It's been a rough trip, but we are slowly making our way up this backwards waterfall. The rocks are slippery and we are getting soaked. My fingers are numb from the cold water. But we are getting closer and closer to the giant castle.

"Sora, where are we going?" I have to yell for my voice to be heard over the rushing water.

"Up to the castle. We need some rest and food. Leon and Aerith should be there and they can help us out."

"Aerith lives here?" I pull myself up to the next rock despite the stinging in my fingers.

"You know her?"

"She helped me. Back in Traverse Town, she was the one who found me when my home was…" That's not quite true anymore, is it? I showed up before Destiny Island was destroyed. "…when I appeared there."

From the corner of my eye, I can see Roxas looking at me. I can tell that he wants to walk over, but Riku is holding him back. At least Riku seems to understand that I can't deal with anything right now. I guess that is one of the benefits of behind a half of someone. But I don't even know what to say to Roxas.

"We're almost there. Let's just keep going. They'll give us a place to warm up and dry off." Sora pulls Kairi up on the rock we are all standing on.

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We're standing at the entrance to the castle and I can't even see the top of it from here. I'm so cold I can feel the chill all the way to my bones. I can't stop myself from shaking or get my teeth to stop chattering.

Roxas slides his arm around my shoulder and I let him. I'm still terrified of being near him, but I don't pull away. Underneath his cold wet skin, I can feel some warmth. And that feels good. I want to hold on to that feeling.

The massive front door of the castle opens and a girl dressed all in pink steps out. Aerith. I haven't seen her in years, but she looks just as welcoming as the first time I met her. "Sora? What are you doing here?"

"It's…a…long…story." Sora isn't even trying to cover the fact that he is freezing. He is shaking worse than I am.

"Come in. Come in. We'll get you warmed up."

Roxas leads me towards the door. My feet are so numb that I'm having a hard time putting one in front of the other. I press myself against his body, trying to soak up all the warmth that I can. He doesn't object to it.

"Dexlin? Is that you?" I force my head up to look her in the eyes. "It is you." She throws her arms around both of us. She is a lot warmer. "I was so worried. You just disappeared in the middle of the night. We had no idea where you had gone. What happened to you?"

"A lot of things." I can barely speak because I'm shivering so badly.

"Of course. We'll talk about everything later. Let's get you into some warm clothes."

I can feel warmth surround me as I walk though the door. It is the best feeling in the world.

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I don't think I have ever been this full. Just when I thought they were finished bringing out food, more people would show up with plates. It's like Aerith called a feast for our arrival, but we are the only one's here. I can only imagine how much munny this all cost.

Aerith took our clothes to have them cleaned and now we're all wearing these white robes. They're big and fluffy. When I put it on, it felt like all the cold was instantly sucked out of me. I feel much better now that I can feel my fingers and toes again.

It has been a rather quiet meal. I've spent the majority of the time looking down at my plate. Roxas is sitting next to me, keeping watch. He is ready to jump the moment he thinks I'm ready to talk. I hate putting him through this.

Sora and Namine have already left the table. I'm not sure where they are, but I assume they've gone to get some rest, which doesn't sound like that bad of an idea. I push back from the table and Roxas immediately jumps to his feet.

"I'm fine, Roxas. Sit back down."

"Please, Dexlin, let me…"

"I need to be alone right now." I'm trying to whisper but I know everyone is listening.

"Do you want someone to show you back to your room?" Aerith's eyes are filled with compassion. While I appreciate it, I don't want to see that. It makes me feel even worse.

"I think I remember the way."

I can feel their eyes on me as I walk out the room. As soon as I'm out their sight, I hear the sound of quick whispers behind me.

It doesn't take me very long to get completely lost. Maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss Aerith's offer for a guide back to my room. I remember it being high up in one of the towers because of the beautiful view of the crystal gardens. But it looks like there are a bunch of towers and I'm not sure which one to take. I was just blindly following Roxas on the way down.

The higher up I go, the more lost I become. I'm pretty sure by now that I've gone up the wrong tower, but between all the twists and turns, I can't remember how to get back down.

This castle is just simply too big. I haven't seen a single person since I've starting going up. It gives the place a strange abandoned feeling. I wish I would find someone walking the hallways, anyone who could give me directions.

I follow one of the halls into this huge room. From the looks of it, Sora's entire house could fit in here a couple times over. It's so dark I can't really see the ceiling. This room doesn't match the rest of the castle. It's dark and full of shadows. The floor is littered with these weird machine looking things. At the head of the room is this swirling mass of colored clouds. I climb up the steps to the platform in front of it and find Sora standing there with a faraway look in his eyes.

"What is this?" I can already see flashes of it in my mind, but the pictures aren't clear yet. These are memories of Riku's that I am not supposed to share, from after I was born.

"It's the Keyhole to the heart of all worlds. This is why Xenmas is here. The Kingdom Hearts that he tried to create is destroyed beyond repair, so he's trying to capture the one Maleficent was after."

It's a keyhole. I can see the colored clouds forming that shape. And this is the way to Kingdom Hearts. This is what started all of this trouble.

I look over at Sora. It's strange. I can remember growing up with him. Caring about him. But I know it wasn't me. It was Riku.

"Sora, do you ever wish the Keyblade hadn't chosen you?"

He smiles at my question. "Sometimes. But then I wonder if it hadn't wouldn't I be dead along with the rest of our world. If it weren't for the Keyblade than I wouldn't have been able to save the worlds. Who knows how that would have affected Kairi and me. And we never would have met you."

"But would I have even existed in the first place?" I stick my hands in the pockets of my robe and shuffle my feet.

"Dexlin, I'm not going to pretend like I know what you are going through because there is no possible way that I could. But there is someone who does."

"Who?"

He looks at me as if it should be the most obvious answer. "Roxas. Talk to him. He's very worried about you."

"But I'm scared."

"So was he. That much I do know. When we rejoined, I could feel how scared he was. And he wants to help you."

He's right. Of course, he's right. I know all Roxas wants is to help me through this, but that doesn't make it any less scary to talk about. What exactly do you say when everything you thought you knew about yourself is wrong?

"Go on and talk to him. I'm sure he's waiting in your room for you."

"What are you going to do?"

Sora looks back at the giant keyhole. "I'm going to stay here for a little longer. This place is such a big part of who I am. Just feel like I need to be here."

Slowly I walked away, leaving Sora to have his peace.

It takes me a little over an hour to find the right way. One of the doors that I went through took me out to a balcony that wraps around the tower. I know it runs right past my room. Instead of walking through the maze-like halls, I'm following the balcony.

Night has fallen. The dark blue of the sky mixes with the eerie, green glow coming from the crystal gardens. Now I know why they call this place Radiant Garden. It's so beautiful.

Finally, I'm standing outside the door to my room. But I still can't take my eyes off the beautiful sky. It's like the light are rippling along like waves on an ocean.

"Dexlin?" I turn around to find Roxas standing by the door. He's taken off his white robe and traded it for a pair of sleep pants that someone must have loaned him. His hair is sticking up in all different directions, worse that it usually does and he's rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Are you coming to bed?"

"Yeah. I am."

I start to follow him inside, but before I get there something stops me. A noise fills my ears. It's really quick, not lasting more than a second. I don't know what it is but it sounds like the creaking of old wood being moved and rusty metal pulled out of place.