Welp. Here we are. At the second to last chapter. I am.. completely ok. Not emotional at all nope, totally fine, absolutely keeping it together :3 (I'm just kidding, I'm a wreck and the way this chapter ended up going only made it so much worse god please I am SO emotional hhhhhh). But anyway! I'll stop rambling about my feelings or whatever and let you dive right in! Enjoy... :)

Chapter 75: The King and the Crown

Don't think twice,
Don't think twice,
Don't think twice, baby,
Don't think twice

The Kingdom is a paradise.

He awakens within in that paradise, in a world that looks so similar to the shore he spent so much of his mortal life on. Still, there's more than enough that's different about it to set it apart. The sea before him seems to shine blue as it stretches on far past forever, the sand beneath him is crystalline and iridescent. The sky is ever changing, shifting between an infinite swirl of colors and shades that almost every inch of the endless beach reflects. It's a surreal sight to say the least, otherworldly, but undeniably beautiful all the same.

But for as beautiful as it might be… there's still something about it that isn't quite right.

Sora frowns as he steps into the shallows of the shimmering sea. His feet are still bare to feel the water's welcome warmth and his crimson cape billows behind him in the gentle breeze. His eyes don't glow here, his voice is solely his own. He's more of himself here, more than he'd been during those final few moments in Scala anyway. And yet… he still feels so different, still knows more than he has any right to, still has more power than he knows what to do with. That power flows all around him, radiating across the beach his mind has conjured within his Kingdom. It swells its strongest within him, even more than it had before he'd arrived. It's raw, pure, unparalleled, utterly unlike anything he's ever experienced before.

And maybe that power would frighten him. If it didn't make him feel so wonderfully whole.

Almost… the Kingdom's voices sound different. They're clearer than they've ever been now that he's standing in the very place they come from. Still, he can't help but wonder why he still can't see them, all of the lost and faded hearts that have found their way back here. The hearts that have been speaking to him all this time. You're almost whole. There's only one more thing you need to do…

He doesn't know what compels him to turn away from the sea. But what he finds when he does is something that's somehow even more incredible than the shining shore he's standing on.

A castle towers before him, perhaps the most awe-inspiring out of the many he's seen across his travels. It's shrouded in shades of black and white stone, it's countless towers defying gravity as they seem to hover on their own accord. A stained glass door, just like the one he'd opened to the Kingdom itself, stands to greet him when he slowly approaches the structure. And just like that door, it takes but one twist of the X-Blade to unlock it and whatever secrets hide behind this castle's stately walls.

Come… the Kingdom beckons as he walks through the threshold. And claim your throne…

He's been here before. He doesn't know how or when, but he has. That's the first thing he realizes as he enters the castle's lofty foyer. Its rounded ceilings reach impossibly high above him, a pristine fountain flowing in between two grand spiral staircases. None if it looks like it could have possibly been built by human hands, and Sora already knows it wasn't. The Kingdom itself created this perfect palace for its King, a heavenly home meant only for him and him alone.

Maybe that's why the second thing Sora realizes is that this castle is so oddly silent, so unnaturally still, so unspeakably lonely.

The Kingdom doesn't say much else as he slowly ascends the staircase, up to the gilded door, the only door that waits at the top. Sora only needs to place a gentle hand on its golden surface for it to creak open, revealing the castle's–and the Kingdom's most spectacular sight yet.

"Whoa…" Sora draws in a breath, struck by both awe and nostalgia. It's funny really, how he's so sure that he's never seen any of this, but he knows this throne room better than any other place he's ever been to. The long hall is immaculate, mingled between light and darkness like everything about the Kingdom seems to be, including its King. Both sides of that wall are lined with massive stained glass windows, each depicting one of the thirteen Keys. Sora can sense their power radiating from them, further proving his theory that the windows are where the Keys reside whenever his wings aren't around.

What's in the space between the windows, however, is much more interesting by far. Stars, hundreds of thousands of them, drift all around him, as small as fireflies but so much more radiant. They pulse even brighter when he walks among them, captivated by the untold energy each of them embodies. Some part of him already knows what they are, but curiosity still gets the better of him when he reaches out to the closest star. It eagerly glides over to him, coming to rest just above his open hands. He stares at it in silent wonder for a moment or two, but when he blinks, he suddenly finds himself somewhere far away from his ethereal Kingdom. He suddenly finds himself standing in another world entirely.

The dimly-lit streets of Traverse Town surround him, abandoned, quiet, and forlorn. He turns a slow circle, just to make sure his mind isn't playing tricks on him, but sure enough, he's there. At least until he lets the star in his hands drift away from him. As soon as it wanders out of his reach, he's back in his castle, back between the endless stars, each representing a different world.

He beckons another one in, fascinated when it seamlessly transports him to the dense jungles of Paradise Falls. Another takes him to the top of the highest building in San Fransokyo, while the next lets him see the shifting sands of Agrabah. With a daring smile, Sora bounds between dozens of worlds in a matter of mere seconds, from New Orleans, to Atlantica, to Wonderland, Gravity Falls, the Pride Lands, Halloween Town, Arendelle, Atlantis, Corona, and so many more. For as many worlds as he's been to before, he's brought to countless more he never even knew existed. The more he sees, the more he realizes he could spend an eternity traveling between the worlds and still not see them all.

Of course, he has an eternity, far longer than that even. But still.

As his rapid tour of the cosmos continues, Sora begins to wonder why he's never deposited close to any people in any of the worlds he lands in, something he can't help but be disappointed by. What he wouldn't give to at least say a brief, but fond farewell to any of the friends he's made along his journeys. Friends that he's slowly finding himself longing for than anything else his glorious Kingdom might have to offer him.

Twilight Town is the first, and so far only world, where that changes. He recognizes the town's sunset-soaked square, just as much as he recognizes the trio playfully running through it, laughing all the while. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!" Sora calls, waving them down with a smile. Only for all three of them to run right through him, as if wasn't even there at all.

Because in truth, he isn't, not really. He isn't part of any world anymore.

He quickly pulls his hand away from Twilight Town's star, shuddering with sudden despair. His eyes dart between the infinite worlds around him, his heart desperate to see one above all the rest. The other stars pull back to let him make his way to it, and though he hesitates, he still dives in all the same.

It takes him right to where he wants to go, to the beach behind the house he used to, and still wants to, call home. He nearly falls apart when he sees her, standing in the shallows, her golden hair loose as it blows in the evening breeze. He runs to her side and tries to embrace her, only for his arms to go right through. "M-Mom," he chokes when he sees the sorrow written across every inch of her face. Sorrow that he knows, without a doubt, he's the cause of. "Mom, please! I'm right here! You have to see me, you have to hear me, please-"

He sharply cuts himself off just before the tears can come. He can't bear it any longer, to be right beside his mother and not be noticed at all. He tears himself away from the Destiny Islands, his voice shaking as he begs the stars to show him something else he already knows he doesn't want to see. "T-the lights!" his cry echoes through the elegant hall. "Show me the lights! Show me… show me Riku and Kairi!"

The stars do as their King commands. And the one that comes to him next takes him back to a world he'd just as rather never see again. Back to the Keyblade Graveyard.

He finds them almost immediately, at the same crossroad of dead Keyblades where they'd first confronted Organization XIII. There is no sense of time in the Kingdom, but Sora guesses that beyond its borders, they must have just found their way back here from Scala ad Caelum. A shroud of grief hangs so heavy over all of them that he can practically feel it, grief that wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him. After all, they'd vowed that they'd all return from this war, victorious, safe, and together. Only to still emerge one short of what they started with all the same.

At the front of the group stands Riku and Kairi. They both stay silent but the heartbreak written on both of their faces speaks volumes. Sora slowly comes to stand before them, wanting to say so much to them even though he knows neither of them will hear a single word.

"Riku, Kairi," Aqua speaks up, her voice gentle, consoling. "We…we're so sorry…"

Sora draws in a tight breath, guilt settling in his stomach. None of the other lights should be apologizing, they have nothing to be sorry for. The only one who does is the one who left them all behind. The only one who should be sorry for everything he's done, everything he's always been… is him.

"Are you guys… gonna be ok?" Axel asks. It's a pointless question, one that they all already have a clear answer to. But Riku, ever standing strong even in the worst of storms, still manages an answer to it all the same.

"...Yeah," he says simply, not turning around. He slowly takes Kairi's hand as she stands by his side, squeezing it tight. "We just… want to go home."

"So do I," Sora says, trying to touch them. But once again, his hand passes cleanly through them both. "I want to go home, I want to be with you! I-"

My King… the Kingdom finally cuts in. Sora gasps when the star showing all of his friends is almost forcefully pulled away from him. Have you forgotten? You already are Home…

A bright light suddenly turns Sora's attention away from the stars, from the worlds, from everything distracting him from what his Kingdom wants him to see. A throne sits at the far end of the hall, beautifully gilded and glistening with gold, stained glass, and gemstones of nearly every cut and color. Upon that throne rests a simple crown, and only now does Sora realize that it's no longer sitting in its proper place upon his head like it had before. The Kingdom doesn't give him a chance to ask why before it gives him further instruction.

Claim your throne… Claim your crown… it tells him eagerly, excitedly almost. Only when you do will we both become whole again…

He begins to slowly approach the throne, though he stops just before he reaches the raised dais it sits upon. He glances back at the stars, upset and uncertain. The Kingdom, sensing his emotions, doesn't waste any time trying to ease his worries.

This is what you are meant to do, it pulls his focus back toward the throne. You know this now. You know why you are here. So why then, my King, do you hesitate? Why do you want to cling onto a life that was never truly your own….?

"...Because…" Tears finally start to find their place in his eyes, shimmering black and white when they fall. "I loved that life… I loved them…

My King… He feels a strange sort of warmth envelop him, as if the Kingdom itself is wrapping him into its invisible embrace. Your Kingdom loves you…

He doesn't doubt that, doesn't deny how much he loves his Kingdom in return. It's a part of him, it always has been, far before he even knew it existed, from the very moment he was born. He can't help but long for the same thing it does, to be whole, for both of them to finally be whole. For the bond between them to eternally stand to keep every world beyond them safe and sound like they're supposed to be. It's that longing that prompts him up the short set of stairs, up to stand before his rightful throne. He feels something heavy in his chest as he stares down at the crimson-cushioned seat, at the golden crown sitting so innocently upon it. He knows what they both mean though, better than anyone else. He knows what taking both of them symbolizes, he knows what will happen the second he does.

He knows that if he completely claims his Kingdom and its crown… he'll never go back to the way he used to be. He'll never be able to be with anyone he's ever loved ever again.

My King… the Kingdom beckons again. Its loving hold on him grows tighter, greedier as he reaches a trembling hand toward his crown. Please…

"P-Please…" he echoes morosely when his fingers skim the crown's cold metal surface. "I… I don't want-"

He cuts himself off starkly, tensing up as he senses a sudden, alarming shift. He turns, scanning the starry hall for further signs of anything unusual. The Kingdom doesn't seem to respond or react in a way that would point to anything being wrong. But Sora knows what he's feeling, knows that something's breached the purity and sanctity of his new home.

He knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he's no longer alone.

"Who's there?" he shouts, the X-Blade forming in his hand. "Show yourself!"

He waits for what feels like forever, stepping away from the throne to guard his Kingdom, as any proper King would. He can still sense the presence of… someone else nearby, but that's about it. Who they are, what they want, or how they got here all remain a mystery. Even after they finally decide to make themselves known.

"So, the King's finally found his way Home, huh?" Sora starts, brandishing the X-Blade when he turns around. Only to find someone emerging from behind the throne, someone clad in a black coat that haunts him even still, their face completely hidden from view. "Who could have guessed divinity would suit you so nicely, Sora? But something's missing, can't quite put my finger on it… Hm… What could it be…?" He taps his chin before snapping his fingers. "Oh! I've got it!" Sora's grip tightens on the X-Blade when he watches him reach down, take his crown and hold it out to him. "Every king needs a crown, right?"

Sora recognizes the voice instantly, even though there's not much else to make out when it comes to this strange man. A man who unsettled him every bit as much during their first, brief meeting, as he is now. "It's you!" he exclaims, raising the X-Blade defensively. "You're that guy from Daybreak Town, the guy I gave my–t-that necklace to!"

"Oh, come on, your majesty," the man shakes his head disapprovingly. "I have a name you know."

"Oh yeah? I thought you said you gave your name up," Sora challenges. He's trying his hardest, using every last power he has at his disposal to look past the shadows of this man's hood, to figure out who he truly is. But even going as far as looking straight into his heart wields nothing meaningful, nothing at all really. And he has no idea why.

"I did," the man sets the crown back down on the throne. He steps to the edge of the dais, his hands poised behind his back as Sora glares up at him. "Don't regret it in the slightest. But if you really need something to call me by… I'm the Master. In fact, you could say I'm the Master of Masters…"

"I refuse to call anyone 'master' ever again!" Sora shouts furiously. "You're not supposed to be here. Nobody is but me. So you better explain how you got here and what you want with me really fast or else I'll-"

"Whoa, whoa! Maybe put the most powerful Keyblade ever made away for a second, and hear me out, ok, kiddo?" the Master raises his hands. "I swear, you're always so quick to assume the worst."

"After what I've been through, anyone would be," Sora counters harshly. "Now tell me what you're doing here."

"Oh, see, now here's the thing," the Master says. "I was actually just about to leave, for the first time in, oh, I dunno, about a thousand years or so. And I have you to thank for finally showing up to open up a way out for me, Sora."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The Master begins making his way down the stairs. Sora takes a small step back without thinking, trying to hide just how anxious he is for himself and for his kingdom behind a mask of calm and anger. "It means I've been trapped here. For centuries," the Master's near-constant playfulness finally slips into something far more serious, far more grave. "I've been waiting here in this perfect 'paradise' of a Kingdom, waiting for the one who would open the door. Waiting, your majesty, for you."

"That… doesn't make any sense," Sora shakes his head. "Kingdom Hearts isn't a place that just anyone can get to. Only lost hearts are supposed to be here. And… and me…" He stifles a sigh as he glances past to the Master, to the crown still silently waiting for him, whether he actually wants it or not.

"Exactly!" the Master eagerly agrees. "And now that you're here, all is as it should be. The Kingdom's just about whole, the worlds are at peace, everything's a-ok! Or at least, it will be once you finally wear your rightful crown, o mighty King of Kingdom Hearts."

The Master bows, and Sora honestly can't tell if he's mocking him or not. "How did you end up trapped here?" he asks warily. Not that he intends to trust any answer this peculiar man might give him.

"Oh, you don't need to worry yourself with that, your majesty," the Master waves the question off. "Far be it from me to waste the valuable time of a king with such a long and boring backstory. What matters is that I'm on my way out, out of your hair to leave your lovely Kingdom here all to yourself. Doesn't that sound swell?"

"All to my–" Sora starts to repeat, but stops, refusing to let himself be distracted by such a daunting thought. There's a much more immediate problem to deal with here, after all. "N-no. However you got here, whatever you want, you're lying about it all, I just know it. The Kingdom… it… it wouldn't just trap someone-"

"You don't sound very convinced of that, your majesty," the Master points out.

Sora ignores that comment. The last thing he'd want to do is prove anything this callous intruder says right. "And even if you were, then you must have been trapped here for a reason," he tries pulling himself up to his full height, tries pulling off as much regal confidence as he can muster. "How can I be sure that letting someone like you out into the worlds is a good idea?"

"Oh, what, you mean you don't trust me, Sora?" the Master asks, feigning shock.

"No," Sora retorts, deadpan.

"Huh. Well at least you're honest about it," the Master shrugs. "But even if you don't trust me, if anything, I'd say you owe me after how I helped you out back in Daybreak Town. If it wasn't for me, you might never have found your way back to the present, and back to your friends."

"Oh gee, thanks for helping me get back only so I could be torn away from them all over again!" Far more pain, far more grief slips into Sora's tone than he'd like. Both things that the Master doesn't hesitate to prey upon.

"Well, hey, look at it this way," the Master's standing right in front of him now. This time, however, Sora doesn't back away, doesn't do anything but stand firm in the face of this man who eerily reminds him of another who tried to drag him down before. "You'll see your friends again someday… After all, all hearts come from the Kingdom and to the Kingdom all hearts eventually return."

"But I don't want to wait that long!" Sora argues fiercely, selfishly almost. "I don't want to be with what's left of them when they're dead. I want to be with them while they're alive! It wasn't supposed to be like this! I promised them I'd stay with them, that we'd be together! I promised. I…"

He trails off, unable to hold back a quiet sob. His emerging tears are instantly stalled, however, when he feels a hand come to lightly rest on his shoulder. Surprisingly, he doesn't pull away, only staring up at the unknowable void where the Master's face should be as he speaks softly, sincerely almost. "Believe it or not, I know how you feel. I have plenty of promises to keep myself. But… the Kingdom demands a King. And Sora… that King is you."

My King… the Kingdom's voice finally echoes throughout the palace once again. Claim your crown… Claim your throne… Become whole…

He doesn't respond, doesn't move. Doesn't do anything but listen to what his Kingdom is trying to tell him, to the pull on his heart trying to guide him to the throne he was born to be in, the crown he is destined to wear.

You're Home. Let yourself be here, let yourself stay here. Let your heart become one with your Kingdom's… Let us both become everything we are meant to be once more…

He doesn't feel the Master let his shoulder go, nor does he pay him any mind as he steps out of his way. Instead, he quietly steps forward, his focus fixed on the throne and the crown resting upon it. It lures him in, gravitates his body, mind, and soul toward it, just like the Kingdom has done so many times before. Despite all of his protests and hesitation… he does want it. He wants his crown, his throne, his Kingdom. He wants to be whole, to be where he truly belongs. He wants the power to keep the worlds he loves so dearly safe, to ensure that everyone he's ever met can live happy and free. He wants everything his beloved Kingdom has promised him.

And yet…

When he runs a gentle hand over the side of his crown, he still finds that there's something else he wants just a little bit more.

"Well?" the Master asks somewhere behind him. "What are you waiting for, your majesty?"

"I… I can't…" Sora pulls his hand away from his crown.

"Why not?" There's a sudden edge to the Master's voice. An edge that's barely managing to stay just below the surface.

Sora turns, resolve burning in his mismatched eyes as he stares past the Master, to the stars representing so many of the worlds he's been to and so many others he hasn't. Worlds he'll never have a chance to truly see if he stays stuck in the same place for the rest of time. "My entire life, I've only ever wanted one thing: to be with my friends. But no matter how much I tried to hold onto them, no matter how much I chased after them… we kept being pulled away from each other around every turn. I fought so hard and so long for the future I dreamed of having with them. Only to find out that future never had a chance at existing at all."

He begins stepping away from the throne, turning his back on it and his crown completely. And in doing so, turning away from the immensely powerful, utterly lonely existence they'll force him to lead. "It's not fair; none of this is! The Kingdom sent me down there, let me make those connections, it let me make friends, it let me fall in love, but it wouldn't even let me have at least one lifetime with any of them!? Seventeen years isn't enough, it isn't even close to enough! I love my Kingdom, I always will; but I know that if I stay here, I'll never be happy again. I'd rather die after spending one more day with the people I love than live forever without any of them by my side!"

His final proclamation rings through the hallowed hall. The Kingdom itself seems shocked by it, as does the Master. He stands stiff, his reaction all but a mystery under the hood hiding his face away. But Sora doesn't care what he might think of it, he doesn't even care what his own Kingdom has to say about it. There's only one thing he cares about now: finding a way to leave one Home… and return to another.

He draws in a steadying breath, squaring his shoulders as he steps down from the dais. He doesn't say another word as he begins to pass through the sea of stars, steadily making his way to the door, to freedom, until–

He's forcibly stopped when something pins the edge of his cape as it drapes across the floor behind him. The Master has a firm foot planted down on it as he fixes Sora with a look that, while entirely unseen, still sends a shiver down his spine.

"Not so fast there, your majesty," he says. It's amazing, really, how quickly every shed of false charm and wit has drained from him, leaving only an icy sternness behind in their place. "Whether you 'want' to stay or not doesn't matter, especially not to your Kingdom. It's worked this hard to get you here; do you really think it's just going to let you leave that easily?"

"I don't care," Sora pulls his cape away. "I'll find a way out of here. I'll do whatever it takes to get back to where I belong!"

You belong here, My King… the Kingdom finally says something, but he tunes it out. For as connected as he might be to it, he can't continue to cling onto that connection if it means he'll be ripped away from everything else he's ever loved.

"Hmph, always so stubborn," the Master sneers. "I don't know why I expected you to be anything else. I'd almost say I admire your tenacity, but there's just one teensy-tiny problem with your plan to abdicate your throne, kiddo. See, if you don't accept your crown, then I won't be able to leave. And after sitting around here for hundreds of years waiting for you to show up and bail me out, well, let's just say I've grown more than a little… impatient."

"That's your problem," Sora scoffs, turning to continue his way out. "Whatever happened with the necklace doesn't matter. I don't even know who you are! I don't owe you anything."

He's about halfway across the hall when the barrier rises up. It's made of magic unlike any he's ever seen before, to the point that he can't tell if it's the Kingdom's doing, or the Master's. The answer becomes clear however, when he hears the telltale sound of a Keyblade flashing into the Master's hand. "Actually, Sora, I'd say you do."

With the X-Blade by his side, Sora is more than ready for any fight the Master might offer him. But nothing in any world could prepare him for the Keyblade he finds his foe with when he turns around to face him.

"W-what?!" he blinks, wondering if he's just seeing things. But sure enough, there it is, the same black weapon he'd seen so many times before in his grandfather's hand, the very Keyblade he'd made sure to destroy as soon as he was able… now resting restored in the hand of another. "That… that Keyblade. How did you… Why do you have that?!"

"Oh, this old thing?" the Master inspects his weapon casually. "I forged it myself, actually. An apprentice of mine made sure it found its way across the ages. He must have done well if you managed to see it."

Sora staggers back, barely listening. All he can do is stare at that wicked Keyblade, the very weapon that had viciously ran his heart straight through. As much as he might hate to admit it, the sight of it alone terrifies him even still. "I-it can't be…" he swallows hard, his hands shaking as his thoughts confront him with a truly horrific possibility. "Are… are you… Xehanort?"

The man before him isn't the Xehanort, of course. But Sora knows all too well just how thin his grandfather had spread his own heart. There's always a chance that the lights had failed to take care of every last one of his vessels. The Master, however, bristles at the mere suggestion alone. He drops into an offensive stance, his feet no longer bound to the floor as he rushes at Sora with no warning at all.

"Don't call me that!" he shouts, his usual calm seeming to shatter completely. "Never ever call me that!"

It's a surprising reaction, to say the least. But Sora can't say he'd respond all that differently if he were in the Master's shoes. Still, even if there's one thing they may agree on, there's plenty of others that they don't. That much is made clear when Sora is forced to raise the X-Blade to defend the Master's strong starting strike.

"If you won't take up the throne you were born to be in… if you won't set me free… then I'll just have to make you," he practically growls, brandishing his weapon for another brutal blow.

Sora manages to roll out of the way of it just in time, alarmed by this sudden turn, but hardly surprised by it. From the second he first laid eyes on the Master of Masters as far back as Daybreak Town, he had a feeling he'd end up crossing Keyblades with him eventually. But he could have never imagined that would happen here, in his Kingdom, before his throne.

The stars peel back rapidly almost as soon as the battle begins, leaving plenty of room for Sora and the Master to work with. Their fight is immediate, fast-paced, and both of them wield their respective weapons well. It surprises Sora, to be up against anyone who can stand so firm against the mighty X-Blade, a weapon that even Xehanort couldn't conquer. But for all of the strength that mystical Keyblade allows him, the Master seems to have just as much strength to match it. He doesn't use much magic, relying on his own abilities and experience. Experience that makes it more than clear why he's known as the Master of Masters.

Sora shouts as he's thrown back into the barrier the Master has created. He can't be injured here, isn't able to die. Which is why he's not so sure what the Master hopes to accomplish with such sudden violence. "I hope you don't think you can just beat me until I take the throne," he challenges as he rises to stand again. "You've probably already noticed this by now, but I don't give up that easily."

"Neither do I," the Master agrees. "I've waited far longer than you can even fathom for this day to arrive. I'm not letting it pass me by just because some spoiled little brat doesn't want to do his job!"

Their Keyblades clash again, powerfully enough to rattle the entire throne room. The stars shiver, the stained glass windows buckle, but don't break. The entire Kingdom recognizes the sheer strength of both beings fighting within its boundaries. And oddly enough, it doesn't seem to be doing a single thing to take either one's side.

"Why won't you just tell me who you really are and how you wound up stuck here?" Sora asks after avoiding another one of the Master's rapid blows. "If I knew more about you, I might actually be more willing to help you out!"

"You should want that regardless," the Master counters as he blocks the X-Blade's shining edge. "You should want all of this, anyone would! So why don't you?"

"I already told you," Sora hisses between gritted teeth. "I don't want to be king of anything if it means I have to always be alone."

"You get used to being alone. Take it from someone who has been for a thousand years. Face it, Sora. You're just being selfish."

That strikes a nerve with Sora, far more than anything else the Master has said to him so far. He's heard the accusation before, from his foes and from himself most of all. But to hear it now, now after he's finally realized he has value, that he has a life he wants to go back to living, that he wants to live that life for himself and for the people most dear to him… it's a lie he refuses to listen to any longer.

He doesn't bother dignifying the Master with anything other than a furious shout, charging at him at full speed. His voice is raw, ringing out through the hall as his magic responds, light and darkness slamming into the Master's nameless Keyblade even before the X-Blade can. Sora doesn't stop there, keeping his furious momentum going as he unleashes his rage against the Master, against the Kingdom, against every last thing that ever played a part in bringing him here. Though the Master parries him away every time, Sora doesn't let up, not even as he's eventually shoved right back in the direction of the dais.

"Do you really think," he finally speaks up as he shoves the full weight of the X-Blade against the master's weapon, magic sparking from its shimmering edge. "That someone who would give up everything just to stop a war and save their friends only to wind up stuck in a place where they'll never get to be with them again is selfish?"

"I think someone who's so desperate to back out of something they agreed to and willingly accepted is," the Master retorts. He's not even winded from their lengthy scuffle, his strength practically inhuman. A perfect match for someone like Sora, who's managed to become something far more than human himself. "You knew what you were getting yourself into, kiddo. You knew the cost. But you still answered the Kingdom's call anyway. And for what? Just so you could kill good ol' gramps and keep the Kingdom out of his hands? Well, congrats, Sora! You succeeded! And just think: the worlds are much better off for it, everyone is! The only one who isn't is-"

"Me…" Sora finally stops his endless torrent of attacks. The X-Blade falls slack in his grip, his eyes wide as he realizes there's some truth in the Master's twisted claims. Much more truth than he could ever hope to argue against, really. Because in the end, he'd gotten almost everything he'd wanted: he'd taken Xehanort and the Organization down, he'd brought the worlds back from the brink of extinction, he'd even managed to safely secure the lives of every last one of his friends. The only life he couldn't save, the life he's never been able to hold onto, it seems… is his own.

But he's still trying to, he's still trying to fight fate, fight destiny, fight the nature of his very own heart. He's still trying to give himself the same happy ending he'd created for everyone else. Even if it means destroying the very foundation all of those other happy endings have been built upon.

That sickening thought doesn't leave his mind, not even as the Master manages to kick him back hard. Sora slams into the wall only inches beside his throne, only having time to spare the smallest of glances over at. Because within seconds after that unexpected attack, the Master suddenly has him by the throat, holding him high in the air as he finally forces the X-Blade out of the boy's hand altogether.

He doesn't struggle to breathe, even despite the Master's unyielding grip. He can't help but wonder if he even needs to breathe anymore at all. "W-wait," he starts. He's not sure what he intends to say next, if he plans on begging for mercy, if he wants to try to convince this madman there's another option that'll set them both free. Of course, in the end, the Master doesn't give him a chance to say anything at all.

"Wait?" he scoffs back, breaking out into an unhinged, angry laugh. "Wait?! I've been waiting for the past one thousand years! I'm not waiting one more year, one more day, one more second! I've served my time as a prisoner here long enough, chained to that stupid throne and I crown I never even asked for! It's time for someone else to bear the weight of it all! It's time for the Kingdom to have a new King!"

Sora can't even begin to make sense of what the Master's resentful rant might mean. The only thing that does manage to register for him now is the raw, unquenchable fear that fills him when he sees the crown suddenly appear in the Master's free hand. He shouts, kicking and flailing in one final, frantic attempt at escape. He forces his magic to surge, but every last spell seems to phase cleanly through the Master, as if he weren't even there at all. He even goes as far as considering begging the Kingdom for help, but quickly decides against it. After all, why would it want to help him now, when the Master is about to give it everything it so desperately wants?

Claim your throne… claim your crown… Otherworldly tears slide down his cheeks as he hears it continue to repeat its almost mournful plea. It wants the same thing he does, to be whole, to be complete, to be united after so very long apart. But the price he'll have to pay to make all of that happen, what he knows he'll lose weighed against what he might gain…

It's all far more than even he can take.

"So," Sora can't see it, but he knows the Master must be smiling under his hood. He wishes he could hate him for it, and certainly, some part of him does. Almost as much as he hates what the Master is about to do, as much as he hates that it's what needs to be done. "All hail King Sora…"

It happens, like so many of the worst things Sora has been through, in but a single moment. The Master throws him downward, not onto the ground, but onto his throne. And before that throne can pour its power into him, before he can so much as even get another breath out, the Master firmly rests the crown upon his head.

My King… My Sky… My Sora! You're here! You're finally, finally Home!

WE'RE FINALLY WHOLE!

It is whole. He is whole. They are whole. And…

It feels incredible. It feels agonizing.

He loves it. He hates it.

It's hot, like fire searing straight into his soul. It's cold, like ice lacing through his every last vein.

It's violent, noisy, chaotic, and untamed. It's peaceful, gentle, sweet, and loving.

It's light and darkness, life and death, everything and nothing, all at the exact same time.

It's far more than any mere mortal could ever hope to bear. Which is why it's a good thing he isn't mortal. At least, not anymore.

His mouth hangs open in a silent scream, eyes once again overtaken by pools of empty black and white. The Master is undaunted, unmoved, even as sheer, unspeakable power radiates from the boy sitting before him. Instead, a smile creeps onto the face hidden just beneath his hood. The same smile he'd worn when he'd watched from the shadows as the little King finally arrived to claim his crown, to set him free.

And, after centuries of perfect patience and only one brief and minor setback smoothly taken care of, that's exactly what he's about to be.

Yet…

As he watches the boy bond with his Kingdom, become one with his crown, the Master knows he's seen this all before. He's been in that same seat before. And now, to make someone else take his place, to endure the same cruel and lonely fate the Kingdom had dealt him over a thousand years ago… it's enough to nearly make him feel guilty about all of this. And maybe he would… if he wasn't about to go back to everything he'd spent centuries working so hard to achieve.

The Kingdom finally grows quiet, content as can be as warm light pours from each of the thirteen stained glass windows. The stars shine brighter, as if the worlds themselves are celebrating the crowning of a new King. But as for that King himself… he couldn't be any more miserable.

Even after his transfiguration is complete, he's still screaming, crying as he presses his hands against his reconfigured heart, now eternally merged with his Kingdom, locked into place forevermore. He's so engulfed in grief that he doesn't even hear the quiet, solemn apology the Master offers him. The Kingdom tries to comfort him, tries whispering gentle promises of love and reassurance. But in the end, those empty promises mean nothing to him anymore. Not now, when he finally realizes what his own Kingdom, his own Heart truly is, what it's always been all along.

The Kingdom is a prison.

"Why…?" he finally speaks. Even he doesn't know if the question is meant for the Master, the Kingdom, or for himself. "WHY?!"

The Master sighs, shakes his head. "It's just the way it has to be," he answers simply, softly. His form is already starting to fade, the connection keeping him chained to the Kingdom finally broken. But after what he's just done, Sora refuses to let him slip away that easily.

"Wait!" he grips the sides of his throne, his empty eyes blazing with fury and despair. "Please, I just… tell me why you did this… Tell me who you are!"

Silence fills the hall for a moment or two as the Master contemplates this request. There's not much time before he disappears entirely, but in the end, he decides to dedicate that time to giving the heartbroken King exactly what he's asked for. For better or worse. "Alright. I suppose I owe you that much. But be warned, your majesty. You won't like what you're about to see."

Sora doesn't bother to ask what he means by that. Instead he watches, leaning forward on his throne as the Master moves his hands to the edges of his hood. He slips it off slowly, as if it's something he hasn't done in centuries, as if no one has seen what lies beneath it in ages. And as for what lies beneath that hood…

"W-what?" Sora is barely able to breathe, scarcely able to believe what he's seeing. Much less comprehend all of the countless conflicting emotions crashing against each other as he takes it all in. "Y-you're… h-how-"

"Shh…." the Master silences him with a smile. He's all but faded away now, but he still leaves the boy with one final, haunting message before he's granted the freedom Sora will never get to see again. "There's not enough time to tell the full story. But just know this: you sacrificed everything for love, Sora. And at the end of the day, I guess… so did I."

And then… he's gone. But Sora's still there.

Alone.

The moments after the Master vanishes are heavy, deafening as Sora sits upon his throne, frozen in shock. For however immortal and empowered he might be now, he still manages to find himself just as overwhelmed as he used to be when he was human. When he was human–because he isn't anymore. He never will be again. And some awful part of him knows he never really was to begin with. That his humanity, his mortality, his life itself had been nothing more than an illusion of borrowed time his Kingdom had decided to briefly let him have. A respite, a break from his eternal, lonely vigil. And nothing more.

My King… the Kingdom's unseen embrace envelops him again and he hates that he has no idea how to escape it. Be at ease… All is well… All is at last as it should be…

It's right. He knows it's right, it always is. And yet…

"Why?" he asks again. This time his voice is quiet, hanging between mournful sobs as he pulls his knees to his chest and curls up upon his throne. It's undignified, very unkingly. But he couldn't care any less as he continues crying like the child some part of him still is. "Why did you let this happen…? Why did you force me to do this?"

I forced nothing of you, my King, the Kingdom calmly corrects. You wanted, more than anything, to become a mortal, to live a life as one of your subjects. And when you did, we both agreed, we promised each other, that you would someday return to reclaim your crown. You were the one who forgot that promise… You forgot your Kingdom, your purpose. You forgot yourself…

Sora doesn't know how to argue any of those claims, because he already knows they're all true.. So he doesn't. He simply sits there silently as his own Kingdom continues to condemn his actions, just like so many others before it have.

You buried yourself so deeply in the life you made among the mortals. You wiped away almost every trace of what you really were and convinced yourself that you were one of them instead. But for as much as you might have forgotten, my King, I never did. I could never forget the connection between us, one that has bound you and I from the very beginning of time. Though you lost sight of me, I never once lost sight of my love for you…

"If you love me so much, then why won't you let me go back!?" Sora shouts bitterly, brokenly. "I don't care if nothing about my life was real to you; it was real to me! I can't just pretend like none of it ever happened; I can't–I won't forget any of what I saw or the people I met just because you want me to! I can't…" he cuts himself off, his crown feeling heavier than it ever has before. "I can't go back to being alone…"

But you're not alone, my King… the Kingdom's hold tightens on him, just about suffocates him. You have me… You've always been so lonely, Sora… even before you decided to leave. But now, we are both here, together, just as we once were before. Why is that still not enough?

"I… I don't know…" he admits, a familiar ache settling in his chest. A millennium-old longing for something more. Something that he'd somehow managed to find on the sunny shores of a small island so very far away. Something he'd found in the space between a silver-haired boy and a blue-eyed girl. Something the Kingdom, no matter how much it might try, has never been able to give him the same way they could. "I just… I miss them… I miss them, I miss all of it so much, I-"

You miss it? The Kingdom questions almost incredulously. You miss the pain you were constantly put through? The suffering you were forced to endure? You miss the torture your own kin inflicted upon you? The loneliness you felt just as strongly there as you do here? Why, my King, would you want to return to any of that? I watched you struggle, felt every second of your endless agony. So I continued to call to you, worked as hard as possible to free you from the darkness they had forced upon you so I could bring you back Home. Don't you see, my King? I saved you from that suffering. From that pain. From the worst the worlds had to offer. I saved you from living.

There's plenty of truth to what it's saying, Sora can't deny that. For all of the ways the Kingdom might be trapping him, it has liberated him in so many others. He knows now that its power was what had set his heart free from Xehanort's control, that it had brought him back from the brink of death more times than he can count. His Kingdom has been with him, guiding him and helping him every step of the way.

And yet, even then, there were so times when even its care and calling hadn't been enough. When his hope had run dry, when his mind had been poisoned with despair and self-loathing, when his heart had been turned in a tide of darkness even he couldn't stop. He thinks back on those moments, far too many moments, when he'd considered ending it all by his own hand, when he'd contemplated making a desperate escape by any means possible. If he had, if any of the attempts he'd actually made had ended up working, he supposes his Kingdom would have still been here, awaiting his return. It would have been here, just like it always has been, to welcome its beloved King home.

Somewhere between remembering all of his sadness and sorrow, another thought begins to bloom to life. A thought that he tries to resist, he tries putting it out of his mind the moment it enters. But ultimately, as all of his most awful memories of the life he used to lead flow through him like scalding water, he lets that thought emerge all the same.

He wonders if, in that decisive moment seventeen years ago, he had been wrong. He wonders if he should have thought twice about casting his crown off, if he should have thought more about abandoning his throne. He wonders if he ever should have left, if he ever should have let himself lead the life of a simple human, in the first place. If any of it was even worth it at all.

It wasn't, his Kingdom tells him. Living as a mortal made you miserable.

It did, oh stars, it did so many times over. Life had been exhausting, horrifying, agonizing, unbearable.

But…

It had also been beautiful.

The islands had been beautiful. Having parents, a family, had been beautiful. Getting to grow up had been beautiful. Having friends, falling in love, had been beautiful. Being human had been so, so beautiful that even the most spectacular sights in all his Kingdom can't even begin to compare.

It had hurt him, yes, more times than he can possibly begin to count. But for all the pain and all of the sorrow… there had been so much good, so much hope, so much happiness. There had been so many special places and people and moments and memories. For seventeen short years, he had learned how to live, how to cry, how to laugh, how to love. And he had loved, his friends, his family, the worlds, his life… He'd loved it all so deeply, so much. Too much.

And now… now it's all gone.

Except it isn't, none of it is. It's all still there, exactly where it should be. The only one that isn't… is him.

How cruel, he thinks, when he settles to properly sit in his throne again, that fate would do this to him. That it would give him all of this, a beautiful, devoted Kingdom, an eternal, unbreakable throne, limitless power that so many have committed such terrible atrocities to claim. And yet… it would take the one simple thing he's always wanted away. That it would let him have all of that power, all of the worlds in the palm of his hand… and leave him without an ounce of love to hold onto.

It let him have all this power… He ponders that as he stares down at his arms, wreathed in that power just like the rest of his body is. He brims with it, overflowing from his ancient, fully-awakened heart. It doesn't hurt anymore; instead, it's calming, natural, familiar. He used to possess this same power like it was nothing seventeen years ago, before he'd given himself a body or a name. The power to create entire worlds, to control nature, to craft new lives into existence from nothing. And… perhaps the most alluring power of them all… the power to change. To change worlds, change hearts, change minds.

And maybe… to even change fate itself.

No, the Kingdom reads the idea that's suddenly bloomed to life inside his mind. If he didn't know any better, it sounds… scared, almost. No, you can't-

"I'm the King, aren't I?" he cuts it off. An empty smile slides onto his face as he pulls himself to his full height upon his throne. After being forced to listen to his Kingdom so many times before, Sora decides it's finally time his Kingdom listens to him for a change. "And being King means that I'm in charge, doesn't it?"

The Kingdom doesn't answer. He can tell it doesn't like what he's saying, what he's thinking, what he's planning on doing. And right now, he couldn't even begin to be bothered to care. "For as long as I can remember, even before I was ever a human, you've always been there," he admits, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. "You've been there to support me, to help me, to stand by me, but… you've also always controlled me. You forced me to stay here, you'd never let me intervene when I wanted to help a world that was in trouble, you wouldn't let me communicate with any mortals. You wouldn't let me do anything at all!"

He sighs again, this time gripping the sides of his throne. As freshly tethered to it as he is, it takes a moment or two, but he eventually manages to pull himself out of it to stand. "That's part of the reason why I left. I wanted some space. I wanted to know what just being me would be like. I wanted to get away from you."

You don't mean that-

"Yes, I do!" he sharply shouts back. "And for a while, I did get the freedom I always wanted. I couldn't hear you anymore, I couldn't feel your presence. And it felt so good to just exist for a change. But even then… you didn't let that last. You kept calling for me, you kept twisting my fate. You even let people like Xehanort and Maleficent take control of me so I would think you were the better option. But now I know the truth; you're no different than they were!"

My King-

"Don't call me that!" he snaps, growing more furious by the second. "I'm not yours! I shouldn't have to belong to you or to anyone or anything else, no one should! If being human taught me anything, it's that no one deserves to have their destiny decided by someone else. They should have the freedom to choose who and what they want to be, to make whatever life they want to live. They should have the freedom you've never wanted to give me."

Freedom to do what? The Kingdom finally cuts through, their many voices seething with rage. To live a short, meaningless existence with flawed, foolish mortals who can never hope to love you the way I can?!

"No," Sora stops at the edge of the dais. "You're wrong. My friends, my parents, Riku and Kairi, they all gave me so much more than you ever have. Because unlike your love, their love is real."

You'll regret going back! The Kingdom's practically screaming at him now. The light from the windows and from the stars starkly snuffs them out, leaving the room in almost pitch blackness. Through his own natural light though, Sora still manages to see just fine. You'll regret it every day for the rest of the horrible, hollow human life you're so desperate to lead!

"...If I regret it… then let me regret it," Sora smiles again as he slowly removes his crown from his head. "At least I'll have gotten to live again… At least I'll have gotten the chance to be with them again, even if it's just for a little longer…"

Please, my King! The Kingdom begs him, but he brushes their voices off, uses his own power to release himself from its invisible arms. Don't do this! You'll fracture yourself all over again, you'll put every last world you claim to care so much about at risk! And when you someday die, you WILL return here, I'll make sure of it! You can't hide from your crown, you can't hide from ME forever!

Sora says nothing to such a heavy threat. He already knows the Kingdom means every word too. He'll never be truly free from this place, from this Heart, from what he was created to be. But to go back to what he'd only ever gotten a glimpse of before, to be back on that shore, to be with the ones he's grown to so deeply love. To finally have everything he spent the past seventeen years fighting so hard for… even it's only one more day when weighed against the uncountable centuries he has spent and will spend here…

Then that day will be the best and brightest moment of his endless existence he'll have ever known.

STOP! The Kingdom yells when he gently places his crown upon the immaculate tiled floor.

PLEASE! It cries, throwing everything it has at him to force him to stay. He stays grounded against the violent torrent of sound, sights, and sensations, against the incredible storm his Kingdom is creating to keep him there.

MY KING! It screeches the second the X-Blade appears in his raised hands. He understands the sacrifice he's about to make all too well. He knows exactly what he's giving up, just like he did when he had accepted the title he no longer wants. This time, however, he won't be changing his mind again. He's sure of it.

SORA!

"I'm sorry, my Kingdom…" he whispers, smiling and crying all at once. "But I'm not your King anymore…"

He brings the X-Blade down, straight into the center of his crown. His power blazes from it, stronger than it ever has been before, explosive and incredible. The Kingdom's voices are screaming all around him, every last one of the stained glass windows breaking as the thirteen Keys seem to vanish along with them. His own voice joins in the cacophony of so many others, pain unlike anything he's ever felt searing straight through to his immortal soul.

Never before has pain felt so good.

It feels like it goes on forever, and for all he knows, it might. But just when his pain has reached its peak, when the storm has become its most brutal, when his Kingdom is crying out for him the loudest… it finally happens.

All the worlds feel it, every last one. Somewhere in every interconnected sky, there's but a tiny burst of light, unnoticed by many, by most. But the few that do see it bear witness to a rare phenomenon indeed. To something that's only happened once, precisely seventeen years ago.

They witness a Kingdom lose its King. They witness a Heart lose its only love.

They witness the crown, the Kingdom, and its King… all shatter together all over again.

The Kingdom is a prison.

And that prison that can't hold him anymore.

One left. One damn chapter left. I literally cannot believe it ya'll. I'm sitting here in shock right now, on the verge of tears. Four years of pouring it all into this fic and we only have the epilogue left. There are scarely words I can even say right now, so I won't. Instead, all I'll ask is that you kindly review. Until next time... the last time... Wow...