For Day 13 of the Kingdom Hearts 3 Countdown Challenge - Promise.

Everyone always told Donald he had a short temper. And sure, it was true, sort of. He couldn't help that he was more spirited than other folks! Besides, Goofy (and to a lesser extent Sora) were always around to keep him in check.

But today something had happened that had made Donald have to hold Goofy back for once.

The two of them stood there in the aftermath of it all, panting and dirty and banged up from the fight. Xehanort's cronies were gone now, but the damage had been done. Sora faced away from them, and his shoulders were shaking and his head was hanging low. He wasn't even trying to hide his quiet sobs from them, either.

Because clutched in his hand were the broken pieces of Kairi's good luck charm. Xehanort was waging an all out war against his heart, and this was the latest in a long string of casualties.

Donald wouldn't forget the look in Sora's eyes or the way he'd cried out when it had happened. As their enemies had disappeared into swirls of black smoke with cruel smirks on their faces afterwards, it had taken all of Donald's strength to hold Goofy back from jumping in after them.

Sora sniffed, and it snapped Goofy out of his funk. He walked over to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

"There now, Sora, I'm sure Kairi can fix it for you—"

"I broke my promise."

Goofy shot Donald a worried look, and he waddled over to join them. "I'm sure she'll understand," Donald said. "It's not your fault they—"

Sora whirled around to face them, and his eyes were flashing and his fists were clenched. "It is my fault! This is all my fault! I told her we'd be together and then I left her behind again! If we were still together like I'd promised the charm would be safe with her right now!"

No one said anything for a few moments after that, because Xehanort's manipulation was having its intended effect. Sora's heart was hurting and they had to do something to fix it before things got any worse.

"Now Sora, she knows you left for a good reason—" Goofy began.

Sora's shoulders slumped, and his arms lowered to his side. "I know, I know. Because everyone's counting on me to save them." He opened his hand to look at the broken charm again. "But did they ever think about what it might cost me?"

Donald's heart sank. Master Yen Sid had warned him and Goofy that Sora needed their help now more than ever, and he was right. Sora had taken the brunt of all this on his shoulders, and they were awfully young shoulders to bear such a burden.

"How am I gonna face her?" he said, his voice breaking and tears welling up in his eyes again. "All I ever do is break my promises to her. I can't even return her charm in one piece. She trusted me and I can't even do that."

"Sora, it's not your fault," Donald said. "Kairi won't blame you. Sure, it might be hard to tell her, but she'll understand."

Goofy nodded and gestured to Sora's hand. "Besides, you've still got the pieces of it. She's a real crafty gal. I'm sure she'll come up with somethin' that can fix it."

Sora ignored them both, just stared at the ruined charm. "It looks like my promise to her now, doesn't it? Maybe it's better this way."

"Sora, snap out of it!" Donald quacked, tugging on his arm. "Don't you see this is what Xehanort wants? He wants to break your heart so he can take it over! Don't let him get between you and Kairi like this!"

"But—"

"Donald's right, ya know. You gotta have some faith in Kairi. Sure, this charm she made for you is awful nice, but it's just a symbol. Xehanort can break it all he likes, but it doesn't change how Kairi feels about you."

"Or how you feel about her," Donald added.

Sora just stared at them as if he was seeing something new for the first time. Then he looked at the charm again, his fingers tracing over it like it was the most precious thing in all the worlds.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks, guys." He carefully returned the pieces to his pocket for safekeeping. "Broken or not, a promise is still a promise. Kairi deserves to know the truth. And I can't let Xehanort get me down."

"That's the spirit," Donald said, and Goofy nodded.

Sora didn't smile after that. In fact, he was pretty quiet all the way back to the Gummi Ship. But as they took off for the next world, Donald noticed he'd taken out the fragment of the charm with his face on it and had put it where he could see it as he drove.

Well, if Xehanort was going after his heart, it made sense that he would try to strengthen his bond with Kairi. She was his light, after all, and while all his friends helped, Donald got the feeling that Kairi in particular was keeping him from falling into darkness.

Fate really had been cruel to keep them apart for so long. Donald could only hope Sora would get to see her again soon.