A/N: Hello again! It's me! Thanks to all of you who are patient with me. Maybe one day I'll come back and redo all the rushed parts, but that may not happen for a while yet. At any rate, here's chapter 12!

Chapter 12: Turning the Tide

"Remember, there will always be a door to the light!"

--King Mickey Mouse

Launchpad and Anakin continued to fly through the chaos of the space battle. Riku's words had been true, and Launchpad proved quite the sensational combatant in a dogfight. He kept Anakin covered as best he could, but a bolt from an ambushing droid starfighter hit the left wing of Anakin's N-1. R2-D2 shrieked. "We're hit, R2!" Anakin shouted. "Aaaah!"

"Hang in there, kid!" Launchpad's voice called from Anakin's radio. But Launchpad could only watch as Anakin's N-1 flew down until it swerved into the docking bay of the droid control ship. Anakin's vessel was now safe from attack by starfighters, but he had to use every trick he'd ever learned just to keep from crashing into the walls and large ships inside the docking bay.

R2-D2 beeped and whistled in what seemed to be a warning tone. "I'm trying to stop! I'm trying to stop!" Anakin shouted as his vessel finally touched the floor and skidded to a halt. "Everything's overheated." Anakin muttered as he checked the systems of his N-1. Suddenly, a group of B1 battle droids swarmed the incapacitated ship. "Oops. This is not good." Anakin murmured.

Anakin fiddled with the controls, but there was nothing that wasn't completely overheated. If he didn't get the N-1 working properly, he was doomed.

Sora finally caught up to Obi-Wan. Ahead of them was a long hallway, with red walls of crackling energy placed at intervals of about ten feet. Four energy walls separated them from Qui-Gon Jinn, and another wall separated Qui-Gon from Darth Maul. Qui-Gon was on his knees, eyes closed, and Darth Maul paced impatiently. Beyond the hallway was the melting pit.

Obi-Wan looked at Sora. "You must be Sora." he said. "It's nice to see you on our side. Kairi spoke very highly of you."

Sora smiled. "I guess you're Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Maul didn't speak very highly of you at all." Sora glanced over at Qui-Gon. "What's he doing?"

"Meditating." Obi-Wan answered. "He's been doing most of the fighting, and he needs the rest. He'll be up and fighting again as soon as the walls go down."

Sora summoned his keyblade and tapped the laser wall with it. As soon as they made contact, the wall sparked and Sora's keyblade could not penetrate it. "So I guess we're stuck here until the walls go down."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes."

Sora crossed his arms. "Poop." was all he said.

Suddenly, the wall separating Qui-Gon from Darth Maul went down. Just as Obi-Wan said, Qui-Gon was up and on his feet, lightsaber ignited, by the time Darth Maul struck. As soon as the rest of the walls dropped, Sora ran as fast as he could, with Obi-Wan right behind. Sora was considerably faster than Obi-Wan, and managed to join the duel with Darth Maul. Obi-Wan, however, was cut off as the last wall sprang back up.

Sora immediately leaped onto Darth Maul and drove the battle away from Qui-Gon. Darth Maul looked shocked for a moment, then scowled and fought Sora with full ferocity. Seeing that Sora could hold his own, Qui-Gon took the opportunity to rest and think about what was going on. This must be Sora, he thought, which means Kairi can't be too far. He looked around and spotted Kairi standing on a walkway about fifty feet above, which lined the circumference of the room. Her gaze was fixed on Sora.

Qui-Gon rejoined the fight when he saw Darth Maul gaining ground. Without a word, Sora and Qui-Gon came to the understanding that they would work together to take on the Sith Lord and ask questions later. While Sora moved much faster than Darth Maul, or any combatant Qui-Gon had ever seen besides King Mickey, Darth Maul's saberstaff compensated by being so large that Sora couldn't break through its defenses.

Sora finally decide that a two-pronged attack would be better ,and he leaped behind Darth Maul while Qui-Gon was still working the front. Before Sora landed, however, Darth Maul's foot flew toward him while the Sith Lord parried Qui-Gon's next strike. The thick sole of Darth Maul's boot crashed into Sora's jaw, and the Keybearer was sent flying backward. At the same time, the handle of Darth Maul's saberstaff slammed into Qui-Gon's chin.

Sora recovered in midair and kicked off the wall toward Darth Maul again, but it was too late. Darth Maul reversed his saberstaff and shoved its crimson blade into Qui-Gon's stomach while the Jedi was still stunned. Qui-Gon crumpled to the floor by the time Sora engaged Darth Maul again.

"NO!"

The cry came from three different mouths in three different locations. The first exclamation came from Sora, who shouted it even as his keyblade slammed into the foremost blade of Darth Maul's saberstaff. The second shout came from Kairi, who was still watching from her vantage point above the battle. But the loudest cry came from Obi-Wan. The Jedi apprentice watched helplessly from behind the laser wall as his master fell to the ground, a hole burned into his stomach so precisely and cleanly that Obi-Wan could see through it..

Sora struck at Darth Maul again and again, parrying each swing that came his way. At last, he hit the saberstaff with enough power to force Darth Maul to alter his grip in the handle. Sora slashed at the exposed handle, splitting the saberstaff in two. One half died out and clattered to the floor, but the other half still functioned.

Darth Maul wielded what was left of his saberstaff like a lightsaber, proving adept at single-bladed combat as well as double-bladed. When Sora did not back down, Darth Maul decided that it would be a good time to cheat.

Darth Maul swiftly gestured toward Kairi, and an invisible wave of the Force sent her crashing into the wall behind her. She was rendered unconscious and she bore a nasty wound that sent blood trickling down her face. Darth Maul kept up his barrage of saber strikes, daring Sora to rescue his precious princess.

The plasma wall finally came down and Obi-Wan Kenobi ran toward Darth Maul. Seizing the opportunity, Sora parried Darth Maul's next strike as he leaped into the air and used the Sith Lord's face as a springboard to vault onto the walkway where Kairi lay.

Darth Maul recovered from his crunch to the face in time to meet Obi-Wan's blade. Finding Obi-Wan less skilled than Qui-Gon or Sora, Darth Maul quickly took control of the fight.

Darth Maul began to wonder why he ever needed Sora in the first place.

Standard B1 battle droids led Padmé, Panaka, and Goofy into the throne room, where Viceroy Nute Gunray was waiting. Satisfied that no Keybearers or Jedi had accompanied the queen, Nute felt no more anxiety about Sora leaving so suddenly. "Your little insurrection is at an end, Your Highness." the viceroy said curtly. "Time for you to sign the treaty and end this pointless debate in the senate."

"Viceroy!"

Everyone turned around to find the queen's decoy standing in the doorway, along with Donald, Riku, and King Mickey himself! "Your occupation here has ended!" the decoy continued before blasting off the heads of two B1 battle droids. "After her!" Nute Gunray exclaimed. "This one's a decoy!"

As the battle droids turned their attention away from Padmé and her friends, Padmé activated a hidden switch on the arm of the throne in the center of the room. A panel slid open in the arm, revealing a pair of emergency blaster pistols. She took one and tossed one to Captain Panaka. Goofy summoned his shield. The remaining battle droids were dealt with in seconds.

While Goofy and Panaka made sure the throne room was sealed off, Padmé kept her blaster aimed at Viceroy Nute Gunray's head. "Now, viceroy, we will discuss a new treaty." she hissed.

"Yes! We have power!"

Anakin felt a great sense of relief as the lights on the his starfighter's dashboard turned green and the engines flared to life. The very first thing he did was make sure the shields were turned on. Blaster bolts fired by the battle droids at the N-1 bounced harmlessly off the energy shield.

The next thing Anakin did was find the joystick that controlled the firing mechanism. "Take this!" he shouted as he fired enormous bolts of energy intended to damage enemy starfighters at the B1 battle droids. Needless to say, the droids were far less durable than an enemy starfighter, and were obliterated on impact with the bolts.

Anakin pulled back on the joystick and fired. Instead of blaster bolts, the N-1 starfighter launched two proton torpedoes, which were significantly more powerful. "And this!" Anakin went on. The torpedoes sped through the launch bay and slammed right into the main reactor. The reactor exploded. "Oops." was all Anakin could think to say. Anakin fired up the engines of his ship. "Let's get out of here."

Anakin flew through the still-open doors of the hangar bay and back into the safety of space. Behind him, droids and vital pieces of equipment exploded. The droid control ship was doomed. Anakin flew past the blossoms of flame and roars of the dying ship around him. "Now this is Podracing!"

Meanwhile, Launchpad was doing the best he could to battle the few remaining droid fighters, looking for any sign of Anakin. Suddenly, one of the pilots said through his radio, "What's that? It's blowing up from the inside!"

"I didn't do it!" Launchpad answered defensively. For once, a ship was flying apart and it wasn't his fault.

"Look!" Another pilot exclaimed. "One of ours out of the main hold!

Suddenly, Launchpad heard Anakin's voice over the radio. "Whoo!"

"Way to go, kid!" Launchpad congratulated him. Several other cries of victory were heard as the droid control ship's central sphere was completely obliterated.

"Kairi, wake up!"

The voice was hazy, and Kairi wondered if she was dreaming. Then she remembered that if one believes that one is dreaming, one is usually awake. And the sweet, melodic voice of her only love was still calling to her, pleading for her to open her eyes. She obliged, and her eyes were immediately met by Sora's deep blue orbs. "Sora?" she whispered.

Kairi's head was throbbing, and it hurt for her to even think. Therefore, she emptied her mind of everything except for Sora's eyes looking into hers and the sound of his voice as he told her, "I think you'll be okay."

Kairi's throbbing worsened, and she placed a hand to her head. What she felt was not her own soft, smooth skin, but instead a piece of coarse cloth that served as a makeshift bandage. "What happened?" she asked.

"Darth Maul slammed you into the wall." Sora explained. "You got a nasty bump on the head, but nothing too serious. You should feel just fine after you drink this."

Kairi looked away from the blue pools of Sora's eyes and into his hand. He was holding a potion bottle. "I already gave you one while you were unconscious," Sora told her, "but that bump still looks pretty rough. It's a good thing you had a whole bunch in your purse."

Kairi smiled as she took the potion and drank it down. It tasted like raw sewage, but it was the fastest way to heal Kairi's wound. She could feel the pain fading already. "What would I do without you, Sora?" she whispered fondly, placing her hand on his cheek.

Sora grinned and mirrored her action. "Well, to be fair, none of this would've even happened without me. Let's see how that little bump looks."

Sora carefully removed the cloth on Kairi's head. It was covered in blood, but Kairi still recognized its original color as the same as Sora's shirt. She looked down and, sure enough, Sora's shirt was torn. He had used his own clothing to bandage her wound. Sora placed his hand where the cloth once was. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all. "Well, it looks like you're fine now. There's not even a scar left."

Kairi smiled slyly at him. "It still hurts a little."

Sora smiled back and kissed her forehead gently. "All better." he said. And it was, in more ways than one. Suddenly, Sora's eyes widened. "Obi-Wan!" he gasped. He helped Kairi up and both of them leaned over the railing of the walkway to see what was going on below.

Obi-Wan and Darth Maul were fighting fiercely, but Sora could tell that Darth Maul was winning. This was made even more evident as Darth Maul leaped backward and assumed a posture clearly meant to taunt Obi-Wan. As Obi-Wan leaped toward him, he parried with ease and used his other hand to reach out to the Force. The Force responded by sending Obi-Wan flying backward and into the melting pit! Darth Maul looked down into the pit and kicked Obi-Wan's lightsaber down. Sora and Kairi heard it clanging as it fell down the very long shaft.

Judging from the way Darth Maul paced at the edge of the pit, Obi-Wan was still alive. Sora turned to Kairi. "Find somewhere to hide." he instructed her. "I don't want Darth Maul hurting you again. I have to go down there. I'll come back for you, I promise."

Sora pecked her on the lips before he jumped over the railing and landed right behind Darth Maul. He prepared for a decapitating swing that would cleave the Sith Lord's head right off his shoulders, but Darth Maul parried in the nick of time. "Sora," he hissed, "I planned on killing you from the very beginning, so this doesn't surprise me at all. But I would like to know--why did you return to the light side?"

Sora swung his keyblade in a downward sweep, but Darth Maul parried again. "Because that girl you hurt saved me."

Darth Maul shook his head as he made a fruitless attempt to slice Sora in half. "Love. A weakness I have no desire to share."

As Sora and Darth Maul dueled, Obi-Wan clung to a small input nozzle just inside the melting pit. He took a deep breath and looked around. Sora was distracting Darth Maul; that was good, but not even a Keybearer could stand up to a Sith Lord on his own. Obi-Wan had to find a way to help--but his lightsaber rested at the bottom of a very long drop. And Obi-Wan had no intention of joining it.

Obi-Wan shut his eyes in remorse. I'm so sorry, Master. he thought. Then he remembered. Qui-Gon had a lightsaber too.

Obi-Wan waited until Darth Maul was just beside the landing pit. Obi-Wan reached through the Force and called Qui-Gon's lightsaber not to him, but to where he would be a millisecond later.

Sora saw the lightsaber move out of the corner of his eye. He punched Darth Maul in the face and leaped backward. Obi-Wan landed right where Sora had been, and the stunned Darth Maul could put forth no resistance as Obi-Wan swung the emerald blade of his master.

Sora and Obi-Wan both watched as Darth Maul gasped and his eyes went wide. He fell backward into the melting pit. His lower body fell separately behind him. Both halves of the destroyed Sith Lord fell to the bottom of the melting pit, where they joined Obi-Wan's forgotten lightsaber in the darkness.

Obi-Wan immediately ran to his master's side. "No," Qui-Gon barely whispered, "it's--it's too late."

"No!" Obi-Wan cried in denial.

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon went on, ignoring his apprentice's grief, "promise... promise me you will train the boy."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan replied automatically, though his tears choked him and he barely squeaked the words out.

"He is the chosen one." Qui-Gon assured his apprentice. "He will bring balance. Train him." His final breath spent giving this final instruction to Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon closed his eyes in death.

Sora shed quite a few tears. Although Sora hadn't ever even talked to Qui-Gon, he was pained to know that this loss was partially his fault. If he had only seen that kick coming, if he had only reached Darth Maul fast enough... but he hadn't. He could remember when he was traveling through the Pride Lands, when his friend Pumbaa reminded him to "put your behind in your past," after which Timon quickly amended, "you gotta put your past behind you." With a deep breath, Sora acknowledged that Qui-Gon's death was not his fault, and that there was nothing he could have done.

That was when he remembered Kairi.

Sora ran as close to the walkway as he could and called up, "Kairi, it's over! You can come down now!"

Kairi emerged from her hiding place and leaned over the railing. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Jump." Sora told her. "I'll catch you."

Kairi took one good look at the fifty-foot drop and decided very wisely, "I can't! Can you come up here like before?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't have a Sith Lord to use as a trampoline this time. Come on, what are you afraid of?"

Kairi looked at him skeptically. "Falling." she said honestly.

Sora crossed his arms. "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

Kairi looked down at the floor with fear, but gained courage when she looked back into Sora's eyes. "I do." And to prove this, she closed her eyes and leaped over the railing.

She hadn't fallen more than ten feet when Sora leaped up into the air and caught her. She reflexively opened her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck as they dropped together the rest of the way. "I told you there was nothing to be afraid of." Sora assured her as he set her back down. Surprisingly, she never removed her arms from his neck. "I would never let anything happen to you."

Kairi smiled at him and pecked him on the lips before turning to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. "Is he..." she gasped, afraid to speak the terrible, horrible words.

She didn't have to. "He is." Sora said apologetically. "I couldn't save him."

Kairi buried her face into Sora's chest and cried. Sora stroked her head and back gently, but he said nothing.

A/N: This chapter was a little shorter than usual, but that was the best place to end it, I think. Hope you guys enjoyed. And thanks to my new buddy Syrena Li for reviewing! You really think I'm a born author? Because that would be the awesomeness! You super crazy!

Well guys, I only have two more chapters to go. Hope they don't make your heads explode!

Until next time, Lord Moldybutt signing off.