Sora approached the giant door and raised the card over his head.

"Sora!" Ignus called as he came up behind him.

"Ignus!"

"Sorry I'm late. Guess you had to do everything yourself, huh?"

"It's okay. You're here now." He displayed the card to Ignus. "Look! If I use this card, it'll lead us to the truth."

"That so? Maybe now we can finally understand that message. 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.' Hopefully the truth will be about that."

"Let's find out!" Sora said as they turned to the doors. He raised the card and the doors swung open. The pair walked into a large room. A girl was standing with her back to them, looking at what appeared to be a giant flower bulb in the middle of the room. She turned to face them as they approached.

"Who're you?" Sora asked. "It's like when I met Ignus. I don't know you, but you're familiar."

"Nice to meet you, Sora. I'm Naminé." She said softly. "You may not know who it is I am, but I know things about you."

"Uh…so…what exactly is going on here?" Sora stopped as Ignus's hand settled on his shoulder.

"Maybe I should explain. There was a point in your past where you lost all of your memories. But Naminé," he indicated the girl, "she put them back together for you."

"Wow, you really did that for me, Naminé? You deserve a big thanks!" Sora smiled.

Naminé looked at the floor. "No I don't. I put your memories back together, that part is true. But it was also me…I was the one who took them apart in the first place. Not only that, the reason all of the bugs appeared in Jiminy's journal…that was me."

"What are you talking about, Naminé?" Ignus asked.

"It all began with these memories that were sleeping way down deep – deep in Sora's heart."

Naminé extended her hands, and a small cloud of light shined between them. Sora leaned down to investigate.

"These…are my memories?"

"Actually, no, they're not yours." Naminé explained. "They belong to people who are connected to you."

"Huh? Isn't it weird for somebody else's memories to be inside me?"

"Yes, usually it's impossible. When I first found them while repairing your memory, I thought I had made some sort of mistake. But then, after searching for answers, all the evidence I found proved they belong in your heart. Sora will have to awaken these memories, but this is where they will sleep until that time comes. They are important…and yet, dangerous too."

"Naminé." Ignus spoke up. "How are memories dangerous?"

"These memories, all of them are too painful." Namine said. "Handled the wrong way, they could damage Sora's heart, even break it. That's why I needed Sora to find a way to face that kind of hurt. So I left the message for all of you."

"'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.'" Ignus recited.

Namine nodded. "When I unraveled Sora and the others' memories, it also erased the words in Jiminy's journal. That book was filled with pages and pages of memories from your first adventure. It shows how deeply the journal and Sora are connected. When I took Sora's memories apart, they stayed in his heart. It may have looked like they were gone, but they were there the whole time. Even after the text disappeared from the journal, the memories remained. That's why you were able to render them as data."

"Except that the data we got was a buggy mess." Ignus reminded her.

"That was…me, too." Naminé admitted. "When I added these memories to the journal, I also added all this 'hurt.' I thought that maybe if you fought the bugs that sprang from these memories, you might learn to face the hurt in the memories themselves."

"So you went through all this trouble to get us to investigate this…hurt, all to help Sora?"

"I'm sorry. I wish I could have told you this in person. But the real me is gone. She doesn't exist now."

"Uhh, guys?" Sora asked hesitantly. "You…kinda lost me a few minutes ago."

Ignus and Naminé both smiled, and Ignus ruffled Sora's hair.

"You don't have to understand it." Naminé said. "You have already learned how to face the hurt, Sora."

"I did?"

"You most certainly did. At times, the pain can be wiped away. But there's also a pain that always stays with you. There's only one way to deal with that, you face it head-on and then you accept it. And if it happens that the hurt is too great for you to bear it alone, well then you turn to a friend close to your heart."

"It'll bring us closer together. The hurt will only make us stronger." Sora's wide grin returned. "I'm willing to try! I'm ready to face all those memories that you found. It might have to be painful, but I can take it."

"Sora…" Naminé's face lit up.

"You're not in this alone." Ignus laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm here with you."

"Thank you." Naminé held out the orb of memories. "Just touch this. Don't be afraid. You'll feel all of the memories that are locked inside flow right into your hearts."

Sora and Ignus reached for the orb. Bright beams of light burst from it.

Ignus grabbed his shoulder to stabilize him. "Be strong, Sora!"

Ignus and Sora were floating in the light, Ignus's hand still on Sora's shoulder. Images appeared in front of them, a man with spiky red hair, and a boy with his back turned.

"Who…?" Sora wondered aloud.

"These are hidden truths." Naminé's voice answered. "Sora has been keeping them locked away, deep inside of him. Remember, these memories you're feeling, they don't belong to him."

Sora and Ignus looked behind them.

"Naminé, that's you!" Sora said. "Who's the other girl?" He asked, looking at the dark-haired girl in the black cloak. "She feels so…familiar. And something happened. Something terrible. Didn't it?"

"They're waiting for Sora." Naminé's voice explained. "He's the only one who can put an end to their hurt. DiZ told me…he hid something inside you during the year you were asleep. I asked him what, and all he would say was that he was 'clearing his conscience.' Sora must be the key to saving the people you saw…and the ones you're about to see."

Three more people appeared in front of them, a muscular man, blue-haired girl, and a small boy between them. Ignus's breath caught.

"It can't be…" He whispered.

"Maybe you know how much they're hurting." Naminé's voice said. "These three were keys, too. They were connected to the keyblade's truth."

In a bright flash, all the images disappeared. Ignus and Sora were back in the room.

"And, they're still connected, Sora, somewhere way down deep inside of you." Naminé spoke from behind them.

"Funny. I feel as though…I've met them." Sora turned around.

Naminé nodded. "Yes. Two of them, you have met. As for the third, I never realized it, but…you and he share a very special connection."

"Yeah…" Sora whispered.

"Naminé." Ignus stepped forward. "You said Sora has to call these memories to the surface. Is it time?"

Naminé shook her head. "I can't say for sure. But I do know, a day will come when they must rise from their sleep. And then, the only one who can save them will be Sora."

"Then the bond they all share will likely be the key. I'll have to pass this onto the real Sora."

"Please do." Naminé nodded. "Well-"

"Just a second!" Sora interrupted. "Our promise…Your promise to the me I don't know. You kept it, right?"

"I may be gone, but my promises to him are forever. And anyway, I owe this much. For all the…all those people that I hurt."

"So what happens to you – the one that's right here?"

"I'm really just data made to pass along a message. I shouldn't exist right now in this journal at all. And now the record of me will disappear. But when you pass my message on to the other Sora, just remember to tell him the things that you've seen, and that you've felt. If you do that, then we'll be at rest – her, and me too."

"Along with everybody connected to Sora…" Sora smiled. "Naminé, you got it!"

Naminé smiled back.

"Naminé. Before we go." Ignus said. "I saw Aqua. Is she…"

"She's alive." Naminé nodded.

A blur of emotions crossed Ignus's face. Fear. Joy. Guilt. Hope. He finally settled back to a neutral expression and inclined his head. "Thank you, Naminé." He said quietly.

"I almost forgot. I have a message for you too." Sora smiled. "Thank you."

Naminé smiled and nodded. Light began to shine from her skin, and she slowly faded away into a spiral of data.