The relief of victory was soured as Sora, Ruby, Donald, and Goofy beheld Ansem emerging from the dark, swirling clouds of the abyss. He was back to his previous form, but visibly weakened by his loss to at Sora's hand. And yet, despite that, he had life in him yet...and that same certainty in his voice as he spoke again. "It is futile...The Keyblade alone cannot seal the Door to Darkness." Turning away from his four foes, he reached his trembling right hand out to the opulent door in the center of the abyss. "KINGDOM HEARTS! Fill me...with the power of darkness!" As he called out to what he desired most, the doors started to open, as if reacting to his call. And as it did, streams of darkness began to pour out from the other side, like pitch black vaporous tendrils. Ansem smiled as he held his arms out, awaiting the power he knew was within. The darkness that he sought all this time. "Supreme darkness!" It was his at last.
"You're wrong!" Sora defiantly called out. Even now, Ansem refused to see what he and his friends had seen. So obsessed with the darkness, that he had shut himself off to everything else. Even if darkness lurked in every heart, there was always that light deep down that would never go out. The hearts of people, the hearts of worlds, all of it. "I know now, without a doubt...Kingdom Hearts, is LIGHT!"
The instant those words left Sora's lips, the darkness seeping out of the door suddenly vanished as quickly as it appeared. In its place, an intense golden light erupted out the door with Ansem caught in the middle of it. He flinched from the brightness as he was bathed in it, barely managing to look upon it with awe and pain in equal measure. But most of all...disbelief as his voice grew weak. "Light... but... but why?" His certainty of the darkness he sought within shattered as he asked that final question. A question that it seemed he would never know the answer to as a burst of light erupted from inside himself. And as the light that filled the abyss eventually faded...Ansem was gone. They truly had won.
But the four heroes did not have time to celebrate their victory. They had to close the door before the darkness within seeped out and consumed the worlds wholly. Landing on the small island carrying the door, they ran as fast as their legs could carry them. "Come on!" Sora exclaimed as he and Ruby pushed the right side while Donald and Goofy pushed on the left.
"Rrggh! It's not...budging!" Ruby groaned as they couldn't even get the slightest movement out of it. The sheer weight of the door was like trying to move a mountain. But if they didn't do anything, everything and everyone they cared for was doomed.
Goofy peered out to the other side of the door, and let out a cry of alarm at what he saw. "Stop staring, and keep pushing!" Donald urged impatiently. They didn't have time to get distracted. Yet he couldn't help peering inside, "Huh!?" and immediately let out his own cry of alarm. On the other side was a sea of dark, twisted land masses of impossible geometry. Barely any sort of light was visible, and not of the sort they needed right now. But worst of all, writhing across those land masses was...
"THE HEARTLESS!" Donald and Goofy cried out with horror. Ruby couldn't stop herself from peering out hearing that, and immediately wish she hadn't. She balked with horror as she saw the veritable ocean of Heartless coming for them! "Hurry!" Donald urged, literally putting his back into it. But Sora...His strength was faltering. Worse still, his will was faltering too.
Ruby saw his arms start going lax and, straining against the door, she said, "Sora, No! Hrnngh...Come on! Don't give up-nngh!-now! We're so close!" Her voice strained with her petite muscles against the weight of the massive door. She couldn't let him give up at this late juncture. Not after everything they'd been through.
But Sora couldn't ignore the facts. Nothing they were doing was working though. The door wasn't getting any closer to closing. They couldn't do this by themselves. "Ruby...I can't..."
"Don't give up!" The sound of a familiar voice echoed from inside the door right as an a familiar gloved hand came out to grip the same one the four of them were struggling to push. Sora's eyes widened with awe and surprise when he immediately recognized the voice and looked up to see the face it came from. It was Riku! "Come on, Sora! Together, we can do this!" he urged, refusing to let his best friend give up now. Ruby was just as astonished, until shock and horror took over in the wake of the terrible realization she had. Riku was on the other side of the door...in front of all those Heartless! "Riku! What are you doing in there?! Get out here before-!"
"Listen to me!" Riku said, looking directly at the redheaded girl with a...completely different tone and attitude from their previous encountered. Not a hint of disrespect, passive aggressiveness, or spite. He was completely sincere and resolute. "This door can't fully close unless there's at least one person on both sides. That means you guys need to push while I pull." he instructed urgently.
At first Ruby was confused, but then she remembered. The simulacrums of the worlds they visited, particularly the unfamiliar section of Hollow Bastion with the unusual machine and the computer attached to it. Now it all made sense! This was the door that needed to be closed both inside and out! And yet with that, came another sad realization. "But then won't you be trapped?" she asked. Sora had gone through so much to find and bring Riku back. They'd all risked so much to get back everything and everyone they'd lost to the Heartless.
"It's the only way. You guys found me many times before, you can find me again," Riku urged, well aware of what he was doing. And most of all, willing to make that sacrifice to fix everything he had done. Glancing back for a moment, Riku saw the Heartless mass was getting closer and exclaimed, "We don't have time to debate this, let's close the door!"
Sora saw how resolute Riku was. Despite everything he'd done, he wanted to ensure that all the worlds and everyone in them were safe. Even if it meant sacrificing himself to a hoard of the Heartless. But just as he was hopeful about what Kingdom Hearts truly was, having disproven Ansem's belief, Sora chose to believe in his best friend. And to believe that despite what was going to happen, that they would find him again. "Okay." With newfound determination, Sora pushed the door and Riku pulled. Everyone put every ounce of strength they could muster into closing the door. With their combined efforts, they managed to make it budge, but not nearly enough. For just behind the straining Riku suddenly arose not one but TWO Darksides, both of them looming over the horde converging upon the door.
The door finally began to budge, but the Heartless were getting ever closer. The two Darksides loomed menacingly behind Riku. "It's hopeless!" Donald cried out in despair. They just couldn't do it, even with Riku's help. They weren't enough to close the door to darkness.
But just as all hope seemed lost, the two Darksides suddenly exploded, destroyed by an unseen force. Everyone looked put behind Riku, despair turning to awe and recognition from Donald and Goofy, as the one who destroyed the giant Heartless leapt up from the darkness. A silhouette of a short figure clad in bright red buttoned shorts, bearing an upwardly curved, pointed nose, a thin black tail, and big round ears, just like Queen Minnie's stood proudly between them and the horde of Heartless. "Your Majesty!" They both cried out with joy. Finally they had found him! King Micky! And to everyone's further surprise, apart from Riku, within his hand the king summoned forth a Keyblade identical in appearance to Sora's, but with the colors reversed!
"Now, Sora! Let's close this door for good!" Micky called out, his falsetto voice filled with courage as he raised his shining, reverse colored Keyblade high.
Despite knowing what they had to do, Sora hesitated. "But..." Despite his determination to accept Riku's sacrifice...now not only was HE inside there, but so was the king. Donald and Goofy had been searching for him for so long, like he'd been searching for Riku. Both of them were right here, but now they would have to leave both of them with the Heartless?
"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light." Micky reassured him, happy to know that Sora cared so much for them, just like everyone else he'd met.
Despite everyone's worries for the two brave souls behind the door, Goofy smiled and reassured the young Keyblade wielder, "Sora. You can trust King Mickey." Despite Sora's apprehension, he knew Goofy was right. He did trust Mickey, just like he trusted Riku. No matter what, they would find that Door to the Light, and bring them back.
"Now! They're coming!" Of course, Riku's words reminded them that THIS door had to be closed immediately. If they were to restore the worlds to how they were before, it was now or never.
King Mickey turned to his friends with a warm and pleasant smile. "Donald? Goofy? Thank you." The two most loyal companions and closest friends to him smiled back before pushing the door with every bit of remaining strength they still had. As much as the court magician and captain of the guard regretted not being able to bring him back, they would not let their king down now.
Sora and Ruby did the same as Riku continued pulling from his end, causing the door to close more each second but not before he said one last thing as a request. "Take care of her." Sora looked up at Riku one last time and nodded, knowing full well who he meant. A final promise to Riku, and to himself that gave him the strength he needed to give one final push upon the door. A small, grateful smile played upon Riku's face as the door finally closed.
To ensure it couldn't be opened again, Sora stepped back with his Keyblade held high and released a trail of light to lock it. On the other side, Mickey did the same thing at the same time. Both of their weapons released a wave of the light all over the door from the inside and out, causing it to fade away. The slope-like area they stood on was still there but now in place of the Door to Darkness was what looked like a ramped trail made from the same mountain-esque trail.
Everyone stood together with somber expressions, taking in the bittersweet feeling that came with their victory. Ruby in particular knew that Sora, Donald, and Goofy just made great sacrifices. Probably the greatest sacrifices they had to in the time they'd been together.
Sora said nothing as he stood beside his friends, reminiscing about himself and Riku. Their days together on the island. How close they were even before Kairi joined their small circle of friends. In that one, brief moment, he finally had that friend again. The true friend that made Riku one of the most important people in his life. The other of course being Kairi. Some day, some way, he would bring Riku back. And all three of them would be together again, like they were meant to be.
As he thought about her, though, Sora felt strange. Like she was right there with him. And as he turned around, he saw, to his surprise, she was! Kairi was standing on the other side of the slope, seemingly confused as to how she got there. Sora remembered what Goofy said. About how when they defeated Ansem, and when the worlds become restored and disconnected, that this world would vanish. Before that happened, Sora HAD to tell her something important. And so, he took off running in her direction as fast as his legs could carry him.
As Sora began running toward Kairi, Donald seemed ready to go after him, only for Goofy to carefully stop him. The expressions they shared were understanding that it was best not to intervene. This was a moment that was meant just for them. Ruby watched, knowing so as well. Sora had much he needed to tell Kairi, alone.