I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.


Repaying the Favor

Tyler zipped up his cloak and Mickey glanced at him skeptically.

"You know, we could have clothes made for you that work like that coat," Mickey offered. "You don't have to wear that."

"I like it," Tyler smiled. "It's comfortable."

"And makes you look like a badass," Steven said, Alice glaring at him from his arms. "Sorry."

"Be careful," Lightning pleaded.

"I will," Tyler smiled, kissing her. "Take care of the others for me. I won't be long, though we may not come out in the same place."

Lightning nodded. "Call me as soon as you get back."

Tyler nodded, holding up the new device they'd all been given called a Gummi Phone, something like a smartphone in Tyler's own world, but one that would work from one world to any other. He slipped it into the inside pocket of his coat, then turned to Riku and Mickey, nodding. Both returned the nod and Mickey opened a portal into the Realm of Darkness, all three walking through. After a few seconds, the first of the Heartless appeared. A few dozen Knights and Shadows. However, between the three of them, they'd cleared them in seconds.

"Which way now?" Mickey asked.

Riku looked around thoughtfully, only for Tyler to start walking. Mickey and Riku looked at each other in confusion before following.

"How do you know where to go?" Riku asked.

"It's...hard to explain," Tyler said. "Last time I was here, when I had to fight Lightning's Heartless and Nobody, someone gave me their power, their Light. It's the only reason I was able to win. And in return, I promised to save them."

"And that person was Aqua?" Mickey reasoned.

"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "But since she gave me her power, I can...sort of sense her. Like I said, it's hard to explain."

Mickey nodded. "As long as we know where to go, that's good enough."

Tyler nodded just as a Darkside rose in front of them. Tyler summoned his keyblade and charged, Mickey and Riku just behind him. The Darkside punched downward at Tyler and he spun around the fist, slashing the arm. The Darkside recoiled, pulling its arm back, only for Mickey and Riku to leap at it, slashing diagonally across its torso, crossing in each other's paths, Mickey above Riku. The Darkside staggered backward, fading rapidly as a massive, dog-like heartless with black skin and pinkish-red spikes all over its body appeared off to the right. It roared, charging, only for Tyler to swing his keyblade upward, a bolt of lightning flashing down from above and blasting into the side of the dog. It hurled it to the side before all three used a Thundaga at the same time, blasting the dog into a cloud of darkness. Another Heartless appeared between them and Aqua. This one had an entirely black body, small bat wings on its shoulder blades, tall, spiked red horns with the heartless symbol between them, formed from the spikes, orange bat wings on its forearms, a long tail ending in a crescent-shaped blade, and an orange sword. It shot toward Tyler, slashing, but Tyler stepped out of the way, deflecting the strike before slashing and splitting it down the torso, killing it.

"Let's go," Tyler said. "Quickly."

The others nodded and all three began to run, Tyler leading them quickly. Minutes ticked by, then hours. The scenery changed from black rock, to black gravel, to a forest of dead trees. Heartless assaulted them almost constantly. Finally, they stopped to rest as they reached a stretch of desert made of dark grey sand.

"Are we getting close?" Riku asked.

"Yeah," Tyler said, staring out into the desert. "But there's a problem."

"What?" Mickey asked. "Is there something in the way?"

"Probably, but that's not the problem," Tyler said. "When we first got here, the connection felt...different than when I was here last. As we've gotten closer, it's become more obvious."

"What?" Riku asked.

"Her Light has been...muted," Tyler said. "There's an ocean of Darkness filling her Heart, but it's not hers. The Darkness feels...foreign. It's damaging her Heart."

"Then we need to hurry," Mickey said, standing.

"Rest," Tyler ordered. "We're not saving her without a fight. Both against her and against Heartless."

Mickey hesitated before sitting down. "We can't rest long."

"Agreed," Riku nodded. "The longer we wait, the more damage is done to her Heart."

Tyler nodded. They stayed there for a few more minutes before continuing. Heartless assaulted them more frequently as they crossed the desert. Then, finally, they reached the beach. He could sense Aqua nearby, but it was impossible to pinpoint her. However, just as they arrived, Shadows began to swarm toward them from everywhere, appearing from the ground all around them. Tyler raised his keyblade, lightning bolts striking around them in a circle, then more in a wider circle, then again, and again. It cleared a massive area, but the Shadows swarmed into it instantly. All three charged in a different direction, slashing, stabbing, and blasting anything in reach. A Shadow leapt at Tyler but he jumped, rolling across its back before alashing it upward from behind, then slashed another on the way back down. Riku passed behind him, a small swarm chasing him but leaping at Tyler instead.

Tyler slammed the blade of his keyblade into the ground, large spheres of magic spiraling around him, as Sora had done to him when they had fought what felt like years ago. The attack cleared the swarm of Shadows charging him, and when he turned to attack the rest of them, they were racing across the ground to a single point. Then, the heartless exploded into the air as a massive, swirling vortex.

"Shit!" Riku swore, leaping away from it and readying himself, Mickey doing the same as Tyler merely turned to face the oncoming horde.

It bent down like a huge worm and lunged at Tyler, but he dodged to the side, slashing the heartless swarm along the side, that one slash alone destroying more than a dozen Shadows, but doing nothing to stop the swarm. It raced away from him, spiraling through the air as it raced around and around the beach. Mickey and Riku fired spells at the swarm rapidly, Firagas, Thundagas, blue fireballs born of Riku wielding Darkness, but still the swarm raged. It slammed into Riku first, hurling him away, then Mickey a moment later. As it turned and shot through the air at Tyler, he raised his keyblade in front of him, forming a barrier. The swarm slammed into it hard, and Tyler grunted, wincing as he skidded backward a few inches, the barrier moving with him. The swarm spiraled against his barrier, trying to rip it apart or drill through it, but Tyler focused more power into the barrier, holding it in place.

"Tyler, get out of the way!" Mickey shouted. "Your keyblade's not strong enough!"

"And here I thought Oswald had explained it to you," Tyler said, pulling his keyblade back, then stabbing the tip into the barrier.

A massive blast of Light erupted from the barrier, which faded as the Heartless trying to break through it exploded into clouds of Darkness and faded. The blast tore through the swarm rapidly, slaughtering anything it touched before reaching the core of the swarm, a massive ball of melted-together Shadows. The sphere absorbed the blast instantly, but then began to shine blindingly before fading into a cloud of Darkness, the rest of the Shadows that hadn't already been destroyed doing the same.

"A keyblade is only as strong or weak as your heart," Tyler said, lowering his keyblade to his side. "Riku's heart lost its strength, its will to fight, when he was swallowed by the last swarm you fought, and his keyblade was shattered. Mickey's heart lost its strength when he was left to fight the shadows alone, but he regained his strength in order to save Riku, allowing his keyblade to only be damaged. I will not die here. I made a promise to Aqua, and I made a promise to Lightning. I will save Aqua, and I will return to Lightning. I will not be weak ever again."

Mickey and Riku looked at each other, then back at Tyler.

"So, where to now?" Mickey asked.

"Nowhere," Tyler said. "We're already here. Sorry I'm late, Aqua."

"Late?" Aqua scoffed, rising from a spot of darkness on the ground off to the side.

She wore a sleeveless, backless, black top with a high collar, a pair of black straps across her torso in an "X" with a silver simbol reminiscent of the Heartless crest in the center of her chest, and black shorts. A tattered black cloth hung from her waist, open in the front, with a black cloth belt over it. She wore black, metal shoes with pointed toes and wing-shaped blades sticking out to the sides, and metal splints hung from her upper arms. Her eyes glowed gold in the shadows of the World of Darkness, her arms shifted from human to Heartless at the upper biceps, her legs did the same just below the bottom of her shorts, her fingers were blood-red claws, and her hair hung to her shoulders, parted over her right eye, and was blue at the roots, but then faded to silver, showing Xehanort's incomplete possession of her. It wasn't too late, yet.

"You abandoned me in this Hell!" Aqua snapped. "I gave you my Light, and you abandoned me! Well, now it's too late. All that's left in my heart is lonliness and despair. And now, you can share it!"

"No," Tyler shook his head. "Now, I can save you. I'll handle her, alone."

Aqua narrowed her eyes, then vanished into a ball of Darkness before two more reappeared over the water, landing on its surface. Both fired a massive blast of Darkness, and Tyler dove out of the way, rolling onto the surface of the water and standing atop it, as the Aquas were. As he sprinted out onto the water, the two Aquas vanished, four more reappearing. Two fired the same Darkness blasts, but the other two used more standard spells. Tyler ducked and dodged, avoiding lightning bolts, Darkness blasts, fireballs. The Aquas appeared near him, wielding Darkness in the silhouettes of swords, but Tyler slashed any who appeared around him without hesitation, all of the replicas looking exactly the same, but feeling completely hollow to Tyler, who could sense which was real. More and more spells assaulted him, some being blocked by barriers, some being dodged. More and more copies attacked him, but he destroyed them all rapidly, each one dispersing into Darkness like Heartless. Then, finally, the real Aqua appeared in front of him, just as his keyblade struck the surface of the water. Instantly, a massive pulse of Light erupted from the tip of his keyblade, blasting all of the copies into Darkness and hurled Aqua backward, her Darkness sword evaporating.

"You're strong," Aqua commended.

"You were right," Tyler said. "You did give me your Light. Let me give it back to you."

Aqua's eyes widened, but before she could do anything, Tyler's keyblade swung up to point at her and a beam of Light flashed out, striking Aqua in the center of her chest. Instantly, Aqua's body shone. A cloud of Darkness formed from her body and curled backward on itself as it cleared, starting at the center of her chest and spreading outward. As it left her back, it transformed into a shadowy silhouette of Xehanort, then faded. As Aqua's body was cleared, her shirt was left dark blue above her breasts and black below it, the straps were left as pink, the cloth hanging from her hips was light blue, the cloth belt was white, her armor was silver, and her arms were now covered by detatched, white sleeves.

She began to fall backward, but before she could hit the water, Tyler caught her gently. Her brow was creased in pain and discomfort for a moment, but after taking a few breaths, she relaxed. Tyler lifted her gently, then summoned his keyblade, carefully pointing it into the air without cutting Aqua's legs. The blade of his keyblade shone before a beam of Light shot into the sky. A second later, a massive pillar of Light shot back down, touching down over the water. Rikku and Mickey joined Tyler on the water, and together they all walked into the light. A few seconds later, they were standing on the beach of an island world Tyler had never seen before, but that Riku and Mickey both identified as Destiny Islands. As Tyler gently set Aqua on the beach, she winced and stirred.

"Welcome back to the Light," Tyler smiled.

Aqua smiled. "Thank you. You kept your promise."

"Of course," Tyler smiled. "You helped me save the love of my life. I owe you everything."

Aqua smiled, shaking her head. "You owe me nothing."

Tyler nodded, smiling, and pulled out his gummi phone, calling Lightning.

"Tyler!" Lightning cheered instantly. "Where'd you come out?"

"Destiny Islands," Tyler answered. "How long will it take for you to get here?"

After a moment of silence, Lightning said, "Oswald says it'll take us three hours."

"Alright," Tyler smiled. "See you soon." He glanced at Aqua, then smirked. "And tell Steven not to get his hopes up."

Lightning laughed. "Pretty, is she?"

Tyler snorted. "You know I'm biased."

"I know," Lightning said, Tyler able to hear her smile in her tone. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"See you soon," Tyler smiled. Once he'd hung up, he unzipped his coat and lay it out before tugging his shirt off and laying on the coat, sighing comfortably. "They'll be here in three hours."

"You're gonna spend it tanning?" Riku chuckled. "You're gonna be a lobster."

Tyler laughed, rolling his pant legs up into shorts. "I've never had a sunburn in my life."

Riku shrugged and joined Tyler in the sand, and after a few moments, so did Aqua.

"Really?" Mickey asked. "This is how you're all going to spend the time?"

"We're on a tropical island and have nothing better to do," Tyler shrugged.

"I'm too weak still to do anything else," Aqua shrugged.

"It's been a long time since I was home," Riku spoke up. "I plan to enjoy it."

Mickey sighed, shrugging, and walked away. After a while, all three rolled over, and a while later, Riku began to give them a tour, so as to avoid all of them getting a sunburn. Finally, Lightning was warped down to the island and almost instantly was swept into Tyler's arms as he spun. She laughed, and when he set her on her feet, she kissed him for several long moments.

"You must be Lightning," Aqua greeted her as they finally separated. "I'm Aqua. I'm glad he was able to save you."

"So, you're the one that helped him," Lightning said, smiling. "Thank you."

"Of course," Aqua smiled.

"You were right," Lightning said, looking over at Tyler. "It was a good thing we warned Steven."

Tyler chuckled, nodding. "Let's get Aqua to Merlin so that she can rest."

Lightning nodded as Riku and Mickey joined them, and a few moments later, Oswald had warped them all up to the gummi ship. Almost instantly, Steven sighed heavily, slumping over the back of Sazh's chair to complain about being single to him quietly, Sazh laughing. Serah and Fang took Aqua to give her a tour and take her to one of the spare rooms, and Oswald set a course for Merlin's tower.


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