A/N: Ugh, this chapter did not want to be written and had to scrapped and rewritten a few times: like most of my second chapters come to think of it. As an apology its slightly longer than intended and features the first serious fight scene. Anyway here it is hopefully this will be the longest wait between the chapters but no promises.

Sora's eyes opened not to the expected brilliantly clear night sky but to a hazy vision of soft wine-red blurring into curtains of black that shone silver in patches. The Oathkeeper jumped into Sora's hand as his vision snapped into place suddenly very awake as he lashed out with the blunt side of the white keyblade. The figure jumped back and to Sora's now cleared vision it was very obvious he had made a minor mistake; a conclusion that was verified by the person clicking her tongue at him. "That's how you greet me after all this time, even Barret has better manners."

Sora blushed at the playful jab, "so-sorry you were a bit close and well your hair..." For the second time Sora couldn't figure out how to end his sentence and just awkwardly looked away. "So, umm, why are you here Tifa?" Sora looked back to her and silently cursed himself for his stupidity he knew full well why she was here: looking for Cloud who had disappeared on her again.

Tifa idly twirled a strand of her hair in her hand and looked to the sky; "still searching I'm afraid. Still," she dropped the hair and locked eyes with Sora, "when I found out this was your home I decided to pay a visit. Though I only found out due to a very harried young woman searching for her errant son" Sora blushed even more strongly than before and started to stammer something; "Ah that reminds me." Tifa reached down to a satchel that was slung over her shoulder and pulled out some device that Sora had never seen before, and with a flick of her wrist the top half flipped up and out. She pushed a single button and held the device to her ear.

Sora watched her intently as she waited for...something. "Hello? Yes I've found him, yep exactly where you thought so now you can rest easy...you were?" A slight laugh, "true enough...now? Hmm, well he was just asleep and its pretty out here think I'll stick it out and talk for a bit if he wants to. Ahh well good night."

While Tifa had been talking Sora was coming to two distinct conclusions: first: the device allowed for conversation over distances- Sora had seen the communication system of the gummi ship and so such a thing wasn't too alien to him though he had no idea how it worked since Cid had never let him near the ship while it was being fixed up or modified significantly. And secondly Tifa had decided black wasn't a great colour to wear on a tropical island as she had switched to a white sundress with a few small modifications to ensure it didn't impair her movement too much. Sora's mind jumped from its second conclusion to a third: the dress lacked pockets thus the satchel, and suddenly he was glad his own black clothes were magic and regulated heat as he had yet to get around to finding replacement for all the clothes which were much too small for him now.

Tifa took the device away from her face and clicked a button before closing it again and turning back to Sora since she'd turned to see the glittering sea during the talk; "your mother. She's pretty tough took your disappearance pretty well after all 'hes good at getting out of trouble'." Sora couldn't help but let out a slightly nervous laugh at that statement. "By the way this;" a wave of the hand holding the device; "is called a PHS."

Sora nodded to show he got it then; "so can it do anything besides let you talk remotely with people like a visual, messages does it have limits?"

Tifa stared wide-eyed at Sora for a moment which annoyed him a little for a reason he couldn't quite place. "No, no visuals its not as advanced as the communication systems in the gummi ships. As for limits well it can only connect with another PHS of course mass production was easy on my world and I'm carrying a few extras. Distance-wise I have yet to find an upper limit: the PHS system was designed to be able to connect all over my world wirelessly via connection to a central relay station and now the ones I'm carrying use my ship as a relay. I've have tried calling certain people from other worlds with no trouble, beyond a few minutes of lag at upper distances." Sora nodded to show he was following while turning over the uses of such a limitless connection tool, time Tifa seemed to be willing to give him.

Then a thought occurred; "so have you given one to Cid?" His voice had a hint of hope; maybe he could take off, check on the worlds and leave the suffocating sameness of the Destiny Islands("...this island is a prison surrounded by water.") behind.

"Well;" Sora despaired at the sheepish way she drew out that word. "I did, but Merlin saw it declared it blasted technology then...did something to it. I was on the PHS at the time and heard the fight, but after that well;" she shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "By the way your pretty on the ball for someone who just woke up."

Sora rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment with his left hand, which finally clued him into the fact that he had yet to dismiss the Oathkeeper and did so returning it to its keychain form. "Well for a second under the moonlight with only your hair visible to be you looked like a shadow heartless."

Tifa had only the faintest trace of a frown; "I see. Well I guess you would have to get used to waking up suddenly under the circumstances huh-wha?" Sora figured such a statement would bring her down and moved forward; a movement she noted but didn't react to until her undignified response as his gloved hand wrapped around hers to pull her forward and around to face the sea one more.

"But now that I can see clearly your hair is more like the ocean." Sora gestured out to the scenery that unfolded beneath them from the highest point of the 'kid's island': the place where Tidus used to be found practising his swings now mostly abandoned but for the occasional and usually equally lone visitor. Most drawing was the sight of the water painted black by the night sky glittering silver from the pearlescent light of the stars all the way to the main island. The silvery full moon in the middle sparkled and seemed to release a gentle light of its own that stood out in stark contrast to the darkness surrounding it. The night was calm; the surface's only disturbance the gentle ebb and flow of tides that caused the lights to sway and multiply momentarily before becoming one once more. Even without wind the smell of the ocean wafted up to noses of its observers-salty but with an undercurrent of the teeming multitudes of life it supported-and the cries of night birds-lyrical and gentle in their own right-were the only thing that disturbed the near-silence of the scene.

Tifa unconsciously grabbed a lock of her hair to compare. "Never heard that one before."

"Well I pride myself on being original."

"Yeah who else would just calmly accept that he has to beat monsters with a giant key but grill someone on a communication device when hes seen more advanced and similar technology."

Sora laughed a little, trying to hide the dawning realization that her surprise before had been about that. "Well, it sounds a little stupid now but back then I didn't really believe what was happening. It was all so messed up and weird so I thought it couldn't be anything but a dream, and no I never questioned why my thought process was so clear in a dream. So, it wasn't important to me, it was all a dream: it would run its course and I'd wake up: my peaceful bright island wouldn't have been swallowed by darkness along with my best friends, and I'd go back to being Sora: the slightly naive, stupid, optimist." Sora tried to steady the hands that were gripping the railing in front of him as he took a small breath trying not to catch Tifa's attention. "Not fighting some monsters made of the darkness of people's hearts with a giant magic key; even now it sounds ridiculous."

Sora hoped she hadn't heard the frustration in his voice. "Well a little bit." Tifa replied either not catching his frustration or trying to ignore it. Either way talking alone with Tifa was enjoyable Sora realized; she gave him time to think, was very honest with him, and never pushed or demanded something unreasonable. Every other time they had talked something had come up: she was so close to finding Cloud she could feel him, or heartless were attacking or something. "So you never did tell me why you came out here, just to view the beauty?"

Sora didn't bother to turn his head to look Tifa; his emotions were too close to the surface he wasn't like this. "Yeah its nice out here at night I've been putting it off 'cause last time I was here...doesn't matter anymore its all lit up and pretty its a good place to just lose yourself you know?"

Sora stared into the gently glowing sea for a moment so still and serene yet carrying a hidden strength that could show itself at any time and crush anything it wished. (Sora stared in wide-eyed amazement at the girl in black still able to feel the shock of the tremors she had sent through the room with a single punch. Then she turned towards the group and for a second her eyes lit up in recognition then...disappointment? Sora subconsciously took note of the woman's posture and wiry muscles that screamed 'experienced warrior' then met her eyes where they would stay for the rest of the conversation and their further talks never knowing the respect it garnered from the usually-ogled Tifa.)

"I never did did hear much of the how or why of your journey; we've got time and I'm curious so would you tell me at least a little?" Tifa's voice broke through Sora's recollections

Sora's eyes unconsciously drifted over to the islet which Riku had more-or-less claimed as his with the papou tree that had somehow grown such has to provide the perfect seat to watch the sunset (Another day walking down streets bathed in the light of an eternal sunset nothing would ever-stopped everything stopped why...) and hadn't changed much from even the earliest of Sora's memories. It stood as alone and aloof as ever connected to everyone else only by an old bridge which had warped in the rain, the ladder which had allowed access from the sea had been broken on that terrible night; lost to its darkness. The islet itself was basked in silver light the white sand eagerly shining surrounded by the darkened grass, the shadows cast by the trio of trees on the island invisible from this distance leaving only them standing tall and strong leaves tinged silver in places bases clear in the reflected light leaving the main body drenched in darkness.

Sora would likely never be able to explain why he said it; "this is the place where it all began. The day before everything began everything was normal the sun was bright the birds were calling and everyone was full of energy and ready to play, which here means beat each other up with toy weapons." He paused to let Tifa's laughter to subside; "really the only clue was that weird dream the day before and the appearance of that man in there near the end."

"There? Man?"

"Right, sorry. On the way up you must of seen the raised platform, or at least that waterfall and just left of that hidden by grass and darkness is a cave it was our-mine, Kairi, and Riku's, Secret Place. I had to go in there for reasons that are far too stupid to get into now and that's where I met Xenahort's Heartless though at the time he would have said 'Ansem'. He rambled about how this world was connected to the darkness, I didn't get what he meant then, now though-"

"Excuse me but who is Ansem exactly?"

Sora blinked and eyed Tifa in confusion. "Ansem is, well was the leader of Holl-Radiant Garden: your home, well not the Ansem I met because he wasn't reall-"

"Sora." Tifa's sharp but still somehow warm voice cut through Sora's rambling. "The Ansem you met in the cave and the Ansem who ruled Radiant Garden are different people, or rather the person you met was a heartless posing as a human, is that right?"

"Yeah, I really was dumb back then even after this place was swallowed by the darkness and I learned the basics I didn't understand how the heartless found their way there. The keyblade hadn't even shown up yet and who could be dark enough to draw the heartless here to this warm and sunny place full of friendly people." Sora was now stalwartly refusing to look anywhere but to the dancing multitudes of lights playing on the mirror that was the ocean's surface.

Sora flinched back slightly as a hand landed on his shoulder but relaxed and allowed himself to be turned to face Tifa carefully making sure his smile was in place. He opened his mouth but whatever he was going to say died as he saw the look in Tifa's eyes; soft concern and a bit of guilt. "I guess its a bit soon, huh. If you don't want to talk about it I understand."

Sora laughed and gave Tifa what he hoped was his best smile; "what are you talking about I'm fine, besides its all in the past and everything turned out for the best. Anyway;" Sora continued perhaps just a little too fast turning back to the sea. "On the night I met who I could only call 'the freak in the robe' the islands got hit with a big storm and I got worried: me Kairi and Riku worked hard to build something that could have easily been blown away or destroyed in such a storm. So despite it being dark, and the weather being horrible, and the action just plain being dumb I got in a boat and rowed my way to this island. And there for the first time outside of my dreams I met the heartless; I tried to fight them with a wooden sword but it was no good. So surrounded by monsters literally ripped from my nightmares on a dark and stormy night and after spotting the boats of my friends I did the only logical thing: search for them. Riku was stronger than me, he always has been, and may be now, so I thought he would be safe and would be protecting Kairi; I was half right."

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Tifa adjusted her position slightly as Sora continued his story. She didn't want to probe a possibly still bleeding wound but she had to for the sake of clarity; "so it was Riku who brought the heartless here?"

Sora nodded still not facing her; "yeah. He didn't mean to and he regrets it, but like I said, at the time and for awhile I didn't get it at all." Tifa frowned a little, she was starting to notice a rather disturbing pattern to Sora's story. She decided that for now she would just let him speak his mind and let him open up to her naturally; barging into his secrets would only make him less responsive if there even was a problem in the first place.

"So I defeated the giant monster from my nightmare but really it only lead to a greater one as I witnessed my island being torn to pieces like a ship in a thunderstorm only to be swept up piece by piece into an expanding ball of darkness before I was swallowed as well.

"When I woke up it was still night, or it might have been a long time later since Traverse Town is stuck in a never-ending night. I was pretty disoriented and confused: I was alone in a place I'd never been before, wet from a leaky water pipe, and just had to watch my island be destroyed and my best friends and family were all unaccounted for; again never questioned why I was so aware of everything in a dream. So I started to wander: a lot of doors were locked despite the houses all being well-lit the warm light from them all spilling onto the dark cobblestone of the world, in retrospect all the inhabitants of Traverse Town got there in a way similar to me maybe the light was just to beat back their own fear." Tifa was about to say something when Sora, unknowingly or not cut her off; "not that it matters any now." Tifa backed down the statement was made with pride.

"So I wandered, and as I later found out so were Donald and Goofy, I was just wandering for the sake of something to do occasionally fighting the heartless that appeared though I did have to retreat from the clock-tower or I'd have been overwhelmed for sure. They however were searching for a man by the name of Leon, who I, after getting a basic idea of what the town looked like and returning to the First District met and his 'hello' was unnecessarily rough in my opinion!" Sora took on a righteously annoyed tone; "he attacked me!"

"So that's where you learned to say 'hello';" Tifa interjected instantly.

Sora stammered and even from her position Tifa could clearly see he had turned red from embarrassment; "th-that was different I was half-asleep and stopped. He however never stopped to explain anything even though I protested a few times and when I tried to escape he cut me off with fireballs though he cut back a little after I reflected one back into his face. Unfortunately I hadn't eaten anything before or after going to check on our 'project' and I'd been pretty active, so I passed out."

And so Tifa listened: his story was mostly lighthearted but every so often his narration would dip into the darkest of humours, and sometimes from his pace and wording it would seem Sora himself was still puzzling everything that happened out. Of course the more she listened the more she understood: the boy never took a break he just kept pushing himself forward fighting without thought. Tifa held herself back as he described his first meeting with Cloud and noted he went into great detail to reassure her that even then he was clearly a good person, just misguided.

Then he hit his first meeting with Riku in Traverse Town; "I was really happy Riku was okay it meant not everyone was gone maybe my family and Kairi survived as well, and someday I'd find them. But by that time he'd already teamed up with the witch Maleficent, we were already worlds apart. Worst of all I wanted to bring Riku with us but Donald disagreed; by the time we finished arguing he was gone, and for a moment I thought he was just another passing phantom like those visions of Kairi. But I decided to ignore that doubt and just believe he went out on his own: he does that a lot, and he survived just fine so far and he was way stronger than me so there was no way he could lose to anything. I was wrong in a lot of ways that day, and my decisions almost cost Riku everything."

Tifa decided that would be a good place to interrupt; "Riku made his choice Sora. He choose to ally himself with that witch who was using the heartless-"

"I know, but still maybe if I had tried harder to reach him been a little smarter he wouldn't have had to suffer as he had. But its fine now its in the past and dealt with: Riku, the island, everything is back." It was then that the sun chose to cast its warm glow on the island, Sora winced as the sunlight hit his eyes as he'd been focusing on the mostly dark sea.

Tifa, as a trained fighter had excellent reflexes so when Sora obviously lost his balance her hand lanced out to steady him; it proved unnecessary as he steadied himself just after her hand shot out(so like the warrior Sora was). A nervous chuckle brought Tifa's head around to find Sora finally looking at her his bright blue eyes seemed to shine with an unnatural light for a moment before returning to their usual deep blue. "Guess I got to rambling huh? You must be pretty tired I mean you had to look for me and all."

Tifa could only chuckle at the nervous way he said that. "Not really, I was asleep on my ship until it informed me a world was coming up and it was already night, by the time I got here. Still though these tropical islands have killer heat I had to change into this just to not overheat. So I asked around some and no one had seen Sepiroth or Cloud but I did come across a certain mother who was a little annoyed her son ran off on her without a word again." She gave Sora a mock stern-glare and he had the grace to blush, chuckle and look down implying the 'sorry' he apparently wouldn't be saying. "I think you can guess what happened next, and then I checked the place where she thought he would have gone, a not inconsiderable trip by the way, and sure enough there's the boy I owe my first glimpse of Cloud in too long."

Sora smiled, just a bit sadly. "Well I still think I didn't really help that much, if at all really, but anyway I think you should get going now, right?"

"You're right I should get going but..." Tifa looked down at the brown-haired boy for a moment, she was generally helping him from the way some things got lost to the jumping from point-to-point it was clear he hadn't told anyone else yet and doing so to her was helping him, but she couldn't stay and he couldn't leave: he needed this respite. Then an idea came just as Sora opened his mouth she pulled a second PHS from her satchel. "I want you to watch closely alright?"

He nodded his consent as he watched her open it, then close it and hand it to him. Sora was clearly baffled for a moment before repeating the process lacking the efficiency of someone experienced with PHS, but he got it open. "Good, now then this button;" she pointed at a button on the top right; "is what you push to take or make a call." Again Sora nodded, and then Tifa pointed to another button; "when you're done its that button. Now then you only need to know those two buttons and one command;" she pointed out another button near the bottom left; "that is a 'favourite' button basically it lets you call anyone with one button."

Tifa took the PHS from Sora's hand and then inserted her own personal number into the PHS' memory before handing it back to him. "There you go, now if you want to finish that story or you just feel you need to talk to someone you can just call me, easy. Actually, promise me that if you need to talk to someone you'll call me."

Sora actually frowned at this; "that doesn't seem fair. How about if I promise you that if in return you promise to call me if you're in trouble."

Tifa blinked then quite elegantly said; "huh?"

"You can call me if you want, right? So I want you to promise that if you get in trouble you'll call me, at least until you find Cloud I mean there's a lot of unsealed worlds out there and some might be under attack now, so if it gets dangerous just call me and I'll come save you. Well, promise?"

Tifa wanted to say no("When I become a SOLDIER 1st class I'll...") but he flashed her a big smile and she couldn't help but nod and insert his PHS' number into hers. Then on a impulse she stuck out her hand in a very familiar gesture that caused Sora to blush quite hotly. "Th-thats for kids." Tifa simply smiled and pulled his hand so their pinkies were intertwined, she was quite surprised he managed to get the full poem out through his no longer quite so visible embarrassment.

It was then she pushed a button her modified PHS and called her gummi ship down she gave Sora her best maternal smile-so why was he blushing again? "Don't forget anytime you want to talk." She waved her PHS one last time before making for the open hatch and watched the blue-eyed boy as it closed waving his own PHS back at her as a silent reminder. When it was closed she turned for the cockpit to pick a new course to search for worlds on. Tifa figured the promise was a safe bet she would never get into trouble she couldn't handle so she wouldn't have to endanger the boy and really she didn't have a choice: he seemed like a stubborn person.

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Kairi let loose a small sigh as she looked ahead to see her bouncy friend-come-sparring partner Tidus jauntily walking along at a rather unkind morning of the hour. Tidus was always a mystery to her he seemed to just burst with energy all the time no matter how early or late without a break in the middle like Sora who occasionally enjoyed an afternoon nap.

But that energy was exactly what she needed right now: while Tidus wasn't even near Riku and Sora's level he was a better fighter than her and he didn't hold back like they surely would. While she had fought admirably at the end of the last incident she knew she was being protected most of the time and it galled her to think herself so weak: she didn't just want to be protected she want to help and protect others.

To that end she tracked Tidus down with a piece of driftwood that was almost the right length to pass for her borrowed keyblade and challenged him. She had done fairly well for a first timer in her opinion she wasn't immediately overpowered and managed to get in a few good hits before being disarmed and swept ungracefully off her feet. She wasn't sure Tidus accepted her half-answers to his questions but he left them alone and since she and her best friends had returned she had been sparing with him early in the morning after a light breakfast. It wasn't like she was trying to hide the training (she just didn't want Sora or Riku there) they needed her there to keep them together: so Riku wouldn't run off again, so Sora wouldn't laze about, it was that simple and to that end she had to get stronger("this time I'll protect you!").

So it was that once again she found herself holding a piece of driftwood while superimposing the image of Destiny Place over it and facing down the bouncy blonde boy and his long-sword like weapon. "Ready?" He asked in only a slightly condescending voice: he'd clearly been working on his ego. Kairi just nodded and got into a stance practice had solidified in her mind from the half-remembered scraps that had remained from her time in Sora's heart. Luckily(Sadly) this was not the only thing returning from that time: Sora was slowly recalling and being able to cast his old magic again. No one was sure why he forgot it but now it was coming back, it was slightly unwieldy from disuse but he was quickly getting at least the "-ra's" back under control widening the already maddening gap in the skill set between her and her friends as she was still trying to master the basic spells beyond fire, blizzard, and cure.

A sudden whoosh of air and a tremor up her arm brought Kairi back from her musing as she had blocked Tidus' initial assault on reflex. She set her feet and threw the boy off causing him to stumble back and she capitalized by swinging for his gut but found her prey back-flipping away from the attack-he was still needlessly showy. She continued her attack with a slightly weaker but faster version of Sora's base combo but found every blow blocked by an orange blur. Tidus was backing away again pole lashing out trying to keep Kairi at his preferred distance and it was working until she suddenly caught the weapon with an overhead two-handed block and shoulder charged her opponent sending both to the ground in a heap.

Kairi intended to get in a quick shot in while Tidus was disoriented then retreat but he denied her this by having his weapon up in a diagonal block in time to catch her blow then forcing his body up while Kairi's weight was temporarily displaced by the recoil forcing the girl to disengage and roll away to save herself being stuck in a bad position. She rolled perfectly to an standing position, glad she had eschewed a skirt for slightly loose cargo shorts for training, and tried to set her defence to no avail as his longer weapon breached her shaky guard in a sudden stab at her left shoulder. She rolled the targeted joint at impact sending the weapon skittering off and the wielder moving forward and down as Kairi changed her defence to a one-handed swing that caught the boy on his shoulder and down to his knees.

Tidus stood from his kneeling position rolling his shoulder looking quite impressed and showing no pain despite the ache he should have had. "You've gotten pretty good Kairi. Of course if it came down to it I could'a still beat you even if you had actually took the full chance that counter gave you." He turned and started walking back to his starting position. "Still you've gotten way better I don't know what kind of thing you and those two have gotten involved in but I get that its going to be dangerous, and you're going to run in after them so you gotta be strong to keep from getting them hurt, and that's my responsibility I suppose." Tidus turned and got into his usual fighting stance and Kairi reciprocated trying not to let Tidus' sudden show of insight throw her off; "so let's go!"

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She was dirty, but not from the lax day on the sand and surf. No the persistent dirt that clung to her cheeks and stood out in stark contrast in her dark red hair was something the blue-eyed hero was familiar with: sparring. Sora had his suspicions about who her partner was and why she was training but had no ideas on why she was trying to hide it. But he kept it to himself she would tell him when and if she wanted to; maybe whenever the King contacted them again.

So it was that Sora was walking down a painted orange gravel road on his way home talking to his best friends and laughing but not really being there not while he still hadn't decided what he was wanted to do. Before he could come to any decision though a sudden unfamiliar melody came to his ears: simple, but pleasant (~Do, Re, Mi, Ti~) he noticed two bemused sets of eyes turning to him he himself wasn't too certain where that sound was coming from. An amused voice in the back of his head supplied the most probable answer: the PHS. He pulled out the device and waved down his companions before they had done little more than open their mouths and opened the device with still none of the grace of Tifa as the little voice was all to happy to remind him, before pushing the button he needed. "Tifa?"

There was a short pause and Sora had to make another hushing motion towards Kairi and Riku before he got his reply; "yeah. Sora;" another awkward pause, and Sora could almost imagine her biting her lip in indecision. "I'm on a world and its not sealed there wasn't enough...resistance." Sora was getting used to the oddities of the device now and he could swear he could hear a strong wind in the background muffling Tifa's hesitant voice. "You promised right: that if I called you'd come?"

Sora frowned slightly; why was she being so hesitant about this? "Yep! So you want me to come and seal that world right?" Blue eyes watched as the two people in front of them jumped in surprise then narrowed to a slight glare that cut off any questions before a single sound was uttered.

Another pause and now Sora was sure there was a strong wind where she was so she was either outside in a wind storm with few obstructions or at a high altitude("Hey" A still immature male voice called out "why are you so picky about where we park it anywhere would do and it'd be more convenient." Then the magical duck he was travelling with began a tirade explaining exactly what Sora wanted to know and he payed close attention: he'd wanted to know more about the Gummi Ship and how to pilot it for awhile.) "Yeah, I know you don't have a way to get here but my ship has an autopilot it can warp back automatically to a few set points like that beach just outside you're village. I'm going to stick around here and snoop around a bit see if I can find anyone and see about the heartless situation the ship, with warp, should take about 15 minutes to get the Islands I know that's not really much time but-"

"No need to be so worried Tifa I promised right; besides its my duty to seal the worlds 15 minutes should be enough time." Sora said in his usual way-cheerful and confident-even as he began walking again at a clipped pace down the darkening road the surely existent sound of the gravel crunching underfoot was drowned out by his focus there was one place he had to go before answering questions or going off again.

"Yeah, anyway I'll send the ship now and Sora...you'd better finish you're story before you go back home."

Sora chuckled even as a certain house was coming into view; "will do." He hummed an affirmative after Tifa said one more thing "yeah see you soon." Sora turned off the PHS and flipped it closed, before opening to the door to his house.

He continued forward unperturbed by the hovering figures of his best friends and found the person he was hoping to see: an older woman with wavy long dark brown hair once a near-match to her son's but was now far darker. Seeing her caused a rather instant change in Sora: a black boot kicked at the ground and his head lowered barely peeking at the gently smiling woman through his long spiky bangs. "M-mom."

The woman in question swept forward and pulled her son into a strong embrace though the blue-eyed boy could swear he could feel her arms shake a little bit "at least you're saying good-bye this time."

Sora broke free of his mother's grip and stared-only a little-up at her as he could feel his cheeks slightly heating up: he'd been completely seen through. "Come on its not 'goodbye' just a short trip to help a friend. Oh! You know her actually: Tifa, from last...night." He couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle as he remembered why his mother had met with the strong fist-fighter "A-anyway she kinda needs help with this thing only I can do I'll be back soon after all I'm the Keyblade Master and good at getting out of trouble."

His mother gave a very strange smile at that "ah. Oh! I meant to return that thing she gave me actually..."

Sora was baffled for a minute then remembered his first view of the PHS. "Keep it, it could come in handy." With her nod of agreement he turned back to the red-haired girl and the taller boy.

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Tifa gulped heavily: she'd done it. It hadn't even been a day since she'd talked with him and she'd already ruined Sora's reprieve from fighting. But she really did want to save this world: as flawed as it was it was still her home world. Even this place held memories for her: with its sleek cold metal and hanging tethers heavy enough when coiled to not be moved by the strong winds present on the raised platform where the airships of the Shinra corporation once resided where she had sent off her Gummi Ship 8 minutes ago.

Idly Tifa began to wonder where exactly had Cid kept his extra airships since this airfield was left abandoned, not that she could ask the Cid that currently called Radiant Garden home. It had really thrown her for a loop seeing her old friends and yet having different memories from them; worse still was she didn't know who's memories were wrong theirs or hers. This world seemed to suggest that her memories were correct but on the other hand her friends had memories of Radiant Garden that to them must of surely seemed just as real. Were all her memories her past with Cloud be but some trick of her mind, or someone pulling her strings? What of Cloud if his memories were the ones altered: just what kind of past did the Cloud of Radiant Garden have with that Tifa? Tifa sighed as she calmed herself she had thought this particular puzzle through a thousand times after meeting her altered(real?) companions from the past for now she needed to focus on finding anyone still in Junon to see how her world was hol-

A slight sound-a whistle-was all that was needed to convince Tifa to throw her body to the left and take a fighting stance. She needed only the sound of a projectile flying harmlessly past her convince herself she had made the right choice. Tifa's eyes found the assailant all too easy on the open field largely because the imposing figure was closing in on her with a shoulder charge. She couldn't quite keep the grin off her face: she was very experienced in dealing with shoulder charges; her body moved on reflex sidestepping just as the figure was too dedicated to its course to compensate and aimed a kick for its legs to trip it up. Instead of slowing or even being disturbed by this setback the figure sped up clearing Tifa's kick and gaining the footing to turn and face her before she could hope to throw a proper assault from her distance.

"You?" Tifa asked confused upon finally getting a good look at her assailant: a tall black bald man wearing a neat blue suit, black loafers and tie with a white undershirt wearing sunglasses of course. "Long time no see Rude, though I must wonder why so many people lately seem to think attacking me is a good way to say 'hello'." Despite her relaxed tone and words Tifa hadn't let down her guard or fighting stance it had been a long time since they had been enemies and indeed he rarely directly attacked her but she knew this wasn't a mistake meaning something rather serious had happened during her absence.

Rude didn't react much besides a grunt before charging in again Tifa tensed and prepared her standard defence even if she couldn't trip him up he would wear down before he-reflexs saved as her hand swiped away a sudden dark blue protrusion from Rude's shoulder and she used the leverage to spring away but even as she landed Rude was sweeping his hand in her direction sending out more of those dark blue chunks equally as sharp and deadly as the one that had suddenly appeared on her enemy's shoulder. This time she was ready ducking down and springing forward left fist leading easily clearing the projectiles the Turk rushed forward to meet her more of those gems appearing on his knuckles . Tifa moved slightly right just as her opposite threw a punch-she was familiar with his range even slightly extended-and threw her left from within his guard even as his own left came up in a guard. Tifa pulled back not willing to get a skewered hand for the first blow and used the momentum to send her right foot slamming into the man's ribs which felt more solid then they should have, armour? This suspicion was confirmed when her enemy swept out with his left hand without the slightest sign her kick had done much good. Tifa brought her remaining foot up and pushed away the attacking limb of her opponent sending him into a shaky stance which she happily took advantage of: her hands became what were holding Tifa up as her left foot came into direct contact with her opponent's chin backing him up enough to free her right leg to use his chest as spring-board of sorts to disengage.

Her hands found purchase on the metal and she back-flipped once more to get to her feet and her usual fighting stance and as she brought her eyes up she noticed that the area she had just vacated was now dented and crumpled beneath the fist of the powerful Turk and those mythril knuckles of his. Mythril? Indeed now that she had a moment to look closer the cobalt weapons the Turk was using was indeed mythril but where was he keeping it and where did it disappear to?

Further contemplation was ended with a sweep of her opponent's hand this time Tifa stayed low intending to aim for his ankles but was forced to hastily abort as his knee came down with the same protrusion of mythril as his other attacks. Instead of being put off Tifa used the strange position with his arms bent and leg half extended to launch herself up and try to deliver a kick to the Turk's skull. Her foot connected but this time she saw why her previous attack on his ribs had failed as a sudden armour of mythril appeared where her kick landed. A jerk of the Turk's head and she was flying away from him and he was catching up quick spiked knuckles raised probably to finish the job before she could counter a plan that failed due to Tifa forcing her self to the ground and kicking away his fist before it could connect then setting herself and kicking him hard in the chest enough that her grounded foot pushed into the metal with enough force to dent it and send the bald Turk flying back the way he came.

Tifa charged hoping to end the fight there and then but it was then her enemy decided to show a new trick as more myhtril shards than ever before appeared without a gesture and flung themselves in her general direction, they were less controlled then the previous attacks but covered more area. Luckily they were also somewhat slower and spaced out enough that Tifa could weave through them and catch or divert the few she could not though she noted grimly that the Turk was now back on the offensive as her head just jerked out of the way of a vicious chambered punch that left her right cheek bleeding from a grazing blow and her backing away to gain breathing room and to more easily divert his punches.

As Tifa was backed up she found herself grateful for the large battlefield then suddenly an opening appeared in his chest as his punches grew wider. Tifa threw a feint into the opening, and the Turk's counter was immediate he puffed his chest no doubt to weaken Tifa's punch and tried to use her extension to land a punch to her midsection instead Tifa found purchase on hand for but a moment get her around him and deliver a kick to the base of Turk's neck knocking him to his hands and one knee. Tifa's arms were up in a guard just after the mule kick began she was sent flying and landed somewhat roughly on her feet before jumping back again just as cobalt coloured spears rained onto her previous position piercing deep into the metal. Not deep enough that Tifa couldn't pull on of them out though as she found out when she just that and threw the aerodynamic shard at the charging Turk as expected her diverted the attack without visible gesture but it distracted him just long enough for Tifa to get close enough to use that new attack of hers and she watched with some satisfaction as the dark spheres came out and expanded around her opponent. Surely Rude would yield or be unconscious taking her Final Heaven that so maybe she could get some answ-a cobalt spear came out of the shrinking orbs which she caught with both hands her boots scraped nosily on the metal underfoot as she was momentairly pushed back. Once her attack gave way she saw him standing and looking tattered but far from beaten his left hand was encrusted with mythril becoming the spear she was now holding at bay. He suddenly pulled back bringing Tifa with his arm the slight jerk of his hip let her know his knee was coming probably with another nasty spike so she pulled up and to the right using the spear as a pole and delivered perhaps her first clean hit on the Turk: a kick right in the head.

Tifa was surprised when instead of falling to his knees the Turk merely stumbled a bit before swinging his left arm weakening her hold and putting her into position for his spiked punch to her gut had her knee not gotten in the way and absorbed the blow preventing her bone from getting hurt. Tifa couldn't help the small gasp of pain as she moved suddenly freeing her knee from the mythril spikes and delivering a kick to the side of the Turk's head with her good foot. Her knee was luckily still in good enough condition to find the Turk's floating ribs and once again disentangle her from a tricky situation and this time she had definitely struck flesh. Her opponent looked over to her and smirked; "as expected." Rude said suddenly before closing in again spear lashing out Tifa dodged to the right forcing him to swing the heavy mineral weapon at her but she'd already worked her way around to his back again and was going for a punch on the base of his neck when he suddenly moved attempting to flip her over his shoulder. Tifa felt a single prick as something entered her shoulder and grabbed tight to the Turk's suit holding her head and right shoulder inches over the mythril spikes that had sprouted unexpectedly from his entire shoulder.

He moved suddenly trying to fall backwards Tifa wrenched herself off the spikes and slid beneath the falling Turk's legs helping in by grabbing his feet and swung herself onto his chest knees first. For good measure she returned the favour from earlier by unloading a chambered punch of her own into the Turk's face one hard enough to smash his sunglasses and mildly dent the metal beneath him. Which was why it was surprise when Rude suddenly arched his body grabbed Tifa by the shoulder and flung her onto the ground a fair distance away shoulder-first.

Tifa rolled into the blow and came as smoothly as could be expected to her feet grimacing from the fresh pain from kneeing someone with her injury and her now aching shoulder. Tifa eyed Rude suspiciously: he was tough but not quite that tough that blow should have at least disoriented him yet he was standing with surprising ease and smirking and again: "as expected." then he snapped his fingers and there was a familiar sight black portals appeared in the sky as Heartless some she recognized and some she did not fell onto the Airship platform. "I didn't expect this kind of tactic from you." But the Turk was already gone somehow and her body moved purely by reflex to dodge and destroy three heartless in one seamless move. Tifa gritted her teeth glad she had called Sora now she just hoped she could hold on until he got here with the Turk likely hiding in wait to harass her when shes weakened.