Disclaimer: Not mine, yay!

Chapter 26- Sora's Compassion

Sora stood in shock when he saw the girl waiting for him in the arena.

"Hello, Sora." smiled Iji grimly.

"Hello…" Sora replied. He hardly recognised Iji now; she had changed so much inside and out. "Do we have to fight?" asked Sora, pleading for the good side of Iji to show itself.

Iji summoned her Star Cutters and nodded. "Unfortunately we do, Sora. We have no other choice."

Hades sat on a bench, eating popcorn. "Go Iji! Rip that punk apart!"

Iji turned, eyes glaring. "You will stay silent during this match, Hades. I'm not going to kill him, no matter how much you want me to."

"You're not?" interrupted Sora in wonder.

Iji turned back to him. "No, of course not… I entered this competition to show you how good I've become, but it doesn't mean I won't hurt you though."

Sora flinched at her words and summoned his Keyblade. "I didn't want it to come to this, Iji." He crouched down to prepare.

"I did." Iji tightened her grip on her weapons and ran at Sora.

Iji swung both her arms together, aiming for Sora's ribs. Sora quickly whipped his Keyblade to the side and deflected the attack.

"I will help you find the light again!" Sora gritted his teeth as he leapt at Iji.

Iji ducked and put her foot out, tripping Sora over. "I don't want to come back! The darkness holds all the answers to my questions!" She stabbed down.

Sora dodge-rolled out of the way and sprung to his feet. "It doesn't, Iji! You can find the answers in the light, too!"

"No, there's nothing left for me in the light! I can only depend on the darkness for my answers now!" Iji cried out. She faltered as she spoke and Sora cut her arm. Iji glared at him and counter-attacked, ripping Sora's shirt and leaving him with a shallow gash across the chest.

Sora held his free hand up to the wound, which dripped blood. He cast a cure spell to heal his injury and attacked again. Iji was scored across her legs as he swung low. Blood blossomed from the new wound. Iji ignored the pain and continued to attack, this time scratching Sora on the stomach. Sora healed himself once more.

Sora watched as blood dripped down Iji's shirt and pants and pooled on the ground. "It's the darkness which holds nothing for you, Iji! I helped you to gain a memory before, remember? We can keep working at it! I can help you!"

Iji stopped dead, her eyes looked reminiscent. "The memory… When we first met in the Secret Place…"

"That's the one, Iji!" Sora encouraged her. "And remember how much fun we had in Wonderland? Didn't you have fun?"

"I had fun… But you didn't let me help you the entire time we were there." Iji stared at the blood on the ground. Her face was starting to look pale.

"I was stupid, Iji! I understand now! You're much stronger than I thought you were! You're even more capable than me!" Sora yelled, trying to keep her attention.

Iji dropped to her knees. She held back tears. "All I wanted to do was help. That's why I went to Agrabah, because I wanted to help you find the Keyholes."

Sora walked over to her and sat down beside her. "You said you wanted to show me how good you've become. I believe you now, Iji. I believe you."

Tears fell from Iji's eyes. The girl stared up into the sky. "Thank you, Sora. That's all… That's all I wanted."

Sora wrapped his arms around the crying girl. He was so glad that she had made the right choice. As he hugged her, a bright glow surrounded Iji. The darkness tainting her white wing shrivelled away and the black streaks in her eyes vanished. Her wounds healed instantly. Iji sighed tiredly, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Dark robes approached them. Hades' hair was burning red. "You were supposed to take him out! Not go back to his side!!"

"Leave her alone, Hades. She doesn't belong to the darkness anymore." Sora held Iji closer.

Hades suddenly turned around, his hair turning back to normal. "Hey, why should I care? I always have a backup plan in place, anyway. Now you three have fun."

"What are you on about?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Oh, you'll see." Hades smirked. He clicked a bony finger and thumb together and the gates magically sealed. "You'll see indeed…" Hades drifted off, leaving them trapped. A dark laugh echoed behind him.

Sora blinked. "I think he's lost it. There's nobody else here!"

A slight breeze blew and whirled around the pair.

Iji's eyes went wide. "No, it can't be…"

"What is it? It's only a wind." Sora looked around.

"The Wind Titan…" Iji whispered in fear.