AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I BEAT VANITAS! It took me three days. Three days! But I finally won. That's two data bosses down, y'all!

Thank you, as always, to everyone who took the time to leave a review or send me a private message. I don't have the words to tell you how much all of your comments and messages mean to me, so thank you very, very much.

Anyway, not much to say today, so here's a chapter I've been waiting for for a long time. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE | THE VESSEL AND THE AMBUSH

"Are you sure about this, Kairi?"

She didn't know she'd ever heard Axel sound so uncertain. She could feel him hovering over her shoulder; feel the way his eyes were fixed on the hand that had hesitated over the door handle. She gripped it tighter – half-expecting Vanitas to make some sort of dry comment on her hesitation – but to her relief he remained silent. She wondered if perhaps he understood; if maybe he had places he would happily have spent the rest of his life avoiding if he could.

Many, came the response, though Vanitas didn't expand upon it further. Kairi nodded, both to him and to herself (and to Axel who was beginning to fidget awkwardly behind her; perhaps he was having second thoughts too).

"I'm sure."

Riku was already waiting inside the study. He greeted them warmly before he made his way over to the hidden doorway. Kairi's stomach churned when the panel of wall disappeared in a flash of light, but to her relief the sight no longer sent her reeling. After giving her a moment to make sure she was okay, they escorted her down a long corridor and through the computer room to the laboratory.

The laboratory looked nothing like the shadow of a memory she had seen in her nightmares. What little detail she remembered was quickly fading, replaced by white walls filled with computers and buttons and screens. But the place still felt sinister; not a feeling of darkness, but a lingering sense of unease that pooled in her stomach and set her heart racing. Her steps faltered, knees trembling, and only Axel's hand on her elbow kept her from running and running far, far away.

"Kairi!" Naminé seemed to emerge from nowhere and she grabbed Kairi's hand tightly. Roxas and Xion stood nearby, greeting them with warm smiles.

"What are you three doing here?" Axel asked.

"We wanted to be nearby in case Vanitas needed any help adjusting to the vessel," Xion offered. Kairi heard Vanitas snort derisively.

It's like they forget that I've done this before, he drawled as Roxas nodded decisively. That's not why they're really here.

"And we wanted to be on-hand in case he decides to pull any tricks," Roxas muttered, fingers twitching and sparking as though he might summon his keyblade at any second.

There it is, Vanitas sneered. Kairi could practically feel him rolling his eyes and she had to quickly stifle a smile.

"He can hear you, you know," she said. Roxas' ears flushed but his eyes hardened.

"Good," he answered curtly. Whatever retort that might have followed was quickly cut short as the door beside the large computer station opened and Ansem emerged.

"Ah, you're here. Excellent." He pressed his lips together in a thin line as the creases around his amber eyes twitched. He turned his attention towards the two figures hunched over the workstation. "Even, Ienzo, is the vessel ready?" The taller of the two – a slender man with a sheet of platinum blonde hair and sharp emerald eyes – gave a firm nod.

"We're ready for the transfer," he answered. Green eyes flickered towards the rest of the group and Kairi didn't miss the way they settled on Axel, narrowing dangerously (nor did she miss how Axel drew himself upright and folded his arms in return). The man tipped his head a fraction. "Lea," he greeted, his voice cool and clipped. Kairi felt a flicker of heat from behind her as Axel bristled.

"Vexen," he replied curtly. The man growled low in his throat as he narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"We don't use our Organization names anymore," the younger man responded, his voice calm and very matter-of-fact as though he was discussing the weather. "Now I am Ienzo, and he is Even."

"I know," Axel answered, "just like I'm sure he knows the name I choose to use."

Can we hurry this up? Vanitas hissed. Kairi found her eye drawn to the medical chair in the centre of the room and the body covered by the sheet, and her heart swelled with a longing that wasn't hers. She nodded.

"Shall we get started?" she asked, cutting over whatever Even had been about to volley back at Axel. Ienzo tilted his head decisively.

"An excellent idea," he said. He motioned for her to follow him until she was standing beside the chair. From the other side, Even reached over to pull back the sheet and reveal the formless vessel beneath. Kairi couldn't help but shudder at the sight. The skin was smooth and white, like porcelain, and devoid of hair or eyelashes or lips. The body, shrouded in a heavy black cloak, was formless – neither male nor female, and shapeless aside from the basic concept of limbs and a torso. It looked like a doll; a creepy, life-sized, faceless doll that set Kairi's teeth on edge.

"What happens now?" she asked. "What do I need to do?"

"Nothing at all," Ienzo answered. "The rest is up to Vanitas in his own time."

I'm working on it, came the tense response. For a moment nobody spoke – nobody moved – and Kairi became painfully aware of everyone watching her closely. She wished they would stop. Her heart skipped a painful beat and she closed her eyes, if only to avoid their expectant stares. Her stomach twisted nervously as the silence that followed seemed to stretch on for an eternity until finally it was broken by Vanitas' satisfied voice:

Goodbye, princess.

It was the only warning she got before she felt something explode from her chest. The pressure – neither hot nor cold – was so unexpected that her eyes flew open with a gasp as she staggered backwards. Ienzo held her steady as she watched the tiny pearl of light – smaller than her fist – float up in to the air where it hovered for a moment before plummeting in to the vessel's chest.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Axel asked as he shot to her side. She was passed from Ienzo's grip to Axel's and she nodded, unable to take her eyes off the body in the chair as it began to transform. Porcelain-white hair sprouted from the vessel's scalp, sticking up wildly in every direction. Its face began to shift like clay being moulded by invisible hands, shaping the narrow nose, the angled jaw, the rounded cheeks. For a moment it was as if someone had carved Sora's sleeping likeness from marble, right down to the small cleft of his chin, but then the vessel took on colour. The olive tone to his skin seemed sickly and wrong against the inky black that seeped in to his hair, and when he opened his eyes they were deep yellow colour that made Kairi's stomach churn uncomfortably.

"Vanitas," Ansem began, his deep voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "How do you feel?" Vanitas flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes, running a tongue over his teeth before pulling his lips back in to a satisfied sneer (or perhaps, Kairi thought, he might have meant it to be a smile).

"Never better," he answered dryly. Hearing his voice aloud made Kairi shiver; so like Sora's but wrong in every way, too deep and dark and clipped in an angry way that Sora's never was. She'd never noticed it inside her own head, but now with the voice coming from lips that looked so much like-

Stop comparing him to Sora, she told herself firmly. She was almost disappointed that such a loud thought hadn't warranted some kind of a response, and the silence that followed felt strange and hollow. Vanitas sat up and swung his legs over the side of the chair but Ienzo's hand on his shoulder kept him from standing.

"Not just yet," he said. "We have a few tests we need to run first to make sure everything is as it should be."

"I feel fine," Vanitas growled, yellow eyes narrowing. Ienzo's grip did not relent, despite the searing glare Vanitas sent to his fingers.

"It won't take long," Naminé offered. "They just need to make sure the vessel is safe for you." For a moment Kairi thought he might argue, but then he lifted his gaze to Naminé and something shifted in his expression.

"What kind of tests?" he finally asked.

"Just a few diagnostic checks," Ienzo answered. "Just stay in the chair and you won't feel a thing." Vanitas clenched his jaw and a muscle in his neck twitched, but then his eyes met Kairi's and he sat back in the chair with a huff,

"Just be quick," he hissed.

"Why?" Roxas asked with a glare. "You got somewhere to be?" Vanitas' lips curled in to a snarl.

"The last time I was surrounded by this many Guardians of Light, it didn't end well for me," he answered curtly. "Forgive me for being uncomfortable in such close quarters with so many of you."

"You'd better get used to it," Roxas countered. "After all, you're going to spending a lot more time with us until Sora's back. That's what you agreed to, remember?" Vanitas' eyes flashed dangerously.

"I remember my promise," he bit out, "but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy your company-"

"I'm sure we'll all need to do some adjusting," Naminé offered. Kairi shot her a grateful smile. "For now, why don't we just wait to make sure Vanitas is going to be okay and then we can call it a day?" She placed a gentle hand on Roxas' elbow and he ripped his furious gaze away from Vanitas to lock eyes with her. After a silent exchange he reluctantly backed down, shaking her hand away as he folded his arms over his chest with a huff. The console emitted a series of beeps.

"Everything is performing as expected," Even reported, a proud smile tugging at his lips as he turned to face them. "I'd like to see you in a couple of weeks though, just to make sure that everything adjusts accordingly."

"We'll see," Vanitas grumbled, pushing himself up and turning his back to the others.

"It's for the best," Naminé offered tentatively as his feet hit the floor. He paused and she added: "If something isn't quite right, it's best to try and catch it early." Vanitas glanced at her over his shoulder as he considered her words.

"We'll see," he repeated, though the words carried considerably less venom. Naminé offered him a half smile and he turned away to push himself to his feet. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his fingers and tilted his head this way and that before holding a hand out to the side.

His keyblade appeared in a flash. Others followed as Roxas, Xion and Axel summoned theirs. Axel took a half-step forwards to place himself between Kairi and Vanitas who ignored them all in favour of examining his weapon. He ran his fingers over the chains and grooves, taking a moment to dance his fingertips along the gear-like teeth of the blade before he turned to the others, quickly hiding his frown with a smirk.

"Don't worry," he murmured. "I just wanted to make sure I still could."

"Well, now you know you can," said Roxas, lowering his keyblade a fraction. Xion's eyes narrowed, Axel squared his shoulders, and Kairi smothered a frown.

"I'm glad," she said, forcing a smile as a ripple of surprise passed through the others. She locked eyes with Vanitas, as if he were the only other person in the room. "It'd be hard for you to fight for Sora if you couldn't summon your keyblade."

In the silence that followed, the keyblades began to disappear. First Xion, then Axel, and then Roxas (albeit with obvious reluctance). Vanitas watched them fade on by one before returning his gaze to Kairi.

"You really do only see the best in people, don't you?" She didn't know how to answer that, especially when it was said with such an ambiguous tone. Vanitas snorted through a smirk and banished his keyblade too. The wave of relief that swept through the room was almost tangible. "Well if I'm not a prisoner-"

"You're not," Naminé offered.

"We should go," Kairi said. "I'd like to get out of here."

"You're right," Axel added, stuffing his fists in to his pockets. "I think we've seen enough of this place for one day." Kairi didn't miss the way he glanced down at her, but she didn't want to answer the unasked question behind his eyes. Instead she turned to Ansem and his team.

"Thank you for all your hard work. We're very grateful." She punctuated the sentence with a pointed glance at Vanitas when he remained silent. He returned her gaze with an arched eyebrow, then a wash of confusion, before finally rolling his eyes with a frown.

"Yes," he finally muttered. "Very grateful." Part of Kairi wished she had the strength to push him further – to show some real gratitude – but a wave of exhaustion coupled with her own desire to run as far from the lab as possible meant she let it slide. Manners could be taught later, she decided.

When nobody made to move she turned towards the door, leading them out of the lab. Vanitas kept pace beside her, his fingers flexing every now and then as they walked in silence. She didn't miss how he twitched at every unexpected sound that rose from behind them – a heavy footfall, a cough, a low murmur. When they finally emerged back in to the castle courtyard, Kairi watched him closely as he shielded his eyes from the sun, grimacing against the bright light as it flooded across his face.

"Well, well, well, Vanitas… Looks like our plan finally paid off."

Kairi's blood ran cold at the sound of Luxu's voice. He was standing on the other side of the courtyard, flanked by a handful of large heartless and grinning from ear to ear as Kairi came to a sudden halt on the ornate staircase, the others pulling up close behind her.

"You!" Axel snarled. His keyblade appeared with a flash as he leapt to the front of the group. Roxas and Xion were at his side in an instant. Kairi's hand twitched but her breath caught in her lungs and her fingers could only grasp helplessly at the air.

"No…" she whispered, turning back to Vanitas. His expression was raw fury that burned behind his golden eyes.

"Don't you dare," he hissed. Luxu only laughed.

"I know you wanted to string them along a bit longer, but the plan's changed," he said. "We need you to come back now."

"I was never-"

"I knew he was up to something!" Roxas spat. "Why else would he force us to make a vessel so quickly?" Kairi's stomach churned and she shook her head.

"No, he didn't. That was-"

"Don't bother," Vanitas growled. "He won't listen."

"Why should we? You tricked us!" The words seem to stir something in Axel who tore his eyes away from Luxu to glance quickly between Vanitas and Kairi.

"We should take him to the King and Yen Sid," he suggested through a glare. "They'll know what to do with him."

"Nobody's taking me anywhere-"

"You can drop the façade, Vanitas," Luxu called. He spread his arms wide and his good eye gleamed. "The coast is clear for you to come home."

"Stop it!" he spat. Luxu chuckled, his eyebrow arching and his lips twisted in to a grin.

"Have it your way then," he said with a low, dangerous laugh. "If you'd rather stick to the plan and 'disappear' during the night, then I won't stop you. I just wanted to let you know that the door's open for you." He snapped his slender fingers and swirls of darkness enveloped him as the heartless surged forwards. Vanitas growled and summoned his keyblade but Roxas intervened, tangling their teeth together as he glared at the other across their locked blades.

"No you don't," Roxas spat. Vanitas only smirked in response, pushing back against the attack.

"You honestly think you can stop me?" he challenged. Roxas didn't hesitate; he lifted a hand from the hilt and summoned his second keyblade, swinging it high over his head-

"Roxas, look out!" Naminé screamed. There came the ringing of metal as both Xion and Axel dove in the way of the oncoming attack to deflect it. Xion charged forwards to return the volley with an attack of her own while Axel skirted around the pair to grip Kairi's shoulders tightly.

"Kairi, come on," he said, his eyes boring in to hers. "We need you." She wanted to say something – anything – but her tongue was numb and her throat was dry and her whole body was frozen stiff as Luxu's portal faded in to nothingness. Her feet tingled and her head began to spin as tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. This was wrong… This was all wrong…

"Axel!" Xion called. He glanced over his shoulder, cursing as Xion dove head first in to the fray, before glancing at Kairi's fingers – still twitching uselessly at her side.

"Naminé, take Kairi and get to cover. Call Aqua and get her and the others here as soon as you can. Roxas, take care of Vanitas."

"My pleasure," he growled. Vanitas sneered and pushed away with a grunt, successfully separating their keyblades as Axel dove towards the heartless after Xion. Naminé's hand found Kairi's and she tugged gently. Kairi nearly stumbled over her feet, unable to take her eyes off the scene that was unfolding. Vanitas tried to turn and flee but Roxas skirted around him, leaving a trail of sparks in his wake as he moved to block Vanitas' path. Xion and Axel had disappeared in to the swarm, with only the occasional flash of a keyblade or cry of magic to confirm they were still there at all.

Naminé would eventually duck behind a flowerbed, pressing them both in to the concrete as trembling hands reached for her phone. Kairi heard her dialling, heard the distant ringing, heard the muffled conversation with Aqua, but her mind was elsewhere – still several minutes behind the action, stuck on Luxu's appearance and the snap of his fingers. It was deafening, echoing through her mind as more walls rose from the floor. She lost Sora behind a cloud of dust and she reached for him blindly, recoiling in horror when her hands brushed the cool metal of a heartless' armour. They were surrounded, and she was so alone-

Axel screamed and she was pulled from her waking nightmares with such force that she was left reeling. Several minutes of action slammed in to her like a battering ram and she took a deep, gulping breath, blinking the world back in to focus. She summoned her keyblade and offered a wordless nod to Naminé who, on the phone now with Mickey, could do little to stop her as she vaulted over the flowerbed and sent a blast of light in to the heartless. It sent them scattering, allowing her a glimpse of Xion as she fought wildly, keeping her back to Axel who had fallen to one knee, clutching his side with a grimace.

"Heal!" Kairi bellowed as she sprinted towards them. The blossom of green light had barely left her keyblade before she was forced to twist sharply, deflecting an incoming beam of energy back towards the flower-like heartless that had emerged from between the cracks in the central mural. She followed it up with a series of swift blows that knocked away its petals one by one, giving her a clear shot at its bulbous head. The floral teeth of Destiny's Embrace sliced clean through the stalk-like neck and the heartless disappeared, its gem-like heart twisting in the air before disappearing towards the sky.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Xion called as Kairi fell in step beside her.

"I'm fine," she answered. "I'm sorry I-"

"Apologise later," Axel ordered, sending a burst of fire that sliced through the oncoming wave of heartless. "You're all right now, that's what counts."

"Let's do this!" Xion cried. Kairi gripped her keyblade tightly and lifted it over her head with a wordless bellow as they plunged forwards, hacking wildly at the heartless as they continued to appear. They were all relatively low-level; nothing to be concerned about on their own, but as their numbers continued to swell Kairi found herself short of breath, crushed by the darkness that began to close in on them from all sides. A large body bowled past, knocking her off her feet, and before she could regain her bearings a soldier had leapt towards her. It was instinct that sent her rolling on to her back, bracing her keyblade across her other hand to deflect the oncoming attack. The solider flew back, stunned, and in the second that followed she summoned a spiral of air that knocked the heartless back by several inches – just enough for her to leap back to her feet and erect a shield.

"There's too many!" she cried. Nobody answered her. She span around wildly but Axel and Xion were gone, lost somewhere else in the fight. It was too much like the graveyard, with heartless closing in on them from all sides.

She was alone.

Her breath caught in her throat, her keyblade hummed, and when the world began to spin Kairi could only drop to her knees, clutching at her hair as she poured more light in to her shield, praying it would hold-

"ENOUGH!"

She felt the magic wash over the courtyard as Aqua arrived, piercing through the battle like a white-hot spear. The tightness in Kairi's chest eased a fraction as the heartless turned towards a new target. The ground rumbled underfoot as a guttural yell split the air and Kairi took her first breath. It flooded through her, flushing the panic from her veins as she forced her eyes open. Her keyblade was thrumming so violently she thought it might shiver right out of her fingers, and she tightened her hold as she rose back to her feet again.

"I am not afraid," she whispered, staring out in to the fray. Aqua and Terra were some distance away, slicing through the heartless with ease, and as Kairi took a steeling breath she found a pair of blue eyes watching her from the other side of her shield.

"Kairi! Are you okay?" Ven asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. His brow furrowed but he didn't object as she dropped her shield and surged forwards; instead he kept pace with her and began to fight at her side. His presence was a welcome relief that never wavered as they made their way through the horde. His blows were featherlight and lightning-fast, and he seemed to almost teleport around her as she cut a slow path through the crowd towards the pull of Aqua's magic. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of silver hair as Riku streaked past, leaving a trail of dissolving heartless in his wake.

"Kairi-"

"Get to Naminé," she ordered, pointing towards the flowerbeds with her freehand as she sent off several bursts of fire in the other direction. To her surprise Riku didn't object, and after a firm nod (and a devastating sweep of his keyblade through several nearby shadows) he was gone. Wordlessly she and Ven pressed onwards, forcing their way through the heartless until Aqua came in to view.

"We need to leave," Aqua called to them as they approached. "Head to the Land of Departure. Axel took Xion and went on ahead."

"Where's Naminé?" Roxas asked as he stumbled towards them, keyblades dragging along the floor.

"Riku went to get her," Kairi replied, glancing over her shoulder in time to see Riku and Naminé disappearing back to Riku's ship in a shimmer of light.

"And Vanitas?" Ven asked as he appeared at Aqua's elbow. Kairi's stomach twisted and her mouth ran dry, searching for the words.

"He got away from me," Roxas growled.

"He can take care of himself," Terra answered. "We should get going."

"Roxas, you have a ship?" Terra asked. Roxas nodded and pulled a small green gem from his pocket, disappearing in a flash.

"I'll make us some room," said Aqua. "Get ready to fly as soon as you have the space." They nodded. Kairi blocked an attack from behind as Aqua surged forwards, shrouded in blue light and spinning like a top as she knocked several heartless back with spiralling chunks of ice. The spell came to an end with a shockwave of light that pushed the heartless back several feet in every direction, giving them enough room to summon their gliders. Kairi leapt high over an incoming attack and and her glider rushed up to meet her, lifting her high above the fight. She made a wide loop around the battle, eyes peeled for any sign of the others, but true to Aqua's word they were gone. Aqua, Terra and Ven rose behind her and then they were off, slipping in to the lanes between.

Nothing ever goes smoothly for these kids, does it?

Bit of a shorter chapter today because this is another long sequence and this was the only place for me to split it. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long for the next one.

Reviews make my heart happy!