For once, there was light in the darkness. It blinked and urged him to step foreword; and dumbstruck, Roxas did just that. But when he stepped into the welcoming light, he found it was just as dark – if not darker – than the prison he had just been kept in.

And before he found himself falling and sleeping, he thought, "This is one sick joke." And then, he was no more.

X-X

Hoards of heartless swarmed around a frail boy, the keyblade drifting from his hand. Everything paled in comparison to the black engulfing his mind. His chocolate locks stood on end, shock still, and his attempts to break free from the low level heartless weakened. The colour from his face was slowly dripping away.

His friends were kept at bay by a large force field in the cavern, and a Chinese soldier by the name of Ping and a red dragon named Mushu found themselves stuck with the brunette whom went by Sora.

An ambush was all it took to catch the keyblade-wielder unaware. And perhaps Shan Yu knew this all along… But it was probably dumb luck that made the ambush fit so perfectly into Sora's schedule of fighting, lack of sleep, and little food. He should have been more careful. He should have been a lot of things, but most of all, he shouldn't have thought that he was so goddamn immortal.

X-X

A heartbeat echoed in the chasm. But it wasn't the blonde's. He just could HAVE a heart. So it must be Sora's. Roxas recalled memories of concern and felt that they didn't match what was coursing through his soul. He searched through remorse, sadness, grief… none of them fit. And then he stumbled upon a memory of relief and pure joy. And it was so goddamn fucking perfect.

X-X

Ping and Mushu weren't even aware of what was happening to Sora. They had they own batch of heartless to worry about – they figured that the keyblade- wielder could handle himself. Alas, how wrong they were.

Even Donald and Goofy didn't notice Sora's predicament. Only when the force field died down and the heartless were gone did they notice that something was terribly wrong.

X-X

He felt a breeze ruffle his hair. How long had it been since he had last felt the wind? Roxas didn't know. It was nice. Had a comforting feeling. The emotion Roxas was feeling was his soul at peace. But he didn't know that. Sora had felt 'at peace', but not this… relieved, almost baby-like comfort that was so straightforward that it befuddled Roxas. He knew he was confused, had felt it many times before, but he could not peg down what he was feeling, with the wind in his hair… he was anxious and expectant; Roxas finally concluded. And excited.

Yes… excited to finally be free.

X-X

Sora didn't move anymore. He was too weak to do so, and the darkness was too strong. He felt powerless.

…He was powerless.