Kingdom Hearts III: Domain of Doors

Chapter 1: The King's Message

A/N: I don't own anything in the story except for a few original worlds and my OC, the new person they meet at Disney Castle.

Destiny Islands

It was sunset on the island. Riku sat on the branch of a paopu tree, looking at the sunset. He and Sora had returned from the Realm of Darkness just the day before, and he had not had a private moment in all that time.

Sora walked out of an old wooden door. The Keyblade wielder grinned at Riku as he leaned against the part of the branch next to Riku.

"Nothing's changed, huh?" asked Riku.

"Nope," said Sora. "And nothing will."

"What a small world," said Riku, and they both knew he meant it literally.

"But part of one that's much bigger," said Sora.

"Yeah," agreed Riku, smiling.

They were silent for a moment. Then Sora decided to ask the question that had been troubling him.

"Hey, Riku?" he asked. "What do you think it was- the door to the light, I mean?"

Riku didn't answer immediately. Instead, he got up off the branch and walked over to Sora. He reached over to his best friend and touched his heart. "This," he said simply.

Sora looked down at his heart. "This?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Riku. "It's always closer than you think. Don't lose sight of it."

Sora grinned.

Just then, they heard a girl's voice calling out to them, and Kairi, Sora's red-haired girlfriend, sprinted through the door Sora had just come through. She was clutching a glass bottle under one arm.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Sora as Kairi jogged in front of the two boys.

"Look," said Kairi, holding up the bottle. Inside was a piece of paper bearing a seal made out of three circles, two small and one large. Sora recognized it.

"From the King?" he asked. He took the bottle and, his hand shaking, took out the message. Together the three best friends read what King Mickey had written.

Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,

You must come to Disney Castle immediately. There is an imminent threat to the safety of the worlds. I don't have time to explain, but there is the possibility that our enemies are about to return, more powerful than ever before. Before you come, make sure that you lock the Keyhole of your own world. Then, at midnight on the night you receive this note, go to the small island and raise your Keyblades above your heads, saying, "I accept the summons." This will cause the portal I have created to open, instantly transporting you to Disney Castle.

Awaiting your arrival,

King Mickey

Sora finished reading the letter, but could not process exactly what he had just read. He turned to Riku, who gave him a weak smile.

"It looks like we've got another adventure ahead of us, eh, Sora?" he said.

"NO!" yelled Kairi suddenly, knocking the note out of Sora's hands.

Sora and Riku both glanced at the redhead. Neither of them would have believed it if they hadn't both just seen it. They stared at Kairi in shock. Kairi blushed.

"It's just...you just got here," she said. "I haven't seen either of you for a full year, and now... I might lose both of you all over again, maybe forever!"

"I'm sorry, Kairi," said Sora, "but King Mickey's note said the worlds are in danger, and..."

"She's coming with us," interrupted Riku.

Now Sora and Kairi both glanced at Riku, who simply pointed at the note on the ground. "He said he wanted Sora, Riku, and Kairi," he said. "All three of us are going."

"Are you INSANE?" screamed Sora. "Kairi is NOT coming with us! What if she gets hurt? What then?"

Kairi, however, was ecstatic. The thing she longed for most in all the worlds was to go on an adventure with Sora and Riku...mostly Sora.

"Don't worry about me," said Kairi. She held out one hand, and the Destiny's Embrace Keyblade appeared there. "I can handle myself out there."

Sora reluctantly nodded. "You were really brave back in the World that Never Was," he said. "If anyone else gets to go with us, it should be you."

Kairi smiled. She was going on an adventure to other worlds with Sora! And of course Riku, but she could only think about Sora for some reason.

It's because you like him, said Naminé inside her.

"Be quiet, Naminé," she whispered, though she knew no one else could hear her Nobody's voice.

"What?" asked Sora.

"Nothing," said Kairi.

Riku had picked up the note and was surveying it for a second time. "Hmm," he said. "King Mickey told us to seal the Keyhole of Destiny Islands. We'd better get to the cave behind the waterfall."

"Wait," said Sora. "Didn't all the Keyholes seal all by themselves after we defeated Ansem- I mean, the Heartless of Xehanort?"

"I thought that's what the King said," said Riku. "That is weird." He shrugged. "He'll probably explain it when we see him later tonight."

The group walked slowly to the waterfall, thinking out loud about the note. When they reached the waterfall, they all began to crawl on hands and knees into the cave, hidden behind a wall of vines.

Inside the cave was a wooden door with a large golden keyhole. This was the Keyhole to the heart of the world. On its right was a chalk drawing of Sora and Kairi. A relatively recent addition showed the two giving a paopu fruit to each other. Sora had drawn the first half, and from the blush that appeared on Kairi's face, he suspected she had drawn in the other half.

"Go ahead, Kairi," said Riku.

Kairi stared. "Go ahead and do what?" she asked.

"It's your turn to lock the Keyhole," said Riku. "Come on. Just point your Keyblade at it."

Slowly, slightly nervously, Kairi raised her right hand. Destiny's Embrace appeared there. The redhead pointed the Keyblade at the Keyhole. A beam of light few straight from the Keyblade to the Keyhole. There was a flash of light, an extremely faint click, and when the light faded away again, the Keyhole was gone.

"Good job!" said Sora, putting his hand on Kairi's left shoulder. This wasn't what he had planned to do; he'd only planned to give Kairi a pat on the back. But this, he thought quietly, was better. He wasn't sure how long he would have stood there if Riku hadn't cleared his throat.

"Alright," the white-haired teenager said, smiling in a way Sora found infuriating. "Let's split up. There will be a lot of time for lost romance later. We'll all meet over at the small island at midnight. That's when our new journey will start." He walked away.

"See you then, Kairi," said Sora. For a moment he was on the brink of saying something else, but then the moment passed, and he simply walked away after Riku.

Kairi stayed behind. She watched as the others walked away. Then, once they were out of earshot, she screamed as loudly as possible, "YES! I'm going on an adventure!"

11:58 P.M.

Sora shivered. Considering that Destiny Islands were a tropical archipelago, it was surprisingly cold at night.

Riku walked up. "Where's Kairi?" he asked.

Sora smiled and glanced around the small island. "The last time we stood here together, I was asking you that."

They both remembered the night their first adventures had begun. Destiny Islands had been torn apart by Heartless forces, and Riku had been pulled into the darkness. Kairi's heart had been sealed inside Sora, and Sora had been flung onto another world, called Traverse Town.

Just then, Kairi herself came running across the bridge to the small island. She stood with the others. Sora felt very sorry for her; he was cold, and he was wearing black pants, so long they could be tucked into his shoes. Kairi was only wearing a short pink dress, a white undershirt, and laced-up pink-and-white boots.

"You must be freezing," said Sora, voicing his feeling aloud. "Do you want to go get something warmer?"

"It's okay," said Kairi.

Riku checked his watch. "It's midnight," he said. "It's now or never."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi all summoned their Keyblades at once. Sora's Kingdom Key, Riku's Road to the Dawn, and Kairi's Destiny's Embrace all lifted into the sky, as all their voices cried out, "We accept the summons!"

A brilliant flash of light momentarily filled the island. Then it faded...and the three heroes were gone.

So how did I do? Did I fill in the plot of the "cliffie" at the end of KH2? Tell me in the reviews!

Maybe there's a world you'd like to see in the story sometime soon! Unfortunately, I only have a few slots in this story available. But send in your ideas, and when it gets to that point, I will pick the three lucky worlds that will make an appearance in the story!

R&R!