Chapter 145: Distance from you

Riku sighed as he sat still on the sofa, ignoring Max's attempts to distract him from his thoughts as he continued to pet Steve by his side. All he could think about was Sora and Kairi, the thought that he may possibility never see his two best friends the way there were again. The goofy, silly, corny, kind Sora and the sweet, brave, stubborn Kairi, together. The best he could really hope for is Kairi waking up but to see her expression when they would have to explain that the virus didn't work.

"RIKU! KING MICKEY! WWWAAAAHHHHHHH"

The front door slammed to the ground as Donald and Goofy slammed their way into the house, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground, watching the multiple Steves dance around their head. Max halted his attempts to connect with Riku as he looked at his father and his friend with concern. "What's going on?" he asked.

Donald quickly cleared his head as he spoke to them with urgency. "We saw Sora!" He told him.

"What?!" From the sound of Sora's name, Riku snapped out of his thoughts and looked at them in disbelief. "What exactly did you see?" He asked them.

Goofy rubbed his head as he explained. "We were coming back from our patrol when we noticed someone in the alleyway just next to the house. When we looked closer, we noticed that it was Sora."

Donald nodded in agreement. "You couldn't mistake him even if you wanted to." He said firmly.

His eyes panicked slightly as he shot off the chair and ran upstairs. "Find Hikari! Tell her it's urgent!" He told the others as he quickly made his way to Sora's room. "Sora!" He shot the door open to see that Sora was truly gone. He quickly looked around the room, only to see that Brian and Kyle remain unconscious on the floor. "Damn it!" He cursed before racing out of Sora's room before bursting into Kairi's room. Everything was the same, expect for the window that was wide open. "He must have come in here…." He looked at Kairi, seeing that she was unharmed but held an item in her hand. Concern and worry filled the Wielder of Dawn when he saw part of the crown necklace. "Where are you…" He said aloud before he made his way back into Sora's room, pulling out a remedy and poured it over to the two Devon brothers.

Thought it didn't seem to have any effect on Kyle, Brian began to come back to reality as he groaned in pain. "Owwww, why did he have to strike me that hard…." He groaned, feeling dizzy as he smiled at the sight of Riku freeing him. "Riku! Sora is disguised as Kyle. So if you have seen another Kyle, that's the keyblade fool." He said drowsily but with importance.

"He's already left." He firmly told him, pulling him up to his feet without a delay as he dragged him into Kairi's room. He moved over to the window, looking around for his friend. "He must have gone down there." He sighed as he saw the alleyway; he could only guess that's where Donald and Goofy had found him.

Brian pushed himself up from the floor, holding his head tightly before he looked around the room, raising his eyebrow at the sight of the ruined medical forms. "Riku! Look." The Aversion Endless walked over to the side table and grabbed the piece of paper that said 'everyone' on it. He passed it over to Riku, seeing that the silver head looked at the note in confusion. "A message…" He said in sorrow.

The Wielder of Dawn slowly took the note from Brian's hand as he opened the note up and began to read out loud:

Dear Everyone,

There are so maNy things that I wishEd that I cOuld have told you and I know that the virus….that Sky will not allow for me to have control for long…..I guess that I should start froM the beginning.

HikAri, you may be scary at some momeNts but I know that you will be there for Kairi and Riku. I alSo know that you wIll lOok after Riku, he can think pn his past too much sometimes…

Donald, Goofy, Max, Mickey….you guys aRe the best fRiends and aLlies that anyone could ask foR. I'm going to miss you guys.

Brian, you may have been a pain on some occasions but you have become one of my closest friends. I'm sorry to leave you when you had just recovered who you are. I own you my Thanks though, if it wasn't for you tHen either mE or Kairi would be here. Your father would be Proud….I own you one.

Riku, you're like the brother thAt I've never had and I'm going To miss you. Please….take care of Her.

Kairi, There are so many things tHat I wAnt To say. Mainly to say sorry…..for leaving you behind, for hurting you, for making you Worry for the last couple of years. I wilL keep this simpLe as thiS is the lAst chance that I will get to say it. I loVe you…with all my hEart. If anyone could free Me from this trap, it's you. I havE fAith in you. I believe iN you.

DesTiny will allow us to cross patHs again but thE Sora that you knew has fallen intO the dark, my final wishes are made. I'm not Lost though, there is always a Door to light so long as you guys remember me.

Again…Riku….Kairi….

I'm Sorry.

Sora

Brian looked at Riku in disbelief as he finished reading the note in his hands. "I can't believe it…" He gasped. "He's gone."

"You haven't changed anything." Riku told him darkly as he forced the letter into the Aversion Endless' hands. "Sora is gone! The Order is still out there and maybe if we knew about what was to come before hand then perhaps we could have made a difference." Riku took his place beside Kairi, looking at his friend sadly, resting his face into his hands.

"There has to be a way!" Brian told him firmly before looking at the note. "This is Sora we're talking about. He has to have left us a clue some-what is with this letter?" Brian looked at the letter in a mocking tone. "Why the hell did you read this?" he questioned, trying to read the letter over.

"Does it matter?!" Riku snapped at him, earning a glare from him. "We need to find him."

"How about you calm down for a second?!" Brian shouted at him, starting to get sick of his negative attitude. "I'm starting to see where Daniel got his overpowering behaviour from." He growled.

Riku rose up as he threw Brian into the wall. "You want me to be calm?! My best friend has turned and ran on us while my other friend shows no sign of waking up. I won't be calm no more!" He yelled.

Brian snared at the keybearer. "Being angry and resentful isn't going to fix anything!" He pushed him slightly, trying to get the distressed wielder out of his face.

"Wha-where am I?" A spaced out voice halted the two.

The two teens halted their actions as they turned back to the bed with amazement. "Kairi." Brian sighed with relief from the sight of her waking up. He was glad something was coming up. "I'm glad you're safe." He smiled.

"Kairi!" Riku smiled for the first time that day as a sense of relief washed over him. "You had us all worried." He smiled at her sadly.

The Princess of Heart smiled at the sight of them, moving herself only to feel something in her hand. She opened her hand, gasping in shock as she saw the remaining charms melded to Sora's crown necklace. "Where's Sora?" She clocked slightly, a part of her knowing the answer from the sight of the item and feeling the breeze of the open window.

Riku sighed with regret as he looked out of the window. "He's gone." He told her.

Kairi pushed herself up as she looked at Riku in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Didn't the cure work?"

"Here." Brian passed her the letter in his hand over to her before going over to the door. "We better gather in the front room. Bring Kairi down in a couple of minutes." Brian quickly told the Wielder of Dawn before heading downstairs. I should unfreeze Daniel. He thought as he left the room.

Riku shook his head at his thoughts, walking over to the window to close it as it started to get chilly in the room. What do we do now? He thought. The virus has completely consumed Sora, having no idea what his final wish was, having no idea where he has disappeared too and are on the verge of losing everything to the Order. They have changed some fates. King Mickey and Kairi are still here. Though they have still lost Sora, there has to be a way to save him, he wasn't going to let his friend suffer. Not like this. He looked back over to Kairi, watching as she sighed sadly to the letter in her hand while holding the newly made charm in her other hand close to her. "We'll find him." Riku assured her.

Kairi nodded at this. "It's always us getting Sora out of trouble." She commented.

Riku could only chuckle at the comment. No matter what situation they were in, it seemed that both Sora and Kairi had the ability to make things seem better just by what they say. "That lazy bum." He snickered.

Kairi giggled slightly, looking at the letter again. "I heard his voice."

Riku raised his eyebrow at this. "You did?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I heard him write intently on the note before I heard his voice…he told me to keep this safe." She gestured to the charm. "That he left so that he wouldn't hurt us….." She halted as she looked at the letter closer. "This is strange, Sora wouldn't make this many mistakes." She told him.

"The letter?" Riku questioned. "Brian mentioned that too but more of a mocking way."

"Well, he's left capitals letters everywhere." She pointed out to him, showing him the way the letters are spelt. "Maybe he's trying to tell us something." She suggested.

He looked over the letter again, seeing that Kairi and Brian was right, some of the letters had capital letters. "We need paper." Riku quickly looked around to room to see that the room was bare, seeing why Sora had written on Kairi's medical form. Hearing someone coming up the stairs, he looked down the hallway to see Hikari rushing up the stairs. "You got any paper?" He asked.

Hikari breathed heavily as she glared angrily. "YOU'RE EMERGENCY IS FOR A PIECE OF PAPER?!" She yelled, not noticing that Steve had followed behind her.

"What!? No!" Riku looked at her as if she was an idiot. "Sora's disappeared. Kairi's awake. Do you have paper or not?!" He quickly cleared up, not appreciating being yelled at.

"Oh!" Hikari's temper was sealed shut as she searched the bag she was carrying and pulled out her report pad, ripping a piece of paper out of it. "Sorry." She apologized to him as she handed him the paper, following him back into the room. "Kairi." She smiled as she walked over to her and hugged her tight. "I'm glad you're safe." She told him, earning a grateful smile in return. She turned back to face Riku, seeing that he was looking at a note and writing down on the blank piece of paper on the side table. "I've obvious missed everything in the last five minutes." She pointed out.

"This is Sora's goodbye letter." Riku explained as he continued his work. "He left capital letters everywhere so I'm just writing all of the letters-GOT IT!" He jumped up, looking at his piece of paper with victory. "At least we know where he's going."

BOWBOWBOW

Neo Mansion

RRLRC

The path that will save me and the worlds

Riku, Kairi and Hikari had joined the Disney crew and the Devon brothers in the front room, where they had showed them Sora's letter and the secret message that he had managed to leave within the letter itself. The others didn't want to question why Daniel was shaking and glaring at Brian with pure hatred, their main focus was to save Sora and stop the Order. The Leader of Little Devon looked at the letter with worry. "Even if you do go to Neo Mansion, that's the main base for the Order. The Dark Master himself rests there, what are you planning to do?" He asked with doubt.

"Sitting around while our friend is in trouble won't solve anything." King Mickey told him firmly as he smiled at the others. "I'm sure that if we work together, we can stop the Order."

"But what about Sora?" Kyle questioned, looking at Riku and Kairi with concern. "The only way for you to get your friend back is to balance his heart." He told them.

Kairi shook her head to this. "What if we find out what was wrong with the cure?" She suggested.

"Well—" Brian began to speak, only to get pulled back to his seat by Daniel. The action caused by his brother made the Endless snapped. "LET ME SPEAK!" He yelled at him.

"We're not wasting our time on that stupid theory!" He growled at him.

"Daniel." Kyle warned him firmly before sighing. "We've got nothing to lose now. Just calm your boots."

Daniel shot his glaze away from his brother. Using Angel's old phase against him.

Riku looked at the Devon brothers with annoyance. "Enough hiding and secrets!" He told them. "What is it, Brian?" he asked, knowing that the others are waiting for him to speak as well.

Brian looked back at his brother, glaring at him to see if he was going to interrupt him or not. His anger demised as Daniel reluctantly nodded to him proceeding. "Okay, listen up." He told him as he prepared himself. "As all of you know now, Daniel, Kyle and I are from the near future where the Order ruled over the worlds with their control over the balance. There was a key moment in time that occurred to the Order's victory, which was Kairi's death. Because the Colonel had defeated her, he had crushed Sora's spirit and had managed to destroy Kingdom Hearts." He explained. "That was the main reason that Daniel and Kyle had travelled back with the others. To prevent that."

"So that's why there were two Colonels…" Kairi muttered to herself.

"Not to be rude but why are you still here?" Hikari questioned. "I mean, you mentioned that you have had magic cast on you for you to stay in this time until the future was bright again. Did you not achieve that?"

Brian sighed at this. "That's the reason I was sent back." He told her. "Originally, when Daniel and the others were sent to this time, our time didn't chance, even though history did." He moved aside to allow Kyle drop the Stories of Balance onto the table. Kairi's eyes widened at this, remembering seeing a book like this on Snake's ship. "This is the Stories of Balance. A basic history book from our time but it works to tells use the near future with the decisions we have made. When Daniel and the others had come to this time, all they managed to do was to change Sakuzy to Storm and change the destination of meeting everyone. The One for a Thousand still happened."

"So what does the book say now?" Goofy asked, watching as Donald flipped through the pages.

"The Chaos of Light destroys everything in his sight." Daniel told them darkly, refusing to look at them as if he was a little child who has had their favourite toy taken from them.

"After Daniel and the others were sent to the past, my Master's virus slowly began to appear, thought he didn't tell any of us at the time. He had discovered that he had forgotten one important fact. That fact was of the heart itself. The cure had lacked any connection to the person's heart. If we were to add the item that would closely represent their heart's desire, I'm pretty sure that we could cure Sora." Brian smiled at the fact.

"So what's the item?" Donald asked.

Brian smirked at the question. "This!" He pulled out the yellow star shaped fruit from within his trouser pocket.

Naturally, Riku and Kairi shot up from the sight of the fruit in their friend's hand. "The Paopu Fruit!" They said in unison.

"Wait!" Hikari stood up, looking at her friend with a serious expression. "Does this mean that every person's cure would be different?!" She questioned. "That the cure would only work on Sora?!"

Brian sighed at this; his smirk vanished from his face. "Unless we knew what his heart's desire was…" He slowly explained.

"Then there is no way to cure Sakuzy!" She finished firmly. She took a deep breath when he watched Brian nod his head to confirm her comment. "I'm just gonna take some air." She told everyone as she made her way to the melded front door. "I need to think something over."

"Hikari!" Riku called to her, only to hear the slam of the front door as a response. From the question that Hikari had brought up and the information that Brian had told him, he needed to ask. "How exactly do you know that the Paupo Fruit is what Sora most desires?" He asked, thought the question sounded quiet stupid.

Brian chuckled slightly. "He wouldn't shut up about the thing." He smiled.

"Will it work?" Kairi asked with hope.

Brian shrugged. "It's the best chance we've got."

"Then it shall do." King Mickey jumped from his seat as he stood beside Brian. "I believe that this will work." He smiled.

Daniel coughed slightly, grabbing their attention. "And why is that?" He questioned the king. "You question our decisions but not his." He spoke darkly.

"Because…" King Mickey said firmly. "There is something in Brian's heart that is similar to Sora's. Something that would lead us to help our friend."

Brian sighed sadly at this, looking at his claw in thought. The Colonel's words ran through his mind, reminding him of his fate, of who he really was. This will be my last trip…. He thought sadly.

Kairi looked at her Endless friend with concern. "Brian? Are you okay?" She asked.

Brian looked up at the Princess of Heart, giving her a fake smile. "I'm fine." He lied.

"WARNING! WARNING! ENDLESS ALERT! ENDLESS ALERT!"

Daniel and Kyle shot from their seats as fast as they could as they raced to the other side where the communication controls were. "This can't be!" Daniel gritted his teeth as he checked the remaining camera of the town, bringing the images up with the projector in the front room.

Hikari rushed back in the house at that point, rushing into the house with haste. "There is an army of Endless invading the town!" Hikari informed them, glazing up at the projector as well.

The others gasped as they saw the footage play in front of them. Thousands of Endless and Unbirths made their way through the tiny world, bursting in each of the houses, taking out everything in their sight. Within the crowd, they saw similar faces of the Anger and Fear Endless'. "Abroc and Skullo?!" Max gasped. "We had already defeated them!"

"Yeah, Kairi took out Skullo!" Goofy reminded them.

Donald nodded in agreement. "Abroc had fallen in Olympus Coliseum."

"But those were the Order members from our time." Brian quickly told them as he pointed out the age difference within the two members, seeing that Abroc was slimmer than his older self while Skullo held hardly any hair like the one they knew. "These are the members from your time."

"So…if Abroc and Skullo are here…" Kyle scanned the battle area, halting at the source of an insane laugh. "There he is." The mage spotted, gulping slightly at the sight.

The Younger Colonel yelled with anger in his voice, commanding all of his soldiers to battle. "I want their heads!" He shouted. "Bring me the Princess of Heart and the Keyblade Master or, so help me, I'll destroy everyone and everything."

Riku glared at the screen as he took in the Colonel's short hair and youthful appearance. "Daniel! You want to explain why the Colonel looks exactly like you?" He questioned out loud.

Kairi nudged at him slightly. "Now's not the time." She told him.

"We need to make a move." Brian rushed through the house. "Lemme get the items!" He shouted as he disappeared from sight.

"We need help defending the town!" Daniel told them. "If all of you go then there is no way that we can save the town people." Yells of aid could be heard coming from where the Colonel was being held, the others questioning if they had just heard the offers of aid, only form the Devon to ignore the call. "Even if one of you stay, it will increase our chances." He told them.

"I'll stay!" Everyone was rather surprised as Max accepted the role, summoning his bow in response. He looked back to see that a few of the group was about to object. "Daniel is right. We need to protect the town too. If they finish here then they will spot you in Neo Mansion." He pointed out to the others.

Hikari stepped forward as well. "I will stay as well." She announced.

Max shook his head as he placed his hands on her shoulder. "You have to keep an eye on Brian." He instructed her.

"You need help here—"

"You need to face your brother, Hikari!" Max told her firmly. "If you keep avoiding fighting him then more and more people are going to get hurt." He let go off his friend as he turned to Daniel and Kyle. "I will stay. The others will go to Neo Mansion." He told them.

Goofy stepped forward. "Maxie…"

Max smiled at his friends. "I'll be fine. Go save Sora." He nodded at them.

Daniel smiled at this. "Thank you, Max. Since Scott is no longer with us, I will need you to help lead the guard diversion. You think you can handle that?" He asked him, earning a confident nod.

Brian returned to the room, placing the world's items on the projection table, cutting the image of the town getting attacked, the cure in his bag and placed a metal case on the sofa. He opened up the case as he grabbed the content from within and began to pass them to everyone. "Take this!"

Hikari, Riku, Kairi, Max, Donald, Goofy and King Mickey were given this small item, a badge that was heart shaped made out of shell, having a small craving of a small crowd in the middle with some wings behind it. "What are these for?" Kairi asked him, seeing that it closely resembled the charm in her possession.

Brian forced a smile, something that no one seemed to notice, as he responded. "It's a surprise."

A/N: Another chapter done. Now to the last world! May the battles commence!

Kingdommad