Kingdom Hearts:

The Truth Behind Xehanort

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Summary: Riku, Sora, and Kairi have finally returned to Destiny Islands after their two and a half year-long adventure across the universe. Things have finally settled down and everything has seemingly returned to the normal, boring way it was before. But when a letter from the King sets off a mysterious chain of events, can Riku save the one thing dearer to him than his friends? And better yet--what is this secret King Mickey has uncovered by going through the files on Ansem's computer...? "XEHANORT HAD A WHAT?!" "A fiancée, Riku. Xehanort had a fiancée." Pairings: Xehanort/OC; Suggested/Friendships: Any and All! (ie, Axel/RoxasSuggested, Zexion/LexaeusSuggested, Riku/SoraSuggested, Sora/KairiSuggested, Riku/Kairi/SoraSuggested, Zexion/DemyxSuggested, Xigbar/XaldinSuggested, etc.)

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Warnings: Major spoilers mixed in, bad language, hinted shonen-ai, possible/suggested (graphic?) character death, gruesome and multiple fight scenes, graphic torture, and possible (attempted?) (graphic?) suicide. Warnings are subject to change as story proceeds.

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Notes: 7-3-08 I don't own KH, FF(insert number here), any sort of anime/manga titles, or Disney, so anything related to them is not mine. I do, however, own my OCs, this storyline, and so on. Please excuse any problems with anyone's characters, as for about three of them, I truthfully have little to no experience and am going only on what I believe would be appropriate. And if you have any suggestions for anything, feel free to tell me! I enjoy flames, too--just not the perverted kind. X3

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LUCRECIA'S JOURNAL, ENTRY SIX:

START

((MKL: aka "ready...steady...let's go for real this time! (and no, there is no sex scene in the second section.)"))

One hour later, the group that was leaving, plus Xigbar, Sora, and Vexen, were standing in the computer room...save one member.

"Where is she?" Zexion asked, gazing curiously at Riku. The younger gave a ghusty sigh and shook his head, shrugging with his hands up in an "I-don't-know-don't-blame-me" gesture.

"She's probably changing," he mumbled, folding his arms over his chest. "She tends to take forever when she does."

"Dudes, you gotta get goin' soon," Xigbar said, frowning a bit.

"I agree," Vexen piped up, also frowning. "There is no telling if and when the Heartless will leave. It is bad enough that you cannot take any Corridors of Darkness."

"Which reminds me," Sora suddenly said, gazing curiously at the Nobodys in the room. "Why aren't you guys going by Corridor? I mean, isn't it easier than Gummiship?"

"Corridors tend to attract Heartless to an area," Saïx said quietly, leaning against the nearby wall with his arms folded over his chest in a vaguely Leon-esque fashion. His eyes were even closed, and the scar on his face added to the effect. "They are also difficult to control. Unless we want to put in a permident Corridor, there's no telling for sure where we might end up on the world, and there is a chance we will be in a densely-populated area..."

He died off, not needing to say anything more.

"We should just leave," Xemnas suddenly said. Everyone turned to give him a weird look, but he was perfectly serious. "There's no need to put her in danger. I was against this in the first place, anyway. She would be much safer here, with everyone else."

"Oho, plotting to leave without me, are you, Xemnas?" a familiar female voice chuckled from the doorway. Everyone turned...and stared at Lucrecia as she stood there, smiling with her hands on her hips.

Her long, silky hair was pulled up into a loose bun on the top-back of her head, a few locks falling over her forehead and into her shining eyes, creating a natural effect that looked nice on her. She was wearing a forest-green, long sleeved jacket that trailed down to mid-thigh and was open to reveal a tan, low-necked shirt that showed just enough cleavage to tease the others (more specifically Xemnas), baggy black pants lying low on her hips, and black gym shoes with green swirls on the sides. There were fingerless, dark green gloves on her hands, a loose, dark brown belt around her waist with a silver Nobody symbol for the clasp, and dangling around her neck was a thin silver chain with what appeared to be a miniature Energy Crystal dangling just above her breasts. Despite being in her fourties, Lucrecia had a nice body, although her breasts were a bit on the small side and her hips a bit wide from childbirth.

"Well? What do you think?" Lucrecia asked innocently. Xemnas opened and closed his mouth a few times before swallowing and shaking his head, regaining himself. And here he was thinking she could not get any more beautiful.

"What are you wearing?" Riku asked, sounding more surprised than appauled. Lucrecia grinned at him.

"It's one of my old traveling outfits. You know, Riku, before your father came around, I did have a few adventures of my own. Not as dramatic as yours, for sure, but they were still a lot of fun."

"You look great, Mother," Zexion assured her, giving a half-smile. Lucrecia smiled in return.

"Thank you, Zexion," she said kindly.

"We, uh, should go," Mickey quickly said, trying to regain everyone's attention. They all quickly snapped their attention to him as Lucrecia moved to stand next to Xemnas, smiling mischieviously.

"You did this on purpose," he muttered to her. She tried to look innocent.

"Whatever are you talking about, Xemnas?" she whispered in return. Xemnas merely frowned a bit at her, then gave a slight smile as Mickey lead them towards the Gummiship, Xemnas and Lucrecia lagging behind a bit.

"You look beautiful."

"Heheh. You said the exact same thing the first time you saw me wear this, when I was nineteen and you were only seventeen years old. Remember?"

"Naturally," he responded quietly. He reached out and discretely took her hand, careful to hide the fact that he was doing so from the group ahead. "It was the first time I ever saw an angel."

"You big sap," Lucrecia mumbled, flushing slightly. "I hate it when you say that. I'm the opposite of an angel, you know."

Yet despite that, she was smiling.

"Say, Mom," Riku suddenly called, causing Lucrecia to jerk her hand back and hunch her shoulders a fraction. Her son was staring curiously at her as she forced another smile in place, although he did not question why. "Where's your staff? You said you were going to bring it..."

"I did," she said with a nod. She chuckled at the look on Riku's face. "You'll see when we get there, Riku. Okay?"

Riku merely grunted as Zexion gazed at her curiously, although he refrained from speaking.

"Lord Superior," Saïx said suddenly, glancing towards his leader, "do you sense that?"

Xemnas paused a moment and streatched out his senses, eyes narrowing a fraction as he nodded. "Pretend you don't," he muttered. "Warn the others. We'll wait until he makes a move before we strike."

Saïx nodded his understanding before moving forward to converse quietly with first Zexion, then Riku, and finally the King.

"What was that about?" Lucrecia asked, confused. Xemnas gazed down at her for a few moments before shaking his head.

"Nothing," he assured her. "We're taking care of it."

Although still confused, Lucrecia backed down as they boarded the Gummiship, which was easily twice as big as the first one--and with good reason, since they had almost twice as many people on it.

"Okay, everyone--I've got controls!" Mickey announced. "Riku, Zexion--will ya handle weapons for me?"

"I'll take care of the lazers," Riku quickly said as he jumped into the seat on Mickey's right.

"That leaves me with the main guns," Zexion said, smirking a bit.

"We're going to die, you know," Xemnas called innocently to Mickey. When the small king turned around, Xemnas smirked in a way that made Lucrecia briefly wonder why Riku had yet to make the connection. "There's a reason why Xaldin was the captain of our Gummiship fleet and not Zexion, despite the fact that Zexion is a better stratagist."

Zexion merely snickered at that and sat down, glancing over the controls before positioning his hands over a few of the buttons for the more advanced ones.

"Whelp, too late now!" Mickey said with a smile. "'Sides, he can't be that bad, can he?"

He recieved his response when they flew off.

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"Zexion, I forbid you from touching the guns on a Gummiship while I'm inside of it!" Lucrecia announced when they were on their way down the enemy-less stretch between Assault of the Dreadnaught and the world itself. She looked quite frazzled, as did the rest of the passangers--including Saïx and Mickey.

"I agree," Riku groaned, burrying his face in his hands as he struggled not to puke. Zexion blinked at them with as much innocence as he could muster, which was truthfully not much.

"I was holding back," he assured them.

"I don't think that's going to help your case," Xemnas said smoothly in response, the first to fully recover from the aftermath.

"I...think I need to take a nap," Saïx decided, slightly dazed as he went down the hallway.

"Whelp, we've got about an hour before we make it ta Twilight Town," Mickey said with a nod as he jumped from the driver's seat. "The ship'll tell us when it's time ta go. 'Till then, I'll be in my room."

He followed after Saïx, leaving the Xen family alone.

"Xemnas, will you come with me?" Lucrecia suddenly said, gazing intently up at him. Xemnas arched an eyebrow at her in return as she smiled, gazing pointedly at Zexion and Riku. "I think my sons need to bond for a little while."

"Mother," Zexion groaned at the same time Riku exclaimed, "Mom!"

"No, you two need to bond! You know," a mischievious glint entered her eye, "I hear that there's a sparring room. Maybe you two want to fight out your differences?"

Zexion and Riku exchanged looks before Riku reluctantly nodded. "I guess," he mumbled. He started off down the hall, Zexion hesitating a moment to gaze between his parents.

"...maybe I can convince him that Big Brother needs to be respected," he said finally, giving a slight smirk. With that, he went off after Riku, leaving an "amused" Xemnas and chuckling Lucrecia behind.

"So," Xemnas said quietly, leaning towards Lucrecia and gently brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes as his own glinted gently, "what are the parents to do while the children are away?"

Lucrecia's smile turn into a smirk and she grabbed his hand, leading him down the hallway. She completely bypassed the dojo, where the epic battle was already beginning, and made it down to the room that she knew for a fact was theirs because it had a swirling Heart design on it. It was the very same symbol that was made up of diamonds on the ring on Lucrecia's finger, and engraved into the thick silver one that was safely hidden in Xemnas' old room in The Castle That Never Was.

"We play," she answered quietly, closing the door as she stood up on her tiptoes and caught his lips in a passionate kiss.

That was all Xemnas needed to hear.

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"So, we're supposed to 'spar', huh?" Riku asked with a snort, sizing up his opponent as they stood on opposite ends of the rather large, basketball court-length dojo. Riku was a good three inches taller than his supposed older brother, and Zexion looked almost sickly with his unnaturally-pale skin (much like their mother's), but at the same time, the confident smirk on his face suggested he knew something Riku did not.

"Exactly," Zexion said with a smirk, unzipping his cloak and tossing it aside. It was revealed that underneath he wore a plain black T-shirt with a silver Nobody symbol on the front, baggy black pants, and the standard-issue Organization boots. His arms truthfully looked like sticks, although that did not mean much--Sora's did as well, although hidden in those "sticks" was an assload of thick muscle. Not only that, but Zexion was a known stratagist and had the ability to think under pressure, something which his younger brother occasionally lacked.

"Hmph. You don't look like much."

It was obviously a mind tactic, but Zexion was unphased as he walked over to some padded staffs on a rack in the corner. He gazed at them intently before taking the mid-length one and then moving back, gesturing towards it. Riku gave him a long look before he scanned them himself.

"Powers or no powers?" Zexion asked absently as he looked over the black padded weapon. Riku glanced over.

"No powers," he decided after a few moments, taking a staff that seemed about the same size as Way to the Dawn and taking a testing swing. Satisfied, he walked towards the center of the mat, staff clutched loosely in his right hand. Zexion walked over, holding his own staff in his left hand.

"Ready, Little Brother?"

Riku smirked at that and crouched down, holding up the blade in his familiar fighting position. Zexion held his in basically the same way, only in front of his neck instead of his eyes and his other arm clenched in a fist.

"You'd better believe it," Riku responded easily.

"Then let's begin," Zexion said, his own smirk firmly in place. Riku merely charged him in response.

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There was little to no witty banter during the long fight that took almost the whole hour between Assault of the Dreadnaught and Twilight Town. The two brothers were too intent on trying to pin the other, the unspoken way to win. Every time Riku attacked, Zexion parried; Zexion spent the majority of the fight keeping himself from striking, merely trying to track his younger brother as he jumped around the room at blinding speeds in an attempt to catch Zexion off-guard.

After fourty-five minutes of attacking almost nonstop only to be blocked every time, no matter where he came in from, you would think that Riku would try another tactic. And try another tactic he did.

Finally getting ticked off, Riku decided to hang back for a few moments, huffing gently as sweat only just began to form on his brow. Zexion seemed completely unwinded, most likely due to the fact that he merely stood in one spot and did no more than pivot to block attacks.

"Ready to give up, Little Brother?" Zexion taunted. Riku paused a moment before smirking and shaking his head.

"Never."

Riku was suddenly re-energized as he tilted his head forward at his brother as if bowing. He quickly disappeared from sight again, leaving Zexion to roll his visible eye. "Have we not gotten over this phase yet?" he asked rhetorically. "I believe that you should perhaps try something new."

"I am," Riku responded in a half-whisper. Zexion's eye widened and he moved to twist and block downward, but before he could, he was sent flying towards the wall by a blow to the back of his legs followed closely by Riku ramming his staff into his chest. At the last minute, he twisted and caught the wall, bracing himself for only a moment and seeming to defy gravity before he smirked.

This was just the chance he was waiting for.

Riku's eyes widened as Zexion shoved off of the wall, going almost too quickly for his younger brother to see. A series of harsh, yet not quite as harsh as possible blows rammed their ways into Riku's chest and arms, knocking his staff away as he fell on his back to the mat. Zexion jerked his staff to rest just under Riku's chin as if preparing to crush his windpipe before his smirk widened.

"I win," he said simply. Riku stared at him with wide, surprised eyes as Zexion withdrew the staff, holding out his right hand to help his brother up. Riku's gaze shifted between the hand and Zexion's shining visible eye, a tiny glimmer from the other visible through his hair...and smirked in response.

"Or not," he announced, grabbing the hand and jerking his brother down. Zexion's eye widened in surprise as he was slammed into the floor next to Riku, who laid their for a few moments, laughing. "It's a draw. Can't you tell?"

Zexion frowned a moment before he smiled a bit and chuckled as well. "You really hate losing, don't you?"

"Nah." Riku smirked as he sat up, wrapping his arms around his legs. "I never needed to hate losing. I always win."

Zexion chuckled again and also sat up, blowing the hair on the left side of his face from his visible eye. "...truce, then?" he asked, glancing curiously at Riku. The teen's smirk fell and he stared blankly at the wall before him for a few moments before he nodded and held out his hand.

"Truce," he agreed. Zexion took the offered hand...then rather abruptly jerked Riku to the floor again, using the momentum to pull himself up.

"Hey!" Riku cried out in surprise, blinking rapidly. Zexion smirked again and walked over to grab his cloak, putting it on again, but refraining from closing it up.

"Just wanted to remind you who was the older sibling here," the purple-blue-eyed one snickered. Riku pouted as he jumped to his feet, grabbing the staff he had dropped and putting it away.

"Pfft. You're physically the same age as me."

Zexion rolled his visible eye, keeping his comments to himself as he tossed his staff to Riku. The younger caught it and put it back in a single movement.

"Actually, I'm a few months older physically, unless your birthday's no longer in December." ((MKL: i'm making birthdays up. leave me alone.))

Riku blinked in surprise. "How'd you know that?" he asked rather stupidly.

"Who do you think got stuck changing your diapers when Mother was not around?" Zexion snorted, rolling his eyes. "Because it was not our father. The very same day that you were born, my life became a living hell...well, when Mother left to go run errands, that is."

Riku stared blankly at him for a few moments. "Do you...know our father?"

Only the fact that Zexion was fingering his right sleeve gave away that he was at all effected by the statement. "I did. Nearly nine years ago now. I...have not seen him since."

Well, he was not lying, at least. Xeha(nort) had disappeared, only to be replaced by Xemnas in the life of Ienzo/Zexion.

"Oh," Riku mumbled, dejected. He paused a moment and gazed curiously at Zexion. "And...what was he like?"

"Well," Zexion began slowly, obviously thinking carefully before he answered, "he was kind and generous. He was one of those people that you see giving money to the homeless if they played or sang a good song for him. He was gentle, especially with you--he acted like you were made out of china. Which is to be expected, if you think about it, since you were hardly three when you and Mother left..."

"Do you know why we left?"

Again Zexion paused, fingering his sleeve again. "I am not entirely sure. I believe it had something to do with the experiments on the Heart."

"Oh yeah," Riku suddenly said, frowning in thought, "you worked on those, didn't you?" Zexion merely inclined his head in a half-nod. "Why?"

"Why?" Zexion echoed, brow furrowing in confusion. Riku nodded at him.

"Yeah. Why did you work on the experiments? Didn't you find it inhumane at all, working on living Hearts?"

Zexion stayed silent for a few moments. "I...was only eleven when they began." He kept his voice apathetic, although Riku thought he could see something glint in Zexion's eye. It almost immidiately disappeared. "Great-Grandfather said I was a great mind that would be invaluable to his team, so I joined at age seven. Even--Vexen--and Master Ansem taught me all of the technical things I would need to know, such as math equations and the history of evolution, while Braig and Dilan--Xigbar and Xaldin--taught me how to be a kid. By the time the experiments began, Ienzo was closer to Aeleus--Lexaeus--and the others than even his own mother. He told them everything, especially Xehanort and Even."

Riku noticed that Zexion was beginning to speak in third person, but refrained from commenting as his elder brother went on.

"When Xehanort first asked him to join in the experiments because of his wonderful tallents, Ienzo was thrilled," Zexion said softly, voice dropping as the shadow of regret began to sink into his tone. "He was finally no longer just a little kid following along after the older apprentances. He was actually one of them, and he felt like everything was going great. When you and Mother moved away, he was naturally upset, but he managed to get over it because he still had his father nearby. Of course, after nearly eight years of experiments, he was beginning to see why Braig and Dilan seemed so reluctant to let him in their group.

"He was almost nineteen when he finally decided he wanted to stop working with them and go to live with you and Mother on Destiny Islands," Zexion continued, visible eye lowering a fraction. "By then, Xehanort was on the verge of insanity--he did not seem like himself anymore. The wonderful man who had practically raised Ienzo when in the labs was gone, replaced by a monster of sorts that refused to let Ienzo go. Just one day before the time Ienzo planned to run away in case something went wrong, he went to check up on the experiments one last time with Braig and inform him of what he was planning so someone would know. But he never got the chance."

The story ended here as Zexion sighed deeply and closed his eyes, turning away.

"And thus I was born."

"You don't concider yourself Ienzo?" Riku asked quietly. Zexion chuckled and gave a wry smile.

"Half of Ienzo, yes. But Zexion is virtually the opposite of Ienzo. I am no where near as open, as innocent, as naive as he was--I am, after all, the Cloaked Schemer for a reason. According to the little opening speach Xigbar gave me--jokingly, I would assume--I am supposed to not care about anyone but myself and my fellow Nobodys, because it's easier to manipulate someone when you do not have to worry about how they feel about it. Of course, Nobodys cannot technically care, but we do remember what it was like."

"Hmph, well that's stupid." Zexion blinked in surprise and glanced over at Riku, who had arched an eyebrow as he folded his arms over his chest. "Obviously you 'care' more about others than you just said you should, otherwise you wouldn't have been so excited when you saw Mom."

"Excited?" Zexion repeated blankly. Riku smirked and nodded.

"Yeah. That feeling you get when you find out something happened that seemed like it never would, something that just makes you want to jump up and down and run around in circles until you die."

"Ah." Zexion seemed thoughtful for a few moments. "I...remember that. Yes. It was like 'thrilled', only a bit more intesified."

"Yep," Riku agreed with a grin. "And since you now remember, it's obvious that you 'felt' it when you first saw Mom, right?"

Zexion pondered that for a few moments, brow furrowed in thought, before he smiled a bit and nodded. "Yes," he decided quietly. "That is exactly what I 'felt'...exactly."

Riku's grin widened in response.

"Hey, what do ya say we go get something to eat before we land," Riku asked, walking over to Zexion and slinging an arm around his brother's shoulders. Zexion stumbled a bit in surprise, glancing up in confusion at the still-grinning Riku. "What do ya say...Bro?"

A few moments of silence.

And then, for the first time in a long time, Zexion gave a full, honest smile and nodded for emphasis. "Agreed," he said, feeling the hole in his chest disappear for an instant. But it disappeared for an instant he thought never would have been possible, and probably would not have been, should Riku not have said what he did when he did.

If Zexion would have been paying more attention as he left the room, he might have heard the soft "thump-thump" that echoed briefly from his chest, disappearing moments later as if it had never been there at all.

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"Xemnas," Lucrecia mumbled, leaning closer to Xemnas and gently nipping his ear.

"Mmmmm," was all he could say in response, trying not to melt right there. Lucrecia smiled a bit and moved her lips to capture his, drawing him into yet another long, passionate (on her side) kiss.

When the need for air forced her back, she quietly continued her previous thought. "I think it's almost time to land."

Xemnas looked almost helplessly at her, reminding Lucrecia of the night before so that she chuckled quietly. "Don't give me that look," she chided softly. She leaned foreward and nipped his lip, causing him to try and take hers again, although she pulled back and gave another chuckle. "There are children around, Xemnas."

"We didn't go too far," he mumbled, frowning at her. She smiled good-naturedly and poked his nose.

"Up."

Xemnas sighed and obidiently moved the arm he had draped over Lucrecia in his protectiveness, allowing her to sit up and stretch a bit. The only articles of clothing she had shed were her shoes and jacket, which were easily gathered.

"You know, we could lay here for a little longer," Xemnas said to her, voice a slightly mischievious whisper. Lucrecia snorted at that and shook her head.

"I'd imagine the fight between Riku and Zexion is over, and Riku will get suspicious if he doesn't see me soon," she explained, also whispering. She pulled on her jacket, pausing to glance at Xemnas with a playful smile. "We'll work on that later."

"You still look sexy in that outfit."

The honest way that he said it had Lucrecia glancing over curiously, frowning a bit. "I'm an old woman, and this was mostly just to prove a point to you. I'm at least getting a different shirt when we get back."

Xemnas pouted a bit at her, an expression that had Lucrecia stiffling laughter. "I like that shirt," he complained softly.

"Because you get to see a little something extra," she said pointedly. He made no move to object to that, only smirking a bit in response as she pulled on her shoes. "Besides, I have no need to attract a man. I have the love of my life right here."

This seemed to cause Xemnas to deflate a fraction as he sighed quietly. "I...want to say the same."

Wincing to herself, Lucrecia gave him a long, hard look. "You don't have to." Xemnas tilted his head at the seriousness in her voice, frowning a fraction. She smiled at him. "I love you enough for the both of us."

"It will never be enough for either of us," Xemnas said realistically, running a hand through his mussed hair as he propped himself up against the headboard. "You want me to love you back just as much as I do. But..." He sighed again and moved his gaze to the wall, suddenly looking depressed. "It can't happen. Nobodys can't feel, after all. We don't have the Heart for it."

"First off, that was a bad joke," Lucrecia said with a frown, walking over to stand over him. Xemnas did not respond, merely staring up at her. "Second," she leaned forward and gently caught his lips one more time, again putting as much feeling as she could into it. Nearly a full minute passed before she finally pulled back, continuing to speak in only a whisper between panted breaths. "You don't need your own Heart. We can share mine."

And with that, she walked out the door, leaving a dumbfounded Xemnas in her wake.

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Ten minutes later, Xemnas finally got up and grabbed his cloak, which had been discarded along with his shoes before he was pulled into bed by Lucrecia. He gently touched his bare chest (as he was one of the few who wore nothing underneath his cloak) and frowned a bit at the distant thump that seemed to be appearing spaztically since Lucrecia had said what she did.

The power of words was amazing.

He doubted Lucrecia realized what she had done by saying what she did. What she had potentionally let in with the innocent statement. But she had no idea about the extensive research Xehanort and his fellow apprentances had done. She had no idea that such words, when spoken to a Nobody or Heartless, would become true. Kingdom Hearts cared not who the recipient was--so long as the intentions were pure, wishes of the Heart, whether pertaining to creation or destruction, would be granted.

Xemnas now had a section of his love's Heart, which was invaluable and something that he would now cherish. But the problem was not the sudden burst of emotions he felt, or the sudden realization that he would have to hide them. No--the problem was that Lucrecia had opened up her own Heart to the Darkness by giving him such a pure piece of Heart.

And not even Xemnas knew what that would lead to.

Although his Heartless, smirking on its imaginary perch nearby, did.