When you walk away
We had to be getting closer. It wouldn't be far now. The Heartless were far more numerous and tougher than they had been anywhere else.
Umpteen different planets and here, on this remote piece of shit planet covered in dirt and the occasional patch of grass, here was the lair of the Heartless; the door to the light had to be close.
The fighting was rougher here.
Donald was sparing with a Defender while Goofy struggled with a bouncing Darkball. I was battling a set of vicious Wyverns, spinning back on me and clawing at my arms as I swung wildly. I had lost my focus and I needed to find it again.
I closed my eyes for one moment. I could see Riku standing knee deep in the ocean and reaching out to me, his palm extended upward, opening himself to the heavens as if he were offering himself to me.
I opened my eyes and found that my skill had returned to me accompanied by my strength.
How many Wyverns had I fought at Hollow Bastion? I knew what kind of attacks they were prone to using, and unlike myself the Heartless rarely changed attack stance. They may be getting stronger, but they were not smarter.
I dashed to the side and threw my keyblade at the approaching creature. It hit him directly in the head and the creature fell at my feet, as they all had. The blade returned to my hand, the grip still warm from my grasp. Another Wyvern flew at me and I sliced as I dashed past it. It was amazing the kinds of battle tactics you could pick up out in the field.
It wasn't long before all of our new combatants were lying in piles along the path that opened up before us. We could all have used a rest that night, but we were almost there. We carried on, wearily, though heartened some by our victory.
We couldn't just walk away when we were this close.
Within minutes we came upon the thing we had been searching for. It had been a year, a fruitless year of decay and remorse, fear and weariness, tears and anger. That year had been spent doubting and hoping in turn and now all doubts were brushed aside.
We had found the door to the light.
It was as high as I could see and wider than my scope of vision could properly take in. There were no handles on this side and I realized with a jolt that we might not be able to open this door. There was only a giant lock in the center of the two doors, connecting them and locking them together in a metallic embrace.