A/N:

Because Megumi asked about Sei's appearance and age [if he is (was) Ansem, why doesn't he look the part now and how old is he supposed to be, as he seems to be Sora and co.'s ages?], I decided to post the following information for any readers who may be interested:

First of all, I'm basing Sei on the idea that the heart can alter the body's appearance in extreme cases (i.e. Ansem changing Riku's body to look like his when he possessed it). In the beginning, with the separation of his heart, Sei wanted very much to distance himself from the part of him that was king/scientist that went possessed by darkness (similar to the Squall/Leon case, where Squall wanted to distance himself from his former identity in Hollow Bastion). He wanted to move on, start afresh, and thus he altered his appearance with his shattered heart and changed his name.

Besides all that, I'm also loosely basing this off my theory that Cloud and Sephiroth are two parts of the same heart in the KH universe. That is, although the two don't look at all much alike, there are obviously certain other things that tie them together (their wings, for example. One-winged, and on opposite shoulders from the other. That, and the dialogue and actions of Showdown of Fate made it appear as if something was going on between them in that fashion in their KH back story). On a side note, I actually used some translated dialogue from S.o.F for the exchange between Sei and Ansem in chapter seven.

Lastly, I noticed that the light (Sei in this case) seems to have a habit of dealing with the younger people rather than the older. (Riku vs. Sora, Cloud vs. Sephiroth, the legend of the children and the light, etc.). Thus, Sei looks younger than Ansem. As I have no idea how Ansem really is, I can't tell you how old Sei is, although in his present state he looks like he's in his early twenties.

I'll wrap things up here. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

###

When Sora dreams, it is of the sky.

The sky is an orb of glass filled with white and gold and blue, its colors forever shifting. It touches everything, a cool liquid that has no form; its nature is to fill the present world. Then he thinks it seems so young, even though he knows that it has existed before even time.

If Sora closes his eyes, he can feel sand beneath his feet, he can smell salt in the wind. If he listens very closely, he can hear a boy's voice calling. He starts because he knows that voice, the boy who offers his hand--it's a part of him being taken away by the waves. He reaches out, but his fingers grasp empty air. It's gone. That part of him that he grew up with--it's gone. Or perhaps, not gone but only separate. He wonders why this is so and why things had to change. When he wakes up, he will feel tears on his face.

Sora wishes that the weight of the world no longer lay on his shoulders. He wishes that that weight no longer lay on the shoulders of his loved ones. At the same time he only wants the world to be again filled with light. So he picks up his heavy feet and walks down the road into the sky. His shoes drag on the path, and sometimes it seems that he is nowhere closer to the paradise, but he keeps walking anyway. He feels the hearts of everyone in the worlds, and he knows that they're counting on him to keep walking.

Sora looks back only once, squinting in the sun's dazzle. There is a voice in the distance from somewhere far away.

~You will be the one who will open the door to the light

That voice seems so familiar. He stares into the blue, his head inclined slightly. Only silence.

Sora turns and begins his journey once again.

There is no turning back.

###

The Oathkeeper's master nearly tripped over his own feet as he stumbled into the glaring light of the new world. He lurched forward most unsteadily with his arms waving, trying to regain some semblance of balance and feeling vaguely confused at this sudden dizziness. Nothing like this had ever happened before when he was in Sei. He frowned. Or perhaps that was the problem. Maybe his own body wasn't used to the transition between worlds.

Sora put both hands on the bark of a nearby tree, leaning his head against the rough trunk. He was still dizzy, but at any rate not nauseous dizzy. All in all, things could have been worse. He could have been throwing up all over his brand new black jeans. A horde of Heartless could have been attacking them. It could have been raining.

The teenager plopped down onto the grass, not caring whether or not Riku or Kairi began telling him off for being such a "lazy bum." Scratching his head with one gloved hand, he considered what he had just felt crossing between the worlds. Surely there had been something else too. Yep, Sora thought as he nodded to himself, something screwy was going on. He couldn't get over the sensation of having been hit and thrown through space by some very strange, /huge/ force. It had only lasted a couple of seconds, but he was certain of that feeling. With his head propped up in his hand, he pondered exactly what that force could have been.

Except, his mind kept coming up blank. The only two possible threats to his knowledge were the Heartless or the Nobody. Heartless...Nobody...

Strange how he didn't seem to be hearing anyone talking, Sora finally noted after a moment. It was silent, except for the sound of wind in his ears and in the grass and the cries of nearby birds and insects. Very strange too, it occurred to him, that the four of them weren't back in the cathedral-

His head shot up, all other thoughts completely forgotten as the impact of this knowledge suddenly hit him. Why in Hades was he not in the cathedral?!? He looked wildly around. And why wasn't there anyone else there with him? He should have seen both Riku and Sei by now--he /knew/ that they had gone in before him. And Kairi should have been right behind him...

"Oh...shit."

Sora swore. Loudly. Dimly, he heard a vague voice telling him that Donald would have thrown a fit with him for using that kind of language. Of course he ignored it.

Only when he was properly done with his tirade did he take a moment to look around. The sun was beginning to set low in the sky, casting a muted orange-yellow dusting across the heavens and the outspread white clouds. Before it loomed a white castle with a distinctly whimsical feel to its design. Its turrets were capped in deep blue, and small, brightly colored yellow flags cheerfully ruffled in the wind.

The keyblade bearer sighed heavily, running a hand through his thick hair as he gazed at the sight gleaming before him, looking like a picture from a fairytale.

~Well, I guess at least one of us got to King Mickey

Disney Castle was situated on a low, grassy hill, and all around were green fields and forests. Just below it stretched a large city with quaintly designed buildings and houses, much in the same fashion as the structures that had once dominated Traverse Town. Sora peered down at the city, watching the people go about their daily lives. There were no signs at all of any fear or anxiety that might have suggested wariness for the danger of Heartless.

Sora stood up. As long as he was here, stuck on King Mickey's world, he was going to find /something/ useful to do. At least it'd be good to see Donald and Goofy again.

He walked through the open gate of the castle into the wide courtyard. For a moment he stood there surveying the spacious grounds, looking for a likely person to accost about the current whereabouts of the king. A loud barking noise caught his attention, and he turned his head just in time to stop himself from being thrown back by a very large, very heavy orange mass of an animal. A long-legged, skinny dog barked happily as it flung its paws upon Sora's chest, enthusiastically attempting to give Sora a thorough licking as a greeting. Unfortunately, after so many years, Sora had grown too tall for Pluto to get much more than his chin.

Sora firmly pushed Pluto off him. "Down boy."

The dog landed heavily on his front feet, staring at Sora with unmasked adoration. His tail wagged at a frantic rate, and his tongue lolled from his mouth as he panted heavily.

"Pluto!" A loud voice shouted. "Where'd you get to, boy?"

Pluto ignored the call. Instead, he began snuffling around Sora's shoes.

"Stupid dog," A cranky voice complained impatiently, hidden by the edge of a building. "What's he up to now?"

"I dunno. I was just taking him out for a walk and then he made a run for it; think he heard something?"

The cranky voice made a snorting sound of skepticism. Donald had always seemed to underestimate the intelligence of dogs (among many other things), whether it was in the brain of his king's pet or in his own colleague. Sora smiled fondly at the memories as he bent down to pet Pluto's head. It figured Pluto would be the first one to discover Sora's arrival at the castle.

A loud, familiar, wordless squawk of astonishment burst through the serene quiet of the yard. Sora waved at the pair cheerfully as they goggled at him.

"It's Sora!" Goofy exclaimed.

"I know who that is," Donald retorted, though he sounded pleased as well at Sora's appearance.

Sora trotted over to join them, Pluto following at a lazy lope.

"Hey, what's up?"

Donald gave him an incredulous look, as if stating "is that all you can say when you've been missing for the past half a decade?!?"

"Gawrsh, Sora! We never expected...hyuck, I mean, where've ya been?" Goofy asked, grinning foolishly. "You've had us really worried!"

"Your friends were here a few days ago looking for you," Donald added, finally having recovered himself.

"Yeah, I know." Sora paused, then decided that he wasn't going to elaborate on that just yet. "It looks like you two have been doing okay for yourselves back here in your own home," he said instead.

"Yep," Goofy said. "We've been keepin' the world order and all for the king."

Donald crossed his hands over the front of his blue vest. "Not that there's been too much of anything going on," the duck admitted. "Not with his majesty back and the world borders restored."

"What?" Sora teased. "Getting bored?"

Donald snorted. "Hah hah hah, very funny."

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was getting all that boring," Goofy remarked.

"Only because you spend most of your time sleeping anyway."

"You know, Donald, you'd probably feel a lot better if you got a little more sleep yourself."

"Uh huh," Donald said noncommittally.

Sora chuckled. "Glad to see you're as temperamental as ever, Donald."

"What was that?"

Sora turned his eyes towards the heavens with a look of innocence. "Nothing, nothing."

Goofy started towards the open doors of the castle, gesturing for the others to follow.

"Come on, Sora; Queen Minnie and Daisy will be wanting to meetcha!"

###

When Riku dreams, it is of the ocean.

The waves are all around him, a mottled green and blue like liquid glass that is eternally changing. He can feel the water drip from his bangs and slide across his face. The ocean tastes of salt and sand, and it gently laps at his body as he is cradled in its expanse. He shivers. It is so cold. The ocean is so cold, dark as cobalt and shapeless, a strange mirror of the sky above. The sky is without form, the sky and wind and light and darkness.

The darkness covers everything, a deluge. Its nature is to connect the present world. It seems almost like a wave, a surge of water that consumes all opposition.

Riku lies with his face towards the sky, the stars scattered across the heavens, so far away in a night so vast that he feels he can almost fall into it. He reaches out, imagining gathering the stars like so much fairy dust.

The stars begin to wink out even as he extends his hand. One by one, the lights fall away until there is only one left. Riku stares, uncomprehending. Whose heart is this that refuses the darkness? He cannot stop to wonder, for suddenly he is falling. He is falling through the water and staring upwards at that last halo of light through the waves. The light is not gone, but somehow something still stands between him and it. He is in a darkness so complete that it is almost a soundless roar in his ears. He is numb and cold and alone...but there is a voice that still reaches him despite the darkness.

~Maybe it was fate

Who was that?

A child's voice answers the first voice, sounding sad and alone.

~Fate...you know everything, don't you?

The first voice replies. Most of what he says lost to the shadows, but one phrase is lucid to Riku.

~Your companion is a reflection of yourself and the condition of your own heart

Sora.

Riku smiles, even as he falls deeper into the darkness.

###

Kairi stared outside the kitchen window, watching without really seeing the morning light hit the tall buildings of Traverse Town, gleaming on the still wet walls and sidewalks. Her hands were clasped around a mug of scalding coffee; from its smooth side a wolf gazed at her balefully between her fingers. Her thoughts were still dwelling on the events of the night before.

There was something darkly beautiful about Traverse Town in the night, the streets and glass and metal aglow beneath bright neon lights. For a moment all Kairi had been able to do was stand there in the cold wind, frantically trying to push her numb mind to work properly, to get over the shock of what had just happened. Standing there, she had heard the telltale sound of Heartless bodies moving out from among the shadows, the pads of their feet slapping lightly in the puddled rainwater. Several Shadow Heartless and a Neo stepped towards her, their buttery eyes gleaming in a wide-eyed stare.

"Thundaga!"

Bolts of white-gold lightning shot from the sky towards the Heartless, striking all of them at once. Slightly dazed but not defeated, the Heartless rushed forward to overwhelm her, scratching at her arms and clothes. A fire spell finished off a cluster of Shadows, and she cast another blaze of fire to eliminate the Neo Heartless. Two shadows leapt simultaneously at her after this, and Kairi used her key as a dagger, knocking aside and cutting through the first one before it could reach her. The second one caught a hold of her jean leg, rendering a long tear in it from knee to low-shin before she could properly dispatch of the creature.

Her breath came out in ragged gasps then as she looked all around to make sure there were no more Heartless to contend with. She was half bent over her knees, resting her hands on her jeans as slowly she began to sort out her thoughts. Heartless had just attacked her. She let out a derisive breath. Nothing new there that she could see, what with Heartless popping up right and left on practically every world. What had happened before that was definitely more confusing)--her Nobody double had spoken with her, spouting the absolute gibberish that Ansem had been famous for. Unbidden, a verse of poetry rose into her mind, and she gave a hoarse chuckle.

~I am nobody, who are you? Are you a nobody too?

She couldn't remember what poem that had come from or who had written it.

~Sei probably would have been able to tell me

Slowly she closed her eyes, trying to pull her mind back on track. Were they really gone? Kairi was almost unable to bring herself to believe that, not after having gone through all that trouble of getting everyone back together again Sora by himself had been hard enough to find.

Well in any case, she wasn't going to accomplish anything standing out here feeling sorry for herself. Kairi stood up, brushed back a thick tangle of russet hair, and began to walk home. She was alone under the cold glow of Traverse Town's lights, clutching her heartkey in one hand as she walked along the streets still damp from the recent rain.

~Déjà vu...so that's what it feels like.

The house was dark inside when she arrived. She felt herself sink deeper into despair. Obviously several hours had passed since she had arrived on this world, and for a moment she had allowed herself to hope that maybe her friends had made it back safely and were waiting for her at the house...clearly that wasn't the case. Or perhaps that meant they were elsewhere in the city? Another world? She wondered if they were apart or together and if they were okay--wherever they were.

She was still wondering all that at 6:53 AM the next morning and was sure that all this anxiety over her friends was going to gradually drive her mind into insanity. She took a sip from her mug and winced as the hot liquid burned her tongue. A pad of notebook paper lay on the table beside her. On a whim she picked up a pen, scooted the lined sheets closer to her and began writing on the white surface.

Traverse Town

Wonderland

Olympus Coliseum

Halloween Town

Agrabah

Atlantica

Never Land

Disney Castle

Hollow Bastion

Kairi stared at the list for a moment, trying not to think of the hundreds of other unfamiliar worlds that were sure to exist out in the universe. After a brief pause, she scrawled a wide circle around the words 'Disney Castle,' frowning slightly. This was the world they had been planning to visit first anyway. It'd make a start, if not much of anything else. She put down the pen, trying to feel confident about her decision.

Right. Even if Riku, Sei, and/or Sora weren't there, at least she could talk to King Mickey and see if he knew anything about finding the door to the light. That is, she reflected with misgiving, if the mouse king even knew anything.

Well, whatever. She pushed back her chair and stood up, slowly sipping at the rest of the coffee in her cup as she did so. Hades could freeze over before she gave up on her friends. Once done, she rinsed her cup and set it on the drying rack before heading towards her own room to change clothes. The night before she hadn't had a chance to change out of her torn jeans and dirty shirt, having strained herself stressing over the separation from her friends before then falling asleep from sheer exhaustion on the living room couch.

She stumbled through the half-lit hall leading to the bedrooms, almost tripping over a battered pair of roller blades strewn on the floor. Flinging open her closet, she pulled out a clean t-shirt with a bright, stylized sun emblem emblazoned on the front, along with a pair of khaki shorts. Then she set off at a trot out of the house and towards Gheppetto's shop in First District Traverse Town.

###

When Kairi dreams, she recalls an island in an ocean of different skies. She is standing on the beach watching a sunset that blazes orange, crimson and gold across the sky.

A figure emerges from the water, sending the water up around him in silver arcs. He stands up gingerly, shaking off crystal droplets clinging to his face and brown hair. The crown pendant clasped about his neck gleams in the light as he looks around, searching for something she can't see. Then his eyes fall upon the girl standing on the beach. Kairi waves and calls his name. She runs out into the surf, salt water soaking into the hem of her skirt. Somewhere along the way she loses her sandals in the water, but she doesn't care. The world seems so lit up and beautiful in the setting sun. She looks down at the sand sifting through her toes, marveling at the clarity of the water.

Sora stops in front of her, resting his hands on his knees and looking at her with a smile. Kairi giggles, half-hiding her lips behind a delicate hand, but something catches her eye in the heavens, and her hand and smile fall away. Meteors are falling through the sky, flares of white against the rapidly darkening velvet. Another Sora is falling with them, his eyes closed. He is an angel descending with the stars, a child mirror of the nineteen-year old boy standing with her.

Something seems to light up in the eyes of the older Sora, and then he is falling. He flails his arms, trying to regain his balance, and Kairi reaches out with a cry to help him, but it is too late. She is standing on the surface of the water as if it is glass, watching Sora through its mirror as he falls through the sky beneath her.

Kairi hears someone stepping onto the glass water behind her. When she turns, she sees that it is Riku. He is wearing his blindfold and staring at the place where Sora once was. Then he walks forward. When Kairi's hand brushes against his, she is struck with a darkness in her mind, and she stumbles back.

The world shatters, and she is staring at the moon on that dark beach once again. There is a bottle clutched in her hands.

~Don't pretend you don't know the...

###

7:44 AM. Another fifteen minutes and 32...no, 31 seconds. Kairi stared for another minute at the numbers slowly changing on the face of her wristwatch. She put her hands on her lap and then looked at the white sign hanging--mockingly, she imagined--behind the glass of the front display window. Open, it said, from 8 to 6 PM on weekdays, 9 to 5 PM on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. Kairi groaned inwardly, cradling her head in her hands as she sat on the bench.

In her exuberance, she had forgotten to take into account what times Gheppetto's shop would be open for her to actually get /in/. And she wasn't about to break in-although the thought had crossed her mind.

She wearily turned her attention back to her wristwatch. Fourteen minutes, 58, 57, 56 seconds...

"Good morning, kupo!" a cheery voice chirped happily, causing Kairi to nearly jump out of her skin. She turned to glare at the speaker. Who in the world could sound this energetic in the morning?

A furry red pompom gently hit her forehead, and she stared at the large moogle floating close to her face. It smiled at her, all sugar and innocence, and then alighted on the bench beside her. A large, lumpy package wrapped in brown paper and string was tucked underneath its arm.

"How is Kairi doing today, kupo?" The moogle asked. Kairi had been to the synthesize shop on a few occasions and had gotten to know some of the moogles. Too bad she was still having difficulty telling one apart from another.

Kairi bit her lip. "All right, I suppose," she finally answered. Actually, she was beginning to feel a headache build up from too much worrying and too little sleep.

"That's good to hear, kupo!"

A smile twitched at Kairi's lips. She'd always been a sucker for cute, furry animals, moogles fitting the description perfectly. And then, she thought musingly, so had Riku. Not that he'd ever admit to /that/...

The moogle regarded her inquisitively for a moment and then held out the package in its pudgy white paws.

"The wizard Merlin sends his greetings, kupo," it said. "And hopes that you might deliver this to the mouse king for him, kupo."

She looked from the moogle to the package, trying to hide her surprise.

"Uh, thanks."

Kairi took the offering in one hand, weighing it in the flat of her palm. It wasn't very heavy and felt level on the bottom. However, she couldn't really tell much more. As she handled it, the moogle smiled and gave a little half-bow.

"It was nice seeing Kairi again, but Mohmoki must be off."

It flapped its minute purple wings and began to rise in the air (breaking all the laws of gravity into tiny pieces in the process). "Merlin says you can take a look at it if you like," it added before leaving. "Bye bye, kupo!" It waved, then fluttered off down the street.

Kairi fingered the wrapping of the package in her hand, trying to make up her mind. From Merlin to the king, hmm? Before she could change her mind, she carefully undid the knots of the package and unfolded the brown paper. Nestled among its wrappings was strange item, only a little bit larger than the span of her hand. A blue glass half sphere was set into a golden metal stand with a smooth, flat bottom. Small buttons and intricate characters were placed along the side. She traced her finger along the metal but didn't push any of the buttons. After all, it wasn't hers to break and undoubtedly was something valuable. She wrapped the sphere up again and stowed it away in her bag.

On an impulse, she glanced at her watch again.

6 minutes, 32, 31, 30 seconds...

###

When Sei dreams, he is remembering a library over a waterfall. He is standing out on the balcony and watching as the sun rises over the glass falls, said to be the most beautiful sight in Hollow Bastion. He smells the rich scent of old paper and coffee all mixed together in the air, smells that have become familiar to him.

Sei is remembering a time when he was called Ansem. Sometimes he is remembering the ones he ruled and lived with in that castle, or a boy with blonde hair that would grow to have wings, whose darkness would become a man named Sephiroth. That, or he is recalling hearts that were consumed by darkness, or a king from another world with a curious demeanor and a mind for tales of keys and light.

Ansem has always been a scientist at heart. There was nothing that could be left unknown that he wasn't sure to search for the answer to. He took things and turned them over and over in his mind until no facet was left uncovered. He was always asking questions: about the light, about the darkness. In the end, it would seem that the darkness would consume him.

Sei stares at his hands, then at his reflection in the window. His body is younger now than before; it couldn't have been more than in its early twenties. He smiles sardonically. Wasn't it funny, how the light always manifested itself in the form of the young? The story says light survived in the hearts of children, and he supposes there must have been at least that much truth in it.

The wind turns icy cold, whipping around Sei's jacket as the castle changes to another place shrouded in darkness. His boots click lightly as they touch the stone path and he stretches out his wings for balance. The door before him gleams a brilliant white, and he finds himself regarding it warily. The door of Kingdom Hearts...was this truly the door to the light?

He reaches out with one hand and lightly touches the door, almost expecting to be burned by it for his blasphemous action. The wood is cool to the touch, and the door looms up high above him in the darkness.

~Our living is still such mystery...I wonder, where does the true paradise lie?

The world fades away.

###

A girl wrapped in a long black hooded jacket kicks off her sandals and walks out into the surf. Bright, russet hair escapes the hood to frame her face in a bright halo. She's singing and spreading her arms out to be caught in the salty wind. The light of the full moon illuminates the smile on her face, and the rocks all around her throw shadows over her body.

Destati! Tendi la mano

E' giunta l'ora, destati

Le porte verranno schiuse

*Awaken! Extend your hand

The time has come: wake up!

The doors will open again

Su rimembra tu trepida

Su sveglia! Ehi ricorda

*Come on, remember, anxious one

Come on, wake up! Remember

Destati, destati

Forza, tendi la mano

Destati, destati

E' giunta l'ora

*Awaken, awaken

Here, extend you hand

Awaken, awaken

The time has come

E ancora una volta

Apriranno le porte

*And once again

They will open the door

Su rimembra tu trepida

Su sveglia! Ehi ricorda

*Come on, remember, anxious one

Come on, wake up! Remember

Eh? Come? Non lo vuoi?

Tuttavia t'appartiene

Cio che hai perduto

Diventera uno!

*Huh? What? Don't you want it?

But it belongs to you

That which you have lost

Will become one!