Heart For Dessert

Sora gripped onto the Keyblade with all the force he could muster. His hands felt sweaty and unpleasant, but that didn't stop him from swinging down onto the weak Shadow that darted through the ground like a living rug. When it was defeated, he grinned and gave a high-five to Goofy- Donald rolled his eyes at them.

"I'm getting stronger," Sora bragged, showing them his muscled arms.

"Work on your magic," Donald grumbled, pulling his flimsy wings into the collar of his jacket. Sora laughed and ruffled the top of Donald's hat, much to the duck's dismay.

"Aw, come on, Donald, I'm good with fire," he argued, swinging the Keyblade to evoke a few flames.

"Careful," Donald yelped, leaping back to avoid the minuscule blaze.

Sora just rolled his eyes and let his weapon vanish for the time being. He sighed and jumped over a few ledges with the plan to sit and flip through Jiminy's Journal for a few minutes, but several Nobodies appeared and he got to work at killing them, with Goofy and Donald attacking from either side.

The teenager lunged at the Heartless, battle cries loud and vicious- the Nobodies were awful. They... they didn't even exist, and yet- ow. Sora pulled out a Potion from his pocket and drank it in one gulp, and dodged a few attacks from the strong enemies. He took a deep breath and summoned forth an inner power- Valor Form with Goofy's help.

Quick, strong, and with grace, Sora smashed the Nobodies out of existence. He could feel the Keyblade striking through their throats with something akin to evil. The Dusks seemed so... real. He looked away. He didn't like all this fighting. It wasn't the same as having a go against Wakka or racing Riku back on the island. This was... murder. But because he'd promised a long time ago to smile, it became a routine to boast about himself and his own fighting abilities.

Sora rubbed his hands together and gave Donald a smile- the duck did not seem amused. Donald was rarely amused. Sora pulled back his own lips to show a forced smile, and raised his eyebrows at Donald. His companion sighed and smiled as well. It was all fake. They were tired. They were ready to give up.

Come on, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that.

"What happens later?" Sora asked, swinging around the Keyblade for entertainment. "When we... after we find Riku and the King?" When we find them, if we find them. "After we defeat the Organization?"

"You go back to your island," Goofy replied, a little sadly. "And we go back to our Kingdom."

"But that's it?" Sora asked. "The gateway between worlds will be shut?"

His friends did not respond. Sora sighed and let go of the Keyblade. It disappeared. He sat down on a small patch of grass and examined his fingers. They didn't look in good shape. He needed to stop fighting... he needed to borrow some of Kairi's hand creme- like that would ever happen. Kairi was back on the island. Kairi might as well as have forgotten about them. She was safe, and had the others. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie were good friends.

Sora pulled off his gloves and sat back, examining the sky with its hidden stars and cloudy surface. He wondered if it rained in this world. It had to, because of the clouds. Because of the grass.

Donald poked Sora in the shoulder and pointed over at a hoard of Heartless that were quickly approaching. He put the gloves back on and summoned his Keyblade again, charging at them with a new Form this time- Wisdom Form worked better against Heartless, he'd figured out. The new clothes were fun to try out. He loved the power that he felt with this magic- like a warm light, a kind heart. Shooting lasers from his Keyblade was also worth the go.

Sora did not feel what he expected. He'd only experienced this once before in his life- utter anguish and terror. Donald and Goofy both disappeared. Sora could feel his very existence lingering only in a small corner of his mind- all of the sudden, his thoughts were full of nothing but fear and fighting and hate the Keyblade attack attack attack

His hands were emitting darkness- his whole body was emitting darkness, just pouring out of him in heaps of wispy shadows. He could not find any Potions in his pockets, and was unable to summon his weapon. His callused hands were now just the claws of a monster. Sora did not feel any sort of heartbeat in his chest. He didn't know what was going on- it was like- oh god-

Being a Heartless was the single most terrifying thing Sora had ever experienced. Had he known the consequences before he stabbed the Keyblade of People's Hearts into himself, he might not have done it. It was worse than when his island was invaded, worse than when Kairi had drifted through his body. Worse even than the thought of Riku's betrayal, the murderous eyes of his friend.

Sora felt himself plunging nonstop into a deep, dark abyss. He was swimming in it, and the only escape was attack hate attack kill kill rage rage RAGE

His cla- his hands ripped into the skin of the other He- of the Heartless. Without his weapon, his training was basically useless. They were too strong for him, and even when he tried to feast upon the green bubbles that gave him strength, they slipped through his body without the slightest use. All he could do now was run- and run he did. With a speed that he'd never known himself to have, Sora ran from the fight.

This was not right. He shouldn't have been like this. This was in the past. He was done. It was over. He shouldn't have had to deal with it again, but the smallest bit of a shadow in his heart had expanded and consumed it to the point of absolutely no light. He didn't dare look into any sort of reflection. He could feel his evil yellow eyes and sensed the darkness radiating around himself. Donald and Goofy were gone, gone, they left him and they would kill him because they wouldn't even know-

Sora got away, and the Heartless disappeared. He collapsed and gasped, coughing on the ground and shaking. He felt cold. So cold. Donald rushed up and performed a healing spell, but it didn't help at all. Sora could feel the darkness in his heart, eating away at all the happy memories. He wanted to go home. He wanted to run up to his mother and give her a big hug and to never let go, not ever. He wanted to fall into bed and sleep and he wanted to worry about homework, not this, never this.

Goofy kneeled next to him and asked what was the matter. Sora shook his head and looked at Goofy fearfully, but then looked back at the ground. His hands weren't black anymore. He was normal again. Nothing was coming off of his skin. He was fine. The Keyblade was right next to him on the ground. Everything was okay. Now all he had to do was fight more Heartless and find Riku and restore the light and then he could go home and race his friends and build sand castles with some kids and draw a picture in the Secret Place. Maybe they could build another few shacks on the island. He could show his parents, right? Right. Right. His parents. He could show them everything, he could explain why he'd been gone for so long. Everyone had forgotten about them... but now everyone remembered. Now his parents would remember. Yeah. They were right there on the island waiting for him to come home. Had mom's friend had her baby yet? Was the mayor helping to find them? Did Kairi think of Riku and Sora at all?

"What happened?" Goofy asked, helping the Keyblade wielder to his feet. Sora shrugged his shoulders and let out a nervous laugh.

"Not sure," he said, eyes glued to the ground. He saw dark handprints and felt sick. "I... I'm sure it was just some weird thing that- well, I guess the fairies didn't tell us... everything."

"They sure didn't," Donald complained. "I was gettin' ready to help you change forms and then me and Goofy just disappeared."

Sora rubbed his upper arm and frowned. "Where'd you go?"

Donald and Goofy exchanged a look. They didn't seem to know where they went. "I'm not too sure," Goofy said skeptically. "I... I think we was just sittin' somewhere. What happened to you?"

Sora could not say. He wasn't even sure it had actually happened. What could he say? That he'd been turned into a Heartless again? Wouldn't they question his stability? Would they trust him? Could they trust him?

"I... I can't say for sure," Sora replied. "It was weird."

The other two didn't seem to care much, and didn't even realize how much Sora was shaking. He sat down on a cement ledge, running a hand through his hair in concentration. Now what? Did he have to avoid using Forms? There was no one else in the whole universe in the same situation- he certainly couldn't ask for advice about magic clothes that brought out the darkness in his heart. People who embraced their darkness were bad guys. Sora was not a bad guy. His heart was full of light- he could control the little darkness he had. Being a Heartless was over, it ended, Kairi had saved him. He was fine.

Sora took a deep breath. He ran his fingers down the metal surface of his weapon, and cocked his head slightly to the left. He was fine.

Sora stood up, and motioned for the other two to follow him. They had a long journey ahead of them, and if they were going to find Riku and the King any time soon, he would have to forget about this little incident. He was fine.

He was fine.