"I can't move in this stupid dress!" Kairi cried in frustration. Trying to fight in a wedding dress was like fighting in waist-high snow. Even after ditching the wedding train, her usual feline-like agility was virtually negated. Sure, she could move quickly over short distances. But when it came to moving from one enemy to another, she might as well have been wearing a suit of armor.

And that wasn't the worst part. If she jumped too high over the battlefield, she might expose her...Kairi shuddered with embarrassment at the thought. There was only one thing to do. She looked around for the two people who could help her.

"Selphie! Olette!" Selphie was busy guarding Olette with her nunchaku. Kairi cleared a pathway through the hoard of Heartless surrounding them.

"Kairi!" Selphie looked a little flushed, but still had a lot of fight left in her. "We were wondering where you ran off to!"

Kairi, Olette and Selphie made their way to a temporary safe spot behind a pillar. Kairi had no time to lose. "I need you guys to do a favor for me."

"Of course!" Selphie said cheerfully. "Name it!" Kairi took a deep breath.

"I need you to strip me."

Olette's mouth gaped open. "Are you serious?! Out in the open?"

Kairi blushed slightly as Selphie answered the question. "Well, Kairi still had second thoughts about the whole marriage thing, so..."

"...I wore my traveling clothes underneath," Kairi finished.

"You what?" Olette made a face. "Isn't that a little...unbearable?"

"Hey, this wedding dress is like a corset, okay?" Kairi fidgeted a bit, obviously uncomfortable. "It's hard to breathe in this thing and it itches like crazy!"

"Not to mention it makes your butt look big," Naminé quipped in the back of her mind.

"This from a girl who doesn't even wear a bra," Kairi playfully shot back.

Naminé giggled. "Look who's talking."

Instead of responding with a snappy comeback, Kairi turned to Selphie. "Can I borrow your boots, please? It's hard to move around in these heels." Selphie grinned. She lifted up the hem of her bridesmaid dress to reveal a familiar pair of white laced boots.

"Good thing we're the same shoe size," Selphie said.

Olette shook her head with amusement. "One of these days, you have got to show me where you buy your outfits."

"Believe it or not, I made the outfit myself," Kairi said while unlacing her front. "You know, something cute, fashionable and easy to move around in."

"Not only that, but it seems to attract a lot of guys' attention as well," Selphie added.

Taking off the dress was a lot easier than expected. After Kairi put the boots on, she swung her Keyblade out with great vigor. "Alright! Now let's..."

KACHAKAROOOOM! The girls were knocked off balance as a pillar of earth erupted from beneath them, scattering them in different directions.

Kairi struggled to get back on her feet, but the G-force wouldn't even allow her to lift her head. She could only lie helplessly as the earth beneath her body forced its way into the sky. The cries of battle diminished as if someone were quickly turning down the volume knob. When she finally felt the ground coming to a complete stop, the Princess of Heart propped herself up with the Keyblade. She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. Kairi was stunned as the area around her finally came back into focus.

It was like Destiny Islands being destroyed all over again. The skies were tinted with a purple hue, debris being whipped around the earthen platform. She remembered that Sora had been in this exact situation a few years ago. She staggered toward the edge of earth and couldn't believe her eyes. She was miles above Radiant Garden. The only hint of battle was random flashes of multi-colored light in the distance.

"No..." She didn't think there was any way for her to get down from there. She couldn't glide like Sora or survive a 100-story freefall like Riku. Something in the back of her memory was nagging at her. There was something about this situation that Sora told her to keep an eye out for. In a corner of her heart, Kairi could feel that Naminé was worried too. It took her a few seconds to realize she wasn't on this forsaken rock alone. She slowly turned her gaze over her shoulder.

"No...way," she whispered. The dark being with spindlish legs. A heart-shaped hole through its torso. Tendrils masking its true face.

A Darkside.

"No! Kairi!" Sora and Riku could only watch helplessly as Kairi's form sped out of view. Nobodies and Heartless seemed relentlessly infinite, but the two Keyblade wielders were able to get a quick interlude from the fighting. Even though Sora was resting, his heart rate was still pumping from adrenaline. All he could think about at the moment was how to rescue Kairi. His eyes zipped back and forth across the battlefield for an ally that could help him. Tarzan was out of the question. Same with Aladdin, Hercules, both Jacks or the King. He had no idea where the Flying Carpet was. Then a flash from his chain of memories sparkled in his mind. There was only one ally that could fly. "Peter Pan," he realized.

Sora started forward, but Riku stopped him. "Sora, wait a minute."

"What are you talking about, Riku?" Sora couldn't believe Riku's hesitation. "Kairi needs our help!"

Riku gave him a stern look. "There's something that you should know. She wanted to tell you, but she never found the right time to do it."

The tone in Riku's voice had Sora's complete attention. They sat down against one of the many round pillars of the building.

"When she was kidnapped by Saix," Riku began, "she wouldn't stop crying. She knew you would do anything to find her, even if it meant walking right into the Organization's trap. But when I gave her that Keyblade, she was able to hold her own. As much as you were fighting for her, she was fighting for you as well.

Sora was about to say something, but decided against it. Riku continued.

"After the King, Donald and Goofy went back to their world, she made me promise to tell you..." Riku hesitated, knowing that what he was about to say could never be taken back. "She said that if she ever had to fight alone, don't go after her."

Sora looked at Riku, stunned. "But why? She..."

Riku shook his head. "She's a whole lot stronger than you give her credit for, Sora."

"But..."

Riku held up his hand to silence him. "Why do you think she was training with us all those months? So she would have to be rescued again?"

Sora turned away from Riku, absorbed in this new information. Kairi was the best thing that ever happened to him. He remembered how much his heart ached to be with her throughout his quests. He remembered the times that he fought to find her, to protect her at all costs. "Kairi, I've looked everywhere for you..."

But then he remembered. In order to wield a Keyblade, one's heart had to be strong enough to use it. The fact that Kairi was able to wield one at all proved that she was far from being a damsel in distress. "After all," Sora realized, "she grew up with a bunch of warriors as friends, right? Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, me and Riku; we're all fighters. Okay, the other three haven't gone into any final fantasies of their own, but they can still fight. Not only that..."

Sora turned back to Riku and smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I keep forgetting that our hearts are connected. Her strength is combined with yours and mine."

"Exactly." Riku looked pleased that Sora finally understood something important he said the first time around. "Well, enough of this then. We're going to need to help the friends with us right now before we can help the ones that are out of reach."

Sora and Riku stood up, limbering themselves up before diving back into the fray. "You know," Sora said as he worked out a crick in his back. "I think one of us should've at least taught her how to Trinity Limit."

"My thoughts exactly," Riku replied. "Which is why I taught her some abilities that she might need just in case."

Sora looked at Riku with a dumbfounded expression. "Do you like, plan for all of this or something?"

Riku grinned. "I'm not a total sap like you, remember?"