Thanks for reading! Please Review!

Once again, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, although that would be kinda sweet, but I don't.

Chapter 1

Sora was busy driving the gummi ship while his other two friends were talking in the back about the recent letter they had received from the king. It sounded so urgent, so serious, but the King normally was when he wanted something done. His normal personality was friendly and cheerful, but he was serious when it called to be.

Kairi got out the letter from her pouch on the side of her belt and read it again to herself. It read:

Sora, Kairi, and Riku:

I'm sorry to ask for your help again so soon, but the darkness is returning. I'll send a gummi ship to your islands. Meet me at Radiant Garden.

Thanks pals,

Mickey

"It doesn't make any sense. How can the darkness keep returning? This is the third time now, and it's really getting annoying. Why can't our lives be like they were before all this happened?" Kairi complained out loud. She was glad to see her other friends again, but she wanted to be rid of all the heartless and nobodies once and for all, they all did.

"As long as the smallest amount of darkness remains in someone's heart, the heartless will continue to grow. And as long as there are heartless, there will be nobodies, too. I'm just afraid that there will be yet another enemy to face as well," Riku explained. Kairi already knew this, but she still needed to complain about how it was their lives that were affected the most.

"I guess there's a price to pay when you wield a weapon such as the keyblade." Kairi sighed as she looked over at her flowery keyblade that Riku had given her to help in the fight against the Organization not too long ago. She then looked over at Riku's bat wing blade. There was much difference in the two, and yet they were, in a way, the same weapon.

"Kairi, Riku, I present to you the newly restored, Radiant Garden, formally known as, Hallow Bastion." Sora said so suddenly it made Kairi jump. Riku and Sora laughed at her reaction, and Kairi quickly joined in.

Sora, Kairi, and Riku landed in Radiant Garden, and were shortly met by Yuffie. The enthusiastic ninja hadn't changed since Sora last saw her. However, it had been quite a while since Kairi and Riku last saw her.

"Sora, Kairi, Riku! I'm so glad that you guys could make it. There's something we need to talk to you about. The others are waiting back at Merlin's house. Come on!" Yuffie ran ahead of the others and was quickly joined by Riku. Sora had started to run to join the other two, but stopped when he noticed that Kairi was walking slower.

"Hey, is something the matter?" Sora asked when Kairi caught up with him. She seemed troubled and wondered what she was thinking about. They walked together slowly.

Kairi looked up and blushed. "No, I was just thinking about something. You didn't have to wait for me. I have my own keyblade, you know. I CAN defend myself." Kairi said in a joking way.

Sora smiled, but then added "Well, what are you thinking about?"

"Well, what if this time, something happens? What if the last times, we were just lucky? Or if this time is a much harder enemy that we CAN'T defeat? What if you or Riku gets hurt?" Kairi asked, her eyes tearing up and her voice cracking.

"Don't even think that. We will win, if there's even a big enemy to defeat. So, don't worry. Everything will be fine. Especially now that Riku's back and that you have a keyblade. It will make everything much easier." Sora reassured her while he put his arm around her to give her a quick hug, and then dropped his arm back to his side. Kairi rubbed her eyes while smiling. "That's better. Now, let's go and catch up with Yuffie and Riku. They're probably already at Merlin's house." They ran the rest of the way, and were quickly at their destination.

"It's about time you got here!" Yuffie said as they entered the door and saw all of their old friends: Cid, Merlin, Yuffie, Cloud, Leon, Aerith, and Tifa. Along with them were King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. The room seemed quite crowded. They all took their turns welcoming them.

"So, why did you want to meet us?" Sora asked after saying hi back to everyone else.

"There's a new enemy, but we don't know too much about it." King Mickey explained. A holographic figure of a light gray creature that was about the same height of a heartless that had deep, blue, beady eyes. Its long arms touched the ground and its feet were quite large. Its head was shaped like a circle but it had an extra bit like how Santa's hat bends down or like rabbit's ears, or even equivalent to a partial swirl or cinnamon roll. There was a red symbol in the middle of its torso that looked like a drop of liquid with two spikes sticking out the sides at the top, one on each side.

"It's called a lifeless. It's created when a person's heart and mind have nothing more to live for. Your basic broken hearted, friendless orphan who no one cares for would turn into one. However, your basic broken hearted teenage girl with friends and parents who love her despite what the mind may think wouldn't. The heart and mind both play a part in here." Leon explained.

Sora, Kairi, and Riku sighed. The thought of yet another enemy was quite upsetting. They looked at the strange, new creature. They wondered what secrets they would bring.

"Unlike the heartless and nobodies, they aren't that fast. However, they are considerably smarter than them. Unlike nobodies, they are capable of emotions. However, to most of them, only one emotion is easily accessible: revenge. They'll attack anyone, thinking it was their fault for them feeling the way they did and changing into a lifeless.

"There seems to be a group of elite lifeless, like the Organization. There only seems to be a couple of them, but they are much smarter. Some of them seem to have special powers or abilities." Leon explained.

"How hard could it be? We've defeated the entire organization and countless heartless and nobodies. This is just another chapter in our adventure. Just like in school, the grades gradually get harder, but still passed." Sora said carelessly.

"Well, I'm glad you think of it that way, because we want you to go around and find information on the lifeless, since Ansem's not around anymore. We'll all help out, of course." Aerith said joyfully.

Sora slumped at that. Great. More work. He thought. Kairi was smiling at him, trying to encourage him. At least Kairi and Riku will help me out this time. He straightened up again.

"Kairi, Riku. I need you two to stay with me for now. Sora, you'll go with Donald and Goofy. We can communicate with the gummi ships. Tell us whenever you find anything and we'll do the same." Mickey stated. Sora slumped over again this time Riku and Kairi slumped also.

Suddenly Jiminy Cricket jumped up onto Sora's shoulder.

"I'll write everything down in my journal. We'll call them the not-so-secret Sora and friends reports." Everyone laughed at Jiminy's suggestion.

"How about just the Lifeless reports?" Sora suggested once he could stop laughing long enough to talk.

"Well, you guys are probably tired from your trip. You can spend the night here. There are some extra rooms in the back." Merlin headed to the back of his house with Sora, Kairi, and Riku following him.

They all got settled in the three rooms. Kairi went over to Sora's room after she was sure everyone else was asleep.

"Sora. Sora, wake up," she whispered while she shook him gently.

Sora sat up, rubbing his eye with one hand and turning on the small lamp that was next to his bed with the other.

"Kairi? What are you doing up?" Sora asked while yawning. His eyes were still half closed.

"I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking how we're not going to be together. I'm afraid. The lifeless seem a lot harder than the nobodies and heartless. I'm afraid that something will happen to you."

"Kairi, don't be worried about me. I'll have Donald and Goofy with me. They'd never let anything bad happen to me. But it does suck that we won't be together. I'm sure gonna miss you, Kairi."

"I'm going to miss you, too Sora."

"Hey, Sora?"

"Yeah, Kairi?"

"Will you promise to talk to me every day through the gummi ship?"

"Yeah, I promise."

"Remember my lucky charm I made about two years ago? Before this mess happened?"

"Yeah, I remember it."

"I want you to take it again. I know it might not give you luck, but I want you to know that I'm always with you," Kairi said as she put the lucky charm on the nightstand.

Sora picked up his necklace he had always wore. "Then, I want you to take this, to remind you that I'm always with you, no matter what happens." He placed the necklace around her neck. Kairi had tears in her eyes, but smiled.

"Sora, in the cave back home? You know, the one with all the drawings in it?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Sora asked curiously.

"The one with you and me, the one we drew when we were little, did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"The paopu fruit? If we could, would you share one with me?"

Sora sat and thought for a second. Kairi looked at him patiently.

"In a way, our hearts are already intertwined. I hold part of your heart, and you hold part of mine. Remember?" He was referring back to their first trip to Hallow Bastion two years back. "So, I see no need to, but yeah, I would." Kairi smiled. "Now, go back to bed. You must be tired, because I know I am."

"Ok. Good night, Sora." Kairi said as she started to leave the room.

"Good night, Kairi." Sora said as he turned off the lights and laid back down. He heard his door shut, and Kairi's door open and then close. He drifted back to sleep.

6