Alright, it's the last bit now. For those of you who have been waiting for Kid!Sora to show up, here you go. Much as I was tempted to cut it, Ansem the Wise's info dump was mostly left intact. Mainly because, in my odd desire to be as canon-complicit as possible, it felt too important in the long-term of the series to cut. Also because Kid!Sora wanted to be cute some more. Tried to make it flow better than it did in the actual scene, though.

Deliver

When the light faded, he was standing on the end of the dock at their island. He watched the waves for a moment, orange in the sunset, and he could only think how right it was that this was the deepest part of Sora's heart. Now all Riku had to do was find him.

Riku turned around, startled to find someone else there. "Roxas?" Riku said, surprised not only by seeing the other boy but also by the gentle expression he wore, no trace of the anger and bitterness Riku remembered.

"What is it that you're so afraid of?" Roxas asked.

Riku blinked, confused by the question, but he could feel that his answer would be important. So he thought it over carefully, and answered with full honesty. "Losing something... that's important."

Roxas gave him a small smile and faded away without another word. Wondering what that was about, Riku started walking down the beach, stopping again when he met another boy.

"Roxas?" he asked again, and sure enough this new boy was practically identical. But he was dressed differently, and wore a harness clasped with a sigil Riku almost recognized. And there, on his shoulder, was a piece of armor... "No, wait..."

The boy tilted his head, smiling. "What is the one thing you care about more than anything else?"

"Huh?" Riku was taken aback by another strange question, but he could feel that stirring in his heart that told him it was important. He didn't need long to come to his answer this time. "My close friends."

The boy vanished, and Riku looked around. "What is going on?" he wondered. Finding Roxas here he could kind of understand, but the questions, and this second boy... had that been Ven? He stopped thinking about it as he caught sight of a figure out on the second small island, sitting on the paopu tree. "Sora!"

He broke into a run, going through the small cabin, up the stairs, and across the bridge in what felt like an instant. The figure sitting on the tree, however, wasn't Sora. It was a strange girl with short black hair, wearing an Organization coat. "Who are you?" he asked, feeling a different pull on his heart.

The girl didn't look at him, just continued watching the waves. "Riku," she said. "What do you wish?"

"More questions," Riku sighed. "Alright." He walked over, leaning against the base of the tree in what had always been "his spot." He closed his eyes, listening to the waves as he thought over his answer. He smiled as he opened his eyes. "I wish... to recover something important that I lost."

Riku felt something in his heart unknot, and the islands faded to a warm white light. When he could see again, he was back on the beach, staring out over the waves.

"Riku," a voice said from behind him.

Riku turned, seeing the boy that looked like but wasn't Roxas. "You're... Ven?"

The boy nodded. "I'm sorry about before. I was trying to keep the darkness out of Sora's heart, but... instead it went into mine, and turned my armor into another Nightmare to trap him. Then Vanitas..." He held a hand over his heart, eyes down. "The darkness is fading away now, so once I go back to sleep, he won't be strong enough to cause anymore trouble. I just..." He looked up through his bangs at Riku, giving him a small, nervous smile. "I wanted to say thank you."

Riku shook his head. "You stopped Xehanort from getting his heart into Sora. I should be the one thanking you."

Ven looked away, ashamed. "My heart is what got him trapped. Sora kept going through the dreams because he could feel the aching in our hearts. Even with you calling him, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to help us." His fingers tightened over his heart. "And we were used to drag him into darkness. He kept following our hearts all the way into that abyss. I almost didn't get to him in time, and even then..." He still didn't look up, but the pain in his voice was clear enough. "I owe Sora so much, but when he really needed me, all I could do was stall. I couldn't hold the darkness back."

Riku crossed his arms. "Sounds like Sora, alright." Ven looked up, clearly not expecting the humor in Riku's voice. "He's always like that, running headlong into things he shouldn't. And somehow, he makes you follow him, even when you know it's hopeless, makes you believe everything can still turn out alright. And then he goes and pulls off a miracle." Riku smiled, Ven's eyes still disbelieving. "When Sora sets his mind to it, there's nothing he can't do. If he decided to help you, no amount of darkness was going to stop him."

Ven's eyes went wide, and he gave Riku a relieved, happy smile. "Thank you," he said, gratitude filling his voice. He looked over his shoulder at the giant tree in the center of the island, then turned back to Riku. "I need to go back to sleep now," he said regretfully. "You'll find Sora in there. He should be ready to wake up."

"Right now?" Riku asked. "I've got a lot of questions."

Ven held a loose fist in front of his mouth, covering a small laugh. "Guess I would, too. But, yeah, now." He hooked his hands behind his head. "If I'm awake too long, Sora might start seeing my memories, and he really doesn't need that after what Rox... after everything."

"Right," Riku nodded, a little disappointed, and started towards the tree. "Well, thanks again."

"Riku?" Ven said, starting to fade. "I hope I'll see you all again soon."

Riku smiled warmly. "Count on it. Mickey's waiting for you to wake up, too." Ven blinked, then returned the smile, looking content as he closed his eyes and vanished into light.

Riku walked over to the tree, following both the path and his heart to the cave tucked against its side. He stopped when it finally widened to the area where they'd drawn all over the walls. There, leaning against the strange, out-of-place door that had always baffled them, was Sora, fast asleep and four years old.

Riku blinked, surprised at seeing Sora so young, but couldn't deny it made a kind of sense. Sora's heart was always so bright and happy, and, well, child-like. Smiling, he walked over and knelt to shake Sora's shoulder. "Come on, Sora. Time to wake up."

For a second he was afraid his friend wouldn't wake up, that it would be Castle Oblivion all over again. Then the four-year-old rolled his head to the side, slowly blinking awake and looking around blearily. He frowned as he looked at Riku, squinting to try and make him out. Then bright blue eyes went wide and he launched himself at the teen, hugging him with all the strength in his tiny body. "Riku!" Sora cried, completely and utterly joyful. "Riku!" he repeated, as though confirming it was really him, burying his face against Riku's neck. "Riku, Riku, Riku..."

"Yeah, it's me," Riku said, unable to help the grin at how cute Sora was like this. He decided to take advantage of the situation, rubbing a hand through Sora's spiky brown hair. "I promised I'd find you, didn't I?"

"Riku," Sora said again, tiny hands balling into fists to cling to his shirt. "Riku..." And with a sudden shudder in his shoulders, Sora was bawling against him, leaving Riku bewildered.

"Sora, what's wrong?" he asked, starting to pull back, which only prompted Sora to tighten his grip. He said something Riku couldn't make out, and the older boy did the only thing he could think of and returned the hug. "It's okay. It's okay, Sora. I'm here."

Sora sniffed. "I was scared I wouldn't see you again. I could see you in my dream, but I didn't know if you'd be able to find me. It was so dark..." He hugged Riku tighter, starting to calm down. "But you did. You came."

"Well, why wouldn't I?" Riku asked. "I'm your friend."

Sora nodded, sniffing again. "Yeah."

Riku smiled and pulled back again, this time Sora letting him. He stood and held out a hand for Sora to take. "Come on. Everybody's waiting."

"Right." Once they were through the tunnel and back on the beach, Sora let go of his hand, running ahead to splash in the waves as Riku hid a quiet laugh. "Riku, look!" he called, coming back and holding up a letter in a bottle. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," Riku said, taking the bottle. The letter didn't have a seal on it like Mickey's had, and there was nothing remarkable about the bottle itself. He had just decided he'd have to open it and read the letter when a deep, familiar voice came from behind him.

"I was not expecting both of you."

Riku turned, standing protectively in front of Sora on reflex. "DiZ!" he said, surprised. "I mean – Ansem the Wise." Walking towards them, hands clasped behind his back, was the older man that had once been Xehanort's teacher, dressed in DiZ's red robe but without the bandages that had hidden his face. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at both Riku and the younger Sora as he stood at the water's edge, then turned to stare out at the ocean. "Perhaps I wanted to atone for events of the past, even if no apology can undo the harm I have wrought. I felt... that I ought to leave at least something behind." Facing the ocean as he was, Riku couldn't see the expression on Ansem the Wise's face, but he could tell the older man was working hard to keep that flat, impartial tone he'd always used. "So I digitized myself and my research, and hid them..." He glanced briefly to the small boy at Riku's side. "Within Sora."

Riku held up the bottle, studying the paper inside again. "So this is... data?"

"Yes." Ansem continued staring out over the waves. "A clue, I hope, to finding yourselves or your lost friends in your hour of need." He closed his eyes, head lowering. "The heart has always been quick to grow and form connections with others: each exposure to light, the natural world, to other people, shapes this most malleable part inside of us." He opened his eyes, again watching the water, and Riku could hear the strain in keeping his voice level. "Nobodies... are not different from us in that manner."

"You mean Roxas," Sora said, his serious expression strange on his young face. "And Naminé. Even Axel and... that girl. They were all connected through their hearts."

"Yes." Ansem the Wise finally turned towards them, kneeling to speak to the four-year-old Sora, and Riku could finally see the regret on his face. "You, Sora, were the only one able to return to your human form without destroying your Nobody." Just the smallest smile crossed his face as he rested a hand on Sora's head. "That is a statement to the love in your heart for other people, and the bonds that tie them together." And while regret was still heavy on the older man's face, a small hope was in his eyes as he tousled the boy's hair. "Perhaps... you have the power to bring back the hearts and existences of those connected to you. To recreate people we thought were lost to us forever."

"Even you?" Sora asked.

Ansem shook his head. "I have caused so much pain to you and your friends, and so many others. My only wish is that, somehow, my research can be of aid to you." And Riku understood what Ansem really meant: I don't deserve to be brought back.

Sora frowned. "Don't you want to come back?"

Ansem smiled, and for once, there was a measure of peace in it. "Sora, you have a heart that is open and uncorrupted, willing to see the good before the bad. You see the world as brighter and more perfect than most believe it can ever be, the way we all did as children. You see the hearts in everything all around us, and when you see them, no matter how small or imaginary, you welcome them, connect them to yours. You make those hearts become real. Where a connection seems broken, you may have the power to mend it." He set his hand on the boy's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "To rest within a heart like that... is far better than I deserve."

Sora reached out, laying a small hand on Ansem's face, just below a bright orange eye. "But you're sad."

Ansem shook his head, gently brushing off Sora's hand. "Merely an old fool's regret at so much wasted time. You have touched countless hearts, Sora. You have accepted them, and you have saved them. And some of those hearts have never left you; whether they fell into darkness or were trapped there; whether they sleep in the darkness of your heart or were welcomed into its warmth, they can be saved. It is those hearts you should turn your attention to." He gave the boy a warm, genuine smile. "You have already saved mine. From the anger that consumed me, the hate that drove me. If my research can be of any use to you at all, I will be at peace."

Sora nodded, face solemn as his hand moved to his heart. "What... should I do?" he asked. "How do I save them?"

"All you need to do," Ansem said, still smiling, "is be yourself, and follow wherever it is that your heart takes you. It is the best, and the only way." He looked up at Riku. "The rest is in there."

Riku looked again at the bottle, and nodded. "Alright. Thanks. Thank you," he corrected, feeling this Ansem, now, deserved more respect than he'd ever shown DiZ.

"Of course," Ansem said, bowing his head to return that respect. "Now, why is it that you are here?"

"Ah..." Riku looked at the four-year-old before smiling sheepishly. "Uh... I kinda needed to wake Sora up."

Ansem arched an eyebrow, then gave Sora a look that would have been stern if not for the smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. "Don't tell me you went to sleep again."

Sora looked back and forth at them, confused, and Riku grinned as he held back a chuckle. "Yeah. What'll I do with him?"

"What, indeed," he said. The two of them shared a quiet laugh as Sora continued twisting to stare at them, demanding to know what was so funny. Riku wondered how long it had been since Ansem the Wise had truly laughed – DiZ certainly hadn't been the type. It was a relief to know that this was what was hidden in Sora's heart, not the bitter man Riku had met.

On the other hand, DiZ probably wouldn't have been able to keep that up for even a week in Sora's heart.

Ansem stood, a small smile still on his face. "I've kept you long enough, then. Your friends must be waiting for you."

"Thank you," Riku said again, putting as much meaning into the words as he could. He handed the bottle back to Sora, taking the four-year-old's free hand and calling his Keyblade. He was a little surprised when it was Sora's that appeared, but focused on making a gate. A gold outline of a Keyhole appeared in the orange sky, a beam of light from the Keyblade opening the path. With a flash of soft golden light, the two boys floated up off the ground.

"Young man!" Ansem called. Riku paused, letting Sora go ahead, and twisted to look back at the man still standing on the beach. "I do not believe you ever told me your name."

Riku was confused for a moment, then remembered the last time DiZ had asked him his name. He smiled warmly. "It's Riku," he said simply. Then he turned back, flying up to the waking world, where everyone was waiting for them.

Hope you have enjoyed. Thanks for reading.