Sora led the way to where Kairi was, running as quickly as he could. As they met the group Y broke away from Riku and Kairi. She ran up to X, hugging him tightly which seemed to surprise Sora, but he pushed it out of his mind quickly.

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald said.

"Oh?" Kairi said. She flipped her hair over her shoulder looking away bashfully. Sora walked up to Kairi, a look of disbelief on his face. Yuki sighed, pacing over to where Riku was standing.

"You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!" Sora said happily.

"You and Riku never came home, so I came looking for you," Kairi said. Sora looked away from her.

"I'm sorry," Sora said.

Kairi rushed up to him and hugged him tightly. "This is real," she whispered in his shoulder. Sora was tense for a moment, but then hugged her in return. 

Riku opened a dark corridor and went to go through it. Yuki caught hold of his wrist just as Sora called out to him.

"Wait, Ansem! I mean, Xehanort's Heartless," Sora said. Riku stopped, glancing at Yuki then to Sora. "I never thought for a second that I'd ever see you again. Just thinking about all the things you did make me really mad. But, but you saved Kairi, right? I have to be grateful for that. Thanks."

Riku gave a nod and turned back to the dark corridor. Yuki tightened her grip on his wrist.

"Riku, don't go!" Kairi said, taking a step toward him.

"Huh?" Donald and Goofy asked. X frowned looking aver at Y who shrugged.

"Kairi, what did you just say?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Riku," Kairi repeated.

"I'm no one-- just a castaway from the darkness," Riku said, he struggled to pull free from Yuki's grip, but she didn't let go. She narrowed her eyes at Riku in a glare.

"Sora, come here," Yuki said calmly. She held her hand out to Sora but didn't look toward him.

"Say something to him," Kairi said.

Sora slowly walked over to Yuki, putting his hand in hers. She placed his hand on Rikus and held them together. She held out her other hand to Kairi, taking her hand and connecting their hands.

"Close your eyes. You'll see it," Yuki said calmly. She didn't know how she knew this would work. But she decided following her instincts would be the best bet. Heartless were said to have good instincts about the world. Sora closed his eyes and gasped.

"Riku. It's Riku. Riku's here," Sora said. He fell to his knees, eyes filling with tears as they opened and he looked up at Riku. "I looked for you!"

"C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together," Riku said. He didn't try to pull his hand from Soras as Yuki and Kairi both stepped back.

"I looked everywhere for you!" Sora said.

"I didn't want you to find me," Riku said simply.

"But it was him that was helpin' us, wasn't it?" Goofy asked.

"Huh?" Donald asked in confusion.

"Those clues we kept finding. That musta been Riku," Goofy explained.

"I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on. Sora never did pick the brightest friends," Riku said with a chuckle. Yuki blinked in confusion. Was Riku insulting himself as Sora's best friend?

"What do you mean by that!?" Donald asked.

"I take offense to that," X said from where he stood beside Y. Yuki was glad the two of them were remaining as silent as they were. X usually would have said something sarcastic by now.

"Why didn't you let me know you were ok?" Sora asked.

"I told you. I didn't want to be found. Not like this," Riku said looking down at himself. "I couldn't. I fought Ansem. With Xehanort's Heartless-- when it invaded my heart, and I won. But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself." As he explained Sora got his feet again.

"Does that mean, you can't change back?" Kairi asked.

"This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness," Riku said.

"Then, let's finish it. You're still Riku, no matter what!" Sora said firmly. They all looked at each other nodded. They weren't going to let things stay as they were. Kairi let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Yuki asked.

"This is the first time we've all been together since the islands," Kairi said. Yuki took in a sharp breath looking at the other two. This really was their first true reunion. And somehow, it didn't feel as heavy as she thought it would. It felt, normal.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Sora said with his own chuckle.

"Well, let's finish this so it's not the last time," Yuki said. Sora nodded and turned to Donald and Goofy.

"So how 'bout it: Think we can handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting!" he said.

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Donald said as Goofy nodded. 

Yuki turned to X and Y. Y was leaning on X's shoulder. Yuki was surprised to see X's eyes still glowing yellow.

"We're still three strong," Yuki said. She watched Y's face fall as she realized what that meant. "You two willing to finish this with me?" she asked.

"Wherever you lead, Your Majesty," X said, bowing forward with a smirk. Y rolled her eyes and playfully shoved him. 

"We're with you," she said.

Riku took the lead this time. Leading them through the castle they found themselves in a room that looked filled with tombstones. Most were broken. Save two, that were marked with familiar symbols. Weapons Yuki had seen before. As she approached one of the broken ones, she felt tears well up in her eyes. The Flurry of the Dancing Flames. Axel.

"One for each member?" Yuki asked, looking over to the others as she wiped away her tears.

"Looks like. Three left," X said looking at another tombstone not far away.

"Ten, seven, and one," Y listed off.

"Where do we go first?" Sora asked. He was still at the foot of the room, near the lowest numbers.

"How did they pick numbers?" Kairi asked nervously.

"If it's anything like Organization XIV, they just base it off when they join. Saix was the second in command, right?" Yuki asked looking to X and Y. X nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Luxord is probably our best first bet," Y said as she stood near the tombstone that wasn't broken.

"We could try splitting into two groups. Take two out at once, saves us time. Which we don't have much of," X said. He was over by the other unbroken tombstone. 

"X has a point," Riku said. Yuki nodded in agreement.

"Me, Y, Riku, and Kairi can go after Luxord," Yuki said. "That leaves Sora and his usual crew to take out Saix."

"Are you sure?" Sora asked nervously.

"Don't worry, we can all handle ourselves," Yuki said. "Right Riku?"

"Yeah, she's right. We don't have the time to stay together. And with a group this large we're more likely to get in each other's way than anything else," Riku agreed. Sora nodded slowly. Kairi reached out to him and gently placed a hand on his arm.

"We'll meet up after, ok?" she said. Sora nodded.

"Right, be safe you guys," he said. Yuki smiled and nodded.

*<3*

Luxord's hideout was open to the sky, showing a beam that was connecting to the moon above them.

"What's that?" Kairi asked, her head tilting to the side as she stepped forward. Her hands were close to her chest.

"It's the King and DiZ-- I mean, Ansem the Wise. They must be higher up. We better hurry," Riku said. Yuki frowned. That's who DiZ really was. Explained a lot.

 The group nodded in agreement. They didn't get very far into the room when Luxord appeared between Yuki and the rest of the group. She jumped back in shock. Luxord snapped his fingers and a wall of cards surrounded the other three. They spun around them and when the slipped away in a line, they were gone.

"I'd rather we just skip the formalities. The first to run out of time is the loser," Luxord said as Yuki narrowed her eyes into a glare. She wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she wasn't going to take too long thinking on it if time was the object.

Yuki shot forward with her keys. Luxord used his cards as a shield, blocking her easily. She threw herself over the cards and brought her keys down on Luxord throwing him back. He smirked before surrounding himself in the cards. As the cards dispersed.

"Come on," Yuki groaned looking at all the cards. She slashed at a group of them, knocking Luxord out of one of them.

The battle became much of the same. A few times Yuki herself was turned into a card or a die occasionally.

"You play the game quite well," Luxord said, panting as he stood. Yuki shrugged and cut him down again.

"Aryum taught me a few tricks," Yuki said looking over her shoulder as Luxord faded. He seemed to chuckle.

"Course she did," he muttered. Yuki watched as he faded, her chest feeling tight. She looked up to the sky as the others returned from being trapped inside the cards. She closed her eyes, sending out a silent thought. Let him have peace.

"You ok?" Kairi asked, putting a hand on Yuki's shoulder.

"Yeah," Yuki said, looking back down with a smile. "Let's go meet up with the others. They can't be taking much longer than us."

"Update, I do not like being stuck in a card," Y announced. Yuki chuckled a little and patted her shoulder.

"No one does."

*<3*

They entered the room to see a wall of windows with a clear view of the moon. A beam of light was connecting to it from somewhere else in the castle. Whatever it was, X assumed it wasn't really a problem for them. Anything that stopped her.

Saix stood in front of the window. He turned to face them slowly. His face remained impassive as he looked over the small group. At least smaller than he had expected.

"Only you could have made it this far in one piece, Roxas," Saix said. He held out his hand, summoning his claymore to him.

"That's getting really old!" Sora snapped. Donald, Goofy, and X all stepped in front of Sora weapons raised and ready.

"Yeah!" Donald agreed.

"He's Sora," X stated firmly. Saix narrowed his eyes as the claymore behind him.

"Different name, same fate," he said. He swung his claymore forward, pushing them back just from the sheer force. They planted their feet and glared at Saix, preparing for a battle. "Do you feel it, the moon's power? Moon, shine down!"

The fight was chaos from the beginning. Saix seemed untouchable in his rage. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were thrown about the area, landing with loud thumps against the walls and floor. X was narrowly missing the same fate, the spikes across Saix's blade catching his arms and legs and even a few places on his face. He could feel the blood trickling down his face.

X glanced over and saw Sora stumbling to his feet, their eyes meeting. Donald and Goofy were unconscious and would be for the time until X could get around to healing them. X glanced at Saix and gave a heavy sigh. Might as well distract him.

X darted at Saix easily knocked aside by the claymore. He landed on the ground with a hard thud, his daggers falling out of his hands. He rolled himself onto his back, trying to make the best decision of where to move. He was met with the sight of Saix bringing his claymore down on him much to quick to move.

X put up his hands without thinking, his eyes closing as he braced for impact. He couldn't catch it, there was no way. 

The clang of metal on metal echoed as X felt his arms nearly give out from the force suddenly placed on them. X opened his eyes and felt the color drain from his face.

In his hands was a dark keyblade, a swirling handle made mostly from a cool black metal. The teeth of the key looked like a crescent moon with three spikes in the center. A red gem was in the center of the teeth.

Saix looked as surprised as X, staring at the key in his hands.

Saix suddenly stumbled back, beginning to fade away. Sora stood beside him, eyes wide as he looked down at X. X flicked his wrist banishing the keyblade and retrieving his daggers. His hand shook as he picked up the familiar weapons, dropping them a few times before he managed to succeed.

"A heart, if I had a heart," Saix said, drawing X's attention. He dropped his claymore and looked up at the moon. "Why, Kingdom Hearts? Where is my heart?"

X snorted as he watched Saix fade away. He put his faith in the wrong place.

*<3*

The entire group met again after their battles. Sora's group looked worse for the wear, even X staring blankly past everyone. Sora was at the head of his group arms crossed in annoyance.

"I don't get it. Why's everybody been calling me Roxas? Even Yuki's done it!" Sora complained. Yuki looked away, her face flushing. She had hoped Sora would never ask about that. But it seemed the Nobodies had other plans,

"I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to Roxas," Yuki muttered. Sora looked at her in question.

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Because, Sora. Roxas is your Nobody," Riku said.

A silence fell in the group. Yuki couldn't bring herself to look anywhere but the floor. 

"My, Nobody? But that's crazy, I never turned into a Heart-" Sora trailed off, seeming to remember something. He looked down. "Oh, right."

"It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi said softly. Sora nodded.

"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas. He could use the keyblade because he was your Nobody. That's why Xemnas brought him into the Organization-- But Roxas betrayed them. After that, I fought him because I thought it would help you wake up. I lost, but the next time we met I made sure I was the stronger one. Maybe I didn't need to fight him after all. I think he left the Organization because, he really wanted to meet you," Riku explained. Yuki took a deep breath and stepped forward. Her feet felt like lead, and she wasn't she'd even be able to say what she wanted to.

"He did," she said softly. Sora turned and looked at her.

"Yuki," he said.

"It wasn't the only reason. But it was one of them," Yuki explained. She looked up slowly, meeting Sora's eyes. As always she was reminded of Roxas. "We started talking about you, the closer it got to the end."

"You, you knew him?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. He was one of my best friends," Yuki admitted. Y stepped forward and placed a hand on Yuki's arm softly.

"One of our best friends," she corrected.

"Roxas he was, he was the first one we lost. And the first one we made friends with," Yuki explained. It was hard to breathe suddenly. She wasn't sure how much longer she could talk about it.

"That's why you've had such a hard time being near me," Sora said. Yuki smiled softly.

"So you noticed," she said softly. "Yeah, I know you're not him, but, maybe that's why it was so hard at first."

"I wish I could have met him, too," Sora said. Yuki chuckled and tapped Sora's chest where his heart would be. Sora looked at her in silent shock before she turned away. Y stayed beside her, giving her a quick hug.

"All right. Let's go," Riku announced.

They didn't have much more time.