Not the Keyblade's Chosen One

A/N: I originally wrote this three years ago and recently rediscovered it. Enjoy!

Sora was sitting on the same Paopu tree he had sat on since he was 4 years old. He was staring up at the inky sky above Destiny Islands. He had long ago realized that all the worlds shared this one sky.

"One sky, one destiny…" He said quietly to himself. It was 3 am on the islands, and Sora could not sleep. He was having the same nightmare he'd been having ever since he and Riku had returned to the islands from their shared Mark of Mastery Exam. Riku had passed as expected, but Sora… He didn't want to think about the time he had spent in the Realm of Sleep. And that's exactly what his nightmare had forced him to do. He closed his eyes, leaned back, and began to relive it all over again...

"You treat people's hearts like bottles on a shelf, but they're not!" He yelled at Xemnas.

"Hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them- they're what ties us together, even when we're apart!" His confidence was growing now.

"They're what… make me strong." He was certain now, Xemnas and Xigbar couldn't stop him, not even if they had the whole Organization with them! Xigbar smirked and let out a small chuckle.

"Duh! You're strong because of the ties you have with other people. As if the Keyblade would chose a wimp like you." Xigbar's smile widened.

"But no pouting. We see bigger and much better things in your future… once you side with us." He stretched out his hand, as if expecting Sora to take hold of it. Sora looked down at his Keyblade. No, it didn't choose him. But he had it for a reason. He tightened his grip on it.

"I know the Keyblade didn't chose me, and I don't care. I'm proud to be a small part of something bigger- the people it did choose." Xigbar gasped, a look of fright on his face. Sora's resolve strengthened.

"My friends. They are my power!"

But this is where the nightmare took over. Xigbar burst out laughing.

"Friends? What 'friends'? You're all alone down here, that's what got you into this mess in the first place!" Xigbar grinned manically. "Big bag Sora, always gotta prove to people he's strong enough to handle being a Keyblade wielder. As if! You could barely handle us awake with your friends by your side. How are you going to face us down here all alone?" Sora's grip on his Keyblade slackened.

"But Riku... Kairi..." He started, not sure how to finish.

"Your protector and your princess aren't here now keyboy, it's just you, me and old Xemnas over there." Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade disappeared from his grip and materialized... Right in Xemnas's hands!? Sora then realized the truth. Without his friends by his side, he was nothing. He couldn't even hold on to his own weapon without them. Xemnas smiled a rare smile. "My Somebody used one of these in the past, to begin our Organization. I shall enjoy using one again, on this, our final assignment." Sora took a step back, and tried to run. Xigbar caught him and threw him to the ground.

"Xemnas!" He yelled, "He's all your's!" As Xemnas leapt at Sora, Keyblade in hand, Sora's eyes snapped open again. Tears were now streaming out of them.

Weak. He was weak, nothing, a Keyblade failure. Riku wasn't the one who had needed to be tested to see if he was ready to wield a Keyblade. It was him. His became so distracted by these thoughts that he was surprised when he heard a voice next to him.

"Come on Sora, you've got to pull it together."

"Riku! When did you get here?" The brunet asked in surprise.

"A little while ago. But it wasn't my idea." Riku pointed to Sora's right. There, next to him, sat the one person he didn't want to see him like this.

"Kairi! Uh, I was just..." He racked his brain for some lame excuse. Kairi's face was the picture of worry.

"Sora, please, you don't sleep, you don't eat and you barley talk to us anymore. Tell us what's wrong." As she said this, she took his hand in hers. Sora pulled away.

"Why didn't the Keyblade choose me?" Sora said in a whisper. Riku made a face.

"Is that what you've been worried about? Come on Sora, I thought you were smarter than that." Sora was puzzled.

"What do you mean?" He asked Riku.

"Sora, even though the Keyblade didn't choose you at first, it's realized its mistake now. Has it ever once left you since you reclaimed it from me at Hollow Bastion?" Sora thought for a moment.

"No..." Kairi smiled.

"See? Then you don't have to worry about things like that." Sora still wasn't satisfied, they didn't get it.

"But the only reason I have it now because my friends have made my heart strong! When I'm alone, who knows what'll happen?!" Kairi's smile didn't waver.

"That's just it Sora, you'll never be alone."

"She's right. Kairi and I will always be with you, in here." Riku tapped Sora's chest in the area over his heart. Kairi reached into her pocket, and put something in Sora's hand. It was her Wayfinder charm.

"Don't forget, where ever you go, we're always with you." Sora smiled.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it." Kairi slid off the horizontal trunk of the Paopu tree and stood up on the ground.

"Now come on you lazy bum, let's go home." She said as she offered her hand to him. He took it, feeling the warmth it gave him inside.

That night, when he went to bed, Sora slept more soundly than he had in years. Because now, he realized, he would always have Riku and Kairi there to keep his heart strong.