#vankai

I never realized how much of a difference three years would make.

Three years after the Second Keyblade War, I stood in the Land of Depature's great hall, front and center with the other wielders I fought alongside. We weren't the only ones in the room; there were maybe twenty or twenty-five others, all newcomers that have either started manifesting their weapons or were very eager to try. The grand hall had never been so vibrant before. Aqua and Terra presided over us from the front platform, the only two Keyblade masters to train a new legion of pupils. Well, there were more than two--actually, there were three Keyblade Masters who could, arguably four...

...but it had been years since any of us had heard from Sora and Riku.

As Aqua started addressing us and the crowd fell into silence, I couldn't help but tune her out and focus on the one thing encasing my mind: the past. I had shared the paopu fruit with Sora before the battle. He was supposed to be a part of my life, no matter what, from that point on...but once we had made it back to the Islands, ready to relax and spend time with our friends, he disappeared from my grasp, like fractals spinning off into the sunlight. I haven't seen him since.

Sora's disappearance had an impact on everyone, and it was immediately evident. We called an emergency meeting at Master Yen Sid's tower to discuss what happened to him and what our options were. I was certain Mickey and Yen Sid knew more than they let on, even though they explained to us their theory: Sora had most likely tapped into a similar variant of time travel that Young Xehanort used to return to the past and prevent me from dying. No one in the room looked at me when this was brought up, and I could only assume they all blamed his disappearance on me. I wouldn't have blamed them if they did.

The meeting revealed a few more secrets--all of which were surprising, and all of which were focused around one, particular girl. Namine. When Master Yen Sid motioned for her to speak her piece, she opened it with an explanation. She had never been my Nobody at all; Namine was her own person, the Princess of Light that came before me. She explained her past to us with some degree of detail. She was under the guardianship of Ansem the Wise; despite not having many memories, she recalled seeing him as a father figure until his experiments on the heart prompted him to use her as a test subject. She had befriended Lea and Isa when they would sneak into the castle, and was the girl they had both been searching for. It was touching to see their reunion, but it was peculiar to know that I wasn't her Other, I was her vessel.

It wasn't until after that meeting that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus returned to the Land of Departure to restore it to its former glory; a year later, they had laid all the groundwork for a Keyblade Academy, and even brought back a familiar, not-so-nice face as a redeemed ally: Vanitas. He looked so much like Sora. I often caught myself staring at Vanitas, hoping so intensely I could pretend I was looking at Sora instead; I never could. It was difficult to keep my emotions from rising to the surface, but it must have been harder for Riku. He left the next day, without saying a word; it's been a year, and he hasn't returned.

I looked up as Aqua was making her closing remarks, the words "may your heart be your guiding key" echoing through the foyer. As she and Terra descended the steps onto the floor, they urged everyone to mingle and get to know each other. It was the largest group of Keyblade students that had been assembled in quite a long time, after all. But my heart was my guiding key, and it guided me straight from the hall and into the dormitories we lived in. It was so hard for my light and personality to shine brightly without Sora around to make me smile.

When I shoved my key into the lock and gave it a twist, I heard two doors open instead of just mine. Panicked, I looked up to see Lea unlocking the door to his own room. He gave me a lazy smile as he put one foot across the threshold. "Not in a socializing mood, Princess?"

"No, not really," I said dully, walking into my room and closing the door behind me. I heard him dumbly stutter out "A-alright, guess I'll see you in training then" as I sank down against my door. I knew I shouldn't have been so curt with him--clearly he was just trying to make small talk and see if I was alright. Just because he spent more time hanging out with Roxas and Xion than he did with me didn't nullify our friendship or anything...

I sighed and pulled myself off the floor, only to go flop down on my bed. Morning would be here soon enough, and then it would be just another day back on my grind.

The class of Keyblade wielders I was in didn't have a name.

We functioned like a normal school, as far as grade levels went. We had first-year Keybearers, second-year Keybearers; eventually, there would be third and fourth years as well, maybe even fifth and sixth years, depending on how many individuals we found to train. As far as my class went, though, we didn't have a name. We were simply the ones who fought a war (some of us with minimal training) and made it back to tell the tale.

There were eight of us, including myself: Roxas, Xion, Axel, Namine, Isa, Ventus, Vanitas. I never wanted to train alongside Vanitas, I had never expected Namine and Isa to materialize Keyblades, and I had assumed Ventus would have been a Master by now. Everyone was joking around, goofing off, having fun; I wasn't. I stood away from everyone, hesitant to join in with their horseplay. It all reminded me of Sora and Riku. Despite the fact I have lived with only the shadows of their memories, it was different this time.

"So the first thing we're going to address," Aqua started, walking into the room and causing everyone to fall silent, "is your primary project for this educational year." She sat cross-legged on one of the benches, looking up at all of us standing in front of her. Everyone looked like they wanted to burst out in chatter at the excitement of a project. "As the highest caliber of Keyblade wielders," she continued, "it is going to be your jobs to go out in groups of three and find new, strong hearts that have the potential to use a Keyblade. You're more than welcome to pass on your power to individuals you may meet along the way that you deem fit."

At that, everyone began talking at once.

"I finally get to explore other worlds? That's so exciting!" Namine gasped.

"Trust me, it isn't that great with Heartless attacking you every five seconds," Xion retorted, shuddering.

"I wanna be on Vanny's team!" Ventus said with enthusiasm, gripping onto his Other's (or was he a brother? I wasn't sure) arm excitedly.

"No one will be picking their own teams," Aqua sighed loudly, as though getting everyone to silence one more time was particularly tiresome. "Master Yen Sid decided team compositions for you. He picked individuals he believes will work well together based on skill, fighting style, and level of experience."

"So what are our teams?" Roxas piped up, looking at Aqua anxiously. He was like a kid in a candy store, or an excited puppy; I couldn't choose which. "C'moooon Aqua, I wanna know!"

Aqua sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose as though she wanted to tell Roxas that she would tell him if he was a bit more quiet. "Our first team..." Aqua said slowly and deliberately, relief washing over her face as the gaggle of unruly teens began to get quieter. "...will be Roxas, Xion, and Ventus. Yen Sid has emphasized that the three of you make an excellent team due to your similar, yet different, fighting styles. Most of you guys are attack based, so he recommends the three of you alternate between the following roles: bruiser, magician, and defender. Once I've called your teams, go stand off somewhere with them until we begin our training drill."

Roxas, Xion, and Ventus giddily jumped up and down, the three of them rushing off to a corner of the field, muttering about team names and mascots. I heard Ventus suggest they call themselves "The Sora Squad," and I cringed when they started to overflow with giggles. I would have much rather had Sora himself there than all of them combined, despite how callous of a thing that is to say. "Team Two will be comprised of myself, Namine, and Isa. Master Yen Sid wants to keep you two on a similar playing field as everyone else, but these missions to other worlds might be too much for the two of you to handle on your own. I will be tagging along to be the defender in your group; Namine, you will be focused on magic, and Isa, you will be focused on attack."

The two smiled at each other, holding each others' hands as they walked off towards another corner of the courtyard, whispering excitedly between each other. I wished it was Sora and I holding hands and jabbering away about how exciting it would be to travel the worlds looking for more strong hearts of light. As I watched them walk, I froze; there were only eight of us in this class. If five of them had already been assigned to teams...I looked around at who was left standing. Oh no...

"And Team Three, you should all be able to use deductive reasoning to know who you are," Aqua finished. "Kairi, Lea, and Vanitas. Lea and Vanitas, Master Yen Sid wants you two to alternate between fulfilling heavy hitting and defense roles so Kairi can start to focus on honing her latent magical ability."

"Latent magical ability?" It was the first thing anyone had heard me say that day, and I said it with an eyebrow raised and my arms crossed. "I didn't think I had any magical ability."

Aqua very nearly gawked at me. "You're a Princess of Heart," she explained. "You have quite powerful magic ability that you need to be able to tap into. It's going to become your greatest asset, both in combat and even in your every day life."

"Yes, Master Aqua," I nodded respectfully, walking off to follow Lea and Vanitas to the back center of the training courtyard. Out of all the individuals I had to get stuck with, Lea was one that I didn't mind so much; we had spent a lot of time together in a timeless dimension of Merlin's creation to train for the Keyblade war, even though we didn't do much other than sit around and watch the sunset together. Vanitas, though...I minded being around him. In fact, I had half a mind to tell Aqua to switch me out with Isa, just so I could be on a team with someone who didn't have any relation to Sora at all. How was I going to train with Vanitas every day? How was I going to fight the waves of sickness that rolled over me every time I wished he was actually Sora? How could I get used to this?