--- Shades of Grey ---

Chapter 13 - To Find is to Lose

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the Disney or Square Enix characters or stories featured within. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to say that I did, but that would be a blatant lie. Any song, movie, and/or book reference used throughout the course of this story is also not owned by me. In fact, the only thing that is owned by me is this story.

You don't have any place to go, do you? And you don't have anywhere to go back to, right? Such things don't exist to guys like us.

That's right. There is no place for me. Still... I have some places I want to go... I have some people I want to see.

Yeah, same here. So, why don't you just let us go? That old guy told you to get rid of us, didn't he?

Really?

... Go.

You don't think you should accomplish your task right here?

I owe you two. For Castle Oblivion.

Okay, thanks then.

I'm sorry. [1]

"KAIRI?!" Riku exclaimed, eyes bugging out of his head slightly, shaking his head slightly both to clear away the old memory, and to ensure he wasn't seeing things. Seeing that, no, Kairi was still standing in front of him, wearing her usual cheeky grin, the silver-haired teen realized he was having possibly his weirdest day on record; after all, first Kairi had come to him, asking him to take her to Disney Castle, only for Mickey to betray him once he had, then when he gets back to an irate Sora, he finds Kairi hiding as Namine. "What... How... Who the hell was that I took to Disney Castle then?"

"Namine, I assume," the grinning redhead shrugged, "Unless there's a third one of me running about."

"When did the two of you switch places?" Sora asked curiously.

Kairi blushed slightly, glancing down at her feet, "Uh... Yesterday. Before you came back to the castle."

Eyes lighting up, Sora remarked, "OH! So that's why you two were-"

"Why did you switch places?" Squall interrupted, before Sora could both embarrass the Princess further AND mention something that, quite frankly, he didn't think they wanted to hear; well, maybe Yuffie might. "And, for that matter, how?"

"Namine did something to my keychain," Kairi explained, tackling the second question first, "I don't know exactly how it works, but I think it's basically an illusion. I mean, with her powers it'd be some sort of memory charm, making everyone see me as Namine rather than turning me into her, so it probably only really works 'coz Namine and I are practically identical anyways. As to the 'why'..." Shrugging slightly, she added, "She said we were gonna pull a prank on Sora, but, after what's happened, I suspect she did it for exactly this reason."

"That makes sense," Tifa remarked, "With Namine going to the castle disguised as Kairi, Mickey would think he had all seven Princesses of Heart and start advancing his plans. However, they wouldn't work properly, and he wouldn't be able to work out why, not realizing that he doesn't have seven Princesses, but only has six."

"Six and a half," Kairi corrected. "Namine's heart is half-identical to mine."

"Whoa, back up a minute there," Riku interjected, "Can we go back to the part about Namine having a heart? She's a Nobody, albeit one with bizarre origins, so how could she have a heart? Where did she get one from? Hell, how does she even still exist? I saw her join back up with you after we beat Xemnas that first time."

"Short answer," Sora explained, "Namine still exists because she always had a heart; it just wasn't complete." When Riku opened his mouth, Sora continued with, "And if you want the long answer, it can wait until after we've rescued her from the mess you made."

"You have a new plan then?" Cloud asked, already knowing the answer.

Sora nodded, glancing over at Merlin and saying, "Stop me at any point if any of the assumptions I made sound wrong." When the wizened wizard nodded, Sora continued, "When Mickey cast the first phase of his spell, it would had to have been set up in such a way that everyone that was currently on the planet was exempt from the repulsion effect, right?" At Merlin's nod, he added, "Well, Namine isn't just half Kairi; she's half me."

"Uh, what?" Riku asked, confused again.

"What Sora means," Vincent explained, "Is that, to make Namine's heart whole, Sora used the partial heart left over from his merger with Roxas."

Sora didn't bother to question just how Vincent knew this, considering he'd never explained it to the man; at least, he didn't remember explaining it... "Exactly," Sora nodded, "So, staying in Final Form to minimize my own darkness, and with the help of some Light magic, I should be able to, for lack of a better explanation, 'trick' the Cornerstone into matching me with Namine's 'heart signature'."

Stroking his long white beard, Merlin mused, "Hrm... That might just work, yes."

"Sora, you can't beat Mickey," Riku stated resolutely, "Not on his world. Not alone."

"I know," Sora sighed, "I'm hoping it won't come to direct confrontation; I might be able to stall him in the short term though." Sighing again, he remarked, "Ideally, I'd take some backup with me, but we don't have anyone else we could slip past the protective barrier."

After a moment of silence, Riku replied solemnly, "Yes we do. Merlin, Genie," he glanced between the two, "Would you be able to restore the magical 'guest pass' that allowed me past the Cornerstone?"

o-o-o

Thumbing through the massive book in front of him, Mickey frowned to himself. 'I just don't understand why it's not working,' the mouse king groused to himself, 'I've brought all the principle elements together, so why isn't it reacting?' Broken from his thoughts by a knock on the library door, he called out, "Come in." As the face of his Captain of the Guard peered round the door, followed by the rest of his body, Mickey smiled slightly, adding, "Ah, Goofy. Has the final Princess been secured?"

Saluting, Goofy replied, "Er, yes Yer Majesty, I took Kairi to the guest room."

"Was there any reaction from the Cornerstone?"

Goofy scratched his head slightly. "Uh... Not that I saw, Yer Majesty."

Sighing, Mickey remarked, "Oh well. Thank you Goofy." Turning back to his book, he noticed that Goofy had not yet left. Looking up again, he asked, "Is there something else?"

Shuffling awkwardly, Goofy asked, "Um, Yer Majesty, was that really necessary? Locking Kairi and the others up like that? Aren't they our friends?"

Mickey sighed again, explaining, "It's for their own safety. Our defenses are not yet sured up, and if the Princesses had free reign of the castle, they may inadvertently slip outside of the protective grid. Once I have ensured complete safety, I will release them, I assure you." Putting a hand to his chin, he added, mostly to himself, "Though I may need to find some way to ensure Kairi doesn't run straight back to Sora..."

There was another awkward silence, before Goofy asked, "Would that be that bad? Sora loves Kairi; he didn't hide it that well."

"Sora is an agent of darkness now Goofy," Mickey stated firmly, accepting no arguments to the contrary, "Riku confirmed as much when he turned his back on the Light and sided with him." Staring deep into Goofy's soul, he added, "Can you imagine the ramifications of a Princess of Heart falling to the shadow?" When he didn't receive a reply, Mickey nodded, satisfied the discussion was over. "If that is all, Goofy, then I have work I must see to."

Whatever reply Goofy may have been about to make was cut off by the shrill klaxon of the alarm. Worry on his face, even as he began to ready his shield, Goofy asked, "What's goin' on Yer Majesty?"

Leaping over the desk, the mouse king summoned his keyblade without ceremony, replying, "Intruders."

o-o-o

"Remember, it won't last all that long. You'll have maybe two hours, at best, to get in, rescue the princess - erm, I mean, Namine - and get out again, but more likely you'll only have one hour, especially if you exert yourselves," Merlin reiterated.

Hugging him tightly and giving him a quick kiss, Kairi whispered, "Be careful Sora."

"You too Kai," he nodded, adding, after a moment's thought, "Maybe you should put your disguise back on. Wouldn't want Mickey to look in on this world before we're done and see a second Kairi would we?"

Waiting until Kairi had switched her keychains again, Riku asked, "We ready?" At Sora's nod he held out one hand, forming a Dark Corridor to his usual travelling grounds in Disney Castle. "Go."

Flashing into Final Form, Sora dove through the dark doorway, followed quickly by Riku. As the portal closed behind them, the teens glanced around quickly to try and get their bearings, when a shrill alarm sounded, seeming to originate from everywhere. "Gah!" Sora exclaimed, clamping his hands over his ears, "What the hell is that?"

"New," Riku shouted back, as the alarm faded, "Well, looks like the stealth way is out. We're gonna need to hurry." The clank of metal on metal forced a groan from the lavender-haired Keyblader. "Great, just what we need, the guards."

"Relax Reek," Sora remarked, white energy beginning to gather around him as he started floating, his keyblades un-slinging from against his back to float behind him, "I can handle the guards, then I'll catch up with you." Firing a Blizzaga spell at one of the archways, completely freezing up one entrance into the courtyard, he added, "Go! I'll meet you near the throne room."

Riku needed no further encouragement, racing out through one of the remaining archways, leaping over the heads of a formation of confused guards, and quickly creating a Dark Shield wall to prevent them following him as he sprinted off towards the throne room. He ducked and wove amongst the hallways, using his darkness to shield him from pursuers on more than one occasion, the sounds of combat ebbing and flowing behind him. Finally, after what felt like forever, he reached the throne room, quickly opening the hidden door and ducking inside, before freezing as he saw who was inside.

"Welp, I can't say I expected to see you here Riku," Mickey remarked, Kingdom D held in the reverse grip he preferred for fighting.

"Why did you do it?" Riku asked heatedly, "Why did you betray me? You told me that I had chosen a road no one had before, and you wanted to see where that road lead."

"I did," Mickey agreed, "And I saw where it lead. I saw how easily, and readily, you gave into the darkness when it was the 'easy' solution. I still thought you could be saved though. But, when you picked shadow over light by refusing to deal with Sora, welp, I knew you were never going to change."

"I guess he's not the only one who will never change," a new player remarked, heralding Sora's arrival into the room, "You still refuse to accept the grey. So be it."

Face hardening, Mickey barked, "How are you here? You are not welcome on these grounds."

"Return Kairi to me and I'm gone," Sora replied, tightening his grip on his Ultima and Ultima Plus keychains, knowing Mickey would never accede to his demands.

Shifting into his fighting stance, Mickey just remarked to himself, "No matter. I can settle the problem right now." With a war cry, the battle was joined.

o-o-o

Kairi, still in her disguise as Namine, let out a cry of victory as she stabbed her Keyblade through the silvery-white head of the creature before her; the Dusk, if she remembered Sora's stories properly, fading back into the nothingness it was created from. Glancing behind her, she let out a yelp as she quickly ducked, a silver blade sailing through the air that her neck once occupied, before shifting back into the minute bipedal creature it had been originally; a Creeper, she corrected herself.

Sending a fireball its way, she cast her eye around the battlefield, finding everyone locked in combat. The Nobodies had shown up about five minutes after Sora and Riku had left, and even the super powers like Genie and Rinoa were hard pressed to deal with all of them; Kairi recognized every type of Nobody Sora had told her about, except the Samurai. Blinking, she realized there were ten different types, including a type she didn't recognize; it was at that point that one of them turned its attention towards her.

Of all the Nobodies she'd seen, this one most resembled a man, being of average height and build, though it seemed to be wearing spiked plate armour; on closer inspection, the armour was its body. In one hand, it held a triangular sword, spiked along the edges of the five foot blade, with the base of the blade almost a foot wide. Gritting her teeth, Kairi hurled a fireball at it, to see what reaction it would have, but the flames just washed over the armour seemingly without effect.

Unlike most of the other Nobodies, this one didn't rush towards her to press the attack. Instead, it merely swung it's sword through the air, sending out a wave of dark energy towards her. Diving out of the way, she rolled to her feet, only for a second wave of energy to slam into her, driving her back to slam into something behind her. It was only when she felt cold metal press against her neck that she realized that the 'something' she'd run into was actually a 'someone'.

"Don't scream," a cold voice remarked from behind her. "Don't fight. Don't cause any trouble at all. I may need you alive, but I don't need you whole or healthy." With a grunt, he remarked sourly, "All these Nobodies, sacrificed to get you. You make a fuss, and I'll add your friends to their numbers. You don't, and when we leave, so do my soldiers. Understand, Namine?"

Kairi's eyes widened slightly; they weren't after her, they wanted Namine. Well, Namine had taken her place to get Mickey off their backs; surely she could do the same for her sister with this new threat. 'I know that voice,' she thought to herself. "Okay, I'll come with you," she responded quietly, "Just don't hurt them."

"Finally," the voice sighed, before Kairi heard the sound of a Corridor of Darkness opening up behind her. Sparing one last look at her friends, Kairi allowed the stranger to drag her through the portal, into the unknown.

o-o-o

Slamming into a wall with a grunt of pain, Sora quickly regained enough of his wits to push himself off again and dive to one side, seconds before a golden Keyblade stabbed into the wall, where his heart had been. Leaping high into the air and gliding across the room, the injured Keyblade Master put as much distance between himself and the king as he could. Spinning around as he landed, Sora noticed that Mickey had already cleared half the distance he'd travelled; for such a small creature, Mickey could move remarkably fast.

Holding one hand towards the tiny monarch, he launched a trio of fireballs almost as big as the mouse king with a cry of "Firaga!" Using the spell as a distraction, he quickly cast his eyes around the room for Riku, before hurriedly gliding over to his fallen friend; this close to the Cornerstone of Light, Riku just didn't have as much power behind him as Sora did, though that gap was fading fast. Landing next to him and placing one hand on his shoulder, he cast a Curaga, green tendrils of energy snaking out to heal Riku's wounds, moments before Riku's eyes snapped open.

"Behind you!" Raising a hand, Riku quickly erected a Dark Shield, the six foot hexagonal-tile wall merely serving as a hurdle for Mickey rather than a blockade, but it did give Sora enough time to react, the Keyblade Master spinning around and casting Magnega behind Mickey, dragging his backwards for long enough for Sora and Riku to clear the area.

Using one gloved hand to wipe a trail of blood away from his mouth, a sure sign that taking a Keyblade to the gut one too many times had caused internal damage, Sora remarked dryly, "Well, this isn't going well."

Flexing the hand that wasn't holding his Keyblade, Riku replied likewise, "What was your first clue?" Gritting his teeth, he hissed, "We need to finish this quickly, we don't have much time left."

Nodding once, Sora remarked, "Go on my signal." Focusing a spell into his left Keyblade, Sora used Strike Raid to hurl it at the fast approaching mouse king. As anticipated, Mickey easily leapt over the whirling weapon, but he didn't expect the purple-and-black ball of magic that fired out of it moments later, the Graviga spell catching him unaware and dragging him back to the ground, unable to move. Seeing the opportunity, Sora and Riku sped forward, intent on ending this fight here and now, and they would have succeeded, if not for outside interference.

Without warning, a hail of lightning bolts rained down around the room, Sora weaving between them, while a stray bolt caught Riku's leg, downing him when his muscles refused to co-operate. Clearing the Thundaga field, Sora drew his Keyblade back to strike, but, mid-swing, his view was filled with, poetically enough, the Save the King shield, held aloft by Goofy himself, and Sora's attack was blocked entirely.

Marching into the throne room, the owner of the Thundaga spell, Court Magician Donald Duck, began quacking irritably, "Hey, what's the big idea Sora, attacking the King like that?"

Leaping backwards away from Goofy, and, more importantly, the recovered king, Sora summoned his offhand Keyblade back, before defending himself, "Hey, he attacked me first; I was just trying to end the fight. It was self defence, just like it was with all those guards."

"You invaded my castle, I have every right to fight you!" Mickey shouted back. Point made, Mickey took a step forward to continue the attack, before he was halted by Goofy stepping in front of him. Confused, he asked, "Goofy, what are you doing? We have to finish the fight now, before they can-"

"You always said that we were supposed to talk first, and only attack after we've proven reason was impassi... uh... not gonna happen," Goofy offered by way of answer.

Mickey tried to take another step forward, but Goofy just moved his shield to block him. "He can't be reasoned with. He came here to take the Princesses of Heart."

"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Sora exclaimed, "You know exactly what I want. I don't give a damn about your castle, your world, or Kingdom Hearts; I just want Kairi. I didn't invade your world; I came to take back what you'd stolen from me! Return my light to me, and I will happily leave."

o-o-o

"Well, the sound of fighting's stopped," Namine sighed, "I guess this means Sora lost." When she'd changed back into her own form, she'd honestly been surprised at just how easily the other six Princesses had accepted her as Kairi's sister. 'Either they're really trusting, or they've got some power through being a Princess of Heart that allows them to know I'm not lying,' she'd reasoned to herself, 'that, or they can feel my connection to Kairi.'

"You don't know that," Aurora remarked softly, "Maybe they just reached an amicable solution. Maybe someone is coming to get you now."

Namine shook her head slowly. "Sorry, I don't believe that. Even if, as you say, Mickey is doing what he's doing with the best interest of everyone at heart, he can't afford to let me go, let alone giving me to someone with as much darkness in his heart as Sora has now."

"I have to agree with Namine," Jasmine remarked. "King Mickey seems to be very 'light makes right', and I'm not feeling particularly welcome here any longer."

Namine smiled, commenting, "Well, you're welcome to come with me when I go; I can't open a portal to your home world from here, but once we're out of here I can." In truth, this was the heart of the reason she'd come. Namine was, if nothing else, a thinker. She knew that Mickey would never agree to leave Sora alone, just as she knew he would go after the other Princesses, and not just Kairi. So, she hatched a plan. First, while she knew he'd never agree, she had to try reasoning with the king; that plan failed miserably. So, if she couldn't stop Mickey himself, she'd just stop his plans, by turning the Princesses of Heart against him.

Unfortunately, only Jasmine and Belle agreed with her; Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella were all too willing to help Disney Castle, and Alice, she suspected, stood with the majority; she could forgive the girl for being naive and trusting. Still, two out of six was better than none.

"Well, I'll come with you," Belle stated firmly, "The Beast will work himself up into a frenzy if I don't come home soon."

"I'll come too," Jasmine added, "I trust Genie to protect me more than I do Mickey."

Nodding, Namine closed her eyes, focusing her power, before using her mimicry to change into Sora; despite being a former Nobody, she wasn't confident in her own ability to open a portal from here, but Sora, she knew, could open a portal from pure Nothing, rather than having to rely on Corridors of Darkness. Opening a doorway to Radiant Garden, she turned to the Princesses who chose not to leave and remarked, "Well, it's been nice meeting you in person, but it's time I left. I hope to see you again under better circumstances, once all of this is over."

With a pleasant goodbye, the two Princesses, and one former Nobody, stepped off world, before the portal snapped shut behind them.

o-o-o

"Princess Kairi came here of her own free will," Mickey refuted, "I did not 'steal' her."

"She came here to negotiate a cease fire with you," Riku shot back. "One you, as far as I could see, ignored completely, in favour of banishing me when I refused to kill Sora."

Warking in shock, Donald warbled, "Is that true Your Majesty?"

"I will not hand over one of the Princesses of Heart to an agent of Darkness!" Mickey stated firmly, ignoring the question entirely.

"Agent of Darkness?" Sora echoed incredulously, "I'm trying to stop Hades, not help him! The son of a bitch nearly killed me doing this to me."

Mickey's stern visage didn't waver. "You admit to the darkness in you. Kairi is not safe with you."

Sora scowled. "You don't care about keeping Kairi safe. You just want to use her as a battery to fuel the Cornerstone, while you turn Kingdom Hearts into a weapon."

"Kingdom Hearts is not a weapon; it will be a shield, to protect the innocent," Mickey corrected, "from people like you."

Feeling something at the edge of his senses, Sora smiled briefly, before scowling again. "Come on Riku," he stated, "Let's go. We're wasting our time here."

Smirking triumphantly, Mickey requested, "Donald, could you see them out?"

"Don't bother, we know the way," Sora spat, striding purposefully out of the room, and making Riku hurry to catch up.

Once they were a decent distance away from the throne room, Riku asked, "So, is there any reason we're scurrying away with our tails between our legs?"

"Two reasons, actually," Sora replied, a smile coming to his face. "One: we're almost out of time before the 'bad things' Merlin mentioned would happen will happen. Two: She's not here anymore."

"What?!" Riku shouted, "How? How could you know that?"

"Our hearts are connected; I could sense her the second we got to this world," Sora answered, "And I don't sense her any more. Somehow, she found her own way home."

Groaning, Riku asked, "So we came all this way, and got our asses kicked, for nothing?"

Sora shook his head. "Not nothing. We confirmed Mickey's plans, and for now, that's enough."

o-o-o

"Sora!"

"Oof," catching the blonde missile as she tackled him the second he stepped out of the portal, Sora gave her a quick kiss before saying, "I missed you too Namine. You know, you had me worried."

"I'm sorry," Namine replied, refusing to let Sora go, "I just thought... If I could get Mickey to leave you alone, we wouldn't have to stay on the move. I know how much you wanted to just return home again..."

"It's okay Nam," Sora remarked with a smile, "As long as I have you and Kairi with me, anywhere is home."

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Glancing over Namine's shoulder, Sora noticed the smiling faces of Belle and Jasmine, the latter having spoken.

"It is indeed," Belle remarked, "But what would young Kairi say?"

"Why don't you ask her yourse-" Trailing off, Sora glanced around at the assembled Restoration Committee members, finding one remarkably important face absent. In a too-calm voice, he asked, "Where is Kairi?"

A worried look on her face, Tifa replied, "We have a problem…"

Author's Notes

[1] The opening quote this time isn't something from the English release of the game. It's actually from Final Mix+, and as such, I had to take a couple liberties with the translation. Top of your head, can anyone guess which voice is which character?

Well, another chapter done, and only a week or so after the previous one. The next handful of chapters should close the current 'arc' (I use the quotes because I don't actually plan on breaking the story up into arcs, it's just that the plot will advance away from Radiant Garden shortly).

I'm glad that I could surprise at least a few of you when I played switcheroo with the two girls. If you look back, you'll find that 10 (11, including the prologue), when I had Namine enchant Kairi's keychain, towards the end of that scene I was referring to Namine as 'Kairi' and Kairi as 'Namine', because that's what they saw in the mirror.