Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ringing. Something was ringing, and Sora groaned sitting up, shaking his head dust flying off. Why were his ears still ringing? He looked around him and there were pieces of ship laying all around him.

“Donald? Goofy?” He asked to the open air but no one answered. His bones creaked at he stood up and looked around. Okay. Normal looking enough it seemed to be some kind of rundown town of some sort. But.. what had happened before?

Right. They had just finished up with Herc getting Sora back into fighting shape. Sora worked his shoulders trying to get the soreness out of them and sighed. Guess he would have to take a look around.

Everything was covered in vines and moss. There was a building of some kind with the glint of metal at the top which was weird. And Sora tried to get a better look at it when a shot went off, and something behind Sora made a sound before a large THUMP hit the earth. A little afraid to see what it was, he turned and saw, a body. Like, and actual body. On the ground. Bleeding and possibly dead. How many arms did it have anyway? This was NOTHING like the other worlds, not at bright or cheery almost as though….wait, what was that high pitched noise coming from?

Someone shouted and grabbed him, pushing him out of the way of some kind of pod that was barreling from the sky. Sora grunted and the person next to them was panting a bit. He looked up to thank whoever saved him but seeing a faceless helmet threw him for a bit of a loop.

“Stay behind me.” And they grabbed a gun from their holster and started shooting, bullets pierced the enemies and there was a CLICKcLacK of a reload. Sora peaked around the solider to see who exactly was attack them. It was a PLATOON of these large creatures done up in full armor and Sora wasn’t even sure if there were places that bullets could touch. But the worst of it all was that among these large rhino-aliens were heartless and Nobody’s. The bullets just flying through them and doing nothing.

The solider stood still for a moment muttering something and doing a twisting motion with their finger, and. much like sora’s magic can,FIRE APPEARED before being directed at the path of the enemies before the two of them and everything nearby burst into flames. Sora gagged at his intake of breath at the smell of burning flesh He didn’t have time to check and see if the heartless and the Nobody’s were taken care of before he was spewing his guts onto the ground below him.

A hand started rubbing his back. A welcome feeling as he gagged and retched.

"I’m sorry, I should have thought about how that spell could make a civilian react. And that particular spell works best against those shadows. What camp are you from?”

Sora coughed and wiped the spit from the back of his hand.

“I’m not- from a camp. My name is Sora, uh… my ship kinda crashed here.”

The solider looked around at the various bits of his gummy ship. “I can see that. Come on, I can take you somewhere much more comfortable for a debrief.”

The ship they traveled in was small, but Sora didn’t mind that much. He looked around and something materialized next to the solider.

“You’re human, right?” It, he? Asked the segments making it up moving around, extending from the center and circling around. Almost like a rubrics cube but pointer and not as nearly as connected.

“Yeah?”

“Just wondering. Human civilians normally don’t have ships. Especially alone.”

“I had friends with me.” Sora defended, “We got separated.”

“Oh.” The little robot responded, his pieces comes back together and he looked down and a little away, his glowing eye dimming a bit, “I’m sorry. We’ll try to look for them.”

Sora,despite not really feeling like smiling smiled anyway, “Thanks.”

The trip to this ‘tower’ was a lot shorter than Sora expected, and the view was amazing. On the very top of it seemed to be a bunch of people walking around and something of them had their very own floating rubics cubes!

“Get ready for a warp kid.” The solider stated, pressing some buttons on the console. “Have you warped before?”

Sora shook his head, “I uh, just tend to land the ship. Before uh, doing anything else.”

“Okay. You’re gonna wanna hold onto me then. Placing ship on auto, warping in three, two-“ Sora grabbed the Soldiers arm and suddenly everything when white before his feet hit the ground.He totally would have fallen over if the solider hadn’t been holding onto his arm.

“Ok?” The solider asked, this time their voice much higher since it wasn’t being filtered through the helmet. but Sora was very intent on looking at his shoes and trying not to throw up.

“Yeah. I’m good. It just felt like falling and spinning at the same time." 

The solider chuckled. Her shoulders bobbed her pink hair swaying in the slight breeze, “Warping takes some getting used to. Let’s get you something to drink. But first I need to check in with the Vanguard, and we need to stop by Hawthorne to try and find your camp.”

First they stopped by a man watching over the city. He had pale skin like the solider beside him, but he had no hair and a LOT more armor on him.

“Guardian.” He greeted.

“Zavala.” The solider no, Guardian, responded, “More of those shadow creatures are arriving by the day and they don’t seem to have an allegiance with one species over the other.”

Zavala hummed and he pressed his lips together, shifting his feet and looked back up, “Thank you for the report Guardian. I’ll send a fireteam to look more into it.”

“Actually,” Sora inserted as gently as he could, “I know what those creatures are. The small ones, they’re heartless. And the uh, bigger ones are Nobodies.” Both looked at him.

“UH-“ he continued, “Where I come from they’re kinda... everywhere.”

“And where are you from, child?” Zavala asked. Sora straightened. “Destiny Island it’s…offworld. Very far away.”

The woman quirked an eyebrow at him and Sora smiled weakly at her. Zavala didn’t look impressed, “Speak with Ikora then, thank you, Sora, Guardian.” He gave a nod of his head and turned his back on the two, an obvious dismissal.

“Let’s get you that drink before we speak with Ikora."

The tower was large and had many floors, just a couple floor below was a cafeteria area and the solider walked over to a Kiosk and ordered something, the robot behind said Kiosk flickered and handed a drink over. “Thank you for your patronage, Guardian!” And the solider, no, guardian handed Sora the drink.

Sora took it, “Thanks.” He opened it up and took a sip. He looked up at the guardian as they walked back up. The robes she wore looked worn but had some kind of embroidery on them.

“If you want to say anything you might as well say it.” She says lightly, smiling softly, but still looking ahead.

“It’s nothing. Uh… but since I’m from off world I don’t know this world. Where are we?”

To this the guardian looked over at him carefully. “Earth. You’re human aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah. I am.”

“Interesting.”

Sora hums in agreement and busy’s himself with drinking the rest of his drink.

Everyone they pass greets the Guardian and occasionally she nods. They end up in front of another person, bald just like the Zavala guy but she looked more elegant in her stance, hands behind her back and robe fluttering in the breeze.

“Guardian.” She greets with a nod of her head. An odd detail for Sora to pick up on but this lady is also bald. But not pale like the other guy. She looks quite human in fact.

“Ikora.” Guardian greets, “This civilian, Sora, has Intel on the shadows.”

“Does he?” She muses her eyebrows raising, and turning to him, “We could use any information you have to offer us.”

So Sora explained the best he could, about the darkness that took over his Island and was threatening other worlds.

“The heartless are just people...without hearts, and their bodies get turned into something else too. So it's my job to try and make sure the two halves get put back together and to do that I've got to get rid of the darkness trapping them in those forms. That's what the keyblade is for. You guys seem to have it covered, though!” He laughed a bit trying not to remember the smell that their 'way' of handling it had caused.

“What sort of weapon?” Ikora pressed, “Can it be replicated?”

Oh that was going to be a bit of a problem, “Well no…you see it’s more like…inherited.” And he felt for that space in his heart that the keyblade tended to nestle in when it wasn’t in use. Before he knew it he reached for the blade and there it was.

“Amazing…” Ikora murmured, “And this..balde of yours has been created to defeat these heartless?”

“Yeah. Uh, I don't know the history or anything about this but it's made of light and there are different charms or- modifications to the blade you can make. Mine is the uh…baseline?” Man this was super tricky to explain in words he wasn’t used to. This world or…network of worlds was totally out of the realm of his normal, and he was lion cub once! “The blade itself uses light to cut through the darkness."

Ikora and Forah looked very interested. “Light Magic…” Ikora murmured. “Thank you Sora. This information is extremley useful. I'll spread the word to all guardian to avoid using void magic when fighting these 'heartless'.”

That…went a lot easier than expected. Sora sighed and let the key-blade go back into it’s little space in his heart and he looked at the Guardian, who was looking at Ikora, who was now looking through a device of some sort, typing with incentive, back turned on them.

The guardian sighed and motioned for Sora to follow.

“Ikora is a scholar at heart, and has been working tirelessly for days now on trying to defeat those..heartless.” The guardian supplied leading them deeper into the tower.

And they kept walking. As they passed people everyone kept nodding to the guardian and nodding at her, muttering ‘hello guardian’ to which she would nod back and they kept going until they reached an apartment of sorts.

“This is me.” The guardian said and Sora looked around. It wasn’t too big and there was some furniture, a radio of sorts, and a small kitchenette off to the left.

“Cozy.” Sora complimented and the guardian smiled unclipping the robe they were wearing and draped the embellished piece across the back of the chair. Underneath was a simple white undershirt and high-waitsted pants. 

“It’s home. I don’t stay here very much. Most of the time I’m patrolling. I think I might have some food. Runaan, do you remember if I have any eggs?”

“Last I remember” Runaan, the little rubics cube thing apparently, pops into the world, “You have about four left. They should still be good.”

The guardians nods in affirmation and takes out the eggs from the fridge, “Some omelettes should be good right? I think I have some leftover rice too if you’re into that.”

“Omlettes and rice sounds delicious.” Sora assures, “I can help if you want. Got any veggies?”

The Guardian hummed looking in her fridge again, “Looks like I’ve got…a bell pepper and...a carrot? Do those even go together?”

Sora shrugs, “Dunno, willing to find out?”

The guardian laughs again the sound light and airy, like she was unused to it, “Sure, and after we’ve eaten we can go patrol and you can show me how it’s really done against those heartless, Sora.”

Sora starts chopping heartily and he goes to catch the Guardian’s attention by name but he has to stop. He doesn’t know her name. He know’s she’s got pink hair pale skin and everyone around her calls her Guardian. No one ever talked to her by name.

“So…” Sora begins, chopping up the bell pepper, “I’m Sora, you know that…that little guy there is Runaan…. What’s you’re name?”

The guardian, who had been scrambling the eggs stopped. “My name?” She asks, like it was some strange question about the universe.

“Yeah.” Sora, stresses, “You’ve got a name right? Like Runaan? Ikora? Kairi?”

“Oh.” She says shortly, softly a but sad, reaching into a cabinet to get a pan and placed it on the stove before turning the burner on. “Yeah, I have a name. It’s Forah. Forah Calal.” And stubbornly she closed her mouth after that stirring the eggs again. When next she spoke, it was to ask for the bell peppers.

The omelettes were fluffy and the rice with it was pretty good too but Sora was just itching to go out again and try and figure out what exactly was going on with this world. He bounced his knee as first while he ate, and when he was done he started tapping the plate with his fork. How could someone bigger than him eat so much slower?

“You look like you’re gonna vibrate out of your skin there.” Runaan commented his segments floating out and giving a little spin for emphasis.

“Yeah," He admits, leaning back in the chair, "My gummi ship got destroyed and I’m basically stranded on this world until my friends can figure out how to-“ He stopped and panic made his stomach drop out, “Oh my god my FRIENDS, Goofy and Donald weren’t with me in the crash," Sora knocked his chair back and he bee lined for the door, "Oh, this is not good. This is bad I need to-“

Forah stepped in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze, “One step at a time, Sora. We can go patrol and see if we can find your friends, but we need to get you dressed right. A helmet for starters to filter the air.”

He nodded and followed Forah, as she walked into her bedroom. She headed for a corner of the room and it was piled with helmets.

“Which one…” Forah mumbled and started sorting through the various head gear. One had horns on it, the others looked similar in shaped but many were shaded differently.

“This one’s pretty good.” She announced holding up a helmet that was slim not a lot of angles but looked large enough to slip over his head even with all of his unruly hair. Though he wasn’t really fond of the purple metallic sheen. He opened his mouth to accept it, but she paused holding up a hand to stop him and walked over to a drawer. She opened it and rifled through the drawer muttering to herself.

“Ah, here it is.” She grabbed a little chip and she grabbed the helmet turning it to the back and slipping it into a slot he hadn’t noticed before. The purple disappeared and in it’s place a deep red, the visor now lined in gold. “It’s a color mod. I don’t use them very often so I thought I’d help it match your outfit.”

“Thanks.” He praised and took the helmet. “Is there..anything else I need?” He warily looked at the weapon still on Forah’s back.

She shook her head, “Don’t worry Sora. You handle the heartless, I’ll handle the rest.”

“Right.” So off they went.

Chapter Text

Patrolling was fun, but at the same time it was repetition, a lot like when Sora practiced a spell over and over in order to unlock the next stage or when he wanted to increase his stamina. Right now they were scouting for some form of land and Forah had downed an enemy- a multi-armed creature she called ‘fallen’.  She even looted the bodies.

Sora shifted uncomfortably on his feet as Forah patted down the corpse of one of the fallen. She took ammo cartridges and put them in her backpack. She stood up and walked to the next body.

"Isn't this disrespectful?" Sora blurted.

Forah sighed, and finished looting the other fallen, this guy was wearing a skull over his face. She stood up and looked at Sora, he couldn't see her eyes through the helmet.

“We’re always on a shortage of ammo.” She explained. “What you can't make yourself you have to take from others here. It’s just the way things are.”

“This is a really brutal world.” Sora mutters scuffing his foot on the ground, "Where I come from we don't even use guns." Forah laughed loud and crisp making birds fly out from the surrounding trees.

“You're such a breath of fresh air! I’m not sure I ever was as optimistic and a pacifist like you.”

That made Sora stop, “What makes you think I’m a pacifist? I pop heartless like- left and right!”

Sora couldn’t see it but Forah was definitely smiling under her mask. “And Heartless are trapped in that form right? If you defeat enough heartless and nobodies, people actually come back from the beyond. That’s not how it normally works.” 

Fair point, but Sora was far beyond from innocent. He had to fight Riku on multiple occasions, and of course there was Malifacent and her goons.

“We’re at the scouting point.” Forah announced and Sora looked up.

They were on the side of the mountain, the edge of the cliff and the sun was setting. Had it only been a day since he got here? He was wasting so much time he had Xehornort to deal with and he still needed to toughen up from the light he had lost in the botched up Masters Exam. He had to find Donald and goofy and somehow find a way to get Ventus and Roxas free of his heart. Did they even know he was missing?

“Hey.” Forah called from just below him, she was sitting on a log, “I find that when the weight of life’s problems are bothering me, watching a sunset can really put things in perspective.”

Sora sighed but followed suit, sitting on the log, pulling his helmet off it was hot and stuffy, but it was better than the alternative. He kicked feet back and forth, watching the sun slowly make it’s decent.

“I used to watch the sun set all the time from the tower.” Forah shared, filling a silence that had been threatening to swallow Sora up. “I would sit on the very edge of the balcony, beyond the guard rails. Wanting to feel…anything.” She took a deep breath and reached up, unlatching her helmet. Her eyes were down cast and her lips were pulled up into a bittersweet smile.

“But one sunset. A good friend of mine put it into perspective for me. I thought sunsets were like dying days. That pain just before death was what really mattered. Like that old human god, Ra. But my friend, Cayde. He didn’t buy that at all. He said ‘looks like a flaming ball of gas just making it’s rounds to me. Or maybe we’re making the rounds around the sun.’”

Sora laughed along with Forah, and she placed her helmet to the side, and she took out her hand canon she kept hoisted on her hip, a white base with a black spade painted on the side. “Cayde was…full of perspective.”

Oh no.

“So…Cayde…?”

Forah looked out beyond the sunset, seeing something ,no, remembering something that Sora couldn’t see but he knew the feeling well. He knew that feeling when he thought about the darkness swallowing his island. When Riku and Mickey closed the doors to Kingdom hearts.

Runaan materialized, his pieces drooping a little as he turned to address Sora,

“You see Sora, a ghost…has the ability to revive and heal their guardian. It’s part of our duty as being a part of the traveler we're kinda like your keyblade, made of light. We also grant them their powers and enhance their stamina. As pieces of the Traveler we…help humanity.” He explains, expanding and shrinking in emphasis. “But..if a ghost gets destroyed…”

“We become just as mortal as everyone else. No super powers, no immortality.” Forah finished, her grip tightening on the gun her expression screwed tight and just as quick as she coiled, she slacked again. “Cayde was the closest friend I had.”

“Besides me.”

Forah rolls her eyes and swats at her ghost. “Besides you, Runaan. Geez. You’d think that after all this time you would get tired of praise.”

“I’m like sponge for it, really.”

Sora grinned as the two continued to bicker. It was a lot like him and Riku sometimes, caring about each other but just showing it differently.

"Forah," Runaan alerts, "we're getting a transmission from Luke 7."

"Patch it through." She insists.

"Hey, Forah." Another voice says, there's a bit of an after tone too, "dunno if this means anything to you but I've got two strangers in camp with me, Donald and Goofy they call themselves. Weird looking folk. They're looking for a friend, Sora, or something. I thought you might have an id-"

"Me- that's me!!" Sora shouts, "I'm Sora!!" Relief was like a flood, he was alive his friends were alive! The only people they had left to find were Chip and Dale but knowing them they were already working on getting the ship back together- no outside help needed.

"Killing gods AND saving civilians. Who knew the Sword of the Traveler was so eclectic?" Forah rolled her eyes at that comment.

"Oh can it, Luke. Look, I'm looking into something right now. Just a scouting mission. I'll return Sora to the camp after we're done. And try asking those two about the shadows- I mean heartless."

"I mean I'll try, but that Donald guy is a firecracker and his pal doesn't seem the most... thoughtful."

"Give it your best shot, Forah out."

Forah took a breath and her helmet beeped and she sighed and put it on, she listened for a moment she made a motion to Runaan who spun and glowed for a moment before returning back to his pointed form.

"Right, we have one more place to look over."

"I thought we were done scouting?" Sora asked but Forah shook her head, "I got a private relay to scout out the traveler. There have been sightings of hooded figures and I need to look into it. If anyone has been tampering, stealing, or leaving things behind; I need to deal with it. Helmet back on, we're going back to the ship."

Sorah sighed but obeyed. 

He still didn't like the teleportation thing getting on the ship and he groaned a bit as he strapped himself in. Forah typed in something on controls of the ship, and they were off. It was only a few minutes before a large white something appeared on the horizon. 

"Wait, that's the traveler?" 

"Yes." Forah confirmed, "No one knows for sure if the traveler is an alien or a machine..but he chose to protect earth and as a guardian chosen by him I do whatever it takes to protect it."

But...this 'traveler' was so big how could she look through it all on her own? Was she always doing stuff like this by herself?

"All by yourself?" 

Forah shrugged, "Pretty much."

"How do you do it?" Sora asks softly. "I couldn't do... half the things you do but here you are about to scout a GIGANTIC orb thing, and Luke 7 said you took out a god. How long have you been..alone?"

She stayed still under Sora's gaze and he searched hard for an answer, "Sora," she began slowly typing in their decent vector, "When I first woke from being dead for hundreds of years, my body ached and itched. I saw Runaan introducing himself and just behind him- the sky. A beautiful blue sky, but fallen were close and they would have done anything to kill me and him. I didn't have anyone to rely on but Runaan and myself from the very start. "

She got that look again, "But what about you Sora? You say you're fighting for all worlds."

"I am, but I have my friends to rely on. Donald and Goofy can help fix the gummi ship and we can be on our way."

Forah looked at him over her shoulder for a second before looking back out the windshield.

"Yeah. You need to get going as soon as possible."

"You know, this is gonna make a heck of a story for Riku and Kairi! I mean, I know that through determination and our light we can like.. stick to ourselves a little more but wait till I tell them these little robots can do the exact same thing!"

Sora would cheerfully go on but Forah stopped dead in her tracks she looked at Sora her expression unintelligible behind the mask. 

"Don't die here, Sora." Is all she said before landing.

Weird statement but okay, he could roll with trying not to die. It was a good goal to strive for after all.

"So, what are we looking for exactly?" Sora asked as they traverse the outside of the traveler.

"Anything out of place." She says looking from one side to the other, "Then again, that could be any number of things." 

Sora nodded and looked as well, getting closer to the orb shape of the large being that is the traveler. Ancient writing was etched into the eggshell metal and Sora was curious to know what it all meant. Donald might be able to tell him. 

Something fluttered in the breeze, a sheet of paper?

"Hey Forah?" Sora called out, "I think I found something!" Carefully he made his way over the terrain and got closer to the side of the traveler. How was it hovering like it was? Just a couple of feet off the ground?

But the paper was what Sora needed to pay more attention to, there seemed to be some sort of glue keeping it attached to the metal. When he was close enough go look and see what was on the tag the roaring in his ears. It was an ornate X with other symbols on it.

Hot rage burned in his gut. He would NOT allow that creep to encroach on this world and taint their greatest protector. Blindly he reached out to yank it from the metal.

"Sora, WAIT-"

But it was too late his hand was already yanking back, and with that force, a hoard of heartless and nobodies poured from the tag practically engulfing Sora and Forah called out again and Sora was having none of his, he summoned his blade and sliced through the wiggling and squirming heartless.

He broke free and fired off fira with a wave of his key and another section of the heartless puffed from existence and Sora scrambled back and away, but his shoe caught on a rock and he fell, he groaned and tried to get back up but the hoard was already on him again tearing at him, his clothes, he tried to summon up some mana for another fira but he didn't have to- the rest of the heartless and nobodies incinerated in front of him bursting into different colored lights. 

Sora panted from the adrenaline buzzing through his veins, and he hissed through his teeth from the different cuts and bruises that had been inflicted on him. Since they were in a more violent world...could the heartless attacks be...worse? 

Forah held a hand out for Sora to take and he smiled a bit, even though Forah couldn't see it, and she helped him up. Forah looked him over and from her stiff shoulders she wasn't happy.

"First rule." She declared her voice firm, "Don't just... RIP something suspicious off of things. Second, if we find something suspicious let Runaan scan it, third: don't run off without telling me." 

"I'm sorry?"

 "You better be." She pointed at him, "I'm the guardian here; it's my job to keep civilians safe."

Sora screwed up his face, “But I’m not a civilian, I’ve been fighting these monsters for…a long time. I mean a year of it I was kinda out of it but the guy who was in my place I’m sure-“

“Sora you don’t get it.” Forah cuts in, her face darkening and she stepped forward, grabbing him by the shoulders, staring into his eyes her brows drawn together fear instilled into every fiber of her being.

“If you die here, I can’t guarantee whatever brings you back will bring you back here. The traveler is always looking for more people to turn into guardians no matter their past- but I can promise you that the Traveler won’t hesitate to make you a guardian. And when you become a guardian you forget everything you ever were. You won’t be able to go back to your friends because you won’t know who they are.”

Sora’s heart was making a tatoo in his chest and he couldn’t make any sense of what she was saying sure he had, had close calls before but everything turned out okay in the end. He had forgotten his friends before but he had gotten his memories back he even opened his mouth to tell her this but there was a laugh from behind them. A very familiar laugh.

“I don’t think your heartfelt speech will sway him, Guardian. Sora here is a very..persistent soul.”

Oh No.

Chapter Text

“Xehanort.” Sora hissed and forced himself out of Forah’s grasp to glare at the gloating expression of the young Xehanort. He still looked like the young version of himself from the dream realm short white hair spiked up for dramatics his brown skin smooth of any wrinkles and his eyes glinting with mischief and darkness. Sora had only ever fought heartless but boy was he ready to punch his guy where it hurt most.

“I thought that time travel spell had worn off.” He jabbed, but the smooth face didn’t falter from his smirking expression.

“Oh it did, but consider me stubborn. The older me wasn't thinking big enough, I thought I might try my hand at balancing the scales in my favor. And we had such a connection. I couldn't just leave to you walk the path Yen Sid set for you.”

Sora tracked the slimeball’s movements with his keyblade, “We don’t have anything. You failed to get me once, you’re not gonna have another chance to do it.”

“Oh Sora, you think too highly of yourself. I’m not here for you. I just wanted you to watch! Aren't you even a little bit curious, guardian?" Xehonort taunted, grin splitting from ear to ear, turning towards Forah who was nearby pointing a gun at his head.

"You've been told this entire time that the Traveler here has powers of Light to banish the darkness. But what powers of light erase memories? What powers of light create soldiers from the dead? Seems awful similar to your hive friends I would think."

"We are NOTHING like the hive." Runaan shouted materializing into existence his form tight and floating in front of Forah. "The traveler helped and is protecting earth! We are Guardians and protectors."

Xehanort looked at Runaan his mouth open a little in thought taking the shell in, "You protect humanity. And your walking, talking inventions. But the only reason Awoken are counted in that circle of protection is because they were once human, no?"

Sora helplessly watched the two of them and Forah took a breath.

"The only one who can answer that question is the Traveler."

"Of course," Xehanort agreed, "And as the good solider you are you know who's good, and who must be killed on sight."

"I only finish what's been started." Forah grits out. "You're trying my patience. Why don't you tell us why you're really here. I'm certain that gloating isn't on your to do list."

"You're correct, I'm not. But I think you might want to take the tags off of the hull of your 'traveler' in each strip of paper are hundreds of Heartless saturated in Darkness. My colleges are placing more and more of them all over, and we've been doing it for days! I wonder what will happen if your traveler falls under my control?" Sora gasps and looks over to Runaan, and his eye in the middle of his moving parts flashed purple.

"Forah, we gotta go!"

Forah ripped her gaze from the little menace and set her mouth into a line, nodding one and they turn away from Xehanort.

Sora and Forah ran down the way one tag became two, and two became four and it just kept increasing and increasing and Sora could feel the panic it took less than five minutes for them to run into an area of artistically arranged tags of paper and the darkness that was coming off of them was coming off in waves.

"I think we're going to need back up." Sora observed not feeling nearly as level as his voice came out.

Sora and Forah were taking in the amount of tags that were littering the Traveler.

"Runaan, contact Luke 7 we're going to need some backup. And tell him to bring Sora's friends, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"Already on it."

As they waited for Luke, Forah and him scoped out as much of the traveler as they could like a sickness the orb was scattered with the purple black tags fluttering in the breeze.

"So, Sora." Forah brought up as they walked and categorized the traveler, "This Xehanort guy. He seems pretty familiar with you."

Sora tried not to think about the Masters exam, separated from Riku again, succumbing to the darkness he hadn't even known he was falling into. "Yeah. I know him. He's kinda responsible for the whole darkness thing that absorbed my island. He's got this kooky idea that if he can create the ultimate keyblade to control, he can control a place called Kingdom Hearts. The uh, center of power the worlds and knowledge and whatever.”

Forah chuckled as they walked in the shadow of the Traveler, "Ikora would do almost anything to gain more knowledge. But I doubt she would stoop to separating a soul from the body for fun and poisoning our greatest protector."

Sora scoffed, "Ikora is nothing like Xehanort. He- he takes things and twists them around into stuff he thinks will entertain him. Splitting a boy into light and dark. Toying around with darkness, taking precious people away so he can- posses them." His voice cracked and he forced himself to slow down, "Xehanort violated my best friend. I. I cant forgive something like that, and I haven't known Ikora for very long but I'm certain she would never do what he does."

Forah watched Sora for a few moments but the air got more disturbed than usual and the sound of engines filled the forest.

"Sorry for the wait, but I brought some friends." Luke 7 says over Forah's comms. At least 6 other ships accompanied Luke 7's and the first to step out was Ikora and Zavala.

"Need any help, Guardian?"

Sora was looking over the faces jumping out of the spaceships for two particular people, and yes- there!! He shouted with joy and ran in a sprint and his friends ran at him in return. Both were wearing armor that was common on this world and helmets to match. Donald was fussing up a storm and Goofy was sappy and crying and scooped the two of them up in a hug.

"Oh Sora I thought we'd lost you for sure!!" Goofy was sniffling and sobbing in his own dramatic manner and Sora patted him on the arm.

"Me too Buddy but look! We're all safe and sound."

Goofy nodded over and over again. Squishing the soul out of Sora as he did so.

"You must be Sora!" A robot guy greeted as he exited the cockpit of the ship.

"These two wouldn't shut up about you. The name's Luke 7, honored to meet ya keyblade master in training." And he held out a hand.

Sora could tell by his tone that he didn't mean any harm by mentioning the whole 'keyblade master in training' but it didn't make him feel good either. He brushed that aside and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you Luke. Thanks for bringing my friends."

"Its no problem, they were pretty fun to have around."

The exo gave his version of a grin his mouth opening up and glowing a soft blue. He wondered how they work. Was there a spell to make them so lifelike? Or had technology really gotten this advanced here?

"Forah!" Luke greeted turning from Sora and taking Forah in for a hug, grabbing her by the wrist and then pulling her in to pat her on the back, she reciprocated but a lot more softly.

"Hello, Luke. How Taliana doing?"

Luke laughed loudly, "She's doing alright, training her butt off in the Crucible. I've bet 200 glimmer that she might be able to wind Zavala. She was called out to IO though, the Vex have been stirring up a bit of trouble. And we both know that Failsafe loves having her around."

Forah smiled and Sora felt like for the first time it reached her eyes. While they always had this odd glow to them... they actually looked lively.

Sora was assigned as part of Forah's 'Fire-Squad' and goofy and Donald were dispersed among the other teams. Sora waved them off and Goofy waved back, Donald giving a half-hearted attempt.

“One tag at time for each team. We don't want to become overwhelmed. Destroy the heartless that come out and move on. If we're lucky we can get this over with by nightfall."

Sora didn’t want to think about what might happen if they didn't start getting rid of the darkness soon.

Fighting against heartless was easy for Sora; he’d spent years mastering the craft, but he could feel how weak he had become because even just after and hour of pulling tags like splinters from the Traveler and disposing of the monsters hidden in there it felt like they weren’t making a dent.

“We should take a break.” Forah announced after she incinerated the last of the heartless from their recent tag taking. Sora nodded in agreement and flopped back onto the ground with a groan.

“You doing okay Sora?” Forah asked sitting next to him.

“You look awful kid.” Luke agree’s sitting as well. Neither looked as tired as he did.

“Yeah,” He assured wiping the sweat from his forehead, “Just…gotta get my second wind.”

Luke and Forah exchanged glances, “You know…you could sit out for the next couple of rounds.” Luke offered, “It’s no sweat off our back to give you a break.”

Forah rolled her eyes, “Do you even sweat Luke?” Luke shrugged.

“Sometimes I get oilier than usual. Sometimes. Other than that, I’m perfectly flawless.” He even cupped his metal hand onto his metal cheek and Forah sighed shaking her head.

“Exo’s…”

Where Sora had felt bad before he felt a little better now. It reminded him of being around Riku and Kairi. God he missed them so much. He needed to get strong again, in fact it was a good thing he was fighting so many heartless and nobodies at once! It was like…like grinding for stamina, get the muscle memory back.

Sora nodded to himself despite how much he wanted to stay seated he stood up, “Let’s get to the next tag.”

“Sure thing little dude.” Luke stood up, but when he did it was like he was the one who had pushed to hard something inside of Luke’s body made a hissing pop noise and the blue lights emanating from his mouth turned purple and his eyes glowed gold. Luke grabbed his head and groaned in pain while Sora’s stomach was busy dropping to the floor.

“Luke?” He asked nervously and it was like the Exo couldn’t hear him, and just as suddenly as the episode started it dissipated and Luke stood up straight again, he made a sound that was imitated clearing a throat.

“Sorry. That..that was weird.”

Sora slowly looked over at Forah who didn’t seem phased, but Sora looked a little closer and her mouth was pinched.

“Are you alright?”

 “Yeah.” Luke assured waving off any other worries (to a limited extent) “Just uh, need a tune up I guess. Let’s get a move on. Those heartless aren’t gonna poof themselves you know?”

Forah nodded and turned on her heel to head back to the Traveller, activating her jet back to get to one of the higher up tags. Sora followed behind Luke keeping a close eye on him, and his ghost who he was quietly whispering too.

Chapter Text

Despite the very necessary act of needing to push forward Sora was definitely running low on gas. They had been grinding all day against the heartless but there didn’t seem to be an end to it.

“Let’s make camp.” Forah said wiping some sweat off her forehead, “We can’t keep pushing like this forever."

“Oh yeah?” Luke said, “I can keep going all day!”

Forah rolled her eyes, “We’re not all machines Luke, Sora and I, at the very least have to rest.”

“Weaklings.”

Sora wouldn’t have been bothered by Luke saying that, but it was the way he said it.

“Luke?” He turned and seeing purple in Luke’s eyes before they flickered back to blue.

“Yeah?”

“Uh- I was..gonna ask you what you wanted to eat but, uh, I don’t think you have a stomach.”

Luke laughed, patting Sora’s shoulder, “Good one Sora, I’ll be fine watching you two eating. Besides, all we have are ration bars. And MRE’s”

Ugh. Those things tasted awful.

He ate a ration bar and settled on one of the sleeping bags that Forah had taken from the ship, facing the fire and letting the light make shapes behind his eyes. After a while he feel asleep to the crackling sound of the fire and Luke and Forah murmuring to each other.

The next day wasn’t much better, despite the fact that he was allowed an actual MRE the amount of fighting that he was doing was just cutting into him. His mana was constantly draining and Sora swore that the area that they were clearing right now was one they had cleared the day before.

“Luke!” Someone shouted, a small feminine voice and a sphere materialized, maybe another ghost and it frantically zipped around the Exo who was holding his face in his hands again, “I’m not detecting any damage but you’re in pain!”

“I’m fine Sunshine, it’ll be okay. Get back inside now, don’t want you gettin’ hurt.” The little sphere’s segments breathed in and out before it nudged his cheek and disappearing again.

“I probably just need a tune up.” Luke explained to Sora, “Exo’s aren’t exactly ageing well.”

Sora tried to give an encouraging smile, “I’m sure everything will be okay, once we get this taken care of, we can handle the rest.”

Luke nodded as he reloaded his gun, “Absolutely. Forah! We’re ready for another round!”

Hours passed and they hadn’t taken a lunch break. His stomach was growling, his limbs ached, but he just had to push a little bit more and he was sure he could get a another burst of energy-

“Sora!” Forah shouted and pulled him out of the way of a Nobody careening towards him before incinerating it with a shout. “That’s it, you’re sitting out for now. You’re way to exhausted. Go back to the ship and sit down, there should be some water and rations in there too, Ruunan. Escort him.”

Dutifully Runann emerged, “Gotcha.”

“But-“

“It’s okay Sora, you’ve worn yourself down to nothing, you need to rest.” Luke assured, “We can handle this."

Sora’s breath hitched him mind throwing him back to the test, with Xehanort, ‘worn yourself down to nothing,’ having become so vulnerable he almost became something else. He  hunched his shoulders and turned on his heel releasing the keyblade watching it shimmering out of existence. It’s fine, it’s probably nothing. Luke didn’t mean anything by that it wasn’t important he just needed some food and water a little bit of rest to recuperate. As he left he could hear the sounds of fighting behind him as Luke and Forah continued without him.

“It’s okay to need to take a break Sora.” Runaan assured, “Forah pushes herself too far as well I can tell you that, and as an official hypocrite she prefers others to take care of themselves.”

Sora tried to laugh a little, it didn’t come out at genuine as he wanted it too. They reached the ship and Sora climbed aboard “That’s…not really the problem. I just have a lot of people relying on me is all. To get stronger.” He opened one of the capsules taking out a ration bar and a bag of water. “So that we can fight Xehanort and keep Kingdom Hearts safe but sometimes- sometimes….”

Sometimes he wondered why the Keyblade chose him at all. He screwed up the Mastery Test, walked through a whole castle that was one big TRAP. God who know’s what other screwups there were? How much were his friends compensating for Sora as he just kept slipping up?

“Sometimes, you just need to take a breather.” Runaan finished for him, hovering in front of Sora looking meaningfully at him, his pieces still for once.

“I know what it’s like to feel so weak you can never recover, Sora.”

Sora shrugged and Runnan made a buzzing sound, “No really it’s true! The Cabal, a warrior race, came and destroyed the city we were meant to protect, cut all ghosts and Guardians off from the Traveler. I nearly lost my guardian. It’s only thanks to her stubbornness and fate that we managed to make it out alive.”

Runaan’s pieces separated and whirled in frantic earnestness and Sora reached out, unsure of how to comfort him, guilt twisting in his gut.

“I’m sorry- that must have been awful.” He had had his key taken from him once before and that feeling of powerlessness was practically unbearable. Especially since Goofy and Donald decided to leave him too.

Runann turned away, hovering silently, his pieces now closer to the center of his mechanism, “We didn’t think we would ever touch the light again. And that’s when we needed to be strong the most.”

That’s right, Sora thought, this world was totally cut off from the problems of the other worlds with their own problems and wars. In a way, Sora knew how Forah and Runaan felt the most. Sora had his friends to keep him strong and similarly Runaan and Forah for the longest time only had each other.

Sora took a huge bite out of the ration bar the taste was bland minus the bits of chocolate that were sparsely spread throughout it.

"Runaan, how did Forah get so strong?"

"A mix of determination and killing herself a lot through trial and error. She found an archive of spells on Venus and spent hours alone practicing the various incantations listed in the data files. One time she set her sleeve on fire, another other time she created an orbital force so strong she was flung through the door and off a cliff."

Sora laughed, "That's great!"

"That's when she met Luke 7 actually, I managed to revive her a little ways away from the cliffside and Luke 7 was in stitches barely able to ask her and I quote "what the hell happened" it was a good start to a friendship if you ask me, one she sorely needed."

Sora was grinning which made it difficult to drink but then he had an awful thought, "Was this.. before or after Cayde?"

Runaan sunk a little bit, looking at the floor for a moment, "After. Long after.”

“What happened…when he died?”

“Forah just... wasn't herself anymore. She was closed off and holed herself up in the shambles of Venus's Library's. I'm glad that Luke 7 reached out to Forah when he did. I admit... I'm not the greatest influence at times."

Sora lifted his eyebrows at that, "You. The bad influence."

Runaan lowered even closer to the floor not looking directly at Sora. "It.. was one thing when the Cabal came, it was an attack that affected everyone. But Cayde... was personal. Forah and I felt Cayde's Ghost die. It was like…a shattering that left a gaping black hole pulling in anything to fill it. And the person who dealt the final blow... let's just say it got personal. And I was so bent on revenge... I didn’t see how Forah was being...affected."

Sora reached out and put his hand under Runaan to support him, and lift him closer to his face.

"Things may have gotten bad... but things are better now right?"

Runaan nodded his small frame, "Yeah. We got better- because we didn’t give up!” Runaan said, a sudden burst of energy as his pieces flew around to reorient themselves flying up and around Runaan with his sudden burst of energy. “Sure, when we were cut off from the traveler we hiked for forever through the mountains, but we did find others to help us. They housed us, gave us food. We lent ourselves to them even without the light we could still help humanity, Sora, even if your skills aren’t what they used to be you can still take on your Destiny. By our luck we found a shard of the Traveler and got our light back and you- you need to be able to find that shard in yourself or in your friends. You can-“

Before Runaan could complete his sentence the radio cut in loudly with sounds of gunshots and shouted spells.

Sora and Runaan froze looking at each other then back at the radio.

“Forah?” Sora asked, a bit hesitantly his stomach rolling with the small amount of water he had consumed with half of the ration bar.

“Runnan, I need you NOW.” Forah had never sounded so...scared before and She was struggling on the other side, it sounded much worse than your average horde of Heartless.

Sora and Runaan didn’t waste any time. They got up, and headed back out. Sora was feeling better. He had gotten a little bit of rest and some food in him, not very good food but it was better than nothing. Runaan and Sora hit the ground running the tree’s blurring past as they rushed.

“What do you think is happening?” Sora shouted over to Runnan who was zipping in front of him.

“I don’t know but I DO know it’s bad.”

The closer they got the more the sounds of battling filtered towards them and Sora had a sinking feel deep in his gut.

There were flashes of light and shouts on both ends. Forah  was still using the light based magic, yellow and blue light erupting from her finger tips her weapons squarely put away but that was not the case with Luke, his revolver was out and he was lashing out in droves of purple light and even as far away as Sora was from the two of them he could see that Luke’s eyes weren’t their usual color and were in fact a glowing purple.

“Runaan!” Forah called again, and the ghost zipped across the field disappearing into light and forming with Forah, they glowed for a moment in gold and where cuts and bruises had been before they healed over and Forah took a deep breath. “Luke snap out of it!” She shouted sending a ball of fire in his direction and he took it head on, coming out of it nearly unscathed.

“Snap out of it?” His twisted voice came out, layered with Xehanort and Luke’s own diction he came out of the fire unscathed. “Forah, I’ve never felt more alive! More powerful. You can be just like this too- think about it. We’re always told to fight for the light, be the extended weapons of the Traveler to save what? Earth? What has Earth EVER done for us. I’m an exo, a living robot, that hasn’t taken a real breath of air since before my memories were wiped. Aren’t you tired of it? Aren’t you tired of being a weapon for a side you’re not even sure you should be fighting for?”

The fighting stopped, you could drop a small pebble and it wouldn’t make a sound when it hit. Forah stood still, and Sora looked at her, really looked at her and in the little amount of time he knew her this was the first time she wavered, hesitated. Sora’s heart nearly stopped she couldn’t be-

“I don’t know who you are.” Forah said, her head tilting down and her voice low and firm, “But if you were really Luke you would understand exactly what I fight for.”

What happened next made Sora wonder if anyone else had felt the same when he had summoned the keyblade for the first time. Because a flaming sword appeared in her hand and wings of starlight bloomed from her back and she arced into the air like an angel in fury.

“I do not fight for the Traveler. These shackles you think that hold me back are not ignorance. My name is Forah of the awoken clan Calal and I was chosen by the traveler!” She brought the sword down in a swing and it ingulfed Luke but he diffused it with purple smoke, where confidence had been before, “The Traveler woke me from my hundred years sleep to not to make me just another pawn.” She shouted again, bringing her sword down in another stroke of flame, “He woke me up because I had the power to do what NO ONE ELSE WOULD.” The wings in her back stretched and beat down on the air brining her up higher her iris’s glowing with light so pure Sora could barely look at it.

“I thought I was alone and all I was good for was killing gods and lowly creatures. But I have friends, friends that I have here and now and friends that I have lost to time and mortality.” In her tyrant the flames kept coming and Sora could feel the heat making his skin flush but he couldn’t move himself further away.

Luke was getting pushed closer and closer to the body of the Traveler, “And Xehanort,” Forah goaded, “you have just made a very crucial mistake.”

Luke undeterred, pulled out his gun and it started glowing a pulsing purple, “And what makes you think that?” He fired the weapon before Forah could answer and Sora cried out- but there was no reason to worry, the bullet itself flecked off a field of light and Forah was glaring down Luke.

“I don’t like to be fucked with, especially when my friends get dragged into it. I cast you out Xehanort, I cast you out into the depths of the shadows of space where you BELONG.”

It was light, hot, and cold at the same time and it was warm and familiar, and it was all encapsulated in Forah and she raised her sword the light transferring to her weapon and in one final blow the white hot flame not only engulfed Luke’s form but the flamed spread across the traveler. The enormous sphere was engulfed in flame and Sora saw the lights of all the hearts being released, and he could hear the distant screams of Xehanort as multiple threads where burnt off and away into the sky.

Just above the traveler Sora noticed a keyhole. A VERY familiar keyhole. Should he? Unlock this world and allow a whole new war to mix with the one happening on the outside? That was hardly a question wasn’t it, and he summoned his blade sending the love and light that he and Forah shared, a quick turn to the left and there was a click and sparks spat out and over the ground. He smiled softly at the new openness this world had. They could now come and go as they pleased in the universe, no matter the limits.

When sora finished he dispelled the blade, and looked around for Forah. It only took a moment because she was sitting  beside Luke who had collapsed on the ground. Amazingly nothing on him was burnt.

Forah had his head in her lap and she looked…sad. Mournful even and Sora reached out a hand to comfort her but there was a groan. Luke groaned and the lights of his eyes opened, no purple to be seen.

“Ouuuch!” Luke groaned sitting up and grasping at his head, “What the hell happened? Is this a headache? Is this what a headache is like?”

She chuckled and gently pat him on the back, “Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll pass. You went for a short Jaunt in the shadows is all. But you’re back now, that’s all that matters.”

Luke didn’t look convinced, but before he could complain two ghosts made an appearance, one was Runaan who hovered close to Forah and the other was obviously Luke’s  and the little sphere looking thing zipped around Luke once twice, three times before pressing up against his metal cheek. “You’re okay You’re okay!!” She? Cheered and Luke smiled softly, reaching up and cupping the ghost in his hands.

“We’re okay Sunshine.” He emphasized.

Chapter Text

Sora tried his best to pay attention to what happened next, but it was a system that was beyond him. Forah reported to her bosses who congratulated her. Ikora smiled warmly at Forah and Sora together.

“You both have served the Traveler well and prevented a terribly evil force from taking over. You two should be very proud.”

Sora felt a tiny part of himself beam under the praise, Yen Sid NEVER praised him like that! And he turned to grin at Forah who looked far more reserved with her straight shoulders and schooled expression. Runaan was out as well, hovering just above her right shoulder looking pretty pleased if his spinning parts were anything to go by, and Zavala stepped forward to say a few congratulatory words.

“Earth is safe again thanks to you Guardian.” Zavala said, his shoulders squared and his hands behind his back in a rest pose, “You’re service will not be forgotten Sora. Perhaps one day, you’ll join our ranks as well.” Forah’s distant expression became sharp, and she thanked him curtly and excused herself and Sora.

“It’s hard to believe I’ve only been here a few days.” He looked up at the sky, turning pink with the dawn, “I think the ship will be ready soon… and then we can be on our way.”

Forah nodded, “Holliday will have you’re ship up and running before you know it.” She said, her voice and expression a little distant.

Sora nodded and looked out to the sunset and Runaan popped out and sat on Sora’s shoulder.

“You’re going to leave us so soon?”

Sora wanted to immediately say yes. He had responsibilities that he needed to get back to people to save another Xehanort to kick out into space but he couldn’t quite get it out. If he left now, that would be that much closer to having to figure out how to get Roxas and Ventus out of his heart. He was one step closer to having to face the embarrassment that he made of himself from the mastery exam and catch up with all that’s he’s missed in the war.

He’s only been gone for such a short amount of time but who knows what he’s missed.

Forah places a hand on his shoulder, “Hey. Take a breath. We’re not going to kick you out.”

“I didn’t think you would." He assured, "I just, I’ve got a lot on my mind is all. It’s easy to forget about all of it here. It’s a totally different world.”

Forah looked him over, “Follow me.” And Forah started going deeper into the tower, they walked through hallways and greeted various people but eventually, they reached a quiet area. It had trees and flower beds. Sora saw a few bees crawling on the petals. Forah kept going until they reached the rails, where it overlooked the city, the sun at their backs.

“I come here sometimes when everything gets too much.” Forah supplied looking out to the city. “When I was first awoken, I didn’t think I go could there, to the city. It was like, a wall of sorts preventing me from milling about the civilians. Like they were untouchables that I wasn’t allowed to talk to.”

Sora looked up at Forah tilting his head to the side, and Forah continued, “I never confided that fear to anyone at the start. How afraid I was that I would be rejected. First at my request to go to the city, and then if I did manage to go to the city if I would be accepted by them. I wasn’t really like them.”

Forah took this moment to glance back at Sora, “But I did eventually confide in my friends. Of course, when I told Cayde he laughed, assured me I would be nothing more than another robe among the masses. Luke had the same reaction but this time called me out for it, said ‘if I could blow myself up 10 times on venus not caring who saw- who cared what people thought of me in the city?’ Taliana… Taliana actually had the exact same fear as me. But she’s younger than I am. Still learning. But we made a pact, anytime we wanted, we could go down to the city together. No questions or judgment asked.”

Forah looked so much happier, remembering her friends like that, and he wondered just for a moment if he shared with Riku about being scared of fighting Xehanort, about the uncertainty he felt at the prospect of releasing Ventus and Roxas from his heart, and changing as a person because of it. Riku might not even know what to say. Which scared him to think about.

“I have to do something.” He confided in Forah, leaning heavily on the railing looking at the glittering city trying to make out if he could see anyone, “There’s something- someone no- two someones that need to get out of my heart. It’s hard to explain but- but they deserve their own lives. But…but they’ve been with me for so long what if- when they leave…I’m not me anymore?”

He felt his chest get tight and the edges of his eyes burn and expected anger or laughter or…something. Instead what he got was an arm around the shoulders.

“That sounds a lot like growing up Sora. But just because you lose something that was part of you…doesn’t make you any less of who you are. Cayde didn’t stop being…Cayde when his Ghost died. I didn’t stop being Forah when Cayde died. It hurt. And one day if I lose Runaan that’ll hurt to. But that won’t make me any less. And that doesn’t make you any less. You just gotta… keep your eyes up and keep going.”

Sora sniffled, and leaned against Forah, “Yeah. I just gotta keep my eyes up.”

“See? You’re an honorary Guardian already.”

Sora gave a wet chuckle as they watch the sky change colors to nighttime, and the city lights came alive. The quiet was nice while it lasted because what came after was the loud sounds of a gummi ship entering the atmosphere and both Forah and Sora looked at one another before looking for the ship.

A couple of seconds later the ship appeared dramatically and there was really only one person that Sora knew that the only person with the amount of drama to fly the gummi ship in such a way and his cheek hurt from smiling so hard.

“RIKU!!” He shouted running as fast as he could to the loading dock where he knew Riku would be going. He thought that Riku would have been neck deep in his super important mission by now!!

When he reached the bay Riku was running at him just as hard and Sora could’ve cried from just how good it felt to have one of Riku’s hugs.

“Riku- what’re you doing here?” Sora asked, voice muffled against his shoulder and Riku pressed his face into Sora’s hair.

“Your ship’s signal got lost- and I figured that you needed help.”

Sora melted into Riku, “Thanks. I was in some serious trouble, but I got help! Forah, my friend, saved me and totally went off on Xehanort!”

“Oh, really?”

Sora nodded pulling away, “You should meet her! This place is so awesome, it’s not just one world it’s many and it’s called earth and they travel to other places like the moon and-“ And Sora kept talking to Riku about all that he’d learned here. Forah soon showed up and Sora introduced the two.

Sora kept talking and absorbing the fact that Riku came for him, even at the expense and delay of the super mega important thing he needed to do! It reassured Sora that sure, he had a long way to catch back up but when he looked at his oldest friend and his newest- that everything would work out. He just had to keep his eyes up and walk head-on into his destiny.