With the fight against the massive behemoth of a Heartless over, Sora and his loyal companions walked out of the portal leading to the Keyhole to catch their breath. What they didn't expect...was the company just outside waiting for them. Everyone stopped in their tracks as they filed out bit by bit at the sight of... "Leon?!" Sora exclaimed with surprise.
"Sora, you did it." Sure enough, there was the stoic, leather clad young man along with Aerith and Yuffie who was sitting atop the railing near the stairs. With no Heartless to worry about, for now at least, they had the chance to at least catch their breath AND have pleasant and experienced company.
Of course that begged the questions. "What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked.
"And how'd you even get here?" Ruby added curiously.
"We came in Cid's ship." Yuffie explained, chipper as ever as she looked back at them for a moment.
A little more melancholy than normal, Aerith told them, "This used to be our home. We wanted to see it again."
"This was your home? Could certainly use some TLC." Neptune said jokingly, earning an elbow to his rib cage along with a slight scowl from Weiss.
"You told us Maleficent came to your world with a swarm of Heartless nine years ago," Jaune said, finally catching his breath and recalling their conversation in Traverse Town around the time they met up with Yang. "I'm guessing...this is that world?"
Leon tersely nodded before looking at the pipe riddled architecture with a shake of his head. "It's in even worse shape then I feared. It used to be so peaceful..."
Constantly stoic, pleasantly compassionate, and cheerfully upbeat. Those were the emotions and behaviors Ruby always associated with Leon, Aerith and Yuffie respectively. But seeing them now, each of them somberly mourning the state of their world...their home...it made her feel bad inside. It was almost, if not equally bad as what happened to Remnant. Hers was lost to the Heartless, but the state of this world...it might as well have been dead after what Ansem had done to it. A sorrow that Sora shared...until Aerith suddenly smiled at him, then at Ruby. "Don't worry. If we defeat Ansem, all should be restored. Including your island. And the world you all come from."
"Really?" Sora exclaimed, hope surging in his voice. He'd finally be able to go home? They all would?!
Ruby was absolutely bursting with joy at the thought that she and all her friends would be able to go home at last! "That's awesome!"
Every one of Ruby's friends cheered, high fiving, bantering, or even hugging in the case of team JNPR...with Pyrrha almost immediately having her face match the color of her hair. The clamor of joy died down as Yuffie spoke up again...her voice carrying an unexpected sadness as she hung her head regretfully. "But, it also means goodbye."
Everyone looked at her, shocked and concerned by the uncharacteristic tone in her voice. "What are you talking about?" Pyrrha asked.
"Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again." Aerith explained somberly.
"Separate?" Sun and Neptune asked, looking at each other. Little by little, everyone was beginning to put the pieces together. "Wait. Do you mean..." Jaune didn't have the heart to finish that sentence as Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha exchanged a saddened look.
"Yup...Everyone will go back to where they came from." Yuffie confirmed despondently.
Ruby and her team looked at Sora, then at each other with the same looks on the faces as Team JNPR. By now, Sun and Neptune figured it out too. "Man...Talk about timing." Sun said sadly. He could only imagine how Ruby and the others felt given that they'd been with Sora for far longer.
"Then I'll visit you guys with the gummi ship." the Keyblade Master in question said, attempting to bring back the cheer and optimism. After all, they were about to save Hollow Bastion!
Ruby brightened up with a cheerful smile at Sora's suggestion. "That'd be amazing, Sora!" she said joyfully.
Yang strutted over to Sora and slung an arm around his neck with that classic Yang grin on her face. "I'd love to show you around Vale, Sora! I know this great club in the city, I'm really popular there. You'll love it." A pair of throat clearing noises resounded from the rest of Team RWBY as Weiss and Blake looked at Yang with an IMMEDIATE shake of the head. "I mean...once everything has calmed down and-"
"Yang, that is NOT the point here! Sora's WAY too young for one of your...your...escapades!" Weiss protested vehemently.
Blake meanwhile simply sighed. But despite her blonde partner missing the point of their intervention entirely...she couldn't help smiling at the thought of Sora visiting them. "Clubs aside...I'd love to show you around too, Sora." she offered.
"Yeah, me too!" Jaune immediately jumped in, only to be followed by Nora, cheering out "Me too! We could have paaancaaaakes~" she sung joyfully, looking at Ren in the process.
"Yeah, and then you, me, and Neptune can hang out for a night on the town!" Sun said as he and Neptune clasped Sora on the shoulder.
"And hey, if you like Sora...I could give you some advice for you and Kairi." Neptune offered, elbowing Sora with a wink and a click of his tongue.
Something which caused Sora to stare blankly...until he put the pieces together in his head. Neptune was teasing him about him and Kairi! "W-Wha?! W-Wait a minute!-"
"It's not that simple." Leon interjected, causing everyone's mood to drop and turn to him with concern.
"What do you mean?" Ren asked, the concern evident in his voice. Even he seemed to have been excited to hang out with Sora. Even with Nora expecting pancakes of him.
Yuffie spoke up again with that same...saddening morose tone. "Before all this, you didn't know about other worlds, right?" Ruby and Sora went silent again. Yuffie was right. They didn't know about the other worlds because...
"Because every world was isolated. Impassable walls divided them." Aerith explained, just as regretful as the others as she realized the youths were putting it all together...sad as it was.
"The Heartless destroyed those walls. But if the worlds return, so will the walls." Yuffie compounded, though she certainly wasn't happy about it either.
"Which means using the gummi ship will be useless." Leon's finish made the message ring out all the more painfully. The walls that divide the worlds, divide their new friends, would rise up and isolate them again.
"So you're saying, we'll never..." Sora didn't have the heart to finish as his saddened gaze met Donald's, Goofy's, Ruby's, and all of her friends. The thought of never seeing each other again, after all they'd been through...
Leon could see how everyone was feeling now. The sorrow at having to say 'goodbye' was never an easy feeling to bear. Especially with all they'd been through together. But even if Leon was a blunt and stoic as could be...he knew what needed to be said here. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."
Leon's unexpectedly encouraging words made everyone look to him with less crestfallen expressions. More so as Aerith smiled and added to them. "No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again."
Among all of the young hunters, the friends who had embarked with Sora, Donald, and Goofy on this crazy yet...mostly wonderful adventure, Ruby was the first to smile. "You know what? She's right." Sora and the others all looked to her as she continued. "All the stuff we've been through, all the places we've been, the people we've met...No way can I ever forget it all. And the best part was getting to experience it with you, Sora. One of the greatest friends I've ever had in my life." Hearing her say that caused Sora to look at Ruby, his sorrow shifting to an expression of affectionate awe. For he too...couldn't have asked for a better or more loyal friend on this adventure.
"Heh...Yeah," Sun said, holding Neptune's shoulder and giving a hitchhikers thumb to himself. "Even if we didn't get to adventure with you as long as the others, you're a fun guy to be around, Sora. And most of all, a good one."
Neptune nodded in agreement, passing a thumbs up to Sora. "You got that right. So thanks for the memories, Sora." he said just as cheerfully.
"Besides, I couldn't forget about you even if I wanted to."
The immediate shift in Yuffie's mood and tone of voice caught everyone, especially Jaune and Sora off guard. Even more so when the implication set in as they looked to her with offended glares and respectively yelled, "Hey!" "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm with them for once!" Weiss said, equally upset from their friend's choice of words. "It sounds like you think we're an annoyance!"
"Calm down, Jaune. She's just joking." Pyrrha interjected, smiling at and patting Jaune reassuringly on the back. She knew Yuffie meant no offense by her words.
A rare playfulness slipped into Blake's demeanor as she spied another opportunity to mess with Weiss. An opportunity she refused to pass up "Besides, she's right. I couldn't forget you even if I wanted to. And I DID when we first started working together."
"Wha-...Blake!" Weiss exclaimed incredulously. Why would she say something like that in front of everyone?!
"Hah! Wow, Blake. I didn't know you were holding that grudge still." Yang said, laying a hand on her hip and leaning to the left. Blake looked at her with a nonchalant shrug and that grin still on her face.
"Yang, don't encourage her!" Weiss demanded, her cheeks flushing even redder with embarrassment. Why was her team ganging up on her!?
The residents of Hollow Bastion couldn't help laughing along with the huntsmen. Even Leon couldn't help the crease rising at the edges of his lips. These kids all had such a heavy burden on their head. Ruby and her friends in particular had their own burden before they even got involved in this. Yet they had fought and grown and survived together through all of this. The bond they shared truly was something they would never forget. Even if they never saw each other again.
The humor was gone the moment Donald cried out from the doorway to the darkness. "Sora!"
The dark energies pouring out from around the heart-shaped sides was growing stronger again. "Hurry! Come and close the keyhole!" Goofy called out, reminding Sora alongside with Donald of the importance of their mission. They couldn't waste any more time.
"Yeah, that looks like it's becoming more unstable every second," Neptune said with worry, looking back to Sora. "Whatever you're gonna do, you might wanna do it quick."
After this, they were likely going to head right to Ansem. It was no doubt going to be the toughest fight for them. Knowing his own fair share of difficult battles, Leon said one last thing. "Sora? Good luck."
Just as Sora began walking toward the Keyhole, the doors to the hall suddenly burst open, drawing everyone's shocked gazes. "Oh, what now!?" Yang asked with irritation. A large, four legged and winged creature Grimm with what looked to be the body of a lion with head and wings and front talons of a monstrous bird burst inside.
"Uh oh! Big Griffon!" Jaune exclaimed, readying his weapon alongsidehis team.
"This is the worst possible timing!" Weiss exclaimed as she, Blake, and Yang brandished their weapons too.
"Well, let it never be said we had a dull moment in here!" Sun said, readying himself alongside Neptune.
After it burst inside, everyone noticed that the Griffon seemed to be struggling with something. "Is that..." Leon's muttering was answered as a familiar purple caped, fur covered figure leapt off the back of the Grimm.
"Beast!" Blake called out with great surprise and concern in equal measure.
"Beast!? What's he doing here!? I thought he was protecting Belle!" Pyrrha said with confusion.
"Worry about that later! Let's go kick some Grimm butt!" Nora cheered enthusiastically, earning a mutual cheer from many of her friends, and a light nod from Ren.
Just as Sora was about to run in and help, Ruby stopped him with her hand on his chest. Before he could question what she was doing, Leon yelled "Sora! You, Donald, and Goofy get going! We'll take care of the Grimm!", before brandishing his gunblade and jumping into the fight.
"Don't worry about us! We can handle this!" Aerith reassured with a soft smile, raising what appeared to be a staff before jumping in after Leon.
"Yeah, now hurry up! We don't have all day!" Yuffie called back as she followed Leon and Aerith into the fray, shurikens drawn and ready to fling.
"Guys...I-"
"It's okay, Sora." Ruby said as she smiled and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. She knew he was concerned for them, but he had to go before the Keyhole drew the attention of the Heartless and they consumed the heart of this world. "We'll be right here when you come back. I promise" she said. After everything they'd been through since they met, there was no way she'd let him down now. Sora could see such as her silver eyes stared into his.
With a firm nod and smile, Sora turned and rushed into the dark portal to go seal the Keyhole. Everyone was counting on him, both here and in other worlds. And Ruby, more than anyone here, knew that he wouldn't let them down now.