Namine, I don't like this. Too much is happening, and too fast. There's this business about that Taro kid, and all this stuff about the Heartless, the Nobodies, Organization XIII coming back to power. I can sense it, deep down, that they're more powerful this time. More dangerous. And…I know, now that Sora's away from Kairi—I can't talk to you like I used to. I liked that, having someone who would listen when you're so alone, like I am. I feel like there's another part of me, a part that's missing entirely, a part that I'm not convinced was there before but is gone now. It isn't possible, I know…because I'm part of Sora again, and I always have been. Not part of anything or anyone else—not even myself. There's never been a "myself", just Sora and part of Sora…me. I'm him, but not myself. We're one and the same and always will be. I can't stop him from doing what he has to, and even though I got out that once, I'm not sure I can ever do that again. I'm not even sure how I did that. This is so different from before. Without you, it's like half of me, half of Sora, really, is lifeless, gone, empty of feeling and being.

Namine…you and I were lost before we found our "others". We would have fallen into darkness had we not become complete again.

But I feel even more lost right now than I ever did then.

I need you to be here with me, Namine. I love you enough to know that.

Please, show me you love me too.

Roxas. I miss you. You can't hear me, but I still hear your voice in my dreams. You're always there, even though you're not here with me.

Kairi's falling apart inside. Day by day, she just keeps fading more and more. She misses Sora that much. But she'll make it through this, I'm sure.

At least I hope I'm sure.

I wish we were together right now. I always felt better, knowing that as long as Sora and Kairi were together, we were, too. I never would have to leave your side for longer than a little while. We'd never be too far apart.

But now Sora's left to complete his course of destiny, and you've gone with him, as part of him. And I'm left here, more alone than ever. I always was so alone, in that castle, before you found me. I never had anyone to take my hand, to tell me that everything was going to be all right in the end. Then you found me, and my world brightened. There was someone else there, a light, to lead me through the darkness.

Kairi may be fading, but I'm trying as hard as I can to remain promising. I'd never doubt that you'd come back to me, and I'd never think for a second that anything would keep us apart forever.

Forever's too long to wait, Roxas. It's too long for you to be gone. Any distance of time is too long for us to be separated.

Never forget…

Forever is too long to be apart, but never too long to be together.

Forever is eternity.

Eternity is what I want to spend with you.

I love you, Roxas. My one and only.

Never forget that.

Sora blinked sleepily and yawned, rolling over on the small bed. Shafts of sunlight drifted in through the windows, casting a soft, sunrise colored light across the room. Though he had no idea what time it was, he assumed it was earlier than he was used to getting up. He rolled back over in the other direction, facing the door.

The little house was almost completely silent, except for the faint, barely audible sound of the wind gently drafting through the open window at the other end of Sora's room. It was peaceful—for the first time in a long time, Sora thought sadly. He suddenly felt homesick. He wanted more than anything just to go back to his little island and stay there. He had felt the same way the last time he had left home…and now he was feeling it again. Why do I keep doing this, he asked himself, if I just know that it will always take me away from everything I care about?

You may have accomplished saving the universe, but that does not at all entitle you to end your journey as the Keyblade master. There is a legacy to fulfill.

Right. That was what "Nothing", or whatever it was called, had told him, the same day he had been taken away from his home, again. That's why he was here.

Bitterly, Sora summoned his Keyblade and looked at it for a minute. Just seeing it in his hand reminded him of all that he had been through, and all that everyone he knew had been through as a result. He recalled everything morosely.

Sora himself had been torn from everything and everyone he knew and loved, and been thrust into a world where everything he did was relied upon by someone else.

Riku had yielded to the darkness, partially against and partially by his own will, and almost lost himself completely. Even after prevailing over the dark, he was almost gone forever when he chose to sacrifice his safety and help Sora close the door at Kingdom Hearts. And after that, he came looking for him, and had to face his own inner demons to get through Castle Oblivion. All of that, just to help Sora.

Kairi had almost been sacrificed, as a Princess of Heart, in order to open the Keyhole at Hollow Bastion. Sora had sacrificed himself for her, and after she had returned the favor by saving him from being lost to the darkness, the two were separated for almost over a year. She had even left the safety of the islands to look for him and Riku, and helped bring the three together again and encourage Sora to go on.

Roxas, Axel, and Namine had completely sacrificed themselves, both in mind and body, to help Sora. Axel had died for him while fighting the Dusks in Betwixt and Between, and also gone against the Organization time and time again to help Sora, and Roxas, succeed; Namine had given up her safety by defying DiZ and other Organization members to help regain Sora's memories and help Roxas at the same time; and Roxas had given up the life he thought he had, the life he could have gone on pretending to have, to complete Sora and help him conquer the darkness.

So many people, Sora thought. So many people gave up their safety for me. Do I even deserve it? Sure, I may have done the right thing, completing the journey I was told was destiny…but now I know about this legacy. Was everything before just a test? If what I'm really supposed to be doing lies ahead, what was everything I did before now? Just…unimportant? Insignificant? He dismissed this thought angrily; of course it had been significant. He had saved a lot of people, and avenged those who had given up everything for him. He had done the right thing.

Briefly, Sora became aware of what sounded like conversation. Then again, it might have been Riku talking in his sleep again. Either way, he dismissed his Keyblade and gingerly stepped out of bed and onto the floor, lightly crossing the floor and opening the door as quietly as he possibly could. Passing Riku room, and then Cloud's room, he leaned into the doorway of Taro's room to see if he was still asleep.

No one was there.

Slightly surprised, Sora stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, before he heard the talking again. Slinking down the stairs, quieter than a sneaking cat, he stopped on the landing and leaned over the banister, listening carefully to try and figure who was talking and where they were.

"…don't know why you're going through with this, Taro." Sora blinked. He had only caught a fragment of the sentence, and the voice was unfamiliar. They were addressing Taro, but who could he be talking to—and at a time this early in the morning? Though he was confused in general, he could tell they were in the kitchen.

"Enik, don't worry about it." This voice he recognized; it was definitely Taro's. He sounded somewhat uneasy, and there was a long pause before he spoke again. "Everything's under control."

Just as Sora decided to make his way to the kitchen, the voice he couldn't discern spoke again, this time louder and with a seemingly angrier tone. Sora stopped mid-step at the foot of the stairs, frozen in place with surprise.

"Taro, I know you well enough to be able to say that you're only trying to do what you think is right. And what you think is right isn't always right, right? This time you're wrong."

"…what? What are you say—"

"I'm saying that you shouldn't have anything to do with this kid and whatever people he brought with him. It's too risky."

This caught Sora off-guard. He wasn't expecting that Taro and—Enik, was it?—to be talking about him. As he tiptoed over to the kitchen's entryway, Taro broke the silence that had fallen after the preceding comment.

"He's a good person, Enik. I trust him. All he needs is a place to start on this new adventure of his. And who knows—he may be able to help me. I think—"

"Hyakutaro, stop." Taro, apparently shocked at the use of his full name, paused in the midst of his sentence. "Remember what happened to my parents. Your aunt and uncle. Remember who killed them."

"…a bunch of the Heartless." Taro mumbled quietly.

"And remember who killed your parents."

"Don't bring them into this!!" Taro objected, emotional pain muffling his protest.

"Who killed them?!" the other voice demanded. Sora wanted to jump into the room and find a way to stop this. He could tell just by his tone of voice that Taro was emotionally suffering at the mention of his parents.

"The Organization killed them, all right?!" he screamed back, a sob escaping him. Sora's heart jumped. The Organization…killed Taro's parents? "They killed them both." Taro continued as Sora sat hidden by the doorway. "Before they captured me." Another sob muffled his speech.

Gently, now, the other person spoke again. "Which is why I'm so upset. I don't want anything else to happen to you, Tar. I just want you to be okay. I don't want you to get your hopes up about this kid, and him helping you or anything. If you're involved, you could get hurt again." Taro sniffed. "I guess it's just that I don't understand why you're so set on going through with this, even if it could just make things worse."

The silence continued, until Taro sniffed again. "Everyone just needs a chance, you know? Before anyone gives up on them."

Another long silence broke the conversation, before there was a soft chuckle. "You're just..." The person sighed before replying good-naturedly. "You're too nice, you know that?"

Sora glanced at the floor uncomfortably as the conversation continued, more casually, but he didn't hear anything that was being said. His mind was in turmoil. Was he really causing that much trouble, just by being here? How much danger was he putting Taro in; how much was he making matters worse? Can't I ever…just…be? Do I always have to be a problem, an expense on someone else's behalf? These doubts, along with the doubts he had worried over when he had first woken up, began to well up inside him, escaping in an overly-exaggerated sigh.

Taro and the other person in the kitchen must have heard him, for seconds later, footsteps echoed through the quiet house. Bracing himself for when Taro would come over to the entryway into the kitchen and find Sora there, crouched against the wall next to a shelf, Sora was entirely surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder behind him. Screaming bloody murder, he fell over sideways and knocked into the shelf. Turning slightly to look up at the cause of his astonishment, his glance was met by a thunderstruck stare from Riku.

"What the heck is wrong with you…" the older boy started to ask, confused as to why Sora was acting like the grim reaper had just popped up in front of him.

"Sora?" Taro asked. The brown-haired boy looked up from the floor, only now becoming aware that everyone had heard him. Even Cloud was slowly coming down the stairs. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Uh, um…" Sora stuttered, looking around nervously. He couldn't give Taro any reason to believe that he had been eavesdropping. "Riku, he, uh, snuck up on me while I was coming downstairs, and, ah…I tried to hide. Next to this—bookcase. Yeah. That's what happened."

Riku's gaze became more skeptical, but he got the idea and hesitantly nodded. "I was just joking around, that's all," he added, shrugging. "Sorry."

"No, that's okay…" Taro started to reply, but just then a tall boy walked out of the entryway behind him, blinking with confusion and staring at Cloud, Riku, and Sora with a clueless look. "Oh, wow, that was sort of rude of me. Sora, Riku, Cloud, this is my cousin." Taro said proudly, gesturing toward the boy. "Enikkusu."

"Enik for short," his cousin answered, clapping a hand on Taro's shoulder and grinning. "Great to meet you all."

Cloud sighed deeply and walked past Enik into the kitchen—without saying anything--before dropping into a chair and overemphasizing his exhaustion by slamming his head onto the table. Riku dragged Sora up off the floor despairingly and followed suit, leaning against the counter and rolling his eyes with impatience. "It's too early in the morning to meet people…"

Enik looked over to Taro, dazed but still laughing quietly. "They're a thrilling bunch."

Taro only stared at his three guests and nodded with slight uncertainty. "Yeah. They really are."