"We should stop for a moment," Count Bleck said. Sora looked back at the count curiously. "We're not very far from the Keyhole where Riku will be. This could be the last chance you'll get to rest."

"So you're saying we're about to face off against that brat at last?" Bowser smirked.

Count Bleck nodded. "Something is off about him though. I believe this will not be an easy fight. Before we head in, are you sure you're ready to fight your best friend?"

"I'm not worried," Sora said and smiled at Count Bleck. "Riku just needs a little convincing is all. Then I'm sure he'll come back and we can work together to save Kairi." He didn't mention the hidden doubt he had that Damien had mentioned so long ago, that Riku might be too lost in the darkness to find his way out.

"If Sora's able to take him, I'm ready to help," Luigi said.

"I've been wanting to take out Riku since we visited that destroyed world, so there's no way I'm not ready," Bowser said.

"Very well, then it is time for the confrontation," Count Bleck said. He indicated just ahead of him and pointed to a doorway. They all walked forward into the open room. It was somewhat dark, lit by six blue flames in front of six light blue indents blocked off by glass. The corridor led up to a small stage like area with a heart shaped portal behind it leading into a rainbow realm, blocked off by electricity. The heroes walked by the first set, set up across from each other only to see Zelda and a girl with a green top and black hair in white skirt. Both of their eyes were closed as if they were sleeping.

"Zelda?" Luigi looked at the princess before his eyes locked on the next set, a girl in an orange dress with brown hair, so similar in appearance to Peach that they had to be related. Across the way, to all but Count Bleck's surprise, was Peach herself. "Daisy!" he ran over to the brown haired girl.

"Is that Peach?" Sora looked at the princess, barely missing Count Bleck's nod in response. Bowser had already run to her, a look of anger in his eyes, leaving the duo to continue to the final set.

Both girls were fairly unfamiliar, Sora only recognizing one, a girl with pale blonde hair over one of her eyes and a pale blue dress from his strange dream. It took him a moment to realize he'd seen her before in his dream on the stained glass, along with Daisy, Peach, and the dark haired girl from the front.

The girl on the otherside, however, was unfamiliar to him period, her hair was long, falling down to her lower back, and it was a light shade of brown, possibly even a dirty blonde. Her eyes too were closed like she was asleep and she wore a simple white dress. Her hands were holding something that looked almost like Tippi, much to Sora's confusion. When Count Bleck saw her, he ran, much like Luigi and Bowser did to Daisy and Peach. "Timpani…forgive me…" he muttered. Seeing as none of the others were moving from the girls here, Sora continued on alone. He started running up the stairs leading up to the almost stage only to pause momentarily.

Kairi was there, lying on the ground. "Kairi!" He ran towards her, still as unconscious as she was before. "Kairi!" He shook her. "Kairi! Open your eyes!" He was pleading, she was finally with him; she had to wake up.

"It's no use." Riku appeared on top of the giant heart sitting as though bored. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."

"What?" Riku would never refer to Kairi like that… Sora looked up at Riku with shock before it hit him. "You…you're not Riku."

"The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps." "Riku" continued his statement, ignoring Sora completely.

"The princess..? Kairi's a princess?" Sora had known her since she was five and she was never a princess on the islands. It would have had to have been from her home world.

"Riku" jumped down off of the heart, landing on the ground in a slowed descent. "Yes, and without her, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. It is time she awakened."

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!" Sora figured if he was going to fight for one of his best friend's fate, he should save the other one too from the same thing. Both of them deserved their hearts back.

"But first, you must give the princess back hers." "Riku" pointed his Keyblade at Sora's chest and Sora hit the ground as though in pain. A bright light had flashed at the same moment.

"What's-"

"Don't you see yet? The princess's heart is responding," "Riku" said. "It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you."

It was impossible, he'd been going on the journey to find her, and yet it made perfect sense. Why else did he keep seeing Kairi everywhere, hearing her, even seeing her memory of the story? There was no question about it, it made too much sense. "Riku" was right. "Kairi…Kairi's inside me?"

"I know all there is to know," "Riku" said.

"Tell me. Who are you?" Sora asked. How did he know about Kairi being there, about everything? If it wasn't Riku there was no way he'd know about how Sora had been hallucinating about Kairi and there was no other way to know that she was in there.

"It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness." Ansem, as in the guy who wrote the reports they were hunting down? He was supposed to be the good guy, not possessing Sora's best friend. "So, I shall release you now, princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Ansem went in to attack Sora, the Keyblade ready to hit him.

"Sora!"

At the sound of Kairi's voice, Sora lifted his Keyblade to block Ansem's attack. "Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Even if he couldn't save Kairi, he'd protect her heart. Ansem jumped back, firing a dark fireball at Sora that he rolled out of the way of before retaliating with a strike with his Keyblade, met quickly by Ansem's. They both jumped away and Sora threw his Keyblade at Ansem, hitting him before Sora was hit by Ansem, nailing him in the stomach and knocking him back. Sora resummoned his Keyblade to his hand and attacked again, blocking Ansem's attack before retaliating with one of his own.

"Behold the power of darkness." An aura engulfed Ansem and he vanished for a moment, leaving Sora confused before he began teleporting around the arena, his Keyblade pointed at Sora as he struck him at every possible moment. Sora began rapidly running around in an attempt to avoid Ansem's attack. Each attempt failed as he was continually hit from all sides before Ansem finally stopped, sending his Keyblade into the ground and releasing a dark pulse, hitting Sora further.

"Heal!" Sora quickly cast a cure on himself before running at Ansem again, this time powering up his Keyblade with light as he began to rapidly slash at him, each strike hitting its mark as Ansem repeatedly attempted to block the blow before finally the Keyblades hit each other. Ansem disappeared again before repeating his teleporting strike, but this time, Sora was ready as he started to roll out of the way of each blow, predicting where Ansem would appear to hit him next. He rolled out of the way one last time before slashing his Keyblade into Ansem again and again in rapid succession. Sora hit him with one last strike into the center of the arena, where he vanished, leaving his dark Keyblade behind.

"Riku!" Sora reached for where his friend once was. He had beaten the silver haired boy once more, and finally managed to one up him. If he had been back on the islands, with Kairi and Riku both safe, he would have been celebrating the fact that he was finally the island champion, but that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was the fate of his best friends, of saving them both.

"Sora!" Count Bleck had teleported next to Sora with Luigi and Bowser. "Where's Riku?"

"Gone…" Sora said. "He's gone…"

"Sorry about that Sora, but look." Luigi pointed at the Keyhole and Sora nodded, raising his Keyblade at it, he expected it to seal like it had many times before. No beam of light emerged.

"Why isn't it working?" Bowser asked.

"Until the Keyhole is complete, Sora will be unable to seal it," Count Bleck said. He lowered his hat over his eyes. "I will continue to look by the princesses for a way to wake them up and destroy the Keyhole all together. I trust that you will figure out how to complete it."

Sora nodded and tossed his Keyblade to the side, it was obviously useless. Count Bleck floated back over to the six girls, his eyes continually lingering on Timpani.

Luigi and Bowser took the base of the staircase, leaving Sora alone by the Keyhole itself. "If only I could wake Kairi up…but how?" He looked at the Keyblade Ansem had left behind. He'd said something about it when they'd battled Dimentio, something about it opening people's hearts. "A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts…I wonder."

"Sora?" Luigi heard Sora's voice and watched as Sora picked up the Keyblade. He held it in his hand, examining it for a moment. "What are you-"

Lugi's comment had attracted both Count Bleck's and Bowser's attention. "Sora don't!" Count Bleck shouted.

"I promise we'll find your friends out there, but if they see you're upset, they might get upset too, so smile, okay?" Peach's words that day in Traverse Town echoed in his mind. Maybe if they saw him smile, they would too, both Kairi and his new friends, every single one of them.

Protect Kairi, okay? Sora thought as he lifted up the Keyblade just above him and gave them a smile, a genuine one. It would be hard not to see them all again, to not get to say goodbye, but that was okay. He was going to save Kairi, and that's what mattered. He thrust the Keyblade into his heart.

Sora closed his eyes the moment the blade made contact. It flew out moments later, dissolving into darkness and releasing six balls of light. Each ball of light flew out towards one of the six girls in the glass, hitting their chest and returning to where they belonged, inside of them.

Another ball of light emerged moments later, this one from within Sora. It flew not in the direction of the previous six, but towards Kairi landing on her chest and vanishing like the others had. Goodbye, Kairi.

With her heart returned to her, Kairi awoke. She heard the words in her head as she pushed herself off the ground she had been laying on. Her eyes locked on Sora, now glowing and falling backwards, and she completely left the ground standing up. "Sora!" She ran. She'd felt like she was moving in slow motion to reach him, but she had to save him, she couldn't let him disappear. She saw Luigi run towards him at the same time, but she reached him first. The moment her arms touched his body however, it vanished in a bright flash of light. She watched as the final bits of light faded away, her voice deserting her. She could only make a soft gasp in shock.

"Sora! Come back!" Luigi shouted, but in her heart, Kairi knew it didn't make a difference what Luigi shouted.

Her best friend had just stabbed himself in the heart with a Keyblade, sacrificed himself for her.

Sora was never coming back.