"LILLY," I screamed.

She lied on the ground clutching her stomach. Drips of crimson blood seeped through her fingers as they squeezed the fabric. Lilly was breathing heavily. She had tumbled a few steps since she first collapsed, leaving a pinkish trail where she had been. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her teeth were pressed together, grinding. Lilly had never shown pain. Never.

"Mickey, take your friends to the Tavern NOW," yelled Crystal.

Xyenne was running full speed towards me. She used as full of a stride as she could withstand.

"LILLY," I screamed running towards her, reaching a hand out to her.

She looked up at me. Her lips where the same crimson color as her liquid covered fingers.

But before I could reach, her Xyenne caught me around my waist. The shock caused me to look up and see the boy I recognized but did not remember, running behind King Mickey. I wanted to call for his help. But how does one call someone without knowing their name? Slowly the group disappeared between the buildings. My attention snapped back to Lilly.

"Let me go Xyenne, Lilly needs help!"

"Crystal and the others will take care of her."

I cried out in frustration, and clawed at Xyenne's arms, begging her to release me.

"I can't. You must remain safe."

"I will be safe. I can take care of myself," I said casting the ice spell on her bare skinned arm.

"Oww. Damn it Roxanne, come back here," she said rubbing the now iced over skin on her arm.

"Not a chance!"

I ran full speed towards the steps, tripping down a few as I headed towards Lilly, who was now managing to stand/

"LILLY," I cried.

"Roxanne?! Go back to the ship with Xyenne," she said turning to face me still clutching her stomach.

"No, I promised to never abandon any of my people, and that includes my guardians. I stay and fight," I said reaching out my right arm with my hand open, facing the ground.

There were a few shimmers and my keyblade appeared in my hand.

"I am staying," I said with finality in my tone and positioning myself in ready stance.

Lilly sighed, but did not argue. She knew there was no point.

I stood with my guard up, looking for a clue.

"Bingo," I whispered to myself, catching a glimpse of a glittery light with a path headed straight at Lilly.

I quickly ran straight into Lilly causing her to duck, and caught the assassin's blades with my keyblade.

The assassin had white blonde hair that hung loose from her bandaged face. Her eyes were crimson and stared straight into mine. There was no feeling, emotion, or sense of life in them at all. I saw that the blades were actually long spikes attached to her fingertips, and they were made of ice but would not break nor melt. She smiled at me. She was completely bandaged in black, with a robe that was skin tight with a hood at the torso, and had short sleeves. The bottom of the robe flared out and covered her feet but did not touch the ground. It made it seem as if she was floating instead of running when she moved.

"You think you can stop me," she whispered to me with arrogance.

"Think is not a word I am familiar with in that phrase. I know can stop you."

The two of us fought for some time using a sparing amount of magic. Finally, I had enough. She had to pay for what she had done to Lilly.

I slowly ushered her into a corner, leaving the others to fight off the purelings. The purelings where a crossbreed between the nobodies and the heartless. The only difference is they had a stolen heart that was completely consumed by darkness. They looked the same as any ordinary nobody or heartless but where much tougher to beat.

Once I had her cornered, I began to use one of my more powerful spells.

"Nachtium syxtas lithug emco, Nin fla anda voden lokenish fedomen"

Night with Light come, Yin and Yang together punish evil.

The smoke from my attack slowly cleared, but she was no longer there.

"We will meet again Princess of Heart," said the assassin from the rooftop.

I started to go after her, but suddenly a hand reached onto my shoulder. It was Marabelle's. Her layered milk chocolate hair was covering part of her face but I could still see her pale blue eyes. Despite the fact that Marabelle was a nobody, her hands, were always warm, and her face always made you feel like everything would be okay. Which I always found ironic, because she was expelled from her world for being the end of it. Yet, Marabelle was the only one who knew how to make everyone smile when the chips were down.

Marabelle smiled at me. Her warmth calmed my raging anger, and slowed me.

"Come we are all exhausted and need to rest," she said in a barely audible whisper.

Leilah appeared on my other side. Her blue-black hair covered half her face, but her concerned steel grey eyes pierced through. Most of the times those eyes scared me because every time I made contact with them I felt like she was stealing my soul.

"Lilly needs you to teach her before she dies. She can not perform the healing spell without yin and yang," Leilah said to me with her grey eyes seeping through mine.

I walked over to Lilly slowly. I knew her body had taken a beating. She did not need this kind of stress right now. But I did not have a choice in the matter.

"Are you ready to listen to what I know? Or do you still think that your deteriorating heart is not from the expelling of your darkness," Leilah asked.

"Lilly, you must listen without yin and yang you will die," said Rosaline.

Everyone looked at Rosaline. She barely ever spoke, even though records indicated that she was very outgoing before she became a nobody. Sometimes, I find myself never wanting to find her heart, because I fear her memories are too painful to bear.

"So Lilly what's it going to be? Are you going to learn the balance or let yourself fade away in pain," asked Leilah.

It took all my strength not to do the procedure anyway. But I had to wait for her consent, without it I could not do what was needed. What a queen long ago discovered. I was reminded of my mother's journal entry.

I read the entry in my memory.

"A long time ago in Kingdom Heart, a King decided that the best way for everyone to live happily and safely was to expel their darkness from there bodies. However, what the king did not notice but every queen from all the generations to Roxanne noticed, that once a person expelled their darkness they began to fade because they were not whole. Roxanne's grandmother, who was assassinated, was the first person to integrate her darkness and her light in her heart. She named it yin and yang. Her grandmother learned how to work with her darkness and control it rather than expel it from her body. Her last journal entry made hours before her death read:

"Everyone has a shadow that is a necessity of there lives, for all that are living and real have shadows. As such, my darkness is my shadow and I cannot live without it. It is necessary to have a balance of yin and yang.""

Lilly looked at me and sighed.

"I agree. Please teach me princess."

"Look into your heart Lilly. Place yourself there."

She closed her eyes obediently. Shortly after she did, her heart came out of her body. It was shiny, pink, and crystal like. It hovered out in front of her body. Soon Lilly's confused figure appeared in front of the heart. The figure was made of what seemed to be a light fog. The white fog like Lilly called to herself.

"Lilly," she called in desperation.

The third time the foggy Lily called out, another figure appeared. It was also Lilly but it was dark like thunderclouds, and younger looking too.

"You want me back? You expel me and now you want me," said the dark figured Lilly.

"Yes. Roxanne said that we must become one, and understand each other."

"You can't do this because she said. You have to believe it will work out or else we cannot combine ourselves."

The foggy Lilly took a deep breath, looking down at the floor.

"You are stuck too much on tradition. Has Roxanne not shown that tradition is not always best?"

The foggy Lilly thought for a moment, looking down at the floor, before speaking.

"Yes. I have no doubts. I believe this will work."

The two figures reached their out to one another. The hands clasped. Both apparitions of Lilly took a deep breath, ready for the plunge. The two began to meld. Soon the two parts of Lilly's heart combined and returned to her heart and lowered back in her body.

Lilly's body went limp. The spell took massive amounts of energy from her. That told me, that both parts of her heart were still reluctant.

Crystal caught the limp body before it hit the ground.

"Come we all need to get some rest before we talk to Mickey tomorrow," said Zephyra turning.

Zephyra's hair snapped behind her as she turned around. It was the first time I had seen her hair untied. She usually kept it twisted up tight in a bun so it would not get in her way. But now she had undone the bun, and even in a ponytail set high up on her head it still reached below her waist.

The group of us headed towards the tavern Crystal had told Mickey to go to.

The End

Elizabeth R. Austin