Dearly Beloved

~ Kairi ~

"Sora!"

He froze at the sound of her voice, trouble and anguish written on his face. Kairi felt her heartbeat slow as a tear began to fall from his ocean blue eyes. Something was wrong.

This wasn't how they greeted each other. Sora always ran and held her as tight as he could. They would laugh. They would pull a reluctant Riku into their embrace. Then, the three of them would walk back to Kairi's home and make up for lost time.

"Sora, what's-"

Riku's still body came into view. She watched as he was carried on a stretcher down the ramp from the gummi ship by a group of white mages. Her eyes were drawn to the blood staining his clothes. All the excitement she'd felt at their return to the islands dissipated. Kairi wanted to follow, but there was no time. Sora had already fallen onto his hands and knees.

"I couldn't protect him!" he gasped, shaking uncontrollably, "After everything, h-he still got him!"

Kairi placed her hand on his back and joined him on the ground. Her own eyes were stinging with sadness. "I should've been there," she whispered angrily, "I should've been fighting beside you."

Sora couldn't respond. He was too consumed with his grief. It was then she noticed he was also covered in blood. It was caked in his hair, shirt, and between his fingers.

"I should've been with you!" She wrapped him in her arms, digging her head into the crook of his neck. He smelled of sweat, metal, and dirt, but she didn't let go. She'd let him fight alone. She couldn't let him fall apart alone too.

Eventually, Kairi helped him up, and together they went to keep vigil at Riku's side. She learned that he'd been struck down trying to watch out for Sora. She learned that the Keyblade had gone straight through his chest, but rather than release his heart, it'd put him in a sleep so deep that he was never expected to wake again. The white mages tried to combat what had befallen him with everything they knew but nothing seemed to work. As the weeks passed, Riku's condition showed no signs of changing.

Kairi watched Riku's sleeping face from her seat at his bedside. At least he finally looked at rest, despite everything. He'd worn such a haunted expression since he was bequeathed the Keyblade in his 15th year. She hoped the peace meant he wasn't in any pain or enduring any mental anguish. She swept some of his growing silver bangs out of his eyes and sighed. Sora was seated beside her with his head in his bare hands.

"Kairi," came his gravely voice, "I have to go back." He didn't look at her.

She gritted her teeth, staring holes into his messy hair. Not this again. "Sora, I thought we agreed you weren't going back to face him until I finished my training," she admonished sharply.

Her tone didn't appear to affect him. He lifted his head and she could see just how hollow he looked. The dark circles. The worry creases in his face. The fear in his once playful eyes. He hardly looked like a 19-year-old anymore. The war had stolen his youth and his best friend.

"I have to go back, Kai. The other wielders are still there fighting. I have a duty, because I can use the Keyblade I have a responsibility to fight for the world order."

"And what about your duty to me? To Riku?" she nearly shouted, "Aren't we more important than the world order?"

Sora grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. She hated how the gesture effortlessly washed away her frustration and replaced it with tenderness. "You already know the answer to that. It's because you are important that I have to go. What will be left for us if I don't? There's no time."

Kairi closed her eyes. She knew he was right. There was no time. Every day Xehanort waged his war was another day precious hearts were lost to Darkness or the In-Between like Riku's had been. The only hope for the worlds, their only hope, rested on the shoulders of Keyblade wielders. If they could wrest control of Kingdom Hearts from him then maybe they could restore what he'd destroyed.

"You can't go alone."

Sora gave her a look. The one with his quirked eyebrow and sassy gaze. It communicated every refusal Kairi knew he was thinking.

"You're not going to talk me out of it. You said so yourself. I have a Keyblade. I have a responsibility."

Sora ran his fingers through his spikes. "You don't play fair, do you?"

Kairi moved his arms and settled into his lap. She felt him wrap around her as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Not when it comes to you," she answered before kissing his cheek.

He pushed some of her hair out of her face and kissed her willing lips. "No chance I'll talk you out of it?" She shook her head. "All right, then. It's not pretty out there, Kai."

"You think I don't know that?"

A faint smile formed on his lips, as though she had amused him. "I know." He turned his head away, letting his eyes settle on the tiled floor of Riku's infirmary room. She wished she could ease the pain he was feeling.

"Sora-"

"Wait, Kairi."

She sucked in a breath.

He turned to her again and laced his fingers with hers. There was an eagerness in his eyes that she hadn't seen in a long time. "When we come back, let's get ma-"

She stopped him with a kiss. Sora didn't need to finish his thought. She already knew. He pulled her body closer to his; she could feel his need in the way he gently trembled underneath her lips and soothing caresses. She hoped he knew that she needed him just as much, if not more. If only she could have known how she would regret his silence.

She'd always known that if Sora didn't return to the islands his absence would destroy her. Kairi hadn't been able to imagine a more painful fate than not knowing what happened to him. There was no way she could've prepared for what was to come.

Kairi raised her floral Keyblade to block the onslaught of dark, flaming spheres volleying against her. Her body was heavy, and her breath was short. The rose armor that covered her body felt more like a hindrance than an ally.

She'd gotten separated from Sora some time ago, swept into a battle with a muscular man in a black helmet. The moment she'd stepped foot into the canyon that led to Xehanort's Kingdom Hearts, he'd targeted her. Perhaps he'd been drawn to the light in her heart. Perhaps she'd looked like easy prey. She had no way of knowing. He wouldn't say a word to her.

She forced him back with a light barrier and followed up with a counterattack. Her blade swiped through the air, catching an after-image of where he'd been. She felt him strike her back, hard, before tumbling to the ground. Kairi was beginning to wonder if she'd live long enough to make it back to Sora.

The man lunged toward her with remarkable speed. She managed to stop him again with another barrier, but her magic was depleting fast. He was relentless, continually charging and slashing at the shining bubble around her. Cracks were already forming on its surface. The shield shattered; She didn't have to see him to know his blade was aimed for her chest. This was the end.

I'm sorry, Sora.

She heard a cry that wasn't her own. Kairi opened her eyes to see Sora collapse in front of her.

The world around her ceased to exist as she stooped down beside him. Her hands fell on top of the gaping hole in his chest as though covering it would fix what was wrong.

"S-Sora, how-?" tumbled from her disbelieving mouth.

He coughed, drops of blood speckling his chapped lips. He managed a pained grin. "I'm always with you, K-Kairi." His eyes went blank as his body shook. She watched, frozen, as his heart floated into the sky.

"No! Sora…" His body disappeared into flecks of light, slipping between her fingers, and evaporating into the air around her. All that remained was the charm she'd given him years ago. Battered and worn, it rested on the earth where Sora should've been.

"No…I won't let him go!" With her scream, a powerful light flew from her body and swept across the land like a tsunami.

Kairi jumped up from her resting place. Her face was wet and slimy with tears. She wiped her eyes with her arms and sat up in the unfamiliar bed. "W-Wha?" she murmured groggily, "Sora?"

As soon as his name tumbled out her mouth she remembered. Sora was gone, and she'd cried herself to sleep in Aqua's arms. She glanced around the room; Aqua wasn't with her now. A chill crept over her as her loneliness became more evident. Hugging herself, she dared step off the bed and walk toward the door. There was light coming from underneath it. She hoped this meant Aqua was still awake. She didn't want to be alone.

She quietly opened the door and crept into the hall. She could hear metal clanking and Aqua's strained voice as she neared the kitchen.

"I tried to bring you back, I tried so hard."

"Ven, I can't keep living like this."

"I want to be in the darkness with the both of you."

Kairi clutched her heart tightly. Aqua's sorrow cut deeper than hers sometimes. The older woman was more tortured than she was. She grimaced. To think, I was once so focused on her doing something for me that I couldn't see what this was doing to her.

After she'd returned from the battlefield, Kairi had to report Sora's demise to the Destiny Islands officials. It didn't go well. For one, she couldn't remember anything after watching Sora disappear. Two, she was extremely volatile and lashed out at her interviewers. She was deemed unfit for combat and stripped of her status as a Keyblade wielder by her former master. That had supposedly been for her own protection, but that didn't make it any less humiliating.

Kairi was then referred to a war victim support group and told to try and cope with her losses. But how does anyone cope with a loss like the one she had suffered? The group wasn't helpful, but she had hoped if she kept going she could convince someone to let her fight again.

Her heart craved revenge more than anything else. She wanted nothing more than to plunge her blade into Xehanort's chest and watch as his life expired from his eyes. The white mages had tried to explain the fragility of her heart to her, but Kairi ignored them, believing they were seeking more reasons to keep her trapped on the island. For weeks she hardly ate or slept, mind focused solely on how to destroy the man that had taken everything away from her.

That's when she heard about Aqua. She overheard the group's facilitators talking about the cranky, magical woman who refused to face her grief and wanted to chase after a way to bring her loved ones back. The facilitators laughed at this, but Kairi reveled in the knowledge. All it took was a quick scan of the island directory to find her address.

It wasn't easy to earn Aqua's trust, or respect, for that matter. But after a week of helping the ex-Keyblade Master scour through tomes of magic spells, Kairi made herself indispensable to Aqua's plan. It had been Kairi's idea to search the dark texts, and she blamed herself every day for what had happened. It'd been her fault Aqua was placed in harm's way. She had vowed to stick to Aqua's side since then, hoping she could somehow make up for what they both lost that day.

The Land of Departure was more beautiful than Kairi thought it would be. It couldn't rival her home world, but it had its own welcoming ambience. The home Aqua grew up in rivaled the size of the Radiant Garden castle. Following the older woman through its corridors, she suspected it was just as confusing to navigate as well.

A door had been left open in the hall they were hurrying through. Kairi's eyes caught sight of a bed and she paused. Silently, she poked her head through the open door was surprised to discover an entire bedroom. Though it was dark, she could tell it'd been decorated in warm tones. Clothes and toys were scattered across the floor, and the large window over the bed had a wonderful view of the night sky.

"Don't fall behind, Kairi."

She stiffened and quickly ducked out of the room. Aqua was staring at her with a raised brow. Her face warmed as she hurried to her side and matched her stride.

"Find something interesting?"

"I just wondered who's room that was," she admitted timidly.

"Ven's." Aqua's tone betrayed her.

Kairi had suspected that this place would be full of memories for Aqua, but she hadn't considered how painful it would be. Though Aqua would never complain, she could tell walking these halls again wasn't easy for her. Kairi silently promised she wouldn't do anymore snooping.

They turned down a few more halls and stopped in front of a pair of large, golden doors.

"The Master's office," Aqua announced curtly. Her Keyblade flashed into her hand. She jumped back and gracefully waved it toward the center of the doors. A beam of blinding light shot from the tip and opened the office with the click of a lock.

The office was decorated more modestly than Kairi expected, given the fancy unlocking sequence. Aqua moved directly to the bookshelf and pulled a blue tome from the top, causing the bookshelf to swing right and reveal a darkened tunnel.

"What we want is down this way," Aqua explained, setting the book atop the mahogany desk in the center of the room. Her hand lingered on its surface for a moment, fingers twitching atop the book's cover.

Kairi sucked in a breath. Perhaps coming here hadn't been such a good idea. She shook the thought from her head as she followed Aqua down the stone steps. Getting Sora and Riku back was worth any pain she or Aqua might feel. Besides, Aqua was doing this for her friends too. She wasn't the only one benefitting from this trip. It was worth it…right?

"These are the books." Aqua's voice echoed off the walls as Kairi stepped off the last stair. The room was narrow and circular. The gray, stone walls were lined with four bookshelves, each holding what looked like 100s of books. Kairi mentally rolled up her sleeves. They were going to be here for a while.

"You're not real, you're not real!"

Kairi hurried into the kitchen. She found Aqua gripping her countertop so hard her hands had turned white. Her eyes seemed distant, as though she was looking at someone when no one was actually there.

"Aqua!" she cried, running to her side and wrapping her arms around her. "Aqua, come back, please!" Aqua didn't respond so Kairi began to shake her.

Aqua inhaled sharply, tension laxing in her hands. The light seemed to return to her irises. "Kairi? What happened?"

"You weren't responding," she answered and added, almost hesitantly, "What did you see?"

Aqua refused to meet Kairi's worried gaze. "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

Aqua suddenly slammed her fist onto the countertop. Kairi covered the injured hand with her own. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I have no choice. Aqua…we have to let go."

"I can't."

"You have to. It's just as Yen Sid said…it's going to destroy you," Kairi implored with a squeeze, "Surely, you can see that."

Aqua sighed, her chest heaving as she did. She was tired and Kairi couldn't blame her. How could she? She was tired too.

"I don't care if it destroys me, Kairi. If it means I can still see them and talk to them, I don't care what happens. Ven and Terra are everything to me."

The words felt like a slap to the face. Instead of focusing on the fresh wave of hurt, Kairi forced her concentration on Aqua. She couldn't lose someone else.

"I know they are, I know how much Ven and Terra mean to you. Sora and Riku were my entire world, and in some ways, they still are. But there's no way to bring them back, and I know they wouldn't want us to suffer. Maybe if we do it together-" Her voice faltered. The thought of letting Sora and Riku go hurt so much, but if it meant Aqua would live, she would do it.

Aqua's glance dropped to the marble countertop. Kairi bit down on her lip. She couldn't be sure she was reaching her. She gave her hand another squeeze, hoping that it offered at least a fragment of comfort.

Finally, Aqua spoke. "You're right, Kairi. Ven and Terra wouldn't want me to suffer." There was a sudden fire in a voice. "They would want me to finish what they died for."

Kairi inhaled sharply, "Aqua, what-?"

"I have to go back and defeat Xehanort once and for all."

Fear surged through Kairi. She sounded like Riku. She sounded like Sora. No, no, no. Not again. Aqua turned to leave the kitchen, still muttering to herself about her plans. Kairi instinctively leapt at her, wrapping onto the nearest part of Aqua's body; her right arm.

"Kairi? What are you doing?"

She squeezed her tighter as though she could keep her confined to the kitchen that way. "Please!" she gasped, "Don't go. Don't do this."

"Stop this. I have to face him again. I have to do this for them." Aqua attempted to wrench her arm free, but Kairi refused to budge. "You're being ridiculous!"

Kairi's fear turned to anger. She shoved Aqua away from her and shouted, "You're the one being ridiculous!" Her body shook violently as tears she didn't want to shed made their way down her pale cheeks. "What makes you think you'll stand a chance, Aqua? Yen Sid has been forced into hiding because of us. No one has heard from Merlin since Radiant Garden fell all those years ago. The King couldn't even beat him. Why are you so eager to die by his hand too? Do you really think that's what your friends would want?"

"I have a respons-"

"Cut the bullshit! I don't want to hear about your responsibility. The only responsibility you have is to yourself and your loved ones. The worlds are lost, Aqua, and we both know this isn't about that. This is about your inability to live without your friends. Don't throw your life away."

"I have no life to throw away." Aqua's body seemed to slump, fire extinguishing. "If I fall to Xehanort or if I waste away here, it doesn't matter."

Kairi's heart broke for her. She knew what it was like to think that way. She could clearly remember the first few months after Sora lost his heart. Nothing mattered then. She'd contemplated sneaking onboard a gummi ship and returning to the fight just so she could expire where he had.

Sora had died and taken the light in her heart with him. She'd been wading through darkness ever since that day. It wasn't until she'd managed to walk to Aqua's home and demand in on her plan that she was able to come to life.

She wasn't going to let Aqua embark on a suicide mission. They both knew she wouldn't come back alive. Aqua was no longer the master she used to be.

The once golden room was now shrouded in darkness. Kairi had to struggle through black tendrils to see Aqua at the center of her dead master's office, Keyblade in hand, reciting the spell in the forbidden text. The atmosphere was thick and oppressive, and threatened to expel the last bits of light Kairi had left. She rubbed her arms to defend against the chill that permeated the space.

Aqua's eyes suddenly looked up from the pages that had captivated her attention since she began reciting them. Kairi gasped at the change in her appearance. Her eyes were a sickly shade of gold. Her hair was losing its color, bleaching to silver.

"Aqua, no!"

This had been a trap. She should've trusted the horrible feeling she'd had when Aqua had opened that book and declared it had the time spell she'd been looking for. Kairi should have never suggested they search the dark texts. She should've known Xehanort had probably trapped them with spells of his own.

Aqua didn't react to the sound of her voice. Her soul seemed to have been sucked out of her, but she was still chanting the words in a deep, hollowed voice. So unlike her usual soft, maternal tone. It was terrifying.

She struggled to move toward her, fighting against the push of the dark pools that surrounded Aqua. If she didn't make it time, Aqua was going to be swallowed whole. Her feet had already disappeared underneath their goo-like, purple surface. If only she had a Keyblade. If only Sora were here to help her.

The pages ripped themselves out of the book and began attaching to Aqua's gray skin. They covered everything but her mouth that continued to speak words Kairi couldn't understand. As she neared arm distance, Aqua suddenly raised her blade and pointed it to her chest.

"No!"

With her scream, a burst of powerful light shot from her body and swept through the room.

As Kairi stared at the broken woman before her, she realized something. It had been more than hope of having Sora and Riku back in her arms that had revitalized her. After all, she would've left after their failure if it had just been that. Aqua had kept her here. Aqua had given her a reason to stay.

"Your life matters to me," Kairi found herself whispering, "You're the one who brought me back, Aqua. Maybe I'll never be a Princess of Heart again, but I know as long as you're there I'll never be a puppet either. We need each other, don't we?"

Aqua took a step back, bumping into her refrigerator and knocking a few magnets to the ground.

"Aqua?"

She looked horrified. Kairi frowned and looked at her bare feet; had she said too much? She supposed she'd sounded…intimate, but she'd never had a reason to believe Aqua would react this way to her words.

"Kairi-!"

Her head shot up. Aqua was sinking to the floor, pale as cracked eggshells, clutching her head, face contorted by her obvious pain.

Kairi dropped to her side, placing her hands on Aqua's shoulders. "Aqua, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"She's…I can't stop her!"

Kairi struggled to understand what was happening. Aqua was panicking in her arms, screaming about some woman that was tormenting her. She gritted her teeth. She didn't have the Keyblade, but she still knew some magic spells.

She placed her fingers on Aqua's temple and whispered a cure spell. She hoped it would be soothing at the very least. Aqua's frenzy ceased and her body slumped against hers.

"Aqua?"

Aqua's eyes fluttered shut. She appeared to be trapped in a restless sleep. Kairi could see her eyes shifting rapidly underneath her eyelids.

"Aqua!"

The only response she got was barely audible. "No one can save me, and no one wants to."

"Aqua, no, that isn't true. I want to save you!"

She felt the all too familiar chill settle upon her skin. Darkness was radiating from Aqua. Kairi held her tighter, slipping her arms around her torso and pulling her back into her lap. Her presence didn't help. The lack of light in her heart only worsened the darkness. Kairi could feel her own inner turmoil rising to the surface of her skin. She gasped as the tendrils began seeping out of her pores. She lifted a hand from Aqua's body and watched as dark flames seemed to engulf her.

"I-Is this how it ends?"

The will to fight left her. She couldn't help but think this must be fate's hand. What other end for them was there? Aqua had lost her precious husband, brother, and father figure to the darkness. She'd lost her magical ability trying to bring them back. And now she'd lose her heart to despair. Kairi had lost her best friend and the love of her life to a fight against the very thing she'd suddenly become. She'd lost nearly all the light in her heart the day Sora died, and then she'd lost the rest to the trap in the Land of Departure.

Her eyes felt heavy. Her vision began to cloud. She tried to focus on Aqua's strained face, but she was becoming lost in the all-encompassing darkness that was swallowing them.

"Kairi!"

She chuckled darkly. That almost sounded like Sora.

"Kairi, it is me!"

It couldn't be. She struggled to open an eye or lift a hand, but she lacked the strength. She felt herself sinking, drifting further into the void. Her body became weightless as she fell away.

"Kai, c'mon. Snap out of it. This isn't you."

"You're not real." Her voice sounded foreign in her ears and seemed to echo again and again.

"If you go too far, you'll lose your heart!"

She smirked. "My heart belongs to darkness, anyway." Resigned to her fate, she stopped fighting and let her body descend deeper and deeper.