The Dive to the Heart. Sora had been here once before. This place was mostly all darkness except for one pillar that Sora was standing on. It emanated a glow that just felt right to Sora, warm and reassuring. On the pillar, the whole floor looked like the whole floor was stained glass, only not transparent. On the stained glass was a whole picture of Sora, his eyes closed. This place was very special to him, since it was the phyiscal incarnation of his own heart. This is the very place where he fought an enormous pure Heartless when he first acquired the Keyblade and when he first embarked on his journey.

This time, however, he fought another Keyblade wielder wearing the infamous black cloak. Sora didn't know how he appeared in this place, only that the hooded figure took him here after Sora blocked his attack.

The hooded man held two Keyblades, each normally belonging to Sora. In his right hand he held the Oblivion, the symbol for his friendship with his childhood friend, Riku. And in the left, the Oathkeeper, also a symbol for the cherished friendship he shares with... Kairi.

Sora and the hooded figure rushed each other, bringing up their blades to clash against each other.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sora struggled to say, as he pushed against the stranger.

"Someone from the dark" he said calmly.

Sora and the hooded man jumped to opposite sides of the arena, each panting heavily.

Someone from the dark? I know many people from the realm of darkness. Ansem, Xemnas, Maleficent...Riku.

"You can't be... Riku" Sora said, almost pleading.

"Riku?" the other man asked, "I defeated a Riku once" he said, still in that calm and familiar voice.

"You what?" Sora yelled in disbelief.

"Tell me...tell me why he picked you!" the hooded man yelled as he charged, dragging his keyblades against the ground creating sparks. He and Sora exchanged many attacks and each one blocked by the other. After some time, Sora was knocked into the air, and hooded man jumped after him. Sora recovered quickly and blocked a downward swipe, sending him back to the Pillar. The hooded man, somehow standing in the air, looked down at Sora, standing right in the middle of four pictures. Each picture was the face of somebody they both knew, but only Sora could feel true feelings for them.

"I see...that's why."

The hooded man again charged at Sora. Sora managed to dodge back, but had to bring his Keyblade up to block as the hooded figure launched a barrage of strikes, one after the other. Sora withstood all he could, but he stumbled and the hooded man knocked the Kingdom Key to the edge of the arena. Sora made a dash for it, but the other man made it there first and used the Oathkeeper to pin the handle of Sora's blade to the ground, while the Oblivion was pointed at Sora.

Nearly out of pure instinct, Sora extended his hand as close as he could to his Keyblade, beckoning it to return to him. The Kingdom Key disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing in Sora's hand. The hooded man could only cry out "What?" before Sora slashed right through him.

The hooded man dropped both his Keyblades, each disappearing in a small flash. He stumbled a couple of steps before falling to one knee, his hood falling off. What was revealed was that the hooded man was not man, but a boy, no older than Sora. Sora only stayed in place and glared angrily at the boy. The young boy looked up and smiled, turning to Sora.

"You make a good other"


Sora snapped his eyes open, staring into the millions of stars that loomed over every world. He realized that he was leaning against the low hanging paopu tree that he and his friends always hang out at on their private island.

"You make a great other?" Sora asked himself. He stared at his left hand, thinking. Was this dream a flashback? Or was it something different? It seemed like I was actually fighting him. But, was that even Roxas?

He was about to get up and leave, but something on his right shoulder weighed him down. It was Kairi, Sora's childhood friend, and the reason he longed to get back home so quickly. Her auburn red-haired head was resting peacefully on his shoulder, her hand in his hand, and she was smiling but still sleeping. Sora was glad he didn't wake her up. He looked around and saw no one else around, the only sound to be heard were the waves crashing on the sand. Riku must've gone home, he thought.

"Kairi?" a voice called out.

Sora did his best to turn his head without moving his body, so not to wake up Kairi. He saw a tall man standing right behind the tree he was leaning against. When he looked up at his stern looking face, Sora gulped. It was the mayor, Kairi's father. "Oh...hi Mr. Mayor" Sora chuckled nervously. I'm so dead.

"I was just curious as to why Kairi didn't come home. I knew that she would be here so this was the first place I checked out" he said in an authoritive voice.

"Oh, we-we were just-um, I-" he struggled to find something to say, "We were just - um - watching the stars and uh-"

Sora stopped when he heard Kairi groan a little bit. She rolled a little bit towards Sora, wrapped her free arm around his chest and nudged her head right under his chin. Sora froze for a second before he looked back up at the mayor. His stern face seemed to focus more on Sora, who gave a nervous smile back. Sora couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't aggravate the mayor. His smile faded when the mayor himself started to smile, and then burst out laughing.

"Sora, you shouldn't be so nervous. I'm not mad at either of you, as long as you bring her home when you're ready. You're the one person in this small world that I find suitable for my daughter. I'm pretty sure, no, entirely certain that you'll make a great husband and father one day. In fact-"

"Wait! What? Father? Who said-why do-"

"Hahaha, relax my boy, I was only joking. I was only speaking the minds of the people who see you and Kairi together nearly all the time. Kairi also doesn't keep being with you a secret from me, she just loves to talk about you."

"She doesn't keep secrets from you?"

"No, I'm her father, one of the people closest to her, but certainly not as close as you." He paused. "If I didn't know Kairi that well, I would say that you and her have already shared a paopu fruit" he said, looking up at the star shaped fruit that intertwined peoples destinies when shared. Sora stared at the fruit too, remembering the drawings he and Kairi made in their secret place.

The mayor broke the silence, "Does she keep secrets from you, Sora?"

"I don't know" Sora said unsurely.

"She shouldn't" the mayor said as he began to walk away "people that close to you should never keep a secret hidden...no matter how awful."

Sora looked down at Kairi and was amazed at how she was still sleeping, even after the 'talk' he and her father had. He thought about the phrase her father just said before he left, 'People that close to you shouldn't keep secrets hidden...no matter how awful.' It made him think "Does Kairi have something that she wants as a secret?"

He stretched out his free arm and summoned his Keyblade, The Kingdom Key. He started to wonder if anyone else kept a secret that included him, for many could, like Master Yen Sid, King Mickey, Riku...Roxas. After mentioning his name, Sora thought of Roxas and his seperate adventures. He closed his eyes and tried to communicate with his Nobody. "Roxas... do you have any secrets?" He waited a moment with his eyes closed, hoping for a response, but none came. Eventually the calm and peaceful setting of his home made Sora fall asleep again.

"I don't," a voice from within said "But, someone else in here does"