The juniors didn't even try to be subtle. A few peeked out of windows overlooking the main courtyard, while Zhao and his friend leaned against one of the pillars lining the courtyard and pretended to have a conversation. While Leela fidgeted under the drab archway of the main entrance, Keaton raised his voice so all the juniors could hear and said, "You'll find out what my decision has been after the seniors have eaten. Did Major Ahmed give you dinner?"

Zhao had the decency to look embarrassed as he said, "We've eaten. Have the senior apprentices?"

Keaton shook his head. "The seniors have leftover supplies they can finish."

Ayuto let out a soft groan, though he made sure Keaton didn't hear. Kayla motioned to the kitchen and they filed in, dropped their packs on the floor, and rummaged around for the bundles of rice and preserved sausages they had left. It was the same austere room they had eaten in a week ago, with the battered hardwood table, steel basins, and scratched stools that would give them splinters if they were careless. But it was swept clear of sand, and the half-stocked cupboards reminded Leela that she wasn't in the middle of a ghost town ravaged by Heartless years ago.

"Good to be back." Ayuto said. Leela nodded, glad that she could spend a night in a bed. Killing the Possessor had put him in a good mood the entire trip back, and even Kayla's usual death glare hadn't been enough to silence him on the trip back. "Never knew running water could taste so good."

Leela couldn't help but feel less nervous when he smiled at her. The others didn't share his good humour and nibbled at their food, the outcome of their exam weighing heavily on their mind. It was only when Keaton entered that they looked up from the table. They sat straighter as Keaton shut the door behind them.

Never one for ceremony or drama, Keaton simply said, "You pass."

Ayuto and Kayla punched the air. Ayuto laughed out loud while Kayla settled down, looking embarrassed at her outburst. Jean took a deep breath at the good news, and trembled for several seconds. Leela yelled, "Yes!" and turned to Cindy, whose inscrutable face still watched Keaton.

He nodded and said, "As you know, Journeymen are required to serve for a year in the Realm of Darkness. After that, they are free to choose their own paths." He paused, and only then did it occur to Leela that Keaton was at a loss for words. It was disquieting. Finally he said, "I will escort you to the Realm of Darkness tomorrow afternoon. It has been my honor to watch you grow from children to soldiers. I thank light for the opportunity."

Kayla wiped a tear from her cheek, strode to Keaton and thrust her hand out. Keaton inspected it with confusion before he realized that Kayla was asking for a handshake. He quickly shook her hand, and Kayla said, "The honor was mine." She then sniffed and walked out.

Jean followed her lead and shook Keaton's hand. When he opened his mouth, Keaton interrupted him, "Don't apologize for the mission. You passed. Now learn from it."

Jean smiled and left. Ayuto took a deep breath and walked up to Keaton. He held up his hand and watched Keaton warily. Keaton laughed and grasped Ayuto's hand. "We have had our issues, but I hope it helped you."

"We'll have to see." Ayuto laughed. "See you soon." He turned to Leela and asked, "Later?"

Leela blushed but nodded, and Ayuto left her with Cindy and Keaton. Keaton lowered his hand and shut the door. "I suppose the two of you want to know what I was talking about the night before your exam."

"How did you know we were there?" Leela asked.

"Once you become more attuned to the light and darkness in your surroundings, you'll be able to notice when two Hearts filled with light appear on the roof above you." Keaton sat down and rubbed his forehead. "But I do my best not to keep track of you. Anyways, I tried to be as clear as I could, given you could only hear half the conversation. Did you have any questions?"

"We normally get a week's leave." Cindy said, "But not now. A Princess of Heart died?"

Keaton nodded. "The Realm of Darkness can manage with just one Princess of Heart, but since Leela was taking her journeyman exam,"

"They wanted me." Leela said.

"Regardless of whether you were ready." Keaton nodded. "Grandmaster Nurudeen was never the patient type."

"But you think I'm ready?" Leela asked.

"Ready for what?" Keaton said. "You are ready to become a Journeyman. But to be a Princess of Heart that can wield a Keyblade, no one knows what to expect. But I'm sure," Keaton frowned, "that others have their own ideas of what to expect of you." He sighed. "You'll have to find out yourself."

"Thanks." Leela said. The joy of being a journeyman had passed, and only the prospect of serving on the Realm of Darkness remained.

"I've seen you grow, the both of you." Keaton said. "I'm sure you'll rise to whatever challenges you might face." He extended his hand to them.

They shook it. As they left, he shut the door behind them, and for some reason it was important to Leela not to look back. Cindy said, "No pressure?"

"I hate being a Princess of Heart." Leela said. "And there are zero benefits."

"You can channel more light through your body than any of us." Cindy said. "And who knows, maybe one day you'll have your own castle where you'll look after people and fill their Hearts with light."

Leela had visited queen Jasmine once, right after her family had learned she was a Keyblade Wielder. She had waited in line for hours in the sun behind hundreds of other supplicants hoping to be blessed by their own Princess of Heart. Leela had been let in the palace in the afternoon, and it was only as the sun set that Leela walked up to the queen of Agrabah.

She couldn't remember what the throne room, guards, ladies-in-waiting, or other supplicants looked like. Only the image of Jasmine remained, an old woman wrapped in a blue sari, smiling and stroking Leela's hair, and a feeling of peace and belonging that made Leela feel as if she could curl up and drift to sleep in the throne room.

She almost laughed at the image of people lining up to see her reclining on fine cushions, prostrating themselves or their child before her. "That's not going to happen. Anyways, Kairi never did any of that." She conveniently ignored the part where Kairi had died at sixteen.

They emerged in the courtyard, where Ayuto and Jean were trying to drown each other in the pool. Beside them, Kayla tried to look as dignified as she could and was vigorously scrubbing herself. Leela and Cindy shrugged off their clothes and slid in, and Leela basked in the feeling of a week's worth of dust and sand and sweat wash off and into the drain at the sides of the pool.

She closed her eyes and almost dozed off in the cool water, surrounded by the sounds of Ayuto and Jean splashing each other, and the chatter of Cindy and Kayla. She was wondering whether the juniors knew they had passed, when Ayuto tapped her shoulder. "Do you want to go upstairs?" He wore a shy grin on his face, and Leela giggled. "That sounds great."

Jean whistled as they got out, then grunted as Kayla punched him in the shoulder. Ayuto blushed and almost fell over pulling his trousers back on. Leela hated the feeling of putting dirty clothes back on, but all of them had left their supplies outside. She gingerly shuffled back into her clothes, comforting herself that it would only be for a short while.

After getting their packs from where they had dropped them in the stables, Leela and Ayuto headed upstairs, dropped their packs off in a corner, and exchanged a deep kiss. Leela closed her eyes and felt like she was drifting. Ayuto clutched at her shirt, and his eagerness made Leela giggle again.

"You okay?" Ayuto asked. He checked to make sure the door was shut.

"I'm fine." Leela said. "Is Jean going to come in any time soon?"

"He'll be fine sleeping with Kayla and Cindy." Ayuto said. He cocked his head and said, "You seem quiet."

Keaton's face, twisted with worry, loomed large in Leela's mind. But Ayuto was stroking Leela's back, between her shoulderblades, and Keaton's face was replaced by Ayuto's round one, somehow bright despite the darkness in their bedroom. She grinned, wrapped her arms around his waist, and pulled him down to his bed.

"Leela?" Zhao's tentative voice was one of the only sounds that could have pulled Leela from underneath Ayuto's arm. It was with enormous effort that she lifted her head and murmured, "What?"

"We have a surprise for you on the roof." Zhao had poked her head into the room. "Us juniors. I'm sorry if we're disturbing you."

"No, not at all. Have you woken the others up?"

Zhao cleared her throat and said, "We thought we'd give you and Ayuto more time to get up."

Leela laughed. "Maybe you're right. It'll be hell getting Ayuto out. Go wake up the others."

She propped herself up with her arms and looked at Ayuto's sleeping figure. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of his mussed hair and a small puddle of drool that had gathered on the pillow. She let herself recline in his loose grip for several more seconds before she shook him and said, "Wake up. The juniors have a surprise for us."

Ayuto groaned and tried to go back to sleep. The prospect of the juniors eagerly awaiting them clearly didn't phase Ayuto.

Leela whipped their blanket away and shook him again.

"Why don't they let us sleep?" Ayuto muttered.

"Because we might not ever see each other again."

Ayuto groaned. "Might be a good thing. At least there won't be anyone stealing my food."

"You're the last person to judge people for stealing." Leela yanked him off the bed, and he tumbled onto the ground with a yelp. "Please?"

"I'm asleep."

Her shoulders were stiff and her ribs still hurt after the exam. Dragging Ayuto out of the room wasn't an option. She gently kicked him in the ribs, where she knew he was ticklish. He squirmed away with a whine that had always infuriated Kayla, but Leela found endearing. She poked him again and he batted her leg away.

"Why do the juniors do this to us?" Ayuto asked to no one in particular. "We didn't do this to Nguyen and the others when we were juniors."

"So they're better juniors than we were." Leela lit the oil lamp in the room and rooted through her pack for clean clothes, deliberately making as much noise as she could. "Who knows how many of us might die in the Realm of Darkness. If we left and never saw them again, it'd be like abandoning them."

Ayuto didn't say anything, and Leela pushed her advantage. "We can't just run away. They should get to say goodbye."

Ayuto was silent for several seconds, and Leela was afraid she had hit too close to home. Ayuto gave a flat laugh. "Ouch. Right for the childhood memories." Then he sat up and rummaged around for clean clothes.

"Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that." Leela said.

Ayuto gave her a wistful smile and squeezed her arm. "No, you were right. Let's meet the juniors."

Leela tried to apologize again, but Ayuto was out of the room before she could say anything.

They were the last ones on the roof. The juniors were chattering with Cindy, while Jean and Kayla sat on the edge, staring at the maze of houses and walkways that connected their roofs. Jean turned as they came up the stairs and said, "Look who finally decided to show up."

"Don't act smug, I'll bet Cindy had to drag you up here too." Ayuto was still bleary-eyed, but he tried to look as awake as he could.

Zhao cleared his throat and all the juniors chorused, "Happy birthday, Cindy!"

From behind his back, Zhao took out a small potted plant and handed it to Cindy, who had cupped her mouth in her hands and was grinning from ear to ear. "It can grow in the Realm of Darkness. At least, that's what the vendor said. We're not sure how true it was."

The plant's thin stem was dark green and lined with veins that glimmered with a blue light. Cindy's eyes were damp, and she stroked the leaves one by one, her touch as light as if they were made of parchment. "You guys are amazing."

"Much better than us." Leela added. "We never even thought of doing this when we were juniors."

One of the juniors piped up, "You all deserve it."

"Except for Jean." Zhao added, and even Jean burst into laughter.

"I'll take that." he said.

One of the juniors sidled up to Leela and asked, "So what happens now? Is Keaton going to find new juniors now?"

"He'll wait until you guys are seniors." Leela said. "Eager to have new apprentices?"

"Don't be." Ayuto said. "They're annoying, underfoot, and you'll want to kill them before the month is out."

"Oh don't worry, the feeling's mutual." Zhao shot back. Another apprentice, Sasha, turned to Leela and asked, "How long did it take for you to manifest your Keyblade?"

Leela thought for a moment. "I actually manifested it a few weeks before our seniors graduated." Sasha's shoulders sagged, and she added, "But Ayuto manifested his almost two months later."

Sasha summoned her Keyblade, still in the form of the ancient Kingdom Key, and said, "And it just changes shape?"

"It grows into its true form." Cindy said. "Being a senior doesn't just mean being in good condition, or knowing how to kill Heartless. Your Heart needs to show maturity and strength to manifest a Keyblade."

"No wonder Ayuto took so long." Jean interjected.

Cindy ignored him and lay a hand on Sasha's, whose brow was still wrinkled in confusion. "You need to be in touch with the Keyblade. Your Heart needs to be tranquil and still." Ayuto snorted and Cindy glanced back at him. "Or else you'll end up like this guy and be the last to manifest."

Sasha giggled as Cindy continued. "Your Heart knows what it wants. And the Keyblade wants to give that to you. Once you're familiar with your Keyblade, once you know exactly how it feels in your hand, once you know the sounds it makes when it falls into your palm, it will reach out to your Heart and become what it was always meant to be."

Everyone, even Ayuto, was riveted by Cindy's soft voice. Sasha asked, "What's that?"

Cindy uttered a laugh of pure joy, and said, "A Keyblade, of course."

Zhao started to say something, but his words were interrupted by a huge yawn. He grinned sheepishly as Cindy said, "And you guys should be getting some rest."

The juniors filed downstairs, closely followed by Jean and Kayla. Ayuto glanced at Leela, who said, "I'll see you in a bit."

Cindy sat crosslegged on the roof, its surface smoothed by years of sandstorms. She clasped the small plant and studied it with a smile on her face. Cindy had always been able to lose herself in the littlest things, as if her eyes the color of burnt umber saw something no one else did. Leela didn't want to break the spell, wanted to keep on watching the way Cindy's fingers delicately toyed with the luminescent leaves, wanted to study the way moonlight fell across Cindy's angular face. But Cindy looked up and said, "What's up?"

"What you told Sasha, that was really cool."

"I spoke from the heart." Cindy paused before saying, "I'll miss them."

"Same." Leela wanted to say something spiritual or deep, some meaningful monologue like Cindy had just done to Sasha. But words failed her, and she contented herself by sitting next to Cindy in silence.

"I hope this does grow in the Realm of Darkness." Cindy said.

"If we can survive there, so can this thing." Leela said. "Maybe glowing plants are common."

"Maybe." Cindy stood up with the plant and headed back towards the stairs. "This was a good night. Get some sleep."

Hey, sorry for the delay. I got Dark Souls, so there's been a slight redistribution of priorities there. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed reading! As always, feel free to tell me what you thought.