Author's note: Thank you very much to the two people that reviewed. I really appreciate it. It would mean a lot to me if more of you would review. I'd like to know what you think of the story. I know this chapter and the first one may not be terribly exciting, but there will be more action as the story progresses. If you like battles, there is going to be a big battle closer to the end of the story. Well, happy reading and PLEASE review! Reviews make me happy.

After Riku had walked away, Sora had taken his place sitting at the end of the pier. He was deep in thought, coming to a decision of what to do about Riku. There was no way he was going to stay here like a good boy and let Riku save his friends by himself.

"So," Kairi's voice said from behind him, "did you find out what was bothering Riku?"

"Well," Sora hesitated. He had decided to go after Riku tomorrow morning, but he wanted Kairi to be safe, so he lied. "No. He wouldn't tell me."

Kairi sighed. "Thanks for trying, anyway. Well, I'm gonna go to bed; I'm tired. Good night, Sora." Sora stood up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Good night, Kairi," he said softly. "I…I love you."

"I love you too," Kairi smiled, letting go of Sora.

He watched her walk away before going to bed himself.

Not knowing what time Riku was leaving at, Sora set his alarm clock for four in the morning. Once it did go off, Sora forced himself out of bed. He looked out his bedroom window where he could see the island he spent so much time on. After returning from their last journey, Sora and Riku had built a Gummi garage. The two of them and Kairi had each built their own ship, just in case they ever needed to leave again. From his window, Sora had an okay view of the garage, the doors of which were still closed. That told him that Riku had not left yet.

Sora got dressed in the clothes that Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether, the three fairies, had made specially for him. Even after a year, they still fit fine, which made Sora figure that they adjusted themselves to fit his body. He began to pack for his next journey, checking out the window at intercals to make sure Riku was not at the garage yet. Sora put all items he had leftover from his previous journey into a bag, along with some other things.

After checking outside the window one more time, Sora left his room and snuck quietly downstairs. He longed to enter his parens' bedroom to say goodbye, but he doubted he could do it without awakening them. He crept silently through the dark kitchen, heading for the living room, where the front door was.

"So you really are leaving?" a voice said shakily. Sora jumped, startled, and looked around the kitchen. His heart sank. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table. He could not see the expression on her face, so he turned on a light.

Sora's mother sat there in her nightgown, staring sadly at her son.

"How did you know?" Sora asked quietly, already knowing the answer.

"Riku told me before you cam home earlier. At first, I tried to convince him not to go, but he told me he was a lost cause. Said he was impervious to my persuasion." She gave a hollow laugh. "He said, though, that I might be able to convince you to stay. Will you?"

"Mom," Sora sighed, "I'm needed in other worlds."

"no, Riku is this time, not you. Sora, you were gone for over a year. I had no idea where you were and I spent over a year wondering if you were still alive! When you came back, I breathed again. I am not letting you go on any more journeys. I can't lose you. I won't!"

Sora pained as he saw his mother's eyes sparkling. He found himself tempted to say screw it and stay, but instinct told him he was needed elsewhere. He shook his head and walked around the table, embracing his mother in a tight hug. After a few minutes, Sora pulled away.

"I have to go," he said.

"What can I do to stop you?" whispered his mother.

"Nothing. My help is needed by others, Mom. I may be able to save lives. I have a feeling that if I don't go, we will all be in danger, but if I do go, I can probably help stop it."

"When did you become so brave?" Sora's mother asked with a sobbing laugh. She sighed. "My little boy's leaving to go fight the monsters of the world."

"Not just our world, but all worlds." Sora gave a strained smile. "You know I have to go. Let me, okay?"

"Yes, but please, do your best to be safe."

"I'll try, Mom. Tell Dad I said bye for me. I love you." Withouth another word, Sora walked out of the kitchen and his house. Once he had shut the front door, he leaned against it and pressed his fingers against his eyes. After a moment, he walked over to his boat and rowed over to the island the way he had done so many times before.

The garage door was still closed. Sora pulled his boat onto the land and hid it in the secret cave, then hid himself under the pier. After another hour and a half, Riku came rowing over in his boat. He tied the boat to the pier, then walked over to the Gummi garage and opened it. Sora crept out from under the pier and climbed a palm tree so that he was in closer range of Riku, but out of sight. There sat the three ships. Sora's was in the middle, Riku's on the left, Kairi's on the right. Sora's ship had a large blue S on the front. Riku's had a large black R and Kairi's had a large red K. Sora watched his friend search the garage and all three ships for stowaways before loading his things into his own ship. After doing do, he put his hand on the ship and looked out to the sea. The sun had begun to rise and it cast a weird light on the ocean.

"Goodbye, Sora," Riku said softly. "Goodbye, Kairi." He got in the ship. Sora took the time Riku spent turning the Gummi ship on and pressing the appropriate buttons to climb down the tree and sneak into the garage. He sneakily peered into the cockpit window to read Riku's navigation settings. These told Sora that Riku's destination was Radiant Garden. That was where Sora had guessed to go in the first place. He crept over to his own ship and hid beneath it. After another moment, he heard the roar of the engine as Riku's ship rose into the air and left the island with dazzling speed.

Sora rolled out from under his own ship and loaded his things into it. He climbed in himself, then began to punch in all the different settings. Like Riku, he would go to Radiant Garden, but he would go by a quicker route. Having done a lot more traveling via Gummi ship than Riku, Sora knew many more routes to various worlds. As long as he left now, Sora could arrive at Radiant Garden a good twenty minutes before Riku did. That would give him enough time to find the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee members and convince them to let him help before Tiku showed up. Sora knew that if Yuffie, Aerith, Merlin, Cid, and Tifa would agree to Sora staying that Riku would have to agree, even if reluctantly, as well. He would not want to waste time arguing when more important things needed to be done.

Sora sped off of the island and high into the sky in a flash. Soaring through the starry air, he did not look back.

About an hour after Sora had left, another ship showed up on his radar. He raised an eyebrow. The ship was somewhere behind him and going at the same speed as Sora's. In a matter of seconds, however, it slowed down, disappearing from Sora's radar. Sora scanned the sky ahead of him. There was nothing to crash into and he had seen no other ships, the exception trailing somewhere behind him. He put the ship on autopilot, stood up, and walked to the back of the cockpit. Squinting, he could see a dot that was the other ship shrinking in the distance. Sora sat back down and went back to flying the ship himself.

Whoever it was, they must not have wanted to draw attention to themselves, but was it an ally? An enemy? A wary person that had the same questions about Sora?

"Shit!" Sora cursed, pounding his fist on the dashboard. He knew who it was.

He put on a headset that was connected to the control panel and pressed a button on it.

"Dammit, why are you out here?" Sora exclaimed. "Put on your headset and talk to me!"

There was a little silence, then static, then, clear as a bell-

"YOU WANT ME TO TALK TO YOU? FINE! I'LL TALK TO YOU-ABOUT WHY BOYS FEEL THIS STUPID NEED TO TRY TO BE SO FRICKIN' NOBLE THAT THEY GO OFF TO DANGEROUS PLACES AND LEAVE-THE GIRL-BEHIND!"

Sora had jumped, then sunk in his seat as fear coursed through him. It was not the kind of fear felt before going to the guillotine. No, it was far worse: the fear kindled by the wrath of a woman.

Considering that Sora had never heard her yell like that before, he knew that Kairi must be very angry with him.