2- Secrets Kept
This is pretty much where the 'AU' comes in.
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Riku waited patiently for Sora and Kairi. It had been almost exactly an hour and he'd just finished double checking the ship and calling Mickey to get some things taken care of. They got there on time and Riku noticed that Sora was—not surprisingly—looking increasingly aggravated. He decided quickly that he didn't like that look being on Sora's normally cheerful and stupid face.
"That's…" Kairi started in surprise. Riku waited for the blowup from Sora.
"Where'd you get a Gummi Ship?" He demanded.
"An old friend. Eli's already inside. Let's get going." He entered the ship and headed for the cockpit. He heard the others following.
"What friend? Riku, what the hell haven't you told us?" He looked back to see Kairi put a hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Sora…" She sighed. Riku saw the communicator flashing and pushed the answer switch.
"Long time no talk, Riku!" Chip's voice sounded over the speakers.
"Same to you, Chip. Were you and Dale able to get hold of Ash for me?" He answered lightly, sitting down behind the controls and absently adjusting the knobs and switches.
"Of course they were! What do you think I am, Ri-chan? A hermit?" His sister's voice growled as she came into view on the screen. He laughed a little.
"You are referred to as a hermit, Ash. And I wasn't sure if Mickey would have been able to contact you."
"Of course he was able to. He wasn't a student of an idiot, you know." She said haughtily and he smirked.
"And what does that make you, Teach?" She frowned deeply, her grass green eyes glinting dangerously. That was the only thing they had in common as far as appearance went. He took more after their mother with the silver hair and build—considering Ash had pitch black hair and a slight build that made her appear weaker than she actually was.
"How many times to I have to ask you nicely not to call me that, Ri-chan?" His smirk turned into a wide grin.
"Would you rather I called you 'Sis' then?" She positively fumed at that. It was so easy to get her ticked off. Sometimes too easy.
"RI-CHAN!" He laughed and started the engine, leaving the islands.
"I'm joking, Ash. I had something I wanted to ask you about." She lifted an eyebrow and shrugged.
"What then? If it's about the Radiant Garden incident, I already know about it. Merlin contacted me as soon as the Burrow was attacked. Don't worry, Yuf was the only one even slightly injured besides the fairy that disappeared. Yuf had been on her way out to get Squall and the others to talk about the two fairies with Merlin."
"What happened to the other fairy?" He set the autopilot and sat back, arms folded across his chest.
"She's in the infirmary at the castle." Ash sighed. "Listen, Little Brother. I don't want you doing anything stupid or reckless this time around. You remember what happened last time."
"You kicked my ass." He sighed. "Honestly…I'm not planning on splitting up from the others so you don't have to worry. And it's not fair that you get to refer to me as 'little brother' when I can't even call you 'sis'." Sora leaned towards him from his seat.
"I didn't know you had a sister…" He whispered.
"Eh? Oh! I didn't even notice you had others in the ship. Well? How do you like it? I designed it myself. Everything's completely stealth designed and high grade."
"It's great, Ash. Was the Burrow the only place in Radian Garden that was damaged?"
"Yea. You're all business, Ri-chan." She sighed. He narrowed his eyes at her. She was being unusually distracted—something must have happened between her and Squall, she was only ever like that when they'd had an argument or gotten back together. "Though I got word from Queen Clarion that the Home Tree was hit by some sort of small bomb. Some of the fairies living in the upper levels were injured and their homes destroyed."
"What?" Eli gasped.
"When did this happen?" Riku asked at the same time, sitting forward in his seat and starting to worry.
"Uh…what world did this happen on?" Sora asked nervously.
"Pixie Hollow is in Neverland. I was about to go and talk to Peter to make sure the boys are okay. Before Mickey got hold of me saying you wanted to chat, Ri-chan."
"Sorry about that. Maybe I should go talk to Queen Clarion and make sure everyone's okay. A lot of the Art Talents live in the upper levels of the Home Tree…" He said almost to himself, already planning to make a quick trip there when he got through talking with Squall and Merlin.
"I was going to slip into Pixie Hollow to do just that." Ash said lightly.
"Then you'll let me know? You know that I have a lot of friends among the Art Talent Sparrow Men…"
"Of course." She laughed. "And I'll expect an update from you just as soon as you finish chatting with Squall." Something definitely happened between her and Squall. She normally would have just went to talk to him in person.
"Right…fair's fair, I guess." He sighed, deciding not to ask about it.
"Ri-chan, you're such a spoil sport." She smirked. "I'll let you go so you can fill your friends in." The connection cut off and he flipped the switch on the comm. He sighed again, leaning back in his seat.
"Where to start…?"
"How about the beginning?" Sora asked crossly.
"Yea, Riku. It looks like there's a lot we don't know about you suddenly…" Kairi sighed.
"Okay then. You guys know how I've always lived alone, right?"
"Well yea, that's why you've always spent so much time on the other island exploring and stuff, right?"
"That's not exactly true. Ash taught me how to open a portal through the darkness when I started walking. Before she left me on the island so she could take care of things only a 'keybearer' can do. Like protecting worlds from the heartless and all that…"
"There's another Keyblade?" Riku shook his head a little at that.
"No. Ash carries a bow staff. It's shaped like a really long key, but doesn't have most of the powers the Keyblade has." He sighed. "But that's beside the point. I always spent so much time on the other island because I was actually using the cover of the forest to keep from getting caught opening a portal. I used to go to all sorts of other worlds." He smirked, glancing at Sora. "Did you ever notice, Sora, anything strange in your friends in other worlds if you mentioned my name?" He nodded a little.
"Yea…but I just thought it was because they'd never heard of you…"
"Aladdin and I used to swipe bread and fruit from the vendors in the bazaar and joke about what we'd do if either of us ever ended up in a palace living like princes. Chip and I'd play hide and seek in the castle—Belle joined in after she came to the castle. Shang and I would spar and practice strategies in mock battles. Squall and Tifa taught me how to fight and come out practically uninjured." He paused, gauging their reactions.
"So…you know everyone?" He nodded, resisting laughter at the stupid look on Sora's face.
"I could go on and list almost every world you've been to, Sora. Even some worlds you haven't been to. Aurora's husband Phillip? He always told me about the princess he kept dreaming about. And the seven dwarves that Snow White is friends with? They showed me how to find synthesis items in plain sight." Kairi blinked in surprise.
"How long…?"
"Seriously…and how didn't either of us notice!"
"You're always being lazy and Kai's only concerned with making sure you don't slack off?" He laughed aloud at their reactions. "And as I said, Ash taught me when I started walking and talking…so since I was two. I stopped going to other worlds when the door started showing the keyhole. You know the door in the Secret Place. That's the keyhole."
"I never noticed…"
"Obviously. But I realized that my using magic was drawing in the heartless and I stopped. Obviously it was too late because it wasn't very long before the heartless actually showed up and all of that stuff last year started. So it was kind of my fault you two got involved in that…" Sora blinked in surprise.
"You mean to say…if you…"
"If I hadn't been careless with using magic, the heartless probably wouldn't have shown up and nothing would have changed." Sora shrugged.
"I think we're better off because of that though, right?"
"True. We've all gotten a lot more mature since dealing with Maleficent and the Organization." Kairi agreed. "Especially you two." Riku almost said something in response, but the comm flashed and a name came up on the screen declaring it to be Aeris. He flipped the switch.
"We're on the way to Radiant Garden, Aeris. Is Yuf okay?"
"Upset because she won't be able to hold her big shuriken for a while." She laughed. Riku sighed in relief at that. "More importantly, I wanted to double check for Leon who all's with you, Ri."
"Just Sora and Kairi." He paused, remembering the silent fairy in the ship. "And Eli."
"Okay. I'll tell Leon."
"Will you also tell Cid to meet us at the marketplace? When Ash designed this ship, she didn't add in a warp drive."
"I'll ask him if he's got any Warp Drives on hand first, Ri." She sighed. "Merlin also just got back and we're waiting on you guys to get here before we talk about what's going on. Have you talked to the lunatic yet?"
"Just as we were leaving the islands. And don't let my sister hear you calling her that, Aeris."
"She doesn't care." She shrugged. "How close are you guys?" He checked the map.
"Give us…I think ten minutes." He smirked. "It would have been faster if my crazy sister had remembered that I hate slow trips." Aeris rolled her eyes.
"Okay the. We're in the study whenever you get here."
"Okay." She cut off the connection and the screen went black as Riku flipped the switch closed. He ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
XX
Sora spotted Cid waiting for them as Riku docked the ship and they all got out.
"I guess since you're here, you've got a Warp Drive on hand?" Riku asked lightly. Cid frowned deeply, but didn't seem too aggravated by Riku's tone.
"Keep pushin' yer luck, Kid. I'll set ya up just as soon as our meeting's over." Kairi cleared her throat a little behind Sora and he blinked.
"Oh! You haven't met Cid yet, have you Kai?"
"Nope."
"Actually, it was a long time ago, but you have." Riku sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets and starting off. "I'm going ahead. And I'm gonna smack Squall over the head for letting Yuf get hurt." He headed across the market, clearly familiar with the route. It kind of freaked Sora out a bit. Cid rolled his eyes.
"Ya probably don't remember me is all, Kairi. It's been what? Ten or so years since ya got kicked onto the islands?" She nodded slowly.
"So is this…the world I'm from?" Cid nodded.
"Yea. Let's catch up with Ri before he starts a fight with Leon." Sora started after Riku.
"Why would he do that?" Kairi followed him, pulling Eli along behind her silently. Cid followed and fell into step beside Sora.
"Cuz Ri and Ash refuse to call him Leon. They're always callin' him 'Squall'. That, and it's kinda a normal thing for them to fight the moment they see each other." He shrugged.
"So…how long have you guys known Riku?" Kairi asked.
"Since he was a tyke. Ash was friends with Ansem. So we saw the two of them a lot."
"Do you know what world he's from originally then?" Sora asked, trying to sound casual even though he was desperately curious. Cid only shrugged.
"Not a clue. We all think either Twilight Town or Memory, but there's no way to say for sure." Kairi nodded a little.
"I wonder if Riku knows…"
"Probably not. He was two when Ash dropped him off with Ansem for a while before carting him off to yawl's islands." Well there went that method of discovery.
"Oh!" Kairi looked at Eli. "What are Sparrow Men?" Sora looked at her for the answer as well.
"Male fairies."
"And 'Art Talents'?"
"Sora…" Kairi started.
"It's fine." Eli smiled a little. "Every fairy has a talent. My sister and I are 'Guardian Talents'. The only two of our kind. There's a fairy named Priscilla who's the only one of her talent too. If you can think of it, there's probably at least one fairy with that as a talent. Have you heard of a fairy named Tinker Bell?" Sora grinned.
"Yea! She really helped me and Donald and Goofy out before."
"I met her too." Kairi laughed.
"She's a Pots and Pans Talent. She tinkers with metal stuff. And she's the best of her talent. Though I think she's still spending more time with Peter Pan than in Pixie Hollow."
"Are you guys just gonna sit around chatting or you gonna actually head to the study?" Yuffie laughed in front of them. Sora immediately noticed that her throwing arm was in a sling.
"Hey Yuffie!" He waved. "Did you see Riku pass by?"
"Yep. He just went to bug Leon. And he seemed pretty peeved…did he find out about Leon and Ash's most recent fight?" Sora paused.
"As far as we know…well, I can't really say." He sighed. It was kind of annoying that Riku had kept all of that from them—and even if he hadn't told Kairi, Sora figured Riku trusted him enough to tell him all that stuff. He probably really seemed like an idiot to everyone he'd met that already knew Riku when he was looking for him.
"Oh…he never told you guys about his travels?"
"Until today, no." He answered with a frown. Yuffie paused.
"Hm…this is gonna be a bit awkward then…" She laughed a little. "Let's go!" And they all headed for the castle study.
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So things are getting interesting. Players of the game, can you tell what I meant by the 'AU' bit? Pixie Hollow is drawn from the Disney Fairies series, same with the Talents. There's gonna be an explanation of the 'Mage' thing Riku and Eli mentioned last chapter in story pretty soon…but if you can't wait, ask me in a PM and I'll give you a spoiler.