kris bows her head where she's on her knees, the black blindfold still tied around her eyes. her hair is longer than lu remembers it, falling down around her waist in streaks of platinum, and she's grown even taller, if that was possible; even on her knees, she comes up past lu's ribs.

"please," kris pleads, voice hoarse and overly loud in the silence of the empty hall. her shoulders shrink forward and her forehead falls against lu's stomach. lu can feel her warmth even through her shirt.

"no," lu says, softly, and then stronger, again, "no."

kris makes a sound that's nearly a sob in the back of , long fingers coming up to grip lu's vest. there's desperation in every line of her body.

"you have to," she croaks, knuckles whitening with the tightness of her hold on lu, "you're the keyblade master."

suddenly, lu is angry. she realizes she's still holding onto the keyblade and she tosses it away in disgust, falling to her knees in front of kris, who stiffens.

"i don't care," as lu shakes her head, hands settling on the sides of kris' neck. her fingers slide up the warm skin and into thick hair until they come upon a loose knot, and before kris can protest, lu undoes the tie in one swift motion. the fabric falls to the ground and kris cries out in shock, hands immediately covering her eyes.

"kris," lu murmurs, curling her fingers around kris' wrists, not pulling, just feeling kris' frantic pulse. kris doesn't relax, but lu continues, "i don't care about the keyblade, or what you did, or what i'm supposed to do. i don't care about any of that. the only thing i care about is you."

lu can feel kris' uneven breath where their chests are pressed together, and she rubs her thumb gently across the inside of kris' wrist, the way she used to when they were curled in the same bed and kris' chest started to flutter with panic.

"lu," kris finally whispers, after minutes of silence, and lu leans in, slowly, to rest her forehead against kris'.

"look at me," as lu twists her hands to slide her palms against kris', lacing their fingers together, and this time, when she pulls kris' hands away from her face, kris lets her.

tears are clinging to kris' eyelashes and she immediately ducks her head, hair falling to cover her face. she's always been so strong, always been the one taking care of lu, ever since they were kids, and lu feels determination bloom in her chest.

this time, it's her turn to be strong.

"kris," she says, gently, and kris shivers at the sound. "please, look at me."

it's a long few moments where neither of them move, and then kris takes a deep, shuddering breath and straightens her shoulders. one of her eyes crack open and she winces at the light, but it's enough for lu to catch a glimpse of the dark brown she's been seeing in her dreams for the past year.

both of kris' eyes open, so slowly, and lu can feel the grin across her face stretch so wide that it hurts. she uses the fingers still laced with kris' to tug her down, and kris' immediate reaction is to let go and wrap her arms around lu's waist. she's blinking, wetness still pooling in the corner of her eyes, but when she sees lu, they go wide.

"you're-" she starts, multiple emotions flashing across her face so fast that lu can't quite catch them all until it finally lands on something that lu can't name, but that makes her chest warm.

"yeah," she laughs, curling her arms around kris' neck and feeling kris bury her head against lu's neck, kris' hands pulling her closer, impossibly closer, never close enough. "so are you."