Story Title: Ribbon of Heart
Author: Alicia Jewel
Summary: White Mushrooms are nice, yes. But there is one White Mushroom who was created with a heart and a passion for stopping Malificent. How long can she keep her secret in this tale of romance and rivalry?

February 23, 2008 UPDATE:

A Heart's Worth a Thousand Words, the prequel/rewrite to this story, has just been posted! Please go there to read the all-new version with all-new characters, including Lilac's parents, Miana and Spore.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. I do, however, own everything else in this story. I guess I halfway own Lilac... Eh, whatever.

Wow. From the looks of it, I'm the first one to write a fanfiction about a White Mushroom! I feel so special! Er, anyway, I wrote this because White Mushrooms are my FAVORITE Heartless, and because they're so innocent I thought, "What would it be like if there was a truely nice White Mushroom?" It's amazing where my imagination can take me...

Oh, by the way, I had to copy most of this chapter off the notebook paper where I wrote it... in the dark... from midnight to past 1 A.M.

One more thing: Yes, I know I'm weird for writing a story about a White Mushroom.

Chapter 1 - My Beginning

Heartless are supposed to be evil and cruel, attacking anyone and everyone on sight. They are greatly feared by nearly all who encounter them. There are only two exceptions to that description: White Mushrooms and Rare Truffles. And among those two is one exceptional exception: me, Lilac the White Mushroom. My story is one of deception and trust, love and pain. It's of adventure, secrets, love, and unexpected twists.

It all started when I was shopping in Agrabah. The afternoon sun beat down on the big pink bow I wore on my head. That bow was my symbol; people knew that I was a heartful Heartless (that was an oxymoron if I've ever seen one) as long as I wore it. Of course, I never had it on when around other Heartless. If they knew my secret, I would be captured and destroyed.

After thanking Walt Disney for days off, I began browzing the various stands of the Bazaar. My mind was set on buying an oasis orange. I had always had an interest in tasting desert fruits but never got the chance to try one. Today was my lucky day. I stopped in a short line leading to a pile of orange balls and their merchant. Bingo!

In a matter of two minutes, I had bought my fruit and was sitting on a box in the storage room. Nobody ever went in there, especially not Heartless. If anything, a bunch of people would come in and move some boxes. Not that it mattered. I would be out in less than ten minutes, anyway.

I was halfway though my first orange, biting down with my hidden mouth, when the Save Point across the room began to glow. Wait... Didn't Malificent say something about transfering Heartless through Save Points? That means... Oh, no! I dropped my lunch and scurried behind a pile of crates just as three figures appeared in the room.

Oh. My. Gosh. It... It can't be! But it was. The three figures, a human, duck, and dog, were none other than the famous Sora, Donald, and Goofy! I gasped and emerged from my hiding place.

Donald quacked in confusion. "Sora," he began, tapping the boy's shoulder, "is there supposed to be a White Mushroom in here?"

Sora looked at me and blinked his blue eyes. "That's weird..." he muttered. "But I DO need a Mystery Goo."

What? Did he NOT see the ribbon on my head? I pointed to it with my fingerless hand, but Sora didn't even notice. He stepped closer and held up his Keyblade. No, he'd better not...

"Come on," he urged, tapping the Keyblade against the floor. I just stared at him with my white eyes. "Well?" Sora asked.

"There is no way," I growled, causing the trio to jump, "that I'm gonna do a trick for you."

"She talked!" Goofy gasped.

"Wellllll, DUH!" I stated matter-of-factly. "Sheesh, do you three know nothing?" Silence. "The bow?" Zip. "Oh, my gosh, I'm LILAC!" Nada. "Don't tell me you haven't heard of me."

"Well..." Sora hesitated, "n-no. We haven't."

I froze. Sora lifted his weapon to cast Stopra (or whatever he had at the time), but I jumped out of the way just before it could hit me. "How stupid can you get to not have heard of me? Don't you catch up with current events?"

"Ah, shaddup!" Donald quacked, holding up his now-glowing staff.

"Donald, stop!" Sora commanded. "She's obviously different from the other Heartless."

"Thank you," I sighed. "Well, since you three are pretty much in the dark here, I'll explain myself." I invited them all to sit on some boxes as I stood tall on a stack of crates. "Well, I am a very different Heartless, indeed, mostly in the way that I am kind and peaceful. Yes, I'm a White Mushroom, but I was accidently created with a heart."

"What!" the others exclaimed.

"Gawrsh, really?" Goofy awed.

I nodded my head in affirmation. "Wanna feel?" I offered. "Here, put your fingers on my chest."

Sora stood up and pressed his index and middle fingers where my Heartless symbol was. I felt my own pulse gently drum against his skin. "Wow..." he whispered. "That's amazing!" He backed away and sat down on his box again. "How come Malificent hasn't noticed?"

(Author's Note: For my story since I seem to be quite good at twisting things around a little, I'm assuming that Malificent controls the Heartless. Don't question my ways! ... Sorry. Shutting up now.)

"Well, because she kind of doesn't have time to check if every Heartless has a pulse," I replied. "Basically, she's too busy and stupid to notice. But that's beyond the point." I plopped down on my behind and continued. "The point is that I'm working against the Heartless and have no intrest of hurting anyone or giving anyone any Mystery Goo," I added, shooting a glance at Sora.

"Wait!" Donald suddenly piped up. Of course. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Sheesh, did he ever shut up? "You can ask anyone in this place. You guys know Leon, right?" Nods came from the three. "Well, he's been helping me ever since I first ran away. I met him in Traverse Town, and he agreed to help me in taking down Malificent. You can definitely ask him if I'm telling the truth."

"Well..." Goofy mumbled, "if she's working with Leon..."

"Then she must be telling the truth!" Sora concluded.

Ding ding!


He wants proof, he says. He still doesn't believe me. So, what do I have to do? I have to travel all the way to Traverse Town in a cramped ship to prove to Dummy Duck that I'm telling the truth. What a way to spend the day off.

Donald turned to me and narrowed his eyes. Had I said something I didn't mean to? Then I realized that I had been muttering under my breath and accidently said everything from "Dummy Duck" a bit too loud. Hehe... Oops.

"Why do we have to do this?" I asked as Donald turned back to the controls.

"Because it's my ship," Donald quacked, "and I decide where we go! And we're going to Traverse Town to ask Leon if you're lying or not!"

Sweet Walt... I leaned back in my chair and began a silent prayer: Dear Walt Disney, please let us get there soon. Also... No. That's not right, wishing for someone's death.

We docked in the First District of Traverse Town. I led the group through the crowd that proceeded toward us. Darn you, fandom!

Once we reached the door leading to the Second District, I halted. "There are other Heartless beyond here." I removed my bow and asked Sora to hide it in his pack. "I'll make things easier for all of us. Give me ninty seconds to get into the hotel's Red Room. Meet me there, but act natural. You never know who could be watching..."

I pushed through the large doors and met face-to-face with some Yellow Operas. "Halt!" one of them shouted, flying forward. "State your business."

"Orders from Malificent," I explained in the evil, half-monotone voice of an on-duty Heartless. "This area, the hotel, and the alley are all to be cleared, and its workers are to move to Neverland."

They knew better than to question Malificent's orders, so they shook their bodies up and down in approval and floated to the hotel. I followed them inside, where I explained that I was to patrol the area for an hour. I didn't bother to say why. That would arouse suspicion, for Malificent rarely explained the reasoning for her orders.

In all of eighty-five seconds, I was sitting on a bed in the hotel. For once, it was completly silent... for a while, anyway. Soon, the sound of dying Heartless was heard outside. (I guess not all of them had left yet.) Sora, Goofy, and Dummy... er, Donald walked through the door.

"Leon should be down in the Secret Waterway," I said, standing up, "but it's too big of a drop. Can any of you fly?"

"Sure," Sora replied, lifting up into the air. No wings... wow. The rumors were true.

"I'm not very heavy," I stated. "One of you can carry me down with you."

Sora walked up to me and lifted me up. "Ready?" he asked, proceeding out the door leading to the balcony. Without waiting for me to answer, he leapt into the air and glided among the air currents, Goofy and Donald following behind.

I gasped as we floated closer to the ground. "So, this is what it's like to fly..." I giggled and let the breeze play with my blackness-concealed face. The fantasy ended all too soon, and Sora's feet touched the ground below.

"Oh, another thing," I uttered, clearing my throat, "I can't swim. Since ducks are such good swimmers, maybe I could ride on your back, Donald."


Donald grumbled and splashed water as I adjusted my bow. "Careful," I teased as Donald started to roll over. "Don't wanna fall, do you?"

As Donald muttered a string of swears, I looked up to see Leon sparring with Yuffie. "Hey!" I called, waving my white arm. I felt Donald starting to tip over again below me. "Leon! Yuffie!"

Yuffie looked up and smiled. "Hey, Lilac!" she called.

Take that, ducky.

Ok, that was mostly my Donald-bashing chapter. Sorry to all you Donald fans out there. But ya know what reeks? My personality matches Donald's the most! AHH! Err... Anyway, the next chapter will start the plot and introduce some new characters.

Most of this chapter was inspired by my need to write a Donald-bashing chapter. And the fact that I needed some comic relief from my usually serious stories.