Sora looked at his hand and sighed. It had started fading away again, and he wasn't ready to go just yet. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Kairi, and he'd be lucky if he'd get another day with her. There were still so many things he wanted to show her, to experience alongside her, to enjoy with her.
Still, at least they were finally traveling the worlds together like they'd both dreamed of for so long. Of all the ways he could spend his remaining time, he couldn't think of a better way than to do it with her by his side. Their hearts being connected wasn't good enough anymore. He wanted to be with her always.
But even the golden rays from Twilight Town's late afternoon sun couldn't hide what was happening to him, as much as he wanted to avoid thinking about his fate. Kairi noted the way his hand flickered in and out of existence and frowned, her lips pulling into a taut line. He quickly hid his hand behind his back, but there was no fooling her.
"We're running out of time, aren't we?" she said sadly.
He licked the last bit of sea-salt ice cream off of his lips to allow himself to gather his thoughts. "Yeah," he said at last, having no other answer to give her. "Yeah, we are. Any last requests before we go home?"
"Yes, actually. There's something I want to do. Someone I want to help."
Sora's face softened. "It's Naminé, isn't it?"
She nodded. "I promised her I would save her. She's her own person, and she deserves to exist just as much as I do. She has her own memories. She has her own heart."
"Absolutely," Sora said. His heart swelled a little as he thought about how much Kairi cared about Naminé. She could've asked him to do anything for her, but her thoughts were with helping her friend. He and Kairi really did share one heart—helping Naminé had been on his mind, too.
"I know… I know I could ask someone else to do it," she said. "Riku, or Aqua, or one of the others. That would give us more time, just the two of us. But I don't want it to be them. I want it to be you. I want you to be the one to unlock my heart."
Sora felt the heat rise in his cheeks. What Kairi was asking—she really trusted him to do this? She wanted him to be the one to set Naminé's heart free from hers? Sure, he had used this power on himself before, but that was different from using it on her.
"I know you can do it," she said with a slight smile. "You did it for Ven and Roxas and Xion."
"That's not what I'm worried about," he said, laughing shakily. "I'm worried about hurting you. It's one thing to use this power on my own heart, but using it on your heart… what if something happens?"
"It won't," she said, her face relaxed, her voice unwavering. She sure seemed to feel more confident about his abilities than he himself did.
She rested her hand over his. "I trust you, Sora. I wouldn't want anyone else to do this. So please… before you go… help me make my final wish come true."
"Of course," he said softly. He wasn't about to say no to her final wish. His final wish could come later, after Naminé had been saved.
Now that he knew he was going to fade away anyway, he had no issues with using the Power of Waking to hop worlds as much as he liked, and Kairi's Princess of Heart status meant that traveling like this wouldn't hurt her. So he summoned his Keyblade as she gripped his hand, and soon light shot out of the portal that had opened in the sky and brought them inside. Twilight Town and the clocktower they'd been sitting on just moments before faded away as they went rushing towards Radiant Garden.
They materialized near the lab deep inside the castle, and Kairi still held tight to his hand. Sora could make out voices, and when he glanced around the corner, he could see Ienzo, Vexen, and Ansem the Wise gathered around Naminé's sleeping body.
"How do you want to do this?" Sora asked, keeping his voice low. "Should we announce ourselves, or—"
Kairi shook her head. "No. No fanfare. I want to do this because it's the right thing to do. Letting them know we're here would go against that."
"Right," Sora said. "We'll keep it a secret, just like we did with Chirithy."
She smiled and nodded. "Just like with Chirithy."
Sora returned her smile. It was fun, zipping around the worlds like this, doing nice things for their friends and seeing the smiles on their faces. He was glad that this was how Kairi wanted to spend her remaining time with him. They would be able to slip away easily once they were through, too.
She took a deep breath and held her arms out. "Okay, I'm ready."
He met her eyes, and the look she was giving him strengthened his resolve. Yeah, he was nervous, but Kairi trusted him to do this. He could do this. They would save Naminé. They were in this together, and Kairi had asked him to fulfill her final wish. It had to be him.
As he summoned his Keyblade, though, his heart sped up, his palms got sweaty, and it felt like someone had set a bunch of butterflies loose in his stomach. Resolve or not, he was still nervous as all get out.
Kairi could sense his nerves. "It's okay," she said softly, a smile tugging at her lips. "You can do this."
He nodded and pointed his Keyblade at her heart. Her chest began to glow with light, and her lips parted as a soft sigh escaped them. He felt like sighing himself as he saw Naminé's heart leave Kairi's body, and he lowered his Keyblade. Kairi cradled Naminé's heart in her hands for a moment, as if to say goodbye, then they both watched as it flew to her body.
Her eyes blinked open, and they turned to smile at each other. At long last Naminé had a body of her own. Their work here was done. The others would come get her soon, Sora was sure of it.
"Where to next?" he asked once they were out of earshot of the researchers.
"I suppose we should go home soon, huh? But I don't think I'm ready yet," she said, her head drooping.
He understood. Going home would mean goodbye, and he wasn't ready for that yet either.
"Then… Kairi, if it's okay with you, I have one final wish I'd like to share with you."
His palms were sweaty again, and the butterflies in his stomach were going crazy, but he had to ask. He had nothing to lose at this point, and he suspected she felt the same way.
She lifted her head, her eyes curious, questioning. "What is it?"
He smiled and found her hand. "I think… I think you already know."
Her cheeks flushed pink. "Yes, I think I do." She giggled into her hand, and her eyes sparkled. He knew he was blushing, but it didn't matter, not when she was so clearly pleased with his proposal. His eyes flickered to her mouth before he met her eyes again.
"Let's go somewhere else though, okay?" she said. "If you're feeling up to it, I mean."
"Sure. I have just the place in mind."
He summoned his Keyblade with his free hand and opened a new portal. He couldn't help the smile on his face as Kairi leaned against him and sighed.
"Ready?" he asked her, his heart fluttering with excitement.
She nodded. "Ready. One last adventure before we go home. I don't know where you're taking me, but a little voice inside my head is telling me I'll like it."
He squeezed her hand and grinned. "Trust me, I know you will."
A/N: Hello everyone! Re:Mind inspired a few one-shot ideas, and this is the first of (hopefully) several. I wanted to explore Kairi and Sora's final moments together in a little more depth because I loved the new ending so much. Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for reading! Also thank you to the lovely anon who reviewed my earlier one-shot I posted last week, I really appreciate it!