Young Xehanort watched as Keyblade Master Luxu emerged into the dimly lit, quiet laboratory from a portal of light, his Keyblade in his hand already, accompanied by Amaya...as well as...Eraqus.

After moving Young Xehanort successfully into the latest version of the Replica vessels, the woman had gone to fetch the Old Master, for what was to come next, professing that she thought he'd be a better choice for bringing back Xehanort's- lost friends, considering his personal ties to them, and greater experience with the power over time. But, apparently, she'd gone to another place as well, to get...

Young Xehanort and his older self alike both stared at the man...though the former, because he'd last known him as a much younger...

"I still can't believe my eyes..." came an aged, yet familiar voice, shaking with emotion. Dark eyes stared back at Young Xehanort. The man strode forward...a smile breaking out over his face, and those eyes lit up, and suddenly it was-

Young Xehanort's hand was being seized, and then he was pulled into the second unwilling hug of the night. He felt the raw, powerful emotions radiating from the man, into his own Heart, immense sorrow, grief, joy and affection-

"Xehanort..." the man's voice breathed, cracking at the end.

"E-Eraqus...you really have gotten old," Xehanort murmured, his lips trembling. He felt his eyes stinging - ridiculous, after all, in the time he came from, the man was alive and well (but was the bond still there, or had it been severed that day?)... He squirmed and fought, pushing at the man, gasping. "If you strangle me hard enough, I'll disappear, you know..." he got out painfully.

The man released him immediately, pulling away. He stared into his face - tears falling now down his own. He laughed, rich and true. "I'm sorry," he said, ragged. His face turned somber. "I'm sorry, Xehanort..." He turned his gaze to Old Xehanort. "For all of it."

His older self's mouth parted, surprise and confusion on his face. "What do you possibly have to be sorry for...?" he spoke lowly.

Eraqus's lips quivered. He blinked slowly, shedding more tears. "I broke our promise, Xehanort. Remember? I'd promised you that if you got lost somewhere in the dark, that I'd dive in to rescue you...and pull you back out of it again. Yet for all these years, as you sank and sank to the very bottom...I did nothing to stop it. I didn't swim out to you, and I did not rescue you when I could have. I remained in Land of Departure, secluded, isolated. While you traveled these worlds, I...I'd given up on my dreams. After everything that happened...you were not the only one who broke that day, my friend. And because I was broken, I couldn't be there to see that the pieces of you that needed picking up, sticking back together again. If I had...I am so sorry. If I had been a better, truer best friend, perhaps things wouldn't have ended the way they did. You would not have gone down the path you did. I share the blame in that..."

Old Xehanort looked genuinely speechless. His eyes glinted. His mouth moved wordlessly, for a moment. Then he closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Ah, Eraqus...but I am the one who broke his promise. I told you that when the world chose its defender, I would still be there for you. Suffice it to say, I betrayed that promise in the most terrible way. A way I-" He stopped. He choked. He clenched an aged fist at his side. He opened his eyes, meeting Eraqus's. "-a way I regret, truly. I...I am the one...who is- sorry, old friend."

"Perhaps what we both need now...is to do better than we did," Eraqus spoke softly. "All those years wasted, that vast divide growing between each other..." He looked to Young Xehanort. "To have a precious few of them back..."

"Yes..." Old Xehanort said simply, in tones just as soft. He turned his head, looking to Young Xehanort. "Are you listening, boy? Do not stray; stay to the path - stay...with him. With all of them. You do not comprehend...what it is to live so long without them. With nothing. Yet here you stand, with a chance to have...everything. Do not squander it...for our sakes."

Young Xehanort stood there, staring at his older self. He looked to Eraqus. To Amaya. Then... He glanced across the room, to the dark-haired woman who still looked so...lost and confused. She was sitting on the floor, her legs under her. Mo- Moreth didn't seem to have a good handle on all of this. He'd been worried about her fainting again, when Amaya had done her best to elaborate on things that- that Moreth had had questions about. It wasn't an in-depth explanation by any stretch, but it had been more than the extremely limited, initial explanation Amaya had given...

He clenched his trembling hands at his sides. He closed his mouth thinly...and he nodded to the older version of himself. "I...I will- do my best?" he said haltingly.

"Very well..." Old Xehanort replied, turning away again. Yet Eraqus moved to his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Old Xehanort looked at him - and then he simply allowed it to be, a small smile coming to his face, as he turned his focus to the Replicas.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Luxu spoke, giving his weapon a spin and aiming it forward - at all three Replicas remaining, where they lay on the floor. He bowed his head, his eyes narrowing.

For a moment, nothing at all happened. Then-

The air twisted around the Replicas, and Hearts appeared above them. Luxu directed them down into each individual Replica, lowering his weapon after they'd merged successfully.

Young Xehanort glanced at his older self; his eyes were fixated upon the Replicas, an aged face full of emotions.

Young Xehanort felt them himself, in that moment, of course - anticipation, fear, hope...but...

The Replicas flared to life and light, taking shape and form - familiar shapes and forms...ones that Young Xehanort hadn't seen in only a handful of years, yet still seemed like a lifetime ago...A time before this drab, numb state, when he'd been so happy and the world had been bright, not grey and dark...

A boy with curly, dark blue hair, wearing traditional garb of a Keyblade wielder in training...

A tall, thin girl, of grey hair styled in a ponytail, with two long tresses hanging down either side of her face, and amber eyes. Hair not quite the same color as his own, and eyes not quite the same shade as Skuld's...

And lastly, there was-

A short, small girl - who could be mistaken for one years younger than her actual age - with dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She wore the traditional clothing of a trainee, but with a velvet, ornate cloak over top it. The arm sleeves were too big for her, hiding her hands...

Hermod and- Urd- woke first, it seemed, sitting upright with small gasps of confusion. They looked at one another, then around themselves. Their eyes found the others in the room.

"What happened?" Hermod said, nonplussed. "We were in that dark tunnel, trying to find our way out of it-"

"And we didn't," Urd said quietly, shaking her head, her amber eyes downcast. "We fell. It was too late, it was in our armor, in our Hearts, we were weakening..."

Urd's gaze roamed them all again. Then her eyes widened, as she closely looked at Eraqus - and Young Xehanort. "Xehanort...? What's...going on? What- you look older?"

"It's a...very long and convoluted story," Young Xehanort sighed, striding forward and getting down on his knees before her. The three of them. He gazed at her, at Hermod, for a long moment. His gaze fell to land on Vor, laying on her side.

Urd and Hermod looked too, staring.

"Vor? Is she alright?" Urd asked.

"You really have to fill us in here, Xehanort," Hermod spoke, looking at him, beseeching.

"Have a little patience, would you." Young Xehanort gave a soft, small laugh. He turned from them, reaching out to lay a shaking hand on Vor's small figure. "Vor..." he whispered, quavering. "You can wake up now. You are...where you belong again. With your...your friends."

The girl stirred - emotions drifted from her, into Xehanort's Heart. She turned over, and sat up, blinking around her. "Urd? Hermod! And- Xehanort...? Wait, what's going on...? Why do you look so... Where's Baldr, and the others?! We were fighting him...and he-!"

Young Xehanort stared into her face, and then he moved forward and pulled her into an embrace. "It's alright, Vor...everything is- alright now...I- I promise you. Okay?"

"Wait a second, if you're Xehanort...don't tell me that old guy is Eraqus," Hermod said slowly, pointing.

Eraqus gazed back at Hermod, slowly stepping forward. He fell to the floor, his face shifting. Then, he laughed. Laughed as much as he cried, all over again. "I'm sorry to have to say yes to that, believe me..."

"What is this?" Urd said, frowning. "With your ages, and this place we've never seen before...we had to have traveled through time somehow. It's the only thing that fits. But how...and why? And what was Vor talking about? What happened to Baldr? Why was she...fighting him?"

"As Xehanort said," Eraqus began. "It's a very long and convoluted story. But one we're going to tell you. But first, why don't we take some time to...get you settled into this new World. We don't want to overwhelm you, but...there are some people I'd like you to meet."

"Yeah? Who?" Hermod said eagerly.

Eraqus gave a small grin. "My apprentices."

Hermod, Urd, and even Vor all stared at him.

Then-

"No way - YOU?!"

"Are you joking again, Eraqus?"

"You really became a Keyblade Master...?"

Eraqus placed a hand on his heart, looking between the three friends. "I did, yes - I'm not joking, Urd. Though, I confess I haven't been a very good one..."

"That sounds more like what I'd expect from some future Eraqus," Hermod nodded.

Urd looked to Young Xehanort, tilting her head. "What about you? You look a lot younger than Eraqus, but...you must have become one, too. That's more what we'd all expect."

Young Xehanort looked at her. He frowned. He sat back with a sigh, shaking his head. "I...I'm afraid I don't make a very good one in the future, either. In fact, I-" He looked to his older self. "-I was the worst."

"Worse than Eraqus? How is that possible?" Hermod said quickly.

Eraqus put a hand up - and the other, onto Young Xehanort's arm. "This...isn't going to be a joke. But we'd like you all to listen to the full story, before passing judgement."

Vor smiled at him, and then at Young Xehanort. "We're all ears - Eraqus! It's still so weird and unbelievable!"

"Oh, it gets more unbelievable," Young Xehanort said dryly.

Vanitas lingered in the empty, barren house on the end of the street, on the edge of the city of Monstropolis.

He sat down against a wall, closing his eyes.

He didn't sleep - sleep was for pussies - but he did like to enter a hibernation state when he wasn't doing anything else important.

If anyone disturbed him, he'd just cut them down and find somewhere else to stay for a while...

He relaxed, truly, to himself alone, letting his mind wander...

The world faded away, and darkness cloaked all.

Nice, comforting, endless darkness...

He sank into it, a secretive smile on his face.

The blissful silence, the endless void...

Soon, memories started to fill the darkness. Images, and sounds, that passed by.

A sprawling town with a tall clocktower of double towers, with a bell hanging from it...

A dark, empty warehouse - a girl wandering alone, oblivious...

He struck out at her in an instant, from shadows, using his entire body mass to push and rip through her body and withdraw again...

He appeared in the study room, facing the gaggle of sword-wielding children, who thought they could actually defeat him - like they stood a chance...

The dark-haired one with the hat, the silver-haired boy...

Years in the Graveyard. That old man's words ringing in his ears; blade and magic cutting and blasting at him, tearing at him for every little mistake, every slip-up - and sometimes for no damn reason at all. Just because the guy seemed to enjoy it...

The Nobody, with the face of Terra, lifting him up and binding him, slamming those energy blades of red into his form - the burning, sizzling pain and agony...

Again and again and again, on a loop through his mind, swirling in the void-

Vanitas tore his way back into the waking world, gasping and sweating, tearing off his helmet and hurling it across the room with a yell.

He fell forward, slamming his fists to the ground.

Goddammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT...

"Stop it!" he snarled at himself. "You're not that pathetic..."

Darkness swirled around his body, then streamed off of him, curving into the air.

Huh? Vanitas raised his head, looking at it in confusion.

The darkness swirled in the air, and puffs of smoke and shattering crystal fragments burst around him. Out of the smoke came these...weird things. They looked humanoid enough, but...

Well, they looked like fucking rip-offs of him!

They were humanoid Heartless, with glowing red eyes, wearing black coats that ended in purple patterns and trimming, near the bottoms of the sleeves and the lower portions of the coats.

He remembered looking like that, for a brief time, near the start of his new existence, after Xehanort had ripped him out of Ventus's Heart against his will...but then, of course, he'd changed...because of Sora...

Vanitas rose to his feet, summoning his Keyblade and gritting his teeth, staring at them all.

There were six of them total.

Purple smoke puffed in the room, near the floor, and a little...thing appeared. A thing he recognized from old memories. A cat-like being, with a little cape, purple fur, and red eyes. Wasn't it called a...Chirithy, or some shit?

"The hell is all this about?" Vanitas spoke out, staring.

The six black coat monsters turned away from him to face the Chirithy - revealing strange emblems on their backs. Something he'd never seen before.

"I just came by to collect some dreams - create a few nightmares," the Chirithy spoke, in a high, annoying voice. "You're an interesting one, aren't you?" they said, leveling a stubby arm at him. "So much pure darkness...and so many bad memories. You're perfect for making powerful new nightmares!"

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you stay the hell out of my head!" Vanitas snapped. "Get lost, freak, before I cut you down."

The little Chirithy thing giggled. "But I'm not done with you yet."

"Yes you are."

Vanitas slashed his weapon out, sending a half-moon of blue energy forward.

It slammed into the dark coat monsters, taking them back across the room and through the wall, into the next room. The ceiling came down between them, and dust flew up. Vanitas lunged at the little creature alone now, slashing down with burning flames.

The Chirithy vanished in a puff of smoke and a cry of shock.

Vanitas's blade slammed down on the floor, causing a small explosion of wood in his own face.

He breathed heavily, staring at the ground in confusion and disbelief.

Slowly, he straightened again.

What was that little-

Red lines of energy pulsed and flew across the floor toward him, catching his attention. Red claws of energy flew up around him, aiming to curve in and pierce him!

Vanitas flickered and teleported away, reappearing nearby.

The six cloaked monsters popped up out of the ground, twirling in the air to face him before landing again.

What. The hell?!

The cloaked monsters wrapped themselves in darkness and flew at him again.

"Fuck this!" Vanitas exclaimed, shrouding himself in darkness of his own, and vanishing into a Dark Corridor completely.

On the play island, across the bridge, on the sandy plateau of palm trees and bushes, two figures sat on a horizontal tree trunk.

A boy of long silver hair in a blindfold, and a girl of short black hair and glowing pink eyes.

"And I thought there was never going to be a sunset that could beat Twilight Town's..." Erin's voice came to Riku, thick with emotion. Joy and awe. "Your world's just might have done it."

Riku smiled to himself, picturing the image in his mind's eye - memories he'd gotten too used to...never really appreciated anymore, as life had gone on... "They are pretty great, aren't they."

"It's amazing..."

"Hey, so, you didn't drag me all the way up here - away from the others - so you could kiss me again, did you?"

"What? No!" Erin's voice exclaimed. Then, she paused. "Is that...something that's been bothering you? I- I'm sorry, really, for that, Riku! If I took something from you, or made you feel- of course you'd have felt pressured, what am I saying! A dying girl just up and says her last request was for a damn kiss-!" she went on quickly, stumbling.

"Hey, Erin, come on - I was just trying to make a dumb joke!" Riku said quickly, holding up his hands. "I was completely on board with the whole kiss thing, alright? I was happy to- help you...with that. To give you something you wanted, that- that you were never going to get a chance to get. I mean, yeah, it helped that you were pretty, and that you obviously thought I was good-looking too, but that wasn't why I-"

"So those feelings back then were mutual? Really? And you were really all right with the kiss?"

"Yes! I don't regret it, and- and I don't want you to think you- like you forced me into it or something. Do you really think I wouldn't have pushed you away, or said no, if I felt that way?" Riku stumbled out. "I've never lacked the ability to do that; in fact, that's sort of been my whole problem...keeping people out, instead of letting them in..."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want you to ever...worry about that, or feel bad about it, okay? You've got no reason to. Not at all."

There was a long, heavy silence. Then- "Alright. I believe you."

"Good. So...why did you bring me up here?"

"I just wanted to give you a more private goodbye, before heading home to my world."

"Is it another kiss?" Riku joked.

"You're sure bringing it up a lot; do you want another kiss?" Erin retorted, surprise in her voice, as much as the teasing. "You can just ask - I'll be glad to give you one again, believe me. I wouldn't regret it, either."

Riku sat there, frozen. A part of him actually, stupidly considering saying "yes" - and not even as a joke this time. But all the other parts of him had another opinion. The worst parts, that said he didn't deserve it. That said she shouldn't waste that kind of affection on a guy like him... "Not when my- friends are probably watching us!" was what actually won out in his brain, blurted out in a whiny, weak, pathetic tone that made him wince at himself. It was true: Terra, and Xion, and Sora were hanging out on the play island's beach together, not far from the plateau.

Erin laughed wonderfully, however, and gave him a pat on the arm. "Alright, then. If you're not comfortable, I won't, and that's the end of it." She paused. Then- "But, just so you know, if you ever come by my world again, the offer's still going to be open to you."

"I'll pay you a visit sometime - but, uh, as a friend," Riku agreed hastily.

"Friends who kiss?"

"As long as...no one else was looking - sure?" Riku flushed.

"You're lucky I know you're from another dimension; any other girl like me who heard that from a guy would think you were ashamed to be seen in public with filthy teyrsei scum," Erin said, casual and amused, despite the actual subject matter.

"Hey, I still don't even know what a teyrsei is!" Riku protested.

Erin laughed again, leaning over and putting her head on his shoulder. She slipped her arm through his, hugging herself to his body. "And that's why I'm not getting all offended and punchy with you about it. I know I'm your friend - not your dirty little secret."

"Great...I'm glad. You have a mean punch."

"That'd be because I'm teyrsei."

"Alright, are you going to be cryptic, or actually tell me? Is it a nation, or - like a race - or is it something to do with your eyes all being the same color?"

Erin shook her head, nuzzling it into his arm in the process. "Not here - not today. Come by my world for that visit, and you'll learn more about it, okay? I'll explain it all to you, if you really want to know."

"It doesn't really matter to me either way," Riku said. "I don't care who or what you are, or anything like that. All I care about is...that you're you. And that I- like you."

"I like you, too. You're a good guy, Riku. Don't ever doubt that, please..."

"Sure..."

"You're doing it right now, aren't you."

"No..."

Silence.

Riku sighed. "Maybe."

Erin let him go with a sigh, sitting up straight again. "It's alright. I suppose we've both got some things we need to work on, don't we?"

"I guess," Riku agreed, muttering.

"Hey - remember what I said. Don't just sit around moping: get out there and do something about it."

"Yeah...sure..."

"I mean it!"

"I know! Fine - I'll...figure something out. Happy?"

"Yes," came her reply, entirely serious - and he heard the truth of the smile in that one word. "Thank you, Riku...for being such a great friend. For bringing me back like this - saving me. For sheltering me. I'm never going to forget it."

"Neither will I..." Riku murmured, flushing.

He felt her fist smack into his arm. "Okay, you...! I get the hint. I'll just enjoy the sunset."

"You do that," Riku said, a grin coming to his face.

She deserves it.

After hours in his room, after the night came and fell...

Riku sighed, swinging his legs off his bed and sitting up.

He placed a hand over his chest, breathing. Feeling...

He screwed up his non-working eyes against the darkness, gritting his teeth.

Erin was gone now - back to her world. Back where she belonged. To begin a personal journey - her own war, fought against the world around her, and...maybe fought within herself.

He heard her voice in his head, coming back to him...

"Don't just sit around moping: get out there and do something about it."

Riku took those words into his Heart like a mantra, rising to his feet. He drew a breath, stretched his arm out, and reached for the darkness in his own Heart.

He conjured a swirling dark portal in the middle of his own room.

He let his arm fall, clenching it into a fist at his side.

He just couldn't stay here anymore. Sitting around, doing nothing...

He had a journey to take, too.

One he'd begun months ago, with the help of Sora, and Kairi, and Terra. One he'd left unfinished, since coming back home to sit around on his butt like this.

The road he was going to walk might stretch on without end...but he'd keep walking it, even if he never found that end.

Like Terra had said: it might take the rest of his life to ever find atonement...to make up for it all. It wasn't just something you went out and did over a weekend and called it good - not for what Riku had done in this World. What he'd helped Maleficent do to them...

I guess I'd better get started, then. Sorry mom - dad - Sora...Terra. If I could still write, I'd actually be smart and leave a note for you guys, believe it or not - tell you not to freak out, or worry...explain why I have to do this. Haha...too bad. Just another stupid choice in a long line of them. Typical me...

Riku walked into the portal without another moment's hesitation.

He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do (and he wasn't even confident in his abilities to navigate these worlds, all on his own, even with magical extra senses), but...

He just knew he had to do it.