"You think they made it out alive?" asks Riku, leaning against the palm tree on the raised island, as per usual.

"Roxas alone is one tough cookie, with each other by their sides I'm sure they'll be fine," says Kairi, as she sits upon the curved palm tree, leaving one empty spot next to her where Sora would usually be.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I can say for certain that they're not exactly the most fun people to fight against. They work well together." Riku comments. He looks over to the beach's edge and sees the lone blonde in her white dress. Namine sits on the sand as she takes in the view. Her arms are wrapped around her knees as she sits in a fetal-like position. The two then look over their shoulders as his majesty, King Mickey approaches them.

"How's she holding up?" asks Kairi. Mickey sighs.

"Well enough I guess. . . She's not really in the mood to talk to anyone." the mouse explains. Riku sighs

"I hope they get back sooner rather than later, for her sake. . ." says Riku, looking back at Namine. A small smirk form on Kairi's face before her attention, as well as the attention of everyone else, is drawn to something else. Namine quickly stands up and backs away towards the rest of the three, who jump off the raised island and stand by her side as they look upon the corridor of darkness that opened in the middle of Destiny Island. The air is tense as they prepare for their next action. Depending on who walks out of that corridor, they'll either meet them with open arms or prepare to avenge those who have been struck down.

From the portal emergest a figure in a black coat with their hood obscuring their face. The group's expression calms a bit, as the person is about the same height as they are/ Another figure about the same height exits the corridor of darkness as well, Excitement fills Namine as the two pull back their hoods and reveal their faces. Roxas and Xion smile as the radiant sun blesses them with its warmth. The two approach the group as Roxas speaks

"Sorry it took so long to get here. We had to take a breather in the realm of darkness." Roxas says jokingly, only for him and Xion to be practically tackled by Namine as she embraces them

.

"You're okay! I was so worried about you two! I couldn't see any of your memories once I entered the darkness i- I didn't know if you. . ." Namine trails off as she gets teary-eyed. Xion and Roxas pull her in and tighten their embrace.

"It's okay, we're here now. You don't need to worry." Xion reassures her as the other three approach them. Namine lets go of Roxas and Xion as Riku asks them a question.

"Realm of darkness huh? How'd you end up there?" asks Riku.

"Well. . . we don't really know how we got there. . . it just sort of happened." Roxas explains as he scratches his neck.

"We did find someone there though. I think they'd be happy to meet you, and happy to see Mickey again." Xion says. Mickey's eyes widen as a warm feeling fills his chest.

"Wait! Do you mean-?" but Mickey's question is answered as he looks on at the corridor of darkness to see Aqua exit from it, shielding her eyes as she gets used to the sudden light. "Aqua!" Mickey's voice is filled with joy as he leaps into the arms of his friend like a lost puppy, or a little sibling.

"That's Aqua?" asks Namine Roxas and Xion Nod. Kairi squints at her, she's never seen her in her life, not memories of her at all, yet she seems familiar to her. Kairi puts those thoughts aside for some other time. The group settles down and catches up on the few things that happened between Roxas and Xion leaving to take care of Xemnas, and them meeting now.

"You read that!?" asks Kairi, referring to the little poem she wrote for Sora. Her cheeks turned slightly pink from the embarrassment. Lucky for her, Riku turned the attention away from her.

"How did it get to the realm of darkness . . ?" asks Riku. Out of everyone here, minus Aqua and maybe Mickey, he's the most familiar with the realm of darkness.

"I'm not an expert on darkness. . ." Aqua admits. "But it seems that even when a world hasn't fallen to darkness, some semblance of every world has a counterpart in the realm of darkness. It may be possible they're linked in some way. . ." Aqua says, not really giving an answer, but more just thinking out loud. After some moments of silence and back forth about the realm of darkness, Aqua asks the question that's been on her mind for so long.

"What happened while I was gone?" Aqua asks, simply yet eloquently. Over the course of the next several hours, They explain everything they know of. Sora's journey to save Riku and Kairi, their battle against Ansem: The seeker of Darkness, The parallel tales of Sora losing his memories while Roxas and Xion gained them, and lastly, their recent journey to defeat Xemnas. Aqua sighs once it's over.

"So much has happened and yet Xehanort still manages to spread darkness throughout the worlds. . ." Aqua says depressingly.

"You knew Xehanort?" asks Roxas. Aqua nods.

"He, as well as his apprentice Vanitas, are the reason things are like this now. He used Terra like a puppet and tricked him into killing master Eraqus. . . The closest thing to a father we had back then." Aqua sighs as she looks back on her time with her friends and guardian, before coming back down to reality. "I'm glad others succeeded where we failed."

"Aw, you didn't fail Aqua, you've done so much to help so many, even if you didn't even know them, or if they didn't know you," Mickey reassures her. Aqua manages to crack a smile.

"Thank you. Your majesty." The seven look in the distance as the once orange skies being to turn a dark blue. The group gets up from the sandy beach as Roxas, Xion, Namine, and Mickey say their farewells.

"You sure you don't want to come with?" asks Roxas to the keyblade master.

"No thanks. I don't have anywhere to go, and I think I'd like to stay here, at least for a while," says Aqua. Roxas smiles and nods as He, Xion, Namine, and Mickey Summon their keyblades and disappear in a flash of light, before reappearing in the gummi ship. After some time flying they stop at Mickey's homeworld.

"Say hello to Queen Minnie for us!" Namine says as they wave goodbye to Mickey. The mouse nods and waves goodbye before he too disappears in a flash of light.

"Guess it's time to go home, huh?" asks Roxas.

"Yeah, we can't leave Hayner, Pence, and Olette hanging, can we?" says Namine the three chuckle before taking off to Twilight Town. Sometime later, they arrive at the world they gladly call home. The three take their belongings and give the gummi ship one last good look, before disappearing in a flash of light, leaving the gummi ship empty. As they appear in front of Twilight Town's abandoned mansion they look to see that it's already well past sunset in the town well-known for its beautiful sunset. they make their way through the woods of Twilight Town as they approach the edge of the woods that lead to the broken wall in the town, they hear some familiar voices.

"Do you really think they'll be back already?" asks Hayner

"It's nearly been an entire day Hayner If they haven't come back already then-" Pence is cut off by Olette, stopping all thoughts of that possibility before he can even say it.

"They're fine you guys. They've made it this far, I'm sure they can come back unsca-" As the three look ahead they see the three keyblade wielders walking towards the town, They smile as they rush to meet their friends.

"Roxas! Xion! Namine! You're back!" Exclaims Olette, joy filling her voice. They stop though, as they realize someone is missing.

"Where's Axel?" Asks Hayner. Xion and Roxas's breath gets shaky as they can't avoid thinking about the person missing in their lives.

"Axel. . ." Xion chokes up

"He didn't. . ." Roxas says as he tries suppressing the emotions he worked so hard to feel once upon a time. Olette covers her mouth with her hands as the three realize what happened, they move to comfort their two companions along with Namine as tears pour from their eyes, finally able to let everything they've pushed away out. They cry as the three guide them to their homes to stay, they sob as they lie in their sleeping bags, and they weep through the night until they lose the energy to even cry. The moon moves slowly across the night sky as they slumber. Time ticks away as day grows ever closer. Tomorrow is a new day.