The heartless was a wall of black as Sora and Riku fought their way through. Sweat poured from their brows as they clashed with the dark beings. At one point, they fought back to back, keeping the creatures at bay. Donald and Goofy did the same, but the waves of heartless did not let up.

"This is," Riku grunted as he swung his blade at a one of the flying creatures, "almost as bad as being trapped in their with Mickey!"

"Duck!" Sora warned and jumped up to send a shower of flames at the belly of a particularly large heartless. Riku ducked just in time to make sure his hair was not harmed. "We need to find the keyhole to this place," Sora shouted over the mayhem. "If we don't soon, this place will be gone!" As he spoke, the ground beneath them began to shake. They stood on the beach, unaware of the swirling purple and blue colors lighting up the night sky. When they looked up, they both knew that they were loosing time. This world was going to be the first to go now that the door to Kingdom Hearts had been tampered.

"You should have just left me in there, damn-it!" Riku snarled at Sora quite suddenly. Neither of them had noticed the heartless had stopped coming for them all together. "If you had just lived your life, you wouldn't have to find Kairi again, and deal with all of this and—"

"Would you just shut up?" Sora snapped, giving Riku a smack in the back of the head. "If I hadn't saved your ass, than I wouldn't have been living any life. I was like a zombie, and I know that it was stupid and reckless to run in there all on my own, but if I could do it again, I would."

"Why?" Riku shouted back, the ground was shifting and the sand beneath them was running downwards through a crack in the very earth. Donald and Goofy were on the other side of this crack, and were trying to shout and get the two boy's attention. They were far too wrapped up, however, in their argument. "Why was it worth it? Why am I worth it?"

"DO I NEED TO SPELL IT OUT?" Sora roared back. But his face changed expression rapidly. He stared at Riku helplessly and mumbled, "I love you."

Riku blinked, taken by surprise. Sora hadn't come out and said those three little words, even if he had hinted them. It took on a whole new meaning of what their quest was. Before Riku had time to reply, Donald's voice finally was able to carry over to them. "SORA! RIKU! THE KEYHOLE!!"

Sora and Riku exchanged looks before they took in their surroundings once more. The island was splitting in two, and Donald and Goofy were on the side with the gummi ship. Sora watched as his house was tore apart with horror. Riku, however, seemed to know what he was doing. He grabbed the stunned Sora's hand and took in the size of the crevasse between them and their only means of escape. It was over fifteen feet wide. There was no way they could make it now. "Goofy, Donald, go!" he shouted. "There's no time! We'll find the keyhole, but GET OUT OF HERE!"

Sora hardly registered that he was being pulled back towards the crumbling center of the island. How had all of this happened so fast? Why couldn't he defeat it?

"Sora, snap out of it! You're the one who needs to find the keyhole!" Riku shook his friend who blinked in surprise. His expression changed quickly, and he set his jaw.

"I think I know where it is," Sora said, and ran towards the Secret Place. Riku narrowed his eyes. There was something very wrong with Sora. Then again, there wasn't much time to contemplate. They had to seal the keyhole and get out of there before the entire world crumbled.

Riku ran after Sora, but froze as the ground rippled again. Sora had fallen to the ground and was staring up at an enormous heartless. Riku remembered the night he had gone through the darkness… and given up the keyblade to save him and go find the worlds. He'd left Sora to fight for himself. Not this time.

The heatless was a twist of black bands that all seemed to form together to make a body. It was not unlike any Sora had faced before, but it had been a long time since he'd defeated something this large. The keyblade master jumped to his feet and stood at the ready when a yell came from behind him. Riku ran forward, swinging his sword in front of him. Sora gave a grim smile and turned back to the gigantic beast. He jumped into the air and threw a hard blow at its shoulder. It roared with distaste, but not pain. Riku was at his side now, and they began to try and penetrate the beast's thick hide. "Go for the eyes," Riku shouted.

Sora jumped forward, but could only graze the collarbone of the beast. He fell to the ground, panting. He'd received a few blows from the beast, but it only seemed interested in keeping them at bay, not killing them. Sora turned to Riku, who was panting beside him. Neither could do this alone. Riku turned and looked at Sora thoughtfully before he grabbed the keyblade master and commanded, "Use me as a boost and get at its neck!" He hoisted Sora up on his shoulders and leapt towards the monster. Sora didn't have enough time to protest. He jumped from Riku's shoulders as he was told. He only had one good swing. He threw the keyblade out at the heartless's thick neck. A roar filled his ears as he came falling back to the ground. Wildly, the creature threw a deadly blow of its massive hand. Riku was on the ground, but looking up at Sora to see if he would make it. The hand threw in back, smashing his head into a tree. He slid to the ground, blood staining the back of his bright hair.

Time seemed to slow as the Keyblade came back to Sora. The monster was roaring in pain and fell back as the darkness began to disintegrate its remains. Sora fell to the ground with a hard burst of reality. It brought time back as the air rushed out of his lungs. It took him a moment to get his breath back, but once he had, he was running. The brunette knelt beside Riku and grabbed him roughly, shaking him with tears streaming down his face. "Riku!!" he screamed. "Riku, wake up!" He cradled the back of his head carefully and felt the warmth of his friend's blood. Desperately, Sora pressed his lips against Riku's cold mouth. There was no stir in Riku's calm state. Sora stood, holding Riku despite how heavy the older's dead weight was. Sora dragged him towards the Secret Place. The world was crumbling quicker now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Paopu Island disappear into darkness. He began to run, pulling Riku along with him.

The cave was oddly silent. Sora was in shock and he searched desperately for the keyhole. There was nothing in the cave but memories. Sora gave a cry of defeat and fell to the cave floor, cradling Riku as he felt the world beneath him crumble.

Just before the darkness swallowed them, Sora saw faintly what appeared to be a drawing of a keyhole. His eyes may have been playing tricks on him. He buried his face into Riku's bloody hair and closed his eyes.

And he knew no more.

N/A- This. Is. The. End.
I know that I am going to get complaints... but this is how it ends. I am, of course, going to have a sequal, but it may take a while for me to start writing that one. I still have an epilogue to post, and I think you'll all enjoy it. I like it. Thanks for sticking with me! Sorry the ending here came so... abruptly. I just, I couldn't fit everything in one story, so I'm making another one! Please review!
Jacqueline Out.