Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter to this story! I know that it's come out pretty fast, but I didn't want to leave you guys on the first chapter. The main reason is because some people tend to give up on the story after reading the first chapter and not finding it to be that interesting. The only thing I have to say to those people is to just be patient. Since when have any of you heard of a story that automatically jumped into the action without any sense of building up to the scene?

Anyway, that's enough of my pointless little rant. With this second chapter now up, you readers should be able to now get a base feel of what's going to happen during the course of the story. And just as a little reminder, let me post again how the conversation pieces will be produced in this story.

"This stands for person-to-person speech."

This stands for the inner thoughts of the main character, a.k.a. Sora.

And this stands for communication through the computer.

Hope this doesn't confuse you all in the long run, because I've already explained it twice. And for those who don't bother to read author's notes that might sometimes hold something important to help understand the story a little bit better, it's your problem if you don't understand. Wow, this is what I type when I have a lack of sleep...

Well, now that's all out of the way. I'll let you all enjoy this new chapter. Please leave a review after you're done reading. I always found it funny how a lot of people go about putting my stories on their favorites list, but they never bother to review. I'm not trying to stockpile on reviews, I just want constructive criticism on how people think my stories are coming along. So if you could put aside a couple of minutes to at least say how you like the story, I would really appreciate it.

Until my next update on this or any of my other stories everybody! Also, sorry if the title for this chapter sounds sucky. I couldn't come up with anything better that would reflect the events that are to take place in this.


Chapter 2: From Farewells to New Beginnings

After spending almost an hour and a half working in front of his computer, Sora finished up the last of his work and leaned back in his office chair with a content sigh. Now Mr. Kuroi would have no reason this time around to try and find some way to get him in trouble. Just at that moment of relaxation, however, he saw some words pop up on the screen coming from the person he had just finished doing transactions with.

Hey Sora; what's up? the person on the other end typed in. Can you believe it? We're practically next door neighbors in terms of where we live, yet we both can't find the time to really meet up. That really sucks. I mean, Destiny Island is basically a short yet expensive gummi ship trip from here at Hollow Bastion.

Hello to you, too, Zidane, Sora typed in with an amused smile on his lips at how down the other person was feeling for no good reason. You know why we can't see each other. You told me that you're having a tough time being nineteen and trying to work in order to pay for your ever expensive college tuition. I haven't even started yet, but I have to save up for my college. So anyway, how's

Before he finished up his thought, he suddenly remembered his conversation that he had with his boss a few hours back talking about his conduct when dealing with the aftermath of transactions. He was right now treading on thin ice today with him, and he did not want to be fired simply because he refused to not engage in pointless banter.

…Sorry, but I got to end trans, he typed in rather regretfully and stopped his end of communication. He half expected for Zidane to have responded back and why be cut off so suddenly, but he was surprised to have received nothing instead. Apparently, the other person figured that something important came up and had to take care of it immediately. Either that or he also suffered from the same serious talk with his boss and knew why the communication had to be abruptly cut off. Either way, the other banker did not pursue the matter.

"Let me guess, one of your buddies tried contacting you and you were forced to uphold your end of the promise you made with Xemnas," Riku stated from his position at his desk as he looked at the spiky brown haired teen's slightly depressed face. "It's practically written all over your face right now."

"But I can't really help it here," Sora responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "Zidane's one of my great friends that I have a potential to meet up with sometime in the near future. That and he's an orphan just like me, so I can connect with him better than the others. He's also just a year older than me."

"Great, sounds like a match made in heaven," the long silver haired man responded with a small shake of his head. "I can only imagine the kind of trouble you two would get into with your combined computer prowess."

"Wow, how'd you know that Zidane was also good with computers?" the teen asked in amazement.

"Uh, you kind of need to be good with them if you want to land a job at a bank as the person who oversees the exchange of money from one land to the other. It's one of the required things tagged with the job description."

"Everybody, may I have your attention please?" Mr. Kuroi's loud voice was suddenly heard throughout the large room. Every worker stopped what they were doing and saw him by his office door slightly leaning against the railing with his hands. "As you all know, Ms. Aerith Gainsborough will be leaving our wonderful little company tomorrow. As such, today shall be her last day working with us. Would you please come up here with me so we can all grant you a proper farewell, Ms. Gainsborough?"

From somewhere towards Sora's left where some file cabinets were lined against the wall, a woman with a pretty red ribbon tied at the neck area of her hair that stretched to her lower back began walking up to where the old man was standing. She had a small yet warm and pleasant smile adorning her lips as she walked by her fellow coworkers who gave her small hugs and other such small actions of appreciation. Her pretty pink and red work dress was starting to get a bit wrinkled from all the embraces, but she did not seem to care in the slightest. Some were even crying a bit at the sound of her leaving, although most of the criers really came from the women with only a couple of guys tearing up here and there.

"Boy, she really is going to be missed around here," Riku stated with a sad smile as he decided to not participate in the farewell embraces. "I'm telling you; she's one of the kindest and most patient people you're ever going to meet in your entire life. You can be an angry customer yelling at her about some money you lost to a scheme and she'll just try to calm you down before explaining things thoroughly and patiently. She's only been working here for a year longer than me, but she really made a loving and long-lasting impression in both me and everybody else in here."

"I know exactly what you mean there," Sora agreed in a tone that was just as sad as he looked on at the heartfelt farewell taking place. "I've only known her for the couple of months I've worked here, but I already feel like the mother I never had before. She even saved my butt a couple of times when I made some crucial mistakes and the boss was busy chewing my ear out because of it. She really helped me get a hang of things around here and even offered some good advice. I'm for real going to miss her."

"God, I can just hear the guys back at the orphanage making fun of the way we're talking right now," the silver haired guy said with a light chuckle in an attempt to lighten up the mood. "We're starting to sound like a couple of old parents watching their kids going off to college or something like that."

The brown haired teen could only laugh in both agreement and amusement at the comment because he could not find anything smarter or funnier to say about that. Of course, he made sure his laughter was relatively quiet so as to not be rude and ruin this touching moment for everybody else.

After a couple seconds more of embraces and tearful faces, Aerith finally made it to the spot where Mr. Kuroi had asked her to stand at. In turn, she received a warm hug from him along with a few words that only the two of them knew of.

"This wonderful woman here has been the most refreshing of spring breezes in the hottest days of summer," the man stated to the employees after he broke off the embrace. "In other words, she has been able to lift up our spirits when we have been at our lowest lows in this business. As such, I thank you Ms. Gainsborough for having had the chance to work here and impart upon us the grace and patience you have so exuded over these past few years."

"Thank you very much for this warm reception, Mr. Kuroi," the woman thanked him as her eyes gleamed with moisture yet refused to spill out tears. "I consider it both an honor and a blessing to have worked alongside a wonderful boss and some of the greatest coworkers a person could ever ask for. I consider you all to be like a very big second family, and I know that you'll all get along just fine without me. At least, I hope that'll be the case for a choice few of you," she added in a teasing tone. This incited a couple of small chuckles from the crowd while those who knew she was addressing them started to blush in embarrassment. Sora was one of those unfortunate few. "While I won't be working here anymore, I promise to visit as often as I can. That is, of course, if Mr. Kuroi will allow for it."

"Of course I'll allow for you to come and visit whenever it is you feel you want to," the man responded with a warm smile of his own. "I'll just make sure that the security guard posted outside knows that you have special permission to come and go as you please even though you'll no longer be an employee. It's the least I can do after all the help and support you've given us. That and it would also be nice if you could come in at times when we have new employees that need to be showed the ropes."

"I'd be more than happy to come in as a mentor to those new here if you need me to," she answered happily as that small smile never grew bigger but seemed to radiate more warmth through it. "I know how it can get busy in here sometimes, and the new workers sometimes fall behind when they don't know what to do."

"I thank you for your reassurance. Now then, the staff and I have come up with a wonderful little surprise for you," he continued on as he gestured with his left hand towards the crowd so as to make sure they were all included. "Most of them stayed late last night in order to set up a surprise going away party in the employee lounge area after you had left. I hope you appreciate the effort we put behind it, because it was hard to keep you away from there today," he added in a joking manner.

"Oh, that's so wonderful! I never expected to have this big of a response and show of appreciation. Thank you all so very much! I'll surely miss each and every one of you just as much as you'll all miss me."

"Alright everybody; let's all go to the lounge area and celebrate Ms. Gainsborough's last day working here with us and to the start of a new life!"

With that said, everybody began to file out of the room and towards the direction of the lounge area. A few women and a couple of men encircled Aerith again once she was away from Mr. Kuroi and began another tearful hugging session.

"Wow, I never thought that Xemnas had such a soft side to him," Riku responded as he shuffled a couple of papers on his desk before following the crowd. "I've never seen him talk or even act this sappy before in my entire time working here. Then again, this is the first time I've seen anybody up in these offices leaving, so I guess there's a first for everything," he added with a passive shrug.

"Well, he certainly wasn't soft and cuddly-like when he summoned me to his office!" Sora countered as he remembered his rather one-sided conversation with their boss. He then continued on as the two of them brought up the rear end of the group, "All he did was sound vicious and threatened to throw me out of here if I was performing personal conversations on the company computers again."

"Why don't you just give it a rest and admit that you were wrong?" the silver haired man asked with an annoyed sigh. Oh, how he so wanted to hit the other upside the head right about now. "Seriously, hearing you talk about it every ten or so minutes is starting to get real old real fast. How about just concentrating on enjoying Aerith's farewell party tonight? That and I don't want you to spoil tonight's fun for me."

"As if I had any intention on doing that," the spiky haired teen responded with a wide smile as they continued on their way to the lounge.

For the next hour and a half, all the workers and Mr. Kuroi forgot about their work and celebrated their last day together with Aerith. There were a few forms of entertainment set up in the lounge; including a makeshift photo booth that was really just a man taking pictures, a couple of interactive board games like Twister, and a karaoke system set up in one of the unused corners and hooked up to a portable screen for the lyrics to appear on.

Upon seeing the system ready to be used, Riku felt a rather devious idea pop into his head. Through a lot of persuasion and endless persistence on his part, he had somehow managed to coerce Sora into participating in the karaoke fun despite his rather loud protests. He even went and picked out the song for him, some kind of sappy love song that the teenager had never heard of in his entire life.

Needless to say, his face was already beet red from simply standing in front of everybody with a microphone in hand, and it only darkened further when he was forced to try and sing a sappy love song that was sung from a girl's point of view that made him turn even darker. Riku and some of the other coworkers laughed at the spectacle; but a few other merciful people, Aerith included, shouted cheers and encouragement to him. By some miracle, he managed to get through the ordeal without passing out from embarrassment.

"That's the last time I'm ever doing karaoke!" the spiky haired teen exclaimed once he was done and ran as far away from the microphone as possible. His cheeks were still very red, but it had since faded somewhat after the singing was over. "I still can't believe I let you force me into doing it. I felt like a complete idiot up there! And what was it with you picking some kind of stupid love song meant to be sung by a girl for me to sing? Were you really trying to make me look like an idiot?"

"For lack of a better word…, yes!" Riku answered with a huge amused grin on his face after a short dramatic pause. "I just love making you look like an idiot. It's really funny when you start blushing like crazy. It really makes you look beyond adorable. And that's coming out from the mouth of a straight guy like me," he added with a now toothy grin as he gestured at himself with his thumb.

"Shut up, Riku!" Sora angrily spat out with a childish pout as he crossed his arms. This failed in showing how angry he was at the situation and only succeeded in making him look even cuter in the process. "And stop grinning at me like you're some kind of perverted drunk. It's starting to look a bit creepy."

"That was a really nice singing voice you had there, Sora," Aerith complimented the teen in an attempt to calm him down. That and he really did sing that song beautifully despite not knowing the lyrics and feeling beyond embarrassed. "You really should try singing karaoke more often, although I suggest that it not be through peer pressure," she added as he gave a teasingly angered look at the other.

"Hey, I was just messing around with him," he explained in defense, knowing full well she was just teasing and playing along with it. And to show he was playing around, he was sporting his toothy grin that one would usually not put on when being chastised. "He was always this easy to mess around with when we were kids back at the orphanage. It's nice to know that some things never change, even when it's four years later."

"Yeah, why don't you mess around with me when we're not at work in front of everybody?" the teen complained as he started to pout again. "How the heck am I supposed to live this moment down with everybody else here? They're probably not going to let me live it down for as long as I work here. And just think how the boss would be able to use this against me in trying to get some excuse to fire me."

"Sora, why don't you go on back to your desk and try to watch a couple of shows on your computer to help you calm down?" the woman suggested as she placed a calm and relaxing hand on his shoulder. "I know how that always brings you back from boredom when you get tired of working on transactions. Maybe it'll work with your embarrassment. And it's less risker than trying to talk to someone else from another bank."

"…I suppose I'll give it a try," he conceded with a shrug of his shoulders, his previously sour mood all but gone now. This was the kind of motherly effect that Aerith had on most of the employees here; she especially had great influence on him most likely because he never had a mother figure to rely upon growing up. "I'll be at my desk for a while if any of you need me. And if the boss asks where I am, just tell him that I went home because I wasn't feeling well or something like that."

And without saying anything else, the teen shuffled his way back to the empty office room where his work station was calling out to him.

"Riku, don't you think you were being just a little bit too hard on Sora?" Aerith asked in a serious tone once the aforementioned teen was out of earshot. He's only eighteen on out of high school. For him, having a certain image is probably what's on his mind besides trying to avoid getting fired from here."

"Hey, I was just having a little bit of fun with him," Riku responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Under normal circumstances, he would have let his temper show a bit as a reaction to the annoyance of being talked to about his behavior. However, he found that he could not do that to Aerith no matter how hard he tried. As much as he inwardly hated to admit it, she also had some kind of motherly power over him. "I never really take him too seriously when he starts pouting and all that, because he does it all the time."

"I'm just saying that you should be more careful with your little pranks on him," she simply warned as she placed an understanding hand on his shoulder. Apparently, her hand gestures differed depending on what kind of emotion and point she wanted to get across. "Unlike you, he's pretty much new to the real world. Maybe it's best to hold off on those pranks until he's had time to adjust. After that, then you can make a fool of him as much as you want so long as it doesn't go overboard."

"I'll keep that in mind, Aerith. How about we move on from this and enjoy the rest of your going away party? It's not every day that everybody at your work comes together to make this all possible, you know?"

Meanwhile, back at the room with all of the computers, Sora was approaching his desk with a sullen look on his face. As much as he loved Riku like an older brother, he always hated it whenever he decided to pick on him. Most of the time, they were just minor things that he could let slide, but there were occasions where he would end up getting embarrassed in front of many people. This was one such occasion.

Grr, Riku makes me so mad sometimes! he thought bitterly as he reached his computer and quickly took a seat on the chair. Does he really have that much fun torturing me in front of everybody else? At least he's good for keeping secrets and stuff like that.

As he continued on with his mental rant, he turned on his computer and waited a few seconds for it to fully load. Once it was done, he entered the bank's server system so that he would be able to watch some shows through the company satellite he hacked into. However, it seemed that the night had different plans for him, because at that exact moment, some words suddenly popped onto the screen.

Huh, who the hell wants to talk to me at this hour? the teen thought as he stole a glance at the wall clocks and looked at the one labeled Destiny Islands. He saw that it was a quarter before seven, fifteen minutes before he was to officially close shop and go home. Curious, he read the newly formed words.

Knock, knock, were the only two words written on it. He waited a little bit to see if anymore would pop up, but none did.

Looks like someone thinks it's funny to tell me a joke right now. Guess I better play along and see what it is.

Who's there? he typed in as he decided to play along with the joke.

Scotch on the Rox, the person on the other end of the connection quickly responded without any sense of hesitation.

Scotch on the Rox who? he answered back, slightly confused at how the joke was phrased and the rather odd spelling of "rocks".

Scotch on the Rox is in desperate need of help, came the unique and rather cryptic answer. Then came the words, Are you alone right now?

With raised eyebrows, Sora responded after looking over his shoulders, Yeah, I'm alone. Who are you, and what's this all about?

I already told you; I'm Scotch on the Rox.

No, I don't mean your server connection name. I meant what's your actual name in real life.

I'm afraid that's something I can't indulge you on. In fact, this server I'm on isn't safe for the kind of communication we'll hopefully be doing.

Yeah, using the bank's server really isn't the smartest way to be playing jokes on people, either. Suddenly, Sora remembered the meeting he had with Mr. Kuroi earlier, and he did an actual face palm at his stupidity. He was definitely going to get fired the next time his boss called him into his office for a "little chat".

I'm not communicating through the bank's server, the mysterious person replied back. This succeeded in both calming the spiky haired teen down and confusing him even more. I'm communicating through an unsecure proxy server. That's why I'm afraid I have to be brief. I'm in desperate need of your help.

…Well, what do you need help with? The teen asked, not sure what exactly was going on and hoping that he would get some answers along the way. If you want some personal advice or anything like that, then you're going about it the wrong way.

I'm trapped, came the blunt and rather sudden response that shocked the teen when he read it. I need your help to get out of here.

Uh, why don't you call the police if you're trapped? I mean, you obviously have access to a computer, so why not contact somebody else besides me?

I'm sorry, but I'm running out of time. I want you to read this riddle and solve it by this same time tomorrow. The answer will be the password to a more secure proxy site that I'll have set up and ready by then.

Are you sure this isn't some kind of game you're trying to play with me here?

Instead of getting an answer, all he got was the riddle that the other person said he was going to send. One look at it, and Sora knew that he was not going to have an easy time with it whatsoever, especially with only a one-day time limit.

Read along with me

And discover the verity

That leads you to the key

And thus to my sovereignty

…What the hell kind of a riddle is that? Sora responded with raised eyebrows at what was before him. How am I supposed to solve it by tomorrow with nothing to go on?

Believe me; you already know more about the riddle than you think you do, the other person typed back rather quickly. While the teen still felt like he was being jerked around, he could not help but to notice the desperation that came with the response coming so quickly. Please, you're the only one I can rely on. Remember, be back on this computer at this same time tomorrow.

…You're serious about you being in danger, aren't you? the teen asked the other so as to confirm the feeling he was reading off of the words. However, all he got as a response was total blackness. Hello? You still there, buddy? And still it was the same dark silence that greeted him.

…This guy really is serious about him being trapped and all that, isn't he? he thought to himself as he quickly reread their conversation. Not even a couple of seconds after that, he received another response from the other person.

And by the way, your recipe for those steamed dumplings and turnip cakes were pretty tasty, the other stated with a smile clearly reflected in those words. He then continued on in a slightly teasing tone, You should consider trying out to be a chef if the banker position doesn't work out for you. I'll definitely come over to your restaurant if that's what you ever decide to do.

What the…? Has this guy been tapping into my conversations? Sora thought angrily upon hearing the recipe he gave to Yuna almost a whole week ago before slamming his hand angrily against his desk.

"Sora, is everything okay?" the sweet an slightly concerned voice of Aerith was suddenly heard in the empty room. Turning around, he saw her walking towards him. No doubt she saw him slam his hand down in frustration.

"Oh, hey there, Aerith. No, everything's alright. I'm just frustrated over this riddle that…that Riku told me last week that involves rocks or something like that," he answered with a stutter as he caught himself just in time before he went against the other person's wishes and told someone what they were talking about. "I still haven't solved it, and he doesn't want to tell me the answer. I think I'm just going to give up on it."

"Well, that's nothing to get all upset over," Aerith simply replied with a smile as she finally reached his station. "Riddles can sometimes be frustrating, and that's what tends to make them so hard to solve. Her eyes soon wandered to his computer, and she could not help but notice the conversation that was still posted on it. "Oh, did you manage to make a new friend while you were here?"

"Uh, wh-what makes you say that?" Sora asked with a nervous smile as he frantically exited the bank's communication server so as to respect the wishes of the other person and keep the details of their short conversation private.

"Because I don't remember ever seeing or hearing of a banker with the server name 'Scotch on the Rox' before," she explained before giving an apologetic smile upon seeing his frantic actions. "I'm sorry, though. I shouldn't be reading what you were talking about since it probably was private."

"Nah, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to look."

"If you don't mind me asking, though, does the other person also happen to like that book as well?"

"Uh, what are you talking about here?" the spiky haired teen asked as he was starting to get tired of sounding like a clueless person. "I don't think we really talked about anything that sounded like it had something to do with a book."

"Well, I noticed that the server name is the same as the title of a book I've already read a few times," Aerith explained as she began walking over to her designated station. "The title's called, 'Scotch on the Rocks'. It takes place on this fictional world called Earth where countries are at war. It's a pretty good book, but it's also somewhat controversial being that it involves some of the political problems of some of our actual worlds and hints at predicting some of the outcomes of those struggles. Nevertheless, it's still something worth reading. I happen to have a copy of it with me right now."

Did Aerith just say 'Scotch on the Rocks'? Sora thought with eyes slightly widened as he remembered the riddle and what the other person had said after that. That's the exact same thing as the guy's server name. Could he have been talking about the book when he said to read along with him? I-I guess it's possible. Then maybe the answer to his stupid riddle is somewhere in that book! I'm going to have to ask Aerith if she could let me borrow it.

"Sora, did you hear what I said?" the long haired woman asked as she put her hand on his shoulder and thus snapped him out of his inner thoughts.

"S-sorry, I was kind of spacing out there," the teen admitted with a sheepish smile. "What did you just say?"

"I said that I have the book right here with me," she repeated as she presented the book to him by placing it on his desk. "And I'm just wondering, but does this book have something to do with the riddle Riku gave you? You did say that it had something to do with rocks."

"You know, I do remember hearing him say Scotch on the Rocks, but I thought he was talking about the alcoholic drink. I never knew that it was a title of a book. Is it okay if I borrow it for a little bit? I'll give it back to you the next time you come to visit."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about returning it. I've read it a few times already, so you can keep it. And before you say you can't keep it, then just think of it as a keepsake so that you won't forget about me."

Th-thanks, Aerith!" Sora thanked her with a wide smile as he took the book into his hands and looked it over. "I promise to take good care of it!"

"I know you will. Now how about you come back to the party? It's not as much fun when you're not there to enjoy it with me. That and everybody is starting to get a bit too clingy for my tastes. I had to pretend to go to the bathroom just so I could take a little break from all the attention."

"Wow, I never thought that you would just leave your admirers like that," the teen responded with a light chuckle as he put the book back on his desk before getting up from his chair. "Then again, it already kind of started to look like you were going to have a crowd when the boss announced you were leaving earlier. Just please make sure that Riku doesn't try to pull another stunt and embarrass me in front of everybody again."

"Don't worry about that," Aerith reassured him as they began their way back to the lounge area. "I've already had a nice little talk with him about that. He shouldn't be trying anything like that again tonight."

And as they continued on their way back to the party, the two continued to talk about many different things with nobody passing by and bothering them. It was not until they arrived back to the party did they separated because she was once again bombarded by people who were desperate wanting to strike up one last conversation with her.


Once again, I apologize if the humor isn't as good as some of you prefer it to be. For those of you who have read my other stories, you know that I'm more of an action writer, but I figured that I'd try my hand at humor. But yeah, I hope the parts that I put in here at least made some of you grin in amusement. And I also hope you liked the bit of background information I put in for the characters to help you all figure out where they came from and how they were raised. It just adds to the overall neatness of the characters themselves.

And sorry if the riddle didn't sound good. I'm not good with rhymes, but I wanted to find some way to make it hard to find the password to a soon to be secured proxy server. And by the way, the book, "Scotch on the Rocks", is an actual real life book for those of you who did not know of it. That's the reason why I named this story that but with Rox. I'm sure that you all already know by now who this mysterious person already is.

And for those of you who are curious, I'll put the ages of the characters down here again along with a short bio. I know that some people feel like it adds more to the story if they're able to tell what the ages of the main character and the other characters supporting them are. And I'll probably put the ages down here for the first couple of chapters after the characters are introduced so you all can have a chance to remember their ages without having to flip to that certain chapter just to remember. So here it is for all of you who care.

Sora: 18 (A high school graduate and the youngest banker at Destiny Island International Bank (DIIB) thanks to his best friend Riku)

Riku: 22 (A college graduate who helped his best friend Sora land a job at the bank through lots of persuasion to his boss)

Xemnas: 50 (The boss of the DIIB who runs the bank under strict rules)

Aerith: 25 (A fellow banker who's like a mother figure to both Sora and Riku and retiring to pursue another line of work)

And yes, most of the characters are going to be in their late teens or twenties except for a choice few. I really can't imagine Xemnas to be any younger than 45, but I kind of hate him, so I made him a little bit older.

Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this. Don't forget to leave a review saying how you think I did and if there's anything you think I could improve on. Just make sure they're not just pointless flames or flames disguised as constructive criticism. See you all until the next update on this or any of my other stories on here!