Mitsuo the Universe jumper: Thanks so much! I don't recognize your username, are you new to the series, or did you change your name? I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

XOneSkyx: Welcome back! I'm so glad you're here and excited!

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coolmegan123: Hello again! Yeah, sorry for the repeat chapter after the hype of finally starting, I felt bad about that, but really wanted to include it. Glad you're still here!

A/N: Oh my gosh, it's so good to see all of your names back in my inbox, and maybe a couple of new ones, too! Welcome, everyone! Sorry if last week's chapter was maybe a little disappointing to those of you who had seen it as a oneshot already, but this week we are diving into all new stuff, picking up just before Inferno's Edge ended. Also there is a link to some artwork at the end of the chapter, so don't miss that!

Chapter 1

Perspective – Riku

"Hey, Grim?"

Meli's voice brought me out of the exhausted stupor I had fallen into as soon as it was clear that Kingdom Hearts was closing. "Meli." Downing the open ether in my hand, I stuffed the empty bottle back into my pocket and turned to step toward where she was still hanging onto that giant ball of furious-looking darkness over her head. "Hang on, I'm coming."

She shook her head without taking her gaze from the straining sphere. "No, don't. Just..." Her blue eyes cut down to meet mine, the light of Kingdom Hearts causing the darkness to cast wavering shadows across her face. Her expression was strange, unreadable. As if I wasn't already worried enough about her using her dark powers again so soon after losing control, the uncertain smile she gave me then put a knot in my stomach.

"I'm sorry."

Sorry for what?

Before the question could leave my lips, she threw her arms down, her face tipped up toward the darkness as it lost its shape and hurtled down into her chest.

"No! Meli!"

My world fell into chaos, the gasps and screams around me blending into a deafening roar. No, no, no, no, no! I couldn't move fast enough, couldn't get to her like I wanted to, needed to, but then my legs finally burst into motion and I nearly toppled over onto my knees next to her prone body. She was shaking, no, writhing, as the darkness forced its way into her heart.

Unlike my legs, my arms moved without me needing to tell them. I held her tightly to my chest, and her body calmed slightly. My tremors nearly matched hers. "Meli, why? Why did you do that?"

"I'm sorry." Her voice was shaking, too, barely above a whisper, her eyes glazing over. "I had to. I couldn't...let any of you...die."

I squeezed my eyes shut, opening my mouth to reply, but Kaj broke in from nearby. "She said it wanted to kill all of you."

Of course it did, but...

"We could have found another way, Mel." Kairi dropped down in front of me, her cheeks soaked with tears and her voice desperate. "You didn't have to..." Choking on a sob, she covered her mouth with one hand and shook her head.

"No. There was...no other way." Just as Meli finished speaking, a spasm rocked her body,and her breath caught audibly. The reminder of the pain she was likely in was like a stab to my heart.

"Shh, shh..." I adjusted my hold on her so that I could gently stroke her hair with one hand. "It's okay. You're okay." I wished I believed my own words, but racking my brain for a cure was proving futile.

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

Mickey spoke up from somewhere to my right. "I don't think so, Kairi. I think if we used that on her now...well, it would be a lot like using it on a Heartless."

A Heartless. She's turning into a Heartless, right now, right here in my arms. And there's no way to stop it.

The ache inside of me swelled to the point that I could hardly hear Kairi's teary protest. "But...but we have to do something! We can't just let her..."

I wrapped my arms as tightly around Meli as I could, crushing her up against me and burying my forehead into hers as my own tears finally spilled over. I can't...no, I can't...I can't...

"Hey." An icy hand landed gently on my cheek, and I cupped it desperately in mine. "It's alright."

She's trying to comfort me...it should be the other way around. She's the one who's... "No, it's not. I can't...I can't lose you." Why? Why'd you do it? "You mean everything to me, remember? You weren't supposed to..." You told me not to self-sacrifice, then you go and... "You can't leave me!"

Any other time I would have been embarrassed by the tears streaming down my face, by the hoarseness of my voice as I choked on my words, but I couldn't bring myself to care about all the other people gathered around. Meli was my whole world, and I could feel her drifting further away even as I held her fast.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want it...to be this way. I wanted...to stay with you forever."

"I want to share a paopu with you." It was stupid, it was so stupid to be bringing it up now, but it was even more stupid that I hadn't done it already. Hadn't even realized what it would mean to her, until she brought it up on the phone. "I should have done it a long time ago." I had decided right after that conversation that we would share the fruit as soon as we got home, but now... "You can't leave me now, you have to come back home so we can share a paopu."

"I found my place," she stated, quietly but firmly. "I protected...the things that matter the most. Please don't blame yourself. This was...my choice. Thank you for always being my safe place. You showed me that...maybe I wasn't whole...but I wasn't completely broken...either."

Even now, the reminder of how she viewed herself struck guilt through me. I turned my head and her hand slightly so that I could kiss her palm. "Of course you weren't broken. You were perfect." Perfect for me.

Another jolt went through her, and she gasped for breath in my ear. I cringed into her at the sound, more tears squeezing out from under my eyelids as she shook beneath my hands.

"Grim? Grim, look at me, please."

It took everything in me to remove myself from her, to open that distance between us. I still stayed close, hovering my face just above hers, barely able to see her beautiful blue eyes through the blur in my own. "What is it, Meli?"

Her chest was rising and falling rapidly, every breath a rasp in her throat. "I just...I wanted to...to see your eyes...one...more time."

I couldn't stop the despair and flood of tears that took over my face. No, not one more time. This can't be the end. It can't.

Through the obvious pain etched into her face, she smiled, and it looked almost peaceful. "I love you...Grim."

My voice had left me, but despite my inner protests I knew that this was it, and I knew that I couldn't let her down. I swallowed, sucked in a shaky breath, and tried my hardest to smile back. "I love you, Sunshine."

Her eyes drifted closed as her breathing became more and more shallow. The hand that had been clutched tightly in mine went slack. Placing it gently down onto her stomach, I brushed her hair back before bending down to press one last kiss to her forehead. There was a sudden, shuddering gasp for air, then...

Nothing. Complete silence. The world was still.

And just like that, the girl in my arms began to vanish, shrinking away into vapors until there was nothing left to cling to and I was alone, collapsed on my face in the dirt.

When is it going to end? When am I going to wake up? Nightmares of her death had plagued me for a long time now, but this one was different. It was so real, too real. But it couldn't really be happening. My worst fear couldn't actually have been realized.

A hand brushed my arm, jolting me up out of my fetal pose to see Kairi blinking at me with wet, puffy eyes. As soon as I was upright, she threw herself against me. Her tiny arms felt way too much like Meli's, wrapped as tightly as they could go around my waist while the rest of her body shook with sobs.

Numbly, I let one of my hands drop onto her head. Her hair between my fingers felt real. Her tears drenching my t-shirt felt real. But this can't be real. Please, don't let it be real.

Just behind Kairi, my doppelganger, Kaj, had his face buried in his arms, his black hair hanging down to obscure his face from view. On my other side Mickey stood, gazing sadly at the ground. Beyond them both were the three former Organization members, Lea patting Xion gently on the back as she cried into his chest, and Roxas staring down at his crossed arms with a heavily furrowed brow. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus stayed at a respectful distance, heads bowed and arms draped around each other.

None of these people had ever been in this kind of nightmare before. It didn't mean that this was real, though. Couldn't mean that it was real.

"Um...guys?"

My eyes shifted back to Lea. He caught my gaze with a worried frown, and gestured with his free hand to somewhere over my shoulder. I knew. Before I turned, I somehow knew what I would find.

Please...

Please let it be her, or please don't let it be her, I didn't even know. But I turned, I looked, and there it was, a thin, vaguely humanoid Heartless with long, crooked antennae hanging down its back.

"Meli..."

Someone summoned a Keyblade. All at once, the Heartless flinched, Kairi bolted upright, and I was up on my knees. "Don't!" I shouted hoarsely, not even sure who I was stopping or why. But a stream of light shot past me anyway, and my heart lodged in my throat as I watched it envelop the Heartless.

The creature froze mid-movement. It took a long moment for my brain to register that it had been a Stop spell that had been cast, not something that was going to kill it. I swiveled my head back to find Mickey, who was watching me with big, sad eyes, Keyblade in hand. Opening my mouth, I tried to form something, a question, a plea, anything, but no words would come.

Kairi's hands clung to my arm. "Is it...is it her?"

I looked down at her, then followed the direction of her stare back to the frozen Heartless. It was hideous, just as beady-eyed and dangerous as all of its kin, but somehow familiar at the same time, drawing me in.

"Seems like it would have to be," Roxas answered her. "We haven't seen any other Heartless all day."

Kairi made a strangled sound, and dug her fingers harder into my skin.

"Riku..." Mickey began.

Ignoring him, I pulled away from Kairi and struggled to my feet, my legs nearly useless after being folded up on the ground for so long. Slowly, I drew closer to the creature, to the thing that used to be Meli's heart.

"Hey, man, be careful," Lea's voice called out.

Vaguely I heard him and Mickey conversing about how long the Stop spell would hold, but my attention was solely on Meli's heart. Can she recognize me? Is she really still in there, or is every trace of her gone?

Suddenly there was a blur of movement as Kairi dove past me and tightly embraced the Heartless. I stopped in my tracks, listening to her crying into its shoulder, unsure of what to do. "Please," she whispered. "Come on, please. Please come back."

Lea was the one to eventually pull her off. I couldn't seem to do anything but stand there pointlessly, my mind practically blank and my muscles uncooperative. She collapsed into him, then, still weeping uncontrollably. "It worked before. With Sora, it worked with Sora."

Sora. He's not even here. We'll have to tell Sora.

Mickey patted her comfortingly on the arm. "You and Sora have always had a special connection. Your heart had been living in his for quite a while when that happened."

"But Meli..." She sobbed again.

"I know," Mickey nodded. "You had a special connection with her, too. Guess it just wasn't quite the same."

We all stood in silence, no one seeming to know where to go from there. The Heartless' long fingers began twitching, and Mickey cast another Stop spell. He sighed heavily. "I don't wanna rush you, Riku, but..." I didn't respond, not even able to comprehend what he might be implying. "We can't just keep this up indefinitely."

My eyes widened as I turned to him. "Are you suggesting we...? We can't! It's...it's her! It's the only..." The only thing left of her. And you want to kill her...again?

"I know –"

"Well we can't just let it go," Lea interrupted. "It's not her, it's a Heartless. A Heartless that will go out and wreak havoc on the worlds just like all the other Heartless. Trust me, there's nothing left of Meli in that creature right there. It needs to be gotten rid of."

I spun on him with fury flashing in my eyes. "Trust you? Why should I trust you? What do you know about it?"

He met my glare with a set jaw. "More than the rest of you. I've been a Heartless before, remember? If there were any bits of 'me' that stayed in my Heartless, don't you think I would have gotten those memories back when I was recompleted? But I didn't. I don't remember anything about being a Heartless, because that wasn't me."

Before I could snap back a response, Mickey broke in again. "Even if there is some piece of her still in there...do you really think that this is how Meli would want to live? As a mindless monster?"

The force of unshed tears burned at my throat and tightened my jaw. I could feel Kairi's eyes on me, and could tell without fully looking at her that she agreed with the King. I didn't know how to agree with him, though. Just because he made sense didn't mean that I was prepared to give the okay for the last shred of Meli's existence to be obliterated.

"Besides that," Lea added, "on the off chance that she also made a Nobody somewhere out there, getting rid of the Heartless is step one to recompletion."

That was the first glimmer of hope that had appeared this whole time. Recompletion. Could it be possible? Could I get my Meli back someday? I didn't know whether I could dare to let myself go down that path.

A gentle hand rested on my shoulder, and I turned to see Aqua by my side. "I can do it, if you'd like. That way no one that knew her will have to..." She pressed her lips together sympathetically. "I'll make sure it's as quick and painless as possible."

It had to be done. I knew that. I still didn't have to actually consent out loud, though, so I merely turned my back and walked away, grabbing Kairi's hand on the way by and tucking her into myself when we were across the platform. Her arms wound around my waist again, squeezing me tightly.

A moment later, I heard the shing of a Keyblade, followed by the sound of metal impacting flesh. Kairi flinched in my arms.

"It's done," Mickey said quietly as he approached. "We really ought to go find Sora now, and see if he needs our help. If you don't want to come –"

"I'll come." Of course, I had to come. I couldn't just leave my best friend off fighting a psychopath by himself, no matter what kind of anguish was coursing through my heart. "Kai?"

She tipped her face back to look up at me, eyes still shining with tears. "Yeah," she whispered. "We should go."

As everyone gathered around, I noticed that Kaj was still seated on the ground, his back turned to us. Lea walked up to him and tapped the toe of his boot against his sneaker. "Hey, you coming?"

"Um...could you guys maybe...swing back by and pick me up when you're done?" Kaj shifted to blink up at us. His face was dry, but his eyes were rimmed with red. "I'm sorry, I just...I don't know if I can handle seeing...him...again right now."

Right. Sora was Zephyr's doppelganger. The guy had lost two friends in one day, all for a fight that he hadn't even had a personal stake in. "Sure, we can do that." I glanced at Mickey for approval. "No need to apologize."

"Alright." Mickey re-summoned his Keyblade and hefted it above his head, pointing it straight at the heart-shaped moon above. "It's almost closed, so we need to hurry. Everybody, let your hearts lead you to wherever Sora may be."

My heart wanted to dwell on someone far different than Sora right then. But it was time to let the other side of me take over, the side that couldn't keep catering to myself when other people needed my help. With my own Keyblade in hand, I looked up at Kingdom Hearts and swallowed hard.

Hang on, Sora. We're coming.

A/N: So, super depressing chapter, I know. The first few are kinda like that. But I promise the whole book isn't depressing, and not nearly as dark as the last one. If you'd like to see some super depressing artwork to go along with this chapter, check out my Instagram or my Tumblr both under actress4Him. You can also follow the links below, but you have to do the whole annoying thing where you replace (dotcom) with the real thing and remove all the spaces.

actress4him. tumblr (dotcom)/ post/647449086733205504

instagram (dotcom)/ p/CNNFbxzA4pt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I'll see you guys next Saturday, until then...reviews give me life!