Well... here's the next chapter to Darkness Falls Once More!

I hope you all like it!

PLEASE R&R!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts (c) Tetsuya Nomura
:Disney characters and everything else Disney (c) Disney
Claimer: everything else (c) me

Chapter Eight: Returning the Light Within

"Quickly now, lay her down here," a mermaid nurse chided, motioning towards the yellow sponge bed.

Very carefully, Riku laid Yuki down on the bed, her tail swinging lifelessly with the current. Sora and Donald swam next to them, warily watching as the nurse pressed moss on the wound, absorbing the blood.

Several mermen and mermaids swam into the room, gathered around Yuki as they brought various underwater medical equipment, and one merman dressed in a doctor/surgeon's coat followed, hurriedly putting on rubber gloves. A mermaid looked at Riku, Sora and Donald.

"Please, you must leave the room and leave us to do our work," she chided, escorting them out.

"Please, save her," Riku begged, his voice filled with worry and desperation.

The orange-haired mermaid nodded. "We will do our best."

Riku swam back and forth worriedly, his hands behind his back. He couldn't help but pace, trying to pass the time. But unfortunately, time just didn't move fast enough for him. Any moment now, Yuki could die, and he could do nothing but wait.

Not before long, King Triton swam over to them, concern shining in his wise old eyes.

"I'd like to thank all of you for helping to get my granddaughter back," he thanked gratefully. "But wait… wasn't there one more of you?"

Riku closed his eyes as his face scrunched in pain. Sora answered for him.

"She's been gravely injured by Morgana," the 15-year-old explained quietly. "We were told to wait out here while they try to help her."

The darkness will rip her light apart, Riku thought depressingly, I don't want that to happen. I can't lose her.

"D-Don't worry," King Triton tried to assure, "she'll be very well taken care of, I promise you that."

"But even so," Riku struggled, "that dark orb Morgana pushed into Yuki's chest was something she was given to by Maleficent, practically the queen of darkness, and the master of all the Heartless. If that orb is just as powerful as Maleficent is, Yuki will die within minutes. In addition, her wound makes it even harder for her to fight back against the darkness."

Sora rested a hand on his best friend's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. "Aw, come on, Riku. You've been hanging out in darkness too long. We all have to think positive. Yuki will be alright, you'll see."

"Yeah!" Donald cheered in agreement, "After all, you both have faced worse while we were asleep, right?"

The 16-year-old dipped his head, still a little concerned. "Even so," he reasoned, "I still can't help but worry."

- - - -

20 minutes later, one-by-one the merpeople swam out of the room, looking somewhat exhausted. Eventually the merman surgeon swam out and sighed, "Well… she survived the operation, and the wound has been stitched up. That wound is healing remarkably well, but for some reason she's still pale and very cold."

"Thank you, Dr. Tailfin," King Triton thanked.

"Can we go see her?" Riku inquired.

The blonde doctor nodded.

Hurriedly, Riku, Sora and Donald swam into the room, where they found Yuki transferred onto another, larger sponge bed, a pillow propped under her head, her hands resting by her side. Riku swam down to sit next to her, taking one of her cold hands in his and pressing it against his chest over his heart. His allowed his fingers to run over the stitches where the knife once was. Though they didn't want to admit it, the three of them could see the dark aura flaring around her petite body. Whatever Maleficent did was hurting her badly.

"We've gotta save her," Sora said quietly but determinedly.

"But what can we do?" Donald pointed out.

"I-I'm not quite sure," he stammered in admittance.

A weak flash of light enveloped Yuki's crystal, and the young woman's eyes fluttered half-open.

"R-Riku…" she whispered, her hand gently trembling in his.

"Yuki," he breathed in relief. "You're awake."

She offered him a small smile. "I'm using my last reserves of magic to keep the light in my heart to talk to all of you," she told them softly.

"Shhh…" he shushed, placing two fingers over her lips. "Reserve your strength. You're gravely hurt."

The young Maiden of Light gently reached up to touch Riku's cheek. "Oh Riku…" she sighed quietly. "The darkness has breached my aura… but has yet to reach into my heart. I promise you I'll do all I can to not ever let that happen…" Her eyes slipped close as the temporary light disappeared, returning the crystal to its dark purple form.

Leaning down, Riku kissed her very gently, allowing the light within him to spread into her body with that small contact.

Please… he thought, Yuki, you can have my light.

After he pulled away, they noticed that the dark aura had died down a bit, and a soft pink light began to pulse in within the centre of the crystal, trying to purify it from the inside out.

"What can save her?" Sora thought quietly out loud, looking around.

"I'm not sure," Donald replied even quieter.

Yuki's head tilted to the side limply as if sleeping, but Riku lowered his head to rest his cheek against the hollow base of her throat, his hand tightly clenching hers.

"Riku…" Sora said quietly, "Donald and I will go try and see what we can do to help her. You stay here with Yuki until we get back, okay?"

"Okay," he responded, keeping his cheek pressed against her throat. "Be careful you guys. And let me know if you need any help."

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Donald announced determinedly before both he and Sora swam out of the room.

Riku swam to lay down next to her, carefully wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her against his chest, her cool cheek pressed against his warm skin. His hand stroked her hair, his fingers twining into the black strands. He felt her chest heave weakly against his, one hand by her side while the other rested on his chest.

"Oh Yuki…" he whispered with a sigh, "I'll take good care of you."

I promise I won't let you die, no matter what happens, he added silently. I'll be with you together till the very end. This I swear to you.

- - -

Sora and Donald exchanged glances.

"Sora, where do we even start to look for help?" the court magician inquired.

"I don't know," he said. "But we have to do everything we can to help. You and I can both see that it isn't only Yuki who is suffering from this, but Riku as well. We've got to do everything we can to try and help them."

The half-duck half-octopus nodded in agreement. "So really, Sora, where do we start?" he inquired.

The 15-year-old looked thoughtful. "Well… we need to first get details on who this Morgana woman is before anything else. Then we need to track down what that orb Maleficent created does, and what it'll do to Yuki unless we can stop it," he explained.

"I suppose we can ask King Triton on who Morgana is," Donald said.

As Sora swam off towards the throne room, Donald followed along, finding the king sitting upon his throne with a depressed expression plastered on his face.

"Oh, you're back! How is she doing?" the king greeted.

"Well... she's still injured, more of the heart than the body," Sora answered. "We need to know a little bit about Morgana. Who is she?"

"Ursula's insane sister," King Triton explained, "she's been trying to get revenge for what happened to Ursula. Her aim is to acquire my trident and conquer the seven seas."

They both nodded in understanding.

"That's not going to happen on our watch!" Sora cheered in assurance.

"Do you have any idea how she could have made contact outside of Atlantica?" Donald inquired.

"It's possible that she may have somehow done that," he answered. "Is she related to what's happening to Yuki right now? Other than the fact that that rotten sea witch stabbed her."

Sora was still furious at Morgana for what she did to her best friend's girlfriend, and he was keen on getting revenge on both Morgana and Maleficent.

"Yes, and no," Donald answered.

"You know where we'd be able to find Morgana?" Sora inquired.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately not," he replied unhappily, "or else if I knew I'd make sure she'd never be able to harm my granddaughter ever again."

"Yeah!" Donald agreed.

"Hmm… okay, I think that's all we need to know for now," Sora determined. "Thanks."

Not before long, they swam off out of the castle and towards the edges of the kingdom of Atlantica, eager on finding Morgana, a way to save their friend, and most importantly; answers.

When they arrived at the borders, Sora suddenly felt a little dizzy.

"H-Hey Donald?" he stammered, swimming forward unsteadily. "I'm kinda feeling…" The 15-year-old collapsed, drifting down to the bottom of the sea.

"Sora!" Donald exclaimed, swimming down to his friend. "SORA!"

- - - -

"Where am I?" Sora asked as he found himself in a strange, shapeless black world.

A voice answered him from out of nowhere. "I have summoned you here, like I summoned the Maiden of Light not two days ago," it said."Not to brag, but I know a lot of things."

"Eh… so is this why Yuki collapsed back on Destiny Islands?" he asked. "Seriously, who are you?"

"Not important," the voice argued. "Now… do you want to know how to save your friend or not?"

That almost instantly caught Sora's attention. "How?!" he exclaimed, his voice sounding desperate.

The voice laughed, as if it was such an obvious answer. "A single kiss," it answered.

"What?!" Sora cried out in surprise and shock. "B-But Riku kissed her! And nothing happened… actually… now that I think about it… the crystal did brighten a bit…"

That voice laughed once more. "No, no, no," it said. "The kiss that she needs is one from you."

"WHAT?!" Sora practically screamed before catching himself. "I-It's not that she's not attractive or anything… but WHAT?! Riku's gonna kill me if I do! Why me?!"

"As you know, Riku has been taken by the darkness before," the voice explained. "And darkness can leave an imprint in one's heart, even yours Sora. However, because Riku had submersed himself in complete darkness in order to help you, the light that still shines within his heart is still not enough to truly strengthen the light within Yuki's heart, as she is the Maiden of Light."

"S-So I have to kiss her?" Sora stammered.

"If I'm correct, this is going to be your first kiss," the voice responded.

The half-boy half-dolphin blushed.

"It's not my fault you weren't brave enough to kiss Kairi sooner," it defended immediately, causing the blush on his face to further darken. "Unfortunately, this is the only way. Luckily, this will not be counted as your first kiss. Though this will be mouth-to-mouth contact, or at least look like it, a barrier of light will –let's say, 'preserve' your lips for Kairi."

"Don't say it like that!" he protested, feeling even more embarrassed.

"Nothing to be ashamed about, Sora," it said. "Now… farewell, Keyblade Master. Until the next time we meet."

- - - -

Sora's eyes snapped open as he sat up, startling Donald.

"Sora! What happened?! Are you alright?!" he asked immediately.

"I-I'm fine," the Keyblade Master responded. "Hurry, let's get back to see Yuki. I know now how to help her."

- - -

"Mmm… Riku?" Yuki moaned gently.

Very gently, he stroked her hair. "Shhh…" he whispered, though completely thankful in his heart that she was awake, "you're still weak. You've lost a lot of blood, and a lot of light."

"Riku… have you ever wondered if you had a Nobody, what would he be like?" she asked him in a hushed yet worried tone.

"Not really, no," he answered, a little surprised by her question. He raised his head to look at her. "Why do you ask?"

"Mmm… No reason really…." she mumbled. "Do you ever think there could be a romance between a Nobody and a person?"

He stared hard at her. "Yuki, what are you talking about?" he inquired in shock, "Are you ill? Why are you talking like this?"

She sighed, closing her eyes. "Just answer the question, Riku…" she told quietly.

Resting his head back, he breathed deeply before answering, "Well… remember that Nobodies don't have hearts, so they can't feel emotion. I suppose that could be argued, considering the cases of Roxas, Naminé, Xven and perhaps Axel. But all I can really say is if a person should fall in love with a Nobody, it would probably be a love that will end in nothing but misery. Nobodies are doomed to fade back into darkness." But that's only considering the Nobody can't actually feel love or any other emotion, he added silently.

"But Riku…" she muttered, "Organization XIII are also Nobodies… but… they can feel hate… anger… worry… it just doesn't make sense. This is beyond any explanation that can be given, except that more intelligent Nobodies have hearts."

He looked at her, squeezing her hand tightly as he continued to stroke her hair. "Yuki, you shouldn't concern yourself in this, nor worry about it either. Why do you need to know about this anyway? How is this related to our mission, and your life?"

But now a new worry struck his mind. Wait… Yuki… are you falling in love with a Nobody? Are you in love with Xven, Yuki? He thought, his heart secretly shattering. Are you going to leave me?

"Mmm… cause I'm worried," she told him. "That's why. Sorry… can't help it… must worry… Oh, and don't worry, I'm not planning on leaving you anytime soon."

He kissed her on the top of the head. "I know, I'll make sure Maleficent pays for what she did to you," he promised.

She chuckled gently, daring to pull herself up to kiss him, her face hovering above his as her elbows rested on his bare chest.

"I meant leave, leave you, idiot," she teased, laying back down on his as she buried her face against the side of his neck. "I still love you very much, so don't worry about me leaving you for someone else, 'kay?"

Hugging her against him he held her tightly in happiness and relief. In his mind he realized he was just so stupid to think something like her leaving him. He knew she could see how much he loved her, and he could see just how much she loved him. He felt a pang of guilt for doubting her love for a moment.

Her heart seemed to begin to beat weaker against his by the hour, and he could tell that time was going to eventually run out for the young woman unless he could do something to help.

"Yuki?" he whispered quietly.

"Yeah?" she breathed against his neck.

"I love you," he murmured affectionately.

"I know, and I love you too…" she muttered back lovingly. "No matter what happens, my heart will always belong to you."

He held her tighter, his arms trembling with the fear of losing her. "As mine yours," he whispered, feeling the bright light aura he loved beginning to dim and fade.

Her breathing slowed gradually and her body began to grow limper in his embrace.

"Come on, Yuki, just hang on," he begged quietly, gently rolling her off and turning her back onto her back, swimming over to grab a blanket from the top shelf before draping it over her sleeping body.

Flounder swam into the room, swimming over to them.

"Hey Riku, King Triton wants to talk to you," he informed.

"Thanks," Riku responded softly.

Flounder looked worried and sadly at Yuki. "Will she be okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," the merman answered honestly, "she's not doing very well right now. Now… you said the king wants to talk to me? Let's go."

Giving his girlfriend a soft kiss, he squeezed her hand reassuringly before swimming out of the room with Flounder to talk to King Triton.

- - - -

As Sora and Donald swam into the infirmary room, they found the Yuki sleeping peacefully on the sponge bed, Riku nowhere to be found.

"Hmmm… hey Donald, go check whether Riku is in the throne room or something," Sora suggested, hoping to be alone with Yuki when he has to do the embarrassing deed of kissing her. I'm just glad that Riku isn't here to see me do that, he thought. He'd probably kill me if he caught me kissing his girlfriend.

"Good idea," Donald said, swimming out of the room and leaving Sora alone with the Maiden of Light.

Sora swam over to Yuki's side, gently touching her cold hand with his and shrinking back at the touch. He gazed worriedly into her face, taking a deep breath as he knew he had to do the deed quickly before anyone returned into the room.

Please… Yuki… he thought, pressing his lips together in hesitation before lightly pressing his mouth on hers, closing his eyes and hoping the light would get through to her. Wake up…

Without warning, Yuki's body was outlined by light, the darkness in the crystal around her neck being forced out of the pure clear gem. As Sora pulled away, the light around Yuki brightened, engulfing her very form in a blanket of light. Swimming back in alarm, Sora was amazed and horrified at the display of light.

Was this what that voice meant? He thought in wonder.

With a gasp, the light disappeared, and Yuki's eyes were wide open, her breathing slowing back down to a normal pace. Yawning tiredly, she rubbed at her eyes before blinking at Sora.

"Hey Sora, what happened?" she asked quietly. "Where are Riku and Donald?"

"Um… not sure… Donald just went to go look for Riku," he replied, his cheeks growing red in his embarrassment of what he did.

She peered closer at his face. "Sora… are you blushing?" she said in surprise. "Wait a second… did you just kiss me?"

"Ack!" he broke off, admitting that it was true. "I-I-I'm sorry!"

Yuki bit her lip. "Hmm… I'm thinking that I should be angry with you," she began, "however, you did save my life. So thank you." I bet that voice knocked him out and told him how to save me, she thought knowingly.

"U-Uh… you're welcome," he stammered, still a little shocked.

She winked. "Don't worry, I won't tell Riku or Kairi, or anyone else for that matter, unless it was absolutely necessary, which I doubt it shall be."

"'k-kay…" he choked before Riku, Donald, King Triton and Flounder swam into the room in a hurry.

"Yuki!" Riku exclaimed in joy, rushing over to embrace his girlfriend tightly in his arms, holding her taut against his chest as he buried his face in her dark mane.

"Riku," she murmured against his neck, happy to have her boyfriend holding her in his arms once more.

He looked at her. "Are you okay? I heard that Sora found a way to save you. What was it?" he asked quickly.

Both Sora and Yuki exchanged a glance before she replied, "Only the Keyblade Master himself can help sustain the light within my heart."

Sora silently sighed in relief, but felt guilty for lying to his best friend. However, Yuki wasn't completely lying, what she said was still true; only Sora could be able to bring the light back within her.

Both King Triton and Flounder sighed with relief.

"We're just glad you're okay, Yuki," Flounder said.

"Yuki," Riku murmured affectionately, kissing the love of his life deeply. "I love you so, so much." He hugged her tightly against his chest.

She smiled, hugging him back tightly. "I love you too, Riku." Closing her eyes and allowing a silver aura to ripple around her momentarily before vanishing.

"What was that?" King Triton inquired curiously.

As they both separated, Yuki said, "I'm afraid we've played our part in this world for now. We must go."

"Awww, so soon?" Flounder inquired.

"I'm afraid so," she answered, half-bowing to the king. "Thank you for everything."

"Don't worry, we'll come back," Sora assured.

Not before long, she, Riku, Sora and Donald teleported back onto the Gummi Ship.

"Where to next?" Donald inquired.

"Well… let's take a look at the map," Yuki suggested, leaning slightly on Riku as he kept an arm around her shoulders.

As the map popped up, on screen, immediately, Sora exclaimed, "Let's go to Agrabah and see how Aladdin and Jasmine are doing!"

"Very well, to Agrabah we go!" Chip and Dale cheered.

Well... that was most definately an eventful chapter. I hope you all like it!

Now... questions to ponder for ongoing chapters:

1. Who's that voice that has now called to both Yuki AND Sora? What part does it have to play?
2. What exciting (and most likely complex) things are going to happen in Agrabah and the other worlds?
3. Which Organization XIII member are we going to have Sora and Co. run into next?
and last but not least...
4. WHEN WILL SORA ACTUALLY TELL KAIRI HE LIKES HER?!?!?!?!? (lol)

Now... PLEASE REVIEW!