"Sora?"

He barely heard her voice, his vision blurring and his knees growing week as they snuck out of the lab in Radiant Garden. "Hmm?" He hummed in response, knowing what she was going to ask and very much unsure of how he was going to answer.

"Are you okay?" Kairi grabbed his wrist to get a better look at him, looking over him seriously, "Are you crying?"

"Yeah." His voice broke and he reached up to wipe his face, "I'm just, so happy for Naminé, you know." It wasn't a lie, but that wasn't what was overwhelming him.

She guided him over to a patch over grass amongst the various flower gardens surrounding the castle, "C'mon, let's sit down."

He followed her direction and folded his legs underneath himself, trying his best to keep his breathing steady.

"I know you definitely are happy for Naminé, but…" She reached out to take his hand, grasping it tightly as she blinked in concern, "You looked like you were feeling really weak just now. Are you feeling okay?"

Sora felt a pang in his chest from her reaction, but smiled and laughed it off, "I'm just kinda tired from traveling around so much these past few days. And separating Naminé's heart from yours just took a lot of focus, that's all."

Kairi hummed as if she still didn't quite believe him, answering, "Well, even before today, you have been acting kind of weird. And it is pretty unusual that you're spending all this time with just me."

He gripped her hand and lifted it to just below his lips, "I thought I lost you, Kairi." He pressed a light kiss against her knuckle, "Don't get me wrong, obviously everyone else is really important to me too, but... I needed to make up for some lost time. There's been far too many things left unsaid and undone between us and I wasn't going to leave it like that."

Flushed, she turned her gaze towards a nearby flower planter, "…Yeah, you're right."

He slipped his hand out of her grasp and reached out to poke her cheek, grinning, "You don't have to be embarrassed, it's just me."

"And you're avoiding the subject by teasing me." She reached up to grab his arm and pushed it back towards him, pouting, "I'm still worried. I just feel like there's something that you're not saying."

"I'm perfectly fine!" He jumped up, "In fact, I'm—" He noticed Kairi's horrified look and looked down to see that his left leg was half transparent, "I'm…"

"Sora…" She stared, biting her lip. After a moment, the color returned to his body and they both let out a sigh of relief. "What… was that?" She still stared at his leg, unmoving.

He looked down, "I don't really know. It's been happening on and off since I…" He immediately sealed his lips shut tight, knowing he shouldn't say anymore.

Not to her. She would blame herself.

"Since you saved me, right?"

He saw her face tilt downward and the tears start to pool in her eyes. "Kairi, it's not your fault—whatever this is."

"You're disappearing." She whispered, her shoulders and hands starting to shake as well before she finally looked up, "Did you know?"

"Not exactly," Sora answered, his voice small as he continued, "I was told… that there would be a price to pay, and that it wouldn't exactly be a small one."

Kairi jumped up and for a moment he thought that she was going to hit him, but instead she collapsed against him, crying against his shoulder, "Why would you do something like that!?"

"Kairi, I never even gave it a second thought. I had to save you." He ran a hand through her hair and rested the other on her back, "When I was a Heartless, did you think about it or did you just rush in? Or when you saw me in the Castle That Never was?"

"That's not the same!" She cried loudly and gripped the hood of his jacket.

"How? You didn't know what the consequences would be, and you still did it anyway, right?" She shook her head as she pressed it harder against his shoulder and he let out a sigh, continuing to stroke her hair, "You know, I heard a saying once. That people do crazy things when they're in love."

She pulled away slightly and looked up into his eyes, hers still wide and brimmed with tears, "Sora…"

He smiled and moved his hand to the front of her face to hold her cheek, "No matter where we are, no matter how far apart, we're always together, right? I know that's not… really what you want to hear right now, and it's not what I want either but… No matter what, I will always, always, find my way back to you. Just like I have before." He wiped away her tears with his thumb.

Her shoulders fell as she commented, "So this is why you've been spending all this time with me."

"Kind of. But it's still mostly what I said before." He answered with an earnest tilt of his head.

"Does anybody else know?" She asked in a quiet voice, just above a whisper.

Sora shook his head, "No. Riku and King Mickey were really concerned when I first left to find you, but they haven't really said anything since, so… I figure they think since I returned safely that I'm fine. And, that's kind of what I wanted to believe too." He looked down to his hand and spread his fingers, "I noticed… the fading in the world of sea and sky, for a brief second. But I hoped that maybe once we made it back to the realm of light that it wouldn't affect me anymore. Guess I couldn't be that lucky." He looked back up, this time towards the sky.

"W-we'll find some way to stop it!" Kairi pulled away from him and announced loudly.

He gave a small smile and admitted, "I don't know if we have time. You were right—about me feeling weak…That's something that's been going on since after my mark of mastery but, it's gotten a lot worse. It is honestly a bit scary, but…" He flashed a smile again, "I feel better when I'm with you. Because whatever this is, it's temporary. Being with you, that's forever."

Her tears immediately began falling again and she squeezed against him in a tight hug, crying loudly even as she laughed a little bit, "Sora, why did you have to say something so sappy?"

"Because that's my specialty, obviously." He hugged her back just as tightly, "And because it's true."

As the sun set on Destiny Islands, Kairi felt Sora shift from his spot on the paopu tree and her heart immediately sank.

He called her name as she turned towards him, "Kairi," He squeezed her hand tightly and searched her eyes as he considered his words carefully, "Remember, it's temporary."

She smiled as she remembered what he said in Radiant Garden, the tears rolling down her cheek as she nodded. Sora smiled back at her and held her gaze until the sun slipped behind the horizon, and suddenly he was gone and her hand fell empty against the paopu tree.