to listen to you?"

"That's partly it," she said. "It's not that I don't appreciate you, or that I don't love you, but…you, all of you, are my big brothers first, my advisors second, and my friends third. And with everyone else, I'm the Queen and they're my subjects, whatever else we may be. So I guess what I'm jealous of is that she doesn't have to worry about any of that with her friends."

Elaeus nodded slowly. "I can see the problem." He sighed. "Perhaps we did you a disservice, raising you as we did, making you Queen. I thought, we all thought, at the time that there was no other way, but I hate to think that it's made you unhappy."

"But it hasn't!" Kairi protested. "Up until now, I always thought I was happy with the way it was. I had you, and my other friends, and I didn't think it mattered that they were all older than I am too. But seeing her with her boys, I saw something I didn't have, and even though I have so much else, I wanted it. Is that selfish?"

"Never. It's human nature, that's all. We could all see that she was happy in a way you haven't been." Elaeus sighed again. "I would get that happiness for you, if I could."

Kairi smiled, a trifle sadly. "It's all right. She wasn't really happier than I am now, just happy in a different way. She didn't have big brothers, after all, who listen and understand and make things seem better just by being there." Briskly, she turned back to her schedule. "We might be able to start inter-world trade in the spring. Won't that be nice?"

"Indeed. You might have to meet a poor, lonely prince to set up a trade agreement." His eyes danced.

"Elaeus!"

---

"I'm not entirely sure this is a good idea," Dilan said nervously.

"I am," Xehanort, Ienzo, and Drace all said at once.

"The end benefits far outweigh the risks," Xehanort said, looking sidelong at his fiancée.

She snorted. "Oh, as if you are one to speak." Drace had been the one to propose, directly after it became clear that the Heartless were truly defeated, firmly cutting short Xehanort's perennial protestations of unworthiness by declaring that she was going to marry him whether he deserved it or not.

"Yes, but that's you," Dilan pointed out. "How am I supposed to know she won't—"

"Aerith is not the kind of person to encourage a relationship she does not mean to pursue," said Xehanort firmly. "You know this. If you have managed to misunderstand one another, then it is in the best interests of all concerned to resolve the situation as soon as possible. If not, which is by far the more probable, then it is in your best interests in particular to resolve the situation before Ienzo takes it into his head to resolve it for you."

"You make a compelling point."

Ienzo feigned a scowl at Xehanort. "You did give your word, you know," he said.

"I know, but—"

"What now?" Drace demanded.

"For one thing, she's much younger than I am."

"Is she an adult?"

"Yes, but—"

"But nothing. My parents were farther apart in age than you two, and they never encountered difficulty in my memory. Now go."

"But—"

"Dilan," Ienzo growled, "if you do not go and tell her of your feelings right this minute I will personally see to it that she finds out from at least three different sources before the day is done."

"All right, all right. But if this blows up in my face, I reserve the right to blame you."

Dilan drew in a deep breath and stepped out into the courtyard. Aerith had been working in the hospital almost constantly for days, managing the aftermath of the siege, and she had to be tired. But in the flower garden she looked far from battle and its victims, smiling as she watered the autumn blossoms.

She looked up with a smile at his approach. "Dilan!"

"Hello, Aerith."

"I was expecting to see you in the hospital, you know. Everyone's heard about what you did."

"It was nothing a few healing spells couldn't cure. There was no need to bother you."

"You know healing spells work best with a professional healer to watch for complications and lost of bed rest." Hand on hips, she mock-glared at him, then shrugged. "Still, I can't say I'm surprised. We only got Braig and Even treated properly because they were unconscious, and then they ran out on us as soon as Braig woke up."

"They do that," Dilan admitted. "But Kairi ordered them to go get some rest, so they should be asleep now. Or in bed, anyway."

Aerith chuckled. "I'm glad she did. They'll have to sleep eventually, or they'll be straight back in the hospital, and next time I'll tie them to bed so they can't run away."

Dilan winced. "I…don't think that would be a good idea. Past experiences. None of us react well to being restrained."

Aerith nodded, but she said nothing. Everyone knew in general what had happened to Ansem's "apprentices", but nobody was about to ask for details. Changing the subject, she asked, "Were you looking for me for some reason?"

"Actually, yes," he said awkwardly. "I was wondering, you see, if you might possibly want to have dinner this evening. With me."

She looked up at him and smiled. "Why, thank you, Dilan. I would love to."

And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END