He slowly looked around the room, for what he knew was going to be the last time. There were a lot of memories here, good and bad.
He knew this day was coming… he had known for a long time, yet somehow it never felt like it was going to come… and now that it was here, it felt too soon.
"Robby… are you sure…?" he started to ask, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, you and I both know this has to be done," Robby paused. "We have known for a while this day was coming."
"I know, but… can't you come back another time? Does it have to be done now?" he asked, not wanting to say goodbye to one of his closest friends.
"The Guardians are going to protect the pieces; I have to be here when the door is sealed. I have to make sure no one takes any of the pieces of the Cornerstone of Darkness and its pedestal or everything we've worked for will be for nothing," Robby answered.
He sighed, "I know."
"Master Zohar, are you ready?" someone from outside the room called.
He hesitated, "I'll be a there in a few minutes, you should tell the others to start wrapping up," Zohar answered, briefly turning to the open doorway behind him.
"They already have, sir," the person replied.
Zohar sighed, slowly turning back to Robby.
"You should go, there's no use for you to be locked in here with me," Robby pointed out, but Zohar could tell Robby didn't want to say goodbye either.
Zohar slowly and reluctantly nodded. "Good luck," he paused, "...and goodbye, old friend," he said, before slowly turning and heading for the door.
"Goodbye," Robby replied a hint of sadness in his voice.
Zohar stopped at the doorway and turned one last time to the room that had seen one too many battles. He tried to ignore the Pedestal of Darkness and the ill-boding feeling that enveloped the very air and pulled at his heart to give into its tempting call. Tearing his gaze away from the pedestal, he looked back to Robby, the last line of defense to make sure that no one could ever use the Cornerstone of Darkness for destructive means again. He watched in silence as Robby knelt down on his right knee, his sword pressed slightly into the once pristine floor, waiting for whatever the future may hold.
Knowing there was nothing left to say, nothing he could do to postpone the inevitable, Zohar reluctantly turned and left the room.
Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out the lucky charm Kairi gave him, so long ago in the secret cavern on Traverse Town.
Sora slowly looked up at Kairi's smiling face and wiped the water away from his eye with his free hand, "W…we're back," Sora said, smiling at her, as excitement and disbelief swirled through him. The reality of making it home finally sinking in.
"You're home," Kairi replied, her eyes glistening with joy as she reached her hand out to him.
Sora's smile widened before slapping his hand into hers. "I believe that's yours," he said, climbing to his feet as he let go of her hand leaving the lucky charm in hers, fulfilling his heartfelt promise to bring it back to her.
Kairi looked down at the lucky charm, her smile growing slightly, before turning back to Sora, and to Sora's surprise, giving him a tight hug. "When the portal closed… I thought I wasn't ever going to see you or Riku again."
Sora slowly and hesitantly put his arms around her. "Like a simple thing like being trapped on another world was going to stop us from coming home… we just had some unfinished business with Xemnas, that's all," Sora explained.
Kairi gently pulled away, "Well… you're home now… you both are, that's all that matters," she said, turning to Riku.
Sora followed her gaze just in time to see Riku nod.
We're finally together again, Sora thought, looking at Riku and Kairi, All of us, he added, his gaze shifting to Mickey, who was standing next to Riku, before shooting a grin over his shoulder to Donald and Goofy.
"So… the galaxy's safe now… right?" Sora asked hesitantly, turning back to Mickey.
"Well, we took down the Organization, stopped everyone who was controlling the Heartless… so, yes, I believe it is," Mickey answered.
"Good," Sora replied, with a sigh of relief. "Cause I think it's about time we got a vacation," he commented, turning to Donald and Goofy, who eagerly nodded in agreement.
"You all earned one," Mickey agreed.
Sora smiled, "I bet Daisy's going to be happy," he commented, looking at Donald, remembering that when he first met Daisy, she chased Donald all around the room yelling at him for missing their date again.
"Yup," Goofy agreed, "She's not going to let you out of her sight, when we get back."
Donald folded his arms across his chest, obviously not liking it when they teased him about Daisy, but it only made Sora's smile widen; he didn't like it when they teased him about Kairi, so he thought it was only fair... besides he knew Donald wasn't really upset, he was more embarrassed then anything.
"Well, we should get going," Mickey said.
"Do you… really have to leave, so soon?" Sora asked, his smile fading.
"We all have our families to get back to and friends we haven't seen in a long time," Mickey replied, "but don't worry, we'll be back. Just 'cause there's no more Heartless doesn't mean we can't see each other anymore," Mickey pointed out.
"Yeah," Donald agreed.
Goofy nodded. "You betcha, we'll be back in no time."
"Wait… isn't the Gummi Ship on the World That Never Was? How are you going to leave?" Sora asked.
Mickey reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. "I used this to call the Gummi Ship, it sends a signal to the ship telling it to come. It landed shortly before you two got here; we were going to go try and find you, but you got here before we had a chance to leave," he answered.
"Oh… cool," Sora replied.
"I guess you actually found a use for that," Riku commented.
Mickey nodded.
"Now, remember Sora, no frowning and sad faces, everyone's safe now," Donald reminded, leaning forward dramatically as he firmly placed his hands on his hips.
"Yup, Donald's right, besides, this isn't goodbye, this is 'til we see you later," Goofy pointed out, patting Donald on the back, causing Donald to squawk in surprise.
Sora couldn't help but smile as he nodded in agreement, he didn't want to say goodbye to Donald or Goofy, they had become two of his closest friends, but they all did have families and friends to get back to… and this wasn't goodbye, not forever anyway.
"Now, Kairi," Donald started, "Try to keep him out of trouble."
Kairi giggled and nodded, "I will."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, folding his arms across his chest, pretending to be upset.
"That no matter where we go, you insist on jumping headlong into the biggest and baddest situations possible," Donald pointed out.
"Yeah, well…" Sora started.
"Don't even try and deny it Sora," Riku commented. "You've always jumped headlong into things."
"Yeah, but we saved the galaxy twice didn't we?" Sora reminded. "And I wasn't the only one getting us into trouble," he pointed out, looking directly at Donald.
"Wha? What did I do?" Donald asked.
"Well let's see…" Goofy started, "almost changed the past, got us sucked into that computer… and uh…"
"Crashed the Gummi Ship…" Sora added.
"That was you!" Donald reminded.
"If you had just…" Sora started.
"You both crashed it," Goofy interrupted.
Sora smiled, "You're probably right," he commented, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Now Riku, Sora, Kairi, 'till we meet again," Mickey said.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi nodded.
"'till we meet again," Sora said, before leaning closer to Donald and Goofy. "Try to keep an eye on The King, he seems to have a knack for taking off and disappearing," Sora commented with a slight smile.
Donald and Goofy laughed and nodded, before following The King to the other side of the Island, where the Gummi ship had landed.
Sora watched as they closed the wooden door, separating one side of the Island from the other, behind them.
"Sucked into… a computer?" Riku repeated, stepping closer to Sora and Kairi.
Sora smiled, "Long story."
"I bet," Riku replied.
Sora took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh saltwater air. "Feels like forever since we've been here," he commented.
"Yeah," Riku agreed, just as the Gummi Ship appeared from the other side of the island heading out into the sky.
They watched the ship as it got smaller and smaller until it was so far away they couldn't see it anymore.
"I wonder how our families are doing…" Sora commented, still looking up at the sky. I wonder how Mom and Miyu are… Sora smiled, I wonder if Miyu ever outgrew her pink bow thing… he thought, an image of his little sister came to mind; her waist length brown hair, white short sleeveless dress, with a pink sash tied into a bow around her waist, pink bow in her hair, and a pink ribbon tied into a bow on both of her wrists. Probably not… he concluded. She really liked those pink bows.
He never realized how much he missed them; they were always safe, so he never had to worry about them, but now that he was home, the need to see them seemed to grow by the minute. But what am I going to tell them? Sora wondered, as a hint of nervousness washed through him. Would they even believe me if I told them the truth?
"They'll be thrilled to see you two," Kairi commented, jogging Sora out of his thoughts.
"And they're not going to be happy to see you?" Riku replied, in a kidding tone.
"Of course they will; what I meant was that I've only been gone for a couple of months… you've been gone for about a year and a half," Kairi explained.
"… It's been two years," Riku corrected.
"Huh?" Sora asked. "A year and a half, maybe… but two years? It couldn't have been that long."
"The worlds went eclipse…" Riku realized. "When the worlds went eclipse time stopped. It's only been a year and a half here."
Kairi nodded.
"But why don't I remember two years?" Sora asked.
"Remember that chamber you woke up in?" Riku asked.
Sora nodded, "Yeah." What does that have to do with it? He wondered.
"It was a stasis chamber, you were asleep for a year," Riku answered.
Sora's eyes widened, "A…year? I knew it had been a while but… well it does explain a few things…" he commented, remembering that his cloths were strangely small when he had woken up in that chamber. "How did I get there anyway? And why was I in it?"
"Uh… well…" Riku started. "The Organization used Naminé to rewrite your memories, it took her a year to get them back to normal."
"My… memories? Why?…"
"To use you as their puppet, but you stopped them and saved Naminé before it was too late," Riku answered.
"Why don't I remember any of this?" Sora asked, not remembering anything in-between chasing after Pluto down that long dirt path and waking up in that stasis chamber.
"Because, in order to get your old memories back, you had to lose the new ones," Riku answered.
Sora slowly nodded, "How do you know all this?"
Riku hesitated. "Because I was in the same castle, a few floors below you. I didn't know what was going on until it was too late," he answered, before quickly changing the subject. "…We should get going, start heading home," he pointed out, before heading toward the dock.
Sora nodded, he was anxious to get home and see his family again… they could always talk more later.
Riku and Sora walked down the quiet street, they had already walked Kairi home and were about halfway to Sora's.
The adrenalin from their fight with Xemnas was starting to wear off and Riku's lower back where Xemnas had wacked him was starting to bother him, but he ignored it… he had gotten good at doing that.
"Quiet," Sora commented.
Riku nodded, "It's nice," he said, looking around. Not a Heartless, Nobody, or any other type of monster in sight.
"Yeah, but weird," Sora replied.
Riku nodded in agreement.
"You think your parents will be home?" Sora asked, glancing briefly over at Riku.
Riku shrugged, "Doubt it," he replied. "But, maybe by the time they get there I'll have an explanation."
Sora sighed, "I have no idea what I'm going to say to my mom," he said. "How do I explain about other worlds, Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII… without her either thinking I'm nuts or giving her a heart attack?" Sora wondered aloud.
Riku shook his head, "If you figure that one out let me know," he replied. He paused, "My guess is to tell the truth, but leave out anything that has to do with other worlds, Heartless, Nobodies, or Organization XIII."
"And how do you do that?" Sora asked. "Everything we've been doing has to do with them."
Riku shrugged, "that's the problem."
Sora nodded. "What are you looking forward to the most?"
"Um…" Riku's mind went blank. "I… I don't know," he replied. "You?"
"Seeing everyone; my mom, sis, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie."
Riku nodded, "It will be nice to see everyone again," he replied, but the more he thought about it the more nervous he got.
What am I going to tell them? All I know is that I can't tell them how I gave into the darkness… how I let them manipulate me… use me.
"Well… this is my street," Sora said, stopping at the corner, jogging Riku out of his darkening thoughts. "You sure you don't want to come? I mean if your parents aren't going to be there…?"
"Na, it's ok. Two parents are enough to deal with, I don't need to explain it to three," he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and briefly looking away.
Sora nodded, "Ok, good luck."
"You too," Riku replied, before slowly continuing down the street.
The closer he got to his street the bigger the knot in his stomach seemed to grow. He had no idea what he was going to say to them… or how he was even going to face them. He wasn't ready for this… any of it.