The bright light faded and Kairi opened her eyes to find herself floating in a starry night sky. Every few moments, the stars would glitch to red, showing Sora's data, or maybe his heart, was struggling to stay in control.

She heard a whirring and clicking sound and turned to see Sora had appeared behind her. "Sora!"

"Kairi!" Sora caught her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Of course! I'm here to- Huh?" Kairi took a step back in surprise when he tried to give her a glowing shard.

"Check it out! I found it on my other partition, meaning it doesn't belong in Tink's Journal! If whoever put this here is the same one that put the journal's memories in me, I think you guys have a real good shot at cracking the mysterious message!"

"That's great!" Kairi grinned, placing it safely in her pocket before realizing something. "Hey, wait, that's not why I'm here though, I'm here to save you!"

His smile fell. "I-I don't know if you even can, Kairi… It's getting harder and harder to stay in control. I think you should get out while you still can. I- I'll be right behind you!"

"You're lying to me." Kairi realized at once. Sora was many things but a good liar wasn't one of them. "What are you really planning to do?"

He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "…You got me… I figured if I go as deep down as I can, taking the bugs with me, then you guys would have time to escape."

"We're not going anywhere without you, Sora!" Kairi insisted at once. How could he say that? "This isn't the time to give up! Riku's waiting on us! We gotta be there when he wakes up! You know you can't give up!"

Sora hesitated but then gave a small nod

. "Right, what was I thinking?"

Kairi grinned.

"First thing's first, I gotta regain my power, the bugs stole it when they were taking over my body. With my power back, I should be in full control again." Sora explained before holding out his hand.

A bright light appeared that materialized into a door, nearly like the keyholes did.

"In here is a world of my memories. The bugs polluted them, which took away my power." The boy muttered.

"Don't worry, I'll get it back for you!" Kairi announced, summoning her keyblade.

He gave his usual smile, placing his hands behind his head. "I'll see you soon then."

The world she appeared in was Destiny Islands, their childhood home. As expected, it was crawling with bugs.

Kairi dispelled every last one, hoping she'd be able to see Sora after she did.

Sure enough, once all the bugs were defeated, Sora sat at their usual spot. She plopped down beside him before they grinned at each other.

"So you got the journal's data in the Secret Place, didn't you?" Kairi asked after a few moments of listening to the waves.

"That's right. We went there as soon as the bugs showed up, because we couldn't find you anywhere on the island after they did. That's when it happened…" He looked off to the sea, lost in memory. "So much was loaded into my system so fast… Heh, it took me off guard."

Kairi knew looking at his face he had been terrified in that moment, but Sora being Sora would never admit that. He didn't like making anyone worry about him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Sora."

His hand stopped shaking once it was in hers. He gave a weak smile. "I'm just glad it was me so you and Riku wouldn't have to deal with it… Well, we better get going if we're gonna get enough power back to kick the bugs out!"

"Right."

Kairi took out the bugs together in Traverse Town while Sora cheered from the sidelines, still too weak to help her. Eventually, they sat together outside the accessory shop.

"Last time we were here, we were searching for the keyhole, remember?"

"Oh yeah! Huey, Dewie, and Louie had a piece each." Kairi remembered. "…And you gave me the last one."

Sora nodded before giving a sigh. "When I first came here and saw the triplets looking for adventure my first thought was we could have fun looking for the keyhole together, so I sent them off to explore… I should've been more mindful, I didn't even think about the fact bugs would be after them. I was just so excited to have some new friends… You think the real me's grown out of that?"

"What, throwing caution into the wind and getting yourself in trouble? Nah, doesn't sound like you." Kairi teased before he gave her a playful elbow in the ribs.

Wonderland was infested with bugs too but Kairi was able to take them out a bit faster since Sora was able to wield his sword again.

Sora stretched out with a yawn once they were done before he suddenly jerked up. "No, no time to slack off!"

"Whoa, calm down!" Kairi grunted, motioning for him to sit beside her. She forced his head down on her shoulder. "I've never seen you take something so seriously that you didn't allow yourself a nap every once in a while."

"Well, this is super serious. Our whole existence rides on it." Sora mumbled. "Besides, the last time I was vulnerable, I got caught by the bugs… Bugs I'm not even strong enough to face without your help."

Kairi smiled sadly. "I thought you always liked working together? You said it made you stronger!"

"Oh, yeah… I dunno, maybe that was just something I made up to slack off." Sora shrugged even though he'd been living by that friends are my power motto his whole life.

"Sora, it's okay to ask for help, even if you feel you should do it all on your own. But if you do wanna feel better… you're super strong even without my help."

"You really think so?"

"Of course! Why would Hades have ordered the bugs to take your strength if he wasn't scared of it? You've gotten stronger and stronger with each world you've been to."

"You think?"

"I know. You've worked hard to help me, Riku and the others, you definitely deserve a break. You gotta be at your best if you're gonna truly protect the data, right?" Kairi reminded him.

"Mmm, well, I am kinda sleepy…"

They took a quick little nap among the flowers.

Agrabah was the last world. The two help each other detect and evade the many traps waiting for them.

They collapsed onto the sand before smiling at each other.

"We did it! It all worked out!" Sora huffed in relief.

Kairi gave a laugh. She was glad Sora was back to his usual cheery self now that he had his power back.

The world glowed around them and they found themselves back in the dark void they started at. A shining doorway appeared before them, making them stand.

"Thanks for helping me get my strength back." Sora said, glancing at the door with worry. "But I can't help you take down the final hurt, you have to do that alone."

Kairi wondered why he wouldn't be able to and felt somewhat nervous at the idea he wouldn't be coming with. "So you can't guide me anymore? But we've been together since I first got the keyblade."

Sora's face twisted into confusion. "What are you talking about..? The first time I saw you was on the Islands…"

"Huh?" The more she thought about it, she did seem to remember the person in the black coat being taller than Sora… "But if it wasn't you, who could it be?"

"I don't know… What I do know is the whole reason why you got the keyblade is beyond that door." His face was more serious than Kairi had ever seen it. "No matter what it looks like, you have to take it down, got it?"

"Okay…" She whispered, wondering who it could be.

They embraced one last time before Kairi ran through the doorway.

When the light cleared, Kairi found herself in another black void and there in front of her was Sora.

He no longer wore the black coat, instead wearing the armor Hades and Horace had forced him to wear. His voice sounded distorted as he called out to her, "So weak… Need… you…."

She took a step forward but then froze, remembering what Sora said before. No matter what it looked like…

. "Need… you…"

"You mean you need my data. Well, that's not happening." Kairi growled. "You're not infecting anyone else, bug."

The thing gave a distorted growl before thrusting out its hand, red and black blocks shooting out at her.

She leapt to the side before summoning her keyblade and making a quick run at the thing shaped like her friend.

It gave a screech, trying to hide itself from the keyblade with blocks but Kairi was able to strike them down faster then she ever had before.

It gave one last attempt to take her over, leaping at the girl.

Kairi gave a yell, blasting it away.

The body stumbled back onto the ground before turning back into its true form, a mere block bug.

She stabbed it through. "Game over!"

"Kairi, you did it!" Sora cheered after she returned. He saw her face and realized, "The bug decided to look like me, huh?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Kairi asked. She then remembered Sora's warning again. "You knew the whole time?"

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't say anything, I was just embarrassed to admit the bug might've tapped into my darkness…" He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "It used the feelings I got when I realized you didn't really need me anymore…"

"What are you talking about, Sora?" Kairi asked in shock. She then crossed her arms, hoping to make light of the situation. "Hey, just cause I can protect myself now doesn't mean you can slack off, lazy bum! We made a promise as kids to always protect each other no matter what, are you trying to shrink out of it?"

"Hehe, no." Sora laughed.

Sora, Kairi! Are you two alright in there? Minnie suddenly called, reminding them of their mission.

"Yeah! We took out all the hurt for good!" Kairi smiled. "So, your door back home should be opening right about now!"

They waited for a few moments in silence before Daisy spoke up, Are you sure…? There's no door here.

"But that's impossible." Sora refuted. "Either my predictions and messages were wrong or…!"

The world suddenly shook, causing the two to fall into each other.

"Or there's still more hurt for us to end…"