Hello! Here I am updating this again! Woo!

Disclaimer: Not mine

-Ash

Chapter 2

Tifa was taken aback, "What? He what?"

Kairi and Riku stood beside one another, staring at the man in complete shock.

Xehanort sighed, "Oh it's terrible, your highness. It says right here in this letter that he ran off because he didn't want to marry Princess Namine. He wanted to find true love. Oh, what a poor, desperate boy." The man flailed the letter dramatically as he spoke.

"Let me see!" The queen demanded.

She held the letter in her hands and gasped as she read through it, "Oh no! What is he thinking! How could he do such a selfish thing like this?" She cried.

King Cloud spoke, "It seems that the pressure must've gotten to him. Listen; if he does not show up by the end of the day then we will have to call off the wedding plans."

Riku spoke up, "I will go look for him, your highness. I know him more than anyone. He couldn't have gotten far. Let me see the letter, maybe I can get an idea as to where he might be."

"Ah yes, of course Riku." Xehanort said before handing the letter to him.

Kairi stood on her tiptoes and began to read the letter. She crinkled her nose at the sight, lowly, she whispered to the guard, "Riku… that's not Sora's handwriting."

"Are you sure…?" He whispered back.

She nodded and muttered, "I'm positive. I tutor him every day; I know what his handwriting looks like." Kairi raised her voice, "Excuse me, Xehanort, but where did you find this?"

"Oh, on Prince Sora's desk." He replied nonchalantly.

Kairi lowered her voice once more, "Something's not right. But we can't let them call off this wedding. Sora will lose all respect and our kingdom will go bankrupt."

"Do you know where he could be?" Riku asked quietly as Xehanort tried to calm the queen.

"No…" Kairi's face lit up, "But I know a temporary substitute…"

Riku glanced at her, "What?"

"Trust me."

Riku and Kairi rode up in the carriage to a familiar store: "Xemnas' Watches and Knickknacks".

The guard shifted uncomfortably as he gazed up at the store, "And… you're sure about this?"

"Positive." Kairi replied with a nod.

The pair walked in and no other than Xemnas himself stood in front of them. He gave a nasty grin, "Hello, lovely couple. What may I interest you in?"

The two glanced at each other before Kairi spoke up, "Actually, we're here to see one of your employees. His name is Roxas."

Xemnas stared at the two, "Roxas? My nephew Roxas? Blond matted hair?"

Kairi nodded, "Um, yes sir. That's him."

"Why would you want to do that?"

Riku spoke, "We have a job for him at the kingdom. Only temporary, he'll be back within a few days, maybe a week."

Xemnas scoffed, "Whatever you say. I don't understand what the castle wants with that moron but I must have him back soon though, or else things will not be pretty."

Kairi hid her flinch, "Yes sir. We understand."

"Did Sora send for me? Oh this is great! I can't believe I'm going to perform at the castle! What am I going to wear? I only have these ratty street clothes. That won't look too good will it?"

"Um… Roxas?"

The blond spun towards her, "Oh! Sorry. Yes, what is it?"

"I'm afraid that's not why we're here." Kairi sighed.

Roxas paused, "What? Why are you here then?"

Riku straightened, "Prince Sora's missing. We think someone in the castle might be behind it. If Prince Sora doesn't show up by this evening, they will cancel the wedding. Our whole kingdom will go bankrupt."

Roxas slowly stepped towards them, "Sora's missing…? What's this have to do with me?"

Kairi shifted, "We… We need you to pretend to be Sora for a few days."

"What!"

"You need to for just a few days, Roxas! Riku and I need to search for him! Once we find him we will be able to know what happened and you can come back here. And after we get everything sorted out, we'll get Sora to call you to the castle." The redhead explained.

"You're kidding me, right? Are you two out of your mind? Do you know what will happen if they find out? We could all be thrown into jail!" He paused, "Or worse…" Roxas gripped his neck painfully.

"I know this seems a little farfetched, but you're the only one we can count on." Riku replied.

"If you guys are going to rely on a peasant to help you save a prince…" He gazed at the two of them, "Sora must really be in trouble."

The tutor nodded, "He is."

Roxas sighed, "Alright, I'm in."

"So… two problems here you guys." Roxas said as he sat down on the prince's bed.

"And what's that?" Riku asked.

"Um my hair is blond and I have no idea how to be a prince." He replied.

Kairi grinned, "We thought of that." She grabbed a box from the floor and opened it. She pulled out a spikey, chocolate brown wig that was identical to the prince's.

The boy cocked a brow, "Why do you even have that?"

Riku scoffed, "We're not creepy. Prince Sora's hair is just so known in the village that we were able to have one made. We told them it was for a ceremony for the wedding. They believed us for some reason. Psht, peasants."

"I take offence to that." Roxas huffed.

"Oh, right, sorry." He replied.

Kairi chimed in, "Anyway, Riku you hold down that bedhead of his while I get this on him."

The pair worked rigorously to finally shove the blonde's crazy mane into the wig. They pinned it and tightened it to his head so it would not loosen. Kairi ran to the closet and grabbed a new pair of clothes. Riku dressed the blond into the fabric and buttoned the last button of his shirt. The two backed away to admire their work and nodded their heads in unison.

"Do I look like Sora?"

"Identical!" Kairi cheered before picking up a book, "Now. This is everything you'll need to know to be a prince. Read, eat, breathe, and sleep this book and no one will know you're not the prince." She said as she shoved the book at him.

"We'll be back in an hour to retrieve you and show you to the queen. You have to have that book read by then. Understand?" Riku stated.

"I didn't know this was going to come with homework…" Roxas sighed.

"I'm good at giving that. We'll stall everyone. You get to reading." Kairi said and the two vanished behind the door.

Roxas stared at the book in his lap, "A prince guide, huh? I knew they weren't naturally all prim and proper. Jeez… what have I gotten myself into?"

"Let. Me. OUT!" Sora cried as he struggled with the doorknob.

"No can do Prince Sora. We've got direct orders to keep you right here." A female voice hissed from the other side of the door.

"I will have you both arrested! I will find out who you are and you'll regret this big time. Oh you will wish you'd never been born when I'm done with you! I'll have you both beheaded!" Sora raged.

"Aw, I'm shaking in my boots." A male voice mocked.

"We'll see whose shaking. I swear it." The boy growled.

"I thought princes weren't supposed to swear." The female said.

"Well this is a very pissed off prince so the circumstances are extremely different!" The prince screamed.

"Yikes." The man replied.

Sora yanked on the doorknob and pounded loudly on the door one last time, "I will get out of here!" The door didn't budge. He leaned against it and sank down to the floor. He curled his knees to his stomach. The boy buried his face into his knees and began to sob, "I've failed everyone. I'm sorry mother, Riku, Xehanort, even Roxas. And I'm so, so sorry Kairi."

"Listen to the boy cry, Larxene. Are you sure we're doing the right thing here?" Sora heard the male whisper.

"Shut up Saix, if you have thoughts like that, we'll both get fired."

Sora froze, "So they're working for someone…" He muttered. The prince stood and looked around the room he was trapped in. "I have to get out of here." He whispered. He gave a quiet gasp when he saw a fireplace. The brunette gave a small grin, "Bingo."

"Sora! Oh you're here! This is wonderful! I'm so glad you're back!" The queen cried as she ran to hug him. "I was so worried about you. Don't do this to me again, you understand?"

"Yes…Mom I'm sorry." Roxas replied as he awkwardly hugged the queen in return.

Tifa cupped the boy's face, "Please tell me, why you did such a thing? And what's wrong with your voice?"

"It's just… a long story. I'll tell you more about it some other time." He said.

"Oh, alright. You must get ready; you'll be meeting Princess Namine in a few hours okay?"

He nodded, "Y-Yes ma'am."

Sora grabbed the edge of the bricks as he climbed, digging his nails into dirt and suet. As he almost reached the top, his foot began to slip. "No, no, no." He mumbled as he maneuvered himself up some more. His hands began to scrape across the cement while his shoes dug as far as he could allow them into the dust. Finally, the prince reached the top and gasped for air. He shimmied himself out of the chimney and onto the roof. He stood before losing his balance and sliding down the roof. Sora reached the edge before digging his shoes into the drain to stop him. He glanced over and noticed as tree next to the house. The prince took a deep breath of air. He could do this; he used to climb trees at the castle all the time. Sora reached for a branch and began to climb down the tree.

Sora's feet were finally planted to the ground and he fell to his knees. He took deep breathes before sighing. The brunette stood and took off into a sprint into the woods. He headed for the only place he knew: the village.

Xehanort paced into the throne room, "I hear the prince has returned."

Riku stood in front of the man, "Yes, he has. He is with Kairi preparing to meet Princess Namine. She should be arriving soon. Would you be so kind and go downstairs to greet her when she arrives?"

"Of course, we're so lucky to have a head guard like you, Riku."

The guard gave a nod, "Yes. I work hard for this kingdom. To make sure nothing interferes with the crown. You understand, right Xehanort? Being the queen's adviser and all."

"Yes, yes." He turned and left to go down the stairs.

Left behind from his shoe was a small pine. Riku cocked a brow and picked the small leaf up. He examined it, "This is from the Eastern Forest… What's he been doing there? I don't know what's going on… but I'm going to find out."

Xehanort arrived at the small house in the woods. He knocked loudly on the door before a blue haired man answered the door, "Ah Saix… May I see the prince?"

"Well, yes boss. What's this about?"

Xehanort stormed in and shoved the door open, "Because the prince isn't here! He's back at the castle! How did he escape! I don't understand how you could let this happen! The prince's wedding is back on now and I will not be able to convince the queen to marry me if she doesn't need the gold I found!"

Larxene stuttered, "We're sorry, sir. We didn't even know he was gone. We boarded all the windows and everything."

Xehanort glanced around the room, "But… you didn't board the fire place, you idiots!"

"We're sorry, sir! It won't happen again!" Saix cried.

"Damn right it won't! We have to come up with a new plan now!"

Riku and Kairi peeped in the window, "I knew it…" Riku murmured.

Kairi turned to him, "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know but-"

"Who's there?" A voice snapped as the pair heard the door slam open.

Kairi gasped, "Go Riku! Sora's not here, meaning he's out there somewhere! Go find him!"

The silver haired male furrowed his brows, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about what happens to me! You need to find Sora!" She insisted as Xehanort rounded the corner.

Riku quickly mounted his horse and rode off towards the pathway. He mournfully glanced back to see Xehanort and his goons grabbing Kairi and shoving her into the home. He'd be back for her.

The feisty redhead glared at the perpetrators that held her arms fiercely. She struggled and growled at the criminals. "You won't get away with this!" She cried.

"Oh, but you see Kairi, with you out of the way then no one knows what I'm planning." Xehanort sneered.

As the assistants threw her into the captive room, Kairi merely laughed, "What makes you think I came here alone?"

The villain's eyes widened as he turned towards the window. He growled, "There's no horse out there… Who did you come here with?"

"Like I'll actually tell you."

"Tell me girl!" He sneered.

"I guess you'll just have to find out yourself. But Sora's safe and sound at the castle, meaning your plan is falling through." Kairi provoked.

"What? Prince Sora couldn't have gotten to the castle on foot that fast! We checked on him merely a half hour ago! No one runs that fast!" Saix argued.

Kairi tried not to falter, "Ha! You don't know the prince like I do."

"No… But Prince Sora had already returned to the castle this morning… but you said he was here a half hour ago." Xehanort pondered.

"There's no possible way he could've been there this morning! He was still screeching and pounding on the door here at that time." Larxene snapped.

"Something's not right…" Xehanort murmured.

Kairi spoke up, "Ha! Yeah right! He was there this morning! You two are just lying so that you won't get into trouble with your boss here." This is bad. This is really bad.

"No, boss. We swear he was here just a half hour ago. We were even talking to him. There's no possible way he was there this morning." Saix stated.

Xehanort turned to Kairi, "So tell me girl… Who is this imposter at the kingdom…?"

The redhead turned, "Please, there is no imposter at the kingdom. Sora's at the kingdom."

"I don't believe you, tutor." The man slowly slipped towards the girl with a sneer.

Kairi gulped.