Keys to the Kingdom

by MiniJen

Thirteen Keys, scattered across the worlds. Whoever holds them all is destined to rule the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts. As both light and darkness scour the worlds for these keys, Sora finds himself caught between standing alongside his friends as they fight for the light and struggling against the encroaching darkness invading his own heart. KH3 AU.

23. Chapter 22: Rise and Fall and Rise Again

Oh man, here we go with a chapter that's INCREDIBLY emotionally charged thanks to me writing it while suffering from what I like to call Quarantine Insanity :) Either way this is a pretty slow burn chapter that, for reference sake actually takes place over the span of a month, so that's something you should keep in mind while reading it. Either way I LOVE how a lot of this turned out, like I said its really emotionally charged stuff that I kinda felt on a visceral level while writing, so I hope you all enjoy it too! Let's get started!

---

Chapter 22: Rise and Fall and Rise Again

Won't be long, won't be long, I'm almost here
Watch me cry all my tears

Never in her entire life had Kairi felt more lost in the shuffle than she did now.

Because there she stood, largely on the fringes of everything as everyone else rushed around Merlin's house at a frenetic pace, busying themselves with something she should have been every bit as engaged in. That something was tending to Sora's various injuries, both external and internal. Given her skills and knowledge when it came to healing, Aerith led the efforts on this front, remaining calm and steady as she worked in magic, potions, and elixirs alike. Despite her coolheaded focus, Yuffie and Cid were anything but as the former eagerly vied to assist Aerith in any way she could while the latter angrily fussed about Maleficent for what she'd done to Sora, sentiments that Donald and Goofy shared every bit as adamantly. Leon did his best to quiet the noisy group down to allow Aerith to do her healing in peace, though his attempts did little given how heated and upset they all were. Emotions they couldn't really be too at fault for given just how much they all cared about Sora and hated to see him so heavily hurt as he had so wrongfully been.

Yet for her own part, Kairi hadn't joined the others stewing in their uproarious righteous anger, though she certainly didn't try to quell it either. At the same time, she hadn't made so much as a single move to lend Aerith a helping hand in trying to heal Sora. Because really, as shellshocked as she currently was, the most she could do was stare at him from across the room in shaken silence. He was still just as comatose as he'd been when they brought him back from the abandoned castle, and even despite plenty of rounds of healing magic and potions alike, he showed no signs of waking anytime soon. There weren't really any clear signs that healing was actually working on him either as his veins were still glowing that ominous shade of green, something that confused and unnerved Kairi even still.

And yet, all she could really think of as she kept her sets set on Sora was how he'd been when they had first found him. He'd been monstrous, for lack of a better word. Drenched in shadows and held in Maleficent's thrall, he'd been dangerous, aggressive, violent even. But not only that, he'd been hurting, his heart aching with pain so raw and visceral Kairi swore she could still feel echoes of it whispering from it even now as he slept. She had hoped that when she used her power to pull him out of the darkness that she had somehow managed to free him from that pain, but even if she had, that wouldn't change the fact that he had felt it so profoundly in the first place. And the more she let her thoughts linger on what he might have gone through, what he might have been forced to suffer to be submerged in such immense physical and mental anguish, the more she found it was quickly becoming far too much for her to bear.

Kairi let out a small, harsh breath as she finally tore her gaze away from Sora's listless form, instead reaching for the nearby door that led out of the house entirely. She didn't bother breathing a word to anyone else on their way out, not that most of them even noticed her slip out as preoccupied with Sora as they were. All the same, as she stepped outside into the fresher, more open morning air, Kairi finally allowed herself the heavy sigh she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in. She leaned against the side of the house, a hand pressed lightly against her heart as she tried to make sense of everything that had just happened over the course of the past 24 hours alone. Had it really only been a day ago that everything had been business as usual? It felt like the very start of their mission to rescue Sora had started years ago, and that every minute that continued to pass by now felt like an entirely new year in and of itself. Minutes and years that were passing far too slowly, and far too quickly, all at the same.

As lost in her seemingly ceaseless thoughts as she was, Kairi didn't even notice Axel approaching as he returned from the supplies run Aerith had sent him on earlier. Though he certainly noticed her as he came to stand beside her, placing the box of potions, salves, and bandages he had stocked up on at the market aside to take stock in his fellow student's wellbeing for the moment instead. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" he asked her. "I thought you'd be inside helping everyone else out with… well, ya know."

"Y-yeah…" she let out a diffident sigh as she hugged herself losely. "I… yeah…"

Axel frowned as he posed a question he largely already knew the answer to. "...You ok?"

Kairi's hesitation immediately ebbed away at this question, her grip on her arms tightening as she set her gaze on the stony ground beneath her. "To be perfectly honest? No, I'm not," she said with a genuine scowl. "One of my best friends was captured and trapped and… and tortured-" The word felt piercingly bitter the moment it left her mouth, but there was no denying that was exactly what had happened, as painful as it was to even think about. "All because some crazy woman wanted to turn him into a mindless monster, which she did and then she just… got away with it. The only one who suffered in any of this is Sora, and it's just… not fair! He's done nothing to deserve to go through that much pain and fear and anger and I just hate that any of this happened and I hate her for doing this to him in the first place!"

"Whoa, hey now," Axel interjected, caught off guard by just how blatantly furious she seemed to be. "Hate's a pretty strong word."

"It's a pretty strong feeling too…" Kairi muttered, her already harsh glare deepening. "And it gets even worse because she's still out there, she could still find him and hurt him and take control of him and what then? I brought him back once, but w-what if I can't do that again? What if… what if I can't save him when he needs it most?"

"Oh, c'mon, Kairi, don't talk like that," Axel shook his head earnestly. "After what you did back at the castle-"

"I didn't know what I was doing back there, Axel!" Kairi snapped, her hands in tight fists at her sides as she finally turned to fully face him. "I was desperate! I just… did whatever I could, but I had no idea if it would even work!"

"But it did work."

"Only because I was lucky!" Kairi retorted fiercely. "I was lucky, which means Sora was lucky. But if this were to happen again, if she does this to him again, then we might not be so lucky the next time."

Axel was quiet for a long time upon hearing all this, offering Kairi an even, empathetic gaze all the while. When he finally did say something, his tone was much more solemn than it usually tended to be, a stark, calm contrast to the heated storm his fellow student had just exploded into. "Look… believe it or not, I get how you're feeling. You wanna protect someone who really matters to you, make anybody who's ever hurt them pay for even trying. And until you do, you keep on feeling like no matter how much you do or how hard you try, it's... never enough."

Kairi faltered at this, allowing her former anger to begin to dissipate as she realized just how accurate Axel's description of her own current feelings really was. A description that could have only come from experience. "Axel…" she began, wanting to pose a question she didn't really know how to phrase.

"Of course, none of us want to see Maleficent get off that easily," he changed the subject, picking up his box of supplies once more. "But blindly running off to try to take her down a peg isn't gonna do any of us any good, especially not Sora. After everything that's happened to him, I have a feeling he's gonna need you now more than ever."

"...You think so?" Kairi asked, her spirits lifting somewhat. After all, even if she could do nothing else to help him, she knew that she'd always be willing to stay by Sora's side, no matter what.

"Think so? I'm positive," Axel offered her a confident grin as he began to lead the way back inside so they could assist the others, or more specifically Sora, in any way possible. "Heck, with you around, I'm sure Sora will be feeling better in no time at all."

---

"A fitting leash for my soon-to-be new pet."

"After all, I've never seen a Heartless that's capable of taking on the guise of a human…"

"When I'm through with you, I can guarantee there will be nothing left of you that isn't a Heartless… A Heartless that's completely, endlessly loyal to me."

"Don't fret, child. Your suffering will be over soon. And once it is, just think of the incredible strength you'll possess in its place. Strength that will be put to perfect use… in service to me."

"Your allegiance, your obedience, whatever remains in that empty head and heart of yours… swear it all over to me!"

A sharp, involuntary gasp escaped Sora as he opened his eyes, the endless stream of hateful, haunting threats and taunts his cruel captor had thrown his way essentially forcing him out of whatever fitful rest he had been having. His memories and thoughts alike were both scrambled to the point of being incomprehensible, but there were three things he was able to notice above all else. First, he was lying on a much softer, more comfortable surface than the frigid stone floor he had unfortunately grown accustomed to. Second, the shackles and chains he'd also gotten used to no longer seemed to be weighing heavy on his wrists and the magical vines that had once coiled around the rest of his body were all but gone, though any semblance of relief he might have felt from that fact was quickly extinguished the moment the last immediately noticeable feature of his surroundings registered. Because finally, the room he was now in was completely dark, somehow even darker than the dimly-lit cell he had been locked in before. For several silent, breathless moments, the most Sora could do was stare up at the shadowy ceiling above him, feeling more and more engulfed by that deceptively peaceful darkness, just as he only barely remembered being during his last distant bout of consciousness before now. And right now, the mere thought of losing that precious consciousness once more, of being swallowed up by those practically inescapable shadows all over again was far too much for his exhausted mind and weary heart to bear.

So naturally, he did the only thing he really could at a moment like this: he panicked.

Even despite his apparent lack of any restraints, Sora knew that certainly Maleficent must still be somewhere nearby, keeping a close eye on him. After all, the chances of her opening what would ultimately be another false-hope escape window for him were quite low, but even if that were the case, he absolutely didn't want to quietly wait around to find out. Amidst his growing dread, his breathing was already harsh and heavy to begin with, though it hitched in shock as he moved his arm only slightly upward. Hot, searing pain shot through not just the limb itself, but through the rest of his body as well, to the point that he nearly failed to bite back a reactionary cry of anguish as a result. When he tried to move his other arm, albeit much slower and more carefully, that pain resounded in full force, only intensifying as he tried his hardest to force his way through it to properly sit up. Despite the fact that his arms were trembling violently from the strain, he tried using them to support his weight so he could actually get up, hoping that that unknown yet awful pain wouldn't last much longer. Or at the very least, he'd get used to it enough to largely ignore until he could find a way to rid himself of it entirely.

Yet, despite his best hopes, by the time he was halfway to sitting up, his left hand suddenly slipped over the side of the bed he was on. Unable to react quickly enough to stop himself, he fell over the edge entirely, crashing hard onto the floor and accidentally letting out a heavy agonised scream as blinding pain surged through every single inch of his body in white hot waves of anguish, each somehow worse than the last.

However, that persistent pain was all but forgotten as his cries died out and were instead filled in by the sound of approaching footsteps and voices coming from somewhere right outside of the room. Sora couldn't make out who they belonged to or what they were saying, but when his immediate suspicion went to Maleficent, his level of panic spiked just as much as the pain still sharply flooding through his veins still was.

As the clamor outside grew ever closer to the room's only door on the far side of it, Sora quickly realized escape wouldn't be much of an option, especially as incapacitated as he currently was. Fighting back wasn't really much of a valid plan either, but he found he still did have one advantage on his side. With the chains and shackles gone, there was essentially nothing keeping him from summoning his Keyblade anymore, and though he doubted he could effectively use it right now, he still made an attempt at calling upon it all the same. His hand was still shaking as he struggled to so much as hold it out to summon the weapon, and though it did briefly flash into his grip, it vanished into thin air immediately after. Still, he kept on trying, desperate to gain some way of finally, finally defending himself after having all of his defenses essentially stripped from him completely.

His heart pounded with swelling fear as the door slowly began to creak open, and all the while his Keyblade still refused to remain tangible for more than a few fleeting seconds at a time. Even so he froze up as it opened completely, light flooding into the room from the hall outside of it and revealing the obscured silhouettes of several figures standing within the doorway.

As startled and downright terrified as he was, Sora didn't even bother taking a closer look at who these new arrivals might be as they began to rush into the room toward him. Instead, he harshly flinched away from them, the internal din of his own immense terror blocking out whatever they were saying to him to the point that all he heard were unintelligible rumblings. A few of their voices did ring familiar, but he hardly cared as he closed his eyes tightly and shielded himself as much as he could, dreading the all-new onslaught of pain and punishment that was sure to come his way.

"S-stop!" he choked as loudly as he could, though even his voice came out as more of a hoarse, wavering whisper more than anything else. "Just… just leave me alone, please…"

The cacophony of various muted voices grew quiet at this, though one of them persisted, and for a moment he thought he heard it-heard her-say his name. Then again, considering how desperate his frantic mind was for any form of relief right now, he found it far more likely that he was merely imagining, simply wishing for her comforting presence instead of actually receiving it instead.

But then… a hand skimmed against his, both of which were currently protectively covering his head as he pressed his face against the floor to avoid having to even look at his assailants. Yet the hand that was now touching his was so gentle, so warm and soft and familiar that he almost dared to allow himself to hope that it was actually her somehow. Almost.

"P-please…" he muttered, pleaded desperately for mercy he knew he wouldn't be given. "No more… I… I can't… I-I just… I-"

"Sora…" This time, he heard her, her voice, soft and sweet and real, breaking through his icy fear like the vibrant sunshine that she always radiated so brightly with. He stilled, unsure of what else to do, as he finally allowed her to break his feeble wall of defense, her careful hands steadily guiding his gaze up to meet hers. Even in the low light of the room, he could see her, her features filled with immeasurable worry and sympathy, all meant for him as she began thumbing away his stray tears that he hadn't even realized were falling.

"K-Kairi…" his voice was still barely audible as he yearned to reach out to her in the same way she had for him, only for the pain still weighing his body down to hold him back.

"Shh…" she calmed him, gently repositioning his rather prone body so that he could rest a bit more comfortably. "It's alright… no one's going to hurt you anymore… You're safe now, remember?"

"Safe…" he repeated distantly, the thought sounding almost too good to be true after everything he'd been through. Still, he wanted to hold onto the chance that it was true, that he was free and she was here and he was indeed safe and that it all wasn't just a wistful dream that had no chance of becoming real. "C-can you stay with me…? Please?"

"Yes," she answered without a moment's hesitation. "Yes, of course, I can. I'm not going anywhere; I'll stay right here, with you. I promise."

A wave of contentment washed over him as he allowed that and his returning exhaustion to overtake the pain that was starting to die down at least somewhat. "T-thank you…" he whispered just as his eyes slowly slid shut and his former dread finally ebbed away altogether. Because now, he had no problems falling back into the darkness of slumber as long as her comforting light would be by his side when he awakened.

---

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" Axel asked, offering Kairi a concerned frown she didn't meet. Instead, she kept her sights set solely on Sora as Leon and Cid carefully lifted his unconscious form back onto the bed after his unexpected frantic episode. An episode that had, by all accounts, left everyone quite shaken as they realized just how much of a brutal mental impact Sora's relatively brief time in captivity must have left on him.

"You know you don't have to do this on your own, Kairi," Aerith agreed with Axel, placing a steadying hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "We all agreed to help take care of Sora together, remember?"

"Which means we oughta all pitch in and take turns keepin' an eye on him," Goofy suggested thoughtfully.

Yet even so, Kairi shook her head, set in her resolve. "No. I promised I'd stay with him, and I meant it. And if that's enough to make him feel safe again after everything he's been through… then that'll make more than worth it for me."

The others were all quiet for a moment or two upon hearing this, each of them looking to her with the same level of apt worry. Clearly, they must have noticed how exhausted she must have come across herself, both physically and mentally after both the action of yesterday and the stress of today. But even with that exhaustion, she refused to back down from her promise, especially not after what they'd all just seen. "You said so yourself, Axel," she continued, pointedly looking at her fellow student. "Sora's going to need me now more than ever, right?"

"...Hm. Guess I did say that, didn't I?" Axel sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "Fine, but only if you make sure to take care of yourself too."

"Which means, if you ever need a break or a breather, you know who to ask," Yuffie nodded with a spirited grin.

"That's right," Donald readily, earnestly agreed. "We want to do anything we can to help Sora feel better, no matter how long it might take!"

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Kairi smiled warmly, standing by as the others began to file out to head back to bed given how exceptionally late it was. "If anything changes, I'll be sure to let you all know. Good night."

Everyone returned her nighttime tidings as they left, until soon, only Kairi and Sora remained. The room was once again dark and quiet, though Kairi was quick to diminish the former as she lit a candle to bring some sense of light for her to see by. She knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep for the rest of the night, not that she really wanted to in favor of keeping a dutiful watch over Sora, just in case he unexpectedly awakened again.

So instead, she opted to pull a chair up to his bedside, taking up what she had been working on before she'd gone to bed earlier. Namely, that was mending Sora's clothes, which had gotten terribly torn and tattered thanks to his time with Maleficent. Admittedly, she wasn't quite able to weave the same protective magic into them that the three good fairies had when first making the apparel, but she hoped that sewing the holes up to the best of her ability would be enough to suffice. It was ironic, in a way, that she had been quite curious for quite some time now as to what Sora's new outfit looked like; but now that she had finally gotten a chance to see it, it was in just about the last way she could have wanted to.

Still, Kairi tried her best to shake such grim thoughts from her mind as she instead focused her attention back on patching up a rather gaping tear in his jacket. Every now and then, her gaze did drift back to Sora himself, now resting soundly as opposed to the anxious panic he'd been in not so long ago. Perhaps it had been a mistake, she thought, to leave him lying alone in one of Merlin's empty guest rooms since Aerith had finished all she could do when it came to healing him earlier that day. True, they had been checking in on him regularly throughout the evening, but they'd slipped on that routine by the time everyone had turned in for the night. Still, she could only imagine just how cripplingly terrified Sora must have been to awaken in a strange place with no context at all, especially after how he'd been so viciously trapped and restrained only mere hours ago. With how much fear and agony she had sensed in his heart before, she really wasn't surprised by his frantic outburst, made even worse by the effect the poison Maleficent had so cruelly inflicted upon him had on his body. But even so, her heart still ached heavily for him all the same. Because much like the lingering poison still flowing through his veins, his internal anguish and dread were things that no amount of magic could hope to heal, as much as she wished they could.

Still, true to her word, Kairi was more than prepared to do whatever she could do to help Sora recover, even if the most that meant was sitting by his side while he slept. She kept her vigil faithfully, eventually letting her thoughts drift entirely as she continued her needlework in the calm quiet of the room. As the first rays of dawn began to peek in through the window however, she felt her eyes finally starting to grow heavy, her focus waning from her work as her sewing slowed to a much more sluggish pace. Eventually, she found herself unable to resist nodding off, at least for a few minutes, in the hopes of getting some semblance of rest that she'd found herself deprived of for the past two days now. And yet, she ultimately forced herself out of that rest a moment later, only to realize that Sora was staring directly at her.

She gasped, startled by his eyes more than anything else, which were still that strange amalgamation of his familiar easy blue mingled with a sharp, striking gold, and a bright, sickly green, each color harshly clashing against one another. While his various cuts and gashes had been healed earlier thanks to Aerith, the emerald glow of the poison within him still marred his skin, though his cheeks were noticeably flushed, adding onto Kairi's suspicion that he was suffering from a fever based on how dangerously warm he'd felt earlier. And yet, despite all this, his expression was surprisingly calm and reserved, his multicolored gaze intentionally focused on her in a stark contrast to the hysteria he'd awaken in just a few hours prior.

"Y-you're… you're awake…" Kairi noted softly, unsure of what else to say.

For his part, Sora didn't say anything for what seemed like ages as he continued to stare at her piercingly, almost as if he was trying to determine if she was real or not. When he finally did speak, his voice was small and quiet and so unlike how it should have sounded that it practically shook Kairi to her core. "...You look different," he said simply, not elaborating beyond that.

In spite of the circumstances, the observation admittedly caught Kairi off guard but she responded to it all the same. "Uh… y-yeah. New clothes. Sort of like yours, see?" She held up his mostly-repaired jacket for him to see. "It, um, it got a little torn up during… y-you know, so… I've been trying to fix it for you. It's probably not going to turn out as good as it was before, but-"

"It's perfect," Sora interrupted, his tone earnest though his expression didn't change. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome…" Kairi briefly glanced away, ignoring the slight rush of warmth filling her cheeks as she turned her thoughts toward more serious matters instead. "Sora, I-"

"You cut your hair," he pointed out, completely derailing her previous train of thought once again.

"Yeah, I… uh, I did," she nodded somewhat awkwardly, realizing that he was still focusing so intently on her, almost as if she'd disappear completely if he didn't.

"I like it," he said as softly as ever. He was still completely subdued, almost emotionless even, but she knew he meant it all the same. "It reminds me of how you used to look when we were kids."

Kairi couldn't help but crack a small, incredulous grin at this. "We still are kids, silly."

Sora's expression finally shifted at this as he pulled his gaze away from her entirely, something akin to a mix of exhaustion and yearning filling in his features. "Yeah…" he muttered wearily, his tone surprisingly hollow. "I guess we are…"

Kairi sighed as she absently folded his jacket up in her lap. She realized that she might have to tread more carefully than usual with him, as not to upset him in the aftermath of the traumatic experience he'd just been through. And yet, that caution completely went out the window the moment she noticed him making his initial attempts at sitting up, only for him to hiss sharply in pain the moment he so much as moved his arm to the side.

"W-wait, stop!" Kairi immediately rose to her feet, her eyes wide with alarm. At the same time, Sora let out another agonized groan as he tried to get up again, only for persistent pain spiraling through every part of his body to essentially keep him pinned to his spot on the bed. "Sora, you need to stay-"

He immediately silenced her with a loud, pained, frustrated shout as his head ultimately dropped back onto his pillow, his breathing heavy as a thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead from the strain of the effort. "I-I don't understand," he began, suddenly, aptly distraught. "What's going on?! Why can't I-"

"Sora," Kairi hastily, anxiously placed a gentle hand against his bare arm to halt his futile attempts at moving it. "You need to stay as still as you can. Moving will only make it worse."

"M-make what worse?"

"D-do… do you not remember what happened to you?"

"I-I… Yeah, I remember some…" he admitted, his voice tight as he closed his eyes, largely to avoid meeting Kairi's crestfallen, pitied gaze. "I let Maleficent capture me, a-and I almost escaped but… then… then she... "

As he trailed off into a fretful sigh, Kairi ventured a guess to fill in the rest of the story from where he'd left off. "Then she poisoned you…" she said, not daring to describe what she knew had happened to him after that point.

"P-poison…" he repeated, glancing down at his arms as much as he could. For the first time, he noticed the unnatural green pallor his veins had taken on, a sight that was deeply unnerving in and of itself, though what made it even worse was the fearful implication that came along with it. "I-is… is that why I can't move…?"

"It's why you shouldn't move." Sora and Kairi were both equally startled as they were joined by everyone else. Aerith entered first with Yuffie right behind her, toting medical supplies in for the other girl. Yet before Leon, Cid, and Axel could join them, they were essentially pushed aside by Donald and Goofy, both of whom frantically rushed in and wasted no time scrambling to their young companion's bedside.

"Sora!" Goofy exclaimed with a bright, relieved smile. "You're awake!"

"About time!" Donald huffed impatiently. "You had us worried sick! Again!"

"I… have been making a habit of that lately, haven't I?" Sora frowned, though the slight hint of playfulness in his tone was undeniable.

"Boy, I'll say!" Goofy chuckled as both him and Donald offered Sora a set of sincere smiles. "We're so glad you're ok, Sora."

"I don't know if 'ok' is the word I would use to sum up how I'm feeling right now…" Sora sighed, wishing he could actually sit up to greet his companions properly.

"Well, after what you went through, kid, who can blame ya?" Cid remarked with a genuinely concerned frown.

"You'll need to take plenty of time to properly heal up thanks to that poison, that's for sure," Leon nodded, crossing his arms.

"Wait, what?" Despite it being the entire subject of discussion, Sora all but forgot about the poison entirely as he tried to get up yet again, only for the debilitating pain to hold him back once more. Kairi and a few of the others, namely Donald and Goofy, all hovered over him anxiously upon hearing his heavy anguished cry, though he largely ignored them in favor of getting some answers. "W-why… why would I need time to heal? C-can't we just… get rid of the poison using like… a spell or a potion or something?"

"Normally, yes, but… that's just it; this poison isn't normal," Aerith explained. "We've already tried nearly every spell and potion there is to try and negate the effect it's having on your body, but none of them have worked. Whatever kind of magic Maleficent created it from must have been very powerful and very devastating, but… she definitely knew what she was doing when she cast it on you. It was meant to completely incapacitate and paralyze you and I'm sorry to say that it's working exactly as she intended it to…"

"S-so what then?" Sora took another glance (or at least as much of a glance as he could) down at the discolored veins on his arm once more. "This is something that just… can't be healed? Is that it?"

"Oh, no, don't worry, you'll definitely get better," Yuffie assured, offering him a bright grin in the hopes of cheering him up. Even if it didn't work in the slightest. "But you'll have to do that part mostly on your own."

"From what I understand about this kind of magic, its effects do eventually fade away," Aerith clarified. "But like Leon said, it's going to take some time, even before you can get back up on your feet again."

Sora let out something of a disgruntled scoff at this, hating the thought of being helpless or immobilized in any sense, especially if he couldn't even move without being overwhelmed by indescribable agony. "How much time are we talking about here?" he asked, a bit harsher than he had meant to. "A few hours? Days-if worse really comes to worst?"

Everyone exchanged a diffident glance, none of them certain on how to break the rather unfortunate news to him, especially given how poorly he was taking the details of his current condition alone. But in the end, Kairi was the one to step up to speak the truth, knowing that he deserved it, as much as he certainly wouldn't like it. "Um, actually… It's… looking like it might be more like… weeks."

"Weeks?!" On impulse alone, Sora made yet another sudden, panicked attempt at sitting up, only to collapse back onto the bed with a shout of equal pain and frustration alike. Yet this time, he didn't stop trying, much to the shared alarm of the others as most of them rushed in to stop him, even despite his feeble efforts at pushing back against them. "No! No way! I-I can't be down and out for weeks! It's not happening!"

"Stop being stubborn!" Donald scolded firmly. "You need to stay put and rest so you get better!"

"No, what I need is to get up so we can get back out there and start looking for the Keys again!" Sora protested through gritted teeth, clearly struggling to simply pull himself upright at this point. "We're already wasted enough time with this whole mess as it is! If we just sit around here for weeks on end doing nothing, then the Organization is just gonna get even more of them on top of the one they already have!"

"A-and if we do leave with you poisoned like this, then the Organization might just end up doin' even worse than that!" Goofy reasoned with a fretful frown.

"S-so?" Sora argued fiercely, though it was quickly becoming clear that whatever little strength he had left was sharply waning against the poison-induced pain pounding through his veins. "A-after what I've just been through, the Organization is nothing! And if they even try to mess with us again, then I'll just-"

"Stop!" Kairi suddenly shouted, forcing Sora to finally be still again as she placed a hand against his chest and pushed him back down onto the bed. "Just stop it! You're not going anywhere until you're completely healed and that's final!"

As caught off guard by her sudden severity as he was, Sora wasn't so surprised that he didn't still have it in him to dispute her demands. "Kairi, you can't just-"

"Yes, I can," she hissed, glaring down at him authoritatively. "You aren't thinking clearly, Sora. You almost died and you just… want to go running right back into danger even though you can't even run at all! But I will not stand by again just to watch you nearly lose everything all over again. Which is exactly you're staying right here until I think you're well enough to leave and I will not hear any sort of arguing about it. Do you understand?"

A long bout of uncertain, uncomfortable silence filled the entire room at this, none of the others daring to interject between the two as they stared each other down fiercely. But when Sora remained stubbornly silent, Kairi wasted no time in pressing her previous question upon him once again. "I said, do you understand, Sora-"

"Yes," he answered, surprisingly immediate. And yet, he didn't meet her gaze at all as he did, instead, glaring in the exact opposite direction as he quietly, bitterly reiterated his response. "I understand."

"Good," Kairi looked back to the group who had been watching their heated exchange intently. Now that most of her anger had fizzled out, she couldn't deny she felt somewhat ashamed for how harshly she had treated Sora, especially considering his current circumstances. And yet, she still stood by what she had said; because if he had no intentions of protecting himself, then she would just have to do it for him. "Um… you should get some rest," she said to Sora with a tired sigh as she motioned to the others to take their leave. They did so solemnly, some of them sending quiet well wishes Sora's way, none of which he bothered to return. Kairi followed the procession, though she did linger in the doorway for just a moment, not to offer him the apology she really wanted to, but to say something far less meaningful instead. "I-I'll be back to check on you soon."

"I thought you were going to stay with me," Sora said quietly, his voice and expression both rigid as he finally looked at her once more.

As she returned his gaze, Kairi couldn't help but feel that familiar spark of frustration, mingled with perhaps the slightest bit of pity, brimming up inside her. Because even though she had indeed made a promise to him, she felt no obligation to keep that promise if he wasn't willing to at least meet her halfway. "And I thought you would be more careful," was all she said before she walked out and closed the door behind her.

---

The next few days passed in a quiet, uneventful fashion. A series of steady showers was washing its way over Radiant Garden, ushering in a dreary mood both indoors and out. Between being cooped inside up by the constant rain and Merlin still being away on his trip, neither the Restoration Committee nor Kairi and Axel had much to do. That is, aside from doing what they could to help Sora recover, not that he was really letting them accomplish that much to begin with. Donald and Goofy largely led the efforts on that front, understanding their young companion's strong, if not stubborn, desire to get back to their search for the Keys. Yet, even their comforting company and continuous attempts to, at the very least, cheer him up did little to raise his diminished spirits.

Since the reveal of his lengthy recovery period, Sora had largely remained as quiet as he was still as the poison showed no signs, physical or otherwise, of letting up even as several days went by. In light of this complete lack of any progress, he had grown both sullen and largely silent, only offering terse, soft spoken answers when necessary but otherwise not engaging in any sort of actual conversation at all, despite several attempts at getting him to do so. He had outright ignored Leon's questions about the finer details of what had happened while he had been imprisoned by Maleficent, as well as Cid's efforts to rebuff such grim inquiries with a bout of much-needed humor. He never reacted much to Aerith (with Yuffie's enthusiastic assistance) coming in for daily healing sessions that were little more than checkups than anything else seeing as how they did nothing at all to purge the poison from his system. Donald and Goofy's lighthearted discussions about what they'd do and where they'd go once he was better were all but lost on him as he started to doubt if he ever really would get better at this rate. Even Axel offhandedly mentioning Roxas to him did little to spur any genuine response out of Sora, only adding onto the mounting mutual worry everyone had been feeling for both his stagnant physical condition and his clearly deteriorating mental and emotional wellbeing.

For her part, Kairi hadn't really spoken to Sora since making her demand for him to stay put. She had certainly visited him, several times a day in fact, though she always accompanied one of the others when she did. And even then, she often stayed on the far side of the room, averting his piercingly discolored gaze that was always, always on her whenever she was around, almost as if he was expecting something from her. She knew exactly what that something was too: her permission for him to get up and leave, permission that she completely refused to give as long as he was still physically incapable of doing so to begin with. And yet, she couldn't deny that she understood his desperation and disappointment. Being completely immobile to the point of needing assistance in tasks as simple as even eating and drinking had to be maddening for anyone, but especially for someone as usually active and agile as Sora. As the days wore on without much of a change in his demeanor, Kairi steadily began to suspect he was depressed, or at least on his way there, a notion she didn't bother sharing with the others given the fact that it was easy to tell from his often exhausted, miserable expression alone.

Another suspicion Kairi had was that Sora hadn't been sleeping, even though he couldn't really do much else in his current condition. Though she hadn't relayed the message to him herself, she had asked some of the others to pass along that he'd heal much faster if he allowed himself to properly rest. Yet her secondhand advice didn't seem to do much good as the circles under his eyes only grew darker and his silence became even more empty with each passing day. Even so, Kairi continued her firm, distanced stance when it came to Sora, largely since she had no idea what to say or do to bridge that newfound, unwelcome distance as much as she truly wanted to. As much as she knew just how much both of them really needed to at a time like this.

Yet still, the gap between them remained, at least until the night came when neither of them could withstand what was keeping them apart any longer.

It had been a little less than a week since his rescue, but for Sora it might as well have been decades. He hadn't moved from his spot on the bed since that hectic first night, though that didn't mean he hadn't tried in the sparse moments he managed to have entirely to himself without any of the others fretfully hovering over him. Those attempts were always put to a swift and agonizing end thanks to the poison, which hardly seemed to be subsiding at all as far as he could tell. While the others all made lofty promises and assurances that he would heal and be up and about again in no time, Sora was quickly starting to believe that such promises didn't hold much weight to them at all. Instead, they were just another rather condescending endeavor to try and help him feel better, an endeavor he cared nothing for mostly because he didn't just want to feel better; he wanted to be better. He wanted to be able to do things, even the most mundane of tasks really, on his own again as opposed to needing to ask for help or relying on others to do them for him. He wanted to get up and walk, to go outside and go back to normal. But above all else, he wanted to get back on the Gummi Ship with Donald and Goofy in tow and get back to what he knew they needed to do: searching for the Keys and saving the worlds, as if this horrific nightmare had never happened in the first place.

When it came to nightmares, however, Sora had been no stranger to having them as of late. Just about all of them had to do with his recent captivity, with Maleficent often ominously and maliciously featuring to make him relive every horrendous second of the torture she'd put him through in reality. Given how he was already still vividly suffering in the aftermath of it all thanks to the poison she'd forced upon him, he wasn't exactly keen on reliving the start of the torment he was all-too powerless to escape even now that the worst of it was over. But he did, at the very least, have some power to escape his haunting nightmares and that power came in the form of avoiding sleep altogether. Despite everyone constantly advising him to get proper rest, Sora knew he wasn't exactly getting too much 'rest' whenever he slept to begin with, so he hardly saw his intentional lack of it to be much of a loss. Still, he hardly wasted his time at night like he was more or less forced to during the day. Because while the others all slept and eased up their nearly constant watch over him, he used the relative freedom allotted to him to do whatever he could to rebuild his largely lost strength.

He'd started with his hands, flexing his fingers as he possibly could all while trying his best to ignore the resounding sting that viciously sparked up in each of them as he did. Forming a fist had been an excruciating challenge as the poison cruelly punished him for even being foolish and brazen enough to try it. And he had nearly blacked out completely from the unbearable pain that simply bending his arm just a few mere inches had brought him. But still he didn't stop, he refused to stop because each and every tiny move he was making had to be bringing him one step closer to no longer feeling like a prisoner trapped inside his own immobile body.

Still, the relatively small scraps of progress here and there quickly ceased to satisfy Sora, especially when he realized just how insignificant that progress really was. Because as he spent his days boredly languishing and his nights only barely moving at all, his thoughts soon turned to walking, to running, to summoning his Keyblade and properly fighting again, all such simple things that he'd grown to miss so much in such a short amount of time.

And the more time he spent thinking about those things, the more he started to realize that the only one really holding him back from doing any of them... was himself. So he decided that if he couldn't be healed the easy way, then he'd just have to force himself to heal, no matter how difficult and agonizing it might be.

He had waited until he was sure everyone else in the house was fast asleep before even starting his attempt, knowing that the last thing he wanted was for any of them to rush in and stop him. He did genuinely appreciate just how much they all cared and all they were gladly willing to do for him, but he couldn't deny that their care was stifling to say the least. Which was why he wanted to make sure they all stayed out of the loop about what he was about to do. He made good use of the spare rag he'd casually asked Yuffie to leave lying on the edge of his pillow, snatching it with his mouth and pulling it toward him to make use of it as a self-imposed gag. And as soon as that gag was in place, he wasted no time forcing himself into motion.

The pain was every bit as awful and immense as he'd expected it to be as he pulled his arms back alone, but it only intensified tenfold as he positioned them to pull himself up. Still, he swiftly silenced whatever cry or scream might have escaped him by biting down hard on the rag, especially as his chest heaved with agony as he fully came to sit upright. The entire process was slow and sickening, his vision blurring and his body trembling violently as he clung onto the edges of the bed for dear life to support himself. Yet all the same he forced himself to ignore the anguish, as intense as it be, even as he swiveled his legs to hang off the side of the bed. Even as his bare feet so much as skimmed the wooden floor he knew this was going to be the worst part by far, but seeing as how he'd already made it this far, he knew he couldn't give up now. Especially when the thought of being stuck in that bed for one more minute was nearly just as horrendous as the incredible pain he was enduring to get out of it.

So, for the first time in days, he stood, though not without needing to grip the bed tightly as his legs nearly gave way entirely both from the pain and from a recent lack of use. Even despite his gag, he still let out a heavy, albeit muffled groan of anguish, involuntary tears starting to well up in his eyes as he did whatever he could to steady himself. Still, he wasn't able to properly stand on his own as he instead stumbled backward toward the nearby wall, each and every sudden step sending excruciating shockwaves throughout his entire body. He fell into the wall much louder than he would have wanted to yet it managed to support him as he leaned against it desperately, his body and mind both in a frenzied haze as they shared one sole, single mission: to keep moving, regardless of how miserable it made him. He quickly tied that mission to a more specific goal as he spotted the mirror hanging on the wall several feet adjacent to him. If he could just make it to that mirror, he reasoned, then he could stop, he could take a break, he could rest just as his poison-pounded body was practically begging him to do.

It should have been easy, a journey of only a few short steps yet those steps felt like miles to Sora as he set out toward it, each subtle movement he happened to make sparking up the equivalent of a thousand knives stabbing away at him all at the same exact time. He kept his grip on the wall, knowing it was the only thing keeping him standing at all as he slowly shuffled forward in tiny, shakey steps, his gag only barely managing to keep his persistent sobs quiet. But even still he didn't stop, knowing that if he could learn to suppress and ignore the pain that had been holding him back, then he could finally be better, just like he wanted. Just like he needed.

By the time he finally did reach the mirror, it felt like hours had passed. He relinquished his hold on the wall, only to sway forward toward the mirror itself, stopping himself by throwing both of his hands up to rest on either side of it. His breathing was heavy and shallow as he desperately tried to catch it, his head hanging low as he hoped the unbearable pain would finally die down now that he was mostly still. And yet, when he finally did manage to briefly glance up at the mirror, what he saw in his reflection completely replaced all thoughts of pain and poison with a heavy wave of newfound panic instead.

Surprisingly, the least of his worries were his veins, even as poison flowing through them cast a vibrant green glow that was bright enough to nearly luminate the entire dimly-lit room. But two other striking changes in his features terrified him far more than what he already largely knew about. First were his eyes, a bizarre, twisted mess of blue, green, and gold alike, the colors almost constantly shifting and mingling with each other in different ways, none of which made any sense as they seemed to shine as brightly as his veins currently were. But even more alarming than that was something he was shocked none of the others had apparently noticed yet: a single, yet stark lock of pure white, contrasting heavily against the rest of his usually brown hair as it just barely peeked out from under his bangs. But it was there all the same, just like the gold in his eyes or the shadows on his hands or the cracks on his Keyblade or the scar on his chest.

They were all there, all proof, proof that he couldn't continue to ignore or deny or hide away any longer. Proof that his absolute worst fears were coming true, that his worst nightmare was already on its way to becoming a reality.

Proof that his heart really was falling into Xehanort's control after all.

And that, on top of the poison, on top of what Maleficent had done to him, on top of losing a Key, on top of everything else, was all mounting onto a lengthy list of woe that was becoming far too much to bear. As Sora stole another glance at the mirror, as he caught sight of that first piece of white hair and those haunting hints of gold in his eyes, he quickly found he couldn't even stand the sight anymore. He thought nothing of the sweeping pain flooding his every sense as he quickly raised his hand and, in a moment of sheer distraught panic and fearful desperation, he slammed his fist directly into his reflection at full force.

His self-made gag had already fallen out of his mouth the first moment he'd caught sight of his reflection, which meant there was now nothing to block the loud, agonized cry he let out as the mirror's glass completely shattered from the heavy blow. Certainly the combined clamors had awakened somebody, but Sora hardly cared as he helplessly collapsed to the floor, pain surging violently through his limbs but especially through his hand, which was bleeding heavily thanks to the shards of glass now piercing his knuckles. But even the immense physical anguish paled in comparison to the dread and despair that had overtaken it, his mournful tears falling freely as he wondered what came next, how long he had left, what would happen once he was finally-

"Sora!" Kairi's shocked gasp broke through his manic thoughts instantly. Likewise, whatever barrier of silence and distance that had once stood between them was also shattered as she hurried over to him, clad only in her night shirt and shorts, her hair a frazzled mess from having awakened so suddenly. Still, as far as she was concerned, Sora looked much worse off at the moment as he lay curled in on himself on the floor, surrounded by countless shards of broken glass as he tightly gripped his hand, which was absolutely drenched in blood. His eyes were tightly shut as his breathing came out in tight, choked gasps which were more akin to sobs given the tears steadily streaming down his face. As admittedly confusing as such an alarming sight was, Kairi was overwhelmed with grief and guilt as she stared down at him, and though she was heavily tempted to call for help, she ultimately decided against it. Instead, she slowly knelt down to his level, taking care to avoid stepping on any of the scattered glass as she placed a soft hand against his trembling shoulder. "W-what happened…?" she whispered worriedly, though he didn't answer. In fact, he didn't say anything at all as he instead drew away from her, almost as if he were ashamed to simply be in her presence, which, unbeknownst to her, was very close to the truth.

She waited a moment, determining that none of the others had been awakened by his outburst, before deciding to take matters into her own hands instead. It took some time and some doing to finally calm him down enough to convince him to move at all, though her whispered comforting and gentle rubs on his arm and back finally soothed him enough to concede as much as he could. Even the tiniest of movements still caused Sora immense pain, obviously, and while she couldn't even hope to lift and carry him like Axel or Leon could, Kairi still allowed him to lean heavily against her as she slowly, methodically guided him back over to the bed.

Once she was sure he was properly settled, she rushed downstairs to retrieve some of Aerith's supplies, namely wipes and gauze to stop the steady bleeding. By the time she returned, his agonized sobs had mostly turned into silent tears, though whether those tears were spurred by the pain or by something else entirely, she had no idea. Even so, she was as careful as she possibly could be as she took his injured hand and began to clean and dress the heavy gashes the glass had torn across it. All the while she let her own healing magic flow through his wounds, said magic creating a soft, warm glow across the otherwise darkened room. They both remained seeped in a dense silence for quite some time, the only thing breaking through it being the constant quiet patter of the nighttime rain against the window outside. While Kairi tried to remain focused on her healing work, every now and then she would steal a brief glance at Sora himself, though he never returned it. Instead, he simply looked away, his expression awash in obvious grief and woe, though it did little to convey whatever he might have been thinking about. She nearly asked him, though she was largely torn between that and scolding him for the clearly painful trip he'd taken across the room that he hadn't been ready for at all. The mirror was the biggest mystery to her however, for with his hand as cut up as it was, he must have broken it on purpose. But as for what that purpose had been, Kairi was certain he wouldn't divulge it to her. Though what he did say to her instead caught her off guard just as much as anything else would have at that point.

"K-Kairi…" he began, the sound of his voice, soft and sorrowful as it was, bringing a fresh spark of pity to her heart. Slowly, he turned the hand that she'd been holding so he could grip hers, even though the small action alone was clearly agonizing for him. And all the while, his multi-colored eyes brimmed with tears as he stared at her pleadingly, desperately even as he made a simple, single request. "I-I need you to heal me… please…"

Kairi frowned, confused by such an odd request as she glanced down at his nearly-healed hand. "Sora, I-I'm already healing you…"

"No." He let out what almost sounded like a whimper as he squeezed her hand just the slightest bit. "My heart… I need you to heal my heart…"

"...Your heart?"

"S-something's wrong with it… I..." he hesitated, though ultimately what he let slip by was a lie, even though he knew he couldn't really afford to do that now. "I don't know what, I just… I need your help, p-please, Kairi, this… i-it feels so-"

"Shh…" she quieted him, not needing to hear the extent of the anguish his heart was feeling. After all, she could feel it well enough on her own. "I… I'll do whatever I can to help…"

He sighed, closing his eyes as he accepted that help, trusting her, perhaps more than anyone else, with this problem, even if he knew he ran the risk of exposing such an awful secret if he did. Still, he lay still, allowing her healing hands to move toward his chest as she brought them to hover just above his heart. Crisp, warm light blossomed over her hands once again as she got to work, focusing in on the deep, lasting connection between them so she could reach out to him. She knew well that he hadn't asked her for any physical healing; the kind of healing he had asked for was something she was admittedly less well-versed in, something she had only accomplished once before, just a few short days ago, on him. And the moment her heart bound itself to his, she could feel that same sort of agony, rich and clear and unbearable in every way imaginable. Amidst that agony, there were plenty of other equally horrendous emotions: fear, guilt, dread, fury, and sorrow, and yet for intense as all of them were, they were all tinged with something else. Darkness, a different kind entirely than what had overwhelmed his body, mind, and heart before. It was forign, yet familiar all at once as it effectively waged war against his heart, threatening to suffocate it and blot out every single speck of light that existed within it. It was aggressive, merciless as completely ignored and overcame his courageous attempts at resisting it. Because the only thing it wanted, the sole thing it craved, was to claim every last part of him, body, mind, and heart alike, entirely as its own.

The mere presence of such oppressive darkness was enough to shock Kairi to her core. Her focus immediately broke, her eyes opening wide as she stumbled back, weakened from so much as even making contact with such a horrific force. She didn't even realize she was trembling in genuine fear until she heard Sora's worried call for her.

"Kairi!" He sat up as much as he could, despite how much pain it clearly brought him. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't know-I-I… I didn't think that-"

"N-no, please, don't be sorry!" Kairi rushed back to his side to calm him down. "If anyone's sorry, it should be me. I… I tried, I really did, but… I don't think my light is strong enough to heal you..." "Or your darkness," she almost added, but didn't. Because he didn't know, he said he didn't know, and the last thing she wanted was to do was add onto his already palpable misery with such troubling thoughts.

That misery was largely forgotten, however, as Sora noticed the remorseful tears starting to well up in Kairi's eyes as she looked at him as if both of them were broken. Which, by all accounts, they might as well have been, albeit in very different ways. "N-no… Kairi, I… it's not your fault," he said, lying back down as he glanced away from her guiltily. "I never should have asked in the first place…" After all, how could he possibly expect anyone, even her, to purify something that was already so deeply corrupted to begin with?

"B-but you're hurt!" Kairi protested earnestly. "You're badly hurt, inside and out, and all you wanted was for me to help you and I can't even do that right! Everyone keeps saying I have all of these amazing light and healing powers, but what good are they if I can't use them to help you when you really need me to!?"

As Kairi let out a frustrated sigh, Sora remained largely silent, unsure of what to say to comfort her, as much as he truly wanted to. Even still, he put his own pressing worries and fears aside to at the very least try to ease hers in any minimal way he could. "Well," he said softly, garnishing her tearful attention. "I… I think I know something you could do that would help…"

While she was initially confused, it didn't take her long to figure out what he was implying. "Oh, that's right…" she wiped a few of her fallen tears away as she offered him a slight smile. "I did make you a promise… didn't I?"

"Yeah…" he said, relishing the simple comfort of her touch as her hand lightly came to skim his. "A-and I hope you keep it tonight, because I… I really don't want to be alone right now…"

"And you won't be," she assured him as she squeezed his hand slightly. "But if I'm staying, then I am not sitting up in that chair all night. I'll be right back."

"Huh? Kairi, what are you-" Sora didn't get an answer as Kairi slipped out of the room entirely to go back to hers, though she returned a few moments later with her own blanket and pillow in tow. "Wait," Sora balked, his eyes wide as he watched her place both items on the bed right beside him. "Kairi, you're not-"

"What?" she interrupted with a soft chuckle as she came to sit on the edge of the bed. "You, me, and Riku always used to do this when we were little, remember?"

"Yeah… when we were little…"

"So? What's the difference now?" she asked as she tucked herself away under her covers. "You lucked out with getting such a big bed, which means there's plenty of room for both of us."

Knowing he couldn't exactly argue with that logic, Sora let out a small, relenting sigh as he turned his head to face Kairi as she comfortably lay beside him. While the bed was certainly large enough to fit them both, there was still only about a foot or two of space between them, both barely enough and almost far more than enough all at the same time.

"Sora," she whispered, her tone sad and sincere as she absently placed her hand onto the bed in that space between them. "I'm… so, so sorry that all this happened to you. You're the absolute last person in any world who would deserve to go through everything you've been through…"

He nearly argued this claim with a number of reasons as to why he did deserve what had happened to him, why it had only made sense for him to suffer like he had in light of the lies he'd told and the darkness he was harboring. And yet, he knew she wouldn't want to listen to any of that, so instead he went with the other, much more comforting thought that had come to him on the same beat. "Well, you know, it's not all bad…"

"Oh? And why's that?" she frowned, confused until he slowly slipped his hand over hers.

Her confusion completely melted away into warm affection when, for the first time in what felt like years, she finally saw him truly, genuinely smile. "Because… I get to be here with you."

And much in the same way, for the first time in a long time, both of them finally fully slept the night through, their hands remaining overlapped as they offered each other the best kind of healing either of them knew how to provide. The healing that came with simply being together.

---

After a week of nearly nonstop rain, the sun had finally returned to Radiant Garden, something that Kairi casually realized when the first rays of morning light shining through the window awakened her the next morning. Yet what she noticed before even that was Sora, sleeping peacefully just a few feet across from her. It was a welcome sight to say the least, though what made it even better was perhaps the first clear sign that the poison was perhaps starting to subside. The green hue that had once painted the veins on his face had receded almost completely, returning some of the natural coloration of his skin. Still, that dull emerald glow still traced its way down his neck toward his chest, proof that he wasn't close to being in the clear just yet. But even so, it was a start, even if it was a small one.

Kairi would have been perfectly content with continuing to enjoy the view right in front of her, but soon enough the quiet calm of the room was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. "Sora!" Donald called as he and Goofy entered, the latter toting a generously-loaded tray of food.

"Up and at 'em!" the captain chimed in brightly. "We brought ya some breakfa-" The pair immediately stopped short as Kairi hastily sat up just on the other side of Sora's sleeping form. Her eyes were wide with alarm as she silently shushed them, though as she took stock of their dumbfounded expressions, she immediately and awkwardly realized exactly what this scene must have looked like without any context.

"Ah… u-um…" she whispered, stammering as she glanced down at Sora beside her. Thankfully, he was still completely out of it, otherwise he might have seen the heavy rush of red that had already started filling her cheeks. "H-he's asleep," she anxiously explained as quietly as she could. "Actually asleep this time."

Donald and Goofy quickly eased up at this, both of them realizing the significance of such a feat as they rightly assumed Kairi had been the one to accomplish it. Which was why they opted to let their young companion continue getting his much-needed rest as they filed out of the room with allayed smiles. For her part, Kairi let out her own relieved sigh as she lay back down, only to receive another burst of surprise when she spotted the coy grin Sora, who was now very much awake, was sending her way.

"Well, I was actually asleep," he admitted wryly. "But I sure am glad I woke up in time for that because even with my eyes closed the entire time, it was hilarious."

"Wha-Sora!" Kairi gasped, bolting upright once more as she playfully shoved her pillow into his face. Laughing, he easily pushed it away, though it was only as he did that they both realized he had done so seemingly without any sort of resounding pain at all. "Wait…" Kairi stilled, staring at him incredulously. "Did you just…?"

"Y-yeah…" Sora looked to his right arm, just as stunned as he moved it around freely, even raising it high above him. "I-it doesn't hurt at all…"

"What about your other arm?" Kairi asked, almost a bit too eagerly. And yet when Sora shifted to start moving his other limb, a harsh hiss of pain escaped him as he used his now freed hand to quickly anchor it back down.

"N-no, I… I guess I only get one…" he sighed, disappointed as he laid his now mobile arm across his chest.

"Well, one's better than nothing," Kairi offered him an encouraging smile as she placed her hand over his.

"I owe it to you," Sora noted, returning her grin slightly. "This was the hand you healed last night, right?"

"Yeah, but… healing magic doesn't work against the poison, remember?" Her tone grew a bit warmer, prouder at this. "That means you did this all on your own."

"...I spent a whole week doing nothing but lying in bed and all I have to show for it is getting to move just one arm around?" Sora asked, a hint of dry, annoyed sarcasm in his voice. "Great… That's some real progress right there..."

"Hey, again, it's better than nothing," Kairi reminded. "And it's a pretty good start at that. Who knows? This could mean that you're on your way to healing completely much faster than you think."

"I hope so…" Sora sighed, though he still smiled at the thought all the same.

"I know so," Kairi assured warmly, nestling back into bed so they could both enjoy each other's company for just a bit longer. "Just you wait; I'm sure you'll be back up and feeling better in no time at all."

---

As it turned out, Kairi ended up being far more right than she could have imagined. Because much to everyone's surprise, Sora had finally started healing at a much more steady, consistent rate when compared to the week before. Within the span of the next two days, he had already regained largely painless control of his other arm, though both of them were relatively sore and weak from a lack of use. Of course, his physical condition wasn't the only recent improvement; his mood was significantly lighter and more upbeat, his former dejected silence replaced with an eagerness for conversation with anyone whenever they dropped in to check on him. True, he still did have his occasional dour moments of disappointment or despondency-which was certainly understandable given his situation, but for the most part, it was easy to see that Sora was well on his way back to his usual self. And as miraculous as the sudden turnaround might have seemed, none of the others had to take too many guesses as to what, or rather who, had been the one who had sparked it in the first place.

Despite both of them trying to keep it under wraps, it really was no secret to anyone that Sora and Kairi had started spending their nights together. While Donald and Goofy had really been the only ones to catch them doing so, it was easy to see that the pair had been spending quite a bit of time together, both daily and nightly. Whenever any of the others came in to see Sora, they usually found that Kairi had already beaten them to it, not that either of them ever minded having any additional company. With her training essentially on pause while Merlin was still away, Kairi had plenty of idle time on her hands that she put to good use by occupying Sora's. The two would spend hours on what they hadn't been able to properly do in quite some time now: simply talking and catching up, exchanging stories of the present (Kairi's from training and Sora's from Key searching) as well as anecdotes from the past (from their peaceful days back on the Destiny Islands). They'd joke and laugh and carry on every bit as much as they used to, any semblance of the anxious tension that had rested between them just a few short days ago completely gone. A welcome change of pace for them both given just how much they'd missed being together like this after being apart for so long.

It had been a few days since the first night they'd spent together that Kairi happened to remember that a certain special occasion was coming up very soon. And as soon as she did, she immediately began planning, spreading the word to everyone but Sora as she devised a scheme meant solely for him. It was coming just in time too as he'd recently regained the ability to sit up on his own again, his upper body now mostly mobile even if his legs still surged with pain any time he so much as tried to walk. Still, it was enough to satisfy Kairi that her plan would work as she put into motion as soon as she woke up on the intended morning, knowing that this was something neither of them would want to miss.

"Hey, good morning," she greeted brightly almost as soon as she opened her eyes, only to find that he was already wide awake beside her. Ever since he'd asked to have his bed moved closer to the window, it had become something of a pastime for him to casually watch the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of Radiant Garden down below, a pastime that she often joined him on in the early hours of the morning they had together.

"Morning," he said, turning to her with a smile.

"I have a surprise for you," she grinned as she sat up.

"A surprise? What is it?"

"Well, it wouldn't be a surprise if I just told you what it was," she chuckled as she got up out of bed.

"Aw, c'mon, Kairi…" he groaned in faux exasperation. "Can't I at least have a hint?"

"Just be patient!" she scolded, smirking. "I have to go get something for it first. Be right back." So Kairi hurried off, leaving Sora in complete suspense for whatever she intended on giving him or showing him. She returned about an hour later, fully dressed and ready for the day as she rolled in perhaps the last thing he'd been expecting.

"It's… a wheelchair…" he frowned, admittedly surprised by the chair itself as well as what it implied. Namely, the idea that he was still far more invalid than he wanted to be.

"Hey, it wasn't easy getting this wheelchair, you know," Kairi protested, hands on her hips. "I've been pestering Cid to trade in some old computer parts for it for days. Besides, this isn't the surprise. It's just what's going to get you to the surprise."

"Wait…" Sora's formerly dubious tone shifted to anticipation at this. "You mean…?"

"Yep," Kairi nodded as she summoned her Keyblade. She pointed its tip toward the far side of the room as light surrounded it, and from her focus she formed a bright portal to some unknown location. "We're finally getting you out of this room."

Sora broke into a huge smile at this, unable to hide how elated he was by the mere thought of getting out and seeing something other than the same four walls he'd gotten far too used to by now. Yet even so, he did have at least one reservation about the plan. "Uh… can I ask where we're going?"

"No," Kairi answered simply as she pushed the wheelchair closer to the bed. "You'll see when we get there. Now come on; as excited as I am about this whole thing, I bet there's no one more eager to see you get up and out then, well… you."

"You can say that again," Sora readily agreed, doing what little he could to get ready for the trip. It took some doing between both him and Kairi, and though some significant pain did come along with the transition, he eventually managed to slip out of bed and into the chair. And as soon as she made sure he was properly seated and comfortable, Kairi wasted no time in wheeling him into the portal she'd made, hoping that her surprise, for as simple as it was, would satisfy him all the same.

When the light from the portal cleared, the pair had arrived in a place that was picturesque to say the least; a deep, dense forest of lush, towering trees, drenched in the fresh, bright colors of a springtime morning. Between the gentle breeze swaying the leaves, birds chirped their cheery melodies from unknown perches, creating an air of captivating peace and promise that Sora couldn't help but appreciate as he took in a deep breath of the warm, crisp, clean air. "Whoa... " he said, absolutely fascinated as he looked around. "Where are we?"

"We're in a special world Merlin made just for me and Axel to train in," Kairi explained, smiling as she began to push his chair down a makeshift path through the woods. "But since we haven't really been training since he's been gone, so I thought it might as well be put to use somehow. I also thought that some fresh air might be just what you needed."

"You thought right," Sora sighed contentedly as he hung his arms behind his head. "This place is amazing."

"It gets better," Kairi said, stopping short just shy of arriving at the edge of the forest. "But… you have to close your eyes for this next part." Sora raised a curious eyebrow at this, but he ultimately complied when she insisted. She said nothing as she wheeled him forward a bit more, eventually bringing his chair to a stop in the right spot before scrambling to get the finishing touches ready.

"Will I get to open my eyes sometime today?" Sora asked teasingly, though he still kept them closed as she had advised.

"Well, if you're gonna be that impatient, you can open them… now," Kairi said, watching his reaction with growing excitement as he got his first glimpse of the stunning view before them.

Indeed, it astonished him more than even the forest itself had; a vast, wide valley stretched out far before them, just as rich and radiant as the rest of the woods were. And yet, what caught his attention almost as much as the view itself was what Kairi had set up beside him. "What's all this?" he asked with a curious smile as he looked over the picnic lunch she'd prepared. It wasn't anything extravagant, just a few sandwiches and snacks, all of which she'd plated quite nicely. But what was most interesting about the entire set up was a single elegantly-decorated cupcake topped with a brightly burning candle at the center of it all.

"Surprise!" Kairi cheered, holding the cupcake up to him. For his part, however, Sora simply looked between it and her, absolutely bemused until he shook his head in confusion.

"Ok, I give up," he said with a puzzled grin. "I have no idea what any of this is for."

"...Sora... " Kairi's smile swiftly disappeared at this. "Do you… not know what today is?"

"Um… I could be wrong, but… I'm pretty sure it's a Thursday?"

"Well, yeah. But this Thursday also happens to be your birthday."

Sora started at this, somehow even more bewildered by this news as he shook his head slowly. "N-no, its… it can't be, it's not even…" he stopped short, his eyes widening as the realization finally struck him. "Oh my gosh, it is my birthday…."

"Honestly, Sora, how did you manage to forget your own birthday?" Kairi couldn't help but chuckle at just how dumbfounded he seemed to be. "Especially since you never have any problems remembering mine or Riku's."

"Hey, can you really blame me?" Sora protested defensively. "After all, I don't really remember celebrating my last birthday either…"

Kairi's otherwise playful expression turned solemn at this as she realized exactly why he lacked that memory, if what Riku had told her was anything to go off of. "W-well, do you at least know how old you're turning today?"

"Of course I do," he scoffed, though his confidence quickly dropped off. "I'm… uh… mm…"

"16?"

"Yeah, that's right, 16," he nodded before being caught off guard once again. "Wait, really?!"

Kairi let out an exasperated sigh as she placed the cupcake in his lap before taking a seat on a tree stump across from him. "You're absolutely hopeless," she smirked, though her tone soon turned wistful as she looked out at the expansive view before them. "You know, if we were back home, then I'm sure everyone would be throwing you a huge party right now. Especially since 16 is such an important milestone."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Sora crossed his arms, though he was still smiling all the while. "My mom always used to tell me that when I turned 16, I'd become a 'man', whatever that's supposed to mean."

"It means you're all grown up, silly," Kairi laughed, amused. "And that's a pretty special occasion. Which is why I wish I could have done more to help make it even more special for you, but… I hope this is at least close to good enough."

"Are you kidding? This is great!" Sora readily assured her. His bright smile quickly faded however as he looked back down to the treat she'd given him. "Honestly, you might have even done too much. I mean, it's not like it's anything actually worth celebrating…"

"...What do you mean?"

For a moment, it seemed as though he was actually going to explain, but in the end he simply shook his head and glanced away instead. "I-it… it's nothing…"

"It's not nothing to me," she leaned forward, catching his gaze once more. "Sora, if something's bothering you, then I want to hear about it. I told you before: I'll do whatever I can to help you. But I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

He hesitated, clearly anxious about divulging something so personal, but in the end he knew that if there was anyone he trusted with what he was about to say, then it was her. "I… I don't think I deserve this…" he began carefully, yet honestly. "Any of this. Everyone's been so great about helping me ever since all this started, but I don't get why. It's like… you all just dropped everything just for me, even though you could be doing so many other important things! Heck, you and Axel even stopped your Keyblade training because of me."

"Of course we did," Kairi said earnestly. "Because we care about you, Sora. We all do. If any one of us were in your place, wouldn't you do the same for us?"

"Of course I would!" Sora exclaimed without a moment's hesitation.

"And that's why we're doing all this for you," she offered him a bittersweet smile. "Sora, you do so much for other people. You care so much about nearly everyone you meet. So… maybe it's time for you to start caring a little more about yourself too…"

"W-well, maybe that would be easier for me to do if I stopped making so many mistakes all the time!" he snapped, largely without thinking.

"Mistakes?" she placed a hand against the side of his chair as she looked to him, concerned. "L-like what?"

"Well, like falling for a dumb trap and failing my Mark of Mastery exam for starters," he began, going down the lengthy list he'd been keeping mental tabs on for quite some time now. "Then I just lost one of the thirteen Keys to Kingdom Hearts of all things, to a member of the Organization that wants to take it over and destroy everything! Then I agreed to let myself be captured and chained up and poisoned and the entire time the Organization could just be out there getting even more of those Keys and I can't even do anything to stop them! And that's all on top of losing my strength not just once but twice in a row, only now it's even worse because not only can I not even fight, I can't even walk! A-and…" A small, harsh sob escaped him, the weight of his multiple mistakes weighing heavy on his heart, especially the worst of those mistakes, one that he couldn't even bear to voice aloud. "And I just keep on making all these stupid mistakes over and over again when everyone's counting on me! I-I feel like I'm failing everyone who needs me… A-and that's exactly why I don't deserve this... "

Tears were brimming in his eyes as he shakily held the cupcake out to her, silently begging her to take it away from him. And not just that, but the kindness and compassion that her and all the others had shown him right along with it, all in the belief that he had done nothing to earn it. That he should have been cast out and hated in place of being cared for and comforted. And at that moment, Kairi had never wanted to prove him wrong more than she did now.

"No…" she gently pushed the cupcake back to him. "It's exactly why you do deserve it…" He stilled, looking to her in genuine disbelief, but still she continued. "Sora… I wish you would see yourself the way everyone else does… Because if you did, then you wouldn't see any of those mistakes. You'd see all of the good you've done, all of the worlds you've saved, and all of the people you've helped. And I should know; after all… I am one of those people…"

"B-but I put you in so much danger!" Sora protested tightly. "All of you! You should have never gone to rescue me! You should have just-"

"Should have what? Left you there with Maleficent?" Kairi asked, tensing up at the very thought. "I don't think so. I can't speak for the others, Sora, but for me? Finding out that you'd been captured, that you were being tortured… was one of the worst things I've ever had to go through."

"A-and you shouldn't have had to go through that!" Sora countered, still immensely distraught. "You shouldn't have to worry about me because I should be stronger than this! I need to be stronger than this, b-because if I'm not then… what good am I to anyone…?"

His last statement was so quiet she'd barely heard it, but it still managed to practically break her heart all the same. Because it was at that moment that she finally realized exactly what his problem was: he had so much love in his heart to give to others, he always had, but he never bothered to spare any of that love for himself. Which was why, in place of what his own heart couldn't give him, she decided she would give him some of hers instead.

"You're enough…" she whispered to him as she knelt down in front of his chair and took his hands in her own. "You've always been enough…" She could feel the warmth of tears starting to build up in her own eyes now but still she didn't stop; she couldn't stop. Because he needed this, more than he really knew. "C-can I tell you something? W-when I first started my training, I felt like it was... a lot to take in. Everyone expected so much out of me when I-I'd barely even used my Keyblade before. It's been getting easier but, still, there's sometimes where I worry… What if I'm good enough? I mean, stacked up against you and Riku and even Axel, I… I can't help but feel like I'm the weakest link of the bunch, you know?"

"K-Kairi, what are you talking about?" Sora asked, immediately placing all of his worries with her and essentially forgetting about himself in the process. "You're not a weak link at all! Once your training's done, I know you'll do great!"

"See?" she couldn't help but smile softly as she squeezed his hands a bit. "There you go again. You always know how to help everyone else feel better, but… all this time, you've just been… miserable on the inside, haven't you?" He said nothing, instead looking away from her morosely as she went on. "But now I think I finally understand why. I thought I was under a lot of pressure, but you, Sora? You literally have the weight of hundreds of worlds resting on your shoulders! And it's not fair that you have to carry that weight all on your own. Especially since… you don't have to…"

"Yes, I do…" he sighed, closing his eyes solemnly. "Because if I don't, then who will?"

"I will," she answered immediately. "Riku will. Donald and Goofy will. Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid will. Axel will, the king will, Master Merlin and Master Yen Sid will. So many people will and can help you, Sora. We all want to help you carry that weight. All you need to do is ask."

He took in a deep, unsteady breath at this as he stared past her toward the rich blue sky above. "I-I… I'm not good at asking…"

"I know. That's why I've already made up my mind that I'm going to help you anyway, even if you don't ask. And you know..." She smiled, slipping her hands out of his as she placed the cupcake back into them. "Even if you are technically a 'man' now, I still don't see any reason for you to waste a perfectly good birthday cake, now do you?"

A small, yet genuine laugh escaped him at this as he accepted the fork she offered him. And with it, the help that she was so ready to freely give him in both this moment and beyond it. "I can't say that I do," he said just as he blew the cupcake's nearly burnt-down candle out.

"Did you wish for anything?" she asked him curiously.

"Yeah…" he said happily, his gaze resting solely on her as he finally wiped the last of his tears away. "It already came true."

---

The sun was just starting to set over the forest by the time they left it. The rest of their conversation as the day slowly passed by had fortunately been much more lighthearted than how it had started out (though the cupcake they ended up splitting did contribute to raising their spirits quite a bit). And yet, they were soon met with an even more festive mood when they returned to Merlin's house, only to arrive to find everyone eagerly waiting for them with a surprise of their own in mind.

"Happy birthday, Sora!" everyone exclaimed in bright unison the moment they spotted the pair emerging from the portal Kairi had made.

For his part, Sora was even more caught off guard by this surprise than he had been with Kairi's, especially when he noticed the extent of it. They'd decorated the entire house with countless colorful streamers and balloons, and had even gone as far as to collaborate on a sizable cake, one that was, sure enough, topped with 16 candles exactly. "Whoa! You guys did all this for me?" he asked, genuinely touched by their impressive efforts. "How'd you even know it was my birthday in the first place?"

"Kairi told us," Aerith informed with a warm smile.

"Oh, really…?" Sora glanced back at her with a knowing smirk.

"W-well, someone had to," Kairi huffed, pushing his chair forward a bit. "It's not like you would have seeing as how you didn't even remember what today was to begin with."

"You forgot your birthday, Sora?" Goofy asked with a small chuckle.

"Why isn't that surprising?" Donald added, crossing his arms.

"H-hey! I didn't forget it!" Sora countered, flustered. "I just-"

"Like I said, you just didn't remember it," Kairi cut in with a wry smile. "Which is exactly the same thing as forgetting it, but don't worry. None of us will fault you for it."

"Yeah, especially not when cake's on the line!" Yuffie quipped with a spirited wink.

"Yeah, cake you didn't even help the rest of us make," Axel pointed out, raising a critical eyebrow at her.

"Aw, cut me some slack; cooking is not my strong suit."

"Clearly."

"Would you two cut that out?" Cid scowled, annoyed as he came to stand between them. "I'm sure the last thing the poor kid wants to hear on his special day is you two runnin' your traps at each other!"

"I know I don't," Leon agreed dryly.

This elicited a small chuckle out of Aerith, one that both Sora and Kairi quickly joined in on until soon enough, the entire room had erupted into bright, genuine laughter. And even once that laughter had died down, the party had only just begun. Given how many of them were on hand, it wasn't a particularly large get-together, but it certainly was an enjoyable one, filled with talking, laughter, and of course, cake. They kept it going late on into the night, until all of them were tired yet content with the time they'd spend together as they all fondly parted ways to head to bed. As she usually did, Kairi stayed with Sora, though as she climbed into bed alongside him, she couldn't help but notice the almost glowing smile he fell asleep with. It didn't take much thought to figure out where that smile was coming from either. After all, he'd told her as much earlier that very evening and when he did, she could tell just how much he had really needed something like this to begin with.

Because for the first time in a very long time, he'd been given a chance to feel less like the savior of the worlds he was expected to be, and more like the normal now-16 year old he really was. And for the first time in a long time, he'd been given a chance to let the weight of the worlds he'd forced himself to carry just wait, if only for a little while.

---

As restless as he still very much was, it wasn't long before Sora started insisting on trying walking out again, albeit this time with supervision and assistance. The others were largely hesitant on allowing it for a number of reasons, mainly the poison, which still lingered if the coloration of the veins in his legs was anything to go off of. It was only when he was on the verge of begging for a chance that Aerith and Yuffie ended up being the first to cave and agree to let him try.

With a little help from Cid, the girls managed to set up a pair of rails for Sora to hold himself steady, something that admittedly excited him the moment they brought them into his room. Likewise, when they caught wind of what was going on, Donald and Goofy eagerly wanted to take part in doing whatever they could to help, especially since they knew just how much Sora had been wanting to walk in particular. After all, as he reasoned, walking would lead to running, which would lead to summoning his Keyblade, which would lead to fighting, which would lead to their search for the rest of the Keys kicking up right where they had left off. Certainly a much more optimistic outlook than the rather hopeless one he'd had only a little under a week ago, one that his companions were more than ready to see come to fruition.

So the rudimentary rounds of walking practice began, taking up a few hours each day as Sora would cling onto the rails for dear life as he tried to take even the smallest of steps amidst sharp, searing pain. Aerith and Yuffie supervised these sessions while Donald and Goofy attended just about every one of them, standing on the sidelines to cheer him on and offer him any support he might need. Today's session was particularly important, however, as Sora was determined to finally stand entirely on his own, without relying on anything to prop him up. Walking along the length of the rails had been simple-if not somewhat agonizing-enough, but when he reached their end he stopped short to physically and mentally prepare himself for the moment in which he'd finally let go.

"Remember to take it slow," Aerith advised as she and Yuffie stood by alongside Donald and Goofy. "If it's too much for you today, then don't worry; you can always try again tomorrow."

"N-no," Sora countered breathlessly. His arms were trembling as he gripped the rails on either side of him tightly, both from the strain and from nerves but still, he didn't back down, knowing that this was a challenge he'd much rather face sooner than later. "I-I need to do this…"

"Not if it makes you feel even worse, you don't," Yuffie reminded with a concerned frown.

Sora didn't reply to this as he instead put all his focus into grounding himself as much as he possibly could. Once he felt his footing was stable enough, he essentially forced himself into enough of a state of calm that he largely felt ready to try lifting his hands away from the rails. He did so slowly, easing his grip as he shifted his sense of support to his legs instead. In the first few seconds, he swayed slightly, his legs weak and aching immensely thanks to the last remnants of poison within them. It was enough to nearly make him catch himself on the rails once again but he ultimately refused to, knowing that he had to weather this, no matter how difficult it might be.

And, for a single, solitary moment, that's exactly what he did. Because there he was, standing, on his own two legs with nothing else to support him for the first time in weeks. And yet… it was only for a moment. Because as soon as that moment had passed, a rush of pain, so intense and unbearable, sped its way through him. A burst of pain that was all too similar to what he'd been forced to endure when the poison had first been forced into him, a moment he couldn't even stand to think about with how awful and agonizing and terrifying it had been. In fact, the mere memory of it alone was enough to knock him off his feet entirely as he collapsed to the ground with an anguished cry.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy rushed to him, both of them immensely worried as their young companion remained lying still on the ground before them.

Even so, Sora hardly paid either of them any mind as he instead let out a small, defeated sigh instead. "I can't do this…" he muttered, not bothering to pick himself up even though he easily could.

"What are ya talking about?" Goofy asked incredulously, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Of course you can! You can't give up now, not when you've already gotten so much better!"

"Besides," Donald added just as supportively. "You've done things that are much harder than just standing up on your own."

"Yeah, but I did all that stuff while I wasn't poisoned!" Sora snapped, finally sitting up to reveal his distraught expression. "All I want to do is just get up and walk again so things can finally go back to the way they used to be, b-but I can't even do that, no matter how hard I try! I-it… it's impossible…"

The pair exchanged a fretful glance as their young companion looked away from them dejectedly, though if there was one thing they both agreed on, it was that they had no intentions of letting him drown in his own self-doubts for too long. "Well then," Donald began, his tone surprisingly casual. "It's a good thing this is you we're talking here, Sora. We see you do the impossible just about every other day. For better or worse…"

"What Donald's tryin to say," Goofy interjected much more warmly. "Is that we believe in you, Sora. No matter how hard it might be or how long it'll take, we're gonna be here to help you get through this, and even after that!"

As Donald nodded his unwavering agreement to this, Sora simply looked between the pair in sheer astonishment. Because sure enough, this was a vow they'd already kept, ever since any of this had begun. They'd found him, brought him back, and had indeed stayed by his side through all of this, even when they really had no obligation to. And if nothing else, then the depths of their loyalty and friendship alone was enough to encourage and inspire Sora when he admittedly needed it most. "...Just like always, huh?" he asked, finally offering the pair a small, but genuine smile.

"Just like always," Donald agreed as him and Goofy extended their hands out to help him up. Sora easily accepted their offer, leaning against both of them for support as they helped him stand once more.

And they continued to help him in the hours that followed, until finally he felt ready to try to stand on his own again. It was an unsteady effort, and all the while the pair remained close by to catch him if he fell yet this time, miraculously, he didn't. True, the poison still plagued him to the point that he couldn't stay on his feet for very long, but it was still a milestone all the same, one they all made sure to happily celebrate as soon as it happened. Because as the days went by, standing soon turned into steps, and steps soon turned into walking without any sort of assistance at all.

---

By all accounts, the poison seemed to have finally faded away entirely, any physical traces of it that had once marred his skin disappearing right along with it. Still, for as eager as Sora was to get back to searching for the Keys, all of the others agreed that he still had a ways to go when it came to fully regaining his strength. Kairi in particular made it quite clear that he still didn't have her permission to leave until she believed his capacity to hold his own in a fight again was up to par at the very least. And though he initially protested the idea of having to wait another week, Sora ultimately had no choice but to comply.

Still, that hardly meant that time was spent idly. For in the first few days after he'd gotten used to talking again, Sora had taken to spending as much time as he could up and out of bed, taking short walks around the house and helping the others with their usual chores and routines the best he could. Still, it was clear that even though the poison was largely gone, it had still sapped away a great deal of his energy when it had run its course through him. Because even those short walks and simple tasks tended to easily tire him out, and likewise, despite his best efforts, summoning his Keyblade and making it stay for more than mere seconds at a time was a feat he'd yet to truly accomplish since he'd been out. Even so, the others did what they could to help him build his lost strength back up, though everyone could agree that Kairi had been the one to come up with the best idea to do just that by far.

Springtime had finally arrived in Radiant Garden in full force, and with it came a wave of warm, pleasant weather. Given how much their trip to the secret forest had reinvigorated Sora before, Kairi had a hunch that even more fresh air would do wonders for him, which was why she'd started inviting him on walks around town. Though Sora was all for the idea as soon as she'd pitched it to him, a few of the others, namely Leon and Cid, were much more hesitant, believing that Maleficent could still be waiting in the wings somewhere, intent on capturing her lost "pet" all over again. Yet Kairi assured them that she'd be ready and willing to do whatever she had to to protect Sora if push came to shove, and given all of the great lengths she'd already gone through for him over the past several weeks alone, they were all inclined to believe her.

So the pair started going on their daily walks, most of them relatively short-just around the nearest block or so-though enjoyable for both of them all the same. Every now and then some of the others, usually Axel or Donald and Goofy, would join them, but they had most of their casual strolls to themselves to enjoy the sights of the shining city together. During these walks, their conversations were usually kept casual, though on today's outing in particular, Kairi found that there was one topic she could no longer keep silent about, though not for a lack of trying for the past several weeks on end.

"Can I ask you something?" she suddenly spoke up, interrupting Sora as he recounted his time at Paradise Falls to her once more.

"Oh, uh, sure," he glanced over at her with a smile. "What's up?"

She hesitated, knowing that even bringing this up would only bring him unwanted feelings and memories, and yet she knew she had to anyway. She had to know the truth for once. "...Exactly how long have you been lying to me and Riku?" she asked softly, not meeting his gaze.

Sora immediately stopped short, his eyes wide and his heart suddenly racing as he watched Kairi take a few more steps forward. A familiar kind of panic swelled up in him as he frantically wondered just how much she knew, how she'd found out in the first place. And worst of all, if she knew the one thing he couldn't bear to let anyone else find out, to the point that he'd done all he could to tuck that single white lock of hair out of sight and hope against hope that the gold stains in his eyes would eventually disappear just as the green ones already had. "L-lying about what?" he asked, trying to play things as cool as possible. Even as his thoughts were practically surging with fear and dread over what might happen if she did know the truth.

Kairi sighed, closing her eyes thoughtfully. "I know about the scar," she began. "And the cracks in your Keyblade. Donald and Goofy told us about them."

"...Of course they did…" Sora groaned, still wishing that neither of them knew about such things even long after those secrets had been forced out into the open.

"A-and… I also saw… w-we all saw what happened to you at the castle," her tone turned anxious as she recalled how he'd looked, how he'd acted, so unlike the Sora who was standing before her now. "Sora, you… every part of you, your body, your heart… it was all covered by so much darkness. It was like there was barely even a trace of you left. Y-you looked just like… like a Heartless…"

"A Heartless…" he repeated in a whisper, his dread practically peaking as he realized what she was talking about. And how she'd even gotten a chance to see him like that in the first place. "H-her plan actually worked…"

"...Maleficent, you mean?" Kairi ventured worriedly.

Sora nodded, his entire manner tense as he weakly leaned against the wall they had been walking near for support. "S-she wanted to turn me into… i-into that… monster," he shuddered, knowing there was no other word to describe what he was like whenever his own darkness overtook him. "A-and use her magic to take control of me s-so she could use me to take over worlds for her a-and she did! All because I wasn't strong enough to fight back!" He stopped, glancing up to Kairi just as distraught tears began to appear in his eyes. "P-please," he begged as she took a small step closer to him. "Please tell me I didn't hurt any of you when I was… l-like that…"

"Y-you didn't," she lied, knowing that the truth would do nothing for him now. "D-do you remember anything that happened when you were…?"

"N-no," he glanced down, wiping his tears away before they could fall. "I never do. W-when I'm like that, I… I never know what's happening a-and I don't have control of anything. It's like I just… disappear…"

Kairi faltered upon hearing this, a part of her starting to understand why he'd kept this part of himself secret for so long. Because certainly, undergoing such a horrific transformation and losing practically all sense of self had to be more of a dreadful burden than anyone could hope to bear, to the point that she wondered how he'd even managed to do it for so long to begin with. "H-how long has this been happening to you?"

"I don't know, for a while now, I guess?" he shrugged with an exhausted sigh. "I don't know why it happens or what causes it, o-or how to stop it. As much as I wish I could…"

"...Then why didn't you tell either of us about this?" Kairi pressed once more. "Maybe we could help you-"

"Because I didn't want either of you to see me like that," Sora quickly cut her off. "Ever. Especially if there's a chance I could hurt you without even knowing it…"

"Sora…" Kairi frowned, reaching a hand out to gently touch his shoulder. A hand she quickly retracted when she realized she didn't know what else to say along with it.

"And besides," he continued, letting out something of an aggravated scoff. "You finding out is one thing, but if Riku found out, I know just what he'd say: 'Oh, Sora, you know better than to hide things like this from me! How could you be so reckless? I need to be the first to know if anything goes wrong so I can be the one to rush in to save you again'."

"Sora, you know Riku wouldn't say any of that if he knew!" Kairi scolded firmly.

"Then clearly you haven't talked to him lately," Sora scowled bitterly. "'Cause ever since he became a Keyblade Master, suddenly he thinks he knows everything. Including what he thinks is best for me…"

Kairi was more than ready to protest such a worrisome line of thinking, yet before she could, their entire conversation was interrupted by the abrupt ringing coming from Sora's pocket. And when he pulled the Gummiphone out, he was met with a call that was, by all accounts, incredibly ironic. "I-it's Riku!" he exclaimed, suddenly panicked given the circumstances. "I haven't talked to him since any of this happened, I don't even know-" He paused, glancing over at Kairi, who was every bit as startled as the phone continued to brightly ring. "H-here!" he suddenly pushed the device into her hands. "You talk to him!"

"W-what?" she exclaimed, alarmed as she looked down at the phone. "Sora, what am I even supposed to tell him?"

"J-just come up with something!" he urged anxiously. "But please, don't tell him anything about what happened with Maleficent or why I'm really here. He'd totally freak out if he knew!"

Kairi let out a frustrated scoff at this, shaking her head at such a dishonest plan, though when Sora desperately implored her once again, she finally complied and answered the phone. "R-Riku!" she greeted with an awkward wave when he showed up on screen. "W-what a surprise! How have you been?"

"Wait, Kairi?" Riku leaned forward in his seat aboard his and Mickey's Gummi Ship, frowning in confusion. "What's going on? Why do you have Sora's phone?"

"Good question…" Kairi grumbled, scowling over at Sora.

"Is he there with you?" Riku asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

"Uh y-yeah, he is," Kairi replied, even despite Sora silently advising her against it.

"Can I talk to him? Please?"

Kairi paused, still looking to Sora rather than Riku, watching as he anxiously shook his head against the very idea. She met his resistance with a stern glare, annoyed that he had even put her in this position in the first place as she decided to turn the tables on him. "Yes, you can," she said succinctly, handing the phone over to him.

Sora let out a defeated sigh at this, returning the same scowl Kairi was sending his way as he begrudgingly took the phone back. "Um, h-hi, Riku," he said with a tight, forced smile. "H-how's it going?"

"Sora!" Riku exclaimed adamantly, angrily almost. "I haven't heard from you in weeks! Where have you been? Why are you in Radiant Garden?"

"I, uh… I-I'm here looking for a Key, duh," Sora quickly lied, fully knowing that there wasn't any trace of a single Key in this world whatsoever. All the while, he ignored the disapproving look Kairi sent his way as he completely went against her advice to be honest with him, with both of them.

"Really?" Riku asked, skeptical. "Have you found anything yet?"

"Um, n-no, not yet," Sora shrugged, trying his best not to come across as nervous. "B-but that's why Kairi's here to help me look, right?"

He held the phone out to bring her into the frame, even as she mouthed her plea to him to not drag her into this ridiculous charade any more than he already had. Yet for some reason or another, she haphazardly decided to go along with it anyway. "Y-yeah, that's right," she nodded with a fake, cheery grin. "We've… just been looking all over for that Key! I-I'm sure we'll find it soon…"

"I'm sure we will!" Sora reiterated much more enthusiastically. "Which is why we should probably get back to looking for it. Thanks for checking in, Riku. Talk to you later, bye!"

"Wait!" Riku interjected just before Sora could hastily hang up. "Before you go, do you mind telling me why you haven't even bothered to answer my calls for over a month now?"

"I-I've been busy," Sora said succinctly. "These Keys aren't out there finding themselves, you know."

"Ok, so if you've been that busy how many have you found?""

"...T-three…" he replied rather sheepishly. "Well, technically four, if you count the one the Organization has..."

"What?" Riku's tone turned incredulous as he heard Sora's last muttered statement. "You let the Organization get away with one of the Keys? To Kingdom Hearts?!"

"Hey, I didn't just let them get away with it!" Sora argued petulantly. "Besides, we're, uh… we're working on getting it back. And as far as I know, they haven't gotten any of the others yet, so there's not that much to worry about, right?"

Riku was silent for a moment or two, offering Sora a dubious look as he maintained a wide, largely false, reassuring grin all the while. Kairi looked between the two anxiously, her worries lying with Sora and all of the secrets he still insisted on keeping from Riku, who, as far as she was concerned, had every right to know about them as much as she did. Yet she still didn't betray his trust, even if nearly every part of her was screaming at her to.

"Fine," Riku finally let out a tired sigh. "But, Sora, you really shouldn't be interrupting Kairi during her training. She has a lot of important work to do, just like you do."

"Oh, i-it's fine, Riku," Kairi assured with a small smile. "It's really no trouble, and besides, I'm glad to help in any way I can."

"Yeah, see?" Sora added. "Everything's fine. Like I keep trying to tell you."

"It'd be better if you actually made more of an effort to stay in touch," Riku frowned, his tone no longer angry, but rather earnest instead. "I know you're busy, Sora, and so am I, but you going off the map like you did for weeks on end only makes me think the worst might have happened. It… it makes me worry."

"Something you do way too much of," Sora let out an irritated huff. "I already told you, I don't need you to babysit me…"

"I know you don't," Riku admitted with a thoughtful smile. "And I know you've got finding the Keys and dealing with the Organization covered, but… that doesn't mean we can't still care about what happens to you. Right, Kairi?"

"Right," Kairi readily agreed, offering Sora a warm smile that was finally enough to placate him. For now, at least.

"...Right," he finally nodded, satisfying Riku and Kairi alike.

"Well, I guess I'll let you two get back to looking for that Key," Riku said, putting on something of a coy, knowing grin. "Try not to have too much fun without me."

"R-Riku!" Kairi blushed as Sora quickly glanced away, flustered.

For his part, Riku let out a small laugh as he finally bid the pair a fond farewell. "Stay safe, both of you. And remember, Sora, if anything goes wrong-"

"Then you need to be the first to know, yeah, yeah, I remember…" Sora huffed, rolling his eyes. "As if you'd let me forget…"

"Well, someone has to remind you between all the calls you missed…" Riku said in faux exasperation. "Kairi, keep an eye on him for me, will you?"

"Always," Kairi smirked, elbowing Sora playfully.

"Thanks," Riku said as he sighed off. "Talk to you guys later."

"Bye, Riku!" Kairi replied brightly as the call ended, though Sora hardly did the same. Instead, he still wore a sullen scowl as he put his phone away, one that persisted even as she looked to him, concerned. "Sora?"

"See what I mean?" he crossed his arms sourly. "He's always on my case anymore! What's worse is he didn't used to act like this before the exam. It's just so… so suffocating!"

"Sora, you heard him yourself," Kairi said earnestly. "He's just worried about you."

"I know he is," Sora admitted with a sigh. "But it's like he thinks I can't even take care of myself! I don't need him calling me every five minutes just to see if I'm still on track. And I definitely don't need him finding out about what happened a few weeks ago. He'd never let me out of his sight again if he found out I was captured by Maleficent, of all people."

"He's not that overbearing," Kairi pointed out, hands on her hips. "And I really think you should tell him what happened. Honestly, we should have told him about it from the very start. He deserves to know."

"Well, if you think he should know, why didn't you tell him?"

"Because this isn't about me, Sora," Kairi sighed. "It's about you; which means you should be the one to tell him the truth."

"And what? Distract him from his own mission?" Sora countered. "The last thing we need is somebody else getting derailed from what they need to do like me, Donald, and Goofy already have been."

"Fine," Kairi relented, deciding to meet him halfway. "Then you can wait until Riku and the king find Master Aqua. But after they do, you have to tell him what happened, Sora. For me, and for yourself."

Sora hesitated at this, the very thought of cueing Riku in on such a series of alarming events making him immensely anxious in ways he couldn't quite place. Though the one way he could place was the growing fear that the revelation of this one truth would lead to the reveal of more, even worse truths. Including one he didn't want anyone knowing, a truth he didn't even want to believe himself. "O-ok," he relented, though really only for the secrets that Kairi herself openly knew. "I… I'll tell him."

Kairi smiled at this, allayed as she began pressing on to continue their walk. "Good. And if you need any help filling him in on this, then you can count on me."

"Yeah, well if he yells at me for being 'reckless' or 'irresponsible' then I'm blaming you," Sora teased, stepping forward to catch up with her.

She laughed at this, all the while looking forward to the day when everything could finally be freely out in the open between the three of them once more. When they could all be truly honest with each other, just as they had always been before. "Fair enough."

---

With his mobility more or less completely restored, the last obstacle Sora knew he had to overcome came down to his Keyblade. Summoning it alone often took him quite a bit of doing, along with a great amount of intense focus to make it stay. But even after he'd mostly gotten to the point where he could largely call upon it consistently, he was still rather out of practice with the weapon, as well as with combat as a whole. That was where both Leon and Axel stepped in to help. Given the fact that they both had plenty of experience in a fight just as Sora himself had, they both made for ideal sparring partners for him to practice resharpening and re-honing his skills on. Even if he was somewhat frustrated by how basic that practice began

Because instead of letting him get back to his usual advanced moveset, Leon insisted upon Sora starting out with slow, simple swings instead. The thoroughfare outside of Merlin's house echoed with the dull clang of Sora's Keyblade bouncing off Leon's Gunblade at a sluggish, yet rhythmic pace. They'd been at it for about an hour now, and every time Sora so much as tried to pick things up a little, Leon was quick to advise him against it. All the while, Axel stood by, observing on the sidelines, but even from there, he could see just how bored and annoyed Sora was getting by the largely tiresome process.

"Ease up a bit," Leon said as he lightly pushed the Keyblade away from his own weapon. "You shouldn't be focusing on hitting hard; just focus on landing your hits in general."

"Isn't hitting hard sort of the point?" Sora huffed, irritated.

"Not right now, it isn't," Leon disagreed. "You needed to get up and walk again before you could start running, right? Same principle applies to fighting."

"I guess…" Sora frowned as he slung his Keyblade over his shoulder. "But do we have to be so slow about it?"

"For now, we do," Leon countered evenly. "You haven't used your Keyblade in weeks. You need to get a feel for how to handle it again before you can really get back into the swing of things."

"Heh, swing of things," Axel spoke up with a small chuckle. "Nice one."

"Nice what?" Leon raised an eyebrow, not getting his own unintentional pun.

The bout of somewhat awkward silence that followed as soon broken as Yuffie poked her head out of the house's window out of the blue. "Leeeeeon! Can you get in here for a sec? Cid says he needs your help with something."

Leon nodded as he put his Gunblade away, though he briefly turned back to Sora before he left. "I'll be right back. Don't pull any stunts while I'm gone."

"No promises…" Sora muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Uh, I-I mean, yeah, I promise!" he quickly corrected himself, offering Leon a wide smile and a thumb's up.

Leon eyed him dubiously for a moment before ultimately turning to go back into the house. As soon as he was gone, however, Sora let out a loud, frustrated sigh as he completely went against his orders, swinging his Keyblade out as wide and fast as he could several times over, despite the somewhat painful strain it caused him.

"Whoa, you might wanna slow down there," Axel noted, still leaning against the house. "If Leon catches you doing that, he'll throw a fit. Or at the very least, give you a stern talking-to, and I'm not too fond of the idea of having to listen to either."

"Ugh, I can't help it!" Sora groaned, exasperated. "All of this 'taking it slow' stuff is driving me crazy! I just wanna get back to fighting like I used to again. This might sound kind of weird, but… I really miss it."

"Hm," Axel couldn't help but smirk at this. "Well, if you want a real challenge for a change, I might be willing to give you one where Leon won't…"

"Really?!" Sora perked up, immediately excited by the prospect.

"Sure, why not? It's been a while since I've had any real practice myself since the old man's been away," Axel shrugged, summoning his fiery Keyblade. "Don't worry though; I'll make sure to go easy on you."

"More like I'll go easy on you," Sora countered as he eagerly took up a fighting stance. "You're the one who's still learning the ropes, remember?"

"And you're relearning them," Axel reminded. "So I'd say that makes for a pretty even match."

"We'll see about that," Sora grinned before he rushed in to take the first strike. Axel managed to parry it smoothly, making sure to not knock him back too roughly. Still, he was much more proactive in actually letting Sora practice his moves however he pleased than Leon had been, which was certainly liberating to say the least. With each successful swing he landed, Sora felt an undeniable burst of exhilaration, the kind he hadn't experienced in quite some time now. This was his element, one that filled him with a sense of strength that he had longed for since the moment it had been so forcefully ripped away from him in the first place. And even if that strength had yet to be fully restored, the traces of it he still did possess was still something that he relished all the same.

"I gotta say," Axel noted as their Keyblades collided once more. "This is honestly kind of familiar."

"Familiar?" Sora raised a confused eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, that's right," Axel winced, realizing that he certainly wouldn't remember the first and only time they'd really squared off before now. "Er, n-nevermind. Instead of thinking about that, ya might wanna consider covering that opening you have there."

"Wait, opening?" Sora quickly glanced to his side, only for Axel to end up catching him off guard completely by striking at him with the dull side of his Keyblade. Unable to react fast enough to block it, the blow pushed him back, causing him to lose his footing as he tumbled to the ground, his Keyblade falling out of his grip and disappearing as he did.

"Not too shabby for a beginner, huh?" Axel asked with a proud smirk. That smile quickly disappeared, however, when he noticed Sora, still on the ground as he nursed his now sore side with a disappointed scowl. "Hey… you ok?" he asked with genuine concern as he extended a hand out to help him up.

Sora only answered with a terse nod as he accepted Axel's help. For his part, however, Axel could easily tell he was far from satisfied with how their short duel had gone if his annoyed pout was anything to go off of. "You don't have to push yourself so hard, you know," he remarked earnestly. "You'll get the hang of it again eventually."

"Yeah, eventually," Sora scoffed, crossing his arms. "That's the part that bothers me."

"Well, it shouldn't," Axel said, his slight smile finally returning as he let out a small, somewhat bittersweet chuckle. "You know who else always wanted to fast track everything?"

"No, who?"

"Roxas," Axel's smile widened somewhat as it took on a nostalgic air. "The kid was always pushing himself way harder than he should have too. Now I guess I can see where he got it from."

At this fond mention of his Nobody, Sora completely put aside his former disappointment for something far more sincere instead. "I-I… I've been seeing Roxas in my dreams, actually," he began, making sure not to reveal too many details about said dreams.

"Really?" Axel perked up at this, intrigued.

"Yeah, he… I-I promised him that I'm gonna find some way to get him out of my heart," Sora said, remembering that vow, as well as the vow Roxas had made to him along with it. "And I mean it. He deserves to be his own person again and I'm not gonna stop until he is. No matter what it takes."

Axel paused at this, unsure of how to express his genuine gratitude for such a noble ambition. Other than, of course, by deciding to take it up for himself too. "Well, if you're that set on getting him back, then I know he'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't help you out at least a little," he said with a small, yet genuine grin. "So if you ever need anything when it comes to helping him out, just let me know. 'Cause believe me, I'm ready to do whatever it takes just as much as you are."

"Thanks," Sora nodded warmly. "I appreciate it, and I know Roxas does too. And don't worry; we'll figure out some way to help him. I know it."

"So do I," Axel agreed before clearing his throat to lighten the mood. "So, you wanna go another round before Leon comes back out here to ruin all the fun?"

"Too late," Leon spoke up as he stepped out of the house, wearing a slight disapproving scowl as he did. "I spotted the tail end of your little 'spar'. What did I say about pulling any stunts while I was gone?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Sora said defensively. "Axel's the one who suggested it."

"Wha-hey!" Axel exclaimed hotly as something of a brief, playful chase ensued between the two. Leon stood by, initially disinterested as he watched their antics, before he ultimately folded into a small, bemused grin.

"Well," he said, chuckling softly to himself. "Guess that marks the end of practice for today."

---

It was a question Kairi had been dreading for weeks now, one that she knew she'd have to give a definitive answer to eventually. And she realized, as Sora posed it to her at the end of their latest walk, that answer would finally have to come today.

"Do I think you're ready to leave…?" she repeated the question, her heart sinking even as she did. "I-I don't know… Do you feel like you are?"

"Well… yeah," he shrugged. "The poison's all gone and Keyblade practice has been going great! I know I still have a ways to go when it comes to getting all my strength, but I feel like the best way to do that now is to just… get back out there for myself, you know?"

Kairi sighed, looking away from him fretfully upon hearing this. She couldn't deny that he was right, his condition was much better than it had been nearly a month ago now. And yet, she still had a whole host of reservations about the idea of letting him go, even if she knew he ultimately had to for the greater good. "B-but what if something happens?" she asked anxiously. "I… I just don't want to see you get hurt again…"

"Don't worry," Sora assured evenly. "I've already talked everything over with Donald and Goofy. I'm going to be more careful, just like you want me to be, a-and if anything does go wrong, then we'll make sure to keep you in the loop. You do have a Gummiphone of your own, right?"

"Yeah, I-I do, but…" she faltered, unsure of how to voice the other half of her hesitation. "Sora, I-"

"Kairi, I told you I wasn't going to leave until you said I could," he interrupted, seeming to understand exactly how she was feeling. "And even if I… really didn't like it at first, I stayed, just like you said. So… if you still think I should stay, then… that's exactly what I'll do."

She shook her head sadly at this, knowing that her reasons for making him stay now would have been far more selfish than they had been weeks ago. "N-no…" she relented softly, admitting the truth to both him and to herself. "You… you can't stay… After all… those Keys aren't going to find themselves, are they?"

"No, they aren't," he said with a smile so bright it almost shined like the sun. A smile that made her heart ache with longing she shouldn't have even felt in the first place. Longing for him to stay right by her side even when she knew he couldn't. "I guess this means I should go tell Donald and Goofy to get ready to head out tomorrow morning. Thanks again, Kairi!"

"Y-yeah…" she said with a fake, almost sorrowful smile as he hurried back inside the house. All the while cherishing every single, now-fleeting second she had left with him now that she was finally letting him go. "You're welcome…"

---

The next morning saw everyone waking up bright and early so they could see Sora, Donald, and Goofy off before they left. They all gathered outside of Merlin's house in an atmosphere that was bittersweet, to say the least, especially after the past month they'd all spent together. Still, if there was one thing they could all agree on, it was that they were all overjoyed to see the full, miraculous recovery Sora had made in a surprisingly short amount of time. Almost just as overjoyed as Sora himself was to finally be getting back out into the worlds once again.

"Looks like you fellas are leaving town just in time," Yuffie noted with a smirk. "Today's the day Merlin's supposed to be getting back from his own world."

"Good," Axel said, allayed as he crossed his arms. "That means he won't find out about that 'forbidden' rescue mission we went on a few weeks ago which means he can't get on our case about it."

"Well, just as long as none of us tell him about it," Cid noted.

"Which we won't," Aerith chuckled. "We already promised not to, remember?"

"You're sure you're ready to leave?" Leon asked Sora. "Because if not-"

"No, I am," Sora assured with a bright smile. "And I owe that to all of you. Seriously, I don't think I can thank any of you enough for-"

"You don't need to thank us," Aerith interjected with a kind smile. "We were happy to help."

"Now, you two make sure to keep him outta trouble, ya hear?" Cid said to Donald and Goofy.

"You bet we will!" Goofy readily agreed with a solid salute.

"Even if getting into trouble is basically a hobby for him…" Donald remarked, sending Sora a somewhat critical look.

"Is not…" Sora huffed with an insincere scowl. That scowl faded however as he spotted Kairi, hanging at the back of the group, largely refusing to make eye contact with him or say anything at all as she simply looked down sadly.

"Now, don't be strangers, you three!" Yuffie chimed in cheerily. "You guys know you're welcome here any time, catastrophe or no catastrophe."

"Hopefully, it's no catastrophone next time around," Axel added pointedly.

"Take care of yourselves out there," Leon said with a small, earnest smile.

"Safe travels!" Aerith bid them brightly.

"Thanks," Sora smiled, Donald and Goofy waving their own fond farewells as they all began to turn to leave. "For everything. We'll see you guys again soon."

An exchange of final goodbyes and well wishes rose among the group as they began to part ways, though all the while Sora largely kept his focus on Kairi, who still didn't meet his gaze even as he waved to her directly. He faltered, unsure of what to do or what to say as he briefly hesitated to leave at all until he was able to offer her one last goodbye. He found he didn't really have time to as Donald and Goofy had already continued on their way back to the Gummi Ship, and even if a part of him still didn't want to quite yet, he ultimately followed them. At least, until she suddenly rushed in to stop him.

"W-wait!" Kairi called, unable to risk missing her chance as she raced toward him. Sora only had time to turn back toward her before she crashed into him, locking him into a tight, secure embrace. "I-I don't know how else to tell you this," she began, leaning her head against his shoulder as her voice came out in a whisper. "So I'll just say it: I-I'm going to miss you… a lot…"

"Kairi…" he started softly, slowly moving his arms to envelop her in the same sort of hug she had him in. "I-I'm gonna miss you too, but… you know we can talk to each other any time we want now with the phones-"

"I know," she sighed wistfully. "But… it's not the same as you actually being here…"

"...No, I guess it's not," he admitted. "But… don't worry. We'll see each other again sooner than you think, I know it. And hey, once your training's finished… maybe you could come along with us to look for the rest of the Keys?"

She let out a small, warm laugh at this, comforted by the very thought of being able to accompany him on such a grand, adventurous journey. "I'd love that…" she sighed, content in his embrace. "Before you go… d-do you still have it?"

"Of course," he instantly knew what she meant as he pulled her charm out of his pocket for her to see. "And as long as I do, then it'll be like we're together, no matter how far apart we might be."

"Yeah… it will," she was still smiling, even as they began to part ways. "Be careful. And remember, I'll be there to help you whenever you need me. I promise."

"I know," he said, accepting that promise, treasuring it and everything it meant. Their hug had dissolved by now and yet, even as he began to step away from her to be on his way, it was though they were still as close as they could possibly be. "See you soon?"

"Yeah," she nodded, her heart filled with countless unspoken feelings. "See you soon."

He offered her one final warm wave as he walked away, though she kept her sights on him until the moment he disappeared around a corner. And even as he did, she let her promise remain, her determination to be there for him, to protect him as he'd protected her before, shining brighter and stronger than it ever had before. A promise they'd both made to each other, to continue to fight for each other, until that far off, happy, peaceful, yet possible day when maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't need to anymore.

---

So there you have it! A very LONG chapter, but one I really had a great time writing all the same, especially given the implications it has for a number of things later on (plus I'm just a sap for angst and character interactions and Sokai so this really got me in the feels). Anyway next time around we'll finally be getting back into some Disney worlds, starting with a trip to a certain lost empire... ;) Until then though, don't forget to leave your thoughts in the REVIEWS! Stay safe and healthy out there too! Until next time! :D