Somehow, Riku knew this wasn't over yet. He didn't know if it had to do with those ties he still had to Xehanort and the darkness, or if it was just his sixth sense telling him that while this 'final battle' hadn't been easy per se, it had still been too easy.

Still, they'd finished the madman off as far as they could tell and so Riku had focused on helping Kairi stumble away from her final fight. They headed towards Sora, who had just returned, and everything looked like it might just fix itself...

And then Sora collapsed. For a second, everything seemed to freeze, and then, almost before his mind could process the thought, Riku was leaping forward. In a flash, he and Kairi had rushed to his side, shouting his name. King Mickey was there as well and even Axel—er, Lea—had stood up and looked over at them worriedly, although he seemed to refuse to leave his other friend's side. Of course, right at that instant, a rather haggard-looking Donald and Goofy rushed onto the scene, joining the worried crowd around Sora.

"Stand back, guys!" Mickey insisted. It always amazed Riku that he had such a high, squeaky voice and yet held a commanding presence that few could deny. Everyone leaned back as he examined Sora.

After a few agonizingly slow moments of nothing, the King took his own step back and studied Sora with a frown. "His heart is still there, but it's as if his mind has been trapped somewhere."

"Where?" Kairi asked, ignoring how her voice cracked in worry. "Can we find it?"

"Oh, it's right here," the King said, looking surprised for a moment. "I just don't know how to reach it. It's trapped inside of him."

Which made very little sense, and apparently Riku wasn't the only one who thought so judging from the looks everyone exchanged.

"It's Xehanort," a new voice said. Everyone turned (most rather defensively) to face the newcomer and Riku blanched. It was Xehanort...but with brown hair. Wait...no, this...this wasn't Xehanort. No, he remembered the guy from their childhood. Actually, it had been him that had given Riku his Keyblade. He was sure of it. He lowered his Keyblade, allowing the guy to approach, and nodded at Kairi to do the same. She didn't look too sure, but she followed his lead.

Mickey's eyes went wide. "Wait, you're Terra!"

The young man smiled down at the little king. "When you defeated Xehanort, it separated his body from his mind and that allowed for my mind to reunite with what was originally mine." With that, he nodded his head respectfully. "Thank you for that, Your Majesty."

The little mouse smiled. "Aw, gosh, it's no problem."

That had to be the closest thing to a lie the King had ever said. Riku rolled his eyes, but he couldn't suppress a smile either.

Then Terra looked sadly down at Sora. "Now he's fighting a similar battle to one I lost. Xehanort's spirit is looking for a new host."

"You make him sound like some kind of parasite," Lea commented loudly from where he stood, still keeping vigil over Isa's prone form off to the side.

Terra's expression darkened. "As far as I'm concerned, he is."

"So," Kairi cut in, hands gripping her Keyblade tightly, "what do we do then?"

No one, it seemed, had an answer. Everyone just stood around, worriedly glancing at each other or at Sora.

"Come on," Riku heard himself say, "we can't just sit around and do nothing! There has to be—"

He cut off when a ball of white suddenly shot out of Sora. It grew and engulfed all of them, but not before Riku saw...something fly off and disappear.

xXx

When awareness returned to Sora, he could only try to huddle away from all of the voices that suddenly bombarded him. He couldn't make many of them out, but it didn't matter because none of them were actually speaking to him, and he didn't need to hear their words to understand them. He heard them nonetheless; all of them Keyblade wielders, and all of them desperate to find the light.

What scared him the most, though, was that he knew them somehow—all of them. Knew of the Keyblade Master who had gone searching for the light because she desperately did not want to lose any more friends like she had lost her family, or like the boy who barely made it to manhood before he was struck down by a friend he'd sworn he could trust, or the old man who watched as the peaceful world he'd grown up in was torn apart by a war he could do nothing about...

Sora knew all of their stories and all of their heartache and all of their sadness...but he knew of their joy and their peace and their love too. And it was too much.

It was so hard to focus on anything and his mind felt like it would explode.

If he'd had teeth, though, he would have grit them. He wasn't about to give up now, and so he forced himself to focus. He pushed through the clutter and did his best to tune them out. Right about then, he realized that he knew some of them better than the others; seven to be exact (and an eighth that felt dark and so distant, but still different). They still lived, whereas the other voices just felt like echoes—recorded and unchangeable. So he reached out in desperation and clung to those seven presences like they were anchors. He centered his thoughts on those and those alone and it worked, driving the other voices away so they became a dull hum in the background. He would have sighed in relief if he'd had the physical capability of doing so.

Then he realized that someone—one of the seven—was calling to him...

xXx

Riku didn't know how long they stayed in the light right then. It could have been months or years. It could have been seconds or days. He felt as if some time had passed, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how much. It was...disorienting.

When the light faded again, Riku peeked through his eyelids and then opened them wide in shock. He recognized his island—Destiny Island. This wasn't the remains of the ruined place he'd just left, but the Island that would always hold a place in his heart, peaceful and beautiful and whole.

Which meant this had to be a memory or inside his own mind somehow.

"No, actually, this is in your heart," a voice behind him said. He whirled around and couldn't help but smile in relief when he saw Sora lazing about on the palm tree that grew sideways, looking like he had no other care in the world. No, no that wasn't true. Something about the barely perceptible rigidity in his body made him look more relieved than relaxed. That wasn't like Sora...

"So what, you can hear my thoughts now?" Riku asked wryly, raising one of his eyebrows. He'd be wary, figuring Sora would talk to him about whatever was bothering him when he was ready.

Sora sat up and looked at him in a strange way. "No, but I can sense something. Through your Keyblade, I think. Yeah, that would make sense." With that, he laid back on the tree, gaze returning to the blue, almost cloudless sky.

"This feels nice. I can't hear the others in here."

Riku frowned. "What do you mean?"

Sora didn't answer for several seconds. That, more than anything, worried Riku. Sora had always been so vocal.

When he did speak again, his voice seemed soft and pained and not like Sora at all. "Hey, Riku...what would you say if I told you I wasn't who you thought I was?"

It was the way that Sora said it more than the words themselves that got to Riku and made him clench his hands tightly. This was not something positive if Sora's actions were anything to go by. He figured he should play it of as lightly as he could.

"Depends on what you mean by that."

Again it took a very long time for Sora to say anything. Riku almost thought he wouldn't at this point (another worrying point, the brat was giving him nothing but those lately). Then he heard Sora's whisper.

"I'm the X-blade, Riku. I—I don't know how or why...not yet."

Well, that was most definitely not something Riku had expected. His mind reeled and he took a step back, just to make himself steadier. "What?"

Sora almost didn't seem to hear him. "The memories are there and they want to come back...they will come back. No...I...they're starting to already, I think. I..." He paused again, this time his eyes didn't focus on anything as his contemplation and focus turned inward. "The X-blade is an echo of every Keyblade that has ever existed. That's what I am. That's what I've always been, I suppose."

He looked up at his best friend, eyes clearing. Then, he sighed and lay back again, hands under his head.

Riku frowned. "But, how does that make any sense?"

Sora shrugged. "I dunno."

The 'not yet' echoed silently at the back of the sentence, but it was still such a Sora thing to say that Riku couldn't help but snicker as relief flooded him.

"Nope," he finally said. Sora, surprised, looked over at him again. "I told you once that you're still all you. I don't care if you're the reincarnation of some ancient weapon or just the bratty kid that wouldn't ever stop following me around like a lost puppy."

"Hey!" Sora protested, but Riku continued.

"That hasn't changed. You're still all you."

Sora paused and studied Riku with an unreadable expression before he looked down, a sad smile on his face.

"Not for long if Xehanort gets a hold of me. With what I'm starting to remember...Riku, this could be very bad...like universe ending bad."

"What?" Riku's own smile vanished and there were so many things to address, but he focused on the one that impacted him the most. "But we beat him!" Gah! Sometimes he really hated being right.

Sora shook his head. "He's fighting Roxas,Ventus and Xion inside my mind right now. They banished my heart so he couldn't get hold of me." He looked up at Riku, eyes pleading. "If he does...I don't want to be used for evil things, Riku. I...I don't know if I can ever go back to my mind and body."

For several seconds, Riku remained rooted to the sand and rock below him, heart thumping as he realized the implications. That would mean Sora would never go home with them, never truly be on their island again with him and Kairi. Never to watch the sunset over the waves or to spar on the beach or to play tag in the tree house or to race. Never there to watch his back anymore, never there to tease or encourage or come and haul Riku's butt out of the darkness when he needed it...

"We'll beat him," the older teen said suddenly, voice hard and determined. Because he couldn't imagine an island without his two best friends there with him. "We'll find a way. You and me and Kairi."

Sora sat up again, looking so grateful and hopeful that Riku couldn't help but smile too.

"Yeah. If you say it, then we'll find a way," the brunet said, and for the first time, he sounded like he meant it too.

Before either one of them could say anything else, though, Riku's Keyblade appeared in the air before him. He leaned back, surprised, because he certainly hadn't called it out. Then a light appeared right above Sora's chest and shot towards Riku, stopping only as it hit the Keyblade. The two boys stared, dumbfounded, as a light slowly encompassed the blade and then the glow expanded.

When it faded again, Riku found himself standing on the beach as it had been after Xehanort had gotten to it—the beach that had been ruined by the intensive fighting. He glanced down and saw a sort of shield encompassing Sora's body. It didn't look like a peaceful shield either as bouts of energy sprung from it randomly, although Sora's body showed no actual expression, simply looking (dare he think it?) dead.

He glanced around worriedly, but before he could say anything to anyone else, he heard an echo in his mind that sounded an awful lot like Sora.

"We'll find a way." Riku closed his eyes for a second and swallowed. Then he nodded and glanced down at the Keyblade in his hand. His eyes flew open wide because instead of the blade he'd been using, it looked like his old Way to the Dawn Keyblade, except that it was made of pure light.

xXx

Kairi threw her arm up and looked away from the blinding light suddenly coming off of Sora, but it didn't do much good. When she opened her eyes, she wanted to blink away the spots she knew would be there...but weren't. She frowned and glanced around to make sure her eyes were functioning normally, and then gasped. She was sitting on the beach in front of the secret place and the tree house—where Sora loved to take naps, she recalled nostalgically. Truthfully, it was a wonder he hadn't gotten sun burned half the time.

What surprised her most, though, was that this was real, and unscathed and...and theirs. The island from her memories. The one that she would always remember and cherish.

Of course, that was when she heard a soft snore behind her and whirled around to see the boy in question snoozing lazily. She sighed in fond exasperation, got up and walked over to his prone figure. For a moment, she just studied him. He looked like the same old Sora, no scars or marks or bruises from their battle. This must be a memory, she concluded, and so she bent down to poke him in the side. She couldn't help but laugh as he quite literally squeaked and sat up.

"Give me a break, Kairi."

She hid her laugh behind her hand and managed to get it under control. "Just as lazy as ever," she said.

He rolled his eyes and flopped back in the sand, stretching lazily. She resisted the urge to poke him again. He could get cranky sometimes if she pushed too much.

Then she looked back out at the sea, peaceful as it moved steadily forward and backwards on the beach. As normal as this felt, she didn't recall this recently, and judging from their clothes. So...not a memory then? But then what was it?

"Sora, where are we?" she asked softly.

He didn't answer for a minute, but when he did, his voice was equally as soft. "In your heart."

Oh. Okay, she could accept that, except... "How do you know that?" she asked, brow furrowing slightly.

"I just...do."

She wasn't impressed. "How do you just know?"

Again, he hesitated before he answered. "I think I know this because of what I am."

She turned to look at him again, confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just found out about it—just started to remember, really. I'm...um, the X-blade that Xehanort wants to recreate." Kairi just stared at him for several seconds, only able to blink.

"What?" she finally managed to ask.

"The X-blade. It's...I'm made up of every heart that has ever wielded a Keyblade. It's who I am now...and who I've always been really. Now I have to stay away from Xehanort. He's trying to take over my body to use as a vessel and he wants to use me—my heart—to gain the power he needs to rule the worlds or something." With that, he looked down at the sand away from Kairi, seemingly ashamed.

It wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Kairi to wrap her head around. How often did one find out that their best friend (the person they loved) was a legendary weapon with a personality and sentience all his own? It boggled the mind. And that didn't even begin to touch on the fact that the megalomaniac they thought they'd beaten was somehow still around. However, seeing that look on his face broke through the haze of unreadable emotion and she knew she had to do something.

"Well that's good," she said finally.

Confused, he looked back up at her again, and this time it was his turn to do nothing but blink at her.

"If you're who you've always been, then you haven't changed. I never wanted you to. I love you just the way you are, Sora."

And the confusion melted to incredulity, and then his cheeks went bright red. He looked so adorable when he blushed.

"L-love me?"

She giggled and crawled over to his side, sitting and resting her head on his shoulder. "Yes, silly. I don't care who you are or who you've been or what you're made up of. You are and always will be my Sora, and I love you. And if Xehanort wants you, he'll have to go through me first."

He looked hesitantly at her, seeming almost hopeful but cautiously so. "So...you still need me?"

She whacked him across the back of the head. "Of course I do! That's why I wanted to protect you too. We'll rebuild our Island, you, me, and Riku and everyone else. We'll beat Xehanort. You'll see."

"Thank you, Kairi," he said, relaxing for the first time since she'd woken him here. She opened her mouth to say 'you're welcome', but before she could say anything, her Keyblade appeared in the air before her. She stared at it in surprise before she realized that a string of light was connecting it to Sora. Then, slowly, it faded into light and she had to look away again.

When she opened her eyes again, she was standing next to Riku, looking battered and torn, but her Keyblade had become one of pure light, just as Riku's had.

"Together," she heard Sora whisper in her mind.

"Together," she repeated.

xXx

Lea couldn't help but be protective of Isa. Not being so in the first place had been what had torn them apart to begin with. So, when the light came out of Sora and engulfed everything, he'd taken a defensive stance in front of his friend and called his Keyblade out. He'd still had to look away and close his eyes, though.

When he'd been able to open the again, he saw, to his great surprise, Radiant Garden. He couldn't help jump back in shock and then whirl around to see where the illusion ended. Because it had to be an illusion. This Radient Garden didn't exist anymore. This wasn't the world that had been torn apart by heartless and nobodies, but the thriving community he'd grown up in. Letting his Keyblade arm drop to his side (but not allowing it to disappear, he wasn't that stupid), he circled around again, more slowly this time as he tried to see through whatever this was.

Nothing he saw made sense. He could hear the birds chirping, and children laughing and playing in the distance and his shoes on the cobbled stone below him and he could feel the wind and the sun and—

"Don't worry," a new voice interrupted his scrutiny and he whipped around a third time to point his Keyblade at whoever had managed to sneak up on him. Then he blinked when he saw himself looking at Sora. Instantly he deflated.

"Hey, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that, ya know?" He hoped he sounded much cooler and calmer than he felt.

Sora just cocked his head at him, amused, before turning to study the world around them. "So, this is Radiant Garden before Maleficent took over."

Lea felt himself slump ever so slightly. "Before Ansem the Wise disappeared."

Sora nodded. "I can see why this is what you would want in your heart."

"Wait, what?" Lea asked.

Sora grinned over at him. "We're in your heart."

Lea frowned and studied the brown-haired boy. "Then how can you be here? Why are you here?" Not that he didn't like Sora or anything, but he wasn't Roxas (not really) and Sora wasn't Isa or Lea's family or any one of a dozen other people who meant more to him at the moment.

If Sora could guess his thought process, he didn't look upset in the slightest. "Through your Keyblade, I think."

"Could you start making sense?" the red-head asked, raising a hand to rub at his forehead. With everything that had happened...just, no.

A moment of uncertainty crossed the younger boy's face before he swallowed. "Well, basically, I'm the X-blade, which is kind of like the heart of all Keyblades, and Xehanort wants to use the power of all of those hearts and take over the universe...or something like that."

Lea just stared at the other young man, unsure of what to say. Then, after a moment, he shook his head. Focus on the most important stuff.

"So you're saying he's still here (of course he would still be here), that you're somehow the key to his rule (no pun intended) and we have to do something to stop him." Because he just didn't get the rest of it. This was why he always did the legwork. Isa was the brains. Now Lea wasn't stupid, per se, but he just couldn't seem to grasp the little but crucial details right away. It just took him a bit longer. That was all.

"Yeah, basically," Sora said with a satisfied nod.

Lea thought about that for a few minutes before he also nodded. "Alright, so how do we do it?"

Sora cocked his head to the side and blinked. "We?"

Lea frowned. "Well, yeah. Obviously you're not here to play. If you need help, all you gotta do is ask. That's what friends are for. I don't care whether you're some sort of ancient weapon or not. Got it memorized?" With that he slung an arm around Sora's shoulders.

The brown-haired boy shook his head as a grin split his face.

"Then what I need you to do, I guess, is trust yourself and in the other Keyblade wielders." Then Sora's grin turned impish. "Got it memorized?"

Lea just shook his head. "Don't ever say that again. It's mine, got it memorized?"

Sora just grinned up at Lea, who jumped back when a light formed above his chest and Lea's Keyblade appeared floating in front of them. Lea blinked and looked down at his empty hand. Well, that was unexpected. A stream of light connected the Keyblade to Sora and it began to grow, enveloping everything. Just as Lea looked away, he heard Sora say:

"Roxas says 'hi'."

Then he was standing on the torn beach, watching over his friend's prone form. A few feet away, he saw a similar light die down. The first people he noticed were Riku and Kairi...and what the blazes happened to their Keyblades?

And then he looked down at his own, seeing that the exact same thing had happened to his. He smiled sadly as he studied his new Keyblade.

"Hi," he whispered back.

xXx

AN: Heh, heh, heh... *tries not to look sheepish* Put up the non beta'd version. My bad. Thanks again to Lexik