DyingofFeels: Ha that's ok, I'll forgive you. ;) Glad you approved of the way I handled the last chapter. That's what I struggled with, making sure it made sense, but yeah I definitely don't think Xehanort would have let them just walk away from the battle at that point. He would have come up with something.

Well, I don't know whether they'll cover what the guardians were doing during Sora's fight in ReMind or not, but even if they do it's still going to be at least a few weeks before I get to play it. I'm pretty sure I had already decided what was happening in this chapter before ReMind was even a thing, anyway. So yeah, I just made a guess based on what we did see and did what I wanted from there.

Coolmegan123: I'm glad you enjoyed these last few chapters! You don't have to apologize for falling behind. Thanks for all of the compliments!

So you've caught onto my evil ways...I suppose now that I've killed off a character I can't really be trusted not to kill any more. It's a valid concern.

Hcbnc: I know, me either! It's gone by so fast!

xOneskyx: Thanks! I'm glad you've liked them! I really liked the whole dive to the heart concept, myself, so I'm glad everyone else seems to have agreed.

A/N: This is it! I can't believe it! When I first started this story, January seemed so far away, but it got here so quickly.

I will post final notes after this, but I think I'm going to wait until Wednesday instead of doing it right away. Less chance of people accidentally reading the notes first that way. Plus I feel I may need to go into hiding for a few days...

Without further ado, the final chapter!

"Again!" Aqua ordered.

As the Keyblades charged up and sent off their beams of light once more, I slowly dropped back away from the guardians, figuring correctly that none of them would notice the movement. One person did notice, however, and that was Kaj, who was already hanging out in the back. He took a few steps toward me, arms crossed, and gave a half-smirk.

"I'm feeling kinda useless here. I have no idea what's going on, and apparently am not equipped to help, regardless." He studied me for a moment, then nodded toward the group. "But hey, you've got one of those key things, right? Why aren't you up there?"

I sighed heavily. "Got a Keyblade. Don't have light." I dropped my gaze to the ground. "At least...not enough, not anymore." That old, familiar feeling of being useless and left behind was creeping back in all too quickly. "I should have just gone with Sora, I guess. Didn't really figure he wanted me there, though."

Kaj huffed in understanding. "Yeah. Maybe I should have gone with him, too. Not that I would have been that much more help there than I am here."

I looked up at the distant expression on his face and smiled sympathetically. "Hey, you've been plenty of help today. You've saved my butt at least twice, and I've seen you helping out Sora and King Mickey, too."

"Well, I know it wasn't much compared to the rest of you, but...thanks for saying it." He tilted his head to the side, thinking. "You know...I came here wanting to find a purpose, to feel needed. I thought I'd find it with the Organization, and...I mean, I have to admit they gave me some pretty good tools and training. But it still wasn't what I was looking for."

I bit back the urge to say, "I could have told you that," and just nodded, listening.

"I think maybe part of that is because I wasn't just looking for a purpose. I think I was also looking for...acceptance." He waved one hand at the people in front of us. "Of course, I don't know any of these guys, like, at all. And maybe if I get to know them I won't even like them. Though one of them is you, and one of them is me...I probably won't be able to stand me, actually. But maybe I could at least get along with the ones that are you and Zeph." He chuckled a little to himself. "Anyway. Rabbit trail. My point is, I feel like they've just kinda...accepted me. Just like that, without knowing anything about me."

"Yeah," I replied softly. "That's kinda what they do. They're honestly a really random, thrown-together, mish-mosh of characters–"

"Especially the duck and dog and mouse?"

I laughed. "Yeah, especially them. And I don't actually know those three." I gestured toward Aqua, Ven, and Presumably Terra. "Just met them today. But the rest...well, you know, other than the redhead dude...somehow, without you realizing it, they become family. They're some of the greatest people...and ducks and dogs and mice...you'll ever meet."

He nodded. "Yeah. I think, when this is all over...maybe I'll stick around a little while, and get to know everybody. Who knows, maybe with some more training there will be a place for me here after all."

"Good," I smiled. "I definitely think there can be. And I wouldn't even worry about the training too much, because I certainly hope that after this we're finally getting some peace."

We watched the quiet battle against Kingdom Hearts for a few minutes in silence. Progress was being made, though the darkness on the moon seemed to be fighting back against the encroaching light, swirling ferociously. Some of the guardians had stopped to take ethers to replenish their magic, while others kept up the barrage. My heart panged with the longing to be up there with them.

"You've done a lot today, too, you know," Kaj spoke up again, as if reading my thoughts. "I won't claim to know what's going on with this whole light and darkness thing with you, but...I've seen you fighting. You're really good, and they're lucky to have had you here today."

"Thanks. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I just...I miss that." I nodded toward the guardians. "I miss being part of the group. I miss...the light. The dark is a lonely place to be. It was my choice. I brought this all on myself with my decisions, but...now I regret it, and...I don't know if it can be fixed. I don't know if I'll ever really be one of them again."

"What was that Zeph always used to say? 'The world would be a really boring place if everybody was the same.'" He gave a sad smile at the memory. "You just finished telling me that they're your family, that they accept people no matter what. You are still one of the group. Just maybe in a different way." I shrugged, looking down at the ground again, and he elbowed me in the arm. "If you think that I can find my place here, then I know you can find yours."

Tilting my head back, I opened my mouth to reply, but got distracted watching the light show on the surface of Kingdom Hearts. The darkness was reacting even more angrily than before, now sometimes erupting from the moon itself to spin through the air. I could feel it rumble in my chest each time.

"Keep going!" Riku shouted. "We've got this!"

Several streams of darkness shot out again, but this time they didn't simply whirl around and return. Careening downwards, they wavered in and out of each other, but their target was clear and approaching rapidly.

"Look out!" King Mickey yelped.

I didn't even think. My hands shot out automatically and my mind grabbed hold of the darkness, bringing it to a screeching halt right before it crashed into the guardians. I could feel at once that it was extremely powerful, stronger than any darkness I had come into contact with so far.

Riku whirled around to face me. "Meli! Don't!"

"It's okay." I flashed him a smile, trying to alleviate his fears. "I'm okay, I'm just gonna..." Closing my eyes, I threw all my focus into pulling the individual streams together, forming a sphere, then dragged it through the air toward myself. When I opened them again, it was floating just above my head. Another half-smile was about all I could muster past the mental and physical energy holding it there was requiring. "I'm just gonna keep it here until you guys are done. Then...then we can figure out what to do with it."

He stared at me with skeptical concern for another minute before his shoulders sagged. "Alright. We should be almost done here, so... Just let go of it if you need to, okay? Don't..." He trailed off.

"I'll be fine. Just do what you're supposed to be doing." My hands were cupped in front of me as if I was actually, physically holding the sphere, and I kept my eyes locked on it. I had a feeling it was going to take almost all my concentration to not let the thing go flying off where it willed. And oh, did it will. It was pulling at my mind and chest like a wild horse at the reins, trying to get back on its course.

I could see Kaj watching me out of my periphery, but he didn't speak, seeming to understand my need for focus. From time to time I would glance up at Kingdom Hearts. We were winning, that was for sure, but I wished it would happen just a little bit faster. Sweat was dripping off my forehead and rolling down my cheeks. Taming this thing was taking a little more effort each and every minute.

Stop the guardians!

I winced against the voice in my head. It was a voice that I had heard many times ever since I had given in, always nudging me further toward the darkness, though I had mistaken it for my own in the past. Now it was combined with the screeching of being denied its target that I had heard while trying to finish off Saix, and there was no mistaking its source.

Stop the guardians! Kill the children of light!

A shudder rocked my body as the ominous words echoed, and I shut my eyes. No. I'm not going to let you do that.

"You okay?"

Kaj's question pierced briefly into my consciousness, but the darkness didn't give me a chance to answer him. Image after ghastly image filled my mind. I saw each and every one of the guardians before me, one after the other, falling to the darkness, choking on it. I watched as the life was sucked out of them, leaving them pale and limp on the ground, and I was paralyzed with icy fear.

"Hey, Meli! Are you okay?"

I pried my eyes open and blinked Kaj into focus. "Yeah," I croaked. Riku's lifeless eyes were still staring at me, and I tried in vain to shake the memory away. "Sorta. It..." I indicated the sphere with my eyes. "It really, really...wants to kill them. Like...violently." I let out a shaky breath.

"It told you that?"

I couldn't blame him for the dubious look on his face. "More like...showed me."

He hummed in thought. "Well, it's a good thing you were here, then. I told you that you had a place."

The sphere of darkness took advantage of my split focus and tried to bolt. I lunged after it, mentally if not physically, straining my arms and my heart to pull it back in. What am I gonna do with this thing? It wants to kill them. I can't let them die. Besides, if they're all gone, then there will be no one to keep Kingdom Hearts closed. I honestly still had no real idea of what the consequences of that would be, but I knew it wasn't good and would affect the whole universe. Possibly even other universes, for all I knew.

Maybe once Kingdom Hearts is closed, it will calm down. Maybe it will forget its mission and let me just throw it away somewhere. But could I even make it that long? My arms were starting to shake, and I was exhausted. I don't have a choice. I have to make it. I can't let them die.

Another minute passed, and a tangible excitement began to grow from the group of guardians. "One more time, fellas, and I think that'll do it!" King Mickey exclaimed.

One more time. Okay. One more time and it's over. I can do this.

A chorus of exhausted cheers erupted. I spared a split second glance at Kingdom Hearts and saw it was completely white again, no darkness in sight. Other than the stuff hovering above my head, of course. Which, unfortunately, had not lessened its fury any with the closing of Kingdom Hearts. If anything, it was growing stronger.

Stop the guardians! Kill the children of light!

No! I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt, trying to block the images from flooding my mind again. I'm not gonna let you!

The possibilities ran through my head at full speed. Let it go, it's going to head straight for my friends. Try to throw it, it'll just turn around and come right back. I need... I needed a vessel. This darkness wasn't going to be satisfied until it had someone to destroy. That left only one option that I could think of.

Take me.

I could almost feel it contemplating this new suggestion. Did the thought of death, especially by darkness, terrify me? Yes. But the thought of losing any more of my friends terrified me more.

Having finished their difficult task, they were murmuring among themselves, giving high-fives, and drinking more ethers. I raised my voice to make sure I was heard. "Hey, Grim?"

"Meli. Hang on, I'm coming."

I shook my head. "No, don't. Just..." Taking the risk of looking away for a moment, I caught his eyes and gave a wobbly smile. "I'm sorry."

Take me!

Throwing my head back, I dropped my arms by my sides and willed the darkness to crash down into me. It obeyed with savage force. In an instant I had hit the ground and was convulsing violently.

"Meli!" Riku's scream sounded like it was coming from somewhere down a tunnel, but then he was there, above me, scooping me up into his arms. "Meli, why? Why did you do that?"

"I'm sorry," I repeated, the words barely making it across my lips. "I had to. I couldn't...let any of you...die."

I was so cold. The freezing sensation that had begun in my chest was working its way into the rest of my body. My insides were turning to ice, it seemed, but at the same time it burned intensely.

"She said it wanted to kill all of you," Kaj's voice explained.

Kairi appeared just then, with tears pouring down her face. "We could have found another way, Mel. You didn't have to..." A sob escaped her, and she clapped her hand over her mouth.

"No. There was...no other way." I jerked and grunted through my teeth as the cold reached my legs and caused them to seize up.

"Shh, shh..." Riku pulled me in closer, rocking me gently, stroking my hair. "It's okay. You're okay." His presence felt so good. He was so warm.

"What can we do?" Kairi whispered. "There has to be something we can do. Can we use light on her, the same way we did on Kingdom Hearts?"

"I don't think so, Kairi," King Mickey replied. "I think if we used that on her now...well, it would be a lot like using it on a Heartless."

"But...but we have to do something! We can't just let her..." She broke off, giving in to her tears again.

Riku's arms wrapped around me even tighter, and he dropped his forehead down onto mine. Something wet dripped onto my cheek. Is he crying? I had never seen him actually cry before, and the realization that he was doing so now broke me.

"Hey." I reached for his face, but my arms and hands were so numb that it took much more effort than it should have. Eventually my palm made it to his cheek, and he pressed his own hand over it. "It's alright."

"No, it's not," he choked, his face still inches from mine. "I can't...I can't lose you. You mean everything to me, remember? You weren't supposed to...you can't leave me!"

I breathed in deeply and absorbed his words, but strangely, no tears came from my own eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want it...to be this way. I wanted...to stay with you forever."

"I want to share a paopu with you." His voice rose in pitch, almost frantic. "I should have done it a long time ago. You can't leave me now, you have to come back home so we can share a paopu."

"I found my place. I protected...the things that matter the most. Please don't blame yourself. This was...my choice." A faint smile crossed my lips. "Thank you for always being my safe place. You showed me that...maybe I wasn't whole...but I wasn't completely broken...either."

Shifting my hand slightly, Riku pressed a kiss into the palm of my hand. "Of course you weren't broken. You were perfect."

I jerked again, opening my mouth wide to gasp for air as my throat began to close up. The darkness had crept into nearly every inch of my body now, and I knew it would not be long before I faded away. Fear suddenly overtook me, and I began to tremble harder. "Grim?" A whisper was all I could get out anymore. "Grim, look at me, please."

He raised his head, revealing his soaked cheeks, but more importantly, my favorite pair of eyes in any universe. "What is it, Meli?"

I was having a hard time catching my breath, and my consciousness was beginning to fade. "I just...I wanted to...to see your eyes...one...more time."

His face crumpled, and fresh tears spilled over from those beautiful aquamarine eyes.

With my last ounce of energy, I forced a smile onto my face. "I love you...Grim."

He swallowed hard and gulped in a shaking breath. "I love you, Sunshine."

I closed my eyes. The last thing I felt was his warm lips on my forehead, then the world went still.