Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts; all character credit (except for the OCs) goes to Disney and Square-Enix.

Chapter 23: Arabian Night (Part Two)

POV: Kairi

Dinner was a lively mixture of chatter about life in Agrabah and all that had gone on since Sora had departed, which was of course was between bites of a delicious meal. The Sultan remained mostly quiet, only speaking up to fill in details that his daughter and son-in-law had overlooked or forgotten to mention. He understood that the Sora, Jasmine and Aladdin had wanted to catch up, and that the latter two also wanted to learn a bit about Riku, Kumori and I as well.

Soon, the meal was over and we bade each other goodnight, thanking the Sultan for the meal and his kindness. In the hallway outside of the two rooms, we said our goodnights. Sora and I shared a brief, blissful kiss before returning to our respective rooms. As soon as he broke the kiss, he held me tightly, and whispered into my ear, "Meet me on the balcony in my room in five minutes." Smiling to myself, I retired to my room.

Inside our room, Kumori sat perched on the edge of her bed, just as she had in Destiny Islands. She was biting her lip, as if she wanted to speak, but instead she remained quiet, staring at her feet. I copied her, sitting on the side of my own bed, and decided to break the silence.

"What is it?" I asked curiously, looking over at the other girl.

"Um...I was just wondering...what's it like to...be with Sora?" Kumori asked shyly, keeping her eyes fixated on her shoes.

"You mean, how does it feel to be in love?" I asked her in response.

She nodded. "I know it seems silly, but, there's a lot I don't remember about...love," she admitted.

I smiled, understanding. "It's alright," I assured her. "Let's see..." I murmured, trying to find the perfect words to convey the powerful emotion. "It's unlike any other feeling you'll ever experience. It's like you're a half of a whole," I mused. "And when you're apart, you feel an ache in your chest; a longing that you can't explain. That person makes you feel your most vulnerable and also your strongest. They bring out your best qualities, and for them, you want to become a better person. They are always there to support you through tough times, and refuse to give up on you, even when others have. You cherish that person above all others, and are willing to sacrifice anything for their happiness." I paused to catch my breath. "At least, that's how I see it, anyways," I laughed, trying to lighten the intensity of the conversation topic.

"Wow," Kumori said softly after a moment, lying on her back with her hands folded beneath her head. "It must be wonderful."

"It is," I replied simply with a smile. "But what caused this sudden interest in love?" I asked, studying her from my seat on my bed. She paused for a moment to think about her answer; I waited for a moment, and then decided to venture a guess, "Do you feel something for Riku?" She seemed to spend a lot of time with him, despite the short amount of time she had known us, and it seemed like a valid guess.

Her normally pale complexion turned a shade of red brighter than my hair, and she instantly sat up. "N-no of course not," she replied quickly, bowing her head so that her ebony hair fell into her eyes. "I was just wondering, that's all."

"Oh. He seems to have taken notice of you," I mentioned offhandedly, watching to gauge her reaction.

She looked up at me. "Really? Oh," she mumbled. Kumori was silent for a while, so I decided that it would be an opportune time to meet up with Sora.

"I've got to leave for a little while," I informed her, "I'm not quite sure when I'll be back, but have a good night!" She nodded, lost in thought, and I slipped out into the hallway.

I knocked quietly on the door to Sora and Riku's room, and a moment later it opened. Instead of Sora, I was greeted by Riku. "Hey, Kairi," he said. "Sora's out there," he directed me, pointing with a thumb to the open balcony at the back of the room.

"Thanks," I told him, seeing the spiky-haired brunette leaning against the terrace's low railing.

Sora's face brightened when he saw me, and as soon as I was within range he immediately wrapped me in a warm embrace. "I have something I want to show you," he told me excitedly, leading me by the hand over to the edge of the railing. "I want you to stand on the railing and then step off of it," he said seriously.

I stared at Sora incredulously, wondering why he would ask such a thing of me. He noticed my hesitation, because he immediately began reassuring me. "Don't worry, Kairi, you won't fall. You'll be fine, I promise." I still thought he was crazy, but I trusted him. He held out a hand and helped me climb onto the railing, squeezing my hand tightly before letting go. After several deep breaths, I stepped off of the balcony.

Right onto a floating carpet. I sat down, and saw that it was mainly indigo in colour, threaded through with red and gold designs, each corner ending in golden tassels. Despite its seemingly decorative purpose, the carpet held my weight with ease, and didn't even react as Sora stepped onto it beside me.

"What is this?" I asked, running my hands over the carpet in awe.

"It's a magic carpet," he replied matter-of-factly, kneeling down beside me. "Take us across the desert please," he said, addressing the carpet. Understanding his request completely, the carpet took to the skies and soared into the night.

Dusk had stained the desert sands with shadows, but the pale glow of the full moon cast pale blue light to counterbalance them. The night was starry and cloudless, a blue that was slightly darker than Sora' stunning azure eyes.

Turning my eyes from the night to look at him, I saw that he had already set his gaze on me. "Kairi, once this is all over, I promise that we'll have time to ourselves, away from the Heartless and all of the danger. Just the two of us and the Islands, okay?" he asked softly, draping an arm over my shoulder and pulling me close.

I relaxed against his chest and sighed. "Yeah, Sora. I'd like that."

POV: Kumori

Once, Kairi had left, I extinguished the candles, engulfing the room in darkness. I lied down on my bed, and shut my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep. Too many thoughts were crowding my head, and so I tossed and turned, until at long last I fell into a fitful sleep.

I stood in a strange derelict hallway, with floors of cold stone tiles and ancient stone walls and pillars that were so worn that cracks and holes revealed the glowing blue-white circuitry within. My dream-self was clutching the cobalt-haired teen's hand. "You've been acting more and more distant lately, are you feeling okay?" I asked with concern.

Slowly he turned to face me, and sighed. "Is it the experiments?" I asked fearfully.

"Shh!" he warned, raising a slender finger to his lips. "What if someone hears you? I wasn't even supposed to have told you."

"Sorry", I muttered guiltily.

"Don't worry, it's fine, just be more careful next time," he replied, waving away my concern. "Listen, I have to leave—"

The scene of the dream abruptly changed, and now I was sitting against the door of the blue-wallpapered room from my previous dream. My dream-self was leaning heavily against the wooden door, her entire body wracked by sobs.

"How could he have disappeared?" she cried out in anguish. The pain in her chest was too much to bear. The teen in question had been missing for weeks, and instead of dulling the pain, time had only intensified her loss.

A noise caught my dream-self's attention, and she turned her attention to the other side of the room. As she watched, a black portal that rippled with blues and violets appeared. For a moment, she allowed herself to hope, but those hopes were immediately dashed when she saw who stepped out of it.

"He didn't 'disappear.' I think I know where he is," stated the boy with scarlet hair and burgundy-hued eyes.

This time, I suppressed any hopes that began to grow, knowing that if he was wrong the disappointment would only tear new wounds into my already raw heart. "What are you talking about, Valens?" my dream-self asked, her voice hoarse from weeping.

"I mean that I know I found someone who is the mirror-image of him while I was out exploring other worlds," he replied in an exasperated voice.

My dream-self raised an eyebrow. "Other worlds?" she asked skeptically.

"Look, you can either come with me to find my best friend, or keep yourself locked in this room. It's up to you," Valens said harshly.

She flinched at his tone, but quickly recovered. "What do you mean, find? I thought you already knew where he was?" I inquired.

"I only caught a glimpse of him, but he's somewhere inside that castle, I'm sure of it. We just need to pinpoint where," he explained.

My dream shifted again, and this time I stood in a pure white hallway. My dream-self was in the arms of the cobalt-haired teen, who was wearing a black cloak as opposed to his usual white lab coat.

Again, the dream changed, and I was standing in the neglected hallway again. Valens addressed me with a solemn face, "He's gone. I searched the castle, but there's no sign of him, or anyone else. It's completely deserted."

Once more, the images in my mind altered, and now I stood in a massive library, the walls hidden by towering shelves that were lined with countless books. My dream-self sat in a small wooden chair at an equally small table, situated beneath a curving staircase. She was poring over books.

Suddenly, the pages my dream-self had been reading were obscured as Valens dropped a few sheets of paper onto her book. "Read it," he ordered, taking the small wooden chair opposite her.

She complied, and began to read aloud.

"I have transcended to an existence of only the heart. I should have come back as a Heartless, but there is no sign of such a transformation. My body has surely perished. However, I am different from the other Heartless, keeping the memories of before, and I have not taken on the form of a Heartless. It is evident that there are still many things to be studied. In order to cross over to the dark realm, which is not this world, you must go beyond the door of Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. The core connected to the world's heart, the place that will take me to the world of darkness.*** Some of my apprentices' have retained their human forms, despite the dark corruption that caused them to lose their hearts. I have decided to send them off to different parts of the universe, using these 'corridors of darkness' that are now accessible to us, in the hopes that one of them will discover this realm, where Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds, manifests itself."

"What does it mean?" my dream-self asked softly, afraid to hope.

"It means," Valens said quietly, "That somewhere, he might still be alive."

Abruptly, the maroon-eyed boy was standing beside her as she faced the enormous white door. It swung open soundlessly, and the three of them, Valens, the cobalt haired teen and my dream-self, stepped through the door into suffocating darkness populated by Heartless. In the distance, a bright light shone.

With a start, I emerged from my dreams. I sat up, breathing heavily and trying to understand what I had just witnessed in the world of my dreams. Unlike the last few dreams I'd had, these were broken and unrelated, confusing my amnesia-plagued mind even further. Pushing aside my confusion for the moment, I took a deep breath. For some unfathomable reason, the sight of that vivid light in those impenetrable shadows had sent my heart racing.

I untangled myself from the bedding and stood up. I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, noticing that Kairi had returned and was fast asleep. Moving quietly, so as not to wake her, I made my way out of the room. I travelled the hallways, looking for a doorway leading outside. Vaguely, I noticed red marble floors that glistened with a polished sheen in the pale moonlight, and gilded art. Finally, after moving through the hallways for minutes on end, I managed to find a doorway veiled in dark curtains that led out into the palace gardens.

The garden was surrounded by four stone walls, and lined with a wide variety of verdant flora stained blue by the shadows. There were large bird cages that were elaborately decorated, but they seemed to be completely empty. In the centre of the garden was a stone courtyard, which included a grand stone fountain made to look like a giant white water lily. Floating in the fountain were countless real water lilies that were tinted gold in the moonlight. Atop the great water lily perched a peacock, which, instead of having tail feathers carved from white stone like the rest of it, had a plumage formed of sparkling cascades of water.

I sat down at the edge of this fountain enjoying the gentle ambience of the fountain. Relaxing for the first time since I had first gone to sleep, I allowed my mind to go blank, shutting my eyes and pushing aside my dreams and their confusion before they could overwhelm me. Moments could have passed, or maybe it was hours; time blurred together in that peace where I balanced at the edge of slumber.

"Mind if I join you?" a hushed voice spoke out, interrupting the fleeting yet endless serenity.

I cracked open an eye to see who had disturbed me. Shaggy, long silvery hair. Deep aqua eyes. Riku. "Not at all. But why are you up so late?" I asked curiously, moving myself into a sitting position.

"After Sora and Kairi left, I just wandered the hallways. I was roaming when I found the gardens, so I decided to enjoy some fresh air," he explained, taking a seat on the fountain ledge beside me.

"They left?" I asked. Where could they have possibly gone?

"Yeah, a romantic excursion or something," Riku replied with a slight smirk, but beneath it there was another emotion...sadness maybe? "But anyways, why are you up at this time of night?" he added, changing the subject.

"I dreamed myself awake," I replied with a soft laugh. "And I couldn't manage to fall asleep afterwards."

"Good dreams?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not really sure," I answered truthfully, my thoughts returning to the confusing dreams once more. We sat there in silence, as I sifted through the dreams, trying to find a connection, anything to help me understand. I remembered the passage I had been reading, the one that mentioned the 'door of Kingdom Hearts.' Could it have been the massive white door I'd seen in my previous dream?

My voice shattered the silence, "Riku, what exactly is 'Kingdom Hearts'?"

He looked up, startled. "How do you know about it?" Riku inquired in a low voice, staring at me with his piercing turquoise eyes.

"I-I heard about it in one of my dreams," I told him, turning my eyes away from him. The intensity of his gaze had surprised me.

He paused for a moment, and then began to speak, "It is the heart of all worlds." 'The heart of all worlds.' Hadn't that been in my dream too? "It is the ultimate goal of the Heartless to obtain it."

"But what do the Heartless want with Kingdom Hearts?" I asked. The name suggested that they lacked hearts...was it possible they strived to complete themselves? But my theory was quickly dismissed with the next words Riku spoke.

"Most Heartless are simply born from the darkness residing in people's hearts. The people who become Heartless lose their physical appearance as well as their emotions, driven only by their desires. And what the Heartless desire more than anything else are hearts. If they overpower you, they will consume your heart, and the product will be another Heartless. The heart of a world is even more sought-after by Heartless than the hearts of people, and the only thing that a Heartless wants more than the heart of a world is the heart of all worlds."

"What would happen if a Heartless devoured Kingdom Hearts?" I asked, almost fearful of the answer.

"Darkness," Riku replied softly. "I can't think of a worse fate than that." I remembered him mentioning the darkness and the power and isolation that it brought. "I was in the Realm of Darkness once, the place where Kingdom Hearts and the Heartless themselves reside. So many shades of blackness...but I was only there briefly before I blacked out. But those few seconds were horrible enough," he remarked with a shudder.

Darkness...so deep and impenetrable...A spike of pain shot through my skull. "Ah!" I cried out, clutching my head. I bit my lip, trying to hold in a scream; the agony was too much to bear. My vision darkened for a moment. Slowly, my vision returned in flashes, but I wasn't seeing the garden anymore. A white door. An endless abyss of pure darkness. A massive, golden heart-shaped moon. Three figures reaching out and then darkness once more.

The visions faded, and I opened my eyes dazedly. Aquamarine eyes looked down at me with concern. "Riku?" I muttered, trying to get my bearings. It was cold, freezing cold, and my head was pounding with an excruciating ferocity.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his normally calm eyes bright with alarm. "You just...passed out, and fell into the fountain," he told me. That explained the icy temperature.

Looking down I saw that I was completely soaked. I turned my eyes to Riku, and saw that he was kneeling beside me, and he was just as waterlogged as I was. Above out heads, the fountain water continuously drenched us. My eyes focused on Riku again, and I realized that he wanted a reply.

"I'm alright, thanks," I replied sheepishly, feeling guilty that he had followed me into the fountain, and embarrassed that I had blacked out and fallen in the first place. "Sorry," I apologized, letting my gaze drop to the ground.

"Hey, it's okay," he assured me, standing up. "Here," he said. I raised my head to look at him, and saw the hand he held out to me.

Kairi's words rang through my head: 'always there to support you...' I remembered how he had been there for me in Wonderland and the Pridelands...I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. I took his hand. He was so warm. I pushed that thought away, too, as soon as it entered my mind, but not before a couple of memories surfaced in my mind. Riku catching me before I plunged into the waters off of Neverland. Embracing him in Wonderland...I took a deep breath and shut my eyes briefly, willing my mind to clear of such superfluous thoughts.

Holding his hand, he helped pull me to my feet. Miscalculating, he tugged my hand a little too strongly, and I slipped against the slippery base of the fountain. I fell forward, but Riku caught me before I could collide with the ground, holding me to his chest.

"Whoa, you okay?" he asked softly, not at all fazed by our closeness. I nodded, my heart beating erratically in my chest. He let his arms fall to his sides, and I took a step back and nearly slipped again. "Careful," Riku warned, grasping my wrist before I could fall again.

"Thanks," I managed to mumble. "Sorry about that."

Riku moved his hand away from me and replied quietly, "Don't worry about it."

Taking caution, I stepped out of the fountain, sopping wet and cold, but there was a warm feeling in my chest that made the other sensations irrelevant. Riku followed me out of the fountain and stopped beside me. He turned his blue-green eyes to me, "You should probably get back inside the palace, before you catch a cold," he remarked.

I looked at him from the corner of my vision, only to see that his gaze was still fixed on me. My cheeks turned red, but I hoped that he couldn't see that in the moonlight. "You should too, then," I commented, taking in his sodden appearance.

A familiar smirk played across his lips. "C'mon, let's head inside." Riku led us through the palace halls, since I couldn't remember the path I had taken to arrive at the garden, until we reached the doors to our rooms.

"Well goodnight then," he said with a short wave.

"Goodnight," I replied quietly, as he shut the door behind himself. I felt a short pang that pulsed in my chest. 'An ache in your chest; a longing that you can't explain,' that was how Kairi had put it. But that was impossible; I didn't harbour feelings for Riku...did I?

I walked into the room I shared with Kairi and climbed under the covers of my bed, feeling warm and secure. My heartbeat hadn't slowed since my encounter with Riku in the fountain. I felt weak and out of breath. Once more, I could almost hear Kairi's voice in my head say 'that person makes you feel your most vulnerable.'

I sighed, lying back against the pillows. Did I have feelings for Riku? Was Kairi right after all? I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the small voice in the back of my head that said she was.

-~x~-

***This is taken directly from Ansem Report 12, for anyone who was curious. The following two lines are of my own creation, to move the story along in the right direction.

Thanks to all the readers that have stayed with this story so long! Special thanks to ccsakura21, SuperTacocat, Maddiejane94, and TehAverageWrites. (Sorry forgot to add these in the last chapter!)

Hopefully this chapter wasn't too cheesy, hope you enjoyed :)