Kingdom Hearts: The Untold Shard

Chapter Two:

The Reunion

Disclaimer: Ahh…just go read the disclaimer in the first chapter, if you haven't already. I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its awesome characters, and I don't wish to make any money off of this, et cetera…

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"Well…that was an interesting flight…"

Donald nodded in response. The flight to Hollow Bastion – one place the trio never really wanted to see again – had not been entirely fun. The Gummi Ship had held up for them, but just barely.

"Gawrsh, guys, at least we got the Level Two blueprints for it!" Goofy said cheerfully, attempting to spread his mood to the other two, who seemed quite downhearted for some reason. Ever-observant, something you wouldn't necessarily assume with Goofy, he saw that Sora seemed more upset than ever. "Hey, Sora, what's wrong?"

"What? Oh…d'you guys remember how Leon and the gang came here when we sealed this Keyhole, and said this was their home?" Sora replied, seeming a bit distracted. He received two nods in response. "What if they've stayed here, now that everything looks so different?"

It was true: The castle they had been forced to fight their way through and solve countless puzzles with Beast as their companion didn't look as foreboding, though it was still a bit creepy. A relatively small town had been uncovered, and it looked quite peaceful. A little too peaceful to the three travelers. But that wasn't what was bothering Sora, Goofy was sure. Donald brightened up quite a bit at the teen's words.

"Yeah, that's right! Should we go look for 'em?" He asked, his eyes lighting up.

Sora faked a smile and nodded, and began to follow his companion down the staircase that was right nearby. Goofy, however, stopped his by putting his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"I'm sure they brought her with them, Sora. They wouldn't abandon her," He said softly to him.

"Are you sure?" Sora asked uncertainly. Goofy nodded.

"Now c'mon, before they notice Donald first and think that something's wrong."

He nodded, and the two started after the King's magician, looking around with some interest.

After they'd been wandering for a few minutes, Sora commented, "It's kinda quiet."

"There aren't very many people," Donald added.

Goofy nodded. "I sure hope we find them soon. Maybe they can explain what's going on."

As they walked through an archway to the next area, Sora suddenly heard a strange noise nearby. He whirled towards it just in time to see a strange plate-like thing rise up from the ground, then lower back in.

"What the…"

"Look out!" Cried a familiar voice. Before Sora could place it, he saw what they were being warned to: some Heartless had just appeared from the shadows near them. The weird blue plate things started to act strangely, and it seemed as though they were hurting the Heartless somewhat.

As the three advanced towards them, Goofy with his shield, Donald his staff and magic, and Sora the Keyblade that had just appeared in his hand, Donald said angrily as he sent out a round of Donald Thunder, "Why are they still here?! We sealed this Keyhole!"

"There must be darkness in at least one person's heart around here!" Sora replied, quickly taking down two Heartless with a few swipes of the Keyblade. "Remember what Yen Sid said?"

"Right!" Goofy agreed, smashing his shield against another and quickly defeating it. "So we'll just have to keep fighting!"

Within moments of this exchange, the Heartless were gone. The plate-like things had disappeared, and the three were finally able to identify the voice and match it to a familiar face. "Yuffie!" Sora said happily, waving at his old friend. The other two joined him.

Yuffie grinned good-naturedly, waving back and jumping down from the roof of the house she'd been standing on. "How're you guys doing?"

"Pretty good," Donald sighed, "Even though we were told that defeating Ansem and locking Kingdom Hearts didn't totally wipe out the Heartless."

Yuffie nodded sadly. "I know. They're relatively numerous around town, but the defense system helps. It's not as powerful as the Keyblade, but it helps." Seeing their puzzled looks, she explained, "The funny plate things."

"Ah." Sora smiled, though it seemed slightly forced. "How've all you been? And is everyone here?"

Yuffie nodded. "Cid, Leon, Merlin, the works. And we've been doing pretty well. Cid's the one who invented the town's defense mechanism, too."

"Even Merlin's here?" Goofy asked, though he wasn't too surprised at this. He figured Merlin was the type of person who would want to be where the action was.

She nodded, and then motioned for the three to follow her. "Follow me. I have a surprise, too," She told them with a mischievous grin.

The trio looked at each other, and they all shrugged. None of them had a clue as to what it could be. Regardless, they followed their friend through the streets.

"I think you came at a good time. We all finally remembered you," Yuffie commented as they walked along.

This distressed Sora slightly. "You…forgot about us?"

She nodded sadly. "Yeah, and we don't have a clue why. But I'm still glad you're back, and the others will be happy to see you guys."

As they approached a relatively large one-storey house, Sora saw the curtain flutter suddenly in one of the windows. Figuring he must have imagined it, or it was the wind, they continued towards it.

When they were a few feet away from the steps, Yuffie stopped them. "The house is actually really cluttered. Hold on a sec, I'll tell everyone you're here." She turned and disappeared inside the house, and seconds later, everyone was piling out to greet Sora, Donald, and Goofy for the first time in a year. Grins and smiles were exchanged, as well as greeting as kind words, as well as some comments about Sora's new clothes and height.

After everything had settled down a bit, Sora turned to Yuffie and asked, "Didn't you say something about a surprise?"

She nodded and smiled brightly. "Yep! Just close your eyes and wait here a sec!" She ordered as she darted back inside.

This made Sora uncomfortable. Ever since he was torn away from Destiny Islands, he'd been reluctant to leave himself open to attack. Although, Donald and Goofy seemed quite at ease, and their eyes were already closed. Figuring that if anything bad happened, they would be alerted at once, he slowly closed his eyes, wrapping his vision in darkness.

Moments after he'd done this, he felt someone suddenly running straight into him and hugging him tightly. "Sora!"

"Sora, meet May."

-

Author's Note: Oi! Anyone from any of my roleplays, flame me about using May's name and be squashed. Yes, this chapter drags on slightly, but hey, every story has to drag on somewhere, right? Ah, well, that scene with the trio being reunited with Yuffie, as well as the scene in the beginning, was a bit different from the game. Shoot me. Chapter Three is up!