Just like everyone else I saw the ending to Kingdom Hearts III and I agree it left a bittersweet taste, but instead of rewriting I decided to continue it. I know we all wanted Kairi to become a bad ass Keyblade warrior, but if I'm honest someone without experience wouldn't stand a chance against Xehanort.

Her not being strong enough was fine, but getting kidnapped without putting out a fight was another. So the point of this fic will be to follow Kairi as she goes from newbie to tough blader. The hardest part for me was picking the worlds, but that because I want them to help her grow as a person not some pointless filler. Oh there will be pointless filler, but I want the Disney worlds to mean something.

Despite her training, Kairi was taken by surprise by Terra-Xehanort and nearly struck down by him. Making matters worse she was also easily restrained by Xemnas, though Riku had explained to her that both instances were attributed to her lack of combat experience in the field, but that didn't make her feel any better.

Even Lea a former member of Organization XIII faired better than her and he was just as new at wielding a Keyblade. This was supposed to be her chance to help Sora and Riku instead once again she was the damsel in distress. It had to end.

Always getting in the way and needing to be rescued. She knew she relied on Sora too much. He was always suffering because of her. First he willingly used the Keyblade of the Heart to free her heart from his turning himself into a Heartless, now he used the Power of Awakening one too many times and vanished.

Sora wasn't the only one her weakness brought down. Unable to protect her heart from the darkness when Destiny Islands fell Kairi's heart seeked refuge within Sora's leaving behind an empty vessel. Feeling powerless Riku had did some pretty horrible things in a fleeting attempt to awaken her.

So much for being a Princess of Heart. Maybe Sora and Riku would of been better off if she never appeared on Destiny Islands one day. No, such thoughts wouldn't get her anywhere. Kairi needed to make a change.

Kingdom Hearts: Face Your Fears

Chapter One

Dive to the Heart

Ambiance cue: Destati

Waking up a teenage girl found herself in a surreal experience falling slowly through the pitch black ocean, slower than usual in a deep dark ocean. Falling through the endless abyss was Kairi, a sixteen year old human girl, no matter how much she struggled there was no stopping her descent. Tiny bubbles floated pass Kairi's head, but as she reached for them they vanished in her grasp.

Waving her arms frantically Kairi squealed loudly her face turned red as she thought she was about to drown. Unable to keep her fingers clasped over her mouth, she fell forward landing on her knees. However, instead of drowning she found that she could breathe. Standing there for a few seconds; Kairi had a difficult time coming to terms with her situation.

Patting herself all over Kairi made sure that everything was still where it was supposed to be. Yup, she was roughly five feet tall. Kairi still wore her unique hooded pink-and-black dress, with two small black cat ears. There were black ruffles on one side of her skirt and plaid on the other. She wears thick belted boots. After receiving her new outfit from the fairies, Kairi had decided to cut her hair chin-length. It was supposed to show growth, but yeah right.

Wiping away sweat she exhaled loudly, Kairi was really worried there for a few seconds. Her eyes widened. "Hey...Where am I?!" Everything felt familiar but at the same time so strange. On her feet she looked around feverishly. Patting herself repeatedly Kairi felt like it was strange; she never had such vivid dreams.

Standing back up, Kairi's head tilted from side to side trying to focus on where the she was. Rattling shook from beneath her feet, she then realized that the ocean floor she had landed upon the ocean floor it erupted into doves. A blinding light flashed forcing her to shield her eyes from the glow before the birds converged together a few feet from her face forming a flock of white doves. The doves flew fly higher and higher until they vanished raining down golden feathers.

Feathers reflected in Kairi's eyes as their light engulfed the ground revealing the Dive to the Heart which was composed of several enormous, illuminated stained-glass pillars known as "Stations", rising from unseen depths. A faint light shimmered underneath his feet, that's when she realized that he stood on the first station, a yellow stained glass mural. Each step Kairi took the floor creaked and groaned from his weight like was about to shatter into pieces. Mindnumbing Kairi felt like she could sink into the ground at a moment's notice.

Looking down at the stained glass mural, Kairi noticed what appeared to be a sleeping Sora. He was wearing the same outfit he wore when the Heartless first attacked Destiny Islands. On the mural Sora wore his trademarked red jumpsuit with a long zipper running through the middle, ending with puffy shorts. He wore a crown-chain on his left side and a loosely worn blue belt. Over his jumpsuit, Sora wore a black hoodie that was blue on the inside, and black on the outside with white sleeves ending in grey edging. He wore white gloves on his hands with blue, black and yellow straps. Hanging from around his neck was a crown pendant. His shoes were mainly yellow and black with belt-straps holding them closed. The lower portions are grey and end with a small triangular patch of blue.

Strange it had such a long time since Kairi had dreams about Sora since he had vanished. "Hehehe...I remember when Sora dressed liked that. He thought he looked so cool," Kairi giggled aloud. Looking closer at the mural. "Now that I look at it why was Sora dressed like the king?"

Stepping around the mural, Kairi could see tiny bubbles form every time her feet touched the floor. Shivering a bit Kairi had some fear, she felt neither light or darkness. Just what was up with this ocean it felt different. "I've heard about this from Riku! But what was it called again?"

It appeared that Kairi wasn't alone. A voice moaned out in the distance. "Hey! What's up Kairi? What are you doing here? You're not lost are ya?"

The sound came out of nowhere echoing throughout the abyss shaking the mural. Covering her ears, Kairi looked around frantically exclaiming. "Huh?! Who said that?" No matter how hard she searched Kairi could not find anyone there. Scratching the back of her head, she shrugged her shoulders. Who could be talking to her in a dream anyway it sounded so bizarre. "Must have been my imagination."

A sharp pain immediately hit her, Kairi could feel a strange tingle in her heart. Clutching her chest, she realized that the voice was coming from her heart. Looking downward, she glanced at her chest remarking. "W...what's going on?" The voice felt like someone she knew, but her face squinted up as she couldn't place it.

Even though it was a disembodied voice it appeared to be aware of Kairi's confusion. The voice had softened its cadence hoping not to frighten her. "Calm down you're just in the midst of a Dive to Heart. I-Its kinda like a high level cosmic thing where your choices here will have an effect on your future."

Touching her chin, Kairi was familiar with the Dive to the Heart; Sora and Riku had explained their experiences to her. Getting reminded of what happened to Sora made Kairi all moody. Lowering her head, her arms dangled out in front of her body like wet noodles. "Sora..." Smacking the sides of her cheeks with her hands, Kairi let the pain engulf her cheek. She didn't have the luxury of being a little baby.

The voice was giving her some big news, something important was happening. Kairi stared at the ground looking for answers. "Okay so what happens next?"

The voice hesitated. He wasn't that great at things like this. "Hmm...I should I explain. I can't really explain aside telling you that the events which occur within it have a real effect on the waking world. However, this is the Station of Awakening where we...get...I guess you could say a feeling for you."

Biting her bottom lip, Kairi's face showed how much she struggled trying to understand. "A better feeling of me?"

"I don't really know how to say it," murmured the voice in his own confusion.

Covering her mouth, Kairi fought a giggle. "Hehehe...You're not very good at this are you!"

Explaining things weren't getting them anywhere perhaps te voice needed to try a different tact. Getting an idea, he decided to just show Kairi causing his voice to then boom out. "Oh chosen wielder of the Key, what kind of power do you seek?" The ground underneath Kairi's feet trembled as three pedestals rose up from Sora's station. Once the rocking subsided they witnessed that over each pedestal a different weapon had appeared; a rod, a shield, and a sword.

Kairi's mouth hung agape, nope not even that display caught her up on what was happening. "Oh wow! Neat trick."

"Its no trick," the voice retorted as he once again started a long spiel.

"The power of the Mystic. Inner strength." Both ends of the Dream Rod's handle were tan, while the handle itself was predominantly green. There was a wide, brown disk on the tip of the handle, which the head of the staff was connected to. The staff's head was a blue Mickey Head. "A staff of wonder and ruin."

"The power of the Warrior. Invincible courage." The Dream Sword was a generic short sword with a black Hidden Mickey symbol on the hilt and a blue handle. The pommel was simple and golden in color. "A sword of terrible destruction."

As Kairi made her way over to the shield the voice returned. "The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends." The Dream Shield had a simple design. It was pentagonal and its bottom three corners were rounded. It had a red border and the top and bottom two corners all sport a silver bolt or pin. Most of the face of the shield was black, save for the prominent Hidden Mickey symbol in the center. This symbol was red and had a pale yellow outline. This symbol was red and had a pale yellow outline. "A shield to repel all."

Kairi's eyes went from back and forth scanning all three Dream Weapons and it finally seemed like it was sinking in. "I think I get it now. So, you want me to pick on of these things."

No response was given as the human girl stepped forward she was immediately drawn to the Dream Shield. This weapon suited her, all she ever wanted to do was help people. And that part about being a shield to repel all piqued her attention as well.

Grabbing the floating Dream Shield it appeared in Kairi's hands. The way Kairi heard about it, she expected a Keyblade to appear but it was just the Shield. "Is it the power of the Guardian that you seek?"

"Yeah. I guess so," she replied nodding slowly. The weight of this decision had not hit her, it was just too heavy at the moment. Once Kairi had made her decision the Dream Shield vanished in a thin puff of smoke.

A lostlorn tone came from the voice as he spoke once again. "As you know nothing is ever free in this world, alas what power will you give up?"

Shrugging her shoulders once again it was an easy choice for Kairi. Taking a few steps forward she placed her hands on the Dream Sword. "Hmm...I guess I'll give up the sword. I just want to protect people I'm looking to actively seek combat. I'll leave that to Riku and Sora."

As soon as Kairi had chosen the Dream Shield and tossed aside the Dream Sword, the three pedestals sunk back into the station."You have chosen the power of the Guardian and have forfeited the ways of the Warrior..." the voice spoke checking with her. Nothing was uttered a few minutes of awkward silence followed before large cracks began forming in the Station dropping Kairi down the abyss hurdling to the next.

Kairi dropped through the darkness. "Kyaaaaaaaaa..."

Tumbling from the Sora mural, Kairi crash-landed onto another mural. Though it was a dream, it was still painful to land on her backside. Groggily standing up, she immediately toppled back over onto her behind. Sharp pains went up her spine, a side effect from falling from untold stories tiny cracks formed on the mural. "Ouchie."

Taking a peek underneath his feet, she realized that this mural featured Sora once again. This mural was light blue, but depicted a different sleeping Sora, but this time it was from his second major journey. The hoodie was colored black, with silver pauldron-like additions to his sleeves and white lining. His undershirt was a navy blue with a red patch in the center. His pants, similar to chaps, were colored black on the outside, and a navy blue on the inside, lined with silver-white edging. Yellow straps criss-cross around his pants, held together with a black belt. The pants featured red pockets with a black cross over them. His gloves were colored black on the outside and white on the inside with a yellow line running around them. He also wore large black-yellow shoes with silver soles, a zipper running across the top, and black straps holding them together with buckles here and there. Sora's crown pendant was present on this attire.

Kairi quesioned what she was seeing. "Sora again?"

Rubbing her aching rump, Kairi admired the mural even if getting tossed around was not fun. A few moments passed until the voice returned. Looking down at the ground, Kairi became furious screeching. "How about giving a girl some warning before you do that?! That really hurt."

The voice tried giving her some details about what was happening. "Um...sorry Kairi, but I don't have any control over the Dive to the Heart. I just act as your guide. Whatever happens its out of my control."

Kairi wasn't one to get mad but she was very annoyed. Blowing air through her lips, Kairi was a bit peeved. "You are of no help!" She figured complaining wouldn't get her anywhere. Folding her arms across her chest. Kairi's gaze once again fell upon the visage of Sora under her feet, Kairi unfolded her arms pointing at the mural. "Why is Sora here?"

The voice had nothing. "Huh?! I don't know. YOU are the one dreaming about him."

"Hey?" Kairi exclaimed her face beet red.

All she got in return from the voice was a coarse laughter. "Hahaha..."

While arguing with the voice tiny pools of Darkness began bubbling up on the surface of the Station. Being a Princess of Heart, Kairi was always alert to any sort of danger heading her direction. It was basically like a sixth sense. Usually her first instinct was basically to hide, but not now. "...Okay who's there?! You think you can hide?!"

Right on cue forming out of the bubbling darkness were a couple of Shadows. These Heartless had a vaguely humanoid body structure. They had round, spherical heads with circular, glowing yellow eyes. They also had two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top of its head. Each of their hands had three clawed fingers, and its feet were large and lack any discernible digits.

Kairi knew very well how truly frightening Heartless were but this wasn't enough to stop her."I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!"

About to race head first towards the Heartless, Kairi was stopped by the voice who called out her name. Kairi immediately took a nosedive hitting her face on the glass. Shuddering from inadvertently hurting her, the voice began explaining in greater detail. "Those are Shadow just one of many types of Heartless...they are born from the darkness in people's hearts." Moving slowly across the station defacing the mural the Shadow staggering towards him.

"I know what a Heartless is," Kairi groaned rubbing his face.

"Just humor me okay? I'm supposed to be guiding you and you're making it difficult," the voice muttered.

From the corner of her eye, Kairi caught a glimpse of a few Shadow crawling in her direction. Kicking one of the Heartless that lunged at her, rage gripped the human girl's face. "Y...You ruined everything! My friends and I were happy on the islands. Arghhhhhh! Come get some."

"W-wait a minute Kairi. You don't even have a weapon. You can't fight them," the voice irked attempting to restrain her. What would he do if the Heartless devoured him.

Hatred might not of been the right word, but Kairi was sick and tired of being sick and tired. "Lemme go. I'm tried of being scared of those monsters. I'll destroy them with my teeth if I have to." She was crazy enough to actually do it, too.

There was nothing left to do, but let Kairi be herself. "Use this to protect yourself Kairi. Listen up this next part is important."

Returning Destiny's Embrace to Kairi's hand, the voice then spoke. "Most Heartless are created when the darkness that resides in a person's heart consumes him or her, thus giving the darkness shape and form. Being born from darkness, they are mindless and act on instinct, their only goal is to find hearts, and consume them to create more Heartless. But what they desire above all are the hearts of worlds, and thus they enter worlds in search of the way into the hearts of the worlds."

*Information: Defeat the Heartless*

A few Shadow hopped at him preparing for a Claw Lunge. Holding up the Destiny's Embrace, Kairi spun around deflecting the Heartless with a back slash. Seeing the Keyblade caused the Heartless to recoil in horror for a few minutes. Staggering backwards, she lowered her head before rushing forward with her eyes sealed tight. Using the Shadows' hesitation to find an opening to attack.

Moving recklessly she ended up ramming them into one another knocking them off the mural. "Take this you jerks!" Twirling her blade around, Kairi then ran through a few of them with her blade. Breathing heavily he realized that upon their destruction, they simply disappeared in puffs of darkness.

"At the same time, Heartless seek out the users of the Keyblade, since the Keyblade holds the power to lock and unlock hearts. In order to stop the users of the Keyblades, the Heartless use the Keyblade itself as a homing beacon, but ultimately desire to take the heart that commands it. Because of this, Keyblade wielders are under constant attack," the voice announced while Kairi bashed the Heartless.

More and more Shadows appeared prompting Kairi to back away to the center of the mural. Gritting her teeth, Kairi held out the Destiny's Embrace spinning around in circles rapidly bashing each Heartless while twirling around like a tornado. Since it was a dream it was easy to be reckless. "Get away!" Dizzy, she still refused to rest. Wobbling back and forth, she had to resist the urge to vomit. Throwing up at a time like this was not optical. Leaning against the sword she needed a moment to catch her breath.

Great that was great, there was no rest for the weary as more Shadows bubbled from the darkness. Looking all around him that when Kairi noticed that most of the mural was seeped in the black liquid. Out of nowhere a bunch of Shadow popped out of the darkness pelting her with numerous Slide Kicks bashing her in her side sending her toppling across the mural. The black creatures were a lot more stronger than she gave them credit for. Kairi had skidded to a complete stop dangling from the edge of the station.

Hanging from the mural Kairi looked down seeing nothing, but darkness as far as the eye could see. However, peering up top her view wasn't all that better. Moving towards the edge of the mural the voice managed to reach her. "Ahh...are you alright?"

Multiple beady yellow eyes peered at her, a few even reached out towards him. Kairi's face turned beet red as she leveraged herself back onto the ledge. "Yeah, I'm good." Sticking out her tongue in a teasing manner. "Bring it on boys!" Slamming the Keyblade into the ground, Kairi managed to catapult herself upward over the Heartless. Still airborne she was able to cleave a bunch in half with an aerial slash.

Full of adrenaline Kairi lowered her head charging into the group of Shadows; this was going to end either they went down or her. Holding up the Destiny's Embrace an ominous light reflected off it drawing in the Heartless. Bringing the sword back in closer to her body, she took off stabbing the remaining Heartless with a running charge. Moving back and forth, he displayed excellent sword play jabbing at the Shadow. Not bad for someone with little experience. Too bad she couldn't do this in real life.

Some Heartless lunged at her, but Kairi turned shielding herself with the Destiny's Embrace. The sound of their claws scrapping against the metal echoed from the station. Tossing the blade into the air, Kairi grabbed it by the hilt swiping at the Heartless. Swinging around the sword she severed a couple of Shadows.

Expecting the worst Kairi grimaced, however nothing came. She could finally relax when the Shadow had finally stopped forming. Panting heavily Kairi bent over trying to catch her breath. She was exhausted she had never fought so hard in her entire life. Since the Shadow were all defeated the Sora mural had returned to normal shining pristine in the darkness. Staring at the floor, his eyes narrowed showing off his rage. "Phew! That was crazy?! I wonder where those Heartless came from!" She received no response from up above, instead frigid cold water began flowing into the Station, it most likely sprung a leak.

It was one thing to another, Kairi felt like she was going insane. "That was crazy Kairi your life isn't a toy...You need to wake up..." spoke the voice giving him a valuable piece of information.

"But its just a dream. Dreams are fun," she wondered aloud. As Kairi spoke the second Station shattered dropping her into the dark abyss. As Kairi tumbled farther and farther in the darkness she felt herself losing consciousness.

~The Mysterious Tower-Yen Sid's Study~

Floating in the middle of space was a slab of land with nothing built on it but a large crooked tower. But this was not just any tower, it was the Mysterious Tower home of Yen Sid. The former Keyblade Master was the brains of the operation behind the Guardians of Light. The gold mansion basked eeriely in the moonlight night. Tiny green shrubs surrounded the building. The only way in and out of the Mysterious Tower was from a special train that made its way from Twilight Town.

A couple of weeks had passed since Sora had vanished and five of the Seven Guardians of Light were at the Mysterious Town planning their next move. Without Sora around things just stood still the magic he brought to a room brought it alive. But now that he was gone, no one could bring them self to say a word.

Five people stood inside a cobble room that wasn't big enough for them all. Thick cracks were formed in the walls leading up to the glass less windows. There were no electrical fixures in the tower so Yen Sid got all the light he needed from candles. Hanging from the roof was a badly rusted golden chandelier.

Multiple purple and blue bookshelves lined the walls, Yen Sid was renowned for his thirst for knowledge. These bookshelves had to be hundreds of years old dust was piled all the way to the top. The books also appeared worn out from being read, tiny creases covered every inch. He soaked up all kinds of information about the world worked. He attempted in vain to pass down this information to his apprentice Mickey, but it was easier said than done.

"Kairi...Kairi," Mickey spoke waving a hand in her face.

Mickey's voice snapped Kairi out of her dream-like state. Staring at her hands, Kairi was visibly shook. That dream felt so real. "Huh?! Oh! Sorry your Majesty I guess I was daydreaming," Kairi apologized. It was incredibly surreal she could barely understand what was going on.

"Gosh Kairi don't feel too bad. You're still a beginner," Mickey stated trying to make her feel better.

These last few weeks all Kairi did was cry. So much that her ducts were dry no new tears had flowed. "I'm sorry I was so weak guys. If it weren't for me."

"Forget about it. There's no convincing Sora when something pops in his head. Besides I got whooped too," gruffed Lea leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "So drop the pitty party."

Lea was still kinda new to all this hero stuff. He spent so long in the shadows that the light was blinding. It took some convincing but Xion and Roxas had convinced him to wear the clothes the fairies created for him. A long sleeveless hooded black vest, a sleeveless dark gray and red plaid button-down shirt with a short-sleeve black shirt underneath, and black pants and black mid-calf boots.

A fake smile appeared on her face as she fumbled with the zippers on her jacket. "I know you're trying to make me feel better Lea, but..."

"How many times have I gotta say to just call me Axel," Lea moaned scratching his fiery red hair. Lea's red hair was spiked styled upward having a slight widow's peak. Since he was human again Lea's eyes return to the blue-green color of his youth. "Keep it memorized!"

"Lea is right. There is no time for pity. Master Xehanort has been defeated but our side has taken a great lost as well." Sitting back in his chair, even Master Yen Sid analyzed the situation. He was a rather severe-looking old man with long, grey hair, bushy eyebrows, and a long, grey beard that parts down the middle. He wore a long, billowing blue robes with sky blue lining, with the insides of his robes being dark red.

The eerie silence feel over the group once again. "Gosh, Master there's gotta be something we can do!" Mickey kind looked out of place he was the only toon there. Sure Yen Sid was a toon as well, but he was human. Mickey on the other hand was a rather tall mouse with black fur, round ears of the same color, and a thin, long, black tail. The fur on his face was cream-colored.

Mickey's outfit consisted of a short-sleeved jacket with white lining. The top half of this jacket was black, while the bottom half was red, and there were two yellow straps dangling in front of it. His pants were red and sport a zipper going down the front of each leg. Each leg also had a yellow pouch with a black strap that partially covered the zipper, as well as a blue strap on the outer side of each pant leg. Mickey wore very large, yellow shoes with grey backs and two orange, intersecting straps attached to the front of each shoe. Lastly were his famous white gloves.

"We warned Sora that the Power of Awakening was not to be trifle with. His over use of the power has lead him to vanish," sighed Yen Sid removing his famous, conical sorcerer's hat. The hat was blue and decorated with several yellow stars and a yellow crescent moon. Without the hat it was clear as day that the top of Yen Sid's head was balding. Even though the room was dimly lit the top of Yen Sid's head gleamed like the sunlight.

Shocked faces littered the room as light gleamed off his head, but no one dare utter a word.

Looking around Mickey finally noticed that they were short two heads. "Hey, so where's Aqua and Ven?"

Moving his hand up and down, Yen Sid stroked his beard. "Terra, Aqua, and Ventus are still working on restoring the Land of Departure. Besides I'm sure after that ordeal they went through they could use some rest."

"Yeah, its the same with Xion and Roxas I don't want to rush them into anything," Lea stated with his back against the wall.

Placing his hand against his chest, Riku took his turn speaking. "Master you always say 'May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key' Well my heart is telling me to find Sora. I'm sure I can bring him back. Just like that time in the Sleeping Worlds."

Yen Sid could feel veins in the front of his head about to pop out. "I knew you would say that. Riku you may be a master, but your recklessness knows no bound." Yen Sid was known to have bulbous eyeballs as they bucked out of his head. "I guess Sora's foolishness has spread to you as well."

"Hahaha," Riku let out a weary laugh.

Sliding his thumb and index finger up and down the bridge of his nose, Yen Sid relented. "I suppose there's no stopping you. We can at least make sure you're properly prepared for the journey."

Riku nodded in agreement. "I'll have Sora back in no time."

"Gee Riku! You're going to go now?" Mickey really wanted to join him on his journey, but he could not afford to leave his kingdom. "Gosh, hahaha! I guess I should be getting back to Disney Castle I'm sure Minnie and the crew are waiting on me."

Still having reservation about this Yen Sid trusted Riku a lot more than Sora. "Its imperative that we don't waste too much time. I think we can probably come up with a proper plan after Riku dives. Sora made a grave mistake. Going deeper, abusing the power of waking not only erased his existence, but soon memories of him will be erased as well?"

"Wait we'll forget about Sora," Kairi shrieked covering her mouth in horror.

"Its okay Mickey. I'm a Keyblade Master too," stated Riku.

Everything was moving really fast, Kairi needed to get in there. "Wait I'm a Guardian of Light as well!" Holding out her hand Kairi summoned forth Destiny's Embrace, her Keyblade from the Realm of Light. "There has to be something I can do. I can go with you Riku!"

"I don't have a clue what's waiting for me when I search for Sora. I don't think its a wise idea," Riku didn't want to hurt her feelings but he needed to be as blunt as possible.

Kairi couldn't even complain she knew he was right. "Okay."

Closing his eyes, Yen Sid leaned back in his chair. "Listen well Riku you remember the Sleeping Worlds I sent you and Sora to for your Mark of Mastery exam?"

Nodded Riku exclaimed. "Yes Master! Sora and I completed the tasks before the Organization interfered."

Waving his hand Yen Sid magically summoned a book on the shelf. "There are multiple realms; Realm of Light, In-Between Realm, Realm of Darkness, Realm of Sleep, and the Final World. The reason the Sleeping worlds were asleep were because they resided between the Realm of Darkness and the Final World," Yen Sid explained opening the book. "The Final World acts as like an after-life for lost hearts so the Sleeping Worlds were trapped between the Realm of Darkness and the afterlife. The Power of Waking is a power you obtain after pulling a heart from the afterlife into the Realm of Light. Sora abused this power and is now facing the consequences of those actions."

A bunch of confused faces filled the room as Yen Sid spoke. No one ever understood a word he ever said, but the retired Keyblade Master spoke anyway. "The reason Sora didn't lose his body in the Final World is because of his connection to Kairi."

"So Sora is somewhere between the Realm of Darkness and the Final World," Riku muttered touching his chin.

Seeing Riku not even flinch for a second gave Lea pause. Sure he did some stupid things trying to rescue Xion and Roxas, but Sora and Riku were on a whole different level with their recklessness. "Wait don't tell me? You're going to dive in after him. Are you kidding me? Didn't you hear Master Yen Sid's warning."

"Of course," said Riku with a smile.

Lea rolled his eyes. "B...but you could lose your body? Ugh you heroes!"

Yen Sid instructed Riku to go in the back chamber to meet with Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather so they can help him prepare for his journey. Without uttering a single word Riku slipped out the back room hoping to met with the fairies. Even though they were victorious against Master Xehanort, Yen Sid turned his attention to Lea and Kairi. "Seeing as your training with Merlin was ineffective at best I'm thinking of sending you to the Land of Departure to visit Ventus, Aqua, and Terra. I know they're resting, but they can still help."

Slinking back against the wall, Lea retorted. "I appreciate the offer, but for now I just want to hang out with Isa, Xion, and Roxas. You know before everything hits the fan."

Kairi wasn't keen on this idea either. Her training with the fairies and Merlin did not accomplished anything. She was tired of relying on other people she needed to be the one relied on. "I admire Aqua a lot, but I need to be my own person. Sora and Riku were self taught Keyblade wielders maybe I should do the same thing as well."

Stroking his beard, Yen Sid gave them one final command. "Hmm...in that case I think you should visit Twilight Town. I think the perfect person to teach you combat training is there. May your heart be your guiding key."

A/N: I used the Kingdom Hearts wiki to get what their clothes look like. I like to set a scene, but I needed their outfits to be just right. Also after some careful deliberations I've decided that I won't be using the Days Trio or the BBS Trio at all in my story. This is a story about Kairi's journey and I feel like stuffing extra characters into it would be a waste. That's one of the problems I had with Kingdom Hearts III is that it had too many characters that needed their stories answered.