Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, it's the property of Square Enix and Disney. No money has or will exchange hands. It was written purely for entertainment value.

Author Note: re-edited Chapter 12, beta'd by 4theloveoftea and edited by me Feb 2015


Chapter 12

Sora and Kairi had sat talking on the roof top, of nothing in particular and everything they could remember from their shared adventure and what had been happening at home while Sora had been away.

They were lying down now, watching the sky with Sora's jacket rolled up and pillowing both their heads. He never asked her if it was okay to wind their fingers together between them and she rested against his shoulder as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The only thing missing was Riku but they didn't voice it because they didn't need to.

"Show me your Keyblade again?" Sora asked as the sun started to set around them. Kairi obliged, lifting her free hand above her and summoning it in a flash of light above them. The paupu keychain swayed in the breeze and light seemed to live along the blade's surface giving just a hint of the damage the flowers and decoration could really do. The more they looked at it the more it reminded them of home and Kairi wondered what Aqua would have felt using it, had she really known she was only looking after it?

"You still haven't told me what it's called," he told her, voice soft and skin warm against hers.

She laughed just a little and smiled. "Destiny's Embrace." She had known from the moment she had first held it, the name resonated with her instantly and Sora was the first person she had told. Whether or not Riku knew she had no idea but she liked to think that he did.

"It's beautiful." He looked from the Keyblade to Kairi and she dismissed it, leaning further against his arm.

"I'm still surprised it's mine, but it feels right," she told him, mouth almost touching his arm.

"Is that why you wanted to talk to Master Yen Sid?" She hummed her agreement against his shoulder but didn't say anything. "You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to, but if it's important or I need to know you'll tell me right?" He sounded unsure again and Kairi smiled, shifting to face him again. He was such a contradiction, sometimes failing to understand and others more intuitive than she was sure even he realised.

"I will always tell you if it's important and probably things that don't matter too… it's just some of the things I asked were a little personal and for now, until I'm comfortable, I want to keep them in here." She placed her free hand against her chest. "And we don't need the distraction, we have to find Riku. What Yen Sid told me can wait." She thought that maybe he had been right, she didn't and couldn't see how their paths would cross but if they did… well she'd have to wait and see.

"And stop Organisation 13… aside from Roxas and Axel," Sora added and Kairi nodded, thankful that he had listened to her instead of what they had been told in the tower.

The sun was setting around them and although the sky burned orange it wouldn't fall to dusk for an hour or so. Sora knew they had to leave soon and their journey would start, the search for Riku would continue and they would fight once again to save and protect the worlds. It was selfish he knew but he wanted this moment to last a little longer, he wanted to enjoy the calm before the storm.

"Sora…" Kairi warned, guessing his line of thought.

"I know, I know." And they gathered their things and headed off to join the others. Sora used his Keyblade to bridge the gap between the worlds once again. It didn't surprise Kairi that something as simple as a group of membership cards were the catalyst and she liked the idea of it. The simple little things joining them all together.

They bid fair well to Hollow Bastion and ventured to a world they had never seen before.


They ended up in The Land of Dragons and for the first time since they had been reunited Sora and Kairi had to separate. It had become clear that girls were not welcome in the army and Kairi had instead headed to the palace with Donald to scout out the area and try in the meantime to improve her magic and Keyblade skills.

It turned out Sora had been helping a young woman pretend to be a man the entire time anyway and this made Kairi laugh and Sora mumble in embarrassment. It had instilled a little more confidence in Kairi and determination in Sora as they reunited at the palace entrance.

They had once again found the pathway open to another world and had headed there soon afterwards.

"It's a Castle," Kairi commented as they landed. The courtyard was dark and unwelcoming as if cloaked in dark spells to warn others not to trespass. But they had no choice, if the world was there then visiting could take them one step closer to Riku and she could already tell Heartless lurked within.

"Yeah. We should head inside," Sora told her, already walking to the entrance. Kairi nodded and followed, Donald and Goofy not far behind but she couldn't shake the feeling there was something else about this place, she just couldn't focus her mind long enough to figure out what.


"Demyx, how is the search progressing?" Xemnas bellowed from high on his seat enthroned above him. They were the only two present and the large meeting room.

"Number XIII has rejoined Sora and we have no sign of Axel, we think he went in search of him but there has been no sign since." He was nervous, Xemnas had been in a foul mood since the loss of Roxas and Axel and there had been more than one occasion that he'd feared for his non existence. Now though Xemnas seemed subdued and this Demyx realised had the potential to be far worse.

"I want you to search for Sora and his friends. Axel will no doubt come to his own end searching for number XIII so don't waste your time with him."

"Me?" Demyx asked, wondering why he was being sent away on such a fools errand. "Wouldn't Xaldin or Xigbar be a better choice?"

"Don't argue with me Number IX, you will go, you will find them and drag Roxas back by whatever means necessary." Xemnas stared at him and Demyx sighed, consenting with a nod and sinking back into his chair.

Xemnas opened a portal where he sat and left him there, all alone with memories and echo's of things and people that had and hadn't ever been. It was an almost certainty that he would never see these walls again but strangely Demyx found he felt more relief than dread.

He didn't want to go after anyone, he had hoped that after Roxas had spoken to Axel that day in the garden that the two of them had talked things through. He wanted to believe that all the reports were wrong and that they had left together after all but it seemed impossible. Sora had woken and as far as he knew it had to have been because of Roxas... and Axel… well of course he was going to go after him.

And now Demyx had to try and hunt Sora down. Xemnas might as well have asked him for his resignation or just ended his non existence then and there. But pointless as it was he opened the portal and left in search of Sora, he did, after all have a few questions for Roxas.


Naminé had realised almost straight away who had arrived there and had made her way to Riku's room as fast as she could. Portaling there was a risk she didn't want to take - not that she had anyway to tell how traceable it was but this wasn't the time.

Belle and the Beast were there when she arrived and Riku seemed to be stirring in his sleep, at least it had looked that way from a distance. There was something not quite right about it and she wondered whether her eyes were playing tricks on her… he almost looked as though he was shifting or was it flickering? it didn't seem right whatever it was.

"Sora and Kairi are on their way here," she panted, hands resting on her knees for a moment whilst she regained her breath before moving to be at Riku's bedside.

"I will go," The Beast told them, bowing to them with as much grace as his giant form would allow and moving swiftly out of the door.

"There are enough Heartless here to keep them busy and they won't find us here," Belle reassured her, reaching out her hand to rest on Naminé's shoulder. She was watching Riku intently with her fists clenching in the sheets at his side.

"How long as he been like this?" Naminé asked quietly, watching his form change into another she recognised for seconds at a time before returning to normal.

"Only a little while, probably since the others landed," Belle explained her, retaking her seat next to Naminé.

"It's not right," she whispered to herself, although it didn't matter whether Belle heard her or not. "It's like he's changing."

"The King said that he gave in to his darkside to save you," Belle said gently and Naminé nodded, eyes still fixed on Riku.

"He did but he returned to normal after he collapsed." She remembered how pale he looked on the gummi ship and although he looked stronger this scared her much more than that had done.

Belle took a deep breath as she tried to find the best way to voice what she had come to understand, she didn't want to hurt Naminé but at the same time she knew she was perhaps the best person for this.

"He's been getting stronger for the past couple of days and this started to happen when Sora and Kairi approached, it could be that when he wakes up he'll retain his other form, the one King Mickey called Ansem." She watched as Naminé flinched at those words and her hands froze in the navy sheets.

"Will he still be Riku?" she asked and Belle relaxed, at least Naminé was concentrating on the right things. A young woman after her own heart perhaps.

"The King believes so."

"Then that's all that matters." Her voice was soft but laced with an edge of something Belle couldn't quite place, determination most likely and maybe sadness.

"I'll stay with you for a while but I might need to return to my room at some point. Will you be alright? I won't be gone for long?" Belle didn't hide her concern, she wanted Naminé to know how much she cared and that she and the Beast would do anything in their power to keep them safe. Beast believed he owed Sora and his friends a dept of gratitude and this was how he had chosen to repay it.

Naminé finally turned to her then, her eyes were watery but she didn't look as though she was crying even if she was on the verge of it.

"It's fine, I'll stay with him," she told her with a nod of her head. "I know he'll say it's not but I still feel like this is my fault and he's been so kind to me, I'll watch over him."

Belle smiled kindly and remembered a time when she had felt the same way about the Beast, she wondered if Naminé had even realised that what she felt was something deeper than loyalty or guilt but she didn't voice it, instead she stood to take her leave. Naminé needed time to realise it, just as Belle had done and then maybe even more than that to know what to do with those feelings.


"Sora watch out!" Kairi yelled as she slid underneath the Heartless in their path and shot fire through her Keyblade in the direction of the creatures back. It hissed as it made contact and she took a deep breath before swinging round and sweeping her blade through the path the fire burned. Admittedly fire wasn't the most productive spell but it was the offensive one she currently found the easiest and it had done the job.

The Beast launched at it just as it disappeared again and she cast cure on both him and Sora.

"Split up, it's in one of the columns," Sora advised, already running to where he thought it was hiding. Kairi ran in the other direction just in case and also so that she could, if need be, heal them both again. She was exhausted but couldn't deny that she was enjoying herself, she felt useful and needed and maybe even a little bit stronger.

The Heartless looked like a bomb covered in chains, it's darkness had transformed the otherwise beautiful ballroom, locking them away from the rest of the Castle until it was defeated.

Beast and Sora launched at it when it reappeared seeming to team up as she knew they had done in the past. They motioned for her to join them as they prepared for what they thought was the final attack against the Heartless but it seemed to fold in on it's self in front of them. When the coils of darkness that had surrounded it dissipated they were left faced with a tall and clawed monster with a flaming Main behind an angry scowling set of jaws.

It growled deep in its throat with a sound so different to the Beast's before disappearing once more, it was still there though and all three could feel its presence.

"I'm starting to spot a pattern here." Kairi remarked, swinging her Keyblade and running at it, Sora not far behind her and the Beast circling in from behind. She sent fire flying towards it, hitting the invisible shield in ripples so that for a moment at least it was possible to tell where it was.

"Shame they never learn!" Sora replied, something seemed to cross his mind then and his face was set firmly in battle mode, Kairi had rarely seen him so serious but when it mattered he always seemed to know what to do. "I have an idea," he shouted before launching himself onto the Heartless and letting it throw him into the air, before Kairi had realised what was happening Sora was swinging on the chandelier, she ducked and felt the Beast pull her out of the way before they took the chance Sora had given them and launched their final attack.

The Heartless growled again, the sound fading as it dissipated beneath Kairi's Keyblade and the Beast's claws. Sora landed the final hit across its back as he landed again and he was smiling despite the exhaustion as the ballroom returned to it's normal state.

"Are there anymore Heartless for us to take on?" Sora asked as he steadied his breathing to a normal level.

The Beast shook his head. "Everything else I've been able to deal with but this would have been too much on my own, thank you Sora and Kairi for your help."

"Not a problem, we'll take another look along the corridors we checked before here, but wouldn't it be best for us to check all of the Castle instead of just some of it?" Sora asked, it was a valid question and one that had been playing on Kairi's mind since they had arrived. The Beast and Belle had been very clear on where they were having problems with Heartless and so far there didn't seem to be a pattern to their appearances.

"I can deal with the rest," The Beasts answer was short and he looked angry, eyes narrowing and fur starting to stand on edge.

"You sure?" Sora asked again and Kairi tried to meet his eyes to signal that he should probably let it go.

"I'm sure." The words were forced out and carefully spoken as the Beast fought to control his temper. "They have been gathering everywhere but I have been able to clear out most of the well used places in the Castle, this room and the others you have helped me with are normally left vacant or have been of late. We appreciate your help but you and Kairi should carry on your search for your friend."

Kairi chose to speak then, not really wanting to watch an argument start. "Thank you, we'll leave as soon as we've made sure the corridors are clear and the rooms are safe. I would like to see Belle again if that's alright."

"Of course, she's in her room and will be glad to see you." He visibly relaxed at that and Kairi hid her suspicions with a nod.


"Kairi, why did you say that? He's hiding something!" Sora whispered through gritted teeth as they walked through the final corridor.

"It's none of our business Sora, whether he's hiding something or not I don't think he's doing anything we should be worrying about. He's our friend and we have to trust him."

"I do trust him but something about it just feels wrong." Sora was almost sulking.

"Really? I can tell that he's hiding something but I don't get a bad feeling being here, whatever it is I don't think it's anything dangerous or bad," Kairi told him and he looked at her, stopped walking and met her eyes.

"Kairi?"

"Don't you feel it too?" she asked, now really hoping that he could and that she wasn't imagining it.

"I feel something but I can't figure out whether it's good or not… I don't know… but I don't like it." His feet shifted on the floor and he summoned his Keyblade to calm himself.

"We can always come back to check on things here, we have the ship don't we?" Kairi suggested in an attempt to cheer him up. She couldn't work out how to explain what she felt about being there any better than she had and Sora – even though he wanted to – clearly didn't believe her.

"Okay, sure." He smiled, clearly not willing to stay unhappy for very long. "But next time, if it still feels the same way can we have a better look around?"

She couldn't see any point in arguing with that. "Sure."


Roxas and Axel had spent the better part of the day navigating the maze of bookshelves, at one point Axel had gotten so fed up of running back and to he'd scaled one of them and jumped across several before convincing Roxas to do the same. They hadn't wanted to portal anywhere, not wanting either to be tracked (not that they thought it was possible) or to trigger any traps.

Ansem the wise would have been wary of intruders and although none of their previous visits had been hampered by them, the possibility remained that he had put things in place to stop anyone stealing what was meant to stay hidden and secure.

"There seem to be a lot of books about magic and advanced spells, history and research on the inner workings of the heart but I'm not sure anything here is going to help." Roxas commented, clearing a rather thick layer of dust from one of the lower shelves. The library looked bigger than it had done on their last mission here, like the Castle had rebuilt its self as long with the world.

"How about the Keyblade wars?" Axel offered, reaching on his tip toes, which given his height was impressive, to grab two of the books from a higher shelf.

Roxas accepted them without saying anything but Axel could read him well enough to know that his expression meant thanks, this might be important.

He placed one on top of the other and opened the one marked volume one. Flicking through the musky pages he traced the patterns of Keyblades familiar and never seen before. On several pages there were pictures of Keyblade Masters from that time and their worlds as well as when they were said to have died. None of the places mentioned were familiar and as he went further and further through the pictures changed to lists of names followed by the battles in which they were said to have died. The list was so vast Roxas wouldn't help his surprise. He had always thought Keyblade bearers were few and far between, nothing like this.

Even though he had heard of the wars, he hadn't expected this. It didn't really give him much hope for volume two.

"Here." He handed Axel the first one when he had finished it. "I think you may be onto something, is there anything else on that shelf or any of these about the Keyblades, the wars or who used to carry them?" He asked.

"I'll take a look." This time though Axel climbed the bottom two shelves, holding onto the shelf in question as he scanned the titles and those around them.

The second volume was very much like the first although once it had finally gone through the rest of the known dead Keyblade bearers at the time it went back to describing and showing many of the Keyblades known, their abilities and where they had come from. There wasn't enough time for him to go through all of this now but he couldn't help but feel like he was on to something.

"I don't understand why Xemnas didn't take these."

"Maybe he didn't know they were here," Axel commented, still looking for something other than what looked to be accounting and world finance.

"It doesn't make any sense though." Roxas sighed and closed the second volume, holding them both underneath his arm as he started to search the rest of the surrounding shelves. They were pretty much trapped in a dead end and he didn't even want to contemplate how many shelves they'd have had to move to get here the conventional way.

"Xemnas wasn't always the one in charge here you know."

"Yeah but you said he was powerful and had a lot of influence over those who did, if he was trusted that much then why not let him see all of this?"

"Well there could be two copies of everything and Xemnas has the other ones…. Or there were somethings hidden from him just in case." Axel was pressing his arm hard against the back of the book shelf.

"Found something?" Roxas asked, climbing up to join him – which given the books he was holding wasn't exactly easy.

"I have no idea – it just looks a little off, like this has been replaced." He sneezed at the dust and shook it out of his hair as he pressed down again. "It could also be that this place is so old no one had actually realised it was still here. Xemnas isn't exactly renowned for his delicate approach to matters and he wouldn't have come looking for this himself, he would have sent Saix who would have rather blown this place to pieces than actually try looking for this sort of thing." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice that Roxas wasn't used to hearing. Axel had been much more open about his life before Organisation XIII recently though, so maybe it was just that he felt relaxed enough to let Roxas know about these things.

"He's not one for puzzles or scaling bookshelves then?" Roxas asked, careful with his tone. He didn't think he would offend Axel but he wanted to keep the conversation going as it had been, he didn't want things to get uncomfortable or for Axel to close himself off again.

"Maybe once but whether Isa or Saix he has always wanted to find the quickest and fastest way to do something., always after the short cuts even if he says otherwise."

"Oh." Axel shrugged and turned to smile at him to let him know that it was okay before turning his attention to the wooden panel, trying to find the latch he was sure was there.

Roxas tried to get a better view of what Axel was doing but avoiding getting in his way at the same time proved difficult so he settled for the next shelf over, it was only separated by a piece of wood anyway so it wasn't that far away.

After several more grumbles of complaint from Axel something finally clicked - literally and a separated compartment opened up at the back of the book case. Axel made a noise of accomplishment and although Roxas couldn't see his face he knew exactly what it would currently look like.

"There are three more books in here and something else, doesn't look like much, almost like a card pass holder or something. Here." He pulled the books and the holder out and passed them to Roxas before clicking the panel back into place. "There doesn't seem to be anything else up here, we should probably head back down and take a look at these."

Roxas nodded, waiting until Axel was on the ground again before handing him the books one by one and joining him. The titles were faded on two of them but one of them looked newer, it's cover was worn around the corners and it's pages hadn't turned yellow with age as the others had, then there was the card holder. From the mark of dust outline on the book it had been pressed against they had been stored there at the same time.

Roxas opened that first and was surprised to find a card slipped into one half and a slip of paper tucked into the other, it was folded and looked like it had been put there in a hurry - Roxas could only imagine why.

"What is it?" Axel asked, leaning over to look at it.

"It says Radiant Garden: Computer systems back door access," Roxas told him, pulling out the slip of paper. "This looks like a password." He held out the paper for Axel to see.

findtron

"Or instructions," Axel offered, separating the words.

"Or both." Roxas folded it and slipped it back in before butting the card holder into his pocket. "Probably best to read these first though, as much as I want to find out what this means these books wouldn't have been hidden if they weren't also important." He looked nervous, biting his lip as he sank down to the ground, placing the pile of books in the middle of the small floor space and opening the oldest one. Axel followed but didn't take his eyes off of him, trying to figure out what was going through his head.

"Roxas?"

"Hmm?" Was his response as Roxas finally looked up at him. "You could start with the next one or the ones from before, let me know if you find anything."

Axel nodded doing as it was told, surprised by the command and happy to follow. He didn't ask what exactly to look for because neither of them really knew - just that when they saw something they'd know.

At least that was the plan.