The Mysterious Tower was calm. Immensely peaceful and undisturbed with clouds lazily drifting past the twilit sky and grassy grounds and stars twinkling without any care for what was going on outside their own little worlds.

Sora looked it over with... Perhaps it was contempt and perhaps it was loss or maybe it was the weirdest mix of the two. A letter was clutched in his hand as he watched Riku training Kairi and Lea. What if he was there too? As a REAL master? Sora looked at his letter again, reading it over with a numb idea of what it meant already.

Or maybe becoming a master would take too long. There was so much they needed to do in so little time that they needed to act, but Yen Sid's orders were to wait and train. Waiting only got him so far in his journey since that fated night when he was fourteen. Most of it was pushed forward through action, and the only thing waiting did was make things worse. A self-loathing sort of playful smile started forming; or maybe his thoughts were being muddled by his own impatience.

"Whatcha got there, Sora?"

Sora looked up to see Kairi walking in. He stuffed the letter in his jacket pocket "Oh, some sketches Jiminy gave me..."

Kairi leaned by the wall next to him "Can I see? I didn't know Jiminy sketched-"

"They're art studies of me," Sora dismissed her "you wouldn't want to see me without a top on-"

"Excuse me but I don't think that's Jiminy's thing." Kairi said, her eyes narrowing with either amusement or annoyance. It was hard to tell with her occasionally capricious nature.

Sora brushed back his hair a bit "He said he wanted a model so he could learn to draw people, so I volunteered." He shrugged "In the name of good art, ya know?"

Kairi reached for his pocket "Oh come on, just show me. I bet you don't look that bad."

Sora shied away, and pulled the letter out of his pocket to keep it out of Kairi's reach while starting to smile "Oh I do look bad! I got lotsa scars and a six pack!"

"Even better!" Kairi laughed as she splayed herself across Sora's lap while reaching for the paper.

Sora stood, unceremoniously dumping Kairi on the ground with a wide grin "Sorry, Kai! You're not seeing this." Kairi, now sitting up from being splayed in the ground, puffed a few clumps of hair out of her face.

Sora's smile flickered as he glanced over a few words of the letter "... Danger... Turn in... Safety... Dead..." He then put the letter in the pouch of his tank top "It's... a little personal, okay? I was lying; it's not Jiminy's sketches it's a letter from mom 'n dad."

That was another lie. Sora was keeping track of how many times he lied to Kairi, feeling that it was the only way to keep the guilt at bay. And if he went through with what he was about to do? He wondered if she'd hate him eternally for the strings he was pulling.

Kairi stood, huffing and crossing her arms with a concerned and guilty look "Okay, you could've told me and I'd've left you alone."

Sora smirked "What can I say? It's fun teasing you." Kairi smacked his shoulder for the comment. Sora laughed and backed away a small bit "Oh come on, it's true!"

Kairi flicked Sora's chin up "Sora, I've known you for years and you're not the teasing type."

Sora looked outside and nodded "Yeah, I guess." He grew even more somber. He needed to get going soon. How long was his window of opportunity going to last?

"It's scary, isn't it?" Kairi asked him "The whole... Xehanort fiasco."

Sora shrugged "Kinda faced it twice before-"

"Not to this scale." Kairi pointed out. She tugged at her hair with a sigh "I think I understand how scary it was for you then..."

Sora smirked again "Yeah, it was scary, but I wouldn't trade it for anything." He smile faded as his hand brushed against the letter. He really needed to wrap this up... He turned to Kairi, grabbed her hand, and looked into her eyes "Kairi," he paused, trying to find the right way to express his feelings and give a small signal for what was going to probably be a really stupid decision in his life.

He found the words "I would tear down the sky for you."

He then left her standing there, eyes wide, mouth taut and puckered yet straight, and a blush starting to form on her cheeks. Kairi mulled over the words in surprised silence. Yes, the words held the context of love, but just what kind of love was it-

"Kairi, where's Sora going?"

Kairi blinked, then turned to Riku and brushed her hair back "U-um, what?"

Riku wiped sweat from the back of his neck and brow "Where's Sora going? Yen Sid said we needed to wait for his instructions before doing anything." Kairi shrugged. Riku took a look around "Hmm, doesn't look like he's here-"

"Sora just kinda talked to me and left." Kairi said.

Riku turned back to her "What'd he say?"

Kairi tapped her cheek. The suddenness of Sora's words left her a little dazed "Um... 'I would tear down the sky for you'..." She trailed off at Riku's alarmed look "What?"

"Kairi, you know what his name means, right?!" He asked her.

"Yeah, I used it in my letter to him. It means..." She finally hopped on the same panic boat as Riku. Her voice dropped to a horrified whisper "sky."

She ran for the stairs, only saying "Oh my gosh." She took the steps two at a time, yelling for Sora with Riku following after. Her mind was in a panic. Sora essentially said he was destroying himself for her that was not a good thing-

Kairi slammed into something tall and black "Woah! Hey what's up with you two?!"

Kairi shook her dizzied head and backed away, then resumed her chase "Sora~!"

Lea watched her go, then held Riku back "Hey now, what about Sora? He said he was leaving to clear his head."

Riku shook his head "Me and Kairi don't think so."

Riku resumed chasing after Kairi, but Lea shrugged and continued going back upstairs "Ugh, kids..." He halted a moment, then turned around and went down thanks to his conscience bashing his head around for not being more active with Roxas in keeping him safe "Okay, fine."

Kairi saw Sora readying a portal to leave, and yelled at him "Sora, what are you doing?!"

Unlike the jump she suspected, Sora only turned his head with and guilt filled look. He glanced at the ground "Keeping you and Riku safe."

He turned back to the portal opening, but Kairi was not going to let him leave. She walked towards him "Sora don't you dare-"

Sora pulled out his letter "I have to."

Kairi paused to scoff "I doubt your parents-"

"It's not my parents." Sora explained "It's Xehanort."

Kairi threw up her hands in exasperation "You know better than to listen to him!" She held out her hand "Come on, just call it off."

Riku and Lea showed up "Sora!"

Sora looked back at them with a sad smile "Sorry guys, but I also know better than to not listen to a death threat." he started disappearing, and he quietly let the letter float to the ground "Keep on fighting, okay?"

Riku lunged at Sora to stop him, but only ended up with a letter in his face, dirt and blood in his mouth, and his best friend he worked so hard to keep safe in danger again.

Felt I needed to post something this was gonna be a one shot but I decided to break it into three parts