DyingofFeels: The fact that your username is dying of feels makes you saying you died of dehydration from tears even funnier lol. Sorry for killing you! I did kinda spring that on all of you rather unexpectedly. Even though I'm sorry for causing you pain it's good to know that I did an effective job ha.

Hcbnc: It's possible. I will admit I'm a little shaky on the logic of the Final World...isn't it that people's souls or whatever stay there if they're waiting for some kind of closure? I can't remember if that's canon or I read it in a fanfic.

xOneSkyx: Sorry! It's good to hear from you again, even if it was because I made you so sad.

Coolmegan123: Ha yes you called it with Yen Sid! Thanks for all the compliments on both those chapters. Sorry that the last one was so painful! I know it kinda came out of nowhere. I'm glad you appreciated the parallels of their characters at the end. Honestly sometimes those moments kinda...happen accidentally? Ha. But I guess it was just a subconscious thing, knowing that it worked for their characters without actually stopping to think about how it all lined up.

A/N: So, I feel like I should give a general apology to everyone for making you all cry...well, I don't know about all, but at least three of you ha. But also, at the same time, it's good to know that I did make you cry...? Because that means I did my job well lol.

Funny story, (or maybe not so funny) originally – from pretty much the very beginning of planning this fic – I was going to kill off Kaj instead. It was going to be kinda his penance, I guess...the way he turned back to the good side. But as I got closer to writing that last chapter I started realizing that it would make more sense, for various reasons, for it to be Zephyr. It made me sad to realize...I was attached to him, too! But yeah, just that in itself made me realize even more that it should be Zeph, just because I figured nobody would care all that much if it was Kaj.

So now you know how evil I am. Or do you...? *rubs hands together* Don't worry, though, this chapter has fun banter (or at least I found it fun to write), so you'll get a little break from my evilness.

Kaj let me cry in silence for several minutes before speaking again. "Mel...if I had known...they never said they were gonna kill either of you. I didn't...I never should have..."

Jerking my head up, I glared at him. "Yeah, but you did. I told you they were bad. I told you they were up to no good, but you still joined them."

Suddenly I realized that I could see the ocean over his shoulder. Blinking in surprise, I took in the white sand that we were sitting on, the paopu tree in the distance. "How...how did we get here?"

Kaj shrugged and looked down at his lap. "They taught me dark corridors. This is the first place I thought of, as soon as I saw that Zeph..." He swallowed. "Ansem would have finished the job if we had stayed there."

"Yeah, well, I've gotta go back," I spat. "My friends still need me, and the Organization isn't gonna stop me." I pushed myself to my feet, but got caught halfway up by the pain in my ribs and hissed through my teeth.

"Injured like that? I'm pretty sure even I could stop you if I really wanted to."

I shot him another glare in response. "I'm fine." Having the physical pain to distract me was a lot easier than facing what had just happened.

Kaj gestured toward my pocket. "Don't you have another of those potions? You should take one–"

"I said I'm fine!" Managing to straighten all the way, I took a deep breath, despite the fact that it made me want to fold over again, and softened a bit. "It...what happened...it wasn't your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself. Just because he used your daggers..." My voice caught in my throat, and I had to pause before I could continue. "This is all my fault, not yours."

"You can't keep blaming yourself, either. Zeph...he's the one that jumped in front of you, and...and Ansem is the one that killed him. It's his fault that..." He shook his head, looking down at the sand. "It's his fault."

I gritted my teeth. "You're right. It is. And I intend to make sure he pays by the end of the day." I opened a corridor with more force than was necessary, then glanced back at Kaj. "I assume you'll be fine from here?"

His brow furrowed in determination. "I'm coming with you."

My face hardened. "No. You're not."

"Why not? Because you don't think I can handle it?" He shook a lock of hair out of his eyes. "I may not have been training for long, but they said I was a natural. I'm not gonna do any crazy, heavy fighting, but I at least want to help–"

"Because I don't trust you, that's why!"

Kaj's expression went quickly from surprise to anger. "Oh, so you are still mad at me about the Organization."

"Of course I'm still mad at you about the Organization!" I retorted. "I said I didn't blame you for Zeph, not that I didn't blame you for using me to get you here so that you could join forces with my worst enemy!"

The momentary anger fell from his face, and his eyes dropped back to the ground. "Fair enough, I guess." He dug the toe of his Converse into the sand. "I just...I wanted to be useful for once. To prove that I was worth something. They promised to give me that."

"Useful for what, exactly?" His anger may have subsided, but mine was still in full swing. "Do you even know what their plans are? You say they never said anything about killing us, but that's exactly what they want to do today – kill me and every last one of my friends, so that they can wreak destruction on the universe and rule it. Is that what you wanted to be useful for?"

Deep down, I really did sympathize with him, at least when it came to feeling useless. That was no excuse for what he had done, though. "Next time, you might want to ask a few questions before you throw yourself into a cause."

"Okay, fine." He met my eyes with a defiant gaze. "Who are your friends, and what are they trying to accomplish?"

It only took me a second to catch his drift. "You are not coming with me!"

"Yeah, I am, so you might as well get over it now!" Without waiting for my response, he opened a corridor around the both of us. "I assume you know where to go from here to catch up with everyone?"

I growled and stamped my foot like a child, refusing to take him any further.

"Look, Mel–"

"Stop calling me that."

He rolled his eyes. "Meli, fine. I get it. You don't trust me, whatever. But right now, I want to get back at the stupid Organization just as much as you do."

"I seriously doubt that."

His jaw tightened, then relaxed, a move I was familiar with from whenever Riku was trying to control his emotions. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarse. "He was my best friend, too, you know."

Tears clogged up my throat again, and I looked away. "Yeah. I know." Zephyr had always been closer to him than I was, especially after I left school.

I was beginning to realize that I was going to lose this fight, but I was too proud to actually concede that. Instead, I turned my back on him and made an opening to where Riku and the others should be. Before crossing through, I threw one last warning over my shoulder. "Please don't disappoint me more than you already have. And don't get yourself killed. I can't..." I can't lose any more friends. "I can't watch your back every second."

"I'll do my best."

As we walked through, I dug underneath the leather gauntlet on my left arm until my fingers closed around the bracelet from Zeph. Tugging it up my arm, I slid it back down over the gauntlet so that it was proudly displayed. At least I've got this little piece of him.

We came out of the corridor to find ourselves in near-dark underneath the skyscraper-sized form of a shadow-Xehanort. "Whoa," Kaj deadpanned from behind me. "Did not expect that."

"Um...someone want to bring me up to speed?" I called to the group gathered in front of us.

Sora was the first to turn around and greet us. "Hey, Mel! You're here!" A grin lit up his face, and my heart dropped into my stomach.

I can't...he looks too much like him...

"Uh, is it just me, or is he...?"

"Yes," I tersely answered Kaj's unfinished question. Riku trotted over, and I tried my best to force some semblance of a smile onto my face.

"Hey. Glad you made it." He dropped a hand onto my shoulder and squeezed, but kept one eye on the towering figure. "I'm...not sure if I can tell you what's going on right this second..."

As he spoke, Shadows began falling from the swirling darkness above, creating multiple Demon Tides that completely encircled us. "Great," he muttered under his breath.

"This again?" Sora exclaimed, sounding equally irritated.

Both boys summoned their Keyblades, and I followed suite, along with everyone else, as we naturally turned to the outside and formed a circle of sorts. To my right, Kaj had also summoned his daggers. The sight of them immediately brought to mind an image of blood and Zephyr's fallen body, and I had to swallow back my nausea.

"So, uh...who's your friend?" Riku asked, glancing curiously over his shoulder at Kaj.

I sighed, not taking my focus off of the Demon Tide in front of me. "Riku, meet Kaj. Kaj, meet Riku. Yes, he's your doppelganger," I added on to neither of them in particular.

"Wha...?" Kaj gaped.

"Right," Riku responded at the same time.

On the other side of Riku, Sora craned his neck to see. "What? Crazy! But he's..."

"Hair dye," I yelled back at him.

One of the Tides soared into the air and came careening down straight toward Sora. He slashed across it, sending Shadows flying, and the rest of us took out the ones that fell nearby.

"So he's gonna fight with us?" Riku continued.

I rolled my eyes. "Apparently, though he was uninvited."

"Meli's having some trust issues," Kaj offered, the irritation clear in his voice.

"You joined the Organization." The statement was less a reminder for him, and more a warning for everyone else.

"And then I left the Organization," he pointed out.

"Hey, me too!" Axel piped up from across the circle. "We should start a club! As soon as we get Roxas back, he can be a member, too."

I could feel Kaj's stare boring into my ear. "So what, you trust this guy, but not me?"

"Heck no."

Axel laughed. "Sorry pal, she hates my guts."

The Shadows crept closer, and we took out a few more, but it barely made a dent in the massive crowd. "This isn't good," King Mickey said.

"Form up, now!" Aqua ordered. Everyone took a step back, tightening the circle, but the Shadows were still advancing.

To my left, Riku suddenly grabbed onto the King's Keyblade. "If you try to use time magic against these numbers, you won't have enough strength for the final battle."

Another Shadow leapt at me, and I destroyed it with one blow. I could hear others doing the same, one after the other. Kaj threw a dagger at one Heartless and made an impressive bullseye, killing it, before summoning the dagger back to his hand.

"I'll try and break through," Aqua declared. "Everyone, get ready!"

"Alone? That's crazy!" Ventus exclaimed. "I'll help!"

"Two is no better," Kairi remarked.

"Yeah, splitting up's a bad idea!" Axel put in, grunting as he sliced through a pair of Shadows.

Goofy cowered under his shield. "There's way too many!"

There was a loud squawk of fear that could only come from Donald. "We're finished!"

Then something changed up above us, a green glow that made me look up to the sky. Something like a comet was headed straight toward us. The light became much too bright for me before it even landed, causing a fierce ache behind my eyes, and I buried my face in the crook of my arm. I could feel the ground shaking slightly beneath my feet.

"Master Yen Sid!" several people shouted in unison.

I uncovered my eyes finally, blinking against the fading light, and saw the wizard with his back to us. The Heartless appeared to have been thrown back a few feet, but they still hovered eagerly nearby. Reaching each hand out to his sides, Yen Sid summoned a sparkling magic, then slammed the hands together and thrust them over his head. The resulting explosion of light threw Shadows into the air like popcorn, and felt like it was splitting my head in two. Groaning involuntarily, I clutched at my eyes with one hand, trying to keep from falling over with the pain.

"Are you okay?" Riku's hand stroked gently across my upper back.

I grunted my assent. "It's just my head...too bright."

His hand found the back of my neck and gave a sympathetic squeeze.

"Go, my young champions," Yen Sid's voice boomed over the roar of the Heartless. "I will hold them all here for as long as I can."

"We're not gonna leave you behind!" King Mickey protested.

There was a pause, then Donald spoke up. "You guys go on!"

"Me and Donald will stay here. The two of us'll back up Master Yen Sid!" Goofy added.

Riku bent down low to murmur in my ear. "Yen Sid's created a path through the Heartless. It's still pretty bright...if you hold onto me, I'll help you get through without you having to look."

He grasped my arm, but I shook him off, blinking my eyes open with a grimace. "I'll be fine." After all, the throbbing in my head wasn't a whole lot worse than the aching in my sides. If I could ignore one, I could ignore the other.

Riku's only response was a sigh.

Yen Sid's path seemed to be failing, Shadows tumbling in closer as it pulled back toward us. Right as they reached the circle of light that we all stood in, he stretched his hands back up and sent them flying once more. "Make haste!" he ordered, turning to us.

Nodding, we took off running as fast as our legs would carry us between the walls of swirling light. Every step jarred my ribs to the point that I was almost in tears, and to my chagrin I found myself falling further and further behind Riku and Kaj. By the time we not only reached the end of the long path, but also distanced ourselves from the mob of Heartless and found a seemingly safe spot in another mountain passageway, I was stumbling badly and had to fall up against one of the walls of stone to keep myself from hitting the ground.

Everyone was panting heavily for breath after the long run. "Is everyone alright?" the King queried, taking in the group in a sweeping glance.

There were several confirming grunts and mutters. "I sure hope Master Yen Sid, Donald, and Goofy will be okay," Sora sighed.

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back against the wall, trying to keep my gulps of air shallow to not irritate my ribs any further. You know you should probably just take a potion. You're even more useless than usual like this. But the thought of a potion brought back the feeling of watching it spill fruitlessly out of the corners of Zeph's mouth, and I gladly focused back on the searing pain.

"You do realize that's how you get pneumonia, right?"

I scowled without opening my eyes. "Go away, Kaj."

Another, almost identical voice approached from the other side. "Wait, what? Is something the matter?"

"No."

"Pretty sure she's got some broken ribs," Kaj answered over me.

If looks could kill, Kaj would have withered underneath the glare I shot him.

"What?" Riku breathed, concern all over his face. "Meli, why didn't you say something? Or better yet, why haven't you taken a potion?"

"Because I'm fine," I snapped. "How many times do I have to say that?"

"Which side?" he asked, ignoring my mini tantrum.

I cut my eyes away with a sigh. "Both."

His pained expression was not lost on me, even out of my periphery, but he quickly filled both his hands with Cure and touched them gently to my sides. The warmth spread through me, and there was an intense surge of pain as the bones grated back into place. I clenched my teeth until it had passed, the warmth along with all traces of the pain. I drew in a deep, relieved, breath, but couldn't bring myself to even thank him.

"I really wish you would stop using all your magic on me. You're gonna need that soon."

"You're welcome." He gathered me off the wall and into his arms. "And if you don't want me using my magic, maybe you should beat me to healing you. What happened, anyway?"

Images flashed through my mind, and I tensed. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"It was Ansem," Kaj broke in. "He wanted to kill her."

Whipping my head around to where he was still leaning one shoulder against the wall, I threw him another glare. "Would you shut up?"

"What? You said you didn't want to talk about it, not that you didn't want him to know." He shrugged nonchalantly and turned back to Riku. "He had this...big, ugly...thing..."

"Guardian Heartless," I mumbled into Riku's shirt.

"Yeah, that. It's what broke her ribs." Kaj paused for a moment. "So...are you two, like...?"

"Yes," I groaned. I knew the subject of me dating his doppelganger was going to come up sooner or later. "Please don't make it weird."

He huffed. "Make it weird? You mean it's not weird already?" He gestured back and forth between himself and Riku. "This, and this–" he pointed at Riku and me –"A-a-and him?" he waved his hand wildly in Sora's direction, then seemed to spot someone else and deepened his frown. "And...is that...you?"

I rolled my eyes and pushed away from Riku a little. "Yes, it is. And it's entirely likely that you'll see even more doppelgangers that you know before the day is over, so just...chill, okay? You knew you were signing up to travel to a parallel universe, you should have seen some weirdness coming."

"Parallel universe?" Axel had come up behind Riku, and crossed his arms with a curious expression on his face. I dropped my forehead back onto Riku's chest. "Why am I just now hearing about this?"

Kaj spluttered. "You..."

"Oh my gosh," I drawled. "Can we please change the subject now?"

Kaj was undeterred. "Dude, I know now exactly why she hates your guts, and it has nothing to do with the Organization."

Axel snapped his fingers. "Aha, it's all starting to come together now. The guy that she always says I remind her of...he was from your universe, wasn't he? He was my doppelganger, and she knew him."

"Knew him? I'd say so, he was her–"

A palmful of Dark Firaga inches from his face stopped Kaj's explanation in its tracks. "I will kill you."

When I was satisfied that his mouth was staying shut, I pushed past everyone, though not before sending another glare in Axel's direction. "Now can we please go kick some Organization butt?"

Mercifully, the two annoying ones let me go, though Riku caught up with me in a couple of quick strides. "Hey." Gently grabbing my arm and turning me around, he lifted my chin with his fingers. "If you get hurt again..." He sighed, and there was obvious sadness in his eyes. "Just...please, take care of yourself. I don't..." His jaw tightened, and he shook his head almost imperceptibly. "I can't...I can't lose you."

The admission softened me, and my lips turned up in a small, sad smile. "Okay. You, too. I...can't lose you, either."

His mouth against mine sealed the promise. "Alright. Now let's go find that Organization."

A/N: So I know you guys were excited about the doppelgangers meeting each other, and obviously I took some of that away from you. But I hope this chapter fulfills that wish at least to some extent!