DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN KINGDOM HEARTS!

The kingdom of Sunburst was in a panic. Everyone was preparing for the return of their king, Roshan. The castle was no exception. It was, perhaps, the busiest place of all.

The servants were bustling about, cleaning everything in their path, the chefs were preparing the finest meal in the kingdom, the royal guards were practicing their salute to the king, even Queen Cecilia and Princess Skylar were in a panic. Or at least Queen Cecilia was.

"You can't see you're father looking like that!" Queen Cecilia exclaimed.

Skylar was dressed in black shorts, with a white tank top and a black jacket.

"But I have to train," Skylar said, determined to get away from the chaos in the castle.

"But you always train. You can have one day off," Cecilia said while picking out her clothing.

"No," Skylar said, "Master Michel says that the darkness doesn't wait for the weak to become strong. It could come at any time."

"Sweetheart, the darkness doesn't exist in this world and it can't come in from other worlds either," Cecilia explained.

Skylar stared at her mother, waiting for an answer. If what Master Michel said is true, then I should be training as much as I can.

Queen Cecilia sighed. "Fine, but be sure to be back before your father is here, you know how he feels about late arrivals."

Skylar smiled and hugged her mother before heading off to find Master Michel. It's not like she didn't want to see her father, she just didn't want people to fuss over her.

She found him on the training grounds sparring with a young boy. She watched for a while, mesmerized by her teachers' fluid movements. The boy had no chance against him but she knew Michel was going easy on him. It wasn't long before he disarmed the boy, leaving him vulnerable to any attack that came his way.

Pushing her way through the gate, she made her way to where he was standing.

"I didn't think you would show up," Michel said, turning to her.

"Neither did I," Skylar said, "but mom's fussing over my appearance again, it's more than a little frustrating."

Michel chuckled, amused by her mothers' attempt to make her look like an actual princess. Skylar always came to him when she wanted to get out of any royal business.

"This is Austin. He's training to be part of the royal guard. Your guard to be specific," Michel introduced.

"It's an honor to meet you," Austin bowed.

Skylar examined him. He was a couple years older than her and slightly taller than she was.

"The pleasure is mine," Skylar curtsied, remembering her manners, "but you don't have to treat me like royalty."

"But –" he started.

"Don't argue. You will lose," Michel stated bluntly.

Austin hesitated, then nodded.

"What will you have me do?" Austin asked.

"Take her back to the castle," Michel replied. Skylar opened her mouth to protest but was quickly cut off. "I need to get ready for the kings return. You should be getting ready too."

He walked out the gate and towards the castle.

Skylar glared after him. She couldn't believe he was making her dress up. He usually covered for her when she didn't want to do these kinds of things. Now she had no choice but go back to her mother.

"Umm," Austin cleared his throat.

Skylar jumped, she had almost forgotten he was there.

"I guess we should go back to the castle then," she sighed.

"You look absolutely adorable!" Queen Cecilia exclaimed, "Your father will love it!"

Skylar pulled at the sleeve of her light blue, skin tight dress. Her mother had insisted that she wore something formal rather than her training gear. She also insisted on doing her hair. Her long hair fell in ringlets down her back and to top it off, she added a tiara.

If Skylar had her way, she would not wear this for her fathers' arrival. This was definitely not her style.

"How long until father gets here?" Skylar asked as she glanced at herself in the mirror. She felt like she was looking at a stranger.

"In about a half an hour," her mother replied, checking her make up.

"Good," Skylar forced a smile. The less time she spent in this dress, the better. "I'm going to go to the throne room."

"Okay. I will see you down there in a few minutes," the queen replied.

Skylar exited the room and waiting outside for her was, of course, Austin.

"Wow, Princess, you look…different," he said.

"Let's just go. I want out of this dress as soon as possible," Skylar glowered.

"As you wish."

It was like the whole kingdom crowded into the throne room. And that was a lot of people. Skylar wondered how everyone even fit in the room. She sat on her throne next to her mother and Austin stood slightly behind her.

"How much longer?" Skylar asked.

"Patience, child. He'll be here soon," Cecilia said.

Skylar sighed. It wasn't like her father to be late. He was always there on time, if not earlier. Maybe something happened to his ship, she dreaded. I hope he's okay.

It was about twenty minutes before the doors started to open. The whole room had gone silent. The townspeople knelt as their king walked down the carpet towards the throne.

Who is that man father has with him. I thought it was forbidden to bring an outsider into other worlds, Skylar thought.

He was a bald, elderly man with a silver beard. He had golden eyes and was dressed in a white shirt, black pants and boots, with a dark trench coat.

Just by looking at him, Skylar knew there was something wrong about him. There was something about his golden eyes that deemed him untrustworthy.

Queen Cecilia and Skylar rose from their seats as the king drew closer to the throne.

"My queen and dearest daughter, I have returned from my journey," King Roshan bowed respectfully.

"It's good to have you back," Cecilia and Skylar bowed as well.

"Welcome home, father," Skylar said and ran to hug him, "I've missed you so much."

"And I have missed you," he smiled. He turned to his companion, "Cecilia and Skylar, this is Master Xehanort. He is a very famous Keyblade master. He will be staying with us for a while."

"I won't be staying for very long," Xehanort said good humouredly, "I have some business elsewhere that needs to be taken care of."

"You are welcome to stay as long as you like," Cecilia smiled, "what brings you to Sunburst?"

Xehanort smiled, which sent shivers up Skylar's spine. It wasn't the nice, warm kind of smile, it was a creepy smile.

"The king was telling me how wonderful this place was and how full of light it was. I have a sort of fascination for light and wanted to see it," he said, "he also mentioned that his daughter was a Keyblade master in training, so naturally I came to check on her progress."

He was now looking at Skylar; his eyes looked cold and menacing. She stepped closer to her father, trying to get as far away from his gaze as possible.

"We hope you have a wonderful time here in Sunburst," Cecilia smiled.

"Thank you," he smiled, "if you don't mind, I would like to go to my room and rest a while."

"Of course," King Roshan motioned for a servant, "show him to one of the guest bedrooms."

The servant bowed and led Xehanort away but not before he got one last look at her. Skylar held his gaze before he turned away to follow the servant.

I don't trust him, she thought, there is something dark around him. Something tells me that his fascination with the light isn't a good thing.

"Have you noticed anything odd about Master Xehanort?" Skylar asked Austin as they walked to the training grounds to meet Master Michel.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

Skylar stopped walking figuring out where to begin.

"Like his eyes. I have never seen anyone with golden eyes before and it's not the nice kind of golden, it's the piercing metallic sort of golden," she looked up at him, "I couldn't have been the only one that's noticed."

He thought for awhile.

"I suppose so but looking at someone's eyes is hardly a way to judge their character," Austin shrugged it off.

"You don't believe me," Skylar crossed her arms. It was frustrating, trying to get people to believe her but she knew she was right about Xehanort. She knew he couldn't be trusted.

"I didn't say that," he said.

"If his eyes aren't odd, then what is?" she asked.

He thought a while longer.

"He's too observant. When he looked at people he didn't just look, he studied," Austin said, "Especially when he looked at you. It was like he was trying to judge your character. It was unsettling."

"So what do we do about it?"

"Is there anything to do about it?" he asked.

"We can't do nothing about it," Skylar said, "if he's a problem we can't just leave him alone."

"Well, we could start by telling Master Michel," Austin suggested.