Riku grimaced as he awoke, his fingers twitching slightly. He recognized Traverse Town from the short time he'd spent there a few years ago but was completely clueless as to why. The Realm of Sleep was only supposed to have dreams of worlds that had fallen to darkness, but Traverse Town was wide awake in the Realm of Light.

He then noticed his clothes were now changed. They kept with his usual style, albeit more uniform to a keyblade apprentice. He then realized he was missing his friends. Sora and Kairi were supposed to be here with him, had they seriously been separated again? "Kairi! Sora! Where are you?"

No one answered.

He gave a sigh in worry. Just then, he realized another thing he was missing, Kairi's charm. He'd had it wrapped around his wrist when they were fighting to save Kairi, but now it was gone. He looked around where he'd been sleeping and checked his pockets twice to no avail. Where could it be? He wondered.

"Looking for this?"

Riku gave a grunt in surprise, looking up to see a man in a black coat. The charm was held tightly in his hand. He summoned his keyblade at once. The Organization! I thought Sora and Kairi got rid of those guys! "How are you here?!"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," The man mumbled. "You aren't supposed to be here."

Is he talking about the exam? I… guess he's not wrong… Riku frowned when the man gave a chuckle. "Neither are you. Now, give it back."

"This?" The man asked, showing him the cham. "What's it matter to you? It's not even yours and yet you treasure it…"

"Of course I do, it represents Sora and Kairi's bond." Riku grunted, not sure why he was explaining this to his enemy.

The figure seemed to smirk. "Isn't that all the more reason to keep it hidden? Maybe even destroy it?"

"Why would I-?!"

"You deny it time and time again… And yet it persists. You're jealous of their bond."

Riku's cheeks went red in both embarrassment and anger. "N-No, I-"

The man tutted softly before glancing at the charm. "That being said, surely you wouldn't mind if I…"

Riku's eyes widened in horror, seeing the man's grip tighten on the fragile charm. "No! Stop!"

He bolted to snatch the charm away. Not only did it represent Kairi and Sora's bond, but it now served as a connection to them both. Not to mention how upset they'd be if it was damaged.

He grabbed it from the man before giving a sigh in relief. It seemed fine… but why was it so easy to get back?

"Just as I thought," Riku looked up to find the figure holding out a hand, casting a spell over him. A wave of dizziness overtook him. "you work so hard to protect the things that matter… so much that you forget to protect yourself…"

"Huh…?" He stumbled back, struggling to keep his eyes open. He fell to his knees. "What are you…?"

"Just sleep… Sleep until you leave this place…"

Riku couldn't help but close his eyes, feeling the world fading around him.

"And enter somewhere you'll never be reunited…"


Riku awoke to find himself supposedly in the same spot he'd collapsed, the only difference being that the Organization member was gone. He rubbed his head. "He just put me to sleep…? No, it's the Organization. He must've done something."

The boy took the time to check his clothes and find the charm that was still clutched in his hand, nothing unusual about him.

He looked around the district in suspicion but couldn't find a single thing different then it had been before. The shops were selling the same products, the lights burned with the same neon colors, even the addresses were the same.

Riku was just about to give up when he was surrounded by strange creatures. He summoned his keyblade.

"If Sora and Kairi can get the hang of the keyblade, I can too." Riku tried to reassure himself even though plenty of doubts clouded his mind.

He swung the keyblade, trying to get himself acclimated to the wriggly creatures. Though he had the keyblade since their last journey, he didn't get much of a chance to use it against true enemies. He'd often practice with Sora or Kairi whenever they had the chance. Despite insisting they weren't, his friends were clearly pulling their punches. After all, Riku had seen them demolish Heartless and Nobodies like it was nothing, not to mention defeating the Organization and here they were sticking to basic moves. Riku knew fighting either at their full power would force him to improve drastically with the keyblade, but at the same time knew they'd never do that even if he begged.

The Nightmares were the opposite, they raged on the boy like he'd done something horrible against them. Riku found this invigorating for a while until he realized the Nightmares wouldn't stop coming.

"Urgh!" He fell away as a cat-like Dream Eater clawed his face. He shot through it with fire before taking a moment to heal himself.

Unfortunately, that moment was all the time another Nightmare needed to pounce.

The boy guarded quickly, waiting for an impact that never came. Instead, the sound of beating wings filled his ears. He opened his eyes to see a little bat using the wind it produced to push the Nightmare back. He quickly stabbed it through, taking down the last of them.

"Thanks for the assist." He said, glancing up at the bat.

He must be a Spirit. The boy realized, remembering what Yen Sid had told them about Dream Eaters. "Would you be willing to help me out?"

The bat gave a squee in answer before landing on his shoulder.

"Alright then." Riku smiled, petting him. "Oh, guess you probably need a name, right? I'm not that good with them… All I can think of is Koumori. Is that too on the nose?"

Koumori gave a squeak and shook its head.

"Alright then, Koumori."


Riku and Koumori spent some time wandering Traverse Town, looking for his friends. He didn't have any other goal in mind unlike Sora and Kairi who were no doubt searching for the keyhole, he just wanted to be reunited with his friends.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Riku turned to see the silhouette of someone with spiky hair. His heart leaped. "Sora? Is that you?"

"Sorry to disappoint, Riku." An unfamiliar voice responded. A young boy with spiky hair and headphones walked out from the next district. "But I'm no friend of yours."

Riku tensed at that, it was an obvious threat. "Yeah? Then who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"I'm not very good at socializing, let's just get this over with." The boy grunted, summoning a team of Dream Eaters with a snap.

Koumori gave a screech and went protectively in front of Riku while the boy summoned his keyblade.

Thankfully, all of the strange boy's Spirits were small enough to take out easily. Koumori was able to handle the airborne ones while Riku took down the leader of the team, a small cat along with a frog-like one.

When they were finished and all poofed away for rest, Neku gave a glare in impatience. He adjusted the headphones on his head before going into a battle stance. "Fine, I'm better solo anyway."

The two pounced at each other before they were suddenly shoved apart by a bright light.

"People so similar ought to get along, don't you think?"

Riku grimaced, squinting through the light until it vanished to reveal a thin young boy with blond hair and violet eyes.

"Joshua." The other boy grunted.

"Neku, good to see you again." Joshua smiled warmly, turning to the boy. "Now, can you tell me why you were attacking Riku here? It isn't like you to just go off the handle like this…"

Neku looked between the two boys before opening his mouth to answer.

Just as he was about to speak though, a sudden sleepiness took over Riku. He grabbed his head as the world began spinning, stumbling forward. "Why am I so… tired…?"

He collapsed to the ground.


"The entry was a success. Despite the unexpected circumstances, we will still achieve our goal."

Riku recognized the voice as the Organization member from before. He could feel a great amount of darkness in his heart, it seemed Riku's pure heart had sensed this and latched onto it, giving him brief insight. It was a power he didn't know he had until this moment.

He floated in a space of total darkness, the singular spark of light.

"Excellent." An unfamiliar voice grunted. It seemed to be an old man. "Oh, and make sure those two stay apart… we wouldn't want them spoiling the surprise."


Riku opened his eyes to find himself on the ground. He slowly sat up, trying to understand what he'd just heard. Who were those men, were they new members of the Organization?

"Oh, you're awake."

Riku turned to see Neku, the boy who'd attacked him earlier. The other mysterious boy, Joshua, had disappeared. "You're…"

"Neku Sakuraba. Figured I should properly introduce myself after everything that happened."

Riku gave a distrusting look, wondering if he should summon his keyblade.

Neku gave a sigh. "I know, I would think I'm still suspicious too but seriously, don't worry. Joshua vauged for you."

"And Joshua… he's your friend?" Riku asked in clarification.

"Something like that." The boy grunted, helping Riku up. Riku dusted himself off before finding Koumori resting on his shoulder. "I didn't go on his word alone, I already had a feeling that guy was shady. He promised he'd take me and my partner back home. It was a long shot, but I had to try."

"I get it." Riku grunted, knowing he'd do anything to get Sora and Kairi back home after realizing the Organization was on their trail. They entered the next district, their Spirits taking out Nightmares as they did. "This guy, he was wearing a black coat, wasn't he…"

"Yeah." Neku nodded in slight surprise. "He told me to find you and beat you til you couldn't stand, something about breaking your will. But given how I saw you fight, that must be a pretty difficult task."

Riku nodded in agreement. "I've got to be around to protect what matters, my friends… Speaking of, Neku, have you seen anyone else not from around here?"

"No, just you. Then again, I'm not exactly done searching. My friends have gone missing too."

Koumori made a small sound before bonking Riku's head a bit closer to Neku.

"You think we should look together?" Riku realized before looking back at Neku. "That might not be such a bad idea."


After a long search with no sight of their friends, the boys were rewarded by being surrounded by Nightmares. The two and their Spirits were quick to take down the enemies.

"Should we rest for a moment?" Riku asked softly, noticing the Spirits looked ready to drop after so many battles.

"You can rest all you'd like." A familiar voice suddenly said. They turned in shock to see the black coat. He took off the hood to reveal long silver hair and golden eyes. Riku felt a chill go down his spine, feeling like they'd met long before this journey. "Once you allow yourself to sleep, you'll be able to dream forever…"

"And let you have your way? I don't think so." Riku grunted, summoning his keyblade. He wouldn't be sleeping the journey away, not after all the ones he'd missed out on.

"We'll see how long you can keep that up." The man muttered softly. He gestured to Neku. "And you, I thought you wished for the exact opposite: to awaken from this place with your dear friend."

"Of course I do-"

"Clearly not enough." The man snapped, quieting the boy. "… You still have a chance, you know. All you have to do is fight this boy till he succumbs to despair."

"Not happening." Neku spat back.

"I see. Well, if you want a job done right… you have to do it yourself."

With that, he raised his hand into the air, gathering a bundle of dark energy that summoned a giant monkey Nightmare.

"Do it yourself? You just made one of your lackeys to do it instead." Neku growled. "At least give your Dream Eater the credit."

Riku ran at the man with a yell. The Organization always separated him from his loved ones, he had to know where they were.

The man in black smirked before disappearing, leaving Riku to land on the hard concrete.

Lost him… Riku thought angrily.

He felt a sudden tug at his hair and turned to see Koumori.

The bat seemed to nod towards the Nightmare and Riku realized Neku and his Spirits were fighting alone. "Come on, Kou!"

Riku thought his Spirit was following until he actually got to the Nightmare. "Kou?"

He felt something twitch on his back and he turned to see Koumori's wings were now his own. They'd fused thanks to the power of dreams.

"Riku!" Neku called, getting his attention. "We're holding him down here, think you can handle the top?"

"On it." Riku nodded.

He flew up to the face of the monkey, avoiding a few dangerous swings here and there before unleashing a light attack.

The Nightmare stumbled back, glowing brightly until it exploded into shards of light.

The shards rained down as Riku landed, Koumori appearing at his side.

"Nice flying, you two." Neku said, walking up.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, the light turned into a projection of four people, two Riku knew well.

"What is this…?" Riku asked softly, walking up to the projections of Sora and Kairi.

"They're glimpses into this split world."

Joshua appeared to them.

"Shiki…" Neku whispered, walking up to his friend.

Everyone but the trio and Joshua suddenly disappeared.

Riku could feel Kairi and Sora at his side, listening to the same explanation he was.

"In their world, something happened that brought their existence to an end." Joshua told them, gesturing to the new friends they'd made. "To keep them from fading altogether, I gathered up the very last remnants of their dreams and looked for a place to give them refuge."

Their existence came to an end… Riku felt the finality hit him like a strike to the chest. The place Neku and his friends had come from… Had there been no chance of saving them there? He shuddered at the thought of if he wasn't able to bring Kairi back from the darkness.

"It was then this world appeared to answer my call, and Beat's dreams allowed us to reach it. Here, I thought they might have a chance, that the pieces of their dreams could make them whole again." The boy looked back at the trio. "Imagine my surprise when I realized dreams take bodily form in this world. It struck me, by linking their dream pieces back together, maybe I could make them exist again. Maybe I could give them another chance."

Sora said something Riku couldn't quite make out.

"It doesn't? Well, maybe this'll clear it up." Joshua smiled in response, apparently he heard them all. "By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone, that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was for someone to see them, to connect with them. And the three of you were a big part of making it happen."

So it was their bonds that allowed them to see each other and the ones they'd made with their new friends. Of course, everyone was connected in their hearts, they were never without each other.

"Joshua… who are you?" The trio chorused.

"Let's just say… a friend." Joshua smiled. White angel wings sprouted from his back before he flew up into the heavens, leaving them to wonder what it meant.

A shining keyhole appeared in his place.

Sora and Kairi got to unlock it before we move on, Riku remembered. He looked at his friends and motioned to it.

Sora and Kairi got what he meant, summoning their keyblades. They unlocked the keyhole at the same time.

Riku saw Kairi smirk and then say something. He recognized it at once and gave a laugh before running off.

They entered the new world together.