Author's Note: Yes, for those who guessed it, the people in golden armor are from the KH2 secret ending. Thank you for all of your reviews!

Enjoy.

Chapter 3

Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden

Riku:

Halfway into the residential neighborhood, Sora stopped and emitted a low growl. I doubted that he was sensing Heartless. The alarms would have sounded if there was. So…the only other thing that could make Sora react that way was Kairi. My answer came when Sora disappeared entirely from view and he was in front of me. I shook my head. A day can't go by without chaos. I took off running for the hotel.

Kairi:

Cloud lifted his buster sword and was met with two keyblades, two chakrams, and a sitar. All of the boys had serious expressions on their faces. I was actually relieved that they reacted so suddenly. Sora appeared in the middle of the room with a burst of dark energy. He was furious, which meant that he had felt my emotions through the link. Things were about to get very ugly, very quickly.

"Any reason why you are here, Cloud?" Sora asked.

Roxas and Axel lowered their weapons but kept their gaze on Sora.

"I was having a chat with Kairi."

"Really? Then why did the others draw their weapons on you?"

"Sora…it's okay. Cloud was just leaving," I said loudly.

I could feel some of Sora's anger fade.

"Why are you protecting him? If you were wise enough, you'll see that he'll turn on you eventually," Cloud snapped.

He exited the room, leaving tension behind in his wake. His words weren't to be ignored, no matter how cruel and spiteful they were. Sora walked past me into our room wordlessly and shut the door. Riku burst into the room moments later, panting heavily. I took a seat in a nearby chair and rubbed my head.

"Where's Sora?" Riku asked.

"In the room," Axel answered.

"He didn't—"

"No, he didn't. But he was going to."

Riku sighed.

"That idiot! Doesn't he know that he's placed us into a position we can't handle?"

I couldn't deal with this right now. I wasn't ready for the shouts and arguments. I made the decision to become his bonded…

"Riku, please…not now," I said in a pleading voice.

"You can't keep avoiding the issue."

"Yes I can! I can avoid the issue! It's my right!" I shouted.

I stood up and headed for the door. Riku blocked it.

"Move out of the way," I snapped, adding a growl to edge of my voice.

My head was beginning to pound.

"I can't do that."

I narrowed my eyes, giving him the meanest death glare possible and took off for the confines of my room. After shutting the door behind me, I allowed the tears to fall from my eyes. I had hoped that all of this would stop when Mickey died. It hadn't. Riku was now threatening to shred the harmony I had created. All because of Sora.

"Kairi?"

That was Sora's voice, devoid of any anger that it had previously contained. I wiped the tears away from my face and turned to face the bed. Sora was lying across the bed on his back, eyes closed.

"You were crying," He stated.

"It wasn't because of you," I lied.

I felt terrible lying to him. He didn't deserve that.

"Yes it was. You don't have to say it, your voice gives it away."

"Sora, I don't want you to think that."

Sora opened his eyes slowly.

"You deserve better."

His words had inadvertently chilled me to the bone.

"Don't say that, Sora. I chose to be bonded with you. We have a son now."

"But deep in your heart, you are considering Riku's words."

"You know I wouldn't do that," I said softly.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't want you to cry anymore."

Roxas:

Riku had retired to his room after Kairi had retreated to hers. I had a feeling that this wasn't over yet. As with most things, this situation would continue to flare up.

"I'm hungry," Axel commented.

I smiled at my other half.

"Are you sure you aren't hungry for mischief?"

"That too. I think I'll go get something to eat."

"Okay. Take Demyx with you and make sure you get something for everyone. I'm going to get Zion for a little while."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Axel muttered as he gave me a kiss on the lips.

I stood up and headed for Kairi's room. I opened the door and walked inside. Sora was standing next to the window. Kairi was nowhere to be seen, but the sound of running water could be heard. Little Zion was lying on the bed awake and cooing.

"I get the feeling that Kairi would be happy without me," Sora said in a soft voice.

"She loves you, Sora. Why would you think something like that?"

"Because of what I am."

He walked out of the room. Seconds later, I heard a door slam. He's going to hunt now. Killing to take away the pain. Sighing softly, I gently picked up Zion.

"You know, your cute button nose is the source of all this trouble. You're worse than Axel."

Sora:

It was exhilarating to run in full Anti-form in the rain. I was free to run away from my problems…for now. I slowed down to a walk once I reached the bailey area. Heartless lurked before me, staring at me with big golden orbs. Shadows and soldiers. I struck first, tearing into the group with claws. Black vapor danced upward in the air. The violence just felt right. The group soon lay in tatters across my feet. I took in the hearts that they left behind.

The Heartless devoured and stored hearts as a necessity. Being half-Heartless meant that I hungered for the heart. The taste of it was enough to give me chills. I hadn't hunted in a matter of months. I did it for the sake of Kairi. But alas, old habits are hard to break. I sat down on the ground and sighed. Kairi wasn't happy. My dual existence was getting in the way of things. Cloud had almost attacked Kairi and Zion because of me.

Not to mention that I was slowly going insane. At least, I guess I was. The rain slowed down to a light tempo and the visibility cleared up somewhat. Then I saw something that made my breath hitch in my throat. There was a figure in golden armor directly in front of me. Of all of the times to appear now…I drew my dark energy inward and stood up.

"Hello, Sora."

This person had an unmistakable female voice.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?"

"You will know in time who I am. As to why I'm following you…you know what you wield."

She was talking about the keyblade. I thought all of that would have stopped with Mickey.

"You're not real. You're just a figment of my imagination."

The woman laughed.

"Can figments of your imagination do this?"

Before I could blink, the woman was directly in front of me with a keyblade in her hand. I couldn't react before she slashed my chest with the blade. A wave of energy accompanied the strike, knocking me backwards. I hit the wall of the bailey. The pain was unbearable. It felt like I was being stabbed in every part of my body with tiny needles. The woman laughed again and lifted her keyblade.

"Don't worry, Sora. I won't kill you today or ever for that matter. I'd rather drive you insane."

She faded away into the rain. I touched my chest and let out a shuddering breath.

"Make this stop…"

Kairi:

Axel had brought large containers of Chinese food to eat. I was extremely grateful to him, especially since I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Everyone was in the common room, except for Sora. I grew slightly worried about that. He seemed really upset earlier. I meant to talk with him more after I cleared my head in the shower, but he wasn't there. I checked the link in the back of my head. Nothing was there.

What had Sora gotten himself into? I slowly sat down in the chair and took a plate of food off of the table. Perhaps he was okay and he was just blocking our link. Still…

"So what will happen tomorrow, Riku?" I asked, trying to take my mind off of the situation.

"We will see if Tron has found something and search around some on foot."

"I would like to go with you, if you don't mind."

"That's…fine."

He was hesitant to let me go.

"It's fine, Riku. I can handle myself."

Roxas and Axel fell silent.

"That would could be dangerous. I don't want you to be there."

"Sora would let me go."

That set him off.

"Sora's not here. He's probably out hunting and making things more difficult for us."

"That's not fair."

"What's not fair, Kairi? Do you expect me to just forget that he stole you from me?"

Even though I didn't want it to, an awkward silence filled the room.

"I thought you were over that," I said quietly.

"Perhaps not."

I started on my food, analyzing every word that was just said. I wished that Sora was here beside me so that he could defend his self. But then again, it wasn't about him. It was about me. After a few bites, I found that I wasn't about him. It was about me. After a few bites, I found that I wasn't really hungry. With a sigh, I sat my plate back on the table and headed for the door.

"Wait, Kairi. I'll go with you," Axel said in a soft voice.

I opened the door and stepped outside of the hotel room. Knowing that he would catch up later, I proceeded to head outside. The rain had passed, leaving the streets wet and shiny. The air smelled much like blood…or maybe that was my Heartless senses behaving strangely.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me."

I sighed loudly.

"I want to leave this all behind."

"I have to admit that this conflict between Riku, Sora and you is tiresome. But now's not the time to give up. Sora and Zion need you to be strong."

"I know. But Sora…"

"Remember what I told you, Kairi. Besides, Roxas, Demyx and I are behind you no matter what."

I offered Axel a warm smile. It felt great to know who my allies were.

Kai…

Sora?

Sora?

I waited a few moments before gently probing the mind link. Sora seemed confused and disoriented. Fear crept into my mind. Was he hurt? Had he gotten into trouble? Axel looked at me in concern.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Sora…he's confused and disoriented. I can't tell what happened to him."

Sora, where are you?

Bailey.

"He's at the Bailey! Come on!"

After several minutes of running, we reached the Bailey. Against the wall was Sora who seemed weak and dazed. He was being surrounded by white forms…

"Nobodies," Axel muttered.

I didn't want to know why the Nobodies were here. My mind was focused on Sora and the fact he couldn't defend himself. My body reacted to my duress and anger by allowing me to assume Anti-form. With a mighty hiss, I tore into the group of Nobodies with fury and anger. One by one, the white smooth bodies of the Nobodies faded away into nothingness. There was nothing left after a few minutes.

I rushed over to Sora's side. He was trembling and his face was almost blue. There was a large gash across his chest that was oozing blood.

"Use Curaga, Kairi," Axel suggested.

Casting Curaga might kill him. I couldn't risk that. I ran the edge of my claws along my wrist, slicing it open. I used my other uninjured hand to prop his mouth open. I placed my injured wrist over his mouth. Sora weakly took it in for a few seconds before averting his head. I sent healing energy through my body before I lost too much blood.

"Sora…can you hear me? Come on, baby…"

Sora's eyes fluttered open.

"My imagination," He choked out.

"Imagination? Sora, I'm here."

"No…the people in the golden armor…"

He fell silent. I checked my mental link. He must have fallen unconscious.

"Axel…" I breathed, tears brimming in my eyes.

Sora…please don't leave me now.

"I know. But perhaps he hasn't lost his mind. Time can only tell. In the meantime, we must get him back to the hotel."

God help us…