I know I haven't even come close to finishing my other story yet, but this idea popped into my head so I thought i'd better get it down before I forgot about it ^_^

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix does.

Enjoy!

Awakening

Sora looked down at the bottle, which Kairi had just placed into his hands, with a feeling of dread mingled with a tinge of excitement. The King's seal could clearly be seen through the transparent glass. Sora pulled out the cork which made a satisfying popping noise, then emptied the bottle of its contents.

Riku and Kairi clamoured around him to get a better view of the letter to discern its information. Sora read the letter in his head trying to comprehend the meaning of the words.

Dear Sora,

I am sorry to have to contact you so soon after your arrival back home but I'm afraid we were too optimistic in thinking the Darkness had been repelled. There is still one more thing that must be done before the worlds can truly rest. This will be your greatest challenge, but I'm confident that you can complete it. If you fail I fear for the future of every peaceful being in the universe. I will arrive to pick you, Kairi and Riku up shortly, until then.

Sincerely, The King.

Sora turned to face both of his friends after reading the letter for the third time, a look of absolute shock on his face.

"How can the Dark have regrouped so quickly?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Darkness is difficult to truly get rid of, trust me I know." Riku said in a bland tone. "But if there's anyone who can finally rid the worlds of evil, it's you Sora." He finished, looking deep into his friend's blue eyes.

"Hey and don't forget we're all in this together!" Kairi said, walking over and taking Sora's hand in her own. "We'll get through this one last obstacle, and then we can spend every day together."

"Thanks guys." Sora said tightening his grip on Kairi's hand as a weak smile flashed across his face.

Later that night Sora was not enjoying his best night's sleep, as he thrashed about in his bed trying to rid his mind of the strange dream that had been plaguing him for days. It was a very disjointed dream, and it was always the same. It started with a woman's voice crying out his name in terror and then it flashed to a brightly lit corridor with lights passing over him while he was moved by some unknown force. And it always had the same ending with a male voice he had never heard before in his life saying, "It's always darkest before the dawn."

Sora sat bolt upright in what remained of his bed, glancing around the room at his duvet and pillows which were now decorating the cupboard and floor. He checked his clock and the time was Seven A.M. There was no chance of him going back to sleep now so he quickly got dressed into a blue T-Shirt and Black shorts and quietly tip toed out of the house.

He made his way to the beach to watch the sun rise, and as the luminance of the sun spread over the tiny Island Sora felt a single tear escape his eye and travel down his cheek. He didn't know why but this felt like the Island saying goodbye and it depressed him to think that he might never come back here again. Just as he was contemplating these thoughts, he felt a soft touch on his back and turned to see Kairi standing behind him with a sad expression on her face.

"Kairi, what are you doing up this early?" Sora asked in a puzzled tone.

"I couldn't sleep so I came to watch the sun come up, it looks like you had the same idea." She replied.

"Yeah, I was just a little too warm in my room so I decided to come and get some fresh air." He lied, as he hadn't told anyone about his recurring dream.

As he spoke these words, that strange feeling of finality crept up on him again and left him feeling even worse. He couldn't bear to think that he would be apart from his friends, especially Kairi.

"Kairi, I.... I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling that this will be the last time I ever see the sun come up on this Island, and it scares me." He confided.

"Sora, don't say things like that, I couldn't live if something happened to you. I..." she stopped herself as she realised where this was leading, but this only made her more determined to finish. "... I love you Sora."

Sora turned to look at Kairi and saw silent tears falling from her beautiful blue eyes.

"Oh Kai, I didn't mean to make you cry, I'm sorry." He walked over and hugged her, then pulled away from her realising what she had just said.

"You love me?" Sora sounded happy and confused at the same time.

"More than anything, I need you Sora." Kairi whispered, blushing as she looked away from him. She felt a gentle touch on her chin as Sora pulled her face up to look at his.

"I love you too Kairi, my heart will always belong to you." He stated.

Sora leaned in closer to Kairi until their faces were centimetres apart, both staring into each other's eyes. Then they were kissing, gently at first, as Sora thought of all the things that had made him happy in his life up to this point and how this eclipsed all of them put together. They finally broke apart, but Sora could still taste the unique blend of cherries, and just about anything else sweet he could think of, that Kairi's lips had tasted of.

Neither of them said anything for a while, as they both sat on the beach watching the ocean. Finally, Kairi leaned closer and rested her head on Sora while whispering "I'll never leave you."

After an hour or so of enjoying nothing but being together, they both decided to go back home and get some breakfast. As Sora approached the road he had to take to get back to his house, he was pained at having to let go of Kairi's hand, as that strange feeling washed over him again, making him worry that they would never share a moment like this again.

"I'll get a quick bite to eat and come over to your house when I'm done." He said, a frown pulling at his lips.

"Aww don't be sad, we won't be apart for long." Kairi replied, trying to cheer Sora up.

"Yeah, I know." Sora responded looking at little bit more like his cheerful self.

"Okay, I'll see you soon then." He finished and they shared a brief kiss before Sora walked towards his front door.

"Good morning Mum." Sora greeted as he entered the cosy kitchen.

His Mother frowned wondering why her son was up this early, when he very regularly didn't stir until it was almost afternoon. But she shrugged it off and smiled at him.

"Morning honey, what would you like for breakfast?" She inquired.

"Oh nothing much, just a bowl of cereal will do fine thanks." Sora replied passively.

This worried her even more, first Sora was up before her and now he wasn't feeling hungry? Something was definitely wrong.

"Sora what's the matter?" his Mother asked in a concerned tone.

Sora hadn't shown his Mum the letter from King Mickey, because he didn't have the heart to tell her he was going to be leaving again. He knew how much she had worried about him while he'd been gone on his previous journeys, but she had the right to know and this seemed like as good an opportunity as any to tell her.

"I had a letter from King Mickey telling me that I'm going to have to leave again for a while." Sora sighed.

"Don't be so upset honey; it's not in your nature. Don't worry about me, I'll be here waiting until you get back when you can tell me all about your adventure and I'll cook whatever you want as a celebration." His Mum replied, with an encouraging smile on her face.

Sora was taken aback by how well she had received the news, and this made him feel a lot happier about the whole thing. He walked over and hugged her.

"I love you Mum." He stated.

"I love you as well." She replied, returning the hug.

Sora returned to sit at the table, as his Mum passed him a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he wolfed down the meal because he was desperate to go and see Kairi again. He got up and washed the bowl and glass in the sink before drying them and putting them back in the draw.

"Thanks Mum, I'm going over to see Kairi for a bit now if that's ok?" He pronounced.

"OK, don't be back too late." She replied as Sora was already halfway out of the door.

He began to jog along the sun drenched street towards Kairi's house when all of a sudden he heard a distant rumble coming from the sky. He looked up but there was hardly a cloud in the sky, so it couldn't have been thunder. Finally he caught sight of something which was reflecting the sun's glare travelling through the air. As it descended Sora recognised the familiar ship which he used to get to so many different worlds over the past couple of years. His spirits sank as he realised they would be leaving fairly soon and he would not be able to spend much time, if any, with just himself and Kairi.

He approached Kairi's house and knocked on the door, turning his attention the beach where the Gummi Ship was in the final stages of its landing. He was so preoccupied with watching the vessel that he didn't notice the door open until Kairi greeted him.

"Hey Sora, what are you looking at?" Kairi followed his gaze until she saw the red ship on the beach.

"Oh, it's time already?" Kairi said dejectedly.

"Unfortunately it looks that way." Sora muttered sullenly.

"Well I guess I should start to pack some stuff then." Kairi suggested.

"Yeah me too, I'll come back when I'm ready and we can go down their together." Sora proclaimed.

"I'll see you in about ten minutes." Sora squeezed Kairi's hand, before turning to head back the way he had come from.

His Mum was still in the Kitchen when he entered and she turned surprised to see him back so soon.

"That was quick!" She exclaimed.

"It's time Mum, Mickey has just arrived." Sora replied. "I just need to go and pack some stuff."

Sora headed into his untidy room and a brief smile flashed across his face as he realised that the clothes he had worn in his fight against Organisation XIII were in exactly the same place on the floor from when he had taken them off two weeks previously. He doubted whether he actually needed anything else, so he got dressed again and headed back down stairs.

His Mum hadn't moved from when he had told her he was leaving, and as he walked back into the kitchen she tried to hide the fact she had been crying with a weak smile.

"I'm sorry Mum." Sora comforted.

"No I'm the one who should be sorry; I'm not making this any easier on you. Just make sure you come back in one piece." She responded.

"I will Mum, I promise." Sora stated, walking over and hugging her again.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Goodbye Mum."

"Goodbye Sora." His Mum managed to get out between the silent sobs.

Sora exited and made his way towards Kairi's house for the second time that day, stopping at the doorstep and knocking again. Kairi answered holding a large black duffel bag, which was undoubtedly full of clothes.

Even in the present situation Sora had to chuckle. "We're going to save the world, not camping you know." He explained putting his hands behind his head.

"I see you're travelling light!" it was not Kairi who had responded, and Sora turned round to see Riku standing on the street.

"Hahaha yeah well you know me!" Sora laughed.

"Would you mind helping me with this bag?" Kairi grumbled, struggling to carry the weight of her luggage.

"Sure." Sora said slinging the bag over his shoulder and taking Kairi's hand in his.

"Shall we?" Riku asked.

And with that the three companions made their way towards the beach and the Gummi Ship. As they approached the hatch opened and King Mickey stepped out onto the soft white sand.

"I'm truly sorry about this everyone, but it really is of the utmost importance that you come with me." The King motioned for them to get on board the Ship.

"It's ok Your Majesty, we know this isn't your fault." Sora replied, climbing into the Ship and turning to help Kairi in.

"Hey Sora!" chimed two familiar voices, as Sora spun around to see Donald and Goofy in the cockpit.

"Hey guys!" Sora replied cheerfully, taking a seat next to Kairi as the King and Riku entered behind them. He was happy to see his friends even if the circumstances were not how he would have chosen to do so.

"Sooooo who or what is planning the destruction of the Universe this time?" Sora joked.

The King turned to face them with a solemn expression on his face. "I'm afraid I don't know, the only thing I know is that a strange world appeared on our sensors the other day and it was oozing Darkness."

"It's power has continued to grow to such a level that we no longer have any time to spare, I'm afraid we're going to have to set off to counter whatever is going on there immediately." The mouse finished.

Everyone else in the ship had their mouths wide open in shock at the news, and there was complete silence until Sora said.

"Good, then we can get this over with quickly and be home in time for dinner!"

"Typical! Always thinking about food." Riku retorted.

"Sora's right though, we need to deal with this as fast as possible. Donald, set a course for this world, and get us there as fast as you can." The King instructed.

"Yes Sir!" Donald responded.

Suddenly they felt the Ship begin to move and they looked out of the windows as Destiny Island faded into the distance causing Sora to feel extremely unhappy.

About an hour later they entered the atmosphere of the world looked on in shock at all of the destruction that had taken place. Buildings were levelled and the landscape was completely devoid of any colour. They could make out a structure on a little further ahead and as they got closer it revealed itself to be a former castle, now nothing but smouldering ruins. Donald landed the ship on an open field and the group disembarked.

"That's where we need to head towards." The King said with a confident tone.

"How can you be sure?" Sora replied.

"Can't you feel it Sora? There's a great force coming from those ruins." Riku said in a strange tone.

"Yeah I agree." Kairi stated staring into the distance.

"Right." Sora said with a quizzical look at his friends. Obviously they knew something he didn't.

They all started heading in the direction of the ruined castle, with Sora still pondering what exactly they all expected to find at somewhere which looked so forlorn. Nevertheless, as he had no better plan he followed his friends lead. But as he drew closer, he began to feel it as well, and what scared him was it was exactly the same feeling he'd been having all day. He glanced at everyone's face but they all seemed relatively calm, whereas he felt extremely nervous.

Finally as they entered what was left of the castle grounds they saw that the only thing left intact was a tall spiral stair case in the middle, which seemingly led to nowhere.

"We need to climb that staircase." The King observed.

"But Your Majesty it doesn't lead to anywhere." Sora replied, becoming more confused by the minute.

"No the King is right Sora." The rest of his friends said at the same time.

"Fine, but I won't forget to say I told you so, when we get to the top and we just have to walk back down again." Sora replied in an exasperated tone.

However as the group made their way towards the onyx coloured stair case, there was a huge flash accompanied by strong gust of wind causing them all to shield their eyes. When Sora eventually looked up he was stunned, standing before him was all thirteen members of the Organisation, weapons in hand, and Xehanort's Heartless which had taken control of Riku all those months ago.

Xemnas stepped forward and proclaimed, "I'm afraid we cannot allow young Sora here to climb this staircase, surely you didn't think it would be this easy?"

"We hoped, but it doesn't matter, Sora will get to the top of that flight of stairs and there is no way you're going to stop him!" Riku shouted.

Sora was no positively lost, what in the world was going on? First his friends start acting all weird and then everyone who had ever defeated in an attempt to save the world shows up again. As he continued to try and get his head around what was going on he felt a tug on his arm.

"Sora whatever happens, all that matters is that you get up there, OK?" Kairi said.

"What are you talking about Kairi? I don't understand." Sora questioned.

"Shush! We don't have time for this. Sora even if it means leaving us behind get up those stairs. Promise us, you always keep your promises." Riku ordered.

"Are you crazy? There is no way I'm leaving any of you behind!" Sora shot back.

"You have to, for everything that matters in the universe you have to!" Kairi said sternly.

"This is your last trial Sora, good luck. It has been a pleasure knowing you." The King nodded, and with that he charged, Keyblade in hand, straight into the midst of the Organisation and Heartless.

"We're gonna miss you Sora. Thanks for everything!" Donald said, with Goofy nodding like a maniac behind him, then they too ran to help their King leaving Sora with his best friends.

"Quick!" Riku shouted, "Follow me."

He took off with the Way to Dawn in his hands cutting down any Heartless and nobodies in his way, with Sora, who was now in a state of shock, and Kairi charging behind him. They reached the foot of the staircase and were just about to start ascending when another Keyblade narrowly missed Riku. Turning they saw Roxas blocking their path.

"I'm sorry Sora but I cannot let you get past me." His nobody growled.

Riku turned to Kairi and looked her straight in the eye, before saying, "It's all up to you now. I'll hold him off as long as I can." Then he turned to Sora and put his hands on his friend's shoulders, "Goodbye Sora, for everyone's sake I hope everything goes alright. Thanks for always believing in me, now this is how I return the favour, get going!"

Sora could only watch with disbelieving eyes as Riku turned and charged at his Nobody and they started trading blows. But after a split second he was being forced up the steps by Kairi. They ran in circles up the spiral until it became a flat bunch of steps leading out into the middle of nowhere.

As Sora went to carry on up the last few steps, his body now working of its own accord, he felt resistance again and turned to see Kairi crying.

"I'm afraid this is where we have to go our separate ways Sora. My place is down there helping Riku, Donald, Goofy and the King." Kairi explained.

"NO! You're coming with me. Please I can't lose you as well." Sora pleaded refusing to let go of her hand.

"I can't come with you Sora, this is something only you can do. But if it's any consolation if you do go everything here will be peaceful again and we'll all be safe." Kairi sobbed.

"Kairi I..." Sora began, but Kairi placed a finger on his lips. Then leant in and kissed him briefly and passionately.

"I love you, but this has to be goodbye. Have a good life Sora, I'll miss you, but you have to know that I'll keep my promise because we'll never truly be apart." Kairi whispered.

"I'll never forget you, for as long as I live I'll always love you." Sora cried, resigned to the fact that, for some cruel reason he was about to lose everyone he had ever cared about.

They finally let go of each other and after silently staring into each other's eyes for a brief moment Kairi turned and started to head back down the steps. Sora watched her until she fell out of his line of vision. He turned on the spot and walked towards whatever destiny had in store for him.

As he approached the end of the steps there was another brilliant flash of white light and when his eyes readjusted The Door to the Light was standing before him.

Well this is it, he thought and without looking back he stepped through the doorway and was blinded. He felt completely weightless for a moment then lost consciousness.

His eyes opened groggily and took in his surroundings; he was sitting in a hospital bed with a single piece of equipment attached to him reading his heart rate. His mind refused to work properly, all he kept thinking was how?

Suddenly a woman cried out and came running into his room, it was his Mum. Oh now it all made sense, stupid friends making me walk off those steps he thought to himself.

"Sora! You're awake? I don't believe it." His Mum had tears of joy streaming down his face.

"What happened Mum?" Sora found it hard to speak.

"There was a complication with your heart honey, you had an operation but you've been in a coma for two years. Many of the doctors said there was a chance you'd never wake up, but I always hoped you would, I never gave up hope." She explained.

"T-two years?" He exclaimed.

Just then a doctor walked in and his face broke out into a smile.

"Thank goodness you're awake! You've given everyone quite a scare to say the least." The doctor said.

"There was a few times where we thought we had lost you, and others when we so very nearly got you back. But like I always say, it's always darkest before the dawn." The doctor finished.

Sora froze when he heard those words, finally it all began to fit together. It had been the doctor he had heard in his "dream".

"Most people usually give up in situations like yours, but you obviously had something that kept you going." The doctor finished.

Sora closed his eyes and right in front of him were all of his "friends" his subconscious had created over the spell of his coma to keep him going. And at the front of them were Kairi and Riku.

Thank you so much, he thought as a tear spilled down his cheek, silently thanking each and every one of them for his recovery.

They all smiled in his mind's eye as he realised that though this might be the last time he would ever "see" them he would never forget about them.

"Sora, honey, are you ok?" his Mum asked, anxiously watching the tears fall from her son's eyes.

"Mum, I've never felt better than I do at this moment in time." He replied, keeping his eyes closed, "I love you." He finished intending the words for two different recipients.

He finally opened his eyes to see his Mum staring at him with a happy expression on her face.

"Whenever the doctors say it's ok, I'd like to go home." Sora concluded.

So what did you think?

I kinda liked the idea but think i could have pulled it off better. Having said that I'm still pretty happy with it.

PLEASE review,

Thanks for reading, JB.