Kairi stared at Sora.

Surely this had to be an accident. No way Donald's sense of humor was this cruel. Something must have gone wrong, must have backfired. There was no other explanation. Not when this was still a dagger through all their hearts, Donald's included.

Sora lifted a smoking hand in front of him, his haunted yellow eyes going from it to her. His entire body was smoky black and he was hunched over, holding himself like a— like a—

Kairi put her hand over her mouth, tears stinging at her eyes. Memories flooded back, of a Keyblade through his heart, of him disappearing before she could catch him, of that smile he gave her as he offered his life for hers. It didn't matter if it was only temporary, it still hurt.

He stared at her with his soulless yellow eyes as she fought back the tears, then turned and fled on all fours.

"Sora, wait!" she cried, reaching out to him. "That's not what I—"

He was already long gone. It would seem this form gave him lightning fast speed. As she was about to take off after him, her phone buzzed in her pocket. Goofy's number.

"Goofy?" she asked, jogging along as quickly as she could with her phone in her hand. "I can't talk, Sora's—"

"I can't change him back!" came Donald's panicked voice. "Kairi, you have to help him, my magic's not working!"

"Donald, what happened?"

"It was an accident, I didn't mean to—"

As she suspected. "Calm down, Donald. I'm sure he knows you wouldn't do this on purpose—"

"Kairi, please—"

"I know, I'm doing everything I can. I'll talk to you soon. I think I know where to find him."

With that she hung up the phone and continued her pursuit. If she knew Sora, he would be exactly where she had in mind.

Cold. Dark. Fear. Sorrow.

Go away, she doesn't want you, you're scaring her, you're making her sad, she never wanted to see you like this, not again—

Why? Why is this happening, why is my body doing this?

Tear it away, get the darkness out, how is there so much darkness inside of me, it used to be a small shadow and now it's this—

Did you see the look in her eyes when she saw you? She could never accept this part of you, there's just too much darkness—

He crashed into a rock. Darkness oozed out of his arms. He crashed into another rock. More darkness oozed out of his legs. Too much darkness everywhere. He stumbled onto the ground and curled in on himself, trying to keep the darkness contained, trying to keep it away from her.

She found him anyway.

"Sora," her soft voice called, echoing through the little cavern. He huddled against the wall and covered his face, willing her to go away because he couldn't tell her to anymore.

"Sora, you don't have to run and hide from me," she said, coming closer instead of going away.

"Please, Kairi, just go away, why won't you go away—"

But all that came out were hisses and snarls, the only sounds he could make in this cursed form. Not even that phased her. She came closer still, and her warm hand rested on his cold arm. He flinched and cried out, but his voice wasn't even his. It wasn't much of a voice at all.

"It's okay, Sora. I'm not afraid."

"You should be!"

More hisses and snarls. But she just pulled his hands away. Instead of fear or loathing, there was only affection in her eyes and a smile on her face as she gazed at him.

"I don't want you to be afraid, either. Your light and your darkness, it's all just a part of you."

He froze as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. Her breathing was steady, even, her skin warm against his icy face. He focused on it, focused on her as everything else melted away. His own breathing slowed down and evened out till it matched the rhythm of hers.

She just held him like that for a while, hot against cold, light against dark, human against Heartless. No different from any of the other times he'd transformed, really. At least, she wasn't treating him like it was any different, even though—

"No matter what form you take, Sora," she said, her voice soft as she cupped his face and gave him a tender smile, "all I see is you."

Her eyes closed and her lips found his, brushing against them in a gentle caress. Her warmth filled his heart and body, and her acceptance, given fully and freely, was stronger than Donald's magic, stronger than the darkness, stronger than his fear and shame.

He'd been wrong. He'd been wrong about her, about him, about them. And boy what a relief that was.

His arms went around her and brought her close as he kissed her back. Not as anything but himself, because he knew now that was what she'd wanted. It was what she'd wanted all along.

Donald let out a sigh of relief as he opened Kairi's message on Goofy's phone. It was a picture of the two of them together in a dark cave-like area, and Sora was completely back to normal. His arm was around her and he had a big smile on his face that matched the smile on hers.

Donald likewise smiled. That was a relief, seriously. He sent a message apologizing to Sora and thanking Kairi again, then went to go find Goofy.

As he did, he couldn't help but wonder. Maybe all those transformations hadn't been necessary after all. Maybe Sora and Kairi would have come together on their own. Maybe their hearts working together had been enough to transform their bond into something new all along.

Well, all the same, it sure hadn't hurt to give fate a little push in the right direction. Sometimes even destiny needed a little extra help, after all.

And with that we've reached the end! What started out as just a fun discussion turned into this five part story, and I hope you all enjoyed. A big thank you again to Alja for all the suggestions and inspiration :)

Speaking of inspiration, the scene where Kairi tells Sora his light and darkness are both a part of him was inspired by a comic by 裸餅 (ra_mo_chi) on pixiv.

Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed! Just think, the Japanese release of KH3 is now only about a month away! It'll be here before we know it!