Author's Note: AHHH! YOU GUYS PROBABLY HATE ME! I WAS SUPPOSED TO FINISH THIS AROUND NEW YEARS! Well you can stop hating me (hopefully) because the last chapter is here! It is MUCH longer than any of the other chapters too. I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT! Review, PM me, anything, just let me know if you guys liked it! Writing this for you guys has been a pleasure (If only I had more time). Thanks, and enjoy the final chapter! ^.^
Chapter 10
Sora sat rigid on the ground, hoping Xehanort couldn't pull him away. Kairi kneeled next to him, gripping his hands tightly and watching Xehanort's hand on his shoulder. Riku still laid motionless on the sand, Donald and Goofy trying to help him. Sora flinched as Xehanort's hand tightened.
"Are you sure you really want to resist me, Sora?" Xehanort leaned down and whispered into his ear. "This might be extremely painful." Sora turned his head and locked eyes with Xehanort's eerie golden ones, but didn't respond.
"Very well then, you leave me no choice. I really was hoping to avoid this..." Xehanort released Sora's shoulder and stepped a few paces away. Everyone else remained as they were, too anxious to do anything. He raised his hands and spoke, "I call upon the power of darkness...To bring you an old friend."
Farther down the beach, a black mist began to form, revealing a portal. Suddenly, something tumbled out of it and into the sand. It layed there, too far away for anyone to tell what it was. Sora stared at it, turning over in his mind what it could be, but not daring to move any closer to find out. It was large enough to be a person, or some kind of heartless or nobody...or even an unversed. He had never fought one of those before.
"Now, Sora. Don't be rude! Go on and help your guest up!" Xehanort gripped Sora's shoulder tightly and thrust him forward. Kairi gasped and fell back, jolted be the force of it. Goofy and Donald finally got Riku to come around at the same time and he raced over to Kairi and helped her up.
Sora fell into the sand, still too weak to stand up. He rolled onto his back and sighed heavily, so ready to give in. He could still feel Vanitas fighting to obey his master Xehanort, to go over to the creature on the other side of the beach. Xehanort towered over him. Sora could tell that Xehanort was done messing around, and he was reaching down to grasp Sora's neck when he was knocked to the sand.
"Riku!" Sora panted as he was pulled to a sitting position by Riku, who had smashed Xehanort aside with his Keyblade. Riku and Kairi knelt beside him. Kairi grasped Sora's hand and Riku kept an eye on Xehanort as he slowly rose from the sandy ground. Goofy and Donald hurried over and pointed to the other end of the beach, trembling and too afraid to speak.
"Sora!" Riku took his shoulders and turned him around as they followed the pointing fingers of Donald and Goofy. The creature on the sand was waking up, moving. It raised it's head. "It's only a person..." Riku sighed heavily as he identified two human eyes blinking in the bright light. He was just about to release Sora and deal with Xehanort when he felt Sora's shoulders tighten. "...Sora?"
"That's...That's...No, it can't be..." He pushed Riku's hands off of his shoulders and struggled to stand up. He was so dizzy from the loss of blood and the constant struggle with Vanitas trying to gain control, but he had to get over there.
"Sora, hold on! You'll hurt yourself!" Riku caught him as he stumbled, and suppressed a gasp. Sora's eyes were two different shades of blue. Kairi stepped up beside him and did gasp when she saw.
"He's caught between two states of mind." Xehanort spoke as he approached them. Kairi inched in front of Sora and Riku tightened his grip, keeping Sora up. "As you know, there are four people in Sora's heart at this moment. Him, Vanitas, Roxas, and Ventus. Now, which of these four doesn't have blue eyes? Vanitas. Which of these people has eyes a different shade of blue than either of the ones you see? Roxas. Two of the people in Sora's heart have memories of this person, and you should too." He glanced at Riku and Kairi. "But maybe you were too young to remember."
Suddenly, as if the words were some kind of magic spell, memories began to pour into Riku's head, and he collapsed to the ground. He let Sora fall, and Kairi fell down next to him.
"I remember!" Both Kairi and Riku shouted at the same time, while Sora began to drag himself across the sand. They stood and supported Sora, bringing him over to the crumpled form on the beach. He kneeled down and hugged the injured person. Sora's eyes were now a lighter shade than normal, and when he spoke his voice was different, more like Roxas's. There was definitely someone else in control now.
"Aqua." He breathed, and tears began to slip from his eyes. She slumped against him and sighed into his chest.
"Ven, I know it's you." Aqua began to cry too. "I've been roaming the darkness for so long, I didn't think I would ever find you again. And your body is still asleep, isn't it. Well, Sora, if you can still hear me, thank you for taking care of Ven's heart. You did a good job. Honestly, it's kinda weird not seeing you as a little kid. You're all grown up now, it looks like you're Ven's age...or how old Ven was last time I saw him. Time has passed, but it froze for us. But...How did I get here?"
"Xehanort found you in the passages of darkness and brought you here." Sora rested his head against hers and closed his eyes, still controlled by Ventus. "I don't know why, though, because he was trying to lure Sora into forming the X-Blade. It doesn't make sense that he would reunite us."
"I know..." Riku grimaced. "It just hit me. Ventus has a stronger connection to Vanitas, and now that he's consciously in control of a physical body that Vanitas has already entered, it will make it so much easier to form the X-Blade. Just because it's not Ventus's own body doesn't mean it won't work with his mind controlling it."
Sora lifted his head and stared at him, Ventus's eyes glinting somberly. Aqua sat up and sighed. She lifted her head and scanned the beach, stopping coldly when she spotted Xehanort standing on the beach watching her.
"Terra." She sighed heavily, letting all the time she spent in the darkness come out in her voice. He approached slowly, until he was only a few feet away.
"Aqua, it's been a while. While you were limping along in the darkness, I've been busy. I was split up into a heartless and a nobody, then put back together again! How amazing is that? Oh, I've wreaked havoc on these children, especially Sora. It was such fun. And I've never forgot what my true mission was, though I did get quite sidetracked. Now I can return to that mission, and I know it won't fail this time! VANITAS!"
Sora's eyes turned a bright and gruesome gold and he let out a piercing scream. He scrambled off of the ground and retreated to the far corner of the beach. He sunk down again and clutched at his head, sobbing and whimpering. He stopped for a moment and stared at his friends, his eyes flashing a brilliant blue one last time before he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
"SORA!" Kairi screamed and tried to run to him, but Riku pulled her back. Aqua stood and summoned her Keyblade, Rainfell. She stared gloomily at Sora, then raised Rainfell and faced Xehanort. Everyone turned to face him as he began to speak.
"The fight has begun." He smirked. "If what happened last time is correct, if Ventus wins both he and Sora will sleep. And whose heart will they go to? Certainly not Roxas's, because he is a part of Sora that will get swallowed up in this fight as well. There will be no heart to house them. Either way the fight goes, they're all gone now."
"I'll kill you!" Aqua raged, her eyes lighting up in a death glare. "You ruined everything! You took the only two people I ever cared about away from me, and then you ruined the lives of the people they fought to protect! Everything any of us ever did to defeat you was all a waste! I'm done! I spent over a decade in the darkness, worrying about the two people who complete me, to come back and find that you're still here, still trying to fill the world with the darkness I suffered through! You won't ever stop! Well, here and now, I will defeat you! Though there are people you've hurt that I can't fix, I can make it so you will never hurt anyone ever again!"
She charged toward him, ready to strike. Before she could land a blow, a dark mist shot out of Xehanort's hand and sent her crashing into Sora's unconscious body. Realizing that she could never fight against a man with the face of one of her best friends, she layed down next to Sora and held him. If she wasn't going to fight, at least she could comfort those who were. Riku released Kairi and prepared to fight Xehanort in Aqua's place while she slumped to the ground.
"Donald...Please, can you send me back into Sora's mind?" Kairi began to cry silently, and she crumbled at Donald's feet. "Maybe I can help him fight as some sort of motivation..."
"I'm sorry Kairi, but there's no way I can. Vanitas won't let me in." Donald knelt next to her and began to brush her head. Goofy sat and crossed his legs next to them, keeping a sharp eye on Xehanort's movements. Riku stood still, ready to confront him.
"I'm rather bored of all this talk of fighting and pathetic child's play, boy." Xehanort waved his hands dismissively and passed Riku. Xehanort continued on and stopped at the bodies of Aqua and Sora, paying no attention to the grimace Aqua presented to him. "Ah, Ventus. I don't think you've ever seen your friend Terra in this form before. At least not in person. But nevermind, you can't even see me now."
Suddenly, Sora's eyes snapped open. They were a murky mix of gold and blue, an obvious sign that the fight was dead even. He struggled to sit up, as Aqua supported him.
"I can see you now." When he spoke, it was a mix of all of the voices fighting inside of his heart. The golden glint began to fade. The blue eyed boys were winning. "And we can all see that you don't have all the control. It's a constant struggle between the two of you, just like it is for us now. Terra, I know that you can push him out. We can battle Vanitas, and you can battle Xehanort. I might not be waiting for you when you win, but Aqua will." He looked down at Aqua, the gold in his eyes barely showing.
Though the gold in Xehanort's eyes never wavered, he reached out his hands and grasped Sora's and Aqua's. "I will fight him, for you both. I will win, too." Then he snatched his hands back and stepped away. "Stop it, Ventus! You're giving him strength! VANITAS! MORE POWER!"
Sora's eyes surged with gold, and he fell back to the sand. Kairi couldn't watch this from afar anymore, and she ran to Sora and hugged him.
"I don't care who is in control right now and I don't care if you hurt me." She whispered to him. "All I know is that Sora needs me and that he can feel this." She slipped her fingers under his head and pulled it up. She stared into his bright golden eyes, and brushed her lips across his. "I love you, Sora." She breathed and watched his eyes shock into the brightest blue.
Sora reached into her burning hair and pulled her back to his lips. "I love you, Kairi, and this will be the only time I can tell you." He pulled her body to his and hugged her tightly, burying his face in her fiery hair and letting the tears fall. Then, he went limp in her arms.
"NO!" Xehanort screamed, and pushed Kairi away. He grasped Sora's shirt and held him up. "Vanitas! Gain control! This is not over!" He began to shake Sora's lifeless body, crying out for more power, more control. A black mist formed around Sora's body. It solidified and Vanitas face planted in the sand. "Vanitas! You have failed me again! The X-Blade was almost in my grasp!"
Suddenly, he dropped Sora into Kairi's open arms, falling back and covering his face. He landed with a loud thud on the sand, only momentarily muffling the sounds of his screams.
"Terra! NO!" He rolled around, thrashing randomly, until finally he layed still. "I told Ventus we would both win, and I intend to keep my promise." He lifted his hands from his eyes, which were now Terra's own blue ones. The gray began to fade from his hair, and a black mist deposited the real Xehanort onto the shore, right in the middle of a very large wave. He squirmed away from the water and summoned a portal, dragging Vanitas off in his weakened state.
"Terra!" Aqua jumped to her feet and ran to him, landing on top of him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, and they stayed like that for many moments. Riku and the others joined Kairi. She watched them hug with happiness, then turned back to the sleeping boy in her hands with a weight dragging her heart. Riku placed a hand on her shoulder.
"He's gone now, Kai, but he loved you." They both continued to stare down at Sora, who was wrapped in a now peaceful slumber. "Aqua survived without Ventus, so we'll be fine. But it's gonna take time."
As he said this, Riku began to cry too. He had never liked crying, always thought he needed to be strong for the sake of his friends, but now it was okay to cry. Sora would never talk to him again, would never be his sparring partner, his comrade, his friend. That was something worth crying over, to remember everything good about their friendship and to mourn the loss of all the time they could've had. And he knew Kairi felt worse. All of the time that they could've spent falling in love, now that they both knew of their feelings for each other. Maybe they would've grown up and got married, had kids together. Kairi would never know. Neither would Sora.
Riku let Kairi rest her head on his shoulder, and her tears glistened across Sora's face as they dripped down from her eyes. He brought a hand up and started to pet her head, doing the little he could to try to comfort her, even though he knew it wouldn't work. He swept his eyes across all of those gathered near them: Donald and Goofy huddled close and sobbing hard, Aqua reaching out a hand to hold one of Sora's, and Terra refusing to leave Aqua's side after he conquered his own darkness. At least they had a happy ending, though there was a large chunk of it missing. Ventus had now lost his heart in Sora's body, and there was no way to save either of them.
After a long time filled with somber silence, Aqua was the first to speak.
"I'm gonna go clean up the Seaside Shack a little bit, we'll probably be sleeping there tonight." She stood and began to walk, Terra deciding to come with her.
"Oh! I can help with magic!" Donald squawked, happy to find something to focus on. Riku stood and went off to look for firewood, Goofy accompanying him with a trudge in his walk.
Kairi was left all alone on the beach with the sleeping Sora. She sighed and hugged him closer to her as she watched the sun quickly setting. She watched the ocean waves lapping gently against the shore, and counted all the shells she could see at the water's edge. Finally, she layed Sora down on the sand and layed next to him, about to grasp his hand when she noticed something.
Sora was holding her Wayfinder charm.
"He must've picked it up before Aqua came through the portal, but when did he pull it out of his pocket again?" She folded her hand with his, keeping the Wayfinder locked tight between them. "Well, it doesn't matter now. Oh, Sora, I love you."
Kairi was sure she had imagined it, but Sora just gave her hand a squeeze. She heard a whisper of "I love you." but was sure it was just the wind. She sat up and shook her head, trying to clear it of the crazy things she was experiencing. She gazed at Sora one more time, just to see that peaceful face.
His beautiful blue eyes were open!
Kairi screamed and tackled him, kissing every inch of his face. She would not let go of him, now that he was back.
"But how?" She breathed into his neck. "How are you awake?"
"I don't know." Sora whispered back, and wrapped his arms tightly around her, not willing to let go either.
Kairi's screams attracted attention, and everyone came rushing back onto the beach. Kairi and Sora sat up as everyone began to arrive, but they kept their hands locked together, both hanging on to the Wayfinder with all their strength.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy screamed, and they raced over to give him hugs. Aqua and Terra stood dumbstruck, mouths open in utter shock and confusion.
"Welcome back, we missed you." Riku said as he clapped Sora on the shoulder and sat down next to him. Sora beamed at everyone, the radiance of his smile cutting through all of the blood and grime from all that he had suffered.
"But I just don't get it," He said. "How can I be awake if Ventus wasn't last time?"
"I know why! Ah-huh-huh!" The chuckle could never be mistaken, this could only be the laugh of the one and only King Mickey. Everyone searched for the source of the voice, until Kairi spotted him on the bridge leading to the Paopu tree. He jumped down onto the sand and scampered over, depositing his Star Shard in one of his many pockets.
"King Mickey!" Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Sora all shouted with smiles on their faces.
"King..." Aqua said, surprised. "You were only in training when you helped us. Forgive us, your highness." She and Terra both bowed, blushing slightly.
"Oh, no need for that!" King Mickey chuckled again and began to explain. "Sora was able to wake up because he had the power of three hearts working against one. Ventus only had one heart, and so he fell asleep."
"So, does that mean that Ventus's heart is now asleep in Sora's body?" Aqua asked with a pang of fear in her voice.
"Oh, no Aqua. But his body is still sleeping right where you put him!"
"Can I save him, Mickey?" Sora blurted out, determination and sadness reflecting through his eyes. "Can we go there and wake him up?"
"I think we just might, Sora!" Mickey beamed at him. "But first, you need rest. And lots of it!"
And with that decided, everyone piled into the small Seaside Shack for a quick meal, then found a cozy spot on the beach for a long rest. Sora fell asleep fairly quicky, exhausted from both the physical and mental battles he had fought. Kairi couldn't sleep, and watched his chest move up and down with each breath he took. He was asleep, but he would wake up.
He did only a few hours later. Kairi still hadn't slept a wink, and Sora could tell by the look on her face.
"Come with me." He whispered, and pulled her out of the sand. They made their way through the dark to the entrance of the secret cave. They looked at each picture they had drawn together, before everything had started. Finally, they came to the picture of them sharing a paopu fruit. "I want to add something."
Kairi sat down next to Sora and watched as he carved something new into the rock. When he was finished, she began to cry. He had carved their Wayfinder into the rock, the chain being held by both Sora and herself.
Kairi swept Sora into a hug and cried into his shoulder. He pulled her face up to meet his, and they kissed, filling each other with the light each had saved for the other.
"I love you." They whispered together.