CHAPTER VI

This Is the End of Everything I Am

NOTE

I have quite a bit in store for this chapter, definitely a lot that you wouldn't expect, and a huge twist as far as thestory's composition is concerned. I hope you like this chapter, and I'm pretty excited to write it. Also, I have been planning on writing a new series of stories similar to my original Step in the Twilight fanfiction, but with different characters and different scenarios, as if my original stories hadn't happened; so pretty much an alternate, a whole new fanfiction. I'll decide by the time I finish this chapter if I want to, which I probably will, so keep a look out for that!

/NOTE

"It's been long enough." Axel said angrily, waiting with Naminé, Roxas, and Demyx. Kagami still hadn't returned from where she had run off to the night before, and Axel was secretly beginning to fear that she was not going to come back. He looked at the rest of them for audible support, but nothing escaped their lips.

"I was up all night." Naminé admitted. "It's hard to sleep when you think someone might not come back." She shook her head. Roxas huffed loudly and got up from the grass, dusting off dirt from his clothing.

"I'm going to go find Kagami." he said.

"Why?" asked Axel, scratching his head.

"Because she's our friend and I'm not leaving without her. You'd do the same for me and I'd do the same for you, right?" he asked, his palms upward as if he was trying to make a point. Axel looked down at him, and then shook his head, pointing behind him.

Coming towards them was Kagami, very slowly. She had bags under her eyes indicating that she hadn't had a decent sleep that night, either. Something had been worrying her, and apparently Axel could feel it to, because instead of insulting her like he usually would, he shyed away from contact.

"Should we go?" asked Naminé happily.

"Kaggy's here, so I say we go!" Demyx exclaimed cheerfully.

"...Kaggy?" asked Naminé. Shaking her head as if it were possible to shake off the after effects of Demyx's little nicknames, she held out her hand and allowed a dark portal to appear to take them back.

"So we're just going to leave Sora here?" asked Roxas.

"We can't take him back with us." Axel said, trying to touch Sora's shouler, but got deflected back. "Even if he was just sleeping we probably wouldn't want to take him into a castle so when he wakes up he realizes he's in the wrong one."

"You have a point." Roxas laughed and walked through. Next, Kagami walked through closely followed by Demyx and Axel.

Naminé, however, stayed back a few seconds. "You're going to hate me." she shook her head and gave him a sad smile.

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Kagami backed up a pace, almost pushing Naminé back into the portal as she found the blue-haired Saïx looking down at all of them. After everything she had seen the night before, and how she had no idea why she had seen it, Saïx was the last person she wanted to deal with. Kagami though for sure that Naminé would have brought them back when Saïx wasn't in his room. But when was that except for meetings?

"Kagami." said Saïx.

This made Kagami gulp. When was the last time that Saïx said Kagami's name. When did he ever say her name?

"Riku. Your Somebody. He's floating in the darkness right now, wandering lost, soon to go to Castle Oblivion. When time is set back to normal, you have to wander in the darkness to find him. Any normal Nobody would fade straight into the darkness. Some want to. What do you want to do?" he asked her.

Kagami was now a little frightened, backing up slightly. "I..." Kagami didn't know how to finish that sentence. She had no idea what fading back into darkness would mean. She was born out of her Somebody being lost in the darkness and sacrificing himself. She could almost see the door to Kingdom Hearts closing in front of her. Maybe fading into darkness wouldn't be so bad.

"To find your Somebody, you have to want it. You have to want it more than anything." Saïx walked closer up to Kagami. Demyx was practically cutting off the circulation in Axel's arm from the tension, and Axel was beginning to look irritated. "What is it that you want?" asked Saïx.

"Yeah." started Axel, glaring at Kagami. "What do you want?"

Kagami gulped. I want more clothes. I want to find my Somebody. I want to not fade into the darkness. I want Axel. I want Saïx.

"I want air." she said, breathing heavily, and began to run out of the room. Saïx, however, caught her by the arm. Kagami did not turn around.

"There is a way," Saïx said, "to go through the darkness and not fade away. To find your Light, to find Riku. Your Somebody. You don't have to fade into the darkness."

"Why are you helping me?" asked Kagami, in almost a whisper. "I understand Roxas, Demyx, and Naminé, I even slightly understand Axel. But why are you helping me?"

Saïx grinned, a grin that Kagami couldn't see. "I have no idea. That's what I want you to tell me." he laughed lowly, actually smiling this time. "To brave the darkness, you have to go to three worlds. There are three coins in each world, one standing for light, the other darkness, and the last balance. Once you can get those, you may have a chance against the darkness when you go and find Riku."

"And the rest of the Organization doesn't know about this?" asked Kagami.

"I won't utter a word." Saïx said, smiling in an almost unsettling way. Axel rolled his eyes and folded his arms over, looking the other way.

"Will getting the coins tell you why you're helping me?" she asked again, still not looking at Saïx, and Saïx's grip on her arm still tight.

Saïx smirked. "What coins?" he let go of her arm rather roughly. Kagami wavered in indecision standing in the room, but quickly bolted out of the door.

"You three would do well to go with her." started Saïx, "Her Keyblade will come to her." A black portal appeared behind her.

"Wait, Riku was a keyblade wielder?!" asked Roxas. Saïx, however, had already backed into the portal, and ended up in a place unknown to the four of them.

"Like I'm really gonna waste my Chakram usage on that kid." Axel scoffed.

Roxas sighed. "Just, where are the three worlds?"

Naminé smiled. "I heard of these coins. And I think I know the three worlds that they're in." She grinned and looked at Roxas.

"I love you." Roxas said, causing Naminé to laugh.

"Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, and The World that Never Was." Naminé said.

Roxas's smile suddenly turned to a frown. "The World that Never Was is huge. And it hasn't been stopped from time. I say we save that one until last."

"Let's make plans after we go find Kagami." said Axel.

"I'll go find Kaggy!" Demyx offered cheerfully. He was stopped quickly by Axel.

"No. I'll go." Axel said, putting an arm in front of him. He then left the room slowly, but they could hear darting running once he shut the door behind him.

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Kagami threw herself in Roxas's room, even though she knew that was the first place that they would look. Kagami wouldn't mind Roxas, Demyx, or even Naminé coming in to ask her what was wrong, anyway. She was almost craving letting this story out so she could get it off of her chest. Either way, she had to leave the area. There was too much pressure with both of them around; neither of them she was sure that she liked.

The door opened and Kagami, who had been lying on Roxas's bed, perked up. Instead, Axel had walked in. Kagami stood up and looked at him guardedly. "What is it?" she asked him with some edge in her voice.

"You know what it is." Axel sighed. "Why did you run off the other night?"

"I wasn't ready." Kagami said a little too quickly and with the wrong tone of voice, because Axel knew immediately she was lying.

"What was it really?" he asked, trying not to let his temper get the best of him.

"That was it. Will you just leave me alone?" asked Kagami, her own temper getting the best of her. It pained her what a personality Riku must have had that had been showing in her; after being alive even just for a week, she wanted her own life already.

Kagami began to debate in her head whether or not she wanted to reunite with Riku. Is that what Saïx was talking about, having to want it more than anything? What did she want?

"We need you to come with us so we can decide what we want to do about the coins. Naminé knows where to find them. At least she's been helpful."

"Hey, you?" asked Kagami, her temper beginning to blind her. She shook as she walked up to Axel in a pathetic attempt to size him up, "How about you stop ragging on me for everything just because Roxas is a friend of mine." Axel looked like he had been slapped. "You don't really know me, you never got to really know me, and I don't think you even care. I think the kiss was trying to make up for an emptiness you felt between Roxas and yourself because he's the only one here that likes you!" Kagami shouted. She was out of breath and shaking ten times harder than she had began, and that's without mentioning the purplish color her face had turned.

"What are you trying to say?!" asked Axel now, angrier than ever.

Kagami gulped in whatever had been building up inside of her now. "I hate you." she finished, and began to leave the room. Author's Note: Kagami: 1 Axel: 0

Axel sighed, and kicked the floor so hard that he could feel it through his shoe. "Dammit." he said, and heard scurrying outside of the door before Kagami reached it.

Whomever it was had disappeared through a portal before either of them could get past the door.

Embarrassed, they both walked to Saïx's room again, not speaking or sharing any signs of communication at all, just reflecting on what one of them let slip out of her mouth and what the other one thought about what had slipped.

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The next day, they all met up at Roxas's room to get ready to leave for finding the first coin.

"Why are you all bringing weapons?" asked Kagami.

"When you stop time, you don't stop the Heartless. They can't touch anyone that isn't moving, but they can touch people that aren't effected, also. Don't want to be hurt by those guys." Demyx laughed.

"But they can't take our hearts. We don't have any." Kagami stated.

"No, but they can still hurt and they will." Naminé said.

"How will I defend myself?" asked Kagami.

"Saïx said you're a keyblade weilder. So just call your keyblade. Like this." Roxas said, holding out his hand, and a large, elaborate key appeared. Before he could try and show Kagami, she, too, had a key in her right hand.

"Like this?" she asked. Her Keyblade was the Way to Twilight. Author's Note: If you don't know what that looks like, read some of my earlier fanfictions.

"Well, that was fast!" Demyx said happily. "I bet you could-"

"Let's just go." Axel said angrily, creating a portal. "Destiny Island first, you said?" asked Axel faintly to Naminé, who just gave Kagami a sad smile and nodded.

"I don't have a weapon, but-"

"I'll protect you." said Roxas, a little too quickly as he walked through the portal. Naminé smiled and walked through. Kagami was the last one to step through the portal, getting used to the feeling of her keyblade in her hand, and trying her best not to let it disappear in fear of it disappearing for good.

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The air was warm and smelled amazing. Kagami took in a deep breath before she looked around herself. The island was still like everything else.

"I don't think we'll need our weapons." stated Naminé, "This world was just saved by Sora."

Kagami shook her head. She had seen this island before somewhere; or had she? "This is Sora's play island. He used to go here with Riku and... and... What was her... Kairi!" Kagami smiled. So did Roxas, Naminé, and Demyx.

"Great!" Naminé clapped her hands together once and kept them near her face as if she was praying. "You're learning more about your Somebody!"

"Good." Axel yawned. "I didn't feel like fighting. Besides, they might sense us fighting, and I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for that."

"Where are we going to find a coin?" asked Kagami, who really wasn't paying attention. She was too busy examining the sand as she ran through the closer end of the beach towards them. "What about this little cave?" she asked, walking through a waterfall and getting herself soaked as she found a small cave on the other side of the little puddle of a pond.

"Kagami!" shouted Roxas, "Wait!" Him and Demyx followed her inside.

Quickly, Kagami screamed.

Afraid, Axel and Naminé ran inside with them. Inside of the cave, they saw a girl frozen in mid-movement. She was kneeling in front of a drawing of two heads; a girl and a boy, sharing some kind of a star. The girl had short, red hair and a purple outfit on with a yellow wrist band. She had brilliant blue eyes and cute smile on, frozen in time.

"That's..." started Naminé.

"Kairi."

Author's Note: Ooh, we found Kairi! xD Alright. So I've decided I'm going to make that other fanfiction. Remember, even though it takes place at around the same time as my other one did, it does not collide with it. Two totally different stories! Okay?

I hope you enjoyed it! I'll update soon. ;D