I don't own the characters; I just write them for my own entertainment.

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He knew well enough by now he didn't really belong here. And yet here he stood, his hand hovering over the torn curtain, conflicted. There were so many reasons to turn back and cast a blanket of indifference on the matter.

He had simply been a pawn. A tool, as DiZ had eloquently put it. He remembered how his insides burned when DiZ had made the analogy, and he remembered swinging the Keyblade so furiously his body jerked and stumbled forward in surprise when he felt no impact. But what of it? The incident was nothing more than a memory now, and memories are just as easily forgotten.

He drew his hand away from the curtain, considering the witch for a moment. Naminé was capable of manipulating Sora's memories. What made him any different, after all? If it was her that concocted his memories of this place, then he could simply cast them aside as nothing more than something he had imagined. They would mean nothing to him, and he could return to where he belonged.

And yet.. He remembered the girl's gentle eyes watching him as he turned; the boys offering tentative yet genuine smiles in his direction. He had smiled as well, and a tear escaped without him realizing it had even formed. Embarrassed, he backed away and boarded the waiting train, smiling casually but unable to shake his feeling of sorrow.

With a new resolve, he reached for the curtain and thrust it aside. An unfamiliar aching throbbed in his temples as he entered the small area under the train tracks.

Hayner, Pence and Olette turned their heads in surprise, and regarded the newcomer silently. After a few uncomfortable moments, Olette smiled at him in homecoming, and the boy took his seat. He had entered their lives in one instant, and completed their circle seamlessly. The three never questioned it, but simply accepted him as if his presence was the way it had always been. Hayner grinned, and opened his mouth. "Hey, Rox-"

"Sora, watch it!"

Sora's eyes snapped open and he grabbed the controls. The Gummi ship jerked to the left violently, and the impact nearly threw its occupants out of their seats. The ship swayed sickeningly, while Sora's stomach dropped along with their altitude. A few panicked minutes later the ship had straightened, and the cockpit was silent, save for Sora's unsteady breaths as he stared at his shaking hands.

By now, Donald had had enough.

"That's it! I told you we should have taken a day off! Now you've gone and fallen asleep and nearly killed us all!" Donald continued on, but the boy never turned around.

Goofy frowned. "Gawrsh Sora, Donald doesn't mean any harm. He's just worried about you, ya know. I kinda am myself, what with all this fightin' the Heartless and Nobodies all the ti-"

"No, he's got a right to be mad." Sora turned around to smile at them, having regained control of himself. "I'll stop at the next world we come to for a break." He turned back and gently eased the ship back into motion.

Sora didn't even notice the smile that crossed his lips when he saw the world they happened upon: Twilight Town.