The group had landed on a barren wasteland. Haruhi gazed across the expanse next to Goofy. The dog-man voiced all of their thoughts. "Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the world's taken by the Heartless?"
Sora wasn't worried. "But if we defeat Ansem the worlds should go back to normal, right?"
"You betcha!" Donald grinned at the boy.
"But if we do beat him, and the worlds are reconnected" Sora continued, "what'll happen to this place? And us?"
Donald's grin faded. "This is a Heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear." The boy and duck glanced at Goofy, alarmed. "Don't worry! Even if this goes poof our hearts ain't going nowhere."
Haruhi looked ahead. "We can only hope it'll end up that simple."
Sora shook his head. "C'mon Haruhi, don't be so negative. We'll find our friends for sure!" He gazed at a charm in his hand before moving on.
It took a while to get across the empty space, Sora was opening every chest he could find. As they moved, the cricket that traveled with them was filling Haruhi in on the types of Heartless they had met. After beating countless heartless, they were in an empty area.
"I wonder where that Ansem feller went." Goofy said, looking around the gloom.
"Just dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him." Haruhi rolled her eyes at the duck.
"But falling from this height would kill us."
Sora grinned at her. "But we can fly."
"No I can't."
His grin fell. He chuckled slightly. "Right, you weren't at Neverland. Take my hand, Haruhi." She did so, albeit reluctantly. "Off we go!" The Keyblade wielder jumped off the ledge, laughing as the girl's grip tightened.
"Sora, if you drop me…"
"We're going down, Haru!"
He kept a tight grip on her hands and they dropped into a light.
The group began traveling back through worlds that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been to, Jiminy telling Haruhi the names of each as they left. Every time they had to fight waves and waves of heartless.
"Enough already." The Host groaned, gazing at the hole in the ground they were going to have to jump through.
"C'mon Haru, it won't be that bad."
"Sure." She sighed, following the younger boy down.
"Whoa…" Haruhi's eyes widened at the sight of the giant black bat-like Heartless. She followed Sora on the assault of its head, nodding thanks to Donald as he continuously healed them. She was thrown back as pain erupted throughout her body. She felt the warmth of Donald's healing as Sora destroyed the Heartless.
The boy soared over to her. "You okay?"
Haruhi nodded. "Yeah. Nice job, Sora." The group continued on, area to area until they reached a green room where a Behemoth appeared. Haruhi and Sora made their way up its back quickly and it was quickly defeated.
A piece of the Heartless symbol at the end of the room broke off. After, more heartless came, after each group had been defeated another part broke off until the symbol was gone, allowing them to continue forward.
The room they ended up in was thankfully peaceful. Only a door stood at the end. Haruhi smiled at the group, ready to keep going. "Let's go then, yeah?"
"Sure!" As they approached though, a funny look went over the boy's face. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" The duck sounded worried.
"Don't you hear something? There!"
The girl listened hard, hearing only silence and Jiminy scribbling in his journal. "Sora, There's nothing there."
"Strange… That voice was so familiar. Maybe it was just my imagination." He looked uncertain.
"Then maybe you should take a rest, Sora."
"Yeah, probably."
Once rested, they opened the door leading out onto a…beach? "Well, that's different…" Haruhi ran to catch up with the others, hearing Sora say it was his home. He turned, sprinting toward a shadowed area. Groaning, Haruhi ran after.
"This world has been connected." A smaller island disappeared.
"What was that?!" Goofy looked at the others.
"Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed." More of the island disappeared and the water turned purple. "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
Well, that's a bit harsh… Sora may not be the smartest person, but he does know things…
She followed him toward the silver haired boy standing on the edge of the now-destroyed beach. When he spoke, the voice didn't seem to fit. "Take a look at this tiny place. To the heart seeking freedom this island is a prison surrounded by water. And this boy sought to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross into other worlds. And he opened his heart to the darkness."
The boy turned, but in doing so, changed from a teen to a silver haired man.
"Riku!" Haruhi glanced at her friend. So, the boy was Riku then…
"Don't bother." The man scoffed. "Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart again belongs to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness and all so end. The heart is no different."
Haruhi thought about it. 'No… Hearts don't begin in darkness… but do they really begin in light? No, even if they are born of darkness, they aren't evil. That's obvious by Kyouya-senpai.' She zoned back into the conversation as he appeared behind them.
"In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came! You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."
'The heart doesn't have a true essence.'
"That's not true!" Haruhi smiled at the boy. "The heart may be weak and sometimes it may even give in, but I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"
The man seemed to be getting angry. "So you've come this far but you still understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" A heartless appeared behind him, throwing them back into battle. It felt like a lifetime of giving and getting hit, but eventually, the man flew back and a portion of the island ripped away. Sora jumped in after, an invisible force field closing the rest off.
Haruhi sighed. "Looks like we're stuck here for now." The group watched in near silence as Sora continued to fight Ansem. There was a burst of darkness and they found themselves in an area of pure darkness. From the darkness came the voice of Ansem.
"Behold the endless abyss! Within lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts! Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours." Sora looked down and gasped. Under them was a giant ship… Or was it a giant heartless? "Darkness conquers all worlds!"
Haruhi felt the rush of falling and everything went black.
She waited for what felt like hours. "Sora sure is taking his time…" Haruhi had long since given up finding a way out. Suddenly, "Haruhi!"
"Sora!" The younger teen flashed a grin before going to destroy heartless. Haruhi joined in, smiling at the sight of Donald and Goofy as well. An orb floated down once the heartless were gone, Sora struck it and in a flash of light they were outside the giant ship-heartless.
The force field around the center disappeared, allowing the odd group to attack the bulbous center. That part was taken care of quickly. Unfortunately, the battle was not over. Ansem detached himself from the ship, summoning what looked like a staff. The group charged in, only for Haruhi to be sent flying after a hard hit.
She smiled at the familiar warmth of Cure, nodding thanks to Donald before heading back in, more wary this time. After much more fighting and healing, the battle was over. The ship began to explode, leaving a greatly injured Ansem in its wake. As he spoke, the pain was evident. "It is futile. The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness. Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness..." He reached out to the door and it began to open, darkness spilling out. "Supreme darkness!"
"You're wrong." Haruhi looked at Sora, smiling at his strength. "I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Heart is light!" Light shot through the darkness, enveloping Ansem. It formed around him, growing so intense the group had to look away.
Once the light had faded and they landed on the platform in front of the door, the group ran, pushing on them to close. Goofy peeked in and looked worried. Donald scolded him before looking in himself. "The Heartless!" They screamed together.
"Hurry!"
Sora groaned, pushing next to Haruhi. "I can't…"
"Don't give up!" Sora stopped at the voice. Haruhi continued pushing, realizing who it must be. "Together we can do it."
"Okay!" He must have been filled with new strength, because the door suddenly became easier for both of them, more than it should have with an extra set of hands.
The doors weren't moving fast enough. "It's hopeless!" Haruhi shot a glare at the duck, softening as she saw Goofy and Donald stare wide-eyed into the realm behind the door. "Your Majesty!"
Haruhi pulled away from the door at the high pitched voice of the king. "C'mon Sora, let's close this door for good!"
"But…" The dilemma was clear. Seal the door and save the worlds, but sacrifice a friend or save a friend and sacrifice the worlds?
"Don't worry, Sora. There will always be a door to light." With a few more words of encouragement, Sora nodded, going back to pushing the door closed. The brunette boy gave one last nod to his friend before the doors shut. Leaping back, he and King Mickey sealed the door on both sides.
They stared at the path in front of them, all except Haruhi. She placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, motioning him to the figure at the edge of the platform. "If we've got a journey ahead of us, then you might as well tell her."
He nodded, running toward Kairi. She smiled at the two in the distance, though felt her heart break for them as the Islands formed around the Princess of Heart. "Hey Haruhi!"
"Haru-chan!" Haruhi gasped, turning to the side. "Hikaru! Kaoru! Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai too! What about my dad?!"
Hikaru smirked. "He's crying over how strong his daughter looks."
"What about Kyouya-senpai and Tamaki-senpai?"
The twins glanced at each other. "Tama-chan and Kyo-chan… They haven't shown up. They're probably still out there…"
Haruhi nodded. "Then I'll see you when I've found them. Explain to the girls why we're not there, okay?"
"Sure thing, Haruhi!" Kaoru waved. "And try not to get into trouble without us there!"
"Shut up!"
Her dad pushed to the front of the group. "No! Haruhi! Come with us~!"
"You know I can't!" They were drifting farther away. "Good bye! I'll see you as soon as possible! And I'll bring them back!"
"Haru-chan, just remember, we'll always be with you when you need us!" She smiled at Hunny's rare serious moment, waving one last time before the piece of her world disappeared.
Sora put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay, Haru?"
She smiled at him. "Yeah, let's get going."
"By the way," The boy mumbled slightly, looking at her as they walked. "Who was that pretty woman, your mom?"
"It was my dad."
A pause. "Oh, okay. Wait, WHAT!?"
I enjoyed the end of this chapter, but the stupid Ansem fight goes for ages, literally. Sora is forever confused by the Fujioka family.
