Riku was standing on the beach, looking at the water. Kora paused, just looking at him for a moment, and felt his heart skip a beat.

The Kingdom Key had opened the door between worlds as if it was meant to be, and the four of them had stepped through. Kairi, Riku and Sora were very uneasy with the shadow world. They were feeling exactly what he had felt… that things were just a touch off, nothing was quite in the right place. But to Kora, it felt like home. The rocks were just right, the trees, the sky…

And Riku. Kora looked at him for the first time in years, and couldn't think of what to say.

"…Riku?" Kora frowned at himself, hating the way he sounded… young and afraid. Riku looked up with a frown, and Kora almost flinched as Riku looked at him. Kora wasn't sure what Riku was thinking, but he looked a touch put out. Not good.

"Sora. Where have you been?" Kora heard Kairi hiss in annoyance in his head, and couldn't help but smile a little. Riku's tone was cool at best. His gaze flicked over the other three, and his frown deepened. "What's going on here?" For the first time he seemed a bit uncertain as he looked at them. His eyes slid over Sora, but paused on his other self… and finally settled on Kairi. "Kairi? But…" He looked at Kora questioningly, and he sighed.

"They're from another universe, Riku. Where things went different. But because of that, they knew where Kairi's heart is… I have it, Riku. I'm here to bring it back." He explained, and Riku's lips parted in shock.

"Oh… we guessed that her heart had to be hiding inside someone, when we couldn't find it anywhere else, but we checked everyone we could. We thought you were dead… where were you?" Riku demanded, his expression hardening. Kora looked down, avoiding his eyes.

"I was in Nazarethim. I'm sorry, Riku, I couldn't have come back even if I'd known." He decided not to mention that he had spotted Riku there and not spoken to him. This was hard enough as it was. Riku grimaced slightly.

"Damn. I thought that might be it. Something tried to grab the gummi ship when we left, and it almost got us. I didn't dare go back." Sora nodded, unsurprised. Kairi had been right. "I'll call DiZ. When we figured out that Kairi's heart was probably inside someone, he made something to extract it." The real Riku blinked, surprised.

"DiZ is still alive here?" That was a surprise. It was also a surprise that DiZ would still be using that name, rather than Ansem. But perhaps not… Xehanort had blackened his name quite thoroughly. The second Riku gave him a strange look.

"Of course. Why wouldn't he be?" He started placing his call, ignoring them, and Kora sighed. He hadn't expected much of a welcome and he wasn't getting one.

"Geez, can't you say hello or welcome home or something?" Sora said, irritated with Riku's coldness towards Kora. Riku glanced over at him, expression glacial.

"No. Now be quiet." Sora stepped back, a little shocked at the tone, and Riku put a hand on his shoulder, giving his double a dirty look that he completely ignored. Kairi frowned at him, put out, and Kora heard that hiss in his mind again.

He's being an ass. I'll talk to him later, Sora, I promise. Kora smiled slightly and shook his head.

"It's alright, Kairi. His opinion doesn't matter to me." He looked up at the other three and explained. "Kairi says she'll sort him out later." That cheered Sora up a bit.

"Heh, she would! I bet he'll regret it too." Riku smiled and shook his head, putting an arm around his Sora. The other Riku closed his phone with a snap and looked at them.

"He'll meet us at the hospital. It's not far, we can walk." He started off briskly, and they followed behind. Kora glanced around, taking in all the familiar sights as they walked. His house would be right over there…

"I can't wait to see mama." He mentioned casually, and almost ran into Riku as he stopped abruptly. "Riku?" Kora blinked as Riku turned to face him, and there was a completely different expression on his face. Compassion?

"Sora, I… I'm sorry. I forgot that you wouldn't know." Kora stared at him, feeling faint. "Your mother died last year. I'm so sorry." Kora could feel Kairi's shock, but it was distant compared to his own shock… and the utter desolation that followed. Riku touched his shoulder as his eye clouded over.

"Oh, mama…" Kora whispered, and felt his dreams of coming home turning to ash. Home wasn't there anymore, not really. It was too late to come back. Kairi's shock turned into tears, and she spoke to him again.

Don't give up Sora, please, you can't give up. I'm here, Riku's here, you can be home with us. He felt arms around him, and realized the other Kairi was hugging him, crying quietly. He hesitated, then hugged her back, sniffling softly. He wanted to break down and cry, but there was still something to do. He pulled away and looked at Riku.

"I'm… okay. Let's go." His voice was husky but composed, and Riku hesitated a moment, examining him before nodding.

"Are you really okay?" Sora asked, concerned, as they walked. Kora managed a faint half-smile.

"Of course not. But I can deal with it later." He was good at shelving emotional reactions for a while. He'd needed to do it a lot. In Nazarethim, you often didn't have the luxury of having an emotional breakdown. Kora could sense Kairi's worry, but she didn't say anything as they walked.

Finally, they reached the hospital and entered Kairi's room. DiZ was already there, in a much lighter outfit than they'd ever seen him wear before. In fact, he looked like he belonged on the Destiny Islands. His gold eyes were kind as he looked at Kora, and he was holding a strange little device.

"He definitely has her heart. I can feel the lightness." DiZ said, pleased. "Sora, you know the dangers of what I'm about to do?" Kora blinked, surprised. Dangers?

"No, what?" Riku hadn't mentioned any dangers. DiZ shot Riku a gently reproving look, and the silver haired boy just shrugged. DiZ frowned then, but looked at Kora again.

"Well, extracting one heart from another is a very delicate procedure. I've tested this as best I can, but this will be the first time it's really been used. There's a possibility you could become a Heartless." Kora nodded as the other three exchanged glances. That was very similar to what had happened in their world.

Sora, you can't! Kairi suddenly said, and Kora could sense her quiet panic. Not right now, you're too upset!

"Hush, Kairi. It needs to be done." He said quietly, ignoring the questioning look DiZ gave him.

But not now! If he does it when you're like this it's not a possibility, it's a certainty! Sora, stop! She tried to reach out to him with hands of love, but Kora gently pushed her away and looked at DiZ.

"I'm ready." DiZ nodded and started the machine as Kairi called his name. Kora set his jaw, lifting his head as the process began.

It didn't hurt at all. In fact, he didn't feel much of anything… except a vacuum, a dead place that had once held life and light. A beautiful ball of light, glorious and warm, slid through the air and back into Kairi's body. As Kora watched, she coughed and opened her eyes. Then, with a feeling almost of gratitude, he released his hold on the world and fell into darkness.

"Sora!" Kairi wailed from her hospital bed, trying to reach out as he fell back. She tried to fling herself out of the bed, but her body was terribly weakened from three years in a coma, and she fell into Riku's arms as Kora vanished. "Sora, NO!" But it was too late, and a little Heartless scampered away as she wept into Riku's chest. Only the Kingdom Key remained, lying on the floor.

Kora was gone.


"So who are you?" The blond boy looked up from the black water he had been contemplating. There was another man on the beach, wearing a similar black robe to his own. The blond boy paused, fascinated by his red hair and flashing green eyes. He'd never seen someone with such vibrant coloring before. But then, he couldn't remember much of anything so maybe that was normal.

"I don't know. I think my name was Sora. Who are you?"

"I'm Axel. Got it memorized? So, you must be a new Nobody… it's been a while since I saw one around here." The blond couldn't think of anything to say, so he said nothing. "Pull down that hood so I can see you, huh?" He shrugged and pulled back the hood, and Axel stepped back a pace with a blink. "What happened to your face?" The eye wasn't too much of a surprise, but the face was certainly unusual.

"I don't know." Axel made a soft hm sound, and stepped forward, gently cupping his chin and tilting his head up. The blond didn't pull away, although he wasn't sure why not. But Axel's hand felt… nice. Warm. Nothing in this place was warm except the redhead.

"It's not that bad, just a bit weird. Well… your name is Roxas now. C'mon, I'll show you the place I've put together. There used to be an Organization 13, but they got kicked in the balls so I'm strictly independent now."

"Then why do you want me?" Roxas asked, slightly curious. Axel paused, then shrugged.

"It gets lonely here, even for a Nobody. It's always nice to have some company." Roxas considered that, and nodded. He was already feeling a little lonely and he had a feeling Axel would be good company. He offered the blond boy a hand. "Friends?"

"Friends." Roxas echoed, taking his hand.

It would be nice to have a friend.

Author's Note: I considered writing a happier ending with Kora/Sora finally ironing out his issued with Riku. ^^ If you want I'll put it up as an alternate ending, just let me know! *cough*review*cough*