Author's Notes: See chapter one for disclaimer.

Separate Destinies
By Annie-chan
Chapter Twenty-Two: Reunions

Power surged over and through him as he stepped through the Keyhole, entering a domain that the Heartless had thirsted for, that he himself had fought to conquer, enslaved to the point of no independent thought.

Stay out, the world heart seemed to be saying to him, trying to drive him back out. You don't belong here. Stay out.

"But, I do," he said, using every ounce of will that he had to remain where he was. "There is a task to be completed, and I alone can do it."

You would destroy your own people? the world's collective consciousness asked, as if trying to guilt him into changing his mind. You would cut off the source of their power, their livelihood?

"Our time is up," he gritted, his body starting to ache from the strain of the world heart's potency. "We are better off retreating to the Other World."

The world heart seemed to sigh sadly. You were the first, it said, the first to have both human and ylfe blood flow within you. Your father's people could easily have shunned you for your mother's uncouth heritage, but they didn't. They took you in, treated you as if you were wholly one of them. Is this how you repay them?

"You can't fight fate!" he cried, clutching at the box of keychains so tightly, his ribs creaked under the pressure. "You can't…fight…DESTINY!" As he forced the last word out, he felt tension break within him. Heat had been coalescing inside of him, swirling around his heart, becoming so intense that tears stung his eyes from the burn. At the same time, he had felt the keychains in the wooden box begin to resonate, responding to the unbidden rise of power in him. As it broke and burst from him, he realized what it was. He was the true Keyblade Master, but he did not really need the weapon to accomplish his task. It was only a crude physical manifestation of its purpose, and was able to function in the hands of another should he choose the wrong path. It was merely an insurance against his tendency as a mortal being to make mistakes. Destiny did not stand to be denied, so every step was taken to ensure it, and every possible twist and turn in events was accounted for.

The real power, however, which the Keyblade represented on a physical level, rested inside his soul. He himself was the weapon, and his heart was its point. The keychains were reacting to him, synchronizing with his heart to seal this one last Keyhole, the most powerful of them all. Kingdom Hearts in the Many Worlds, though the Heart of All Worlds in that dimension, still did not measure up to this colossal mass of power.

Riku thought he screamed as the searing heat consumed him like fire, burning so hot that he thought his bones would surely liquefy, but he couldn't be sure. A cacophony filled his ears, and he was unable to tell if his own vocal cords still worked. Finally, audible above everything else, he heard a massive CLICK, and knew that it was done. The Keyhole to the One World was now closed forever. He had sealed it shut, and with it sealed the fate of his people.

He seemed to be floating, and all sensations were quickly fading. Too weak to hold onto it, he let the display case slip from his grasp, and a tiredness greater than any he had experienced before fell upon him like a heavy blanket. As his consciousness was pulled irresistibly into darkness, he managed to smile briefly. He was going to see her again soon. Nothing now stood between them and Eternity.

Far away, it seemed, he could hear small waves beating ceaselessly against a warm, sandy beach…


He awoke without opening his eyes, and the first things he felt were sun above him and sand below him. He was lying on his side on the beach. He must have slipped off after kicking the proverbial snot out of the island's other visitors. It wasn't his fault. If they were dumb enough to keep challenging him, he'd just keep right on knocking them about. Logic said that they'd eventually get the picture and spare themselves further embarrassment.

He heard light footsteps coming toward him, but didn't have to open his eyes to discover who it was.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" a familiar voice chirped, its owner crouching down beside him in the sand.

He put an arm up over his head, halfheartedly shielding his ears from the words. He was comfortable here. "Leave me alone, Kairi."

Kairi.

He sat up quickly, scattering sand, his eyes wide as his brain tried to figure out if it was indeed her. Looking into soft blue eyes, he knew that it was.

She giggled. "I knew you'd wake up sooner or later."

"Kairi…" he managed, everything falling into place in his mind. He really had died. He had finally joined the people he had grown up with, but hadn't seen for countless years.

"I'm so happy to see you, Riku!" he laughed, tackling him as she lunged forward and threw her arms around him. He hit the sand with a thump, but found himself looking up at another familiar face.

"Sora…?"

"Don't tell me you forgot me, Riku," the newcomer grinned, teasing. He had never really lost his boyish looks.

"Sora!" Riku cried. "Kairi! Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Riku put one hand over his eyes, emotion welling up.

"Hey, don't cry!" Sora laughed.

"What's that?" Kairi suddenly asked, pointing to Riku's right, making both men look over.

"Hey! It's the box of keychains!" Sora blinked, pulling the half-buried box out of the sand. "How'd these get here?"

"They're a part of a part of me," Riku explained, "if that makes any sense." Talking slowly, as he was himself just starting to remember it, he told them of his venture into the Keyhole.

"But, why are we in the Destiny Islands?" he asked when he was finished. "I mean…"

"The afterlife is made up of the thoughts, memories, and feelings of the dead," Sora answered. "You can go anywhere and see anything here. You just have to think about it. If you wanted, you could go to Hollow Bastion, still in its fullest glory and beauty. Anything is possible here." As Riku listened, he and Kairi took turns explaining different aspects of the Other World. The dead of all peoples and races came here after death, and all abided here in peace. Those who had been wicked in life were sent to a Purgatory-like place first, where they were cleansed by paying for their deeds in life. Some waited only a few days before being permitted to leave, while others had to wait many years. No one who did not go there knew how they made up for their sins, and those who came from there did not remember. Those who were especially wicked were denied entrance even to that place, instead being reborn to try again from scratch. All traces of their previous life were erased from their being, reduced down to that primal seed that all souls started out as.

Riku listened patiently, but felt a growing anxiety in the back of his mind. Finally, when he thought he could stand it no longer, they finished.

"Where is she?" he asked almost before the last words were out of Kairi's mouth. He didn't think he needed to elaborate. "Why is she not here?"

"Oh, she's probably waiting where the temperature is more to her liking," Kairi said. "She's not used to this hot sun, you know. Oh, and we forgot to tell you: If you want to find someone, you don't have to search through all the countless 'worlds' here. Just think about them, like you were thinking about a place you'd like to go, and you'll go wherever they are. Travel is really easy here. Traverse Town is an important gathering place here, like it was in the Many Worlds while it still lasted. You almost always run into someone you know there."

Riku nodded and stood up. He could open a door to any place or anyone. He just had to think about it. It didn't sound too unlike teleportation. It wasn't exactly like teleportation, though. As he thought about Leiya, he reached out in front of him, knowing what to do like he'd done it a thousand times. The fabric of reality seemed to stretch, and he felt his hand and arm passing through a sudden "hole" that opened to another place entirely. Thinking far back to his pre-adult days, he realized that this was not very different from the holes he and Ansem tore in space-time to travel between places in the Hollow Bastion.

"Hey, what about these?" Sora asked, holding up the closed display case.

"Keep them for now," Riku said, looking back at his two oldest friends. "I'm sure we'll all be together a great deal from now on." With that, he stepped completely into the warp in space before him, vanishing from the white beach that he had spent most of his early childhood on. The world tilted crazily for a split second, and his feet were then on solid ground again. He looked around.


Leiya sighed, putting her chin on her hands. It was a sigh of happiness, not disappointment. She had felt Riku enter the Other World a little while ago, putting an abrupt stop to the suffering due to their separation. He had apparently come here in another place, perhaps where old friends are. She could wait for him to come to her. They had the rest of forever together, after all.

She stood leaning against a smooth balcony railing, looking out over the landscape. Cloud had brought her to Hollow Bastion to show it to her, as he knew she would love the lofty architecture and the sprawling plains around the castle, stretching for miles to the flat horizon. It had been his favorite place in the Many Worlds to go to, and she could see why. The central structure was of astounding beauty, with its tall spires and intricate layout, and the surrounding countryside was green and fertile, very lush and picturesque. She could see tilled fields, wild meadows, forests, lakes, and rivers, all by moving her eyes only a little. This was the place painters would die to visit, to reproduce on their canvasses. She could see the Rising Falls in the distance, the thin blue "cable" that the lifts traveled along shimmering delicately between them and the walkway leading to the castle's main gate.

Glancing to her right briefly, she saw Cloud looking out over the world as well, a woman beside him. Kirin was her name, and she was Cloud's destined mate. Aerie and her home, a town called Paastyur, were almost half the world away from each other, and the two had never crossed paths in life. Though it had caused them to live restless, largely unfulfilling lives, ending in what felt like boundless melancholy, they were together now, and there was no point in regretting what was in the past. Leiya was happy for them.

Suddenly, acting on seeming impulse, she hoisted herself up onto the railing and pushed out into the chasm of empty space between this large balcony and the general surface of the world. Floating easily, as her race was able, she started off toward the Rising Falls. Mist billowed up from them, and she couldn't actually see them until she got close. Landing on the lowest floating platform of rock, she looked up at the roaring waters. This was a very curious place, and anyone who sees it will be instantly fascinated with such an unusual display. Not only did the water travel upward, but the "surface" of the water at the bottom was strangely solid. One could walk across the jelly-like substance, but you sank if you stood in one spot for too long. Once underwater, it seemed no different than other water.

She suddenly straightened, her eyes going wide, as she sensed something several feet behind her, near the opposite edge of the platform. The loud roar of the waters seemed to be muffled, turning into a dull thrum.

"Leiya," his voice said gently, and she could hear the smile in it. She could feel a hand rest lightly on her back, and that soft touch completely reconnected them so quickly that both of them felt a shiver pass through them. Faster than she could think it, she spun around and threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly. He laughed, hugging her back.

"Riku!" she cried, her voice a little muffled against his chest. "Riku, you're here!"

He didn't answer, content to just hold her for now. The bond between them felt sweeter than before, and both were rejoicing in its reestablishment. Though short, their time apart had been extremely hard on both of them.

"Leiya," he finally said gently, kissing her ruddy hair. "Leiya, you're beautiful."

She, who had tears trickling down her cheeks, laughed brightly. It felt so good to hear that from him again.

"But," he continued, "though I'll be perfectly happy to spend forever like this, there's someone else I want to see, too." He was speaking lightly, and she could again hear his smile.

"Your father," she nodded, looking up at his face. "I know, Love, and I would have been disappointed if you didn't want to see him as soon as possible. Go find him, by all means."

"You come with me," he said. "You hardly knew him before he died, and there will be lots of other people I'll want to see again. I want you to meet them all."

"Of course!" she said. "I wouldn't miss that for the world."

"Come on, then," he said, taking her hand and again smiling that boyish grin of his. He seemed to push a hole in the fabric of space, pulling her through along with him. When they exited the warp, she stood close to him, a little dizzy.

"I've never seen it done like that before," she mentioned, shaking her head briefly as if to clear it.

Riku shrugged. "I did something like that when Ansem had me as a child. I guess it works the same way here." It sounded like he had done it without thinking, as if a long-buried habit had just resurfaced. "I can teach you, if you'd like." He glanced around, obviously looking for his father.

She nodded, then posed a question. "How is Tanis doing?"

"Depressed, of course, but that's to be expected at a time like this," he answered. "Don't worry about him, Leiya. He'll be perfectly all right."

She nodded again, looking around. They were in a sparsely wooded area, green grass growing in the ample sunlight reaching the ground. It reminded her of some parts of the Stretch near Aerie.

Riku's eyes landed on a familiar sight, a man so close to his own appearance that it was like looking into a mirror. The older man was standing with his arms crossed and a smile on his face, as if amused about something.

"I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you, Son," Sephiroth said, shaking his head as if Riku had taken too long and he was disappointed by it.

"Father…" Riku said softly, unsure about how to greet him. He had been the rock in his life during most of his younger days, but they hadn't seen each other or spoken for centuries now. A childish compulsion to run up and hug his father flitted about in the back of his mind, but he restrained himself. Sephiroth, it turned out, was the one to come closer.

Sephiroth touched his son's face lightly, as if inspecting him, and he appeared to be silently assessing something. Riku waited patiently. He was so happy to finally see his father again, but he wasn't about to spoil the moment.

"You did well, Riku," Sephiroth finally said, his smile gentler. "I've kept one eye on you ever since we last saw each other, and I couldn't be prouder about how you handled yourself and your life."

"You taught me, Father," Riku replied. "I can't take all the credit for how I lived."

"Neither can I," Sephiroth countered. "Some of it was a result of my teaching, I suppose, but it was mostly you. I can't take the credit for what you did on your own." His smile widened again. "You were a better ylfe than most purebloods could ever hope to be. I've already said this, but I'm very proud of you, Riku."

Riku nodded, emotion welling in him, and the urge to embrace his father reached its breaking point. He took one step forward, closing the distance between them, and put his arms around the older man, holding him tightly. Tears pricked his eyes as he felt his father return the embrace, holding him in the same firm, comforting way he had so many years ago when Riku let out his frustration and grief over his unreturned love for Kairi.

"I missed you, Father," he whispered, his head on Sephiroth's shoulder.

"I missed you, too, Son," Sephiroth replied. "More than you can imagine."

Riku smiled at that, and he could feel Leiya's happiness through their mental connection. She was overjoyed to see him like this, for throughout most of their lives together, there had always been a thin veil of sadness in him, regret over what was not and what may have been. That veil had been lifted, and she almost laughed at the thought that she was happy to see him in the arms of another.

"Sephiroth," a soft feminine voice suddenly said, making Riku open his eyes. "Dear, is this your son?"

"Of course it is," Sephiroth said, looking over at the tiny blonde woman who had approached. "Nah, I just go around hugging anyone who looks like me."

Wenna laughed, the sound like that of tiny silver bells. "Riku, I am so happy to finally meet you!"

"Likewise…um…" Riku responded, separating from Sephiroth. He was unsure about what to call this woman. He had heard so much about her, and had seen her in his father's memories, but she had been gone for so long and held such powerful sway over his father that she had acquired an almost legendary quality in Riku's mind. Just calling her by her name seemed almost disrespectful.

"Just 'Wenna', Riku," she said. "I've talked with your Leiya so much since she came, and she's told me so much about you. She is such a delight! You're a very lucky man." Her manner was very much like her daughter's.

"Uh, well, yes, I guess I am!" Riku replied, a bit embarrassed by her directness. He felt Leiya elbow him sharply, as if disappointed that he suggested with 'I guess' that his feelings weren't certain, though she giggled and blushed at Wenna's compliments. Riku caught the wry smile on his father's face, but hadn't the time to make a response before Wenna took his hand in her much smaller one.

"I want to thank you, Riku," she said, her tone much less bubbly. "You allowed your father to heal some before the end of his life, and by doing that, you also healed me. It hurt so much to be apart from him, but you managed to reduce that pain dramatically. I can't thank you enough for that."

Riku nodded slowly. "I don't know what to say," he said softly. "I mean…'you're welcome' seems so inadequate."

Wenna, who was only chest-height to Sephiroth, was not much bigger in comparison to Riku, only an inch or two shorter than his father. She reached up, touched his face, and stood on her tiptoes to give him a soft, grateful kiss on his cheek. He smiled.

"Well, now that that's been taken care of," Sephiroth said, "I say we start moving, Riku."

"Moving?" Riku asked, not comprehending.

"Of course," his father nodded. "You have lots of people to reunite with, and you can't do that just staying in one spot. Grab Leiya, or she'll be left behind." He gripped Riku's upper arm, white light beginning to flare up around them. "I don't know about you, but I think all this 'think about them, and you'll find them' gibberish is so inconvenient. Simple teleportation is so much easier. Come on, Dear." He pulled Wenna to him just as he teleported, rocketing them toward another place entirely.

Riku had grasped Leiya's hand, and she now clung to him as they exited that area and reentered in a totally different area. She would never get used to teleporting.

He laughed lightly at his mate's momentary disorientation, and planted a quick kiss on her lips to bring her back to the present time and place. "Come on, my love," he said. "Let's go."

Epilogue

Riku's understanding that the One World would lose its magic, and that the ylfen would slowly retreat from the living world was proven over time, but it happened much slower than he anticipated. Several generations went by before magic began to noticeably disappear. By then, Tanis and many of his descendants had already lived and died.

The ylfen seemed to accept this slow decline as their fate, and few fought against the inevitable. People started dying younger, and there came a point where no children were born from then on. Those who survived longest from each settlement gathered together, and that once glorious race lived out its final days in peace and obscurity. The kitschen had already begun to doubt that they existed.

Finally, no ylfe remained on the vast world they once called home. Their cities and towns stood empty, the shields and other defenses having long ago disappeared as if they never were. Their once well-tilled fields grew wild, and their herd animals once again adapted to shepherd-less lives, roaming the landscape at will, following the food supply. The kitschen, who had in the past feared and hated the ylfen, now saw the "supernatural" people as a legend, and that legend also grew distant in time, and they retreated even further back in memory, becoming vague myths and fairy tales.

Over time, all traces of their civilization disappeared from existence. Nature, which had accommodated and sheltered them, now took the settlements over completely. Homes dug into cliffs and hillsides became networks of seemingly natural caves. Homes in trees were overgrown and incorporated into the branches. Homes built on flat land were simply broken down and scattered by the wind and rain, the walls and roofs deteriorating back into raw materials. The disappearance was so complete, that the old storytellers among the kitschen, those who seemed to know more about old tales than they did about the present world, claimed that the last ylfen had used the last vestiges of magic left within them to ensure such thoroughness. They wished to be forgotten by the living, content to spend the rest of time with all the rest of their people in the afterlife. No ruin or artifact was ever found by kitschen, save one thing only.

As the magic faded, so did the charms and spells that had been in place since time immemorial. The ancient sword that was the symbol of authority among Riku and Sephiroth's line, became just an ordinary sword. No magical preservation remained on it as the end drew near, but it was polished regularly and taken very good care of by its last few owners. That sword represented the family pride, and they wished it to remain as it did with the spell still on it. It seemed to be the one thing that wasn't changing.

Finally, the last of that family passed on with the other remaining remnants of the ylfen. The sword, however, did not disappear. It lay alone and untended for an unknown length of time, until two kitsche youths discovered the mossy hilt poking out of the ground near a titanic limestone canyon. They unearthed the weapon, and were amazed at the length and weight. Pulling the blade from the scabbard, they found that dirt and other things had crept in, but that it was once a beautiful sword, and imagined that some magical king from the far past had once wielded it. They took it back to their town and delivered it to the priests who resided at the temple built to worship their deities. The priests cleaned and restored the blade, and when they did, an aged and grizzled old man exclaimed in surprise.

"What is the problem?" they asked.

"This is an ancient weapon!" he cried, seizing it and holding it up for everyone within sight to see. He probably knew more of the old tales than any kitsche alive at the time. "It was wielded by a man with a black wing and silver hair, and he had two faces!"

"Two faces?" they repeated, skeptical. "How can that be?"

"One was of terror and death," he explained, "and that he put forth most. But, he also had a face of gentleness and compassion, and only a very few ever saw him display it."

"He is speaking nonsense," they said among themselves. "It is just old man's talk. One black wing? That is impossible. Only birds have wings, and they have two. He is confusing reality with fairy tales. This sword is just an old artifact from some forgotten tribe with strange things and customs." Nonetheless, they took the sword and put it on display in the temple's prayer room for all who wished to see it. There it stayed for as long as the temple lasted, and that was a very long time. Many, many people from all around came to look at it and wonder at where it came from and how old it was.

Just on the other side of reality, however, the man with two faces—really two separate men—smiled, knowing that all would learn the truth once they died, that the fairy people of distant legend were actually a solid and undeniable fact. Until then, however, there was no harm in letting them interpret history as they will.

"You only live once," the slightly taller one said to the other.

"Mmhm," the other agreed.

Owari

Author's Notes: Ah, it feels good to finally finish this story. I knew how I wanted it to end almost from the start, and I finally got to write the end. I had some trouble with wording, as an idea that sounds great in your head, as if playing like a movie, can be awkward when put into sentences. I hope I pulled it off well, and I hope my readers tell me if they think I did or not.

This last chapter and epilogue could have been a story in their own right. I mean, there are lots of people, both from the Many Worlds and the One World, that Riku will be reunited with, and I can only imagine how long it would be if I wrote about them all. There's his mother, for example. Seeing as she's the other half of the pair that brought Riku into the world, I wanted to have his meeting with her in here. But, I was having too much trouble with how it should be. Should it be a tense reunion, or a sad one? Should she regret the kind of childhood she gave him, or not? Should Sephiroth and Wenna be there, and if they were, what kind of feelings to they have about the whole thing? I finally decided to just leave it out and let readers imagine it how they want. Better to leave out a part then have it done badly and thus detract from the rest of the chapter.

Now, I've worked on this fic for more than a year. It's by far my longest story to date, and I'm quite proud of it. Yes, I kept readers waiting long periods of time between some chapters, especially in the second half or so. I'm glad you were patient with me, though. The best way to judge how your readers like you is to see if they stick with you, not just their initial reactions to your work. Thanks, everyone, and I hope my future writings get the same kind of response that "Separate Destinies" did.