Chapter 7

By the time the darkness that had been keeping Sora ill and asleep wore off, Kairi had spent several minutes banging her head on the dungeon wall in frustration with herself. She quickly stopped when she heard him stirring – she did not know how to explain to him that she had mindlessly gone along with everything the Organization had wanted her to do.

Though his waking started slow, in moments Sora snapped to full attention and sat up. "What-?!"

"We're okay," she said over his panic. "In their dungeon, but we're alive."

His eyes locked on her, then scanned the dungeon before settling on his feet. "They're gone, aren't they?" he asked after several moments of silence. "Donald and Goofy?"

She swallowed hard. There was a sadness on his face that should never be there. "There's still a chance they got away…"

"What chance? They couldn't even move, and there's no one left out there to help us… this is it."

She wanted to deny it, to say the right words to make the situation better, but optimism was his specialty, and if he had none, there was no reason to pretend they had a chance. There were no words to fix their situation, or his pain, and she could not remember a good way to lie about it. She sat against the dungeon wall, then pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

After staring at his feet became too dull to quell his racing thoughts, Sora scooted back to sit by her. "What'd I miss? I don't remember anything after Donald and Goofy…"

"Xigbar – the one with the eye patch – knocked you out because you were struggling too much. Then they took us to Xemnas, their leader, and he took us to... I guess it was the Realm of Darkness. He did something with my keyblade, and my armor, and this charm he had, and they lead us to someone down there… I kind of remember her from when I was younger. The keyblade and armor used to belong to her. Her name was Aqua. I… I don't know why Xemnas wanted her, but apparently it's the reason he brought me to the Organization, other than heart collection." She hid her face in her knees, too embarrassed to tell Sora that she had willingly gone along with everything Xemnas wanted to make sure they did not hurt him. If she had been asked to do something clearly terrible, such as murder, she would have stopped, but even with what seemed harmless she could not know what damage she had done. "Um, so we got her, then they brought us back here, and here we are."

"They went through all of that trouble – making you a part of the Organization, and letting us in so easily - for you to bring her back?"

"I guess? That's what it sounded like."

"She must be someone important."

Kairi nodded. "She has to be… we need to get out of here and figure this out."

"The bars look easy enough to fit through."

"There's a barrier. It'll sap your energy and knock you out if you try to pass."

She felt his eyes intently on her. "Is that being said from experience?"

"I spent a few days in here. Not entirely sure how many."

"Why would they put you in here if you were on their side?"

Kairi kept her eyes on her knees. He was asking much more than why she spent a few days in a dungeon. She did not have much of a reason to not tell him what had happened with the Organization, except her own stubbornness. Keeping it a secret was control that she could not find anywhere else.

"Does it have to do with the scar on your shoulder?"

She laughed mirthlessly. He had found the disgusting mark of her earliest troubles in the Organization. If she had remembered, she would have asked the fairies to give her something to cover it. "When I first joined, before I could summon my keyblade, they kept sending me alone to places with dangerous Heartless. I guess they were trying to make me summon my keyblade, since I ultimately did it when a bunch of Neoshadows were about to kill me and Demyx… but, before that mission, I got trapped behind a fence with a Neoshadow and it gave me that before they decided I wasn't going to get my keyblade that day and Xigbar chased it away. They wanted me to learn magic too, so it was hours before they tried healing it since they wanted me to do it myself, and since it took so long it didn't heal completely right and scarred."

Sora said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Kairi nibbled on her lip. She had already started, and they may be dead soon anyway. Secrets were useless to the dead, and there was no other reason to deprive him of inconsequential information he so desperately wanted. "After I summoned the keyblade, they put me on heart collection duty with Roxas, so we mostly fought Heartless every day. Shortly after I came, there was an incident at Castle Oblivion, the Organization's other castle, that killed off a bunch of people, so I never got to meet them. Zexion, Vexen, Lexaeus, Marluxia, Larxene, and No. XIV. Xemnas was never around, Saïx – he's got blue hair and an X scar over his eyes, he's hard to miss – only bossed us around and sent us on missions. Xaldin wasn't one for talking, Luxord only ever wanted to gamble and I was a protective hoarder so I avoided him. Xigbar was harmless I guess, aside from his teasing and mocking me… Demyx was an idiot but we got along fine. He'd tease me too but not as badly, I guess, as Xigbar. We had a tradition of sitting together every morning while I read whatever I fancied for the day and he played his sitar. Anyway, that's off topic, so, then there were Axel and Roxas who I was friends with, and we'd go up to the clocktower after our missions to eat ice cream and watch the sunset and just hang out."

She finally brought her gaze up to Sora to find that he was intently watching her, soaking in every word she said. She shrugged awkwardly under his attention. "And that was it. That was how most of my time with the Organization went."

"Most of it?"

Kairi nodded and looked to her knees again. Saying these things was easier when she did not have to see every possible disappointment in his face. None of it seemed too bad to her, but having not lived it himself and only knowing the Organization as the enemy, he was bound to only see evil in everything she did with them. If she were not still attached to certain members, she would too. "I don't remember the exact day, but I started remembering you. It wasn't too bad at first, but got to the point I was..." She trailed off, tasting the words in her mouth. They were strange even to her. "I was having flashbacks and hallucinations with memories of you and couldn't function around… certain other members… I ended up becoming distant from Axel and Roxas. Roxas got mad at the Organization and left. I tried to follow him out but Saïx and Xigbar got me and said I was out of control and so they put me in the dungeon… and yes they used violence but it wasn't the worst I've been through." She had meant that to put his mind at ease but cringed as she realized it probably did the opposite. "Anyway, after a few days there, not sure how many, Axel came and broke me out and said we were going to get Roxas and run away together."

Unsure how to explain what happened next, she paused, trying to find the words. She heard Sora shift and felt him lean closer. "Did you?"

"We… no, we didn't. Axel said I had to kill you to get Roxas back and clearly I couldn't do that."

She saw him jump out of the corner of her eye. Whether intentional or not in her rambling, even she was unsure which, she had finally told him. Perhaps the defeat had broken any guard on her tongue.

"Why would killing me bring him back…?"

The words still would not come. She had impressed herself with being able to say what she had so far on the subject. Kairi looked to Sora, but unable to look into his eyes, she dropped her gaze. Not knowing what else to do, she poked a finger against his chest.

"…what?"

She kept her eyes focused on that point, where his heart was. "He said that Roxas was inside you and that I needed to release your heart in order to free him."

Silence. Then, "That's crazy, why would I have a rogue Nobody inside of me?"

"Because… I don't know exactly how it happened, but… Roxas is your Nobody, Sora. I don't know if he was made when you gave up your heart to save me in Hollow Bastion, or if he was in that time period you can't remember after I went to Destiny Islands, but he was yours and could wield the keyblade like you could and he is why I kept remembering you and if Axel's right, he's with you right now."

No response. She dared to gaze up to his face after a moment. He was still watching her, speechless. He turned forward to think on her words, draping an arm over his propped up knee and staring at nothing. "I had a Nobody…?"

More words tried to break forth, to take advantage of what may have been her last chance to tell him these things, but watching the wonder, confusion, and hurt in his expression, Kairi's throat sealed.

As if trying to find Roxas, Sora looked down to his chest and placed a hand over his heart. "I wish I had met him."

Kairi looked down to her knees. Talking was so much easier to knees than people. "He sometimes talked about how he wished he could remember what he was like before he became a Nobody… I think he would have liked to meet you too."

Quiet settled between them for some time. Kairi left Sora to his thoughts, though she tried to not get lost in her own. At least she could take telling Sora about his Nobody off of her mind. But the guilt of having left Roxas was something she doubted would ever go away.

"That makes one more person we have to take down the Organization for," Sora finally concluded.

"How do you propose we do that?"

Sora sighed and shrugged. "No idea. Take down Kingdom Hearts and get rid of all the Nobodies? Any idea how to do that?"

Kairi shook her head. "None… except to get out of here and try to pick them off one at a time, but that will be almost impossible to do in this world where they can all teleport and convene so easily. We'll have to go somewhere else if we want to split them up."

"Know how to get off of this world?"

"Only if we can get in a Corridor of Darkness. Have to confront one of them for that."

"Do they have to lower the barrier to get in and out of here?"

"No, they can get in and out through a corridor."

"Right. So when they come in for us – and I'm assuming they will at some point since we're apparently still of worth to keep alive – we'll break out through the corridor. You can get us to Twilight Town, right? Then we can get to the Gummi Ship and go anywhere."

"Yeah, I can."

"Okay. That plan work with you?"

Kairi nodded. "Assuming they aren't listening to our conversation right now."

"Would they do that?"

"I don't know what all they would do." She hoped they would not, though, since she had spoken so openly and vulnerably. Though as far as she knew, they could have already known everything she said.

"Well let's hope not… we'll just have to be prepared for whatever then." He looked over to her again. "I guess we should rest up for when they do come? Since who knows when that will be. When was the last time you slept?"

"After the Nobody space battle?"

"Being knocked out doesn't count."

"Then, last time I was here in the dungeon, I guess… not entirely sure how much I slept in here though."

"Alright, you first then. I'll wake you up if something happens. You may wake up being dragged through a dark corridor though."

"What about you?"

"I'll sleep after you," he said simply. "Besides, I just slept."

"You said being knocked out doesn't count."

"Well, I still slept more recently than you, I hadn't even been awake for an hour when you found me at Beast's Castle. I'll take watch, it'll be fine, then you can while I sleep."

"Okay…" she said uncertainly. Even if her memory was not much, she could not recall him ever having such a focus on her health. Seeing she would need more convincing, Sora scooted closer to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer until her head rested on his shoulder. The act surprised her, since he had so far only been brave enough to hold her hand. Not that she was complaining.

As she let her legs down from where she had held them tightly against her to keep her in a ball, Sora reached his far arm across their laps and took hers, curling their fingers together. "Comfy?"

She nodded with a "Mhm,"unsure what else to say about his actions or the new position.

"Good. Now go to sleep so I can take my turn."

"You can have yours now if you want, lazy bum."

"You need it more. How much sleep did you get with the Organization?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

"So not that much."

She was unsure how to turn "I was kept awake because I kept having dreams of you that would wake me up crying" into a retort, so she let it drop. After a moment of silence to show that conversation had ended, she instead asked something else that had been on her mind since Xemnas had brought her into the Realm of Darkness. "Hey, Sora… did I ever give you a star shaped charm?"

He released her hand and reached into his pocket, producing the charm made from sea shells that she could vaguely recall giving to him. "Yep! This one. You made it when we were making our raft on Destiny Islands, because the sailors used to make them to bring good luck for a safe journey home. Then after we brought you to Traverse Town, you gave this to me for when I fought Ansem."

He rested his hand between them, the charm in his palm. The face crudely drawn onto it smiled up at them. Sora's face, she realized after a moment. She had drawn his face on a lucky charm and then given it to him. Younger her had no sense of subtlety.

"Do you want it back?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, you can keep it. You're not home yet. You can give it back to me when we go to Destiny Islands."

He smiled and pocketed the charm again. "Thanks. Oh, wait!" He reached up to his neck and pulled at the chain there. Kairi lifted her head to not be in the way of whatever he was doing, and saw a grin plastered on his face from whatever idea he had just gotten.

Sora removed the crown necklace and held it up. "This is my lucky charm! Sort of. Close enough. I haven't taken it off since I was seven." He ceremoniously draped it over her head to hang around her neck. "Until now. Now we both have something we have to get back to Destiny Islands for. I have to give you your charm, and you have to give me that necklace. Alsopleasedon'tloseitmymomgaveittome."

The rushed sentence earned a smile of amusement from her before she lifted the crown to hold it in her sight. She searched all memories of him that she could recall, and in each he was wearing the necklace. In spite of their situation, she found herself smiling. "Thank you, Sora."

Sora nodded, then put his hand to the side of her head and made her lay on his shoulder again. His hand ungracefully smothered her face, blocking her sight. "Now go to sleep before I take your offer to sleep first."

Grinning, she let her eyes close and dropped the necklace, the weight around her neck and the boy whose hand found hers again bringing a foreign but nice feeling. She did not have a word for what she it was, but she knew it was opposite the loneliness she had for so long felt. Sora was there, they were going to get out, and they were going to fix everything.

The thought left her in such peace that in the last moments before sleep claimed her, she did not question the tears rolling off of his cheeks onto her head.


Terra was in there. Somewhere very deep in there, but he was still in there, she could sense him. Yet whoever was in front of her was not entirely Terra. She could not tell what other heart she may be following, but it was not Terra's.

However, it did not have any darkness. Did that mean he had gotten rid of Master Xehanort?

It did not have any light either. As if he had gotten rid of everything.

He lead her up to a tower looking up at a heartshaped moon above their heads. Even if the color of the moon was different, it was too close to one she had seen before. Aqua took a small step back from him. "What's happened? How long have I been gone?"

"Eleven years have passed, if I recall correctly."

Had it truly been that long? In ways it seemed longer, in others it seemed shorter. She had lost track of time while wandering in the darkness. She was not yet ready to trust whoever this was, though. Even if no longer in the Realm of Darkness, she could tell she had not arrived in the Realm of Light yet. She had almost forgotten how light had felt, until she had seen her armor, and felt the heart of the one who wore it. Could someone of such pure light be working with someone of dark intentions?

"What is that?" she asked, gesturing up to the moon. He looked up to it, then to her.

"The prize for which my companions and I have so long fought. Kingdom Hearts."

That was definitely not good, and after all they had been through, her Terra would have known that. "Why are you fighting for Kingdom Hearts?"

"Do you not trust me, Aqua?" he asked. Her silence was her answer. "I did expect that you would not. You will understand more, when Kingdom Hearts is finally complete and within our grasp. Until then, perhaps you would do better with your friends in the dungeon."

Before she could decide what friends he could mean, three white-robed creatures appeared around him, facing her. Aqua summoned Master Keeper.

Transparent magical cubes appeared in the air and advanced on her. Aqua tried to banish them with a fire spell, but the spell went through the cubes without harming them, then was absorbed by one of the robed beings. Though seeing her preferred magic was harmless was disappointing, she was not yet at total loss. She struck the cubes with Master Keeper, but instead of destroying them, her keyblade merely reflected off of them.

More of the robed beings appeared, and with them came more cubes that formed a wall that she would not be able to run around nor jump over. The wall advanced on her. Aqua moved back, keeping the blocks just past arms length, until she came to the edge of the tower they were standing on. The wall continued coming for her. She looked to the man that she had followed there, but he was watching the moon and paying her no mind. She tightened her hold on Master Keeper from frustration that she had not in a long time felt.

The wall drew dangerously closer. Any kind of plan would have to wait. Before it could reach her, Aqua flipped back off the edge of the tower.

A corridor opened on the tower and Xigbar walked out of it as the Sorcerers pursued Aqua. "Well that was useless if she is just going to commit suicide."

"She can find many ways to survive such a fall," stated Xemnas. "I did not expect her to side with us. My initial plan was not to bring her back until after we had finished Kingdom Hearts, but the rebellion from Sora and Kairi forced us to take action. Right now, she cannot leave this world and will be waiting for us once it has finished." Xemnas finally looked away from his creation and to Xigbar. "Send the Heartless after her. She will finish Kingdom Hearts for us."

Xigbar gave a one sided grin. "Gladly. By the way, the other two came, just like you said. They're gone right now but they'll be back for their friends."

Xemnas looked back up to Kingdom Hearts. "One can be too loyal to those they care about."


When Kairi had woken, Sora's crying had stopped, its only evidence the hair matted to her forehead from his tears. Before she had been able to question him on the matter, he had hurried to his turn to sleep. She was more than a little hurt that he had only made her fall asleep so that he could mourn without her knowing, and gone to sleep himself so she could not question it, but after how much hiding she had been doing from him, she could not blame him. Even if sad by Donald's and Goofy's deaths, she could not care to the extent he could. She hardly knew them, and they only joined the haze of recent disasters. She had not proven to be a very comforting person in recent days anyway. So, she let him sleep, his head on hers on his shoulder while she kept watch for a Corridor of Darkness.

She hated uselessly sitting there. After a time, she summoned the Beast's mirror into the hand not holding Sora's. With her arm tightly against his she was unable to hold the mirror up and had to look down to see it. "Show me Xemnas," she whispered.

The leader of Organization XIII was standing on the Altar of Naught, staring up at the moon of Kingdom Hearts. Nothing enlightening to be seen there. She was about to switch to another view when a Corridor of Darkness opened and Xigbar stepped out. "Hey, she's been at it for a couple hours now, is it ready yet?"

Xemnas nodded. "Gather everyone. It is time for Kingdom Hearts to show us its power."

Kairi stiffened. They could not have finished Kingdom Hearts, not when their gatherers of hearts were locked up.

Fresh dread filled her as she whispered, "Show me Aqua."

The image changed to the Dark City. Aqua, with a keyblade in her hand that Kairi had never seen, was fighting off countless Heartless, slaying them without hesitance even if she seemed to be trying to run away from the hordes. She had finished what Kairi and Roxas had started.

Xigbar was going to be gathering everyone. She and Sora had to find a way out to stop them, somehow. Not like they could escape without someone coming for them.

She was debating waking him when she felt the familiar darkness nearby. She dismissed the mirror and got to her feet, pulling Sora up with her. He jumped in surprise as he was startled from his slumber, but before he could get his bearings Kairi was running to the Corridor of Darkness—

-and ran straight into a small blonde girl.

The three tumbled onto the floor of the corridor, Kairi forced to release Sora as they all landed partly sprawled on each other. Sora was the first to stand, assuming they were under attack from his quick wake up call and summoning his keyblade. When no obvious enemy was seen, he dismissed it again. Kairi pushed herself to her feet as Sora helped the other girl stand.

"Sorry," Kairi said, unable to help herself from apologizing for trampling her. Even if she had no idea who she was. Not one of the Organization, as she wore a white dress instead of the black coat. Was that enough to count her as an ally? She was better than Xigbar, whom Kairi had expected.

"It's fine," the girl said breathlessly. Being run over had not been one of her goals for the day. To Sora she said, "Thank you," before moving down the corridor. "We have to go, quickly."

"Who are you?" Kairi asked. "And where are we going?"

"To Master Aqua. I'm Naminé." She stopped walking and looked back to Sora. "Your friends, Donald and Goofy, they're safe. We got them out."

"They're okay?!" Sora asked, eagerly running towards her as if that would bring the answer quicker.

Naminé nodded with a soft smile. "They are waiting in Twilight Town."

Kairi was going to ask who other than Naminé was the "we" that got them out, but a portal opened and a claymore from it struck the ground between Naminé and Sora. Sora and Kairi summoned their keyblades, but another claymore struck Kairi's back, throwing her into Naminé and through the portal. It immediately closed after them, leaving Sora on the other side.

A/N Sorry for the absence. Unfortunately, getting internet to my laptop is difficult right now, so until I move into my dorm next month, updates are going to be whenever I am able.

Anyway, hello again! Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. The next one was one of my favorites to write. See you all then!