In the Ocean Between, the Gummiship flies through. Goofy asks Sora if he said goodbye to Kairi.

"Did they think something was going to happen?" Ven asked, tipping his head to the side. Usually, goodbyes were only said in dire circumstances, especially in this context.

"I don't think so," Sora replied, shaking his head slightly. "I think Goofy just wanted to make sure that Kairi and I had a moment. They had been there the whole time we were searching for each other after all."

Sora says that he said goodbye to everyone. Donald wonders about Cid's goodbye, as it implied they would be back there.

Sora frowned slightly. He hadn't… actually been back to Traverse Town since that time. Leon and the others had found their original world, all the other worlds had been restored once they defeated Ansem… He supposed that it simply didn't have a need to return. He felt sad at that. He missed it… if only a little. It had been the first world, ignoring his original one, that he had been to.

Chip and Dale contact them and Goofy asks if they're alright. Chip confirms it and says that Minnie and Daisy are okay as well.

Mickey couldn't help the small sigh of relief that went through him when Chip confirmed that Minnie was okay. He knew she was strong and capable, it had been one of the things that had drawn him to her, but he still couldn't help but worry whenever he was away from the Disney Castle. Especially because he knew that being away was his own fault and not something out of their control. Once we get out of here, before we tackle whatever danger is in the future, I'll visit Minnie, he promised himself. I want to see her. Plus, I need to show Riku around and get him his own room.

Donald asks why they called then, and Chip explains that they were looking into the Ocean Between in an effort to figure out why there were so many Heartless.

"Well, we know that now," Sora murmured. He wondered why he hadn't told them that back then. Perhaps it was because he was still surprised at the communication. He hadn't been expecting it.

Goofy thanks him and Minnie appears on the communicator, eliciting a reaction from both Donald and Goofy.

Mickey perked up when he saw his wife. Sure, he had seen her a couple of times during the year Sora spent asleep, but mostly from a distance. He had constantly been trying to run around, keeping the Organization contained, keeping an eye on Riku, so he hadn't actually seen her in over a year.

He missed her.

Minnie tells them that more and more stars are disappearing and says that Mickey must be terribly worried as well. She asks them to help the king and the Keybearer to save the worlds.

At least, when Minnie said that, she included them, Aqua thought, working to try and put her mind back on track from everything she had figured out. How was she going to tell Terra? Her hands twitched. And she couldn't have known that Sora was listening. She also could have been unaware that the "Key Bearer" was a teenager. Still, more and more adults putting responsibilities on Sora. The kid was fourteen at the time.

Goofy says she can count on them and the signal cuts off. Sora asks who that was and Goofy says that it's from the Castle, mentioning that they promised after they found everyone, they would take everyone over to the Castle.

"That offer still stands Sora," Mickey told him, smiling at the way the boy lit up slightly. "To all three of you. It would be nice for you to see the Castle."

"Of course," Sora chirped, smile breaking across his face. He didn't know if he should tell Mickey… "Though, I've already been there."

"You have?" Mickey asked, surprise shooting through him. When had Sora gone to the Disney Castle? He wracked his brain. It could have been during his journey after awakening but… wouldn't have Mickey seen it? Unless he was busy with either Riku or Ansem…

Riku echoed Mickey's question, turning to face the boy. It must have been during his journey around the worlds after the year asleep but… There were very few times he hadn't been shadowing him, keeping him safe. Working to keep his vow.

"Yep, Donald, Goofy, and I visited just a few weeks ago," Sora recounted. "We had to protect something called the "Cornerstone."

"The Cornerstone was in danger?" Mickey asked, a shred of panic entering his tone. If the Cornerstone was damaged in any way, the aftereffects could be catastrophic. And it was too important to-

"Yes, but it's better now," Sora reassured him. "We fixed it."

Mickey relaxed slightly at the reassurance, but it only strengthened his resolve to return home once they were out of there. One, to check in with Minnie. Two, because now he also had to check on the Cornerstone. His mood dropped slightly. The mere idea of the Cornerstone being broken, being gone… He couldn't deal with it. Not when it was the last thing he had of his brother.

Donald says that he has to meet Minnie and Daisy and Sora agrees, the Gummiship then moves into a warp hole to get to Hollow Bastion.

"They were very nice," Sora confirmed with a nod, remembering meeting the two women. "Though I think Minnie misses you," he told Mickey.

Mickey nodded. "I miss her too."

The Gummiship lands in Hollow Bastion, the three of them getting out and moving towards the Castle, fighting Heartless the whole way.

Riku looked away. He's only there for the princesses, his mind hissed at him. He's only there for the princess. But Sora had said to Leon that he still had a friend there.

While fighting, Goofy wonders if the Heartless were possibly like Sora, once somebodies from somewhere who just lost their hearts.

Axel snorted quietly before pausing. Well, it seemed obvious to him now, that knowledge that he had been living with for the past ten years, the knowledge that out there a Heartless existed that held the last remaining parts of his heart. Out of all of them, Marluxia seemed to be the only one whose heart had stayed with him, in the form of the creature he could control. Or at least, that was what Xigbar had said, and Marluxia had never argued with the older man's assessment of the creature. But, Marluxia has always struck him as odd, even before he figured out the whole "overthrow the Organization" plot. Axel technically wasn't supposed to know this, but before, when Saix actually told him things, he had been informed that Marluxia in his first couple of weeks, had acted very similar to how Roxas had acted in his first weeks, something that hadn't happened with any of the other members. Except Larxene. And Marluxia hadn't been much older than Roxas was, at the time.

Coincidence? He didn't know. Saix had always told him, when he was younger, that his mind was going to get him in trouble. All he knew that before he fully gave up and fell into the apathy, the way Xigbar looked Marluxia had used to creep him out. It didn't help that the older man had been the one to "find" the boy, already a Nobody. If Xigbar was to be believed.

He didn't know what he believed anymore.

Sora says maybe but that they can't let anything stop them right now. Donald says that they're not going to lose when a roar sounds through the air.

"The Beast?" Xion asked, recognizing that roar from the time she had been in the Beast's Castle. He had been… not scary, but unnerving in his protection of Belle and the others. Maybe it was because she didn't have a heart to understand it.

Sora nodded.

As Sora and the others move towards the Castle, The Beast joins them, telling them they might need his strength. Sora asks where Belle is and Beast replies that she's still in the Castle.

Doing her job as a Princess of Heart, Kairi thought. Something I've been lacking to do. Not anymore. I'll be the best Princess of Heart and Keyblade Wielder. That way, I'll always be able to stay with Sora.

Goofy asks if she was stopped by the Heartless and Beast says that she stayed for a reason, along with the other Princesses. Donald wonders why and Sora says they should go ask them.

"Did you miss Leon's whole explanation?" Vanitas asked with a raise of his eyebrow. "He said why they were probably staying." Sora looked to the side, a blush coloring his cheeks darker.

"I forgot," Sora muttered, and Vanitas rolled his eyes. If he had ever forgotten something like that, especially so soon after hearing it? The results… would not be pretty. Blood spattering the ground, his chest feeling raw and burned from the amount of Unversed killed by Master Xehanort. Shivering and shaking as the temperature dropped as night came and unable to gather enough power to create a Fire spell, like he usually did each night.

The four of them fight their way back through Hollow Bastion, entering the Castle itself. Donald sees the Beast going off on his own and calls to Sora, causing the three of them to follow him.

"He's not that much of a team player, is he?" Terra asked and both Roxas and Sora chuckled. Sora flicked his gaze to his Nobody.

"Have you met him?" He asked, sensing the recognition that was in the movement and Roxas huffed, looking off to the side.

"Yes," he responded. "A couple of times."

"Cool," Sora responded. Roxas paused. He didn't know how he expected Sora to respond to that, but it wasn't… like that.

They end up in the library when the Beast and Belle reunite, hugging.

Xion and Sora both smiled at the reunion, happy for the two of them.

Belle sees them after backing up from the Beast and asks them if they are here to seal the Keyhole. Sora warns her that it's dangerous there and asks why she's staying.

"Where are the others?" Aqua asked.

"In the Keyhole room," Sora explained. "Belle just came to search for Beast."

Belle explains that they've been holding back the Keyhole with their power, but they can't for much longer.

Should have done, should have done, Kairi thought. Shouldn't have been left behind again.

Sora says they'll take care of it and Belle says they should head to the grand hall then, where the other princesses are waiting. They head off.

"How are they able to move about the Castle?" Terra asked, watching them move. "Wouldn't their light be so bright that all the Heartless would attack them for it?"

"Well…" Sora trailed off. He didn't… actually know. "I don't know. I suppose I never questioned it."

"Well, Heartless don't attack me," Kairi piped up, remembering the Castle that Never Was. "Unless I attack them first. And then they do. But if I'm just walking about, they don't." She got several looks of surprise at that, Sora included. Ven wondered if the same applied to him.

"I reckon that it's from the lack of darkness in your heart," Mickey said, gaining their attention. "Heartless are drawn to everyone because almost everyone has some form of darkness in their heart which the Heartless can exploit and cause the person to fall and become a Heartless themselves. But you, and the others, having no darkness at all, wouldn't appeal that much to a Heartless, because they couldn't turn you into a Heartless."

"Huh," Riku mused, giving Kairi a look. "I thought it strange that you only started to be attacked in the Castle once you started fighting them first." Kairi shrugged.

Sora and the others enter the hall, where the other princesses are. Cinderella moves forward and introduces herself, mentioning that they've been waiting for him and that her world had already disappeared.

Aqua's eyes widened as she laid eyes on her friend, a sad smile moving across her face. Cinderella looked older. Not so much that it was clearly visible, and she might not even be as old she would have been, if she didn't age while imprisoned by Maleficent and Ansem, but it was enough that Aqua could see it. She had thought of Cinderella often while traversing in the Realm of Darkness, especially after finding the Castle in the Realm of Darkness. A pang went through her heart. Everything she had lost… Terra, Ven, Eraqus, Cinderella, Stitch, everyone she had met and known. All gone from her in some way.

Terra looked at Aqua through the corner of his eye, a smirk growing on his face slightly. Not that he was going to say anything, but for all Aqua had ranted to him through the years of their childhoods about how unrealistic love at first sight was, it clearly hadn't stopped her from developing at least some sort of crush on the girl on the screen. He wasn't an idiot, despite what many would say. He could read Aqua like an open book.

Sora asks where Ansem is and Aurora steps forward, introducing herself and saying that the darkness from the Keyhole moved forward and swallowed him, making him vanish.

Terra looked away from the screen when Aurora moved forward, the good mood he had abruptly washing away. He still… didn't know whether or not that had been him. Of course, when the memory had flashed across his mind when he had watched Xehanort subject those kids to the experiment, Xehanort had gleefully told him that there was no way he didn't do himself by some capacity, but he had done his best to not start believing Xehanort's words. He had seen what it had done the last time he did. Still, it lingered in his mind.

"She can't catch a break, can she?" Ven muttered, recognizing the woman from the Enchanted Domain. The same place Maleficent was from. The same woman who Maleficent had menaced before.

Snow White says that even though Ansem is gone the flood of darkness hasn't stopped and that they're working together to hold it back. Sora asks who she is, and she introduces herself.

Both Ven and Terra grimaced. They remembered her world and what had happened there. Ven still needed an answer from Terra about what had actually happened…

Aurora says that even as the darkness consumed him, he was smiling.

Riku shivered, looking away. He hadn't thought he would ever think this, but he was glad that his heart ended up in the Realm of Darkness. He didn't know how much he could have taken watching, especially fighting against Sora after everything he had seen. Everything that had been reminded to him.

Jasmine tells him to hurry, and that the darkness is going to escape the Keyhole. Alice says they can't hold it back for much longer.

Aqua… could give them the benefit of the doubt. They were all probably exhausted, no short way confused, and able to feel the darkness that was attempting to drown the worlds. So, she couldn't really blame them for placing for expectations on Sora.

At the same time, Sora could really use an adult who wasn't going to ask him how he planned to save the world this week.

Sora says they're on it and Snow White says that they'll do what they could in the meantime. Cinderella says that apparently the Keyhole manifested from their power but that she has a hard time believing it, saying that she didn't think she had any power like that.

Kairi could relate with the other Princess of Heart. Even now, with hard, concrete proof, it was still hard to believe. She had a feeling she wasn't the only one who thought that.

Sora says that he never thought he'd wield the Keyblade either and Cinderella supposes that it's true, giving Sora a faint look.

"Why is she looking at you like that?" Naminé asked, tipping her head to the side. Even in Sora's memories, he hadn't known, but maybe some of the others did.

"Well, ten years ago now Terra, Ven, and I visited her world," Aqua explained. "She at least saw me use my Keyblade."

"Mine as well," Terra agreed. "She probably recognized the weapon."

"I wish she would have told me," Sora mentioned. It would have done wonders for him had he known that he wasn't the only one out there, the only Keyblade Wielder. Of course, he knew it now, but it would have been a nice thing to know.

Aurora says she is glad that she's not alone and that if the Keyhole only needed one of them, it would have been terribly lonely.

Well, do Ven and I count? Vanitas thought, in a vein of thought that was slightly hysterical, but he was still… dealing with all the revelations that had come out. There was no way the Master hadn't known something. Unless, he hadn't chosen to tell him, which would have been much more likely than Master Xehanort not knowing something. That must have been it. Ven and I together created one whole heart, so does that mean we're one whole person? To Master Xehanort, it would. It used to for him.

Alice says that Sora helped her during the trial and that it's her turn to help everyone else. Snow White says that someone very dear to her is missing, so she doesn't want any other worlds to disappear and do that to someone else.

"I wonder who she's talking about," Xion murmured. "Perhaps someone like Beast?" Someone she loved. Xion mulled over the word in her head. She wondered if she and the others could feel love, even though it was an emotion. It certainly felt like they could feel it. Why else would Axel have attempted to go against the Organization's wishes in order to save her? Why else would Roxas have felt so much grief when he destroyed her? Why else would she have been so scared to die, not wanting to leave the others alone?

Belle says that she has the Beast with her, but she wishes to go home, and Jasmine says that she's worried about Aladdin and Agrabah. Goofy says that it'll all be okay and they'll take care of it.

"And we did," Sora murmured, with a hint of pride. They had. They had defeated Ansem, saved the worlds. And it wasn't like they stopped there.

Sora walks up to the arch, heading through it with Donald and Goofy. They see the Keyhole in the distance before a giant Heartless slams down in front of them.

Naminé was, thankfully, not the only one to scream. Kairi shrieked in surprise as well, sitting bold upright on the couch and nearly falling off of it. Xion yelped, drowning out the sound of Roxas's own surprise, basically falling into Axel's lap as she went boneless in surprise. Ven gasped, rocketing backwards into Terra's side, feeling the older man close his arms around him on instinct. Aqua jumped, as did Mickey, both of them getting the familiar instinct to reach for their Keyblades but not being able to reach it. Vanitas flinched badly, hands clenching around the arms of his chair as he threw himself back into it, breath picking up quickly as he forced himself not to summon the Unversed like he wanted to. Riku went stiff, hands circling around one of Sora's arms as if to reassure himself that the younger boy was still there.

"Well," Sora said after a second, his own breathing going fast as his heart raced. "I forgot about that."

"No kidding," Kairi hissed out, one hand pressed to her chest as she worked to regulate her breathing. Naminé had pulled her knees up to her chest in an effort to be as small as possible and only dared to look out after a couple of seconds. She was used to fear, yes, she had lived with it for almost her entire life. Fear of Larxene, Fear of DiZ. But she wasn't used to this heart stopping, gut wrenching fear that came from… what did Sora call them in his memories? Jump scares?

Axel had looked down in concern when Xion had fallen into him, raising an eyebrow at the two teenagers who looked sufficiently scared. Maybe it was just him but… by all accounts, they shouldn't be able to get scared. They were Nobodies; They didn't have emotions. And fear was definitely an emotion.

Ven pushed himself off Terra after a second, knowing that Terra wouldn't push him off himself, even if the position was uncomfortable for the older Keyblade Wielder. That was just who Terra was.

"Are you okay, Ven?" Aqua asked, curling one hand into a fist to try and soothe her own racing heart, turning her gaze to the younger boy. He nodded, lacing his fingers together. He just… hadn't been expecting that.

Mickey wanted to reach out to the young girl in the chair near him, make sure she was okay, but he didn't know how she would react. She still looked rather high-strung.

Vanitas forced his breathing back into a normal pattern, something he was well used to from all the times he had to make sure he didn't look weak in front of Master Xehanort during one of their training sessions. The Unversed thankfully didn't spring forth from his lack of heart, giving him a little bit of relief. He didn't need that on top of everything.

Sora and the others fight the Heartless until they destroy it.

Riku and Kairi relaxed slightly once they saw that the Heartless had been destroyed. They knew their friend was capable, they knew it, but it still scared them. Especially when Sora didn't warn them of something happening before it did.

Sora looks to the Keyhole, lifting his Keyhole to seal it. A white light comes out from it, sealing the Keyhole.

If only that had beat Ansem, Riku thought. If only that could have been it.

The three of them walk out back into the hall to see Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie. Sora asks them what they're doing there and Yuffie replies that they came in Cid's ship, with Aerith explaining that this was their childhood home and they wanted to see it again.

Sora smiled, happy that they managed to make it back to their world. They had done such a good job restoring it in the year he was asleep.

Leon says that it's in worse shape than he thought and that it used to be such a peaceful place.

Axel contained the snort of amusement that went through him. Yes, unless you managed to cross paths with the two teenagers that had far too much time on their hands and disconnected guardians that let them roam the town as long as they were home by dinner.

Aerith comforts Leon by reminding him that once they defeat Ansem, all should be restored.

"Except, Radiant Garden didn't recover, not completely," Mickey said looking down. "I wonder why."

"Because the damage done to Radiant Garden was different," Axel said shortly, words becoming clipped as memories flashed in front of his eyes. The coats on him and Isa, the beasts clawing and scratching. Watching their world collapse with nothing they could do, freshly heartless and alone except for the people who had done that to them.

"It was?" Kairi asked, eyes widening. She wanted to learn more about her home world, more than she knew.

Axel grimaced. "In a way, at least. Radiant Garden didn't die fast, like yours did. Plus there is also whatever Maleficent did to it that made it come back like this."

Aerith tells Sora that his Island will come back as well, and Sora is surprised.

"Sora, did you not think your Island was coming back?" Aqua asked hoping her voice sounded level. She didn't… Had fourteen-year-old Sora been going through all this thinking that Riku and Kairi were the only people still alive from his Island? Including his family and all his other friends?

"I mean… I didn't really know," Sora replied, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. "I didn't know anything about the worlds and everyone I talked to made it sound like a world falling to darkness was permanent and gone."

"Was that why you searched for me and Kairi so much?" Riku asked, eyes widening. It hadn't really occurred to him either, during that time, that his home was gone. Maleficent had carefully kept that information from him, hiding it away, and even once he had found out, he had been so entrenched in darkness and the quest for Kairi's heart that it hadn't really bothered him. After that, Mickey had reassured him that his world had returned to the light as well as all the people on it.

"Maybe," Sora admitted with a sigh and Kairi made a cut off sound, instead moving forward and wrapping her arms around the boy.

"Your moms are fine," she whispered out. "I promise. Moya still runs her fruit stand. Kaze just got a new boat to fish farther out. I promise they're both still alive. Tidus and Wakka are still as annoying as ever and Selphie is still the smartest person in our class."

"I know Kairi, I know," Sora told her, trying to reassure her. Behind him, he could feel Riku's hand settle on his back, a silent comfort. "I know, and I can't wait to see them again once we get out of here."

Aqua sucked in a breath, trying to keep herself steady. Even after everything, when everything was happening, she still had the knowledge that the Land of Departure was still there, was still her home and she could go back to it anytime. Not having that… she couldn't imagine.

Kairi sat back with a sniffle, doing her best not to show Sora her wavering emotions. It's fine, Sora's coming home now.

Yuffie says that it also means goodbye and Aerith explains that once the worlds are restored, they'll all be separated again.

"One day," Riku muttered, thinking back to Aqua's and Terra's explanation, along with their own travel. "Someone is going to tell me 'the worlds are now separate, and you can't visit them' and I'll believe them." He sighed, thinking back to everything they had gone through. "Today is not that day."

Sora couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him.

Sora says that he'll visit them in the Gummiship and Leon says that it's not that simple.

"Feels that simple," Sora murmured, a bubble of laughter still in his chest from Riku's remark. He knew he didn't know all the intricacies of traveling in the Ocean Between but he was still traveling it fine.

Aerith says before this no one knew about the other worlds because they were all separated by invisible walls and that the Heartless destroyed these walls. Leon says that restoring the worlds will also restore the walls.

"Well, there are ways around that," Ven said, remembering his own gallivant around the worlds trying to find Terra. "There are always ways to other worlds." In his head, a book sat on the table in front of him. "Data Worlds." "Projections." He pressed his hand to the side of his head, massaging his temple. He didn't know what it was that had triggered the headaches, because he hadn't had them since he had first awoken with no memory. Perhaps he needed to drink more water?

Axel, Roxas, and Xion found themselves agreeing with him. They had never had any problems moving across the worlds, even with these "invisible walls".

Donald asks if that means that they won't be able to fly the Gummiship and Leon says that it'll be useless. Sora asks if he's saying that they'll never see each other again.

"But you didn't," Kairi said, trying to cheer Sora up, who gave her a smile. "You saw them again."

"I did," he responded. "And I'll see them after this. Our hearts are connected after all." They're my power, he thought. My friends are my power.

Goofy realizes that it means that Sora won't be able to visit the Disney Castle and Sora says they won't be able to see Destiny Island. Leon tells him that they may never meet again but that they won't forget each other.

"You're a part of each other's hearts," Ven murmured. "You'll always be able to know them." Pink hair, black hats, red scarves, and star shaped earrings.

Aerith says that no matter where they are their hearts will bring them back together.

Xion smiled softly. That sounded wonderful. She wished that there was something similar for herself, Axel, and Roxas, even with their lack of hearts.

Yuffie mentions that she couldn't forget Sora if she tried. He asks her what that means, and she laughs.

Kairi snickered at Sora's offence and Sora pouted, leaning back into Riku's side. Not seeing the way Riku froze ever so briefly at the initiated contact with almost no preface before forcing himself to relax.

Alice tells Sora that she can feel the darkness getting weaker, but Jasmine says that she can feel something dark and sinister. Aurora says that it's the heart of the darkness and that it must be where Ansem went.

"The Door to Darkness," Mickey murmured, remembering it well. Sora, glad that he had already leaned back, leaned further, reaching up one hand to snatch one of Riku's and holding it close. It was fine, he wasn't going to lose Riku again. He wasn't. Not to himself, not to the darkness. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts.

Sora says that they'll take the Gummiship and deal with it. Cinderella says that it is an answer worthy of a Keyblade Master.

Did you know, Ella? Aqua wondered, watching her friend. Or did you see me in him? Or Terra? Have you wondered what happened to us, wondered about where we could possibly in the worlds. Or did you forget about us as easily as the worlds did?

Aerith stops him from leaving, revealing that they found the last piece of Ansem's report in the library.

Roxas threw his hands up in the air. "I though they already found the end of it!" He exclaimed. He was getting real sick of listening to that man talk to himself as he did catastrophic decisions that would lead to the destruction of Axel's homeworld. At least, Roxas was pretty sure it was Axel's homeworld. He had made several references to it during the watching, something that only someone from there could have known. So, it was probably Axel's homeworld. He would have to ask him later.

"I think there is more after this," Sora admitted with a wince, thinking back, trying to scratch at his memories. "I think we found one more piece after this." Roxas sat back with some incoherent grumbling. Xion patted his arm consolingly.

Sora asks if that means that they found the whole thing. Aerith says that Ansem disappeared when the world fell to darkness and that they believed that he died defending the people from the Heartless.

Roxas barked out a laugh. Please, like that man would think of anything other than himself and revenge.

Axel tipped his head to the side slightly. Well, kinda, he thought. From what I could gather he was trying to stop Xehanort. Who was darkness incarnate by that point. I think. Speaking of… His eyes moved back to Terra. He hadn't really thought about it when seeing the man, too caught up in getting his kids back and the confusion of their situation. But now, after his mind had been pulled over and over into the past against his will, he could see it.

Could see that Terra looked identical to Xehanort except that Xehanort had white hair and yellow eyes. There was no way it didn't mean nothing, but it didn't always have to be worst case scenario. Roxas and Ven looked exactly the same from no fault of their own. Perhaps something to bring up later.

Goofy realizes that Ansem was the one to bring them there and Aerith says he's correct, saying that he was always thought of as a sage but clearly that wasn't true. Goofy asks Aerith to read the last page for them.

Roxas moved to rub at his temples. He would only have to go through this two more times. Nothing more.

"Opening the door to a world's heart causes its walls to crumble. The fragments are seen as shooting stars. The material known as Gummi blocks are in fact pieces of those walls, which surrounds the worlds."

"Wait really?" Sora exclaimed, turning to Mickey in question. But Mickey was also shocked.

"I suppose," Mickey murmured, thinking it over. "That seems very possible. It also explains why we get so many people, if we have no walls around our world."

"That explains how there was Gummi in the Jungle," Naminé said quietly. "If the walls had just been broken by the Heartless then Gummi would have fallen onto the world. Meaning that Donald and Goofy could have easily found a piece of it." Mickey nodded in agreement.

"Still, the Gummis are part of walls?" Sora wondered. "That's so cool."

"Weren't you there?" Vanitas asked with a raised eyebrow. How had this child been a great savior of the worlds if he forgot stuff so easily? "You heard Aerith say these things."

Sora paused before shrugging. "I forgot," he said, repeating his earlier statement, and Vanitas looked away with a growl. How could it be so… easy for him? No fear in his eyes, at all. Vanitas didn't know how to feel about that.

"Supposing that the appearance of the Heartless is the cause of the walls collapsing… then I cannot allow that key, called the Keyblade, to close the doors. I will be unable to see the hearts of the worlds."

Mickey looked down in sadness, hearing the words written by his old friend. That he deliberately wanted to keep doors open to the darkness. How had he missed it?

"If the princesses and the Keyblade are connected, they should resonate."

"The Princesses?" Xion questioned, tipping her head to the side. "What does DiZ know about the princesses? He never mentioned them before." Several of them blinked in surprise, taken aback by the detail brough up by the girl. Ansem had never been interested in the princesses before. So why would he be writing about them?

Terra curled his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms. He remembered, he knew. He remembered watching Xehanort pen this report, having already taken the name and guise of the old sage, deciding to continue to write the pages as if it was actually Ansem. Perhaps to cover his tracks better.

"I have chosen a particular girl to send off into the Ocean Between and observe."

Sora wonders if he's talking about Kairi.

"I was… sent to Destiny Islands?" Kairi's voice was breathless in confusion, sitting up and staring at the screen like it might give her answers. "I thought… I thought I just ended up there. I was… sent there?"

"By DiZ?" Roxas questioned, wrinkling his nose. What could have possibly been the point of that.

Axel, on the other hand, was reeling. Kairi was from Radiant Garden? As in, his homeworld Radiant Garden? He had heard some murmurs from their couch and had thought her interest in the world strange, but it hadn't occurred to him that she could be from his world. And she had been sent to Destiny Islands?

Perhaps it had been for the best, because no one else had survived. Just the few that had managed to escape to Traverse Town and Kairi apparently, but no one else. But him and Saix.

"Kairi, I can see your brain working," Sora told her, gently but firmly. "Just because you were apparently sent to Destiny Islands doesn't change anything. Nothing at all."

"But… why?" She asked, sounding more unsure that Sora had ever heard from her. "Why me?"

"You're a Princess of Heart," Aqua said. "There's a good chance that's why. If he could tell some how that you were special like that, that might have been why you were chosen."

"Why DiZ though?"

"I have a feeling we're missing some things," Mickey said to the group. This… didn't sound like Ansem. He knew he didn't know his friend as well as he thought he had but…

Something was off here.

Goofy wonders about the hearts of the worlds and Aerith guesses it's like the core that Ansem was trying to reach.

"Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. Each one of the stars scattered in the night sky is a world and deep withing lies a door to its heart."

"That's a lot of worlds," Naminé whispered, remembering the few times she had seen the stars out at night while living in Twilight Town. Every single one of them was a world? Maybe that meant that there was a world out there where she and… he could go and disappear. Far from the world and people that had hurt them.

"The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. And the Heartless seek to return to a greater heart."

Terra's eyes slammed closed and he took in a shuddering breath. He remembered, he has seen in through his Xehanort's his Xehanort's eyes, exhausted and tired from his attempts to stop Xehanort from helping to send Ansem to the Realm of Darkness. He had seen Xehanort write the report, had seen him, and attempted to stop him, from tracking down and kidnapping the girl. He had seen it and, unlike past circumstances, Xehanort hadn't answered his questions, hadn't taken clear delight in the ways he was dark. Instead, he seemed almost driven stronger than anything Terra had seen before.

Terra jolted in slight surprise when Aqua's hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to look at her, seeing concern in her eyes. Had she figure it out? Had she realized that this Ansem was Xehanort? Was Ansem, Seeker of Darkness Xehanort?

He gave her a small smile, attempting to reassure her. She didn't need his problems. He could deal with them on his own.

"The core of a world's heart—even I cannot know what might be found in such a place. I must find out."

Why though? Mickey thought. Why must you?

"There I will pursue the answers to these mysteries, the mysteries of the heart. And when I encounter the world's heart, I will become all-knowing."

Axel paused. Was it possible… that this was Xehanort? Already? Axel had been under the impression that after taking Ansem's name, as he heard later, Xehanort had then split into the Heartless and Nobody forms of himself, even if he had only just made that connection. He had known that Xehanort had changed in some way into Xemnas, but he hadn't fully grasped that yet. But, had Xehanort done something before he split, under Ansem's name? Had he sent Kairi to Destiny Islands? But why?

"My path is set. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and ascend… I will plunge into the depths of darkness."

"Oh, okay that makes sense," Axel muttered aloud after the report ended, everything clicking into place for him.

"What makes sense?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow at the older man and Axel sighed.

"That's not Ansem," he said bluntly, getting several looks in the process.

"But the report-?" Kairi started but Axel was already shaking his head.

"Still not Ansem," he continued. "Before Radiant Garden truly fell, the apprentices of Ansem the Wise banded together to banish him to the Realm of Darkness, I believe, on account of him no longer approving or allowing their experiments. After this, one of the apprentices, the ringleader of them, took his name. You might have encountered half of him as Xemnas." Riku and Sora both jolted in surprise at the words, looking at Axel with wide eyes. "But I knew him as Xehanort."

Vanitas choked on his breath at the name, hands curling into fists so fast that they completely bypassed the arms of the chair and instead bit deeply into his palms. Ven sucked in a deep breath, nearly choking on his own breath much like Vanitas had done. Aqua's eyes slammed closed as her worst fears had been confirmed. Mickey and Terra both flinched.

"Umm, what was that?" Roxas asked, having seen both Ven's and Vanitas's reactions.

"Did you say Xehanort?" Ven spat out, worry and fear making his voice shrill. At this, the Destiny Trio all looked to the couch, taken aback by the reactions from the older Keyblade Wielders.

"I did?" Axel responded. "Why?"

"Master Xehanort was the Keyblade Wielder who betrayed us ten years ago," Aqua answered, voice dull and blank. "He was a good friend of our master's but he used this friendship to manipulate and separate us." Expressions of horror were making their way across the teenagers' faces who didn't know. Vanitas was working to try and get his emotions back under control. "He was the one to orchestrate everything. He possessed Terra and his apprentice, Vanitas, was the one to cause Ven to sleep for a decade." Several gazes were leveled at the darkness user as Aqua talked, but he couldn't find it in him to care. Master was still around, he was still alive, still working on his plan, still being a manipulative-

"Wait, he possessed you?" Riku asked, head snapping to Terra, who looked down and couldn't look back up.

"Well, that makes sense why you look exactly like him then," Axel mused. "That was you body, wasn't it? That would become Ansem and Xemnas?"

"What?" Sora exclaimed but Terra flinched backwards further and Aqua sat up straight, her own worry being pushed back as her protective side came out fully, getting ready to tear into Axel if he so much as hinted that he blamed Terra for anything.

But instead, Axel simply shook his head. "I always thought there was something strange about him."

"Wait, wait, wait, back up." Kairi came up in a slow down gesture, successfully dragging the attention back to her. "So, this person, Master, Keyblade Wielder?" At Aqua's nod, she swallowed. "Okay, Keyblade Master who was evil, who taught that one." She pointed at Vanitas, who was finally managing to get his breathing back together and his brain was no longer going ten thought tracks a second. "Who was the reason the three of you ended up in such bad situations, possessed Terra's body and ended up as an apprentice under Ansem, at some point taking his name, for some reason, before splitting into Ansem and Xemnas." A beat. "The two major threats in the past year."

"Yes," Mickey admitted, and Kairi slumped backwards, all the fight seemingly drained out of her. Sora copied the gesture but instead threw himself over Riku, leaning on his chest and side.

"So, all the threats in the past ten years, that we know of, have been this guy?" Sora asked, voice faint, and Terra nodded.

"It looks like that," Ven responded. Sora covered his face with a hand.

Axel raised an eyebrow. Well, that's where Xemnas got all his ability to manipulate people then. Apparently, it's a passable trait.

"Oh," Naminé said quietly, pulling her knees to her chest. When Sora said it like that…

Aerith says that Ansem abandoned his own body and Sora says that it's weird, mentioning that Ansem did only for himself as well.

All of them jumped as the screen continued, having thoroughly forgotten about the screen that showed the past.

"When this ends," Aqua said softly. "We need to talk. I think we need to try and figure out a timeline or story." She didn't get any arguments. Most of them were still reeling from the dropped information.

Aerith says he then opened the door.

"Him being Xehanort, apparently," Riku murmured, but his mind was still going fast. Terra, the man who had probably been the one to give him his Keyblade, who had seemed to big and strong and had been from the outside world, had been hurt and possessed by this man. Who had then hurt him and Sora and countless others. Hey, you were also possessed by him, his mind thought, slightly hysterically. Like master, like apprentice, right? You had the same weaknesses.

Sora says that they'll close it, and Aerith says she hopes so. Snow White tells Sora that his courage can bring back the worlds.

Usually, Aqua would be worried by a comment like that. And she still was. But she was still reeling from the revelation that she had been right, that it was still Xehanort and he was still hurting people like he had hurt her and Terra and Ven and Master Eraqus and who knew who else.

Cinderella says that once the darkness is gone, everything will go back to normal. Leon says just like they were able to return to Hollow Bastion, everyone will return to their worlds.

And it did happen, Kairi thought, remembering the falling stars. She cursed herself quietly under her breath. If only she hadn't fallen asleep in Cid's ship on the way to Radiant Garden. Perhaps she could have said more to Sora before he had left. Maybe she would have been able to confess her feelings then. Instead, she had awoken once Sora was gone and had only been able to talk to the other princesses. Not that there had been anything wrong with talking to them. Instead, it had been quite nice but it would have be nice as well to talk to Sora.

Sora remembers their Island and asks if Kairi will be there, getting an affirmative from Cinderella.

"Sora?" Kairi questioned, trying to not let the hope enter her voice. Why had Sora asked specifically if she was going to be there? Had he also, like her, hoped to see her again?

"I was worried if you being in Traverse Town was going to mess with it," he admitted to her and she smiled at him, doing her best to tamp down the slight disappointment.

"Well, it didn't," she told him. "And I was in Radiant Garden."

"You were?!" He asked, more like yelped, and Kairi gave him an amused look.

"Yes Sora, I was," she told him. "I was just asleep in Cid's ship."

"I should have seen you," he told her and she smiled.

"It's okay, you're here now."

Sora says that they can't go home until they found Riku and the King, checking in with Goofy and Donald.

Riku flinched. Sora should have gone home, should have gone with Kairi, he thought. I would have been fine on my own. Mickey was watching over me and perhaps, had everything not gone to pieces due to Sora's memory loss, perhaps he would have trained me properly. Then I could have watched over the worlds like I should have done, keeping the worlds safe for you should you have ever chosen to venture outside of Destiny Islands again. Sora, why didn't you go home?

Donald says right and that they're going to look for them. With that, the three of them leave the hall.

As the screen went black, several glances were exchanged across the room and some people tensed up in preparation for the conversation they were going to have. It was probably necessary to have it before they moved on.