DISCLAIMER: These disclaimers are pointless. They are purely for my own amusement at this point. Still don't own Kingdom Hearts tho.

Kairi and I exited the portal last, the grave room seeming to have a sudden chill to it. Riku and Sora stood patiently and waited for us, arms crossed, but when we finally arrived Sora's face broke out into a grin.

"I bet we can get out of here now!" he exclaimed happily.

Riku nodded, his golden eyes grim. "Yes. But be careful; Xemnas'll be around here somewhere. I can feel it." Then to lighten the mood, he smiled broadly. "So make sure none of you hold me back, got it?"

I rolled my eyes. "Psh. If anything, you'll be the one holding me back." I placed a hand on my hip, my voice going much deeper than normal to mock him."'Oh, no, Akira! You have to stay safe! Oh no, battle is dangerous! You can't protect yourself!' Gimme a break. Odds are, you'll be the one needing my help."

One of his eyebrows shot up, a growing smirk on his face. "That's a bet?"

My eyes narrowed and I grinned evilly. Competition was where I always excelled. "Damn straight it's a bet."

"Um… Guys?" Sora's voice tuned in and I turned my head. He, Kairi, Donald and Goofy were all standing by the door to the next level. "Not meaning to interrupt or anything, but we've really gotta hurry."

Then Riku's face went stoic. Back to business once again. "Right. Sorry. Let's get moving everyone!"

All six of us ran out of the room (god, was I grateful to be out of that extremely creepy graveyard) and up a ramp. We were outside again, and the moon seemed bigger than ever. The strange white laser still attacked it viciously, and soon, as we ascended the ramp, we were able to see who the culprits were; the King himself stood watching a man with long blonde hair and even longer red robes handle a dangerous looking machine. It shook and shimmied in his hands, steam pouring out of it, and I instantly decided that we were probably safer fighting Dusks than being near that thing.

"Your Majesty!" Sora yelled, speeding up to race in front of the rest of us.

We stopped behind them (Kairi, Donald and Goofy hanging back quite a bit) and I eyed the blond man carefully. He had gold eyes, just like many of the Organization members. But his were different. Instead of being filled with ferocity and emptiness, his held wisdom and humility.

"Sora!" the blond man shouted in a strange accent. "The rest is up to you. And Roxas… If you can hear me, which I doubt you can… I am sorry."

The machine sent out an electric shock from the sides and Mickey gasped. "Ansem!"

Ansem looked solemnly upon the mouse king, holding tight to the machine. "My heart is telling me what I must do! Please allow me to do as it says!"

My eyes widened as I finally realized the gravity of this situation. I took a step to run forward, but Riku pulled me back by the crook of the arm as if I were a rag doll. "Let go!"

"Akira, no," he said, his voice solemn. He looked me carefully in the eyes. "His heart's decided. We can't change that."

"Bu—"

"Enough has been said!" Ansem exclaimed, cutting me off, although I felt as though nothing had been said at all. "Riku," he noted, glancing to the young man in Xehanort's body, "you know what to do. And King Mickey, my dear friend… Please, forgive me."

Then the machine sparked completely, a bright white light emitting from it. Ansem was engulfed by the light, and every single one of us ran forward to save him. However, Riku stood in our way, holding us back so we could not get any closer.

A wind began to rush through my body and warmth dispersed through the air, as well as a light so blinding it sent me to my knees. I covered my eyes and crouched down into a ball, but I could not escape the harmful rays.

Eventually, the light subsided, though my retinas still stung uncontrollably. The wind stopped as well, and I forced myself onto my hands and knees, breathing raggedly.

I blinked out the dark spots and gazed around the room, counting heads. Ansem and his machine had completely disappeared, but everyone else seemed to be here, safe and sound and completely normal.

Wait.

"Riku?" I whispered, my eyes staying glued to him. He was face down, but I could still see the difference. His silver hair was lighter, his complexion fairer. I gasped, scooting myself over to him. "Riku!"

Sora trotted to my side, still rubbing the side of his head where he'd fallen. "Riku? Riku!"

The silver haired boy sat up and I gasped. Yes. It really was true. "Riku, oh my gosh."

He groaned slightly as he sat up, but a small smile was on his face. He knew he was back. "Ansem and his wild contraptions."

I stood, grinning, and held out a hand for him to get himself on his feet. He took it, a gloved hand on his face as if he couldn't believe what had just occurred.

"Woooow!" Donald exclaimed, taking in Riku's reformed appearance. Kairi gasped and ran forward too, clasping her hands.

My eyes scanned over Riku and I frowned. "Um…" I flicked his black blind fold distastefully. "Are you uh… Are you gonna take that off?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed. I wondered how long he had been wearing that for him to forget it was even there, but then it was off. His electric blue eyes inched open little by little, blinking back the light they hadn't seen in so long. His throat hitched by what he hadn't seen in so long and he clenched his jaw.

"Why were you wearing that?" Sora inquired, his brows furrowed.

There was silence, but the King eventually supplied the answer. "His eyes couldn't lie."

Sora's own eyes widened and he placed his hands on his hips. "Oh yeah? And who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huuuuuh?"

Riku would not meet his gaze, but instead stared straight ahead, past all of us. "Myself." For the first time, it occurred to me that Riku was not the same proud, carefree boy I had known all my life. He was much more somber now, more realistic and responsible. And a hell of a lot more shame filled. In fact, I think I am probably the only person in our friend group who hadn't gone through any sort of transformation at all.

Sora bit his lip and sighed. "Riku, c'mon man, why'd you try to do so much on your own?" He motioned with big gestures to our group. "You've got friends who would help you. Like us!"

His eyes scanned the group and each person nodded in agreement, an encouraging grin on their face. I, on the other hand, handled it a bit differently. Instead, I crossed my arms and carelessly rolled my eyes, trying my hardest to show mock disdain. When Riku's gaze finally fell on mine, his brows furrowed, but then I accidentally let a small smile slip onto my lips and he returned it, very obviously getting the joke.

"You really wanna know why?" he asked, stepping forward. He tried his hardest to seem serious, but I could see the beginnings of a faint smile on his face. "Because I'm not a total sap like you."

I laughed, and Sora laughed as well, but soon we weren't laughing anymore. A high-pitched noise came from up above us, and was quite obviously coming from Kingdom Hearts. It was of a strange hue; purple and black on its edges, a deep yellow on its insides.

"What? What's this mean?" Sora questioned, looking to Riku for an answer.

He simply stared at the moon (I'm sure he had forgotten what a moon had looked like). "We have to defeat Xemnas and put an end to all of this. He's the Organizations last survivor."

"Right!"

Riku grabbed the center of his long black coat, gripped it tightly, and yanked it completely off his body in one swift, fluid motion. He was dressed in Island clothes, but that wasn't what surprised me. It was his muscles. I mean, yeah, he'd always been a pretty toned guy back on the Islands, but now he actually possessed full fledged muscles. Crazy.

"Let's go," he said, tossing his coat into the wind, never to be seen again.

And then, we were off.

We walked for a long time, weaving through various nooks and crannies and climbing endless stories of stairs. The castle looked huge on the outside, that was for sure; but the inside seemed even larger, and soon I began to wonder if there was actually even an end to it at all.

"Who in the hell," I breathed, jogging to keep up with the rest of the group, "decided to make a castle this huge? Like, literally, what purpose would having a castle this big serve?"

The newly reformed Riku smirked. "They're compensating for their lack of skill in battle."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? But I distinctly remember you saying that Roxas had defeated you. Is that correct?" He rolled his eyes but I continued. "And by Sora's Nobody nonetheless! How tragic for your ego that must've been."

"How tragic it will be for you when I finally snap and beat you up for talking to me like that," he laughed, obviously not meaning a word of it.

A sly smile formed on my face. "You're not very used to defeat, huh? So getting beat by Roxas was sort of like… an out of body experience." I kept my face completely stoic and he locked his gaze on mine, trying to seem angry.

He shook his head slowly. "You are not a sensitive person," he deadpanned before being overtaken by a fit of laughter. I began to laugh too, holding my stomach.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed, wiping away a tear that streamed down my face. "That was the worst joke ever! Oh my god, I love myself right now."

"Geez!" He sputtered out, a giant grin on his face. "You're the most insufferable human being I've ever met!"

We laughed and laughed for a while, but soon I was the only one laughing. Loudly, I might add. It sounded very strange considering everything else around us (even our companions) were generally quiet, so I forced myself to stop and opened my eyes to glance at Riku.

His greenish-blue eyes stayed glued to my face and my brows furrowed. "What?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe I just forgot how you looked after not seeing you for so long, but… You look different."

I raised an eyebrow. "What? No, no. I look exactly the same, trust me."

Riku's eyes stayed on my face, scanning it, but then his face broke into a smile. "No, you do look different. Like, older."

I let out a short bark of a laugh. "Me? Have you seen yourself?" I gestured to his muscles, his angular face and his extremely long hair. "It's like puberty came and kicked you into an entirely new dimension! You don't even look sixteen!"

He smiled more. "Actually no, I haven't seen myself. Blindfold, remember?"

"Oh. Oops."

"No, seriously," he continued, looking me up and down. "You look really different. I just can't place my finger on it."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say, Riku. Whatever you say."

We strolled in silence, hanging towards the back of the group. Kairi and Sora chatted loudly in the front, both of them giggling and blushing every two seconds. Truly, it was horrific to watch. Donald and Goody on the other hand were just as unassuming and underwhelming as usual; simply walking between all of us, quietly holding a conversation with the King.

A deep sigh came from beside me. "We're almost there."

My heart skipped a beat. "How do you know?"

Riku's eyes narrowed, his own Keyblade appearing in his hands (more Keyblades? Wow). "I can feel him."

My jaw clenched and I nodded. "Xemnas, right?"

His face was grim. "Right."

Then Sora turned around, his brows furrowed. "Do you guys feel that too?" He was a ways away from us, so his voice was a little loud.

My eyebrows shot up, but Riku nodded. "Yeah. That's him. He's close."

The King turned around too. "Everyone be careful. We don't know what to expect from a guy like that."

Things became quite grim and serious after that; we walked in silence for a while after that. We were no longer in spread out lines. Now, we walked close together in a type of huddle. It seemed safer to be together than far apart, especially with the enemy so close.

Eventually we reached a staircase, and upon taking it, we emerged onto the very top floor of the castle. The roof, to be exact. Kingdom Hearts was as big as ever, radiating purples and pinks that could mesmerize.

"Wow," I breathed, but Riku slapped a hand over my mouth. He placed a finger over his lips and I nodded. This place wasn't safe.

The entire group—all seven of us—walked up the small amount of steps to get to the very tip top of the roof. On it was a man with long silver hair and a black coat. He faced Kingdom Hearts, his arms raised to it as if in worship.

"Oh…" he breathed, his voice slow and quiet, "My Kingdom Hearts… Ruined. Now I'll have to start all over again." Then he turned to us slowly, his face stoic. My breath hitched at the sight of his piercing gold eyes. "Warriors of the Keyblade! Go forth, and bring me more hearts!" His voice was extremely slow and it made me very uneasy.

Mickey, Sora, and Riku stood next to each other, blocking the view of the rest of us. Their Keyblades appeared in their hands at the same time and they pointed them at Xemnas threateningly. "NO!" shouted Sora and Mickey.

Xemnas' piercing eyes searched the entire group. "Denizens of the light, tell me this: why do you hate the darkness so?"

"We don't hate it," The King stated, his blade lowering. "It's just kind of… scary. But the worlds are made of both light and darkness. You can't have one without the other because darkness is half of everything." His blade lowered completely, nearly scraping the ground. "Makes you wonder why we're scared of the dark in the first place."

Riku stiffened. "It's because of who's lurking inside of it," he said, his voice casual despite his defensive stance. At this, Mickey raised his weapon again, reconfirming why we were fighting in the first place.

"Then allow me another question," Xemnas continued in that same deliberate voice. My hands wandered to my hook blades out of fear of what would happen next. "You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light." He raised his hands and made very grand gestures, his brows furrowing. Still, his face remained unchanged. "So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We, who were turned away by both light and dark—never given a choice?"

Even from the back, I could see Riku was tense. "That's because you mess up our worlds," he stated calmly, completely juxtaposing his body language.

"That may be," Xemnas pondered, his hands drifting to the place where a heart should be. "But what choice did we have?"

"Oh please. Give it a rest!" Sora exclaimed, gripping his Keyblade tight in his hands. "You're a Nobody! You don't even exist! You don't feel sad at all!"

"Or anything else, for that matter," Riku added.

Xemnas laughed. Well, if you could call it that. It was more of a monotone, stair-stepping sound that came from the back of his throat. It was filled with absolutely nothing. No emotion or feeling or joy; nothing. "Very good," he mused. "You don't miss a thing." His hands began to move in grand gestures again and it made me uncomfortable. How could he be so dramatic but show no emotion whatsoever? "I cannot feel sorrow, no matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, how you feel, or how you exist."

Then Xemnas threw his hands into the air and millions of purple lights flew into the air from the ground. They rushed all around me, making a very distinct whooshing sound. Kairi clutched onto my arm out of fear, and I gripped my hook blades tight in my hands, unsure of whether I should be swinging at the lights or standing my ground.

Before I could even make up my mind, the lights stopped ascending into the sky and Xemnas and Sora had completely disappeared.

"Wha—" Kairi gasped, releasing my arm from her grip. "What just happened?"

"A-hyuck! Sora's gone!" Goofy yelped.

Riku ran forward, standing in the spot Xemnas had been. "Sora!"

"Sora! Where are you?" Kairi exclaimed, running to look over the edge of the building.

"Geez," I muttered to myself, rubbing my hands together. This kid sure liked to disappear a lot.

"Sora!" she screamed again, and this time she got an answer. Sora dropped down to the middle of the floor, face down and injured. He fell with a definite thud and we all ran to his side to see if he was okay.

As it turns out, he was. He stood up and brushed dirt off himself, touching a stinging cut on his right forearm. "I'm okay. Where's Xemnas?"

My brows furrowed. "Sora, he disappeared with you. We don't know wha—"

I was cut off by the sound of howling wind. Floating off the edge of the building was Xemnas, directly in front of Kingdom Hearts. It glowed furiously, a wild storm raging around it. I blinked back the tears that were stinging my eyes from the wind.

"Oh, Kingdom Hearts!" he said. His voice was still that same quiet tone, but somehow we could hear him above the wind. "We must begin anew! I will give to you as many hearts as it takes! Mark my words: you can no longer be complete without me than I without you!" He lifted his arms, his voice rising for the first time in chant. "Heed me Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us!"

"Xemnas, no!" The King yelled, his Keyblade materializing in his hands.

"Hearts quivering with hatred…"

"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora yelled, running forward to the barrier of the roof.

"Hearts burning with rage…"

Riku drew his blade. "You'll never win," he murmured underneath his breath.

"Hearts scarred by envy… Yes, hearts are the source of all power!"

A blinding light shone from Kingdom Hearts, causing everyone to grunt in pain and shield their eyes with their arms. It lasted for a while, five seconds maybe, and then it disappeared. Blinking back the dark spots in my eyes, I turned my hook blades in my hand, prepared for a fight.

However, when I regained my sight, I cocked my head. There seemed to not be a fight. Instead, there was a door. A big, tall, white door, just as menacing as Kingdom Hearts itself.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora yelled, genuine anger at the edge of his voice.

The King wandered in front of the door. "The worlds gave us this door. They want us to be the guardians of their destiny."

Riku stood next to him. "Once we go through, there's no coming back. It's victory… or oblivion. There's no guarantee we'll defeat him."

A smile crept to my face and I took my place next to Riku, turning my hook blades in my hands. "Those are my favorite type of odds, and that's my favorite kind of bet. Let's do this."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Riku couldn't help the tiny smirk that formed on his face. "I couldn't agree more."

"Let's go," Sora said, approaching the door tentatively. Mickey and Riku followed him and they stood in a circle, raising their Keyblades high into the air. Streams of light emitted from each of them, shooting straight into the dull, dark night. The sound of a door unlocking filled the land. It was done.

"Xemnas," Sora shouted, more to himself than to any of us, "we're coming for you!"

And then he took off through the door, the rest of us trailing on his heels.

All of seven of us walked into the new realm—united as a group, Sora, Riku and I taking the lead. It was riddled with buildings, both collapsed and standing. And at the very far side of these building was Xemnas himself, high, high, high up, almost too far for us to see.

"So… it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration," he mused, his voice slow and deliberate. Seriously, how could he be talking so quietly and still be audible? It was creepy. "Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to ones heart. I will have to be sure to remember that."

Then he flicked his hand dramatically, sending an entire building to collapse in front of us. "Run!" Mickey yelped, grabbing Kairi's hand and taking off. The rest of us had the same idea, too; we took off after them to save ourselves from being completely squashed.

The King dragged Kairi outside the door to the worlds, and before I could yell to them how unwise that was, the doors shut behind them.

"No!" I yelled, taking the handles in my palms and jerking at them with all my might. "No!"

"Akira!" Riku gripped me by the crook of my arm and made me stop pulling.

I gave him a distasteful look. "Stop doing that!"

"We have to go!" he exclaimed, dragging me by the arm to take off down the alley of fallen buildings. Sora, Donald and Goofy had already taken off and were currently slashing through the buildings, weaving around them and dodging fallen debris.

"What's gonna happen to them?" I yelled to Riku, jerking myself out of his grip so I could run in pace with him.

We both sped up, quickly gaining on Sora. "Don't worry about them!" Riku yelled back, jumping out of the way of broken glass falling from above us. "You should be worrying about yourself!"

Biting the inside of my cheek, I dodge rolled out of the way of a giant doorframe floating through the sky. "Psh," I scoffed as I regained my pace. "I can handle myself just fine, thank you very much."

Riku sent me a smile for a fleeting second before turning his eyes back to the objective before us. "I know you can."

Finally we caught up with Sora, who was already cut up from all the falling glass. "Nice of you to show up," he joked cheerily. "Now c'mon, there's a lift!"

There in fact, was a lift. The five of us boarded it and came face to face with what appeared to be armor on a throne. "Xemnas!" Sora yelled, brandishing his Keyblade. He charged the man in armor, but Xemnas simply sent a giant force field his way, knocking him back.

I nodded to Riku and he nodded back, showing he got the message. Then, we charged at the same time on both flanks, attacking mercilessly. That lasted for a only a few seconds before Xemnas slashed at us with a giant lance, sending me reeling back to the other side of the battlefield.

My entire body slammed into what felt like another force field, and rolling over I realized that The King and Kairi had not been trapped on the other side of the door at all, but instead were stuck outside of the fight. I vaguely wondered how that had happened but then shrugged it off. Xemnas was a powerful guy; he could've been able to bring them back. Also, there were more important matters at hand.

Sora had finally regained his feet and was pummeling Xemnas whenever he could, only to be sent reeling backwards like I just had. Riku fought in vain, attacking with brutal force only to be dealt a blow twice as hard. Goofy simply rammed his shield into the armor, attempting to dodge attacks coming his way (unsuccessfully, might I add). Then there was Donald, who was too busy healing everyone's injuries to contribute to the actual battle.

My mind reeled as I pulled myself back to my feet, curing myself with the wave of a hand. We desperately needed a strategy—fast.

Then it hit me. "Sora!" I yelled.

He jumped back from the fight, healing himself. "Huh?"

My eyes wandered to Goofy, who pummeled hopelessly into the armor. "I've noticed something! A weakness!"

"What is it?"

I watched as Xemnas shot lasers at Riku, sending him sprawling onto his back. Still, the lasers only reached a small distance around his throne. I smiled. "He hardly has any long-range attacks!"

Sora's eyes widened. "Got it!"

"Strategy: attack from a distance whenever possible, and we'll keep Donald on defensive magic when we're forced into close quarters." I nodded my head. "Good?"

He threw his Keyblade in an arc and it slammed into the armor before circling back to him. "Perfect!"

I hurried over to Riku, who was emitting a dark beam from his palms. He sent it to Xemnas, who very obviously took much damage from it. I opened my mouth to tell him the plan but he just grinned. "Already figured it out," he stated, sending another dark aura to Xemnas. "You go attack short-range. I'll cover you."

Half of me was shocked that Riku believed in me enough to tell me to do that. The other half of me was absolutely ecstatic to get some good battle action. "Right!"

I charged Xemnas, dragging my hook blades along the metallic tile on the ground. The sound was disorienting and he jerked around, giving me enough time to slam into his helmet multiple times. He raised his hand grandiosely to send his many lances my way (another weakness; Xemnas was so dramatic, it was obvious when he would attack), but I was too fast; I back flipped to flank him on the other side, attacking with all my might.

After a while, Xemnas finally got to me with his fiery pink lasers. They cut into the flesh of my skin, disintegrating entire portions of pinky flesh. The skin looked charred and black and it bled grotesquely, but I shrugged it off. Healing could come later.

I dodge rolled out of the range of his attacks to survey the battle field. Sora threw around his Keyblade meticulously, very careful to hit Xemnas in all the right places; Donald sent offensive magic to Xemnas (which he blocked, for the most part); Goofy was KO'd, passed out on the edge of the battlefield; and then there was Riku, charging Xemnas for a close-ranged attack.

Smiling, I charged right along with him, attacking Xemnas from the opposite direction. We slammed into him at the same time, causing the armor to clang. The wind lances were summoned, but this time I was unable to avoid them. They cut at my face and my exposed legs, tearing gashes into my body. The coppery taste of blood graced my tongue—I suppose I had a split lip or something, but that was of no concern at the moment. Surviving was my main priority.

"You okay?" Sora yelled to me, his Keyblade gliding back into his hand.

I wiped my nose, blood trailing onto my knuckles. It throbbed and felt broken. "I'm swell!" I yelled back, pulling myself up from the ground to resume the fight.

I charged Xemnas again, successfully dodging the lasers that threatened me, and attacked him with every ounce of strength I had. He brought his sword up and over his head, slashing it at me. I tried to jump over it but it caught me in my mid-back, throwing me across the room and causing me to cry out in pain. The sword had been riddled with electricity and I twitched hopelessly, waves of pain radiating through me. "Shit. Shit. Shit."

My skin crackled with electricity, but I forced myself up, absorbing the electricity into my own magic and sending it to Xemnas. A powerful thunderstorm hung over him, dealing serious damage and I grinned. I most definitely could take care of myself.

"You okay?" Riku yelled to me, jumping out of the range of attack.

I rolled my eyes. "Everyone needs to stop asking that!" I gripped my left wrist that had been injured back in Twilight Town (remember that? Seems like an eternity ago). It had never given me trouble before, but now it throbbed uncontrollably. I wondered if I had sprained it again, and shook my head. More important things. "You and Sora go attack close-range! I'll cover you!"

"You're sure?" He knew about my love of battle, but I nodded still. At this moment, I was not in the state to be fighting too close.

Then he took off, pummeling Xemnas with his Keyblade.

I fired out my strongest offensive magics; fire balls, blizzard storms, thunder cracks, whirlwinds, you name it. Sora and Riku attacked on the flanks, getting absolutely slaughtered by lasers and lances, but fighting nonetheless. By this time, Donald was nearly knocked out. He hung onto consciousness barely, his magic expended. Goofy had finally just regained his senses and was rejoining the battle, groggy and injured.

We fought like that for a long time, barely hanging onto the thread of being alive. But soon, Sora snapped.

"Enough!" he shouted, jumping high into the air, only to send his Keyblade deep into the chest armor of Xemnas. It went straight through and stayed like that, and in that instant all went silent.

A bright flash emitted from nowhere. Suddenly, the throne was gone, the armor was gone, and the force field holding the King and Kairi was gone. All that remained was our group and a kneeling Xemnas, clutching his chest where his heart would be.

He breathed heavily, but his face was as stoic as ever. It was unnerving. "I need… more rage… I need… more hearts…" his voice was a ragged whisper that sent chills up my spine.

A battered and beaten Sora lowered his blood-covered weapon. His nose looked seriously broken. "Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings." His voice was sad, almost sympathetic. "Don't you remember?"

Small black tendrils began to float around the Nobodies body and he clutched his chest harder, meeting Sora's gaze perfectly. His gold eyes were as piercing as ever, even in the face of death.

"Unfortunately," he began, his voice delicate, "I don't."

And then he was gone, disintegrated into nothing.

Everything was silent as we all relaxed our weapons. The adrenaline was gone now, and the pain from my injuries was really beginning to kick in. I looked myself over. I had a literal chunk of skin missing from my right arm. The tissue and part of the muscle was visible. How had this not affected me prior?

The King cleared his throat, the first to speak. "Gosh. You all did great! That sure was a tough battle."

Kairi gripped Sora in a hug, careful not to press herself against his many injuries. His nose bled on her shoulder, but she did not seem to care and I stuck my tongue out at them. I've said it once and I'll say it again; love is disgusting.

My eyes scanned the room. Riku had wandered off and stood alone by the edge of the battle field, staring into the dark abyss. Raising my eyebrows I walked (or limped to my best ability) over to him. "Riku, what are you doing?"

He turned to face me. He did not seem at all happy to have won the battle. Instead he looked worried. I raised my eyebrows even higher. "What's wrong?"

I took in his appearance. Split lip in two places (blood streamed down his jawline all vampire-like. Quite gross), a giant gash on his cheek that would leave a scar if not healed soon, a black eye, and what seemed to be a dislocated jaw. He seemed unbothered by it and simply shrugged, looking sad. "I had given in to the darkness."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know, big deal. We don't think of you any differently. You know that."

It was as if he hadn't even heard me. "How am I supposed to go back home and face everyone?"

"Like this," Sora said, squishing his face together in a silly fashion. I hadn't even noticed he was at my side.

Riku's solemn face broke into a grin and he laughed lightheartedly, seeming to genuinely feel better. I smiled. Sora was literally the best at cheering a person up and I could not be more grateful for him than at this moment, considering how piss poor I am at it.

The feeling was nice but only lasted for so long, for there was soon a giant bang that came from somewhere in the dimension. I clenched my jaw. "This place is gonna fall apart."

The King, Kairi, and everyone else ran to our side. "We better hurry!"

Riku nodded. "I'll open up a portal," he said confidently, waving a hand. Nothing happened and he tried again. Again, the atmosphere remained unchanged and he looked at his hand in shock.

Mickey smiled. "You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku."

Donald looked exasperated. "How are we going to get out of here, Your Majesty?"

Kairi and Sora shifted and their eyes were glued to something far off. Riku and I looked too, and I smiled. There was a tiny girl in a white dress, her hair as mop-like as ever.

Namine.

I lent her a grin and she sent a timid wave my way before throwing her other hand up, summoning a dark portal.

The King was startled by the sound of the darkness opening and ran to the portal. Donald followed close behind. "Who did this?" Donald quacked.

"Welp, I'm not sure," Mickey mused, "but we'd better hurry and get through!"

I cocked my head. First of all, how had they not seen her? She was standing right in front of them! Second, why would they go through a mysterious portal if they didn't know who summoned it in the first place? That seemed rather unwise, and suddenly I knew why the King went missing so often.

Riku noticed my confusion and smiled. "They don't see her because they've never met her before," he whispered, careful that they wouldn't hear him.

Before I could respond, Goofy was bounding towards the portal loudly. "Wait for me!"

The King followed close behind and Donald only stopped long enough to yell "Come on!" at us. It felt nice to know something they didn't, considering how behind I had been on everything else.

Kairi and Sora approached Namine tentatively. They spoke quietly for a while, and then something very unexpected happened: the shape of a blond boy stepped out from Sora's body to speak to Namine.

I gasped. "Wha—"

"Roxas," Riku said, still looking at them. He smiled. "Sora's Nobody."

My mind reeled and a sly grin formed on my face. "Oh, Roxas, right. The guy who defeated you."

He rolled his eyes. "You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Never," I said. "There's just so much comedic gold with it. How could I resist?"

Riku did not meet my gaze. Instead, he watched the four carefully, a certain type of joy in his eyes. "That's fine," he said finally. "I don't mind."

I watched him carefully. He was not the same person he was before. Still, he hadn't changed in a bad way. He was just… different. Grown up. "Well, that's no fun for me," I joked quietly. Seems I'm the only person who hadn't grown up.

Finally I stopped looking at Riku and focused on the scene at hand. Kairi and Namine held hands, and soon Namine was disintegrated. My eyes widened. Before I could even ask, Riku was answering.

"Namine is Kairi's Nobody," he said, gaze still on the three that remained. "It's time for the Nobodies to return to their Somebodies."

My own gaze drifted to the three who remained. Roxas stepped forward, grinning. "Look sharp!" he instructed and Sora straightened self consciously. I grinned and vaguely wished the he wasn't a Nobody. He seemed like a cool guy.

But then he disintegrated too, joining back with Sora. I glanced to Riku. "Time to get out of here?"

"Time to get out of here," he confirmed, walking over to Sora and Kairi. I followed closely, very interested in what had just happened.

Sora still seemed rather shell shocked and Riku clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. You're all still you."

Kairi grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the portal. "Hey, come on! Let's go home."

I shook her off. "Ugh, no! Let go. I don't want to go home. I just got out of that rotten place! You really expect me to go back?"

She pretended to think for a second. "Well, yeah," she said in a duh tone.

"Don't worry," Sora said from behind us. He had his hands behind his head, grinning. "We'll go on another adventure soon, yeah? And this time, you can go on all of it! Not just the last parts."

Still, I grimaced. "Fine."

"Let's go, guys," Kairi muttered cheerily. I walked through the portal first, pouting. Kairi followed behind, probably eyeing me to see if I'd make a break for it so the adventure wouldn't stop.

Things got a little weird after that, though.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi yelled.

I whipped around only to see that the portal had vanished. Sora and Riku were nowhere to be found.

Instead of being distressed, I groaned. "Oh my god, you have to be kidding me!"

She turned to face me, kicking sand up with her shoes (we had walked through the portal only to end up at our childhood isle. I was disgusted by it). "What?"

I made vague hand motions, obviously annoyed. "Those stupid jerks get to go on another adventure without us! This is ridiculous. We probably didn't even properly kill Xemnas and they have to fight him again or something. God, I'm so pissed."

Her eyes were alight. "That's what you're concerned about?!"

I pretended as if I hadn't heard her. "Dammit, I always miss the good battles! Those assholes think they can just go on all these adventures without me? How selfish."

"Akira!" Kairi screamed, genuinely angry. "Don't be so selfish and start worrying about our friends!"

"What's goin' on here, girls?" The King approached us, a smile on his face.

"Those stupid jerks are leaving us out of an amazing battle! Truly an outrage." I shook my head in annoyance, flicking my hand to heal myself properly. I had never healed myself after the fight, and now seemed as good a time as any.

"The portal closed on Riku and Sora!" Kairi was the highest form of exasperated.

The King jumped. "Oh, gosh! That's no good! Say, why do you think it'd do that?"

I shrugged, still fuming. "We probably didn't take out Xemnas properly. God, haven't they had enough fun without having to steal it from the rest of us? They couldn't leave a good battle for someone else?"

Mickey raised his eyebrows. "Akira, you're not at all worried about them?"

Waving him off, I frowned. "No, no, why should I be? They'll be fine, we all know it." Then I rolled my eyes out of annoyance. "However, they won't be fine when they get back here. Who gave them the right to have all the really cool adventures?"

The King eyed me for a bit, seemingly confused. Truth be told, I was the teeniest bit concerned. This was just a way for me to cope.

He sighed. "You're right, Akira. They'll be fine."

Kairi's anger seemed to have subsided. "How will they get back though? How will they find their way back?"

Mickey clenched his jaw, his brow furrowing. "I'm pretty sure they'll be able to return once Xemnas has been defeated. There'll probably be a portal or something of the like."

"How long do you think it will take?"

He thought for a second. "A couple hours, maybe. But really, I can't be sure."

I rolled my eyes, plopping down onto the sand. "Whatever. I guess we'll just have to have a jolly time waiting on those jerks, yeah?"

Kairi looked at me and shook her head. "I guess you're right. But you could pretend to be worried, you know."

I removed my jacket which was riddled with holes from the battle. Looks like I need a new wardrobe. "I'm worried that I'll never get off these damn islands again, if that's what you mean." Despite my words, my mind swam. Sora and Riku were awfully injured earlier. Hopefully they had the sense to heal themselves, and hopefully they were smart enough to come up with a good strategy. "They're big boys. They can take care of themselves."

She rolled her eyes, walking away from me. "You're unbelievable."

Her sneakers stopped on the edge of the water and she crossed her arms behind her back. It reminded me of how she had been waiting for Sora the first time. Now, she was waiting again. I wondered vaguely if Kairi would spend her whole life waiting for things to happen and I shook my head sadly, vowing to never let myself end up like that. Like her.

A hand appeared on my shoulder and I looked up. Mickey was standing over me, a kind smile on his face. "They'll be fine… and you'll be fine too." It was as if he read my mind.

My eyes searched his, and I really wanted to protest. Really, I did. But he seemed to understand, and he was the King. I really didn't want to get yelled at by Donald for disrespecting His Royalty. So instead of saying something snarky, I gave him the teeniest of smiles.

"I hope you're right."

The sand was gritty and wet and familiar against my legs. It made me scrunch my nose as I drew in the sand with a stick. God, I hoped I'd never have to feel this sand again.

Sighing, I continued my little doodle. I had drawn Kingdom Hearts, large and shining. The castle was positioned in the background, looming over a dark city. The drawing may not have been detailed or well done, but it was identifiable. Plus, it seemed to be the only way to pass the time.

I wriggled around, trying to get comfortable. We had been waiting on the island for two hours already. Kairi still stood on the banks of the ocean, staying silent the whole time. The King, Donald, and Goofy entertained themselves by the waterfall, chatting and playing in the water.

My jaw ticked. "Hey Goofy, you see that weird brown plant by the banks of the waterfall? That tovocca right there. And that thick wax-type leaf on the other side?" He nodded and I continued. "Can you pass me some of both?"

Goofy complied, bringing me the desired plants, and I thanked him with a smile. I crushed the brown tovocca leaves into a powder and rolled them into the waxy leaf carefully. Then I put the ends of it between my teeth, ready to summon some fire.

Then Kairi spoke for the first time in hours. "You're really gonna start smoking again?" Her back still faced me, her eyes glued to the horizon.

I rolled my eyes, the tovocca roll hanging to my teeth. "No. I quit a long time ago. I just need something to pass the time."

She turned to face me, a knowing smile on her face. "You better not, worry wart. It's a disgusting habit."

Summoning a small lick of flames on the tip of my finger, I scoffed. "I'm not worried," I insisted harshly, lighting the roll and inhaling the smoke. Kairi spun back around to face the horizon and I blew smoke in her direction, hoping to irritate her to the smallest degree.

She was right, though. I'd stopped this habit long, long ago. Now I only seemed to do it when I was angry, upset or anxious.

Pushing the thoughts out of my head, I inhaled a bit more, holding it deep in my lungs. This probably wouldn't be the best thing for my stamina in battle but I shrugged it off. One time wouldn't kill me.

The sun was beginning to get low and sunset was soon approaching. I grit my teeth at the thought of having to sleep through another Island moon and exhaled smoke, forming it into the shape of a mushroom with my lips. Well, if you could call it a mushroom. But I hadn't smoked in a long time; I was a bit out of practice.

An hour had passed and the tovocca roll was half gone when Kairi finally spoke again.

"Akira! Look!"

I glanced up to her. She was pointing to two bright lights in the sky, spiraling down to the ocean. A teeny smile curled at my lips and I gripped the tovocca between my fingers.

They were back.

I pulled myself up from the ground and brushed off the sand as the lights spiraled down, finally finding a home in the clear blue water of the sea. Nothing happened for a couple seconds, but soon two heads popped out of the water, gasping for air.

"Sora! Riku!" Kairi yelled, waving with both hands to get their attention.

There was a shift in the ocean, and soon they were sprinting for the shore, stumbling over themselves in the waves. I chuckled to myself. How in the hell had these blubbering idiots saved worlds?

Kairi looked as though she was ready to leap out into the ocean, but Donald, Goofy and the King beat her to it, pouncing on Sora and throwing him to the ground as soon as he was close enough to access. Mickey jumped into Riku's arms playfully and they laughed together. Meanwhile, I hung back a bit, the tovocca hanging between my fingers carelessly.

"W—We're back!" Sora stammered, a giant grin on his face.

Kairi held out her hand to help him up. "You're home."

My eyes scanned the scene and I couldn't help the small smile that crept to my face. Through my scanning, my gaze met Riku's and he approached me, absolutely soaking wet.

He grinned. "Tovocca, huh?" His eyes were glued to my roll. "Thought you'd quit doing that. It's a bad habit, y'know."

Grimacing, I tossed it to the ground and snuffed out the spark with the heel of my shoe. "You know what a real bad habit is?" I began, my eyes narrowing. "Going off and having amazing battles and doing dangerous things without me, you stupid idiot!"

I jabbed him in the chest with my finger and he sighed. "C'mon, Akira, you know we would've brought you along if we—"

He was cut off by my hug, forceful and hard. "Don't freak us out again," I said into his neck, an edge to my voice. "I didn't know if you'd come back. You made me resort to tovocca. Feel bad."

Riku hugged me back, making the front of my overall-shorts wet. His breath was cool on my ear. "It won't happen again."

I smiled and pulled back from him, raising my eyebrows. "Liar."

He seemed to think for a moment then smiled back. "Yeah, well." He shrugged as if he was accepting the fact. "Next time I'll try to make sure you're included on the adventure."

I let out a satisfied sigh. "Good. Because this waiting around shit ain't for me."

Riku laughed lightheartedly. "Maybe you shouldn't go on any adventures, actually. They change you, and I just couldn't bear it if you became less insufferable."

I rolled my eyes. "With your luck, my capacity to annoy and my sarcasm will be the only traits that remain. Now, let's move on, yeah? Tell me: what the hell happened to you two?"

wOW that chapter was wayyy too long. someone teach me how to shut up and stop rambling, thanks.

*insinuates that Akira used to smoke cigarettes but doesn't know if cigarettes exist in the KH universe so I play it off as though I invented this new hip word and concept when really I changed like 3 letters of the original thing i had wanted to talk about*

excited to keep on writin' so I can get to ~the good stuff~. Which is just more snarky comments and bad jokes, probably. That's it, that's my writing strategy, I can hang up this old gig now.

blissfulnightrain REMAINS THE APPLE OF MY EYE. FORREAL. SHOUTOUT TO MY GIRL.