Well, here's Chapter 4, my longest chapter yet in word count. I must say, though, after days of work, it was a rather satisfying chapter to write in the end. This chapter was rather unexpected as well for its intended purpose, perhaps because of the unexpected nature of the previous chapter, but regardless, I hope you enjoy Chapter 4 of Book Four: Light!

Silence…

The perpetual silence…

The perpetual darkness….

She has been here before…in this state of being. When was the last time…? She tried to dive into the depths of her memory, but failed to produce anything.

Who was she? Why was she here? Why did her body feel so weak?

"Kairi!"

She felt her body shake.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes," she heard the voice of a male. His voice sounded familiar.

Was her name Kairi?

'It's no use," another voice declared, a much deeper voice, "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

Has she lost her heart? She didn't feel like she had lost her heart.

"What? You…" the voice suddenly cut off. She felt as if her body was being dragged away, moved into a different plane of existence.

"Do you think there is anything we can do for her?" a soft, adult female voice asked.

"I don't know for sure," an older male spoke, "she was in critical condition when we found her. I'm surprised that she is even alive after what she must have endured."

"I will try to heal her as much as I can," a new feminine voice, younger than the last, broke in with steady determination, "but whether or not she wakes up depends on her own will at this point."

"But what do you think that thing in her hand was…?" the voices dissipated as her consciousness retreated once again. She could not make sense of any of what she was hearing. Did she lose her heart? Was she injured?

"But first, you must give the princess back her heart," the deep voice commanded. She realized that this voice overlapped, as if the entity were of two people rather than one. One of those voices also sounded very familiar. As she tried to listen again, she began to feel immense pain, but the agonizing voice was not her own cry, but that of the boy. The familiar male voice grunted.

"S—a" a third, higher pitched voice cried. She couldn't make out the name, frustrating her. She wanted to help the boy and attempted to move her body, but failed to produce any movement. She felt powerless, drained…

"Don't you see yet? The princess' heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!" she heard the shuffling of feet. Was she a princess as well? Frustration settled in; if only she could move!

"Kairi…Kairi's inside me?" the boy realized.

The voices faded out once again.

"I think her heart is responding! Her pulse is getting stronger," the younger female voice declared. Her sense of touch was becoming more sophisticated as she felt warm, coursing water envelop her body from the neck down. She was clothed, but neither her clothes nor her skin felt wet; rather, she simply felt the water's soothing presence. Vitality returned to her fast, as if she were being shocked back into reality. As she attempted to move her body once again, her consciousness drowned.

"S-she moved! Get her some food and fresh water! Keep this room as incubated as you can…!"

"So, I shall release you now, Princess," the deep voice declared as she heard his footsteps approaching her, "complete the Keyhole with your power." This wasn't right. She needed to do something. She felt no response coming from her body.

"Open the door! Lead me into everlasting darkness!" She couldn't wait any longer. She was tired of feeling helpless. Instead of feeling frustrated that she couldn't act, she needed to turn her agitation into motivation. If she was going to fight back, she needed her heart, and so with every fiber of her being in agonizing pain, she reached out of her body and towards her heart within the boy. Pain was replaced with warmth as she could feel the embrace of light surrounding her perpetual darkness. Her heart called out a single name.

"Sora!" Kairi woke up, sitting straight up in shock. She looked around.

Was that a dream?

No. That was a memory, a lost memory from a year ago, after she lost her heart. She checked her memories and found that they were all neatly placed back into her mind. Kairi then opened her hand. Her keyblade appeared out of her hand and she stared at it, feeling reassured.

"W-what is that?" she looked up and found a girl around her age, sixteen or so, standing there. She was about Kairi's height, possessing a darker, tan skin tone, with motherly blue eyes. Her hair was braided, with loops falling in front of her face, but her long, brunette hair fell freely upon a warm, blue and purple parka with puffy white fur lining the ends and a yellow crescent decorating the middle.

Kairi then realized where she was. Looking at the white walls surrounding her, she concluded that she was in not quite an igloo, but rather a solid building made of snow. Several, decorative vases also crafted out of snow surrounded her and various animal skins decorated the walls. Kairi then looked down and noticed that she was in a pool of water, but noticed even more shockingly that she was dressed in different clothes, wearing a blue and white robed tunic, with a sash around her waist.

"Are you a spirit?" the girl asked. Kairi didn't know how to respond, but rather used her keyblade to try to stand up, only to cringe and fall. The girl ran over to her and helped her back into a sitting up position, "You should stay still. You haven't fully recovered yet."

Kairi grunted, laying her keyblade across her lap. She was too nervous to dismiss the key until she could think of a response to give the girl.

"Um…I'm not a spirit," Kairi responded, "but…I received this key from them." Kairi did not want to lie to the girl, but she could not speak about the Keyblade without meddling in the affairs of other worlds.

"I see. I apologize if I offended you. I do not know much about the Spirit World other than what Aang has told me," the girl bent down and extended a diplomatic hand, "my name is Katara."

"Kairi," Kairi dismissed the keyblade and met Katara's hand as she smiled.

"Thank you for saving my life," Kairi gave a deep bow with her hands tucked in as Katara smiled and rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm just glad that you made it. You were in very poor condition when we found you."

Katara moved to a small, ice table nearby the pool Kairi was lying in. She grabbed several plates of food and a pitcher of water and delivered it to the injured Kairi, who silently thanked her for the meal with a nod.

"So what happened to you?" Katara asked.

"Well…" Kairi trailed off.

"It's ok if you don't want to remember, but I do need to know enough to figure out how I need to treat you."

Kairi explained what happened to her, about the storm, her shelter, and how she tried to find the nearest town. Kairi didn't include her new ability with the water, traveling using her vessel, or crashing into the town. She didn't want to reveal anything about her abilities or how she ended up in that situation. Fortunately, Katara seemed to respect her boundary and allowed Kairi to eat as she moved to the table to look a few things up in a scroll. Finding the technique she needed, Katara wrapped the scroll as Kairi finished eating.

"Now, relax while I try to heal your wounds," Kairi nodded as Katara began moving the water, bending it around her as a soft glow overtook Kairi's body. In shock, Kairi got up, the water moving with her hands as she realized what Katara was doing.

"Wait, you have the water ability too," Kairi asked, surprised. She originally though the Keyblade granted her the ability to manipulate water, but this girl seemed to break that hypothesis. Perhaps it was the world granting her this power, as Yen Sid suggested.

"Of course. Ever since four years ago, there have been more and more waterbenders in the Southern Water Tribe. Have you never seen waterbending before?"

"No, I have. Actually," Kairi moved a little bit of the water next to her with her fingers, manipulating the water to flow around her hand and back into the water.

"You're a waterbender!" Katara gleamed at Kairi ecstatically, but then settled into an inquisitive look, "but I've never seen you before. Are you from the Northern Water Tribe?"

"Huh?" Kairi looked at Katara in confusion.

"Or judging by your light clothing, are you from the swamps?" Katara inquired.

"Why would I be from a swamp? No, I'm from an island far away," Kairi explained, laughing nervously.

"Interesting…there must be another place where waterbenders live that isn't documented yet," Katara gleamed, "Tell me, was your village untouched by the Fire Nation?"

"The Fire who?" Kairi was only getting more and more confused, but kept composed. She needed to tread carefully or risk blowing her cover.

"You mean you don't know anything about the Fire Nation? Surely, you know about the war, right?" Kairi tilted her head.

"What war?"

"Then…there can be only one explanation," Katara reasoned, "were you trapped in an Iceberg?"

Is this girl insane?

"I can see that you're still tired. I'm sorry that I'm badgering you with too many questions," Katara sighed backing off, "it's just, the Fire Nation wiped out most of the waterbenders during the war except those protected behind the great walls of the Northern Tribe and a few scattered in the swamps. I've been spending the last four years trying to rebuild the Southern Water Tribe, but the war has left us with very few waterbenders, even with our sister tribe trying to help us. I always get excited at the idea of meeting other waterbenders."

Kairi could see the genuineness behind Katara's eyes and even some of their weariness. Katara was a determined girl with an honorable goal, and Kairi grew to respect the young waterbender. If she didn't need to find the Avatar immediately, she would want to try and help Katara anyway she could.

That's right! She needed to find the Avatar, but first…

"Katara?"

"Yes?"

"Please tell me," Kairi's expression turned dead serious, "Did anybody in this village see a silver-haired boy with a silver, yellow, black jacket?"

"I'm sorry, but no. Was he important to you?"

"Yes. He was a dear friend of mine, but we were separated," Kairi looked down in disappointment. Katara placed a reassuring hand on the keyblade wielder's shoulder.

"We'll find him. I'll make sure to tell my father and see what he can do," Katara moved with new determination to the door before turning back, "I'll be right back; I'm going to talk with my father and see about sending a rescue party."

Katara left the room, leaving Kairi to her own devices. She decided it would be smart to use this time to repair her more serious wounds. The crash seemed to crack a few of her ribs and her body was bruised up in various places. While it was nothing fatal, thanks to Katara, Kairi looked over her shoulder. Not seeing a person in sight, Kairi summoned her keyblade, casting Curaga on herself. Curaga's soothing effects took place immediately as the magic mended her broken ribs and eliminated her bruises. Her body still felt weary and her muscles ached, but it was nothing that food, water, and some rest couldn't quickly fix.

Kairi knew it wasn't smart to get too heavily involved with these people, but she faced two issues. First, her condition, even after casting Curaga, was still questionable. Unlike the rigor of battle, Kairi's body faced the harsh elements and had nearly faced death. Kairi knew that, with magic and Katara's waterbending, she would be back to her prime in a matter of days, but even so, she faced another problem: she had neither a clue of where she was nor an idea of where to go. Master Yen Sid mentioned heading to the walls of Ba-Sing-Se when they arrived, and considering the walls around this frozen city, perhaps she was already there. It would be wise to see if Lea was in the city if she was correct, but considering Katara mentioned that the city was still being rebuilt, Kairi was doubtful that she landed in the right spot.

The third problem was arguably the most critical of her issues: she had no idea where Riku was. All of her supplies were with Riku, including the communicator that contacts Master Yen Sid, and Kairi was still very inexperienced in the field. Despite her training, Kairi had no real combat experience and was hoping to learn from Riku's example, but circumstances will require for her to take matters into her own hands. She would have to begin this journey much like Sora did, but even Sora had allies; Kairi would be very much alone on this adventure.

This is no time to complain, though. What I need to figure out is where the Avatar is. Even without Riku, I should be doing everything I can to find him and protect this world.

Kairi decided that, despite her concerns, it would be best to try and stay in the village until she was in better form. She didn't want to impose on Katara or get her any more involved than she already was, however, and so Kairi also decided to find a remote place close to the village to rest. It would not be a problem to create a shelter, considering Kairi's new waterbending ability, and Kairi was taught (during her training) basic survival skills in case an emergency ever were to occur, including how to fish. Before she could do all of this, however, she needed to extract any information Katara might have about the Avatar or Riku. Kairi wasn't fond of using Katara's hospitality to gain information, but she didn't have much of an option considering the extreme circumstances.

Katara returned with a decorated staff marked with various blue and purple patterns. Katara helped Kairi out of the water, waterbending any water still left on Kairi before handed Kairi the staff.

"Here, this should help your balance as you walk. You should take it easy for a few days and not do any rigorous activity. I talked to my father and they are sending out a rescue team in the direct you came from. Hopefully, with any luck, we'll find him."

"Thank you for all of your help, Katara," Kairi smiled, taking the staff gratefully as she wearily moved, "if I may ask, do you know where my Armor is?"

Katara eyebrow raised in confusion before she realized what Kairi meant, "Oh yes; I had my older brother, Sokka, examine it. It was beginning to freeze and the metalwork was beginning to dent, so he insisted on repairing the metal to accommodate it to the colder temperatures. My brother used to train under a master swordsman and had returned to the Southern Water Tribe after years of training to teach swordsmanship as part of the rebuilding effort."

"Wow," Kairi awed, "he must be very wise."

"Well, he can be an idiot sometimes and can be very insensitive, not to mention he struggled for a long time before he found his calling," Katara rolled her eyes, but then smiled, "but he's innovative and always manages to find a way out of any difficult situation. In many ways, there are few people in the world like Sokka. I don't know whether to call that a good thing or not." Katara and Kairi laughed.

"He reminds me of Riku a little bit," Kairi smiled, "Riku's always been a bit of a loner and struggled a lot himself with finding the right path. In the end though, you can always rely on him. In many ways, he's like an older brother to me."

"Riku actually sounds a lot more like another guy I know," Katara folded her arms, "Zuko…he struggled a lot too with finding the right path, struggled to the point to where he hunted down a person very close to me for a very long time. He believed capturing the Avatar would restore his honor. What he didn't realize was that his path was really meant to be alongside us, teaching the Avatar how to firebend and helping to restore peace to the world. He eventually realized this, and after a few spats and missions, Zuko became a very dedicated and reliable man; he even saved my life. Now he's the ruler of an entire nation."

"He does sound a lot like Riku," Kairi smiled, but then realized something, "Wait, did you just mention the Avatar? Do you know him?"

"Yeah," Katara smiled fondly, "he's someone very close to me. I've known him for a long time, although it's been a long time since I've last seen Aang. I know he's fine and I occasionally will get a letter from him, but I can't help but worry about him every once in a while." Katara frowned.

"I understand what you're going through. It is difficult to be a part from someone you care deeply about," Kairi would occasionally wonder where Sora was, as he was still completing his Mark of Mastery exam. Master Yen Sid had taught Kairi, though, that all heart are connected and that particularly strong bonds can transcend any distance and can even lead lost hearts back to where they are needed most. Kairi has even seen this firsthand, for this bond lead Sora and Riku out of the Realm of Darkness after their fight with Xemnas. This bond is how Kairi knew that Sora was ok, and Kairi could tell that Katara and Aang, unquestionably, had this bond.

"But, I know that you will be reunited one day," Kairi reassured Katara, "on my island, there is a certain fruit called a Paopu fruit. They say if you share this fruit with someone that your destinies will become intertwined. After traveling for a little bit and overcoming some very big obstacles in my life, I learned that you don't need a fruit or some other symbol to know that you're connection to someone else is strong," Kairi placed a hand over her chest, "The proof of your connection is already in your heart, and I can tell that your hearts, your destinies, are intertwined."

Katara stood there for a minute before sighing in relief and smiling, "Thank you, Kairi. You wouldn't believe how much I needed that right now, and here I am trying to make you feel better." The two of them laughed. Kairi was glad that she was able to help Katara in any little way she could. In a way, she even helped herself with her own anxiety over Sora. Perhaps she could finally let that worry go and focus on getting stronger herself; Kairi knew that would be the best way to move forward.

"Oh, one more thing," Katara looked at Kairi, "do you know where a city called Ba Sing Se is?"

"If you're looking for Ba Sing Se, you're a long ways away from it," Katara leaned against the wall, "the city's all the way over in the far eastern region of the Earth Kingdom. Considering we're at the South Pole, it would take a month if you were to sail all the way there. If you flew, however, it could take anywhere from a few days to a week depending on how fast and how long you intend on flying, but war balloons are strictly for military uses, and since Appa is with Aang…"

Kairi didn't quite understand that last part, but as long as her Armor was fixed, she might be able to reach Lea in Ba Sing Se provided she has a map. While this would be the most logical course of action, Kairi, however, was more hopeful in her mission in finding the Avatar alone. Even if Katara didn't know where he was exactly, at least she could have some clue as to where to look. After she finds the Avatar and convinces Aang to come with her, she could find a way to meet up with Lea later and devise a way to find Riku, if Riku wasn't already with him.

"Thank you, Katara," Katara nodded as she moved towards the door, beckoning for Kairi.

"I had some of the nurses make a bed for you. You will need your rest," Kairi moved towards the door, Katara hovering near Kairi to help guide her walk. Feeling relieved with having a plan, Kairi gladly accepted Katara's help, inching her way towards the exit before her consciousness slipped, Katara catching Kairi's body as she passed out, the staff rattling as it impacted the floor.

I find, as I write these chapters, that much of what comes out while in the writing zone is hardly what I ever expect. I oftentimes find this reassuring, for it reminds me that writing, in itself, is lively. Writing breathes life into our imagination, making it tangible, and much like life, unexpected thoughts and events can occur that express what is truly needed at that moment.

For example, I am glad I was able to resolve Kairi's original role in the games as a maiden awaiting Sora's return into someone more capable of acting independently as she becomes a Keyblade Wielder and that by doing this, I didn't have to sacrifice that internal connection that she has with him; rather, I can transform this connection into resolve.

I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Please review, or even favorite, to show me that I'm doing well!