The completed version of this story is on Archive of Our Own, under the same username and title.

When Riku and Kairi got up the next day, Baymax was waiting to speak to them, though not with pleasant news. He was concerned with Sora's condition; not only had he not improved, he had in fact deteriorated slightly in the past 24 hours. He advised against more visitors until Sora had recovered some strength, but assured them that if he did get more rest then there would be no need to worry.

They were, of course, worried. They immediately sent messages to their friends, asking them to wait a while before visiting again.

When Sora did eventually wake mid-morning, Baymax proceeded with a more thorough examination, checking the state of his cuts and broken bones. Sora had regained some feeling in his broken arm (a mixed blessing) but was still having difficulty moving his hand. Despite his efforts, all he could do was make his fingers twitch.

"Your injuries are still healing at a slower than normal rate and you are showing signs of potential nerve damage in your arm. It will be easier to evaluate this once the swelling decreases and the bones have begun healing."

The nerve damage remark freaked Sora out, but Baymax was more concerned with why he was not improving. Along with the pains in his ribs and chest wound, every muscle and joint in his body seemed to be aching. His limbs felt abnormally heavy and it didn't seem to matter how much rest he had, he felt no less tired. Movements as simple as lifting an arm were still tiring. Baymax told him that this severe fatigue suggested he had been pushing himself far beyond his physical limits for a long time. His body was completely burnt-out, and he was likely to endure the impacts of this for months to come.

"May I ask Sora, what caused you to push yourself like this?"

"Oh..." He hesitated, wishing Kairi and Riku were at the training ground right now, and not sat together on the couch opposite him. He wondered for a moment if he could just tell him, like everyone else, that he didn't remember. But Riku and Kairi already knew that he did, and probably wouldn't let him get away with lying to Baymax when they were so worried about his health as well.

He kept his eyes fixed on Baymax as he began to describe his encounters with the Heartless, not wanting to see his friends' reactions. He told him, as abstractly as he could without lying, about having to spend every night fighting, never having enough time to recover, and how towards the end he had almost entirely stopped sleeping. As Sora spoke Riku quickly became too agitated to stay sitting. He stood and went to stare out the window, arms crossed, digging his fingers into his upper arms as he gripped them hard. Kairi stayed seated and stared at the floor, still as a statue.

Satisfied with this explanation Baymax again emphasised that this was not something he would be able to recover from with a few more nights of good sleep. He would recover, but it would take time. Riku suspected Baymax already knew Sora well enough to realise how much he would need to be reminded of this, and that even so, he was going to get impatient with himself.

Baymax was also concerned about his head injury. Again, he asked a range of questions about Sora's current state and recent memory, assessing the extent of his concussion. The visual tests he administered left Sora dizzy and feeling ill.

"You seem to be suffering from many of the physical consequences of a concussion, but thankfully your mind and memory seem to have only been mildly affected."

"Heh, if only It was the other way around" Sora joked half-heartedly, massaging the bridge of his nose. His headache was still constantly pounding and his vision slightly blurry.

Baymax wasn't sure what Sora meant but didn't question him. With his examination complete he said "my recommendation right now is that you continue to rest as much as possible. Please let me know if any of you need me." He gave them all a little wave before waddling out of the room.

Kairi was still perched on the couch, watching Sora with her head titled and a concerned expression. He regretted saying what he had about his concussion, but then again… maybe it was time he talked to them about it.

Riku had turned around and was leaning against the wall beside one of the windows, looking serious. "Not pleasant memories then."
It was a statement, not a question.

"No…" Sora shook his head, then stopped quickly as it made him feel sick.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Kairi said.

"No, it's OK. I should probably tell someone about it, and you two deserve to know after everything that's happened." He sat up carefully and stared down at his hands in his lap, trying to figure out how to start.

"I actually don't remember the very beginning. You said I've been gone for over a year right? Well, I was counting the days and I was in that city for about 300 before you both got there. I'm not sure where I was before that..."

"I guess that explains why my dreams didn't start straight away," Riku pondered.

"Your dreams?"

"Yeah, a few months after you disappeared I started dreaming about that city."

Sora's eyes widened in shock. "What? You were there?!"

Riku shook his head. "No, but I would dream about it almost every night. I would be walking around and looking for you. I'd never find you, but I was sure you were there somewhere. Then I would always get this feeling that someone was watching me..." he trailed off.

"I wonder if it was him..."

"The man who attacked you?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "I used to feel him watching me as well... So then what would happen?"

"Nothing. That's where it ended. Yen Sid started thinking that since I'd been in your dreams before, maybe that place was where you were. When we figured out how to get there I tried to travel and find you but I couldn't get there properly. I ended up in a sort of different version of it, like with the parallel Traverse Towns. We were on different sides of the same place. Sometimes I'd catch glimpses of you but you were barely there. You looked like a ghost, and no matter what I did you didn't seem to hear or see me..."

He trailed off again, and Kairi took up the rest of the story. "After a while, Roxas started going with Riku, and then they would see you more often and more clearly. It was like there was a stronger connection between the two worlds and we thought maybe it was because both of them being there made the connection to you stronger, since Roxas was once your Nobody and Riku is your... well, Riku."

She giggled and Sora grinned. Riku couldn't help but let out a small sound of amusement as well. "We figured that if more of us went we might be able to get there so Xion and I tried going with them, and it worked! With all four of us, we finally managed to make it there properly, and get to your side."

"And that was when…?"

"When we found you, yeah" Riku answered. He was still glaring down at his feet. "Sora… I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I should have figured out the dreams sooner, and figured out how to get us there sooner… I'm sorry."

"What? Don't be stupid!" Sora was incredulous, shocked Riku could feel any guilt in this situation, "You got me out of there, don't apologise! If it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't be here right now!"

Riku raised his head a little and met Sora's eyes.

"You saved me." Sora beamed at him with the broad smile Riku had known and loved for as long as he could remember. But it just made him feel worse.

"So, what happened in the time you do remember?" Kairi asked. Sora's grin faded and his gaze shifted back to his hands sitting in his lap.

"Well… The first thing I remember - after I left I mean - was this place that looked a lot like that world you and I were in Kairi, with Chirithy, except it was night. It was empty, but then I ran into that Yozora guy."

"Yozora?" Riku asked.

"Oh right! You two weren't there…" He explained the strange video game in Buzz and Woody's world, and his conversation with the star he had spoken to while searching for Kairi.

"Oh, we met her as well!" Kairi said in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she helped us figure out where you were. We think the city you were in might be the world she came from, or at least a version of it. She called it Quadratum."

"Quadratum... I guess that means it's Yozora's world as well. I hope it wasn't the same as her version, there was no one else there."

"I hope so too, the portal disappeared as soon as Roxas and Xion closed it, so there's no way we could help her find a way through now." Kairi looked at Riku sadly. After she had helped them they had been hoping they would be able to help her as well.

"Damn... and I never got to pass on her message to Yozora either. He attacked me before I got the chance."

"He attacked you?" Riku asked, looking puzzled.

"Yeah." He told them about the battle and the confusing things Yozora had said. "After he disappeared, I think I passed out or something because the next thing I remember is waking up in the middle of a street, I don't know how much longer later. After that..." He paused, chest tightening a little. "...things get pretty boring."

Talking about what happened next suddenly felt much more difficult. He put his hand up and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, the way he always did when he felt uncomfortable. Kairi walked over and sat on the edge of the bed facing him, and reached out to lay her hand lightly on top of his bandaged one. He could barely feel it, but seeing her hand there was enough to help him keep talking.

He told them as much as he could manage. He stuck to the facts, trying to skate over anything that might suggest it had been more than just physically difficult. They saw through this though. Masking painful emotions was Sora's speciality, but now that they knew this it was easier to tell when he was doing it. At least if you watched closely. They both hated how long it had taken them to realise just how often he did this.

He told them about wandering the city streets and breaking into buildings to search for people. About trying to make maps and finding that no matter what direction he went in, he would always end up back where he started. About staying in abandoned apartments and being woken by Heartless on the roof.

Riku interjected at this point. "Did you only see Heartless while you were there?"

"Yeah, just them and that man."

"You didn't run into any Unversed?"

This took Sora by surprise. "Unversed? No, why?"

"When I was there I would run into Unversed most nights, often close to where you were. I would see you fighting often as well." Every time he'd seen Sora fighting he had looked more exhausted and miserable than the last time he'd appeared. They were painful memories for Riku. " I couldn't see what was attacking you, so I just assumed it was Unversed as well."

"Weird... Nah, I never saw any."

Kairi suggested they tackle one thing at a time and try to solve that mystery later, so Sora continued. He talked briefly again about how the Heartless became stronger and started coming more frequently, and described how the man had stalked him and turned out to be the one sending the Heartless.

"I think he was trying to get me to turn to the darkness or something. The usual embrace the darkness stuff..." He couldn't bring himself to tell them anything about Rage, this explanation would have to be enough for now. He left out the Wayfinder as well, still aching from its loss too much to tell Kairi he hadn't been able to keep his promise to return it. Eventually, he came to the end of the story.

"Then he stopped sending the Heartless after me and we fought instead. I guess you know what the result of that was. I remember him knocking me off a roof and falling, and then the next thing I remember was you two. I woke up and... suddenly you were both there."

He smiled up at them, his face shifting smoothly from a deadpan stare to genuine happiness. "I didn't believe it at first. Everything was pretty hazy, I was kind of out of it."

"That's putting it mildly," Riku smirked a little, and Sora was glad to see him looking a little less angry with himself.

"When that man attacked you two I thought it was all over. Then I just remember light, and you Kairi. You were standing in front of us, and there was just so much light... That's the last thing I really remember though. The rest is just vague voices."

Just stay with me Sora, just stay with me.
Sora... It's OK, you're safe now.

"I think I heard you both talking to me actually." He smiled to himself, then paused to think. "How did we get away?"

Riku looked pointedly at Kairi, and she tried to explain.

"I'm not sure how but I made this sort of... barrier. When that blast was heading for us I didn't really know what to do so I just stood in front of you both and hoped I could shield you a little, and then… suddenly there was a real shield there. That would have been the light that you saw. But, I don't know what it was…"

Sora was staring at her in wonder, eyes wide. She blushed and looked down at her hands, feeling abashed.

"But it stopped the blast completely, and then that man just disappeared." Riku finished for her.

"Wow... that's amazing Kairi. Thank you!"

"There's not much point thanking me! I don't even know how I did it."

"You still did it though" Riku pointed out. "I never thanked you before, thanks for saving us, Kairi." She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, still looking embarrassed but also smiling.

Riku turned back to Sora and, despite his wide smile, saw just how drained and pale he was looking. A thin layer of sweat had appeared on his brow, and he guessed that sitting up this long was either exhausting or painful for him. Probably both. He walked over to the bed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You should go back to sleep, you've been awake for ages, and Baymax is already worried about you."

"Yeah..." Sora didn't need telling twice. He made to lie back and clenched his eyes shut. Riku moved quickly and put an arm around his shoulders so he could lower him down, taking the strain off his chest. After he moved his arm away Riku lifted his hand, about to run it through Sora's hair, but stopped himself just in time.

Instead, he clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "All right, I'm going to head off, I'll probably be back tomorrow sometime."

"Tomorrow?" Sora's heart sank a little. "Where are you going?"

"Radiant Garden. When Leon and the others were here we didn't get a chance to tell them much about what happened when we went to find you. They helped us get to that world. They'll probably want to know more about it, and so will Ienzo and the others in the lab. Maybe they'll have some idea how you managed to make that shield as well Kairi."

He paused for a moment. "I was thinking I'd just talk to them about what I saw for now…?"

"Yeah... that would be good, thanks." Sora was looking down again, his face uneasy. "I don't really want to answer more peoples' questions yet."

"OK."

To be honest, Riku hated the idea of leaving right now, but he was hoping that seeing people and updating them would make them less likely to visit and give Sora a chance to sleep more.

While it wasn't something he particularly wanted to do, he also felt it was about time he gave Kairi and Sora some time alone. The thought that his presence might be getting in the way of them finally having a chance to act on their feelings made him feel horrible. He didn't want them to feel he was intruding on them. He owed this to them both. They'd already had to wait such a long time to be together.

He gave Sora's shoulder a squeeze, hugged Kairi, and left, leaving Sora a little put out that he didn't get a hug as well. That strange pang in his stomach appeared again briefly. He put it down to nausea from Baymax's pills.

Despite his reluctance to go, Riku's trip proved fruitful. Once in Radiant Garden he first went to see Ienzo, Ansem the Wise, and Even at the castle laboratory. They had already heard from the King what had happened when Riku and the other three travelled to Quadratum, but were eager to hear the story from Riku himself. They were also curious about the shield Kairi had managed to create, though had no solid theories to offer on how she had achieved this.

As everyone else had, they wished to know what Sora had experienced in the year he was gone, and Riku repeated Sora's same, shortened version of the truth. They were not subtle in showing their disappointment. Riku was relieved he had been able to tell them rather than Sora having to deal with this crap yet again. He said his goodbyes and left to go see people he was much more looking forward to seeing. Ienzo was nice enough, but the other two weren't exactly the best company...

By the time he reached Merlin's house, it was evening, and he found Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Naminé, and Merlin himself all gathered to see him. Naminé had taken up residence with Aerith since being brought out of Kairi's heart. The mansion in Twilight Town held too many painful memories for her to return there, so Aerith had taken her under her wing. It seemed to have been the perfect situation for Naminé. She seemed a great deal happier and more comfortable in herself than she was a year ago. Aerith had even begun teaching her some magic.

Merlin passed on to him that the Fairy Godmother had been to speak with the star. While the portal had closed, she still believed there was hope for the woman to return there someday, and he and Kairi were not to feel any responsibility for the portal being gone. Neither of them had an explanation for why the city had been completely empty though. It hadn't been like that when the woman in the star left it.

He made a mental note to ask Sora if he wanted the star to know about his encounter with Yozora

He hadn't been back to this house since the Fairy Godmother had come to fetch him months ago, and gave them all the first piece of good news they had heard about Sora in so long. It was strange being there again, thinking back on how that had triggered so much.

After yet again telling his story, he asked them all the question he had really been hoping they could help him with.

"Kairi still doesn't know how she created that shield and I was wondering if any of you had some theories?"

"It doesn't sound like any magic I have ever witnessed," Merlin pondered as he stroked his beard. "Barrier spells we've all seen many times of course, but this sounds very different."

"What did it look like when the shield appeared?" Leon asked.

"I had my back to her when it first appeared so I didn't see how it happened. I actually thought we'd already been hit by the blast because I was in so much pain, but then there was all this light and when I turned around it was there."

Naminé looked confused and concerned. "Why were you in pain?"

Riku frowned. "Actually... I'm not sure." He hadn't put any thought into it, but now that she asked, he realised he had no idea what caused it.

"Not sure? How can you not be sure?!" Yuffie asked incredulously.

"I dunno... I was holding on to Sora and trying to block him from the blast, and I just felt this incredible pain. It felt like something had gone right through my chest. It disappeared so quickly though, I almost forgot it happened."

It had been such an intense feeling, like a spear had been thrust through his heart. At the time he'd thought for a horrifying moment that whatever it was must have gone straight through and impaled Sora as well.

Aerith raised a hand to her chin, thinking. "Riku, this happened a little over a week ago, right?"

"Yeah, we found him about 10 days ago I think."

"And was it in the evening?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, something strange happened here that night too. All of us suddenly felt a pain in our hearts, and all at exactly the same time." The others around the room all made sounds of realisation and agreement.

"Yes. I remember feeling an awful ache, right here," Naminé placed a hand on her chest. "None of us knew why it happened though."

"That must have something to do with it," Leon agreed.

"Hmmm, maybe... I wonder if it happened to other people as well," Riku thought out loud.

As the others discussed this idea further, Riku and Naminé investigated. Riku called Mickey, who told him he remembered that everyone in the tower had felt some kind of pain or ache in their chests at the same time. Terra repeated almost the exact same story when Riku called him next. He, Aqua, and Ven had all felt something.

Naminé talked with Xion and Roxas, who were also with Hayner and the others when she called. Every single one of them remembered the same thing. Roxas and Xion were also certain that it happened just moments before Kairi had summoned the shield because they had seen the light from it shoot above the roofs. Xion had a suggestion, which Naminé put to the group.

"Xion thinks maybe Kairi was connecting to everyone's hearts somehow. Maybe she was channelling that light, or that urge to protect Sora, from us all."

"She is a Princess of Heart..." Riku said as he considered the possibility. "And we don't know all the things that allows her to do, it seems like a good theory to me. She's the most important person to Sora, so if anyone could access the people he's connected to it would be her."

"Well, it's definitely the best theory we've got right now," Leon said.

Yuffie placed one hand on her hip and waggled a finger at Riku with the other. "Good thing you finally let her go along Riku!" The others laughed and Riku knew she was just teasing him, but he felt his stomach twist.

"Heh, yeah... maybe if I hadn't stopped her things would have been different, we might have found him sooner."

Aerith assumed he meant specifically before Sora had been attacked. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You couldn't have known what was going to happen, none of us could. If you had all gone too soon it might have been much worse, you and Kairi might have gotten hurt as well."

"And Sora will be fine," Leon tried to reassure him. "It is Sora after all."

"Yeah! He'll bounce back in no time," Yuffie grinned.

Riku unconsciously clenched his fists, heat suddenly rising in his chest. "Yeah... That's always what everyone expects of him isn't it." He tried to keep the cold anger out of his voice. "I'm going to head off." He turned abruptly to leave, surprising them all.

"It's getting late Riku, are you sure you don't want to stay until tomorrow?" Aerith asked.

"It's fine. I'm leaving early so I'll sleep in the Gummi ship, it was good to see you all." He forced a smile onto his face, gave them a wave, and left quickly before anyone could stop him.

Sora slept almost the entire day after Riku left, clearly exhausted. Kairi had been hoping Aqua could try and start healing his arm soon but was wondering now if it might be a while before he was ready for that. She called Aqua in the afternoon to ask for advice on when to start, and whether she should try healing Sora herself or wait for her to visit.

"I'm sure you would be able to Kairi, but it might be better for me to do it the first time and see how it goes. He'll probably need a lot of healing, so once we know how he reacts to it then we could both work on it if need be."

"That would be great Aqua, thank you!"

"It's fine! Just let me know when he's feeling up to it."

"Aqua, is that Kairi?" Ventus's head popped up between Aqua and the camera.

"Ven!" She cried out in exasperation as he grabbed the phone from her.

"Hi Kairi!"

"Hi Ven!" Kairi laughed.

"How's Sora doing?"

"He's OK. Still really tired, but he's getting better."

"That's good, is he asleep right now?"

"He is, I'll let you know when he's feeling well enough for visitors again."

"OK… well, tell him we all say hi."

"All right." Kairi grinned. She missed them.

Aqua took the Gummi phone back from Ven. "How are you feeling Kairi? With everything that's been happening… I just wanted to check if you were doing OK?" She looked concerned.

Kairi thought for a moment. "Yeah, I'm OK... thanks Aqua. It's been a hard week, but I'm feeling OK right now."

"That's good."

Relieved to know her student and friend was feeling alright, Aqua said her goodbyes and Kairi hung up. She'd come outside to sit on the Tower steps, not wanting to wake Sora. It was peaceful here, looking out at the stars, and the fresh air was doing her good.

It was a lovely place to sit, but this world of Yen Sid's was so tiny. She couldn't wait to go back to Aqua and Ven's world once Sora was better, and then to eventually return to the islands.

Yen Sid must have been sick of having them there by now she thought. They'd barely seen him since Sora woke up. Maybe he just wanted to leave them be, or had gone to see Mickey without them noticing him leave. He was probably looking forward to having his home back to himself as well.

Where would Sora go next though she wondered... Maybe back home to the islands? She didn't like the idea of being apart from him again so soon, and couldn't stand the idea of Riku and him being separated again. She wasn't sure where Riku was planning to go, or if he'd even be staying in one place. If Sora ended up by himself back in the Destiny Islands he'd almost certainly be miserable. It seemed like a bad idea.

Maybe it would be better if they all waited until they could go back together? They were already going to have to do a horrendous amount of explaining when they eventually returned... They'd made sure their friends and families knew they were alive, but that was all. That was far too much attention and difficult conversations for one person to deal with.

No, there was no way they could return any way other than together. Where would they each end up until then though?

When she went back upstairs she found Sora muttering in his sleep again. She wondered if he might be having another nightmare, though he seemed calm enough for the moment. She pulled a chair out from the table but, despite trying to do so quietly, the soft noise of the chair legs was enough to rouse him. He turned to her, blinking sleepily.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's OK" he smiled. He tried to sit up and prop himself against the pillows, and she hurried to help him.

She drew a chair up next to the bed. "Ven and Aqua say hi by the way." He seemed preoccupied though and didn't reply. "More bad dreams?"

"Huh? Oh, sort of." He hadn't been dreaming of Rage this time thankfully, just empty streets. "I just keep dreaming about that city, it was a… weird place."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She assumed the nightmares weren't helping him rest as much as Baymax wanted him to, and watching him being troubled so frequently was awful.

He smiled gratefully. "Nah, I'm sure they'll go away. Having you and Riku around is already helping a lot."

"That's good." She smiled back and tried to think of something a little less serious they could talk about. "You look weird without your necklace on."

"Huh?" He raised a hand to his neck, feeling for the small crown, looking suddenly worried. He hadn't noticed it was gone.

"Oh no don't worry! It's not lost, it's here." She quickly picked it up off the bedside table to show him and he sighed in relief.

"Phew, you scared me for a moment Kairi!"

"Heh, sorry, do you- oh!" She had been about to offer to help him put it on again, but then she noticed the Wayfinder, sitting half hidden beneath Sora's gloves. "I can't believe I forgot!" She put his necklace down and picked up the charm from the bedside table. In the whirlwind of the past few days, she'd completely forgotten to give it to him.

"Here," she grinned and held it out for him to take.

There are 27 more chapters in the full version of this story, the completed version of this story is on Archive of Our Own, under the same username and title. If you've been enjoying this consider checking out the rest of the story there! There is a lot more plot to go (and I promise the boys get together eventually!)

I have a bunch of other KH stories there as well, but I'm not planning on posting them on FFN.