Chronicles of the Keyblade Wars: The Battle of Hearts

By: CrimsonCrome

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything to do with it or associated with it. I do own my own made up stuff and OCs. I own the song that I made up too! Woo hoo!

A/N: I know I'm starting this out boring, but it will get better so bear with me. I hope that if you are reading this you will review! Thank you.

Chapter One:

It was midnight and the crickets outside of Sora's window were chirping loudly. He was still wide-awake, mainly because of the nocturnal noise, but also because of the note he had received from the king. It had him thinking and he couldn't really imagine resting at the moment.

In the letter, the king had told Sora, Riku, and Kairi that they were to start a new adventure, or rather, a new journey. The king had ordered that they meet him at the castle in his home world. How they were getting there, Sora did not know. Disney Castle was a long way off and the world barriers would stop any ship from landing there. But it didn't really matter anyhow because they didn't even have the gummi ship anymore.

Sora sighed. He knew the king would figure it out. He always did.

Sora picked up the letter again and reread it. Supposedly, King Mickey had found out a devastating secret. Something was wrong. The worlds were emitting a strange energy, one that was unfamiliar to anything he had ever seen or experienced. The energy was slowly causing the world barriers to fall. The heartless and the nobodies were reentering and creating havoc in all of the reopened worlds.

It seemed to Sora that this third attempt to seal the pathways between the worlds would be futile, considering he had already tried twice before. But, he knew if he did not, then the heartless and nobodies would overrun and engulf the worlds completely. He had to stop it, even if only momentarily.

Sora rolled over in his bed and looked at the little hanging ship in his room. It had been so long since that fateful night when Kairi and Riku were ripped away from him. This time, they would be together.

Even still, it was hard for Sora to know that Riku was supposed to be the true keyblade master. If he hadn't turned to the darkness, he would have had the keyblade. Their stories would have been completely different. Sora sighed. Was it selfish for him to say he was glad that he received the keyblade? He would have been written completely out of the story if he hadn't gotten it. But then again, Riku might not of succumb to the darkness.

Yet, even in the darkness, Riku could wield a keyblade, and Kairi and King Mickey also proved they could wield one as well. If all four of them could use their own preferred key, what was stopping anyone else from doing so?

Sora finally pulled his covers up to his chin and fell asleep.

XxX

Day came with a gentle light flooding through Sora's window. The heat warmed his body and he opened his eyes, feeling refreshed. Today was the day he left Destiny Islands for the second time.

Sora got up from his bed and looked at himself in the mirror. One side of his hair was completely flat while the other side stuck upward in a weird fashion. His boxers were wrinkled and his bare chest was pale, unlike his arms and legs.

He then walked over to his armoire and pulled out his favorite outfit. The one he got from the three good fairies so long ago. Sewn inside were his valor, wisdom, master, and final forms, and lurking somewhere in the cotton, anti-form. He took it and hung it up on the inside of his bathroom door. He turned on the shower and waited for the water to heat up as he brushed his teeth. Then he slipped off his boxers and stepped into the shower. After soaping his body and shampooing his hair, he rinsed off and stepped out. He dried himself with a fluffy blue towel and then put on his outfit. Finally, he gelled his hair so that it would spike again.

After his morning routine was complete, he went downstairs to look for something to eat. He saw that there was some oatmeal steaming on the counter; no doubt his mother made it for him before leaving for work. He picked it up and began to eat it with the spoon left in the bowl when he heard a knock on the door.

Sora stood and walked over to the front door. He opened it to see Kairi's smiling face. He couldn't help but smile back.

"Hey Sora!" Kairi walked in and hugged him. Surprised a bit, but very much liking the idea of being hugged by her, Sora embraced her willingly. When they let go of each other (which was just a bit longer than a normal hug) Kairi began to tell Sora about the transportation to Disney Castle. "Yeah, the King is going to send a gummi ship for us! I think it's the one Donald and Goofy flew around all the time. I wonder if they are going to meet us here?"

"I doubt it, Donald and Goofy will be busy watching the castle," Sora explained. "The King is worried the heartless may come back, and he doesn't want Queen Minnie and Daisy there alone."

Kairi shrugged and giggled, "Well, then we'll get to see them there!"

"Right," Sora nodded. He couldn't help but feel guilty for having Kairi over without his mother there, but wasn't about to say anything. "So when are they coming?"

"Riku said they'd be here tonight. So we should get some provisions for the trip," Kairi thought out loud.

"They'll have everything we need on the ship," Sora reassured her. "You want to hang out here for a while?"

An uncertain look crossed Kairi's face, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. "Sure!"

Sora walked over to the couch in the living room and flipped on the T.V. Kairi seated herself on the cushion next to Sora.

"What would you like to watch?" Sora asked her.

"Hmm…" Kairi got up and looked at the DVD's lining Sora's desk beside the T.V. "How about a home movie?"

"Wha-?" Sora stood and walked over to Kairi who was looking at a movie with the title: Sora gets potty trained. Sora snatched the movie and put it back.

"Hey!" Kairi whined. "That would have been a good one!" She giggled at his dismayed face.

Sora pulled out a different movie. The title read: Sora goes to Kairi's birthday party. He popped it in the DVD player and sat back down on the couch. Kairi sat down on the cushion next to him. The movie started.

On the screen, little Kairi was blowing out her candles. Her mother asked how old she was and Kairi held up four fingers. Sora could be seen racing Riku in the background. The party was colored pink and purple – and of course red. Kairi began to eat her cake when Riku came up behind her and scared her. Kairi nearly began to cry, making Riku feel bad. Sora walked over to Kairi and hugged her. Kairi sniffed and giggled at this, then she offered Sora some cake. That was the end of the movie.

The present day Kairi turned to the nearly sixteen-year-old Sora. "You were as sweet back then as you are now." She placed a hand on his knee and smiled.

Sora's face turned a bright shade of red. "Heh – thanks?"

Kairi giggled and stood. "What should we watch now?"

Sora followed her over to the desk and looked at all the home movies his mother was so fond of. There was one that read: Sora, Riku, and Kairi go to the park. Sora picked this one up and placed it in the DVD player. This time when they sat down, Kairi was a tad closer than before. Sora couldn't help but notice and he almost stopped breathing for a second. He wasn't exactly a pro with girls. The movie started.

On the screen, Riku was sticking his tongue out at the camera with Sora. Kairi was laughing at them. They were in a park and the sun was shining brightly. Riku ran off to disturb some geese, but ended up being chased by one instead. Sora came flying in to the rescue and distracted the goose so Riku could get away. Kairi was the one that saved Sora by flinging some moldy bread and making the hostile goose go after that. They then played together on the swings. Riku pushed Kairi until she was going so high the swing set shook with the impact of her body weight coming back down. Sora climbed on the beams holding the swings up and jumped off, nearly in front of Kairi. Sora ducked and rolled away at the last second, making Kairi scream and then laugh openly. The scene switched to them eating ice cream together before a brilliant sunset. Then the movie ended.

On the couch, Kairi had moved so close to Sora that there was only a sliver of space between them. Sora was puffing out his chest, wanting to brush against her arm. He wanted to feel what it was like to touch her – even for a second. But it wasn't long before Kairi began to stand again to get another movie.

"Wait!" Sora panicked. He grabbed Kairi's arm and pulled her back on the couch. She landed sitting on his lap! Sora gasped and Kairi quickly got off, her face beat red.

"What did you do that for?" Kairi asked, sounding a mix between tickled and confused.

"I – I mean – it wasn't supposed to be –" Sora gulped. "Sorry."

Kairi shook her head. "Maybe I should go, I feel like this isn't right, since your mom isn't here."

Sora stood and spread his hands wide in apology. "I wasn't going for that, Kairi! I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Kairi smiled. "It's alright Sora, I know you better than that. C'mon, let's go into town and get us some ice cream."

Sora nodded. "Okay, that sounds good." His voice wasn't enthusiastic at all and he followed Kairi hunched over in shame. He could have kicked himself! He wasn't trying to pull some big move on her. The last thing he wanted to do was push her away after all the trouble of finding her again.

"Sora?" Kairi was holding open the front door to the house.

"Hmm?" Sora replied, absently.

"Thanks for taking me with you on this journey. I hate being left behind!" Kairi giggled.

"Of course," Sora smiled broadly at her and walked though the open door. The sun was high in the sky, about noon. He walked side by side with Kairi to their boats, which they paddled toward the town. Sora couldn't help but wonder if Kairi liked him in that way. He shook his head. He had to focus on the mission. There wasn't time for thoughts like that.

"So, where do you think the King will bring the gummi ship to?" Kairi asked.

"Probably the Hover Hanger in this town. It wouldn't look too suspicious if they flew in there," Sora suggested.

"Do you think the band is playing there tonight?" Kairi asked.

"Maybe," Sora pulled his boat up on the beach. "Want to check it out after we get some ice cream?"

"Yeah," Kairi smiled and they walked up the beach to the shops lining a paved street. There were people everywhere, probably busy working. A lot of children ran around, ecstatic about their summer vacation just beginning.

Sora turned to the left on the road and stopped at an ice cream shop two stores down. They went inside. The room was chilly and Kairi shivered beside him. Sora walked up to the desk clerk and began looking at the encased ice cream choices.

"What would you like?" The man behind the counter asked.

"One scoop of chocolate ice cream and one scoop of cookies and cream ice cream in a chocolate dipped cone please," Sora said while pointing to each flavor in turn. The desk clerk made the cone and handed it to Sora. Sora looked to Kairi who placed her order.

"One scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough and one scoop of strawberry in a regular cone please," Sora waited until Kairi got her cone and then he went over to the cash register and paid for both before Kairi could protest.

They exited the shop and walked down the road toward the Hover Hanger. Sora licked at his ice cream absently, not really tasting the sweet treat. He wondered who he'd have to face this time. First it was the fake Ansem who was really just a heartless. Then it was all of organization thirteen through Castle Oblivion and then The World That Never Was. What kind of monster could have possibly emerged this time that could cause such a ruckus?

A Human…

Sora jumped and nearly lost his ice cream. He looked around him but there was no one but Kairi looking at him curiously.

Don't worry Sora; it's just me Roxas. Thought I'd put my two cents in.

Sora relaxed. They kept walking, but Sora continued to think and wondered if he could talk to Roxas like this.

A Human?

Yes. Doesn't it make sense? I mean – who else could there be?

What about heartless and nobodies?

You've destroyed their leaders. They are acting on their own now, on instinct. I think that only a human could take up where we left off.

But if I battle a human –

There will be blood?

Sora shivered at this thought for that was not what he was going to say. Even Riku was a heartless when he fought him. And Yuffie, Leon, Cloud, and Tifa he only fought inside coliseums. He had battled Sephiroth – but he was not human either. Rather an embodiment of Cloud's darkness. So technically, he'd not dueled a human before. So he had no idea if there would be blood.

He had never had to deal with blood before. Nobodies vanished into a white oblivion when he defeated them and heartless into a black nothingness. So humans had to exit – be defeated – somehow. Did that mean… he would have to murder them?

Kairi shook his shoulder sending him from his thoughts. "Look! It's the band! They are practicing for tonight's performance."

A loud wave of music hit Sora as he opened the door to the Hover Hanger. Four people were standing, two with guitars, one behind a big drum set, and one behind a keyboard. The lyrics to the song were strange, about far off lands and burning sunrises. Sora was intoxicated with the sound of it all combined.

They keyboardist had a synthesizer too and he played that to add a new element to the song. The drummer crashed the symbols loud and at particular points in the song so that it added excitement. The bass guitarist was a girl who jumped when the lead guitarist did. They were all very talented.

Sora watched Kairi stand with a few other fascinated teenagers and listen. He made his way over to the crowd and couldn't help but move a bit with the catchy tune. Rather, it was an extremely memorable melody that played in his head.

Watch the horizon – the sun is coming,

The sun will burn the darkness away!

Fill your heart with – the light of morning,

For it's the only thing that will save-the-day!

Hold me – to the end of the sunrise,

For that's the time we will be saved,

Nothing dark can live past the sunrise,

For that's the time we will be saved.

Sora liked it. He sang along with them whenever they sang that chorus part. Then the crowd danced wildly around him and he couldn't help but jump up and down. They all sang the chorus with the band. Sora sang it too. He saw Kairi as she made her way to him. She smiled and laughed at his silly dance – which just consisted of jumping up and down – and joined him in doing it. She smiled at him and sang the last line of the song also.

For that's the time we will be saved…

XxX

It was about seven o' clock when Sora saw Riku walk through the customer doors into the Hover Hanger. He was walking in by himself, with a long, confident stride. His mid-length, silver hair swished as he walked. Sora ran over to greet him.

"Hey, Riku! What took you so long?" Sora joked.

"How did you know to come here? I didn't tell Kairi that. I was just going to call you so you'd be here when the King came," Riku looked not only confused, but also flustered.

Sora shrugged. "We just guessed he'd come here. Besides, the band is playing their new song. Don't you want to hear it?"

Riku shook his head. "Now that you're here, we might as well signal the king to come early." Riku then took a piece of faded paper from his pocket. He lifted it up with his fingers and it began to float in the air. The paper burst with light and was no more.

"What was that?" Sora asked, amazed. Other people were looking too.

"It was the King's letter. I was instructed to do that when we were ready to leave – to signal him," Riku explained patiently.

"Oh! Okay!" Sora ran over to Kairi and pulled her toward Riku. "Where to?"

The Hover Hanger was made up of several large garages, mostly filled with hovercraft for transportation. They were labeled with letters, up to X. The garage they were in was hanger L. It was always empty so that the owner's son (the lead guitarist) could practice with his band. Inside each garage were tools and mechanical contraptions. The floors were made of pure concrete and the walls were steel. It was always really chilly in the building because it had no insulation.

"We have to go to hanger X," Riku sighed.

"Oh," Sora complained.

"That sure is a long walk," Kairi stated, putting a hand to her forehead in dismay.

"Better start then. By the time we get there, the King will have arrived," Riku replied logically. "Let's go."

"Right," Sora said. They walked out of the building and down the sidewalk toward the end of the hangers. It would have been dangerous to walk through the garages while the hired men were making repairs. It took them a little under fifteen minutes to finally reach hanger X.

Kairi giggled and then held her hand to her stomach. "Oh!" She cried, throwing her arms about dramatically. "I'm going to die! Someone, fetch me some water!"

"Fetch you some water?" Riku laughed as she pretended to faint against the wall.

Sora flipped on the lights. They turned on one by one, showing a vast, empty garage. Sora looked for another switch. He found it, pushing the little knob upward. The ceiling opened up to show the fading colors of sunset.

"Oh," Kairi breathed. "It's so beautiful."

Riku and Sora looked up and stared at the multihued display of lights. It was like fireworks without the loud bang – and they lasted longer.

All of a sudden the ground began to shake and Sora and his friends fell to the ground. They watched in horror for a second as a large black shape appeared above the opened ceiling. Then the loud, rumbling object started to float down toward them and Sora realized it was the gummi ship.

"They made it!" Kairi cried out over the noise of the engines.

The ship landed with a small thud on the concrete. The gangplank opened to reveal two very short figures jumping up and down. It was Chip and Dale.

"Hurry guys!" Chip shouted over the dying roar. "The King needs your help!"

"Yeah, climb aboard!" Dale called out to them.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi stood and smiled at one another. Then they walked and entered the ship together.

The gummi ship Chip and Dale had arrived in was a more complex – and better armored – version of the gummi ship Sora, Donald, and Goofy used a long time ago when fighting Ansem. They entered and saw four empty seats, plus the pilot and copilot seats up front, near the control board. There was also a small hallway leading back to three doors, which Sora assumed were rooms or cabins of some kind.

"Okay, Sora!" Chip jumped and hit a red button on the wall, the gangplank shut. "Time to go!"

"Right," Sora seated himself in the seat behind Chip and Riku seated himself behind Dale. Kairi seated herself behind Sora.

"Three, two, one, lift off!" Dale pressed a green button on the control board and the whole ship rumbled back to life and shot upward into the air. Then Chip pressed more buttons and they shot forward.

The gummi ship shook hard.

"Hang on!" Chip shouted over the noise. The ship rocketed forward and through the atmosphere, defying the ever-constant gravitational pull back to the ground. They finally broke free of the pull and went out into space. Heartless ships showed up immediately. Dale began to shoot the ships guns as Chip drove the ship.

Sora looked to Kairi. She smiled at him as he turned to her. She looks so different with longer hair. Sora thought to himself. I thought she was beautiful back before our journey but now – he chuckled and Kairi tilted her head in confusion.

"What?" She asked him. Sora was taken off guard and stared at her as if he had said the whole thing out loud.

"Er… uh…" Sora shrugged and turned around again, his face completely flushed. Riku glanced at him knowingly and laughed.

The trip took well into the night. Sora retired to the cabin he shared with Riku. The beds were soft and the pillows fluffed just right. He laid his head down and fell right to sleep.

XxX

When morning came, Sora was groggy and spacey. He barely was able to get up and get dressed. For some reason he had had nightmares all of last night – but he couldn't remember any of them.

Riku was already up and dressed, looking out the window to a blue sky. "We're landing at Disney Castle."

Sora shot up, suddenly awake and alert. He ran into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and spiked his hair. Then they met Kairi in the hallway and watched as Chip and Dale landed the gummi ship in the Disney Castle hanger.

"C'mon," Chip said after opening the gangplank. "We gotta hurry!"

"Yeah!" Dale said, running out into the hanger and hopping up the steps.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi exited the ship and began to climb the stairs. The dim tunnel gave Sora time to think.

What if the new enemy was a human? What if there was more than one enemy this time and different kinds? Sora shook his head. He couldn't understand why he had to fight the King's battles now that he had Riku and Kairi back. Then he remembered something the King had said – about helping your friends when they need it. He had spoke of it in the castle in Radiant Garden right before the heartless invasion. The King needed his help now. Sora realized that even though the attempt may be futile, the heartless were only going to multiply and grow in strength if he wasn't going to do anything about it. He had to help, for the good of all the worlds.

Then he began to wonder about something else. It was the reality of the newest and most terrible danger. If he were to fight human on human – then he could really die and there would be no chance of coming back. He wouldn't slip into darkness as if he were only battling a nobody or a heartless; rather, he would bleed and bruise and die.

Sora choked a bit and he realized he hadn't been breathing for a while. He took in a few deep breaths and ignored the concerned look Riku gave him.

They walked upward, hastily so as not to make the King wait longer than need be. Chip and Dale were constantly making worried sounds like sighs and quick, sharp groans. They seemed to be in a hurry.

Riku walked in front of Sora and Kairi walked behind Sora. Chip and Dale had run out front, so as to get to the King as fast as they could to announce their arrival.

Sora tugged at his suit. He wished he could free himself of the anti-form embedded in the cotton, lurking, waiting to be set free. It wasn't necessarily all bad. It made him move with twice the speed, but he couldn't heal himself, which was bad.

Sora…

It was Roxas speaking to him again.

What?

Will you promise me something?

Sure, what?

Will you find a way to set Naminé and me free?

…Yeah. I'll find a way.

There was silence for a moment, then Roxas said: I believe you will Sora.

They finally reached the exit and when they opened the door, the sunlight hurt their eyes.

Sora felt Kairi brush past him to the outside. He took a deep breath. Once he left this spot, there was no turning back. He had to help King Mickey or turn back and run like a coward all the way back to Destiny Islands. Now was when he chose.

Would he be choosing whether he lived or died?

Sora fixed a loose string on his suit and then walked out into the courtyard. He was greeted with the sight of King Mickey –

Holding a brand new keyblade.

A/N: Okay so sort of boring, but more to come. Thanks to anyone who reviews!