She tried to swallow, but her throat was far too dry. Words fumbling, heart racing, she shakily tried to reach towards him.

No. No, no no...

Her heart was beating so hard in her ears that all else was muffled nonsense. Vaguely, she recognized the sound of laughter. Cruel, mocking laughter bouncing across the room. Kairi's fuzzy mind offered nothing but a dull hum as she stared at it.

That thing. By that horrible thing, Sora was..

The dark weapon had pierced its way all the way through, effortlessly dangling his body up into the air. Sora scrabbled in shock at the object impaling him, unable to utter much more than horrified choking.

"R-Ri-u...wh..."

Riku only stared back with a soulless and empty expression; not even reacting to the sight of his dear friend sagging at the end of the spear clenched tightly in his own hand. Nor did Riku even blink at the few drops of Sora's blood flecking his face.

Kairi didn't even feel herself move, but felt instead like she was passively watching from behind a veil as her body rushed towards that horrible dark spear. Her hands clenched around it, ignoring the serrated edges that bit into her palms.

An aura of light burst from her hands and the spear instantly shattered into thousands of glass-like shards. The pieces crumbled down towards the sand before evaporating into black smoke. Riku stumbled backwards away from her glow as if driven only by mindless impulse to escape the light.

Now freed, Sora crashed to the sand, his breath coming out in short pained gasps.

With considerable effort he somehow managed to sit up, clamping a hand down over his side. "W-why—"

He winced, unable to speak any further through the pain of it and collapsed back onto the sand, now shaded in a dark red hue. Dropping down next to him, Kairi didn't even care how gritty and painful it felt against her knees. With one hand she focused on encircling them both with light strong enough to temporarily stave off the darkness...and Riku, should he choose to approach again.

The other hand began fumbling at Sora's clothes, trying to yank them away from the wound so she could see it more clearly. She wished she hadn't. Kairi felt her consciousness shrink further into the back of her mind in a desperate retreat. Her body continued to move on its own.

"Hold still." Her voice spoke with surprising clarity, not at all betraying the fear curdling in her stomach. "Stop moving."

Perhaps shocked by the cold calculated tone of her order, or perhaps only due to the pain in his body, she saw him shivering, his eyes half misted over.

"I'm s-sorry...I didn't listen when-said not to-"

His strained apology was beyond unnecessary. All it did was make her heart clench, wishing she had spoken more warmly. The shock of the scene had caused her to nearly disassociate completely, watching it all unfold from some veiled, far-away place. But she knew right now, he needed her there. All of her.

She all so suddenly felt herself once more gaining control of her own trembling hands, really feeling the warmth seeping out of him. It was so much worse, but she bit her tongue.

"I...so stupid..."

Kairi gently shushed his clumsy continued attempts to apologize, pressing her own forehead against his clammy brow. Yes, he had been careless in rushing towards Riku without considering the situation, but it was just the sort of horrid trap that would lure someone like him in immediately.

A cruel trick; there was no reason for Sora to ever be suspicious of his best friend, nor to think that Riku was being influenced to act outside of his will. But someone had been bending Riku's body to do its bidding, and Sora ran headfirst right into danger. A danger that unfortunately came equipped with spontaneously appearing magical barbed weapons. She had sensed the darkness, but wasn't able to warn him of it fast enough.

"Quiet, now. I'm right here with you. Can you try to relax a bit?"

He uttered a muffled whimper as she could feel him doing his best to comply. As hard as it was for her to do, she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Okay, now focus on your breathing for me if you can. Nice and slow."

Eyes pinched shut, Sora was clearly doing his best to take even, steady gulps of air. It was no wonder why even something so simple was a struggle; his injury looked terrible. Confusion over the whole situation still clouded his pained expression. She was resolved to at least be something stable for him to cling to.

While not a doctor, at least all her interest in medicinal herbs over the years had taught her a few things. Without stopping to reconsider, she ripped at her skirt, tearing off a decent chunk of the cloth and, bundling it up, pressed it into his wound to try and staunch the bleeding. She wasn't sure if her light could help heal something like this, but she focused on it anyway, hoping at the very least it might dull his pain. If it had worked in the past, she hoped it would work now.

As she concentrated, she turned her eyes upwards to search for Riku once more. He was standing several paces away from the circle of her light, gazing straight through her as if still asleep. If there was any doubt about who was controlling him, Seifer was sneering contentedly next to the raven toting witch. A faint green glow was pulsing from Riku's chest and she could feel the animosity pouring from it. It was the same dark aura that had surrounded those knights that had haunted her endlessly through Darkfall.

Beads of sweat began pooling around her forehead. She had never before had to summon her ritual light for this long, and it was starting to actually feel uncomfortable. How much longer could she really maintain this protective space, while at the same time trying to use any spare light to sooth Sora's pain? It was a question she couldn't answer, and didn't want to try.

Sora mumbled, his voice barely audible but every gasp he could spare fought to relay his message. "Riku...not himself...the dark...careful...p-please..."

"I know, it's okay, please don't strain yourself."

It was hard to keep her own hands steady, as the sheer effort of the spell was causing her fingers to rattle like they were freezing. She could feel him growing colder underneath her despite her light being a source of even, consistent heat.

She did everything she could to stop the remaining embers of his warmth from fading, but it was like she was trying to catch snowflakes from the sky. It melted away effortlessly in her hands, leaving her nothing but the cold. Even as she desired to offer him the warmth of her own body to use, it felt like her gift was falling into an untouchable abyss.

"Sora, stay with me...please stay with me..."

Vision blurred, it was hard to see his face clearly any more. It was too much. She could feel it all slipping away beneath her fingers; his laughter, his smile, the simple joy he always bore on his face...

She desperately blinked away the tears just to try and see him, even for just that little bit longer. Sora's hand clumsily reached for the one she had pressed against the messy bundle of ripped dress. He gazed up at her lovingly, his eyes still foggy from pain.

"It's...warm..."

The pain should have preoccupied so much of his thoughts, but it was clear he was doing his best to shove it aside, focusing instead on her. She knew her face was likely bearing far more worry and fear than she wanted. With both hands occupied, she couldn't stop the loose tears from dripping onto him despite her every attempt at a smile.

"You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay..."

Endlessly she looped the mantra, ever desperately, voice trembling all the more, and she knew the words served only to foolishly attempt to convince herself as her mind screamed and begged inside.

Please don't take him away from me. Not like this. Not yet.

In the depths of what felt like an endless swirling abyss, she called out to every spark of light and love she had ever felt, clinging to the emotions as dearly as she clung to him. And as her prayers continued, it seemed like the waves of it were slowly washing the anguish from his body. His senses ever so slightly perked up, and she felt a flicker of hope in the light just barely starting to return to his eyes. At the same time, she also noticed that the bleeding had slowed significantly.

Perhaps, an errant thought interjected, because there wasn't much blood left. Horrified, she shook the renegade thought from her head.

No, no, no.

Still clutching his hand against hers, Sora blinked with brighter eyes and tipped his head briefly to the side, contemplatively.

"It feels...it's gone...?"

She wasn't fully sure if she understood, but feared the worst. A sign of the end. Very often she had heard that those at death's door briefly stop feeling pain before inevitably...

Panic forced her heart into overdrive, and she shook her head so rapidly that even more tears were flung away from her flooded eyes.

"I won't give up on you. I won't let you go, I won't!"

Sora tried pulling the now soiled bits of dress to the side but she fought him on it, refusing to stop clamping her hands down on him.

"It's okay, Kairi. The pain isn't-" He won at the brief struggle, managing to shift the fabric to the side despite her knuckles pinching it so tightly in place they were starting to turn white.

"Wait! It's-"

She gasped. It was so beyond unbelievable she doubted her own eyes and froze.

There was nothing there. No injury, no mark, nothing.

It really was gone.

Just as confused, Sora glanced down at his now fully healed side and blinked a few more times, prodding the space with his finger.

"Kairi, how did you...? Your light can do that?"

She nodded very, very slowly, still stunned. "I...m-maybe? Are you...are you still in pain?"

He dropped his head back into the sand a moment and took a deep, steadying breath. "Still a bit sore, but I'll take it."

Not sure if she could laugh or cry, she could only stare at the blank patch of skin in shock. It was nothing short of a miracle. One she hoped she would never have to repeat again. However, the one problem her light didn't solve was his sudden loss of blood. His skin still looked a bit paler than usual and she worried about other possible repercussions not visible from the outside.

Despite her protests, he struggled to sit back up again.

"When this is over, I'm gonna thank you properly, okay? Until then..." He squeezed her hand with renewed vigor. "Just know you are the most amazing person, ever. Never forget that."

Mind still racing, she almost couldn't appreciate the compliment, nor even react as he wrapped her up in a sudden tight hug for a brief moment before rising to his feet. Even before it all finally sank in, she had already leapt back up to his side, clutching him close. Taking a deep breath, she made sure to keep her light shield around them burning strong, just to keep him safe.

She squished her face against his shoulder, appreciating every single trace of warmth she could still feel. And that was exactly when the gravity of his compliments struck her heart. She used her closeness to mask the rapid flushing of her face.

"D-don't you ever scare me like that again."

"Not planning on it." Sora's head snapped to look over at the dark fiends in the corner. In an instant, his mood shifted like a sudden cloudburst of rain in an otherwise clear sky. "You! What did you do to Riku!? Give him back right now!"

Seifer looked like he had just eaten something sour. "Why am I not surprised that you're somehow still kicking after that? But you won't be so lucky next time. Can't hide behind your little girlfriend forever."

"Answer me!" Sora demanded without hesitation, his face nonetheless reddening even though he didn't have much blood to spare.

Fury that she had rarely seen in him had sparked to life, burning with such intense fire that she wouldn't have believed how much pain he had been in only moments ago.

The edge of Seifer's mouth curled into a sneer and he shrugged, letting an idle finger drift over in Riku's direction. "I didn't do anything except step into the role he abandoned."

"Stop talking in riddles and just tell me!"

"Allow me that privilege." Maleficent interjected, tapping her nails one after the other on the glassy stone at the top of her staff. "Mr. Morizaki and I met a very long time ago. As a child, he accepted the gift of a seed from me. However, he regrettably changed his mind about accepting the power it offered. I believe you would know more about the reason behind that choice, considering it was your wretched meddling that lead him down that path."

"My...meddling?"

"Oh, yes. How many times have I wanted to cast a spell to turn you into an ant and squash you with my thumb? I only refrain because that wouldn't be nearly as satisfying in the end. It is commendable at least: your frustrating knack of getting in my way."

"You expect me to be sad? Because I don't feel the least bit sorry about that!" Sora snipped back, wobbling a bit unsteadily on his feet from what Kairi assumed was lingering soreness in his core.

Maleficent eyed him suspiciously. "Quite the contrary. I actually wanted to thank you. You've made all of this supremely more interesting than if everything had gone my way. Over the years revenge became less of a priority for me. For when you get to see as much as I do, you start to really only live for truly satisfying moments, wherever they remain. Whatever the conclusion, I only wish to be entertained."

Kairi planted her feet in the sand, again trying to be something sturdy for him to hold onto. "Sora isn't your toy! Riku isn't either. Lives aren't just for your entertainment!"

It was hard to ignore the proud smile she saw Sora trying to hide from her view. It wasn't the best time, but just knowing that he was so taken by her jumping to his defense made her heart flutter all the same. Ever so tentatively, she latched her fingers around his arm just to feel the brush of his skin once more.

Sora once more locked eyes with the witch, a slight snarky grin on his face. "You got that right. You'd think someone with her...you know, advanced age, would know better by now."

Maleficent huffed and stabbed the blunt end of her staff into the ground. "Cheeky. Unfortunately, no matter what you preach at me, the truth is evident. Your precious Riku is nothing but a puppet. A puppet to the will of the darkness. In his current state, no matter how much he is crying out inside he is powerless to resist."

Sora scanned the sand nearby for something, his brow furrowed, rage still trembling behind his eyes. "I don't care if you want to mess with me, but let him go!"

Maleficent only offered a small cold smile before returning her attention to her nails. "Your opinion doesn't interest me. As I said, I'm only here to observe. Now go on, play your part like a good little knight."

Seifer took an eager step forward. "Allow me to kick things off. I am going to complete the ritual whether you losers like it or not."

He scuffed his boot across the sand, flinging the grains in Sora's direction. "I already knew there was a chance you would stay utterly hell bent on saving your precious sweetheart, so I figured Riku would make the perfect distraction for you." A cruel, horrid sneer remained on his face. "Besides, I'm curious. Will you be willing to cut down your dearest friend to save her? Or will you let him destroy you both first?"

Kairi felt a nausea-inducing shiver run up her back. She didn't know much about Seifer, but did he really have no empathy at all for someone who was supposed to be his friend? How could he have even conceived of a plan so despicable?

"Stop taunting him! I won't let y-"

Before she could finish her grand proclamation, the roots around the room began to shake and peel themselves off the walls. Like minions obeying their master, they began to stab upwards into the ceiling, sending rubble crashing down into the cave below. The sounds above ground were equally as terrifying. Crashing, screaming, faint rumbles of structures being uprooted and toppling to the ground joined into a massive cacophony of cave floor wobbled unsteadily, causing both her and Sora's feet to do the same. They did their best to keep each other stable, but it was a futile effort, and they were forced down on their hands and knees as the earth buckled beneath them. The sand surged like the ocean.

Amid the destruction, Kairi could hear Seifer continuing to gloat.

"Do you even know how deep this root system goes? The lack of rain has left the land parched, dry of blessing and vulnerable to attack. How many will have to die this time before you surrender yourself, princess? You can end this any time, you know."

Kairi could see the destruction. Hear it. Feel it.

She knew. There really might not be a way out of this. And perhaps it really was selfish of her to fight for her life and prolong all of the pain. But even though she knew, part of her still wasn't ready to just give in to his demands.

If this was going to be her end, she was going to accept it with her head held high, heart steeled and take that final step towards destiny on her own terms. Not on ones decided for her.

Regaining her balance as best she could, she gazed upon on the gloating knight and the sorceress, clasped her hands together and concentrated.

"Sora, I have an idea but it's going to be a bit risky. My light won't be able to shield us anymore."

She tipped her head briefly back towards Riku's possessed form who was idling at the edge of her currently pulsing light shield that was keeping both her and Sora safe. Hopefully Sora got the message.

He nodded and after finally locating what he had been scanning the sand for, fished the borrowed sword out from where it was half buried. "No problem, I trust you. I won't let them surprise me again."

After another nod between them, Kairi pushed her hands forward and the light that circled around her and Sora shifted, spinning across the sand before encompassing its two new targets. Maleficent raised an eyebrow and tapped at the glowing wall now sealing both her and Seifer inside with an amused expression. Otherwise, she made no motion to try and escape.

Seifer, however looked like someone had just spit in his face. He charged towards the barrier and rammed his shoulder straight into it. The light immediately repelled the darkness inside of him. He crashed flat on his back with a grunt.

"What the hell did you just do!?"

He reached his arm up and tried to command the vines to smash down to where she was standing, but they only trembled in place, swaying back and forth as if lost. Unsure of how to act, the vines shuddered and fell silent once more. The ground thankfully stopped trembling as well.

It took Sora a moment glancing about in confusion to figure out what she had done, but in that instant his face lit up. "Oh, I get it! Seifer can't control them any more while he's in there because the light's getting in the way!"

He cheered a bit too enthusiastically and briefly winced, rubbing the still sore area on his side.

Kairi didn't have to confirm a thing; the rage in the other knight's face made it obvious that Sora had it all spot on. Seifer spit at the edge of her circle. "Yeah, well I'd love to see how long she can keep me in here. It won't last forever. Also..."

He sneered. Kairi heard the quick sound of someone rushing forward through sand.

"Sora, behind-"

She heard a metallic clang and, terrified, looked over her shoulder.

"Already on it!"

To her relief, Sora had managed to block the incoming strike of a dark and spiny sword, its edges as crooked as a bats wing. Deflected, it stabbed uselessly into the dirt. Not even a flicker of recognition passed across Riku's face as he took a step backwards and pivoted to gain momentum for another strike.

Sora blocked it, but winced and stumbled back from the blow. Not giving him any quarter, Riku charged and tried to force his way over to her. Sora intercepted him every step of the way, managing to counter the rapid attacks one after the other.

It was like a dance, and she found herself unintentionally enthralled at the swift back and forth. Each blow was blocked and traded for another. She could only assume that for two who had been friends for so long, surely they would be experienced in knowing each others' movements quite well. Even still, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Are you going to be okay!?"

A nervous smile crept onto Sora's face as he ducked under a swift horizontal slice aimed at his head.

"Well, the good news is he still moves like Riku, and I've sparred with him enough to know what he can do."

Even though he was trying to sound cheerful, she could hear his heavy breathing and knew he was already over-exerting himself after his earlier injury.

"Should I ask about the bad news?" She tried go suppress the thoughts of her own weakness as her arms began to tremble from the ever-growing strain of her magic.

"You...probably don't wanna know. But, the truth is..." The clanging sound of their swords interrupted him briefly. "Truth is, I've never won against him. Not even once."

Her chest began to feel tight. Sora was right; that was not something she wanted to know in the slightest. But even against those miserable odds, Sora was still fighting with all his heart to refuse Riku even one more step towards her and she couldn't help but wish there was more she could do.

If only she had more strength to spare. If given the chance, perhaps her light might be able to break the spell holding their friend captive, but even the thought of extending herself further made her feel like she would crumble.

Riku endlessly attempted charge after charge towards her, sword raised high next to his head but Sora ever kept refusing him the chance. Both swords clashed together with such a loud clang Kairi could almost swear she felt the vibrations from where she was standing.

Gasping from the strain, Sora's leg visibly trembled and he was forced to roll away. Riku's sword crashed to the sand mere centimeters from him, kicking up a splash of sand and pebbles. In terms of raw power, Sora was clearly outmatched, but at least it appeared that he was slightly faster on his feet.

"Riku, stop! Can you really not hear me?"

His friend said nothing, pried his sword up out of the sand and charged again. Kairi could only watch horrified at their continued duel. As it dragged on, she knew it was unsustainable. While Sora was breathing heavily, bearing multitudes of light scratches and tears in his clothes from near misses, Riku was just as stoic as before, silently pressing the offensive. Each time their attacks met, Riku would nearly force Sora onto his knees. Each time Sora was forced to twist to the side to avoid being impaled once more. Each time a near miss.

He couldn't keep this up. He was going to lose. Sooner or later he was going to slip up and she wouldn't be able to fix it. Emotions swirled inside of her like a leaf twisting, lost, around a whirlwind. Every single clang made her chest tighten even more, the twisting burning sense of fear playing bitter like rust across her tongue.

But Sora always fought for what he wanted to protect with such intense passion. Even if it was foolish for him to do so. That's how he was about everything. The type of person to smash his head against his problems until he fixed them. Riku had told her that much the very first day she had met him, and his words still rang out just as clearly.

That endearing, sometimes infuriating perseverance of his...despite it all, it really was one of the things she loved most about him.

Seifer was starting to do whatever he could to attack the inside of her shield, punching and kicking, forcing her to strain harder to keep him properly sealed back. She felt herself starting to lose her balance and staggered in an attempt to regain her footing.

There really was no other option, was there?

"Sora, I...I think I know a way to help him."

"Really!?" The joy and hope in his voice made her unintentionally smile.

"My light should have the power to destroy the seed that is controlling him. I've done it once before. But...I can't spare the energy without letting those two free first." She nodded towards her shield that was now starting to flicker ever slightly. "And that's the last thing we need."

Shakily, she gulped, feeling her heart flutter as she realized just what she was about to suggest. "You'll...have to use my light for me."

Sora rolled away from his friend's blade and jumped back up to his feet, knocking the subsequent blow to the side.

"Sure!" Agreeing without even knowing what he was agreeing to; how very like him. Straining from the fight, Sora was forced to make his responses fast as he ducked and weaved under the rapid attacks raining down on him. "How?"

Kairi trembled, feeling a rush of warmth to her cheeks. "The light ceremony can...y-you'll have to bond with me."

"H-huh!?" Startled, he barely ducked away in time from the next stab of the dark blade and it caught slightly on his tunic, the serrated edges leaving a nasty rip across the fabric.

She bit her lip in panic as he struggled to recover. "I know it sounds strange, but the whole point of the Light Bonding ceremony is to share a piece of my heart, remember? It hasn't ever been done before, but if you have that piece you might be able to use it..."

He clearly wasn't processing her words properly.

"Wh...but—wait a-" He leaped backwards and rolled away, skidding against the sand. Alarmed in more ways than one, he risked a flustered look back at her. "Isn't the whole bonding thing a wedding ceremony!?"

She tried to hide her own blushing. Unsuccessfully. "Y-yes and no. Kind of..."

"Uh-huh..." Sora suddenly flashed a quick yet cheeky grin over his shoulder at her before making sure to keep dodging the rapid swinging of the dark sword flying his way. "So I'm supposed to ignore that you are only kind of asking me to marry you right now!? Not exactly the way I imagined this sort of thing going down!"

Seifer audibly groaned from the inside of the bubble of light.

"Well isn't this romantic?" His voice was oozing sarcasm. "So glad I have to sit through this stupid nonsense. Don't tell me you're going to start gushing mushy goo-goo at each other..."

She did her best to ignore the knight twittering off in the corner.

"It's n-not exactly a wedding...think of it like a prerequisite. The paperwork and seals afterwards are what makes the ceremony count as a wedding. And we aren't planning on signing those, so...if that...makes any sense..."

Blocking the next strike, Sora tipped his head back and forth in confusion, trying to process everything she had said. "So...other than signing some papers, it's basically-"

Taking advantage of his distraction, Riku swept his leg out, knocking Sora down heavily into the sand. He yelped, and just barely managed to dodge out of the way of the incoming downward stab aimed right for his heart.

"Sora, this really isn't the time for semantics! I don't know what else to do!"

Leaping back up to his feet in a shower of sand, Sora somehow managed a carefree laugh.

"It's okay; I told you last night how I felt, remember? I meant every word and nothing's changed. So it's alright by me! Timing is...a little weird, sure, but let's do it!"

And while she had been worried for a moment he would be too distracted to defend himself, he seemed almost more invigorated than ever. It was hard not to smile at the overly enthusiastic way he had agreed so simply to such a dramatic request.

With a triumphant yell he kicked himself forward, swatted Riku's sword to the side and stomped down to pin it temporarily into the sand. Then, using the momentum from Riku attempting to free his blade from the soil, he leapt backwards. This was able to put some valuable space between him and his friend, and move him back closer to her.

"Heh, Riku's gonna be soo mad when he finds out we did this." He paused, noticeably checking around the room before turning a helpless gaze back at her. "How...do we do it, again? Do we need like...a priest or something?"

Riku rushed to close the distance and Sora was forced back into battle before she could answer.

It was a good question; one she was also not to sure of the answer. For the last few days she had been taught by the priests extensively on the ceremony, but every step she had been taught was assuming the source of her powers was still from her bloodline. Which, she was fairly sure no longer applied to her.

She didn't understand everything about the current source of her power, but she knew it was different. It wasn't coming from the husk of the seed that the dark being below the earth was currently yearning for, despite it still hiding inside of her somewhere. The true source, she believed, was something far more beautiful.

Beatrix had handed her the first real confirmation of that earlier, when she offered over a fortune card left in her care by an old friend. It had been marked with the symbol of the Ewer, the water of life. A symbol of that which connects all people, like an invisible river coursing through every living thing. The very basis of magic that Ellone studied from.

Kairi knew she was somehow intrinsically tied to that river. The light was granted to her because of the love she felt for other people. The exact opposite of the power used by her family for generations, that required a user to separate themselves from everyone and everything.

Perhaps that meant all the years spent researching into the phenomenon of Light Refraction were useless to apply to her, as her light came from something so foreign to the seed passed down by her family. She realized quite bitterly that this was also the likely reason why all the castle scientists could never figure out how to make their artificial rain using her light. Their equations and calculations were all based on a power source that she simply wasn't using.

So how was she meant to perform a ceremony that wasn't designed for her? Would it even work? The original ceremony was all about bloodlines. As it was written, her intended beloved was to join her in destiny by drinking a very small sample of her own blood, diluted by the waters of the temple. Somehow this was meant to link them together symbolically, and would allow the two of them to touch from that point on, but that didn't stop the idea of it making her skin crawl. Nevertheless, whatever the stated reason behind that action was, the true one was more than likely to allow the seed inside of her to also live inside of him, albeit in a limited capacity. She knew that all the talk about destiny and the will of the Gods actually meant nothing. It was truly only ever about her blood and who possessed it.

But she could already touch Sora, so surely that first half of the ceremony was pointless. Thank goodness. She wouldn't have been looking forward to telling Sora to go all vampire on her.

Yet what about the second half? An exchange of vows. Each word like a thread, that when spoken aloud, wove together into a beautiful magic that connected their hearts together forever. The priests had always told her it was by the will of the Gods, but Kairi wasn't entirely sure. When the petals of such flowery language were plucked away, she had a feeling that what was responsible was just another branch of that ever-flowing river of ancient magic joining everyone and everything together.

Maybe all it would take to give him a piece of her heart was to reach out to him. Reach out to him, and let him take it.

"I think...as long as we both make a strong vow to connect ourselves to each other, it should work. Of course, there's no guarantee you'll be able to use my light after that, but..."

He knew what she meant without her having to finish. "But it's the only plan we got, so let's do it!"

"Sora, are your clothes still wet?"

Baffled at her sudden question, he glanced down at himself the moment he had a chance. "...uh, yeah I guess a bit, why?"

"I don't know if it is necessary or not, but you are supposed to be covered in water that I've previously performed a ritual on. Hopefully that's good enough."

Sora glanced down at his jacket, reassessing it more closely just to make sure. "If I need to I can always run under the-"

Riku took his distraction as an opportunity and lunged. Fumbling, the sword knocked across Sora's wrist and he stumbled backwards, clearly trying to mask the pain with a sharp exhale. He struggled to regain his smile, exhaustion clearly starting to weigh him down.

"Man...mind hitting my other hand instead? That's the one I don't use as much..."

Kairi chewed at her lower lip, holding back yet another scolding to be more careful and focused on her own shield keeping Seifer and Maleficent at bay.

"Sora, I'm going to do my best to recite the ritual now. Repeat after me when I tell you to."

She saw Sora glance quickly back at her and she caught a brief twinge of regret on his face, as much as he tried to hide it.

"Kairi, wait a sec...are you really okay with this? With...someone like me? Like you said before, I'm not exactly a prince. And in a place like this...it's probably the least romantic situation ever. You don't even have a nice dress or anything..."

It was true, her outfit was practically in tatters at the skirt but for some reason she actually felt rather fond of it being her...almost kind of, not really, prerequisite wedding dress. Because it was only torn so badly because she used it to save him. Every single rip along the hem was just physical proof to her that none of that mattered in the slightest when compared to keeping him safe and by her side.

She could be offered the gaudiest ceremony in the world, but none of it would matter if she didn't feel a thing for the person reciting their vows opposite her.

"If there is anyone in this world I would trust with my heart it's you. No matter what the future has to offer, I'll never regret it."

He beamed. Absolutely, positively, beamed.

Then was immediately forced to dodge.

While she had decided that Sora was the only thing she really needed to be happy with this arrangement, she still had to admit it certainly would have been nice for there not to be a demonic entity chasing him around the whole time in the possessed body of their friend as well.

Clearing her throat, she began the first incantation, as best as she could remember from her practicing.

"Within the binding calm of the waters we have entered, to follow in the steps of the countless who came before. Even those made nameless through the march of time will guide our hands, their wisdom ever reaching like the boughs of the mother tree-"

"Hey, Kairi?"

She stuttered to a halt, shocked that he was interrupting her while she was trying her best to recite. The sudden disturbance of her concentration sent her wobbling to the side. While she had nearly lost the energy to stand, she refused to give in completely to the drowsiness that threatened to overpower her. Her light continuing to flicker like a dim candle in the darkness. Weak, but refusing to burn out.

"You said..." He dodged another hit. "That all we needed to do was make a promise to each other, right? I don't understand all the complicated ceremony stuff, so maybe I'm wrong, but...didn't we already do that last night?"

While she knew Sora was too far away to hold her upright, somehow his voice was lending her the strength to stand. He really was like a ray of sunshine through the rain clouds, always managing to break through the stormy confusion that now and again cluttered her mind and heart. It was just like him to complain about things being overly complicated and stuffy, but he was right. He was absolutely right. It was all so obvious the moment he said it, and she smiled.

Maybe it really was that simple. She hadn't even realized it, but he was right.

They had already whispered their loving promises to one another that night. The only witnesses had been the stars and the fireflies: the tiny lights that illuminated the swath of darkness that otherwise covered the land around them. Hushed words, unheard by anyone else but the two who needed to hear them the most.

The vows had already been made.

He already had a piece of her heart.

"Don't you remember, Kairi? My promise was to-"

Riku unleashed another rush of attacks and Sora clicked his tongue in frustration at having to cut himself off and concentrate on evading them again.

"It's alright...I remember. Of course I remember. And I still stand by the promise I made as well."

Cheering, Sora took a step away from Riku until his back bumped up against a large boulder strewn on the cave floor. It was a little childish, but made her giggle all the same that he would have such a reaction. However, her laugh caught in her throat as she saw Riku lunging towards him again. Luckily he saw the dark sword coming straight for him and ducked, scrabbling to get away from his friend before Riku had a chance to free the blade from the tangle of moss it had caught itself in.

"Right! So if that's all it takes to connect us together, I think that's already taken care of! So...maybe I can already borrow your light? How do you think I use it?"

Good question. One she hadn't planned out trying to answer yet.

"It's hard to explain, but...it's something you feel. Maybe...try to search for Riku's heart by remembering how strongly your friendship makes you feel. If there is anyone who can reach him in that darkness, it's you. Find the common thread, connect with his heart and then my light will follow..."

I hope.

For his sake, she didn't say that last part out loud.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Was glued to my ps4 for the past few weeks, oops (._.). Won't post any spoilers for the game here, so don't worry. Again, just wanted to establish that I already wrote this chapter before playing through KH3 so any similarities (if there are any) are purely accidental.

I've been fiddling a lot with the chapter length for the remaining parts, trying to split all the finale stuff in more manageable bite-sized chunks. I keep shifting things back and forth so at this point I actually can't say for sure how many chapters are left any more. T_T

Doesn't help that as I edit I keep wanting to write more...

So for anyone keeping track, next chapter won't be the last, like I said before. Sorry for making a liar out of myself. Booo...

Maybe I'll just stop trying to predict the final number so I don't have to keep saying "Just two more! Two more this time for sure!" over and over again ._.

Still toying around with possibly doing a short epilogue of sorts...guess I'll see how I feel when I get to the final part. V

-A. Moth