Afterdeath

Author's note: Xemnas is a Gemini. I don't know why – it just popped into my head while I was trying to edit this thing. It sounds cool, I dunno. Between holidays and getting sick repeatedly, my brain is sort of fried, haha. Don't worry; I had my sisters proof this chapter to make sure it makes more sense than my author's notes. :)

Chapter 12: Epilogue Part 2

Day 18 After the Battle for the X-Blade

Late the next morning – after all those involved in the late-night search had finally gotten some sleep – Isa abruptly asked to speak to Naminé, and declined to give any explanation. Lea and Xion were surprised, and Roxas was a little suspicious, but they helped him locate her outside, in a small garden where she liked to sit and draw.

"Uh, good morning, Isa," Naminé had said, trying to hide her nervousness. Isa was very tall and still pretty intimidating. Smiling might help him to seem friendlier, but he looked like he hadn't figured that out yet.

"How would you know if you had another heart inside of you?" Isa asked, skipping any pleasantries.

"Another heart?" Naminé echoed, surprised by such a question.

"Isa, Xehanort's gone," Lea tried to assure him. "We already checked."

"You checked for Xehanort's influence. What if there was another?" Isa pressed. "Naminé, could you tell?"

Naminé hesitantly approached him and held up a hand. Isa crouched down to let her reach his chest. Naminé gently touched her hand over Isa's heart and closed her eyes. She was silent a long moment, then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh!" Her eyes opened and she pulled her hand back. "You do have another heart sleeping inside you!"

Isa sighed and straightened back up. "That would explain a few things. Can you tell whose it is?"

"No." Naminé frowned. "It's like it's shrouded… oh!" Her eyes widened. "Roxas, can you come here?"

"Why?" Roxas nevertheless came closer as requested.

"I need to check your connections," Naminé said with a smile.

"Uh, okay…"

Naminé placed a hand on Roxas's chest and a hand back on Isa's. She didn't explain what she was doing, and just focused intently for a minute. At last, she straightened and beamed at them. "It's Riku's heart! The link has been blocked, but I can feel the resonance between the heart and his body!"

"Why would you have Riku's heart?" Lea asked Isa before Roxas could get the words out.

"I really don't know." Isa shook his head. "But I thought I'd… I'd dreamed hearing another voice in my head. Someone telling me to grab and use the X-Blade. And then I was drawn to Kurix, so that made me wonder…"

"But… this is great news!" Xion exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "We need to go tell Sora!"

"Right…" Roxas couldn't make himself sound enthusiastic. He was feeling some strange, nameless emotion. Like he was going to be sick…

–––

You couldn't tell Sora anything without him telling everyone else under the sun. So all the keybearers in the Land of Departure were gathered in the main hall to watch the ceremony.

Roxas hovered on the outskirts of the group, behind Aqua, Ventus, Terra, and Xion. Kurix was right at the center, beside Sora and Isa, waiting patiently. Naminé and Kairi waited on either side of them. Lea hovered at Isa's shoulder. As soon as Sora summoned the Key to Return Hearts, Isa visibly blanched. Lea put a hand on his shoulder to steady his friend as he murmured reassurances.

"This won't hurt you at all," Sora reassured Isa. "I've already used it on myself twice and it was fine. Your own heart won't be touched."

Isa was still breathing about twice as fast as normal. He nodded quickly. "Just do it."

Sora moved extra slowly, and with great care touched the tip of the keyblade to Isa's chest. He nibbled on the tip of his tongue as he focused. "There! See Isa? You're okay." Sora withdrew the keyblade, then frowned as he saw he had pulled out a black orb.

Naminé stepped forward. "There's the blocking spell. I can take care of that." She waved a hand over the orb, and the darkness melted away. Now what remained was a normal-looking, golden heart orb. "He should be all right now."

Sora turned to Kurix. "You ready?"

"Yes." Kurix gazed at the glowing heart longingly. "I'm ready to be whole."

Sora stepped forward and transferred the heart back to its proper body. It fused in seamlessly. Then the body closed its eyes and sank to its knees.

Sora tossed the keyblade aside and it clattered across the floor, forgotten. Sora dropped to his knees beside his friend. "Riku? Riku? Can you hear me?" He grabbed Riku and shook his shoulders. "Riku?!" Sora was getting louder.

Riku wrenched open one eye. "Ugh, Sora… I heard you the first time. Stop yelling in my ear."

"You're all right!" Sora yelled, even louder.

Riku winced. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired…"

"Oh! Hold on, Riku! Curaga! And… curaga!" Sora pelted Riku with healing magic. "Panacea! And… cura!"

"Okay, okay!" Riku swatted at Sora. "I'm awake now!" He opened both his eyes and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position on the floor. Kairi bent down to give him a big hug, and Sora threw himself forward to join in as well. They all ended up falling over. Riku laughed. "I missed you guys, too."

"Hey, um… Not that I'm complaining or anything. But how did you end up in Isa's heart?" Lea asked the giggling pile of people.

"Oh. It's kind of a long story." Riku turned serious. He pushed himself back up to sitting once he could convince his friends to let go of him. "I guess Vanitas hasn't been around to explain things."

"Um, no," Ventus said. He tapped his chest. "I guess what's left of him is in here, but I haven't been able to access it yet."

"Hmm." Riku looked thoughtful a moment. Then he smirked. "Hey, Vanitas? Are you ready to admit my plan was better than yours?"

"Shut up! You're still an idiot!" Ventus snapped at him. He then looked completely bewildered. "Um… I'm sorry! I didn't really mean that…"

"Vanitas is definitely in there." Riku laughed. Sora offered him a hand to help him stand, which Riku accepted. Riku then looked around at the group with a smile. "Well, since everyone is already here, I'll tell you the story. It really starts with Vanitas deciding he hated Xehanort and wanting to make sure he failed…"

Roxas slipped out the doorway and headed outside. As curious as he was to know what had happened to Riku, he felt like he needed some time alone.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Day 21

Roxas sat on the clock tower in Twilight Town, brooding. He heard the sound of someone else walking up beside him. He looked up, hopefully, expecting it to be Lea.

It was Riku.

Roxas turned away. "Leave me alone."

"You've been avoiding me," Riku said, sitting down beside Roxas. "I had to ask Lea where you might be."

Roxas clenched his teeth. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"I do remember my time as Kurix, you know," Riku said pointedly.

Roxas finally, grudgingly looked over at Riku. "You've cut your hair."

"I don't like looking like one of Xehanort's vessels."

"You had your hair long when you were running around in a stolen coat and a blindfold," Roxas pointed out.

"Yeah, well I wasn't exactly taking good care of myself at the time." Riku frowned at the memory. He fixed his gaze on an unspecified point in the distance. "I really am sorry for what I did to you. Kidnapping you, and helping DiZ keep you locked up in that fake world…"

"It's fine," Roxas said shortly.

Riku gave him an incredulous look. "No, it isn't. I can see it's not fine. It was a horrible thing to do to you, and I can see you're not over it." Riku looked back into the distance again. "I want to fix this. I want to make things be okay between us."

Roxas was silent a moment, then made a grunt of irritation. "I don't know why it's so hard for me to be around you! I don't know what these things are that I'm feeling and I don't know what they mean!"

Riku nodded in sympathy. "Feelings can be like that, sometimes. Sometimes, you just have to decide what you want to feel… and work with it until you finally do." Riku pulled a large, plain pouch out of his pocket and handed it to Roxas. "This is yours."

"What is it?" Roxas hefted it. It was heavy.

"5000 munny. I owe you." Roxas smiled sardonically. "I also owe you a blue crystal, but I think Sora still has yours."

Roxas's mouth hung open. "You still remember…"

"Of course I do. I felt bad about it. But DiZ was too lazy to make a fake beach, so I had to keep you from going. I'm really sorry about all that."

Roxas shook the heavy bag. "And what am I supposed to do with this now?"

"Go to the beach." Riku shrugged. "Take all your new friends. Take those kids from Twilight Town, too, if you want."

"They don't remember me."

"Their data versions were patterned after their real hearts. If they liked you as data people, they'll like you are real people, too."

Roxas felt his throat tighten. He hadn't considered that he might be able to see Hayner, Pence, and Olette again. He had just chalked them up as more friends he had lost… "And what about you?"

"What about me?" Riku asked.

"Will you come to the beach with us, too?"

"You want me to come with you?" Riku looked honestly surprised.

"Well yeah." Roxas folded his arms. "When else will I get the chance to throw you into the surf?"

Riku snorted. "So that's how it is? Well, all right then. But will you be inviting Sora and Kairi, too?"

"Sure, why not. That's how it works now, doesn't it? We're all friends, right? Isa, too. He seems like he could use a good beach trip."

"Yeah, he probably could," Riku agreed. He was silent a moment. "Twilight Town's beach is pretty nice. I checked it out once… after DiZ wouldn't let you go. I was curious why he didn't want to recreate it. I think he was just being lazy."

"DiZ was… pretty cruel to Naminé, too."

"Yeah, he was." Riku winced. "I'm sorry I just went along with what he said. Believing him, that you didn't have hearts and couldn't feel anything. I should have known better, but I was just so worried about getting Sora back..."

"You don't need to keep apologizing. I get it. And I probably would have done the same… for one of my friends…" And that was the truth, Roxas realized. He couldn't really blame Riku for what he had done. He was still angry about everything that had happened… but Riku wasn't really at fault. Riku was just an easy target. But not the right one. It was more DiZ that Roxas really wanted to be angry at… but DiZ had eventually come around, too, and had gifted them the research that allowed Roxas and the other nobodies to come back as real people…

Maybe he just needed to let this anger go, altogether.

But Riku was still fun to mess with. "You're buying the snacks for this beach party, by the way."

Riku stared at him, aghast. He gestured to the brown pouch. "What about that?"

"You already owed me this. This doesn't count." Roxas waggled a finger at him.

Riku groaned and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'd better go find some heartless to beat up before the trip."

"You do that." Roxas grinned remorselessly. "Oh, and if Kurix is still in there, tell him I say hi."

"Kurix says hi, and says he still doesn't understand you. I, on the other hand, think Lea is being a terrible influence on you."

Roxas laughed. "I'll tell Lea you think so. I'm sure he'll be proud."

x-x-x

Riku made a point of seeking Isa out later that day. With Isa's odd behavior explained, everyone figured they could trust him out on his own now, so Isa had taken to wandering the castle in the Land of Departure by himself. It took Riku a while, but he finally found Isa in one of the upper rooms.

"Oh. Hello, Riku," Isa greeted the youth once he noticed him. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to see how you're doing. I… I saw some of your memories, when I was in your heart. I didn't want to bring it up in front of the others. But I saw how Xehanort was manipulating you, to try to make you give up hope."

Isa visibly slumped. "Oh. Yes, he…" Isa trailed off. "There is still a lot of darkness within me. Most of it, Xehanort planted there himself. But I haven't been able to get rid of it…"

"You won't be able to do it by yourself," Riku told him. "I've been through this sort of thing, too. Except that I actually agreed to it. I let Xehanort's heartless possess me. And I unlocked my own world to the darkness."

"You didn't know what you were doing."

"No, I didn't. I wouldn't have chosen to cause so much suffering, if I had known. But my point is, you're not at fault for your actions as Saïx. You didn't choose that. But in spite of that… you're still suffering lingering effects from everything that happened."

Isa hugged his arms around his chest. "So what do you want me to do? Everyone's already told me I'm not to blame for what Saïx or Xehanort did. They've told me I should just go home and try to live my life and be happy…" Isa clenched his eyes shut. "How can I be happy after everything I've seen and everything I've done?"

"You can't just go back to the way things were," Riku agreed. "It just isn't possible. The worlds have changed. You've changed. We can only move forward." Riku gingerly placed a comforting hand on Isa's shoulder. "And I know from personal experience, you won't be able to make it alone. I had to fight the darkness left in my heart, literally. And repeatedly. And I needed help from my friends every time in order to succeed. Then when I was finally strong enough to beat Xehanort's darkness on my own – that was the last time I ever had to fight him." He gave Isa a smile. "We're all here to help you, Isa. Me and Sora and Kairi, and Lea and Roxas, and everyone else! We know it will be hard for a while. But we'll give you whatever help you need, for as long as you need it."

Isa had been staring off into space. With effort, he forced himself to look Riku in the eyes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Riku removed his hand and backed off to give Isa his personal space back. "Have you decided what you want to do next?"

"I… no, not really." Isa paced across the room to stare out the single window. "It feels weird to think of going home. I feel like I don't have a life to return to. I was … just a stupid kid when I lost my heart. Now years have passed, and I… I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Go back to school? Try to find a job? I always just trailed after Lea before. He didn't have any plans, either, but he kept things interesting. But now I don't even have that as an option…"

Riku hummed in response. "Well, I don't want to pressure you at all… but you do have another option." Riku summoned Braveheart to his hand as a demonstration. "I don't know how much you remember from the battle, but… I performed the keyblade bequeathing ceremony for you. I marked you as my successor, and gave you the power to wield a keyblade."

Isa frowned, thinking. "I do remember. It seemed like a dream. But didn't you say, 'as long as I have the makings'…"

"The ceremony worked. You are worthy," Riku insisted. "If it hadn't worked, you wouldn't have been able to take the X-Blade." He let his keyblade disappear back into his heart again. "And besides that, I've heard stories about you sleepwalking and opening locked doors. I bet I know how that's been happening."

Isa thoughtfully considered the idea. He held out his right hand and stared at it a moment. He clenched his fist, then slowly opened his hand again. With a flash, a blade appeared in his grip.

But this wasn't his familiar Lunatic claymore. This was something new. This was a graceful looking keyblade that Riku recognized as a variation of Starseeker. The guard around the handle had spikes around it that looked like part of the Lunatic blade, and teeth of the key was just a large, crescent moon.

"This is mine?" Isa murmured, looking at the keyblade in wonder.

"You're not obligated to train or fight, just because you have a keyblade," Riku assured him. "But as the one who chose you, that makes me responsible to oversee your training. But only if this is what you want, for yourself. That's why I didn't tell any of the others about your keyblade yet. I want you to be free to make the choice for yourself."

"But… would you really have any need for me? Now that Xehanort's been defeated?"

"There's always more to do." Riku wandered over closer to Isa again, and looked out the window as well. The sky was clear and brilliant blue. "There's still a bunch of worlds that are sleeping in darkness. And a lot of lingering heartless and nobodies across the worlds, too. But besides, heartless will always continue to exist so long as people exist. There will always be work for keybearers to do, to keep the worlds safe."

"I… I will have to think about this." Isa let the keyblade disappear back into his heart. He continued staring at his empty hand.

"Take all the time you need," Riku assured him. He started moving back to the door. It was time for him to go. "Just know that I will respect your decision, whatever it is. And if you don't want to fight, I'll take you to any world you want to go to, and help you set up a new life there."

"Thank you… Riku. I… really don't deserve so much care."

"Yes, you do. It's just Xehanort who's made you think you don't. And we're all going to help you, Isa, until you can believe it again, too."

X-X-X-X-X-X

Day 24

Isa found Lea alone one morning when he was off training outside. Lea stopped when he sighted his friend and waved. "Hey, Isa! Nice haircut!"

"Thanks." Isa had gotten his blue hair cut to hang just below his chin. It was nearly the same style he'd worn as a teen, before he'd become a nobody. "Are you ever going to cut yours?"

"Nope." Lea proudly patted his spikes. "I like it like this."

"You look like a porcupine," Isa pointed out.

"I know!" Lea grinned proudly.

Isa rolled his eyes.

"You want to do some sparring?" Lea offered hopefully.

"I actually… had something I wanted to show you." Isa held out his right hand. His keyblade materialized into it.

"Whaaaaaa?!" Lea exclaimed in glee. "You have a keyblade too?! That's so awesome! We can train together! We can travel and see all the worlds together!" Lea pinned Isa's arms to his sides in a hug. "I'm so happy for you!"

"I'm happy, too, Lea," Isa said with much more restraint. But he smiled freely, for the first time since becoming a nobody.

"We're going to be the biggest heroes the worlds have ever seen!" Lea proclaimed. "You and me and Roxas and Xion! Aah! I'm so excited!"

Isa chuckled at Lea. "I'm excited, too. It'll be nice to finally do something… that has real meaning."

"Yeah!" Lea finally released Isa. He was still practically bouncing with excitement.

"You want to try sparring?" Isa offered, hefted his keyblade.

"You bet!" Lea summoned his fiery keyblade in a flash. He dropped into a fighting stance with a face-breaking smile on his face. "Let's see what you can do!"

X-X-X-X-X-X

Day 31

The beach party ended up being a massive event. It was all Roxas's fault, though – he was the one who kept expanding and expanding the guest list. Mickey volunteered to take over the food catering from Riku (much to Riku's relief) once it became apparent that only a monarch could afford to feed everyone who would be showing up. They had even considered moving the party somewhere else, but both Roxas and Riku had been in firm agreement that it needed to take place at Twilight Town's beach. It was a symbolic sort of thing. Also, they didn't want to make the Twilight Town kids have to travel off-world.

Most of the guests had already arrived, Riku observed. Hopefully they would mingle more later, but for now, they were all sticking together in their familiar clusters of friends. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus were all huddled up, talking to each other and occasionally shooting glances at everyone else. They looked pretty awkward. Maybe it was a side effect of them essentially growing up with a whole world to themselves?

Sora and Kairi were laughing about something with Xion and Naminé. Lea hovered nearby, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation while at the same time keeping tabs on Isa, who had actually approached Ienzo and struck up a conversation on his own. Isa was still dealing with massive amounts of self-loathing and PTSD, but at least he was making the effort to not isolate himself. Everyone was treating him as something breakable, which thankfully seemed to be helping him more than annoying him. Riku still didn't have a good feel for what Isa's normal personality was yet – but he seemed like someone who liked things quiet, orderly, and low-key. And yet, he'd been friends with Lea, who was the opposite of all that. So Riku still had a lot to figure out. But he'd have time – Yen Sid agreed that since Isa had agreed to be a keybearer, Riku would be the one in charge of training him. With lots of help from Lea, of course. And Sora, Roxas, Xion, and maybe even the old keybearers as well. Just not all at the same time. Never mind what Isa could handle – Riku was certain he wouldn't be able to deal with all of them at once!

The rest of the former Organization Thirteen members were sticking close to each other as well, but they were being friendly at least. Lauriam and Even were getting reacquainted as somebodies. Arleen had just joined in talking to Isa and Ienzo, and they all seemed very interested in whatever they were discussing. Meanwhile Aeleus, Dilan, and Edym had settled down on the sand to join Rould in a poker game. Rould looked thrilled. Edym looked scared. The other two had much better poker faces.

Braig had opted not to attend. And he'd been quite rude about it, too. He could still summon dark corridors, so he was able to disappear off to whatever world he pleased. Riku was a bit worried what the man would choose to do. Him joining up with Maleficent ranked as one of Riku's top fears. But Yen Sid and Mickey – and reluctantly, Riku – had agreed that even Braig deserved a chance to make a new life for himself, now that he was free from Xehanort's influence. Maybe being rude and threatening was just his way of coping with the embarrassment of being misled and possessed by Xehanort.

Or maybe he was plotting to become a new villain. Either way… only time would tell.

And finally, down by the edge of the waves, Roxas was happily lost in conversation with the kids from Twilight Town: Hayner, Olette, and Pence. The way they were chatting together, you'd think they were old friends. Riku, smiling to himself, remembered how nervous Roxas had been to approach them in the first place, to invite them to this party. Riku had gone along for moral support. All Roxas's fears had been unwarranted – the kids recognized him on sight, and knew him by name, thanks to the picture Sora had shown them. They greeted Roxas by telling him how glad they were to meet him, and asking him if he was free to hang out with them. Roxas had been so shell-shocked, he'd started laughing and crying when he tried to respond. He had thrown a dirty look at Riku, so Riku had shrugged and looked away, pretending he hadn't seen anything. He was still trying to bribe his way into Roxas's good graces, so he wasn't about to embarrass the ex-nobody any further.

Just then, Mickey and his staff landed their gummi ship and started bringing out tables and food. That got all the teenagers' attention almost instantly, and most of the adults' as well. Riku was no exception – he started wandering over himself, ostensibly to "help set up." Sora had gotten there first and was already eating something, so at least Riku wouldn't be the first.

Then Riku caught sight of the old keybearers again – the three were still clustered together, and now looked very uncomfortable as they watched the rest of the party from afar. Riku sighed and changed course to go check on them. He felt extremely awkward trying to counsel adults. But bizarrely, given his personal experience with resisting and overcoming darkness – and self doubts – he was probably the most qualified of everyone here.

Riku vaguely recalled "psychiatrist" as being a job that normal people could have, which focused on helping people overcome their doubts and difficulties. The way things were going, maybe he should try to get educated in that line of work. After all, if he was going to end up doing it anyway, he should probably try to be good at it.

"I… I think we should leave," Terra said to Riku in lieu of a greeting.

"No, Terra." Riku inwardly groaned. "This is a celebration of defeating Xehanort and saving the worlds. You should stay and try to talk to people. I am certain that most people here are very interested in getting to know the real you. And no one here is going to harm anyone else."

Terra looked away and scrubbed at the back of his neck. "I don't think you understand, Riku… they… I used them. I lied to them!"

"The Organization?" Riku guessed. He glanced back over at the poker game. Now Lea was trying to join, and trying to persuade Isa and Ienzo to jump in as well. "Terra, the members of the Organization hated each other. They plotted against each other and some of them killed each other. And look at them now!"

Terra reluctantly did look as he was told. He studied the surprisingly-friendly group intently.

"Terra, I was inside their hearts," Riku reminded him. "I saw the kind of people they were – and I honestly think they will just be curious to see who you really are. Yes, Xemnas lied to them. They already know that. But you aren't Xemnas – or at least not completely," Riku cut off Terra's protest. "And you definitely aren't Xehanort. And they know that. So please… please just make an effort? You don't have to be best friends with them, just… go over and say "hi" at least?" Riku pleaded. He tried to channel Sora as he begged. Sora was amazingly persuasive.

"Hey, I'll come with you," Aqua said gently. She placed her hand on Terra's shoulder. "Remember what Yen Sid said? It'll be good closure – for them and for you."

"I…" Terra slumped. "All right. You're right – I should try." He deliberately straightened up to full height and proper posture. "Thank you, Riku. I'm sorry – I should be the one looking out for you, not the other way around."

"Don't worry about it." Riku gave him a smile that he hoped didn't look forced. "That's just what friends do – we look out for each other, and we don't worry about keeping score."

That got a smile from Terra – a small one, but it was something. "All right, let's get this over with," he said to Aqua, and the two of them headed down.

Ventus made as if to follow them, but Riku stopped him. "Actually, I was hoping to talk to you for a minute," Riku said.

"O-okay," Ventus said. He fidgeted slightly.

"I don't want to interrogate you," Riku protested. "I just… wanted to know how you're doing."

"Oh…" Ventus relaxed – but only slightly. "I'm doing fine."

"…I was hoping for more detail than that. Terra said you've gotten all your memories back, right?"

Ventus groaned and ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know how I'm doing! How am I even supposed to feel? I feel like I… just stopped existing – and now I've got two strangers' sets of memories to fill in the gap!"

"I think you're allowed to say you're confused and overwhelmed," Riku said drily. "Nearly everyone else here feels the same. Or has felt like that in the past."

"Yeah, I guess," Ventus grumbled. "But it's still really awkward. Aqua and Terra expect me to act like someone I don't know how to be. And you!" Ventus jabbed a finger toward Riku. "How can you be so calm around me? One of my… fragmented selves killed you, then kept your heart captive for weeks! How are you not angry with me?!"

"I don't have any reason to be angry with you, Ventus," Riku replied in his calm way that had always seemed to annoy Vanitas. "And I'm actually not angry with Vanitas, either. In his roundabout way, he saved my life. And yes, he was kind of a jerk to me… but I don't think he knew how to behave any other way. Actually, with only half a heart, I don't think he could."

Ventus grunted but also nodded in agreement. "In spite of everything he said, he really was trying to look after you."

"I know. I could tell." Riku folded his arms and laughed wryly. "You know, I think I was probably his first real friend."

Ventus laughed bitterly as well. "It's so weird – you're the first person who hasn't tried to commiserate with me for being stuck with Vanitas's memories. But… thank you for that. Because he is a part of me now, and I have no choice but to accept that."

"I wondered sometimes what Vanitas would be like, if he were to gain a full heart – gain the ability to deal with normal emotions," Riku mused aloud. "But it occurs to me now, the answer is you. Vanitas with a complete heart… is you." Riku smiled thoughtfully, then offered Ventus a hand. "So… do you think that you and I could be friends?"

Ventus smirked back at him and accepted the hand. "I thought you said we already were. And for the record? You're still too nice."

Riku just laughed. He motioned for Ventus to follow him, and the two of them headed down the sand to rejoin the others.

"Hey, you two!" Lea hollered at them as soon as he spotted them. He was hopping up and down and waving. "I challenge you to a game of keyblade volleyball!"

"What?" Ventus asked, raising an eyebrow. To Riku, he asked, "Is that a real thing? That doesn't sound like an appropriate use of keyblades…"

Riku snorted. "It probably isn't. But… it would technically be training?" He grinned. "Let's not disappoint Lea. He gets really whiney."

"Are you serious?" Isa was asking Lea as they got closer.

"Of course! Look – Master Riku says it's a good idea!"

Isa gave Riku an incredulous look. Riku shrugged with an awkward grin. Isa rolled his eyes.

"Please please please?" Lea begged Isa.

"Fine." Isa relented. "Does this game of yours have rules?"

"Well, yeah! It's just like normal volleyball… except you have to hit the ball with your keyblade!"

"Did someone bring a ball?" Riku asked.

"Did someone bring a ball that will survive getting hit by keyblades?" Isa added.

"Yep and yep!" Lea declared. "Roxas! It's time!"

"Ready!" Roxas tossed and caught a heavy white ball in one hand. "Prepare to lose, Axel!"

"Only in your dreams, buddy!" Lea countered, summoning his fiery keyblade. "It is on!"

The volleyball game turned out extremely uncontrolled and silly, but it provided great entertainment for the large group of giggling onlookers. Eventually Lea conceded defeat to Roxas's team, and the weary volleyball players finally got to try some of the food Mickey had brought. It was all fancy and amazing and delicious.

Twilight Town never got full sunlight, but it did get full night. Eventually, the stars became visible. Sora and Kairi came and found Riku, and pulled him aside. They headed down the beach a ways, just out of sight of the party, and flopped down on the sand together, side by side. At Sora's insistence, both Kairi and Riku each held one of his hands. Just like they had done dozens of times in the past.

"How long has it been since we've watched the stars like this?" Sora finally asked.

"It feels like it's been forever," Riku mused. "But probably only… a couple years at most?"

"It's like nothing has changed." Kairi laughed. "And yet, so much has! We're all guardians of light now, and we're watching the stars from a different world!"

"Yeah…" Sora said quietly. He gripped his friends' hands tighter.

Kairi looked over at him. "Are you okay, Sora?"

"Y-yeah… just thinking… how lucky I am to have you two as my friends."

Riku and Kairi both "awwed" back at him in unison. Then they went back to watching the stars in silence.

"Oh! A shooting star!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Hey, there's another one!" Sora let go of their hands so he could point up at the sky.

Riku noted one himself, then frowned. "The downside of being a keybearer is that you can't just enjoy a meteor shower anymore."

Sora and Kairi both sat up and looked at him. "You think there's a problem?" Kairi asked.

"I don't know. But we should probably go check in with Yen Sid. Just in case."

"Right! Duty calls!" Sora exclaimed, hopping to his feet. He whipped out his keyblade and used it to open a path to the world of Yen Sid's tower. "Whoever's causing trouble had better watch out! Cause here we come!"

Riku and Kairi were right after him through the doorway, laughing.

THE END!

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And finally, we are done! Thank you all for your shows of support. I've appreciated the comments, the favorites, and the discussions around this story! It's been an epic undertaking for me, and the longest thing I've written in years.

A few final items that didn't get addressed in the story, that folks might still have questions about.

DiZ. Wasn't he stuck in the realm of darkness or something? Why wasn't he rescued in this story? I just didn't want to deal with an additional character, honestly. I already had so many. And they managed to win without him, after all. Don't worry – Aqua and Mickey will probably go rescue him tomorrow. I'm sure he's fine…

Riku Replica. Will they ever see him again? Probably not. But eventually, maybe the heroes will start hearing rumors of a silver-haired boy that sometimes appears on some of the more distant worlds…

Braig. What's he doing? He's totally going to join forces with Maleficent. They can bond over Xehanort being a backstabbing jerk who never delivered on his promises. And what annoying idiots keybearers are. Yeah, I think it sounds like the start of a beautiful, evil friendship. ;)

Thank you again, all my readers! And special thanks to my sisters for being such supportive beta readers. I hope you all have a happy holiday season! And happy writing! :)

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