Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Square-Enix, or Disney. They all belong to their respective owners and shareholders.

-A-D-

The War

Chapter XXXV: Drive

1337hrs, Saturday, November 1, 2003
Radiant Garden

"I hate running!" Kairi panted as she leaned up against the cold rock side of the blue cliffs. "I hated it in track, I hated it when Glorfindel had us run to the Ford, I hated it when Urahara-san did it to us in the woods, and I hate it now."

"We know Kairi," Sora replied, panting next to her as the snow continued to fall. It wasn't the light flurry that had been falling when they arrived. It had strengthened and the flakes were now smaller, but they fell faster and thicker. He shook his head, getting rid of some of the white flakes that were caking the black hood of his jacket, and shivered slightly; it was thinner in this weather than what he'd liked. "We've known for years."

"Did we lose him?" Roxas asked, glancing around the corner of the cliff-face. They were in the ravine, on their way down to the currently vacated Great Maw training camp.

"He can sense our presence by feeling our individual magical energies," Naminé answered, shaking her head. "We haven't lost him."

"Doesn't that mean that he can't track Sora and Kairi?" Riku asked. "Since they can't use their magic right now?"

Naminé shook her head. "I don't know."

"I'm too slow…" Kairi muttered to herself. "That's why I've always hated track. I'm slow."

"Kairi," Riku reasoned in a slightly comforting voice, "if we were back home right now, and dealing with track in gym class, you'd be right up at the top." Kairi glanced at him and smiled funnily, as if she weren't quite sure that what he said was true.

Sora looked up, blinking away the snow that fell towards his eyes. "Where is he? Did we lose him in the snow?"

"It has picked up," Riku agreed.

"He can track us," Naminé reminded them, "and he's faster than all of us."

"Wait," said Kairi. "If Renji can track us by feeling for our energy, then we can track and locate him by doing the same!"

"Great plan Kairi," Roxas said. "Except, how do we do that?"

She shrugged sheepishly after a second. "Beats me. That's as far as I've gotten."

Sora glanced around at his companions as the snow continued to fall, an idea coming to him. "Hm…" he said, drawing their attention towards him as he stalled for time. "I think…I think I have an idea."

"Ha! I knew your head wasn't as empty as it looked!" Roxas laughed.

You can shut up, thank you very much, Sora retorted.

Come on bro, it was only a joke.

"What kind of idea?" Riku asked, glaring at Roxas for a moment before returning his attention to Sora.

"Well, we can feel each other's presence can't we?" Sora said, playing it safe and making it a question. "If we can feel each other's hearts, then why can't we reach out with our own and feel Renji's?"

"Yeah, but," Naminé started apprehensively, glancing at Sora and Kairi in particular. "Wouldn't that require magic?"

"I can feel everyone's presence around me," Kairi answered. "I can also see your auras if I try hard enough and close my eyes, letting everything go."

"Don't let everything go," Sora said abruptly, looking at Kairi sharply. "It works fine, but it's not right."

Riku stared at Sora for a moment. "Where did that come from?"

Sora ran a hand over his forehead for a second. "I learned that way from Piximon, but, it-it doesn't feel right anymore, doing it that way," he answered. "We're Keyblade Wielders," he said, balling his hand into a fist and placing it over his chest, almost without thinking about it. "We get our strength from our hearts and the bonds we form with the friends we make. Our strength comes from our friends and our emotions, our hopes, our dreams, our love. If we throw all of that away, we aren't really being true to ourselves, are we?"

He looked up and smiled, wrapping his arms around both Kairi and Roxas' shoulders. "We don't need to meditate or find a 'oneness' within ourselves and the universe. We're not Jedi. Sure, it's calming and it wouldn't be bad to do it every once in a while if we're under a lot of stress or whatever, but it isn't our path to walk."

The other four were quite for a few seconds, and Sora started to wonder if he'd said something wrong, when Riku suddenly spoke the words, "Well who'd have thunk?"

"Huh?" Sora asked, looking at his silver-haired best friend in confusion.

"Who'd have thought that words like that would actually leave your mouth?" Riku asked, chuckling and smiling. He playfully pushed Sora's shoulder, upsetting his tenuous hold on Kairi and Roxas. "You're actually starting to sound like the Keyblade Master, like you're our leader."

"What?" Sora asked. He shook his head. "No, King Mickey's our leader."

"Maybe right now," Naminé said, glancing at Sora with a more thoughtful look on her smiling face. "But we're young, and the King won't be able to lead us forever. Like the gods said, you're the Chosen Master of the Kingdom Key; you are our leader."

Kairi giggled slightly and poked Sora. "How about that huh? Not only are you a Prince now, but you're also the head of a new Chaser Order, Grand Master Sora."

The brunet smiled and snorted. "Alright, fine. If you're going to shove the leadership role on me, I'm going to declare that the new order will be led by a council of seven, all six of us, Yuffie included, and King Mickey."

"Headed by you," Riku pointed out.

"If you all insist," Sora conceded, holding his hands out helplessly.

"Uh, great as this discussion is and all," Roxas started, "couldn't we be having it at a later date?"

"Yeah," Kairi agreed. "We're getting off topic."

"What was the topic again?" Sora asked, scratching his head.

"Figuring if we could sense where Renji is so that we can avoid him," Naminé answered.

"Then let's get to it," Sora said enthusiastically. He fell silent and closed his eyes. The others all did so as well, and at once each of them could feel the others standing around them. Their energy flared, and even though Sora and Kairi were currently unable to utilize their magic, they could still feel the strength and energy of their friends' hearts. Auras flared up around each person's hearts in their mind's eye. Sora was surrounded by shining silver, Riku by a slightly red and black tinted gold, Kairi in pure white light, Naminé in a more jewel-coloured opal, and Roxas was in a more fiery red. They may have all been different colours, but they were all warm, and light, and just, and strong; a comforting feeling that lifted each of their hearts while they felt each other's presence and became more intimately familiar with the differences between them.

"Whoa," Kairi murmured. "I can feel all of you."

"Yeah," Naminé replied, all of their eyes still closed, "so can I. And you and Sora and Riku feel so much stronger than Roxas and I do."

"Maybe because you've ascended," Roxas said. "But, what is this within me that I can feel? This dormant—"

"Dusk," Sora and Naminé said at once. "The Shield Star Wielder of Dusk, it's you Roxas."

"Really?" he asked, his head turning towards each of them in turn without his eyes opening. In fact, his lips barely even moved, as if the communication between them at this moment was at a deeper level than mere sound. "How can you tell?"

"We can feel it. But have you ever had a voice speak to you?" Kairi asked, "right when things seemed bleakest and it looked like everything was at an end?"

Roxas nodded his head. "Yes, and strength like I've never felt before threatened to rip my whole body apart if I didn't unleash it. But since then, I haven't felt it or heard another word from the voice."

"Maybe he's hiding himself from you," Sora wondered.

Riku glanced at Sora. "He?"

"Roxas' Keyblade, it's a he," Sora answered. "Just as both of yours are shes, and my two are a she and a he; Kairi's is a he too, and Naminé's is also a she."

"How can you tell?" Naminé asked.

Sora shrugged. "I don't know, I just know that they are what they are." He suddenly stiffened, something pressing in at the edge of his mind. He expanded the range with which he was feeling the presence of his friends, and Sora's eyes snapped open. His mouth opened as well, as their conversation had been little more than mutely murmured to one another yet understood, the thoughts of their words flickering between each other rather than the sounds. "He's behind and above me, move!"

The other four sets of cerulean, indigo, and aqua eyes opened up to the sight of the falling snow and the five ran in the opposite direction that Sora had declared. Seconds later the steel segments of Zabimaru's released state cut through the snow-covered ground and crashed into the rock where they had been standing.

"Very good," the Soul Reaper declared with an amused smile that had a small degree of approval to it. "You're learning even while you're trying to ditch training. Bit different from the way we sense reiatsu, but for you lot I suppose it works."

"He supposes that it works," Kairi huffed quietly, blinking the quickly falling snow from her eyes. "How about 'it does work'?"

"Worry about it later Kai," Riku told her, "let's just concentrate on running."

"Why are we running?" Roxas asked. "Why don't we fight him?" Riku glanced back.

"Uh, chocobo-head, in case you've forgotten, we've been fighting him for almost a week and still haven't beaten him yet. Sure, Naminé's with us now, but Sora and Kairi can't do anything. We're handicapped."

"You don't have to call me chocobo-head," Roxas muttered darkly. He looked up suddenly as a low rumbling noise started to fill their ears above the whistle of the wind, and the rumble gained the mechanical whine of engines. The clouds and falling snow prevented any visual signs, but a wide grin formed on his face after a few seconds. "They're back."

"You mean they're back?" Kairi asked. "Selphie and Tidus and the others?"

"Yeah," Roxas said over the noise. "Let's go swing by and welcome them back, and loudly sing Happy Birthday to embarrass Hayner!" A loud crash from behind them signalled another strike from Zabimaru, and each of them looked behind. Renji was still chasing them, back up to the city.

"You know what?" Riku asked from the head. "I'm going to withdraw my previous statement." He stopped, and Way to the Dawn appeared in his hand as he turned around. "You guys go on ahead, I'll hold him off!"

"You sure?" Roxas asked, slowing down and nearly stopping at Riku's side.

Riku glanced at him and smirked. "Just keep going blondie, I'll catch up. Tell the others that I said 'hi'." Roxas nodded, scowling at Riku's choice of a name to call him this time, and continued forward with the others.

"Good luck!" Sora called over his shoulder.

"You can take him Riku!" Kairi added, giving him her own encouragement. The silver-haired wielder gave them a smile and a thumbs-up before the other four had disappeared into the falling snow.

Renji was standing above Riku in the air as he liked to do to assert his dominance over Riku, or so the youth thought, and grinning at him. "So, you're looking for a repeat of the first time we matched swords Riku?" he asked.

Riku just looked up at him with a deadpan expression. "Dawn," he called quietly. Slipping out from his back, the spirit came, dressed in her cute white winter outfit.

"So much for playing hooky," she said with a serious expression on her face, slowly stepping out to the side and slightly in front of Riku. They turned to look at each other, and found that they were smiling. Raw determination to come out on top this time filled Riku as he looked at the confidence in Dawn's orange eyes, and he knew that the confidence he saw was her own confidence in him.

"Sora may be the Kingdom Key's Chosen Master and the Wielder of Twilight," Riku said to himself, his voice growing stronger as he gripped Way to the Dawn tighter while he blinked away the falling snow, "but I am the Wielder of Dawn! It's time to see how much strength of mine has been kept in reserve; time to see what an Ascended Legendary Wielder of Power is capable of!"

Renji smiled at Riku's words. "So you wanna play rough right from the start huh? Fine by me." He held Zabimaru out in front of him, and it started to glow with red light. "Bankai!" The wind that barely blew picked up suddenly and blew around Renji as Riku felt the Soul Reaper's strength grow. But by now he was used to feeling the pressure of the Soul Reaper's energy in his most powerful state, and it felt less, more bearable even, than it had yesterday. The snow flew around the ravine wildly by the sudden shift and change in the direction of the wind, and all that was on the ground was blown away to clear the path down into the Great Maw.

"Hihiō Zabimaru," Renji declared, the giant skeletal segmented snake coiled around him with a raised white head and rough, red, fur mane.

Golden light pooled around Riku's feet and he shot into the sky towards Renji with Dawn hovering just behind his body with her arms out wide. She glowered seriously, the air about both of them of supreme resolve to bring down Renji this time.

With a swing of the bone-blade still in his hands, Renji directed Hihiō Zabimaru towards them, the Bankai zanpakutō screeching as it dove for Riku. Dawn jumped up in front of her wielder and wrapped her arms as best as she could around the bone head that tried to crush them like it had so many times before. She couldn't stop its advance in its tracks, even now, but it slowed substantially as is ploughed towards the rock beneath. Riku wordlessly thanked Dawn; she had slowed it enough that he was able to twist around the white head and avoid the strike.

"Ray of Dawn!" Riku roared, zeroing in on Renji as he came in at the unprotected Soul Reaper. A single ray of golden light left Riku's left palm and streaked ahead of the boy for Renji, but with a quick flick of the Soul Reaper's wrist a few segments of Hihiō Zabimaru lifted up and blocked the ray's path. It detonated against the bone segments and they scattered away from the red-haired man in the golden light of the explosion. Renji grimaced, watching as they dropped away to the ground.

In the wake of the explosion, Riku stormed in with Way to the Dawn, slashing down towards Renji. The silver-haired youth's opponent quickly raised his own blade to counter the strike, but Renji was now clearly at a disadvantage. He could no longer use his sword with maximum flexibility because of the massive size that Hihiō Zabimaru had grown to. Riku darted around Renji, stabbing and slashing at the Soul Reaper, but Renji, while at a disadvantage, was still quick enough to fend off Riku's assault.

With a yell, the part of the sword that Renji did hold rose and fell quickly, and Riku noticed that red energy coiled through the segments of the man's Bankai and reformed it completely, the pieces blasted out of the loop put back into place. He heard Hihiō Zabimaru's screech from its head as the coiled skeletal serpent reared up from where it had taken Dawn to the ground and lunged out for the Keyblade Wielder. Riku darted away, pumping his legs as he skated through the falling snow on trails of golden light. Dawn appeared behind his back again as he just barely outran Renji's Bankai, the skull head crashing along the cliff's side instead of him.

"Good job," he told her. "I knew we were getting better."

"We can still do better," Dawn told him. "Unleash the power you now have."

Zabimaru streaked towards them again, and Riku turned and skated higher into the air, trying to ignore the cold that was beginning to seep into him. "Uh, yeah, that comes and goes Dawn. I can control my strength to a degree, but I don't particularly feel stronger right now than I did the last time we fought Renji."

"If you can't tap into the power that's now been awakened, you'll never have a hope of defeating Renji, let alone Maleficent's Nobodies," Dawn replied seriously. "You saw what Sora and his digimon partner did to Xayn Shu, and he still wasn't quite down for the count. You need to be able to draw on your strength and use it at will, and not just with the rays."

Riku nodded his head, thinking that he was starting to understand what Dawn was telling him. She came in front of him again, crossing her arms and taking the brunt of Zabimaru's massive bone head as it came out ahead and struck against them. But this time they were too close to the cliff-face, and Dawn hadn't prepped the strength she needed as before, and both of them were driven into the stone walls that surrounded them. Riku hissed in pain as he felt his jeans tear against a jagged rock in the cliff and he felt blood trickle down his leg while aching equally from the blunt blow Zabimaru had given his chest.

He started to fall, but before he was halfway to the ground his mind came back to him and his Sun skates formed at his feet again, leaving trails of golden light in their wake as he zipped towards Renji. His left fist was bursting with red, gold, and black light, and he thrust it out towards the Soul Reaper Lieutenant with a roar of "Breaking Aura!" A circular blast of the gold, red, and black fire burst from his fist, but Renji whipped Zabimaru and the Baboon King wrapped itself around his body. Riku's attack struck against the bone scales, and fizzled out.

Seeing Renji surrounded by seemingly impenetrable bone segments, Riku flipped backwards and Dawn hovered in the air next to him as blood continued to run down his leg. Dammit. Why can't I find the strength Dawn was talking about?

-A-D-

The snow was still falling thickly as Sora and the other three made their way back up through the streets of Radiant Garden towards the gummi base where they knew that their friends would be returning from. Numerous questions of what they'd experienced since parting with them earlier in the week rose into their minds, as well as thoughts of what they would tell their friends about their own doings or just what they would say when greeting them.

Sora brushed some more of it out of his face while he kicked at it with his jogging feet. "Sheesh! I've never seen so much of this stuff falling at one time before," he grumbled.

"I know," Kairi added, taking some of it out of the strands of her red hair. "It's like Radiant Garden really is a whole 'nother world from the Islands."

"I'm still not used to it," Naminé added. "I've watched it fall for hours sometimes and I still can't believe that snow is actually falling instead of rain."

Roxas sniffed. "I still don't like that it's cold," he added, shuddering.

"Think I do?" Sora asked.

"No, I know that you don't," Roxas answered him.

"Come on," Kairi said. "We're almost there."

A few minutes later they made it to the base, and the four stopped dead in their tracks. All across the snow-covered flight line there were many grey, blue, red, yellow, green, and purple gummi ships that looked to be about twice the size of the Highwind, but were still smaller than the Roadster and would have been dwarfed in size by the SCS Judicator, and especially by the Avenger, and the startling thing was that they barely had any visible weapon emplacements on them, unlike the Highwind or the Hunter. Nevertheless, maybe fifteen dozen of these transport ships had landed on the flight line, and the thousands of army personnel were milling about and shouting orders, trying to get reorganized so that they might march back down to their barracks in the Great Maw, while those already organized stood or huddled around, trying to keep warm. They were half-veiled by the swiftly falling snow, making the whole scene look more like it was suited to a movie rather than real life.

Out of the winds and snows came the call of chocobos, something that the four had not expected, and, squinting, they were able to make out the tall brightly feathered birds being led out of several of the slightly larger transports, and one man was already mounted and directing those bringing out the mounts. He turned slightly, shaking the snow out from his hair like it was nothing, and Kairi gasped.

"Master…" she whispered, her eyes widening.

Impossibly, he turned his head in their direction as if hearing Kairi. They couldn't see the man's facial expression, but his right hand left the reigns of his chocobo firmly in his left, and the newly freed appendage went up to his back, and drew his massive black claymore from its scabbard. At this distance and in these conditions it was impossible to hear the ringing note of the blade being drawn, but the sight of the massive dark weapon rising up above him and his chocobo, held aloft with the Chief Guardian's mighty pride, was unmistakable. The chocobo he rode reared its head and belted out a loud 'Kweh!" that brought the attention of everyone to it and its rider for a brief moment before following Garda's intense gaze.

For a few tortuous seconds, the four stood rooted to the ground, breathing into the moving cold, snow-filled, air. Their breath didn't even steam the air with warm moist clouds anymore. Each one drew within himself or herself, painfully conscious that the entire attention of an army that had grown out of their call to arms against Maleficent and the Heartless was on them, and they searched for the courage to keep themselves from fleeing.

Several faces broke through to the front of the crowd, and they saw Hayner, Olette, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, and all the others morally supporting Pence as he pushed himself forward on a wheelchair. They were all dressed in their greens, and their berets and the green trench coats they wore were flecked with the white snow that had landed on them already. Pence met their eyes with a smile underneath his jet-black hair, even though it looked like he was still in pain from the injury he'd sustained from Xayn Shu, despite the attention given to him. His right hand left the wheel's rim and went beside his lap. Pence then raised it, and tightly gripped in his hand there was his small staff with its yellow wizard's hat on top. He lifted it up as high into the air as he could, and cheered.

The dams broke, and loud roars, cheers, and hails shouted with passion blew through the snow and wind to the four. Anxiety and fear were banished from their hearts, and indescribable emotion welled up within to take their place.

"Imagine that," Kairi whispered though a choked sob, wiping away a tear from her eyes with a hand, "we come here to welcome them, and instead they welcome us."

"All of them," Naminé added, nodding and sniffing, and not due to the cold.

"Well of course," Hayner said, striding right up to them at the spearhead of a group that had rushed forward. "You guys all went and vanished on us right after that battle, and we never would have made it through without you, our heroes!" He yelled out that last word, and there was another cheer, especially from those within his and Olette's Companies.

"You don't give yourselves enough cred—"

"No Sora," Hayner cut him off. "I'm serious. We wouldn't have gotten through that night without you coming to help us."

"Like we would have said no?" Roxas asked, smiling and shoving Hayner on the shoulder. "Come on, let's get you some ice cream to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" Tidus asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Olette asked the blond, smiling beneath her beret and brown hair. "It's Hayner's birthday today." The young man blushed and bowed his head.

"Then we really do have to celebrate tonight don't we?" Tidus asked, smirking.

Hayner's head popped up, but he was smiling. "For more reasons than one. In case you've forgotten Tidus, I've been promoted to Sergeant."

Roxas' mouth dropped open before he could stop himself. He quickly corrected it though. "That's great Hayner!" he told him. "Or should I say, congratulations Sergeant Garneky."

"Looks like we've got more stuff to celebrate then," Kairi said.

"Way to go man," Sora told him, clapping him on the back with his left hand.

"Yeah yeah yeah," he replied, waving off the brunet Keyblade Master. He was rolling his shoulder muscles. "And ouch, that kinda stung Sora. I'm just surprised that it was your brother who recommended me for sergeant Olette."

"Really?" she asked. "Odeon did?"

"Yeah," Selphie said, nodding. "Hayner told me." She also caught Kairi's eyes, and the red-haired girl blushed and looked away at the suggestive look that the gossip brunette was giving her. "And I also heard something interesting happening between you and—"

"Girl!"

Kairi silently gave thanks to Zeus as Garda rode up to them in the snows. The whole world did not need to know about that. "Yes Master?" she asked submissively, as had been drilled into her over the months she'd trained under him.

"We of the Islands are joining in your fight," he told them. "Twice now we've been attacked without cause, and we will sit quietly and grumble no longer. We are taking up arms in righteous vengeance. How have you been since you left us so suddenly?" Garda asked, shifting gears suddenly. "Your training been progressing well?"

"Well, uh, we've hit a small snag in our training Master," Kairi replied, looking down. She looked up again. "But we'll work even harder once we've overcome it."

Garda nodded. "Very good," he said. "I'd have hated to have my favourite pupil become weak right when she needs to become stronger."

"But, I thought Kairi was your only apprentice," Naminé said, looking between Garda and her sister in confusion.

There was a frustrated growl in the man's voice as he returned her comment. "You're right, was. I've somehow managed—"

"Sora! Roxas!"

"—to pick up two more," the Chief Guardian grumbled, turning his head as two young people rode through the ranks enthusiastically to greet them.

The twin Keyblade Masters felt their eyes widen of their own accord as they saw their cousins Sade and Sikora riding atop the chocobos before the reigned them in just behind Garda. "No," Sora said, shaking his head. "No, you are not here!"

"They killed Beaky Sora," Sade answered, painfully aware that the chocobo he was riding was not the one he had been raising himself. "Your fight is now my fight."

"And my brother's is mine," Sikora added. "I loved Beaky as much as he did, and even though I am younger, I'm not letting him go off to fight by himself."

Sora scowled and turned around, his back facing both of his cousins. When he spoke his voice was low and far more serious than his voice normally was. "Go home Sade, go home Sikora." The words sounded rough and uncouth even to Sora's ears, and he understood why as soon as he'd said them. He'd never actually ordered someone before, and his lack of experience in commanding was in his voice.

"What!" Sade said angrily. "You can't be serious Sora!"

"This isn't your battle," Sora answered, still turned away. All were looking at him, some in confusion, but only Kairi, Naminé, and Roxas in understanding and sympathy.

"This is our fight now as much as it is yours!" Sade snapped back. "We want to fight and we will fight, and nothing that you or anyone else can say will—"

"Will stop you!" Sora fired back, turning back to look at his male cousin while Sikora just sat back in the saddle, watching the exchange between her brother and cousin.

"That's right!" retorted Sade, the snow swirling around his face. "Nothing you say will change my resolve."

"Tidus, give me your sword," Sora asked.

"What?" the blond asked, startled. "Why don't you just—?"

"Tidus," Sora ordered again, his voice calm and patient, "give me your sword, please." The words still sounded out of place on his tongue. Still not understanding why Sora was asking for it, Tidus handed over the crystal-blue blade Brotherhood. Sora held it in his right hand, feeling the weight of the sword. It was just a little bit lighter than the Keyblade felt in his hands, but he knew that it was a strong weapon. The brunet turned to look at Sade again. "Dismount and draw your sword," he said.

Sade's complexion swiftly changed from the angry challenging one with which he had been rebuking Sora, to one of uncertain, anxious, embarrassment. "But—but I don't…" he began, getting off of his mount.

"Here," Hayner said, handing him the sword he used. Sade's hands buckled slightly at the surprise of the weight that was now in his hands, and a look of awe came into his face. He was holding onto a sword: a weapon, and an instrument of strength and power.

"Come at me," Sora told him, holding the Brotherhood out lightly to his side.

"Excuse me?" Sade asked, incredulous.

"Have at me," Sora repeated. "Come on. Cut me down, or go home. This isn't your war."

"This is my war!" Sade snarled, though his face didn't have the same conviction his voice did. He charged at Sora, and swung hard right for the Keyblade Master's left side with both hands.

His eyes widened in astonishment as Sora turned into the strike and raised his right hand up, holding the Brotherhood's point down with his back facing his cousin. The back of the crystal sword held fast against Sade's swing, stopping him cold. Sora turned away again and spun the Brotherhood up and down, striking against the flat of the sword that Sade held. The farm-boy almost yelped as he felt the sword yanked out of his grip and it fell to the ground. Just as it was entering the snow, a sharp pain struck his knee, courtesy of Sora striking it with the flat of Tidus' sword.

Sora handed the weapon back to its owner and he dropped down to where Sade was now kneeling in the cold, wet snow, wincing at the sudden pain in his kneecap. It was already diminishing, but it was sudden and unexpected. Sora looked Sade in the eyes, and cerulean blue met jade. Sade's eyes were fierce, with the pain of defeat, the desire to continue fighting, and the rejection of his cousin's words melding together in the green held within.

Sora dropped his eyes first and sighed. "Look, Sade," he said quietly so that only the younger teen in front of him could hear, calming his voice from the harshness he had used earlier. "If you want to fight I really can't stop you, but let me first tell you why I don't want you and your sister fighting. The Heartless and the Nobodies… they aren't going to show you any mercy. If you go to fight, but can't, you're just a burden to everyone else and you might not make it out of there alive. Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Asterix, the King and I, we can't be everywhere at once; we won't be able to keep you safe."

"I don't want to sit around to be protect—" Sade started.

Sora calmly raised a hand, but it was a struggle. "Let me finish," he said, staying his cousin's brash tongue. Sade was quiet for a few seconds and Sora continued. "I have lost my father to Davy Jones and the Flying Dutchman, I have lost my mother to Maleficent's henchmen, and I never knew my grandparents. Apart from Roxas, who is technically me, you, Sikora, Auntie Victoria and Uncle Sal are the only blood family I have left. I don't want any of you hurt. The enemies fighting us now are stronger than any I've fought before, and I don't want you mixed up in fighting them; I don't want to lose anyone else in my family."

Sade was quiet for a second, and Sora looked up to see that there was a new light of understanding in his eyes. But buried was still that fiery desire. "You won't Sora," Sade said evenly. "We aren't going to die on you. We'll get better, you'll see. We'll be able to fight too."

Sora sighed slightly, and he suddenly felt like he was much older than he was. "Alright, but I'll hold you to that."

"You got it," Sade said, rising from where he was still kneeling in the snow. "In a month, I'll be giving you a run for your money, just watch me." Sora rose, and nodded at him.

A loud voice suddenly rose up through the crowd. "1st Division, we're moving out in five minutes! Come on ladies and gentlemen, let's go! Let's go!"

"Oops," Selphie said from where she had been talking with Kairi, Naminé, and Kia. "We've got to go. See you tonight then!"

"Tonight," Kairi said, nodding her head and smiling.

"Boy, we're moving out too," Garda said, gesturing towards the bird that the boy rode.

"Coming Master," Sade answered. He flashed Sora a smile as he rushed to mount his chocobo again. "See you!"

"Oh, by the way Tidus," Sora said quickly, catching his attention after giving his cousins a quick nod. "You may come across Riku and a man named Renji having a duel in the ravine. If they haven't finished yet by the time you guys get there, don't try and get in their way. You'll only get killed."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Tidus smirked. "If Riku's got a chance of getting his butt kicked I've gotta see it 'cause I sure haven't seen it yet."

The four stood quietly on the side for many of minutes as the two divisions marched past and out, over six thousands leaving in the falling snow. The ground shook with their falling feet, and the rumble of their cadence and the sight of the warriors saluting the four delved deep into the bodies of the four Keyblade Wielders.

"Does anyone but me feel like we're growing up too fast?" Sora asked as the final group left, a half-hour later.

"Maybe in some ways," Naminé said, kneeling down while Kairi shivered in the cold, "but in others…" She fell silent and Sora turned to look at her.

A ball of something cold and wet struck him in the face.

Sora spat snow out of his face as Roxas and Kairi suddenly started to laugh. A wicked grin came to his lips and he swiped his hand through the snow beneath him, spraying both Naminé and Kairi with the white frozen water. Kairi stopped laughing and she bent down, her hands scooping snow together into a ball.

Naminé had it much easier. With a small wave of her hand the snow on the ground came together on its own, forming into four loosely packed perfect spheres able to easily fit into a person's palm. She grabbed two of them herself and grinned while stepping past her spare ammunition to guard it.

Roxas flung a horribly made missile at the blonde, and it broke apart and splattered Naminé across her chest; they were far too close for anyone to miss one another. Sora turned and ran for normal streets, faking left but going right on his path to leave the base. A snowball thrown by Kairi narrowly missed him, but would have struck him had his move not been a deke. All thoughts of growing up too quickly flew from his mind as he scooped up some snow and hastily packed it into a snowball of his own before flinging it at Roxas. The blond dodged the snowball, and it continued onward and downward and struck another person in the nose. Sora almost froze in place in surprise as he caught sight of the massive round ears of black underneath a hood.

-A-D-

The ravine was bottlenecked with the soldiers and chocobos of the United Forces army, the mass of men and beasts brought to a complete standstill in a column that stretched out to the repaired gates and was dispersed throughout districts near the Bailey as they waited to get moving again.

The cause? Riku and Renji Abarai were still battling each other above the ravine. Though not nearly an eighth of the soldiers-in-training and officers could see the Soul Reaper, enough of them could to realize the danger of getting between the two combatants, and it was frightening enough to those who couldn't see the Soul Reaper to watch rocks breaking off the cliffs of their own will to tumble down the side.

"Come on Riku!" Tidus was shouting in encouragement from the front, part of the audience that could see both combatants and so was up at the front despite the risk to themselves. "Knock him out!"

Truthfully, the sight of Renji's Bankai, though he had no idea what it was called or even what it was that Riku was fighting against, made him want to get in there and fight it himself. Maestor Seymour Guado had become far more intimidating than a gigantic skeletal snake sword by the end of his and Wakka's own journey in Spira. Although he didn't feel nearly as strong as he did when they had fought Yu Yevon, he still felt like he could take that thing on with Riku.

In response to Tidus, Riku grunted and rolled his shoulders as he stood in the air with small pools of golden light around his feet. Renji stood across from him, and looked a little haggard with a cut here and there, but nowhere near as poorly off as Riku did. Blood was dripping down both his legs and had stained his pants, tiny pieces of his jacket and jeans had been ripped off, exposing his flesh and the wounds he'd gotten on them to the cold, snowy air. He gripped Way to the Dawn tightly in his right hand, and it was burning with gold and black flames. Dawn was hovering in front of Riku in her white winter clothes (that seemed far more worse for wear than she herself did), and Hihiō Zabimaru was wrapped around Renji and reared up behind its master.

"I'll admit, you're doing pretty good," Renji said. "But you've still got a long way to go there Riku. I haven't felt a smidge of the strength I felt that you had earlier. If I was younger, I'd think that I'd just imagined it."

"If you were younger," Riku scoffed. "You're talking like an old man!"

Renji sneered. "Although I may not look like it, I've lived over a hundred years more than you have. I have fought countless battles more than you have, and it shows!" he yelled, swinging down the part of the sword that he held. Zabimaru reared up slightly higher before lunging towards Riku and Dawn again.

The Keyblade Spirit crossed her arms defensively again and Riku rushed in beside her, swinging the burning Way to the Dawn down at the white skull head of the zanpakutō as it was about to ram into them. It stopped for about two seconds, and both of them strained to hold back its might. Then they were overpowered as Hihiō Zabimaru gave a shrieking noise again, and it flicked its head up and struck their fronts. Riku and Dawn flew backwards, their backs striking against the now ragged blue rocks of the cliffs, and they just opened their eyes in time to see the Baboon King's fanged head zooming towards them as they sat in a slump.

"And I thought that Sora was the only person who you'd let beat you," Dawn muttered, shaking her head.

"I never let him beat me," Riku answered.

"So are we letting Renji beat us?" Dawn asked. "Or is he actually beating us?"

Riku felt something, and looked away for a brief moment. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Renji's Bankai was about two seconds away from grasping them in its teeth, but his vision had zeroed in on something else through the haze of the snow. Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Naminé had returned, and for all but Sora they were looking at him with horrified faces, but there was one other there whose look of confidence matching Sora's struck a chord in Riku's heart.

Mickey was watching him.

In the sight of his friends and the many hundreds of people who would be fighting Maleficent alongside him he could not appear weak, he could not appear as if he could be defeated, he could only be seen as strong. Riku's wounded pride in having been beaten by Renji continuously over the majority of the past week flared up, and the young man uttered a single word.

"No."

Zabimaru's white skull crashed into the cliffs, pummelling the blue rock into dust and scattering the falling snows. Kairi gasped and placed a hand to her mouth while Roxas winced. Naminé cringed and looked away, and more than a good number of those who were able to see Renji and his Bankai did the same. But Sora and King Mickey watched unflinchingly at where Renji's Bankai had struck.

Golden light burst through the cloud of dust and the falling snow, and the skull head of Hihiō Zabimaru was thrown aside. "What?" Renji asked aloud, looking at the golden glow. It was too bright for anyone to make anything out of it, but then it surged forward, about the size of Riku, and streaked for Renji fast enough to make the neck of anyone following it hurt.

Renji and Hihiō Zabimaru vanished to reappear higher up, and the Soul Reaper's face showed that he was slightly unnerved as he stared at the brightly glowing light. The golden light was even strong enough to cut through the falling snow out where Sora was standing and melt it before it could touch him. Renji grunted in pain suddenly as blood spurted out of his shoulder; his robes were cut. Rays shot out from the golden light, and Renji quickly brought the bone segments of his Bankai between him and them. Unlike before though, this time the rays pierced the vertebrae through both sides, but stopped there amidst the red glow inside of the segments. The 6th Division's Lieutenant eyed their pointed tips with anxiety for a moment before they blew apart in golden blasts. The segments they were caught in were destroyed, and Renji flew backwards from the force of the blast, reforming his zanpakutō as he went.

"What the heck was that?" Kia asked loudly, the archer watching with wide eyes that stared at the glow.

Sora smiled and looked at his friends and girlfriend. "You know, I'm going to have to fight Riku again. He's going to want to settle the score between us."

"Huh?" Roxas asked. Sora nodded his head towards the golden light that was just now starting to dim. Within the gold was Riku, and his clothes had changed. The silver-haired Wielder of Dawn was now dressed in a loose fitting light and dark grey cloak. Bronze coloured pants could be seen underneath the cloak and there were two golden chains dangling by the cloak's hood, resting on his clavicles. The chains ended with an image of a burning Sun, and the zipper down the cloak's front was as golden as the chains were. In his right hand rested Way to the Dawn, as always, and in his left Destiny's Embrace had appeared. Dawn was still beside him, but instead of the puffy white winter jacket and clothes she had had on before she was dressed instead in a black short-sleeved shirt, tight black pants, and black sneakers. Her gloves had turned black as well, and there was a yellow band on her left forearm. The Heartless emblem that had been on her gloves had become yellow, and on her black shirt was a red-gold design of a Sun on a horizon on both the front and the back. Riku stood upon a pool of golden-orange light, no longer just around his feet but surrounding the area underneath them in a five-foot radius.

Renji smirked. "So not only does your strength increase, but you get an outfit change too. What do you call this?"

"Horizon Form," Riku answered. He glanced at his partner. "Dawn."

"Finally starting to really wake up huh?" she asked, smiling. "I knew that we'd chosen the right guy. Let's do this."

Riku nodded and flew up at Renji, the light he stood upon lifting him up and swirling around his body to propel him upwards. Dawn flew right next to him, a look of confidence in her orange eyes that matched the aquamarine ones of her Wielder. Renji roared and swung the sword in his hand and Hihiō Zabimaru shot straight down for them. Riku and Dawn dodged to the sides and avoided it on opposite ends, flying past the segments that shot down in the opposite direction. Riku glanced behind him and saw that the head had reared up and was twisting around to come at them again.

Dawn flew over to his side and Riku held out his right arm, twisting around so that his front was facing the bone head that was bearing down on him again. Dawn landed on her own Keyblade, and the weapon filled suddenly with fierce orange and red energy. It covered Dawn completely and her head bent back as a sigh left her lips. The energy rippled like fire and swirled like wind around her back, and there it shifted into two colours: white and black. Two wings sprouted from her back, tearing small circular holes in the fabric of her shirt where they joined her body, and one of these wings was white and feathery while the other was black and leathery; exactly like the two wings that formed the guard of Way to the Dawn, except that both of them exuded a faint orange-gold aura from them.

Dawn's eyes opened, and she tensed her body while a corner of her mouth twitched up in a smile. "Angle of the Dawn, take flight on your fiery wings!" Riku yelled, swinging Way to the Dawn in an arc towards Hihiō Zabimaru's white head. Dawn shot forward like she had been fired from a cannon, her wings stretching out with trails of fire flowing behind them. Her left and right hands came together on her right side, and what looked like roses of fire quickly sprouted from them as her left hand rose up in front of her while her right hand stayed put. Golden light flowed from where the roses touched, and then it dimmed, revealing a long light grey staff with spiked scarlet orbs on either end. She took it up in both of her hands just before she and the skull head of Hihiō Zabimaru met, and her lithe arms swung the staff across with a yell of "Hiyah!" It smote the Bankai's nose with a deafening crack, and both were held in place as an invisible wave of energy rushed out from their meeting, sweeping away the snow and blowing berets off of watching soldiers.

While Dawn did this, Riku continued on to Renji, and the red-haired Soul Reaper quickly held out his free left palm. "Hadō #31, Shakkahō!" A ball of red energy formed in his hand and barrelled for Riku. They were too close and the kidō was too fast for the boy to dodge, and at this close range, Renji thought that this would end it for sure.

But Riku wasn't about to allow the Lieutenant to dominate him anymore. He'd had enough of losing to him, and losing in general. If he couldn't defeat Renji or at least bring him to a draw, there was no way that he'd be able to take on Nobodies like Xayn Shu and win. The red light of Renji's spell filled his eyes, and Riku called on the strength he'd managed to tap into and slammed the hilts of his two Keyblades together. "Shield of the Rising Sun!" he roared as twin lights of orange and red formed at the flower tip of Destiny's Embrace and the angel-wing tip of Way to the Dawn. They spun clockwise until the circle was complete, and a rosy-golden shell barrier formed in front of Riku.

Renji's spell struck it head on and the cold air combusted and erupted into flame and smoke. Riku couldn't be seen at all as the smoke enveloped the whole area where he had been, but suddenly it all blew away, and he was still standing on the pool of golden-orange light; his breathing was heavy, and he still looked ragged from the earlier punishment he'd taken, but from Renji's spell there appeared to have been no new damage to his body.

"Go for it Riku," Sora whispered, smiling.

The silver-haired youth shot up for Renji again and slashed down at the Soul Reaper with both Keyblades. Renji was just able to catch them with his bone blade, but despite his block he was thrown down and crashed into the cliff. His massive Bankai flailed in disarray as its master's position shifted and Dawn struck it hard with her double-ended staff; artfully spinning and stabbing the weapon around she dismembered it, the segments of Hihiō Zabimaru dropping to the ground.

Both of Riku's Keyblades started to glow with the same fire-rose light that Dawn's hands had right before the staff appeared in her grasp, and Riku easily spun Way to the Dawn and Destiny's Embrace around his body in five quick circles. Solid red roses formed in the air, and the area behind them where the light had passed glowed with the bright light of the Sun. Riku let go of both of his Keyblades and they hovered in the air in front of him. The heads of the roses turned towards the Keyblades, and their green stems and thorns started to glow with the same light that was behind them as they absorbed it. Beams of the absorbed light left each red rose and engulfed the two Keyblades. The background light was slowly draining away, being given to the two blades, and Dawn above Riku struck the final few vertebrae near the head of Hihiō Zabimaru with so much force that they actually shattered. The skull of the Bankai dropped to the ground and a cloud of dust rose into the air as it smashed rocks apart on its landing. Riku's hands went out and snatched up Way to the Dawn and Destiny's Embrace. He held them aloft as the last of the light was absorbed into his Keyblades. Destiny's Embrace had now been superimposed with the look of a thorny bramble with the colour of the light surrounding it switching back and forth between darkness and light, but one could never quite tell at any moment just which one it was, while Way to the Dawn was awash with red and gold flame. "Fly," Riku roared, "Javelin of the Sun God and Thorn of Night's End, Dawn's Vengeance!" With another yell he hurled them both down at where Renji was.

Those watching, especially Sora, the King, and their friends, were able to feel the tremendous amount of power that was flying towards the ground. They had maybe a second to act if they didn't want to get injured by the discharge they knew was coming. King Mickey's Keyblade and hands flashed out and a meniscus of golden light formed in front of them at the front ranks; Naminé's hands came together and a layer of pearl joined the gold, and then Pence, Olette, Jeffery from Destiny Islands, and Charlie from Twilight Town quickly added the turquoise and honeycomb of shell and reflect spells.

Even with the barrier, it was a struggle for all of them to stay on their feet and for Pence to keep his wheelchair from flipping over, let alone rolling backwards, when the two Keyblades struck. The lights flared over a hundred feet in the air, and beyond the barrier the watchers could see nothing. Heat bludgeoned their faces, the snow that had fallen even as far away as the walls and gate to enter the ravine and those fallen into the Great Maw began to melt.

Above the light, Riku and Dawn watched it all occur, and both of them were sweating. Riku looked like he was ready to settle down for a long nap, but Dawn at least looked a bit better. Blood continued to drip down from Riku's limbs.

"Did you get him?" Dawn asked as she flew down to his level, though clearly not convinced with her own question. Her wings flapped twice to bring her to a stop just in front of him, and she looked back to see her Wielder shake his head as Way to the Dawn and Destiny's Embrace appeared in his hands again.

"I don't know," he answered as the light beneath started to fade, revealing the group that was watching. "That guy's head is thicker than Sora's."

Dawn's right hand clutched the staff and her left went to her hip as she scoffed. "Typical."

"You look good like that by the way," Riku told her. Dawn smiled.

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," she answered. "But I gotta say Rik, even though I'd tap that, you look like some kind of priest."

"That's what I was thinking!" Kairi hollered. Riku and Dawn looked down at the group assembled and Kairi continued. "But you still look great Riku!"

"Just don't lose too much blood and die on us!" Tidus yelled.

"Yuffie'd never let us hear the end…of…it," added Naminé, finishing slowly as their eyes widened and the barrier that had been created to protect them dropped. Where there had once been stone and cliff there was now a deep chasm, the sides of which were not smooth but cracked and pulverized. From this angle they couldn't see how deep it went, but the gap in the cliffs where the rock was now gone without a trace stretched for at least sixty feet, with chucks of stone and hidden crystal loudly breaking off and falling into the chasm to smash against the ground two seconds after vanishing from sight. At the base of this, and amazingly not slipping and falling into the abyss himself, sat Renji in a crater that was sloped towards the devastation wrought by Riku's attack.

The Soul Reaper coughed up blood, and pushed himself up to a standing position using the still bone-blade of his zanpakutō. Despite the heavy beating he had taken, he was smiling. Coils of red energy suddenly flared around him, and the remaining vertebrae of Hihiō Zabimaru rose up from the ground and flew about. They came together, starting at the hilt in Renji's hands, and the white skull of the Baboon King rose again with its red mane and howled as it coiled and wrapped around Renji.

"No fair!" Sora muttered. "What's it going to take for Riku to beat this guy?" Sora stopped as Renji suddenly started to talk.

"Hey, Riku!" he shouted. "I guess you're in luck, because I think that each of us only has enough energy left for one last move. (He reared the hilt of Hihiō Zabimaru up behind him) I hope that you can defend as well as you attack, because if you and your Keyblade survive this, then I'll see no need for you to continue training with me and Chad."

Seeing the serious smile on Renji's face at having been driven to his extreme limits, Riku smiled despite himself and prepared himself. Dawn's countenance was a little different, and her tone was all business. "Riku, stab me with myself."

Riku stopped and stared at the physical manifestation of his Keyblade's soul. "What?"

"Stab me in the back beneath the wings with me," Dawn repeated, "and then turn me one-quarter clockwise. After that, don't resist anything; let anything that comes to you happen, including the name! The difference between knowing the name and not knowing can be five times!"

"But…"

Renji reared his sword back further before whipping it out towards them. Hihiō Zabimaru began to twist in the air as red spiritual energy flared from beneath each vertebra.

"Alright fine!" Riku yelled, stabbing forward with Way to the Dawn. The Keyblade sank into her Avatar's back with no resistance, and Dawn gave a small 'oh!' before falling silent.

"Hikōtsu Taihō!" Renji roared as the energy underneath his Bankai's bones surged to new heights and formed at its wide open maw.

Riku twisted Way to the Dawn exactly as Dawn had told him, and the girl's arms stretched out to her sides. Folds of golden light flowed out from her body and swirled around her, joining with one another and stretching out like a massive web. Riku felt all of his remaining strength begin to drain away and the desire to shout something overcame him. "Eternal Buckler of the Dawn!"

The golden light surged back into Dawn, and her dark and white wings enveloped her body. The staff she carried bent until it became a full circle, and it became covered in the scarlet spikes that had adorned either end. Riku slid his Keyblade out as the thought came to him, and the spiked circle planted itself atop her white and black wings. Suddenly those wings shifted to orange or gold or red or yellow or black or white, Riku couldn't tell just which, and her entire body rapidly expanded until it was a circular buckler with a sixty-foot radius. The shield was thick, and no matter what colour it appeared at the time to the onlooker there were clear designs upon it with a ring of crystal scarlet spikes that fanned out like the rays of the Sun set around the furthest protrusion, which was that of a woman's face.

All of this took place within three quick seconds, and then the blast of red energy that had been building up in Hihiō Zabimaru's mouth was fired. Its path could barely be followed before it struck against the massive shield, and everyone felt pressured to stay standing as the sky above them lit up with more flame and smoke than a half-hour of constant fireworks. Hihiō Zabimaru came apart and dropped to the ground, and Renji himself fell down onto his knees and then all the way forward, completely drained of all his energy left to fight with.

Seconds passed, and the smoke slowly began to clear, and when it did they were all greeted with the mammoth shield, completely intact even after taking the punishing hit. It shattered suddenly, and Riku was revealed behind it, dropping to the ground. His Keyblades vanished as he fell, and the robes he had been in vanished to be replaced by the dark grey hooded jacket and blue jeans he had first worn.

Sora, King Mickey, and Kairi all caught him at the same moment before he would have struck the ground, and Roxas and Naminé rushed up with their other friends and as many of the soldiers who could crowd around them. Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka quickly barked at them to stand back, and they complied, grudgingly.

Riku sighed suddenly and he greeted them by opening of his aquamarine eyes. He raised his right hand and gave them a 'thumbs-up'. "I told you I'd hold him off," he whispered tiredly, and in pain.

Sora chuckled, and Naminé laughed, and Kairi hugged him, at which Riku winced. "Yeah," the red-head said, "but you still have the girliest Keyblade there is Riku."

"Stop calling her a girly Keyblade or I'll dare you to one-up me," Riku answered cringing as he laughed.

"Gosh, you did great Riku," King Mickey congratulated him, "but I think we'd better get ya up to the castle or the hospital. You could use a rest."

"No more hospitals today," Riku muttered, his eyelids fluttering. "Just get me a bed." He was quiet for a second. "Hey, Sora, Roxas…"

"Hm? Yeah Riku?" the brunet asked.

"That's how it's done," he said, smirking. Riku never even got to hear either of their retorts, having fallen asleep the instant after he said his piece.

-A-D-

I know that a certain someone is about to ask, and yes, all you people out there who want to can use the moves Riku just used if you so wish, just let me know first which of you out there actually want to and please give credit.

In addition, there is some very good KH related news that I would like to share with you all. In a recent interview with Nomura, it has been revealed that there are three new KH titles in the works, one of which he plans to release by the end of this year! Three new titles, names not even announced yet, and he plans to release one of them by January! In addition, KH III will not be the end of Kingdom Hearts, or even the end of Sora's story, but will be more of a completion of the 'Xehanort Chronicles' of Kingdom Hearts. Sora is to be the hero to the end, and it's been revealed why Kairi can wield a Keyblade. So it isn't for just that moment in The Castle That Never Was that she will wield a Keyblade for! which means that we could very well be seeing Kairi out there killing Heartless along with Sora and Riku in future games. Wouldn't that be AWESOME!

That's enough now. If you want more, KHInsider and Heartstation have got the buzz.

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk