The weight of all the worlds once again sat on his shoulders. Any optimism's attempt to shine through the darkness was crushed. There was no time for smiling now. He had a journey to complete and a final chapter of his story to write. This would be his last tale. He knew what he had to do.

The boat waited in the harbor, enduring each roll of angry waves that tossed it about and threatened to separate it from the grounded dock. The skies cried out in anguish, unleashing last bits of light in the form of lightning and uttering low bellows of thundering acceptance. The sea continued its rage, screaming at the sky with tsunamis that crashed loud as thunder against the barren shore. The sand stood silent.

The Keybearer stepped out into the storm, grimly examining his vessel. His final voyage awaited him. There would be no return trip.

The gale of the tempest threw itself across his face, rippling his hair and jacket like the tide of an ocean storm. The brave necklace he always bore now beat against his chest, matching pace with his ever-quickening heart. Every journey begins with a single step and all so end. The Keybearer took a single step across the sand toward the tormented waters.

A lone figure barred his path.

"Kairi?"

Her face wasn't one of sorrow or farewells. It was one of solemn conviction.

"You're not leaving." It wasn't a question. It was her answer.

"Kairi…I have to go. You know that."

"You don't know that! What if there's another way?"

"What if there's not?"

"So that's it then? You're just going to give up your life to save everyone and let it end like that? What happened to the Sora that always searched for the best path, the Sora that always followed his heart?"

"I was naïve, Kairi. I believed everything always worked out and that everyone gets a happy ending, but that's not true. Sometimes, we have to make sacrifices. Sometimes, it can't work out for everyone…But you always made me believe things would be ok, even when they terrified me. And that's what kept me going for so long. So…thank you."

He began his pilgrimage toward the boat once again, moving around his beloved friend. A swift step and she blocked his path a second time. The sound of metal caught him off-guard and left his blood ice-cold. Tears lay in her broken eyes as her Keyblade pointed at his chest.

"Kairi," he whispered, fighting back his own tears, "Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

One last effort to hold the storm inside until emotion cascaded from her heart. "It needs to be hard, Sora! You're leaving me again and you're not coming back this time! You're going to die! That can't be easy! I love you, Sora…I love you…with all my heart…"

Passion reignited in her eyes. She gripped the Keyblade firmly, keeping it aimed at his chest. "That's why I can't let you go. Even if I have to break your bones and leave you unconscious to keep you here, I'm not letting fate have you."

Sora closed his eyes in an attempt to ward off the burden of the choice before him. He knew he had to follow his heart at any cost. That hadn't changed. With the weight of the situation tearing him apart, he turned away. He couldn't look her in the eye. Not when he was raising his own weapon against her.

Her face contorted into a mask of pain. Sora's voice shook as he fought for the deepest type of courage he could muster. "This is my path, Kairi. Whether you walk beside me until the end or not, I have to do this."

Their two hearts stood still, locked in stalemate. A single clap of thunder prolonged in the distance.

Like a flash of lightning, Kairi struck Sora's Keyblade and leapt at him with a cry of anger to the heavens. He tucked and rolled to the side, summoning his weapon back frantically. Kairi was upon him in seconds, beating furiously against his guard. "I won't hurt you," Sora swore, flinching at each clang of metal that Kairi's Keyblade instilled on his own. "Even if you hurt me, I'm not going to fight back."

"Then you're going to have to stay here!" she cried, blasting Sora backwards with a burst of water magic. He stumbled as tried to regain his footing and prepare to defend himself again.

"I'm getting on that boat, Kairi!" he called out in determination.

"Then take me with you!"

"I can't do that! It's a one-way trip! It's not coming back!"

"I know! I'm finishing the journey with you!"

"I'm not letting you throw your life away, Kairi!"

"And I'm not letting you throw yours away either, so stop telling me what I can and can't do!" She dove across the sand, striking from an angle. Sora barely managed to parry before she unleashed another flurry of quick attacks, each one driven by rage and inability to accept the truth.

"If I had a choice, I'd stay, Kairi! I don't want to leave you, but there's no decision here! This is it!"

The assault halted and both of them stood panting, eyes locked together. All the anger had drained out of Kairi's face now. Only sadness was left behind. "Sora…do you remember, a long time ago, when I asked you never to change?" Sora listened closely, retreating back into his memories of easier days. "For a long time, I thought you had. You had grown older, stronger. You had new friends and new adventures to talk about. You had even matured a lot. You were less naïve than you used to be. But despite all that…you haven't changed, Sora. You still need to be the hero. I dreamed for a long time that I would save you one day, instead of the other way around. But even now, I know I can't stop you. You know what you need to do…I just wish I had some sort of power to change things, to make them end differently. But I don't…I'm sorry…"

She fell to her knees and wept, but Sora wasn't a moment behind her. He dropped down and caught her, holding her close. She laid her head on his shoulder and let the tears roll down her cheeks. The sky rumbled softly and the ocean waves began to lessen, retreating back to the lonely void on the horizon.

"It's not your fault, Kairi," Sora whispered. "It isn't anyone's fault. It just is."

They kneeled there for a long time like that, the world falling silent around them. Kairi stared straight ahead, wishing for the ability to halt time and stay that way forever. Sora, with immense pain on his face, said one last good-bye. "I love you, Kairi…I'm sorry." Placing a hand squarely on her back, he uttered the word, "Sleep."

"Huh?" She began to pull away, puzzled, as a bell rang softly through her head and her eyes drooped in exhaustion. She fell into the serenity of the darkness and slumped against Sora's shoulder. He solemnly laid her on the sand before heading toward the sea once more, the ocean that would carry him home.