Sora blinked his eyes open and glanced up at the clear, blue sky. For a moment he just laid there on the beach, reveling in the fact that the multiverse felt right again. The darkness was still there, but he couldn't feel it growing anymore...well, not like it had back before he'd taken this form. He wondered how long that would last for a moment before pushing that thought aside. They'd prevented another war and more destruction. It wasn't perfect, but he'd accept that for now.
He withdrew into himself for a minute, enjoying the feeling of his body again, and then he stretched out with his heart, reaching for Kingdom Hearts. To his relief, it was there, sadly full, but functioning properly as far as he could see. For a moment, he paused and examined his link to Kingdom Hearts and had to wonder how he'd missed this before. Then he shook his head and went to sit up.
"Sora!" Before he could make it fully upright, he got an armful of a very familiar girl, her red hair obscuring just about everything else as she knocked him back to the ground with an 'oof'. "You're okay!" she murmured into his neck. He felt a smile crawl onto his face and reached up to wrap his arms around her.
"Yeah, I am," he said softly. "Thanks to you."
"And what about me?" Sora looked up to see an amused (and very relieved) Riku standing over them, holding out his hand. Kairi glanced up at him too and moved onto the sand next to Sora, then rose to her feet as she brushed herself off. Sora couldn't help but grin as he reached up and took the offered appendage that pulled him to his feet. Then he hissed in pain, forgetting that he'd just been in a fight before all of this had happened.
"Hey, man, you okay?" Lea asked.
"Well, I'm not Xehanort and I can move, so I think I'll count that as a win for now," he replied lightheartedly. He glanced over at Ven, who seemed to be in a similar position as he was, surrounded by Terra, Aqua and Mickey.
"Good," Donald said as he waddled up to Sora. Then, using his staff, he hit the teenager on the calf.
"OW!" Sora yelped, stepping away from the duck and pulling his shin up to rub at it. Consequently, this left him hopping on one foot for balance. "What was that for?"
"Getting caught by Xehanort and worrying us all in the first place! Why do you always do stuff like that?!" Sora took note of the genuine relief and the remains of the fear and hurt that he saw on the Duck's face and his own features softened.
"Yeah," he said as he reached a hand up to his head and rubbed it sheepishly. "Sorry."
It felt so much easier to act like 'Sora' when he was whole like this; body, mind and heart all within the same vessel and synched together. He could almost forget the terrible memories that had come with his reawakening as the X-blade.
"Right," Lea said. "How about we make it so that doesn't ever happen again."
Everyone turned to look at him and Sora couldn't suppress a twinge of worry. Lea had the most serious expression on his face that any of them, including Isa, had ever seen.
"How could we do that?" Goofy asked, scratching his head and tipping it in confusion.
Lea looked around at each of them for a moment, and then his eyes focused directly on Sora. "We destroy Kingdom Hearts."
A stunned silence broken only by the repeated waves washing onto the beach fell over the group as everyone processed that. Then everyone spoke at once.
"What?!"
"How can you say that?!"
"What the heck, dude?!"
"You want to what?!"
"What's Kingdom Hearts?" That last one came from Isa. Lea sent an apologetic glance towards him, one that promised he'd explain later, but he had to state his case now. He faced the rest of the group again.
"Look, Xehanort did all of this so he could get to Kingdom Hearts, and apparently it has the power needed to remake the universe how he wanted it, right? So let's remove the temptation." He shrugged as if it were no big deal. He didn't know. Sora knew that. Lea didn't know what he was suggesting. That didn't stop him from clenching his fists, nor did it stop the manifestation of the X-blade's power from flooding through his voice when he spoke.
"No."
Everyone turned away from Lea to look at Sora.
After a moment, Lea shook off whatever effect the X-blade's voice had had on him and stepped forward defiantly.
"Why not?"
Sora just looked at him, actually considering what Lea had suggested. The loss of life would be...catastrophic. There were so many people who didn't have nobodies to reunite with. They didn't deserve to be abandoned...but would it be worth it to remove that kind of power from everyone's hands?
No, it wouldn't. No matter how he looked at it. Maybe if there weren't still heartless out there spreading the darkness and destroying hearts, but as long as they still existed, then so should Kingdom Hearts.
And he needed to make them see that.
"Lea," Ven spoke before Sora could. "You don't know what you're asking."
"Well then explain it to me."
Sora sighed. "Alright. You may want to get comfortable. A long time ago, like thousands of years, the worlds as we know it didn't exist. There was only one world..."
He explained everything for the second time noting the different expressions of enlightenment, horror and sadness on each of their faces. For the first time, he also noted, Isa didn't look completely lost. Sora wondered what he, an outsider (who didn't seem to have a whole lot of recent memories if how he acted was anything to go by) would think of all of this.
When he finished, the group sat in a silence that no one seemed to want to break, so Sora decided to say one more thing. He was among friends, and it was something he'd wanted to say for a while anyway, just to get it off his chest.
"Destroying Kingdom Hearts would probably destroy me," he said softly. "I can accept that. If my destruction would save the worlds, then I would gladly do it. But the fact of the matter is, it won't. As long as heartless exist, Kingdom Hearts needs to as well. If it weren't for Kingdom Hearts, you and Isa wouldn't be alive right now," he pointed out to Lea.
"Neither would Kairi," Riku said next, his voice quiet but hard.
"Or me," Terra responded. "And probably Ven." Because Sora wouldn't have been there to save him.
"But," Aqua spoke up, "it allowed Xehanort to take over your body to begin with, Terra, because his heart didn't automatically move on."
Again, no one said anything for a long while.
Finally Sora couldn't stay quiet. "I can't allow it," he finally insisted. "There are too many lives there—too many people. They may only have the smallest chance to live again, but as long as that chance remains, I can't allow Kingdom Hearts to be destroyed." He glanced up at Lea and Aqua. "I won't."
The must have seen the conviction in his eyes (or heard it in his voice) because Aqua nodded and Lea sighed.
"Fine, I get it," the red-head muttered. "So what do we do then?"
"We work on curing the heartless," King Micky answered as if it were obvious. "Right, Sora?"
Sora smiled to himself. He knew the mouse would get it. He turned to the little king and nodded.
"Exactly how do we do that?" Terra asked, sounding more than a little skeptical.
"Yes," Isa spoke for the first time. "Isn't the study of the heartless and the darkness what caused the downfall of Radiant Garden?"
Either he was getting his memories back or he was a very fast learner and very good at deductive reasoning.
"Yeah," Micky conceded with a nod. "But we have something they didn't." He turned to Sora. "You have memories of the first experiments, right?"
Sora nodded. "I didn't exist when they were first conducted, but Nomura did. I got some of the memories from him."
"Hmm," Isa said with a slow nod, a finger on his chin as he contemplated that. "And perhaps some more safety measures..."
"But we don't know how long it will take," Aqua said. Sora appreciated that she played the devil's advocate. It kept them on their toes and contemplating everything thoroughly. "It could take years; decades or centuries even. How can we know someone else like Xehanort won't come along and take everything we find out only to turn it against us? We may not be able to stop someone next time."
"What choice do we have?" Terra responded quietly, not looking up. Despite the low volume, everyone turned their attention to him. "We either try, or we wait for someone else to figure out what Xehanort did. Besides," he glanced up at Sora. "We have the X-blade to keep us on track."
"Won't that mean Sora has to stay where we'll be figuring things out?" Goofy asked, also glancing worriedly at Sora.
King Micky looked down. "I'm afraid so. You may not be able to stay here after all," he said to the brunet, gesturing to the island around them. Sora looked down. He'd known something like this would happen—that he'd be leaving what was dear to him behind for an indeterminate amount of time all over again. Still, if it meant that he could help and speed things along—or even just make it possible for them to eliminate the heartless—then he would gladly do it.
"Wait," Isa spoke again sounding confused. "You want to stay here?"
Everyone looked around at the ruin of the island. It made Sora sad to see, but it was still his home. "Yes," he responded, surprised to realize that it was true. Memories or not, he felt he belonged here with Riku and Kairi. He'd been afraid that he'd lose that, but now he saw that it had just been an unfounded fear. He still wanted to be here. He always had.
"Let me get this straight," the blue-haired man said as he closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. Sora smiled sympathetically at him. It had to be a lot to take in. "So you're an ancient weapon, or you have the memories of one in any case, right?" Sora nodded. "And you said you are a part of every Keyblade—or at least your heart is." Again Sora nodded, wondering where Isa was going with this. "But you want to stay here even though they may need you elsewhere." A third nod. "Well, can't they just call you like they call their weapons?"
Everyone stared at him, blinking. Then, finally, Sora laughed. Of course it would be the one with the somewhat outside point of view that would come up with the obvious solution. It would take a lot of preparation and they'd have to hammer out the details, but it was a viable option.
"See, this is why you're the brains," Lea muttered, shaking his head with a smile.
"Besides," Riku said, "just because we want to stay here and rebuild the island doesn't mean we can't take a vacation to come and visit. Now that we all have Keyblades, it shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Right!" Mickey said with a grin. "I'll start preparations as soon as I get back to the Disney Castle."
"Gawrsh, are we going to be studying the heartless there?" Goofy asked.
Mickey shook his head. "I was thinking of setting something up on the world of the Keyblade Graveyard. It's out of the way, abandoned, has a lot of energy we can study and if something happens, no one else will get hurt."
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea," Terra said. "I'd be glad to come and help in any way I can."
"Me too," Ven said.
Aqua smiled. "I guess we're all going then."
"Then who's going to protect the multiverse?" Sora asked.
Lea sighed. "Guess that's gonna be up to me. My own fault, I suppose. I wanted to manifest a Keyblade."
"You can ask us for help, you know," Kairi replied good-naturedly. Lea grinned back at her.
"Well," Micky said as he stood. "I guess it's time for us to head back. I'll let everyone know what's going on." He turned to Terra, Aqua and Ven. "Are you coming with us?"
Aqua answered for them. "Not right now." Ven and Terra glanced at her, surprised. "We need to stop by home for a little bit, I think." Something clicked with both the boys and they nodded sadly.
"Alright. Come to Master Yen Sid's place when you're ready. Or you can stop by the Disney Palace any time."
The trio smiled. "Thanks, Your Majesty," the responded together.
"Gosh, I told you to call me Micky," was all he said, although he did it with a wink. Then he began to walk to the point that would take them to the gummy ship. Sora watched them go, a sadness filling his heart at the changes that would happen—at how different everything would be. And yet, he could also feel hope there. He hadn't been expecting that. He doubted he could express the relief that gave him.
"Bye, Micky," Kairi yelled, waving her hand emphatically, looking for all the world like a little kid that had grown up on an island, and not the keyblade-weilding princess she was. He would be happy to see either side of her, but somehow he really liked her like this. A lot. This was the old Kairi he'd always loved.
"See you around," Riku said loudly. Sora glanced at him, realizing that Riku had turned out completely opposite of Kairi. He'd changed. He'd changed for the better, anyone could agree to that, and yet Sora wished he could take the perpetual sadness in his best-friend's eyes away. Not that he would. Riku had earned that look—the look of the wise. He'd fought for it, and hadn't always won, but had never given up. This was the end result. But yet, Sora still felt a pang of sadness for the innocence lost.
"You betcha!" Micky responded with a nod. Donald and Goofy both grinned back at Sora, Kairi and Riku, knowing they didn't need to say anything else and simply conveying their thoughts with a bright smile. Then they turned to go again.
"Hey," Lea called. The three animals stopped. Lea grabbed Isa's arm and took off after them. "Since Isa doesn't have a keyblade, mind dropping us off at Radiant Garden?"
Isa's head snapped to Lea. "It still exists?"
Lea grinned. "Yup. They're rebuilding it too."
"They?"
Lea's smile widened. "Everyone."
Sora didn't know Isa's face could look that hopeful and innocent—that light. The blue-haired man turned to the trio from the Disney Castle and bowed. "Yes, could you please take us there?"
"Of course," Micky replied with a smile. There was a bright flash of light, and then the five of them vanished.
"We should probably get going too," Aqua said, walking up to them, looking far lighter than when Sora had originally found her. "But before we go..." She held out three objects and each of the trio took one of them. They looked like stars or...
"Wayfinders?" Kairi asked as she studied hers. It was pink and red, and yet somehow managed to look regal. Sora thought it suited her very well.
Aqua seemed taken back. "Yes. How did you know?"
"It's a local legend," Riku replied as he finished tying his silver and gold one to his side.
The blue-haired girl smiled and glanced down at her own blue one. "So this is where it came from."
"Didn't you know?" Sora couldn't help but quip. "Everything's connected."
Aqua's smile slowly grew on her face, calm and welcoming and sincere. "I guess so."
"Hey, Sora," Terra said as he came up and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Thanks again. For everything."
The smaller brunet nodded. "You're welcome."
"Terra, Aqua, let's go!" Ven said impatiently from behind them, activating his armor. Sora could feel his anticipation and longing for home even now and couldn't begrudge the boy for wanting to leave so much, even knowing how empty it would feel without them there.
"Yeah, let's go home," Terra agreed.
Aqua's smile faded a little. "I have to warn you, it's not the same."
Ven blinked at her, and then shrugged. "Then we'll fix it or we'll deal. Right?"
She blinked at him for a few seconds and then nodded, activating her own armor—the one Terra had brought to her when she'd gone to get Ven. Sora could sense her welcoming the familiar feeling. "Right."
And, completely in synch, the three of them threw their keyblades into the air, and flew off on the respective vehicles they turned into.
Sora, Kairi and Riku watched them go with sad smiles. Then Sora glanced at his wayfinder. It was a light blue and red, playful but unknowingly linked to a story as ancient as the sea itself—something that he felt matched him perfectly. He didn't need it to be connected to everyone else, but he appreciated the thought all the same.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" Kairi asked.
"They'll be fine," Riku responded nonchalantly.
"How do you know?" she asked, tipping her head and looking at her best friend.
"Because," Sora replied before Riku could. "Where your friends and family are is where your home is."
Riku sighed and rolled his eyes. "Stop being so cheesy."
"Hey!" Ancient weapon or not, the childish response slipped out before he could do anything about it.
Kairi giggled at their antics. Then she glanced over at the main land. "What about us?"
"As long as I have you two weirdos by my side, I'll be fine," Riku said as he brushed by her.
"Now who's being cheesy?" she asked. He shrugged. She giggled again. Then, in true Kairi fashion, she jumped up and down excitedly—like they were 12 again and not 17. "Come on! Let's go let everyone know we're back. Then we can all get to work."
"Right," Riku said. "We'll rebuild it better than before."
Kairi and Sora nodded in agreement, and all three started for the dock, noting with pleasure that their boats were still—somehow; miraculously—there and whole. Kairi rushed ahead of them and the two boys watched her with content smiles. Then the red-head turned around mischievously.
"I'll race you."
"What?" Sora asked, unable to help the whine in his voice.
"Are you kidding?" Riku asked with a roll of his eyes.
"Ready?" She asked, raising a hand into the air. Then she brought it down with a harsh slash. "Go!"
For a moment, Riku and Sora just glanced at each other, and then, like lightning, they were sprinting across the sand, racing towards home.
End
xXx
Woot! My second multi-chapter story that I don't plan on seriously continuing is done! Yosh! (By that, I mean that I may have some one-shots later, but yeah)
I'd really like to thank Lexik for helping me out, for Kuroi Atropos who helped me start, and everyone who has read and supported this to now. Yes, this means you. Thank you. :)
