Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!

Welcome to 3.5 and the new KH3 Re: Final Stand!

All my old followers welcome back. And all the new ones, Hi!

I hope you guys enjoy this story!

(And don't forget the little footnotes at the bottom, and the idea for this came from my pal Nintendoman01)

SPOILERS FOR ALL GAMES, INCLUDING 2.8! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Kingdom Hearts 3 Re: Final Stand

Chapter 1: Where It All Begins

"Watch your footing, Kairi. Lea, don't underestimate her."

Riku leaned against the wall as the two red-heads sparred. They'd both progressed greatly during the last nine months, despite there being some setbacks during the training (1).

"Is that all you got, Princess?"

"Shut up and I'll show you!" She leapt over his strike and brought her training sword down on Lea's head.

The pyro fell back, touching the spot where she hit him. "Ow, none of that."

"Sorry…" She giggled and held out a hand. Lea took it and stood.

Riku smiled. "I think that's enough training for one day."

The two red-heads nodded and put away the training materials. Lea noticed that his fellow trainee seemed quiet, as they worked. "Hey, Princess, you thinking about Sora?"

"Yeah… I know he's alright, but I miss him."

"We all do."

A poof filled the air. "Hi, Merlin."

"Hello there," he looked at the only Keyblade Master in the room, "Riku, Yen Sid wishes to speak with you."

"Thank you, Merlin." The wizard disappeared in smoke. "Well, you two play nice, and no blood on the floor."

Lea grinned. "Aw, you don't trust us?"

"You… no. Kairi, yes." With that, he left.

Lea sat down, on the ground, watching Kairi finger her necklace. "I know you miss him, but he'll be back soon."

"It's not good for Sora to be alone." She sighed. "I'm scared for him."

The pyro stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He can take care of himself."

"Ok, Lea…"

Riku walked and stood before Master Yen Sid's desk. "Yes, sir, what is it?"

Before the wizard answered, the door behind Riku opened. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy came inside, Jiminy riding on the shoulder of the mouse king. "Hey there, Riku!"

The young master smiled. He and Mickey were close, and though he'd never really gotten to know Donald and Goofy, they were very nice. The old wizard nodded at them. "There you are. Donald, Goofy, I need to speak with Mickey and Riku alone. The others are in the training room."

The duck and dog left. Riku looked from the mouse to the old man. "What's going on?"

"It is time to gather our forces in order to combat Xehanort."

"Who exactly are we getting? The three friends Mickey mentioned before?"

Yen Sid nodded. "Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Each met a dark fate due to Xehanort and all have been missing for nearly thirteen years. We only know what became of one of them. Mickey found Master Aqua in the Realm of Darkness. He can tell you the rest (2). "

Donald and Goofy walked into the training room, only to find Lea sitting on a bench, reading a book. Kairi lay on some cushions, asleep. She'd conked out directly after training.

"Hey, you two." The pyro gave a little wave. "I'd keep it down. The princess is trying to sleep."

Donald nodded. "Master Yen Sid told us to come to see how you are doing."

"We're doing fine. It's been kind of cool being a Keyblade wielder; I can see the appeal of the weapon."

Goofy was about to respond when Kairi let out a pained moan. The three looked over to see the girl rolling around on the cushions. Tears began pouring down her face.

"Kairi!?" Lea went to her side, shaking her…

Kairi's dreams began strangely. She saw flashes of color and little orbs of light rained from the sky.

"Kairi…" She turned and saw a man; however, she could not see him clearly, only that he wore mostly white, and had blonde hair.

The world swirled around her and she saw two people, even more obscured than the first image. Two voices, one male, the other female, spoke. "Kairi…"

When the image changed for a third time, three kids stood before her. As they spoke, she could tell that they were all boys. "Kairi…"

The first three people appeared again, all around her. All saying the same thing…

"Kairi."

"Kairi."

"Kairi…"

"Kairi, Kairi! Wake up." Lea shook her until the girl sat straight up.

She looked around. "Wh-what was that?"

"You were dreamin' Kairi." Goofy gave her a small frown. "You didn't seem very happy."

"Yeah, you were crying. What were you dreaming about?"

She shook her head. "I… don't remember." She wiped her eyes. "Where's Riku?"

"In a meeting with Master Yen Sid." Donald looked at the girl's downcast eyes. "You sure you're alright?"

She gave a weak smile. "Of course." She stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

She gave Lea a smirk. "Worried about me hot-head? Didn't think you cared…" He gave a light chuckle, as did Kairi. "I'm just going out to get a breath of fresh air. If Master Yen Sid needs me, I'll be outside." She gave a light wave, as she left.

Riku gaped at Mickey's story. This woman, Master Aqua, was the same woman who spoke to him and Sora as children. How else could she have met them, since that was the only strange woman he ever remembered seeing. And then she sacrificed herself to save him, of all people. And this had been during a time when he'd been lost in the dark.

Now to find out Mickey hadn't said a word; the king looked ashamed especially since he'd told no one. Riku could tell since Jiminy spent the entire conversation writing down everything he heard. He knew the reason why, but as he and the mouse left Yen Sid's study, to find Lea and the others, Riku had to speak up. "What else do you know, that you haven't told us?"

"Well, I met Kairi a long time ago, when she was a kid."

"Wow…" The young master looked out a window, where he could see Kairi, standing out, under the stars. "And she has no memory of her past, so she would never remember."

"That's why I didn't say anything. So, please, don't say anything either."

"Your Majesty," Jiminy piped up, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Keeping a secret like that, it could be hurtful if it came out at the wrong time, and if you didn't tell her yourself."

The mouse nodded slowly. "I know, but I don't know how to tell her. What can I do?"

"I still think you should tell her." Jiminy sighed.

"I'll think about it."

Riku sighed; Kairi would be ok. She already held pain from her recent solo adventure (3); she didn't need any more by bringing up a past she couldn't even remember.

Standing under the stars, the girl wrapped her arms around her. True, she did not remember her dream, but sorrow filled her very being. It made her not want to remember the dream at all.

"Gosh, I need to relax…" she placed a hand on her heart, waiting to feel the same warmth that Sora's heart always gave her (4). But, this time, she didn't feel the warmth; she felt nothing. "Sora? Where are you?"

She looked up, only to see a star blink into existence. The light came down in a bouncing pattern and hit the ground in front of her. She leapt back, covering her eyes.

"What the heck!?" Kairi blinked. The light before her faded away. "SORA!"

Her dear friend lay on the ground, a star shard in his hand. "K-Kairi…?"

"Sora! Oh gosh, Sora!" She dropped to her knees, rolling him onto his back. What she saw, turned her blood cold. A dark red stain, soaked his white shirt (5). "Sora, no! Don't you dare! You can't! Don't leave me…"

I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter.

Chapters will usually be longer than this, but this is an intro chapter, so it's ok to be short.

Quite a change from the original story, isn't it?

Please review!

If you are interested in following my other writings (fanfictions, short stories, and upcoming novel) and/or my art, you can look for me on Deviantart (KristenKHVerne), Tumblr (Kristen Verne), Facebook (Kristen Verne, or Twitter (Kristen Verne).

Footnotes:

(1) Reference to the "Training Series".

(2) Insert BBS .2 here.

(3) Reference to the final part in the "Training Series".

(4) By this time, Kairi and Sora have already shared a Paopu fruit. I always assumed it gave their hearts a special link so that they can feel what the other one feels.

(5) Sora got a temporary outfit in the "Training Series", from his mother.

Introduction

Hi everyone, I want to welcome you to this story. Now, if you've never read my stories before, you probably won't know what this is.

At the end of every chapter, I write a little segment that is only here for one purpose, to encourage all of you.

I am a Christian and these little "devos" will be written with Bible verses and from a Christian standpoint. However, I am here to show love to everyone who reads my stories, no matter their age, religion, race, etc..

If you do not care to read these devos, then you have every right to skip right over them, but they are here if you want to be encouraged and shown the love of God.
And if you have any complaints or questions, you can PM me. If you leave a rude review, just know that it will be removed.

I love each and every one of you and I wish you the best!

God bless all of you!