Sora sat up in bed groggily. He scratched his head and pushed his hair out of his eyes. Mumbling sleepily to himself, he got up and got dressed, wearing the same outfit he'd worn on his return home. He didn't need to use the combination powers it offered any more, but it was, he admitted, the only thing that fit him right now after being away from his home for 2 years.
Sora paused, now a bit more awake. He frowned as he remembered the odd dream he'd had last night.
"That was a really weird dream…" he said to himself, thinking about how it had felt extremely real…
"Should I talk to the others about it?" he wondered, walking over to his door. As his fingers wrapped around the handle, Sora looked up suddenly, tensing.
Something was different.
In his grogginess, he hadn't noticed it, but he knew there was something about, or perhaps, in, this room that hadn't been there when he fell asleep. His eyes narrowed.
A whisper? There was an odd ambient noise, faint as an insect walking across a piece of sandpaper. Sora couldn't really hear or make anything out of it, but he knew it was there.
Sora waited a moment, and then opened the door and proceeded downstairs when nothing else happened. A few minutes later, he walked into the kitchen, and was able to realize he actually had been gone for two years…
"Good morning, Sora." A woman's voice came over from the table. Sora turned and saw his mother at the table.
Sora had been told frequently he looked more like his mother than his father; they shared the same brown hair and kind blue eyes. However, she was not very tall and more slender than Sora; he'd be looking down at her soon when his growth spurt finished.
"Good morning, Mom." Sora said, smiling brightly. His mother calmly drank her coffee, and then got up, giving Sora a hug.
"I'm glad you're finally home," she said. Sora closed his eyes; he hadn't realized in his travels across the stars just how much he'd missed his parents…
"Me too…" he said softly. His mother finally broke the embrace, and walked back over to the table, taking a sip of coffee as she sat back down. Sora looked around, not noticing his father anywhere.
"Where's Dad?" He asked, scratching his head.
"He's already gone off to work. I'd never seen him looking so happy…" His mother replied with a soft smile. "Of course, since you're finally home… I can't say I blame him." Sora grinned.
"I'd say this is the happiest I've been in two years," he said brightly. His mother smiled and ruffled his hair; Sora felt another pang of nostalgia, remembering that she'd always done so before he'd left.
"You've grown so much, Sora… but you're still the same ray of sunshine I remember…" she said fondly. Sora smiled.
The two of them ate breakfast together, each speaking of how the time had passed since the night Sora left. After about an hour, Sora's mother looked over at the clock and sighed.
"I have to go to work, Sora. You can go to the island today if you want," she said, getting up and giving Sora a kiss on the cheek. "Your father will be home at four. Have a good day…"
"You too, Mom…" Sora said. Under the surface, he was feeling surprised at how alien his former routine seemed to him…
Sora sat for a moment, quietly eating a bowl of cereal. He remembered the night before… the triumphant return home after defeating Xemnas…
The sun was sinking over the horizon, setting the water and clouds aflame with its light. Sora, Kairi, and Riku paddled a boat back to the mainland. Selphie was sitting on the shore by herself, not noticing them until they were a bit closer. The girl shaded her eyes, which then widened in surprise.
"Kairi! Riku! Sora!" She shouted, waving and smiling excitedly. The trio finally put up their boat and ran over to her. "Where have the three of you been!" Selphie asked, still amazed to see Riku and Sora with Kairi after two years.
"It's a long, long story, Selphie." Sora said, smiling tiredly.
"'OY! Selphie!" Tidus called, walking down the beach, Wakka a bit further back. He was startled to see Sora, Riku, and Kairi with her.
"Sora! Riku!" He called, amazement all over his face. He turned back.
"Hey! Wakka! Sora and Riku are back!"
The six teenagers stood on the beach for another hour after that, making up in part for lost time. It was night by the time that Riku, Sora, and Kairi entered the city. Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie, living further out than the trio, had reluctantly parted with them soon after. Selphie had been particularly emotional, having caught all three in an almost awkwardly long hug before departing to her house. Wakka and Tidus were still somewhat dazed by the sudden appearance of their three lost friends. Sora, Riku, and Kairi walked down the island, each contemplating their return. Kairi, waving to the two friends, walked into her house. Sora noticed Riku seemed to be contemplating something.
"Riku? You all right?"
"It's just so weird," Riku said, partially to himself, partially to Sora. "After all the time I spent here wanting to leave and see other worlds… now that I've seen so many of them… I never realized how much I missed this place."
Sora nodded.
"It's good to be back," He said, grinning, "Look on the bright side! Now we don't have to leave here again. The worlds are finally safe…" Riku nodded, and walked towards his house. Sora now felt a maelstrom of emotions as he realized where he was.
His house…
Sora, feeling as though he was in a dream, walked up the steps to the porch, and, after a moment's hesitation, went in.
His parents were sitting in the den, solving a crossword puzzle together like they had been on the night before he Heartless came… His father looked up suddenly, seeing Sora. For a moment, he didn't recognize him, but then he stood up, looking unsure whether to believe what he was seeing.
"Sora?" he asked softly. Sora was overwhelmed.
"Mom…Dad…" He stood unsure for a moment, and then rushed forward, embracing both of his shocked parents. His mother and father, overcoming their surprise, were both smiling, although Sora saw his mother had tears in her eyes.
"It's really you…" she said, looking at her son in tear-filled amazement, "You were gone for so long…"
"I'm sorry that I worried you," Sora said, his voice thick with emotion.
"It doesn't matter, son." His father said warmly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You're home."
Sora snapped out of the memory.
"Home…" he mused quietly to himself. After a while, Sora went out.
He met Kairi outside in the street; she'd been making her way towards his house, it seemed.
"Kairi! What a coincidence, I was just looking for you…" he said, walking over to Kairi. The girl looked surprised.
"That's odd… I came here to talk to you…" Sora cocked his head, puzzled. Something was trying to get his attention, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"What about?"
"I had the strangest dream last night… You were in it, and Roxas and Namine as well…" she said, sounding unsure. Sora's memory of the dream clicked.
"That's right! I had that dream too!" Kairi looked worried.
"What do you suppose it means?"
"…I don't know." Sora admitted.
"Do you think we should ask Riku about it?"
"I don't see why not…" Sora said as they started walking towards Riku's house.
As they were walking, Kairi sighed.
"It was good to be back, but it seems so weird after all that happened… My parents couldn't believe the story until I showed them my keyblade…" she said glumly.
"Yeah… Same here…" Sora said.
"But there's one thing I don't understand…where have you been this whole time?" Sora's father had asked. Sora sat down.
"Mom, Dad…I've been going from world to world since that night two years ago…I met a lot of people out there. I've been trying to get home, but… I got pulled into a lot of things to try and stop more worlds from going through what happened here… I've been fighting almost nonstop since I left… since I've been chosen as the wielder of the Keyblade."
"Fighting nonstop? Keyblade? What do you mean?" Sora's mother said, her voice somewhere between alarm and skepticism.
"Sora…" His father's voice had also been disbelieving. Sora didn't blame his parents at all, considering how it sounded.
"Before you ask further…" Sora solemnly held up his hands, interrupting his father. The Keyblade, in its original form as the Kingdom Key, appeared. Both of his parents looked at it in amazement.
After trying and failing several times to speak, Sora's mother sat down.
"…Sora…" She said weakly. Sora saw his father watching him, his surprise giving way to a sort of curiosity.
"Please, son… tell us everything."
"Suffice to say, it was a long night of reminiscing…" Sora said. Kairi nodded.
"We're here."
It soon became apparent that Riku's house was empty; Sora rang the doorbell several times with no signs of response. Kairi silently noted the lights were out and the curtains were drawn; it was obvious nobody was in the house. Riku was gone, and his parents had likely gone to work just as Sora's did. Kairi and Sora thought for a moment.
"Perhaps he went back to that place he used to hang out at on the island?" She suggested.
"I guess that must be where he is… Come on." Sora said, walking towards the docks.
After-LightXemnas and his Heartless walked through the radiant realm in which they'd emerged, surrounded by buildings that seemed to give off a light all their own.
"Interesting… I wonder what it is that exists here… this hardly seems like the afterlife of Heartless…" Xemnas commented. He glanced over at his Heartless.
"I don't like this place at all," the Seeker of Darkness growled.
"I'm shocked," Xemnas responded sarcastically.
"What do you want to find in here? This place is abhorrent to me. Let us leave here as soon as possible."
"Patience, "Ansem"… we shll explore this realm. We have all the time in the world, after all…" Xemnas said, brushing off the Heartless' anger. The two had long since left the ethereal expanses near the collapsed barrier behind them… Here, there were many buildings, each seemingly emitting their own light. The two soon made their way towards a more barren area. It was from there that Xemnas saw a large building in the distance, an attachment like a laboratory on the side of it, in the middle of the more unpopulated area. The two exchanged a glance, and walked towards it.
Not far behind them, Axel and Larxene moved as stealthily as they could after the Superior and his Heartless.
"This isn't good… The instant they turn around, they'll see us… Our cloaks are totally out of place here…" Axel commented. Larxene shook her head.
"There's too much light in this place… Our visibility is way down from not being used to it. Even with our cloaks, at this distance their chances of spotting us are practically nil. Still, keep close to the glowing buildings, and stay behind me." Larxene walked on for a minute.
"Not too close, mind you. You have no idea how annoying it was when you were practically hiding behind me on the plains."
"You have real personal space issues, you know that?" Axel grumbled, following Larxene.
"Shut up, Red." Larxene said good-naturedly.
Xemnas stopped in front of the building.
"Interesting… the design is reminiscent of the Gardens…Who lives here, I wonder?" Footsteps echoed through the air as Xemnas focused on the entrance to the building.
"That is none of your concern." A new voice rang out. Xemnas was the first to see the speaker walking down from the entrance to the building. Both Xemnas and the Heartless stared at him in shock.
"A… third!" Xemnas said, alarmed.
The new challenger was the Xehanort Ansem the Wise had spoken to a few minutes ago. He regarded his two look-alikes with a distinct look of distaste.
"Return to the realms you belong in. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE." He growled. Xemnas scoffed.
"There are two of us, and one of you. No, I think you will explain to us who you are and what this place is…" The Seeker of Darkness smirked at the threatening tone of Xemnas's voice. Xehanort, however, simply glared at the two.
"Anomalies in the After-Light are not to be tolerated… if you will not leave on your own… I shall DRIVE you away."
"How?" Xemnas asked, crossing his arms.
"With THIS." Both of Xehanort's "guests" stared in shock as a keyblade exploded forth into Xehanort's right outstretched hand.
The keyblade was mostly an angelic white. The shaft was mostly bronze, like Xehanort's armor, arranged in an upward spiral design, and ending in a small spear tip with the outer blades curved downward in a mixture of bronze and golden yellow. Near the top of the shaft just below the spear tip was a series of golden yellow spikes designed like arrow tips coming out of the back. The handguard was more elegantly shaped than the Kingdom Key's, taking on the shape of a large inverted crown at the tip along with several curved spikes at the corners of the dual handguard. The hilt also had a small crown-shaped hole near the crown at the crown on its hilt, from which a short keychain was attached, ending in a small spherical shape resembling the Cornerstone of Light. Most dangerous of all was the large semi-circle of snow white angel feathers designed for the teeth of the Keyblade, a gathering of enormous blades whose sharpness could only be guessed at, though their self-produced glow was enough to make one wary.
The keyblade's design made it seem a work of art, but it was clearly a dangerous weapon… Xehanort took his stance.
"Come, then," he said calmly. The other two glared angrily, and the Seeker of Darkness summoned his Demon Shadow, whilst Xemnas got ready with his two blades of nothingness.
The three sides of Xehanort lunged at each other as an epic battle began to unfold.