This is the original version of the chapter with the same name. It was one of the earliest things I wrote so some of the concepts and timeline in it aren't correct with the main story any longer. But I thought some of you might like to see it, since it has scenes I won't be putting in the story proper for various reasons.

Sora woke up in a place of blue and white, clouds and water. Immediately, he checked his hands - solid, full of color and life. He looked around, but there wasn't anything there. No stars, no Soras. He half expected to find a realm full of Kairis. But she was nowhere to be seen.

"Sora?" Chirithy chimed, toddling up to him. "What are you doing here again?"

"I'm looking for Kairi. She… she has to be here, right?"

Chirithy shook his head. "I'm sorry. She's not here."

The words took a moment to sink in. He watched the little creature, its odd blue eyes and folded over ears, like the ears on Kairi's hood. And the pink purse around its neck, emblazoned with something that looked so much like her good luck charm. She had to be here. How could she not be here? She'd held his heart here. He had to assume he'd done the same.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, trying to ignore the octave his voice jumped up and down in the process.

"I'm sorry."

Sora lowered himself so that he was even with the little creature, eye to eye. "Chirithy, she has to be here. I- She has to be here."

"I'm sorry," the Dream Eater replied, quieter this time. He watched it, following the embroidered lines of its eyes. He couldn't breathe. His mouth opened and shut, and he swallowed. He couldn't breathe.

Sora fell to his knees, ripples ringing out from where he landed, palms on the ground. A tear landed next, tiny ripples crossing big ones. "No…" Sora managed to get out. His throat was tight, his chest felt like it was caving in. He couldn't breathe. His teeth felt numb, and he couldn't understand why. She had to be here.

He looked up through the distortions his tears were making, scanning the strange, endless space. Nothing made sense, blue and clouds reflecting and refracting endlessly around him. He couldn't stop crying, and he couldn't move his arms to wipe his eyes. He couldn't move at all. The edges of his vision were going black.

Chirithy put a hand on his arm. The soft felt startled him, jolting him back to life. He stumbled back into a sitting position, gasping in breaths. His limbs shook. He was breathing too fast, too loud. Chirithy crawled into his lap, and Sora slowly curled his arms around the plush creature.

It took ages of crying and shaking and breathing and not breathing before Sora was Sora again. He had no idea how long he sat there, but the Dream Eater was patient, even if it didn't know what to say.

"Sorry, about that," he croaked, wiping at his face.

Chirithy opened its little pouch and pulled out a handkerchief, pale purple silk with the same symbol as its bag. "Here."

"Thanks." He cleaned himself off, blowing his nose, still keeping one arm around the little plush.

"Sora?" Chirithy ventured quietly.

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to find Kairi." He said it without a shred of doubt in his voice. Chirithy noticed he wouldn't look at it, and didn't know what to say.

After a moment, Sora gave the little creature a hug. "Thanks for your help," he said quietly before setting it down. He stood, confused at why his limbs felt so heavy still. "But I have to find her. I promised I would."

"But-" Chirithy cut itself off, looking down. Sora waited, patient for once. Finally, it looked back up. "May your heart be your guiding key, Sora. Still, you should know; if you go looking for her, you won't come back."

They watched each other for a moment. Then Sora shook his head and smiled. "Don't be silly. Of course I'll come back." He crouched down again, rubbing the top of the little Dream Eater's head. "You just wait."

He turned and stood, whipping out the Kingdom Key once more. His eyes narrowed, jaw clenched, as he opened a keyhole that shattered the sky. Chirithy gazed in awe at all the colors. By the time the keyhole closed, Sora was gone.

It was dark, and a thick not-smell hung in the air. It wasn't a scent he could identify, but the air felt heavy and stale all the same. As his eyes adjusted, Sora could make out wispy shapes floating ahead of him. He walked towards them, and in no time at all they were recognizable as people, the planes and edges of their forms made out of grey smoke. They floated on their backs, sleeping, a countless number of all ages, genders and walks of life.

The first child took him by surprise. She couldn't have been older than six. Sora swallowed around the pressure in his throat and walked faster.

There were thousands of people now, all sleeping, all smoke. He searched faces and clothing, looking for anything familiar. "Kairi?" he called, running. It was as he ran, arms pumping, that he realized he was transparent here. This knowledge stopped him in his tracks. His heart hammered against his ribs, and he felt that dangerous catch in his breathing, like before.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew he couldn't linger. He needed to find Kairi now and take them home. He started calling her name again, loud as he could. He tried searching with his heart as well as his eyes, but there was nothing there. All of these people, all of them were gone.

"Well if it isn't the little half-pint. Coming to play the hero?" a familiar voice quipped. Sora whipped around, and found himself face-to-face with Hades, lord of the dead. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you down here quite so soon, given you just sent us what's-his-name."

"Shut up!" Sora snapped, glaring. "Where's Kairi?"

"Kairi? If she's here, there's no help for her, kid. You'd better skedaddle, if you still can."

"Where is Kairi?" Sora repeated, spitting each word through gritted teeth. He pointed his Keyblade straight at Hades' chest.

Hades held up his hands, "Relax, relax! Jeez, take a chill pill. She's here. But you're not gonna find her. Not even that thing can help you now," he added, gesturing to the Keyblade, as transparent as the boy holding it.

Sora lowered it, letting it disappear from his hand. "Keep talking," he ordered.

Hades rolled his eyes. "You're in the land of the dead- the final land of the dead. My world might have an "underworld" but this is where every world's dead end up, sooner or later. It's an abyss filled with the last remains of the souls of every person who ever lived. My point is, it's massive, and you don't have time to search it all before you'll wind up sleeping with the fishes."

"Then make me a deal. You're god of the dead. Help me bring her back and I'll do something for you in return. Anything," Sora added impulsively.

"Anything, huh? Even I know you won't kill your old friend Jerkules for me. And if I can't have him, I might as well take you. One less runt ruining the picture. You don't have anything to offer me. Besides, she's not my dead, so I can't do anything for you."

"Huh? What do you mean, not 'your dead'?"

"You think I'm the only god of the dead?" Hades laughed, "That's rich! I'd never get anything done if I was the only one running this place. No, kid, every world has someone taking care of this stuff. They're called psychopomps, not that I'd expect you to know what that means."

"Psycho… what?" Sora asked, proving his point. Then he shook his head, "I don't care what they're called; I need to get to Kairi. So who do I need to talk to?"

"Kid, listen, they're not gonna help you. None of us are gonna undo someone's death. It's against the rules. She's at peace anyway. Just leave her be and go take a nice long nap."

"I'm done napping. Make me a deal."

"N-O, no!" he spelled out, "Get lost already."

"I'm not leaving without her."

"You're not leaving at all."

"I know I can get out of here still," Sora asserted. Hades glanced at him. It was true. Transparent as he was, the light catching his outline contained not a wisp of smoke. And deep in the center of his chest sat a glowing, still-beating heart. "Make me a deal, and you can keep my soul. I'll take her place and stay trapped down here forever. Just show me where Kairi is."

"Oy vey, you don't give up do you?" Hades lamented, rubbing his head.

"Nope."

"Fine, fine, I'll make you a deal if it'll shut you up. If you can find your precious little snookums, I'll trade you in for her. Deal?" He held out his hand to shake.

"Deal," Sora said without hesitation, shaking the god of death's hand.

"Oh, and you'd better hurry. Time's a wasting…" Hades stared pointedly at the ground. Sora followed his gaze, and though the blackness he was standing on looked no different from the dark emptiness all around them, he did notice something else important. He no longer had toes - he couldn't see or feel them at all.

Sora took off running.

He careened around, and occasionally through, the floating dead. They were nearly infinite, and he couldn't dodge all of them, not at top speed anyway. Passing through them left him cold, but they looked undisturbed, re-forming peacefully behind him. As he ran, he searched for Kairi, but found no sight of her. He skidded to a stop, scowling.

"This isn't working," he said out loud, needing a sound in this deathly quiet place. He reached out with his heart, eyes closed. It was cold and dark and empty. He opened his eyes. "What would Riku do?" he asked himself, reasoning that if anyone would know what to do, it would be Riku. For a moment, he wished his best friend was here, until the thought of losing both him and Kairi to this place made his throat close up.

Sora pushed the fear away, folding his arms across his chest. He looked around - nothing but darkness and dead in every direction. "Darkness…" he mused, "That's it!" He closed his eyes and focused. He'd never purposefully used the power of darkness, but he'd slid into a strange, dark riddled form enough times to know he technically could. It had never seemed worth trying, before. He wasn't Riku - he didn't think he could handle it. But now, it seemed like the best and only option. At the very least, it seemed like what the older boy would do.

It took a moment of intense focus, reaching for the feeling that came with his strange power-shifts. Being completely submersed in the stuff helped. Something popped into place in his head, and a rush of power filled his limbs. Sora opened his eyes, and they were glowing red. It was harder to think, in this form. His instincts were primed to fight, and the Keyblade was already in his hand. Still, he mastered himself and pulled, sensing the darkness around him by drawing it in close.

There. He felt the tiniest flicker of light, more of a last ember really. In mere heartbeats, he was to it.

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed. The mere sight of her was enough to flip him back to normal. The change left his head spinning, but he didn't care. Carefully, carefully, he tried to wrap his arms around her smoke form, but he still passed right through. Frowning, he held his hand up, hesitating over Kairi's chest. A part of him wondered if this was ok, if she would mind him digging through her not-body to grab her heart. He didn't know, and he didn't want to waste time. His fingertips were gone, just the very ends. He couldn't afford to lose more. Plunging his hand in, he cradled the tiny ember left of her heart.

As he pulled his hand back, Hades appeared. He applauded slowly, mockingly. "Well, well, well. Looks like Wonder-breath might have some competition after all. Or he would, if you weren't staying here."

"Change her back," Sora ordered, holding out the ember of Kairi's heart.

Hades eyed him, one eyebrow raised.

Sora had no patience. "We had a deal," he reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," Hades grumbled, waving a hand. The heart shard lifted out of Sora's palm, then glowed brightly, expanding. Suddenly, Kairi was in front of him, translucent like he was, but no longer made of smoke. Her eyes were closed, and she collapsed forward. Sora caught her.

"Say good-bye, squirt," the god of the dead ordered. "You're mine now."

Sora summoned the Kingdom Key. "You wish," he spat, holding it upright and opening a keyhole that shattered the darkness around them.

Hades lunged for him, but he was already gone, carrying Kairi with him.

They were falling through the sky.

Sora held Kairi tightly to him, staring at the ocean they were about to land face-first in. He'd tried to pull them towards Riku, but he must have been a little off - Destiny Islands was just barely visible in the distance.

He did his best to rotate, trying to land on his back rather than his skull, trying to shield Kairi so the impact didn't hit her as hard. The Kingdom Key appeared in his hand, and he barked out an aeroga spell, wrapping them in protective wind.

Even with the spell, they still slammed into the water, momentum shoving them down far enough that Sora's ears was sore, but he focused on clamoring upwards, a lifetime of swimming coming in handy for once. Once their heads broke the surface, he treaded water for a moment, struggling against the waves, trying to gauge Kairi's condition. She hadn't woken up. He could feel her breathing on his neck, though, and that was enough for now.

Carefully, he hooked his arm around her so that her head was supported on it, leaving his other three limbs free to swim as she floated beside him. It felt like hours as he towed her, struggling through the waves. He took breaks floating on his back, cradling her close after flipping her over too. He tried to use a watera spell to bend the waves so they crashed around instead of through them, but he couldn't quite manage it. He stopped trying when he realized he was close to blacking out. His pockets were full of restoratives left over from the fight with Xehanort, but he couldn't reach them without letting go of Kairi or getting pulled under the waves.

At some point, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the play island in the distance. Sora flipped over, mindful of Kairi's head as he shifted his grip. Using the last of his strength, he kicked forward, swimming with everything he had, all sixteen years of island living and last three years of keyblade wielding strength, every trial and test and heartbeat pushing him home.

Sora couldn't really tell if the waves pushed them ashore or if that was Riku pulling them out. Even as he coughed and retched, he kept an arm hooked around Kairi, unwilling to let go no matter what his best friend said or did. Not that Sora really even comprehended anything. They were on the shore and that was all he knew for a while.

"Is she breathing?" he asked, once his lungs had quit purging sea water.

"She is," Riku informed him, voice soft. He hovered over both of them, stroking wet hair out Kairi's eyes and rubbing circles between Sora's shoulder blades. He'd been pounding on Sora's back while he was coughing. Both boys watched her face, hoping for further signs of life.

"What if…" Sora started, trailing off. He was getting that can't breathe feeling again, like his ribs had turned to lead.

"How did-" Riku started to ask, but then bit the sentence off. He dropped his hands from both of them. The cold that filled the space where Riku's hand had been made Sora shiver. He forced himself to breathe.

"Kairi," he murmured, gently shaking her shoulders, "Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!" He was begging, eyes watering, but he didn't care.

She didn't wake up and she didn't wake up. She wasn't waking up.

Wrapping his arms around her, Sora started to cry, keening her name over and over like a prayer. Faintly, he heard Riku stand, and something about that twisted and smarted and made him cry harder. He'd never felt so alone, not even at the end.

There was a sound that he couldn't quite place, and then he felt Kairi stir. He pulled back, keeping a steadying arm around her shoulders. She tried to speak, and immediately started coughing.

"You're alive!" Sora crowed, still crying. He rubbed gentle circles on her back as she blinked and tried to orient herself. He couldn't stop smiling.

"What… what happened?" Kairi asked quietly. Sora tried to wipe his tears away with his free hand as Riku crouched back down beside them, placing a hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"Riku!" she said, voice still rough from saltwater.

"Sora brought you back," he explained voice gentle. Sora looked at him, frowning at the expression he saw there, unreadable and unbearably sad all at once. "You died," Riku continued, soft and careful. A sob escaped Kairi's lips, startling both her and Sora.

Immediately, he pressed his forehead against her hair, eyes closing. "It's okay, it's okay, Kairi," he murmured, feeling her lean against him as his fingers dug into the sopping fabric of her dress. "It's okay now. I brought you back. Everything's okay," he couldn't stop repeating it any more than he could stop clinging to her, arms shaking. He felt Riku's arm wrap around them both as Kairi started to truly cry. He reached out, wrapping the other arm around Riku's back. They all clung together a little tighter.