Guest: I've had a couple of people ask me similar questions. It's flattering to know that you guys want the story to continue! I haven't yet announced whether or not I'm writing a sequel, though. I'll let you know once this one is over. :)

LostInWonderlandd: Aw, yay! I'm glad you like it! I don't know if Riku is underappreciated by others, but he is definitely my favorite canon character. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!

FadedPhantom: Glad you liked it! Yes, we will definitely get some more Riku and Meli moments. :)

Nyxie Is A Gamer Nerd: Yep, he's definitely cray. No one monologues quite like Xemnas!

Coolmegan123: Hmm, I have a feeling I know who you're talking about that might show up...I'll never tell, though! ;) Yeah, one of my goals with this story was actually telling "the other side of the story" as much as possible. It's a lot more fun to imagine what the other people were doing than just writing down exactly what happened in the game, anyway!

A/N: One new follower...hi there!


The wait this time was even longer and more agonizing than the first, despite mine and Kairi's conversations. The only good thing about the anxiety eating away at my chest was that it was enough to keep my adrenaline going. I could feel the utter exhaustion lurking just behind that, waiting for its chance to pounce, but I couldn't let it take over just yet.

"Are you sure you don't need to go home?" Kairi asked eventually, watching me chew on my thumbnail.

"And have to wait even longer to find out if they're okay? No thanks," I retorted.

"Yeah, I know," Kairi replied quietly. "I just...don't really know how you're still standing right now."

I dropped my hand and glanced over at her, feeling bad for snapping. "Sorry. I know you mean well. But...I can't leave."

"I wouldn't be able to, either," Kairi admitted.

"It's not like I really have anywhere to go, anyway," I added with a huff. "I don't even know where I'm gonna end up when all of this is over." I hadn't really even thought about that fact before now. I guess this ever being over seemed like such a far-off possibility that there hadn't been a reason to consider it. But now the end was hopefully quite near, almost tangible, and the thought that I had absolutely nowhere to go was a bit terrifying.

Kairi wrinkled her brow. "You don't...have a home? Family?"

"Nope. None of the above."

I could feel Kairi staring at me, but didn't meet her gaze. Finally she spoke up again. "Well, you should come back to Destiny Islands with us, then. I'm sure we could find somewhere for you to live there. You could come to school with Sora and Riku and me!"

That thought made me laugh aloud. School? I guess that's what fifteen year olds were technically supposed to be doing. I hadn't been to school since I had run away from the group home, and it seemed completely bizarre to be sitting here in the Realm of Darkness, on the roof of a madman's castle, waiting to see if our friends were going to come back alive from fighting said madman with their magical weapons, and talking about going to school with those same friends. School. Such an ordinary, mundane, normal-life thing. Maybe that was exactly what I needed after all of this.

"We'll see," I answered simply.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed once more, and Riku, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were standing in front of us. "Grim!" I breathed, relief flooding through me. I started to rush to meet him, but then noticed that they had brought someone else back with them – Xemnas. King Mickey had already summoned his Keyblade and joined them in facing him down, and I did the same.

This time, though, he looked like he might actually be done for. One hand was on his chest, and he dropped down to his knees, breathing heavily. "I need...more rage..." he panted. "I need more...hearts."

Sora straightened. "Xemnas, there's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings." He paused, looking at Xemnas with sympathy. "Don't you remember?"

Xemnas continued to stare down at the ground. "Unfortunately...I don't." He looked up at Sora one more time, then vanished into the darkness.

Dismissing his weapon, Sora turned and pumped his fist victoriously. Kairi ran over to him and clasped her hands together happily as he leapt into the air and cheered. Even Donald and Goofy, who were notoriously at odds, shook hands and congratulated each other on the win. I myself wasn't sure how to react – it all seemed too good to be true. Had we really won? The Organization was gone, for good?

I caught Riku gazing at me with a peculiar look on his face for a long moment, then he wandered over to the railing to look out into the darkness. I hesitated, not sure whether I should approach him or what I would say, but Sora beat me to it.

"You're coming back with us, right?"

"I had given in to the darkness," Riku replied quietly without turning around.

"Riku!" Sora protested.

"How am I gonna face everyone?" Riku interrupted. He stared down at his wrist brace, a tangible reminder of one of his past mistakes.

When Kairi and I had been discussing Destiny Islands a few minutes before, I had almost forgotten how hesitant Riku had been to return there. If he was considering not going back to the Islands, that would mean a whole new dilemma for me. I didn't even know whether I wanted to live there close to him, but I certainly didn't know how to decide whether to live there without him.

I shouldn't have worried, though, even briefly. Sora was here now, and I should have known that if anyone could bring Riku out of his gloomy moods, it would be him. "Like this!" declared the brown-haired boy, smashing his own cheeks together with his hands and crossing his eyes. Riku burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but join in.

That laugh, my first real one in so long, released something inside of me. I felt my shoulders relax for the first time all day. Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could go back to Destiny Islands, a place where I had said before I definitely would not mind living, and be a normal teenager for once. Riku and I could start over, and get to know each other again in a place where we weren't constantly having to worry about being killed or kidnapped. It sounded...nice, and peaceful. Maybe, just maybe, the future didn't have to be so scary after all.

Just then, there was a thunderous crash that shook the whole castle. "What was that?" I exclaimed.

The King ran up to Sora and Riku. "Hurry!" he cried.

Riku nodded. "I'll open a path." He stretched his hand out in front of him, but nothing happened. Frowning, he pulled his hand back in and looked at it in confusion.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku," King Mickey remarked.

"How do we get out of here, Your Majesty?" Donald asked worriedly.

So, looked like I was the only dark one left around here. I wasn't really sure how I felt about that. "I've got it."

"Meli..." Riku began, but before we could get into another argument about whether I should be using darkness, a corridor opened up behind us.

My first reaction was to shrink back in fear, not knowing who might be coming through it, but I relaxed when I turned and saw Naminé. She looked strange, though, almost like she was fading away. King Mickey and Donald ran straight up to the corridor and basically right through her, not even seeing that she was there.

"Who did this?" Donald asked.

"Welp, I'm not sure," the King replied. "But we'd better hurry and get through." Pluto ran up the stairs just then, barking happily, and barged through the doorway.

"Wait for me!" Goofy yelled, barreling in after him, with the King right on Goofy's heels.

"C'mon!" Donald called back to us, before running through himself.

Naminé reappeared, and I glanced at the others to see if I was the only one who could see her. They seemed to be looking at her, too, though. Sora and Kairi walked forward and stopped just in front of her.

"Thank you, Naminé," Kairi smiled.

"Sure," Naminé replied. Then she turned to Sora. "See? We meet again, just like we promised."

"Huh?" Sora frowned.

Another voice came from somewhere beyond our sight, one that was immediately familiar to me. "You said we'd meet again, but when we did, we might not recognize each other." As he spoke, a faded version of Roxas stepped forward out of Sora's body to meet Naminé. Sora gasped and jumped back in shock, and I caught my breath.

"I did, didn't I?" Naminé answered.

"But I knew you," Roxas continued.

"Mm, it's strange."

"I think I understand. I see myself the way you remember me. And you see yourself the way I remember you," Roxas stated.

Naminé smiled. "I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness."

"Yeah, but you and I didn't," Roxas grinned. "We got to meet our original selves."

"So we can be together again!" Naminé exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"Right," Roxas agreed, stepping over to stand by her side. "Anytime Sora and Kairi are together."

"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora?" Kairi responded. She was taking all of this much more calmly than Sora seemed to be.

"Uh...yeah!" Sora replied, nodding at her enthusiastically.

Kairi took a step forward, and held out her hand to Naminé. Walking up and taking the hand, Naminé gave one last smile before she vanished in a blaze of golden light. The light surrounded Kairi for a split second, then was gone.

Sora was gaping at Kairi with his mouth open when Roxas stepped forward. "Look sharp!" the blond boy ordered cheekily. As Sora obediently jumped to attention, Roxas glanced over at me and gave a warm smile before closing his eyes and disappearing in his own blue light. I gave a quiet sigh as I watched the glow envelop Sora. I hadn't ever thought I would see that face again. I missed being able to talk to him, but at least now I knew for sure that he was here, and seemed happy.

Sora was examining his hands and body as if he expected to see some kind of change. Riku walked up beside him and smirked. "Don't worry, you're all still you."

Gathering my courage, I stepped in next to Riku and looked up at him shyly. "Ready to go home?"

His gaze met mine, and I had to resist the urge to reach up and push his bangs out of his face so that I could see his eyes better. "Yeah," he answered softly, seeming pleasantly surprised that I had initiated contact. "I think I am."

I smirked as I glanced over at the corridor. "I'd better get in there and open another door for them before they all get eaten by Dusks," I quipped, walking in that direction. Pausing, I turned back and pointed a warning finger at Riku. "And no arguments from you. I'm the only one who can do it."

Riku tried to look stern, but I could see a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Entering the In Between, I found the others waiting impatiently. "Alright, one corridor to Destiny Islands, coming up," I declared, reaching out my hand and opening the doorway with ease.

I could almost smell the sea air wafting in. The first thing I was going to do when I got through that door was collapse on the warm sand and sleep for as long as I possibly could.

Then there was a strange whooshing noise behind me, and I heard Kairi cry out, "Sora! Riku!" I spun around just in time to see the corridor we had entered through closing in front of Kairi.