Sora jogged through the halls of the Land of Departure's castle, his excitement evident in the grin on his face. He slowed down once he reached his parents' room, knocking on the door.

"Mom?" he called and waited for a moment, then slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Kairi was nowhere to be found, and he shrugged. "Guess she's not here." He started to leave, but stopped as something caught his eye. He walked around the bed to the nightstand on the opposite side of the room where he found a star-shaped charm made from seashells. "Is this a Wayfinder?" he wondered, recalling the name from the stories his parents had told him when he was younger. He picked the charm up for closer inspection, finding a smiling face drawn on it and a crown-shaped charm in the middle of the star.

"Ah!" He squinted as a bright light illuminated around the Wayfinder, and he shielded his eyes with his free hand. He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision, and he shook his head as the light died down. "What was that?" he asked of no one in particular. As his eyes adjusted, he looked down to find the Wayfinder was no longer in his hand, and he about stopped breathing.

Instead, it hung from a thin chain attached to the end of what appeared to be a Keyblade. It was mostly silver in color with angel-like wings acting as the guard around the hilt. Two silver shafts extended along the blade and made up a heart-like shape at the other end along with the pointed teeth colored white, yellow, and blue. Sora lifted the Keyblade up, staring at it in wonder as he swung it around lightly.

"Is this my Keyblade?" he wondered as his eyes trailed back to the Wayfinder hanging from it. He turned for the door and hurried back out to show his parents what he'd obtained.

Meanwhile, Riku had finally managed to find Kairi in the castle library, and she looked up from the book in her hands and smiled at him as he approached her.

"Hello, Riku," she greeted and exchanged a quick kiss with him. "Is something on your mind?"

"A bit," he replied, and her smile faded.

"Uh oh. What happened now?" He took her hands in his.

"Well, uh…" He pursed his lips. "Sora kind of inherited my Keyblade." Kairi blinked.

"What do you mean 'kind of?'" she asked as he released her and scratched his head.

"I was out in the courtyard sparring with Ven, and Sora was watching. But Ven knocked my Keyblade out of my hand and Sora got to it before I did. So… He's got the power to wield one now." Kairi shook her head and smiled.

"Is that all? I was worried you'd gotten hurt or something!" Her smile grew and she kissed his cheek. "Riku, you know we both figured it was only a matter of time before Sora picked up the Keyblade. I mean, he lives in the land of Keyblade wielders and we both have one. It was kind of unavoidable. If anything, I'm just worried you weren't more careful." He chuckled lightly and hugged her.

"I thought you'd say that," he replied. "I guess… Seeing him holding the Kingdom Key stirred up some emotions in my heart I thought I'd managed to bury. I… I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to him." She nodded.

"I understand, love. But we can't protect him from everything forever. And now he has a way to defend himself. And besides," she pulled back to meet his gaze and smiled. "I'm sure he'll love the chance to show his great master of a father what he's capable of." Riku dipped his head.

"You're right. As always." He looked over to the door. "Now, we should probably go find him. He took off running to look for you so he could tell you about it. Hopefully he won't be too mad at me for ruining the surprise." She took his hand.

"Not your fault you found me first," she said, and he smiled. Together, they headed out into the halls of the castle in search of their son. And sure enough, it wasn't long before he turned a corner at top speed and nearly ran into them.

"Goodness, Sora!" Kairi nearly scolded. "Slow down. You don't need… to…" she trailed off as she saw the Keyblade he held, and Sora grinned as he held it up.

"Look, Dad!" he said. "I got a Keyblade! I…" He smiled sheepishly. "I was looking for you, Mom. But you weren't in your room… And I guess I should have left it alone, but…" He lifted the Wayfinder that acted as the Keyblade's token. "I just wanted to look at it. Next thing I knew, I had this Keyblade." Once again, his giddiness faded away as his parents gazed at him with a mix of emotions. "I'm sorry," he said as he looked down. "I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I didn't know this would happen." Kairi smiled and knelt down a bit, placing her hands against her son's cheeks.

"No, no," she told him. "You didn't do anything wrong, dear. It just caught us off guard." She gestured to the Keyblade he held. "This Keyblade is called Oathkeeper. It used to belong to the boy we named you after." Sora looked down at it and frowned.

"This was his Keyblade?" he asked as he looked back up at his parents.

"Sort of," Riku replied. "It wasn't HIS, exactly… More just a shape his Keyblade took. Your mother let him borrow that Wayfinder as a good luck charm a few times."

"Ah," Sora nodded. "Okay." He looked to his mother and smiled. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow it too."

"Not at all," she said with a smile. "It'll help keep you safe. As long as you carry it, you'll always find your way back home."

"I'll take good care of it. I promise." He smiled and she hugged him, stroking his hair gently. Riku smiled slightly as he observed them, though in the back of his mind, he was lost in thought. His eyes lost focus and he took a slow breath.

"Sora," he said, catching his son's attention. "Now that you have a Keyblade, you'll need to learn how to use it. And…" He frowned. "I think we should talk to Ven about it. Want to go find him?"

"Okay," Sora nodded. "Is he still outside?"

"Either there or in the great hall," Riku replied and smiled. "I'll catch up in a minute." Sora nodded again and hurried off toward the castle entrance. Once he was gone, Riku sighed and massaged his forehead.

"What is it?" Kairi asked, taking his arm.

"He inherited the power of the Keyblade thanks to the Kingdom Key, and he just so happened to find your Wayfinder that managed to manifest itself as Oathkeeper." He shook his head. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Mm…" Kairi rested her head against his shoulder. "It's probably just a coincidence. I mean, you use the Kingdom Key a lot more often than your own Keyblade these days and I did leave that Wayfinder out when I was looking for something else."

"Fair enough," he said. "Well, either way, I want to make sure he's trained as well as possible. And, unfortunately, I can't do that for him." Kairi tilted her head curiously. "Come on." He started toward the great hall. "I'll explain once we find Ven." She followed him through the halls, and shortly later, they found Sora chattering away with Ventus and Aqua near the three thrones. Riku and Kairi joined them, and Ventus looked up and smiled as he rested his arms behind his head.

"Your son has a LOT of energy to burn," he remarked, and Aqua laughed.

"He's just excited," she said, giving her husband a playful shove. Ventus grinned at her, then looked back to Riku.

"So, Sora here says you want to talk to me about something?" he asked, and Riku nodded as he came to his son's side and wrapped his arm over Sora's shoulder.

"Yeah. Now that Sora has a Keyblade, he's going to need to learn how to use it." He looked down to find his son grinning at him, and he smiled as he looked back up at Ventus. "Ven, I'd like to ask you to be Sora's master." Ventus blinked and Sora stared at his father.

"Me?" Ventus asked, and Riku nodded as he held Sora a bit closer.

"You and Aqua are the only ones around here that have had any actual formal training," he explained. "Beyond that, you know so much about the Keyblade's impact on the heart and the role we have in the worlds. And…" He looked down to his son again. "While I know you and plenty of others have said that I'm a strong and powerful Keyblade Master, I nearly lost my heart to darkness in order to get there. If we ever come across a Keyblade wielder in need of training that needs to learn to control their darkness, I'd be happy to teach them what I know. But I don't want to expose Sora to that kind of darkness. You can teach him how to defend himself without having to open himself up to it first, right?"

"Riku…" Ventus shook his head and smiled a bit. "You don't give yourself enough credit. But I understand where you're coming from." His smile grew and he looked up. "Sora, you'll be the first Keyblade wielder to have formal training since Kingdom Hearts appeared again and the worlds were connected. I suppose it makes sense that I be your master, if you're okay with that." Sora looked up at his father again, who gave him a reassuring nod, then back to Ventus.

"Okay," he grinned. "Does this mean I have to call you 'Master Ventus' now?"

"Master Ven is fine," Ventus replied with a laugh. "I expect you to keep up with your studies, training, and practice diligently."

"Yes, sir!" Sora dipped his head. "When do we start?" Ventus smiled and crossed his arms.

"I suppose now is as good a time as any," he said. "Let's head up to the mountain trail and I'll show you a few basics. That way you can get some energy out before I start in on the history lessons."

"Okay!" Sora headed to the stairs, and Ventus gave Aqua a kiss on the cheek before nodding to Riku and Kairi, then followed his new apprentice out. Riku shook his head and smiled a bit.

"He's so eager," he mused. "But I think he'll do fine."

"I'm sure he will," Aqua agreed. "And Ven will make sure nothing bad happens. Sora is lucky to have him as a master."

"You don't think we're asking too much of him?" Kairi wondered, and Aqua shook her head.

"No, not at all. I think Ven will be happy to have someone to help him fill his time. He needs a break from figuring out what to do with the worlds anyway. Poor guy has had his hands full since he decided to open the paths between them."

"No kidding," Riku agreed and looked out toward the main doors of the castle, backing up to take a seat in his throne to the left of Ventus's in the middle. He wrung his hands together as his leg fidgeted slightly.

"It'll be okay, Riku," Kairi said as she came to his side and stroked his hair gently.

"I know," he nodded again. "I just don't want to lose him."

"Relax, Riku," Aqua smiled. "Sora will be fine." Riku nodded and forced a smile, though it didn't do much to mask his concern.

"That's what I thought back when we fought Xehanort."