Title: Kingdom Hearts - Universe of Shadows

Author: OrionTheHunter

Rating: PG-13, possibly R depending on what things I cross over into this fic. Rated for violence, language, and sexual connotations. No graphic sex.

Keywords: Sora, Kairi, Slight AU, Sequel to the game

Legal Note: I do not own anything and I have no affiliation with Squaresoft or Disney, nor any of the other parties whose property this is about. I am not making any money off of this, I write for my own amusement and for the amusement of others.

Summary:

More preparation went into the second quest to Hallow Bastion and The End of the World. More training was done, more armor and weapons were collected, and one more person joined in the fighting.

Sora is the Keyblade Master, wielding the Ultima Weapon and wearing the Gold Armor of Light. Donald is the Chief Mage of the Disney Kingdom, wielder of the Light Mage Staff. Goofy is the Knight General of the Disney Kingdom, wielding the White Light Shield. Kairi is now the guardian and companion of the Keyblade master, a knight warrior, wielding the Golden Light Daggers and wearing the Silver Armor.

Yet when it came to the end, Kairi still had to return to the Destiny Islands, while Sora stayed with Donald and Goofy. Now a year later, no one in the Destiny Islands believed Kairi, until something far worse than the Heartless threatens the universe. Join Sora and Kairi as they search through the Omniverse, fighting this evil that makes Heartless seem pleasant.

AU because of the weapons, armor, Kairi's involvement, and that The Children are alone in the Destiny Islands, without adults.

Distribution: Ask first.

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Universe of Shadows

Part One: Disney Worlds Re-Joined

Chapter One: Kairi in the Destiny Islands

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Once again the sun set, leaving the girl alone in the darkness.

The Destiny Islands showed no signs that the Heartless had ever come, that they had destroyed the world. Sora had been ready. He had been trained for that night, even if he had thought it a dream. Kairi had not been awake when the Darkness Generals took her, and had it not been for Sora's awakening her in Hallow Bastion, she would not have remembered any of it. Riku had been the General's puppet from the beginning.

Yet the others were asleep when their world was destroyed. To them, the weeks between Destiny Island's destruction and the final battle with Ansem were a bad night's sleep. Yet they had known about the raft that the trio had built. They believed that Sora and Riku had taken it during the night, left without Kairi. They also believed that Kairi was thoroughly insane for believing what she insisted had really happened.

So therefore she was alone, or so the others thought. Yet she was not ever truly alone, for she and Sora were forever bonded. The quest to defeat Ansem had bonded them closer than any star shaped fruit could. Even more so, when their magic combined with their bond, they were never alone. Their bond joined their hearts and their minds, allowing them to converse telepathically. So, even as the others thought that she was sitting alone in the dark, at the end of the pier, she was really just deep in conversation with Sora.

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Morning broke once again. As was usual, Kairi went to the secret place. Even before the Heartless came, only she, Riku, and Sora were ever brave enough to enter the cavern. Now none dared, save Kairi. She used it as a room to train.

She still had her armor, daggers, and magics. All she would have had to do to prove she not insane was show them to the other children. However, she refused. If they didn't believe her, why did they deserve to see what she could really do?

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It was noon before she returned to the beach of the island. The others were playing with their wooden swords again, irritating Kairi. Now that she had seen real combat, she loathed the thought of playing at it. It was too terrible to be made into a game.

"Hey Kairi! Think you can beat me in a duel if I only use one hand and blindfold myself?" Taunted one of the annoying brats.

"No, she couldn't beat you if her life depended on it!" Sang another, laughing.

"Kairi! I challenge you. If you loose, you have to admit that you are crazy and that none of that dumb stuff you have been talking about happened!" Challenged Yuna, the girl that had taken her place as the most popular girl on the island. Yuna used a wooden bow with a weight at one end as a weapon.

Kairi just ignored Yuna and stretched out in the sun, trying to work on her tan, something that she had picked up on the only beach above the kingdom of Atlantica, something that the other children didn't understand.

"Kairi!" Yuna started again. "Sora and Riku are floating dead somewhere out there on the sea! They were both losers that couldn't have gotten to another island, much less another world, even if there were other islands or worlds! As a matter of fact, they left you behind because you are a dumb little girl. You just made up that story because you didn't want to admit that you think that they deserve to be dead for leaving you here. You are a looser and they . . ."

Kairi didn't let her finish before whispering a word, being careful that no one heard her.

"Thundaga!"

A bolt of lightning struck the sand less than a foot in front of Yuna, fusing the sand into glass. A second bolt struck the ground a few feet away, harmless, while a third struck Yuna's bow, which she had left sticking up in the sand a couple feet behind her, burning it to ash.

Kairi, for her part, acted shocked too. She didn't want any of the others to get the idea that she had any part in the freak lightning storm. After a moment, however, she returned to her sunbathing.

The story made Sora laugh later that night, as did the mental picture that Kairi sent of Yuna's face of right after the event.

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Once again the sun set over the islands. It was now one year exactly since the night that the Heartless came to Destiny Islands.