Hey everybody.

Thanks go out to Trainalf and janus-juan for their reviews! Also, I have to admit, I'm pretty excited. Three chapters in one week! And the action starts now!

Disclaimer: It goes without saying that I will never own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. But I still own my ideas and original characters.

Hope you enjoy!

EDIT: Dates have officially been added to clear up potential confusion and keep the timeline in order without any discrepancies.

Chapter Four: We're Just Getting Started

Monday, May 17th 4794 P.C.

Sora woke up early the next morning, excitement beginning to pump through him as he remembered that he was finally back on the Destiny Islands after two years. A huge grin spread across his face as he yawned widely and looked around his room. His mother had kept it exactly the same as when he had left. His now too small clothes lay scattered about among books, wooden practice swords and a random assortment of stones and shells he and Kairi used to collect on the beaches. Sora quickly threw on his usual adventuring clothes, slipped his silver crown pendant over his head and inhaled deeply, enjoying the familiar smells of home. And freshly cooked bacon and eggs wafting up from the kitchen.

Sora's stomach growled loudly at the smell. He bolted quickly from his room and out into the hallway, down the stairs, and into the kitchen, startling his mother as he grabbed a plate and piled it high with food before throwing himself into a chair. He then began wolfing down the food as if it was his last meal.

"Good lord, Sora," Allison gasped, "You're acting as if you haven't eaten in ages." Sora said something incoherent through a mouthful of food. Allison sighed, "Some things never change. We've been over this at least a million times, Sora. Chew, swallow, don't choke and then speak. Don't do all at once."

Sora rolled his eyes and swallowed his mouthful. "I said, 'It has been ages since I was last here to enjoy your cooking, Mom. You try traveling with a duck that marinades everything in hot sauce for an hour before cooking." Sora shuddered at the thought of eating Donald's cooking. Allison laughed.

Sora returned to his food, eating at a slightly slower pace and gazing around at the kitchen he hadn't laid eyes on in over two years. The cabinets, floor, table and chairs were all cut from the mahogany trees that grew on Eve and polished to the point they reflected light better than most mirrors. Pots and pans hung from a rack above the stainless steel stove. Coffee simmered in its pot next to the refrigerator.

"So, how was your first night back?" Allison asked her son as she set a glass of orange juice in front of him. Sora took a quick drink and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"It was-" Sora paused trying to find the right words. He had returned home and immediately thrown himself into his old bed, exhausted from the previous day's excitement, and fallen asleep immediately, falling into his usual dream involving a certain auburn haired girl. Sora grinned at the memory of the dream. "It was great. I didn't realize how much I missed this place until I got back."

"That's good," Allison said as she poured coffee into a travel mug. Sora looked at her curiously. "What?" Allison asked when she caught her son's stare.

"Where're you going?" Sora asked, gesturing with his head at the mug in her hand.

Allison laughed. "I have to work today, kiddo. It's Monday."

Sora's eyes widened in surprise. So much had been happening during the last few months that he ended up losing track of what day it was. "I'm really out of it," he said "What's today's date?"

Allison glanced at a calendar on the wall. "May Seventeenth," she replied, patting Sora on his back as she went to leave, "Enjoy your summer break!"

Sora stared blankly at her. "That's it? No 'You're grounded forever'?"

Allison smiled, "I suppose I could ground you if that's what you want," A look of mock horror crossed Sora's face. Allison laughed. "But, you did save the Worlds twice. So I'll let you off the hook. See you!"

Sora stared dumbfounded after his mother as she left. There was a flash of blue light and Roxas appeared next to Sora. He stretched his back and let out a huge yawn.

"Talk about lucky, dude," said Roxas as he sat in a vacant chair, "I was certain that she was going to ground you for the rest of the summer." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Tell me about it," he said, "I was getting ready to not be allowed out of the house all summer."

Roxas stared longingly at the leftover eggs and bacon and sighed. "Anyways," he turned to face Sora. "How do you plan on spending your first day not having to fight Heartless or some maniac trying to rule the Worlds?"

Sora smiled. "You know something, Roxas," he said, glancing at his Nobody. "I can honestly say I don't know."

"Sora doesn't know something?" said Roxas sarcastically. "Stop the fuckin' presses."

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed, giving the Nobody a shocked look. "First of all, that was uncalled for. Second, language dude. Language." Roxas laughed at him.

"I'll talk how I want," Roxas said, laughing at Sora's expression. Sora rolled his eyes and got to his feet to clean the dishes.

"You know," Sora said, as he scraped the food into Tupperware containers and placed them in the fridge, "I think I'll go take a look at the Secret Place. I haven't been there in awhile."

Roxas looked at Sora curiously. "Why the Secret Place?" He asked. "You haven't been home in two years. Isn't there someplace else you want to see?" Sora shook his head.

"I have my reasons dude." He said. "Just trust me." Roxas nodded. Sora placed the dishes into the dishwasher, stretched, and turned to face the transparent Nobody. "You know what I just thought of?" Roxas shook his head. "We know nothing about each other, aside from the fact that you're my Nobody and I'm your Somebody."

Roxas cocked his head at Sora. "What's there to know? Like you said, I'm you and you're me. We're exactly the same, in most ways. The only difference is our appearance and our attitudes. And my levels of awesomeness far outweigh your own." Roxas grinned. Sora rolled his eyes.

"I find you far too sarcastic for just a spectral image." Sora said as he and Roxas made their way out of the house and down the street. Roxas vanished in a flash of blue light.

It's probably better if I just stay in here while you walk through town. I'd rather not listen to people screaming "Ghost!" and running for their lives.

Yeah, that would probably be bad.

Sora began to walk the streets towards the docks where he had tied his boat up the night before. Deciding to walk slowly, Sora took time to look around at the world around him. For the most part, the suburbs hadn't changed drastically like the city had. The houses looked the same and the familiar smell of the ocean was exactly as Sora remembered it.

"Sora!"

Sora's heart leapt into his throat as the shout reached him. He turned and found Kairi running towards him, waving at him. Sora grinned and ran up to her.

"Hey Kairi," Sora said as they stopped short of one another, Kairi gasping for breath. "What's up?"

"Not much," she panted. "But I've been looking for you. I need to ask you for a favor." Sora raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sure thing," he responded almost instantly. "What's the favor?"

Kairi grinned and took a deep breath. "Please teach me how to use the Keyblade!" she asked, bowing her head to him.

Sora was taken aback. "Come again?"

"Well, now that we know that I can use a Keyblade, I want to know HOW to use it," Kairi replied, looking at him excitedly. "And since you're the Keyblade's Chosen One, who else would be better to teach me?"

Sora considered this for a moment. "You could have always asked Riku." He said.

Kairi's expression fell. "Is that a 'no'?" Could he really just not want to teach me? Was I wrong about him? Kairi felt close to crying. It almost felt as if her heart was ready to break.

Sora's expression quickly changed to shock as he saw the tears start to form in her eyes. "I'd never say 'no' to you Kairi." He said, grabbing Kairi by her shoulders and pulling her closer in an attempt to comfort her. "I didn't mean it to sound like that. I just figured Riku would be a better teacher than me."

Kairi glared playfully up at Sora, wiping the tears that had formed from the corner of her eyes. "But I don't want to learn from Riku," she pouted, "I want to learn from YOU! Besides, you've wielded the Keyblade longer than he has. You know more about how it works than he would."

Gotta give her props, Roxas said. She's put a lot of thought into it. Go for it dude. Get some ALONE time with her. Sora could've sworn that he saw Roxas wink at him in his mind's eye.

"Okay then," Sora said, ignoring Roxas. "How about we go to the island for your training?" He gestured with his thumb at the island where the two of them and Riku used to go all the time to play. Kairi's pout broke into a huge grin.

"Thank you so much Sora!" She threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. Sora blushed and hugged her back.

"N-no problem," Sora said, as Kairi released him. Kairi continued to grin at him as she grabbed his hand and pulled him along after her towards one of the boats. Sora helped Kairi into one of the boats and pushed it into the water before jumping in after and taking up the oars. Kairi took notice of the fact that Sora occasionally glanced from the island in the distance to her violet-blue ones, then back to the island. They spent the short trip to the island in silence. Kairi's heart was pounding at the prospect of finally being able to learn how to use the Keyblade. Sora determinedly kept his gaze on the island as they drew closer.

Their tiny boat pulled up to the island and Sora quickly lashed it to the docks and helped Kairi out. Kairi followed Sora around the Island as he hunted for a decent place to teach her how to use the Keyblade. After several minutes of walking around the beaches, Sora finally settled on using the islet where the Paopu tree grew for their training session.

"This'll do." Sora said, kicking up the sand on the beach. He turned to face Kairi, who was practically bouncing up and down while trying to contain her excitement. "So, how about you show me what you do know about using a Keyblade to fight?" Sora held out his hand and an obsidian blade, decorated with a chain running the length of the blade leading to the "teeth" of the blade and an amethyst in the shape of a diamond set where the blade met with the hilt, a guard in the shape of two black demon wings and a chain leading from the base of the hilt to a black crown pendant flashed into existence. The Oblivion Keyblade, a Keyblade of superior strength. Sora pointed the blade at Kairi, who took a step back in surprise as Sora's expression quickly became serious.

"You want me to what?" Kairi exclaimed. She had never seen Sora look so serious before.

"Attack me." Sora said simply. "Summon your Keyblade and then attack me. When you were fighting Heartless in The World That Never Was with Riku, you did a great job, which tells me that you have the basics of swordplay down." Kairi blushed at the compliment. "I just want to see how much you know so I can figure out what to teach you to make you into a better swordswoman."

Kairi nodded at Sora in understanding. Standing up straighter, she held out her right hand and concentrated. There was a flash of light and her Keyblade flashed to life. One half of the guard appeared to be a breaking ocean wave while the other half was crafted as a vein of sand, reminiscent of a beach that continued beyond the guard to wrap around the sunset colored shaft and ended in a bouquet of colorful flowers that made up the "teeth". A red ribbon ran from the base of the hilt and ended in a charm that was similar in appearance to a Paopu fruit. The Destiny's Embrace Keyblade, given to Kairi to fight off Heartless in The World That Never Was.

Kairi hefted the blade, re-familiarizing herself with its weight. She shifted her stance so her knees were bent slightly, her left leg behind her right and her left arm tucked behind her back. She lifted Destiny's Embrace with her right hand so she was able to look past the blade at Sora while still providing protection for her upper body, the "teeth" of the blade facing outwards towards Sora.

Sora grinned at her. "We begin in three," Kairi shifted her left foot farther back and crouched lower. "Two," Kairi brought her other out from behind her back and grasped Destiny's Embrace with both hands. "One," Kairi's eyes narrowed as she scanned Sora for an opening. "GO!"

Kairi darted at Sora, who raised the Oblivion in a defensive stance. She slashed at his side and he threw up a guard that he knew she wouldn't break. Kairi grinned and spun on her heel, spinning in a three hundred sixty degree circle quickly to bring her blade around to Sora's other side. Sora's eyes widened in surprise at her skill as he was forced to throw himself out of the way of her attack. He quickly rolled to his feet and brought his Keyblade back up.

"Very nice," he said, deflecting the next slash she threw at him with some difficulty. "You're doing better than I expected." Kairi stabbed at his chest and Sora leaned back to dodge. Kairi pressed on, unleashing a series of swift attacks aimed at Sora's midsection. Sora easily dodged her attacks due to his experience, but he still had surprise etched on his face from Kairi's determination. Sora couldn't help but show off. He performed a series of back flips, dodging Kairi's quick slashes and thrusts.

"Show off!" Kairi panted as she slashed at Sora's midsection only to have Sora flip up and over her, bowing to her back as he landed. She spun and swung wildly, allowing Sora to easily parry her blow.

Kairi was beginning to wear out. She had used most of her strength already in an attempt to break Sora's guard early on. She overstepped as she went in for a power attack. Sora saw his chance and quickly spun past her, disarming her with a power attack of his own. Kairi stared down the length of Oblivion, panting slightly. Sora lowered his blade, letting it dangle at his side.

"I'm very impressed Kairi," he said looking at her admiringly. "You're very skilled already. I can't help but wonder who taught you." Kairi grinned at Sora.

"No one taught me," she said. "It just comes to me. I don't even know how I was able to fight like that." This took Sora by surprise. He had been expecting her to tell him that she had taken sword fighting lessons from someone during the year and a half she had been left on the Islands without him there.

"I have a theory," said Naminé as she appeared in a flash of golden light. "Kairi's heart spent several months inside Sora's heart when the Islands were destroyed. Sora spent almost every day during those months fighting the Heartless. If I'm right, Kairi's heart inherited all of Sora's fighting abilities from that period of time. Therefore, fighting should come as a reflex for her, and now that she can wield a Keyblade, she just showed us that she can draw on those abilities whenever she fights." Kairi grinned at Sora.

Sora grinned back. "Makes sense to me," he said. Sora raised the Oblivion Keyblade to point it at Kairi, who summoned Destiny's Embrace back to her when she saw that Sora was pointing his Keyblade at her. "Since you've definitely inherited my offensive combat skills, let's see if you inherited my defensive combat skills." Kairi leapt backwards to dodge as Sora lunged at her, swinging Oblivion in a wide arc over his head.

LD

Sora pressed Kairi for an hour, he taught her different ways to deflect an attack, redirect an attack, recover from an attack, counterattack and several dozen other defensive skills he had learned in his time fighting against the Heartless. When he was satisfied that Kairi understood enough of the defensive basics, Sora moved onto to teaching her a couple of magic spells. As soon as Sora told Kairi that he was going to teach her how to cast magic, Kairi's exhaustion vanished suddenly and was replaced by an excessive amount of energy.

"Okay," said Sora as he paced away from Kairi. "The first spell I'm going to teach you to cast is Fire." Sora pointed his Keyblade at a rock and blew it apart with a fireball that flew from the tip of the Oblivion. Kairi was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. "The first thing you need to know about magic," Sora said as lowered the Oblivion, "Is that in order to cast an elemental spell you need to feel the element. Become the element. For example," he gestured at the bits of smoldering rock, "When casting fire, become fire itself. When you do this, the element becomes yours to command." A band of fire flew from the tip of Sora's Keyblade and circled him several times before vanishing into smoke. "And you can call upon it whenever you want. But using magic wears heavily on your mind. So don't try to do more than you can handle. It can and most likely will hurt you." Kairi let out an audible gulp at the seriousness in Sora's voice.

Sora raised his Keyblade and sent out three sparkling chunks of ice to hang midair several feet away from Kairi. He turned to face her.

"As your first lesson, I want you to try using fire magic to destroy these ice chunks," he said as the Oblivion Keyblade vanished from his hands in a burst of light. "If you can get two out of three, I'll have you practice on moving targets. Now go!"

Sora backed away as Kairi aimed her Keyblade at the center ice chunk and concentrated. She could feel the heat of a campfire, hear the crackling flames. She could feel the fire coursing through her. She had become fire itself. Kairi's eyes snapped open.

"Fire!"

A massive fireball shot from the tip of Destiny's Embrace and melted all three chunks of ice in less than a second. Sora and Kairi both stared dumbfounded at the place where the ice had been less than a moment before. There was a brief second of silence before Sora let out a shout of pride and wrapped Kairi up in a hug that lifted her from the ground.

"That was amazing, Kairi!" Sora shouted, hugging Kairi close to him. "I wasn't even able to cast magic of that magnitude until I had been practicing for weeks." Kairi continued to stare, open mouthed at the spot where her fireball had faded.

"I can't believe I just used magic," she said softly as it set in. "That was awesome!" she cried out, hugging Sora back.

Sora smiled widely at her and broke the hug, creating a dozen shards of ice that dances around midair. "Like I promised," he said. "Moving targets are up next."

Over the course of the next couple of hours, Sora helped Kairi learn additional ways to use fire magic as well as help her learn blizzard magic before he decided to give her a break. Sora helped Kairi into the shade of the Paopu tree, where she quickly fell asleep with a wide smile decorating her face.

Sora watched her sleep for a while before he left her to go to their Secret Place. He ducked under the low hanging vines that concealed the entrance and kept his head low as he made his way through the short passageway, straightening up when he emerged into the small cavern.

He glanced around at the walls of the cavern, decorated in dozens of drawings he and Kairi had made when they were younger. One wall was bare, save for a wooden door with no handle that couldn't be opened. Sora barely even glanced at the door. He ran his hands over several drawings, reminiscing about the times he and Kairi had played in here.

He stopped at his favorite drawing and knelt down to get a better look at it. Sora's eyes widened slightly in surprise. It was the drawing he and Kairi had made of each other when they were both seven years old. Sora remembered adding him giving Kairi a Paopu fruit to the drawing the day before the Islands had been consumed by the Darkness. Kairi had since added onto the drawing, which now was a drawing of Sora giving her a Paopu fruit and Kairi giving one to Sora. A tear formed in the corner of his eye.

She must really love you since she added onto the drawing like that. Said Roxas in the back of Sora's mind. By the way, you two would've made the worst graffiti artists in the history of ever. Just saying.

Shut up, Roxas. Sora retorted. We did a pretty good job considering we were little kids when we drew all of these.

If you insist. But I'm telling you, I just don't think you two were cut out to be artists.

Bite me.

Couldn't even if I wanted to. You've got the physical body, not me. Remember?

Of course I do. I'm not an idiot.

That has yet to be determined. Roxas and Sora laughed. Sora stared back at the drawing of him and Kairi.

I've made up my mind, dude. I'm going to go tell Kairi how I really feel about her.

Really? It's about time. Go for it man. Everybody and their mother is rooting for you. And if you can't think of something to say, I'll put in a call to the guys in Central and see what they can do.

Was that sarcasm?

The part about calling the guys in Central was. You don't have a Central in here. And I'm also the only one in here aside from you. You do have the space though. You could probably make a killing off of rent.

Sora tuned Roxas out as the Nobody went off on a tangent about how Sora could rent out the spare room in his head. He stood up and quickly made his way out of the Secret Place. He glanced up at the Paopu tree. Kairi was waving at him and heading towards him. Sora grinned and started to run to her when he saw something dark appear in the corner of his vision. He turned his head to get a better look but there was nothing there. Sora shook his head.

And now I'm seeing things. Awesome.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out in shock and worry. Sora turned to look at her and managed to catch a glimpse of something dark fading out of existence. Sora froze and began looking around. He summoned the Oblivion to his hand.

"Behind you!" Kairi shouted. Sora spun on his heel and looked behind him. A rather tall person stood facing the waterfall, dressed in a black cloak identical to the ones worn by the former Organization XIII. The figure slowly turned towards Sora and then vanished, reappearing feet from Sora.

The figure in the cloak raised its left hand and snapped twice. A barrier flashed into existence along the beach, separating Kairi from Sora. Kairi ran up to the barrier and attempted to strike it, only to be blown back several feet. She let out a cry of pain when she hit the ground hard.

"Kairi!" Sora cried in concern. He turned angrily towards the cloaked figure only to be met by the figures boot colliding with his face. Sora gasped in pain as he was knocked backwards. Sora quickly recovered and swung the Oblivion at the figure. A brief instant before the Keyblade would've struck the figure, the figure vanished and reappeared several feet to Sora's left.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded, lunging at the figure. The figure leapt several feet into the air and shot back to the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked Sora off balance. Sora recovered and jumped back several feet to put distance between him and the figure. The figure held out his right palm towards Sora, who winced, expecting a ranged attack. Instead there was a flash of light and a sword comprised of entirely blue light with a black ornate pattern near where the hilt of a normal sword would be appeared in each of his hands in a reverse grip style.

The figure suddenly appeared directly in front of Sora and unleashed a volley of high speed attacks with its blades that Sora found difficult to keep pace with. The figure paused for a brief moment and Sora launched his counter attack and managed to land a single blow to the figures left shoulder before it vanished and reappeared standing several yards away. The figure had its head turned towards its left shoulder. Sora could see the single blow had managed to tear the cloak and break the skin. A decent amount of blood was running down the figures shoulder and dripping steadily onto the sand of the beach.

"Nice hit Sora!" Kairi cheered from behind the magic barrier. Sora grinned and readied the Oblivion for another attack but froze when he watched the person in the cloak raise its right hand above him. Sora felt a burst of energy radiate from the figure, an energy burst that reminded Sora of times when he manipulated time to freeze his enemies in place.

Time around Sora suddenly slowed down. The speed of the waves lapping against the beach seemed to take longer and longer while seagulls overhead slowed down considerably. Sora went to rush the figure but moved slowly, Sora watched as a symbol resembling a clock, with a single hand resembling the blades the figure was wielding, appeared over the figures head and began turning in a counter-clockwise fashion. Sora stopped his charge and watched in shock as the blood flowing from the figure's wound quickly returned to the figures body, the wound sealed itself, and the figure's cloak suddenly was repaired. Then time sped up to its normal pace.

Sora was frozen in shock as the figure slowly walked towards him, summoning its blades back into existence.

What the hell was that? Roxas shouted in the back of Sora's mind.

"I don't believe it," Sora said dumbfounded, slowly feeling fear begin to take root in his heart. "That person rewound time to heal itself."

Sora stumbled backwards as the figure continued its slow walk towards him. Sora quickly regained his composure and held the Oblivion in front of him defensively. Sora let out a battle cry and charged the figure. The figure stopped walking and shifted its grip on its blades, holding them in a normal-grip style for dual wielding as compared to its reverse-grip style. The figure leapt into the air and crossed the blades to form an X above its head. It swung the blades towards Sora and an X-shaped burst of orange and black energy flew towards Sora. Sora somersaulted out of the way and the energy burst collided with a tree, reducing it to charcoal in an instant. Sora and Kairi stared at the remains of the tree in shock.

Sora dodged another X-shaped burst of energy, and charged towards the figure. The figure shifted its grip on the blades back to its reverse grip style and leapt at Sora. The figure struck Sora several times with its blades as it came within range of Sora. It connected the hilts of both blades and rapidly struck Sora several times in the back before leaping several feet up into the air and throwing the combined blades like a spear at Sora.

"Reflega!" Sora shouted, reacting on instinct and summoning a hexagonal dome of light to surround him. The figure's blades struck the barrier and stuck. Sora grinned. Then his reflect spell shattered before Sora could dispel it and the combined blades zipped past Sora, slicing open his left forearm before vanishing.

Sora let out a howl of pain, the Oblivion Keyblade vanishing in a burst of light as Sora clutched his wounded arm.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out worriedly, still trying to find a way through the barrier. The figure seemed to float to the ground, its feet touching the ground as lightly as a falling feather. Sora blinked tears out of his eyes as he stared at the blood flowing from his arm. He could see the figure slowly advancing towards him out of the corner of his eye. Sora grunted and held his right hand over the cut and concentrated.

"Curaga," He muttered. Flowing green tendrils of energy burst from his right hand and into the wound, sealing it quickly only leaving behind a faint pink scar in its place. Sora sighed in relief as the pain vanished. He faced the slowly advancing figure and summoned the Oblivion back into his hand.

"Why are you attacking him?" Kairi shouted from behind the barrier. The figure stopped and turned to face her. "What did Sora ever do to you to justify this?"

The figure stared at Kairi for a brief moment. Sora aimed his Keyblade at the figure's back. The figure shrugged at Kairi who stared back in shock, and turned to face Sora only to find several fire balls and bursts of ice flying from the tip of Sora's Keyblade.

The figure crossed its blades and casted a reflect spell of its own. Sora's magic attacks bounced of the shield of light without even breaking it. The figure shattered the barrier and ran at Sora. Sora took up a defensive stance. A burst of blue and black light surrounded the figure. Sora broke his stance and stared, shocked as the figure suddenly multiplied into six. All six of the figures charged Sora, each one wielding the same blue and black blades the original wielded. Sora jumped high into the air and glided back several yards. He landed and spun on his heel to find the figures almost on top of him. The figures quickly surrounded him and moved in for a group attack.

"Firaga!" Sora shouted, creating a ring of multiple fireballs that circled him at a high velocity. The original figure vanished and reappeared several yards away, safe from the fire while its replicas vanished in bursts of darkness as the fireballs tore through them. Sora smirked at the figure. The figure responded by holding out its palms towards Sora. A large ball of fire more than twice Sora's size formed in front of him.

Oh shit! Roxas shouted as the fireball flew from the figure's hands towards Sora. Sora barely had time to roll to the side of the fireball before it struck the ground where he had been standing a split second before. He could feel the heat from the fireball as it struck.

That was clo- Roxas began, but was cut off as the fireball exploded violently. Sora was thrown halfway across the beach. The Oblivion Keyblade was sent flying from his hand and embedded itself in the sand of the beach several feet away from where Sora struck the ground.

"Sora!" Kairi screamed, terrified for his life as she watched the explosion throw him head over heels across the beach. "Leave him alone!" Kairi shouted, tears streaming down her face. She summoned Destiny's Embrace and began striking the barrier repeatedly, desperate to destroy the barrier and get to Sora.

The figure turned to watch Kairi's futile attempts and began to walk slowly towards her, a single blade appearing in its left hand. Sora struggled to push himself to his feet. Kairi didn't seem to realize the figure was slowly headed her way.

"Kairi," Sora wheezed, but his voice was so weak he barely heard it. "Stay away from her." The figure didn't seem to hear Sora as it continued towards Kairi.

Come on, man! Roxas shouted at him. You and I both know that if you're having your ass handed to you like this, Kairi doesn't stand any chance against this person! So get to your feet and save her, damn it! Sora pushed against the ground and felt the burns now covering his arms scream at him. Sora gasped in pain and collapsed. He glared at the figures back as it walked slowly away from him. Kairi had finally realized that the figure was headed for her and was now backing away from the barrier, terror dominating her expression as she raised Destiny's Embrace in defense.

She will DIE if you don't save her! Why the fuck aren't you saving her? Move, God damn it!

"Stay away from her!" Sora roared, spurred on by Roxas' yelling, and leapt to his feet despite the pain that radiated though his body. The figure spun around to face Sora. Kairi stared at him with a huge smile, tears streaming down her face. Sora summoned the Oblivion back to his hand and pointed it at the figure. A beam of light shot from the tip of Oblivion and struck the figure in its stomach, lifted it off its feet and propelled it forcefully into the rock wall behind the waterfall.

Sora smiled triumphantly. Roxas was cheering in the back of his mind. He turned towards Kairi to call out to her. His smile faded as soon as he saw the barrier was still up and that Kairi still had a look of pure terror on her face and was staring at the waterfall. Sora followed her gaze and saw the cloaked figure standing under the waterfall, which seemed to have stopped flowing. The figure rewound time around itself again, healing the injury Sora had just dealt it.

Oh shit. Roxas said, clearly shocked. I think you just made it angry.

The figure stepped out of the pool of water that gathered at the base of the waterfall, walking on the water. As soon as the figure stepped onto dry land the water began flowing again. The figure thrust its left hand at Sora and a column of water burst from the pool and hurtled towards Sora. Sora attempted to dodge but the water followed him until it knocked him high into the air. He performed a back flip midair to recover when he hit the ground but was struck a second time by the water. Sora crashed back-first into the ground and let out a cry of pain as his burns screamed at him again.

He struggled to his feet only to be knocked off them again as the figure struck him with its blades repeatedly. The figure zipped back and forth inhumanly fast, striking Sora with each pass. With every strike, Sora was knocked higher and higher into the air until the figure struck him in the stomach. Sora was sent falling almost twenty feet onto the hard earth. Sora howled in pain as sand entered his burn wounds and newly created blade wounds.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out, worried about the amount of blood she saw streaming from Sora's wounds. She slammed her Keyblade against the barrier. "Stop hurting him!" Sora got back up and raised his hand above his head.

"Curaga," he said weakly. I can't keep this up forever. He looked around for the figure but it was nowhere to be seen. Sora looked up in the general direction of where the figure had last struck him. It was floating there in a standing position, its hooded head angled downwards towards Sora. "Why don't you come down here and fight me?" Sora yelled at the figure.

How about you come up here instead? A genderless voice spoke in Sora's mind. Sora's eyes widened. The figure summoned a single energy blade and threw it at Sora, becoming a whip of blue and black energy as it sailed through the air. Sora dodged the blade as it struck the ground, only to have the blade circle his waist multiple times, binding him with the blue and black whip. Sora was pulled into the air to the figure which struck Sora multiple times before hurling him to the ground. The figure landed next to Sora and disappeared. Sora groaned and got to his feet. He looked around but the figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Sora!" Kairi called out to him. "Are you okay?" Her face was no longer displaying terror, only worry for Sora.

"I think so," Sora shouted back. He glanced around. The barrier was still up. "Did you see where it went?" Kairi shook her head in response. Sora frowned and looked around. He caught a glimpse of blue and black energy blades flashing into existence on his left. Sora leapt back and launched a fireball towards where he had seen the blades flash.

The blades sliced through the fireball, dispelling it. Sora's eyes widened in disbelief, the blades were suspended midair, with nothing holding them up. The figure was nowhere to be seen. The blades moved towards Sora swiftly. Sora leapt backwards and realized the blades were being held by the figure as it faded in and out of existence in a brief moment.

"It's invisible!" Sora exclaimed as he parried a stream of slashes from the blades. The figure turned visible again and dispelled the blade in its left hand as it punched Sora in the stomach. Sora groaned and felt his knees hit the ground.

I can't move. Sora realized. He was terrified, not for himself, but for Kairi. This is it.

No it isn't! Shouted Roxas. Fight back! You can't die! What about Kairi?

I can't move, Roxas. I can't even cast a cure spell. I'm probably going to die here.

NO!

Tell Kairi to run. Tell her… I'm sorry.

Sora…

Do it now Roxas. The figure lowered its single blade to rest on Sora's shoulder at the base of his neck. This is it for me.

See you, buddy. Roxas said sadly. Too bad we didn't get much time to enjoy being back. Sora felt Roxas leave his mind and saw him appear in a flash of blue light over by Kairi.

Kairi stepped back in shock as Roxas appeared in front of her.

"Roxas?" Naminé said as she appeared next to him. "What's going on?"

Roxas looked sadly from Sora to Kairi.

"Roxas?" Kairi asked, stepping towards him hesitantly. Roxas closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"Sora can't move," he said solemnly. Kairi and Naminé gasped and looked over at Sora, kneeling before the figure. "He says, run." Kairi turned to look at Roxas. "He says he's sorry. Run, before this person comes after you." Tears formed in Kairi's eyes and started flowing down Kairi's cheeks.

"No," Kairi whispered, "Please, not Sora. Anyone but Sora." Kairi's knees gave out and she collapsed, her eyes never leaving Sora. Naminé knelt next to Kairi and placed a hand on her back. Roxas looked away from them and back towards Sora and the figure.

Sora glared up at the figure.

"What did I ever do to you?" He asked. The figure remained silent for a moment before sighing.

"Do you have any regrets?" the figure asked Sora, now revealing that it was male. "Do you regret losing to me? Do you regret that you're staring death in the face? Do you regret coming back to these Islands?" Sora glared back at the cloaked man.

"You want the truth?" Sora slowly forced his head to turn so he could get a better look at Kairi. Kairi stared back at him with tears flowing down her cheeks. "I regret never telling Kairi that I'm in love with her." He turned his head to stare at the man. "Satisfied?"

The cloaked man turned his head to look at Kairi and then back at Sora. He sighed and lowered his hood. He was a man in his early twenties with shoulder length bronze colored hair. His eyes were closed. Sora had a sudden sense he had seen the man somewhere before but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"As a matter of fact," said the man. "I am. To answer your earlier question, I attacked you to test the strength of your heart." Sora stared at him in confusion. "I nearly killed you several times during our fight. Every single time you got back up. You got your energy to keep fighting from the Princess of Heart you've fallen in love with." The man's energy blade faded and he opened his silver colored eyes. Sora's mouth dropped in shock. The man was the same one they had watched fight in the Defender Tournament the previous night. The man Sora had bet against Donald to win a fight.

"And I was right," the man continued. Sora got the impression that the man's silver eyes could see into his mind and soul. "Today I learned that the Keyblade's Chosen One has a heart worthy of the title." The man pulled his hood back up and began to walk away, paused and held a hand out towards Sora."Curagun."

Sora was bathed in a bright green light. He felt his wounds heal and his energy return. He glanced down at his body. His shirt was ruined but the wounds had healed without leaving behind any scars. Sora looked up at the man in confusion.

"Your heart is strong, Sora," the man said as he walked towards the ocean. He waved a his right hand in a circular motion and the magical barrier collapsed. Kairi leapt to her feet and bolted towards Sora, shouting his name. "The forces of Darkness grow stronger with each passing moment. You will need to keep your light close. Don't let her go." The man glanced at Kairi and back to Sora. "In my opinion, you've definitely shown the Mark."

"The Mark?" Sora asked confusedly.

The man laughed and vanished.

Kairi rushed to Sora's side and practically tackled him as she threw her arms around him. Sora grunted in pain. His wounds may have been healed but he was still sore. Kairi loosened her hug but refused to break.

"Thank God," Kairi was whispering repeatedly. Sora hugged her back, breathing deeply to slow his heart rate. "You could've died. That would've been terrible." Kairi slightly tightened her hug, feeling as though he'd actually die if she let go. "I wouldn't be able to live if you were killed." Sora looked at Kairi in surprise.

"Why wouldn't you be able to live if I died?" he asked her, feeling his heart rate suddenly spike again.

Kairi pulled back so her violet-blue eyes could look into his indigo ones while still having her arms wrapped around him. Time seemed to stop around them.

"Kairi?" Sora turned his head to the side in an attempt to get her to say something. Kairi smiled at him and tightened her hug, pulling herself closer to him. Sora's eyes widened in shock as Kairi pressed her lips gently against his.

Kairi's kissing me! Sora exclaimed mentally as excitement began to pump through him. He closed his eyes and he deepened the kiss. Kairi's lips were soft, moist and tasted of watermelon. Sora poured out all of his love for the girl of his dreams that he held tightly into their first kiss. She kissed him back with an equal passion.

They spent what felt like an eternity in each other's arms, connected by their lips. They were both savoring the moment they'd each been dying for. After several minutes, Sora broke the kiss and gazed into Kairi's loving eyes.

"I love you, Kairi," he said as she opened her eyes. Kairi grinned widely and kissed him even more passionately than before, her hands gripping tightly to his hair. Sora kissed her back fervently.

"I love you too, Sora," Kairi whispered, breaking their kiss long enough to take an additional breath before bringing her lips back to meet Sora's. Neither of them had ever felt more alive than they did they moment, lost in their own version of paradise.

They remained like that for several long minutes before they broke apart, each one blushing a shade of crimson deeper than Kairi's hair. Neither of them could stop smiling lovingly at each other. Sora chuckled softly and got to his feet, helping Kairi up along with him. Sora stretched, feeling the vertebrae pop in his spine.

"You up for another sparring session?" Sora asked Kairi, summoning the Oblivion Keyblade to his hand. Kairi stared at him worriedly. Sora raised his eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Are you sure you're in any condition to fight?" Kairi asked, worry tugging at her facial features. "You took a pretty hard beating. I just don't want to see you overdo it." Sora smiled at her, touched by the concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine, Kairi," he said smiling warmly at the girl he loved. "I promise. I'm more than fine. Besides," Sora raised his Keyblade as Kairi smiled at him and summoned hers into her hand. "We're just getting started."

LD

Meanwhile in Disney Castle, the Royal Chronicler, Jiminy Cricket sat at his desk, organizing his journals from his adventures with Sora, Donald and Goofy for archiving. He flipped through the pages of his first journal looking for anything he might have missed. He stopped on the last page when he saw a line of writing he didn't recognize.

"Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it."

Jiminy quickly gathered up his journal and ran to where King Mickey was sitting at his desk in the castle library. Mickey looked up as Jiminy rushed into the room. Before he could even open his mouth to say hello, Jiminy was explaining about the mysterious line of text. Mickey waited patiently for him to finish and when he had, pondered what he had just heard.

"A note you didn't write you say?" he asked the chronicler. Jiminy nodded.

"That's right. I never wrote it," he responded. He gestured at the journal. "These journals never leave my possession. Who could've written this, and when?" Mickey sighed.

"Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it?" Mickey recited. "Could it be somebody asking us for help? Let's take a closer look!"

"But how?" Jiminy asked. "Naminé had to erase all of the other pages from the journal after our first journey on Marluxia's orders. All of the other pages are blank."

"Even if the words were erased, the notebook itself might still hold a few clues," Mickey replied seriously. He stood up. "Go find Chip and Dale. Tell them I need their help making something."

LD

The cloaked man that Sora had fought and lost to just hours before faded into existence in a small rocky box canyon. The cliffs were high. Unnatural. No doubt the work of several earth spells. How many years had it been since he had been here? How many years since he had fought here? All around him were scars from an ancient war. A mountainside in the distance had a massive, obviously magic inflicted crater carved into it. Clouds covered the night sky.

The cloaked man exited the box canyon and stepped out into a flat plane that stretched endlessly for miles in all directions. Around him, hundreds of thousands of Keyblades, ancient, rusted and battle-worn were embedded into the ground. Four large paths had been left between the Keyblade remains and intersect several miles in the distance. A plateau stood near the crossroad, obviously born from a more recent battle than the ancient one that left the land scarred and thousands of Keyblade wielders dead. Several hundred Keyblades lay on their sides near the crossroad cliffs. The man vanished and reappeared near the plateau. He picked up the uprooted Keyblades and re-embedded them, one by one, back into the ground.

Voices drifted to the man from across the sands of time.

"Behold... These lifeless keys used to be full of power— united with the hearts of their Masters. On this barren soil, Keyblades of Light and Darkness were locked in combat...as a great Keyblade War raged."

The man walked slowly through the ancient Keyblades, gently running his hand over their hilts.

"Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one, ultimate key. And it will soon belong to me... χ-blade."

The man clenched his fists as the sounds of war echoed in his mind.

"'χ'... A most ancient letter. Some say 'kye' but the meaning is the same. Death... A letter that spells endings."

The man shivered as the name of the elderly master that once taunted three young Keyblade Wielders here in the Keyblade Graveyard almost twelve years ago floated into his mind. Master Xehanort. Above him, the clouds parted, revealing a glowing blue, heart shaped moon.

Kingdom Hearts.

LD

Hope all of you readers out there liked the chapter and are looking forward to the next one! I can't wait to read any reviews you all might want to leave for me. I greatly appreciate feedback!

Until next time, happy reading!

-Shadow Horizons