The rain didn't let up for hours on end. The wind whipped at the trees of the island, making them sway dangerously. Sora was reminded of tops, being pushed until they would ultimately fall. He stared out the window with Kairi fast asleep on his shoulder, a blanket wrapped around her bare shoulders haphazardly. She'd fallen asleep in Sora's arms an hour ago.

They'd both lost track of time. The power had gone out, and since then they'd been in the dark. There was no way they were going to get it back till the rain stopped and Sora could go outside and fix it up.

Gently, Sora laid Kairi down in the bed, grabbing his shirt and slipping on his shoes. He'd left the letter he'd written before the power out in his pocket, letting it remind him of what he needed to do.

But he was worried. The storm could very well be the effect of the door being on the island. If his fears were correct, the door wouldn't be there much longer. He went down into the kitchen. He grabbed an envelope from the drawer near the sink and wrote the addresses on it and stuffed his letter to Donald and Goofy in it. He grabbed another piece of paper and wrote to Kairi; Send this to Donald and Goofy after the storm.

He let out a long sigh, not knowing if there was anything else he could do. The brunette was afraid of going back upstairs to kiss Kairi goodbye. If she awoke, she'd wonder where he was going, what he was doing. It was the last thing Sora wanted at the moment. If he got cold feet now, he may never be able to find the door again.

"Goodbye, Kairi, I love you," Sora sighed to the house. The howling winds made the house groan in reply. The keyblade master bowed his head and pushed the door open, stepping out into the swell.

"Riku!"

The silver haired boy fell, the gash on his arm staining the darkness scarlet with blood. The heartless that stood over him held a scimitar, and moved to finish its victim off. Riku's aqua eyes closed, searching for anything in his memories to keep him fighting. He remembered what King Mickey had told him, about the brave heart that was supposed to save them. He tried vainly to hold onto that thought, but he couldn't even remember the name. He let his head fall back, the silver strands of hair now stained with his blood. The Way to Dawn lay uselessly a few yards away.

"Riku!" came another shout, but it wasn't Mickey's voice like he'd been expecting. "Riku! Wake up! Don't let the darkness take you!" Riku's eyes flew open as the flare of hope hit his heart, making the shadows crawling around him scatter. But there was no one in the darkness to help him. It was his own mind coming to save him. That voice… the voice of a friend. With a grunt, he slowly stood and shuffled towards his weapon. With his good arm, he lifted it off the ground and leaned against it. There was no way he would be able to fight the next wave.

"Mickey!" he called into the darkness.

"I'm all right!" came the hurried reply. The mouse appeared from a massive cloud of dying heartless. The cloud faded, but both knew they'd return. They always returned. Riku thought about that heartless, he didn't know where it had gotten to, but that didn't really matter. "You're hurt!"

"Yeah, but it's not like I can just sit down and take a rest," Riku mumbled, leaning heavily on his keyblade.

No more words were spoken as the next wave of heartless crashed upon the weakening hearts.

Sora stood in front of the door, keyblade in hand. Last time, he'd not been the one to open the door. He didn't know if he could. "But I have to try," he said determinedly as he thrust the keyblade forward, aimed at the door. The keyhole glowed ominously, the wind raged in protest, and the darkness unlocked.

Kingdom Hearts lay waiting.

Sora jumped into the swirling oblivion.

The heartless paused in their descending attack. Riku turned to look with them, to see the blinding light. He gave a gasp, falling to his knees with his good arm covering his eyes. He couldn't take the light; it burned through his eyelids and tore at his soul, reminding him just how much he'd given into the darkness. The heartless screamed shrilly, just as taken aback by the light. There was the slight clink of metal and then the screaming suddenly stopped.

Time was a different thing here in the black of hearts. It could be years when it felt like minutes. It could be minutes when it felt like years. Riku imagined it'd been a long time those heartless screamed and the light fought them, but to his tired, broken mind it felt like moments. Two hands gently pulled him out of his curled up position, turning him to face the light. He gave a gasp of protest, not wanting to feel the light burn his eyes again. He kept his good arm covering his eyes.

Someone was holding him to their chest, protecting him. Was it Mickey? No, the little mouse couldn't hold Riku. He was twice the mouse's size. Besides, the two fighters had grown cold living in this black place. His protector felt warm, and smelt of ocean waves.

Memories flickered in the silver haired boy's head. Images and faces, but after the image of an agile brunette boy, they fizzled and died.

"Mickey, he's been hurt!"

"Yes, it happened a little bit ago, though time here is much different. Find the door Sora, and get him out of here. The heartless will not approach again until they've doubled their power upon you. They know you must be the purest of lights."

Pure? Light? Riku forced his arm down, and gazed up at the boy holding him. Sora was looking away, the darkness swirling into his natural light. Those royal blue eyes held a light that was dangerous, that was angered. "Kick its ass," Riku laughed weakly. "I'm really going to have to owe you for this, aren't I… Sora?"

"Friends don't leave friends in the dark," Sora replied with his charming smile despite the situation.

"Here they come," Riku whispered, clutching Sora as he waited for the fight. He was released and laid on the ground as the keyblade master stood at the ready, throwing his sword through the darkness.

The fighting was quick, Sora having spent so much time training and so many years defeating these fiends. Riku could not look at him for very long, his natural bright heart making his eyes burn. Mickey was fighting too, leaving the boy on the ground feeling useless.

There was a pause in battle, where Sora ran back to his friend. He was out of breath and sweat trickled down his brow. "Riku, we have to get out of here. I had to leave the door open, and if we don't hurry, they'll escape into the world…"

Riku nodded, his eyes still tightly shut as he shakily took to his feet, holding open his palm his fingers slowly clutched the dark keyblade. "Lead the way," he grunted. Sora wrapped an arm around Riku's waist, helping him move through the dark. Mickey followed closely behind, fighting off any heartless that got too close.

The Door was wide open ahead of them. With a smile, Riku felt his limbs give out and his mind slip into unconsciousness. He'd seen dawn, and now he could rest.

"Mickey! I don't know how to close it!" Sora cried desperately. "Not without someone staying behind…"

"Just get him out of here, he's unconscious," Mickey replied, throwing a wild swipe at a looming heartless. It wasn't one the king was familiar with. In fact, he'd never seen it before on his travels or his years in the dark.

Sora obeyed, pushing Riku out into the cave. The boy fell to the ground, and lay still. Sora turned around to face the approaching heartless. Mickey glanced at the boy, and before he could understand what was happening, the mouse tripped Sora, making him fall backwards into the light.

"Mickey!" Sora shouted, getting to his feet again.

"Close the Door, Sora!" Mickey shouted back, his voice sounding like a bad radio's reception. Sora bit his lip, not wanting to leave the king after he'd just found him. "Now, or they'll get out!"

Sora closed his eyes and did as he was told, pushing the door shut with all his strength. Mickey took one last look at the light before it closed completely, leaving him in the world of Kingdom Hearts once more.

Sora fell to his knees, his gloved hands covering his face as he wept. The keyblade lay at his side like a good dog, waiting for its master to say the final command. Riku laid on his other side, broken and lifeless. He'd thought he could face Kingdom Hearts alone. Now he'd only gotten half the job done.

Painfully, the boy took to his feet, holding the keyblade out in front of him. The light flew from the tip of the key, and locked the Door with a final click. Sora watched as the wooden frame slowly disappeared into nothing, the cave becoming just as it was before.

"S-Sora?"

Sora spun around, staring down at Riku. He dropped to his knees, the keyblade disappearing from his grasp as he gently helped Riku sit up and lean against him. His friend's eyes were tightly shut against the light of this world. He shivered with cold and Sora knew he'd have to get some help for his arm. "I'm right here, Riku," he whispered.

"I… I'm sorry for betraying you," Riku stuttered, flinching as his arm was moved by Sora's shifting of weight. "You're… my best friend."

"You're my best friend too, Riku," Sora replied, hating the tears running down his face, even if Riku couldn't see them. It'd been so long since he'd let himself cry. Riku gave a crooked half-smile, his head slumping against the brunette's shoulder as he gave a shuddering exhale of breath and lay still.

The cave filled with silence, a soft light shining through the tunnel leading into the cave. The birds began to call; the sea lapsed against the shore. There was no trace of the roaring fight of the winds from the night before. Life continued even after the storm.

((N/A - Yay! Plot twist... poor Mickey, getting stuck in there AGAIN! Anyways, thank you all for your alerts and reviews and favs. I'm sort of lazy to list you all off, but you know who you are! Be sure to review! I want to know what you guys think! (plus it gives me a fuzzy feeling inside to know people wanna give me feedback. :P) Thanks again!

Jacqueline Out.))