Finding DiZ and Mickey was easier than Yuki thought it should have been. Riku seemed to know where they were going. And she let him lead. Her head was throbbing, the pain increasing as they went farther and farther up the castle. There was a strange sound in the air, almost like a scream. But Yuki seemed to be the only one who could hear it. At least no one else was stumbling as they ran.

"Your Majesty!" Sora yelled, much too loudly. Mickey and DiZ both turned to look at them. DiZ looked sadly at the group.

"Sora, the rest is up to you," DiZ said. "And Roxas-- I doubt you can hear me-- but, I am sorry." He turned away again, holding tightly to the machine that was creating the beam they had noticed earlier.

"Ansem!" Mickey said, reaching out towards his old friend.

"My heart is telling me what I must do. Please allow me to do what it says!" DiZ said, not bothering to look at Mickey.

"No!" Mickey said. Yuki flinched back from the noise as Riku grabbed onto Mickey's arm. "Riku!"

"His hearts decided. We can't change that," Riku said simply. He looked at DiZ calmly. Yuki wasn't sure what everyone was waiting for, but she knew it wasn't good. Y rocked on her feet nervously, X beside her, watching her carefully.

The sound of a dark corridor opening made Yuki lookup. Floating above them was Xemnas. He looked down on them coldly, his eyes finding DiZ and narrowing as a smirk formed across his face.

"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts. And look-- here you all are. How convenient for me. Ansem the Wise. You look pathetic," Xemnas said.

"Have your laugh. I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are," DiZ said, glaring up at Xemnas. Hate was radiating off of him, Yuki didn't even have to try to see it. 

"Students do take after their teachers. Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you. You are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared," Xemnas said. X and Y both exchanged a look. Yuki wasn't sure why though. Was there something they knew?

"I admit, my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one," DiZ said looking back down and away from Xemnas. "But what were you seeking? You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten. Is this the answer you've been looking for?" DiZ looked back at Xemnas, waiting for an answer.

"All that and more," Xemnas answered. "I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and I'm creating a brand new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed, by jealousy you feel toward the student who surpassed you."

At this point, Yuki was certain Xemnas was just rambling. The screaming sound had gotten louder and she could hardly hear anything else over it. Whatever Xemnas was talking about, recreating a world. It was nonsense. What he had right now, it wouldn't work.

"Xehanort. Foolish apprentice of a foolish man. You have surpassed nothing-- only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant--as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world you try to create -Any world of yours - would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!" DiZ said. Electricity surged through the device he was holding onto. He turned away from Xemnas, who seemed to make his exit. "We've said enough! Riku, you know what to do! King Mickey, my friend, forgive me! Farewell!"

The device then exploded. Yuki cringed back as the sound reached. Y started forward but was pulled back by X quickly. The entire group was pushed back from the force of the explosion, falling to the ground. It took a moment for them to get to their feet again. When they did the sky was filled with falling hearts from the moon. The screaming had stopped now. replaced instead with a soft cry.

"Riku?"

Yuki turned at the sound of Sora's voice. Her eyes widened as Riku pushed himself to his feet.

"Riku!"

"Wow!" Donald and Goofy said.

"Riku!" Kairi said happily.

"Oh," Yuki said. 

Riku didn't look like Ansem anymore. He looked like him. His silver hair was still long and looked like he could use a haircut. He still wore the organization's cloak, and around his eyes was a black blindfold. Yuki distinctly remembered the few times she had met him as a member of Organization XIV. He looked the same as all those times.

"Ansem did say 'anything could happen'," Mickey said. He seemed to be in just as much a state of disbelief as everyone else was.

"Riku, you gonna take that off?" Sora asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Oh," Riku said. He slowly reached up and pulled at the blindfold. It easily came off, showing his bright aquamarine eyes. Though with how long his bangs were, he might as well have kept the blindfold on.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

"His eyes couldn't lie," Mickey said simply.

"Lie? And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhh?" Sora asked as he leaned forward, hands on his hips. He was pouting slightly as he waited for Riku to answer. Riku looked away from Sora.

"Myself," Riku said.

"Riku," Sora said slumping. "C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?" Sora ran over to Yuki and Kairi, putting an arm around either's shoulders. "You got friends like us!"

Riku looked between the three of them. Yuki smiled softly looking to the other two when she met Riku's eyes. He smiled softly after a moment.

"Have you forgotten? I'll tell you why. 'Cause I'm not a total sap like you," Riku said, smirking.

"Say that again!" Sora said, jumping at him as if they were going to start one of their sparring matches. Yuki chuckled but stopped. There was something coming. She could hear the chattering of lower Heartless.

"Uhhh-oh!" Donald said.

Over the wall of castle, they could see a mass of shadows. It looked like hearts that had been freed were returning to the form of Heartless. So many it looked like the castle was overflowing with them.

"That's a lot of Heartless," Y said nervously.

"They're angry. And scared," Yuki said without much of a thought. None of the chattering voices knew what was going on. But they could hear the cry too, and it was making them angry. They were repeating the same thing, over and over. She shouldn't cry. She shouldn't cry.

"What should we do, Riku?" Sora asked.

"We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor," Riku said.

"Right!" Sora said with a nod.

"C'mon!" Riku said taking off the organization cloak and throwing it to the side. Underneath his cloak, he wore blue pants and a black zip-up vest. Over top, he wore another vest this one white and yellow.

They made their way farther into the castle heading toward the top. The only place any of them could figure Xemnas would be. They didn't get very much farther when another problem arose.

"Guys!" Kairi said, pointing toward a window. Heartless were literally pouring in through the window. Yuki took that as a sign the Heartless were growing in number still. They all were still crying the same thing. Whatever it meant, it unnerved Yuki.

"There's going to be no end to this," Riku said, tensing as he looked around for an escape plan.

"Together we can stop 'em!" Sora said.

Green flames erupted in between them and the Heartless. A woman clad in black and a humanoid cat stood in front of them. The woman's arms were outspread as if she was protecting them. Yuki vaguely remembered her from Radiant Gardens during the battle there.

"Be gone from here! Leave these creatures to us!" the woman snapped.

"But there's no way we can take them all," the humanoid cat thing said. He was practically shaking.

"I will be sending them after Xemnas. Or, perhaps, you would rather fight them yourself?" the woman asked snidely. The cat considered her offer for a moment.

"Frankly my dear, I'd rather run!" the cat said.

"Off with you then!" the woman snapped. The cat began backing away until his eyes met with the King.

"Well, if it ain't the boat-boy King," the cat said.

"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete!" Mickey said.

"What, like 'abandon ship'? I don't think so!" the cat said, getting offended. Yuki didn't understand why, as he was just about to run away.

"Sora! 'Your Majesty'! Do not forget-- when I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!" the woman said, glaring over her shoulder at the group. Darkness seeped off of her. Yuki supposed she should have expected as much.

"Now lookie here. Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know," the cat said as he rejoined the woman. "Bring 'em on!"

Yuki glanced over to X and Y. Meeting their eyes she knew they thought the same thing. No matter who these two were, they were hopeless on their own. Y was the first to move holding up her hand. X snapped and Yuki looked up, whistling a short series of notes.

Vortexes opened behind them, their own Heartless stepping through. Phoenix landed behind Yuki, nuzzling Yuki with its beak. Yuki glanced over at the other two, she had never seen them with their Heartless.

Y was stroking the beak of a strange creature. It had the front half of an eagle with golden feathers. The back half was a lion. Y smiled catching Yuki's eyes and giving the Heartless one last pat. X, on the other hand, was hardly acknowledging the giant two-tailed cat that wrapped around him. Its black fur moved like smoke and bright yellow eyes glared at the woman.

"This should give you some help," Yuki said, motioning Phoenix forward. The firey bird flew over her and hovered by the woman.

"Griffin can take out at least half of them," Y said proudly. The Heartless in question puffed out its chest and joined Phoenix by the woman, its large golden wings flapping in warning.

"Providing Nekomata doesn't turn on you, he'll pull his weight. But, you've got a fifty-fifty chance," X said. The cat hissed, not moving from behind X.

"Phoenix can watch him. Let's go," Yuki said turning back to the group.

"We gotta hurry," Mickey said.

"But," Sora began.

"They're doing what their hearts command. We can't interfere anymore," Mickey said. Sora nodded and gave one last look at the group. They had already started trying to reign in the other Heartless. Nekomata seemed to get bored of that easily and was already just killing the smaller ones.

Yuki wasn't sure how long it took, but soon enough they reached the top of the castle, where Xemnas stood looking up at the crying moon.

"Ohh, my Kingdom Hearts, ruined. Now I'll have to start all over again. Warriors of the keyblade!" He turned to face them, his face remaining as impassive as always. "Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"

"No!" The entire group shouted at once. Those with keyblades drew them and pointed them toward Xemnas. He took a moment to survey them, his eyes looking over every keyblade in front of him. Though X, Donald, and, Goofy had no keyblades, they still were pointing their weapons towards him.

"Denizens of the light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?" Xemnas asked.

"We don't," Yuki said simply.

"It's just kinda scary. But the world's made of light and darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes ya wonder why we are scared of the dark," Mickey said, looking at the others around him.

"It's because of who's lurking inside it," Riku said firmly.

"And who misuses his power," X added calmly.

"Then allow me another question. You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark--never given a choice?" Xemnas asked. Yuki frowned. She herself wondered what their answer would be.

"That's simple. It's because you mess up our worlds," Riku answered. Yuki smirked slightly. That was fair.

"That may be," Xemnas admitted. "However, what other choice might we have had?" 

"Just give it a rest! You're Nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not sad about anything!" Sora said angrily. Yuki flinched from his words. She could see X and Y give a similar reaction. Sora wasn't wrong, but so many Nobodies had seemed so human to her. Xemnas chuckled.

"Very good. You don't miss a thing. I cannot feel--sorrow," Xemnas said, looking at Sora. "No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist."

"That has nothing to do with you being a Nobody. That's all you, Xehanort," Y said acidly.

Xemnas smirked again, throwing his arms up. Energy surrounded them, and in the blink of an eye, Sora and Xemnas both vanished.

"You have got to be kidding me," X said in exasperation.

"Why is it always Sora?" Yuki asked.

"Sora! Where are you?" Kairi yelled.

"Sora, answer me!" Riku yelled.

Sora fell in the center of the group. Yuki looked up in confusion her eyes widening at what she saw.

"You're ok!" Mickey said.

"Where's Xemnas?" Sora asked. Yuki pointed toward the moon, where her eyes had locked on Xemnas.

"That's not good," Yuki said, looking Xemnas in fear. He was too close to the moon. It wouldn't end well for them if he received its power.

"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts! It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us," Xemnas said, speaking to the moon. the crying sound stopped.

"Xemnas! No!" Mickey yelled.

"Hearts quivering with hatred," Xemnas went on.

"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora yelled.

"Hearts burning with rage..."

"You'll never win!" Donald yelled.

"She won't be used for this!" Yuki shouted.

"Hearts scarred by envy," Xemnas said. "That fool Ansem said the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!"

If you think you are so wise.

The smooth voice filled the air, followed by the moon glowing so brightly they were momentarily blinded. When they could again see, Xemnas was gone.

"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora yelled, his fist clenched as he looked up at the moon.

"We're not gonna let him get away now!" Mickey said, looking around for some way to chase after Xemnas.

"Look at that!" Kairi said, pointing at a door in the center of the platform.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy asked.

"Kingdom Hearts," Yuki muttered.

"Let's go. Xemnas must be inside," Riku said.

"The worlds gave us this doorway. They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!" Mickey said excitedly.

"I wouldn't say the worlds," X muttered. Yuki barely caught the sound, and it seemed she was the only one who had. 

"Once we go through, there's no turning back. It's victory or oblivion. So, Sora are you ready? Do you remember before? We stood facing each other on opposite sides of that door. Now we stand side-by-side. Let's go home together this time," Riku said looking at Sora. Sora nodded as he stepped toward the door.

Beyond this door is the beginning of the end of your journey. Are you prepared for what lies ahead?

"Let's end this!" Sora said.

Sora, Yuki, Riku, Mickey, and Y touched their keyblades together. A beam of light formed where they touched and shot at the door, easily unlocking it.

"Get ready Xemnas! It all ends here!" Sora shouted.

They all stepped through the door to find what was almost another world. Xemnas was again above them, looking down at them coldly.

"So, it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration. Perhaps it doesn't pay to be loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that," Xemnas said. He raised his hand and threw an entire building at them. Yuki rolled forward to avoid being hit. When she stood she saw it was only her, Riku, and Sora who had managed to stay on this side.

"No!" Riku yelled reaching back for the others.

"We can take him on our own!" Sora said firmly. Yuki nodded reading her own keys.

Sora led the charge through the city. It was much like the city beneath the castle, save for the dragon Nobody circling around a fortress at the far end. They had to jump over numerous falling buildings and cut through a few that seemed to just pop out of the ground. They jumped onto the fortress, which was some kind of machine. Sora had given them the order to attack the core and get the ship down instead of in the sky. 

Yuki wasn't sure when Sora had gotten so good at strategizing but she wasn't going to question him. After exploding the two cylinders below they went to the main energy core and destroyed that.

Their final battle was on the top of the fortress. They were faced with who Yuki could only assume was Xemnas in full armor sitting on a thrown. Yuki thought it fortunate Xemnas never rose from his throne. It was easier to pound on him. But he had no trouble causing damage to them, using his sword to throw them across the arena. And somehow he could use the abilities of every member of the Organization before. Yuki felt herself fill with anger as she blocked a hit from Axel's chakrams.

"Sora!" Yuki yelled. He ran towards her, hearing her call. Yuki slipped her keys under his feet and launched him straight toward the armor. His keyblade found what would be his heart, and the armor let out a cry.

In a bright light, they were back to the top of the castle, the others looking confused at their sudden appearance. Xemnas stumbled to his knees in front of them. His hand resting over what would be his heart. But Yuki was sure he really didn't have one.

"I need, more rage. I need more, hearts," Xemnas muttered. He was gasping for breath.

"Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate. It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?" Sora asked stepping forward. Xemnas looked at him over his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, I don't," he said as he faded away.

"Gosh, you all did great!" Mickey said brightly. Sora nodded and turned to Riku and Yuki.

"You're both coming back with us, right?" Sora asked.

"I had given in to the darkness," Riku said, looking away from Sora.

"Riku!" Sora said.

"How am I gonna face everyone?" he asked.

"Like this," Sora said. He squished his face together, making Riku laugh. He nodded in agreement before looking at Yuki. She turned away, rubbing her shoulder nervously. She tried not to look at her left hand, but she had to.

"I dunno. I'm not sure I'd really fit in, ya know?" she said, with a shrug. A lot had changed since her last time home. Everything had changed.

"C'mon!" Sora pleaded.

"Of course you'd fit in," Kairi said. Yuki shrugged again. X and Y tapped her other shoulder. Yuki slowly looked at them.

"Go home," X said.

"You still have them, so don't let them go," Y said. Yuki nodded slowly. Y's eyes looked like they were filled with tears.

"I guess, I can try," she said.

Smiles spread across her friend's faces, but the moment was interrupted by the entire castle shaking.

"Hurry!" Mickey said.

"I'll open a path!" Riku said. He held out his hand, but to no avail.

"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku," Mickey said. Riku nodded as he looked at his hand.

"How do we get out of here, Your Majesty?" Donald asked. Before any of the Heartless could move a dark corridor opened up. Yuki gasped, seeing Naminé standing at the edge of the portal.

"Who did this?" Donald asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. But we'd better hurry and get through," Mickey said. Yuki supposed they couldn't see what was only the shadow of Naminé that remained. A dog ran in and barked, running around the group before running into the portal.

"Wait for me!" Goofy said. He went through the dark corridor, followed by Mickey. Donald turned to the others.

"C'mon!" he said before he too went through. When he was gone Naminé reappeared, her hands clasped in front of her.

"Thank you, Naminé," Kairi said, stepping forward.

"Sure," Naminé said with a smile. She paused for a moment and looked at Sora. "See? We meet again, like we promised."

"Huh?" Sora asked in confusion.

"You said we'd meet again, but when we did, we might not recognize each other," a familiar voice said. Yuki held back a gasp as Roxas appeared. He was a blurry image like he wasn't really there. Yuki felt tears well up in her eyes. His heart was separating from Sora, for just a moment. 

"I did, didn't I?" Naminé said with a chuckle.

"But I knew you," Roxas said.

"Mmm, it's strange," Naminé said looking down at the ground.

"I think I understand. I see myself the way you remember me. And you see yourself the way I remember you," Roxas said.

"I always thought Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness," Naminé said. She looked up again with a shy smile. Her hands moved, fingers lacing together and then unlacing. It was the way her hands always moved when she was nervous.

"Yeah, but you and I didn't. We got to meet our original selves," Roxas said.

"So we can be together again!" Naminé said happily. Roxas nodded and walked to her side, turning to face Sora.

"Right. Anytime Sora and Kairi are together," he said.

"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora?" Kairi said, looking at Sora expectantly.

"Uh, yeah!" Sora said. He was still clearly in shock about the whole situation. Kairi took Naminé's hand, the two of them glowed brightly for a second, and then only Kairi remained.

"Keep an eye on her, ok?" Roxas asked, glancing at Yuki. He looked back at Sora with a crooked grin. "Just until I get back."

"Yeah," Sora agreed.

"Sorry guys," Roxas said, glancing at the Heartless trio.

"I'm holding you to that coming back thing," Y said. Roxas chuckled and nodded.

"Gonna be awful quiet without you and the other loudmouth," X said putting his hand on his hip.

"Oh, thanks," Roxas said sarcastically. His eyes met with Yuki's. All she could do was force herself to smile.

"We'll see you later," Yuki said softly.

"Yeah, see ya," he agreed. For a moment it looked like he was going to say something else. But he turned away and looked at Sora. He closed his eyes and vanished, returning to Sora. Sora looked down at himself worriedly.

"Don't worry. You're all still you," Riku said.

"Hey, let's go home!" Kairi said. She stood by the portal with Yuki and the twins.

"Riku, c'mon," Sora said.

"Yeah," Riku agreed.

Yuki and the twins went through the corridor. They ended up on Destiny Islands. The familiar beach sounds put Yuki's heart at ease. Her ears were ringing, now that they were away from the noise in that world. The absence of noise was nearly as unsettling as the noise itself had been.

Yuki turned to see Kairi fall through the corridor and the corridor close. Riku and Sora were nowhere in sight.

"Kairi! What happened? Are you ok?" Yuki asked as she knelt beside Kairi.

"The portal closed! And Sora and Riku were still there!" Kairi said fearfully.

"What do we do then?" X asked. It was unnerving to hear the normally calm one sound so panicked.

"We're just gonna have to wait it out. We can't go back," Mickey said.

"You can't," Yuki snapped. She stood preparing to open another dark corridor.

"Yuki, we don't even know if they're still there," Y said, resting a hand on Yuki's arm.

"It's a waiting game now. So let's believe in them," X said, his arms crossed. He sounded calm enough, but Yuki could see the worry in his eyes. They were slowly fading back to purple, the yellow receeding to the center.

"Someone has to lead them back to the realm of light," Y said.

"Ok, so now we wait," Yuki said with a heavy sigh.