Author's note:
Hello and welcome to my very first serious story in English.
It will be my own take on the future story of Kingdom Hearts, however disregarding most stuff from Dream Drop Distance as when I started to plan out the plot in April 2011 there was close to no information about it.
As already stated in the summary, this FanFic will have no official pairings since I want to focus on the close friendships and bonds between hearts that are the main theme of the Kingdom Hearts series.
Take warning though that this will be a big, epic tale that incorporates many characters from KH and Disney, and also some additional Final Fantasy characters.

Disclaimer: Of course, none of those characters belong to me, but to Disney and Square Enix.

Time to cut that already long note with one last (and important) statement: To give credit for my patient beta-reader CHIBI Majik, who took on the challenge to put the English of a native German guy with some funny grammar errors into a proper form. ;)

Prologue: The sleepover decision

"Man, that was a strenuous task to get my father's approval, I assure you." Kairi sighed while leaning back on the couch inside Sora's room.

"Whaa…? How come? Haven't we been friends since we were little?" Sora gave her a puzzled look, sitting on his bed cross-legged.

On the other side of the room, sitting in Sora's desk chair, Riku let out a short chuckle.
"Oh Sora, sometimes you really are clueless, aren't you?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, ha?" The spiky-haired brunette pouted back in mock annoyance.

"Easy lad. Look, if your daughter was asking for permission to have a sleepover with two guys…wouldn't you worry a little? Especially at our age?" Riku lectured in a semi-professional manner, ending it with a playful smirk.

"Ah, come on Riku, as if one of us would ever do something inappropriate to Kairi, seriously…" Sora flipped Mickey's letter in his hand, shaking his head.

"Yeah, we all know that, but hey, you know how parents think sometimes…" Kairi giggled and pushed one lock of her hair behind her ear.

Sora sighed, but then grinned widely. "Yup, they can cope better with us being away for long periods of time than having a girl spending a night with two of her closest male friends, now that's what I would call weird…"

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we get down to business? As far as I remember, we didn't decide on this sleepover just for fun, " Riku said, facing his comrades with a serious look.

"You're right Riku, we should to set up a plan. After all, the King wrote in his letter that this third journey lying before you may be even more difficult than the first two combined." Kairi retorted, nodding in agreement and snatching the letter from Sora's hand.

"No Kairi, it's not about the journey itself - that we'll have to discuss with the King…" Sora mumbled, lowering his head and clutching his hands.

Kairi was flabbergasted. "But Sora, then what…?"

"It's about you…" Sora whispered, his voice uneasy and hollow.

Kairi huffed, got up and stood in front of Sora, hands at her hips. "Would you just spit it out? Why do I have to pull every word out of your nose?"

Sora looked to the side. "Well, this isn't easy for me, but, as it stands now you won't be coming with us, which is probably for the better. Even so, I also don't want to leave you here on the islands again…"

"Why not? You just said it won't be appropriate for me to accompany you, so what other options are there?" Kairi replied, obviously irritated.

"Well, I assume it's because of what happened last time," Riku threw in while standing up and moving towards the bed Sora was sitting on.

She turned to gaze at Riku. "You mean that Organization-incident? But the Organization is history; Sora, Donald, Goofy, the King and you defeated everyone of them."

"That may be true, but there's still Maleficent and Pete…and nearly everyone of my enemies know that you're my weak spot. Dammit Kairi, I just don't want to go out and then later find out that you're in danger and used as a bargaining chip again."

Both Kairi and Riku were surprised by Sora's sudden outburst. He jumped up from the bed, stood directly before the girl and locked his deep blue eyes with hers.
"Please understand Kairi, I'm afraid you'll get hurt…that's why I wanted us to discuss where we can have you stay more safely."

Kairi chuckled, her cheeks getting all red. "Silly you, if it's not me it'll be one of the others you'll worry about. You have way too many weak spots." She replied softly while turning a tad to the side, yet still not breaking eye contact.

Sora grinned at her and scratched his cheek sheepishly. "Uuuh, yeah, guess you're right. But I'd still feel better if I knew that you were somewhere safe."

She nodded with a warm smile. "Ok then, let's think about a good place. Actually I myself would wish for a place where I can start to improve myself."

Riku crossed his arms before his chest. "Improve yourself? What exactly do you have in mind?"

The girl in pink chuckled. "Oh my, Riku, you usually aren't the one who's that slow…if I ever want to be of help to you two instead of just being a burden I'll have to start to learn some abilities, at least in the self defense department, don't you agree?"

He was actually baffled by his friend's determined look. Does she mean that for real? She's a Princess of Heart so she should have some innate powers for sure…but how to awaken them…?

"Wait Kairi, do actually mean you want to learn how to fight?" Sora looked greatly puzzled.

The girl let out a small sigh again before answering. "Well…if you want to put it that way, yes, why should I let you guys do all of it alone every time? Besides, if I could kick some Heartless ass myself you wouldn't need to worry about me that much anymore."

Geez Louise, what has Kairi had for dinner? Is she really serious…
Sora raised his arms in surprise, his eyes glancing between his two friends.

"N…No, if you learn to fight you'll might overestimate your strength and go against an opponent way above your level, then I'll be even more worried," he squeaked.

"Sora, I think you've overdramatizing it…that statement of going on the front lines wasn't really meant seriously, am I right, Kairi? And to be honest, I think that teaching Kairi some defensive moves while we are on our journey might come in handy someday," Riku replied, quiet and serious without taking his glance away from Kairi.

"Of course it wasn't serious…however I do want to understand my powers better and learn to actually do something instead of just standing at the sidelines and watching. I've always thought about it since I came to know what I am…what does it actually meanto be a Princess of Heart?"

The girl was now pacing before Sora's bed, seeming visibly frustrated.
"I realize I've much to learn…but I figure it would take too long to do it on my own."

Riku nodded slightly. "I expected it would come to this one day…alright, so, shall we now think about a suitable place for Kairi to stay? I assume you understand her reasoning now better, don't you?" He asked, turning his eyes on the brunette boy again.

Sora had by now regained his composure, and let out a smile. "Okay then Kairi, if you want to explore your hidden potential I should be the last to disagree with it. Riku, do you think that maybe Queen Minnie could teach Kairi some basic magic? You see, we have to find some way to get to Disney Castle anyways if we're gonna talk to the King. Then we could just take Kairi with us and leave her in the care of Queen Minnie and Duchess Daisy when we move out. So, what do you think?"

The boy sat down on his bed again, his eyes resting on his best friend's face in excitement, eagerly awaiting his response.

"Well, I don't know about her Majesty's abilities, but if she agrees to teach Kairi why not. Letting her stay at Disney Castle would also mean we don't have to detour." Riku brushed a lock of his silver hair aside, signalling his approval with another short nod.

"Yeah, thanks Riku. And you know, that place is probably one of the safest for Kairi to stay, too; because it's protected by that Cornerstone of Light Donald, Goofy and I saved in our last journey…" Sora added with joyful satisfaction.

"That sounds fine with me…" Kairi sat down on the couch with a satisfied look, getting a blanket ready.

"Alright, that's settled. Tomorrow we've got to figure out how to get off the islands. But now, if Kairi gets the couch, and you're in your bed, where am I supposed to sleep? On the floor? Why didn't you get the extra mattress from the attic, Sora?" Riku growled, frowning and displaying a playfully annoyed expression, his pillow and blanket under his arms.

Sora, who had already discarded his slippers and jacket, looked up with a surprised face.
"What? Since when do you need that old mattress? Everytime you had a sleepover here we shared my bed…remember?"

Kairi, who already was under her blanket, snickered. "I would love to see that…"

Riku sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Sora…we're best friends you know, but sharing a bed is only possible if it is big enough. That aside, you move too much in your sleep and I don't want your stinkin' foot in my mouth…the last time we did this we were still little kids…your bed will collapse now if we both get into it."

"Hey, I do notmove in my sleep! And why do you think the bed will collapse? Did you gain that much weight already?"

"How can you tell if you move when you're asleep? And you can't talk about me gaining weight, who's the one that can't get enough of ice-cream, huh?" Riku countered and threw his pillow at Sora, who caught it with one hand.

"Ok, ok, I'm too tired for a pillow fight right now…let's move that to tomorrow. However, you do have a point since we both grew a lot since our last sleepover." The brunette boy chuckled while getting under his own blankets.

"Well, thanks for noticing the obvious, so do you expect me to get that mattress from the attic alone?"

The silver-haired teen let out a disgruntled snort.

"Nnnhm, I don't feel like getting up again…" came the mumbled response from the other boy through his pillow. "But…wait! Wait! I forgot…that second cupboard beside my desk is a hideaway bed! We moved it in here when we got a new bed for the guest room."

Riku repressed the urge to facepalm, turned and pulled at the handle. It's indeed a bed… why didn't he mention that earlier?

He rolled his eyes, fetched his pillow and finally got to bed.

Sora in the meantime turned around in his bed, lying on his back he stared at the dark ceiling of his room.

This new journey might be harder than the last, but this time we won't slide into it unprepared. Kairi will be as safe as she can get and this time I'll have Riku by my side, together we'll be unstoppable. On top of that, we'll be sure to have the assistance of King Mickey, maybe even of Leon and the others. I will definitely save everyone who's waiting for me, no matter how hard it may be.

The young Keyblade wielder felt his eyelids becoming heavy…soon sleep would claim him. However, just before he fell asleep, he felt a small twitch in his heart, and very far away there was a quiet voice calling his name.

…Sora!

Mmmh, who's there?

Before he could hear an answer, he finally gave in to sleep.