On a roll with these stories. Servin' up some drama right about now. This takes place way after Mizuki's story and a few days after the sequel of Mia's upcoming story, The Nightmare Calls.

"I'm tired, I think I'm going to take a nap," says Clancy, laying down on the grass while my shadow provides shade for him. "Are you gonna take a nap?"

"Clancy it is the third nap you are taking today. Even Knuckles does not nap as often as you do," I fold my arms and gently kick his side. "We should get off this island and do something."

"We did the other day, remember we tried that ice-cream thing. That was delicious and the other…" he mumbles the rest of the sentence as his eyes are about to close. As I start scolding him, he is already deep in the pits of slumber. Once I tried shaking him awake for ten minutes but when he wants to wake up he does. This sleeping pattern of his is bothering me, he's been like this ever since he found his way to the floating island.

"Wha? You're actually friends?" Knuckles asked, confused about the emotional scene. With some self-control, the rain ceased and I could finally say something other than "I am sorry" and "Please forgive me." I pulled Clancy back, grasping his meager arms that used to be supple with protein.

"Clancy, you have to tell me what happened to you."

"Risa, I'm super tired." He fell on me, falling asleep in my arms with a quiet snore. "Later…"

Whatever he did to get to me had clearly exhausted my long-lost friend. I could not do a thing but wait until he woke up. When I helplessly lied him down to rest, Knuckles attempted to put his foot down. "This island has no more room for any guests."

"There is plenty of room. Besides, I have searched for him for a long time and I am not letting him slip from my grasp again. I already failed him once, please," I even got my knees in front of Knuckles. "I cannot afford to lose him again. He is practically family."

"You-didn't have to get-fine, he can stay but not forever!"

"Thank you," I bowed gratefully and for a second it looked as though he wanted to ask me about something else. But I turned before he could muster the courage and watched Clancy sleep peacefully. "Please just give me some time alone with him." Knuckles grumbled in agreement and left with his mouth shut. When Clancy woke up late in the night, he looked even more exhausted than he did earlier. "You slept well?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yeah. So you're still wondering how I got here right?"

"Yes, have a seat." He sat next to me at the bottom step of the altar, staring at the clear, starry sky. It almost looked as though the stars were dancing in his eyes when he said, "The stars in this world are so bright." He was still the childish kid from the village. He clenched his hands on his knees, appearing distressed for a moment and then sighed and calmed down. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"YeahbutIamokaynow," replied Clancy all at once. "SoIwent-"

"Slower."

"Right, sorry. After I got sucked up in the black orb, I spent time wandering the worlds by myself," he rubbed his eyes while staring at his feet. "I was lost all this time, and later I realized I had the ability to go to different worlds. I did my best to try to find you in a lot of worlds and I almost died doing it...and when I was starting to lose hope-and uh, I ended up on this island when the sky was starting to turn red. It reminded me of what happened to the Village of Willow so I knew that this world was gonna be gone soon. And then I met your red friend up there and he demanded I tell him how I got here and tried kicking me off. We got into a little scuffle and he almost got me until I asked him if he's heard of you. He said something like, 'how the hell do you know Risa? Wait a minute, someone told me the same story, I know you're lying' and I tried to tell him I really did know you but he was really stubborn about it and decided to go out looking for you and then when he returned he knocked me unconscious."

"I will give him a good punch in the stomach for that," I said crossly. "Go on."

"That's when you came here and that's all that happened."

"Why was your head down when I spoke if you knew it was me?"

"I was really nervous, I thought you would be mad at me for ditching you," said Clancy regretfully.

"You did not 'ditch' me, Darkness separated us," I assured him. "Are sure that is everything that happened?"

"You don't believe me?"

"I just want to make sure you made it here safely. You were honest right?"

"Of course!" He stretched his arms and yawned, looking drowsy again. "So what were you doing all this time while I was wandering around?" I told him everything I went through, from the occult sword to my mother's true identity. He was silent for a while and then jolted back. "Were you dozing off?" I pinched his wrist. He pulled his hand back, rubbing it like a tender piece of meat. "You must still be tired from everything, you are still too young for all this."

"I'm only a year younger than you and I handled myself fine out there without you," protested Clancy vehemently out of nowhere, making me bite my tongue. Then his countenance shifted to his tired, restful one as he said, "There's a lot that happened."

"I can say that I am genuinely happy to have you here Clancy. You are right," I shook my head shamefully. Part of me still saw him as the loud, boastful kid who wanted to beat me as least once in a sword fight. He had grown to be my height now, his hair was out of control, and had spent months on his feet while I took naps here with Knuckles. If anything, he had the right to rest for as long as he wanted. With our eyes wide open we sat there in silence while leaning on the steps. I wondered what he was thinking about or if he was dozing off again. Knuckles' footsteps interrupted our awkward silence. "Are you guys done reconnecting already, I'm trying to get some shut-eye," he complained. I stood up, cracking my knuckles.

"I owe you a punch for hurting my friend," I approached him as he stepped around Clancy to keep away from me. Clancy, suddenly wide awake, snickered at Knuckles much to his annoyance. "If you hit him again, that is two punches I owe you."

"Hang on a sec-!"

"A second has passed, let us get this over with."

"Yeah!" cheered Clancy.

"Kid, you're really pissing me off-"

"Three hits."

"Deal with it, haha!"

"Whatever he told you were lies! I didn't do a thing to him!"

' ' '

"This is my friend from my childhood that I have spent some time looking for. Clancy, this is Mizuki and she is Mia." Clancy shook hands with both of the younger girls, blushing slightly. "What, are they too pretty for you to interact with normally?"

"Ah, no Risa," Mia pointed out as she put her finger to her cheeks. "I caught him looking at my scratches from yesterday and we both got embarrassed. Am I right?"

"Yeah," replied Clancy, staring at the store window hungrily. "Can we go in already?"

"You do not even know what-" I stopped myself from patronizing him. I told myself that he was not a naïve child anymore. He had experienced things most people would not survive and that had made him more aware of the world, just like my experiences had forced me to grow up and take responsibility for my actions. I could not keep him in a bubble and treat him like a child anymore. But I could not help it, he looked as frail as a blade of grass and he knew nothing about this world.

"What was the food like at your hometown Clancy," asked Mizuki as we went inside the deli. It took us a while to find a deli far from the central part of the city that got damaged the most but we eventually found one deep in North Metropolis called Downtown Maple, named for the street the store lies on, Maple Avenue. Mizuki and Clancy were the only ones that complained about the far walk, Mia and I exchanged small talk. She confided that she and Don were going to be on friendly terms and that made me happy to know.

"It was mainly dry, most of the effort went into harvesting and planting. The people in my village saw food as a necessity not something to dazzle up," moped Clancy. "I used to go to other villages to eat, but when I met Risa and became friends with her, she introduced me to her maid-"

"Maid?" Mizuki and Mia asked simultaneously, both of them stunned.

"Yup, Risa's maid Miriam cooked the best food there was, aw man, I really miss it."

"Woah Risa, you didn't tell me were living a life of luxury, a maid?"

"Because I was not," I smacked the back of Clancy's head. "Miriam was just taking care of me since Father had his duties to attend to."

"Duties? Was he a busy man?" Mia asked after ordering her sandwich. Clancy answered for me but I could tell he was nervous talking to Mia. Did he have a crush on her? Judging by his tone, he seemed more frightened than nervous. "Hewaschiefofourvillagesohehadalottodo-aah, Risa. What do I get, I don't really know the food here." I was a little taken aback that the woman serving our food did not give us any luxurious treatment for saving everyone. She treated us like ordinary customers and not like royalty like some people did when they came out of hiding. Everyone whistled and cheered for us when we were all together, making all of us feel special. I did not like that because we got caught up in crowd traffic and could not take a step without our pictures being taken.

"He died the day the Heartless came," I added then spoke to Clancy, "I suggest the turkey sandwich, it is a very simple sandwich, do not get any toppings when she asks if you want any. And relax, you do not need to be fearful of Mia. She is a friend of mine." Then I whispered to him, "Do you like her?"

"It's not that...it's nothing."

"Fine," I reluctantly said, paying attention to Mia again. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay! I'm so sorry for your loss," said Mia apologetically. After ordering for him, Mia asked another intrusive question, "Does that mean that if you guys go back to your worlds, Risa would be the chief?" I did not mind Mia wondering about my life, she knew little about me and I knew very little about her, I did want to talk to her on a more personal level at some point, like Mizuki and I currently do. "It would seem so." I completely forgot about that but I should worry about that when I have a world to return to.

J.G.P.