A/N: This is it guys. KH3 came out a month ago and now I can say for SURE that there are going to be spoilers. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Content Warnings: 22 and 23 have KH3 spoilers.

21: War

He hadn't wanted it to come to this.

It was always going to come to this.

He'd hoped that there would be another way.

There was clearly no other way.

It wasn't right.

So what if it was wrong?

It wasn't fair.

Life had never been fair anyway.

Why did it have to be like this?

It was always going to end up like this.

Sora hated it.

Vanitas had accepted it.

He wasn't ready for this.

He'd waited his whole life for this.

But regardless, he had to do it.

There was no turning back now.

It was time.

This was war.

22: Mother

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Suna drummed her fingers against the counter-top anxiously. She had expected her son back three days ago – what was going...

She nearly knocked over her chair in her hasted to reach the door when the bell rang. There were a million things hovering on her lips as she threw the door open, ready to pull Sora into a big hug –

Only to freeze when it opened to a somber-faced Riku, head bowed and very much alone. Her heart sank.

"Riku?" she asked tremulously. "What's wrong? Where's Sora?"

Riku flinched. "I... have some bad news."

23. Distasteful

"I don't need humanity. All I care about is my research."

The words tasted like poison on Even's lips, a bitter lie that turned his stomach. Outwardly, he remained impassive, the facade perfectly in place under that piercing gaze. But inside he couldn't help but seethe.

He had to do this, he knew. After everything he had done, sabotaging Xehanort's operation from the inside was the least he could do in recompence. But that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

It was a dirty business, espionage. But if it helped Even fix his mistakes, it was worth it.

24. Want

Xion watched miserably, desperately, as Riku struck up a friendly conversation with Naminé.

The blonde girl was smiling, talking softly while brushing a lock of pale hair behind her ear, and Riku's gaze followed the motion. He was grinning – grinning – at her, his turquoise eyes bright as he talked animatedly with the blonde.

Xion tugged self-consciously at her own dark locks, limp and featureless as they were compared to the other girl's. She knew she wasn't as pretty as Naminé and never would be – but seeing him smile at her like that...

Chest aching, she turned away.

25. Lurking

There's a shadow lurking in the back of Lauriam's mind.

He knows it's there, even if he has no idea what it is. It's as much a part of him as the air in his lungs, as much his as his own reflection. As elusive as memories of the life he led before waking up in this strange town.

All his attempts to grasp it fail. He can rip his mind apart trying to hang on to it, but in the end all he can see is a fuzzy outline too blurred to make sense of.

And eventually, he just stops trying.