A/N: Hello and welcome! Just a heads up- please be prepared for lots of mental health issues, depressive episodes, PTSD stuff, and panic attacks. Also be aware that while I'm not 100% how detailed I'm going to get, these are three teenagers alone in a spaceship, sexual things are gonna happen. Feel free to skip out if any of that sounds upsetting to you.

Fic title comes from a Dearly Beloved remix by SneakOrz on Youtube.

Special thanks to loveanfriendship for being an upstanding editor and good internet friend.

Also a shoutout to Edmondia_Dantes and rayemars for their Beyond the Ocean Beach universe on Ao3. I got a lot of inspiration from there.

Thanks and enjoy!


They'd been home a month when King Mickey video called them. It was a little too late at night, but the three of them were huddled together by the paopu tree anyway, like old times, so they were all there when the call came through Sora's phone. Hastily, he pulled it out and punched the call through as Riku looked over his shoulder. Kairi leaned to see who it was, then glanced at Riku while Sora stumbled through a greeting. The barest hint of a smile hung at the corners of Riku's mouth, but his eyes were set and steady and she knew he had expected this.

But then the king was talking and she needed to respond and after a moment or two more it was settled - they would be heading for Master Yen Sid's tower in the morning. Long after the call had ended they had stayed by the tree despite the cold spring breeze wafting in off the ocean, talking about what it all meant. Already chafing at rules and school and stillness, Sora was eager to go. Riku was quiet and calm and Kairi became more certain by the minute that he'd known before the rest of them. He did regularly text King Mickey after all.

She was nervous, the feeling bubbling up from her stomach until she could taste the acid on the back of her tongue, but she didn't want them to leave her behind. So she smiled and teased Sora and rubbed the palm of her right hand whenever her fear made it start to prickle like it did when she summoned Destiny's Embrace. At one point she was worried Riku had noticed, but then the conversation moved on and she realized that it had been long enough that even he didn't know when she was scared anymore.

They rowed out separately for home when they realized it was after midnight and they still had to talk to their parents.

The next morning they met in front of Sora's house, dressed in the special clothing the good fairies had made them. They wouldn't make portals near the secret place, for fear of weakening the lock still holding there. Riku was the only one who could do it anyway, and he wordlessly opened a portal and ushered them through, closing it behind them. Sora didn't mention that his mom had forbidden him from leaving until after they were through, walking up the seemingly never-ending stairs of the Mysterious Tower. He said it like a joke, but Kairi took his right hand in her left and Riku made a point of changing the topic until they got to the room at the very top.

Immediately, Sora was bowled over by Donald and Goofy, the two of them burying him in a hug. Riku and Mickey shared a greeting that, while more restrained, was equally affectionate. Kairi watched and smiled but couldn't help feeling a little left out. Master Yen Sid didn't give them much time for hellos. He cleared his throat and the heroes of light immediately snapped to attention. King Mickey walked over to the desk, and standing beside it told them why he'd brought them here.

"I'm sorry to be callin' you here so soon, but we've gotten word of a world that's in a whole heap of trouble. We'd like you three to go check it out, and see if you can help 'em."

"You want us to go together?!" Sora asked, eyes lighting up. Standing on either side of him, Kairi and Riku couldn't help smiling as Riku slid into a more relaxed stance and Kairi tucked her arms behind her back contentedly. Master Yen Sid and King Mickey nodded.

"Uh huh!" the King chimed, beaming. "We know how much you've been wantin' to stay together, and we think it's about time you got to learn from each other!"

Yen Sid continued, "Just because Xehanort is gone from the worlds, doesn't mean darkness is. Keyblade wielders have always defended the realms of light, just as you shall continue to do. Master Riku," he paused.

"Yes, sir?" Riku straightened.

"These two are now your students as well as your friends. Teach them well, and may your heart be your guiding key."

Riku nodded, then bowed. "Yes, Master Yen Sid." Kairi and Sora bowed as well.

King Mickey continued, "You'll be given a gummi ship of your own, and you all still have your gummi phones, right?" The three teens nodded. "Great! Make sure you keep in touch."

"We will!" Sora promised, throwing his arms around both his friends' shoulders. Kairi laughed while Riku protested with a quiet "Hey!" even though he didn't resist at all.

"Welp," Mickey continued, "You know what to do now. Look after each other, and we'll see you soon!"

"Awwww," Donald lamented, hanging his head. The sound cut through the teens excited chatter, and Sora instantly broke away to approach his old friends.

"We're really gonna miss ya, Sora," Goofy said, smiling despite the tears in his eyes. Something about the expression made Sora wrap them both in a hug tight enough to make someone's back crack.

"I'm gonna miss you guys too," he said softly, pulling back. Then, trying to cheer them up, "But we can call each other whenever, and you've got lots of important stuff to do at home with the king!" Grinning, he leaned towards Donald, elbowing him. "Not to mention Daisy…" he added with a smirk. Donald simply huffed and crossed his arms.

"You're ridiculous," he squawked.

Goofy chuckled. "Well you sure do talk about her a lot for someone who doesn't miss her," he teased. Donald let out an excessively enraged squawk, and the whole room laughed.

Crouching so that he was level with Donald's eye-line, Sora put a hand on his shoulder and sang out quietly, "Even though we're hittin' the road/ our worlds are all connected." Donald hmphed as Goofy joined in, "So don't be sad/ and always know/ we'll come back soon to say hello!"

That did it, and Donald tackled Sora in a hug, knocking him over backwards. Sora laughed as Goofy joined them in their hug on the floor.

"See you guys soon," he promised.

Half an hour later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi stepped into the cabin of their new gummi ship. It was almost identical to the one Sora had traveled in with Donald and Goofy, with three high backed seats arranged in a triangle, one control panel in the front, and closets hidden behind flat panels along the back wall. A hatch in the floor in the back led to the (admittedly cramped) shower and bathroom below it. Sora immediately headed to the pilot's chair. So did Riku. They exchanged a look, eyebrows raised.

"Have you ever even driven a gummi ship before?" Sora asked, crossing his arms.

"The King taught me how," Riku replied evenly, expression stoic aside from a grin that showed just a hint of too many teeth. Kairi watched the two of them for a moment before she couldn't hold back her laughter anymore.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked as he and Riku turned towards her.

Hiding her last giggle behind her hand, she answered, "You two haven't changed a bit." I was worried nothing would be the same, she thought.

The boys watched her carefully, but finally Riku gave her that sideways smile that crinkled his eyes and Sora threw his hands behind his head and rocked his weight onto his heels, grinning.

"Go ahead and pilot first if you want to, Sora," Riku said breezily, waving them both off and going to sit in the chair on the right. "We'll all have to take turns at some point." Sora's grin cranked up a notch and he dashed to the captain's chair. While he booted the ship up and readied it for flight, Kairi settled in the chair to his left, smoothing out her skirt. Her heart was beating fast and she could taste stomach acid again, but there was a rush to it this time that made her smile. It was finally happening - they were going to go see other worlds, together, like they'd always planned.

It still took her by surprise when they took off. She'd only ever traveled by portal before.

Several hours later, they arrived. Chip and Dale had plugged the coordinates for the world in before they had left, and Sora had confirmed that it was nowhere he had been. They landed in a wilderness outside of the city King Mickey had told them about. Inside the gummi ship, Kairi stood facing the two boys, hands on her hips.

"I've only done this spell on myself before, so I need you two to be quiet so I can concentrate. And don't laugh at me if it doesn't work at first," she instructed, frowning at them.

"Don't worry," Sora encouraged her, giving her a thumbs-up, "You've got this!" Riku nodded that short, sure nod of his. Kairi looked between the two of them, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. They watched her lips move as she murmured the spell under her breath. There was a flash of light, a loud popping sound, and then the cabin filled with the smell of spent magic.

As the light faded, Riku realized that he was a different height. Almost immediately, he felt his ears swivel on his head, taking in the (much louder) sounds of the ship and of his friends. In front of him, stood a tall lioness with a reddish tint to her fur, wearing Kairi's clothes.

"It worked!" she said, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Good job," Riku replied, swishing his new tail experimentally.

"What's going on?" they heard Sora's voice from somewhere below them. "Why am I so short?" Turning to look at him, Kairi had to hide her smile behind her paws.

"Oh Sora, you're…" she trailed off, unable to completely keep the laughter out of her voice. Riku was smirking as well, taking in the dark brown rabbit standing next to him. Sora, exasperated, leaned forward.

"I'm what?" he asked, and reflexively his left foot tapped out a loud staccato rhythm to match his annoyance. Surprised, he looked down at himself.

"You're a rabbit," Riku replied unnecessarily, enjoying the shock on Sora's face way more than he probably should.

"I'm… a rabbit?" he repeated, surprised. As he studied his hands and magically shrunken clothes, Riku took a moment to take in his own appearance.

"You made me a wolf?" he asked Kairi.

She shook her head. "The spell makes us fit the world. I don't get to decide what we turn in to."

"So you can't change it?" Sora asked, actually jumping to get his sight line level with hers.

Stifling another giggle, Kairi said, "No, sorry. You're stuck like that until we leave here."

Sora frowned for a moment, then shook his head. "That's ok," he said, smiling up at her. "There's gotta be a reason, right? You did a great job on your first try."

"Thanks Sora, Riku."

"Well, we'd better get going," Riku said, starting for the door. As he passed by Sora, he scooped him up- "Hey!"- and set him on his shoulders. He felt Sora's paws hold on to the fur between his ears, and reached up to hold on to Sora's ankles to give him extra stability. "Wow Sora, your feet would finally fit your shoes," he observed dryly, "too bad they don't wear any in this world." He received a sharp kick in the sternum for this observation, but all it did was make him laugh. Kairi shook her head at them, following the pair out the door and on their first steps into this world.

They had landed in a field surrounded by a small copse of trees on one side. A creek bordered by rushes and tall wild grass curved around the other, and beyond it were fields of corn and other crops the teens couldn't as easily identify. A fallen log bridged the creek, and after carefully picking their way across it (and nearly falling in several times as Riku and Kairi got used to their new heights and feet) they walked the narrow paths in-between fields towards a two-lane country road.

"Where should we go now?" Sora asked, still perched on Riku's shoulders. Looking around, Kairi spotted a sign a ways down the road. It directed them to a train station. After combing through some of the maps that were available, Riku bought them three tickets to Zootopia, recognizing it as the city King Mickey had told them about. As they moved about the station, he noticed people shying out of his and Kairi's way - when they weren't just openly staring. Everyone here, with few exceptions, was a rabbit. The only person who didn't seem to notice the tension was Sora (now walking on his own two feet). He smiled and greeted people who talked to him, and occasionally got asked if he was so-in-so's cousin or nephew. He explained that he was from out of town, and traveling with his two best friends. The rabbits speaking to him would then nervously greet Riku and Kairi, and quickly flee the conversation. However, one chatty doe, with her husband and assortment of children in tow, instead asked where they were from.

"Kiji," Riku replied easily, having found the name on the maps they were looking at earlier.

Sora looked at him, surprised, but then grinned and repeated, "Yeah, Kiji."

"I didn't know any bunnies lived there!" the bunny replied. "Is it nice?" She continued to talk to all of them, mostly through Sora, until the train arrived.

The train had three entrances, each a different size for the wide variety of creatures that could board. Kairi and Riku headed for the biggest one, with Sora trotting along at their heels, despite being small enough that he practically had to jump up the stairs. Inside, the train was as comfortable as public transportation could be, with bench seats and large glass windows. The journey was relaxed, though Riku and Kairi both noticed how empty their train car was. The few animals inside kept giving the trio startled looks when they noticed Sora nestled between his significantly larger friends.

Riku shot a text to King Mickey telling him they were here, while Kairi and Sora watched the fields whip by outside. Once the train crossed the Zootopia Sound, all three teens were glued to the window, watching as they were led through an arid desert, an arctic township, a lush rainforest, and then a vibrant city. The huge climate shifts mixed with modern amenities and towering skyscrapers left all three of them in awe. Soon Sora and Kairi were pointing things out to each other and Riku, everything from the palm-tree shaped skyscraper - "Talk about a treehouse!" Sora enthused - to a brilliant flower in someone's window box studded with rain. For his part, Riku simply observed and smiled. He had to admit, this place was impressive. He would let the size and scope of keeping this city safe from heartless worry him later.

They got off at Savanna Central Station - the end of the line for the train they were on. Unlike Bunny Burrow, this place was filled with animals of all different stripes - figuratively and literally. Despite all of their traveling, only Sora had been to a city this large, and Kairi was a little overwhelmed. There was so much to see, and do, and hear, and smell, not to mention try really really hard not to step on. She tried to walk alongside her friends while staying out of people's way, and was surprised when they stepped aside for her instead. A couple of times she ended up awkwardly stopping at the same time as the person walking towards her, both waiting for the other to pass by.

Sora, Riku noticed, was having the opposite problem. While other animals easily got out of his and Kairi's way, they seemed to almost ignore Sora, and he kept getting cut off from his taller friends. One giraffe completely bumped into him, nearly kneeing him in the face, then kept walking, ignoring his indigent protests. After the second time this happened, Riku picked him up again, setting him on his shoulders. He felt his friend twist around, looking at their surroundings, and gripped his ankles a little more firmly.

"Hmmmmm… I don't see any Heartless," Sora observed.

"Me neither," Kairi replied, tail twitching uneasily.

"That doesn't mean they're not here. Keep your guard up," Riku instructed. Sora and Kairi both nodded firmly. Sora summoned his keyblade and Riku winced at the intensity of the sound right next to his ear. Seeing Riku's ears pin back, but not understanding why, Sora leaned over so he could see at least some of Riku's face.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine. That was just loud."

"Yeah, everything's louder here."

Riku shook his head. "Not louder - our hearing's better."

"Oh, right," Sora said, and Kairi couldn't help chuckling as he felt his own long ears with his free hand. "C'mon, Kairi! You've gotta admit it's a little weird."

"It is," she agreed, wiggling her ears at him. This earned her a chuckle not just from Sora, but from Riku too, a rare enough event that she and Sora both perked up a little.

Not far outside Savanna Central, the group saw a large crowd gathered. Most of them were waving signs declaring things like "Pred Pride!" and "Zootopia is 4 Everyone!" A few uniformed officers were standing by, just in case. Most of the animals moving around them scurried quickly on, but a few animals sneered at the protesters, and one badger shouted something that caused a lion and zebra holding hands to shout back.

Flattening her ears against her head, Kairi frowned. "This doesn't look good." As she said it, Sora hopped down from Riku's shoulders as Riku automatically hunched to make it easier on him. Once Sora was clear, Riku summoned his keyblade as well. Kairi followed suit, all three teens surveying the scene warily.

"Excuse me, but you can't have those weapons here," one of the officers called out, approaching them swiftly, hand on a something at her hip. Sora and Kairi glanced at each other, then at Riku. The young wolf watched as the officer strode confidently up to him, stopping just out of reach of his sword. "They're not allowed at this protest, and you'd better have a permit for carrying them at all," she continued.

"A permit?" Sora asked, tilting his head. "For these?" he held his Keyblade out. The officer stepped back quickly, and he lowered his blade just as fast.

"Yes, those," she replied, looking him up and down. "You need special licensing to carry any kind of weapon in Zootopia."

"Our apologies, ma'm," Riku cut in, sending his keyblade away. Kairi and Sora did the same. "We're from Kiji and the laws there are different," he went on to explain. The officer hardly seemed to be listening - she was staring at their hands. Then she brought her violet eyes up to study each one of their faces, nose twitching.

"I think the three of you need to come with me."

—-

Riku, Kairi, and Sora followed the officer to her car, which was parked along one of the streets closed for the protest. She kept glancing back at them as they walked, but her wary look was not like the ones other animals had been giving the trio all day. She knew something was up, and now the three teens had to figure out what they were going to tell her.

With a nonchalant hop, the officer pulled open the back seat doors, and the teens filed in. She shut the door behind them, and after a moment opened the driver's side door and hopped into her seat. The back of the car seat seemed to dwarf the grey rabbit as she peered around it at them.

"My name is Officer Hopps and you are not under arrest. You are free to go at any time. However, should you say or do anything that is a threat to myself, this car, or any thing or person in this city I reserve the right to place you under arrest. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Officer," Kairi replied for them all, tone serious. Officer Hopps nodded.

"Your Zooling seems to be very good, but if needed I can provide a translator for you. We have several officers fluent in Kijinese."

"That won't be necessary," Riku replied quickly. She nodded and pressed on.

"What brings you to Zootopia?"

"We're… exterminators," Sora supplied, sounding not at all certain as he scratched the back of his neck. Riku raised an eyebrow and shot him a look out of the corner of his eyes. Sora gave him a small shrug before turning back to Officer Hopps.

Kairi watched Officer Hopps watch the boys, and cut in before she could say the question forming in her eyes. "We were sent here looking for a specific kind of monster, and those weapons you saw earlier are our tools for getting rid of them."

"Monster?" Officer Hopps blurted, but then changed tack as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "So this is your job then? What company do you work for?"

"Oh it's not a company-"
"Heartless Inc-"
"Monster really isn't the best-" Kairi, Sora, and Riku all said at the same time. Realizing they were all talking over each other, they stopped at about the same time too, shooting each other frustrated looks. Kairi dropped her gaze first. Sora and Riku stared each other down for a bit before Sora stood up on the seat so that he could lean over and whisper in Riku's ear.

"So what's the plan?" he asked. Riku gave him an incredulous look, waiting until Sora got the hint and leaned over so Riku could whisper in his ears.

"World order, obviously. Now sit down and stop acting so suspicious."

With a disgruntled noise, Sora sat back down. Kairi tilted her head at them, but only got a nod from Riku. Officer Hopps continued watching the three of them with her arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.

Riku spoke first, saying, "It's a lot to explain. Have there been any strange dark creatures around here recently?"

The officer's eyes narrowed. "Those are what you're after?" she asked, incredulously.

"So they are here," Riku countered. Kairi practically felt the air in the car go colder as Riku and Officer Hopps locked eyes, sizing each other up.

A few tense moments later, she said, "We've kept those reports quiet."

"Our information comes from someone outside the city."

"How far outside?"

Riku shook his head, "We're not allowed to say. What we need to know is… what's all this?" He gestured to the protesters outside the car.

"Your source must be far outside," she responded cooly, ears back and eyebrows raised, "if you know about the creatures but not about the predators going savage."

"Savage?" Kairi and Sora asked simultaneously.

"Yes," Officer Hopps confirmed gravely, "Savage. Predators across the city are randomly reverting back to an un-evolved state, where hunting prey is second nature. There are 26 cases so far, with no known cause," she looked down, "or cure."

"So what is the protest for?" Sora asked.

She looked back up at him. "People are scared. They want drastic measures to make themselves feel better. Crazy things, like predator 'quarantines'," she put air quotes around the word, "or mandatory predator registration, collars, all sort of things. Insane, illegal things." Her shoulders slumped for a moment, and then she was all business again. "I could use your help - with the monsters I mean, not the protesters. Although-" she looked between the three of them once more, "you might be useful in that regard too."

"Sure," Sora agreed instantly, "How can we help?" Riku and Kairi both looked down at him, Riku with an almost fond exasperation and Kairi in surprise. Officer Hopps didn't give them much time to think.

"First off, I'm going to send you to police plaza so we can get your proper documentation and hire you three on as consultants. Then, I'll give you all the information we have about the creatures. I don't have access to most of it - I'm on a lot of civil cases at the moment. But I can introduce you to the officers that are.

"Also, there's a party tonight, after the protest. I'm going to be there officially, just in case, but I think a group of friends like the three of you would be more than welcome. Plus, you'd get a better feel for what these animals are facing."

"Like us?" Sora asked. He looked up at his friends. Kairi smiled down at him, then across at Riku, who gave her a small smile in return. Watching them both, Sora grinned and nodded. "Right." He turned back to the other rabbit, saying, "We'd be happy to help, Officer Hopps!"