Hello everyone! Since it's almost the end of the story, I've decided to post the final two chapters as a kind of double feature. :) I did my best with trying to do the scenes where it switches back and forth between Kairi and Sora, so I hope you like it.

On with the story!

Chapter 13 The Raging Storm

Namine was looking out the window in horror as a blizzard started to blow in Radiant Garden when she noticed the ice spreading all around her cell. "Hurry up! She's dangerous. Quickly!" she heard voices outside say. Namine pulled the chains as hard as she could. The harder she tugged on the chains, the faster the ice seemed to spread. "It won't open! It's frozen shut!" the voices cried out. Concentrating hard, Namine summoned a powerful ice blast to break the gauntlets off and escape. By the time the guards broke down the door, Namine was gone. Axel went inside to find a large hole in the wall and the broken chains and gauntlets. She won't get away this time, Axel thought angrily.

Sora trudged up the mountain with Goofy trailing behind him. There was nothing else they could do now that Kairi was safe, but Sora couldn't seem to get her out of his head. Goofy glanced back at Radiant Garden and then looked at the crestfallen brunette. The reindeer then trotted ahead of Sora and stopped right in front of him.

"What is it boy?" Sora asked, still feeling depressed. Goofy then nudged him, making the brunette back away. "Hey, watch it. What's wrong with you?" Goofy bellowed at Sora, telling him to go back. "I don't understand you when you talk like that," Sora deadpanned, even though he knew what Goofy was telling him. When Sora tried to walk around him, Goofy picked him up with his antlers, determined to take Sora to Kairi. "Stop it! Put me down!" the brunette demanded. Goofy dropped him in the snow and snorted stubbornly. "No Goofy! We're not going back!" the brunette said angrily. Goofy kept trying to persuade him. "She's with her true love," Sora said, earning a skeptic look from Goofy.

The wind howled and started to blow aggressively. "What the-?" Sora looked back and saw a large white cloud covering Radiant Garden. Oh, no… Sora thought as he grew worried. "Kairi!" Sora got on Goofy's back and rode as fast as he could back to the kingdom.

Kairi laid on the floor, shivering uncontrollably and freezing to death. She looked up to see frost creeping on the ceiling. Kairi closed her eyes and hugged herself, hoping that someone will come help her. Suddenly she heard someone unlocking the door. "Help…" she whispered.

The door opened, a carrot lodged in the lock. Donald waddled in, took his nose out of the lock and put it back on his face. He noticed Kairi weak and cold on the floor and gasped, "Kairi! Oh no…" The snow duck ran to the fireplace and put more wood in. Donald then lit a match and started a fire in the fireplace.

"D-Donald, get away from there!" Kairi warned him, seeing how close the snow duck was to the fire.

"Wow! So this is heat…I love it," Donald said, mesmerized by the flames. He put his hands in front of it, only for his finger to catch fire. "Ooh! But don't touch it!" he said, shaking the flame out. He ran over to Kairi and helped her get closer to the fireplace. "So where's Axel? What happened to your kiss?" Donald asked.

"I was wrong about him," Kairi replied, still feeling cold, "It wasn't true love…"

Donald was shocked and confused, saying, "But we ran all the way here…"

"Please Donald, you can't stay here. You'll melt," Kairi pleaded.

"Nuh uh! I'm not leaving here until we find another act of true love to save you," Donald said, sitting next to Kairi, "Do you happen to have any ideas?"

"I don't even know what love is," Kairi said sadly.

"That's okay. I do," Donald said, soothing the princess, "Love is…putting someone else's needs before yours. You know, like how Sora brought you back here to Axel and left you forever."

Surprised by what Donald said, she thought out loud, "Sora…loves me?"

Donald stood in front of Kairi. "Wow, you really don't know anything about love do you?" Donald's face started to melt.

"Donald, you're melting!" Kairi exclaimed worryingly.

"Some people are worth melting for," Donald said calmly, causing Kairi to smile warmly. Donald's face kept melting, making him hold up his face. "But maybe not right this second." Suddenly the window burst open and the cold winds blew in, causing Kairi to shiver. Donald ran to the window to close it. "Don't worry Kairi! We're gonna get through-!" The snow duck then noticed something outside. "Wait a minute. Hang on, I'm getting something." He pulled off a nearby icicle and used it as a telescope. He looked and exclaimed happily, "It's Sora and Goofy! They're coming back this way!"

"Th-they are?" Kairi asked, filling with happiness and hope.

"Wow, he's coming in fast! I guess I was wrong. I guess Sora doesn't love you enough to leave you behind," Donald said, turning to Kairi.

Kairi knew what she had to do and tried to get up. "Donald, help me up. Please."

"No, no, no, no, no! You need to stay by the fire and keep warm," Donald said, rushing toward her and urging her to stay put.

"I need to get to Sora," Kairi said, determined.

"Why?" Donald asked. Kairi shot him a knowing look and Donald realized the answer. "Oh! Oh I know why!" he exclaimed, helping Kairi up, "There's your act of true love right there! Riding across the fjords like a valiant reindeer prince! Come on!"

Just as they were about to leave the room, Donald and Kairi saw the ice in the ceiling spread and icicles starting to form. They both dashed out of the room and down the hall to get away, but they were soon blocked by more ice spikes. They turned around to go back the other way, but were stopped by another icicle blockade. "We're trapped…" Donald said wearily as he and Kairi tried to find a way out.

The snowstorm raged on as Namine ran. She frantically looked around, the blizzard rendering her sight useless. I have to get out of here! she thought. The longer she stayed, the more danger she puts the kingdom and Kairi in. Namine kept on running.

Kairi and Donald pushed the window open and slid down to the courtyard. Once they made it to the bottom, they ran to the fjords as they fought against the strong blistering winds of the storm.

Meanwhile, Sora and Goofy made it to the fjords. Sora held on tight as he rode right into the storm. "Come on buddy, faster!" he shouted as Goofy galloped across the fjord.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out as she walked across the fjord, feeling colder by the minute. Donald followed behind until a strong wind came. "Keep going!" Donald yelled as he was blown away.

Kairi fought against the blistering winds as she kept going. "Sora!"

Sora and Goofy raced across the fjord as they avoided the ships that were frozen in place loosen. I'm coming Kairi!

As Kairi kept going to get to Sora, she looked at her hands and saw them turning to ice. She was running out of time. No, I can't stop now! Kairi thought determinedly as she fought against the blizzard.

A large ship fell over and Sora and Goofy barely escaped from being crushed by it. As they kept going, a large crack in the ice formed and it grew bigger till it was right under Goofy's feet. Seeing this, Goofy jumped as the crack opened and tossed Sora to safety on solid ice while the reindeer went into the water. "Goofy!" Sora yelled, looking for any signs of his friend in the water. At first he didn't see anything, until Goofy emerged from the water and climbed on a floating ice chunk. "Good boy," Sora said, relieved that Goofy was alright, and then ran to get to Kairi.

The wind blew harder and harder as it pushed Kairi around and blistering her skin with ice. "Sora…" Kairi muttered, feeling even weaker.

Sora kept running and looked frantically for Kairi until he heard her voice cut through the storm.

"Sora…"

"Kairi!" he called out, following her voice.

Namine thought she heard Kairi's voice, but dismissed it as she kept looking for a way out of Radiant Garden. Axel came up from behind her and yelled through the storm, "Namine! You can't run from this!"

Namine looked at him and said, "Just take care of my sister!"

"Your sister? She returned from the mountain weak and cold!" he told her sadly, "She said that you froze her heart!" Namine gasped and she looked at him in disbelief. "I tried to save her but it was too late! Her skin was ice and her hair turned white!" With every word, Namine grew more and more worried. "Your sister is dead…because of you!"

"No…" she breathed, not wanting to believe him. But thinking back to how she nearly killed Kairi in the past made her believe that Kairi was dead. "No!" She fell to the ground and the blizzard completely stopped. Namine sobbed, thinking her greatest fear has been realized.

Kairi, freezing to death, looked up and saw Sora standing in the distance. "Sora?"

Sora saw her as well and ran to her. "Kairi!"

As Kairi made her way to Sora, she heard the sound of a sword being drawn. She looked to see Axel approaching a disheartened Namine with sword in hand, ready to kill the queen. "Namine?" She glanced back at Sora. I'm sorry… she thought as she looked at him sadly and ran towards Namine. Sora stopped in his tracks as he watched Kairi jumped in front of Namine protectively. "NO!" As she drew her hand in front of her to block Axel's sword, she turned to solid ice and the sword shattered. Axel was knocked away and Kairi's final breathe escaped her mouth.

Namine turned around and saw her frozen sister. "Kairi!" she cried in shock. She stood up and looked at the ice statue that was once her sister. "Kairi…no…no, please, no…" she whimpered as she touched Kairi's frozen face. Oh, no…this is all my fault… she thought as she looked at Kairi's face. Namine could do nothing but hug her sister and break down sobbing.

Donald was shocked to see Kairi frozen. "Kairi?" Hearing no response, the snow duck lowered his head in despair. "Ohhh, Kairi…"

"This is not happening…" Sora muttered, wanting to believe what he saw isn't real, "It can't be happening…it can't…" Sora hung his head sadly as tears fell down his cheeks.

The dignitaries, Vexen, and the staff all sadly watched from the castle balcony. They saw everything that had happened since the storm let up and they all mourned for the loss of Princess Kairi.

Sorry if I'm leaving this chapter on a low note, but I wanted to save the happy ending for the final chapter. While I was typing out the part where everyone mourns for Kairi, I thought about the scene in Kingdom Hearts II with Goofy's mourning and decided to add a bit of it to Kairi's mourning. Not bad, huh? :)

Anyway, next up is the happy ending. Please review and happy reading!