The Grey Ancient

by Ancient2

This is the Kingdom Hearts storyline through Riku's point of view. It's a take on who he is, where did he come from, and 'what' he is. Neither of the Light, nor the Darkness. So then where does he belong?

7. Chapter 7

Hearts That Will Always Be One

Leon and the others had made their way back to Hollow Bastion, using the coordinates Cid had kept locked away in Traverse Town's waterway. It was an easy trip, and it looked like a path had been cleared out for them, most likely the aftermath of Sora. Their world was broken and more in shambles than they could have possibly imagined, only the Castle of Hollow Bastion remained standing strong.

Even so, the place was crawling with Heartless. But not too many strong ones, it would seem that Sora and the others had done a good job taking care of them before they had even arrived.

"Geez, the kid sure did a good job cleaning up the place." Cid commented with a whistle, admiring the near emptiness of the hallways and chambers as they took the lifts up to head over to the castle's library. "Kinda feel sorry for ever doubting him."

"Still." Yuffie replied, looking around as they continued to walk by. "This place is a wreck."

"Yes." Aeris sadly nodded in agreement, a morbid look coming over her eyes. "Our world is nothing like it use to be."

"..."

They all stayed silent for the rest of the way, until they made it to the Library. There, that's where they met the first princesses of heart in the castle. Belle turned around slightly startled by the sudden presence of others in the castle.

"Oh." She gasped with a start, placing a yellow gloved hand over her lips before calming herself and taking a step towards them as she sensed no evil in their hearts. "Hello? Who might you be?"

"Greetings, princess of heart. I am Aeris, these are my companions Leon, Cid, and Yuffie." Aeris said, introducing herself with a slight bow and a hand over her heart, gesturing towards the others in greeting. "We originally came from this world before its fall to darkness, and have been leading the Heartless Resistance ever since. We've come to help Sora in sealing the Keyhole."

"I see, you're friends with Sora. That's good." She sighed in relief, giving them all a big smile. "Well, we're more than happy to have any help we can get. My name is Belle."

"Why are you still here anyway?" Yuffie questioned to her, scratching the side of her head in confusion. "Shouldn't you have returned to your own world by now?"

"Are you being forced to stay here against your will?" Leon asked in subtle concern that his question might ring with truth.

But she shook her head in decline, her face saddened.

"No. We choose to stay to hold the Keyhole at bay." Belle answered. "The darkness is raging deep inside. We've been holding it back, but we can't hold out much longer."

"You have been doing well so far, the Heartless have not been flooding this realm as much as they should be. And I thank you for that." Aeris sincerely gave her gratitude to Belle. "I hope we can do anything of help to ease your burden."

"Thank you, dear Aeris. I-"

"Belle!" Came the roar of the Beast from the other entrance door to the Library from the Entrance Hall.

"Beast!" She happily greeted him at his appearance; however, he couldn't really do the same.

"!" Seeing four strangers so close to Belle with weapons and all, he immediately went on the defensive. Charging at them to get between the four of them and Belle. "(Roar)! Keep away from her!"

"!" Cid, Leon, and Yuffie startled into action as the large Beast in a noble's cape came charging at them at full speed, claws ready for action. On instinct they got ready for battle, while Aeris remained still. Keeping her staff where it was as she saw the Beast as no real harm.

"No." Belle said, getting in between the four of them and the Beast, spreading her arms out to block them. All four battle ready members in the room widen their eyes in alarm and halted their action so as not to hurt her. The Beast grinding his charge to halt as she got between him and the supposed threat.

"Belle?"

"No, Beast, don't." She insisted, walking up to him and placing her hands on his chest to calm him down. "These are friends of Sora's. They've come to help."

"(Low grumble, softly turning into a purr) I see..." The Beast calmed himself at the news, looking over Belle to their four guest in silent apology. She in turn also turned around to face the other four by the Beast's side. "You're a little late though. Sora had just entered the Dark Depths with the others to seal the Keyhole. I don't know how much help we are to him now."

"We can still clear a path for him. If you'll take us there." Leon suggested, hoping that the Beast would take him up on his offer. The Beast seem more as a guard for the princesses of heart, mostly Belle. He must have been quite powerful to survive this long fighting off the Heartless and protecting the princesses on his own for this long. It would be foolish not to have him on their side, let alone get on his bad side.

"I can take you there." Beast said, accepting to guide them there. "The other five princesses of heart are already holding off the darkness in the Grand Hall."

"The other five? Then why are you all here on your own, Belle?" Aeris question to the princess.

"I came here in the hopes of finding an answer from these books." Belle replied walking back over to the bookshelf she was at before, rubbing her hand along the spine of a few of the books. "So many books, but not one on how to banish the darkness. Maybe it's hopeless..."

"It's never truly hopeless." Aeris answered back to her, moving to stand beside Belle by the bookshelf. "You just have to find the answer. But this is too much of a search for one person to do on their own. I'll help you look once we've helped Sora."

"(Gasp) Thank you, Aeris." Belle smiled at her, the hope slowly returning to her.

"Not at all. I've always had a fondness of books."

"As have I." Belle admitted in agreement, before turning back to the Beast. "Beast, there's not much time to lose. Take them to Sora and the others, quick."

"Right."

"Thank you, Beast."

"Mm," Beast grumble at Belle with a slight purr, there was a softness in his eyes before he returned his attention to the others. "Let's go."

"We'll be back soon, Belle." Aeris assured to Belle before heading out the door to the Entrance Hall.

From there, the Beast quickly lead them up the Lifts, up the High Tower, and towards the Castle's Chapel, charging through the remaining Heartless like a bull and clawing them down.

"Whoa, remind me not to get on that guy's bad side." Cid commented as he admired the Beast after work.

"And to think we were almost gonna have to fight him." Yuffie added in. "That's insane."

"Well that was then and this is now. Let's focus on the situation at hand." Leon said, silently tempted in wanting the chance of actually fighting the Beast in a match at least once. Leon had the feeling that he would probably be one of his greatest challenges he would have had so far.

"Come. We're almost to the Grand Hall." The Beast called out to them as they were lagging behind.

"The Grand Hall?" Yuffie questioned.

"That is where the Keyhole is." Beast answered before leading them down the path to the Chapel where the five princesses of heart were staying. They all turned at his entrance with the others. "Ladies."

"Beast. You came just in time." Alice greeted him, slightly approaching him as she got a look at the four other new comers. "Are these the presences we sensed around Belle?"

"They're friends of Sora." Beast said after nodding in answer.

"The darkness is pouring through the Keyhole. Sora had already left to seal it with the others." Jasmine explained in turn what was going on.

"It's all we can do just to hold the darkness back." Alice answered, placing a hand on her cheek in worry. "Oh I hope Sora will be able to seal the Keyhole soon."

"I don't know how long we can manage even at that." Snow White tiredly admitted, exhausted like the rest of the princesses at having to hold off the darkness for so long. "In the meantime, we'll do what we can too. But he must hurry. Our strength is running out."

"We must close the Keyhole before it's too late."

"Can you feel the immense power flowing from the Keyhole?" Jasmine questioned aloud.

"I believe Sora is in the process of fighting a Behemoth Heartless." Aeris commented, trying to sense as well what Jasmine was talking about. "The darkness is enormous. But I think Sora can handle it."

"Where's Ansem?" Leon questioned, remembering Sora's story of what had happened on Hollow Bastion, looking around on guard in case of any surprise attack.

"Gone." Cinderella answered.

"When the Keyhole appeared, darkness poured out of it." Aurora explained. "It swallowed Ansem, and he disappeared."

"Though Ansem is gone, the flood of darkness hasn't stopped." Cinderella commented. "We're working together to hold it back."

"I cannot forget the look on his face." Aurora said in slight disturbance and fear, Cinderella placed an arm around hers to comfort her. "As the darkness engulfed him, he was smiling."

"Do you think he'll be back?" Leon questioned, wanting to be sensitive to the girls' situation but needed to get some answers.

"I don't think Ansem will ever return." Cinderella answered, rubbing Aurora's arm until she felt better again. Once she had calmed down, Cinderella had returned to giving Aurora her space again.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Aeris asked in concern, ready to do a Curaga at the word.

"No." Aurora answered, composing herself as a proper lady once she had calmed down, holding her hands in front of her. "Ansem has ignored us since the Keyhole appeared."

"!"

Suddenly they all heard the boom as Sora had taken down the Behemoth Heartless deep in the Dark Depths.

"He has cleared the path to the Keyhole." Aeris announced in growing excitement.

"Let's go." Leon said, rushing through the Chapel to the Grand Hall, the others along with the princesses of heart soon following after. They had walked up the stairs towards the grand Keyhole that laid on the top floor. Leon couldn't believe it, it was all almost over. "Sora. You did it."

He didn't expect Sora to hear him in there, but Sora's head soon popped out of the dark Depths just at the sound of his voice. He had a quirked eyebrow as if he didn't believe he was hearing right at first. But then his eyes widened in surprise as he soon found out that Leon was there along with the rest of them.

"Leon?" Sora quirked in confusion at his presence, coming out of the dark Depths all the way to walk up to them, halting in his process of sealing the Keyhole. The room suddenly burst in applause. The princesses of heart cheered for Sora as they surround him for a hug, almost tackling him off his feet. "Whoa!"

"Sora, you did it." Leon congratulated him again, giving him a high-five with a smirk.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of these princesses!" Sora said, humbly giving credits to the ones that helped hold down the fort for him until his return. But that's when the sudden appearance of the four of them was brought back to his attention again. "What are you guys doing here?"

Yuffie was sitting on top of the railing with her back turned to Sora, next to Cid who was still facing the other way but was leaning up against the railings instead. While Leon and Aeris stood to face Sora, with all this almost over this would probably be their last goodbye to him. Yuffie was never good with goodbyes, and neither was Cid, he tended to turn into a closet sap.

"We came in Cid's ship." Yuffie answer turn her head back to look at Sora as she answered, only to quickly turned it back around, unable to face him for too long. Looking at him made this all too real.

"This is our childhood home." Aeris replied in her own subtle explanation. "We wanted to see it again."

"It's in worse shape than I feared." Leon sadly commented in his normal tone. "It use to be so peaceful..."

"Don't worry." Aeris assured to both Sora and Leon. "If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island."

"Really?" Sora said in excitement, which Aeris happily nodded in conferment.

"But, it also means goodbye." Yuffie sadly pointed out, lowering her head with her back turned to Sora.

"?" Sora looked at her in confusion, unable to answer Aeris answered for Yuffie in her stead.

"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separated again."

"Everyone will go back to where they came from."

"Then I'll visit you guys with the Gummi ship." Sora easily said in solution, unable to accept goodbye yet.

"It's not that simple." Leon sighed out, crossing his arms. "

"Before all this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right?" Yuffie pointed out, looking over her shoulder at Sora.

"Because the world was isolated." Aeris continued, looking up to the sky. "Impassable walls divided them."

"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls."

"Which means Gummi ships will be useless." Leon summed up for him in conclusion.

"Well, go on and tell him you're sad." Yuffie said over to Cid, elbowing his arm as his other hand was scratching the back of his head as he tried to hold off his emotions. "C'mon, Cid."

"Sad?! Why would I be sad?" Cid lamely said, covering his tracks by acting tough. "Right, Leon?"

"..." Leon just remained quiet, leaving him hanging a little.

"So you're saying we'll never...?" Sora said, realizing what all this would mean but was still unable to get the words to come out of his mouth. It was like putting it in words made it all too real.

"..." They all stayed silent, lowering their heads in answer. It was always hard saying goodbye. Aeris could honestly still go from world to world due to her Ancient blood, but she wouldn't abuse the power, nor would she get Sora's hopes up like that.

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." Leon said to Sora to reassure him.

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." Aeris assured to Sora, placing a hand over her heart.

"Besides, I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to." Yuffie teased, waving Sora off with her hand.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora pouted over to Yuffie.

"Sora!" Donald quacked at him over at the entrance to the Dark Depths with Goofy.

"Hurry!" Goofy waved him over. "Come and close the Keyhole!"

"Sora, good luck." Leon said to him for one last pep talk.

Nodding at his blessing with a thanks, Sora ran off back to Donald and Goofy, going back into the Dark Depths and closing up the Keyhole. Once he had returned, the princesses had sighed in relief, easing up their guard as they no longer had to fight off the darkness.

"Thank you, Sora." Alice was the first to greet him at his return. "I think the darkness has begun to weaken."

"But I can feel a powerful darkness somewhere far away." Jasmine commented, warning him that it was not over yet.

"It's the heart of the darkness." Aurora said, getting more of a feel of what Jasmine was sensing far off in the distance. "It must be where Ansem went."

"Then we'll take the Gummi ship and deal with both Ansem and the Heartless." Sora said to them with determination.

"A worthy answer, Keyblade master." Cinderella smiled at him in admiration. "We offer this power to aid your battle."

Combining their powers, the princesses of heart had evolved Sora's Fire spell to a more powerful Firaga from Fira.

"Sora, your courage can bring back our worlds." Snow White assured to him in encouragement.

"Once the darkness is gone, all should return to its original state." Aurora added in.

"Kairi will be back on the island?" Sora nervous asked, worried that she might return to her original world-home in Radiant Garden. But Cinderella could only smile with a small giggle, thinking how cute young love was.

"Most certainly. And you should be, too."

"I can't go home 'til I find Riku and the king." Sora replied, making Aeris smile a little at his answer.

"Hm, you should rest before you go." Aeris suggested to Sora, passing him by as she made her way out of the Chapel and back to the Library where Belle was. "I will stay and translate the latest Ansem Report you have given me while I'm here. In the mean time, I will also look through the Library with Belle for more clues left behind."

"I'll escort you back." Beast offered, holding the door open for her. "Just to make sure you get there alright."

"Thank you, Beast." Aeris gave him a bow with a hand over her heart in gratitude.

"Wait. Where are we suppose to sleep here?" Sora questioned at her logic, the place was swarming with Heartless, regardless if they were weak minor ones now. He hadn't ran into a room once since he was here.

"It's a castle, Sora. There are rooms everywhere." Aeris commented as she continued to walk out. "You just have to know which Towers to look in."

*** Later that Evening ***

The day was cutting close into Twilight, Belle and Aeris had gone from book to book and many shelves, and still they could find nothing. They sat together on the lower stairs, a pile of books stacking their way on each left side of them and made its way up the stairs. Beast stayed on guard for them, resting on one of the chairs on the upper floor while taking a cat nap. The girls kept busy, skimming from book to book, searching for clues. The orange golden hue of the sun was shining through the windows and lighting up their books with an orange glow.

"Have you had any luck finding anything, Aeris?"

"Nothing. There's nothing in these pages." Aeris sighed out, shutting the book she was currently skimming through with a 'thump'.

"(Sigh) I can't believe we haven't found anything yet." Belle sighed out, getting up from her spot on the stairs and walking under them to stare at the painted portrait of Ansem the Wise resting on the wall below the stairway. "There must have been something left behind about his plans of releasing the Heartless. No one could come up with something that evil on the spot. He must have been planning something like this for years, and left some form of trail behind. He looks so normal in this painting, how could someone like that turn out to be so evil?"

"I know not of the Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, that you have met. But Ansem the Wise was not like the man you have describe." Aeris said, coming over to stand by Belle to look upon the portrait as well. "He was a great man, once. A wise king. He had been researching the Heartless before our world had fallen into darkness, but I fear he might have lost his heart to them in the process."

"What was he hoping to accomplish by doing all this?"

"He was hoping to protect his people. At least... that's what I thought he was doing." Aeris commented before she notice the sudden difference of wall coloring around the edges of the painting's frame. "Wait... There's something behind here."

"?" Belle watched as Aeris crossed the distance over to the painting, carefully gripping the sides of the frame and gently pulling the painting off the wall to lean against the wall on the floor to the side. Behind the painting was wall painting that had not been bleached by the years of sunlight and a secret wall compartment. "!"

"There's something behind here." Aeris said, trying to pull the compartment open only to be halted by a lock. "There's some form of locking mechanism here. I can't open it."

"Hmm, perhaps he left some form of clue for the lock combination, or a key near by." Belle commented, placing a finger under her chin as she thought. "Either way it's gonna take us time to go through either of those plans."

"Yes, well, or we could use some muscle power." Aeris commented, pointing a finger up towards the top floor where Beast was napping. His left ear flickered and twitched as if hearing them talking about him in his sleep.

"Beast." Belle gently called out to him so as not to startle him awake as the ladies made their way back up the stairs to him. He opened one eye at her call to him, before it slowly closed as he purred himself awake with both eyes, still clouded with sleepiness.

"Belle?" He said, holding back a yawn. "Are you two done? The sun will be setting soon, you should get some rest."

"Soon," she promised him. "But we need your help right now. We can't seem to open a lock."

"(Gentle grumble) Leave it to me." Beast said, getting back on his feet and walking down the stairs towards where the ladies were directing him. Once there he gently gave it a moment to gauge how much power it would take to open the locked door while not damaging whatever it was inside. Finding the right charge, he swiftly punched his fist into the compartment, breaking the door open and leaving a hole in it as the door loosely swung open on its hinges.

"Thank you, Beast. We'll be done soon." Belle said, giving him a hug before he tiredly made his way back up the stairs to his chair.

Quickly they made their way to opening the door all the way, using as much of the sunlight as they could to see what was inside. Belle was sort of confused while Aeris's eyes flickered with a spark as if they had hit the jackpot.

"Pages?"

"Not just any pages, Ansem's Reports." Aeris said with a content smile at their find. Reaching in to the compartment, she gently pulled all the pages out, bringing them in to the light for the both of them to see. "I believe this might be all of the rest of his reports he wrote. Hmm, he tends to write his research in coding so it'll take me some time to translate it."

"Allow me to help." Belle volunteered with a smile and a half-raised hand. "I'm rather good at decoding. Comes from my love of books."

"Hm, that would be rather helpful. Thank you, Belle. With you also on the job, this should take less time than usual."

And so they both got to work, Belle had soon got the knack of Ansem's coding style and was already translating her first report before the sun hit the horizon. Aeris had already grown accustom to Ansem's style and was already finishing up her second report. What she had discovered so far from Ansem's research was not looking well and was making her see her king in a new light.

"Belle, look at this." Aeris said, reading Ansem's Report aloud.

'Ansem Report 2: It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments.

'-Extract the darkness from a person's heart.

'-Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.

'-Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

'The experiment caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.

'Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness... What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?'

"!" Belle had placed her hand over her mouth as her eyes widened in shock horror as the report was read to her. "He experimented on his people for the sake of toying with darkness in people's heart."

"No, it's much worse." Aeris morbidly said, clinching down on the edges of written translation page of the Report. "He created the Heartless in the process of destroying his people's heart."

"(Gasp)! What a monstrous thing to do!"

"He must have been hiding countless citizens under the castle's basement, all of which were thought to have gone missing. Now we know the only thing missing about them was their hearts."

"(Gasp), This is horrible!"

"It gets much worse..." Aeris said, pulling out her next translated report.

'Ansem Report 4: The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

'I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.

'Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavior principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?

'It's just occurred to me. Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?'

"He was feeding live people to the Heartless just to stave his curiosity?" Belle was disgusted at the notion.

"Yes. So it would seem..." The words even felt like poison coming out of Aeris's mouth.

"I have translated the report that Maleficent had. Maybe this is what had driven her to finding the Keyhole of other worlds." Belle commented before reading out her translated report.

'Ansem Report 5: To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence.

'I had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy. That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?'

"So Ansem the Wise had found the Keyhole to Radiant Garden. The Heartless had accidentally led him there, and he had foolishly opened the Door." Aeris summed up from what she had heard. "That must be how king Mickey was able to come here, since the Door wasn't locked. The meteor shower must have been all the hearts lost from the experiment, escaping from the Door, once it had been open, from the Realm of Darkness."

"It appears so. But he has so much more to say."

"Let's keep translating. We only have two more to go."

"Alright, let's see if we can finish this before the sun goes down." Belle suggested, giving them the challenge spark to try and beat the sun. It was a close call, the purple in the sky was starting to give way to the dark blue starry sky as the sun barely peeked over the horizon anymore. "It's done..."

"What does your's say?" Aeris asked, staying silent as Belle read hers aloud.

'Report 6: A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observation of the Heartless.

'The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core. That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too- the heart of this world. There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.

'The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?'

"Plunge it into darkness..." Aeris answered aloud Ansem's question to herself. That's what the Heartless purpose seemed to be so far: disrupt the flow of lifestream on a planet, and devour its hearts until there is nothing left but darkness.

"What about you? What does yours say?" Belle asked, waiting to hear what the last report had to say.

'Report 10: Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts they seek to return to a greater heart.

'Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing.

'My path is set. I shall see out the wielder of the keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.'

"This must be when he lost his body. That's why he needed Riku's body so bad, in order to return to this realm." Belle concluded aloud, halting in her explanation as she saw how Aeris's fists clinched on to the paper. "Aeris, are you alright?"

"No. I am not alright." Aeris honestly admitted, taking a long breath before standing up from her seat.

"Is there more?"

"There are other translations, if you would like to read them. But Report 8 is still missing somewhere." Aeris answered, walking over to the shelf which held the supplies.

"Maybe one of Maleficent's Dark Council members have it." Belle suggested, going off what she had learned so far from her stay in the castle in between her dormant state. "Sora had gathered an Ansem Report from Maleficent and each of the Dark Council he has defeated so far. Maybe one of the last members have it."

"Hades is the last member. Sora has defeated all of them, but him. And he's most likely going to be a hard one."

"Hm, yes. What with his reputation and all."

"Thank you, Belle, you have been of most help to me. Please, retire for the night, you have earned it."

"What about you?" She asked in concern.

"I will stay a little longer, to make copies of the reports." She replied, giving Belle a small smile of reassurance before heading from the shelves after pulling out some blank pages to begin writing on and staking up the translated reports. "Don't worry. The copying is the easiest part. I will be done in no time."

"Alright, try not to stay up too long." Belle reluctantly complied heading back up the stairs with her pile of books to return them to their shelves and retrieve Beast. "Goodnight, Aeris."

"Good night, Belle. See you in the morning."

Aeris had began her copying and was soon done with the whole thing before Belle even left the Library with Beast. Belle had been polite to put away her books along with Aeris's before waking up Beast and heading out to the tower where the living quarters were. And that left Aeris all alone with her thoughts with nothing else to distract her. The gentle dim of the Library's lights replaced the sun's warm glow as the starlight lit up the night sky. They shined brightly in the night, halted by no light pollution as the only light came from the castle in this world.

It was such a sad feeling. Her world, that was once brimming with life was now a horrible complexion of what it once was. Silenced with its handful of a population, isolated as one of its grand buildings only remained standing. And it was the building where all of her world's destruction was produced and raised in. It made her skin crawl just being in this place now.

The royal castle, that had once stood proud. The place that she had wished to go in one day to visit with her family, was now the place she wished to be anywhere but in there.

"..." She turned back to the portrait, still leaning on the wall. Looking at the man in the painting with such contempt. Why had he done it? Why had he thrown away his people's respect for this fools' quest? His people loved him, they looked up to him, and he threw it all away in the pursuit of darkness. She herself had admiration for the man, but now knowing the truth that he was the cause of her world's downfall she couldn't help but hate him. She couldn't stand looking at him, even if it was a painting. Getting up from her seat, she roughly took the portrait, ready to smash it by throwing it on the floor.

But...

As she was holding it above her head a stray thought had run across her mind.

'Would she be feeling the same way if it was Sephiroth or one of her children in his shoes?'

"..." She couldn't do it... Even after all this man has done in his warped pursuit of knowledge she could not bring herself to truly hate him. It went against her nature. And besides... all of her family had strayed to the power of darkness, all people deserved a second chance to find their way back to the light, including him. Calming down once again, she gently brought the painting back down from over her head and placed it back down again. Putting the original reports back in the compartment, now useless with a broken lock and a hole in its door, she closed it and placed the portrait back in its original spot. Leaving things the way it was, and retiring for the night...

*** The next morning ***

"Morning, Aeris." Sora greeted her as he met up with her with the others back in the castle's library. "Were you able to decode Ansem's Report?"

"Yes. With the help of Belle, it is done." Aeris said, handing him over a copy of the translation. "Read them during your free time when you can. You may be surprised at what you find out. But there is still one report missing."

"There's a lot more reports here than the one I handed you." Sora pointed out, quirking his eyebrow as he flapped the pages in his hand.

"We found the remaining part of Ansem's report in the library. We had only read a part of the report, so we hadn't noticed his true identity." Aeris explained, summing up most of the report for the three of them. "Long ago, when the world was attacked by darkness... people believed that the philosopher Ansem died to protect the people in the battle against the Heartless. But in reality, Ansem was the one who created the Heartless. During his research on the Heartless, he lost his heart to darkness. And his body as well."

"That's why he took Riku's body?!" Sora said in alarmed, determined to head out to the Heartless world and get Riku back from Ansem's clutches. "All right, let's go! I'm gonna get Ansem and the Heartless all at once! And then everything will return to the way it should be!"

"Yeah!" "A-hyuck!" Donald quacked and Goofy cheered in agreement, practically ready to run out of the Library with Sora.

"Hold on a moment." Aeris said, making Sora halt in his steps and Goofy and Donald to crash into him and topple over. It was a comical trinity, but this was no time to laugh. "I know you're eager to go and rescue Riku. But be warned that the Heartless there will be stronger than any of which you have come across so far. This is their home base, and you must be prepared for it. Before going, please consider training a little on the other worlds, the Heartless must still be a little stronger than what they were before."

"I can't lag around and slack off, Riku needs me!"

"Yes, Riku needs you." Aeris agreed, happy that Sora was so serious about rescuing his friend, her son... "But Riku also needs you to be strong enough 'to' reach him. You're no good to him defeated before you even get there."

"..."

"Take a day or two at least for training and prepping. Enter a tournament, I hear three more have open up recently." Aeris suggested. "Fight some Heartless, I can sense two powerful Heartless taking residence on Agrahbah and Neverland."

"How do you know that?"

"Never mind that. You should just focus on taking care of them and getting stronger for the battle at hand. There is still time, Sora. Don't waste it."

"Hm, all right, Aeris. We'll take your advice." Sora finally submitted to her request.

"Here, take this... it'll help you along the way." Aeris said, touching her hand to his head as she gave him some of her power. Through her strength she had evolved his Cura to the power of Curaga. "May it cure you when no one else is around."

"Whoa... Thanks Aeris! This magic will definitely come in handy." Sora said with a big grin, sliding his finger along his nose for a second. "Alright, I'll take you up on that training. Besides, since this is gonna be the last time I see everyone again after the worlds close off, I want to say goodbye to all the friends I made on the other worlds."

"Do what you must. And Sora."

"Hm?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks." He said, giving her grin before walking out the Library with Donald and Goofy to head off to their Gummi ship. She smiled at him as he headed out, waving goodbye.

"Why did you do that?" Leon asked her, revealing himself once Sora and the others were gone. Drawing Aeris's attention to him. "Why not rush him over to the Heartless world to get it over with?"

"I will not rush Sora off to his death." Aeris shot back to him, upset that Leon would think that she would be so reckless, especially with the light of a young boy still in his early teens. He was not ready for the things he was about to face, nor should the responsibility have been thrown solely on him. "Sora still needs more time to grow before he faces the darkness in its truest form. There's no hurry... The Door is still closed."

"I'm surprised you're being so 'side quest' about this. I thought you'd want to save Riku right away."

"!" His accusations offended her greatly as she swiftly turned to face him with a stern look, an anger burning in her eyes that she hadn't really aimed at him before. Sometimes on Yuffie when she drops the ball on occasion, but never before on Leon. "Of course I want to rescue my son. I want to drag him out of the darkness myself and hold him in my arms until the pain has gone away. But... that is not the way."

"..."

"It would seem that destiny has another will for Riku than my own." Aeris sadly came to an acceptance of that. "I may not like it, but... Riku has a purpose on the other side. He was meant to help king Mickey in the Realm of Darkness. My boy is no longer solely a being of light, he has become both."

"Aeris, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. You meant no harm." She smiled at him again, showing him that there was no hard feelings. But this she stretched her arms behind her back and stretched her back and legs onto her tippy-toes before holding her hands in front of her and walking out of the library again back to her room.. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Again? But you've just woken up? How long to plan to keep putting yourself in this comatose state?"

"..." Aeris halted in her steps just in front of the door to the Entrance Hall, before looking over her shoulder back at Leon to answer him. "Until my son hears my call."

*** Some time later ***

Sora had done good on his word by taking Aeris's advice. Heading back to the Olympus Coliseum to participate in the elite tournaments. Starting with the Gold Match where he faced off with an Ice Titan on his own. Aeris had watched from the bleachers along with the others in support, finally stepping foot on Olympus Coliseum after she swore not to as long as Sephiroth was there. But since Sora was already doing so much to save what little family she had left without even knowing, she had thought it was the least she could do to show her support for his progress.

Sora had been traveling to the other worlds with Donald and Goofy during the day, fighting Heartless and gathering items they had missed before. And at night they had made their way to Olympus Coliseum to fight in the elite tournaments at nightfall. Well, Sora did, Donald and Goofy had sat this one out with them on the bleachers like Sora had asked. So here he was, fighting an Ice Titan on his own.

Aeris had watched with the others as the Titan had climbed the Coliseum wall and entered the arena like it was nothing. His size was intimidating, and his power immense. The frost from his body created a fog in the area that coated over the night sky. The flames from the Coliseum torches being the only light.

The Titan had shot many ice spears at Sora, some of which he blocked and reflected back at the titans. Some of which he wasn't able to block in time. Having no choice but to run as the Titan raised up stalagmite icebergs only to stomp around, creating massive shock waves that broke off its legs only for more to grow back.

"Sora!" Donald quaked out to him as he noticed that he had taken a hit too many.

"Come back if you're not ready for this!" Goofy suggested, always saying that Sora could throw in the towel if this opponent was too much for him.

This only made Sora twitch an eyebrow as he chose to ignore them and healed himself during the break in attacks. He had already figured out the Titan's pattern, he just needed to keep reflecting its ice shards right back at 'em and dodge its stalagmite attacks until the Titan literally defeated itself. Since he couldn't really get close to the Titian, let alone do any real damage by himself on the legs, he would have to rely on the Titan's own attacks.

Which was working, he had knocked enough sense out of the Titan with its own ice shards to make it fall onto its knee and bring its head to a more jump-able level. Taking the chance while it was tired out, Sora rushed over to the Titan and started attacking at its head, which proved to be its most vulnerable spot.

"Come on!" Sora huffed getting a good whack at its face before it started to rise on its legs again.

"Whoo-hoo! Way to go, Sora!" Yuffie cheered with a hoot and rolling fist in the air. "That's what I'm talking about."

"Yes. Although, his opponent seems a little more angry now." Leon commented as the Ice Titan started spraying out breaths of frost now that froze the floor.

Sora would have to dodge that now as well, while continuing to reflect the Titan's ice shard attacks back at it. He was tiring out the Titan, soon it had found itself on its knee again with one hand holding it up.

"Alright, Sora! You got 'em on the run!" Goofy cheered as well, seeing that Sora might actually win this one.

"Defense!" Sora continued attacking at its head while he still could, casting a Wind spell on himself to boost his defenses while the Titan was still rising back on its feet. Only to rush back away from the Titan as not only ice shards were continuously being shot at him but giant balls of ice were being dropped from above him. "Oh c'mon! Ugh."

He grunted out as one of the ice balls got the back of him as he was trying to get away, still doing a good amount of damage to him.

"Be careful, Sora." Aeris said, placing a hand over her heart as she prayed for his well being.

The Titan was starting to calm down, enough for Sora to get a chance to heal himself. It was harder getting the ice shards to reflect back at the Titan while dodging the other attacks, but Sora was somehow still managing to pull it off. The Titan was just getting more desperate as Sora was getting it at the end of its ropes.

"C'mon, kid, just a little more." Cid said at the edge of his seat, working on a bag of popcorn as Sora kept going from barely holding on to getting the Titan on its toes.

But just as Sora was floating over and away from a blast of frost, he had touched down back on the ground just in time to reflect an swarm of ice shards heading his way right back at the Titan. The blow was a finishing one. The ice shards shot back at the Ice Titan's head, knocking him out of his sense as he rolled around on his weight. Screeching with a roar, it gripped its head as if it had a massive brain freeze before shrinking down in sizes and running off before Sora could stomp it with his foot.

"Take that!" Sora taunted in victory, resting his Keyblade on his shoulder.

"Sora!" Donald cheered as he ran up to him along with Goofy to give him a victory.

"Way ta go!" Goofy said, giving a fist pump in the air as he jumped up and down with Sora and Donald in his arms.

"So, Sora, you've defeated one of the big elite tournaments. What are you gonna do next?" Aeris asked.

"Well, I guess I could go to Neverland and take care of that Heartless you were talking about." Sora said, rubbing his cheek with his finger as he soaked in the sweet feeling of victory. "Then I'll go over to Agrahbah. I'll come back for the other tournaments once I've rested for the rest of the day, they're only at night anyway."

"Hmm, sounds like you have a long day ahead of you."

"Yeah, I can't wait." Sora said in excitement, doing fists pumps. "Well, I'm off."

"Aren't you going to rest?" Yuffie asked, surprised that he was off for his next fight so soon after a tough one like that.

"No rest for the wicked, I always say." Sora said over his shoulder to her with a cheeky grin as he walked out of the Coliseum. "There's Heartless that need to be taken care of, and I'm the guy to do it."

"He sure if getting more confidence. Hope he doesn't get too full of himself." Yuffie huffed, crossing her arms together as she puffed out her cheeks.

"He'll be fine. He's just getting himself pumped up." Aeris assured to her.

"Well, we've got a day until the next elite tournaments." Cid pointed out. "What do you guys wanna do?"

"Aside from hitting the hay after this. I think I'm gonna participate in the minor tournaments tomorrow morning until then. It's a good way to work the muscle." Yuffie answered before leaning to the side to look over at Leon. "Hey, Leon, you in?"

"Hm, sure. That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Leon said with smirk, already looking forward to letting loose in the morning, before his worries turned him back to the other members of his party, especially the one that didn't want to come here for so long. "Will you be alright, Aeris?"

"Yes. I'll be fine..."

"..." Somehow he didn't fully believe her.

"I'm just going to stay and watch you from the bleachers with Cid, cheer you guys on all the way. And maybe hang out in the Gummi ship in between those times."

"I'm shocked you won't be going shopping on your 'to do list' here." Yuffie commented with a slight tease.

"Hmm, I might. The clothes here did seem rather cute." Aeris contemplated, looking up with a finger tapping on her chin as she thought it through. She had heard the city of Thebes had a great market from the brochures the Coliseum had hanging up at the Entrance. Getting some shopping done in a new setting could make this trip worth its while.

"Ugh, Aeris, this is the Olympus Coliseum. You're suppose to fight here, not shop." Yuffie pouted, dropping the upper half of her body in her deflation. "You should fight with us in the tournaments, at least once."

"We all have out own ways, Yuffie. This is just going to be 'my' way while I'm here." Aeris shot back. "So, are we renting rooms at the Inn or are we camping out in the Gummi ship?"

"We've got enough to rent two rooms at the Inn. And we can probably make that up with our winnings from the tournaments." Leon informed her.

"All right, it's like we're going on a mini-vacation!" Yuffie cheered bouncing in the air.

"Hey, I have to go to the Ladies Room. Why don't you guys head on over to the Coliseum exit and I'll meet you there."

"Can't you hold it 'til we get to the Inn?" Cid pondered, not really liking Aeris going off on her own.

"I'd rather not, thank you."

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright on your own?" Leon asked.

"I'll be fine." Aeris sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance at their over worrying. "Last I checked toilets haven't attacked anyone yet."

Sometimes it would frustrate her how her friends would over protect her like she was some kind of wall flower. She wasn't a fragile little thing, sometimes they would forget that because of her looks. Although she had been a flowergirl before the fall of their world, she was still a force to be reckoned with.

But, she didn't feel like proving them wrong, so she would let this one go. Aeris knew when to chose her battles, and this wasn't one of them. If she had fought every person that underestimated her, she would have tired herself out nearly to death from all the battles. Besides, she could not hold their worries against them, they just cared about her well being a lot.

Absent mindedly getting her business done, she exited the stall to wash her hands at the sink. While the water was running she felt a breeze brush passed as a shadow engulfed her from behind. From her peripheral vision she could see something tall and dark reflecting in the mirror standing directly behind her.

"This is the women's restroom, you know." Aeris tiredly pointed out, already knowing who it was. Said person ignored her point out to his obvious social blunder to common etiquette, engulfing her smaller form to his lean, powerful front as he pushed her further into the sink. His hands brushing along her arms as he leaned forward into her neck.

"What a surprise it is to have you come to me. How unlike you, flowergirl." Sephiroth said into her neck as he rubbed his nose deliciously along the side of it, getting a whiff of her natural lily scent. "Have you taken leave to the call of the Coliseum?"

"Sadly, I did not come here for you, or to fight." She blandly said, turning off the sink with aloof, giving no signs that his actions were affecting her. "I came here to support a young friend of mine who's made it to the big leagues."

"Are you talking about the boy that took out a Titan tonight?" Sephiroth had quirked an eyebrow, trying to remember the gossip that was going around the Coliseum about a new up-comer that had taken down the Ice Titan on his own. From what he heard the boy was young, still early in his teens. He found her attachment to the young adorable, making him chuckle as he wrapped his arms around her upper arms. "My, what a fondness you have for children. It makes you scream of 'motherhood'."

"Can we talk somewhere else?" She shot over at him from the corner of her eyes. "I'd rather not have someone come in here thinking you're a pervert."

"..." Quiet frankly Sephiroth didn't care what other people think, they were weak fools easy to chop down. But, since the little Ancient was being so cooperative, he would humor her. "As you wish."

Following her out after she had dried her hands, he had continued his nonchalant pace behind as she led him through the tunnel, before stopping right in front of the opening to one of the Coliseum Arenas. Swiftly turning around to face him.

"What exactly do you want from me?" Aeris shot at him, quickly cutting to the point.

"?" His eyes widen a little in surprise that she wasn't playing her usual game of chase. But he would live up to the challenge. With a smirk he stepped closer to cut the distance between them. "You know what I want."

"Ugh, I didn't mean that." Aeris huffed in frustration, pushing at his chest to return the distance lost. "You go through a lot of trouble seeking me out, no matter where I am. That seems like a lot of your time wasted on something that doesn't have to do with Cloud or the Darkness. Why do you bother coming to me when you don't remember me? You don't even remember who you are."

"..." She did have a point, he did go a lot out of his way just to find her again. He had kept on shooting out his senses to the worlds in the hopes of picking her light up from wherever she was hiding, just to rush to her side the moment she messed up. He had invested a lot of his time and energy on her, more so than what would be considered normal curiosity. Why is that? It couldn't just simply be lust for the flesh, if he truly wanted it he could have gotten it easily somewhere else. So why her? What is it about her that intrigues him so much to seek her out for all these years? "?"

She had stepped forward to cut the distance between them again, just to poke one of her dainty fingers at where his heart should be. The other hand resting on her hip in a fist as she took on a pose that reminded him of a pouting child.

"This. This is what keeps bringing you back to me, regardless of your words." She said, having to look up to him due to their height difference. "Even if you fail to remember me, the heart never does."

"..." She was making a lot of notions about the heart, especially since he didn't have one. But if she was living in her own fairytale with her own wishful thinking he would call her bluff, and he would crush it. Gripping her gently in his larger hand that somewhat engulfed hers, he fulled her hand away from his chest. "Such a bold statement from such a small lady. Care to prove your words?"

"Indeed I do." She said, slipping her hand from his grip. Where she held her hands behind her back and cutely swayed a little as she looked up to him with a smile. "How about I prove it to you, on a date?"

"?!" He had to quirk an eyebrow at that. Was she flirting with him? He didn't expect for the tables to turn on him, and so suddenly. She was rather pushy, but cute, as she leaned further into his space.

"Just one date is all I need to get you to see what I mean. It's a rare opportunity to get a date from me, so you shouldn't miss it." She cutely made out her point before leaning back into her space again, her face flushing as she suddenly became shy again. "I'll never forgive you if you ditch. So promise me you'll show up, okay?"

"..." He didn't know what to say, this was all moving so fast for him. One moment he was flirting with her in the bathroom, the next she was the one asking him out on a date.

"Okay." She said, coming up with his answer for him. Leaning up on her tippy-toes of her boots, she reached up to give him a quick peck on the cheek, innocent but sweet. It left a warm after-feel for Sephiroth on the skin, even as she pulled away to run off out of the tunnel for the arena exit. She had stopped, just at the edge of the corner to look back at him, one of her hands shyly resting on the cool wall. "Remember. Tomorrow morning at 10. Meet me at the Town's Center by the Fountain. It's a date."

She gave him one last small smile before disappearing behind the corner, leaving him alone in the darkly lit tunnel.

"..." He simply stared at the spot she once was. Paying no mind to the intruder that made their way to him from out of the shadows.

"Geez Louise, that's some woman you got there, huh?" Hades shot at him from his spot leaning against the wall on his side, before he burst into a dark flame to slitter his way over to Sephiroth's side. But Sephiroth didn't budge at his sudden appearance or at his close proximity as Hades addressed him. "But she is quite the looker there, too bad you're such a stiff."

"..." Even though he called him a stiff, which was true since he still hadn't moved. He was still looking at where Aeris was last at, proving to Hades that he was hooked.

"I just find it funny that the great Sephiroth, master of the darkness, is getting so worked up about some gal." Hades huffed out with a roll of his eyes as the flame on his head continued to burn chaotically. This guy that was in front of him had blatantly ignored all the beauties in front of him, along with the ones that practically threw themselves at his feet, as if their existence held no matter on his part. Only for him to throw all that under the water for one woman. A strange woman at that, whom had a power to her that Hades couldn't exactly pin-point. "What makes her so different than all the other ones in the worlds?"

"..."

"Perhaps I should find out for myself," Hades huffed before taking a teasing, sleazy tone. "Besides, she has all the curves on her that I wouldn't mind seeing up close for myself. -!"

Before Hades knew it, Sephiroth had drawn Masamune and had quickly rested its point on Hades' throat. Hades had to jump back a little from the blade actually piercing as Sephiroth held out his arm all the way to make the distance, showing no sign of discomfort of its weight solely on one arm. He had finally move, and was just one swift motion away from the kill. His facial expression did not change, but his eyes were furious.

"She's mine." It wasn't a warning, it was a fact. Aeris was his; his to contemplate to solve the puzzle that was her; his to decide whether to destroy or not; his to consume, body and heart. And nobody was to take that away from him, nobody's to question what was his.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there, tiger. It was just a thought." Hades said, backing up with waving hands in a 'no harm' gesture. "No real harm done. You say she's yours. Fine. She sure's. Alright? Give her your best shot."

"..."

"..." Hades just nervously began to sweat as Sephiroth made no move to act or retract, just simply continued to stare at him. His eyes were intimidating and hard to read, even for Hades at times. But eventually he had re-sheathed Masamune and walked away, back into the shadows to fade away to his resting quarters, leaving Hades alone in the tunnel. Leaving him to rub the sore sting that was left pricking on his throat. "Pfft, boy, that guy's colder than the dead back at home. Eh, he even had 'my' skin crawling. Remind me not to get on his bad side."

*** The next morning ***

Aeris had woken up early with the others and had stayed to watch Yuffie and Leon's first tournament with Cid on the bleachers. But as the clock started rolling around 9:30, she decided to make her way out while they were on break between tournaments.

"I'm gonna head out for a while to see the town, guys." Aeris announced, getting up from her seat as she started to make her way off the bleachers. "Good luck on your next tournament you two. I'll see you guys later this Evening."

"Whaa? Where are you going, Aeris?" Yuffie pouted, upset that Aeris wouldn't be seeing the rest of her fights.

"Oh I don't know. Shopping, I guess." Aeris lightly answered, not really sure what the town had to offer, but clothes shopping didn't seem that much of a bad idea. She would just have to see where this day would go.

"Be careful." Leon said, wishing for her to enjoy herself but also to be safe.

"I always am." Aeris shot back at him with a wave behind her.

"Have fun, kid." Cid said, giving her a wave off.

"Thank you, Cid, I will."

She had made it to Thebes' Town Square in good time, with 15 more minutes to spar before Sephiroth was suppose to show up for their date. The place was starting to burst with life as the people started coming in while the day was soon starting. Open Markets did their peddling and dealings, the stores were just starting to pick up with traffic, and the restaurants' fires were just starting to get ready for lunch as the whiff of food started to fill the air.

She had waited for him by the fountain like she said, sitting on its edge as people passed by. For a little while she was worried that he wouldn't show up. That maybe she had come on too strong for him. The dating scene wasn't really his thing, even when they were first starting out together. But that was alright, she still loved him for it. And he would still tolerate going out on a few date nights just for her. Maybe he would still do that for her today, since deep down he was still the same man. She would just have to have faith in him.

And her faith had paid off. Because at exactly right on the clock, Sephiroth had showed up with his shadow engulfing her where she sat as he stood in front of her.

"!" Her head shot up in excitement at his presence as her eyes sparkled with joyed that he had actually showed up. "You're here... I didn't think you would come."

"..." He watched her as she got up on her feet again.

"(Giggle) Glad to see the great Sephiroth wasn't intimidated off by a little Cetra girl." Her laughter chimed in his ear as she teased, making something inside him flutter. Covering himself, he cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

"Are you suggesting that I would cower away? Don't underestimate me, woman." He huffed, crossing his arms before blatantly asking her intentions, trying to change the subject. "What do you plan to do today?"

"Hmm, I don't know. I've never been here before." She honestly answered, pulling his arms apart as she placed one of hers in his. "Let's just see where it takes us."

"..." His face took more of a grumbling look at her lack of a plan. But he didn't make any move of removing her arm from his. Being the gentlemen that he never really thought himself to be, he guided Aeris along the town, letting her wander to wherever she wanted to go.

"Oh, what a cute little store." Aeris cooed in graceful excitement. "Sephiroth, let's go in there."

"..." To his irritant and dismay it was a clothing store. Not one of those giant mall-like stores, but one of those small local business stores. Either way, it was a place where he knew he would wind up waiting hand and foot on the Cetra girl until she was satisfied with her search. Most likely they would spend hours there and she wouldn't buy a single thing. He was contemplating disappearing into the shadows while she wasn't looking.

"Sephiroth?"

"..." But that happy look in her eyes somehow made him unable to run away. "Alright..."

"Hurray!" She cheered with the clap of her hands. "I can't wait to see what they have."

Like most of the buildings around Olympus Coliseum, the place was only lit up by sunlight- and torches at night- so it had many windows. Aeris practically rushed through towards the dress racks, skimming her hand along the fabrics, admiring the soft feel they had.

The Grecian-style dresses varied from long to your ankles length to short like a skirt in length. She tended to stay around the long to your ankles length, and the ones with two straps. All of the straps were supported in place by an orange-pendant, and two sashes accompanying the dresses for fashion purposes for the wearer's choosing. From what Aeris could tell so far, most of the young women of this world had unusually thin waist and wide hips. Most likely altered that way by female accessories to fit the world's interpretation of beauty. But Aeris still believed she could pull the look off; after all, it wasn't far too different than the style she loved to wear herself.

Surprisingly on this world she was a Medium-Large. Grabbing a few choices from the rack, she went to go see how they would look.

"I'm going to try these on." She happily announced to Sephiroth, filling her arm up with various colors of dresses. All of which had the same long length, two straps held by orange spiral-pendant, style.

"Mmm." Sephiroth grumbled to himself as he noticed the number of dresses she would be 'trying' on. This was going to take a while.

"Ohh, don't be like that." She pouted at his grumpy attitude. "I won't be long."

"Your arm says otherwise." He shot back at her in a cheeky retort.

"Just wait a little bit. I want to see how they look on me." Aeris said to him, disappearing behind one of the changing curtains to try them on. Leaving Sephiroth to sit in one of the chairs in the Waiting Area for her. "Just stay put for me."

"Hmph, I would prefer it much better if I could join you." Sephiroth flirted back with a smirk.

"No way. I need you to watch the curtains for me so no peekers get a show."

"..." That was a good point. The curtains weren't exactly the best blocking barriers to halt any curious bypassers from taking a peek. And he would be damned if he'd let anybody walking around get a show of Aeris. Something about that idea made his blood boil.

In his own fit, he had lost track of time as dresses ended up hitting the floor around her feet as they didn't make the cut.

"No... Nope... Nah-naw." Sephiroth heard Aeris say as a purple, green, and then a teal colored dress ended up on the floor. Surprisingly, she was moving through the dresses pretty quick. But then again, they were an easy slip-on-slip-off compared to other female clothing. "Ooh, this coral pink one is just to die for, and the purple sash works good with the color. But the red... Hmm, I don't know. Sephiroth, what do you think?"

"I don't know, I can't see it." Sephiroth huffed back at her, barely suppressing the feeling to roll his eyes at her negligence to remember that there was a curtain between them.

But before he could point this out she had opened the curtain, revealing herself in the red dress.

"Well, what do you think?" She asked him again.

"..." He couldn't find words to say. She was breath taking in that dress. The red worked lovely with her skin tone and brought about a fire to her that made her innocent aura more on the sexy side. The dress practically hugged her curves, while a purple sash that loosely hung around her hips, tied to her left side and strayed down the right with its tail end. She had vouched for leaving off the sash that was suppose to go under her bust, and frankly she didn't need it to emphasize the area. She was on fire, and it was causing Sephiroth to build up a sweat.

"Hmm, oh, wait!" Aeris gasped out, going to her hair to add her own personal touches. Pulling her fingers through the locks she unwinded her plaited hair, brushing her fingers through the restrained locks to let the hair flow freely as a long brown curtain behind her back, leaving her pink ribbon in place. She was starting to resemble the mature beauty of her late mother, tho not as wavy in the hair but she still had her own flare to it, but Sephiroth wouldn't catch on to the resemblances. "There. How about now?"

"..." He was still struck speechless.

"Hmm, maybe I should purchase some makeup to go with it." Aeris said, getting a little nervous and self-conscious at Sephiroth's lack of response to her outfit. But Sephiroth quickly shot back to life at her suggestion.

"Don't." He practically ordered. "You're more beautiful as you are."

"!" His touching words had practically caught her off guard, and made her heart flutter. A light flush started to grow on her cheeks as she tried to compose herself again. "Y-yes, well, that makes this dress a win. But it still needs something."

She got out of her changing room, picking up the dresses that didn't make the cut to be returned back to the racks from their designated drop-in spot in the Changing Area, keeping one of the purple waist sashes for her coral pink dress that did make the cut. Keeping that dress along with her original pink dress around her arm, she made her way over to the shoes and accessories area. Well sandals to be more precise, this world didn't seem to have any other footwear but sandals.

"Hmm. Should I get sandals to go with the look?' Aeris contemplated aloud to herself.

"I'd suggest staying with the boots you have on now." Sephiroth offered his advise over her right shoulder. "It is the best footwear to have on this world."

"T-thank you for the advice." Aeris practically breathed out, slightly flushed in his close proximity and his participation in her activity. She quickly turned to look ahead so he wouldn't notice the blush. "Perhaps the dress needs something else to bring it out more."

She had quickly walked her way over to the accessories to see what they had. Aside from a few simple bracelets she already had on her wrists, she wasn't into jewelry much. And Sephiroth had already emphasized to her how much he preferred her without the makeup and perfume. So that only left the scarf and shawl accessories. The shawls felt like they aged her too much, and most of the scarfs were too thick and long.

But that's when she found it. The perfect see-through scarf with the color of a red sunset. Practically as light as air, and not too long. It would go perfectly around her arms.

"Yes. This is it." Aeris said, admiring how it look on her on the vanity mirror by the wall near the accessories. "I think my outfit is finally complete."

"So can we go now?" Sephiroth practically signed in relief that this was almost over. As much as he enjoyed her in that outfit, he couldn't sit still for long. And that dress was doing something to him that he needed to move around to distract himself.

"Yes." She answered, happy with how patient he has been so far. "Just let me purchase these at the register."

She was heading back to the changing area to change back out of the dress before Sephiroth grabbed her wrist, halting her progress.

"Keep it on." He said, looking deep into her lifestream eyes to sink in his words. Her heart was practically fluttering at his attention, making her rush over to the counter, telling the lady at the register that she would be wearing the dress out.

This world didn't have price tags on their products, just a shop owner that kept a good look-out on their wears. Leaving it much easier for Aeris to make the purchase and walk out the door without worries of tags or alarms going off. It was such a nice store. Although, she would have liked if they had some form of bagging for her purchase; but, apparently in this world, most of the purchases were carried around by the buyers' own baskets that they would bring in.

Perhaps Aeris should have brought her own flower basket with her, or maybe a bag so she wouldn't have to carry her dresses along her arm. Maybe she could have asked the lady at the store to hold her dresses for her until the date was done. But... (sigh) that would be rude.

"Allow me to help you with that." Sephiroth offered, taking the items from her only for them to disappear as he moved them under the shadow of a nearby building.

"!" She was surprised by his sudden offer to assist her, she did not expect for him to do a disappearing act with her clothes. "W-what did you do-"

"I simply used the shadows to warp your clothes back on to your Gummi ship. Nothing more." He said, explaining to her before she could fully finish the question.

"Wow... That's a handy trick." It was an interesting way to use the darkness. Not evil, just a simple use of the darkness' powers to ease a trivial burden, bordering on the innocent.

"Heh, it come's of use on occasion." He said with a smirk. Taking his arm to try and wipe that smug look off his face, Aeris continued to led him to whatever attraction that caught their eye next.

"Well then, Mr. Handy-man, let's go see what other mischief we can get our hands into." She teased, giving him a bump with her hip before leading them on.

It had turned into an interesting day. They had gotten a quick lunch of Hummus and Pita bread from one of the stands they passed going through the open market. The eatery had a secret sauce that they would give out to add onto the Pita bread, if the buyer wished, that had Aeris wanting the recipe. Sephiroth wouldn't say it or show it but he quite enjoyed it as well. It was a light meal that was still surprisingly filling. Sephiroth would find himself trying to sneak into some of Aeris's Hummus since he would over-dipped his Pita bread until he ran out. Aeris would tease by pulling her Hummus away with a light laughter, only to bring it back for them to share together.

They had made many quick stops at the stalls to admire trinkets and produce. Aeris had even come to admire the lovely array of flowers at a Flower stand, they smelt so sweet and were different than the ones that she was accustom to. But still, they reminded her of the bright colorful flowers that use to grace all over Radiant Garden. Before she knew it, Sephiroth was purchasing a flowers from the stand and placing the red Anemone into her hair, just behind her ear. Its rich color truly brought out her eyes, subtly enhancing her natural beauty. Aeris was simply touched at gesture, fluttered by Sephiroth's growing choice of actions that were not for the benefit of himself, but for others. For someone who kept on saying he didn't have a heart or that he was made from pure darkness, he could be so sweet at times.

Pretty soon they found themselves out of the open market and near the outskirts of Thebes, where they rented out chariots to race each other along the outer roads of the town. Aeris had somewhat of a playful competitive streak as she would ram her chariot along the side of Sephiroth's to try and get ahead of him. Sephiroth would smirk at her attempt, but his horses seemed to be of a much better breed as they would display the stamina to pick up the pace and keep it up for a longer period of time. Eventually their playful racing had lead them to a sport park, where they would challenge each other with Archery. Surprisingly, Aeris was more of a better shot than Sephiroth. Most likely due to the many years of magic use that had honed in her aiming skills. But Sephiroth wasn't too far behind her; no, that was for sure.

Taking the back roads that they did, they had circled their way around Thebes and ended up at the shoreline. They ended up having dinner at the Bay. And saw a play from the local theater as the sun was setting. Sephiroth couldn't handle one of those lovesick or over-dramatic plays, so Aeris had vouched for seeing the Odyssey. It was apparently a long play, since by the time it was done the sun was long gone and the stars had taken over the sky by the time they had left. Sephiroth could appreciate the action and the drama wasn't too much for him since he was able to sit through the whole thing and all.

Taking a calming break after the play, they proceeded to take a walk through the Theater's Outer Courtyard. Enjoying its gardens bathed in the Moonlight, the running water of the garden's center fountain creating a moonbow from its light.

"Tell me, Sephiroth, did you have fun?" Aeris asked him while they slowly walked arm in arm.

"I have no use for the word 'fun'." Sephiroth responded with a curt. Looking straight ahead as he spoke. "Nor do I have time to waste on such a thing."

"Heh, you liar." Aeris lightly chuckled at his denial, resting her head along his arm. He could say that all he wanted, but he was still grinning throughout the whole day.

"A liar, you say?" He said in a playful tone, turning over to face her before he backed her up onto one of the garden's columns. Closing her in with an arm by her head as he leaned in closer. "My dear lady, I am many things but a liar."

"Oh? Then why are you grinning, pray tell?" She teased back up at him, holding her hands behind her back as she wiggled around a little.

"That's because teasing you amuses me."

"Which is only a fancier way of saying 'fun'."

"You're quite the savvy one, aren't you?" Sephiroth retorted with a light chuckle, bringing his free hand to her waist to hold her in place while he drew himself in closer. Taking the hand that was resting by the side of her head to absent mindedly rub his thumb along her lips as they seemed to draw him in. "Whatever shall I do with these shrewd lips?"

"Sephir-" But she never got to finish that. He soon attacked her lips with a heated kiss, making her feel like there were fireworks in the sky.

His lips dominated hers like a battle in the Coliseum, and she did not care losing this fight. His hand found its way behind her head to deepen the kiss by tilting her head up. Her hands were at a lost of what to do as they pitifully rested on his chest. Softly running along his chest as he growled into their kiss in approval, making her lightly mewl at his aggressive passion.

The heart was a battleground. One that she shan't lose in, and one that she refused to give up as she sank Sephiroth further and further into hers. He had once said how he could feel nothing of the heart, and yet here he was displaying such affection to her. Showing her that he was wrong.

He may have not been whole like he use to be, but nothing was broken either.

Before she could consume him in her light as he blindly gave in to the passion for her that was border-lining into the realm of love, he had pulled away. Making Aeris pout and follow after his lips as he leaned back up straight.

"As pleasurable as this has been, I must put an end to this night." A smirk came over his face as she began to pout.

"What?"

"I have challengers to fight in the Coliseum tonight. I must not keep them waiting."

"Fight..." She sadly repeated out. "You're going to fight in the Arena?"

"It is what I came here for." He reminded her, a cocky smirk coming over his face as he leaned in towards her neck. "Are you worried for me, Cetra?"

"No-Ohh..." Aeris ended up sighing out as he began giving her neck the devoted attention of his lips. His tongue taking small, searing laps as he would bite down of the flesh on occasion. "I just- (Moan) worry about the poor souls that have t-to face you."

"It's the hazard that comes with the territory." He said into her neck, tightening his grip around her. "(Hiss) They knew what they were getting themselves into the moment they stepped into the arena."

"Ahh..." She couldn't even make a coherent sentence while he was nibbling at that 'right' spot.

"You will come to watch my matches, won't you?"

"I'll... try..." She was barely able to get out before he let up. "But... (delightful sigh) You won't really hurt them, will you?"

"It's the rules of the game, Aeris." He purred her name into her ear. "Accidents do happen."

"..."

"I'll take you back." He said, leaning back away from Aeris to return her space.

"But what about the horses?"

"They'll naturally return to the stables on their own. Come." He said to her, before drawing her into the protective frame of his body as he walked the both of them through the shadows back to the Outside Entrance of the Olympus Coliseum.

"!" Aeris was startled by how quietly they had gone through the shadows, or the fact that the process hadn't frightened her. It was as if she felt safe in the protective embrace of Sephiroth's hold, reminding her of those moments they had like this as husband and wife.

"Return to your companions, little flowergirl of the Ancients. I shall safely return you to them, for now." He said into her ear before letting her go.

"..." She stared at him for a moment, letting his cryptic words sit there for a moment before going around him to head back to the Gummi ship for a moment.

"Oh, and Aeris." Sephiroth called out at the last second, grabbing her wrist to pull her back to his front as he whispered into her ear from behind.

"!" She gasped as her backside practically shaped into his body.

"Our time together has been quite... an exquisite experience."

"..." She blushed at his words, let alone it was the one few times he has called her by her name since his fall into darkness.

"Next time I just might not be able to let you go." He said to her before swiftly letting go and retreating back into the Coliseum, leaving Aeris alone to herself and the night sky.

"..." Flustered by the events of the day, she placed a hand over her heart and prayed that her light, along with her love, had reached him. "Sephiroth..."

With little time to lose, herself, she made her way back to her Gummi ship. Seeing that her clothes were there by the corner where the shadow was, grabbing her regular dress to put on in light of her current dress. Delicately folding the dress she had worn on her date to lie with her other buys. With her clothes back to normal, she began working on re-plaiting her long locks, while still keeping the Anemone in her hair.

Presentable enough to not be suspicious while also keeping her date a secret from the others, she decided to head back to the Coliseum to join the others. The others did take a gander at the flower in her hair at her arrival, but saw it as nothing out of the ordinary for her. They decided to question her.

"Where have you been all day? We were worried." Yuffie pouted.

"Sorry. I was having fun in town." Aeris lightly apologized with sincerity. "I hope I didn't make you worry too much."

"Nah. We're just glad you got to have a good time." Cid said, giving her a light pat on the back to say 'no worries'.

"Did you find anything interesting?" Leon asked in polite curiosity for how her day went.

"Oh yes. I found a lovely store with the cutest clothes; an adorable flower stand; and, a few eating places that I've grown quite fond of."

"Hm, sounds like you had quite an eventful day."

"I did indeed. I even got to see a play at one of the local theaters."

"Whaa. But plays are so boring, and over dramatic." Yuffie complained. "You'd rather see one of those whimsical things over watching me in action?"

"Aw Yuffie, it was a new experience for me that I couldn't refuse to pass up." Aeris said apologetically, gently rubbing her hand on top of Yuffie's head in comfort. "I'll make it up to you by watching the rest of your matches. I promise."

"Well, you better watch my match in the Hades Tournament. Because I'm gonna wipe the floor with those guys." Yuffie responded, already forgiving her. It was just so hard to stay upset with Aeris.

"Hm, alright." Aeris nodded to her with a smile and a light chuckle.

"Hey, Sora's back." Yuffie pointed out, looking over Aeris as Sora made it into the Entrance of the Coliseum with Donald and Goofy. Waving her hand high into the air to call him over. "Sora!"

"Hey guys. We're back." Sora greeted to them.

"How did it go?" Aeris asked, turning fully around to face him.

"It was amazing! First I went to Neverland to face this Phantom thing; he was really tough, like, I had to Stop the giant clock tower's clock in order to get passed its barrier! And the only thing that seemed to harm it were certain magic spells that its body kept constantly changing its immunity to." Sora excitedly said, happy to see that she was interested to hear about his day. "But it was an amazing fight! And I got to improve my Stop spell because of it."

"Ooh. That's nice." Aeris said, giggle a little from his joy. He was like a big kid happy to grasp your attention, and she was happy to give it to him.

"And then this morning we went to Agrahbah, where Carpet flew us into the desert because something was wrong. And you were right, there was a giant Heartless there. They called it Kurt Zisa."

"Kurt Zisa?'

"Yeah. It had like six arms and two blades." Sora explained with gestures. "It trapped us in a large barrier wall the moment we flew in too close, leaving us no choice but to fight. It was tough with that personal barrier it wrapped around itself and those desert storms it would summon up and that hard whack. But once we got passed that, he was easy to knock down and attack."

"Oh that's good. I'm glad you guys were okay."

"He had a big fall too." Sora chuckled with pride, rubbing his finger along his nose subconsciously. "Carpet had to fly us out of the way before we got crushed."

"Well. Thank you for that, Sora, Donald, Goofy. The worlds are safe from powerful Heartless once again." Aeris genuinely thanked, giving each of them a light bow. "So, Sora, what's your next plans to end off this eventful day?"

"Heh, I'm gonna participate in the Hades Tournament!" Sora fist pumped in excitement. "And then I'm gonna try my hands on the Platinum Match."

"Platinum Match?" Yuffie pondered, quirking an eyebrow. She had never heard of this match before, how high up did Sora have to go to be able to qualify for that? Maybe it was because of his victory in the Gold Match.

"Yeah. I hear the guy in that one is really tough." Sora explained with growing excitement. "Turns out he might be the strongest guy in the Coliseum."

"?!" Aeris tried to hold back her flinch, to hide off her alarm from the others. She had an idea whom Sora might be facing off with, and she did not like the idea at all. "Well, be careful. Okay?"

"Heh, don't worry, Aeris." Sora assured to her with his cheeky grin. "I'm always careful."

"..."

"Well, we best be going." Sora said, cutting their conversation short. "I hear there's 50 rounds in the Hades tournament, so we better get started. You guys will be cheering us on, right?"

"Yeah, sure, kid." Cid said in false exhaustion at the idea, scratching the back of his head.

"Not us." Yuffie said for her and Leon with a pop.

"What?" Sora began to pout. "Why?"

"Because we'll be facing you in the match during the Hades Tournament." Leon answered in turn.

"Oh." Sora said, a little embarrassed as if it was an obvious thing to expect from the those two. "Well... good luck."

"You should save that for yourself." Yuffie shot back, before Leon finished the punch line for her.

"Because we won't be holding back."

"Sounds fair enough to me. I'm gonna give it my best shot as well."

"Good luck to all of you." Aeris said, not picking any favorites as she started heading off to the bleachers with Cid. "We'll be rooting for all of you, the whole way."

. . .

It had been a long tournament, going through 50 rounds. It would seem that Hades was not holding back with his hordes of Heartless, from the weak to the powerful. He had even gotten a Behemoth Heartless to fight with Sora and the others during one of the matches. Sora and the others had already taken down Yuffie in one of the early matches, around the 45th seed or something, so now Yuffie was sitting in the bleachers along with Aeris and Cid to watch the rest of the tournament. In her defense, there was three of them against one, and Sora had just gotten a powerful new Keyblade from his fight with the Phantom Heartless.

The tournament had started in the night and worked its way into the next day. This gave a break for rest for the participants and the observers; however, the participants were not allowed to change or add on to the equipment of items they had on since the initial start of the tournament. Only for the tournament to go on into the night again. Sora and the others had gone through many Heartless since then from around the worlds, even Cerberus again. It looked like Hades was throwing all his punches with this tournament.

"Boy, Hades is sure going all out with the Heartless in these matches." Yuffie commented, resting the side of her head in her hand while its elbow rested on her knee.

"He is desperate to destroy Sora and the Keyblade before Sora can reach him in the finals." Aeris tried to explained to her.

"Yeah, well, he's really playing hard ball putting them up against Leon 'And' Cloud." Yuffie pointed out as Sora and the others had entered into the 21st seed.

"It's over!" Was all they heard from the arena, coming from Leon as he charged at Sora with his Gunblade. Making the poor kid run for his life as both Leon and Cloud were coming after him with their ridiculous swords.

"I think Cloud just made a friend." Yuffie dryly pointed out in humor, as both of the seemly loner blade masters were working well together.

"I'd say the kid's best chance is to get them apart." Cid commented, rubbing the bottom of his peach-hair covered chin, not really cheering for either side to win to support his friends on both sides.

Turns out the guys were silently taking Cid's advice as Donald and Goofy worked together on one sword master, leaving Sora to handle the other, which kept constantly changing. But in time, Cloud was the first to call out, while Leon soon followed after when they swarmed him.

"Nothing to it!" Sora cheered in victory along with Donald and Goofy.

"Well, I'll be. Look's like they really pulled it off." Yuffie comment in slight disbelief, giving a smirk in pride for them.

"Yes." Aeris agreed with Yuffie with a soft smile. "They have come a long way. Especially Sora."

"Pfft, you got that right." Yuffie huffed out. "Hey what time is it?"

"It's late. We're heading really close to 10."

"Geez, when will this tournament end? We've been out here, practically all day."

"Think how this must feel for Sora and them. They must be exhausted."

"No kidding. If I didn't know any better. I'd say Hades was trying to tire them down."

"..."

During their conversation, Leon had made his way over into the bleachers to join them.

"Welcome to the Losers' Corner, Leon." Yuffie picked on him, poking him as well for fun in good measure.

"Knock it off, Yuffie. At least I made it this far." Leon huffed, taking his seat between her and Cid, crossing his arms once he got settled. "Look's like Sora has grown much stronger."

"Hm, so you're admitting I made a good call." Aeris commented, smirking a little in silent 'I told you so' for suggesting that Sora go out and train a little in the first place.

"Easy there, Aeris." Leon said, not wanting her smugness to get to her head before it became a habit.

"Cheese and Crackers, what kind of Heartless is that?!" Cid commented as a new type of Heartless that looked like a ornament with two lovely sets of wings called Angel Star made it into the arena next.

"I don't know." Aeris answered, shivering a little as her skin began to crawl. The arena was beginning to change as dead trees slowly made their way into existence from top to bottom, around the arena. "But a darkness is starting to spread over the arena."

"They must be getting close to Hades." Cid concluded up in his assumptions. "Looks like he's bringing out the big league Heartless."

"Yes. It would appear so..." Aeris said in agreement.

Soon after a few more matches another new breed of Heartless made its way into the arena, going by the name Invisible. It practically looked like a demon with a shiny sword. But it soon earned its name as it took off into the sky and would circled them individually with dark flames that would slowly close in on them. It was a little hard on Sora, but he eventually took it out after the rest of the Heartless were cleared out, it burst into dark flames at its defeat.

But the three of them only ended up having to fight three more with two Angel Star before they finally made it to Hades. They were tired and slightly exhausted, but were ready to go to end the whole Tournament. Unfortunately for them... Hades was only the 11th seed.

"Yo, hey, how're you doin', everybody, yeah. Got a minute? Hades, Lord of the Dead. Nice to see you." Hades greeted as they all gave each side the stare down to intimidate the other side.

"..."

"Hey, guess what?" Hades calmly said before suddenly getting burned up. "I got a place for you down under!"

He was a hard opponent for Sora to fight, since he constantly kept spraying fire from out of his hand and would move his way in on a target.

"Do you feel the heat?" He would asked them before bursting into flames around them and spray it around like a sprinkler. "Hey are you having fun yet?"

"Donald!" Sora would call over to him, giving him a healing spell as his tail feathers were caught on fire.

"Thank you." Donald would quake in relief.

"Come on!" Goofy shouted, charging at Hades with his shield, pushing him back and knocking the sense out of him a little.

The problem with Hades was, he had a lot of health, it would take a lot of hits to the body in order to take him down. And he didn't appreciate repeatedly getting slugged from Sora as he would swack down at him with burning hands

"That's it!" He would growl at them, throwing fire at them. "Starting to get warmed up?"

"This is it!" Sora huffed at Hades, giving him one final slash with his Keyblade taking Hades down.

"This isn't happening!" The strike was so hard that it knocked Hades out of the arena and into the darkness of the fighter's tunnel, knocking the last Ansem Report from his person in the process. "Ahh!"

"!" But Aeris looked on in horror as she realized that it wasn't just the Fighter's Tunnel Hades was pushed back into, it was actually a tunnel down into the Underworld that Hades had most likely opened up for Sora to fall into. But it looks like the plan had fallen back on him as the dead were drawing him back into the Underworld with them. His cruelty to his undead subjects would have him pay for the price. Aeris could only watch in horror as the others could only hear what was going on in there.

"O-oh! Hey, You! What are you doing?! Stop! Hey, guys! G-Get away from me! Come on! Come on!"

The gates soon closed after him.

"Aeris? You okay?" Yuffie asked over to her as she notice that Aeris was shaking and starting to sweat.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Was all Aeris could say as she leaned over, holding onto her stomach with a hand over her mouth. The darkness from that moment that dragged Hades back into the Underworld was so strong it was almost putrid.

"Take that!" Sora huffed in victory before noticing the papers on the floor. "Huh? No way. Hey, Aeris! I found the last Ansem Report!"

"!" Aeris quickly pulled herself together as Sora was waving over to her at the bleachers with the papers in his hand, she didn't want him to see her in such a state. "That's great Sora! I'll translate it for you later! You just focus on getting done with this tournament!"

"You got it!" Sora called over to her with a thumbs up before getting back into the game.

For the last few rounds he ended up finishing off the remainder of Hades' elite Heartless, until in the last round where he faced off with a Rock Titan.

"Oh my..." Aeris gasped out, covering her mouth. That thing was enormous with two heads, and their attacks seemed to be having no effect on it.

"Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it." Cid silently cheered for Sora, wishing them his luck.

"Don't count him out just yet." Leon commented, observing as Sora aimed for the Titan's legs. Tripping it down, only to jump up and strike at its heads. And with Donald and Goofy's help, they were practically eating away at the Rock Titan's health. Hitting the Titan at its weak points and making it fall apart in record time that was unbelievable. "See. That kid is resourceful."

"I'll say." Yuffie commented, admiring their work.

It was near midnight, when the three of them were given their trophy ceremony and Sora was handed the Hades Cup by Hercules and Phil.

"We're the champs!" Sora cheered, rising the cup as Donald and Goofy did their little jumping dance as the confetti came down around them. The rest at the stands clapped for them while Yuffie hollered and cheered for them in congratulations. Once done, Sora made his way over to them at the bleachers. "Did you guys see that! We won!"

"Yes. You did well." Aeris said, happy for him. "Good job, guys."

"That felt great! Next time, I might try that again by myself."

"Geez, if you're itching for pain then fine." Yuffie huffed out in surprise at his audacity. "Just don't expect us to watch through that again. That tournament was ridiculously long."

"(Chuckle) Okay. That seems fair. But I think I'll hold that off for another time." Sora grin, laughing a little at Yuffie's remark before reaching in his pocket to pull out the Ansem Report to hand to Aeris. "But before I forget. Here, Aeris."

"I'll get working on it right away." Aeris said, giving it a quick skim to see what she was working with. "Are you calling it a quits for the night?"

"Not a chance." Sora smirked, resting his entwining his fingers together behind the back of his head and tapping his foot a little. "I still haven't tried my luck in the Platinum Match yet."

"..." She still wasn't comfortable with Sora participating in that one. "Are you sure you don't want to rest? You've had a long day."

"No way. I'm just getting pumped up."

"..."

"No worries, Aeris. I'll be done in a jiffy." Sora said, before making his way back into the arena, already signed up for the Match. "Wish me luck!"

"You seem pretty worried about this." Yuffie said once Sora had left, picking up on her anxieties. "Are you okay?"

"... Let's just watch the Match." Aeris said as she took her seat again, Donald and Goofy now joining them as well while Sora took on the arena alone. Since this was going to happen, beyond her control, she would see where it goes.

Sora began looking around, wondering where his opponent could be. Only for his opponent to make a grand entrance for himself by appearing from a Summoning Circle from the sky. Blasting down from a burst of light that didn't have the warmth of light to it at all, but a bitter coldness only birthed from the darkness. It was a false light, a mock Light. From its dimming burst revealed Sephiroth, touching down with his back turned to Sora. His wing was out, and was beginning to uncoil from himself. Slowly rising back to his feet without a care to Sora behind him before finally turning around. He grinned at the poor boy as he notice him starting to build up a sweat in nerves.

The boy was quite good, he could sense it, but he still had a long way to go. And he would prove it to the boy while sadly also possibly ending his life.

"STOP!"

A wave had shot through the arena and everything went still. The whole world of Olympus Coliseum was grounded to a halt as a powerful time spell stopped everything.

"..." All except for the lone warrior and the Ancient that cast it. He looked upon her work with aloof, not showing any signs of a shock or being impressed. Only his eyes turned to look at her as she made it to the edge of the bleachers to speak with him, walking down with her staff. "Quite a lot of trouble to go through just to have a moment with me, Cetra."

"You cannot go through with this match." Aeris insisted with a plea.

"He's the one that initiated the challenge." Sephiroth said with a stern voice, no longer holding the flirtatiousness or gentleness he had for her before. She was getting in the way of his fight because of her soft beliefs, and he will not tolerate it. No one got in between him and the thrill of battle, not even her. "I will not back down because he's in over his head."

"He's just a boy, Sephiroth."

"And what a greater way is there to becoming a man than facing overwhelming odds in the mist of battle?"

"You'll kill him." She gasped out in horror, knowing that with Sepiroth the odds of that were true.

"Then he'll die fighting." He simply stated to her as if it was as obvious a fact and normal like the sky was blue. "And what an honor for him to fall at my hands knowing that I didn't hold back."

"Sephiroth, please."

"Enough." He barked sternly at her with his soothing voice, as his eyes steeled themselves to resist her pleading ones. "Out of my way. I am done humoring you, Cetra. Return to your seat."

"..." She was hurt by his harsh words and his return to not using her name as she flinched back. Holding back the tears, she bit her lower lip and took a deep breath before she had composed herself again. Her soft face had turned stern as well as she backed away from him, up to her seat again. "He's still growing, Seph. He's not ready for you. You sense the potential he has, I know you do. But the spark he has could be ridden from all the worlds in the blink of an eye if you truly fight him as he is now. Why would you want that? What benefit is it to you to fight someone who's not at their true potential?"

"..." She was playing him well. What good was a fight if both sides didn't put their all in? She knew how much he loved a good fight, and she was trying to reason with that to get him to not fight this brat she was apparently investing so much in.

Aeris had made it back into her seat, her eyes never leaving Sephiroth's as she took her seat and rested her hands and staff along her lap. She had stopped putting MP into her spell, time would start to flow again soon.

"The worlds need that boy, Sephiroth. It needs his light." She said honestly, her voice stern to show she was being serious. "I'll never forgive you if you snuff him out."

"..."

Time had returned again. The others had startled at Aeris's previous outburst. But she had return to her exact spot, leaving no evidence of the conversation that had transpired between her and Sephiroth.

"Whoa, Aeris!" Yuffie had yelp beside her, jumping back a little. "You okay?!"

"I'm fine." She said, her usual gentleness lacking in her voice as she kept her eyes on the arena.

"..." The others beside her hadn't believed her and wanted to bring out more questions about her sudden outburst. But, from looking at her stern face and the tone in her voice they vouched for dropping it and returning their attention back to the fight. When Aeris would get uncharacteristic like this, she could be really scary.

The two of them had the initial stare down before given the go to start. Sephiroth was the first to strike, lunging at the boy with his long slash, forcing Sora to jump in the air to dodge him. Only for Sephiroth to come around back at him again. Once he missed again, Sephiroth twirled around with his katana, striking at all of his 360. But once the blade had passed him, Sora came at him from behind to get a hit in, only for Sephiroth not to let Sora live in his victory long as he released a burst of flames all around himself.

"Whoa! Sephiroth isn't throwing any of his punches!" Yuffie gasped in alarm at the edge of her seat as the burst of flames had pushed Sora back and did a significant amount of damage to him. "He's going all out on this!"

"..." Aeris sadly looked upon the match her eyes steeled and yet sadden with disappointed in Sephiroth.

Trying to go around the flames, Sora had waited until the burst had started to die down before jumping in for a strike. But Sephiroth had predicted his actions, as Sora was coming down Sephiroth horizontally slashed at him, knocking Sora back.

"Ahh," Sora grunted, getting up to wipe the wound and get on with the fight.

Sephiroth had to admire the boy's intonation. He got up faster than most of Sephiroth's other opponents. But there was more to see of what the boy could do. So Sephiroth rushed him again, slashing vertically and then to turn around and slash horizontally. Sora had rushed after him, and struck from above, coming down on Sephiroth with his Keyblade. Now Sephiroth could admire his spirit, not just anybody would take the jump on him like that. Yes, this boy would grow up to be a fine warrior.

Sephiroth nonchalantly followed him with his eyes as Sora ran off, getting some distance between. He walked calmly after with aloof as Sora took this break in time to use a Cura spell on himself.

"This should help." Sora signed in relief as the spell eased away the sting of his cuts. But Sephiroth wouldn't let him rest for long. Once he was close enough he slashed at Sora, forcing the kid to run as he unleashed another burst of flames around himself. "Whoa!"

Sephiroth slashed at Sora again, but Sora had learned from before. He had timed himself just right to miss Sephiroth's slash just as his Keyblade was coming down for a strike.

"How persistent of you." Sephiroth complemented the boy on his quick adaption to his opponent. Only to release the burst again to see if Sora could do it twice. Sora had come at him as predicted when the burst wore down for a strike, only for Sephiroth to catch him off guard as he countered not once but twice, knocking Sora back before he could get a hit in. "But that alone is not good enough."

He charged at Sora, missing as Sora jumped into the air. Turning around to slash again just in case Sora would try to take advantage of his moment of vulnerability. Only for the both of them to charge at each other again and meet in the middle, both successfully getting hits in before they passed each other. Sephiroth leaped after the boy, only for Sora to heal himself before Sephiroth's strike could have quite possibly finished him off.

The boy had taken many cuts, he had a lot of bleeding out before the healing spell sealed up the wound. Sephiroth was quite impressed on how much damage the boy could take, but he was starting to get sloppy. He was most likely starting to tire out. But he wasn't here to play with the boy; if he wanted to take a nap, he shouldn't have entered the match.

Teleporting in the darkness, leaving a few raven feathers behind; he warped behind Sora, rushing in for a charge strike. He began to continue doing this, moving faster each time, forcing Sora to jolt back to life and into the fight. Sora was getting better at predicting his actions, he was even starting to be able to get a few hits in when Sephiroth would come out of the darkness. One time he got ballsy and just kept on striking Sephiroth even as he was summoning a burst of flames, taking on the damage and stride. Healing the burns afterwards, still okay with the damage since he was able to get some good hits in on Sephiroth.

Sephiroth warped into the shadows, going in to strike Sora as he healed, only for Sora to parry his strike and pushing them both back. They circled each other, waiting for an opening, before the both of them rushed into the middle for the strike. The kid was showing promise, and was learning as the fight was going on. Refusing to allow Sephiroth to complete his spell attacks, a smart move on his part. If Sephiroth were to finish his techniques, the damages wouldn't be as forgiving.

"Clever boy," Sephiroth smirked at Sora as he charged after him while Sora tried to run away to get some distance and time to cast a healing spell or a defense spell. But Sephiroth wouldn't give it to him, as they both ended up circling each other again.

"Whoo, boy, this is intense." Cid commented from the bleachers, leaving out the whistle. This sure was a good fight, even if the kid was getting smacked around a little.

Sephiroth had charged at Sora only to disappear into a dark portal and catch him by surprise at his sigh.

"Ahh," Sora grunted out in pain, gritting his teeth as he just sucked it up and stayed on his feet.

"I don't know if Sora will last much longer." Leon honestly commented in concern.

"..." Aeris just stayed quiet and watched as Sora cast Aeroga on himself at the last second before Sephiroth slashed at his back, minimizing the damage with his wind shield.

Sora kept running around, trying to shake Sephiroth off, until he got what he wanted for a few seconds in between the time Sephiroth disappeared into his dark portal.

"This should help." Sora sighed out as he cast Cura on himself.

"Come power!" Sephiroth said as in the time Sora had left for him he was able to cast his Special, or what they use to call back at their old world, a 'Limit Break'. "Prepare yourself!"

Sora was overwhelmed as a darkness came over the area and Sephiroth moved about the arena with a devil speed, slashing from everywhere. Only to come down from above at the end of it and impale the ground unleashing a burning burst of light.

"No mercy." Sephiroth said as he sheathed his sword. "Come. No more games... show me what you've got."

"Ugh." Sora groaned out, annoyed with himself for allowing Sephiroth to actually have the time to do that.

"Tired?" Sephiroth mocked at the boy in fake concern, releasing a burst of flames around himself.

"I'm just getting started." Sora huffed back at him in retort before casting Cura on himself again. "Heal!"

Sora was immediately on Sephiroth, striking at him with a sluggers' drive as he was trying to finish this fight up. But having enough of his bombardment, Sephiroth began teleporting away. Heading for the middle as he unleashed a pool of darkness around him.

"I'm the chosen one." He proclaimed as he absorbed the darkness into himself, creating a protecting coat that glowed around his body. Taunting Sora, he beckoned him over to come at him. "Come."

But at his word, balls of dark energy had raised up around him and circled Sephiroth, damaging Sora in the process as they were absorbed back into Sephiroth.

"I shall lead you to the Promise Land." Sephiroth proclaimed to Sora as he used the built up energy inside him to summon meteors, in a rare spell that not many could accomplish or knew about. Sora could only heal himself and dodge the meteors, backing away as far as he could as Sephiroth was charging a large dark ball of energy over his head. "The Planet and I are to be one!"

"This is it!" Sora explained, trying to take this opportunity to throw his Keyblade at Sephiroth like a boomerang while he was open. But the strikes were having no effect on him as the darkness coating him made him practically invincible.

Exploding the meteors on the field, Sephiroth brought down the ball of energy and threw it at Sora. Sora barely missed the major blast, but was still hit by the outer blast as he tried to run away from it.

"That was true power." Sephiroth taunted at Sora with a smirk. He was still coated with his layer of darkness, leaving Sora no choice but to run as Sephiroth would charge at him with strikes that were accompanied by multiple balls of dark energy. Setting the arena in chaos.

"Dodge this." Sephiroth mocked as he slashed once again, the balls of dark energy shooting out and hitting Sora even as he missed the blade. "Come."

He rushed the field. Leaving time-bombs of dark energy balls in his wake. Sora could only heal as it all was becoming too much for him.

"Meet your fate." Sephiroth said, annoyed at the boys lack of submittance to the inevitable. The boy was also one of the most stubborn opponents Sephiroth had the grace of facing. It made the fight drag on, but not in a fun way. It was like a Bulldog fighting a Pug, where the Pug didn't want to go down.

Sora had been at the last of his ropes when he forced his arm to have the strength to cast Cura again. It didn't patch him up all the way, but enough for him to keep on going. Sora continued to fight, giving blows as Sephiroth gave them back. The child was determined not to go down without a fight, and Sephiroth could respect that. But it was about time to put an end to this little game.

"!" But just as he was about to give Sora the finishing blow the corner of his eyes had caught the Cetra girl out on the bleachers. She was looking upon him with very sad eyes. Those green eyes full of life were drowning him in their sorrow. He did not like that look in her eyes, he didn't want that look on her face. It made him feel... strange inside. Hissing at his own actions, he had halted, giving Sora enough time to take the shot in. Taking the blow from the Keyblade, Sephiroth had called an end to the match, floating into the air and fading into a speck of light back into the darkness to leave the arena. But not before leaving Sora with a gift. The boy had fought so well, he was worthy of Sephiroth's respect, regardless if he surrounded himself with the weakness of the light. Not just anybody could last that long with Sephiroth in the arena. And so he left Sora with a piece of his power, unknowing to himself to actually be a piece of his heart, creating the One-Winged Angel Keyblade. With Sephiroth gone, leaving the arena, that left Sora the victor in the match.

"That's the power of the Keyblade!" Sora cheered at his victory before stumbling his way out of the arena and back to the others.

"Sora!" The others called out to him at the same time while Donald quacked, rushing over to him to catch him as he wobbled his way out of the arena. Aeris and Donald were quick to his side to cast Curaga spells on him.

"I... I did it. Did you see that? I was awesome!" Sora cheered as the energy was slowly starting to return to him. Checking out his new Keyblade, he felt the power from the blade flowing inside him. It felt like Sephiroth's power, but no longer coated in darkness. The Keyblade had a light of its own, and was probably one of the strongest Keyblades Sora had gotten along his journeys so far, making all the ruckus and cuts from that match totally worth it. "Anyway, I'm stoked about trying out this new Keyblade."

"Just be careful from now on. Alright?" Aeris advised, finishing up her patch job. "Don't go jumping into something so dangerous like that head first anymore. Okay?"

"Okay, Aeris." Sora agreed, for her sake more than his own. Regardless of how close that match was, it was still fun, and he wouldn't say no if he could fight that guy again someday. Maybe next time he would be much stronger so it wouldn't be as one-sided as this match kinda was. But Aeris didn't need to know about that, she was already worrying enough. "Thanks for the patch up, Aeris. You too, Donald."

"Next time you pull something like that, I'll just leave you as you are." Donald quaked out with a huff in warning if Sora had ever put him through something like that again.

"Heh ha, then I guess I better be more careful next time." Sora grinned, chuckling a little at Donald's words as he rubbed the back of his head. With the laughs gone, Sora calmed down again as he became serious. "Hey, guys... I think I'm ready to face the Heartless world now."

They all looked at Sora, admiring how brave the kid was for running off to face the unknown to protect the worlds. But at the same time, sad to see him finally go since this would probably be the last time they would see him again before the World Barriers were placed up again.

"Hm, I know you're ready." Aeris nodded with him in agreement, giving him a warm smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Be on guard." Leon advised. "There's no telling what you will face out there."

"And don't forget to dodge. I can't emphasize that enough." Yuffie added in as well.

"Take good care of yourself, kid. And stay warm." Cid added in, get embarrassed as the last part was starting to sound lame to him, making him subconsciously scratch the back of his head. "It's cold out in space."

"Don't worry guys. We'll take good care of ourselves. And we'll bring Riku and king Mickey back."

"Hm, I know you will." Aeris said, closing her eyes as she placed her hand over her heart as she believed in Sora. When there was no more to be done by her, she knew Sora would get the job done. "Bring them back home safely. All of you."

"We will!" Sora said with determination, giving her a strong nod.

"You should rest in the Gummi ship while you make your way there." Cid advised to Sora, knowing that the kid had had a rough day and was most likely tired out, regardless of all the Curaga spells cast on him.

"I'll fax over the last Ansem Report to you when I'm done." Aeris pointed out.

"All right, guys. I'll take your advice." Sora said, rushing off to the Gummi ship with Donald and Goofy running after him from behind. But he stopped as he made his way to the exit to turn around again and give them all a wave in goodbye. "See you later guys! You'll always have a place in my heart and my memories!"

"..." They waved back and turned, not really handling the emotional goodbye too well as they were starting to choke up. It got a little worse when Sora and the others were finally gone.

"Well, that's that. I'm gonna miss that little sap." Yuffie said with a sniffle, trying to act tough through it all.

"We'll all miss him, Yuffie." Aeris said in comfort. "But we'll always have a part of each other in our hearts. That's where he'll always be. As long as we remember him from time to time."

"Aeris..." Yuffie sniffled one last time, drying away the tear that was trying to escape.

"Let's head back to the ship." Leon suggested. "We've got to clean up Hollow Bastion."

"Heh, right. We can't leave that place looking like a dump. Our world is about to be restored soon." Cid smirked in agreement.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Yuffie said, returning back her drive as she marched her way back to their Gummi ship. Cid and Leon not too far behind her.

"..." Aeris watched a little as her friends walked on ahead, admiring their spirit and their drive to achieve their goal. That's why they had gotten this far, because none of them would give up, even when the Heartless seemed endless. She was about to head off as well to join them when she stopped as she felt a presence behind her as a dark feather fell in front of her. "Sephiroth..."

"..." He remained silent as he stood behind her. He made no move to touch, and she made no move to repel him as he stood close behind her.

"(Sigh)," she had closed her eyes and lowered her head a little as a smile had come over her face. "Thank you for doing that. You have my gratitude."

"Can't I have more?" He teased at her softly from behind, most likely hinting for a kiss.

"What more could you need? You already have my heart." She slowly turned around to face him, rising up onto her tippy-toes to kiss him on the cheek before quickly turning back around in a happy flush.

"..." He basked in the kiss for a moment, such a light and innocent little thing, and yet it had been so warm and still fluttered on his skin like a butterfly.

"I'm going to be heading home now. Best to help clean it up before the people return." Reaching behind herself without looking back, she cupped her hand in his and entwined their fingers together. "See you soon, Sephiroth."

"..." He had watched as she ran off, looking at her for as long as he could before she disappeared from the arena. Their fingers lingered together for as long as they could before they broke apart, the absence of her touch had made his hand feel empty in more than one way. Soon afterwards Cloud had approached him from behind. The warm feeling from his chest was gone, now what had replaced it was a drive to conquest. This Ancient was making him forget his purpose in existence; it was time that he got back on track. Floating over to meet Cloud halfway, he faced him in the arena. They stared each other down as the wind tussled around them.

"I've been looking for you." Cloud announced to him.

"As have I." Sephiroth replied back at him, finally the silence between them breaking.

"As long as you exist, I'll never wake from this nightmare." Cloud announced bitterly. "You're my darkness."

"I'm a part of you, am I?" Sephiroth mocked at him, opening his arms out. "Then join me in this eternal nightmare untarnished by light."

At that, Cloud got his Buster blade ready, prepared for attack. At his stance, Sephiroth reached for Masamune. Sparks flied between them as the power built up inside them, ready for a fight. And that's when they rushed each other, their blades meeting in the middle. Soon their fight took to the air as they reached epic proportions, only for them to disappear into the light as the battle raged on. Taking them to another place away from Olympus Coliseum.

Aeris had felt this as she finally made it back to the ship. Her heart was crushed as she sensed the changes; but deep down, she knew that it was inevitable. Cloud and Sephiroth would clash with each other, it was only a matter of time. She had just wished... that it didn't have to happen. Having faith in her friend and husband, she would leave it to Cloud and Sephiroth to sort it out.

For now... her job was to focus on Sora and Riku. She needed to extend her help as much as she can to them in order to help Sora save Riku from the Realm of Darkness. Aeris hurried to her seat inside the Gummi ship as Cid took off, strapping herself in along with the report pages. She would have to get them done and translated. If she started now, she could probably have it done and sent to Sora and the others before he reached Hollow Bastion and entered the Drive to depart to the Heartless world.

"Isn't reading while driving bad for you?" Yuffie pointed out, referring to motion sickness.

"I'll be fine." Aeris insisted as she got right down to business. "It's not like I haven't done this before."

It had not taken her long to translate the transcript. This report was oddly short compared to the others. And yet, it somehow made Aeris see her king with some form of humanity still inside him. Perhaps he had written this report before he had completely lost his heart to darkness.

'Report 8: There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart.

'As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless.

'This may be a step towards creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.'

"..." If he was so obsessed with the darkness and its power, why was he trying so hard to artificially create hearts? Was he possibly trying to achieve such a feat to protect his people from the darkness and the Heartless...? Or maybe... just maybe... he was trying to create hearts for the people whom had lost theirs? "Could he possibly have been trying to restore the hearts of the Heartless?"

"Aeris?" Yuffie called out to her, causing the others to turn in their seats to look back at her as well at her sudden words out of the blue.

"I'm finish with the report." Aeris simply announced, quickly going for copying an extra translation for themselves instead of explaining herself. Quickly getting done with the copy, she held it out for Cid to take. "You can fax this over to Sora now. That should be all of the Ansem Reports for him."

"Geez, Aeris, that was quick." Cid commented, taking the pages from her to start fax over to Sora through the Gummi ship.

"It was a rather short report." Aeris responded before getting cryptic. "But a very meaningful one..."

"H-how so?" Yuffie asked, getting nervous as Aeris was getting that blank look in her eyes. It was almost like she had gone to a distant place, far from them, and had left behind her body.

"Read it for yourselves when you have the time." Was Aeris only response back as she continued to look out into the space. "I've done all I can for him. Now the rest is up to Sora."

"..." The others could only stare as Aeris was acting strange but normal when it came to her at times. She continued to stare out into space from the Gummi ship window for a little longer before leaning back into her seat and forcing herself to sleep. Now all she could do was dream. And just maybe... she could catch her son dreaming too...

*** In the Realm of Darkness ***

"Tst, they just keep on coming." Riku grunted in frustration as more Heartless continued to bombard them. It felt like the Heartless just kept on coming at them for ages.

At least it was a break from the giant Heartless with the dreadlocks and holes the shapes of hearts in their fronts, those guys were an annoyance as much as they were huge. But he had to admit, it was rather fun fighting with them. They moved slowly, but they had a nasty habit of summoning smaller Heartless. They didn't seem to bump into any Behemoth Heartless, much to their relief, but they did have to deal with the ball shaped Heartless that tended to bounce around and disappear on them. Not to mention that one breed of Heartless that looked like a demon with a sword, king Mickey had said they were called the Invisible due to the fact they tended to disappear on you in a flame of darkness and then reappear where you leased expected. The nasty thing about them was their power over the dark flames and that sword they carried. The only bright side about that was that their swords shined one of the the only few lights in this place.

Riku no longer had any idea how long he had been in this place. King Mickey had been trapped in this place for far longer than him and he no longer had any inkling of time as well. The darkness warped time and space here, making everything flow in its own way here. Landscapes and plateaus came out from all sides and yet the place seemed to go on forever. There was no ceiling and yet somehow the place still made you feel boxed in; forever falling in a pit, even though there was a floor.

This place housing an endless supply of Heartless that just kept coming at them, most likely to consume their hearts or just to reach the door behind them. King Mickey had been protecting that door ever since he had came to this place. He said it was the door to darkness that led to the Realm of Light, one of the few doors of Kingdom Hearts. It was a grand door of bright white, from what he could tell in the darkness. The door was huge, its handles reaching above his head and out of grasp. The door had remained closed; although, it did not appear to be locked. King Mickey had been guarding that door for days now, blocking it from the Heartless to not let them get through. He had been saying that if the Heartless got through to the other side the Realm of Light would be in trouble, the worlds would most likely be doomed as they engulfed them all in darkness.

Riku had simply suggested for him to just use his Keyblade to close the door. But king Mickey said it didn't work like that, the door had to be close from both sides of the door. Meaning it needed two keys to close it. They would just have to hold off the Heartless until the other Keyblade wielder from the other side could reach them. But in this darkness Riku could feel nothing. The other side was cut off to him. The only thing he could feel in this place was king Mickey's heart, and the never ending darkness. He would have no idea if Sora was coming there or not, or any clues on where he was at the moment, Riku was in the dark on this one. And it scared him, he had never felt a time where his Ancient powers had failed him. He had always been able to feel the hearts of others and the presence of their lifestream as far as his powers could reach, more so when the powers of darkness increased his powers immensely, he could even somewhat feel the heart and lifestream flow of the other worlds. And now his naturally born abilities had failed him as everything had come into silence around him; it was terrifying.

But this was not the time or place to give in to fear. He had to help king Mickey protect the door or all that he cared about on the other side would truly be lost.

After a while, he had vouched for them to take turns getting some rest to rebuild their strength. He would take the first guard watch. But king Mickey had declined at that idea, not wanting to let Riku face the darkness alone or at least let him take the first watch instead. But Riku insisted, saying that king Mickey had been there for longer than him, and needed the rest. Although this place somehow didn't exhaust you physically, it would exhaust you mentally, and one would need the time to rest to get away from it all before the darkness truly consumed them. Reluctantly king Mickey gave in to Riku's stubborn insistence, the boy would just keep on worrying about him until he gave in, making it useless for Riku to even try to get some rest on the first sleep. So king Mickey had went to lean on the Kingdom Hearts door to rest, insisting that Riku wake him up if it got too much for him and went to sleep. The safest place to sleep was ironically at the door since they were blocking it off from the Heartless that kept on coming at it.

But it looked like fate was in their favor since only the small fry Heartless were the ones coming at the door since king Mickey had rested and left Riku on his own. They weren't any trouble, they were just numerous, and Riku was getting annoyed at having to stomp out their shadows as they tried to crawl their way around him.

"Give it up already," Riku huffed at the defeated Heartless in taunt. "You're not getting passed me."

"Riku."

"Your majesty, you should rest more." Riku suggested as king Mickey was wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"No, I've had plenty enough to re-boost my strength." He said, getting up on his feet again, taking his Keyblade in hand. "Thank you Riku."

"Don't mention it." Riku replied, turning his attention back to the Heartless. King Mickey soon walking to his side to face them off as well.

"You should rest, Riku. I can take it from here."

"But-"

"Don't worry. I'll protect your slumber, just like you protected mine." King Mickey said to him with smile. How could Riku reject such a kind offer. Kindness was not a thing to be taken for granted in this place.

"..." If king Mickey said he could handle it, then he could handle it. Riku could trust him. "Alright."

"Sweet dreams." King Mickey wished over his shoulders to Riku as he went back to lean on the door to rest.

"..." Riku couldn't help but smirk at that. Closing his eyes, he let an innocent darkness take him as he fell into a slumber...

The darkness that use to embrace him in his dreams for the past few days was still present. When he was still blinded and acting foolishly he had welcomed this darkness over his false notions of the caged dreamworld he shared with his mother. Now he would give anything just to get away from it. He was already surrounded by heart-choking darkness when he was awake, he did not need to be surrounded by darkness while he dreamed.

But somehow... this darkness didn't feel as thick. It wasn't bone-chilling at all.

And the mumbling sound that he use to hear from before had grown louder. It was starting to sound more clearer.

"..."

"?" He began looking around, left and right, trying to pick up where the sound was coming from.

"Ri..."

"?!" A voice. It was a voice. But whose was it? It was too quiet for him to hear.

But soon it began to grow louder.

"Ri..."

"!" His eyes widened as he gasped. That voice... it couldn't be...

"Ri..." It was her! But where? Where was it coming from?! "Riku..."

"!" It was coming from behind.

"Riku."

"!" He turned around to see his mother quickly floating her way to him. His eyes widening in surprise. Glad to see her, but nervous when it look like she wasn't going to stop in time. They were going to crash.

But the moment she grabbed him she had instantly grounded to a halt. As if the darkness had taken the force of their crash, it shattered like glass into tiny pieces that broke apart to give way to the blank light. Riku had to flinch his eyes closed, blinded from the light at its sudden return after so long of darkness.

His mother had backed away a little, giving him time to readjust to the light. His eyes squinted as they slowly opened again, blinking until the wateriness in his eyes faded away. Once he could see again, he looked around to see that this was no longer the dreamworld that he use to know. The flowers and grass from their little plain were gone, the tree was gone. All that was left was the blank grey, that they were floating in now. There was no ground, it was just her and him in the void of blankness. The innocent shelter that this place once held was gone; the little patch that acted like his nursery was no more. Nothing was like before.

"..." His mother silently waited for him to adjust to his new surroundings.

"..." His eyes slowly returned to her, but not for long. His eyes lowered as he looked down to the ground. He was happy to see her, overjoyed to have her warm presence back again. But... he felt so ashamed. He didn't feel like he had the right to look at her after all the things he had done. She had warned him, he disobeyed her when she was only trying to protect him. The price of his actions had cost him dear, along with everyone else. He knew he didn't deserve her forgiveness; she had every right to hate him. But... he couldn't bare the thought of seeing it in her eyes. "Mom. I, uh- !"

But he was cut off. His eyes widening in surprise as his mother launched at him for a hug. Resting her head on his shoulder as she held him tight. It was like she was afraid of letting go, as if he would disappear again.

"I'm so glad... you finally reached back out to me, Riku..." She happily whimpered, trying to hold back the tears.

"?!" His eyes grew wider, he didn't understand what she was saying. "What?"

"You called for me." She tried to explained, too overwhelmed with happiness to even give him a better detailed answer. She smiled warmly by his shoulder. "You called my name."

"I don't understand."

"I have been calling out to you for weeks now. Trying to reach you in the darkness." She explained, finally calming down from her joy. "But I could never find you. The darkness was blocking me out. And you had stopped reaching out to me, I could no longer even feel you calling for me."

"..." It was true. He had stopped calling for her and had given up on even trying to reach her in their dreams. He was pouting off like a stubborn child, cutting off all ties with her since he felt that she was doing the same to him. He averted his eyes from her, ashamed of himself.

"But then... you called for me. You finally called out to me." Aeris continued to explain. "I was so happy my heart was ecstatic. I was finally able to locate you."

"I don't understand, Mom. Why didn't you try to find me before? I was calling out for you for days after I left the island."

"Aw, Sweetie, I was." Aeris answered, leaning back to get a good look at her son. "I had been calling out to you for days in worry after the fall of your world. But your voice was muffled out. And I could barely sense your presence far out from where I was, but I could never truly pin-point where you were like before. The darkness was cutting off our connection."

"!" So then... "That mumble that kept coming from the back of my head in my dreams... that was you?"

"Yes. I've been trying to break through the darkness all this time. It had almost seemed hopeless when your mumbles had stopped."

"..." So in the end, it wasn't her that was abandoning him, it was him...

"We had even almost met once. I was shouting your name when the darkness had taken you away again in a portal at Traverse Town."

"!" So once again, the darkness had taken away what he truly wanted. The darkness never granted his wishes; it had cost him his awaited reunion with his mother for the first time.

"Maleficent had did a good job keeping you away from me. I was so worried at first when only Sora had made it to the world I was on; but I grew less frantic as I felt your heart still alive and beating strong far out in the cosmos."

"!" Wait. "You met Sora? Really?"

"Of course. Me and my friends had helped him get on his feet again when your world was destroyed; and have been assisting him on his journey to close the Keyholes of the worlds."

"So Sora got to meet you and not me." Riku huffed in sore disappointment in himself, and a little bit of jealous. "Hmpf, seems like that slacker always gets to win."

"Sweetie, this is not a competition." Aeris gently scolded at Riku, having enough of the bad venom inside him that she refuse to allow to grow any further. He had a competitive rivalry streak that he had gotten from his father, and she wouldn't let it grow out of proportion. "Sora knows my name, but he does not know 'who' or 'what' I am. You would have had your chance to meet me as well, you would have been the first to meet me if you had just waited a little longer. Instead you missed that chance because you were brooding over petty jealousy."

"..." Riku couldn't really give a retort to that, her words were true. He was jealous of Sora, and had felt really betrayed by him and abandoned at the time. He still kinda did a little, inside. "But Sora was the one slacking off while me and Kairi were missing. While I was busy trying to find a way to save Kairi, he was goofing off on other worlds with his 'other' friends, playing hero."

"What are you talking about?" Aeris huffed in appall at her son's twisted logic. "Sora has been looking for you and Kairi all this time, while Donald and Goofy were looking for king Mickey."

"!" What?

"He had no other means of traveling to the other worlds to find you, so of course he would join forces with Donald and Goofy. What better way to increase the search than with the help of others?"

"..." Now that she had put it in words it does make sense...

"And what's this about Sora slacking and goofing off?" Aeris scolded at her boy, placing her hands on her hips. "He was the Keyblade wielder. He had a duty and responsibility to the other worlds to close their Keyholes so that the Heartless could not destroy their worlds just like the Heartless had destroyed yours."

"!"

"He has been doing that while still looking for you and Kairi at the same time. Sora has been working so hard doing both task, regardless of himself and his safety. Don't throw away his efforts as if they were nothing."

"..."

"Riku. Look at me." Aeris commanded to him, her voice softening as she saw that beaten look on his face. She was telling him this to make him see the light again, not to make him feel guilty. She waited until his eyes looked back up to her again, and smiled. "You know Sora better than anyone. What would you describe him as?"

"..." Her words made him think. He had spent so long clouded in the darkness and his bitterness that he had almost forgotten what made Sora what he was to him... "He was lazy at times, always slacking off and getting easily distracted. There were even times he would take a nap while we were building our raft. But... he would always come through in the end. Getting the job done."

"..."

"He was so selfless, and always concerned himself with the welfare of others even at the risk of his own safety." Riku continued to comment, warming up more inside as each word left his mouth. He began to smirk at the memory. "He was recklessly caring, no matter who it was. That was what I liked about him from the start."

"..."

"How could I have been so blind? How could I have forgotten about that part of Sora like that? Did the darkness really cloud my mind that much?"

"The darkness feeds on the hatred and negativity in our hearts, even if it's small. That's why the darkness makes it grow and nurtures it." Aeris explained to her son. "Be weary of the darkness. For once it has grown so much inside you, it will consume you, body and heart."

"... So... does that mean... I've lost my heart and body?" Was he no better than a Heartless now?

"No..." Aeris gently said to her son, cupping his cheeks in her hands in comfort as his face began to twist into wallowing inner pain. "You are my son. And your heart still beats strong in my hands. Ansem may have taken away your body, but he could never take away your heart. Even if you are no longer in the Realm of Light, you still exist with your heart on the other side in the Realm of Darkness."

"Why didn't you give up on me...?" He painfully asked to her.

"I will never give up on you, Riku." Aeris immediately answered him without any hesitation. "I love you too much."

"..." He was so moved by her words, but he couldn't keep her gaze for long because he felt like he didn't deserve them. But Aeris wouldn't have that as the hand she still had resting on his cheek brought his face back up to look at her. She had placed her other hand over her heart.

"This is one of your homes, my son." She stated, meaning her heart. "Here your memory burns strongly, and it is here a piece of your heart will remain as a piece of my own. We all share a piece of our heart with others, to be cared for as we do to theirs in turn. So when at times you feel all alone, remember that you'll never really be alone."

"..."

"So remember, Riku. As long as we place people inside our heart: friends, family. And as long as they think about us from time to time, our hearts will always burn strong. And the light inside us will never go out. So tell me, Riku. You have a place inside my heart, do I have a place in yours?"

"!" Why would she even have to ask that? "Of course you do. You always have a place there. Along with Kairi, and Sora too."

"And many more." Aeris happily chuckled at her son, correcting his half-statement. "There are many others that have a place inside your heart, even if its a smaller piece. You're a very kind boy. And you've made a lot of friends down the road of your life, and you continue to make more as we speak."

"?"

"King Mickey is your friend, isn't he? You guys have been fighting together for a long time now. Your adoptive father has a place in your heart, just as much as Sora or Kairi. And your friends from the island have a small place in your heart as well. You just haven't noticed it yet."

"..." Suddenly a clarity came over him as he warmly looked down at his heart. At that moment, here in the void of blankness, he had no longer felt alone completely for the first time in his life. He could finally pin-point that warm feeling in his heart, he could now describe it with words. It was them... they had been there this whole time. Making themselves at home in his heart, he just hadn't been looking around to notice them. But wait. His head shot back up to his mother. "How did you know about king Mickey? I didn't say anything about him."

"Oh sweetie, you didn't have to say anything about him. I can sense his presence close to you from your heart."

"But how? How are you able to sense into the other Realm? I can't."

"That's because you're probably going about it the wrong way, Riku."

"?"

"Riku, what I am doing is reaching out to you and sensing from your heart what you are sensing through the pull you have reached out to me." Aeris explained to Riku. "It's not a one way ticket. Both parties have to make the connection in order for it to work. You called out first, and I called out back. Both of us reaching out to each other, accepting the other in. That's how I am able to reach you through your heart."

"So then... I can actually reach out to others through our hearts? Like Sora and Kairi?"

"Well, yes, as long as they reach back. There has to be a connection."

"(Sigh) Then it is hopeless... Our bonds have most likely been broken by now."

"Don't give up so easily. Bonds of the Heart can never truly die."

"But how? After all I've done? I'm sure that Sora is more than done with me now..."

"Don't be so sure of that. Sora's on his way to the world of the Heartless to rescue you as we speak."

"?!" Sora was coming? Really? "What? But then... why is he taking so long? It feels like it has been ages that we've been here."

"Don't be so hard on him; he wanted to come rescue you right away. I was the one that told him to train a little before attempting to go to the Heartless World."

"What?" He couldn't believe it. Did she want them stuck in that place as long as she could? Was this some form of punishment? "Why?"

"Because Sora wasn't ready to face the hordes of Heartless that would come at him as he was then. I wanted him to grow stronger a little before he even set foot in that place." Aeris said in all sincerity and logic. "He was your only hope of getting you and king Mickey out of there. He would have been no good to you dying before he could even reach you."

"..." He couldn't be mad at her for that. What she was saying did make sense.

"He didn't leave you waiting for long. He has grown much stronger in the last four days, and immediately left to save you as soon as he was done. He's actually making his way close to you two as we speak."

"Four days? I've been only in this place for just four days?" Riku couldn't believe that, it had felt longer than that.

"What do you mean 'just' four days?" Aeris ponder before she gasped as her eyes opened with a realization. "Riku... have you been eating?"

"No. I haven't even felt hungry." He honestly answered with a startle at the realization. "I'm not physically tired either, just mentally exhausted."

"..." Aeris used her hand on his cheek to move his face from side to side, checking him over for any signs of that he was malnourished. But she couldn't find any. If anything, he almost looked the same as he did before. "Hmm, it would seem that time and space flow different in the Realm of Darkness, if at all. Your time seems to have stopped there to a state of standstill. You no longer get hungry or tired as your physical state remains the same as when you initially came to that Realm. You even stopped aging, I believe."

"!" This was all fascinating, but Riku now had more pressing matters to worry about at hand. "Wait. Sora is close? Really?"

"Yes. Can't you feel him?"

"... No." He hadn't really been trying to call out to him. But then again, he hadn't been trying to call his mother and somehow he had reached her. But still... he hadn't been hearing anything from Sora so far either. "There's nothing there."

"There is 'something' there. You just haven't been able to find it back."

"It doesn't matter now. Either way there's no hope of finding it if Sora doesn't reach out to me, right?"

'Riku!'

"!" That voice... he had felt that. No. He had heard that! "Sora?!"

"Hm," his mother smiled at him. "Looks like you spoke too soon."

"!" He returned his gaze, from out of the distant to where Sora's heart was coming from, back to his mother.

"You best reach back out to him before you lose him."

Reaching out to Sora? But that would mean he would have to wake up.

"But what about-"

"Don't worry." Aeris said, cutting him off with a finger over his mouth before she pulled him back in for a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'll always be here for you now. Waiting..."

"Mom..." He gave in to the hug, relaxing as he rested his head along the side of hers, giving in to her warmth. It felt like the moment had lasted for a long time, but at the same time, ended too soon. As she pulled away from him again.

"It's okay, Riku. You're never truly alone." She smiled at him in assurance.

"Hm," he nodded at her in agreement, finally understanding what she had been trying to teach him all his life.

"So, go on. Cut through the darkness to him." She said, gesturing with her head towards the direction Sora's heart was coming from. Before a light laugh escaped from her as she shook her head for a second, placing her hands on her hips. "What are you waiting for, Silly? Get going."

"!" She had given him a light push in the void, also giving him the push he needed to get going and wake up. "!"

"A-ha, well you're up early." King Mickey commented to Riku from over his shoulder. "Did you get good-enough sleep?"

"King Mickey, Sora is coming." Riku gladly announced as he locked on to Sora's location through his heart. He could sense Sora coming, going further and further into the darkness towards them. But he was in danger, there was another presence near him, aside from Donald and Goofy. A dark presence, one that he could recognized. "He's fighting Ansem!"

"What?! Which one?! Ansem the Wise, or Ansem Seeker of the Darkness?!"

"There's a difference?!"

"Of course there is! Ahh, but we don't have time to discuss it, can you tell whether which one it is?"

"Ansem the... Seeker of Darkness?" Riku answered, not fully sure if he got it right or not.

"(Sigh) Boy... that's a relief and a pity." King Mickey sighed out, placing a hand over his heart as he breathed out his relief.

"Wait, what? Why?"

"'Cause it's good that Ansem the Wise hasn't completely fallen into darkness by fighting the Keyblade wielder. But also a pity because we could have use his help right now. His knowledge would have been most useful in our quest to defeat the darkness."

"Wait. So he's not a bad person?"

"Hmm, not really, no. He just lost his way a little in the pursuit of knowledge."

"..." Riku had felt that 'that' one was a bit of an understatement. "Really? He seemed pretty evil to me after all the things he has done."

"That wasn't him. That was his Heartless."

"His what? -!" Riku halted in his question as he felt the rumble that shook from the other side of the door. Sora had come closer now, sinking deeper into darkness as Ansem's darkness began to consume him and his friends. "Sora!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's Sora. He's starting to submit to Ansem's darkness." Riku informed king Mickey as he felt Sora's light slowly fading to unconscious from the wait of Ansem transformation into the darkness, falling deeper into the darkness. He could practically feel Ansem's overwhelming darkness from even the other side of the door. "What in the world is that?! Did he turn himself into a battle ship or something?!"

"We can't have that." King Mickey commented with worry, slashing away another small fry Heartless that had gotten too close. "He mustn't give up."

"..." Riku couldn't agree more, turning back to the door as he continued to feel Sora's heart. "Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."

It had felt like his words had somehow reached Sora, as the light in Sora's heart had return with his fight as he took on Ansem alone. Weakening him down enough to plunge into his darkness and pull his friends out. Riku could feel as their hearts joined forces as they took on Ansem together.

If they were giving it their all, then he would do the same. He began fighting harder, pushing back the Heartless as they became more active and restless. It was almost as if they could sense the battle between the light and the darkness going down on the other side of the door and were drawn to it.

"Oh no you don't." Riku grunted at the Heartless that were trying to sneak passed him by slithering their way to the door, slashing them down. "You're not getting through us."

"Come on, Riku! Let's hold them off!"

"You got it, your majesty!"

Both sides were fighting hard. And it felt like Sora and the others were almost winning on their part. But only until Ansem had willed the doors to open, as a last resort, trying to draw forth the power of darkness that he believe to be on the other side.

"The door's..." Riku gasped out, halting in his actions in alarm as he watched the doors slowly start to crack over. "King, what are we going to do?!"

"Close the door!" King Mickey instructed as he fought through the hordes of Heartless, breaking through their line. "Sora and the others should be on the other side!"

"Right!" Riku confirm in acceptance of his instructions, slashing off the Heartless that had made their way up close to him while he was distracted. "Outta my way, Heartless!"

He tore through them with Soul Eater, making his way back to the door. As the doors opened a blinding light shot through them. Its warm rays were pleasant on Riku's skin, like a breath of fresh air. Its blinding light had shot through the realm and destroyed the Heartless that its rays touched, only for the light to fade away and revealed darkness and grey that lied on the other side of the door. Ansem had been consumed by the light from the other side, returning Riku's body back to him. But this was no time to relish in the moment of reuniting with his body, or to be distracted, he needed to close the door.

"Come on!"

"!" He halted in his actions as he heard Sora's voice on the other side. 'Sora!'

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald huffed at Goofy as he took a peek at the other side while they were trying to close the door again, drawing Donald's curiosity as well. "Huh?"

"..." This was his chance. 'If I can get through this door... I can go back to my world with Sora and Kairi...'

"The Heartless!" Both Donald and Goofy shouted out in alarm as they got a peek of what lied on the other side of the door.

"Hurry!" Donald insisted to the others as they tried to get the door to budge.

'This is my only chance. If I don't go now, I'll be stuck on this side for good, with no guarantee that I'll find another door out of this place. I can go right now, but... If I leave now... I'll have to leave king Mickey behind...'

Could he even contemplate doing such a thing?

"I can't..." Sora grunted, losing hope as the door wouldn't move.

"..." Without any hesitation, Riku had made his choice out of his options. "Don't give up!"

"!" Sora gasped in surprised as Riku's arm shot out from the other side, gripping the door as he tried to help them close it.

"Come on, Sora!" Riku said, looking over from the other side through the door's crack. "Together, we can do it!"

"Okay!" Sora said, gaining his spirits back. Together they all worked to close the door.

The larger Heartless had made their way to the door, and there was nothing Riku could do about it while he was trying to help pull the door close except try harder.

"It's hopeless!" Donald quacked out in despair. It looked like they wouldn't be able to close the door in time, when suddenly the other force on Riku's side had come in to take care of the Heartless.

"Ohh." "Ahh." Goofy and Donald had said together in awe as king Mickey revealed himself as the one who came in to save the day. "Your Majesty!"

"Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!" King Mickey said to Sora, pulling out his Keyblade as his light shined through the realm.

"Close it, quick!" Donald insisted in agreement at his king's command.

"But..." Sora was hesitant about trapping Riku and king Mickey on the other side with all that.

"Don't worry." King Mickey assured to Sora. "There will always be a door to the light."

And Riku honestly believed him. If they had found a way in, they could find a way out. They would just have to use 'another' door.

"Sora, you can trust king Mickey." Goofy assured to Sora as well.

"Now! They're coming!" Riku insisted to Sora to hurry as more Heartless were starting to show up.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you." King Mickey said over to his friends, getting his last words in since it was probably going to be a long time until they all would be able to see each other again.

At the king's last words, they finally put the rest of the force needed to get the door going. The doors were starting to close on their own now. Turning back around to Sora to get his last few words in as well. Riku was at a halt of what to say. There were so many things going on in his mind right now. There was so much he wanted to say, but there wasn't much time. It was best to get the most meaningful words then.

"..." Riku couldn't help but smile at Sora, trying to assure him that everything was alright. He could no longer protect Sora and Kairi the way he use to, or the way he planned to, the rest would have to be left to Sora. "Take care of her."

"!" Sora was slightly struck at their emotional parting, but toughen himself up as he refuse to cry or see this as goodbye. Nodding at Riku's request, he pushed the rest of the way to shut the door.

"..." Riku watch with content to his fate as the doors were slowly sealing shut. He looked at Sora for as long as he could, smiling as he was able to do something good to protect all that he cared about that lied on the other side of the door. It would be the last in a long time, but... He was glad to be able to see Sora again one last time. He would cherish the moment, along with the memories of his friends, for as long as he was in the darkness. They would protect him from the darkness, as it would try to warp his mind. 'We'll see each other again. I'll be back. I promise.'

Was the last thing Riku silently promised to Sora as the doors finally shut. With the doors shut, king Mickey and Sora worked together with their Keyblades to lock the door. Making the door disappear from the existing realm.

This door was forever closed to them... But there were many more in its stead back to the light. Riku was sure of it. Him and king Mickey would find their way back to the Realm of Light. That was a promise.

*** Meanwhile in the Realm of Light ***

Aeris had felt as the door was shut, from Hollow Bastion. She saw from the window as the skies were filled with showers as lights in the sky were returned to their place as the worlds were restored from the darkness. Radiant Garden as well coming together once again all around Hollow Bastion.

It was done, Sora had did it.

But...

She could still sense Riku and king Mickey on the other side in the Realm of Darkness. Trapped with the door locked behind them. And Sora and the others were stuck in a realm between Realms. The worlds were saved, but at what cost.

"..." But she wouldn't lose hope. Nor would she tell the others of what had happened with Sora and Riku as Leon and Yuffie discussed with her about what they were going to do to help rebuild Radiant Garden to its former glory. The people were starting to return along with the hearts that sore through the skies. They would need to start working on reconstructing soon to house all of them. But Aeris wasn't really paying attention to their planning, she was too busy sensing out into the far distance. All the way passed their sealed off world to her son. Her son was alive and still safe, his heart returned to the light after its stray. That's all that matters.

He would find his way back. The both of them will, as long as they kept the light burning bright in their hearts. She knew they will. Until then... she would be patient, and wait...

"Hey guys!" Cid called out to them as he made his way into the Library, accompanied by someone. "Look who I found wondering around outside the castle!"

"..." Aeris turned around with the others to see that it was Cloud, returned from Olympus Coliseum. And here was another stray sheep coming back to the light.

"..." Cloud couldn't help but look away a little as Aeris smiled and approached him. He approached to meet her half way, couldn't meet her gaze once his feet had stopped, as if he had done something wrong. But Aeris wouldn't have that as she bent down and tilted her face up to him to get a look at him.

"Welcome back, Cloud." Aeris softly smiled, the warmth in her voice made him look back up again. "I hope you've found what you were looking for..."