The Time Break Saga 2: Silver Linings

by The Unplanner

Continuation after Dark Clouds. Riku and Lambda are back in the Realm of Light, but the Organization isn't through with them yet. Meanwhile, a LOT of time passed in the world of the Azure, and a connection between times has been forged. Xemnas and Terumi's plans collide, which is guaranteed to mess up our heroes' first date. COMPLETE!

11. I Hope He Gets It

Silver Linings

Chapter 11: "I Hope He Gets It."

A/N: The last chapter cut off after the epic boss fights were finished. This chapter will go into more plot-related stuff, and the high point of Roxas' stay in the simulated town is about to literally plummet.

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Twilight Town: Computer Room...

Lambda re-entered the old mansion's hidden basement just in time for a beam of energy to emit from DiZ's transfer machine. Riku appeared in a swirl of data, still under his hood. "I'm back. Am I late?"

"No, I got here right when you did. Thanks for keeping that promise." Lambda smiled at him, removing her hood. "I guess now that the Organization has found us, there's not much point in the hoods right now."

"Just a second, Lambda. DiZ, I've waited, and now I want to know. What is it that you want? What do you get out of spinning these plans and manipulating everyone? Clearly, I get... Oh, no..."

"What happened?" Lambda asked, suddenly worried. Riku was in this to bring Sora back, but was this like what happened with Xion?

"I could tell you both what happened just now and what I want in the future. But first, could you tell me your true name?"

There was a slight pause, and then Riku removed his hood, revealing Ansem's face. "For as long as I need this power, my name...is Ansem."

Unexpectedly, DiZ laughed. "...It's an honor, Ansem! In any case, you want answers. Right now, everyone with ties to Sora will find their memories of him indistinct. It's a consequence of the restoration process reaching 50%, and it will clear up as the process continues."

"RESTORATION AT 55%."

"You see? As for myself, I have only one goal in all of my plans."

"And what is that?" Lambda asked absently, still a little shocked that Riku would give up his identity for the duty he'd chosen.

"Revenge. Organization XIII took away everything that was precious to me. I will destroy them. They have nothing in the wider World besides their own stolen existences, and taking that from them will satisfy me greatly." The Darkness DiZ had kept under his wrappings was on full display in his motives.

Lambda pointed out a detail DiZ had missed. "Revenge won't satisfy you. You should know that the road to Darkness is a slippery slope. After your plan brings down Organization XIII, what then? Those feelings won't just disappear. Eventually you'll apply them to more destructive scheming, and then more." Lambda glared. "You know, I figured you weren't as wise as you're trying to appear. Your assumptions about the Black Coats and the blindfold were wildly inaccurate. If you continue on this path, you'll become a monster far worse than Organization XIII."

DiZ laughed again. "You know, outsider...Lambda... You're absolutely correct. I'm a fool of the highest order. But I can't stop sliding down the road to Darkness here. Sora must be awakened again, at the minimum, and even then I'll have other problems I caused that I will need to fix. You have my word, for what it's worth, that I will find a place to stop my descent, and hold myself there to repay my debts."

Lambda unclenched a fist she didn't remember tightening. "That'll have to do for now. What's going on in the virtual Twilight Town?"

"Ansem" responded first. "The Nobodies are still interfering. That red-haired Organization member from the other day showed up and tried to take Roxas back. Roxas beat the absolutely gigantic Nobody they threw at him first, but DiZ had to step in to roll back the program, or Roxas might have lost the duel against Axel. And DiZ, you should probably know that Namine tried to tell Roxas the truth between the two fights."

"Blast! Why won't that girl do as she's told?"

"Probably because she feels sorry for Roxas," Lambda supplied.

DiZ scoffed. "She feels nothing. She's a Nobody, too."

Lambda's fist clenched again. "I disagree wholeheartedly. What do you have against Nobodies, anyway?"

DiZ mused for a second. "Perhaps I should give my reasoning some more thought. For now, it's enough for me that their existence is entirely unnatural, and that every one of them wants to destroy me. That should be enough reason for anyone."

"Ansem" added his own thoughts. "It wouldn't be enough reason for...him."

That gave DiZ pause. "...Quite. However, one could hardly call Sora a representative sample for human reactions. He's too much of a special case."

"Ansem" nodded, but did not agree. "He does seem to be the biggest exception to every rule, but he's also a role model for decent behavior. If other people don't act like him, they're the flawed ones. Especially myself. I can't wait until I remember him fully."

"Indeed, and that is why I cannot dispose of Namine yet. However, I cannot hold her to her promise to restore him, either. Nobodies know nothing of honor or loyalty; look at Axel." DiZ played a video file neither traveler had seen recorded in person, in which Axel was the one who struck Vexen down from behind.

This didn't change Lambda's mind, but "Ansem" was the one who responded. "He's loyal to his friends, not the Organization. That's all. If you look at his actions today, can you honestly tell me he wasn't driven by grief?"

Before DiZ could laugh it off again, an alert came over the speakers. "RESTORATION AT 60%. WARNING! INTRUSION DETECTED!"

"Blast! Again?" DiZ quickly brought up the relevant viewpoint on screen, as Roxas fell off the Station Tower.

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Virtual Twilight Town: Station Tower...

Roxas and the Usual Suspects sat in a line on the balcony halfway up the Station Tower, at the peak of the mountain Twilight Town was built on. The Usual Spot was homey, but nothing beat the view of the sunset from the Tower.

Roxas pulled out the Four Crystal Trophy, and snapped the red, green, and yellow crystals off of it one by one. He tossed the Red Crystal to Hayner, who snatched it out of the air. Olette caught the Green Crystal as it sailed right into her hands. Pence fumbled with the Yellow Crystal, but thankfully stopped it before either it or he could fall off the Tower. Roxas snapped off the Blue Crystal for himself, and held it up to the light of the setting sun as he set the rest of the Trophy aside. "As promised." The Usual Suspects sat like that for a while in silence, their crystals shining brilliantly in the sunset.

Olette broke the silence. "I've got a present for everyone, too! Dig in!" She passed sea salt ice cream bars to Hayner and Pence, who were sitting adjacent to her. However, just as Roxas stood up to go get his own bar, a strong breeze knocked him off balance. He didn't hear the screams of his friends as he fell off the Station Tower. He only saw what was waiting for him below. Namine stood there, a hand raised toward him as though she were above him and trying to pull him back up. Everything faded away to blackness but the two of them.

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The Black Space...

Roxas vaguely wondered why he hadn't smashed into the ground yet as he fell through this empty black space. Namine was still there below him, hand still outstretched, but no matter how long he fell or how hard he reached for her, she didn't get any closer. Suddenly, he felt something brush his hand, though Namine was still too far away.

"Namine, what's happening to me?" Roxas called out.

A new voice replied; Namine remained as still as the world around Roxas during those pauses. "Who are you? And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."

A vision flashed through Roxas' head: the red-haired girl who was never completely shown in his dreams of Sora. A scene finally completed between her words and his reply. Kai- threw her arms around a little black monster. There was a burst of Light that drove the Darkness away from the monster, and Sora was revealed, embracing the girl tightly. "Thank you, Kairi."

It seemed Kairi had grown a little since that day. Her hair was longer, her voice was a little deeper, and she was taller, but she was clearly the same girl, standing here in the black space with her hand in Roxas' own. She seemed to be wearing a school uniform right now, and her entire body was outlined in Light, unlike Roxas and Namine. "Kairi... I know you. You're that girl he likes." Roxas confirmed it, in case Kairi wasn't sure yet. It seemed important that those two know how much they meant to each other, and playing matchmaker was far from the strangest thing Roxas had done today.

Kairi gasped. "You know him? Please, a name!"

"Um... I'm Roxas."

"Okay, Roxas. Can you tell me his name, though?"

"Aw, you forgot my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi!" Sora appeared off to Roxas' other side in all his spiky-haired goofiness, outlined in Light like Kairi was. Roxas became aware of a cord of Light connecting himself by the chest to Namine, Namine to Kairi, Kairi to Sora, and Sora back to Roxas, like a figure-eight. So they were all connected after all!

Kairi looked pretty distraught, thinking Sora wouldn't forgive her for this. She should have known better than that by now, of course. Sora gave her his trademark wide grin, letting her know he was joking and that he still believed in her. "Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an 'S!'" The black space began to brighten, until all Roxas could see was white.

Then, he woke up back in his bedroom, flinging himself upright while he thought he was still falling. "Oh... I'm dreaming. But which parts were the dream...?"

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Destiny Islands: Mainland North Beach...

Kairi woke up on the ground, no longer feeling the headache that had cut through her before she collapsed. The pain was entirely gone, along with her uncertainty regarding her decisions. Selphie was still kneeling next to her, understandably worried. "I'm okay. Follow me; I've got something I need to do, and then we can go to the Island."

The two girls ran down to the beach where they could see the ocean between the mainland and the smaller island. Kairi approached the water and dug a bottle out of her tote bag. Inside was a neatly-rolled sheet of paper. Selphie asked, "What's that for?"

"A letter," Kairi replied. "I wrote it yesterday, to the boy I can't remember. I'm going to send it to him, and when he gets it, he'll come back. I also wrote that I'd go out there looking if I had to." Kairi placed the bottle gently in the waves, which carried it away.

Selphie sighed. "That's so romantic! I hope he gets it."

Kairi smiled as the bottle got farther and farther away. "He will. 'Starts with an S'. Right, Sora?"

"RESTORATION AT 70%."

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Twilight Town: Computer Room...

DiZ smiled as the prompt appeared for 85% restoration. "At this point, Sora's recovery is assured. We won't have to keep the ruse up anymore." He entered a few commands. "Roxas will miss the trip to the beach, with so little time left for him. He should at least know his purpose before he rejoins with Sora."

Somehow, that didn't make Lambda or "Ansem" feel relieved at all.

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Virtual Twilight Town: The Usual Spot...

Roxas ran down to the Usual Spot, not wanting to be late for the trip to the beach today. He'd always wanted to visit the beach, for as long as he could remember. He couldn't quite remember why, though. Maybe it was just that every summer should have a beach trip, and he'd never gotten one.

Roxas pushed the curtain aside, calling out, "Man, I could not sleep last night." It was true. He'd tried to fall back asleep, but he never managed it before the room shifted between his own and Sora's. One moment, he was himself staring at his blue lamp, and the next, he was Sora staring at a pirate-ship mobile.

"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great!" Even that was Sora's memory of an earlier time Kairi said something. Roxas' thoughts weren't his own anymore, and it was freaking him out. Hopefully the beach trip would get his mind off these weird events, and things could go back to normal.

The Usual Spot was empty. The indentation of Pence wasn't visible in the couch, which would have meant the Usual Suspects had just left, so they hadn't arrived yet. And right on cue, Roxas' friends ran into the room, chatting with excited gestures. Roxas couldn't hear what they were saying, though. They didn't slow down or acknowledge Roxas' presence. He put his hands up to try and hold them off from running into him, but they passed right through him instead! Without showing any signs of noticing him, the Usual Gang gathered their things for the trip to the beach and ran outside, passing through his body again. "What's going on?" Roxas felt drawn to the back of the room, and looked down at the pile of photos of himself that were stolen two days ago. These were the photos that actually belonged to the Usual Suspects. Earlier, the main link between the images was that all of them had Roxas in them, but now that had changed. The new similarity between them was that Roxas was entirely absent. Seifer lay defeated on the ground, but there was no sign of the victor of that brawl. Hayner, Pence, and Olette waved at the camera from in front of the old mansion, but Hayner was waving, not making bunny ears over Roxas' head.

The whole world had forgotten him. Roxas bent over with grief. He stood there for a few seconds, then realized that he wasn't alone after all. This presence wasn't one he wanted to see, though. He growled and walked out into the side alley to see a group of those white creatures, this time a mixed group of the Dusks and some new, stronger enemies: "Assassins." Roxas could feel their connection to Axel. And sure enough, Number VIII appeared behind him.

"Look at what it's come to, Roxas. I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me again." Axel waved a chakram in a dramatic show of woe-is-me.

Roxas tried to talk his way out of it."But we're...friends, right?"

"Sure, but I don't want to be turned into a Dusk for... Wait! You remember now? Gotta make sure, so... What's the boss man's name?"

Roxas froze up. Well, that backfired. Axel slumped over as that painful hope was finally extinguished. "Okay, I see how it is. Get him, boys!" Axel raised a barrier of hexagonal tiles to cut Roxas off from him, and his minions attacked.

Roxas silently called his Keyblade into his hand, and fought the creatures off again. The Dusks were pushovers, but the Assassins had more power. They flowed through solid ground like water, and tried to slash him from that protection. A lucky block knocked one of the creatures out of the ground, and Roxas was quick to cut it up. He almost managed to destroy it, but it rushed at him. Roxas instinctively knew it was using a suicide tactic to try and take him with it, but he caught it by the neck and flung it back into the ground. Not only did the explosion miss Roxas down there, it knocked the other two Assassins out of the ground. Roxas defeated them before either one could kamikaze.

The barrier separating Roxas from Axel fell, and Axel brandished his chakrams, but froze in his fighting stance. "What? Again?" Roxas had thought this pausing thing didn't affect the outsiders.

A voice echoed through the area over a wash of static noise. "Roxas, to the mansion! He awaits you, and the time has come!"

And now Roxas knew he'd been a pawn the whole time. That was the voice of the man who'd stopped his duel with Axel yesterday. Clearly, the whole town was a fake, made to distract Roxas until he could meet Sora and...do what? Roxas had made the wrong choice following the bandaged enigma's script instead of leaving with Axel, and now that Axel was stopped, there was no choice but to see it through to the end. "...When I get there, I want answers." He rushed toward the mansion.

More creatures appeared to block his path, including smaller ones that tended to shapeshift into various weapons: "Creepers." None of them even slowed Roxas down. Each strike of the Keyblade hit home with all of Roxas' grief and rage behind it, and the monsters dissolved like they were never there. At last he reached the mansion, but found the gate to the courtyard was locked tight, as usual. A group of Dusks appeared behind him, trying to catch him now that he was cornered. "Don't call me and then lock me out..." Wait. Lock? What was Roxas worried about there? He was holding the legendary key that no lock could withstand! Mimicking Sora's motions from the dreams, Roxas pointed the Keyblade at the enormous padlock on the gate. A beam of Light shot forth and undid the lock, and the gate opened on its own after the padlock vanished. Roxas ran indoors, leaving the Dusks behind.

The Dusks tried to follow, but as Roxas went inside, the mystery man in the Black Coat appeared between the Dusks and the gate, holding a sword with a demonic motif. "I'll hold you off." The plan had reached the final critical stage, and both Riku (still going by "Ansem") and DiZ were inside the system to make sure it worked. Lambda was on the outside maintaining the server, but Namine's whereabouts were unknown...officially, at least. Anyone with two brain cells to rub together could figure out that she would be here, too. All the more reason to keep these Nobodies out of the mansion. Soul Eater ripped through legions of Dusks, but more kept appearing. If Nobodies only formed from strong hearts and wills, then the World must have been chock full of strong people before Ansem the "Seeker of Darkness" launched his campaign, if the Organization had this many pawns to throw away!

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Virtual Twilight Town: The White Room...

Roxas ran upstairs, guided by a connection he couldn't see right now, but knew was there. He turned left and entered a front-facing room, where everything was white from the bed to the books to the table. Well, not quite everything. All over the walls, Namine's handiwork stared at him in pastel colors. Crayon drawings of various scenes Roxas could recognize from the dreams were everywhere he looked, but some were unfamiliar. Next to a crayon portrait of Sora, Donald, and Goofy (who were always together, no matter what artistic medium was used to see them) was a portrait of what could only be himself and Axel, both wearing Black Coats. Roxas became aware of a splitting headache as he moved on to the next image, a picture of himself walking through a dark city under the light of a heart-shaped moon. The headache intensified, and Roxas groaned under the pain. Another vision appeared, like the ones of Sora. The difference was that Roxas was finally the subject of the scene. A circle of high thrones in a room even whiter than this, with each chair filled with a Black Coat. On the shortest throne sat Roxas himself. The headache faded, but Roxas knew the hurting had barely begun. He turned toward the table in the middle of the White Room, and was not at all surprised to find Namine sitting there. Roxas spoke up, enlightened with at least part of the other side of the puzzle. "Organization XIII... They're a bad group, right?"

Namine shrugged. "Bad or good, I don't know. They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something called Kingdom Hearts."

Roxas was interested in this info, really he was, but he couldn't help but laugh at his whole ridiculous situation. Namine looked up, not changing her usual sad smile. "Funny?"

Roxas shook his head. "Sorry, it's just that... I think I've been running from the question I really want to ask. What's going to happen to me now? Nothing else really matters anymore."

"Well, you know Sora, right?" Namine opened a sketchbook she carried with her, and revealed a picture of Sora and Roxas standing side by side, holding hands. "About a month ago, some...things happened, and I was forced to break the chain of memories inside Sora's heart. Since then, I've been trying to put them back exactly the way they were. It's taken me a long time, but I'm almost done now. There's only one thing Sora needs now, and then he'll awaken. For that to happen, he needs you."

"But why me? What makes me so special? Is it the Keyblade?"

"You hold half of who he is. Those dreams you've been having were his memories, and he needs them to awaken. You two are connected, Roxas. You saw it before, right?"

"Yes, but I'm also connected to you. What will happen to me...to us...if I give these memories back to Sora?"

"You will-" Namine suddenly cut off and stopped moving. As Roxas watched, she dissolved into tiny particles and disappeared.

"No! Namine!" Roxas didn't stop to analyze why Namine's disappearance made him so frantic. She was important to him. They were connected. Did it really matter why?

A portal of Darkness appeared in the corner, and the bandaged man appeared from it. "It's about time we properly met, Roxas."

"Where did you take Namine?"

"That's irrelevant. Her part is finished."

The sight of this jerk made Roxas so mad! "Why are you doing all this? I want to know. I have a right to know."

"A Nobody doesn't have a right to know. Nor does it even have a right to be."

"But what is a Nobody, anyway? What makes me so much less than you?"

Suddenly, a burst of Darkness heralded the other mystery man's appearance. "DiZ, we're out of time. Too many Nobodies!"

Another Dark Corridor appeared then, and Namine stepped out of it. The small room started to feel crowded with so many important and powerful people in it. "Roxas! Nobodies like us are only half a person. When you meet Sora, you won't disappear! You'll be whole!"

"No further outbursts!" DiZ stalked over to Namine and grabbed her.

Namine struggled against DiZ's grip, and managed to get her mouth free long enough to make one final vow. "Roxas, we will meet again, and then we can talk about everything! I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. I promise!" As she spoke, DiZ dragged her backwards into the Dark Corridor, and the portal vanished as she finished, taking the two of them with it.

"Namine!" Roxas rushed to the spot, but the remaining man blocked his path with his sword. "Let me go!"

"If you want to meet her again, take that..." The man pointed at Namine's sketchbook, lying discarded on the table, "...and use it to go further in." The man vanished.

Roxas took the sketchbook with him as he left the room and crossed the mansion to the other side. The foyer was thick with Nobodies, but Roxas cut through them easily and made it to a small study. There was a table in the middle of the room with a golden design drawn on the wood, and the crayon used to draw it lay beside it. Roxas looked at the sketchbook he held, and saw the same design, but the drawing on the table had one missing element. Inside the complicated diagram were three circles arranged in an upside-down triangle, and in each circle was an important symbol. The top two circles held the emblems of the Heartless Sora fought and the Nobodies who sought Roxas, and the bottom circle should have had a crown icon. Roxas picked up the crayon and completed the table's design.

He admired his handiwork for a moment, and almost missed the glow spreading across the floor. He barely got off that section before the floor and the whole table disappeared, revealing a staircase down to a very different part of the house. Blue metal walls and broken pipes were the decor of choice in this secret part of the mansion, and a door at the bottom of the stairs slid open as Roxas approached. He pressed onward.

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Twilight Town: Computer Room...

DiZ appeared from the transfer device, followed shortly by Riku (no matter what Riku said, Lambda was not going to refer to him as "Ansem" in her head anymore). Lambda greeted them with a grim look. "I couldn't keep them out. How are things looking in there?"

"Roxas is well aware of the ruse by now, but he's headed for Sora as we speak," Riku replied.

DiZ, however, looked concerned. "Where did Namine go? I had her in my grasp only seconds ago!"

"The Darkness tends to split people up," Riku recalled. "Does it matter? You said yourself that you don't need her anymore."

"I don't. She did a splendid job with Sora, but it's high time she disappeared. She hijacked the data herself to visit Roxas on two occasions now, which makes her dangerous. Take care of it, Ansem."

Lambda turned to Riku, worried, but she was relieved when he replied. "...We'll see." The words were just as annoyingly vague as DiZ liked being, and could go either way, but Lambda knew Riku had winked at her under that hood. She didn't really see him do it, but she could tell anyway. She supposed she was getting better at reading and displaying emotion. "Come on, Lambda. We've got some Nobodies to meet." The pair vanished through another Dark Corridor, and reappeared in the courtyard outside.

"They had better be more obedient than Namine," DiZ muttered. "For now, let's give Roxas his old personality back, to throw off his pursuers..." A few more keystrokes were pressed, and Roxas' body, still slumped on the transfer pad as it had been for the last three days, was digitized and sucked into the system.

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Virtual Twilight Town: Computer Room...

Roxas walked through the sliding door, and wound up in a high-tech computer lab. He looked at the glowing terminal displaying a progress bar: "RESTORATION AT 99.999% (APPROXIMATE VALUE)." Sora was almost awake, then. That last bit he needed... Should Roxas really give it back?

In the corner next to the terminal was a circular platform under a strange device. Roxas had no clue what the device was for, but looking at it caused his headache to return in full force. He clutched his skull as his own memories pounded back into him, along with a frightening amount of emotional trauma.

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The tangled chain of memories...

Scenes flashed through Roxas' head at breakneck speed.

"Your mind's made up?"

"Why did Xemnas need the Keyblade from me? I have to know."

"You can't turn on the Organization!"

The scene jumps to Riku lying on the ground...

"Why? Why won't you come back with us?"

"Shut up!"

Flashes of Light and Darkness...

"Come on, Sora! I thought you were stronger than that!"

"Get real! Look which one of us is winning!"

"So it's true. You really are his Nobody. I guess DiZ was right after all."

"What are you talking about?! I am ME! Nobody else!"

Oathkeeper and Oblivion, tearing through Riku's defenses...

Lambda, crushed without effort by Roxas' Light...

Riku, transfigured by the overwhelming Darkness...

"I have accepted it."

Darkness... Choking... Sleep.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Virtual Twilight Town: Computer Room...

Roxas finally released his skull. The headache wasn't gone; it had just moved to take up residence in his chest. All those images, and none of them had really told him where all this heartache came from. He was still missing part of his last conversation with Axel, but he knew the hurt started before that. This wasn't just rage at the unfairness of being left in the dark while multiple plans were woven into a prison around him. This was grief from the loss of a dear friend. It only hurt more that Roxas couldn't remember that friend's face or name, or any details at all. All that came to mind was a Black Coat, so it was probably someone he'd known before quitting the Organization. Had he left because that person was gone? There were still so many questions, and there never seemed to be enough answers.

Frustration built up in Roxas until he finally summoned his Keyblade (no, Sora's Keyblade). He smashed the computer, blindly taking out his frustrations on the blameless inanimate object. This wasn't even really the computer DiZ had used to send Roxas here; it was just an image on that computer. Roxas was still unsatisfied, but exhaustion forced him to stop swinging and catch his breath. By now the computer was smashed beyond all repair. As he stood up again, a door slid open behind him for no visible reason. It was still obvious who'd done it, though. Roxas stubbornly continued on the path, holding onto the rage because it was all he had left that was really his.

The next room was apparently empty, save for a globe of glowing green energy. It was Darkness mixed with the power of Nothing that Twilight Thorn had used against Roxas, and out from it stepped Axel. As soon as Roxas got a good look at his face, the rest of that memory surfaced painlessly.

"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you! I should know; I carried out that system myself."

Looking back, Roxas could hear the hidden message: "Don't make me kill you, too. I can't take it anymore."

But what Roxas had actually said back then: "No one would miss me."

"That's not true...! ...I would."

Back in the present, Roxas' expression softened from full-on killing rage to melancholy. "Axel..."

"So you really do remember me this time?" Axel called out in a taunting voice. "I'm SO FLATTERED!" Axel's own grief and rage poured out in his words, and a ring of flames responded, cutting them off from any outside interference and blocking Roxas' path forward. "Well, you're too late! I'm going to take you down here!" Axel summoned his chakrams, then looked up at Roxas with a manic grin.

Roxas was taken aback for a moment. Sure, he recognized these emotions, and he could see why Axel would feel that way, but something was wrong... Oh. "Axel... I guess you gave up on your promise. You said you'd always be there to bring me...us back."

"Us? Who else would I have been talking about? But it doesn't matter now. I can't fight this destiny that keeps dragging you away. Killing you now would be kinder than letting you go on hurting."

Roxas prepared for battle, still disgusted at that conclusion. "That's not the Axel I know. He would have been a good enough friend to help heal the hurt, not kill it. I've got a better idea. If you can beat me, I'll go back with you. If I win, you go away and meet me with Sora later."

Axel barked out a laugh. "You're in no position to bargain, Roxas! Got it memorized? You were no match for me yesterday. What's changed since then?"

"More than you think." Roxas reached his arms across himself, and pulled out Oathkeeper in his left and Oblivion in his right. He twirled them over his head, clashed them together to create a spray of sparks, and settled into his true combat stance, not that pale imitation of Sora's.

"Two?!" Oh, right. Axel had never seen Roxas' real power. Well, this should enlighten him.

"Ready, Axel?" Roxas asked, not charging in just yet.

"Come here; I'll make it all stop! Burn, baby!" Axel threw his chakrams at the ground, washing the whole area in a shockwave that left behind a field of burning lava! Roxas hopped from one foot to the other as the lava overheated his shoes, and shrouded himself in Light to mitigate the damage. There wasn't much he could do about the thick smoke that filled the arena, fogging his vision and choking his lungs. He decided to end this quickly. He rushed at Axel, ducking under a chakram swing and blocking a thrown ring with Oathkeeper. Before Axel could react, Oblivion came around, heralding a long string of dual-wielding strikes that knocked the redhead into the air. Roxas flew up into the air to chase him and continue the combo, finishing by kicking Number VIII straight down to the ground. The boy concentrated and released a blast of Light centered on the spot where Axel fell, dispelling the lava field and blasting Axel out beyond the ring of fire.

Axel wasn't finished yet. If anything, being flung through the flames had healed him enough to continue. He charged back into the fight from a different direction, pillars of fire trailing behind him, but Roxas still dodged and threw Oathkeeper at him for more damage. Axel roared in rage and used a Limit Break, throwing his chakrams repeatedly to create explosions and flame pillars all around the arena, trying to catch Roxas as he dodged. Instead, Roxas just used his favorite move, Reversal, and this time Axel wasn't prepared for it. Both Keyblades cut the fire master's back in an X pattern, knocking him down to roll to the edge of the ring. Finally, the flames died down and vanished, and the smoke began to clear.

"Cough, cough... I guess you won, Roxas. You and Sora really are similar. Go on back to him; I'll get you back sometime later."

Roxas calmed down and dismissed his Keyblades. In his mind's eye, a happier scene was replaying over and over. Axel, himself, and another person... A girl, perhaps? He couldn't see her clearly in his periphery, but he could tell that this had never happened. It should have, he knew. Once upon a time, this was all Roxas ever wanted: to laugh and eat sea salt ice cream with Axel and Xi-...he'd remember everything about her one day. They were his best friends, and he knew that they'd be able to meet again, someday soon. Maybe Namine could join them, too. "Then that's a promise."

"See you again, in the next life!" Axel told him, as he began to vanish in a cloud of Darkness.

This wasn't the way Nobodies usually faded when they were eliminated, Roxas knew, so he wasn't too worried. "Yeah! I'll be waiting!" Roxas smiled.

Axel chuckled sadly. "What a gullible zombie... Just because you have a next life..." He vanished entirely before he could say any more.

"I might be the zombie, but I won't let you get there late this time, Axel." Roxas smiled at the green orb that remained in the corner of the room, but he knew he couldn't go through that way. Sora was closer than ever.

The next door led to a hallway lined with glass pods. Most of them were empty, darkened, and in various states of disrepair. Two of them, however, were pristine and active, and currently held the sleeping forms of two familiar faces. "Donald... Goofy? I must be getting close. You won't be sleeping much longer, one way or another." Roxas pressed onward to the final room.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Twilight Town: The Old Mansion...

Riku and Lambda appeared in the courtyard, just as Axel and Namine came through separate Dark Corridors of their own. "I figured you'd both be here," Riku called.

Axel was torn to shreds after his fight with Roxas, but he glared at Riku murderously. "I'm not going to forgive you people for putting Roxas through that. You either, Namine. I will bring him back."

"I hope you do." Riku nodded, still wearing his hood. "For now, though, Sora needs to wake up. He'll be fine with you getting Roxas back, but I won't let you get him now. In fact, I was supposed to eliminate both of you if I found you here..."

Namine gasped, but relaxed when Riku continued. "...So it's a good thing I never found you. Find your own paths, and we'll act like this meeting never happened. After all, I've learned that the roads of Light and Darkness are connected somewhere." Namine gratefully nodded and went back through the Dark Corridor. After a final glare, just for good measure, Axel did the same through his own.

"Nice job handling that, Riku," Lambda complimented.

"Sure thing, but call me-"

Lambda interrupted him. "No, I will not call you 'Ansem.' Did you really expect me to give up on you like that? The power you're using right now is still your own. In fact, I'd say Ansem himself is just another facet of your heart now. And if he doesn't like it, I'll smash him again for you."

"Thanks, Lambda. I hope you're right. I don't want to know what Mickey would think, though..."

If only talking about the King made him appear right away like this every time! "Lambda! Riku! You're safe!"

"...Only one way to find out?" Lambda asked Riku while she turned to face Mickey.

"I guess so," Riku replied in Ansem's voice, then removed his hood.

Mickey didn't miss a beat. He leaped backwards with multiple backflips, and landed with the Kingdom Key D in his fighting stance. Riku just smiled sadly. "Is that really you, Ansem?" Mickey asked after a moment in which no one moved.

"No, Mickey. It's me, Riku. The Darkness doesn't mess around when it comes to consequences, huh?" Riku used his real voice now. "To use the Power of Darkness to its fullest, I had to become Ansem myself. I couldn't have brought Roxas in with anything less than full power. Sora will wake up in a few moments, but I need you to promise me you won't tell him what happened to me. I don't want to be found like this. Even though this is Sora we're talking about, what I'm really afraid of is him seeing me like this and calling the Keyblade to destroy me like you were going to just now. That's been my only real fear, ever since fighting Zexion in Castle Oblivion. Aside from losing Lambda, of course," Riku nodded to the girl in question, "but she was there when it happened. I'm really grateful you saw through me like that, Lambda."

"Don't mention it." Lambda moved over to finally give Riku that kiss she'd been holding on to for two days now. He had to bend down to reach her, but the emotions inspired by the act were just as strong as they'd been back at the Station Plaza a week ago. Better, actually, because Lambda wasn't dealing with brain freeze.

"Aw, you two really do make a great couple! I've got to get back to sealing up those Time Breaks for now; I just caught one that opened in the woods."

"Wait, Mickey!" Riku called. "Before you go, hold on to this to give to Sora, okay?" Riku walked over and pressed a blue crystal into Mickey's hand. "Someone needs to remember Roxas. Give this to Sora and send him off to Yen Sid's place, okay? That should be enough to get him started."

Mickey closed his glove around the memento of a part of Sora that he'd never met. "I promise, Riku. All of it. Stay strong, okay?"

"That was the plan. I promise, too." Riku knelt down, and shook hands with Mickey once more. Mickey turned and dashed back into the woods.

Lambda walked over. "We should go. Before I got Mickey working on the Time Breaks, he was fixing problems being caused by the Heartless all over the place. We should work on that, and stay a few steps ahead of Sora until we can meet him again."

"Sounds like a plan, Lambda! Let's go looking for trouble, then." Riku formed a Dark Corridor, and the pair walked through hand in hand.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Virtual Twilight Town: Sora's Pod Room...

Roxas entered a room colored so uniformly white that the walls, floor, and ceiling were indistinguishable. In the center of the room was a stasis pod that was three times larger than the ones in the hallway. Before Roxas could get a closer look, however, DiZ appeared again. "At last, the Keyblade's chosen one appears."

"Who are you talking to? Me? Or Sora?" Roxas growled.

"To half of Sora, of course. You reside in Darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the Realm of Light...and destroy Organization XIII."

DiZ made Roxas angrier every time he opened his mouth. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am a servant of the World. The wider World, mind you, not just this tiny place. Heh, heh... And if I'm a servant, you should consider yourself a tool, at best."

"Was that..." Roxas' rage boiled over. "Was that supposed to be a joke?!" He ripped the Keyblade out of thin air and rushed forward. "Because I'm not laughing!" He cut diagonally right through DiZ, but caused no harm. Where the Keyblade had passed through, DiZ's image was scrambled and data rapidly updated, but then it rearranged itself.

"My apologies. This is only a data-based projection. I'm not actually here for you to destroy."

Roxas screamed wordlessly at the ceiling and cut through the hologram over and over. He never made any progress, but as he finally ran out of strength and brought the Keyblade down for the last time, DiZ teleported closer to the pod. Looking down and panting heavily, Roxas realized that he had summoned the Kingdom Key, not his own Keyblades. He was too close to Sora, and everything seemed to waver, though it was really himself that was unstable while Sora's heart drew him in.

"Come, over here." DiZ called over, but Roxas didn't move yet.

"I hate you so much!" Roxas growled.

"You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good."

And that was Roxas' last remaining berserk trigger. "No! My heart belongs to me!" He made one final rush and cut through the hologram again, but DiZ vanished, unharmed. Roxas found himself directly in front of Sora's pod, which flashed along several seams and opened up in three layers, each unfolding like a flower in the morning. Sora floated inside, calmly asleep. Seeing his face at last, Roxas' rage fell away, leaving him numb. He was always dragged into these things before he was ready. It was so much easier to just accept it, though. "Sora... You're lucky. It looks like my summer vacation is...over." Roxas stepped forward, and took his place in Sora's heart at last.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Twilight Town: Sora's Pod Room...

"Sora!" Through the murkiness of his own mind, Sora could make out the shape of a blond boy wearing white, walking towards him and reaching out a hand.

"Who's there?" Sora mumbled, but still reached back. His hand met the stranger's, and Light flooded in as they awoke together.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Author's notes: I've got most of the scenes in my head for the final battle of Kingdom Hearts II by now. I've been planning the fight with Xemnas and a following confrontation with Relius and Nu since sometime around Chapter 3 of this story, so as with the Lexaeus fight from Dark Clouds, expect it to be some of my best work yet. However, that's a long way off still. We're just now properly entering KH2's real plot after the long intro sequence, which apparently only needed to be half as long as it was in the game, if this is anything to go by. From here on in, Riku and Lambda will handle leftover problems from Days, and Sora's party will continue on with KH2. Meanwhile, Time Breaks will continue popping up, courtesy of Relius Clover. Each chapter will probably have some scenes from both groups, and most should have some snippets from the Azure Timeline. Eventually, our heroes in the Realm of Light will meet up again, but while they're separated, would any of you like to see some BlazBlue characters show up again? I'm thinking I'll have another crossing while Sora's in Olympus Coliseum hunting Demyx for the Olympus Stone, at minimum. I'd also like to have someone meet Riku and Lambda elsewhere, but their path is nowhere near as well defined yet, so feel free to suggest worlds (from Days or otherwise) for the main couple to visit, too! I'd be happy to pass PMs back and forth!