A/N: Hey guys! ...Two months again. I know, I'm really bad. I lazed around all summer with summer projects and band camp and SAT practice and blahblah, I should've worked harder!

No, wait... ahah. I remember why it took me to long! I have a new story (done, actually), called "Dreaming Wide Awake" which I worked on before this one. It was so long that it took a while, but I didn't want to hold this chapter any longer! When it comes out, drop a look at it! It's pretty interesting!

...Alright. I'll stop advertising. :D Anyway, hope you like this chapter! We're almost at the end: the final battle! Next will be the last chapter, and wow. Hee. Anyway, hope you enjoy this, and please review if you can!


Riku threw himself against the metal bars with a yell before stumbling over his feet and collapsing in the dirt. He refused to let himself give up, and struggled to his feet, mostly leaning against the wall to stand up due to the guards tying his hands.

"Give it up, kid," one guard remarked as Riku glared at him.

Give it up? How could he? After Esmeralda was burned, Sora would be burned. After him, Riku would be hanged. How in the world could he give up his only attempts to get out of here?

He was currently stuck in the correctional facility a little ways away from Notre Dame. He had no idea where Sora, Phoebus, or Quasimodo had been taken, but if Frollo had his way, Sora would be burning along side of Esmeralda. Riku gave a cry and threw himself against the bars again, crumbling to the ground in a heap when, again, nothing happened.

How could this have happened?! Okay, maybe he loved Sora and that wasn't right in this world. But what did Sora have anything to do with this? Why should Sora have to be burned? All he did was try and help people that needed help!

Riku gave a small smirk. Yeah, and he irritated Frollo. That should've been enough of a warning there.

Shaking his head, he tried to summon his Keyblade; it fell on the ground next to him, causing him to growl and he made it disappear again. If he could break free of the ropes holding his hands, he could easily get out of here!

"FIRAGA!"

Riku blinked, recognizing the voice as screams from the guards pierced the air. "Get them!" A group of guards shouted to the ones watching Riku's cell. They nodded and joined in the fray, but when a stream of ice flew at them, they ran back the way they came. One was about to run past the cell to leave through the other side of the jail when a giant shield came flying past, nailing the guy in the head, and causing him to fall on the ground. When his saviors approached, Riku grinned wider than he'd ever thought he would at the irritable duck.

"Donald! Goofy!"

Goofy gave him a wave and began attacking the cell door as Donald rolled his eyes. "You guys took so long that King Mickey sent us!" he exclaimed as Goofy finally broke down the door and pushed it open.

"D'you know where Sora is?" Goofy asked, untying Riku's hands. With his hands finally free, Riku summoned his Keyblade and gripped it angrily.

"No, but if he's where I think, he'd be in the center square." He stood up and stretched his arms. Looking back, slamming himself against the bars hadn't been the smartest idea. "Frollo, this priest guy, wants to burn him."

Donald's eyes widened and he gave a squawk. "What are we still doing here then?!" he exclaimed, rushing out of the cell. "Come on!"

"Would you know why the Heartless are here?" Goofy questioned as Riku ran beside him catching up to Donald. "We landed the Gummi Ship, and next thing we knew, we were attacked by the Heartless!"

"They were easy, of course," Donald boasted. "Only Shadows."

If they weren't in this situation, Riku might've glared at Donald. However, thankful that they had saved him, he resisted the urge. "Yeah, but I get the feeling that some stronger Heartless might appear," he admitted, shaking his head. "I mean, Frollo's plenty evil. He's trying to kill off an entire race of people because they don't match his needs." Riku clenched his fist and lead the way for the two, Keyblade at the ready. "Come on. It's dawn, and we don't have much time!"


It turned out that Riku was wrong about Sora's whereabouts. Although he thought the brunet was tied at the stake alongside Esmeralda, he was currently locked in a dungeon under the cathedral, being taunted at by guards. With a glare, Sora attempted to throw himself against the bars of the jail, for his hands were tied with rope as well, and ignored the tittering chuckles of the guards when he fell to the ground again.

"He's going to pass out at this rate," one of the guards muttered to the other, shaking his head. "Frollo won't be pleased if his big catch isn't conscious to feel his pain."

The second guard gave a nod before unlocking the door to the cell. Sora crawled backwards, trying to get to the opposing wall in order to stand up. The guard only smiled. "Well, I have one way to keep the boy awake." The first guard's eyes widened, and the second shrugged. "Say nothing after it – besides. The boy won't tell."

Sora gritted his teeth and prepared himself for a certainly unfair fight when someone dropped from the ceiling and landed on the second guard, knocking him out cold. The first guard gave a shriek before rushing out of the cell and running out of the building. Sora blinked before examining the person carefully, only to grin widely at the recognition.

"Kairi!"

She groaned and rolled off the guard, rubbing her back in pain. "I'm never letting Donald touch the Gummi Controls again. I was heading to the world's portal, but no." Rolling her eyes, she stood up, grinning widely when she noticed Sora. "Well, at least I was right!" Grabbing him in a tight hug, she squeezed him tightly. "Sora! Where's Riku? Are you guys alright?!"

He nodded to his currently tied arms, and she quickly got to work. "I'm supposed to die…in a few minutes." Kairi's jaw dropped, but she finished untying his arms. He summoned his Keyblade and nodded, feeling reassured. "Esmeralda, a gypsy here, is supposed to be…well, dead. Like now. And Riku's been locked up, because he's supposed to be hanged after I die."

Kairi only shook her head at Sora. "Can't stay out of trouble, can you guys?" She headed to the door, just as the guard she landed on began to stir. He gave her a look, and opened his mouth to shout to a fellow guard but was quickly whacked upside the head by Kairi's keyblade. Sora gave her a look and raised his own keyblade, and she shrugged. "I know. I can fight too, silly."

She grabbed his arm and rushed out of the cell before giving him an embarrassed grin. "Uh, which way is out again?"

Sora only playfully rolled his eyes, but led her out of the cathedral and into the center square.


"Wha-!" Donald exclaimed, running alongside Riku as the three of them parted through the crowds. "What's going on here?!"

"Esmeralda!" Riku shouted, ignoring Donald as he ran towards the platform she was tied to. Frollo was smirking deviously at her, and was slowly lowering the torch to the pyre at her feet. Riku kept his keyblade at the ready, ignoring the fact that his heart was pounding so hard from fear. "Esmeralda!"

He was stopped, however, by a guard that was at the foot of the stairs to the platform. "Hey! You should be locked up!" the guard shouted, grabbing his arm and hefting Riku easily over his shoulder. Riku all but snarled before kicking the guard in the crotch and jumping over him, continuing to run to her. It took the surrounding guards to hold him down, but by then he knew he was too late.

Suddenly, a shield knocked away the guards on his right. Riku slashed away at the guards on his left and jumped up. Donald's jaw dropped and Riku turned to the platform, only to see that Esmeralda was already coughing from the smoke surrounding her due to the flames. He made to move, but Donald pointed up to the bell tower.

"We don't have time!" Riku shouted.

"Look!" Donald squawked.

So Riku did look. Up there, Quasimodo had finally gave his all to pulling away at his chains, causing the bells in Notre Dame to ring almost violently. When he finally broke free, he grabbed a nearby rope, wrapped it around a nearby column, and swung down to the platform Esmeralda was on. He quickly untied Esmeralda, knocked the surrounding guards away, grabbed the rope again, and jumped back into the air, all but climbing up the side of the cathedral.

Donald's mouth was open in an "o," and Riku had to admit – that was pretty cool. Shaking his head, he continued running, calling after him that he had to find Sora.

"Riku!"

Riku turned to see Phoebus shaking the bars of his cage and a guard standing tauntingly in front of him. With a smirk, Riku knocked the guard upside the head, grabbed the keys, and unlocked Phoebus's cage before handing him the keys. Phoebus gave a grateful nod before hopping on top of his cage to rally up the citizens to fight against Frollo.

"Sora!" Riku called, looking around for the brunet. To the best of his knowledge, Sora should be here somewhere

"Riku!" Riku blinked and squinted through the crowd. Someone was calling his name, but the voice was too high to be Sora's. Thinking back to the Donald and Goofy appearance, he grinned and quickly approached the voice.

Kairi and Sora fought and maneuvered their way through the crowds and guards, and Riku swept them both into a tight hug as soon as he could. "Kairi, Sora!"

With a grin, Kairi hugged him back. "I'm so glad you're safe!" Riku nodded and turned to Sora, whose smile had suddenly fallen from his face.

"A Darkside," Sora muttered, before glancing up to Riku and Kairi. Both exchanged glanced, and Sora shook his head. "I…I can feel it. It's here…somewhere."

"Wait, those Heartless that were behind the Door to Light? The ones you fought before Destiny Islands disappeared?" Riku asked, recalling Sora's tales from before they separated.

Kairi gave them both a confused look. "What…?"

Sora glanced to the cathedral and took off running. "Sora!" Riku shouted, and he and Kairi quickly sprinted after the brunet.

Riku glanced back to Kairi, who, although she was holding up pretty well, was struggling to keep up with Sora's speed. He made to slow down to let her catch up, but she shook her head. "Riku! If you get caught, you'll be arrested!" she exclaimed. "Go on ahead!"

Knowing she was right but still feeling bad, he turned and ran to the cathedral. As he approached, magma began spilling from the roof of the church. Kairi screamed and rushed back, glad that she hadn't hurried to catch up. Riku's eyes widened, but he realized there was no way for her to meet up with them, so he tore open the door and rushed inside, trying to ignore how eerie being inside the all but silent church was.

He saw Sora and groaned, slowly jogging up to the boy. "Sora, I kno-"

Sora instantly covered Riku's mouth and pointed down the hall, to where the archdeacon was being tossed off the stairs like an inanimate object. "Silence you old fool!" Frollo muttered before disappearing from sight completely.

When Frollo was gone, Sora removed his hand, and Riku raised his arms in the air. "Are you insane!? If Kairi wasn't such a slow runner, she could be dead by now!"

Sora bit his lip and glanced outside. "She got out, right?"

Riku sighed. "She's fine. Just outside in the pandemonium."

Giving a grim smile, Sora approached the archdeacon to help the poor man up. "We'll have to defeat it together, then."

The archdeacon gave them a curious look. "You wouldn't be talking about Frollo, would you?" He shook his head disapprovingly. "He's gone mad… And these… unholy creatures have been springing up around the cathedral. None have gotten inside but…"

Suddenly, the ground shook and the archdeacon almost collapsed over again, but Sora kept him standing. Riku had to lean against a pillar, and when the shaking stopped, he glanced over to both Sora and the archdeacon with a groan. "It is here."

The archdeacon didn't argue with him. He attempted to stand up straight, but swayed unsteady on his feet; Sora easily caught him, to which he smiled at. "Thank you. I guess that fall was harder on me than I thought." Grabbing Sora's hand, he continued. "Stop this madness on the cathedral, I implore you! I'd do it myself, but…" He gave a sad smile. "I'm not too young anymore."

Sora summoned his Keyblade and gave the man a wide grin. "We'll be alright. Come on Riku."

Riku gave a smile back to the man before they rushed through the corridors of the church, slowly peeking around every corner, just so they wouldn't be surprised. Riku was rechecking his potions when Sora slowly approached him. "Hey, Riku?"

He jumped and drew his Keyblade, expecting a Heartless attack, but saw only Sora. "Oh…" He lowered his weapon and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Fidgeting his feet a bit, Sora didn't answer. Riku raised an eyebrow, but Sora only sighed, leaned over, grabbed Riku's shirt and pulled him down for a kiss. Both of Riku's eyebrows went up, but he smiled into the kiss, and was about to close his eyes when Sora pulled back with a grim smile. "That's in case we don't make it."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Sora, you've defeated this thing by yourself. We'll be fine."

Sora smirked and gripped his Keyblade tighter. "Alright." Grinning over to Riku, he added, "Then that was in case we do."

Riku couldn't help but grin back, but when something smashed against the ground again, he became serious and rushed after Sora, following him into battle.


Quasimodo leaned over Esmeralda, crying over her cold body as Frollo inched his way into the room, trying his best to mask his anger that the girl hadn't died. Quasimodo gave a sniff. "You killed her."

"It was my duty, horrible as it was," Frollo crooned, shaking his head. "I hope you can forgive me." He patted Quasimodo's back, but Quasimodo only jerked away. "There, there… I know it hurts. But I have a way to end your suffering…"

Quasimodo raised his head, as if trying to see what Frollo was talking about, only to see the shadow of a raised dagger in Frollo's hands, prepared to stab him. Quasimodo jumped up and wrestled the dagger out of Frollo's arms, ignoring his former master's pleas as he backed him into a corner. "No, you listen! All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place. But now, I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!" He chucked the dagger away, just in time to hear Esmeralda lightly call his name. "Esmeralda!" he exclaimed, rushing to her side.

Frollo quickly climbed to his feet. "She lives," he stated, pulling out a sword from its sheath.

Quasimodo's eyes widened before he grabbed Esmeralda and quickly ran out into the balcony.


"Riku, potion!"

Riku nodded and chucked one to the brunet, who deftly caught it and continued hacking away at the Darkside's head. Shaking his head at the sheer fact that Sora had managed to get up there, Riku ducked under the strange looking feet of the Darkside and attacked its ankles, noting a weak point.

Fighting this thing was all about strategy. Besides dodging the balls of darkness that were floating around it and the occasional Shadow, it wasn't too bad…

BAM!

Riku fell to the ground before glancing up to see if Sora had managed to stay where he was. When he didn't see Sora, he scrambled to his feet and ran past the Shadows nipping at his ankles before slicing through a small, collective group of them. Underneath the group was Sora, eyes closed and obviously hurt. Riku groaned and reached in his pockets for another potion, making a mental note that, if he was going to ever fight again, these pants were not the way to go – too few spaces for potions.

He only had one left, but the battle loomed on, and he didn't want Sora to get hurt again. Sora gave a light groan, slowly sitting up and holding his head. Riku offered the potion, but Sora brushed past him, not too steady on his feet, and ran to attack the arm of the Darkside that was reaching into the ground to grab a Darkball.

Riku only groaned and ran after him, hoping nothing else would hurt Sora.


Frollo glanced around the balcony before smirking to himself and leaning over the railings, seeing Esmeralda and Quasimodo hanging there. He swung at them, but Quasimodo quickly leapt from the statutes that jutted out from the cathedral, leaving them behind for Frollo to attack.

Quasimodo got far enough away and allowed Esmeralda to climb onto the balcony again, and tried to climb up himself, due to the fact that there was nowhere else for him to go. Frollo smirked and raised his cape to him. "I should've known you'd risk your life to save her…just as your own mother died saving you."

Quasimodo's eyes widened, a suddenly realization that Frollo had been lying to him all his life. "What?" he whispered.

Ignoring him, Frollo continued. "Now, I'm going to do what I should've done…twenty years ago!" He swung his cape over Quasimodo's head and jerked down onto it, taking the bell ringer over the side of the cathedral.


"Eternal Session!"

Sora glanced over to Riku, who exclaimed again, "It's the quickest way to defeat it!"

Sora nodded, and the two of them teamed up for their joint attack, preparing to strike when the Darkside slammed his hand down onto the church floor.


With an extra jerk, Quasimodo sent Frollo over the side of the church with him. Esmeralda grabbed onto Quasimodo's arms in an attempt to keep him from falling. But, by swinging on the cape that Quasimodo was still clinging to, Frollo was able to climb back onto the balcony, and stood onto a hanging statue, smirking widely.

Esmeralda gave him a horrified look as Frollo raised the sword high above his head, his eyes red and crazed. "And He shall smite the wicked," Frollo began, his smile growing wider as he glanced down, seeing the pit of magma that was as large as before. "And plunge them into the fiery pit!"


After the XIII Blades attack with Sora, Riku jumped back to back with Sora before taking another step and throwing Way To Dawn into the make shift whirlwind, and shouting, "Gonna lose it all!" The two Keyblades, like magnets, drew the Darkside into the middle of them, and continuously pounded against the monster, chipping away at its life strength until there was nothing left.


However, the statue Frollo was standing on suddenly cracked, as though all of Frollo's luck had suddenly worn out, and, after grabbing onto the statue (as though hoping that it could save him), Frollo himself plunged into the fiery pit, doing what he said he would do.


Riku fell to his knees, glad that the battle was over (and not remembering any battle taking this much out of him – except maybe the Xemnas battle), and glanced over to Sora, only to see the brunet not moving. Or breathing.

Riku gulped and climbed to his feet, ignoring the aches in his bones, before landing next to Sora, and gently shaking the brunet. "Come on… Sora? We've won! It's over!"

When Sora didn't respond, Riku bit his lip and grabbed the last potion. With a grin, he quickly opened it, and tried to force it into Sora's mouth, but the precious potion only trickled down the sides of his face. Riku couldn't swallow the lump in his throat, pushing away any thought that might have let him continue to think that Sora wouldn't end up a hundred percent okay, and continued to think.

He glanced at the potion bottle before taking a swig himself and leaning in front of Sora's face. Well, he did say the kiss was for later, Riku thought to himself before pressing his lips against Sora's, forcing down the potion.

When that was done, Riku pulled back, holding his breath to make sure he wasn't just drowning Sora with the potion. He had to force himself to breath, seeing as Sora didn't move for another minute or so, and Riku simply took another swig of the potion and leaned in to give it to Sora again.

Bringing his lips onto Sora's, he felt movement beneath him, and blinked, moving back. Sora coughed violently before giving Riku a strange look. Riku held out the potion bottle and allowed Sora to heal up before swallowing the potion with a grimace. Ugh – that stuff tasted good when you were in trouble. Otherwise it was like swallowing toothpaste.

Sora breathed slowly before grinning up to Riku. "Sorry," he said. "I…should've taken the potion earlier."

Riku rolled his eyes before giving Sora a tight hug. "It's okay. Let's get out of here."

"Riku?" Riku turned back to Sora, who had a grip on Riku's shirt. "I… I love you."

"You sure you're not just delusional?" Riku responded with a smile. When Sora rolled his eyes, his smiled only grew wider. "I love you too."

"Good." Sora grinned, before his eyes closed and he collapsed onto Riku's chest. Riku blinked, but quickly checked his heartbeat (still going, good), and resigned himself to carry Sora.


When the two of them finally arrived at the bottom of the church, the pit of magma had disappeared (Riku didn't ask, but was glad it was gone), and Esmeralda, Phoebus, and Quasimodo were all out in the streets, smiling and celebrating. Kairi ran up to Riku and hugged him tightly before glancing down to the sleeping Sora in his arms. She raised her eyebrow, and Riku groaned.

"The fight. He's just tired."

Donald and Goofy approached, and Donald raised his staff. "Just watch. Thunderga will have him up in no time!" Riku held Sora a little closer while shaking his head.

Esmeralda ran up to Riku and gave him a tight hug, smiling widely. "Oh, Riku, you should've seen it! Frollo was about to attack, but somehow, it was like… he just lost all his power, and fell!" She frowned at the memory of someone, even though evil, dying in front of her, but shook her head. "And then…"

Phoebus appeared on her other side. "She dropped Quasimodo. But I caught him." She narrowed her eyes and gave him a tight hug as well, while Kairi blinked and glanced over to Riku.

"Who are they?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Riku shook his head. "I'll tell you later." He scanned through the crowd, until he could see Quasimodo being lifted by the crowds and paraded throughout the city. "They like him now, huh?"

Esmeralda's smile could've easily broken her face. "Yeah. They do."

Phoebus took another glance at Sora before patting Riku's shoulder. "Come on, let's stop by my place. Let the kid sleep for a while."

Riku nodded, but Esmeralda only gave him a strange look. "You have a place?"

"Ex-Captain of the Guard," Phoebus smirked in response, as Clopin, hanging from a nearby pole, cheered on Quasimodo. "It's a nice place, too."

Riku only shook his head with a smile and followed after Phoebus. When he thought nobody was looking, he lightly kissed Sora's forehead and continued walking with a smile.