I just hugged him as he hugged me. Tears fell down my face. I almost died. In 10 seconds, I would have died. Either that or lost my heart to darkness.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. Sora coughed. We separated, our cheeks turning red.

"How did you do that, Riku?" I asked him.

"I could read Ansem's mind he was in my body. I shared minds. I read his thoughts. The necklace that you have is pure light. It's what keeps you from fading into darkness. As long as you have that necklace on, you're safe. But he also knew that you had some sort of hidden power, a power that could either save or destroy the worlds. If you joined darkness, you'd be theirs, but the necklace kept you connected to the realm of light. So he and Maleficent decided to take the necklace. You would either be the most powerful wielder of the dark, or fade into darknesss as it would all rush to you at once." I gaped at him. I just wanted to kiss him for no reason. I would have if Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Beast weren't behind me.

"But why are you sorry?" I asked him.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop him," he answered, looking away from me.

"Riku, don't be sorry. It's not like you could do anyth-"

"But I didn't try hard enough!" He yelled. I kissed his cheek.

"You saved me. That's all that matters." He looked away. I could tell he was blushing.

"I love you," I heard him whisper. Now I really wanted to kiss him. I rested my head on his shoulder. Kairi and Sora smiled.

Then, of course, Maleficent had to interuppt it all. But, didn't I defeat her?

Sora glared at Maleficent, remembering the situation.

"Where is Ansem?" he yelled, "I know you know where he is!"

"Oh, do you now?" she laughed, "You caught me in a good mood. I'll humor you for a while. He's in the End of the World." With that, she disappeared.

"Can we really trust her?" Sora asked. Riku nodded.

"She's right. I can sort-of, feel his presence. He's there, I know it," Riku said.

"Well then, let's go!" Donald yelled into the air. Donald went on the gummi ship first. Then Goofy, then Kairi, then Sora. Riku put my hand in his. I smiled. We went in together. Sora and Donald sat in the front, followed by Goofy and Kairi. Riku and I sat in the back. I stared out my window, watching the flying heartless zoom past as Sora and Donald worked together to defeat them. Riku and I were still holding hands.

"Riku?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" he whispered back.

"I love you so much," I said.

"I love you, too," he said back. He leaned into me. His soft lips touched mine. He kissed me. I kissed him. I was waiting for this. I was waiting for the longest time. We must have kissed for a long time, because when we stopped, Kairi was staring. She turned around quickly once she realized I saw her. Riku laughed. I giggled. I put my head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

"Mikaila, Mikaila wake up!" I heard someone whisper as they nudged my shoulder. My eyes opened and I saw Riku. "We're here."

I stood up and took a deep breath. The End of the World. Sounds scary. Riku could tell I was scared. He took my hand.

"I'm right here if you need me," he said, trying to comfort me. I smiled.

"Thanks."

We walked out of the gummi ship.

"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the heartless?" Goofy asked.

"Those world will be restored if we defeat Ansem, right?" Sora asked.

"You betcha'!" Donald exclaimed.

"But, if we do beat him, and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place, and to us?" Sora seemed to be thinking a lot lately. I used to think of him as just my crazy, care-free friend, but now he seemed so adult-like.

"Well, uh..." Donald started.

"This is a heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear," Goofy continued. Sora and Donald turned around, gaping at him. "But no worries. Even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't goin' nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again. Yup, I just know we will!" Donald agreed. Sora stared into the sky.

"Yeah, you're right," Sora said. He reached his hand into one of his pockets and smiled. We continued on.

"Look! A tresure chest!" Goofy shouted running over to it. We were all on the platform of rock that the tresure chest was on when we were in a whole different place, face to face with one of the most dangerous heartless I've ever seen. It hit me once, and I was on the ground. Riku shouted my name into the air. He used a potion and I jumped to my feet. I repeatedly hit the heartless, along with Sora. Riku and Donald were using magic. Goofy was attacking from behind. Kairi used light. It finally died, after about fifteen minutes. It took a long time for just one heartless. Sora opened the tresure chest, and we were back in the original world.

"Goofy, do me a favor," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead, "don't go to any more treasure chests." He nodded.

From there, we followed a steady path. Then we came to many colorful twists and turns and pathways. We split up into groups of three, and yelled if we found an exit. Sure enough, Riku found the way out. Or at least I think. He jumped into a large whole and didn't come back up, but how could he? Kairi was next to me when he jumped, so I called for Sora, Donald and Goofy.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! We found the exit!"

Instantly, they appeared by my side, staring down into the black pit.

"I'm not going down there," Sora said.

"Are you afraid? The keyblade master, Sora, is afraid?" I taunted.

"No!" He shouted. "All right, fine." Sora jumped in, then Goofy, then Donald.

"Kairi, you go next," I said, nudging her. She nodded and jumped in. After she jumped in, I saw heartless jump out from everywhere. I jumped in.

Next thing I know, I see Riku and Sora standing above me. They helped me up off of the ground. I looked around and saw floating platforms of rock with beams of different colors. Sora, like the clumsy little boy he is, fell into that beam. Then he sort-of warped and was gone.

"I think they transport people..." Donald said.

"Well, we gotta follow Sora," Kairi protested. Everyone else nodded, one by one. Then Kairi went through. Then Goofy, then Donald. I was about to go in, but I stopped.

"Riku, I'm scared," I admitted. He walked over to me and smiled. He wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head in his chest.

"What are you scared of?"

"What is going to happen."

"Whatever happens, I will be with you the whole time. I won't leave you. Never again. I promise." I hugged him tighter.

"You truly promise?"

"I truly promise."

When you walk away, you don't hear me say, "Please, oh baby, don't go." Simple and clean is the way that you're makin me feel tonight. It's hard to let it go. Hold me. Whatever lies beyond this morning is a little later on. Regardless of warnings, the future doesn't scare me at all. Nothing's like before.

I finally understood that song. I really did. Riku made me feel exactly like that. I never wanted him to leave me again.