For those of you who remember the battle I had against Xemnas, and how this whole chapter had pretty much been geared solely towards that, you're in for a shocker.

Congratulations Scott Moire and Tessa Virtue, Canada's Ice Dance duo, for winning Canadian Gold on home ice last night, and congratulations again to the Canadian Women's Hockey Team for defeatling Finland 5-0. Go Canada Go! And about the Canada vs USA Men's Hockey Game on Sunday... Canada should have won that game, we outplayed the American team in almost every way, but Ryan Miller just played amazing well that night with some superb goaltending. Oh well, we're playing Germany tonight and then Russia. We'll see you Americans in the Final just like we did in Salt Lake City, and we'll whup you again.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this except for my plot and the original characters that I have.

-A-D-

The Beginning v. I.I

Chapter VII: Far Away

"Hey look it's Sora."

"Did you hear about what he and Kairi did?"

"I heard that she kissed him during their Advanced Combat Mastery Class."

"That's not what I head."

"Yeah, I heard that they were making out in front of the whole class."

"So does this mean that they're finally together?"

"No way dude, he hasn't asked her out yet! And that means that Kairi's still fair game."

"You aren't putting your greasy hands on Kairi!"

"They are not greasy!"

"I heard from a friend that they went to the beach together after class yesterday, alone!"

"Do you think that means that they…"

"Holy shit! Did they really?"

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho!! Wow! I never would have guessed."

"Looks that way. I just can't believe that Kairi would let him go that far."

"I didn't think that Sora would've had the courage to go that far."

"That's because he doesn't! She's the one that kissed him. I was there; I saw it!"

"Yeah, but no one was around to watch them at the beach. Anything could have happened there."

"I don't think it happened though. They're both more sensible than that."

"Hey guys. What's going on?"

"Sora and Kairi are going out now."

"Well it's about time! How'd it happen?"

"It isn't official! He hasn't asked her to be his girlfriend yet!"

"So does that mean that Sora's still technically available?"

"I wouldn't count on it. But I think his friend Riku is."

"But I want both of them! I am so ready to have a boyfriend!"

"But then again, Riku's in grade twelve and has got about half of the single girls in the school stalking him…"

"Really? Hey, uh, are you doing anything Friday night?"

"Depends, are you asking me out?"

"See, this guy's got more guts than Sora! Kairi's the one who had to make the first move and he still hasn't responded."

"If it were me, I'd have kissed her right back. She's so damn hot!"

"I heard that they did more than kiss each other at the beach."

"Damn, tell me that they didn't!"

Sora grumbled and slammed the door to his locker shut. He had barely been inside the building for three minutes and already the only talk he'd overheard had been hushed whispers about him and Kairi, apparently, finally dating! As far as he could remember (and he and Roxas were both quite clear on his memory of the previous day thank you very much), he still had not asked Kairi out; he had not yet asked her to be his girlfriend, and in the name of the Almighty Zeus the furthest that they'd gone was when Kairi had impulsively kissed him in class the previous day. There had been no erotic shenanigans on the beach!

But Sora had to wonder why he and Kairi had suddenly become the talk of the whole frigging school! Wasn't there a single person in this building that did not care about their relationship or was a gossip freak?

But there was Kairi's mistake in the first place, Roxas announced. She just had to do it in front of a class full of people.

It's not that, Sora answered. It's that she did it in front of Selphie.

Ah, Roxas consented, you have a point there.

Rule #1, Sora said, shouldering his backpack, do not tell or do anything in front of Selphie with the word 'kiss' in it unless it's 'KISS'.

Why not KISS?

Sora rolled his eyes. Because she doesn't care about or like KISS. Why though is beyond me, they're awesome!

But Kairi broke that rule into a thousand pieces and let Axel set it on fire, Roxas sighed.

She did it in the seventh grade too, Sora told Roxas, grumbling slightly at the memory. She couldn't wait to tell her that Benny had kissed her.

Whoa, back up! You mean to tell me that she's been kissed before!?

She's probably forgotten all about it by now, Benny moved to Nova the next year and we haven't seen or heard from him since, but yeah.

Sora entered his English classroom quickly, not liking the constant whispering in the halls. Jean wasn't in there yet, as it was still a few minutes before the five-minute bell, but there were a couple of other students in the room, early for their own reasons.

All talk ceased momentarily as Sora walked through the door. Heads turned in his direction and Sora sombrely made his way to his seat, the eyes of his peers stalking his every move. He was an animal on display, pacing within a cage, and he was being expectantly observed as if he'd do anything interesting.

Sora didn't, just scowled and sat down in his desk. After a few seconds his currently seven classmates came to the simultaneous conclusion that he wasn't about to start talking and returned to their own conversations, a few of them Sora was able to tell were about him and Kairi.

He did not enjoy the public scrutiny that was accompanying this development in his relationship with the auburn-haired Princess of Heart. Why was the whole world making such a big deal about him and Kairi? Everywhere he walked now people started treating him as if he was on his deathbed, speaking only in hushed whispers about him or Kairi. No one else ever got this much attention, not even the players of their school's blitzball team!

But the part that annoyed him the most was that he hadn't done anything yet!

Sora looked up through the ringing of the warning bell as a much closer sound attracted his attention. Saji had dropped her backpack beside her chair and her dark red eyes were giving him a very interesting look from underneath her pink hair.

"So," the girl began, skipping the formalities as she sat down in front of Sora, "word is that you and Kairi are finally dating."

Sora smiled. He couldn't quite explain it, but talking to a person in person rather than listening to all the talking going on behind his back seemed like a very pleasant idea at the moment.

"Actually Saji," he said, leaning in on his elbows, "if you'd been paying attention to the rumours—"

Saji cut him off. "Who needs rumours when I heard it from someone who was there?"

Sora smirked in amusement. "Someone who was there huh? So you trust Brit's word more than you trust, say, the guy it happened to?"

"Of course!" Saji answered. "You'd try to deny everything under the Sun and the truth would never get out. But I know for a fact that you and Kairi are now an item."

"Tough luck, I haven't as—"

"Brittany saw you and Kairi on her porch after school yesterday," Saji interrupted with a triumphant gleam in her dark red eyes. Sora's face turned pink and his ears started to smoke while his classmate continued. "She swore that she saw tongue-swapping before you both went into her house."

"What!?" Yumi asked suddenly, the blue-haired girl walking by to take her seat.

Sora's face became redder. "Brittany was grossly exaggerating," he retorted. His voice dropped harshly in volume in embarrassment as he forced himself to add, "Her mom came out before I could kiss her," just to keep the record straight.

He really didn't know if that was the only reason why he said it. Maybe it was to squash the rumours, maybe to imply that he was asking for advice, he couldn't tell. If he was asking for advice then he was giving up on the plan he'd devised the previous night during his walk home, and he wasn't going to give up on that. All he could tell was that it would make them pity him, and immediately after he realized that, he understood that their pity would only make him feel more depressed about his inability to express to the girl he had fallen for that he loved her.

Saji and Yumi both sighed sympathetically. "Aww…" Saji said, looking off to the side slightly.

"Better luck next time Sora," Yumi said, continuing on to take her seat, giving Sora a soft pat on the shoulder as she went by.

Sora nodded slightly and quietly sighed before his eyes flickered up at a greeting. Taykase was coming to take his seat behind Sora. "Hey Sora!" he had said. "Congratulations man!"

"Oh can it Tay," Saji huffed, her chin resting in her palm with an elbow propped up on her desk. "It didn't happen. Parental interruption."

Tay's face fell. "Oh. Bummer man."

Saji nearly screamed in exasperation as Tay sat down. "Why is it taking sooo long!?"

"I'm right here Saji!" Sora reminded her, poking her just to make sure she remembered that he was only one desk behind.

She turned around, still with an air of pouting about her. "It doesn't matter," she told him. "Ever since eighth grade we could start to see it coming, and we're now three years later and you haven't done anything yet!"

"Excuse me for being a little busy with rescuing Kairi and saving the worlds at the same time twice!" Sora grumbled under his breath, noting at just how he had weighted those two.

"What?" Tay asked.

"Never mind," Sora told him. "I've just been a little preoccupied this past year."

Saji pouted. "You're such a goof Sora. You always need to have some room in there to maintain (or advance) your relationships, and especially your romantic ones."

Sora raised his eyebrows. "Well it's a good thing that I did leave room in my busy schedule last year for both of those."

Ah, Roxas commented. You're referring to Kairi through Naminé. Nice move slick.

Thank you Roxas.

I didn't know that you were so clever.

Shut up Nobody.

"You mean like Miss Kisaragi and Mr. Axel?" Yumi asked, still listening to the conversation.

Taykase gave Sora a confused look. "Who?"

"Their Advanced Combat Mastery teachers," Saji told him quickly, her face clearly giving away the fact that she wanted to probe further into this. "So you knew them before they came here? And were friends with them?"

"Yuffie is definitely a close friend," Sora answered in a heartbeat, and regretted an instant later with the look his pink-haired friend was giving him. He went on regardless. "And Axel, well…"

Remember what he did for you, Roxas reminded him, almost a warning growl in his voice.

Yeah, and he kidnapped Kairi, Sora reminded Roxas.

And he helped you get to The World That Never Was and told you where to find her and as good as sent you to save her!

But he wouldn't have had to do that if he hadn't kidnapped her in the first place.

He said he was sorry!!

He didn't sound very sincere when he said it Roxas.

He was a Nobody, he couldn't really feel, Roxas replied snippily.

Axel told me that when he was with you, you made him feel like he had a heart.

Roxas' voice came back quieter and subdued. Yeah, I know. He said the same thing to you, remember?

Sora sighed. Yeah, I remember.

He's my friend Sora, Roxas said. Doesn't that count for anything?

It counts for a lot Roxas, Sora thought quietly. You trust him?

With our life, came his Nobody's steadfast answer.

"Sora?"

The spiky-haired brunette looked up. Saji was looking at him in concern, and Tay and Yumi probably were as well.

"You still here man?" Tay asked.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Sora answered.

"So what about Mr. Axel?" asked Saji.

"Well," Sora began slowly. "Half of me says that he's a friend. And I agree with him. Axel is my friend."

"Him?" questioned Yumi.

Sora wasn't about to answer her, as he had just seen a head covered in beautiful auburn locks enter the classroom. Kairi was about forty seconds ahead of the final bell, and wasted no time in coming over to Sora's desk.

He glanced at his nearby classmates as Kairi approached. Those who had been partaking in his conversation, eavesdropping, or engaged in other conversations were now all acting like their attention was elsewhere. Tay was taking books out of his bag, Saji was examining her nails, and Yumi was suddenly talking to a boy named Vance who sat just on Sora's right, the two apparently deep in conversation.

"Is it just me," Kairi began as she came into semi-private conversation range, "or is the whole school talking about us?"

"Good morning to you too Your Highness," Sora answered, smiling.

Kairi rolled her eyes but the corners of her lips twitched upwards into a wry smile anyway. "Good morning Sora. Hey, your tie is really nice today. I don't remember us ever getting around to it after chemistry last night. Sorry."

"Don't worry about forgetting about your private lesson Kai," Sora told her with a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. "My private lesson and the alone time your parents gave us more than compensated for it."

Sora could tell that every ear within twelve feet was now fixed on their location. Kairi was just looking at him with a weird expression on her face. Her mouth was open, but it was open in a wordless smile as her head shook. It looked like she was about to laugh but wasn't quite sure that she wanted to.

Finally she gave one short laugh before speaking. "Something is telling me that that was someone else's words coming from your mouth and that I should play along."

Sora did laugh. "That little voice in your head is completely right Kairi. You know that I would never imply so much."

"That's why I had to stop, think, and listen for a second," Kairi returned. "But now I'm wondering what he meant."

"Me too," Sora said. "We already know that nothing substantial happened while we were at the beach—"

"I'd say being above the clouds is pretty substantial," Kairi said, smiling as she worked a little bit of an emotional metaphor into what was actually a physical event.

"—but I'm not so sure during our homework and the movie," Sora finished.

"Well, there was that one part where I felt something, unrelated, in the back of my mind," Kairi said as the bell rang. "But, no. They couldn't have, could they?"

"Knowing Naminé, I don't think so," Sora told her, shaking his head.

Kairi only gave him half a nod in return. "I trust her, but I don't trust Roxas. It could have been him."

Sora frowned. Kairi had just sown the seeds of doubt into his mind. He trusted Roxas' judgement on Axel, but now he wasn't so sure if he trusted Roxas to have not made a significant move on Naminé before he'd been able to do likewise.

"You're right Kairi," he said. "In that aspect, I don't trust him! Your couch will likely never look the same again."

Sora quickly noticed that he was suddenly glowing blue before a small orb of blue light zipped out of his chest. It hovered beside Kairi for half of a second and then expanded in a flash to reveal Roxas standing with his arms folded and his lips in a thin straight line, ignoring the outbursts of surprise from Sora's classmates. He was dressed in the school uniform, and had his top two buttons undone and his tie slung around his shoulders.

"And just what are you and Kairi implying Sora?" he asked.

Kairi glimmered with golden light for an instant before an orb of the same colour and identical to Roxas' shot out of her chest and weaved to hover next to the transparent blonde Nobody. A moment later the transparent figure of Naminé was standing in the room, her expression matching Roxas' while her uniform was to the same standard as Kairi's. "I'd like to know that too," she said.

Sora dodged the question while he watched Naminé appear to notice that the whole class (except for their teacher, who was fortunately still absent after the final bell) was looking at her, and she shuffled meekly behind Roxas slightly.

"Roxas," Sora began, "how come my tie is awesome while yours is crap?"

His Nobody didn't even look down to acknowledge his somewhat slacker appearance. "Because, while Kairi's dad was busy teaching you how to tie the slugger, I was thinking of something else," he said.

Kairi looked at Roxas with slightly narrowed eyes and he looked at her. "Yes Kairi. Seymour taught Sora how to properly tie his tie last night while you and Naminé, because that's obviously what she was doing, were in the shower and I was thinking of something else while he was being taught."

Sora cocked his head slightly to the side and gained eye contact with his Nobody. Naminé?

Naminé's head flicked to Roxas with a clear blush growing on her pale cheeks. "Me?"

Roxas blushed and threw Sora a look that said, 'traitor' as plainly as Sora's sense of embarrassment at forgetting that when Naminé was out in the open she could hear his thoughts as easily as Roxas could at anytime, if he was paying attention.

"Yeah," he said, smiling through his blush, "you."

A few of the girls in the class cooed the word, "Awww…" at Roxas' words and Tay poked Sora in the back. "Hey Sora, what's going on?" he asked. "Who are they?"

A louder voice broke into all of their ears from the door as Jean finally walked in. "Settle down class. I apologize for being late. Let's get attend—" She stopped as her eyes picked up Roxas and Naminé and Kairi standing frozen in front of Saji's desk. "Kairi please take your seat. Who are you two?"

Damn, too late! Roxas said.

Sora quickly looked at Kairi as a wicked idea came into his head. It must have shown, because when he caught her eye, they became just as fiendish. "Oh, Jean!" Kairi began, acting like she'd just remembered something very important. "We forgot to introduce you yesterday, but you actually have two more students in your class."

"I beg your pardon?" Jean asked.

Naminé was shaking her head. "Kairi, Sora," she whispered nervously, "please don't do this."

Sora stood up, trying very hard not to laugh or let an obscenely large smile come to his face. "Yes, uh, you'll be able to read all about it when Kairi and I hand in our assignments tomorrow, but due to a weird twist of fate and circumstance—"

"Sora!" Roxas exclaimed. "Don't do this!"

"You mean like sacrificing yourself and becoming a Heartless in order to give me back my heart?" Kairi asked lightly, ignoring Roxas as Sora got to standing next to her.

She was smiling at him as she said it, and Sora was unable to restrain his own smile. "Yeah, that's it. Anyway, due to a weird twist of fate and circumstance you now get to teach two Soras and two Kairis."

"Huh?" said the entire class.

"I'm still Kairi," began the auburn-haired girl, "but this lovely young lady right here, oh stop being so timid Naminé, is my Nobody Naminé."

"And this guy is Roxas," Sora explained, grabbing hold of him and presenting him to the class like it was 'show-and-tell' from kindergarten. "And he's my Nobody. You can think of them like alter-egos or different personalities that are technically still us."

"I'm going to kill you for this Sora," Roxas grumbled.

Sora raised one eyebrow. "Why? School isn't so bad."

"I can still summon my Keyblades," the male Nobody warned in a whisper.

"Save the beating for fourth block Roxas and suck it up," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "Think about this for one second. I know for a fact that even though Naminé and I are already very close maybe like twin sisters, that her dearest wish is to be whole again. It's probably the same with you, am I right?"

"Of course!" he answered enthusiastically. Roxas glanced at Sora. "No offence."

Kairi continued before Sora could respond verbally, though he thought, None taken. "Well if you become whole again," she said, "you're going to have to go to school. So why not jump the gun and start now?"

Naminé looked at Roxas after a second. "She's got a very good point Roxas."

He looked like her was in pain when he answered. "I know, but Naminé, we got to gloat yesterday when we didn't have to do this and they did."

"Technically we still had to sit through the classes," Naminé told him.

"But we didn't have to pay attention," Roxas reminded her. "We could nap, daydream, spend time together when they were in the same class, do whatever because we were in their hearts and not in a desk."

"But," Naminé started quietly, "but I think I want to do it…" Sora and Kairi looked at her and looked at Roxas, who now appeared lost and had every eye on him. Every boy was now sympathizing with him because they could all tell at a glance his dilemma: Freedom, or the girl? There was no doubt in anyone's mind what he would choose.

"Fine!" Roxas groaned. "I'll do it!"

Jean looked like everything was going completely over her head and shook it. "All four of you can go to the Principal's office and sort it out," she said. "Come back to class when you're done."

They nodded and Sora grabbed his bag before they marched out of the classroom, stopping only for Jean to give Kairi a note, and Roxas muttered, "I'm still going to kill you two for this."

Sora snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

-A-D-

The process was a lot harder and took a lot longer than any of them expected. Riku had to be brought out of class and phone calls were sent out to the parents. The mayor was, of course, too busy at the moment to come and attempt to assist in sorting things out, and so was Anne (as Head Chef she had a lot of responsibility in her line of work). Yuffie and Axel were both brought into the office as well, as replacements who could explain things a little better, and the conversation between Kairi's mother and the former Nobody who had kidnapped her had been a sight to behold (or would have been, had everyone in the vicinity not been too terrified to watch).

Everything was finally sorted out mid-way through second block, Phys-Ed class for Sora and Kairi (and now Roxas and Naminé as for the rest of the day they would have the same timetables), and Advanced Combat Mastery 30 for Riku. There would be a staff meeting after school that the fivesome would be forced to attend to explain the situation to the other staff members, and only one other issue was left that still had to be addressed.

"How are we gonna do this?" Roxas asked.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked him back. "You sit in a desk and you—"

"Take notes," Roxas finished pointedly. "With pens and pencils, you know, physical objects!" He passed his hand through a pen on the Principal's desk to emphasize the point.

Sora groaned and placed his head in one hand. "Have you already forgotten when we got into that big fight last week because we were bored?"

Roxas blinked. "I blocked it out."

"Because I beat you, again," Sora replied smugly. The Oblivion appeared in his right hand in a flash and he quickly threw it at Roxas, saying, "Catch!"

The blonde's right hand darted out and snatched the obsidian blade out of the air by the hilt. As his transparent fingers came into contact with the mystical weapon they suddenly became solid, as did the rest of his body within a tenth of a second.

Everyone excluding Sora and Roxas looked at the Nobody in surprise and Roxas rapped his knuckles on the wooden desk behind him, making a very solid knocking sound. He looked back at Sora skeptically. "Sure, like you're going to have me and Naminé hold onto a Keyblade the whole time that we're in class and have to do something."

"You could wear a belt and hook it in there," Axel said as Roxas tossed the onyx Keyblade back to Sora, and became ghost-like once more.

"So where does that leave me?" Naminé asked, looking nervously at her plaid miniskirt. She tugged it down, just a little.

"You could always try summoning a Keyblade to see if you have one," Sora said. "I mean, Kairi's got one and you're her Nobody so…"

"Are you suggesting having two students being required to carry weapons in my school?" the Principal asked.

"Not at all!" Janet said at once. "Only that the Keyblade is a truly magical weapon if it can give Roxas and maybe Naminé temporary bodies of their own, bodies that may be the only way for them to physically interact with and be involved in the school environment."

"You do make a convincing point," the Principal said. He was silent for a minute, his eyes closed in thought. He sighed and opened them. "I'll allow it, but they cannot be used as weapons outside of Combat Mastery class, and must not leave your possession. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Roxas and Naminé each said, nodding their heads.

"Now get physical and get back to class," he said, quickly motioning that they'd spent enough time in his office. The Kingdom Key appeared in Roxas' right hand and Sora called the Oblivion back to him. He handed it to Naminé, who took it with more than a little apprehension. As she became physically solid and gulped while holding onto the Keyblade, Sora realized that this must have been her first time actually holding a weapon.

"How does it feel?" Kairi asked her as they quickly vacated the office.

Naminé didn't seem to be quite sure how to answer. "It feels a little bit heavy," she answered, "but at the same time, I think it's comfortable."

"I meant having a body again," Kairi said. Naminé blushed.

"Oh, well that part feels good," she said.

A stomach grumbled, loudly. All eyes turned to Roxas, who did not blush ashamedly. In fact, he was positively beaming with joy.

"All right!" he exclaimed. "I'm actually hungry! Hey wait a minute, I'm hungry! Feed me!"

"We still have class you bozo," Sora told him as they got into the currently nearly empty cafeteria. "Phys-Ed, remember? You can eat afterwards."

"But I'm hungry now!" Roxas griped.

"Tough luck," Riku snorted. He turned around. "I've got to get to Combat Mastery now, see you at lunch guys."

"Alright, see you Riku," Sora said, giving him a high-five before the twelfth-grader left them.

Yuffie and Axel glanced at each other. "We're gonna have to prep for class," the female ninja told them. "We'll see you four in fourth block."

"And don't be late Roxas," Axel told the male blonde Nobody. "Got it—"

"Memorized?" Roxas finished for him, smiling at the grumpy expression on Axel's face. "Yeah, I do. And I think a rematch would be in order don't you?"

Axel's frown turned into a tiny smirk. "See you later Roxas," he said, turning away with Yuffie.

Janet looked at her watch before glancing at what could be considered both of her daughters. "I have to go back to work," she said. "Will you be okay?"

"We'll be fine Mom," Kairi said, shifting a bit closer to Naminé. "Don't worry, I'll look after her."

"Who says that I need looking after?" Naminé asked curiously.

"Uh, the fact that you only have memories and no real experience," Kairi answered after a second. Naminé nodded, realizing that Kairi had a point. Janet gave each of them hugs goodbye and ruffled her hand through Sora's hair before leaving the cafeteria, and soon after, the school grounds.

"So…" Roxas began once she was out of earshot, "do we actually go to gym class or just hang out here?"

"We're supposed to go to class," Kairi said insistently.

"But Naminé and I don't have gym clothes," Roxas countered.

Sora pondered that statement for a second. "He's got a point," he said, agreeing with Roxas. "They don't."

"Couldn't we just sit in the bleachers and watch?" Naminé asked timidly.

"Well what are we doing today?" Sora asked, looking to Kairi.

The girl's expression suddenly became rather reluctant as she fidgeted with her hair. "Track," sighed Kairi. "We have track today, and track tomorrow, and track for the next two weeks."

"And you aren't fond of track," Sora stated.

"You've known that for years Sora. I'm not the running kind of person and I don't want to throw a discus."

"And Roxas and Naminé don't have gym clothes…"

"No."

"And I could really care less either way about track."

"Well that's true, I guess."

"And class ends in… thirty minutes."

"Yeah, so there is that. We wouldn't really be doing too much."

"And you aren't fond of track."

Kairi looked up at Sora, a sparkle in her indigo eyes as she directed her gaze just off to his right. Her fingers were curling through her hair as she said, "You know, I've always wanted to skip track class, I've just never had a good enough excuse before."

The other three smiled as Kairi's eyes made contact with Sora's and a mischievous grin came onto her face.

-A-D-

When the ringing of the bell through the school to signal the beginning of fourth block rang it was to find every member of the fourth block Advanced Combat Mastery 20 class already inside of the training gymnasium, the class size now increased to sixteen by the introduction of Roxas and Naminé, making the number of males and females nine and seven respectively. Yuffie and Axel were already there as well, and were standing in front of the class as they sat on the bleachers, Riku sitting alone at the back because of his spare.

"Alright class," Axel began with the two blonde Nobodies standing in front of him, "we have two new students joining us today. Say hello to Roxas, and Naminé."

"Hey," Roxas said, waving his hand. Naminé only smiled shyly and curled her fingers slightly with a tiny wave.

"Hey!" Tidus said, looking at them with interest. "They're holding onto… what were those called again?"

"Keyblades?" Yumi asked.

Yuffie smiled. "Yes they are," she said. "And that's because Roxas and Naminé are a little bit different from the rest of you guys. Roxas, Naminé, drop 'em."

"What?" Naminé asked her. Yuffie directed her gaze to the Oblivion in Naminé's hand, the floor, and then back to the blonde's face. Naminé seemed quite reluctant, but she glanced at Roxas and he nodded, so she dropped the black weapon onto the ground.

The echoes of the metal weapons striking the wooden floor reverberated around an eerily empty gymnasium.

"Are you ghosts?" David asked.

"Nope," Sora answered him, rising and walking down the bleachers towards Roxas and Naminé. "They're Nobodies."

"Nobodies?" Val asked, intrigued. "What's a Nobody?"

"A Nobody is a being without a heart," Kairi said, smiling and patting Naminé on the shoulder as she came up to the female blonde. "They have the body and soul of a person who turned into a Heartless, but Naminé and Roxas are a bit different. They're Nobodies who've joined with their Somebodies, and so are whole, in a way, and sharing hearts with us."

"Us?" Kia asked, slowly rising from her seat at the bottom of the bleachers and taking a tentative step towards Roxas and Naminé as Sora and Kairi stood beside the two blondes with Yuffie and Axel behind.

"Sora and Kairi are their Somebodies," Riku said from the back of the bleachers. "So they are sharing hearts with Roxas and Naminé. And that's as much as you lot need to know. Just treat them like you'd treat anyone else in the class."

"Who are you to tell us to do anything?" David asked him, looking up at the silver-haired teen a grade above him.

Riku glanced down at David, and his hand flashed with light as Way to the Dawn's curved blade appeared in his hand. "Do you really want to press the issue?" he countered.

"You too?" Selphie asked in amazement. Riku nodded his head as his Keyblade vanished.

The golden-brown-haired girl Kia took another couple of steps towards Roxas and Naminé, and smiled. "Well, I'm not sure I understand all of this," she began, "but if it means that we've got two more classmates then I'm all for it. I'm Kia, daughter of Ken and Lianne. It's nice to meet you Naminé."

Naminé smiled shyly and reached down to grasp the handle of the Oblivion again to turn her body into a solid mass. Then she took Kia's hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you too Kia," she returned.

Axel came forward and broke the five people in front of him and Yuffie apart. "Alright, that's enough you guys. We're starting class now. Sora, Princess, you're going into the simulator today for a little bit of extra-special training. The rest of you are out here with us, got it memorized? Now go to the equipment room and get your gear."

"Don't call me Princess Axel," Kairi moaned. Axel smirked and his palms became gloved in fire as his spiked red and white chakrams blazed into them.

"That's Mr. Axel Kairi," he returned.

Sora turned to Naminé as the rest of the class clattered off of the bleachers and down to the gymnasium floor, heading to the small room to their right. "Sorry Naminé," he said guiltily, looking at his shoes, "but I'm gonna need my Keyblade back, since it's Axe – Mr. Axel who set up the simulator."

There was a sudden pat on his shoulder and he turned to see Riku standing next to him with a small smile. "Don't worry about it," the older youth said, summoning Way to the Dawn into his hand and handing it to Naminé. The blonde gave Sora the Oblivion and he looked at Riku.

"Everything's ready," the silver-haired boy whispered, "and I'll be in the control room. By the way, you're such a total sap."

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Sora returned, shoving him away slightly as they went to join Kairi, who was already by the door to the simulation chamber. "You're just jealous."

"Ooh, so I'm jealous am I?" Riku laughed. "Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not. Maybe I will be, and maybe I won't be. But it still won't change the fact that you're a total sap."

"Bite me," Sora told him, playfully irritated.

"Um…"

Both boys looked at Kairi, who was shifting slightly and biting her bottom lip nervously. They knew that look. "How do I actually summon my Keyblade?" the girl asked.

"You mean that you haven't – wait, no, you haven't called it have you?" Sora asked. He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I guess you just think about it, and will it to come into your hand from your heart."

"That's it?" Kairi asked him.

Sora shifted uncomfortably. "I guess…"

"You mean you don't know, Mister Keyblade Master?" Kairi asked, astounded and patronizing at the same time.

"Hey cut me some slack!" Sora answered. "I was a bit too busy back then to think about how I do it, I just do."

"Enough chit-chat," Axel said, coming over to them. "Sora, Kairi, into the simulation chamber. Riku, I'm assuming you know how to run the beast?"

"Yeah," he answered quickly.

"Good," said Axel. "Run simulation program # 48. When they're done that one, do follow through with programs #51-#55 until the end of the class."

"So we're in there for the whole time?" Kairi asked, both excited and apprehensive.

"And is there a problem with that?" Axel asked her.

"No, but, I can't quite remember what happens if we, well, 'die' or fall unconscious."

"The simulation cuts out and you wake back up on the floor," Axel answered her. "But you'll be in a mess of pain and exhaustion, so don't die in there. Now get!"

-A-D-

Inside, the room was a rectangular metal-lined box. Blue cables wound their way over the floors, walls and ceiling, and many small green and red lights cast their light into the room in addition to the large recessed ceiling light in the exact centre of the room. Sora glanced to the large window of the control room along the same wall as the door that had just closed behind him and Kairi. Riku was in there, just sitting down behind a computer console. He was glad that it was Riku, because he knew that while he wasn't bad with computers, he wasn't great with them either, and Riku would be able to complete his plan when it came time for that.

He growled slightly at the thought. Riku was right, he was a sap.

The older teen flicked a switch inside of the control room and spoke into a microphone, his voice entering the chamber from speakers above the window. "Are you both ready?" he asked.

"Just get it over with," Kairi sighed, flexing her hand repeatedly as she stared at it, no Keyblade appearing within her grasp yet.

Riku nodded and appeared to be performing some task on the computer, and then they could no longer see him as the walls, ceiling, and floor began to glow with white light.

Suddenly they were standing in a grassy valley; jagged, dark red rocks formed a broken ring around them. The Sun was high in the partially cloudy sky, and on all sides moderately sloped hills surrounded them in the dell they occupied, though they were actually higher up than the extent of the hills' descent. The broken rock-ring that Sora and Kairi stood upon was a flat plateau, with what could be taken as a trench encompassing their tiny hillock.

Sora gulped as he looked at the foreboding position that he and Kairi occupied. If something were to come down the hills towards them they would lose sight of their attacker as it dropped down beneath them, or become lost behind the shape of a rock.

"Sora look!" Kairi said quickly, pointing. Sora followed the direction of her leading finger and his heart plummeted as he saw something that he still held a small measure of fear of from his childhood.

An orange four-legged creature had come to the crest of the hill. Its pointed head directed up into the air, the Lupine Dingo let out a howl as it spotted them. It lowered its head, the creature's black eyes glaring down at them as it panted with a thick pink tongue lolling out between rows of sharp teeth. Then another came up beside it, and another, and then three more. Within a minute the entire horizon of surrounding hills was swarming with the fiends, their hundreds of barks and howls loud and rough.

"Oh crud," Kairi squeaked. "This is a lot more than any other time I've been in here."

"Well how many have you gone up against before?" asked Sora, glancing sidelong at her.

"Well, six," Kairi answered, "and two Flans and an Ochu, but I was in a group of six at the time and it was last year's final exam. Before then I'd only gone against two lupines at the most."

"And I've only had to deal with Heartless before," Sora muttered uncomfortably. "Not fiends."

Kairi looked at him in surprise. "You haven't?"

"We didn't have a simulator at our Junior High Kairi," he reminded her. "This is my first time being in one." He stiffened. "Here they come."

With a howl that broke through all of the others, the first Dingo that had appeared gave a push of its powerful legs and instantly started to charge down the hill. The rest followed in a rushing wave of yellow hides, the entire snarling pack flowing down the slope towards the small ring where Sora and Kairi were within.

The Oblivion crackled with lightning as Sora pointed it into the air. "Thundaga!" he yelled fiercely. A thick bolt of scathingly hot electricity leapt off of his weapon and dove into the sky. Thunderbolts fell from the heavens into the throng of charging fiends. Dingoes yelped as the lightning tore into them, and their smoking bodies crashed and fell to the ground tripping up the ones behind them before their carcasses vanished in white flashes of light. The lupines had stopped pouring over the crest of the hill, but still they came on like a rolling, undulating sea of golden-brown hides and snapping jaws bent on nothing more than sinking into the juiciest parts of the students' bodies.

Sora steadied his hands on the Oblivion as he suddenly lost sight of the leaders underneath the lip of the hillock that he and Kairi were defending, and he glanced back at the girl. She was looking worriedly at her hand, clenching and unclenching it as she visibly tried to call the Keyblade that she had been using in The World That Never Was into her hand.

"Come on," she was muttering, panic starting to set in on her. "Come out already." Sora backed up so that he was just past Kairi's left shoulder and able to see her face.

"Watch my back," he said quickly, preparing himself as more and more of the Dingoes disappeared from his sight. Kairi nodded, though he could see the nervousness in her face and eyes. He gave her a small, comforting smile, and said, "Don't worry. It will come when you need it most." The corners of Kairi's mouth twitched.

A Dingo suddenly cleared the area between two of the towering rocks, leaping through the air directly towards Kairi's back. Its loud snarls drowned out the rumbling sounds of the remainder of the fiends, and its teeth were bared and glistening with saliva.

Sora twitched his wrist and threw the Keyblade at the fiend. The Oblivion's black blade whirred through the air as it spun end over end towards the Dingo's hide, and cut right through the fiend. The Dingo gave a sudden yelp before dropping to the ground with a crash and vanishing in a blast of white light. The Oblivion kept spinning through the air, cutting right through another fiend that had followed the first, and lopping a foreleg off of a second before it struck against the rock.

"Sora, behind you!" Kairi yelled suddenly. The Keyblade Master turned his head and saw a Dingo racing straight for him from behind, and there were four more coming in from his right. And his Keyblade was still out of his hand. Even if he summoned it back to him (an event that took an infinitesimal amount of time) he still wouldn't have enough time to bring it down to bear on the lupines with just how quickly they could move.

His hand flashed with white light regardless as the Oblivion vanished from the air it was falling through and reappeared in his right hand. He was turning towards his right, slashing the Keyblade through the air and the four Dingoes that were coming towards him from that direction, when he caught a flurry of movement of red hair to his left and saw a quick flash of white light, and heard Kairi give a shout.

The Dingoes that had been struck by the Oblivion as he was turning yelped and dropped onto the ground, vanishing in flashes of white light as the simulated foes were defeated. Directly in front of him now was the Dingo that had lunged for his back, stopped in midair with a blade through its belly.

Kairi flung the lupine off of her weapon and flicked it out to her right side as the creature vanished within the air. Sora looked at the blade. It had a black handle with a golden pommel before the key chain, and its hilt was curved into a heart with one side changing from a sandy grey into blue and then into the white of a breaking wave that emerged upon the metal. The other side was also sand grey as it wove its way up the shaft in a ribbon for a while, the shaft of the blade changing from a bright yellow to a deep red, melting into the multi-coloured flowers that formed the key.

"So what do you call that thing?" Sora asked, smiling and turning around as they were left in peace for a few seconds.

"It's Island's Fire," she answered, "Which reminds me, I don't know how to cast any magic. Could you teach me?"

"What, now?" Sora asked. "We're in the middle of something here."

"I just learned how to summon my Keyblade in the midst of a battle," Kairi reminded him smugly. "Why can't I learn magic in one too?"

Howls erupted all around them as the lupine sea outside of their ring of rocks surged, and the creatures in their yellow-orange hides raced up their tiny defensible hillock to tear the two Keyblade Wielders apart with their teeth and claws.

"Okay, you're getting the most rushed magic lesson in the history of magic," Sora announced quickly as their foes appeared again. "For a start, its easiest to use magic if you channel it through a magical weapon, like Donald's magical staff or our Keyblades. If you're performing elemental magic, you have to feel the element; be the element! Like this: fire!" Sora held his Keyblade horizontally in front of him, and raging fireballs appeared in a ring around both himself and Kairi, striking against the lupines that had leapt towards them, eliciting pained yelps from the fiends as their hides burned and they were flung back into the masses of their comrades.

"Once you have," Sora continued, swiping his Keyblade through two oncoming Dingoes, "the element is yours to control and master, and you can do any number of things with it if you have the imagination. You can do what I just did, or shoot fireballs, or whatever." He groaned as four Dingoes leapt straight for him, and all that he was able to do was position the Oblivion to block them, and the weight of the four dropped the Keyblade Master onto the ground.

Their snapping, snarling jaws were all around him, the putrid breath of the fiends causing his stomach to turn, but their claws that raked at the ground and the teeth that bit for his face all missed their mark as Sora struggled for a moment before pushing their bodies off of him. He cut through them with the Oblivion, and turned his head as he heard Kairi give a loud shout of: "Fire!"

The flowery key and heart-shaped hilt of her Keyblade was shrouded by a thin coil of flame encircling her weapon. The fires sheathed her blade and reared above her head before it dropped onto the ground and raced around the two Wielders, burning the Dingoes around them caught in it into cinders and causing the others to back up and pace warily a few feet away from the licking tongues of the encircling ribbon.

"Whoa," Sora said, looking at the auburn-haired Princess of Heart in amazement as she began to shudder slightly, struggling to maintain control of the fires around them. When he'd first learned the fire spell from Donald back during his first visit to Wonderland he'd only shot off fireballs the size of his fist, and now here was Kairi with her first usage of the same spell creating a thin barrier of flame around them, blackening and charring the grass that they stood upon. He glanced again at her Keyblade. Island's Fire indeed.

Kairi dropped onto one knee and the encircling ribbon died. She was panting heavily, and clutching at her chest with her left hand. The Dingoes raced forwards again, sensing the girl's weakness, but Sora stood protectively in front of her.

"Reflega!"

A sudden dome of crystal-clear honeycomb-patterned segments formed a shell around both Sora and Kairi. The fiends crashed headlong into the barrier, and found to their dismay with their loud thuds and cracks that it was quite solid. Many of them broke their necks when they smote their heads against the barrier, and so disappeared in white light as they dropped, defeated, to the ground. The others shook themselves to try and rid themselves of the shock they'd incurred.

Sora glanced down at Kairi and smiled proudly. "That was amazing Kai!" he told her.

Kairi shook her head wearily. "It was stupid," she answered. "I barely have the strength to stand now."

"No it wasn't stupid!" Sora told her, sitting on his knees next to her, the thought of maintaining the level three 'reflect' spell in the back of his mind. "That was a thousand times better and more impressive than the first time I used magic."

"Really?" Kairi asked skeptically, looking at him. "But you're the Keyblade Master."

Sora smiled more tenderly and placed his left hand on Kairi's shoulder; he laid the Oblivion down on the grass that was still green next to them. "Kairi," he began, holding out his right hand. A small ball of fire appeared floating within the palm of it. "When I first learned how to use magic, this was the extent of my ability with it. This little, tiny, fireball was the only thing that I could dish out." He let it dissipate and peter out. "You're amazing," he added, blushing slightly.

Kairi was looking at him now with gratitude, and she had a slight blush herself. Sora gazed at her and he knew that it was time.

"Riku," he called out suddenly. "I think we're done with this. It's time."

"You romantic sap."

"Shut up and do it," Sora said, rising as the entire simulated world vanished in a display of white light. He held out a hand to Kairi as their Keyblades vanished, a hand that she grasped in confusion.

-A-D-

Yuffie looked up from where she had been observing Naminé and Brittany dueling with one another. Naminé was, to tell the truth, not too great. She suffered from lacking confidence in herself as well as not being very proficient in the first place. She was learning how to read her enemy's movements, but slowly. At the start of the class she'd only been able to block one move before being defeated. Now she was losing in three.

It didn't matter too much, because the whole class had pretty much ground to a halt after Axel and Roxas had started to battle. The intensity between them was hot enough to set the gymnasium on fire as they tried to set the record straight. In fact, it almost was on fire.

"Hey Axel!" Yuffie called. "I'm going to go check on our two simulator students!"

The Flurry of Dancing Flames blocked a falling Oathkeeper from the Key of Destiny with a chakram before slicing out towards the blonde's chest with the other. "Go right ahead! I've got things covered in here."

Yuffie nodded her head and bounded off towards the door to the control room. She opened it and Riku turned to look at her with the expression of someone who just got caught doing something that they weren't supposed to be doing. "Hey Riku," she said, not noticing at first the alignment of his facial features, "how're they doi—Riku, why are they not still in some program?"

"Sora's got this crazy romantic idea of how he's going to tell Kairi that he loves her," Riku answered.

Yuffie looked at him in surprise for a moment before grinning widely, to the sixteen-year-old's apparent delight. "Ooh, this is going to be good," she announced, plopping herself down on a chair next to him to watch.

-A-D-

Sora helped the auburn-haired princess to her feet, but did not let go when she was back upon them. He immediately saw that she was even more confused by this, and his heart began to beat faster as butterfly nerves came to him.

"Kairi," he began softly, "there's something that I've been wanting to tell you for a while now, but I haven't been quite sure how to say it. So, I'm going to apologize right now because I can't sing it quite as well as he can."

"What?" Kairi asked, likely completely bewildered by his behaviour. She was obviously thinking that he was about to tell her that he loved her, and he was, in a way, and would say it himself, after they had finished what he had planned.

The music of a guitar softly strumming started to play through the same speakers that a person in the control room talked through, and Kairi's eyes opened wider as she recognized it. Sora was glad, she knew the song. And then her eyes began to water slightly while her lips turned into a huge smile as Sora took her other hand in his and began to sway slightly, implying that he would like her to dance with him.

This time, this place,
Misused, mistakes,
Too long, too late,
Who was I to make you wait?

Just one chance, just one breath,
Just in case there's just one left.
'Cause you know,
You know, you know:

That I love you; I have loved you all along.
And I miss you, been far away for far too long.
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go.
Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore.

Sora's right hand left Kairi's and he brought it down to cup her back and bring her closer to him. He could see her shimmering indigo eyes clearly, and they were so filled with happiness and love that he could barely keep himself from crying in bliss.

"When did you learn to dance?" Kairi asked, hopelessly shaking her head.

"While I was away."

On my knees, I'll ask,
Last chance for one last dance.
'Cause with you, I'd withstand,
All of them to hold your hand.

I'd give it all, I'd give for us,
Give anything but I won't give up.
'Cause you know,
You know, you know:

That I love you; I have loved you all along.
And I miss you, been far away for far too long.
I keep dreaming you'll be with me and you'll never go.
Stop breathing if I don't see you anymore.

Kairi's head came in and rested against Sora's shoulder along with her hands, while both of his gently went against her back. Their feet continued to shuffle this way and that as they danced slowly, revolving on the spot. But both of them simply inhaled the peaceful air as the romantic song serenaded them, expressing everything that both of them had felt over the past year while they had been separated.

So far away (so far away), been far away for far too long.
So far away (so far away), been far away for far too long.
But you know,
You know, you know:

I wanted,
I wanted you to stay.
'Cause I needed,
I need to hear you say:

I love you (I love you); I have loved you all along.
And I forgive you (and I forgive you), for being away for far too long.
So keep breathing, 'cause I'm not leaving you anymore.
Believe it, hold on to me, never let me go.

Sora pulled Kairi away from him slightly, and he looked into her loving eyes for the briefest of moments before closing his and softly pressing his lips against hers. Her lips were soft and moist, and they still tasted faintly of strawberries. Sora no longer became aware of his hands as one left her back and cupped the back of her head, and Kairi's were pressing against his shoulders and clutching at his hair.

His heart was roaring as a volcano erupting within him, finally being allowed to let all of his love for the girl in his arms pour out of him in a kiss as light as the sunlight falling on a flower petal. Kairi's touch burned through the white fabric of his uniform shirt and made his skin tingle and race with magical passion.

Her lips kissed him back, their motions caressing his own with tender passion that had been checked for so long.

Keep breathing, cause I'm not leaving you anymore.
Believe it, hold on to me, never let me go.
Keep breathing, hold on to me, never let me go.
Keep breathing, hold on to me, never let me go.

They did not notice the song ending, if only for a brief moment where they ceased and withdrew, smiling more wholesomely at one another than they'd ever done before in their lives. "I love you Kairi," Sora whispered, his heart screaming in triumph at having finally said aloud the words he'd been dying to say to her.

"And I love you Sora," Kairi replied, tears of happiness staining her cheeks. "I've loved you since before we started building that silly raft. Please, tell me that this is real and that I'm not dreaming."

Sora smiled and placed his forehead against hers. "I think it's real. Just tell me that I'm not the one who's dreaming." His words were followed by his lips and accompanied by the heavenly feel of once more tenderly kissing and being kissed by the person that they had fallen in love with since their first meeting.

-A-D-

Riku, Yuffie, Axel, Roxas, Naminé, and the entire class had managed to squish and squash their way into the control room to the simulation chamber. Yuffie had a digital camera out and was examining the picture she had managed to take of the twosome's first kiss, and behind her everyone was either shaking their heads or laughing or crying or celebrating at how the two had finally come together. It was a moment that more than a few of them had been waiting a long time for.

Roxas and Naminé looked at each other. Roxas was smirking, and Naminé raised her eyebrows. It was only a matter of seconds later that he had taken her into his arms and dipped Naminé, their lips embracing before Roxas' began to gently caress Naminé's.

"Your technique's improved," Naminé noted, smiling as Roxas pulled away for a small moment, the attention now half-drawn towards her and him, and half on Sora and Kairi.

"Sora and I had some practice last night," Roxas answered.

Naminé's eyes became as wide as dinner plates and the room quickly fell silent. "What?" she asked.

"You and Sora were kissing?" Riku spat. "My respect for both of you just plummeted. I am sickened!"

"Roxas how could you!?" Axel asked.

"That would have been so hott!" Brittany said.

"On strawberries!" Roxas retorted, his face red as the fruit he had named. "We were practicing by kissing strawberries you sickos!!"

"Oh."

Naminé placed a hand on Roxas' cheek and he looked at her again. She was smiling again and blushing coyly. "Then, after school, can you pretend that I'm a strawberry?"

"Definitely," Roxas answered, bringing his lips down on hers once more.

-A-D-

And there's the re-written chapter seven. No great re-enactment of the battle against Xemnas; no Kairi falling unconscious and Sora confessing his love over her apparently knocked-out body. There was nothing of that sort in here, just a short bout with a bunch of fiends, Nickelback's most romantic song, and their confessions to one another.

I think it was better than the last one.

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk