A/N: Okay, almost finished! One more chapter to go after this! Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow and Kurai.
We're Almost To The End Of Our Journey…Let's Do It!
We left back for Traverse Town after saving Kairi and regaining our original selves, and met up with Leon and the others in the Small House.
"Tell me what happened," Leon told us, and we explained everything that had happened in Hollow Bastion, including about Maleficent, Riku and Kurai, what happened to Sora and me, and about how Kairi had saved us. "So the darkness is flowing out of the Keyhole…"
"No wonder there are more and more Heartless everywhere," Aerith murmured. "The only way to stop them is-"
"Seal the Keyhole, right?" I guessed.
"Maybe. But no one knows what will happen once it's sealed," Leon told us.
"Well, we can't just stay here," Sora said determinedly. "We have to do something. We've got a couple of friends back there."
"That's right. You both have two more friends to worry about," Leon said, remembering. "Riku's Keyblade must have been born of the captive princesses' hearts—just like that Keyhole you saw." He looked at Kairi. "Of course, without Kairi's heart, it remained incomplete. Once that Keyblade was destroyed, the princesses' hearts should have been freed. Don't worry, Sora and Shadow. If anyone can save your friends, you can." Later, while Donald and Goofy rested, Sora, Kairi, and I had a private chat in a nearby room.
"A light at the end of the tunnel…" she murmured.
"Oh, your grandma's story, right?" I asked. Sora and I had heard the story told to us during our journey by her grandma in a memory from Kairi's heart.
"That's right. We were together," she replied.
"You know what's funny? We looked everywhere for you, but you were with us all along. Finally, we're together, Kairi. Now, it's time to get Riku and Kurai back," Sora said.
"You think it'll ever be the same again between us?" Kairi wondered. "Riku and Kurai lost their…"
"When we turned into a Heartless, you saved us, remember?" we reminded her. "You brought us back.
"I didn't want to just forget about you two, Sora and Shadow. I couldn't," she murmured.
"That's it! Our hearts are connected. And the light from our hearts broke through the darkness. We saw that light. I think that's what saved us. No matter how deep the darkness, a light shines within. I guess that's more than just a fairy tale," I told my friends.
"Well, let's go," Kairi said, looking determined.
"You can't go," Sora told her, and I nodded.
"Why not?" she asked, looking confused.
"Because it's way too dangerous," I explained.
"Come on, Sora and Shadow. We made it this far by sticking together. You can't go alone," she chastised.
"Kairi, even if we're apart, we're not alone anymore. Right?" we told her.
"I can't help?" she pressed.
"You'd kind of be in our way," I laughed.
"Okay. You win," she said easily, and handed us a star charm made of shells. "Take this. It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me."
"Don't worry. We will," we assured her.
"Promise?" she pressed.
"Promise," we said.
"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you both," she told us, and we clipped the charm onto the Keyblade, turning it into the Oathkeeper Keyblade. We left Kairi, feeling regretful, and joined back up with Donald and Goofy. After regrouping, we boarded the Gummi Ship and left for Hollow Bastion. Once there, we made our way to the Rising Falls area. There, we met back up with Beast.
"Where's Belle?" I asked him.
"Still in the castle," he told us.
"Against her will?" Sora asked.
"No, I think she stayed for a reason," Beast explained. "The other princesses are inside as well."
"I wonder why?" Donald wondered aloud.
"Let's go ask them," I said, and Sora and I started to lead the way, but Beast stopped us.
"You may need my strength. I'll go with you," he said, and we left to the Library. Inside, Beast ran over to Belle when he saw her. "Belle!" The pair was reunited, and they embraced. After their reunion, Belle turned to us.
"You've come to seal the Keyhole, right?" she asked. "Please, be careful. The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer."
"We'll take care of it," I assured her, and we went in further to meet with the other princesses inside the Castle Chapel. We spoke to Cinderella and Aurora first.
"We've been waiting for you, Keyblade and light masters," Cinderella said.
"Where's Ansem?" I demanded.
"Gone," she answered.
"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it," Aurora added. "It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared."
"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped," Cinderella said. "We're working together to hold it back."
"I cannot forget the look on his face," Aurora murmured. "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling." We went over to Jasmine, Alice, and Snow White, and spoke to them as well.
"Sora, Shadow, please hurry!" Jasmine begged. "Darkness is pouring from the Keyhole."
"It's all we can do just to hold back the darkness," Alice said, looking tired.
"I don't know how long we can manage even that," Snow White murmured.
"All right, we're on our way," Sora assured them.
"We're counting on you both, Keyblade and light masters," Snow White added. "In the meantime, we'll do what we can, too." Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I proceeded to the Dark Depths, where we fought against a Heartless called the Behemoth. Once we defeated it, we saw a Keyhole.
"Now let's go and seal that big Keyhole!" Goofy said determinedly.
"Sora. Shadow. You did it," Leon praised us when we got back to the Grand Hall. He wasn't alone; Aerith and Yuffie were with him.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked in surprise.
"We came in Cid's ship," Yuffie said simply.
"This is our childhood home," Aerith added. "We wanted to see it again."
"It's in worse shape than I feared," Leon muttered. "It used to be so peaceful…"
"Don't worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored," Aerith told us. "Including your island."
"Really?" we said in surprise. I thought something at that moment, and realized that I might be sent back to my world as well, but I wasn't ready. I gulped hard when I realized that.
"But, it also means goodbye," Yuffie added.
"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again," Aerith explained.
"Everyone will go back to where they came from," Yuffie chimed in.
"Then we'll visit you guys with the Gummi Ship," Sora said simply.
"It's not that simple," Leon said, stopping that theory.
"Before all this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right?" Yuffie reminded us.
"Because every world was isolated. Impassable walls divided them," Aerith explained.
"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls," Yuffie added.
"Which means the Gummi Ships will be useless," Leon finished.
"So you're saying we'll never…?" I whimpered, trailing off. I didn't want to think about leaving my friends without them knowing what happened to me, but I knew the darkness needed to go.
"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," Leon said wisely.
"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," Aerith chimed in.
"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to," Yuffie laughed.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded.
"Sora! Shadow!" Donald called to us.
"Hurry! Come and close the Keyhole!" Goofy added, and we started to leave, but paused to look back at our friends.
"Sora, Shadow, good luck," Leon told us, and we left back to the Dark Depths. Once back there, we used the Keyblade and light to emit energy at the Keyhole, sealing this world from the Heartless forever. After that, we went back to the Castle Chapel to see the princesses again.
"Thank you, Sora and Shadow. I think the darkness has begun to weaken," Alice said gratefully.
"But I can feel a powerful darkness growing somewhere far away," Jasmine murmured.
"It's the heart of the darkness. It must be where Ansem went," Aurora guessed.
"Then we'll take the Gummi Ship and deal with both Ansem and the Heartless," I told them.
"A worthy answer, Keyblade and light masters," Cinderella praised. "We offer this power to aid your battle." And with that, our Fira spell upgraded to Firaga.
"Sora, Shadow, your courage can bring back our worlds," Snow White told us.
"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state," Aurora said firmly.
"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora asked.
"Most certainly. And you both should be, too," Cinderella answered, to which I sighed with relief.
"We can't go home 'til we find Riku and the king," we said with conviction. And with that, the four of us boarded the Gummi Ship and left for the End of the World, the Final Dimension. It was the end of our journey, or at least it almost was. I was just relieved that I didn't have to leave my friends so suddenly, and that was what mattered.