Welcome to Part III, everyone.

Aang meditated in the courtyard of the Southern Air temple. The full was nearly full, staring down at the young airbender as he breathed in and out calmly. Appa slept nearby, breathing in rhythm with the Aang. Momo rustled in the trees nearby, aimlessly exploring his former home.

His breathing slowly become more labored as frustration pestered him. Aang sighed, relieving the pressure from his lungs before taking another, calmer deep breath in. All of Aang's attempts at entering the Spirit World have failed, which is why he came to the Southern Air Temple in the first place. Even now, after hours of meditation in one of the most spiritual placed on the planet, his attempts to reach Raava have been unsuccessful. Aang contemplated that his experience in his dream might have been just a dream, that Roku hadn't contacted him and that Raava didn't exist, but rarely did any of his Avatar dreams not mean anything.

Maybe I didn't get enough sleep again… Aang's solemn face shuddered for a moment as he remembered the days before fighting the Firelord, all of the nightmares, daydreams and hallucinations that came from the stress.

Still, though, it felt as if a powerful force was preventing him from contacting the Spirits. This fact alone, somehow, validated the dream…or at least that something wasn't right.

Aang was ready to give up when he noticed his eyelids lighting up. His eyes shot open, only to retreat to a squint as he witnessed a large, silvery glowing presence in front of him.

[Divine Medium – Avatar soundtrack]

"Raava?" Aang hoped.

"Nope," a soft, female voice responded. Aang's eyes began to adjust to the light.

"Yue?"

"It's been a while, Aang," Yue forced a smile, but then turned grim.

"Yue, I cannot connect with the spirits or with Raava. What is going on?"

"The connection between the Spirit World and the Mortal world is waning. I can't tell you what is going on in the Spirit World. I am the Moon Spirit, so I am bound to the mortal world, but I can sense an impending darkness coming."

"What is this darkness? And why is the connection waning?"

"I've been seeing dark, corrupt beings emerge from all corners of the world and their presence has been enraging the Spirits. They cannot touch me, but the Dark Spirits touched by their darkness may be what's preventing you from entering the Spirit world.

"And it's only been getting worse," Yue shook her head achingly.

"The Southern Water Tribe is in danger. These dark beings and Spirits have been gathering near the South Pole. I believe they are after the Spirit Portal, but Sokka and everybody in the village will be in danger if somebody doesn't stop them. They need the Avatar."

Aang panicked internally. His friends were in danger. Katara was in danger. But Aang neither knew how to fight Spirits nor did he want to; the spirits were suffering and Aang couldn't ignore this fact. Furthermore, Aang has no idea what Yue meant by dark beings, although Aang feared that the creatures from his dream might be related. All of this, in mere seconds, flashed through Aang's mind and Aang was frustrated that he couldn't ask more questions or think this through, but he didn't have the luxury of time right now; he needed to act quickly.

"Appa, we're leaving," the beast rolled to his feet immediately upon hearing Aang's stern voice. Momo overheard Aang and rustled the trees as he flew to perch on Aang's shoulder. Once the bison was up, Aang airbended himself on top of Appa's saddle, grabbing the reins.

"I will help you in any way I can. Good luck, Avatar Aang," Yue began to fade.

"Yip, yip," he decisively commanded, and steered the flying bison southbound upon taking off.

[Organization XIII Theme]

"What the hell did you do to him!" she screamed.

"Isa, what is the meaning of this?" Xehanort glared.

"I-I don't know," for once, Isa was taken back, "I entered the room and I found him like this."

"You broke our deal," Kairi summed her Keyblade once more and charged at Xehanort, who just managed to deflect the Keyblade wielder's blow with his own Keyblade. Sparks flew as metal clashed with metal, Kairi continuing her onslaught of attacks while Katara watched in horror. Xehanort calmly met each of her attacks, but seemed distant, as if his mind were split. The sheer indifference pissed off Kairi and served as the fuel to her fire, continuously building up every attack with more power than the last.

"Kairi, stop!" Katara yelled.

"Kairi!" Suki joined.

"You're out of control," Sokka firmly stated, "You need to breathe. You can't win if you don't think."

Kairi cried out in agony, continuing her blows, but she was pushing her endurance too far. Her emotions tensed her muscles; the attempts following only became more and more futile as Kairi's control slipped from her, her exhaustion overcoming her strength. Katara finally bended a stream of water and pulled Kairi back by force while Sokka held his blade towards Xehanort with vigilance.

"Kairi, you need to stop," Katara calmly counseled her, "I know how angry you feel right now. Someone precious to you was taken away. But you need to redirect that anger into resolve instead of allowing it to consume you."

Kairi began breathing, her eyes sharpening as she kept her anger manageably under control, just as Xehanort began to move forward, dismissing his Keyblade.

"Interesting," Xehanort croaked, "very interesting indeed. Isa, remain at the castle for now."

Katara glared at the old man as he closed the portal. Suki joined Sokka, who had already placed himself in-between their friends and the old master.

"It seems that I understand exactly what happened here," he chuckled, "the boy has freed his heart from his vessel. A very interesting development, indeed."

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked.

"I mean the boy has plunged his Keyblade into his very body. He must have realized that there was no way out of his mouse trap, so he sacrificed his whole form to be reborn as a Nobody."

"What?!" Kairi's head shot up, disbelief staining her tone.

"I must say, the boy is more cunning than I gave him credit for. Roxas would most likely be reborn in a distant world, after all. Unfortunately for the boy, his heart and body can never be reunited until his Heartless is defeated and a new vessel is found. Braig," Xehanort turned to the sniper.

"You know what to do."

"Understood, old man," Braig grinned as he opened a portal behind him and disappeared.

"I suppose I'm left with no other choice. I will have to take you by force," Xehanort summoned his Keyblade, the crackle of darkness radiating from the ancient weapon. The group reacted, Kairi preparing her Keyblade, Katara summoning water from around her to form a ring, and Sokka and Suki maintaining their stance, but with weapons raised defensively.

[Aang's Theme]

"I will not allow it," a voice echoed from above. Whips of winds began to swirl between Xehanort and the group. Looking up, Katara's eyes smiled in relief as she saw Appa flying away from the group and Aang descending to the ground, using his Airbending to cushion his fall. Avatar Aang stood calmly, but defiantly, wearing the same yellow robes and necklace he wore when the war ended four years ago.

"The Avatar," Xehanort growled.

"The Avatar?" Kairi looked towards Aang. Aang was much taller than he was four years ago, having grown to be as tall as Sokka, with broader shoulders, but with a slim frame. Kairi's eyes were drawn to his airbender tattoos on his body, but even more by his bald head in fascination and awe.

So this is the Avatar

"So you are the one behind the disturbance," Aang pointed towards Xehanort, "I saw them as I was coming in. What are they and why are you corrupting the spirits."

Xehanort recovered from being baffled and simply chuckled underneath his breath, painfully expressing defeat, "I figured that it would come to this or there would have been no purpose in preparing a hostage," Xehanort turned around, looking over the desolate tundra.

[End music]

"Answer my question," Aang demanded sternly.

"I believe our negotiation is over for now, but it matters not. The end will be the same, you will come to me one way or another, Princess of Heart, and the Avatar will fall when the conditions are right. I no longer have business here, personally, but allow me to leave with a parting gift."

[Night of Tragedy]

With a wicked grin, he summoned an orb of darkness on the tip of the blade. Sokka instinctively moved in to intervene, charging past the astonished Aang towards the old master with desperation, but Xehanort, in a single moment, summoned a Thundaga spell from his free hand and aimed it towards him. Sokka managed to deflect the spell with his sword, but the shot still pushed the water tribe warrior back, his body and sword crackling with electricity.

"Sokka!" Suki cried out.

Kairi and Katara were prepared to charge in, but Xehanort, with a final glance at the two girls, shot the orb towards the barren wasteland separating them from the Heartless and Dark Spirit army. With a rumble, the ice shook as a discharge shot from the epicenter of the initial impact, each bolt carving several patterns of ancient origin into the ice. The bolts, now at equidistance, began creating a circle a quarter mile wide around the pattern before converging near the center again to form a visible X in the ice.

X...Chi...Key! Kairi suddenly realized the significance of the pattern.

When the discharge settled, the rumbling increased in magnitude as if the Earth was reawakening. A dark puddle began polluting the snow, extending out from the center all the way to the border of the circle. The air was electrified as the dark puddle began taking depth, turning into a swirling vortex into endless oblivion. Molding into shape, small Shadows began climbing out of the portal, followed by Neoshadows and Darkballs, Giga Shadows and Invisibles.

Every single one of them...are Pureblood Heartless! But that would mean…

This is a portal into the Realm of Darkness!

"I can see you understand you're circumstance, then," Xehanort opened a portal of darkness behind him, turning his back to the broken group.

"Farewell, Princess of Heart. We will meet again," Xehanort figure disappeared into his portal of darkness.

In the meanwhile, out of the corridor into the Realm of Darkness, a massive Dark Hide charges out of the portal, but unlike the other Heartless, it seemed to be disturbed, crying out in pain.

"Look!" Suki pointed towards the portal.

[Unforgettable – Birth By Sleep]

A figure distinctly different from the Heartless exited the portal alongside the Dark Hide. A blue haired woman jumped hastily onto the beast and clung onto its dark fur, moving with all her strength upright to sink a white and grey Keyblade into the beast. The beast cried in agony, but continued its ascent from the portal, landing in the middle of the clearing.

The blue haired woman jumped off the beast hastily, but not before enveloping her Keyblade in light before dazing it with a strike to its head. Landing in the snow, she panted in exhaustion, recovering from the velocity of the beast.

She scanned her surroundings, thinking critically about her next move.

This thing will most likely sink into the darkness before striking without any terrain to disguise itself in. She looked towards the wall, noticing the city.

Those people will be in danger if I don't draw this thing away. She looked towards the horizon, her face growing mortified by the thousands of Heartless in the distance.

But I thought I was out of the Realm of Darkness. Time was running out and the beast was already sinking into darkness underfoot. The woman used Stopga to momentarily freeze time before putting some distance from the beast. To Kairi and the rest, she looked as if she were merely appearing in a different location each time she summoned the spell. After a good distance was placed between her and the Dark Hide, she began charging her Keyblade with light. The beast sunk into the darkness and made its way towards her. With nowhere to run and her attack charged, she jumped, summoning a Reflectga sphere around her as the beast launched its attack. Having deflected the beast, she counterattacked using the spray from the shield to stun her enemy before launching herself full force, slashing several times using her light-covered Keyblade. Aiming for the scruff, she dealt several critical hits into the beast before jumping off the beast into the air. Using the last of the light, she propelled herself downward using some of the light energy as momentum, using the rest of it to deal a heavy blow upon the enemy. The Dark Hide, however, moved out of the way just before she made contact and the woman ended up striking the monster's side instead.

The Dark Hide was severely wounded, but remained persistent, slashing at the woman with razor sharp claws. The woman was thrown back into the snow. Kairi had enough.

"I need to go help her," Kairi, already in her Armor, threw her keyblade into the sky, summoning her vessel. Jumping onto it, she took off.

"I'll go too," Aang said, but Katara placed a hand on Aang's shoulder, stopping him.

"I'll help her. You're too powerful; you might hurt that woman in the crossfire. Besides," Katara pointed at the army of Heartless and Dark Spirits.

"I understand," Aang nodded. Aang focused his energy and entered the Avatar state. Bending a sphere of air around him, he took off in the direction of the legion.

Using the ice underneath her, Katara jumped off the wall and summoned a whirlpool of water to surround herself with. Making sure not to hit the woman, she landed near the Dark Hide, slamming the beast with a huge whip of water. Knocking the beast back, Katara waterbended wisps of water into the air, freezing them into icicles. Moving with ferocity, Katara pelted the Dark Hide with icicles, clouding its vision and focusing its attention on her. Drawing the Heartless away from the woman and towards her, Katara formed a water whip, stunning its advances and momentarily holding it off.

Kairi, by this time, had made it to the woman's side, jumping off her vessel as the woman struggled to sit up.

"Heal!" Kairi touched her hand to the woman as green enveloped her.

"Thanks," the woman said wearily, then gasped.

"You're!" her eyes widened, but Kairi didn't seem to notice.

"Can you still fight?" she asked. The woman nodded.

"Good. We can use all the help we can get," In the distance, the Dark Hide was charging at the Waterbender, but she used the snow around her to whip up a blizzard, knocking the beast back. Kairi could tell, however, that the fight would easily turn bitter if they didn't get involved soon.

"What's your name?" Kairi asked.

"Aqua," the woman responded and now Kairi's eyes widened.

You're her…!

"We need to move," Aqua insisted and Kairi hastily moved to her vessel. When they both were on the vessel, Kairi quickly moved them out of the Dark Hide's attack radius before disembarking off the vessel with Aqua, regaining her Keyblade. In the distance, Kairi saw Sokka, and Suki moving towards them.

"Kairi, are you alright?" Sokka asked, "And who's that?"

"I'm fine, and this is Aqua."

Sokka extended his hand, "Hi, Aqua." Suki slapped his head.

Ignoring him, Aqua turned to Kairi, "Can any of your friends fight?"

Kairi looked to Katara, who was fighting desperately in the distance. Kairi pointed at her.

"She can."

"Hey!" Sokka and Suki yelled in offense.

"Anyways," Aqua faced Kairi, "See his scruff," Aqua pointed towards the beast and Kairi noticed the large injury.

"If we can get one more decisive blow into that wound, he will fall."

"But it's too fast," Sokka noted, "We need to find a way to stun or subdue…whatever that thing is…before you strike."

"And you'll need higher ground if you want to stun it," Suki pointed out.

"But what can we do?" Kairi asked.

Sokka turned to Kairi, a wicked grin on his face.

"Kairi, I know I'm asking for a lot, but I'm going to need you for something crazy."

"Is this really going to work?" Kairi yelled to Sokka. She had waterbended an ice board with Sokka standing on top of it.

"Just trust me! Once you start waterbending, Suki and I will have the perfect opportunity to strike from high ground!" Sokka yelled back. He looked with determination at the beast.

"Ready?" Suki asked Kairi.

"Ready!" Kairi began waterbending underneath the board Suki and Sokka stood on, forming a wave. Sokka and Suki prepared themselves as the wave built momentum, Kairi remembering from the Solstice Festival the techniques Katara taught her. Sokka and Suki wobbled on top of the board as Kairi tried to keep control over so much water, channeling her focus into her movements. Katara, who was still holding off the monster, understood what Kairi was trying to do and assisted in stabilizing the wave, allowing for Sokka and Suki to stand firm as the approached the monster. Once enough momentum was built up, Sokka and Suki jumped from her board onto the monster, flipping in the air before working together to land a combo of strikes onto the beast's head. Once dazed and with the fan and sword duo moving swiftly out of his way, Katara assisted by bending ice into the ground around the Dark Hide, knocking the beast around and stunning even further. The Dark Hide lost its balance, falling to the ground.

With the last bit of light charged up, Aqua charged the now subdued beast with newfound energy, jumping into the air. Preparing an overhead swing, Aqua dived towards the beast, using the velocity of her descent to give her swing more power. Landing the final blow, light discharged everywhere, the Dark Hide crying out in agony as its body was being pierced by light. Aqua landed on her feet next to Kairi before the beast shattered into fragments of darkness, which was consumed eagerly by the light before fading.

"We need to seal that portal to the Realm of Darkness before another one comes," Aqua yelled at Kairi.

"On it! Katara, Sokka, Suki, finish off any stray Heartless you see," Kairi rushed over to the portal with Aqua, summoning her Keyblade. Aqua already had hers pointed at the portal.

Both Keyblades amassed light slowly before firing a gentle beam at the portal, illuminating the corridor into the Realm of Darkness. Glowing silver like the moon, the portal began to shrink as the light overcame the abyss. With a final gleam, the silvery light dispersed, the portal sealed.

[Ocean Spirit – Avatar]

Aang flew over the field of ice inside the pocket of air calmly. He breathed in deeply, focusing his energy.

"Yue, I need your strength," Aang looked to the moon. The moon brightened as Aang's tattoos glowed, allowing the moon's energy and the Avatar State to channel through him. He slowly lifted his arms and moved them back, gathering a large amount of water from the ice underneath him. Another light flashed and a keyblade appeared in his hand, a wooden key with the spiral winds emblems of the Air Nomads decorating both where the hilt became the blade and where the key's teeth extended outward. The weight and material of the key mimicked his staff in every way.

Continuing his movement, he built up the wave, pulling the water back and then pushing it forward with extended movements. Yue, who had formed above him, bended the water with him and the large wave extended upward until it became a tsunami. Launching the wave, it carved a path through the curvature of the Earth, heading directly towards the legion of Heartless and Spirits. Yue, breathing in deeply, began channeling light energy into the wave, and as the wave overwhelmed the Heartless, it also purified the Spirits. The wave settled back into the icy tundra as the Heartless were dismissed and the Spirits freed of corruption. Breathing in deeply, Aang dismissed the keyblade and brought his hands to a bow.

"Thank you," Aang breathed out. Yue remained silent, but returned a grateful smile as she ascended back into the heavens.

[Sacred Distance]

"Aang!" Katara waved wearily at the returning Avatar, who descended back to the earth before hunching over.

"Aang, are you ok?" Sokka attended to him, allowing Aang to wrap his arm around him.

"Just a little tired," Aang smiled, "It feels like old times."

"Were you able to get rid of the Heartless?" Kairi pressed. Aang nodded.

"We should get back to the tribe, tell them that everything is safe," Katara suggested.

"Fine by me. I want explanations, but frankly, I need meat and some sleep right about now," Sokka asked Aang if he was ready to walk, who replied with another nod.

"Wait," Kairi stopped them, "I don't think it'll be that simple. Xehanort is a ruthless man; he will come back. I think we should continue with the evacuation."

"Kairi's right," Suki agreed, "if he was able to amass as many Spirits and…whatever those things were without any of the guards noticing, we need to think about keeping the tribe safe."

"But we can be prepared next time with Aang here," Katara argued, "We can't just abandon our home when we managed to get a second chance at defending it."

"Those beings of darkness are ruthless," everybody looked at Aqua, who was standing away from the group, "and Xehanort most certainly has the power to amass another army of them. I've been fighting those monsters for a long time now. I think your friend is right; if there are any civilians left, you should get them out of here as soon as you can."

"If we have no other choice…" Katara mournfully looked towards the ground before her featured hardened with resolve, "then we should do our best to evacuate before he returns."

Aang pulled out the bison whistle from his robes, signaling Appa. The flying bison flew hastily towards the clearing, settling down with a thump on the icy terrain. Momo poked his head from the bison's saddle curiously at the newcomers. The six of them climbed on the bison and two syllables later, they ascended into the air towards the water tribe navy vessels.

The city, once glowing with the light and bustling with the noise of the Winter Solstice festival, now stood hollow, petrified by the looming darkness. Katara could barely stand to look at the Southern Water Tribe defeated, looking away from the city shamefully. Aang held Katara close, holding the reins with one hand and brushing his fingers through her hair with the other; he wished he could tell her that he would find a way to defend the Southern Water Tribe, but if Kairi and the blue haired woman were correct, he needed to prioritize her, his friends and the rest of the Southern Water Tribe's safety first. All he could do was calm her down and reassure her silently.

Kairi took this chance to get a better look at Aqua. She heard of Aqua from the King and Master Yen Sid in reference – one of the three Keybearers that disappeared over twelve years ago – and upon closer examination, she looked vaguely familiar, like her grandmother from all those years ago. Aqua's skin, however, was scarred from battle and tainted with a light film of sooty dust, the identity and origin of this substance unknown to Kairi. Her clothes were tattered, barely intact, but Kairi's attention was drawn to her eyes. Reminded briefly of Riku, Kairi glimpsed at the veteran Keybearer's glare: one eye remained blue – calm, understanding, yet melancholy – but the other eye was tainted amber.

Appa descended gradually towards the amassed citizens below, Aang steering the bison out of the way of the crowd. Upon landing, Hakota, Paku, and a small squad of warriors and waterbenders approached the six. Sokka and Katara walked up to their father.

Not a single word was uttered.

Hakota nodded with understanding and signaled for the tribesmen to continue loading the ship. People continued to board the ship, their grief nostalgic of the Hundred Years War hanging like the luggage in their hands. The gathering darkness in the sky above only reassured the tribe of their cowardice, their struggle, their desperation. The time for words ceased; the gravity of the situation did not allow for reason. Only raw emotion remained, fear resembling the primordial days of humankind.

The fear of the unknown.

A week and a half earlier…

Riku walked through the bustling shops, the warm summer breeze drowned in the sound of merchants and patrons alike. Rich attendants made their way through the crowds in their ostrich-horse drawn carriages. Approaching a noble, little green and gold building, a huge line formed outside the regal shop where eager customers awaited. The sign read "The Jasmine Dragon".

Entering the shop, the seats were filled by the rich and poor alike, sipping tea and talking politics. Sweeping in a corner, a red, spiky haired man looked up from his work at Riku, a large white apron covering his green tunic. Lea grinned as Riku approached, spreading his arms jokingly.

"Welcome to Ba-Sing-Se."