So, I wrote this chapter the day after I posted the last one, and I'm actually going to try and write another chapter tonight.

My goal is to write at least one chapter a day and finish this fic while I'm in isolation!

So let's go!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

My OCs © to me!

Other OCs © to their respective owners!

Chapter 30: DIY

"Think you can get that computer back up and running?"

"I do." Ienzo smiled up at Riku. "The backup one can work for now, but this computer is worth a lot. I should have it fixed by the end of the day if Pence gets back with the parts I need."

Isa turned a page of the book he was reading. "You do know this is a school day?"

Ienzo paused. "Oh. Yeah. I'll just go get them myself…" He sheepishly shuffled out of the basement.

Isa smirked. "He's so oblivious sometimes. Come on, let's head upstairs." They walked up, with Aqua waiting up in the library for them. "Go for it."

The young woman nodded. "Alright."

Riku sighed. "Think she'll be able to help?"

"Apparently she knows more than the rest of us about Keyblades, so she's the best option, unless we get Master Yen Sid down here."

"I'd rather Aqua, and I bet Kairi would too."

Aqua heard their voices disappear as she went down into the basement. Now all she had to do was watch the computer until Kairi fell asleep.

Aerith and the Fairy Godmother were watching from Radiant Garden, waiting as well.

She turned on the computer, immediately seeing Kairi sitting with the red-haired guy, the guy with glasses, and the guy who tried to kill her before.

"So, that's one thing off the list."

"Magia," the man with glasses asked, "were you able to find your part?"

"Yep. Lucky is helping me out too. I was able to locate the buyer for some orichalcum and orichalcum+."

"Good."

Kairi smiled as she drank some tea before her. "Thank you again, guys. For everything."

"It's the least we can do."

"You're our teammate. Our friend."

"You would do the same for us."

Aqua smiled. Kairi made some good friends.

She watched.

Watched as Kairi left her friends and went back to her room. As the girl settled into bed, Aqua heard a sound behind her.

"Ready dear?"

She turned to see the Fairy Godmother. "I am."

The two walked into the pod room. Aqua entered, waiting for the pod to close. The white petals came up, clicking together with a hiss as sleep began to pull at her already.

"Aqua, dear, focus on Kairi. Focus with all your heart."

Darkness engulfed her.

Kairi found herself in a wooded glen as dreams took over her mind. "What is this place?"

"Kairi?"

"Aqua!?"

The older girl smiled. "It worked!"

"What worked?"

"Fairy Godmother thought she might be able to connect us through dreams. We've only used the dream eaters up until now, but we really needed to talk in person for this." Aqua looked around. "Surprised the dreams would take us here."

Kairi looked around. "Where is here?"

"This is the woodlands below the castle on The Land of Departure. Terra and I would play here when we were younger." Aqua motioned for Kairi to follow. "So, Riku, Terra, Isa, and Nami saw what happened yesterday."

"They did…? What did they hear?"

"Everything."

Oh.

Oh boy.

"Kairi. I know we really don't know each other well, but I just want to say, if I ever made you feel like you were unimportant or a burden… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize Aqua."

"I think I do, and I know the others want to as well. Especially Riku. He's pretty torn up about it all."

Not surprising. Kairi could clearly remember what he said to her before she left. He probably felt awful.

"But that's not why I'm here." Aqua pushed aside some leaves revealing a small pond. She sat down on a log and waited for Kairi to sit with her. "I'm here to help with the Keyblade."

Kairi blinked. "You are?"

"Yes. I'm not sure where your friend got the information on the materials to make a Keyblade, but he was right. You're doing well on that front. And you know you need a pocket of strong ancient magic, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. And I will tell you how to make a Keyblade."

Kairi's eyes lit up. "You will!?"

"Yes." The girl smiled. "I wanted to make my own at one point, but Master Eraqus insisted we follow tradition, so he forged mine. It's actually very uncommon for a wielder to make their own weapon now. Usually a master does it for them, like how Master Yen Sid forged Mickey and Riku's new Keyblades."

Aqua looked out at the pond, studying the ripples in the water. The air felt cool, still. Calm.

"Keyblades are a manifestation of our hearts. They represent a part of us. So, forging one is like forging your own heart into a weapon. It's simpler for someone else to do it, but you don't have that option." She looked back at Kairi. "It will not be easy, or painless. Forging your Keyblade will bring all the pains of your heart, as well as the good parts, to the top. You will have to face all of it at once. So, you must be prepared."

That didn't sound fun.

"I don't know if I'm ready then."

"You will be by that time. I believe in you." The older girl laid a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "You will imbue the ingredients together with magic, focusing on your heart. They will do the rest. You just have to keep focused and deal with what comes from your heart."

"How long does it take?"

"That I don't know. I did a lot of research on it back in the day, but there was never a time given. It probably depends on the wielder, but I wouldn't try to rush the process when the time comes. You want this Keyblade to be strong."

"Aqua, why did my Keyblade break…?"

Aqua smiled sadly. "Keyblade reflect the heart, remember. When a heart changes, the Keyblade may break and need to be replaced to reflect the new heart. That is why Riku and Mickey's Keyblades broke(1). After hearing what you said, I think yours broke because your heart was fractured. Everything you've been through has damaged your heart in some way. Our hearts are always being damaged, but some damage is worse than others and can cause cracks in our hearts. And that can affect our Keyblades too. That's why yours broke I believe. All the more reason you need to be ready to face what is in your heart when the time comes."

Could she be ready?

All that pain…

All that damage.

"I don't know if I'll ever be ready."

"Kairi," Aqua took the girl's hands, "we all believe in you. When Ven lost his heart, Master Yen Sid told me to believe. You believed in Sora. We believed that you and Sora would come back. We believe in you now, more than ever. You are stronger than you think. Everyone says it. Axel hasn't stopped talking about how amazing you are after what he heard you say, and now he's threatening anyone who dares say you are anything less than a strong and capable warrior."

Kairi giggled. "Sounds like him."

"You can do this. We know you can. And we will do our best to make sure you never feel weak, helpless, or like a burden ever again."

Tears pricked at the edges of Kairi's eyes. "Aqua… thank you."

The girls hugged. "When this is over, I want to spend some time with you. I want to see what you've learned here in this world and maybe teach you some myself."

"That would be so fun. Sora and Ven could train together too."

"And if Riku came along he and Terra could spar." They laughed.

"Then I'll come to the Land of Departure after all this. Me, Sora, and Riku. Promise!"

"Good." Aqua smiled. "Oh, and there is one more thing I nearly forgot. Before you can forge the Keyblade you need a keychain. It needs to be something special. Something close to your heart. It will make the Keyblade even more powerful. Think you can remember all that?"

Kairi nodded. "I will! Thank you so much Aqua!"

"You're very welcome. It was the least I could do. Now, I would love to stay and chat, but apparently connecting dreams like this, and across this distance, takes a great toll on Fairy Godmother. So, I'll leave you. See you when you get back."

"See you, Aqua." Kairi watched as the older girl stood, walking toward the trees as she began to vanish from sight. The dream world around her began to fade as well, dropping Kairi into a soft light that reminded her of home.

Of Sora.

Kairi's eyes fluttered open.

"Have a good dream?"

"I did." She glanced over at Chirithy. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I may have followed along and listened in a bit."

The girl giggled, picking up the dream eater. Her heart felt a little lighter.

Her friends, in both worldlines, were lining up to help her. She began wondering why she'd felt so alone before. Now she could see them, all her friends around her. Clearly.

"I need to call Phinehas." She picked up her comlink. "Phinehas, are you awake?"

"Yeah… I'm up. Been reading all night. What's up?"

"I know how to forge a Keyblade. My friend told me in a dream last night."

"Wh-what!? That's awesome! So, what do we need to do!?"

"Focus on getting the materials and finding the magical location. I'll handle the rest."

"Sounds great! Oh this is so exciting! I might just burst! Imma keep looking! Bye!"

The girl smiled.

Again, how was it that he became one of this country's leaders?

She jumped out of bed.

There was no time to waste. She had to be ready… had to be ready.

Maybe she'd never be ready to face what was inside her heart, but she had to try anyways. Not just for her sake, but for Sora's.

After she dressed, she went down, pausing as she heard noise coming from the training room.

She knew that voice.

Her feet carried her inside.

Yozora wasn't attacking the training dummies this time, but like last time papers lay scattered across the floor.

Some were technical schematics, no doubt from Frode.

But others were sketches… of a person, a girl.

Angry scribbles and tears covered the papers across the room.

"No… no… that's not it."

Yozora scribbled out another piece on his sketchpad before tearing it out and tossing it away.

"Yozora?" Kairi carefully spoke.

He looked up. "Good morning, Kairi."

"How long have you been in here?"

"All night…"

She looked around at the papers. "That… doesn't surprise me actually. So, what are you doing?"

"Well, I was trying to keep Frode from drawing more schematics, at first. But, now I'm trying to remember her. I thought, maybe if I draw her, I'd remember. I can draw her hair, the shape of her jaw, but her face. It's a blank. I can't remember a single detail. I do know, thanks to the doll, that she had purple eyes. But, a lot of good that does me right now." He held up a set of graphite pencils. "I'm not exactly drawing in color am I."

Kairi sat beside him, picking up the piece he'd just thrown away. The picture looked detailed. Every strand of hair so lovely and delicate around the heart-shaped face. Her neck went down and she could see the top of a dress in the drawing. But the face was blank. Everything but the face shaded, drawn to the finest detail.

"I can't recall the shape of her eyes, nose, or mouth. That's all I want… I want to remember her face. And then maybe her name will come to me."

Kairi now noticed a notepad beside Yozora. He'd listed names. Names starting with the letter M.

Mackenzie.

Macie.

Mary.

Melissa.

Millie.

Ming.

Madison.

Mae.

Mai.

Mali.

Manami.

Mao.

"Lots of name starting with "Ma" on this list."

"It felt right." He said as he began to sketch again. "I guess that's the first two letters, but none of the names I could think of sounded right, or even struck some sort of memory. So, I stopped when I ran out of ideas."

"I see."

They sat there, Kairi watching as he drew each strand of hair. His hand moved gently, barely touching the page at some points.

"So, have you thought about what Cid said yesterday?"

"Have you?"

"A little… I was able to talk to one of my friends in my dreams, and I think I need to do what Cid says to make my Keyblade. My heart needs to be ready, and it's not yet. What about you?"

Yozora paused, putting down one pencil to pick up another. "I don't think I can do it just yet."

"Yet?"

"Not until I remember her. Not just her face, but her name. I want to remember her. Then, I'll forgive myself. But not before."

"You're stubborn."

"What else is new."

Kairi smiled, looking down at the list. "Then, I guess we'll just have to keep searching for her too."

"You have other things to focus on."

"It's called multitasking." She looked over at her friend. "I will help you remember her. You've helped me, and everyone here is helping, so let me help you too, Yozora."

He stopped, lowering his sketchpad and pencil.

"Are you sure you can do anything to help?"

"I'm going to try."

He looked into her eyes, his silver one glistening with hope and longing. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome."

Guys, we're ELEVEN chapters away from the end of this story!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Footnotes:

(1) This is my headcanon for why Riku's Keyblade broke. Way to Dawn no longer reflected the state of his heart.