A/N: Finally! I'm done with my essay and am using what time I have until I start my next one to my advantage. This is my own story that takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts II and is based off of the secret ending. Hope you like it.

EDIT1: Now that I've finally played and finished both Kingdom Hearts and KH: Chain of Memories (with Kingdom Hearts II still in the works) I've decided to go back and redo the past chapters, which were previously completely based off of information I read on the Internet and not personal experience with the games' stories.

EDIT2: After some thought, I've decided to go back and rework the chapters again because: 1) some of them were much too short to begin with, 2) the changes make them fit in better with the time range I'm aiming for, and 3) I finished Kingdom Hearts II. I haven't deleted a chapter per se (I previously had 8 chapters posted). All I did was combine the first and second chapters so I haven't taken out anything. Also, I'm not making any changes to my story to fit in with the upcoming KH2-FINAL MIX- version of the game so anything new and extra in the FM version of KH2 is NOT going to be in my story (well, maybe some but certainly not all).

Chapter 1: Confused Emotions

The Heartless were coming in droves now. He didn't know how much longer he could hold them off. There were so many it was overwhelming. But he had to try. His friends were counting on him. With a determined grimace, he pushes forward into the sea of darkness with Goofy and Donald at his sides. Summoning both Oblivion and Oathkeeper to his hands, he lashes out at the closest Heartless and watches them disintegrate under the force of his Keyblades.

There was a flash of light, so white and bright that he was forced to cover his eyes with his arms to avoid being blinded by its shining purity. When the light dissolved away, he saw standing before him his two best friends. He smiles and sighs in relief to see that they were both fine. As Riku and Kairi ran up to him with arms outstretched to grab his, darkness suddenly engulfs all three of them. He quickly loses sight of his friends as he cries out their names into the darkness. He was alone again. All alone… He never liked being alone.

Sora awoke with a start in his bed, nervous sweat drenching his white t-shirt. He gasps as he pants for air, so emotionally shocked by the vividness of his dream. But that was all it was, right? A dream. A mere dream.

Yeah, that's how it all started, thought Sora, bringing his hand up to wipe the sweat from his face.

He turns and looks at the one thing that was most likely the main cause of his dream standing on his nightstand. A simple glass bottle with a simple piece of paper corked inside. But what was written on that paper was far from simple. Very far from simple.

Sora gives a sigh and falls back down on his bed, his head hitting the pillow with a soft poof. For a few minutes he laid there, staring blankly up at the ceiling in thought. He began remembering how a year ago he was thrust into a world he never knew, given a weapon he's never seen, and forced to fight an enemy he was never aware of. He went through so much to find his friends and encountered so many ups and downs along the way; he was amazed at how he was able to retain his emotional sanity through it all. At times he felt his efforts were in vain, that all he had done to help his friends also in turn helped his enemies as well.

He thought it was over when he defeated Xehanort's Heartless. He thought it was over when he defeated Xehanort's Nobody. But in the end, it was never over. And it never will be. Not as long as darkness exists in everyone's hearts.

A heaviness fell over his heart as Sora turns to look out the window. He watches the ebb and flow of the seashore as he contemplated on what was in the letter. He had been transported back to Destiny Islands and just barely spent an entire week rejoicing over the reunion with his friends when that bottle came. He remembers how Kairi came up to him and Riku and showed them the bottle. The bottle with a rolled up letter marked with an insignia that he was all too familiar with: the insignia of King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle. He wished he had never taken out the letter and unrolled it to read the message inside. But it was too late. What was done is done.

He could still feel the disappointed stares of his friends as he walked away from them that evening. What was said in the letter hit him badly to the point of complete hopelessness.

—flashback—

"Sora!" exclaimed Kairi. "Where are you going?"

"This sounds really important, Sora," added Riku. "We should go see the king. All of us, together."

Hearing that, Sora turns around to face his friends, the bottle and the letter still in his hands. His eyes were filled with confusion, and yet, he knew what had to be done. He just wished it wasn't him who had to bear the burden.

"We've barely just spent a month together after we got back," he voiced his concerns. "And now we've got to go back? I… I don't want to go back. No, not now. Not just yet."

Kairi and Riku were struck by his words, but deep down, they knew Sora has a right to feel how he feels. He's been through a lot and barely got any rest after enduring a grueling battle, even with Riku by his side. Their friend was important, but so was the letter as well. Mickey and the others really need Sora, but even heroes need to rest too. The two of them thought about what to do and, after a few moments of thinking, decided that Sora should choose whether he wants to go or not. He may be the Keyblade master, but he's still a teenager going through an unusually tough stage in his life.

"Sora," began Kairi as she and Riku came up to the boy. "You decide if you want to go or not. Riku and I will support you no matter what. Remember, you're never alone."

"Yeah," agreed Riku. "Take your time. Don't rush it."

Hearing these reassuring words, Sora looks at his friends and smiles. "Thanks you guys."

—flashback—

Sora tears his eyes away from the ocean and turns to face the bottle on his nightstand again. Breathing out an exasperated sigh, he sits up on his bed and takes the bottle from the nightstand. He hesitantly slides the rolled up note out and unrolls it to read it again by the light of the full moon outside.

To Sora, Kairi, and Riku,

This is King Mickey, as you have probably already figured out. We've recently discovered a whole new set of worlds that were opened up by the Heartless after Xemnas' defeat. These worlds are much different from the ones you've locked up before, but maybe you might know something about them. We need your help to lock these worlds. I'm terribly sorry to have you start fighting again so soon.

Most Sincerely, Your Friend,

King Mickey

No sooner had Sora just finished up reading the letter when a loud rumbling sounded outside. Surprised, Sora quickly turns to the window to see a shadow disappear from the corner of his eye. Guessing the possibility of a Heartless, he leaps off his bed and speedily changes into his fighting clothes and shoes. With that done, he sneaks out of his house and runs alone to the part of the beach where he thought he saw the Heartless. Making sure he was not being watched, he summons Ultima Weapon to his hand and prepares himself for a possible ambush.

He hears a noise behind him and turns around to find himself face to face with a human figure covered in armor from head to toe. Aside from the two "horns" protruding from the sides of the head like bat ears, what was most striking to Sora about this mysterious being was the fishbone-shaped Keyblade in the person's right hand.

First Riku, then King Mickey, then Kairi, and now this guy, thought Sora. Geez. It's hard being the Keyblade master when so many people around you can use a Keyblade.

He and the being stood there in a standoff until the armored person spoke up in a deep voice.

"Tell me, are you really the Keyblade master?"

"Who wants to know?" retorts Sora, still holding Ultima in a ready stance.

"My identity is of no importance," replies the mysterious warrior. "I need you to come with me."

"I'm not going anywhere," affirms Sora. "Especially with complete strangers."

"I don't think you have much choice in the matter," responds the warrior.

Just then, Sora hears the sound of softly clanking armor behind him and he turns to find two more armored beings with their own Keyblades. Feeling somewhat nervous to have to face off against other Keyblade wielders, the teenage boy grips his Ultima Weapon tightly. For a few seconds the air was silent with intensity as the three mysterious beings stood surrounding Sora. Without warning one of them strikes first, causing Sora to react by deflecting the other's Keyblade off with his own. Another attacks and Sora quickly summons Oblivion to his other hand to cover his opening.

As Sora fights off the other two warriors, the armored being with the fishbone-shaped Keyblade stands aside and waits for his comrades to distract him just enough for him to deliver a blow to the side of the teenage boy's head. Everything happened so fast that one minute Sora was fighting and the next minute he's falling to the ground and blacking out.

--

Kairi awoke suddenly after being asleep for only an hour. She had a bad feeling that something has happened.

"Sora…"

She quickly leaps off her bed and began changing into her usual clothes. As soon as she was done, she sneaks out of her house and ran in time to almost crash right into Riku.

"Whoa there!" the teenage boy cries out.

"Riku!" exclaims Kairi in surprise at her friend, who was also dressed in his new clothes. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was just going to ask you that same question," replies Riku. "But then again, I have a feeling I know the answer."

"It's Sora," affirms Kairi worriedly.

"I thought so," responds the teenage boy. "Let's hurry."

With a nod, Kairi and Riku run towards the beach as fast as their feet could carry them. They reach the beach in time to see the tallest armored warrior walk off with an unconscious Sora over his shoulder. Riku advances toward them and sees that one of them wielded his Way to Dawn Keyblade. He tries to summon the Keyblade, but something about the warrior prevented the weapon from returning to its rightful owner.

"What's going on here?" demanded the sixteen-year-old young man with clenched fists. "Where are you taking my friend?"

"Humph, the Keyblade Master befriending a being of darkness?" exclaims the new wielder of Way to Dawn dubiously. "I find that hard to believe."

"Let him go!" Kairi cries out. "Sora!"

The three warriors merely stared at the teenagers as a portal of light appears behind them. Silently, they turn around and head into the portal.

"Stop!" Riku yells out as he and Kairi ran towards the warriors.

His cry fell on deaf ears as the warriors enter the portal and disappear moments later along with the portal just as Riku reaches out with his hand. The warriors escape his grasp as the portal disappears along with them and his friend. Soon it was just him and Kairi alone on the dark beach.

"No… Sora…" exclaims Kairi in shock, sinking to her knees. "They took him! Why would they take him?"

"I don't know," responds Riku. But deep down, he knew why. It was because Sora was the Keyblade Master. He has a power no one else has and that's why trouble seems to follow the teenager wherever he goes. Of course, Kairi knew this, too. She just didn't want to accept it.

"We've gotta get Sora back," declares the redhead. "He's done so much to get us all back together."

"I know," agrees Riku, recalling his fall into darkness and the emotional reunion at the World That Never Was when Sora found him. "But we're going to need help. We've got to contact King Mickey."

"Right," exclaims Kairi. "I'm going home to write a letter and send it off in a bottle. Hopefully it'll reach the king quickly."

Riku says nothing as he nods in agreement. "Hang in there Sora. We're coming for you."

A/N: Okay, HUGE NOTE here. The three warriors here are by all means NOT the ones in the secret ending or the extended secret ending. Got it memorized?