The Oathkeeper

by SepticAbzies

Kairi knew in that moment that her life was changed forever. How it would change, she couldn't tell you. / Major AU, Kairi-Centric, Major SoKai, Platonic SoRiKai, Some RokuNami / Revised Version / Chapter 16: DDD Part 2, Kairi visits Snow White / Next Part: DDD, Part 3

14. Chapter 14

A/N: This is a story that is basically an AU I've had on my mind for a while now, where Kairi is far from useless or defenseless and actually has her own role to play. This story is Kairi-centric, which means most changes will revolve around Kairi, and since we've arrived at KH2, some will also revolve around Naminé and Xion.

Also, please review! Tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Disney in any way, shape, or form! I only own an OC who will appear much later in the story (about KH3-ish).

Note: Remember that if I don't add a scene (or don't write out the whole thing; same goes with the designs), it means that it's the same as in canon. Just FYI.

This chapter will focus on the role of Data-Kairi, a chapter I'm actually really excited about.

Also, I don't know Coded's story well enough, so this chapter may have a lot of inconsistencies. If you have any tips on how I can improve this chapter, please leave a PM. Also, this chapter was inspired by "Corrupted Data" by Foreteller Ava here on , and what they wrote about their Data Kairi AU on their Tumblr.

!~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~O~A~T~H~K~E~E~P~E~R~~A~U~~!

Kingdom Hearts: The Oathkeeper

Chapter 14: Re:Coded

~The Data Realm~

With a burst of smoke, a large computer with several screens appeared. Chip then pulled a level on the side, and laser was directed onto Jiminy's journal in a chamber near the top. The main moniter displayed readouts of the journal. On the screen, the book opened, pages fluttered and spewed out code, forming pictures of the various worlds contained in the journal.

A red light on the machine blinked and a beep was heard. The screen then suddenly filled up with red-and-black-colored blocks, covering the various worlds on the screen.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Dale asked.

Chip replied, "Jiminy's journal! I think it's gone completely nuts!"

"Nuts? Where?"

"That's not what I mean!" Dale took a step back, as Chip continued, "I don't know what's causing it exactly, but there's something wrong with the worlds inside the journal. And we can't analyze that message for you, either! Something's blocking our access codes!"

"There must be something else we can try," Mickey said.

Chip and Dale hopped over to the computer, before typing different keys.

Goofy offered, "Gawrsh, maybe if we could get in there somehow and fix the data, we could figure out what's wrong."

"Hey, that's it!" Chip agreed. "We could look for somebody already in the journal and ask them to explore the worlds and repair the data. That's a great idea, Goofy!"

"Somebody to explore the data from the inside..." Jiminy muttered, pondering.

Mickey then got an idea, "And I think we know just the guy to do it! Am I right, fellas?"

Chip and Dale jumped in excitement.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Later, in the large dark area in the datascape, a spiky-haired boy floated down as if through water. Bits of data floated around him, blinking in and out, and carrying numbers and symbols. The boy's form turned right-side up and he landed on his feet, creating a ripple in the digital floor.

He opened his eyes and loooked around, seeing that he stood on a large green platform depicting a young girl wearing a yellow dress and biting into an apple.

Meanwhile, Mickey and his friends were watching this from the computer screen in the real world.

"See, Dale and I found a way to rewrite Sora's data!" Chip explained, as Sora was displayed on the computer monitor, and they watched as the boy examined his surroundings.

"What are you talking about?" Donald asked.

As Dale continued to talk, several text boxes and a 3D model of the Keyblade appear on the screen, "Chipper means we gave the Sora who's in the datascape the power to use his Keyblade! Now he can help us un-glitch all the journal data." The Keyblade appeared in Sora's right hand, much to his surprise, and the data vanished from the screen afterwards. "...We think."

"This data is a new Sora?" Donald asked.

"Yeah," Goofy added, "are ya sayin' he's not the same Sora we met on our journey before?"

"Your journey with the real Sora was all recorded into data," Mickey explained. "So he is the Sora we know from before. Just another version."

Donald and Goofy shared a confused look with each other, and Chip cut in, "An' since he's still Sora, he can help us restore all the worlds to the way they're supposed to be."

An alarm on the computer suddenly sounded, alerting everyone.

"Yikes!" Chip yelled.

The screen turned red and was being bombarded by red text boxes. Out of nowhere, a female figure in a black Organization coat appeared on the screen, giving them a good jumpscare, before disappeared from the screen entirely.

"What's going on?" Mickey asked.

"I got no idea," Dale replied. He and Chip walked to the edge of the desk, before he saluted.

"Wait here," Chip told them. "We'll run next door and take a look. Be right back!"

They left, and a few moments later, the alarm stopped.

"I guess Chip and Dale musta figured things out," Jiminy sighed in relief.

"'Scuse me, Your Majesty, but what exactly is it we're doin' here?" Goofy asked.

"Well ya see," Mickey explained, "somebody left a strange message in Jiminy's journal. Maybe the figure we just saw on the monitor..." Goofy nodded. "But the only way to find out who wrote it is by carefully analyzing every entry inside."

"What was the message?" Donald asked.

Mickey nodded, "Hmm...'Their hurting will be-'"

Jiminy interrupted by directing his attention to the monitor, "Huh...Curious..."

Goofy and Donald stared at the screen in awe.

"What is it?" Mickey asked.

Donald pointed, "There's someone in the monitor!"

"Gawrsh, I thought that Sora was alone in there," Goofy said.

"Who could that be? I-I don't remember writin' this in the journal!" Jiminy exclaimed.

In the data world, a figure in a black coat stood before Sora. But it wasn't the figure who had jumpscared them. That figure was now obviously female, while this one was obviously male.

"Who...are you?" Sora asked.

The figure said nothing, only turning around and walking away. Steps of stained glass appeared at the edge of the platform, and the figure ascended them, leaving a perplexed Sora in their wake.

Mickey decided to speak directly to Sora, "Can you hear me? You gotta got after whoever that was. Fast!"

Sora looked around for the source of the voice, but to no avail. He nodded and followed the figure up the stairs. He reached a second platform, this one pink with silhouettes. Sora tried to spot the figure, but found no one.

The figure was gone.

"Did I get myself lost?" Sora asked himself. "Where could he have gone?"

Just then, three black creatures appeared, and Mickey spoke up again, "Watch out! They're the Heartless! It's time for you to use your powers!"

"Use my what?" With a flash of light, the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand. "Oh! Hmm? What's this?"

He examined his new weapon as Mickey spoke, "You have that now 'cause you've gained the power to fight. It's also your power to survive. You're gonna hafta fight sometimes. But don't ever forget-keep your light burning strong."

With this, Sora readied himself for battle.

After destroying the Heartless, an ornate door appeared in front of him, and he walked over to it, almost intimidated.

"It's time to open the door. Just hold out the Keyblade," Mickey advised.

Sora pointed the Keyblade toward the door and it shot out a beam of light. The door opened, and the light that poured out of it immediately overwhelmed Sora's vision.

But he managed to enter through and appeared on the other side, finding himself on a sunny and beach-like island.

He completely missed the female figure watching him from a ledge above him, as well as the fact that she followed him wherever he went.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Sora confronted the male figure after seeing him again, "Got you now! Tell me! Are you the one behind these glitches?"

The figure turned to face him, "This world has been connected. Memory and reality now stand tied. It's time for you to learn the truth." Behind him, a dark portal appeared, and he turned around to enter it.

"Hey!" Sora called. "Hold it!"

"Sora! Hurry!" Mickey quickly said. "You gotta go after him. It's clear he knows something!"

Sora nodded and Mickey watched as he ran into the portal.

Beside him, Jiminy asked, "How're we gonna find out who he is?"

"What if he's Organization XIII?" Donald asked.

"Don't worry," Mickey gently offered. "Sora will catch him. Then we'll know for sure."

Just then, there came a knock on the door, and the group immediately turned to it.

"Who's there?" Donald asked.

"Chip and Dale musta come back to rescue us!" Goofy suggested.

The door was forced open from the other side, and they came face to face with none other than Sora himself. He held his Keyblade tight in his hand, clenching his teeth.

"You're here?!" Mickey asked, incredulously. The real Sora was resting on Destiny Islands, unaware of what was currently going on (there was also the fact that he was older than this Sora).

So what was Data-Sora doing here in the real world? Was this the Data-Sora at all?

"That voice..." Sora muttered. "Mickey? Is that you?" He de-summoned his Keyblade.

And Mickey's question was answered. He still didn't understand how Data-Sora had gotten here, but he now knew for sure that this was Data-Sora.

Sora was looking around the room, looking lost and confused, "I was just...following that guy, and..."

He started to close the door behind him just as the computer monitor went to static.

"Huh?" Jiminy noticed this. "Majesty! There, on the monitor!"

They looked up and the static turned to a picture of themselves in the room. Sora walked over and looked as well, only to see that he was now on the screen too.

The group stood there, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

Then there was a flash, and a grid appeared in the corner of the room, shocking them, especially Goofy (who grabbed ahold of the King's chair). The grid's data reformed itself into the shape of the hooded figure, their arms crossed. A data strip appeared in front of their face and the data changed to reveal the face of a familiar silver-haired boy.

"Riku?!"

"Sorry," Riku replied. "Not quite. Much like Sora there, I'm just zeroes and ones that look like somebody you know."

Goofy let go of the chair and raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Memories used to fill Jiminy's journal," Riku began, "but when they were pulled apart and then stitched back together, bugs appeared. It was these bugs that kept the book from being completely restored. Of all the possible vessels to protect the data, I was chosen from the journal's pages. The full set of memories was transferred inside of me to shield them from corruption."

Everyone still looked confused, with Donald voicing that confusion with a simple, "Huh?"

Riku continued, revealing, "So, in a way...what I really am is Jiminy's journal."

"You're my journal?" Jiminy asked. His journal actually had a face, albeit it belonging to one of Sora's friends.

The others looked from Jiminy to Riku, who nodded and pressed a button on the keyboard. The screen changed to show the original message from the journal: 'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it.'

"I look the liberty of importing all of you to help solve the mystery of this entry," Riku explained.

"'Imported'?" Donald asked, confused still. "Where?"

"You really haven't noticed?" Riku asked, slightly amazed at how slow they were.

"He means we're inside the journal," Mickey suddenly spoke up. He then looked up at Riku for confirmation, who nodded, grateful that he didn't have to explain everything in full (which would probably makes this even more complicated than they already where).

Donald and Goofy were dumbfounded, as Riku pressed more buttons on the keyboard.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" they heard Chip's voice through the computer.

"If you can hear us, please say something!" they heard Dale add.

"Chip? Dale?" Mickey did as they said.

Cheering was then heard, and Dale exclaimed in relief, "We finally got through!"

"The room was empty when we came back," Chip explained, "and we've been searching the data for you ever since!"

Goofy then realized, "Well, if Sora's here with us, and Chip and Dale are out there lookin' in, then..."

"Then we really are inside the datascape, just like Riku said," Donald finally understood as well.

Mickey turned to Riku, "Maybe you can tell us. Is there any way for us to get back home?"

Out of nowhere, a female voice said, "There is no way out." They all turned to the farthest corner, where the same female figure who had previous jumpscared them stood. "Not while I'm here."

An alarm suddenly sounded from the computer, shocking everyone except the girl.

"Oh no!" Dale exclaimed, as the monitor blinked red.

Riku started typing on the keyboard, bringing up a readout screen. What he found disturbed him, "She's right. I don't know how, but she's already blocked the path to the real world."

Mickey's expression turned serious.

"You have to escape before-" Dale was saying, before the transmission was cut off.

"Chip? Dale?" Mickey asked.

The alarm stopped after a while, as Riku continued to type, "No luck. The link from here to the real world has been totally cut."

Donald immediately turned to glare at the girl, "How did you do that? How do we fix it?"

Riku was the one who replied, "If we repair that link, a new pathway should open." Donald and Goofy smiled expectantly, only for Riku to add, "Of course, that's if these bugs weren't around." He brought up a screen analysis of said bugs, and the group were crestfallen. "And her," Riku turned back to the girl, still standing in the corner. "Be careful, everyone. The way things are now...we are completely at her mercy."

Despite her wearing a hood that covered most of her features, Mickey could still see piercing gold eyes stoically staring back at them and data lines on her cheeks.

"Who are you?" He curiously asked. "Are you one of the bugs?"

Her stoicism was just a facade, apparently, because her eyes lowered as if sad, "I don't know who I am, to be honest, but it breaks my heart to know that you don't remember me."

"Should we?" Sora asked.

The girl's eyes lowered from sorrow to anger, "Yes." She turned to Riku and Sora, "Both of you should."

"What are you after?" Donald asked.

"None of your concern. All I know is that you all are in my way," she said, before disappearing into a data-cloud.

"Wait! Who are you?" Sora suddenly asked, but to no avail. She was already gone.

There was a pause, before Riku asked, "You okay?"

Sora appeared to be sad, but he slapped on a smile for the others, "I'm fine. I just feel like I'm supposed to remember her. Anyways, I don't understand everything, but...basically this all means you guys can't go home, right? Okay. Then I'll go bash the bugs for you."

Donald sent him a hopeful smile, "You will?

"That's swell!" Goofy exclaimed.

"Sora, that's another one we owe ya," Mickey told him.

"Who says we're keeping score?" Sora shrugged. "We're all friends, right?"

Riku stopped typing and smiled with the group.

"Right. See you," Sora waved goodbye, before leaving the room.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

"There you are! Who are you?" Sora demanded, having managed to catch up with the girl at the Olympus Coliseum area.

The girl only said, "Just a nobody," before disappearing from the area in a data-cloud.

"Gathering data...Gathering data...Data recovery...30%."

Sora left the Cave of Wonders in the Agrabah area, his work in this section completed, only to find the girl outside, seemingly walking aimlessly.

"There you are, 'nobody'!" Sora called out. "You're not getting away this."

The girl just sadly smiled, "It won't be that easy."

"Huh?"

She summoned a black-colored Keyblade and slashed at him. Sora was knocked backwards by the shockwave this released, his own Keyblade sent flying. It struck the sand blade-down and drew the girl's attention.

"Hmm...Interesting..."

Sora looked up in horror as the girl used some bugs to cause a glitch, levitating his Keyblade over to her.

She used her Keyblade to slice his in half, and it shattered into pieces, shocking him beyond belief.

The girl did not smile, only saying, "That's better. Now you won't get in my way."

Sora growled and tried to stand, as bugs appeared around her.

"Destroy him," she pordered.

Sora cried out and he shielded himself as the bugs pounced on him. But the pain never came, because the bugs were cut down by Riku and King Mickey upon their arrival.

"You okay?" Riku asked.

Sora looked up and smiled upon seeing his saviors, "Riku! Mickey!"

They both nodded at him, before Mickey turned back to the girl, once again asking, "Who are you? What are you doing in the Datascape?"

"I can't beleive that you forgot too, Your Majesty," the girl said. "I belong here, but then I was erased. And now, I'm just a corrupted piece of data that was left behind."

Riku, as the embodiment of the journal itself, seemed to understand, "I see. So you're data that was removed from the journal. I thought that when it was corrupted and I got the data, I got all of it, but...somehow you didn't make it in. And now, the bugs have accepted you as one of their own."

"Sounds about right..." the girl replied, coldly.

Sora turned to Mickey and Riku, "Any idea of how we can free her from them."

"Try to take her down," Riku suggested. "If we're lucky, maybe it'll delete the remaining bugs here in the Datascape and restore her to her original state."

With this, he summoned his weapon, Soul Eater, and lunged at her.

She, noticably, immediately became angry, "What if I don't want to be saved?"

She used her Keyblade to knocked Riku back, before sending ropes of data at him. They surrounded and trapped him.

As Sora gasped, Mickey called, "Riku!"

Riku struggled within his restraints as he floated over to the girl, who said, "The last thing I remember about you is that you belong to the darkness. That means that you are destined to be consumed by it like me. You're under my control now. There is no escape anymore, not for anybody."

The two then disappeared in a data-cloud.

Mickey and Sora could only stand there in shock.

"Riku! He's gone..." Sora muttered in disbelief.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

After being joined by Donald and Goofy, Sora made his way to the Hollow Bastion area. The trio exited the lift and made their way to the Grand Hall, where Sora managed to corner the girl on the stage atop the stairs.

"We got you, 'nobody'. Stop!"

She turned around, slightly, to face him, "I thought I already told you...it's not going to be that easy."

Donald jumped onto the railing surrounding the stage, his staff brandished, while Goofy appeared from the stairway opposite Sora, his shield in hand.

She sadly smiled, "Friends helping friends, huh? Must be nice."

With a flick of her wrist, more bugs appeared.

Donald squaked before casting Fire at the bugs, while Goofy fended them off with his shield.

But they were alerted to the girl still standing there when she said, "Pay attention!"

She then summoned numerous floating blocks and had them surround Sora.

"Sora!" Donald cried.

"Look out!" Goofy exclaimed.

Sora braced for the impact as the blocks closed in, but Donald and Goofy pushed him out of the way just in time. However, they instead became trapped within the blocks in his place.

"Wah! We've been trapped!" Donald cried, as he and Goofy quickly became crammed in between the blocks.

Sora tried to pull the blocks apart to free them, but no avail. As he struggled, he asked, "Donald! Goofy! What do I do now?"

"Why would you two risk your lives for a mess of data?" the girl asked. "You were the ones who made him and his Keyblade. He's not real. None of this is..."

"Shut up!" Donald angrily quacked. "Sora's our friend, no matter what!"

"Donald..." Sora muttered.

"Friends?" the girl scoffed. "Tch. Friends are a joke, especially if you don't even have a heart."

"What's not true!" Goofy objected. "We've all got Sora's heart right here inside us!"

Donald continued, "You'd see if if you paid attention. Why would Sora keep fighting for us, no matter how hard things got for him, if he didn't care about us?"

"And me and Donald, we're always gonna fight for him, too!" Goofy vowed. "That's because he's in our hearts as much as we're inside of his. Somethin' else, and I can say this for sure, Sora is our friend, and that makes him our power."

Donald nodded, before the two spoke simultaneously, "Let's say it together: My friends are me power!"

"My friends are my power..." Sora repeated.

"That power won't protect you forever," the girl shot back. "Just take it from me..."

She clenched her fist and the blocks began to converge, with Donald and Goofy now in danger of being crushed.

Sora fell onto his back, "Donald! Goofy! Please! Just stop!" The girl did not speak, nor did she even look in his direction. He reached out his hand, "Let 'em go!"

The blocks, which had fully encased Donald and Goofy, suddenly disappeared in a flash of light. The duo trapped inside fell back to the ground, now freed.

"Huh? What just happened? Is it...the Keyblade?" Sora asked, before looking at his hand, where the repaired Keyblade now was.

The girl was flustered, and she stepped back, asking, "W-What? How did you...?"

Donald and Goofy, albeit a little dazed, managed to pull themselves together, and Sora stared at the weapon in his hand.

"Sora," came Mickey's voice. "It looks to me like something inside of you has been changed somehow."

"Huh?"

The trio looked up to see Mickey, standing in front of the portal leading to the Final Keyhole, and holding his own Keyblade.

"Mickey!" Sora asked, "But what did I do? What was inside of me that changed?"

"I can't say what it is for sure, but I think a new part of you has been awakened," the King explained. "The Keyblade's power comes from the wielder's strength of heart. Once, an old friend said to me, 'A heart is so much more than any system'. The Keyblade we gave you before was one we created. It was nothing but data. To tell ya the truth, I never expected it to have the same kinda power as the real Keyblade. That weapon was just a replica; it didn't have any substance. That's why our 'nobody' could destroy it so easily. But, during your journey, you really made a connection with all of us. You've become more than the system, Sora. The power you found inside of you isn't like anybody else's. And when you accessed that power, that's what brought your Keyblade back. Well, that's what I believe anyway. Only you had the power to do it."

"A power that's just mine..." Sora muttered.

"Yep, I think that's right," Mickey replied. "I've been searching all over, trying to find a way to fix the leftover bugs, but everything looks like it's okay."

At this point, the girl managed to compose herself, and she faked a pout, "Now that's not fair, conjuring up a new Keyblade like it's no big deal. Perhaps it's time for a strategic retreat..."

She turned around to leave, but she paused and turned around to face Sora when he said, "No way! Not so fast!" The four were fully prepared for battle. "Give us Riku! Right now!"

She simply turned back around without a word, a glare on her face. Mickey swore for a quick moment that her striking golden eyes held a bit of jealousy.

Just then, a red light flashed and an alarmed blared.

"Huh?" Sora asked. "What now?"

The portal to the Final Keyhole started emitting electricity.

A message appeared on the computer screen back in the King's study: "Gathering data...Gathering data...Data recovery...60%."

Back in the Grand Hall, the alarm had stopped.

The girl smirked, "The journal already told you...that each and every one of you are completely at my mercy."

She disappeared in a data-cloud.

"Oh, no! She's gone!" Mickey exclaimed.

But Goofy quickly turned their attention to the authentic Keyhole that had appeared, "But look! It's a Keyhole!"

"Let's go!" Donald amped himself up.

Sora stopped him, "Wait. I need to do this on my own."

"Huh? But why?" the duck asked.

"Up till now, all of you helped me," Sora gently told them. "That's the reason I made it this far. But, guys, it's my turn now. I have the Keyblade again; I'm going to help you find a way back."

"Is that the reason?" Donald asked, his tone clearly teasing the boy. "Or do you just want to try your new power, Sora?"

"Huh?" Sora's face reddened in embarrassment. "Well, maybe just a little..."

Goofy laughed, "It's not like we can stop you, right, Sora?"

"Just remember, you're never alone," Mickey advised. "When you get hurt, it hurts us too. Sora, you're always a part of our team."

"Got it. I'll come back safe and sound," Sora vowed. "I promise you that."

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Sora entered the Keyhole, and sure enough, he found the girl on the other side.

"It's the end of the road, 'nobody'."

She turned around to face him, her face looking umimpressed, "You obviously don't know when to quit, do you?"

"No!" Sora immediately replied. "And you're comin' with me."

She got angry, but rather than yelling, she instead mocked him, "No! And you can't make me."

She then summoned her all-black Keyblade and used it to send a Dark Firaga at him. But he rolled out of the way, summoning his own Keyblade on the way.

The two weapons clashed, and during the fight, Sora found it rather inriguing why he felt a lingering sense of sadness radiating from her. This surprised him, because judging by her actions, he expected to feel mostly anger. No, she wasn't angry. Not entirely anyways.

No, she was sad.

He also felt the familiar resentment return, the feeling that he was indeed supposed to remember who she was.

So why couldn't he recall her?

Eventually, the two's clashing forced them apart, sending both flying back on opposite sides of the rather small room.

"You give up yet?" Sora asked. She was a really tough opponent, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd respect her strength more if she wasn't the one controlling the bugs.

"You underestimate me, Sora," she said, and this made him realize that she definitely knew him. "I always have an ace up my sleeve." She used her free hand, the one not holding her Keyblade, to snap her fingers.

Riku suddenly appeared in a data-cloud, wearing a dark outfit and writing in pain.

"Riku!" Sora called, as he ran over to him.

"Sora, stay back!" Riku immediately objected.

"Riku! What happened?" Sora asked, confused, but obeying the given command.

"I have control of the bugs here, remember?" the girl interrupted, as she explained. She placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "And all I had to do was place some of them within him." She turned to him, "Attack."

But Riku struggled against her control, "I will never...answer to you!"

Her eyes lowered into a glare, "I think you keep forgetting...you're in no position to defy me."

She clenched her free hand into a fist, and on command, numerous blocks surrounded Riku, proceeding to spin before merging with his body and infusing him with energy amidst his screams of agony. That was when his face lost all emotion and he stood there, immobile, after the process was complete.

"Stop!" Sora cried.

"That should keep you pests out of my way for a while. Now, I'll leave you two to get reacquainted," the girl said, before leaving via a data-cloud.

Sora immediately ran to Riku's aid, "Riku! Talk to me!"

Mickey's disembodied voice suddenly spoke up, "I heard a scream. Sora, tell me what's going on!"

"Mickey! It's Riku!" Sora exclaimed. "That girl put bugs in him!"

"What?!" Mickey sounded panicked, and it was justified. Riku, right now, was the journal the way it was supposed to be. If he was corrupted, that was bad news for them. "Riku! Can you hear my voice? Riku!"

Riku suddenly came to his senses and pushed Sora away from him.

"Riku!" Sora called, only for Riku to summon Soul Eater. "Please...Cant you hear what we're saying to you?"

Riku clenched his fist, "Destroy me..."

"What?" was all Sora could get out, before Riku launched an areial attack, which Sora managed to dodge by sliding under him.

The two clashed their blades together and pushed each other back with the force they exerted. Having no other choice, Sora readied himself to fight his own friend.

Hopefully, he could make this quick, for both of them.

He managed to avoid another of Riku's attacks before delivering a blow to the back of his head.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Within the Grand Hall, a large dome of light encased the stage. Sora burst out of the data-cloud and ran to the center to find Riku lying on the floor, the dome now gone.

He was shocked to see that blocks had formed around Riku's body, leaving him lying comatose. Sora simply shook his head, at an utter loss for words.

A light suddenly appeared from the Keyblade. After temporarily expressing his confusion, Sora lifted the Keyblade and it startled him by pointing itself toward Riku and shooting a beam of light at him.

With a shout and a flash of light, Sora unshielded his eyes and saw another Keyhole appear above the now-glowing Riku as Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy rushed toward them.

Sora pointed at Riku, "Is he...? Do you think...?"

"Well, if the bugs have taken over Riku...then that means..." Mickey gasped, "He might not ever wake up unless we get rid of the bugs first."

They all looked sadly towards Riku.

"Riku...so if I debug him, Riku will come back to us," Sora realized, immediately choosing to hold onto that hope.

"Good luck with that," came the girl's voice.

They all turned around to see her standing there, seemingly having never left to area.

She continued, "As long as I exist, the bugs will never stop coming."

Out of nowhere, her appearance glitched, breifly showing instead her with a white coat and holding her head in pain, before it glitched back to the stoic black-coated girl that was speaking with them currently.

This was not lost on Mickey.

Before Sora could charge at her, she disappeared into a data-cloud.

Goofy gave the others a worried look, as Sora looked back the Keyhole, and grunted, "Guys, I gotta go inside to look."

Donald let out a concerned babble, "But what about you?!"

Goofy agreed, "Who's to say if it's even safe inside Riku?"

"I know it's risky," Sora countered calmly, "but if a friend needs me to be there, I'll be there to help. And not just Riku...that girl...she's lonely, and I just can't get it out of my head that I should know who she is."

Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Jiminy smiled, as the latter of the four commented, "Well, I guess that's Sora for ya."

"Still can't talk you out of it, huh?" Donald asked, already knowing the answer.

"A-hyuck!" Goofy smiled, "But we'll do everything we can to help you out!"

"You're right, Sora," Mickey added, unable to get that glitch out of his mind. "The girl is certainly not a 'nobody'. I know for sure that she's a crucial part of the journal, because she's not controlling the bugs. The bugs are the ones controlling *her*."

Sora's gaze lowered to determination, "Then, I know exactly what I have to do now. Debut her and Riku both. Thanks, guys."

He then stood in front of the Keyhole and raised his Keyblade

"And, don't forget, Sora," Mickey gave some last minute advice, "you're not goin' in there alone." A light shot out towards the Keyhole. "Your friends'll be right there fighting alongside ya in spirit, no matter where ya go."

The light surrounded Sora as he looked towards his friends and smiled. The light was pulled into the Keyblade and disappeared.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

After exchanging several blows, a nearly fatigued Sora summoned enough strength to deliver a powerful slash to Riku, causing the source of bugs to dematerialize.

"That should've cleared all the bugs inside him," Sora commented, breathing heavily due to exhaustion. "Now, to find that girl."

"Gathering data...Gathering data...Data recovery...90%. Conditions for awakening met."

Sora returned to the data hub just in time for Riku to tell him, "Nicely done!"

"Riku, thanks."

"Did that bug try to use my power for itself?" Riku asked.

"Yep, but how'd you know that?"

"Just a feeling," he replied. "I thought it might try to exploit the darkness that's been lurking inside of me. I've been envious of what you have. Always surrounded by friends, who trust you completely-"

"Stop right there," Sora interrupted him. "First off, I trust you. Second, my friends are your friends, too. Ask!"

"Of course we're your friends, Riku!" Mickey immediately agreed. "Hey, Sora, are you guys okay in there?"

"Take out some bugs for me, would ya?" Donald added.

"Yeah, and just give a hollor if ya need help!" Goofy said. "We'll be here!"

"My friends?" After a moment, Riku smiled. "Guess you're right."

"Come on, Riku," Sora said. "We still need to debug that girl."

"You're in luck," came the girl's voice, once again from the farthest corner of the room. Sora and Riku turned to face her. "I've been watching you the entire time."

"There you are!" Sora offered her a smile. "We know who you are now!"

The girl was silent, before deciding to call his bluff, "Really? Then, what's my name?"

Sora paused, and Riku looked between the two, concerned, as Sora's smile fell.

She smirked, "I thought so. Nice try, but I won't fall for an idiotic trick like that."

But Sora shook his head, "It's not a trick! And I may not know your name, but we know for sure that you are indeed a part of the journal! And we're here to save you from the bugs!"

The girl's eyes lowered into another glare, "What makes you think I need saving?" But then, she paused, and her glare disappeared, replaced with a depressed gaze to the ground. "Why would you save me? All I've ever done to is antagonize you all. What makes you think that I'm worth saving? You can't even remember my name."

Riku was quick to note the tear that fell down her cheek.

Sora noticed too, "I may not remember your name, but I do know that you are supposed to be on our side. Not with the bugs."

She suddenly hunched over, grabbing her head in pain as she started to glitch again, this time like crazy.

"What's happening?" Sora asked, as her coat constantly turned from black to white, and then back to black, then back to white, over and over again.

"The bugs don't agree with what she's feeling," Riku realized. "They're trying to maintain their control over her."

Sora turned to the girl, urging her, "Please, fight them!"

"I'm trying..." she grunted out, before yelling out, not at them, but at the bugs, "Leave...me...ALONE!"

Her eyes started to glow a much brighter gold, and her skin became cracked with more data markings than before, this time reaching to her forehead and down her neck, as she summoned her black-colored Keyblade.

"Sora, be careful!" Riku immediately warned him. "Don't get too close! They're completely in control of her now!"

Sora summoned his Keyblade, solemnly replying with, "But I have to, don't I? I have to fight her for real now..."

He charged toward her, but quickly found that her sudden boost in darkness made her a even more difficult opponent to cause damage to.

But after a long, exhausting fight, Sora managed to land the final blow.

Both he and Riku watched as the darkness dispersed and the remaining bugs finally broke down. The girl's coat turned completely white and the hood fell off, revealing short red hair. Her eyes were closed, though.

As her skin repaired itself, Sora asked Riku, "Do you remember who she is?"

Riku shook his head. Whatever he was about to say next was lost when the room began to shake.

"What-?" Sora asked. "What's that?"

"No way!" Riku exclaimed. "Hurry, Sora! You've got to escape! Someone's trying to close the road back to the outside world. Go now, or you'll be trapped inside here."

"Uh, o-okay!"

Riku createda gateway with a flower pattern adorned inside it, "That should get you out of here. Sora, thanks again. I'll see you on the other side."

"Yeah," Sora smiled. "I'll hold you to that!"

He raced through the exit and appeared back in Hollow Bastion's Grand Hall. Sure enough, he was greeted by Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy on the other side.

"Sora!" Goofy greeted. "Gawrsh, you made it back!"

"Yay!" Donald cheered. "You're here!"

"Welcome back, Sora," Mickey said. "Good, you look like you're okay."

"Mickey! It's good to be here!" Sora replied. "You guys, listen. You'd never believe the stuff I saw!"

"Actually, we saw it all," Mickey revealed. "You got rid of the last of the bugs from the datascape. We really owe ya!"

"Yep," Sora said. "Happy I could help. Oh, hey! Riku! Is Riku all right?"

Riku walked up the stairs to the stage and joined them, "I'm just fine. Sorry to put you through all that."

"Riku!" Sora immediately smiled and ran to his friend.

"Looks like we managed to keep that promise," Riku smiled back.

"Yeah!" Sora turned to Mickey, "So, who was that girl? Did you recognize her?"

"Yes, actually," Mickey replied. Once he saw her hood fall and reveal her red hair, everything made sense to him. "She's correct when she says that she's a very dear friend to Sora and Riku. At least, the real versions."

"Sorry to interrupt," Riku cut in. "I wish we had some time to sit around and catch up, but you guys need to hurry. Go there." He opened a gateway. "As promised, that's your road home to the real world where everyone's waiting for you."

"So this is it," Mickey said. "Time for us to leave. And time to say bye to the datascape."

"It's not everyday that I get to explore my journal's world," Jiminy commented. "Now that the moment's here, I'm kinda sad we hafta go."

"You can always come back another time!" Sora was quick to suggest.

"Great idea!" Goofy agreed. "And next time, we can bring everybody!"

"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" Donald added.

"Actually...there's something important I haven't told you yet. It's just..." Riku paused. "No. It can wait until you've made it through."

"Thank you, Riku," Mickey said. "Good-bye! You two take care, both of yourselves and that girl, okay?"

"Yep, see ya!" Sora waved.

"Heh," Riku smirked.

Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy waved their goodbyes and entered the gateway.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Once the light around them faded, they found themselves back in their castle's Library.

"Did we...?" Mickey asked.

Chip and Dale then arrived, and Dale cheered when they saw who had returned, "Yahoo! We have been waiting for you!"

Chip was laughing, "You're here! Welcome home!"

"Chip and Dale are here, so I think that means..." Donald trailed off.

Fortunately, Goofy picked up where he left off, "We're really here!"

"It's true!" Jiminy sighed in relief. "We're finally home! Our castle in the real world."

Everybody cheered, only dying down when Riku's voice sounded from the computer, "Can you guys hear me?" They all looked at the screen. "Glad to see you made it back safely."

"Loud and clear, Riku!" Mickey replied. "We're here because of you. Thank you."

Data-Sora and Data-Riku were standing in the Grand Hall of Hollow Bastion.

"Well, guess Sora and I are done for now," Riku continued, and Sora was smiling.

"Huh?" Donald asked. "Whaddaya mean by that?"

Riku explained, "It's all over now that we figured out how to get rid of the bugs. The

journal will go back to the way it was, including that girl. Is that right, Jiminy?"

"Yes," Jiminy confirmed. "It should return to how it was, when I first wrote everything down. Without all those pesky bugs, the journal entries should appear back in their original state."

Goofy tried to process this information.

"Right," Riku replied. "The entries will reappear as they were before. And all of the rest...has to be reset. That means, the whole adventure we all shared... It'll be swept from our memories like it never happened."

"Does that mean...you're gonna forget about the time we were together?" Goofy asked. "Even all the stuff that we're talkin' about right now?"

"We're nothing but data. That's just the way it goes," Riku shrugged.

"Not fair," Goofy muttered, as he, Donald, and Goofy lowered their heads in sadness.

"Mickey, still there?" Sora suddenly asked, and the trio raised their heads back up to look at the screen.

"Sora?" Mickey asked.

Sora continued, "Riku explained things. I know it's not what we all would want, but guys, if that's the way everything's meant to be then..."

"That makes me sad," Donald said.

"You went through so much," Jiminy told the two on the screen. "You really helped us in the datascape. Taking all that away is such a..."

"Thank you," Sora replied. "But actually, I'm okay with it. Besides, you won't be able to get rid of us that easily. Me, Riku, and that girl, we aren't going anywhere. We might lose some memories, but that doesn't matter when we've still got you guys. Our adventure may not be found in the journal, but you'll always find us in your hearts." He touched his heart. "No matter what happens, we'll be right here. As long as you remember us, and everything that we've been through together... Well then, who knows?"

"Sora..." Goofy muttered, as everyone in the Library was crestfallen.

"Well, we should sign off here," Sora said. "I guess it's good-bye, guys. Give the 'us' out there our best, okay?"

An alarm sounded from the computer and alerted everybody.

"What's that?" Jiminy asked.

A message appeared on the computer screen, reading "Data recovery...100%. Data assembly complete. Glitch found in darkness. Awakening dark glitch. Delete Datascape YES/NO? Y_YE_YES."

In the data Hollow Bastion, the world began to shake.

"What is this power?" Riku asked. "It's so much stronger than anything I've ever felt before! Could it be some sort of bug?"

"Bugs?!" Goofy asked. "But how could that happen? I thought we got rid of all of 'em!"

"I thought we did too," Riku replied. "There's a chance we were wrong."

"What do we do now?" Donald asked.

"That message said it was going to delete the datascape," Riku explained. "We can't let something that powerful get loose. The journal data has to be locked!"

"But then we're gonna lose you and Sora, and what was in the journal!" Mickey exclaimed. "We'll lose it all!"

After typing some buttons, Jiminy revealed, "No, what's in the journal now will be fine, as it's already locked in. It's what's not in the journal right now that's the problem!"

That was when Sora remembered who had been left behind, "Oh no! That girl! She's in danger! We have to save her!" He immediately turned tail and ran towards the Final Keyhole portal.

"Sora? Where are you going?" Riku asked, before chasing after him. When he grabbed Sora's arm, he asked, "Sora, are you crazy?!"

"No way am I gonna leave her out there!" Sora protested. "You heard what Jiminy said. Whatever's not currently locked within the journal is in danger of being deleted forever. We can't let that happen to her!"

"But you don't even know where she is!"

"Then I'll just have to go look for her!"

"Aren't you afraid?" Riku asked. "If you stray too far from here, then there's a chance you could get deleted too!"

Sora remained completely calm, "Of course I'm afraid. Why wouldn't I be? But you know why I have to do this."

"Huh?"

"You've been in my shoes before," Sora explained, "You've fought with no one beside you. Because you knew that was a lot less scary than just sitting around and waiting by yourself for the end to come. Now she's in the exact same predicament. Remember what you said once before: 'What's important are the actions that you take'. I don't know if there's any way that we can actually save her, but I know that I've gotta at least try."

Unable to deny the truth in this, Riku released Sora's wrist and watched as the brunette entered the portal.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

The girl came to in a green-and-blue room with a floor composed of data chips and a wall lined with a flashing grid. Her hear was spinning from the bugs trying desperately to control her. The last thing she remembered was Sora urging her to fight their influence.

Her head was currently spinning, and looking down at her appearance, clearly told her that she was freed from the bugs' control.

"Where am I?"

The floor suddenly shook, and she only gathered enough energy to look up and see what was in the room with her.

A large Darkside Heartless, with markings on its body that were constantly changing color.

From a data-cloud, Sora emerged and he immediately put himself between her and the Heartless.

"Sora?" she asked.

"It's him!" Sora exclaimed, looking at the Darkside. "I fought this thing on the island. But I thought it got swept away into the darkness along with everything else...Listen to me. You need to get outta here!"

"I can't," she sadly replied, her eyes lowering to the ground she was lying on. "I have no place among you. The journal is locked, and I'm not in it."

But Sora turned around and offered her one of his signature smiles, "Everything will be fine. You just have to trust me."

Was he really willing to give her a second chance after everything she did to him?

Just then, the Darkside began charging up energy in its fist, getting ready to attack, and both of them noticed.

The duo braced for the impact as the Darkside slammed its fist down on them. Due to her waning strength, the girl was knocked back, out cold once again.

"Hey!" Sora called out to her. "You okay?!"

He, understandably, got no answer, so he turned back to the Heartless and stared it down. It suddenly roared, catching Sora off guard.

"Unbelievable..." he muttered. "This guy's a lot stronger than what I fought before! No way is this the same guy!"

"Rage...Hatred...And now, glitches to feed my darkness."

Did it just speak? "It feeds on the glitches?"

"Wait, that's it!" came Riku's voice. "Sora, you're not the only one who's changed, who evolved within the datascape!"

"Riku, you wanna fill me in?" Sora asked, desperate for some answers.

"Yes, but listen to me carefully. I know where the bugs came from. All of them! It's your shadow. It's your Heartless, Sora!"

"My Heartless?!"

"You once turned into a Heartless in order to save that girl, though you may not remember," Riku explained. "It was recorded into the journal along with everything else, then it vanished. Your memories disappeared too, but you managed to get those back. For some reason, though, the pages of the journal-they stayed blank."

"And you think my Heartless is responsible for that?"

"It makes sense," Riku admitted. "Everything in Jiminy's journal revolved around one person, and that person is you, Sora. Without you, there never would have been any entries. This whole time you've been evolving in the datascape, finding new strength, your Heartless has been absorbing data and doing the same. It's grown, Sora. Just like you have."

"But Riku, we put most of the data back! That must've at least weakened it, right!" Sora asked. "I can still stop it, can't I?"

"No..." was Riku's answer. "We're currently in the process of locking the girl in the journal too, but I should have realized all of this sooner. Normally, defeating a Heartless causes its heart to be released. Then the heart's returned to the person who lost it. But when you defeat Heartless here in the datascape-that wouldn't set any real hearts free. Remember, Sora, hearts can't be turned to data. Instead, I think what you released are probably the Heartless' minds."

"I did all that?" Sora asked. "But then where did the minds end up? Where could they have gone?"

"They're right in front of you!" Riku replied, "Your Heartless has been gathering, then devouring the dark intentions of all the fallen Heartless and the girl. That's where it gets its power. From dark data! And now, just like you, it's become something greater, something much more powerful."

"If something this powerful got into Mickey's world..." Sora immediately found himself panicking. "Oh no! I have to protect them! I'll use the strength they've given me!"

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Sora and Mickey emerged victorious, and the duo shared cheerful glances as the Darkside disappeared. The two reappeared in the Grand Hall, and judging by the fact that the girl had reappeared with them, she must've been successfully locked in the journal again.

Riku knelt at the girl and picked her up, holding her in his arms as she began to wake up again.

"You okay?" he asked, when her violet eyes opened.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," the girl replied. Her voice was soft, very different from her bug-controlled counterpart. "Thank you, Sora, for saving me."

Sora smiled at her as he put his hands behind his head, "No problem. That's what friends do."

"You really...consider me a friend...after what I've gone to you?" she asked.

"Of course we do, Kairi," Mickey said, and the girl turned to him, hope filling each one of her features.

Someone remembered her.

"You've been locked into the journal now," Riku told her. "When it resets, you'll still be here with us."

The girl, Kairi, finally smiled, before letting Riku and Sora help her to her feet.

"Yes, that's right," Mickey agreed. "Pretty soon, the data will go back to its original form. The way it was before all of those bugs showed up."

"It's time to say goodbye," Sora said, before becoming confused. "Huh? What gives? Is it a glitch? There's sosme kind of lump in my throat."

"It's not a glitch," Mickey offered a smile. "That's just...what goodbye feels like. When we met in the datascape, it brought back a whole bunch of memories. The day I set out on my first big adventure. The day I made a new friend, a special friend. They all came rushing back to me. I knew, that the journal...It's not just a diary. It's a collection-a collection of all we felt. The journal shows what's in our hearts. I promise. We'll tell the real Sora, Riku, and Kairi about what happened here. That way, this journey that we just had will be one everyone shares. The memories will always connect us; they'll be our own special bond. Remember, we're friends forever, Sora."

"Yup! Friends forever, Your Majesty."

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

It was only a few minutes later, and everyone in the Disney Castle Library remained lost in thought for a few moments. Sora, the ones in the datascape, was now unaware of the adventure they just had. They weren't sure, but it was highly likely that the data versions of Riku and Kairi were the same way.

At least, until Goofy pointed out, "Hey, ya know, we never did figure out that mysterious message."

"Ohh...Wak!" Donald squaked when the computer screen flashed.

Riku and Kairi both appeared on the screen, showing their images from different angles, and Riku said, "Guys, big news. A new world has shown up inside the journal."

"What do you mean?" Goofy asked.

"We've found another door leading to extra data," Kairi revealed. "Somebody must have added it once all the other data was restored."

"And if we explore that world..." Mickey began.

Riku nodded, and the original journal message appeared on the screen, "Then we should get some answers about this message."

"Great! Let's ask Sora to-"

"Ah." Donald cut off his King. Mickey looked over him, as the duck covered his mouth.

Fortunately, Goofy was brave enough to explain, "When we fixed the data, everything in the journal went back to the way it started, remember?"

Donald's shoulders fell upon being reminded of this.

"Which means that Sora's journal through the datascape-it never happened to him," Jiminy continued. "Why, now he's just the same boy he was before he ever met any of us."

Mickey hung his head, "He's right, and we can't send Sora out there when he doesn't know what's going on."

"Don't worry," Kairi offered a smile, "I still remember, and so does Riku. I'll stick with Sora."

"Please do," Mickey ordered.

Kairi nodded, before disappearing from the screen.

After she logged off, Donald and Goofy sighed, but Mickey got an idea, "Riku, wait. Could you help me get back into the datascape one more time?"

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

Sora awoke in a dark alley in a small town. He was startled when he saw a girl's smile right in front of him, "Time to wake up, lazy bum."

He returned the smile, "Gimme a break, Kairi." She giggled, as he got to his feet. "Where are we?"

"I'll explain on the way," she replied. "Come on."

The two ran out of the alley, and Sora noticed the unfamiliar surroundings, "Huh?" The two stopped upon seeing Riku and King Mickey standing in the city square, the latter holding his Keyblade.

"Sora, this was the day that your journey began," Mickey explained. "I know, because I was here, too." He turned to look at Sora. "It's time for the truth."

"Where are we?" Sora asked, as he looked around. "How'd we end up in this place? And...who are you?"

"I'm Mickey. I've come here from another kind of world."

"Another kind of world?" Sora tilted his head in confusion.

"'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it'," Mickey recited. "It's a message. And you, Riku, and Kairi are the only ones with the power to solve the mystery behind it. So we really need your help."

"Power? What's that?" The Keyblade flashed into Sora's hand. "Whoa! What's that?"

"You may not remember, but it's clear you still hold the power inside you," Mickey explained. "Think you'd be willing to lend us a hand? You might help us figure out the truth."

Sora looked at Kairi and then Riku, before turning back to Mickey. "Gosh, I don't have a clue what's going on. I don't, but at the same time...what you're saying feels kind of familiar. So this truth you're talking about, do you think it involves us somehow?"

Mickey shrugged, "Actually, I'm not exactly positive. However, I get the sense it's something important that all three of you need to know."

Sora glanced at Kairi and Riku again, both of whom, this time, nodded encouragement, before replying, "If it's information that we're supposed to know, then, well..." He chuckled. "Okay, Mickey. I'll help."

"Thank you!" Mickey breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's go. Just follow my lead."

Mickey pointed his Keyblade and fired a beam of light, causing a Keyhole to appear. Sora did the same and a beam of light struck the Keyhole and the world flashed.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

When the light faded, Sora, Riku, and Kairi found themselves in a white room.

"Whoa..." Sora commented before asking, "So you think the truth's hiding somewhere in here?"

But the King did not respond. The trio looked to where they last saw him, only to find him missing from their sight.

"Mickey?" Kairi asked.

"Guess he went ahead," Sora said. Riku and Kairi shared a look, and both of them immediately knew what the other was thinking.

Something had blocked Mickey from joining them.

"But we're still here," Riku replied. "Let's go."

The trio took a few steps forward, but stopped when a cloaked figure appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Me?" the figure, obviously male, replied. "I'm nobody. In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That's the way of things, here in Castle Oblivion."

"Castle Oblivion?" Kairi repeated.

"That's right," the figure replied, before walking over to Sora. "Here, you three will meet people you know. People that you care about."

He took out a card engraved with a picture of the Destiny Islands and held it out to Sora, who took it, despite his confusion, "It's a...kind of card. With a picture of it."

"Use that card and press on, all three of you," the figure replied. "You will find the truth that sleeps up ahead."

"Wha-? Wait!" Sora exclaimed as the figure disappeared. He sighed before looking at the card. "But how are we supposed to use this? He could've told us that much. And why does he seem so...familiar?"

"Something tells me that we'll figure that out eventually," Kairi replied. "Let's keep moving."

"Right!"

The trio walked to the door at the end of the hall and Sora held up the card. It released a burst of light and the room dimmed.

Mist entered the room and a light flashed.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

The light faded, and the three found themselves transported to a room with walls that had pictures of the Destiny Islands, their islands, on them. They appeared to still be in the same white room, just with Destiny Islands-like wallpaper.

Sora looked around, "What just happened to us?"

The figure reappeared, and explained, "That card's special. It will cause you to see people. Well, 'illusions' to be exact. They're from Jiminy's journal. It's all of the very same data that you worked so hard to fix."

"Jiminy? What did we fix?" Sora asked in confusion. "I don't get it."

"You don't remember, Sora," Riku quickly spoke up. "Kairi and I will explain later."

"Right, my mistake," the figure cut in. "Someone must have pressed the reset button on your memory, but you two still remember, most likely due to your close interactions with the bugs." Most likely, but it wasn't fact. "But all you remember, Sora, is leaving the island. Just the same, you'll remember the folks you meet here. At least, you should."

"I don't understand," Sora shook his head. "What is it that we're supposed to do?"

"Whatever you want," the figure said.

"Huh?"

They continued, "There's no script to follow. The journal's the closest thing you've got, but that doesn't mean you'll see the things it says. And who really cares? Everything that happens here, and everyone you meet is just an illusion."

"So then...we can do whatever we want to do?" Sora asked.

"Yes," the figure answered, before disappearing.

"Hey, come back!" Sora called, only to sigh in defeat. "...He's gone. Huh?"

He had turned to see the trio's friends from the island, Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie, nearby. He, Kairi, and Riku conversed with them, until they each vanished from view in turn.

After this, Sora turned to the two still with him, "I feel like we need to take a moment to think about what that person means."

Riku thought for a moment, before saying, "I think I've got something that can help us."

"Yeah, what is it?" Sora asked.

"A hidden truth that's nowhere to be found, even in the deepest corners of your memories," Riku explained. "It's something I want you to see. And, something I want you to feel. And I'm sure Kairi would agree."

Kairi only tilted her head in confusion, wondering what Riku was going on about, what he had in mind. This was not lost on Sora, "It's okay, Kairi. You and I both know that Riku wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important."

She couldn't deny the truth in those words, so she just nodded.

"Thank you, Sora," Riku gave a small smile. "Now, close your eyes, both of you."

Sora and Kairi did so.

And amid statis, the scene shifted to a night sky at the top of a clock tower. The Riku in the memory stood, gazing at the full moon over the city. He reached a hand out and pretended to grab the moon. He stared for a bit, wind blowing through his hair. He bowed his head, putting his hand over his chest.

He then turned around to stare at the empty shell that was his friend Kairi. Her eyes were still blank and she still sat there, unmoving, only breathing lightly.

"Wasn't that...you, Riku? And Kairi?" Sora remembered and nodded in understanding. "That's right. I was on a journey to find you guys."

Kairi hung her head. She hadn't realized that her body looked like that. So lifeless...

Fortunately, Riku was comfortable explaining things to Sora, "Darkness had taken a hold of my heart, and Kairi had lost hers completely. But at the end of your journey, you would have saved us, Sora. Think about it. What did Kairi and I have in common? When you watched that, what did you feel?"

"Something you two have in common..." Sora muttered.

After a moment, Riku revealed the answer, "It was 'hurt'. We had both lost ourselves, and we were hurting in a way we'd never hurt before. There's no greater pain in the world... I ask you, Sora: What would you have done?"

The brunette's answer was automatic, "I would've helped you, of course! Both of you! I'd've figured out how to undo the hurt."

Kairi sadly smiled, "Of course you'd say that, Sora. And you're right. That's exactly what you would've done."

"Or rather, you will," Riku corrected her. "We all will. Because you hurt too, Sora. It's just human nature."

"Then that settles it," Sora smiled. "From now on, all three of us will stick together and mend the hurt, both ours and others'. That's our purpose now. Now, what was with the sneak preview, Riku?"

Riku returned the smile with one of his own, "I just wanted you to see. You always make the right choices, Sora. On the road ahead, more than one truth will come to light. We'll forget things, lose things that we care about, and it won't always make sense. It'll be frustrating, and it'll make us angry. It may even hurt so badly we'll feel like we're about to lose ourselves. But don't worry, you two. That won't happen to us. We won't let it. We're like sponges. No matter how much pain they throw at us, we'll suck it up, and leave things a little bit better. Just follow your heart, and we can change the lives of not one, but many. We don't have to do anything special. Just do what you do-be yourselves. After all, that's what you're good at, Sora. Do what feels right to you."

"Right."

The trio returned to the white hall of Castle Oblivion in a flash of light.

"Well, Sora?" the figure was back. "How was it? Did you have fun chatting and hanging with the ghosts?"

"You shouldn't call them 'ghosts'," Sora sternly corrected. "Sure, something was a little off, but I'm certain those three are still my friends."

"Friends?" the figure seemed to be taunting him. "So then what were their names again? Tell me."

"Oh, I don't even have to think-" But Sora cut himself off and gasped, "What...? Why can't I...remember? I know them!"

"Like I said, everything in this castle is just an illusion," the figure continued. "And once the illusions vanish, you'll forget all about your little reunion."

"I'll forget?!"

"Hey, no big deal," the figure shrugged. "The fact that you can't remember just means they weren't very important to you to begin with. Isn't that right?"

"That's not true!" Sora vehemently objected. "Of course my friends are always important to me! Okay, maybe I forgot...what just happened, and who I met inside that room. Trust me, I know I'll remember everything again!"

The figure just shrugged his words off, "Hmph. Sure."

He then handed Sora five additional cards. "More cards?" Sora asked.

A rightly suspicious Kairi spoke up then, asking the figure, "What are you after?"

"You'll see in time," the figure assured her, before explaining, "All of those cards were created from the data in the journal. And all of them will show you three more illusions. But from now on, the illusions won't be of your friends. You're fresh off the island, which makes everyone you meet total strangers. Here's a fun little thought. The folks you're about to see? You can fight them all you like."

"Huh?"

"What do you care?" the figure replied to Sora's confusion. "They're only strangers. Actually, illusions of strangers. Just a collection of empty bits of data. They won't be able to make the distinction between what's real and what's not. They'll look at the white walls of this castle, and what they'll see are the worlds they call home. Anyway, the truth would be wasted on them, so why bother? They're only there until they're not. Do you see where I'm going with this? Nothing's real. You can break the little hearts they don't have, and then forget about it. No hurt feelings, no baggage. It's that simple. You don't have a heart. It's 100 percent guilt-free."

It was in this moment that Kairi realized that this figure, whoever it was, was dealing with some hurt of their own.

A deep-in-thought Sora lifted his head to respond, "That's what you think."

"What?" This time, it was the figure's turn to be confused.

Sora continued, "It's obvious you know nothing at all. Everything you say is a lie. I might have the strength to hurt someone, but what exactly would be the point? I know...that it would tear me up inside. That ache...would stay with me for a long time. You might not know it now, but I hope you'll see, that nothing is guilt-free in this world."

The stranger's response to this confused all three of them, "You've arrived at the first question."

"Huh?"

The figure didn't elaborate, only disappearing.

"What's with that guy?" Sora asked, slightly peeved off.

"I don't know," Kairi replied, "but I get the feeling that he's not an enemy."

"As do I," Riku agreed, "but I really don't like how he's singling out Sora in particular."

"It's okay, guys," Sora tried his best to shrug it all off. "Let's keep pressing on."

Sora then used one of the cards he was just given to enter the Castle Oblivion equivalent of Traverse, where the trio met up with Cid, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They talked with them, before the four all vanished from sigh.

This continued on with the next two cards, and when they returned to the white hall, the figure had reappeared.

Ever cryptic and cynical as ever, they listened to him say, "The sadness of knowing you forgot someone who matters to you, something like that'll gnaw at you forever. But you believe that somehow by carrying around that kind of hurt, you'll be able to retrieve the memories you lost. That's what you're thinking, right, Sora?"

Sora didn't deny this, "Right."

The stranger laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked.

"I can't believe you fell for it so easily," the figure replied.

"Huh?"

To Sora's confusion, the figure said, "I told you when you three first arrived. Remember, in this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. Well, you've lost your memories and the only thing you found in return...is hurt. And by deciding that hurt was the key to remembering, you gave up all hope of ever being free from it! The hurt owns you now, Sora. Don't you see that? It's a wound that will never mend. That hole in your heart will grow bigger, until darkness finally claims it!"

"Was this all just a big trick to pull us in?" Riku asked.

"Afraid so," the stranger replied. "And all it took was a handful of illusions. You two passed, but Sora's heart was just way too easy to break."

"Not true!" Sora cried out, and Kairi placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as the stranger disappeared.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

After visiting the Castle Oblivion equivalent of Agrabah, the trio returned to the white hall, only to find themselves with the exhausting prescence of the stranger.

"It's not too late to run," they said.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

The figure tilted their own head up, and Kairi managed to catch a glimpse of their face. It was a boy with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes.

The boy continued, "Why should you keep the hurt inside? Just tell yourself you need to forget about the people you met in this place. You'll have no one to miss. No cause for loneliness. No hurt to keep eating away at your heart."

Sora sighed and held his hand over his heart with uncertainty.

"It's your call, Sora," the boy continued. "Cling to the memories you've lost, and the hurt they bring, till you're dragged into the darkness. Otherwise, let it all go and then you can be free and happy. The decision...is completely yours."

Sora called out, "Wait!" but the figure was already gone.

The brunette paused for a moment before taking out the last card, the one depicting Hollow Bastion. He sighed.

He appeared to talk to himself, "Should I use this? But if I were to do that, then I'd meet a friend, and forget right away. I don't know if I want that. It's just going to bring more hurt. And if he's right, the darkness will eventually...take over me completely." He then turned to his two best friends. "Do you guys remember those people?"

Riku and Kairi shared a glance of concern, before turning back to Sora and slowly nodding.

Sora hung his head, as it became clear that he was the one being victimized here. It was him that the stranger was trying to antagonize.

The figure had said that Riku and Kairi had already passed, so why was he lagging behind? What was he missing that Riku and Kairi already had.

He sighed, "But I don't see any other way out of here. Guess this card is our only option. That is, unless, I let go of the hurt. Once I go out of this room, I'll forget all about what happened and everyone I just met. Instead of carrying that hurt around until it consumes me, maybe I should let it go. What's inside my heart? What am I supposed to do?" He sighed again. "I feel so lost."

"Don't give up, Sora," Riku advised. "Remember, you still have us."

"You always will," Kairi added, with a comforting smile.

"Hey, Sora! Riku! Kairi!" came Mickey's voice. "Can you guys hear me?"

An orb of light eminating sparkles appeared in the room.

"I know that voice!" Sora said. "Mickey, is that you? Where are you?"

"Sorry, you three," Mickey replied. "I'm still trying to find a way to get to you. Right now the best I can do is to send my voice to where you are."

Sora finally smiled, albeit sadly, "It's okay. Hey, Mickey? Maybe you can help me with something. I keep forgetting people I meet in this place. And this guy says if I dwell on what I've lost, the hurt is going to take over me. And I don't want that."

"Please, Your Majesty," Riku cut in, unable to handle seeing Sora this hopeless. "He could really use your advice."

"I understand," Mickey answered. "Question is, Sora, are ya okay with letting go of the folks that you've forgotten?"

An image of Donald and Goofy appeared.

Not recognizing them, Sora asked, "Huh? Who are they?"

Mickey continued, "Well, even though you may not remember them...they definitely remember you. You'll always be a really close friend to them, no matter what happens."

"Yeah!" Donald agreed, and Kairi and Riku both smiled. "We've been on adventures, and I'll never forget you!"

Goofy added, "And even if you don't ever really know who we are, I hope you'll remember that you'll always be special to us."

"How can that be?" Sora asked.

"Why don't you ask your heart?" Mickey countered. "What are you feeling right now, Sora?"

"I don't know...what this is," Sora's heart was aching. "Who are these two? I don't think that we've ever met. But I feel like...I know them."

"Memories can disappear," Mickey continued, "but feelings don't...not even when your data was reset. Inside your heart, the adventures you shared with the friends you made in the datascape will always live on. And ya know what? I'll bet that's also true for all the time you spent with the folks that those cards showed to you."

"So it's not what's missing that's causing the hurt," Sora realized. "It's actually what's not missing. If that's true-" The images of Donald and Goofy suddenly faded, "Hey!"

"Uh oh!" Mickey exclaimed. "Looks like I've used up too much power. I'll be there soon, you three. I promise. Just try and hold on a little bit longer for me, okay?" The orb dissipated.

"Mickey!" Sora called out, before sighing. "He's gone. I hate feeling like this."

Kairi placed a hand on his shoulder for comfort, "We know you do. But that's the joy of friends. It means you never have to by yourself."

"You're right," Sora decided, as he clenched his fist. "I can do this. There's no going back. Just one more card."

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

The trio visited Hollow Bastion, and they had tensed up when they had encountered illusions of Pete and Maleficent. After another conversation, the villains disappeared and the trio returned to the white hall.

Sure enough, the stranger was waiting for them, "You've used up all the cards, I take it? I would ask if you enjoyed your little trip...but we both know that you've forgotten it. Bet you're feeling pretty empty."

On either side of him, Sora felt Riku and Kairi immediately tense up, but he quickly held them both back.

"No, I'm not," he replied. "I may not remember who I met, but I do remember that I met them. And knowing that I've forgotten them...I miss them."

"So you hurt," the figure said. "I warned you. Don't you remember what I said? That hurt will drag you down into the darkness. You have to get rid of all of it."

"No, I don't," Sora countered. "I can keep the hurt because it reminds me of something important. It lets me know that what I've forgotten is crucial. That's enough. I won't run from it." The figure's face suddenly begot an angry expression. "It'll stay inside of my heart, until the day I remember."

"The darkness will take you first," the figure warned.

But Sora kept going, "If I put the hurt aside, I'll lose my ties to all the people I care about. My mind's made up." He started to walk down the stairs, Riku and Kairi quick to follow him. "I may end up falling into the darkness, but I'll carry this with me. I'll only get rid of it when I remember everything, and not a day sooner than that. I'll keep the hurt with me for the time being. It's all that I have. It's what holds the pieces in place. I accept that." With that, he passed the figure.

"You say you accept it?" the figure asked, before angrily yelling, "It's not a game!"

From under their feet, the room transformed into a single white platform with four pillars surrounded by a purple void, flower petals scattering through the air.

Sora gasped as Riku was suddenly wrapped in water chains, and Kairi in fire chains, both of them were suddenly separated from him, their chains each tying them to one of the nearby pillars.

"Kairi! Riku!" Sora called out before turning back to the figure, who had conjured up two Keyblades, a fire one in his left hand, and a water one in his right. He held up the water one's tip next to Sora's head.

"It's way past time that you learned what real hurt feels like!" the figure roared in furious anger.

The figuree attacked Sora, who managed to dodge the strikes, before drawing his Keyblade.

Riku and Kairi could only watch as the two clashed.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

After a long and arduous battle, Roxas could no longer keep up the illusion, and the four were sent back to the white hall. Riku and Kairi were still in their chains, and he and Sora were catching their breaths.

"Come on, Sora," Roxas egged. "Do it. Finish me off!"

But Sora sighed and chose to back down.

"Why won't you do it?" He asked, before realzing something. "...I get it. You've seen through my disguise." He smiled. "I'm just like everyone else you've encountered in this place-made of data." Roxas stood and pointed Solarflare at his Other. "I'm not even worth the effort, is that was it is? Guess there's no point in destroying something if it never existed. Is that right?"

But then Sora's following words rendered Roxas speechless, "Not at all. You say that you're an illusion, but you certain pack a really big punch. You said that you'd show me hurt, and you weren't wrong." Riku and Kairi could still only watch, as Sora continued, "Actually, the hurt that I just felt...was more than that."

Sora approached him, who raised his two Keyblades in defense.

"Sure, it might have hurt while we were fighting," Sora explained, "but I sensed a different kind of hurt from you. It was kind of like...an intense, sharp pain. But it... felt sort of familiar, almost like it was my own. As if we'd been connected, like right then we shared the same hurt. If somehow, it brings me closer to people in that kind of way..." Sora chuckled, "then carrying around a little hurt can't be all that bad."

That's exactly why Riku and Kairi passed so easily, because they realized this rather early on. Whether it was because their memories were not erased when the journal was reset, or because Sora never really went through any trauma (or remembered it long enough), didn't matter.

Because Riku and Kairi had both realized that their hurt could bring them closer to other people.

Roxas smiled and sighed in defeat, "'Can't be all that bad'? All right, I give up." Him de-summoning Solarflare and Lunaraqua released Riku and Kairi from their chains.

As they ran up to Sora, Roxas produced the final card, the final key needed to see what his partner-in-crime wanted to tell them.

"Here," he said. "You pass, Sora. Congratulations, you understand hurt. Now, use this to find the truth. All three of you."

Sora glanced at the card he was just given. The image on it was of Castle Oblivion. "What do you mean?"

"My role was to see if you three were ready to take ownership of the hurt inside you," Roxas revealed to them. "And now that role is done. Nothing left for me to do, but...go away."

"Are you gonna go back home?" Sora asked, all traces of anger completely gone.

"I don't know if I really have one," Roxas admitted. "But...there is a place I'd like to be."

"Where is this place?" Kairi asked him.

A smiling Roxas walked towards Sora, disappearing as he merged with him. Sora was startled by this, "What's...this feeling? I've got memories that don't belong to me. A place to call home. And a sunset, that's comforting. My first and my last..."

"Summer vacation," Roxas finished from within Sora.

Sora looked at the card, before whispering, "You can rest easy. I've got you now." He then looked up at Riku and Kairi. "You guys ready?"

Both of them smiled and nodded.

With that, the trio walked over to the door and Sora held up the card.

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" Mickey suddenly called out. The three turned around to see Mickey appear in the room and run over to them.

"Mickey! You got through!" Riku said.

"I did," Mickey replied. "I'm so glad I finally caught up with you three! Sorry that it took me so long. I know you ended up having to do all the work without me. I just couldn't get here sooner."

"It's okay. You're here now," Sora smiled, his smile real this time. He showed Mickey the card he was just handed. "Look! If we use this card, it'll lead us to the truth."

"Is that right?" Mickey asked, before reciting, "'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it'. Maybe now we can finally solve it."

The four all looked towards the door.

"Let's find out!" Sora said, before holding up the card, causing it to glow and the room to dim.

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

The door opened and let in more mist. The four entered a bright room containing a large pod in the center. Standing in front of it was a blonde-haired girl with a white sundress. She looked as if she was waiting for them.

"Who are you?" Riku asked.

Sora gasped, "It's like when I met Mickey. I don't know you, but you're familiar."

"Hello, Sora, Riku, Kairi," the girl greeted them, her voice soft and gentle. "It's nice to meet you all. I am Naminé. You may not know who I am exactly, but I know things about all three of you."

"Uh...so..." Sora asked, "What exactly is going on here?"

"Maybe I can explain," Mickey recalled what happened in Castle Oblivion. He had never met Naminé, but Ansem the Wise did tell them that she was the only one who could restore Sora's memories. He explained, "There was a time, when you lost every one of your memories. But everything turned out to be okay because Naminé helped you through it."

"Wow!" Sora smiled. "You really did that for me, Naminé? You deserve a big thanks!"

But Naminé sadly countered with, "No, I don't. I put your memories back together that part is true. But it was also me... I was the one who took them apart in the first place."

"Huh?" Sora was not confused, only surprised by this revelation.

Kairi finally spoke, "You were the one who made everyone forget about me."

Naminé nodded, guilt filling her features, "Yes...and I am also the reason all the bugs appeared in Jiminy's journal."

"What?" Riku asked. "What do you mean?"

"It all began with these memories that were sleeping way down deep within Sora's heart," an orb of light formed in Naminé's hands.

"These...are my memories?" Sora asked.

"Actually, no, they're not yours," Naminé explained. "They belong to people who are connected to you and your friends."

"Isn't it weird for somebody else's memories to be inside me?" Sora asked.

"Yes, usually it's impossible," Naminé agreed, before explaining, "When I first found them while repairing your memory, I thought I had made some sort of mistake. But then, after searching for answers, all the evidence I found proved they belong in your heart. Sora, Riku, and Kairi will have to awaken these memories, but this is where they will sleep until that time comes. They are important...and yet, dangerous too."

"How are they dangerous?" Kairi asked.

Naminé continued, "These memories, all of them are too painful. Handled the wrong way, they could damage Sora's heart, even break it. That's why I needed for Sora, Riku, and Kairi to find their own ways to face that kind of hurt. So I left the message for all of you."

"'Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it'," Riku recited. "That was you. You're the one who left us that message."

"When I unraveled Sora and the others' memories, it also erased the words in Jiminy's journal," Naminé said. "That book was filled with pages and pages of memories from your first adventure. It shows how deeply the journal and Sora are connected. When I took Sora's memories apart, they stayed in his heart. It may have looked like they were gone," she looked at Kairi when she said this, and the two connected eyes, "but they were there the whole time. Even after the text disappeared from the journal, the memories remained. That's why you were able to render them as data."

"Yeah, but the data we got was a mess," Mickey said, "and then all those bugs appeared. Jiminy never wrote about any bugs."

"That was me as well," Naminé admitted. "When I added these memories to the journal, I also added all this 'hurt'. I thought that maybe if you fought the bugs that sprang from these memories, you three might learn to face the hurt in the memories themselves."

"So that's what it was," Mickey finally understood everything. "I didn't realize you had to go through so much trouble to get us to invesifate this hurt, Naminé."

"I'm sorry," Naminé's voice turned quiet. "I wish I could ahve told you this in person. But the real me is one. She doesn't exist now." She turned to Kairi. "I understand how angry you must be. My captors forced me to write you out, and I tried my best to restore everything back to the way it was, but that only caused even more problems. I am truly sorry."

"So that's why the bugs took control over you, Kairi," Riku realized. "They needed a vessel to hide in, and your resentment from being erased from the journal made you the easiest target."

Upon hearing this, Kairi lowered her gaze in guilt. All she wanted was to find out who erased her from the journal and why, but the bugs turned that into a revenge scheme that caused her to hurt not only Sora and Riku, but also Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy as well.

"Uh, guys?" Sora asked, confused, "You...kinda lost me a few minutes ago."

Naminé giggled, "You don't have to understand it. You have already learned how to face the hurt, Sora."

"I did?"

"You most certainly did," Naminé nodded. "All three of you did. At times, the pain can be wiped away. But there's also a pain that always stays with you. There's only one way to deal with that; you face it head-on and then you accept it. And if it happens that the hurt is too great for you to bear it alone, well, then you turn to a friend close to your heart."

Sora's eyes widened in realization, "It'll bring us closer together; the hurt will only make us stronger." He then got excited. "I'm willing to try! I'm ready to face all those memories that you found. It might have to be painful, but I can take it."

"Sora..." Naminé muttered.

"Wait!" Mickey called out. "You're not in this alone. Always remember, I'm here, too."

"And so are me and Kairi," Riku said.

Kairi nodded with a smile, "Always."

"Yep!" Sora said.

Naminé happily sighed, "Thank you." She held out the orb, "Just touch this, all of you. Don't be afraid. You'll feel all of the memories that are locked inside flow right into your hearts."

One by one, the four held hands. Once all were connected, the four reached out and touched the orb, which then released a powerful light. Sora struggled against the intensity.

"Be strong, Sora!" Mickey shouted encouragement.

The light enveloped the entire room. Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey awakened to find themselves within a void of light, their hands still connected.

Two figures, one the same blonde boy that had fought them before entering this room and the other a tall man with spikey red hair, appeared before them.

"Who...?" Kairi muttered.

"These are hidden truths," Naminé said. "Sora, Riku, and Kairi have been keeping them locked away, deep inside of them. Remember, these memories you're feeling, they don't belong to any of them."

The four turned around to see an image of an older looking Naminé standing behind them with a girl with short black hair, whose face closely resembled kairi's.

"Naminé, that's you!" Sora exclaimed. "Who's the other girl? She feels so...familiar, and she looks so much like you, Kairi. ...And something happened. Something terrible. Didnt it?"

Naminé continued, "They're waiting for Sora, Riku, and Kairi. They're the only ones who can put an end to their hurt. DiZ told me...he hid something inside of Sora during the year he was asleep. I asked him what it was, and all he would say that he was 'clearing his conscience'." Sora solemnly held a fist over his chest. "Sora, Riku, and Kairi must be the keys to saving the people you saw...and the ones you're about to see."

A trio of people, contained a tall brown-haired man, a short blonde-haired boy, and a blue-haired woman, appeared. A trio of people that Mickey immediately recognized.

"It can't be!"

"Maybe you know how much they're hurting," Naminé continued. "These three were keys, too. They were connected to the Keyblade's truth." With a flash, everybody, save for Sora, Mickey, Riku, and Kairi, vanished, and the real Naminé appeared behind them. "And, they're still connected somewhere way down deep inside of Sora, Kairi, and Riku."

"Funny," Sora commented. "I feel as though...I've met them."

Naminé confirmed, "Yes, all three of you have met them. Well, at least two of them. As for the third, I never realized it, but...he and Sora share a very special connection."

"Yeah..."

Mickey spoken, "Naminé, you said that Sora, Kairi, and Riku have to call these memories to the surface. Is it time?"

Naminé shook her head, "I can't say for sure. But I do know a day will come when they must rise from their sleep. And then, the only ones who can save them...will be Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Kairi is the Light in the Darkness, Riku is the Guide to the Dawn, and Sora is the Key that connects everything. All three of them must bear the hurt together, and it won't work if one is missing from the puzzle."

"They bond they all share-that's gonna be the key, right?" Mickey said. "Don't worry, Naminé. I'll make sure I pass this on to them-you know, the ones in the outside world!"

Naminé nodded, "Please do."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey all nodded back, before looking toward each other and smiling. Spra placed his hands behind his head as Naminé gave a small laugh.

"Well-" Naminé began.

But Kairi cut her off, "Just a second."

"Huh?" Naminé was confused, and surprised, as she did not expect the data version of her other to ever speak to her after this.

Kairi's words surprised her, "I can sense some hurt from you right now, a hurt that I understand perfectly. You...are lonely, both you and the real you. Loneliness that...only I can fix..."

Naminé smiled, "Yes, and that's exactly what I mean. The hurt the three of you have experienced are all different, which is why, when together, those that hurt can truly be saved. Your hearts are all connected, and that is your greatest strength."

Kairi gently returned her smile, "I forgive you, Naminé. I know what it's like to be lonely, and to not be in control of yourself, and they're types of hurt I would never wish on anyone." To this, the blonde teared up. She never expected forgive from the one she hurt the most. "Now, what's going to happen to you-the one that's right here?"

"I'm really just data made to pass along a message," Naminé admitted. "I shouldn't exist right now in this journal at all. And now the record of me will disappear. But when you pass my message on to the other Sora, Riku, and Kairi, just remember to tell them the things that you three have seen, that you've felt here. If you do that, then we'll be at rest, both her and me."

"Along with everybody connected to Sora," Riku understood. "You got it, Naminé."

Naminé smiled.

"Oh yeah!" Sora suddenly spoke up.

"Hm?" the blonde turned to him.

"I almost forgot. I have a message for you, too," Sora smiled. "Thank you."

Surprised by this declaration at first, Naminé nodded in understanding and grinned to express her joy, before she let Kairi wrap her in a hug.

After she faded away into light and data in her Other's arms, said Other whispered, "Don't worry. You're home now."

!~~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~~!

~Destiny Islands~

"I wanted to tell you right away about memories from the past that sleep within you, and about the pieces that will tie you to your future. Sora, Riku, Kairi: The truth behind the Keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts. You three are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting, and you all are the only ones who can end their sadness. They need you. It's possible that all your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you. I should have known there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events. And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened."

Riku, Kairi, and little Shion walked up to Sora, who was sitting on the trunk of the paopu tree, the King's letter and the bottle it came in firmly in his hands.

"Hey there," Kairi softly called out, and Sora turned to see the three walking up to him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Sora replied. "I was just thinking. I mean these people are counting on us. We are who we are because of them."

As the brunette hopped off his seat on the tree trunk, Riku asked, "Did you remember to tell your parents this time."

Sora's brain immediately came to a scratching halt, and he began to panic, because no, he did not remember.

But then he heard Riku, Kairi, and Shion laugh at his predicament, before Riku said, "Relax, numbskull. I already told our parents, all three sets of them."

Sora sighed in relief, before slapping Riku's shoulder as revenge for making him panic for no reason.

Riku chuckled before turning to Kairi, "Hey, are you ready to go, Kairi? We both know much you dislike change."

Kairi smiled, mixed with genuine happiness and nervousness, "Don't worry. I'll be fine, as long we stick together." Her smile faded. "I just don't want to leave Shion behind. She's only been here for four weeks, and we're about to leave her all alone. I mean, the King's summoned all three of us, and there's no way we can say no."

"You could leave her with your mom," Riku suggested.

"All alone in that huge house? With only the maid for company?" Kairi remembered her adoption, and how lonely being in that house was all day. She shook her head, "I can't do that to her. We're the only friends she's made so far."

Kairi almost fell over over Shion suddenly hugged her leg, "So take me with you!"

Sora shrugged, "That is one way to solve things. As long as we can leave her with the King if we need to, I have no issues with her tagging along."

"Neither do I," Riku said.

Kairi nervously smiled, "Alright, it's decided."

Shion immediately jumped up and down with excitement, "Yay! Road trip!"

The three teens smiled, before Kairi knelt at Shion's level, and said, "Alright, Shion, you can come with us. But you have to understand a couple of things first. One: where we're going may be very dangerous, so if we ever tell you to stay behind, there's always a good reason for it. Okay?"

Shion nodded.

"Good. Two: there's a good, strong chance that it could take a very long time to return to these islands," Kairi continued.

"That's right," Riku cut in. "So you have to be very sure that you want to come with us."

"I'm sure," Shion reassured them. "As long as I can still be with you guys, I'll be okay."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi all smiled at her.

To Be Continued...

!~~K~I~N~G~D~O~M~~H~E~A~R~T~S~~O~A~T~H~K~E~E~P~E~R~~A~U~~!

Author's Note About Various Changes: This was originally supposed to be all about Data-Kairi, but it eventually turned into a Destiny Trio chapter in the end . I have no regrets about it, though. All three will have different but equally important roles in saving the other Guardians. However, before we get to that point, Dream Drop Distance needs to happen, because a couple of important events occur in it.

In case you're confused, the story starts as soon as the journal is digitized, and Pete and Maleficent don't get sucked into the Datascape. Instead, Data-Kairi replaces them both as the main antagonist, and she keeps her hood up for most of the time in the exact same way that Xion does in the earlier part of Days. And I know I never mention this in the chapter, but Data-Kairi is seeking revenge on the one who erased her from the journal (Data-Naminé, in this case).

Data-Kairi's keyblade is a black version of Oathkeeper. She also mocks 'friends' and 'friendship', because her own friends, in her mind, have abandoned her by forgetting about her. Also, Data-Kairi is a pure vessel just like the real Kairi, hence why the bugs have a difficult time controlling her.

I also just realized that this is turned into somewhat of a roleswap between Riku and Kairi, with Data-Riku being the main force for good and Data-Kairi being the one who falls to darkness. I honestly don't understand why Square Enix didn't take this route, nor will I ever understand why they actively chose not to include Data-Kairi in the canon story.

Note: While I am a big fan of Kingdom Hearts, I just recently got into the fandom, which means I still don't understand most of the lore. So if I get anything wrong, I'm sorry. I'm trying my best to stick to canon as closely as this AU will allow me to (but this point is where I'm starting to go my own direction). Please, no flaming. Instead, just politely inform me in a PM or a review, so I can correct any mistake I make. If you have any ideas or questions, please let me know.

If you want to know what I imagine Kairi to look like, then go to my DeviantArt page, titled "SepticAbzies", and go to the piece titled "Kairi ~ Oathkeeper AU (Full Color)", and I have collages for Naminé, Xion, and my OC now as well. I will update the cover image to match Kairi's appearance (as well as Naminé's and Xion's) as I update each chapter, but keep in mind, Kairi's design in this AU matches how I imagine her growth to be.

Next chapter will focus on the role Kairi has in Dream Drop Distance, an arc of chapters a long time in the making.