Final Chapter. Thank again to everyone who reviewed, especially if you reviewed regularly. You people are excellent. If you were following along and haven't reviewed yet, please do so at the end of this chapter because this is your last chance to do so. I would also really love your feedback. If there's something you think that I need to differently or if you think my writing is awesome and doesn't need to be done differently, just let me know so that I can write better stuff in the future.

Oh, and btw: I know there are a few things that are left unresolved. But I totally planned out a sequel that will hopefully resolve the things. Unfortunately, I promised myself I couldn't start writing it until I finished Tidus' Adventures in Traverse Town and Altered Memories. It's very important that they are finished before I write the sequel and if you start reading them both you'll find out why.

Once again (for a third time because I appreciate it that much), thanks for reading, thanks for reviewing and please review this final chapter :D

Saved the Last Dance

Kairi wandered the halls of Disney Castle slowly and aimlessly. Her eyes roamed the floors, walls and ceilings, taking in all of the details and committing as many of them to memory as she could. She had declined to go out and help Chip, Dale, Sora and Riku fix the Gummi Ship. With any luck the Destiny Island trio would be able to return home by the afternoon. Kairi was already dressed in her clothes from the islands but had also put on a pair of white tights and a denim jacket since it was still very cold in Disney Town. The visit had been so short and yet she knew she would miss Monica, Max, Tabitha and Mir terribly. She already dreaded the prospect of never seeing them again and hoped that wouldn't be the case.

She wandered down a familiar corridor. Music was playing nearby, an orchestral piece with a three-count beat. She smiled as she peeked into the fainting room and continued on down to the studio. Her pace picked up a little bit, thinking the music was Monnie practising her ballet in her spare time. Kairi loved to see the little mouse dance. That was probably going to be one of the things Kairi missed the most about the castle. As she got closer she realised that the piece was familiar to her. It was same music that played for Daisy's performance. She'd heard it even before then, she just couldn't remember when.

Kairi pushed open the doors to the studio excitedly. The look of delight fell and gave way to puzzlement when she found the dance studio empty. There was no class and no little princess dancing away under the supervision of her nanny. There wasn't even a gramophone or stereo to play the music she was hearing. The music was loudest in here, though.

She walked into the room. It really was empty. The sun was out and lit the room brightly. Semi-consciously, Kairi began to walk out toe-first. She held her hands up at around chest height as if she was dancing and began to take random steps. Most of them were amateurish imitations of moves she'd seen Monica, Ernabella and Giselle doing. Some of them were completely made up. She danced a random pattern from one end of the room to the other. At the other side she did an amateurish boureé right up to the window and looked out. The environment was almost too bright to look at. The sun reflected off the snow, making it look shiny. Kairi turned around and looked up at the old windows in the old ballroom, remembering how she and Max used to observe Monnie's ballet classes from up there. Her eyes widened with a sudden epiphany. She ran back across the room and into the corridor. It was quite a long way to get where she was going but she eventually found the hall with the statue of Donald's great-aunt and the small stairs the led to the hidden ballroom. She could hear the music as she jogged up the stairs and wondered who was playing it and why.

At the top of the stairs the ballroom was as dim as it always was but in the light from the windows she could see the silhouette of someone standing next to a gramophone playing that orchestral music. They looked up and noticed her but Kairi wasn't close enough to see what their reaction was. She kept walking towards them.

"Zexion…?"

"Now you're choosing to call me by my name," he said. He smirked but there was nothing malicious about it.

"I was wondering where you went," Kairi said, reaching out to grab his hand. He was solid. "You disappeared straight away. I thought…"

"You thought?"

"I thought that maybe you had died or been erased. I didn't think I'd get to say goodbye before I went."

"Did you really want to?"

"Sure. Why wouldn't I?"

"Not after what took place? You're quite the forgiving one."

Kairi giggled. "I see you've gone back normal, then."

Zexion's face seemed to fall and he turned away, sliding his hand out of Kairi's. "I wish I could say that was really so. Or that it's a good thing." He paused. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Are you really asking for an answer to that?" Zexion asked, turning his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

Kairi looked down at the floor mural to think about that for a moment before replying: "Not really… I'm just saying that I don't think you really have to be sorry."

"I do. I was an active agent in the experiment that took place. That experiment eventually failed and you and your friends bore the brunt of the consequences."

"But you warned me about that," Kairi said. Zexion turned more towards her and gave her a questioning look. "You told me I had to trust you and I decided that I would. I don't blame you for what happened. It isn't wrong to want to live without emptiness and I know that Ienzo must have been a nice kid since you weren't awful to me before taking up that weird, dark concoction the ice witch made up."

Zexion's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "'Ienzo'?"

Kairi blinked and then realised that was a name she had just dropped. "Oh! I don't know where that came from. That's your name, isn't it?"

"It was my name. I no longer have any claim to it."

"I don't know why I knew that. When I asked you if we knew each other you told me we didn't!" Kairi pouted indignantly.

"It wasn't a lie so much as stretched truth." Zexion shrugged. "At most we knew of each other but we were not friends or even acquaintances, even though you once tried. I'm daring enough to say that I knew you better than you knew me. However, that's neither here nor there."

The musical piece ended and the needle rolled off the vinyl. Zexion lifted the needle and removed the record. He flipped it over and put it back, placing the needle on the edge to start the second side. It was another three-count piece that was a bit slower than the first. Kairi didn't recognise this one. Zexion took a few steps towards her and bowed formally like a prince to a princess.

"May I have this last dance?" he asked, lips tweaked into a smile.

That request flustered Kairi and she looked around frantically as if Zexion might possibly have been talking to someone else. "Um… the ball's over but, uh, okay, I guess."

Zexion held his hand out for hers. He pulled her close and put one hand around her waist. She swallowed nervously as she put one arm over his shoulders. They were much closer than they had been at the ball. Zexion led since he was much surer of the steps than she was. He kept it simple so that she could follow along. She felt light and fuzzy all over. Waltzing across the floor like this was so much fun. It was just like being at the ball. She wasn't even aware that she was smiling broadly by the time the musical piece came to a close. Zexion let go of her waist and she twirled out of the closed position like a ballerina doing chaînés. She only managed a few steps since the tight turns made her quite dizzy. She stopped and looked back at her dance partner. He was looking back at her with a face that wasn't quite blank but not quite expressive either. There was something like pain in his expression. Her smile fell and she walked back to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine."

"But you seem upset."

"I don't feel any emotions, so that's a moot comment. However, I may have an explanation: the last thing I felt before rejecting your heart was overwhelming guilt, sorrow and regret."

"Why?"

"Why did you try to give up your heart for me? I believe that is a more critical question. Your heart is not mine to take. It would be selfish and cruel of me to keep it. You took a big risk to try to save me – or at least what's left of me – that could have ended with both of us losing our hearts."

"Zexion, stop!" Kairi interrupted. "I've already told you this and you don't seem to understand! You're not an evil person and you didn't deserve to be made evil the way the ice witch did. You didn't deserve to be left that way either. That's why I had to do what I did."

"You gave me far more than I deserved."

"I'll decide if what I choose to give is what that person deserves," Kairi retorted. She reached out and wrapped her arms around Zexion. "You're just as deserving as all the other important people in my life."

Zexion stood still. He breathed evenly and Kairi didn't move. They stood together in silence until eventually Zexion pushed her away gently. She looked up questioningly and he looked down perfectly expressionlessly.

"It's almost time. Say goodbye to your friends at the castle before you leave." He turned away and began to walk with long strides towards the windows.

"Goodbye then," Kairi said. Zexion stopped. "See you soon."

"I probably won't see you again."

"You have to. With the ability to use the Dark Corridors you don't even have the excuse of distance. So we should see each other again and we should be friends."

Zexion stared at the light from the tall windows. "That's what you said when you met Ienzo."

"The only one stopping you is yourself."

Zexion chuckled dryly. "Yes… it was the same back then too."

"Then we should meet again in the future and I'll help you get your heart back. If you haven't found it already, that is."

Zexion wrapped himself in darkness and teleported out of the old ballroom. Kairi sighed. She stood and stared at the spot where he'd been almost silhouetted by sunlight and blue sky and then turned around to take the stairs back down to the main levels.

The weather stayed sunny and clear well into the afternoon. When Kairi stepped outside there was hardly a breeze but that didn't matter. Any breeze was likely to be a cold one and a still day was perfect for launching a spaceship. A temporary contraption was set up on one of the larger lawns for Sora and Riku's Gummi Ship. It was pointed up to the sky like a rocket. She checked that she had all of her pencils and papers before heading down to the launch site.

A crowd was already gathered there to see the Destiny Island trio off. Mickey and Minnie had made some time to be there, as well as Donald, Goofy, Max, Mark Mocking, Monica and Mir. A ladder was propped against the ship leading up to the cockpit. Chip and Dale slid down the sides of the ladder and hopped onto the shallow snow. Sora and Riku stood together beside the ladder and they both brightened when they saw her coming. It seemed that the whole group had been waiting just for her.

The first to break ranks was Monica. She ran up and hugged Kairi around the legs tightly. "Kairi! I'm gonna miss you sooo much! Promise you'll come back and visit?"

"Of course," Kairi replied, smiling down at her friend.

"Make sure it's in April for Easter and the Spring Festival. And then you should come back again for the Summer Solstice and-"

"Now, now, Monica," Mir interjected. "Kairi will return when she can."

"It was a pleasure to meet you in person," Minnie said, pulling her daughter away. "You'll always be welcome at Disney Castle."

"Thank-you," Kairi replied, crouching down to give the queen and princess each a hug. "And don't worry Monnie, I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise. I can't wait to see you dance again."

Monnie put her hands behind her back and lifted her shoulders bashfully but Kairi could tell by her smile that she was flattered.

"Maybe I'll even see you sooner than expected," Mickey added. "You've grown a lot in the short time you were here."

"Of course, I'll definitely be there next time the universe needs saving," Kairi said, standing up and giving Sora and Riku a defiant stare, daring them to speak against her.

"We'll see," Riku said, raising an eyebrow in acceptance of the challenge but he was smiling good-naturedly.

"Do take care of yourself," Mir said kindly. "There's no need to go rushing into an adventure."

Mark Mocking perched himself on Kairi's shoulder. "Your presence will be missed around the castle, surely. I believe the preparations for your vessel have been completed."

"All systems are go," Chip confirmed, giving them a thumbs-up.

"Well, I guess we should get moving," Sora said.

"It was nice to see you again," Goofy chimed, "even though me 'n' Donald were pretty busy."

"I was busy," Donald muttered. "Thanks for all of your help, Kairi."

"Yeah, you were pretty cool," Max added with a lazy shrug. He put his hand out for her. "It'd be pretty awesome if you came back and visited sometime." Kairi took the hand he offered but instead of shaking it she pulled him in close and trapped him in a hug. Max spluttered and half-heartedly tried to push away. "Whoa, hey! Watch the hair!"

"You're a pretty cool kid, Max," Kairi said.

Max coughed and when Kairi let him go he straightened up and tried to regain some composure. "Oh… okay, um, yeah, I guess I'm pretty cool," he said, trying to sound nonchalant but just like Monnie his grin gave him away.

Kairi looked around. The group wasn't complete but nobody else had turned up. She looked up when she heard Sora calling her name from the cockpit of the Gummi Ship.

"We're ready for take-off!" he announced. "What's holding you?"

"Not everyone's here," Kairi said.

"Are you sure?" Riku asked, looking down at the group. "It looks like everyone's here."

Kairi shook her head. Just as she was about to turn around and do another once-over of the area she heard her name being called again. She turned around and spotted the one person she'd been waiting for. The tabby maid was hurrying across the lawn. She'd quickly thrown on a grey, knitted coat and in one hand she carried a brown, leather case. She jogged up to the launch site and was a little out of breath as Kairi ran to meet her.

"Tabitha!" Kairi exclaimed, throwing her arms around the cat. "I'm so glad you made it! What's this? Are you coming too?" she joked.

"What? Oh, heavens no," Tabitha laughed. She held the case out to Kairi. "No, this is for you. You left a few things behind in your room."

"No I didn't," Kairi said, subtly hefting the pencils and paper she held under one arm. "I'm pretty sure I got everything that's mine. And I don't think I would have overlooked that much stuff."

"I'm sure you wouldn't want to leave these things behind," Tabitha insisted. "I packed in your ice skates among other things."

"What? But they weren't mine, I was just borrowing them."

Tabitha laughed again. "Kairi, nobody else used them other than you! They might as well be yours and you should take them."

"I won't be able to use them on the islands," Kairi muttered, taking the case from Tabitha anyway since the maid was not going to take no for an answer.

"Sora and Riku can use Blizzard magic," Donald reminded her. "They can make you an ice rink if you want one. Ain't that right?" He looked up at Sora and Riku, who both looked stunned at the suggestion.

"Er, I'm sure that comes under abuse of power or something," Riku replied.

"But it's no big deal," Sora added with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks, guys. And thank-you so much, Tabitha." Kairi pulled the maid in for another hug. Tabitha returned it and patted her on the back.

"Whatever for, dear?"

"You took such good care of me the whole time."

"I was only doing my job."

"You did a bit more than that and I just need you to know that I'm grateful for it."

"You're too kind."

Kairi let go and adjusted all of her things so that she was carrying them in one arm. She scaled the ladder to the Gummi Ship's cockpit. Sora and Riku each took some of her luggage to make it easier for her to climb in. Once inside she turned around to give her final waves to the crowd. Her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed an extra member of the crowd. Zexion was standing among them. He smiled up at her and waved goodbye. Kairi stared at him and the others in confusion for a moment, wondering how he'd suddenly appeared and why nobody else seemed to notice him but then quickly realised that illusions were Zexion's element. She smiled softly and waved. The crowd waved back not knowing that that particular wave was directed at the one person they couldn't see.

Pistons and pressure pumps hissed as the Gummi Ship's cockpit closed. Kairi stretched as far out of her seat as she could too see out the window and wave in a huge gesture for the rest of the group. They smiled and one by one turned away to head back to the castle, giving the Gummi Ship the space it needed to launch. Zexion stayed longer and kept looking up. Kairi didn't want to move from the window as long as he was still there. The engines hummed to life smoothly as Sora started them up.

"You might want to be sitting down for this part," Riku jested.

"Yeah, I will, I just…" Kairi said, glancing at him and then back down to Zexion. He was still there. She gave him another small wave, which he returned before opening his Dark Portal around him and disappearing before the rockets blew him away.

Kairi sat back in her seat. The Gummi Ship took off, rumbling and shuddering as it struggled to break through the atmosphere. Clouds and sky gave way to stars and space. Kairi stared at them in wonder, trying to take in all of the stars at once. One of them was her home world. Her first thought was to go there now. They could do it now that they'd built the Gummi Ship, not a silly, dingy raft. She even had a good idea of where to start. But then she looked at Sora and Riku and noticed for the first time in the past few days that Sora's skin was two shades darker and Riku's shoulders were still tinged with sunburn-red. She smiled at the familiarity of that. There was time to look for her world later. For now the islands would do.

END