It was around the first hours of the evening in Destiny Islands, and the 31st of October. The day of Halloween, an event where children dress as creatures from the dark and go from house to house to request sugary treats. All kids were currently doing so, including one.
In his room, Sora was currently inside the bathroom; outside was Kairi and Riku who were both waiting. The young redhead, who was dressed in a witch's outfit, was sitting down on a chair and swinging her legs to pass the time. As for Riku, who was dressed as a wolf-man, he leaned against the wall with arms crossed over his chest and wasn't patient.
"Kairi, how long is he going to be?" he asked impatiently. "Sora has been in that bathroom for ages! I don't want to miss out tonight!"
"Oh, I'm sure he wants to check on the finishing touches." Kairi answered timidly, blue oracles staring down at the floor.
In a few seconds, Riku marched to the bathroom doors and banged a fist against it in irritation.
"Hey, Sora! C'mon! What's taking you so long?! I'm not waiting for you to come out again."
"Yeah, but that was only a year! And I was sleeping in a comatose state!" Sora yelled back, releasing some small grunts and strains.
Kairi opened her mouth to speak and hesitated, "do you want me to help you, Sora?" she offered quietly.
"N-No! I got this sorted! I have it, grah, under control!"
Riku stepped back as the door flung open, revealing the young Keyblade wielder inside, wearing his Halloween costume.
Sora was covered in pitch-black from head-to-toe; he wore a black mask which went over his head that bared a pair of crooked antennae and also two golden eyes like small Suns. Claws were fashioned over his fingertips, and he gave them a little wave.
"What do you think?"
Kairi was in awe, as Riku stared in a dumbfounded manner.
"Are you a Heartless?"
"Yep! That's what I'm going as!" the muffled voice of the boy was heard inside this mask, and barely audible. "Man, it took me weeks to fashion out the costume. Glad that I made this by myself!"
"By yourself...?" the older boy grinned, revealing his fake fangs.
The Heartless-boy scuffed a foot across the floor. "Well, I may have received a little help by Flora, Fauna and Merryweather."
Giggling a little, Kairi stood up. "Well, I think it looks great on you. To think that you are dressed as one, where before you've been one before, remember?"
A nod came from Sora. "Indeed I do, especially with Donald's bopping." He remarked, causing Kairi to burst out laughing and Riku to lightly chuckle.
The three made their way downstairs, desperate to have an enjoyable night, but instantly a tall woman who wore a light-pink dress and apron, hair the same brunette as Sora's, slid in front of them.
"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" Sora's mother exclaimed happily. "My, do you look adorable this Halloween! Those are some great costumes you're wearing."
Only Kairi blushed lightly at her compliment. But, so was Sora inside his mask.
"Now, I hope you know the rules. One house at a time, no repeating, and absolutely no horseplay. Oh, and back at the house before ten, Sora."
"Mooooom...!" the young teenager complained like a little child. "It's Halloween! I want to get every house in town, and not missing any would prevent me from getting any good candy!"
His mother chuckled and patted his head, careful enough not to touch his antennae. "Oh, Sora. Enjoy yourself. You have plenty of time to get every house in Destiny Islands."
Then, she sidled to the left and opened the door. "Enjoy yourselves, you three."
Immediately afterwards, the three ran outside with their own bags, each have a cartoon pumpkin at the front, and went down the street. Sora's mother chuckled and shook her head, closing the door; they were still kids in heart.
Sora ran along with Kairi and Riku, as he gathered quite a few amazed looks by the other kids of Destiny Islands. His Heartless costume was like the real thing, only taller and at least he didn't have a craving for hearts.
Kids were going from door to door of every house, dressed as any type of monster that was popular in these old-fashioned monster movies, ranging from the leader of the vampires, to a fearsome half-man half-wolf, wrapped-up corpses, spirits of the grave and even the man made from human body parts.
As Sora wandered down a street, deciding which house to approach first, he looked over at the silverette. "Riku, this will be our first house." and he knocked on the door.
The door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman, hands holding a small container that is modelled after a pumpkin. Upon seeing the boy's costume, she gave a small flinch before.
"Trick or treat!" Sora chirped, holding out his bag, followed by his friends. The woman released a relieved exhale and smiled softly.
"Goodness. For a second there, I thought you were a real Heartless..." she said before taking out some wrapped-up sweets and placing some each in their bags.
"Happy Halloween, you three." she winked before closing the door, echoed by the three young trick-or-treaters.
Sora and the others ran to the next house, where a few kids leave after the door closed. He pressed the doorbell and heard carefully the slow footsteps approaching from the other side.
Door opened slowly and revealed an old man, balancing himself with a wooden walking stick.
"Why, happy Halloween, young 'uns. 'Ere, take your pi- goodness gracious, A HEARTLESS!"
"A Heartless?!" Sora immediately turned around and his hands quickly summoned the Keyblade, gripping the handlebar securely.
"Sora, he means your costume!" Riku said, pointing at his friend.
"Oh..." His weapon disappeared and be turned back to apologise, but he had to dodge below a swing of the walking stick, that almost collided into the side of his head.
"Get back! Shoo!" the old man cried out. "I may be an old coot, but I still have my strength, you little devil! Go and steal someone's else's heart which isn't old and frail!"
Sora's reflexes kicked in and he dodged another swing. "Hey! Whoa! Cut it out! I'm only wearing a Heartless costume! Chill out!"
"Humph... Heartless' don't talk." he murmured, before his squinted eyes widened upon realising the inconvenience.
"Oh, sorry, young man. I didn't know you were wearing a costume. It's these glasses of mine, they need re-polishing, they do."
"It's fine." Sora said timidly, lifting up a clawed hand to wave it off. "At least you didn't knock me out cold..."
"So, anyway, here is your candy. Now, take one and be off with ya. Enjoy the rest of your Halloween."
And with that, the three young teens took their candy from the bag and left. Kairi giggled while Riku had a secret smirk planted on his lips.
"Regret dressing up as a Heartless now, Sora?"
He let out a childish whine. "No way! I spent weeks making this outfit, so I'm not going to let it go to waste!" He answered back, as he marched to another house.
Kairi giggled at his demeanour when confronted of a mistake. "Don't feel bad, Sora. I think it suits you." She lifted a hand to playfully flick one of his antennae.
The three went to house to house, and received the best choices of candy; chocolate, bonbons, lollipops, sherbets, sour lemon drops, gobstoppers, liquorice, and even Gummi Block replicas. Sora and the gang were even lucky enough to receive some sea salt ice cream; salty at first taste but then incredibly sweet afterwards.
Later on, as Sora took off his mask to taste his treat, looked up at the stars in the night sky. He however had to keep track on time as he didn't want to break his curfew.
The three stood by each-other, bags already filled up with candy. They had to be careful with the amount they would consume, otherwise it's a one-way ticket to the dentist and they knew how painful was the drill.
"Hey, guys. Be glad that we didn't receive any of those fake Halloween treats." he remarked, voice echoing in his mask. "Such as, old satsumas, apples or junk." He stuck out his tongue and made a gagging face, causing Kairi to giggle cutely and Riku to roll his eyes at him.
"Well, I have to agree with you on that one, Sora." Kairi said. "Despite that they are in fact good for you."
"Hmph. Be glad that we also didn't bump into anyone with motives to egg peoples' houses or wrap them up in toilet paper." Riku remarked, causing Sora to laugh.
"Hey, the sky is getting darker by the second. Do you wanna come to my place and eat our candy?" Sora suggested.
As Kairi and Riku nodded, Sora grinned and flung his bag over his shoulder.
"Well, let's get go- hey, what's that?!"
The other two turned to where Sora was pointing and looked to see that there was a ship in the sky. Not one of those high-tech intergalactic UFO thingies; it was colourful and illuminating with various lights around.
It was the Gummi Ship, the very spacecraft that Sora flown through his two adventures from world to world, to save those who were in need and to search for his best friends.
"Gosh, it's the Gummi Ship! What's It doing here on Halloween?!" Sora asked excitedly as he suddenly dashed from the town to approach the ship.
"Sora, wait up!" Riku said and tried to catch up with him, followed by Kairi. It was strange to how fast the young Keyblade Wielder could run; in the past, the older teen would always beat him in races, but recently, Sora has been advancing.
The Gummi Ship landed safely on the beach and a hatch opened to reveal an extended staircase.
Sora skidded to a halt and looked up in awe as two figures stood in the open doorway and then descended the staircase. One was almost half of the boy's height while the other was quite tall, around a head taller.
"Donald! Goofy!"
"D'yuh! A Heartless!" Goofy exclaimed, and quickly summoned his shield to hide behind it. Despite being a captain, he was not a fan of violence, so he used a shield for his defensive weapon.
"Heartless! SCRAM! We've beaten you before! We'll beat you again!" The magic staff appeared in one of the mallard magician's hands.
Instantly, a lightning bolt was released from his weapon and landed upon the sand right in front of Sora's feet.
"Donald, no!" Kairi cried out.
"Whoa! Whoa! Donald! It's me! Sora!" His frightened tone echoed within the replica of the Shadow Heartless, as both clawed hands swing up to defend himself.
Donald was quite stubborn as he is everyday. "Nice try, Heartless! Can't fool me!"
"Wuh-wait a minute, Donald." Goofy intervened, placing a gloves hand on Donald's staff. "It's Sora! Heartless' don't talk!"
"But, Ansem could!" Donald countered.
Both hands snaking to his mask, Sora attempted to pull it off his head; that's twice he's been attacked under the impersonation under a Heartless!
With a few tried tugs, he managed to fully pull off his mask, as Donald began squawking at Goofy about whether the Heartless speak or not.
"Uh, guys?"
After hearing the voice, Donald flinched and slowly turned his head towards to see the boy who was almost at the receiving end of a lightning bolt.
"SORA!"
And with that, the boy found himself being charge-hugged by his two best friends that he ventured and fought alongside with.
Kairi laughed lightly and approached the three, while Riku stayed in his spot, completely flabbergasted.
"See, Donald? I told ya it was Sora all along!" Goodly laughed and h'yucked as he ruffled Donald's head.
"Hey! I knew it was Sora all along! Heartless' aren't that tall anyway!"
"Then, why did you try to zap me if you already knew who I was?!" Sora asked already irked, as he was currently enveloped in Goofy's grasp.
"Uhhh,... because... I wanna test my wand! In case... if there was a real Heartless!"
"Hey, Kairi!" Goofy said, as he released the boy and smiled quite goofily at her. She waved back and was then greeted by Donald.
"And Riku too!" Donald quacked. It's been nice to meet up with your old friends after a long time of being distant. But luckily, since they have a Gummi Ship, they can visit Sora anytime they want.
"Hey, guys." Kairi lightly bowed her head and tried to resist the urge to laugh out loud. She couldn't get the misunderstanding out of her head; both of Sora's panicked squealing and Donald's quick-to-act nature.
"Happy Halloween, I guess." Sora said as he lightly rubbed his arm. "Enjoying it so far?" Without the attempted zapping, of course.
"Oh, yeah, Halloween!" Donald exclaimed, completely ignoring his question. "Sora! We got a mission to do! An important one!"
"Uhhh, yeah! We gotta go to Halloween Town!" Goofy said.
"Halloween Town" a confused look grew on Sora's face. "What for?"
"We heard a message from Jack Skeelington that there's going to be trouble in Halloween Town, and you know that when there's trouble, there's the Heartless!"
"Yeah! That's why we need ya, Sora!" Goofy said with a sure smile on his face.
The spiky-haired Keyblade wielder's eyebrows furrowed and then he nodded. "Right. I'll come with you!"
"Oh, can I come too?" Kairi asked excitedly. "I've heard so many stories of Halloween Town from you, Sora, and I've always wanted to go there."
"Guess I'll go there as well." Riku said with a shrug. "It's been some time since I last went there." Well, technically in his own memories.
With a determined nod, Sora took one step to access the Gummi Ship. But before he could, Donald jumped in and stopped him.
"Wait, wait, Sora! You can't come on looking like that!"
"What? What do you me- oh! I have to be happy, right? Because this ship runs on happy faces? No frowning, no sad faces?"
"Uhhh,... no, it's not that. You might need to lose the costume."
His grin instantly transformed into a gape of utter disappointment, bottom jaw opened widely.
"WHAT?! Why not?! I can't let this Heartless costume go to waste! I spent ages constructing that!"
"With the assistance of the fairies." Riku inquired, earning a small scowl from his rival.
Donald shook his head. "Sorry, Sora, but wouldn't Jack freak if he'd seen you wearing it?"
"Yeah!" Goofy was always quick to agree. "Donald almost sizzled ya into a sausage before he realised it was ya in a costume!"
A huge disappointed sigh came from Sora's pair of lips, as his chin reached his chernum. Why oh why did he have to be so cruel?
"Fine, BUT on one condition." he said firmly. "I'm taking it with me. So, after I help Halloween Town, I can tell Jack that I have one, and he better let me wear it." Then he was met with a nod from the duck and the two shook hands.
As Sora ran to change, puzzled looks shadowed Kairi and Riku's faces. "Hey, Donald. How come we don't have to change?" Riku asked.
Donald replied simply, "you guys are dressed as creatures that are acceptable. Witches and werewolves are Jack's friends, but once he sees a Heartless, he'll go bone-crazy."
Once Sora was changed into his uniform after sneaking past his mother, he and the others boarded the Gummi Ship and off they went through the galaxy.
It was a short trip through space, without any pit-stops. Once they found a planet resembling a huge pumpkin, they gently landed.
Then they left the ship.
Now, what was remarkable for Sora was that in some worlds he rescued, he turned into a different form so that he would blend in within the world's atmosphere. For example; in the Pride Lands, he was a lion cub: in Atlantica, he was a mer-boy with a dolphin's tail: in the Space Paranoids, he was a program: and in the Timeless River, he was an old-fashioned black-and-white simple figure.
So, he appeared in the Guillotine Square, near the gateway of the centre of Halloween Town.
He was no longer a human, but a cute vampire.
He was wearing darker clothing, and wore a small pumpkin mask over the right side of his face. Small bat-like wings were formed on his back. As soon as he viewed at himself in a green-infested fountain, he grinned with his fangs revealing.
Donald and Goofy were in their monster forms as well; Donald was completely mummified and his middle was absent, while Goofy's pale skin and bolt on his head gave the impression of a Frankenstein's monster.
Not only them, but Kairi and Riku too, but were more like their Halloween costumes. Kairi's witch hat and cloak looked more dusty and withered, and she was given a broom. Riku, however, was turned into a young wolf-man whose silver hair became a mane that matched the fur. He kept his human visage with the including of a canine's features.
In the memory-based Halloween Town, Riku only bared a darker aura; the same goes for King Mickey and Maleficent. The reason why was because Riku didn't hear the rule of 'blending in' within the atmosphere of Halloween Town as he was never near the locals.
But currently, thanks to Sora's clothes and Donald's magic, the five were a quintet of monsters that look like they're ready for trick-or-treating.
After looking at his reflection, he suddenly darted up to hear the gates slam open and an endless chorus of monsters chanting.
Sora's Keyblade was summoned and he gave a defensive pose; was this the trouble that Jack requested?
Why were they singing that this is Halloween?
They were dragging in a small Trojan horse, where a thin figure whose currently engulfed in flames danced around with his spider-like moves. Wide gawks came from the visitors, never have witnessed anything like that.
Sora unfortunately witnessed an incident similar to this, as this happened to one of his friends who sacrificed himself to open the gateway to Xemnes. But, the exception is that this figure looked like he was somehow enjoying the fire.
This figure jumped into the fountain and slowly emerged, revealing the mascot of Halloween.
Jack Skellington.
Sora's mouth slowly grown into a grin, at the familiar sight of his ally. The very skeleton himself, who adored the event, and also another one, though festive, during their second meeting.
Jack jumped off the fountain's rim and with his trademark lined smile, he said, "My fellow fiendish friends, this has been a joyful Halloween! I swear that I still hear the screams and hollers that we've all caused to the townsfolk!" He was met with erupting cheers from the monsters, that deeply worshipped Jack. His girlfriend, Sally, walked up to him and greeted him with a well-deserved hug. Zero the polter-pooch whizzed around Jack, happily barking and gave a series of licks towards his face.
The skeleton caught sight of a familiar vampire, as well as the mummy magician mallard and zombified canine, and he squinted his eye-sockets suspiciously. He's seen him before in the past, twice in fact, and helped him save Halloween Town from the Heartless.
"Sora! Why, if it isn't Sora?! And Donald and Goofy as well!" Jack exclaimed, as he approached the boy with a big smile on his skull. "Happy Halloween!"
"Happy Halloween to you too, Jack." he grinned, fangs showing within his smile. "And to you too, Sally."
"Hmph! You never wished me that." Donald grumbled.
As Sora glared at Donald with his sapphire eyes, Kairi looked over at the tall undead mascot of Halloween in awe; Sora told him so many stories about him and his passion to make every Halloween perfected and better than the previous year.
"So,... you're Jack Skellington?" the little redhead witch asked, looking up at his rounded skull.
"Why, yes, I am! Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, at your service." he shook her hand with his extended, bony fingers.
"And this is Riku." Kairi nodded her head to the side, motioning the little werewolf.
"Riku, aah, this is a pleasure!" the eccentric skeleton beamed as he shook his paw.
With a point in the air, the skeleton proudly announced, "I give you my gratitude for paying a visit to celebrating my own holiday! You are right on time to see my own entrance. Glad that I'm completely immune to large amounts of heat."
"It's a relief that you are a skeleton, Jack." Sally informed with a warm smile on her face. "Otherwise, you would have been out of it like a Phoenix." She chuckled at Jack's surprised reaction.
"Heh, guess so." Sora gave a small giggle, before he gasped. "Hey, Jack!" he exclaimed, gloved hands into fists. "Donald said that there was trouble! What is it? Is it another Heartless invasion?!" He was getting used to fighting these Heartless invasions.
"Trouble?" Jack asked, confused look on his skull. Sally was also confused, but more frightened; she always bared a bad feeling towards these Heartless since the moment that Jack tried to create his own.
"Yeah!" The little vampire gave a glance at the magician, who nodded fiercely.
"Trouble? What trouble? I haven't the foggiest of what you're talking ab- Ooohh..." Then without warning, he started laughing.
"There's no trouble here! You simply made a simple inconvenience!"
If it was possible to not break their backs, the five would have dropped back in shock, like anime characters.
Similar to the astonishing realisation of the difference between the two Ansems, Sora released a huge "WHAT?!" echoed by each of his friends that came to aid him in this 'fake invasion'.
"Ah, yes! I remember it now! There's no trouble here in Halloween Town!" The gutting explanation made their jaws lower even more. Only Sally giggled at their priceless reactions.
"It was about three hours ago in Doctor Finkelstein's lab as we were discussing the plans one final time. When you, Donald, heard that there's going to be 'trouble', I meant that WE are going to cause it in our world, by scaring anybody in sight! Why, we haven't received a Heartless invasion for weeks, have we, my friends?"
The residents of Halloween Town nodded happily, grunting and growling in agreement. Sally nodded as well.
"That is correct, Sora. I think Donald made a little mistake of Jack's motives."
Trying to gather the realisation to this huge mistake, Sora puffed up his chest and finally released a long, tiring, irritated and utterly-disappointed exhale from out of his lips. His fangs looked like they were flopping like what would his body feel at the time.
All but Goofy, Kairi, Jack, and the residents, glared at Donald for the huge inconvenience that dragged them from their homelands for nothing. All thanks to him that they wasted on stamina for battling endless amounts of Shadows, White Nights and Search Ghosts. The magician lifted both hands as his head turned from side to side, attempting to find some way for an excuse.
Goofy was pondering, one hand to his chin and lightly scratching it with one of his claws. "Hmmm... So, if there ain't no Heartless that Donald thought was coming, all this time Jack was planning his own event."
Sora sighed again, though this was more of an tired one; that he should be back eating the rest of his treats instead of wasting his time here.
"Right." he said. "Hey, Jack. Sally. Sorry for intruding like this. We'll be going now." And he turned around to leave for the portal that would warp him straight back to the Gummi Ship.
"Sora, wait!"
He stopped in his tracks and looked over his head, at the skeleton who formed his inviting lined smile.
"Would you like to join us?"
As Donald squawked and Goofy fell over surprised, Riku and Kairi both gasped and gazes darted to Sora, who was currently frozen in his spot. Jack wanted him and his friends to join him for the rest of Halloween? Instead of eating his sweets and likely gaining cavities, he instead would be partying with an entire town of monsters?
With a turn of his heel, the young Keyblade wielder looked at the tall tux-wearing skeleton and nodded with the biggest grin that anyone could see.
Every monster cheered, before they began to party in the town hall, where the benches to pushed to both sides. For the rest of the two hours, the residents of Halloween Town including their guests had the party of their lives.
They started with basic Halloween games such as bobbing for apples, before they moved into making your loudest monster roar and scariest faces. As Jack performed an intimidating one with a red aura enveloping him, Sora did one with the usage of a flashlight.
They danced for fun, with Jack doing a few spider-like acrobatic moves, but not forgetting to dance with Sally. It reminded Sora where Jack and Sally both danced under the snow, which appeared for the first time in Halloween Town.
Jack took the Keyblade wielder by the hand and soon had him a waltzing pose, before spinning him around like a top. This caused great amusement from the residents.
Lock, Shock and Barrel held up bags of marbles and threw them at one area of the dance floor that Jack was unintentionally making his way towards...
He didn't slip but instead made a series of scattering dance moves where all four limbs waved incredibly but ever so spider-like everywhere. Sora backed away and gave a series of claps, then smirked at the three little tricksters that rolled over laughing.
There were no alcohol that they needed to enjoy, but with the ripest of fruit juice that could ever be squeezed from the ripest of non-rotten oversized fruits. Even Goofy went a little overboard with the juice. Donald snickered before he looked down to see Zero's floating right in his absent middle! A terrified squawk came from him and he jumped, causing Goofy to guffaw and Zero to bark.
With a few hours before they had to leave, Sora quietly sneaked out of the party and ascended the Gummi Ship. There was ONE thought he held onto as he boarded to this town.
As Jack started to dance with Kairi and Goofy, he hadn't noticed that they were the only ones on the disco floor. These cheers sounded like they were supporting him, but didn't these cheers sound panicked?
"What is it?" he asked, stopping. "Is it our big dance?"
Soon, he felt a twitch in his ribs, as a familiar tense started to build up inside of him. This was a strange but familiar feeling he had for the last two years, so without hesitation, he turned his head.
A Heartless.
Without a second to spare, fire appeared within his skeletal hands and he aimed to charge to this being. After one step with his long leg, he was suddenly stopped by Riku and Kairi.
"Jack, wait!" Kairi yelled. "It's not a Heartless, it's Sora! In a costume!"
"We're not letting him be attacked the third time!" Riku said in irritation.
For a few seconds, the fire illuminated in his open bony palms and soon extinguished into small smoke.
"That's... Sora?" he asked, as the not-to-little Heartless nodded quickly and had both hands in the air to prevent from any more attacks. The three little brats laughed at this unfortunate misunderstanding.
First, that old man, then Donald, he wasn't getting attacked again!
"Why, Sora! That's a nice costume you fashioned out! I knew it was you all along!"
"Oh, yeah...? Then why the fire?" his muffled voice asked, arms crossed.
To stop this situation, Sally stepped up and told him, "Jack hasn't seen a Heartless in a long time, so the recent experience made him jump to attacking. Besides, it's good that he hasn't burn you."
Sora approached the skeleton with how a Heartless does walk, and Jack laughed at this stroll. "My, Sora, you haven't changed one bit. That's certainly a kind of costume you made there!"
As the monsters closed in to examine him closely, the party soon resumed to its glory state and everyone was returning to their enthusiastic vibe.
Soon, it was time to leave.
Jack and Sally bade a goodnight towards Sora and his friends, showing their gratitude for unexpectedly and quite accidentally joining them.
"Do you really have to go, Sora?" Jack asked, hoping that he could stick around with some possible last-minute scaring.
Sora, who took off his costume leaving him in his Halloween clothes, nodded. "Sorry, Jack, but I have to go. Don't worry, I'll be back! And this time, we'll scare together!"
"Oh, Jack!" Down the stairs came the Mayor of Halloween Town, who held a scroll in one of his hands while he held the megaphone in his other. "I just started on the plans for next Halloween! It would be even better, bigger and let's not forget scarier, of course!"
"Mr Mayor, we just had our Halloween celebrations. It is far too early to plan already."
"Jack, I need your help! You're the mascot of Halloween, so I am in deep need of your assistance!"
"Can't you for once plan it yourself?"
Instantly, his head turned to his negative visage as he had an ability to do so during a motion-change.
"Jack, please! I'm only an elected official! I can't make decisions by myself!"
Sora laughed at the mayor's outburst, before waving a hand. "I'll just be going." he said before quickly finding himself in the skeleton's arms.
"Happy Halloween, Sora!"
Lifted in the air, he couldn't help but dangle freely and slowly return the hug. Just like when Tron hugged him before saying their farewells.
"Happy Halloween, Jack."
After receiving another hug by Sally, and licked by Zero's ghostly tongue, Sora and the gang left in the Gummi Ship before and waved as they ascended.
"HAPPY HALLOWEEN, SORA!"
Throughout the megaphone that Jack yelled through, causing a smile to appear on Sora's face. Soon, their forms disappeared as soon as they ascended into space and they were back to their original forms.
Donald descended the ship to the beach of Destiny Islands and him and Goofy bade the three a Happy Halloween.
"'Til we meet again!" Goofy hollered as they took flight again to return to Disney Castle. King Mickey and Queen Minnie must be worried sick, not to mention Donald's overprotective girlfriend, Daisy!
"That was some Halloween, right guys!" Sora said holding his costume as he approached the quiet town with both hands behind his head. It was really late at night, so there wasn't a simple stir in the town.
"You said it, Sora." Riku winked as he held his bag full of candy. Sora's bag was at his house as he didn't want to lose it in the town.
"You know, Sora?" Kairi inquired. "If it wasn't for Donald's little mistake, then we would have never had a great time in Halloween Town. I would have never been acquainted Jack if it wasn't for him. And you." she leaned over and gave a small kiss to his cheek.
Snickering at his blush, Riku looked up at the sky and stretched both arms above his head. "Well, I think it's best if we hit the hay. Don't want to alarm my parents!"
"Oh, DARN!" Sora's voice shrieked in the formally-silent atmosphere, resulting in a shocked Riku and Kairi. "I forgot that I was supposed to be back at ten! Mom's gonna kill me!"
Kairi giggled at his panicked state, as Riku shook his head.
"She might be asleep, Sora. Go in without making a noise and lie that you've been there all this time. If she doesn't believe you,... that's not my concern. Good night!"
Riku quickly left, before Kairi looked over at Sora with a sympathetic smile. "You'll be fine, Sora. Apologise honestly." She pulled him into a hug before leaving with a skip in her step.
Left on his own, Sora took in a gulp and fast-walked to his house, tip of his oversized shoes tapping against the cobblestone path. Reaching his home, he slowly lifted a hand and placed it around the shiny doorknob, turning it ever so slightly to the right.
The door quietly creaked open, and the boy took a glance to see that the lights were all turned off. He made his silent entrance by walking in ever so slowly and then quietly closing the door behind him.
Then, he placed his costume over the backrest of a stray chair and took a little while to look at his surroundings.
Releasing a soft exhale, he felt relieved as for once, he was safe and undetected.
"And just where you, young man?"
A instant flinch as the lights flickered on, where a tall figure wearing a pink nightgown stood in front of the staircase. Brunette locks behind his shoulders, she had both arms crossed around her chest and a no-nonsense look planted on her face.
"Mom! Uh, hey!"
Within two quick steps, two fingers and a thumb punched his ear like he was a little kid.
A hiss came from his gritted teeth, one eye closed. "Ow! Mom! Not the ear!"
"Young man, where on earth have you been?! I thought I told you exactly to return here at ten!" The tall brunette who towered over the smaller one wagged a finger at his nose.
"Mooooom, c'mon! I'm not a kid!"
"Sora, you're my kid and as your mother, it is my duty to keep you safe. Who knows if those Heartless you battled are out."
"Mom, they're no sightings of the Heartless." he winced as her fingers kept a grip on his ear.
"But, even if there are, I am not going to lose you!" Without hesitation, she instantly pulled him into a tight embrace. Sora at first stiffened but soon made him comfortable in her arms and returned the hug. A year of separation from his mother needed one's love, so he should savour every inch of maternal affection. Surely she was a little overprotective, but she lost him once and forgotten about him, so she would never lose her baby again.
Stroking her hair, she asked, "Sora, where have you been?"
"I- I've been to Halloween Town." he replied timidly.
She pulled away from the hug and held him by the shoulders with a surprised look on her visage. "You've been to Halloween Town? Is it the world where everybody celebrates Halloween like there's no tomorrow, and the mascot is 'The Pumpkin King'?"
A nod came from the spiky-haired boy. "Yeah, I went there with Riku and Kairi... Am I in trouble now?"
"... Sora, just go to bed. You're not in any need of a punishment, but the next time you must tell me before yo leave. I was worried sick, baby."
A smile tugged on his lips before he hugged her again, though this was tighter than the other. He smiled even more as she held him, ran a gentle palm through his mane and kissed his forehead.
"Night, Mom." Sora said and released her to go upstairs. "Oh, and Mom? Happy Halloween."
"Happy Halloween, Sora."
He quickly ascended to his chambers, opening his door and suddenly plopped onto his bed.
What a great Halloween this has been; a night of trick-or-treating and a party in Halloween Town. The trip really made this night to be by far the best Halloween he ever had.
He wondered that if the same would occur the next year...
Wait! He just remembered! There was literally two months until Christmas! Soon, the decorations would be up and all the Halloween merchandise would be completely replaced by the Christmas ones.
... He hoped that Jack would keep himself stable when it arrives...