Sora looks out the window of the Gummiship and Goofy asks him what he's thinking about. Sora wonders if he was wrong.
"Wrong… about Halloween Town?" Kairi asked, a little bewildered from the tone shift.
"No, not Halloween Town," Sora responded, eyes moving to Riku before quickly turning away. "This is a… day? After Halloween Town."
Donald asks what he could be wrong about and that he's looking for Kairi, right?
"Oh, this is about Monstro, isn't it?" Aqua asked softly, eyes moving to the two teenage boys it dealt with. Riku froze in his seat and Sora ducked his head.
"Yeah," he responded. "I managed to talk about it, after a while."
Sora says he wants to find both Kairi and Riku. The others say that they have people they're looking for as well and Goofy reminds Sora to smile to power the Gummiship.
Aqua made a quick face. Not the time to be saying that, Goofy.
Sora smiles, saying that being sad won't help him find Kairi. He apologizes for worrying them and asks Donald if he can see the next world yet.
"That was a mood shift," Roxas muttered, eyes moving from the screen to the watching teenagers across from them.
Donald says he can't see it yet, before Goofy spots a ship coming up behind them.
While most of the watchers exchanged confused looks, Riku went rigid in his seat, and Sora glomped onto him, wrapping both arms around Riku's one and leaning on his side. He didn't want Riku to get any ideas.
Sora realizes that it's a pirate ship and the ship rams into the Gummiship, causing a huge impact.
Kairi gasped in surprise, not being the only one to do so, and turned to look at Sora. She paused though, when she saw the way that Sora had latched onto Riku. He had only done that when…
Oh. She settled back into the couch, reaching out to take Riku's other hand. This wasn't going to be easy, was it?
In a cabin in the ship, Riku is sitting next to Kairi's body, folded over on his arms and asleep.
The atmosphere in the room dropped several degrees when Riku came onscreen, all of them remembering what happened last time the two boys were together.
Kairi sucked in a breath when she saw her body onscreen. She knew what had happened during those weeks, she knew, but… it was different seeing it person.
Aqua's heart clenched when she saw Riku. He was so young, damnit, and it was clear. No matter what darkness he got mixed up in, it was clear he only wanted to save Kairi. And… at least something else, she knew it. From the way he reacted to finding Sora and everything after that, there was clearly some other reason behind his actions. She needed to find out.
Terra blinked in sadness when he saw the boy who he Bequeathed to. He didn't want this for him, not once.
Maleficent appears from a dark corridor and Riku jolts awake, blinking in surprise and standing up, but relaxes slightly when he sees her.
Riku slammed his eyes closed, moving his face away from the screen. He didn't… He hadn't ever truly trusted Maleficent but… She had, in his eyes, held up her end of the deal. And she had… cared about him, for what it looked like at least. He couldn't…
Riku looks back down at Kairi's body, asks Maleficent if Kairi was really a lifeless puppet right now.
Kairi flinched slightly. She knew her heart was safe in Sora's and that Riku hadn't let anything happen to her body, but it was still unnerving to see her body, laying there, unprotected from anything. It just… made her shiver.
Maleficent says yes and says that her heart was no doubt taken by the Heartless. Riku asks what he can do to save her.
Kairi leaned deeper into Riku's side, trying to nonverbally convey her thanks. It was nice that Riku had indeed been looking after her all those weeks. She knew he cared deeply for Sora, but she hadn't realized that translated over to her.
Maleficent explains that there are seven Princesses of Heart who can open a door to the heart of all worlds and that the door is opened, Riku should be able to find a way to recover Kairi's heart.
Axel couldn't help but blink, realizing that the explanation sounded… scarily similar to what Xemnas would tell the rest of Organization 13. That by completing Kingdom Hearts they would be able to get hearts of their own. But why… and how, were the explanations so similar? It didn't feel like a coincidence.
Maleficent then grants Riku the ability to control the Heartless, leading to a green mist covering him, and Maleficent leaves.
Riku shivered as he remembered the feeling of the magic flowing into him. Feeling like he had just been doused in a freezing water that refused to dry no matter how long it sat there. It made his stomach roll and his vision slightly blurry, but it had all been worth it to save Kairi. To prove to Sora.
It didn't seem worth it now.
Both Terra and Aqua made faces when the magic settled around Riku, the both of them worried and remembering the darkness of their day, which settled around someone like smoke. Could Maleficent's power be similar? It had to be. Aqua's face twisted up in a grimace. Riku kept being… pushed into the darkness, didn't he? Was there… a reason for that?
Vanitas felt a scornful look settle on his face. What had Riku done to deserve that power? He had simply been granted the ability to control the Heartless. What had he done to earn it? Had he treated the Heartless well? What did you do to earn it?
Riku tells Kairi soon as he turns back to her.
Kairi pressed the side of her head into Riku's shoulder, trying to nonverbally comfort him.
Sora slowly awakens on the deck of the ship, calling out to Donald and Goofy.
"You aren't in space anymore," Xion said blankly, blinking a little in shock. "How'd you get from space to there?"
Sora opened his mouth to answer, only to pause and close his mouth. He… didn't know. He and the others had simply woken up on the ship and the Gummiship had crashed into Neverland, though it thankfully hadn't been damaged that much.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I just woke up there." He turned to Riku, doing his best to keep the sense of normality. "Do you know?"
Riku shook his head silently. Sora turned back to Xion, shrugging.
"No idea then."
Sora realizes he can hear the ocean and stands up, walking to edge of the ship and looking out, seeing the ocean. His face drops slightly.
"Upset that you managed to land yourself in a problem again?" Axel asked, but Sora bit the inside of his cheek.
"No, it just reminded me of Destiny Islands," he replied. "I missed it." Axel looked away.
Riku's voice sounds out, saying that he didn't think Sora would come. Sora turns to see Riku standing on the bridge.
Riku went rigid when he saw his past-self staring Sora down and several of the people in the room sent looks the teenagers' way. Sora leaned deeper into Riku's side.
"Not anymore," Sora whispered. "You're my friend and that's not going to change. No matter what we see."
Riku wished he could believe him.
Sora asks where Donald and Goofy are and Riku asks if they're that important to him.
"Where are they?" Mickey asked, slightly worried for his friends but knowing that Riku wouldn't actually hurt them.
"They were down in the underside of the ship," Sora explained with a faint smile in Mickey's direction, who nodded in response. The King's gaze then moved to Riku. He knew about this world too, knew what happened here. He resolved to keep an eye on the boy, to make sure he didn't fall into another panic attack.
Riku asks if they're more important than old friends and tells Sora instead of worrying about them, he should be asking about Kairi, revealing Kairi's body.
Again, Kairi shivered, seeing her lifeless body just… sitting there. She couldn't defend herself; anyone could come and snatch her and this time she wouldn't be able to fight back and escape. And she kind of was kidnapped during this time, wasn't she? Honestly, that needed to stop happening.
Both Roxas and Xion froze, similar memories racing through them as they remembered the period of time when the other had fallen unconscious for weeks at a time for unexplained reasons. That feeling of seeing the other lifeless and limp… they never wanted to feel it again.
Unknown to them, both Aqua and Terra were having similar thoughts, only it applied to Roxas's mirror image.
Sora calls out for Kairi and Riku tells him while he was goofing off, he found Kairi.
Riku flinched as he heard the scorn in his younger self's voice and Sora pressed his forehead to Riku's shoulder, listening carefully to Riku's breathing. He wasn't going to fall into another panic attack, not on Sora's watch.
Sora attempts to run to them but is stopped by Hook, who stands between them and tells them no shenanigans on his vessel. Sora asks Riku why he's siding with them, arm indicating the Heartless on deck.
Because I'm an idiot, Riku thought. Because I was stupid and hurting and wanted to prove something.
Riku says that he controls the Heartless now and he has nothing to fear.
Riku slammed his eyes closed again as his younger self smiled and talked, shivering as he remembered the feeling. The feeling of being in control, of being powerful. Of able to defend his friends like he always planned to and being able to prove it to Sora, wouldn't he just feel so foolish in the end?
"Riku?" Sora asked quietly and the older boy blinked open his eyes, looking down at the younger boy. Dislodging the tear that had built in his eyes and sending it down his cheek.
"Oh," the older boy said blankly, feeling the urge to lift his hand and swipe it away, but unable to do so because Sora was still wrapped around his dominant hand. A second later, he brushed it away with his left hand, Kairi letting go for only the shortest of seconds before reclaiming the hand.
"Riku…" Sora's voice was somber. "It's okay now, remember? Everything's okay now." Riku's eyes blurred a little, but he stubbornly blinked a few more times, sending the tears away.
"Everything's fine," he echoed, voice low and hollow.
No, I don't think it is, Aqua thought, watching the interaction between the two boys. Nothing's fine.
Vanitas closed his eyes, wanting to look away from the screen, but not wanting anyone to see. Riku, the younger version at least… He was… familiar in a way that made Vanitas's nonexistent blood boil and his fists clench.
It was him, younger him, hurting him. Who was abused everyday by the man who had created him, finding comfort in the Unversed when the old man didn't destroy them to hurt him. Finding his control over the Unversed the thing, the thing that made him worthy, that made him powerful when the Master always said he was weak.
He swallowed back a growl and allowed his fingernails to bite back into the palm that he had already unintentionally exposed, the small crescents crisscrossing the scars that were burned onto his palm. He was fine. Nothing was wrong.
Axel, the smallest and meanest part of him, scoffed. Marluxia and Larxene had controlled the Nobodies, the lesser types, but that hadn't stopped them from dying as easily as any Somebody.
Sora calls him stupid and reminds him that the Heartless will consume his heart sooner or later.
And he was right, Riku thought, having to work again to keep the burning tears inside of him, feeling the small shakes of both of the younger kids who attached themselves to him. Sora's always right.
Riku says that his heart is too strong.
Unnoticed by all but Aqua, Terra flinched slightly, looking down at his hands. He hadn't ever… felt like he was stronger than darkness, he had always felt like he was just on the edge, but the way that Master Xehanort and the others from all across the worlds spoke to him… It made him believe that maybe, just maybe, he had the slightest chance of controlling the darkness within him. Of making it so he wasn't as dangerous, as unworthy as Master Eraqus thought he was.
But it hadn't worked. Nothing had ever changed his nature.
His eyes moved back to the boy who he Bequeathed to. It was good though, that Riku had been able to escape the darkness that tried to swallow him.
If only I could do the same.
Riku says he's picked up a few more tricks as well and Sora's shadow lifts up, startling the boy.
All of them noticed, but none of them vocalized the similarities between the shadow and the Heartless.
Riku says he doesn't have time to play with him however, and the floor beneath Sora opens up and he falls.
At both Kairi's and Naminé's gasps, Sora shot the room at large a smile, albeit shaky.
"I'm fine," he said. "I was fine then. Riku didn't hurt me." The last part of the sentence seemed aimed at the aforementioned boy, who looked away.
Riku says they should get under way and warns about keeping Sora away from Kairi.
Axel made a face, something that was echoed by Roxas. From his experience, he doubted that Hook would feel very good about being ordered around by a fifteen-year-old. Not after seeing his constant fight with Peter Pan.
As Riku disappears, Hook grumbles about having to take orders from a brat.
Sora's nose wrinkled up and he gave the onscreen captain a look. Riku was not a brat, he was the best friend in the whole world.
Roxas had to contain a snicker. Brat fitted Riku well. Maybe he was still salty about the whole "Data Twilight Town" thing. Sue him.
When Smee asks what they should do, Hook says nothing and that the Heartless can keep an eye on all of them.
Kairi let a small smile flit across her face. "And when has that fact ever stopped Sora?" She asked, trying to bring a little bit of levity back to the room. Sora shot her a smile that had her blushing slightly, but Riku didn't move so she unfortunately counted it as a loss.
Smee says that "you-know-who" is down there but Hook cuts him off.
"Who?" Xion asked after a second, giving Sora a look. He hummed.
"I think she was talking about Peter Pan," he replied, thinking back. "He was the only one down there. Besides Tinkerbell at least."
The three older Keyblade Wielders blinked in surprise, recognizing the name.
"Did you say Peter Pan?" Ven asked, a spark of excitement burning in him, and Sora looked to him.
"Yeah, did you meet him?" The three Keyblade Wielders nodded. "Huh, cool."
"You three really went a lot of places that Sora went, didn't you?" Kairi asked, tipping her head and thinking back to the Keyblade Wielders' comments.
"I suppose we did," Terra responded, the memories, both good and bad, flashing in front of his eyes. Perhaps more than they would know.
Hook thinks he hears something, but Smee doesn't hear it. Hook thinks of his nerves.
Terra and Aqua both had a good idea of who Hook was talking about.
"It just occurred to me," Aqua muttered softly. "Hook hasn't aged. Not like Hercules did."
"Nobody ages in Neverland," Sora explained. "They're stuck at the same ages forever. Adults stay adults, kids stay kids." Aqua hummed in consideration, linking her fingers together and thinking.
Kind of like me, Ven thought, leaning slightly on Terra's side. My sleep. My own personal Neverland.
Sora falls into the room, landing on both Donald and Goofy.
Roxas, Vanitas, Axel, and Kairi all snickered slightly.
"You truly do have a habit of falling on each other, don't you?" Mickey asked, shooting the young boy a smile.
Said boy huffed, tempted to cross his arms but not wanting to let go of Riku. "It's not like we plan it."
"You sure about that?" Kairi asked, swallowing giggles, and Sora reached over and flicked her arm, retreating back instantly and wrapping around Riku's side again.
Sora stands, greeting Donald and Goofy, and wonders about where they are.
"Did you think you had been transported somewhere else?" Vanitas asked in his familiar drawl, getting a stuck-out tongue in response. Vanitas rolled his eyes, wondering why part of him, a small part of him, got the urge to do it back. Maybe it was Venty-Wenty affecting his thoughts again. Though… that hadn't happened for a while at this point.
Aqua looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Why was part of her relieved that Vanitas began to snark again? Why would she worry about darkness incarnate?
Sora jumps in place and tells Donald and Goofy that he saw Kairi and Goofy asks if he's sure. When Sora says he is, Goofy says they should go talk to her.
Kairi giggled, the sound slightly self-deprecating. "Unfortunately, that wasn't possible," she said to the screen lightly. "But perhaps, I can instead give Sora some vague visions."
"Hey, those vague visions were helpful sometimes," Sora replied, smiling gently at her and realizing that she needed a response. "You really were helpful." Kairi responded with her own smile.
Sora notices a window and goes to it, looking out. A noise sounds from behind them and Peter Pan appears from behind some crates, asking if they're looking for a way out.
Aqua nodded to herself. It was true then; Peter hadn't aged at all. Strange.
She then snickered to herself. Not that strange. She was still eighteen, even though by all accounts she should be twenty-eight. Terra was still eighteen and Ven was still sixteen.
Goofy asks who he is, and Peter Pan says that he's the answer to their prayers.
Roxas snorted. Yep, that was definitely Peter Pan.
Aqua was glad to know he hadn't changed in the past ten years.
Sora says that Peter Pan is stuck there too but he says that he's just waiting for someone.
Everyone who had interacted with Peter in the past had an idea about who he was talking about.
A ball of light appears and flies around the room before stopping near Peter. He asks Tinkerbell what took her so long and the light transforms into a fairy.
"Oh," Kairi said softly, blinking at the fairy. Yet another magical creature that Sora had come across in his travels.
Roxas wrinkled his nose. That fairy had not been nice.
Peter asks if she found Wendy. Tinkerbell makes some sounds and Peter asks that there was another girl there.
"Does she… talk through the bells?" Naminé asked quietly, tipping her head and watching the screen. This hadn't been one of the memories she had seen while in Castle Oblivion.
"Uh-huh," Sora responded. "At least, I think."
Sora says that must be Kairi and asks Tink where they are.
"Did you think she was going to answer you?" Vanitas asked, raising an eyebrow, and resting his chin on his hand.
"No, but I was just asking in general," Sora replied. "Plus, it was clear that Peter understood her at least."
Peter scolds Tink for thinking that he would leave Wendy behind, and Donald realizes that Tink must be jealous. Tink flies over to him and kicks him in the beak.
Despite the still underlaying tension that drifted through the room, none of them could help the laughs or giggles that escaped them as they witnessed Tink kick Donald. Not that the duck's reaction helped slow the cascade of giggles at all.
Kairi pressed a hand to her mouth as she laughed, a movement copied by Naminé unconsciously. Both Roxas and Ven laughed outright, joined by Xion and Sora. Aqua let a few giggles out, feeling a rare spark of amusement shoot through her and even Vanitas couldn't contain a snicker. Mickey laughed slightly at the misfortune of his friend, but his gaze remained mostly on Riku, who hadn't joined in on the laughter.
Tink flies out, with Peter calling after her.
"She could at least help," Kairi huffed. "Even if she is upset."
"I think that's just how Tink is," Sora said.
Peter and Sora introduce themselves and Peter says they're in this together, but only until they find Wendy.
Aqua realized again, this time with a little less cheer, that Peter Pan had definitely not changed at all.
The door unlocks, with Sora saying that Tink must have opened it after all.
"See," Sora said to Kairi. "She helped in the end, even if she was angry." Kairi tipped her head in understanding.
The four of them head out, facing down several Heartless as they go.
Riku looked away with another guilty expression, remembering how he controlled those Heartless to go after Sora. It wasn't… He didn't want to hurt Sora, he just needed Sora to stay out of the way while he was helping Kairi. But…
Sora's shadow rises up, forcing Sora to fight it.
Sora felt Riku's flinch and leaned deeper onto him. It's fine now, it's fine.
After Sora and the others destroy the Heartless and shadows, they move deeper into the ship, Peter flying next to them.
"He can fly?" Kairi wondered, reminding several of them that she and only a couple of others hadn't actually ever gone to Neverland.
"Through Pixie Dust," Axel said, waving a hand through the air. "And some other words. I don't know, can't remember."
Goofy asks Peter how he can fly, and Peter says anyone can and asks if they want to try.
Kairi needed to start writing down all the places she wanted to go. She would start to forget if the list in her head got any longer.
Peter whistles and Tink returns, covering the three of them in Pixie Dust. Donald attempts to fly but falls to the ground.
Again, there were small laughs echoed around the room.
"I suppose he didn't have belief or whatever Peter said last time," Roxas said, swallowing snickers in order to get his voice out and Sora perked up.
"You've been there?" He asked and Roxas nodded.
"Axel and I, during a mission for… Organization 13." His voice hitched and paused before speaking the name of the Organization. He had thought about it several times, but he hadn't actually said the name since they did a dump of their life stories for Aqua. It felt… weird, saying it out loud now that he knew everything.
"I was there a couple of weeks ago, or years now," Aqua said, eyebrows furrowing as she corrected herself. While her time in the Realm of Darkness had felt endless, it hadn't actually occurred to her that ten years could be passing outside of her. "Ven was as well."
"As was I," Terra contributed, making a quick face as he remembered what he had done while there. His traitorous tongue stilled, however, before he could explain why he was there, and he silently cursed himself for being too scared to share with Aqua how far he had fallen during their last weeks together.
Donald says they can't fly, and Tinkerbell laughs at him. The scene changes to Hook and Riku.
Riku stiffened, breath stuttering in his chest, and Sora leaned deeper into his side, tracing a pattern onto the back of the hand he was holding. Kairi leaned in as well.
Hook asks that Wendy isn't one of the chosen ones and Riku confirms it, telling him to leave her behind when they leave Neverland.
Riku looked down as he heard his past-self's voice, the apathy and scorn in it. All he cared about was Sora and Kairi and he, at that point, didn't care about what he had to do to achieve his goal. The darkness had curled around him fully at that point and he had reveled in it.
Hook asks why those seven specifically and asks what Maleficent is planning.
Kairi hummed slightly as she thought. It had occurred to her as well, she would admit. Why her? Why Cinderella? Why Jasmine? She knew they had no darkness in their hearts, true, but why? Was it chance? Or fate?
Riku says he doesn't know and says that as long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, he couldn't care less.
"Thanks again," Kairi whispered to the boy next to her, knowing that he would need it. "I doubt I would have gotten back if not for you."
"Sora was the one to release your heart," Riku told her, self-loathing and anger in his tone. Kairi knocked her head gently against his shoulder.
"Maybe," she responded. "But you were the one to find my body. I needed both of those things, didn't I?"
Riku didn't have an answer.
Hook says he's wasting his time and that the Heartless have consumed Kairi's heart.
As callous as this sounds, Axel thought, tipping his head to the side slightly. I wonder if her heart could actually be consumed by the Heartless. She has no darkness, nothing to draw the Heartless towards her and keep their attention. Besides her Keyblade. I wonder if she could walk through a horde of Heartless and be unscathed. Unless, of course, her pure light only drew them closer.
Riku says they haven't and the two of them get interrupted by Smee, who says that Peter Pan and the others have escaped. Hook says blast that Peter Pan and has Smee bring the hostage.
"Wendy doesn't get hurt, right?" Naminé asked softly, watching the screen. None of the darkness held by Riku was anything new to her. Her Riku, she shouldn't call him hers, she had hurt him enough, held much of the same darkness, except it was directed into protecting her instead of finding Sora. It was strange, honestly. Larxene and Marluxia had both held darkness, had been overflowing with it in place of their missing memories, but the darkness that Riku held, that… her Riku had held, didn't scare her. Not in the slightest.
"She doesn't," Sora reassured.
Sora and the others head through the underdeck, destroying Heartless as they go. Goofy asks how they get back above deck and they enter another room, with Tink flying close to the grate.
As much as he hated himself for doing it, knowing that it'll just get worse later, Riku relaxed slightly after his past-self disappeared from the screen, glad for just that moment, he wouldn't have to watch his younger, idiotic self any longer.
"Riku," Sora said and Riku looked to the younger boy. "Still doing okay?"
Riku hated how much that made him feel better. Sora just had a talent like that.
"Yes Sora," he replied, trying to push confidence into his voice. "I'm okay." Sora didn't look like he believed him.
Watching them both, Aqua didn't believe them either.
Peter asks what Tink's looking at and a girl's voice sounds through the grate. Peter recognizes her as Wendy and the girl is shown on the other side of the grate.
Naminé watched the girl on screen. Blue dress, black shoes. Sitting and waiting for someone to rescue her.
White dress, blue shoes. Sitting and waiting for someone to rescue her.
Wendy tells Peter to hurry and that the pirates are coming. Peter says he'll be right there.
Aqua couldn't help but sit back and think, scrutinizing the girl on screen. How old was she? Fourteen?
Was it in every world that children got pulled into battles and fights?
Sora asks Wendy if another girl is with her and Wendy says yes, looking up to see Kairi's body. When Sora calls to her, Kairi's hand twitches, falling closer to the grate.
Kairi smiled slightly at the movement of her younger self and sent Sora a smile from across Riku's lap. Sora responded with his own.
Riku tried not to flinch.
Sora sees the twitch and is happy, but Wendy screams and they both disappear from the grate. Peter says they have to get up there.
Both Aqua and Terra stiffened slightly at Wendy's scream, their instincts and training flooding them with the urge to do something and help, something that they both had been feeling the whole time they watched.
We could have helped, we could have done something, Terra thought bitterly. If only I hadn't ruined everything.
Sora and the others manage to scramble up to the next level, into a cabin. Sora turns the corner and sees Riku cradling Kairi's body.
"I'm sorry," Riku whispered out as, onscreen, he and Sora faced down. Again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Sora blinked in concern before turning to better face Riku and threw his arms around the older boy, hugging him close.
"It's okay, Riku," Sora told him. "You were trying to save Kairi. I… wasn't."
"Yes, you were," Kairi said gently, shifting so she could better see the both of them. "You both were and while it didn't work out in the beginning, it worked in the end. I'm here now, aren't I?" She reached out to place a hand on Sora's shoulder, the other curling around Riku's hand. "You both were trying to help. And that's the most important thing."
"I doubt that," Riku scoffed, looking to the side, but Kairi was unmoved and Sora simply hugged him tighter, pressing his face into Riku's shoulder and trying to make sure the tears didn't slip out of his eyes. He couldn't cry now; he was trying to help Riku. He didn't… He couldn't…
This ship runs on happy faces.
Aqua looked to the side as the three of them embraced, swallowing harshly. They had to go through all of this and where was she? In the Realm of Darkness after she had sacrificed herself for nothing. Master Xehanort was still out there, still hurting people like he had Terra no doubt. Why couldn't she have just let him fall? Then she would be out there to save the worlds, not leaving Mickey alone, and maybe she could have found Terra eventually.
But even as she thought it, she knew it never could have happened. There was no world in which she let Terra fall to that darkness, still trapped by Xehanort. No world in which she didn't do it all to save him, to save Ven. She was the oldest, she was the Master. She had to save them all.
And yet she saved no one.
Xion leaned on Axel's side as she watched the three teenagers across from her hug. She wanted that closeness, that they gave easily and without hesitation. Was it because they had hearts? If she gained a heart, if Roxas and Axel gained hearts, would they be able to be like that? Three friends, who despite everything that had happened, still managed to stay together?
Vanitas averted his eyes, trying to stop the pulsing in his chest again that spoke of pain and longing and-
Weakness, he heard the Master's voice in his head. He tried to hold onto it. That was weakness, he had gotten that beaten into him enough to remember it. It was nothing more than weakness.
So why did he want it?
Mickey let a soft smile overtake him as he gazed at Riku. It was good, this was good. Mickey himself could only do so much to help Riku cope with what happened. He knew, and he was sure that Riku knew as well, that Riku would only be fully healed when Sora and Kairi were there, to help him. To forgive him, even if they thought he never needed their forgiveness.
Sora asks Riku what happened to him and tells him that if he uses the Heartless to get Kairi's heart back, if he has to hurt someone else, it's only going to make Kairi sad.
You know me so well Sora, Kairi thought, not letting go of Riku's hand, listening carefully to the older boy's breaths. She was on her guard for panic attacks, and she was sure that Sora was as well.
Riku's breath choked as he reheard the words that Sora had spoken to him, but Sora didn't do anything to suggest that he had heard, instead simply curling tighter around Riku.
Riku doesn't say anything and instead summons another shadow of Sora, which knocks Sora back. Riku disappears with Kairi into a black portal.
Again, the three former Organization members couldn't help but shiver slightly at Riku blatantly using some version of the Dark Corridor without a coat. That was dangerous.
"I'm sorry," Riku whispered out again and his two friends didn't say anything, simply held him tighter.
Sora fights the shadow, destroying it, before looking to where Riku had just been. Donald finds the door and Sora shakes himself, following after the other three.
I should have done something more, Sora thought quietly, leaning close enough to Riku that he could hear his breathing. He could hear the small, contained, hiccupping sobs that Riku was doing a scarily fantastic job at hiding. Should have saved Riku, should have saved Kairi. Then Riku wouldn't be dealing with… this.
They enter another room, where Peter finds an unconscious Wendy. He says this is far as he goes and leaves with Wendy, flying out a porthole.
"Rude," Kairi murmured, slightly to herself, and felt a little smile creep up her lips when she heard the aborted laugh that managed to half pull its way free of Riku's throat.
Goofy asks if that's it and Donald wonders if they should head back to the Gummiship. Sora says they should and the three of them hear a commotion from above deck.
"Just once, will you ever hear a commotion and not head to it?" Roxas asked drily, raising an eyebrow at the boy. Sora wrinkled his nose.
"But what if people are in trouble?"
Roxas threw his hands up in the air. "You're injured, both physically and emotionally. And you want to go back in the fight?" Kingdom Hearts knows he didn't feel like doing any missions during the weeks that Xion was gone or after her's and Axel's fight.
"People could be in trouble," Sora repeated stubbornly, and Roxas huffed, crossing his arms and leaning on Axel. He would never understand Somebodies.
Aqua… Aqua just wanted to give these kids a hug. Could she do that? Was that allowed?
On deck, Hook is upset that Riku simply ran off without saying goodbye and Sora asks him where Riku went. Hook replies that he went to Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides.
To the ruins of Radiant Garden, Axel thought. The ruins of a once great world, brought down by its leader.
Hook says Sora won't be going there and reveals Tinkerbell, trapped in a lantern.
"How did she get caught, she was with Peter?" Terra asked, worried for the little fairy.
"I think she flew off in jealousy," Sora replied, thinking back to the interactions between Peter and Wendy. "And got caught."
I know that well, Riku thought.
Hook says to hand over the Keyblade, and he'll spare their lives.
"Umm," Ven blinked, thinking. "That's not possible, is it?" All the other Keyblade Wielders shook their heads. Their Keyblades always came back to them. And while it was a starsend in battle, in situations like this, there was little they could do.
Hook asks if it will be the Keyblade or the plank, only to get distracted by a crocodile in the water, making a ticking sound. He flees.
"Is he really that scared of the crocodile?" Vanitas wondered, sarcasm and something else present in his voice.
"I think it ate his hand," Sora replied with a shrug. "Anyone would dislike something who did that."
The Heartless creep closer, causing Sora to stumble backwards up the plank.
"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed. "Keyblade remember? You have it!" But her words were born of concern and her hand tightened around his wrist, where it had moved from his shoulder.
"Sorry," he told her. She groaned.
Sora hears Peter's voice in the back of his head and jumps off the plank.
Kairi couldn't help the strangled noise of panic that came out of her throat, hearing that she was not the only one to do so. Her hand tightened to something that had to be a bruising grip and she whipped her head back to stare at Sora.
"I… had it under control?" The boy tried, but he could feel that Riku had gone stiff as well. Aqua hands twitched, as if she had just managed to stop herself from reaching out and Terra's eyes were wide. Roxas's breath picked up for the slightest second.
But Sora flies away from the crocodile's jaws and Peter Pan swoops in, snatching the lantern that contains Tinkerbell away from Smee.
"What happened to 'you're on your own'?" Roxas asked, getting his breathing back under control, and Sora shrugged, doing his best not to wince from Kairi's grip.
Peter says that they stayed around to save Tink and that he had to repay the favor, letting Tink out. The four of them then fought the Heartless as Smee ran away.
Kairi slowly relaxed again, letting go of Sora's wrist now that his onscreen self was back on the boat, feet on the ground and Keyblade in hand. Sora smiled gently at her.
"Still here, remember?" He told her, echoing her words from earlier. "Still here." Riku's arm, from where it was wrapped around Sora, tightened slightly.
Peter stops Sora from running into Hook's cabin once they've defeated all the Heartless and instead knocks. When Hook answers, Peter disguises his voice as Smee and tells Hook that they all walked the plank.
While Naminé and Xion held giggles in behind hands, Axel couldn't help but think about his and Roxas's mission to Neverland. Where, in the end, Hook sacrificed his treasure to save Peter from the Heartless. The two of them had a strange dynamic, both seemingly okay with the status quo of hero and villain, enemies till the end of time. Axel wondered why. While he had once wanted everything to stay the same, first his sister, and then Roxas and Xion came into his life and threw the status quo out the window. And in the end, he found himself glad for it. How could someone be happy doing the same thing every single day, even when given a chance to get out of it?
Hook runs out and Peter jabs him with his dagger, telling Hook it's his turn to walk the plank. The four of them fight Hook until he falls off the edge of the ship, falling near the crocodile and swimming away from it.
"He's fine, by the way," Axel said offhandedly, thinking still. "Roxas and I ran into him later on." Sora shot him a smile. While he hadn't been completely worried about it, it was still nice to know. Not another person he killed.
Sora looks out at Neverland. Goofy says that Kairi couldn't wake up so maybe she really lost her, but Donald cuts him off.
That was… sweet of him, Riku thought, slightly dizzily as he finally managed to get his breathing and sobs under control. The first right thing he did.
Sora says that he really flew and wonders if Kairi would believe him if he told her he had flown.
"At this point, I'd believe anything," Kairi said, smiling at Sora. It was nice that he was thinking about her. She was always thinking about him.
Riku flinched, minutely enough that it wasn't seen, except by Mickey. Of course, Sora was only thinking about Kairi, at this point, he was firmly in the darkness. He was Sora's enemy, of course Sora wasn't thinking about him.
Peter says he can bring her to Neverland, and she could try for herself.
"I plan to," Kairi commented, going over her list in her head. She had a lot of places she wished to go.
Sora says he can do anything if he believes and says he'll find Kairi and tell her everything that had happened.
Kairi felt the smallest flash of disappointment. Unfortunately, that hadn't ever happened. Not then, not now. She looked down for a second. All of this was new to her, she hadn't been a part of any of it. That's going to change, it has to.
Peter says they should head to the Clocktower and that Tink says something's there.
"It's the Keyhole," Vanitas murmured, mostly to himself. It had to be. All the other Keyholes had been in wacky places.
"Right again!" Sora chirped at his mirror, which he still wasn't thinking about, thank you. "You're good at this guessing game thing, aren't you?" Vanitas didn't know how to answer that. He wasn't… good at anything.
The four of them fly off and arrive at the clock tower, where Wendy is sitting on the edge.
All three Organization members felt pangs in the chest as they saw the clock tower. It was so similar but so different from theirs. From Twilight Town and its brief moments of happiness and ice cream, where they were able to pretend like they were still normal. Like everything was okay.
Peter calls to her and they all land on the edge as Wendy stands. She asks if they're Sora, Donald, and Goofy, and explains that Peter told her about them. She asks about Kairi.
"I'm here," Kairi whispered, leaning onto Riku's side, seeing Sora doing the same thing. "I'm here. We're here."
When Sora shakes his head sadly, Wendy tells him not to give up.
And I didn't, Sora thought, leaning into Riku's side. For either of them.
Wendy asks if he thinks it's a nice view and says from here, everyone in town can tell the time. Sora flies up again, looking at the clock, and realizing that one of the faces is broken.
So, Vanitas was correct. Again.
Aqua pushed away the instinctive urge to scoff and bare teeth at the darkness bearer. Why? Why was she doing that?
Donald says maybe they can fix it and moves to push the hand of the clock, accompanied by Sora and Goofy. When the hand reaches 12, the face of the clock begins to glow and Sora locks the Keyhole that appeared on it.
"Another Navigation Gummi?" Mickey asked, seeing the small stone that tumbled out of it. Sora nodded. The Navigation Gummi that had led to Hollow Bastion. He supposed that was what they were seeing next. It made sense but… He was worried.
Wendy says it's time and she walks down the clock's side, Peter flying next to her. She asks if he really has to go back to Neverland and Peter says he can always visit, as long as she doesn't forget it.
Sora smiled slightly. That sounded kind of like Pooh's world, in a way.
Sora flies closer and Wendy says that it's okay and that Peter will always be with her and she tells Sora not to forget Kairi. That she'll remain in his heart.
"That's more literal that you thought, huh?" Kairi muttered. Someday, someday, she'll be able to laugh about the time she spent in the heart of the boy she has a crush on. But this day is not that day and she huffed slightly again, wishing that she could have done more.
Sora says she's right and asks Donald and Goofy if it's time to go. They wish Peter Pan goodbye and fly off.
"And you were heading back to the Gummiship, right?" Kairi checked and Sora nodded. "Good. How'd you find it?"
"When we returned to Neverland, Jiminy was waiting for us at the Pirate Ship. He led us to the ship."
"I keep forgetting about him," Axel said, with a half laugh. "He's so small."
"Where'd you go after this?" Xion asked, clearly simply curious.
But both Riku and Sora froze and Kairi's face paled as she realized what was going to come.
"No where good huh?" Terra asked.
"We went to Hollow Bastion," Sora said, hands intertwining with Riku's and not letting go. "To the home of Maleficent. And Ansem, Seeker of Darkness."
