AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Howdy folks! How's everyone doing? Welcome to all the new readers!

Realising I haven't done a review thank you shout out for a while, so here goes:

Special 'thank you's to KeybladeKeira, Scarlett-95, YumeTakato and The voice of all things for your reviews! I love reading them – they really brighten my day. So thank you, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Also: apologies for any confusion caused by the chapter titles. I managed to mess up the numbering system on the in-chapter headers, but they should be all fixed now.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN | THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

Kairi wasn't sure how long she'd expected them to be able to hide out, but she certainly hadn't expected it to be longer than a week.

It took Vanitas nine days to recover the majority of his strength. Naminé had murmured something about how his recovery had been much faster than she'd expected, but when Kairi had tried to ask her about it she had shrugged the comment away and quickly changed the subject.

During the day, Kairi and Vanitas trained with keyblades more often than not. The stronger he became the quicker he was able to overpower her, until several of their matches were over before they'd even begun. After beating her in to the dirt more times than Kairi felt was truly necessary (it seemed more to rebuild his confidence and ego than it was to help her in any way) he would finally shift more towards actually teaching Kairi new skills. He didn't have Aqua's tolerance or Sora's good-natured patience; instead he had a fiery temper to rival Axel's, and he and Kairi clashed on more than one occasion when he couldn't explain a skill in a way that she could understand.

Hayner, Pence and Olette continued to drop by in the evenings, during which Vanitas still chose to hide upstairs. What he did up there, Kairi never knew, but he was somehow able to know when Naminé fell asleep with pinpoint accuracy, and within moments of Naminé drifting off Kairi would be summoned to the garden by an unversed to continue their secret project together. The gruelling daytime training coupled with their nightly excursions left Kairi exhausted, but on the twelfth day when Vanitas chose to stay in the lounge when Hayner, Pence and Olette arrived, Kairi decided it was all worth it.

Later that evening, when the others had left and Vanitas had disappeared beneath the blanket on the chair behind the door, Kairi and Naminé sat huddled at either end of the couch with their feet tucked under the blanket, basking in the heat of the fire to stave off the evening chill. Training had gone well, for the most part, though an errant strike raid had nearly caught Naminé and had sent her scrambling for cover. The look of panic that had flashed across her face had left Kairi troubled for the rest of the afternoon.

"Naminé?" she murmured, careful not to wake Vanitas.

"Hmm?" she looked up from her phone; the screen cast an eerie white light over her chin and the bottom of her nose.

"Do you think you'll ever be able to summon a keyblade?" Kairi asked. "Roxas and Xion can both do it, and I was wondering…" She trailed off at the grimace that passed over Naminé's face. Slowly Naminé held her hand out to the side and closed her eyes, and after a moment's pause there came a flash of light that was near-blinding in the darkness.

It took Kairi's eyes several long minutes of frantic blinking to adjust, after which she was finally able to pick out the shape of Naminé's keyblade. Its teeth were delicate pale blue forget-me-not blossoms, with vines woven around the narrow shaft that faded from a cool mint green to a grey and white checkerboard pattern on the handle. The guard was silver and shaped almost like a heart, but where a heart would have ended in a single point this one split in to three jagged blades – two that jutted out to the side and one that ran down the shaft.

"It's the symbol of the nobodies," Naminé said as Kairi ran her fingers over the guard. "Aqua said it's because… because I'm still haunted by the past."

"So Aqua knows?" Kairi asked. Naminé nodded and passed the keyblade to Kairi, handling it as if she were afraid of it.

"She's the only one," Naminé said quietly. "I never wanted to be a fighter, but when I realised I could summon a keyblade I asked if she would try and teach me, but… I couldn't do it."

"Why not?" Naminé's eyes gleamed in the dying firelight.

"When I was relinking Sora's memories I saw all the fights he had to go through, from the smallest heartless to the fiercest enemy. I saw how he had to fight Maleficent and Ansem and when he had to fight against Riku. I… I didn't want to fight. I couldn't."

"Oh." Kairi could understand, in a way. If she'd known all the troubles that fighting would bring, she might have considered staying back on the islands where she was safe. But she'd decided long ago that if she had a keyblade then she was going to use it, and the thought of Naminé turning away from her destiny – their destiny – stung a little. "But, Sora-"

"I know." The words were so that they weighed Naminé down; her shoulders slumped and her head dropped forwards. "I kept asking Riku to take me to all of the worlds that Sora had been to because I wanted to find some way to help him that didn't involve me fighting, but… I couldn't."

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Vanitas' drawl made Kairi jump and she clutched the blankets to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

"Vanitas, you scared me!" she hissed.

"Figured what out?" Naminé asked. Vanitas emerged from beneath his blanket and stared at them both expectantly for several long minutes.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "I thought you would've worked it out by now."

"Worked what out?" Naminé repeated, her voice pitching eagerly. Vanitas pulled himself out of his chair with an irritable sigh.

"It's not that hard," he grunted as he skirted the sofa move between them and the fire. He sat himself down with his back to the dying embers and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "Sora's friends are his power."

Kairi waited patiently, wondering if Vanitas might shed any more light on the subject, but he only stared at them as though waiting for them to catch up. Kairi turned to Naminé then, only to find that the blonde seemed equally confused. She was frowning, mouthing the phrase over and over as she dropped her gaze down to her lap. She spent several minutes muttering under her breath before her head shot up again and she turned to Vanitas.

"Trace the connection," she whispered, awestruck. Vanitas huffed; his eyebrow arched as he pursed his lips.

"Huh. You really didn't have it figured out."

"Figured what out?" Kairi demanded. Naminé's face lit up brightly.

"Sora's friends are his power!" she exclaimed giddily. "I can affect the hearts that are connected to Sora's! If I can strengthen those connections, then maybe I can give Sora the power he needs to fight back against the darkness!" Kairi's eyes widened.

"You can do that?" she breathed.

"I… I think so." It was followed by a bubble of excited laughter. "This is it, Kairi! This is how I help Sora!" Kairi leant forwards and took Naminé's hands in hers, squeezing them tightly.

"Naminé, this is amazing!" she exclaimed. "How do we do it?" Her smile fell a little as she became suddenly serious; her brow furrowed and she tightened her grip on Kairi's fingers.

"It'll be easier if I can be near to the people who know Sora," she said. "If we could travel to all the worlds that Sora has visited and find all of the friends he's made, then I can strengthen their connections to him one by one." The smile fell away a little bit more until she was frowning completely. Her eyes met Kairi's, and the excitement had melted away to concern. "It would take time-"

"It's worth if it you think it will help," Kairi countered. Naminé nodded firmly.

"I know it will. It has to."

"Then that's what we'll do," Kairi said. "Whatever Luxu's planning, he needs the shard of Sora's heart to do it. We're in a stalemate until then. As long as I stay away from him, we have all the time we need." Naminé hesitated before nodding slowly.

"So I'm guessing this means you'll want to regroup with the other Guardians," Vanitas said quietly. Kairi's stomach plummeted.

"You should come with us," Kairi said. "Everyone must have cooled off by now – I'm sure they'd listen to us if we tried to just explain it to them." Vanitas remained unconvinced.

"I think I'll just to myself until you're ready for the final showdown," he answered, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

"You shouldn't have to hide from them," Kairi countered. "At least give them a chance. If it doesn't go well, then… I won't stop you if you want to hide out somewhere safe." He rolled his eyes and pulled himself to his feet.

"I don't need your concern, princess. My strength is back-"

"Most of your strength-"

"I can look out for myself." He made to skirt back around the sofa and Kairi reached out, grabbing his wrist and holding it tightly. Golden eyes narrowed as he glanced down at her.

"Please, Vanitas," she said. She squeezed his wrist tightly. "Give them another chance. For me." He seemed to be fighting a snarl, judging by the errant twitching of his lips. He tore his gaze away from Kairi to glance at Naminé before he finally rolled his eyes, defeated.

"Fine," he hissed with obvious reluctance. Kairi let go then and Vanitas snatched his wrist out of her reach. Before she could say anything further he had slipped through the doors and out in to the foyer, and it took every ounce of self-control for Kairi not to follow him. Instead she settled back in to the sofa and tried her best to ignore Naminé's small smile of approval.

BANG

Kairi bolted upright. Her heart leapt to her throat as she glanced blindly around the room. Naminé was slowly pushing herself up, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Vanitas emerged from under his blanket and quickly barrelled over the sofa, keyblade in hand. Over the pounding in her ears Kairi heard frantic footsteps approaching, and as the lounge doors flew open she rolled off the sofa and summoned her keyblade.

Roxas stood in the doorway, a keyblade in each hand. His eyes landed on Kairi and then on Naminé and before finally settling on Vanitas and betrayal quickly turned to rage.

"So it's true," he breathed. "You were both here with him the whole time." Naminé sat up taller with a nervous whimper.

"Roxas, we can explain-"

"Don't," he hissed. "I don't wanna hear it." The front door boomed again, swinging open and closed with an ominous creak. Vanitas slowly straightened, lowering his keyblade with a deep snicker.

"You seem to have a real problem with me, don't you?" he sneered. Kairi turned to glare at him.

"That's not helping," she warned.

"Roxas!" Xion appeared at his shoulder. She reached forwards to tug at his elbow. "Calm down-"

"No, Xion!" he spat. "They lied! Again!"

"How did you find out we were here?" Kairi asked. Olette wrestled her way in to view.

"We're sorry, Kairi!" she said. "We thought they knew!"

"Roxas, please," Naminé said gently. "Let's just calm down so we can talk this out-"

"What is there to talk about?" he asked, and Kairi didn't miss the way his voice cracked and his chin trembled as he lifted it furiously. "You lied to me, Naminé! I thought you were in Arendelle!"

"We were trying to help Vanitas-"

"Vanitas doesn't deserve our help. He chose the darkness!" Naminé flinched.

"Roxas-"

"I was there in Sora's heart when he defeated you," Roxas growled, glaring at Vanitas. "Sora gave you the choice to join us and you refused!"

"What good would it have done?" Vanitas countered fiercely. "If I had turned my back on Xehanort he would have destroyed me."

"You were going to be destroyed anyway-"

"You wouldn't understand," Vanitas snapped. "Everything is so black and white for you Guardians. You don't understand the darkness-"

"I know the darkness!" Roxas hissed. "I spent months of my life working for the Organisation-"

"Roxas, please calm down!" Xion pleaded again.

"You don't know anything!" Vanitas retorted. "The Organisation you worked for meant nothing-" Kairi shot to her feet, planting herself firmly between them.

"That is enough!" she exclaimed. "Everyone needs to calm down-"

"Why? So you can tell us more lies?" Roxas hissed.

"Roxas!" Naminé cried.

"All you've done since you got back was lie to us!" Roxas continued. "Y'know what I think? I think you've given up on Sora, and that's why you're so obsessed with helping Vanitas." The accusation struck like a dagger in her back and Kairi felt her breath stick in her throat.

"Roxas!" Xion scolded. "You don't mean that!"

"Don't I?" he asked. "Why else would she be hiding out here with him instead of sticking with us to try and get Sora back?" Naminé's phone began to ring. Kairi saw her reach out to silence the call.

"Because Vanitas is going to help us get Sora back," Kairi argued, ignoring the buzzing in her own pocket.

"You can't trust him!"

"Yes I can!"

"Guys! Stop!" Xion bellowed. She hauled Roxas out of the doorway and pulled her phone out of her pocket, thrusting it towards Kairi. "Listen! All of our phones are ringing!" The argument stopped dead then as anger was quickly replaced by a mounting feeling of dread. Kairi reached in to her pocket, withdrawing her phone. Roxas banished his keyblades and reached in to his pocket. One by one they answered the call to be answered by a video of a frantic Even.

"-under attack. I repeat: Radiant Garden is under attack. Please, we need help. There are more heartless than I've ever seen before. I have recorded this message and I am sending it to all of your phones. Please come quickly. Radiant Garden is under attack. I repeat: Radiant Garden is under attack..."

Kairi's blood ran cold. Roxas' eyes were wide – his anger replaced by shock. Even's voice continued to loop from all of their phones, echoing ominously around the room.

"We should go." Xion was the first to end the call and she stuffed her phone back in to her pocket. "Now, Roxas. C'mon." She tugged at his elbow and shook him from his reverie. His keyblades disappeared and he turned sharply on his heel.

"You coming?" he asked, glancing between Kairi and Naminé.

"I can get there faster on my glider," Kairi answered.

"I'll stay here," said Naminé. "I'll just get in the way."

"We'll come and get you afterwards," Xion said. Then she placed herself infront of Roxas. "What about you, Vanitas?" Vanitas jumped at the sound of his name, though his surprise was quickly masked by a half-hearted frown.

"I know when I'm not welcome," he said, though it seemed to lack some of his usual bite. Kairi's heart skipped a painful beat.

"Vanitas-"

"We'll try and keep you updated," Xion said with a nod to Naminé. Over her shoulder Roxas drew a sharp breath but Xion quickly span on her heel and placed a finger over his lips. "Don't. Not now. Let's go." And with that she grabbed his wrist and sprinted out of the mansion, dragging him behind her. Hayner, Pence and Olette stood in the foyer, huddled nervously together.

"Kairi, we really are sorry," Olette said softly. Kairi summoned her keyblade.

"Don't worry about it," she said, swallowing the nervous bile in her stomach. She turned to Vanitas. "Keep Naminé safe. I'll come back here when it's all over."

"Don't worry about us," Naminé said. "Keep yourself safe."

"Don't be reckless," Vanitas added, his tone an odd combination of chiding affection. "You're no good to anyone if you throw yourself in to danger." She nodded.

"I know. I'll be all right." Vanitas gave her a hard stare.

"You know this is a trap." She had her suspicions, of course, but it wouldn't stop her.

"I have to help," she said. Vanitas frowned.

"I know," he drawled, sounding very much like he would have liked to try and change her mind. "Just… don't do anything stupid. You're not Sora; don't try and fight like him." She nodded and turned on her heel to flee the mansion. She summoned her glider at a dead sprint and leapt on to it, disappearing in to the lanes between. The unease gnawing at her gut was amplified tenfold by the enshrouding darkness, and it took everything she had to remain focused on her destination. Somewhere in the darkness she encountered Roxas and Xion's ship, and she deftly swerved around it. At long last Radiant Garden came in to view and she barrelled towards it, dropping down in to the all-too-familiar forecourt near the entrance to Ansem's laboratory.

The heartless were attacking in droves, leaping from every nook and cranny. Kairi leant heavily against the stone wall to survey the chaos below. Somewhere in the distance people were screaming, but all Kairi saw were heartless diving this way and that as they sprang forth from the shadows. Most were making their way towards the heart of the town, disappearing down alleyways and diving between houses, while a small but steady stream were heading in the opposite direction towards the royal gardens. Kairi's stomach tightened at the thought of the heartless racing along the cobblestone path towards her grandmother's cottage.

She took the stairs two at a time in her haste to get to the bottom, and when she crossed paths with her first heartless she cut through it with ease before diving in to the fray. The heartless were quick to turn their attention towards her, leaping with claws and fangs, and after ducking under the first she lashed out with a blast of air that pushed the heartless back. Two small shadows were the first to recover, but as they leapt for Kairi they were destroyed by a wash of fire.

"Kairi!" Axel appeared between two fading heartless. "Get down!" She didn't need to be told twice; she ducked, letting the blast of fire shoot overhead to wipe out the heartless that had been leaping at her back.

"What's happening?" Kairi asked as Axel pulled her back to her feet.

"Heartless," he answered. "More than I've ever seen before."

"Maleficent?"

"Nobody knows, but Riku thinks it might be," he answered. "We're all regrouping at Merlin's. C'mon."

"I can't," she said. "I saw heartless going – look out!" She snared his wrist and pulled him out of the way of a leaping soldier. She fired a ball of light at the heartless' chest and followed up with a slicing blow that cleaved it in half. "I saw heartless going towards my grandma's." Axel beat back two more heartless, sending them flying in to the path of a barrelling large body who was quickly thrown off-course.

"The others are waiting for us-"

"It'll only take a minute," she countered. She threw a shield around them and turned to face him. "Axel, I won't be able to focus unless I know that she's safe. The others don't even know I'm here yet. Let me go make sure she's okay and then I'll meet you at Merlin's-"

"No way," he said, "I'm not letting you go off on your own with this many heartless."

"Then come with me," she said, "but we have to go now."

"Axel!" Roxas came barrelling through the swarm, closely followed by Xion. Axel glanced at them both before looking back to Kairi.

"Get to Merlin's," he ordered. "We'll be right behind you."

"Where are you going?" Xion asked. Roxas quickly intercepted a heartless that had been leaping for her throat.

"We're going to get Kairi's grandma," he answered. "Once she's safe, we'll find you." Roxas nodded firmly, though his eyes flickered from Axel to Kairi uncertainly. After a moment's hesitation his expression hardened and he glanced back to Axel with a decisive nod.

"Got it. C'mon, Xion."

"Stay safe," Xion said before following Roxas back in to the heartless. Axel watched them go for a moment, his shoulders tense, and when he finally lost sight of them he took a deep breath and turned to Kairi.

"Let's go."

Whilst the majority of the heartless had taken off after Roxas and Xion, those that remained were more than ready to surge forwards as soon as the shield came down. Axel retaliated with a spiralling wave of fire that took out several of the smaller shadows. Together they pressed forwards, pushing through the lingering heartless until they could make a break for the royal gardens. The heartless here were fewer, weaker and far easier to ignore; Kairi fought less than a handful as they sprinted through the gardens and along the twisting cobblestone path. They rounded the final bend and skidded to a halt, and Kairi's blood ran cold as she saw her grandmother's cottage.

The heartless on the roof was almost as big as the cottage itself. The enormous beast was hunkered over like a cat waiting to pounce; its blood-red claws kneading the roof while the chains around its wrists and ankles clinked ominously. Its limbs were wrapped in thorny green vines that pierced the heartless' dark flesh before disappearing under a billowing cape of crimson sinew. The creature's beady yellow eyes spotted them and it opened its jagged maw to release a bellowing roar that shook the ground beneath their feet.

And yet the heartless wasn't the reason Kairi's heart lodged itself in her throat. The front gate hung open, swinging slowly backwards and forwards, catching on the heels of her grandmother who lay face down in the dirt. And standing by her head was Luxu with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Well hello there, princess," he greeted, throwing his arms wide to welcome them. "Good to see you." Axel was quick to grab her wrist and he dragged her behind him.

"What did you do?" Axel demanded.

"Poor old grandma got spooked by a couple of heartless," Luxu said, "but she'll be fine."

"Why are the heartless here?" Kairi demanded. "What do you want?"

"We wanted to know where you were," Luxu answered. "We lost track of you after you brought Vanitas back and we couldn't afford to let you out of our sight for too long, seeing as how we still need that shard of Sora's heart you've been looking after."

"So you attack my grandma?!"

"Hey, don't blame us," Luxu retorted with a shrug. "It never would've come to this if you hadn't been hiding out on us." Axel's grip on her arm tightened.

"This is not my fault!" she spat. Luxu only shrugged and folded his arms.

"Right, because nothing ever is, is it?" he asked. "Maybe you're right and this was a bit below the belt, but do you honestly think that what's happening to Sora isn't your fault?"

"Don't listen to him, Kairi!" Axel growled. She twisted her arm until she was able to hold his wrist too, and she squeezed it tightly.

"Don't worry," she said, "I'm not. I won't play your games anymore, Luxu!" Luxu sighed and planted his hands on his hips.

"Well, that's a shame," he said, "because if you don't then I'm going to have to move along to Plan B, and you really don't want me to do that."

"What I want is for you to leave everyone alone!" she shouted. His good eye gleamed.

"Have it your way then." He snapped his fingers and the heartless on the roof bellowed before disappearing. Kairi's heart leapt in to her throat and she tightened her grip on her keyblade. Axel let go of her wrist and stepped in towards her, ready to strike, only to be knocked off his feet by and invisible force. He sailed through the air like a ragdoll before rolling to a halt some distance away. He rolled on to his back with a groan and his hands locked around something unseen as he began gasping for breath. The heartless reappeared then, one of its front paws resting heavily on Axel's chest whilst the other stroked a crimson claw along Axel's cheek.

"Axel!"

"If you want him to live, you'd better come with me," Luxu said. "I'll take you to see Sora, and you and I can talk this out like grown-ups. Or you can stay here, and I'll keep summoning heartless until the heart of this world and everyone in it is lost to the darkness." He flicked his wrist and opened a dark portal; it cast a sickly, purple glow over her grandmother's fallen form. Kairi swallowed thickly.

"I'm not coming with you," she answered. It didn't matter where that portal would take them; she could guarantee that there would be no talking on the other side of it. If she could just free Axel then they could go back to town and warn the others. Worlds had been lost to darkness before, and Sora had brought them back; as long as she could get Riku and the others to safety before that happened, everything would be okay. She turned on her heel and raced towards the heartless, leaping high in to the air and raising her keyblade high overhead.

Luxu chuckled.

"I was hoping you'd do that."

Her blood ran cold as the heartless turned its eyes towards her. Its hind legs lashed out, catching her in the chest and sending her flying backwards, straight in to Luxu's portal.

Aaaaaand we're picking the pace back up again! Poor Kairi – even when she's not sacrificing herself, things still don't go her way. She was ready to stand her ground and everything!

Quick note: I know that you can make choices in the Skein of Severance, and you don't have to play these fights in a particular order. However, I'm using the order that I played in and the order that they occurred in the DLC. In this order, Sora fights against Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas before he fights against Xion and Saix, meaning that Roxas would still have been in Sora's heart when Sora defeated Vanitas.

I would love to know what you thought of today's chapter! Please drop me a review or a DM and let me know how you're feeling. I can't wait to hear from you.

See you next time!