In the central square of Radiant Garden, a man stood looking up at the sky. His silver hair rustled in the wind and his golden eyes appeared only half-focused. He stayed that way for quite some time.
Nearby, a burst of darkness rocketed down from the sky, but even this wasn't enough to catch the man's attention. From the darkness emerged a figure: Vanitas. He stretched and rotated his shoulder, and he smirked as he noticed the man.
"So this is where you wound up," he said, and the man lowered his head to look at him. "What, surprised to see me?" The man didn't reply for a while.
"Who am I?" he asked slowly, and Vanitas chuckled as he crossed his arms.
"Good question," he shrugged. "Are you Terra? Are you Xehanort? You'd better figure it out."
"Terra…" the man said lowly. "Xehanort…" His eye twitched and his body tensed, and he covered his face with his hands, his fingers gripping at his scalp. "G-Get out… Get out! You've lost!" he yelled. Vanitas watched him curiously. It seemed Terra hadn't gone as easily as Xehanort had expected. He may have succeeded in transferring his heart to the young man's body, but Terra was fighting back.
"Hmph," Vanitas huffed as he started circling around the two fighting for control of the body. "Really, Xehanort? He practically gave you an open door with all that darkness in his heart. And you still can't force him out?" He shook his head. "And you, Terra. You played right into his hands. I can't believe how stupid you are." The man lowered his hands to stare at the dark entity, who stopped circling and approached him.
"What… do you want?" he asked slowly, and Vanitas smiled.
"Tell you what, Terra." He summoned his Keyblade. "Just hold still for a second. Now, I want to make this very clear. You and I are not friends. I'm not doing this to help you. You can go rot for all I care. But as much as I hate you, I hate Xehanort even more." The man's teeth clenched. "I don't need him anymore. So I'll do you a favor. I'll place a lock around your heart so Xehanort can't get out. He'll still be there, and you'll have to deal with it, but as long as you don't do anything stupid like dive into the darkness even further, then you should keep control of your body."
"You… you traitor!" the man snapped, but his body became rigid. "Stop fighting! You've lost! You're mine now!"
"That's it, Terra," Vanitas sneered. "Hold still a moment longer." He raised his Keyblade. "Remember, just try to stay away from darkness. Shouldn't be too hard for you now, huh?" With that, he thrust his Keyblade toward the man's chest, and an eerie light shot out from the tip. It pierced into his heart and he grunted, his eyes blazing with fury for a brief moment. But once the light died down, he fell to his knees, and then to the ground, motionless.
"Oops," Vanitas chuckled and nudged him with his foot. "Well, hopefully you'll come to. And if not, oh well." He looked up toward the castle for a moment, then summoned a Dark Corridor and left the world.
Unsure of how much time had gone by or what even exactly had happened, Terra became aware of a voice.
"Young man, what ails you?" He stirred and opened his eyes, and through slightly blurry vision, he found a middle-aged man propping him up in one arm, and his orange eyes were filled with concern. "Can you speak?" he asked. "Tell me your name." Terra's gaze flickered around the other two men standing there. He didn't recognize one of them, a well-built guard with black hair tied back save one lock that hung over his face. The other, however, he was all too familiar with. And at the sight of him, the golden eyes that watched him so intensely, he managed to decide in the fog of his mind that he should try not to draw attention to his identity.
"Xehanort," he managed to say, though his voice was weak. At this, Braig smiled slightly, and this was the last thing Terra saw before slipping back into unconsciousness.
Elsewhere, Ventus and Aqua sped through the Lanes Between, and it wasn't long before they reached Destiny Islands. They arrived on the beach of the Paopu Tree's islet just as the sun began its final descent toward the waves on the horizon. As Ventus looked around, he spotted a young boy walking along a path above the sand, skirting around a huge tree.
"Ah, that's Riku," Aqua said with a smile. They watched, curious, as he climbed up a ladder to some sort of tree house.
"Found you!" Riku said giddily.
"Aw, man!" Another voice replied, and from the tree house, another little boy came out. "I thought I had a good hiding spot that time. Okay, let's go back to the Paopu Tree, then you go hide!"
"Okay," Riku nodded.
"Race you!" the other boy laughed, and they both scrambled down the ladder and onto the beach. The boy slowed to a stop, however, as he caught sight of the world's visitors, and after a moment, he started toward them.
"Sora?" Riku wondered, returning to his friend, and he glanced up to find Ventus and Aqua. He quickly joined Sora, and the two approached the newcomers. Ventus crouched down to their level, and Aqua followed his example.
"Hey, guys," she greeted with a smile. "You know what? I just realized I never introduced myself the last time I was here. I'm Aqua, and this is my friend Ventus."
"Call me Ven," Ventus finished. A smile spread across Sora's face, and he looked up at the blond boy with eyes full of wonder. Ventus shared the sentiment. Something about Sora seemed so familiar to him, and as he felt warmth ignite in his heart, he thought, maybe, he knew the reason why.
"So, Riku," Aqua said, shaking him from his thoughts. "We have a very important thing to ask you, okay?"
"What is it?" Riku asked.
"Did you meet another boy recently? He's dressed kind of like us, he's pretty tall, and he has brown hair and blue eyes."
"Yeah," Riku nodded. Ventus couldn't help the hope that sparked in his heart.
"Have you seen him recently?" Aqua continued, and Riku shook his head.
"Nope, not since before you came last time." The little boy smiled. "He left and went to another world." Ventus blinked.
"Well, I don't know about that," Aqua said somewhat convincingly. "But you haven't seen him since?" Riku shook his head again. "Mm… Okay. Thank you."
"Is he a friend of yours?" Sora wondered, and they both nodded. "Then you'll find him again! Friends always stick together, like me and Riku!" At those words, Ventus realized that even if their lead on Terra had gone cold, that hope in his heart had not.
"Guys, I need to talk to Aqua for a moment," he told them. "But we'll be right back." He got to his feet and Aqua did as well, and she followed him a bit further down the beach.
"What is it?" she asked, and he glanced back to the boys.
"I can tell Riku has it, but Sora doesn't have the power of the Keyblade, does he?"
"No," she replied. "I thought about passing mine on to him, but… I worry about what that might cause between them. One Keyblade is enough for any friendship." Ventus frowned as he continued to watch the boys while they chattered amongst themselves. Well, Sora did. Riku mostly listened and occasionally spoke up.
"Sora has a powerful heart," he noticed. "I think…" He trailed off in thought for a moment. Something in him told him that this cheerful little boy would one day be tied to the fate of the worlds. They would need him. "I think he's going to reach out to a lot of people and help save them," he said. "And I think they both have it in them to become great Keyblade Masters. And…" he paused again and turned back to his friend. "This darkness we're facing, I don't think it's going to go away anytime soon. If Riku gets drawn into that, he'll need someone he can rely on no matter what. Who can protect him, and he can do the same for." He smiled. "I know we've been through a lot of bad stuff, but I wouldn't trade anything for our time back home when we were training together."
"Neither would I," Aqua agreed with a smile. "I think I see where you're going with this, Ven. And if you think it's for the best, then I trust you." His smile grew.
"Thanks, Aqua." He looked back to the boys, and his eyes softened. "I don't want to put that kind of burden on them, but… I think it'll happen whether we're involved or not. We just have to make sure we give them their best chance." Aqua murmured something in agreement, and they returned to the two waiting little boys.
"Hey, Riku?" Ventus asked as he knelt down again. "You want to see all sorts of new places, right?"
"Uh huh," Riku smiled. "I want to go explore places no one's ever been to."
"Would you want Sora to go with you?" Ventus continued, and when Riku nodded, Sora beamed.
"Of course. He's my best friend, and we said we'd do everything together."
"Right!" Sora agreed.
"I'm glad to hear it," Ventus went on. "Hey, Sora." Sora settled down slightly and refocused his attention on him. "I want to give you something, okay? It's something very special, and it'll help you and Riku go explore all those new places." Sora's eyes widened. "But you gotta promise me that no matter what, who you meet, or whatever happens, you'll be there for Riku."
"No matter what!" Sora said, and Riku smiled.
"What about you, Riku?" Aqua asked. "Will you always be there for Sora?"
"Yeah," Riku's smile grew. "Always."
"Good. In that case…" Ventus raised his hand, and in a flash of light, his Keyblade appeared. Both of the boys jumped and stared at it, and Riku's brow rose as he looked up at its wielder.
"You have one too?" It sounded like he could barely speak around his awe. Ventus smiled and nodded, then turned his attention back to Sora as he held the Keyblade's handle out to him.
"'In your hand, take this Key,'" he began. "'So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, it's wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love.'" Somehow, Sora's eyes grew even wider, and he reached his hand toward the Keyblade. He hesitated for a moment, but at the sight of the reassurance in Ventus's warm and welcoming eyes, he gently took hold of its handle. He released it a moment later and looked down at his hand, and Ventus dismissed it as the boy turned to his friend.
"Is that what that other guy did with you?" he asked, and Riku's smile became somewhat sheepish.
"Uh huh," he said. Sora huffed and turned back to the two visitors.
"Does this mean we have to keep it a secret?" he wondered, and Ventus laughed.
"Yeah. You wouldn't want the magic to go away!" He ruffled Sora's hair and smiled at Riku. "Now, weren't you guys playing Hide-and-Seek?"
"Oh, yeah!" Sora fidgeted a bit. "Come on, Riku! It's your turn to hide."
"It's not like you'll find me!" Riku challenged, and they both waved at the Keyblade wielders before taking off across the sand again.
"They may be destined for great things," Aqua said as they watched the boys go. "But right now, I'm glad they can just be kids."
"Yeah," Ventus agreed. "They're good kids. They deserve a carefree childhood." He tilted his head curiously as Sora came to a stop and turned around to face them again, and he suddenly took off at a near sprint toward them.
"Sora, what…" Ventus knelt down again. "Oof!" Sora nearly knocked him over when he all but launched himself at the older boy in order to give him a hug. Ventus gladly returned it, holding the boy tight in his arms.
"I'm glad you're okay," Sora said softly, and Ventus placed a hand to the back of his head gently.
"Yeah," he breathed. "I'm okay. Thank you, Sora." A moment later, Sora squirmed away and grinned at him, then hurried down the beach to rejoin Riku.
"What was that about?" Aqua asked as she stared at him, and he smiled warmly.
"He may not really realize it, but Sora's the one who saved me," he replied. "No doubt about it. I know his heart, and he knows mine. That's the same light that reached out to me four years ago." Aqua smiled and took his hand. "I hope one day I can return the favor."
"Only time will tell," she said with a bit of a shrug, then looked over to watch Sora and Riku run across the bridge leading from the shack on the beach to the Paopu Tree. "Thank you, Sora."