Mickey watched, hopeful and anxious in equal measure, as Riku built a bridge into Sora's heart. Dark light flared into existance between the two young men, and Riku glowed slowly brighter and brighter as his mind entered Sora's heart.
Abruptly, the light winked out of existence and Riku collapsed unconscious to the floor, just as he had at the beginning of his Mark of Mastery. He was in, then. There was no going back.
He paced anxiously as Donald and Goofy huddled in the corner. "He's Riku! He's bound to be alright!" Goofy said optimistically.
Donald slumped. "Aww. What if something goes wrong?"
"He's stubborn," Lea admitted from the corner. "He'll do."
"He's sure to be alright," Mickey said, far more confidentially than he felt. "We'll just have to wait and see."
The Mark of Mastery hadn't been this bad - since no one had known the extent of the danger Sora and Riku were entering, the prolonged unconsciousness hadn't been nearly as nerve wracking. It had still been rather agonizing for Mickey, though. He remembered Ventus, so unmoving and silent, and could barely bear to see Sora and Riku propped up against the same wall in the same way and reduced to much the same state.
"Oh no!" Goofy exclaimed, and Mickey whirled. Darkness wove around Sora, then Riku, like a net, capturing, restraining. He turned to his former master, who had abandoned his normal front of calm forbearance and instead leaned forward intently.
"Master Yen Sid," he said urgently, "you have to let me go in after 'em. We can't lose them both."
His former master slowly and regretfully shook his head. "I fear it is too late. Riku may be in too deep for you to reach him, and I shudder to think of losing all three of you to the Realm of Sleep. We must trust Riku's great capacities against the darkness to be sufficient."
"I've helped Riku through his darkness before," Mickey said, summoning his keyblade. "I can help him again. Please. Let me go after them."
Yen Sid looked intently at him, then sighed. "I see your mind has already been made up. Be very careful, Mickey. You tread on dangerous ground."
"I know," Mickey said, pointing his keyblade at Sora. "I'll be back in a flash."
Or not at all, he finished silently as the world dissolved around him.
He was expecting monsters. Darkness. Sora and Riku.
He was not expecting to find himself sprawled on the friendly shores of Destiny Islands. He sat up slowly, anticipating some trap, but none came. Somehow, that made things worse. Warily, he began walking, aware of the steadily decreasing time he had to find Riku before things inevitably spiraled.
He had argued against this test, told Yen Sid they had already lost too many hearts to sleep, but his master had insisted. He had more or less successfully restrained his choking anxiety until Sora's heart had been captured by Xehanort and used as a pawn in the newly unfolding Organization XIII. From there on out, he had been running on fear and adrenaline.
Footsteps behind him. He whirled to face -
His heart stopped. So did the footsteps.
They stared at each other, unmoving, for frozen seconds.
"Mickey?" Ventus asked at length. "How..."
"Ventus," Mickey said, reeling. "Why are you here?"
Sudden fear clawed at him, but no, Ven's eyes were blue, not gold, and any trace of the x-blade was entirely absent. Only after reassuring himself quite thoroughly of this fact did he notice the little boy carried on Ventus' back.
"Is that Sora?" he asked cautiously, pointing.
Ventus nodded, stopping halfway through. "Kind of. Let's keep walking - it's all turning to darkness behind us."
Mickey glanced beyond the shore and, sure enough, the woods beyond were slowly disappearing into a black abyss. He shuddered. "Right, let's move."
Sora made a sound of complaint, and Ventus hummed quietly. "It's okay, Sora, that's just Riku in your heart. You're okay. We've got you." Sora quieted, and the trio walked in silence for a few more paces.
Mickey turned to his long-lost friend. "How did you get here?" he asked, rather more harshly than he intended. "We've been searching everywhere for you, ya know."
Ventus glanced at him, startled. "Really? I've been here the whole time, more or less. Sora saved me after I fought with Vanitas. I've been resting here, healing."
"We thought you and Sora might be connected," Mickey admitted. "But we never guessed how much. I suppose that explains the second keyblade."
"Yeah, that's pretty cool," Ventus admitted, seeming for a fleeting moment the age he appeared. "Did you know Roxas could do that, too?"
"Riku told me. How'd you know?"
Ventus let out a long, slow breath. "Things got complicated with Roxas. Anyways, I'm here now. Mickey, why are you here?"
Right. "I came to help Riku," Mickey said, his pace increasing. Ventus hurried to catch up. "He meant to pull Sora out of the Realm of Sleep, but then the darkness statted taking them both."
"I know," Ventus said quietly, resettling the sleeping young Sora on his shoulders. "I gave Sora all the protection I could but - well - Mickey, I think Vanitas might have followed me here, or at least some of his darkness. That scares me. Anyways, we've got to stay out of the deep parts of his heart to protect Sora."
"But-" Mickey started.
Ventus twitched his shoulders, indicating the small boy on his back. "This. After what happened with Organization XIII, I knew I needed to protect Sora's memories and keep them away from the darkness. I grabbed all I could and ran."
Mickey ground to a stop. "Those are Sora's memories?" he said incredulously.
Ventus hadn't stopped moving. "Yep," he said over his shoulder. "C'mon, hurry, the darkness is getting faster. I guess the memories look like Sora when he was four since that's how I remember him best. Memories are powerful in the heart."
"Yeah," Mickey said, running to catch up. "They sure are."
They walked in silence for another few heartbeats. Behind them, the darkness claimed the paopu tree. They moved a little faster.
"Mickey?" Ventus said hesitantly. "I - I keep having these dreams, and I think they're mine. My memories, I mean. I don't know what they mean, but I'm pretty sure they're important."
Mickey nodded, once, his pace faltering as darkness circled around to surround them. "I'll ask my master when I leave," he promised. "What do you remember?"
"I - it's hard to tell. Master Xehanort. Animal masks. A lot of fighting. A city I've never been to, full of people."
"Alright," Mickey said, eyes fixed on the massive wave of darkness rearing up in front of them. "I'll be sure to ask."
Then there was darkness on every side, and there was no more room for words. Ventus curled protectively around Sora; Mickey fought desperately to reach the pair, but no matter what he did, it was never enough. Darkness dragged backward at him, and for a brief, timeless moment, he was utterly consumed by nightmares, then, deeper down - nothing. Nothing everywhere, all around, for always.
He struggled, fought, slipped -
Just as he thought he was lost for good, the darkness retracted, expelled by a massive force of will that wasn't his own. He caught a glimpse of Ventus, from a long way off, cradling the tiny Sora close. He reached for them again -
-and shot awake, gasping.
"Your Majesty!" Donald squawked into his ear.
"Phew," Goofy said from somewhere above him. "That was a close one."
"Good to see you again," Lea drawled. "It was touch and go there, for a bit."
Mickey lay still for a moment, absorbing everything that had just happened, before allowing Goofy to haul him to his feet.
"And how did you fare?" Yen Sid asked gently.
Mickey shook his head to clear it, then hurriedly responded as he realized this might be taken as an indication of failure. "Sora is fine, I think," he said, only a little uncertainly. "There was a huge wave of darkness, but then it cleared. I never actually saw Riku or Sora, to tell the truth. Master, I learned a whole lot - I've gotta talk with you real soon."
"Very well," Yen Sid said calmly, relaxing into his chair and nodding privately to Mickey's request for a meeting. "It seems Riku has achieved some measure of success, then. Let us hope it holds."
"Yeah," Mickey said, anxiously glancing at the two unconscious young men.
After a minute, Yen Sid cleared his throat. "It appears we may be waiting a while. Donald, Goofy, would you fetch some tea?"
"Yeah, and cakes," Donald said with muted optimism. "Cakes make everything better."
Not everything, Mickey wanted to say, but didn't, feeling unusually optimistic. Ventus was alright. If Sora and Riku woke up, this might be one of the best days of his life.
Soon enough, the duo returned with a pot of tea and a tray piled high with cake and cookies. Lea stole a cookie off the tray as it passed, and Donald glared. "Hey, look, there's no need to walk over to get one when it's right here," the redhead protested, his eyes fixed on Sora.
Sora twitched, and the conversation froze.
"Buddy?" Lea asked cautiously.
A long silence, then - "Hey, Axel," Sora said wearily, rubbing his eyes. "Where's Riku?"
All eyes turned to Riku, who remained unmoving.
"He went to help you," Donald said after a moment, "but he's still not back."
Sora shuddered all over. "It's terrible there. All - all dark and cold. I-"
"What is it, Sora?" Mickey asked, stepping forward.
"Nothing, I guess," Sora mumbled. "Something Xehanort - Young Xehanort - said. He was probably just messing with me." His voice was painfully uncertain.
There was a beat of awkward silence, then Donald was shoving a cookie in Sora's face. "Well, we can't do anything until he wakes up. We brought cookies while we waited for you."
Sora's expression rapidly snapped from resigned fear to utter battlement. "Cookies?" he asked, a little weakly.
"Uh-yup," Goofy confirmed.
"They're actually not that bad," Lea confessed, wandering over to grab another one. "Better than I thought. Here." He tossed a cookie to Sora, who caught it awkwardly.
"Ah," Sora said, taking a deep breath and smiling, only a little strained. "Thanks."
Five minutes later, a full tea party was in swing. Sora, being Sora, had managed to find party decorations from somewhere, and Yen Sid had obligingly summoned a table to set everything on. Sora was actually relaxing a little by the time Riku groaned and opened his eyes.
Mickey watched, rather relieved and amused, as Riku stared in bemused disbelief at Sora conducting a tea party. "Hey!" Riku shouted after a moment.
Sora whirled, and Mickey realized that Sora had been far more concerned about Riku than he had let on. "Riku!" he cried, tackling Riku in a knockover hug. "You're safe! Riku!"
The Mark of Mastery concluded; only Riku was proclaimed a keyblade master, to Mickey's quiet puzzlement, but Sora took it well enough, and soon only Yen Sid and Mickey remained in the castle. "Now that Riku has gone to fetch Kairi, let us talk together," his master said, sitting down and folding his hands pensively. "Judging by your reaction, it seems we have much to discuss."
"Yes," Mickey said, taking a deep breath. "It's Ventus. I found him - he's been in Sora's heart all along." He paused to let that sink in. "And master, Ventus is pretty much awake."
Ventus lay on the cool sand that was newly scoured of darkness, Sora close beside him, and closed his eyes. Abruptly, the beach dissolved into black emptiness and Ventus fell deep, deep down, the air around him increasingly cold and dry. He looked, then, but Sora was no longer beside him; he was alone, again.
He spent a lot of his time alone, it seemed.
He vaguely remembered this happening before, back when his heart had been split in half. Falling, falling, falling forever, and at the bottom lay his breaking heart. As soon as he remembered that, the dark abyss around him opened up, and he landed softly on his feet. Looking around, he saw an uneven but solid platform, shards of glass welded together with strands of light until the cracks were only visible when you knelt down to look.
He was waking up. Somehow, after all this time, he was waking up. The thought was actually alarming; his own adventures had been so short, in comparison to Sora, and things had gone rather badly. Wouldn't it be better to stay here?
But the feeling was fleeting, and he found himself longing to stretch properly, to feel the wind in his hair and scour the lands until he found Terra and Aqua.
He was waking up.
"I'm coming back," he whispered, half-disbelievingly, and stood. His exuberance caught up to him, then, and he spun around, laughing a little. "I'm coming back."
Somewhere, quite far off and quite close by, he felt his mouth, his real mouth, curve up a little in response.
This is a standalone companion piece to my pre-KH1 series, A Sleeping Heart.
Credit for the truly lovely cover art goes to noxtivis, who can be found under that name on tumblr.