ElvenPrincess01: Yo, ElvenPrincess01 here! What's up? What's going down?

Sora: Wow, ElvenPrincess01, I didn't know you could talk like that.

ElvenPrincess01: Why yes, I…Wait a minute…Sora? You're actually here? On time?

Sora: I have my moments! Plus you threatened my job so I figured I should get my act together.

Riku: I made sure that he got here on time.

ElvenPrincess01: Thank you, Riku. It's nice to have a responsible person around here.

Sora: Hey!

ElvenPrincess01: Boys, you know the drill.

Riku: Right. ElvenPrincess01 does not own anything Kingdom Hearts-related.

Sora: Or Disney-related or Final Fantasy-related.

ElvenPrincess01: Onto the story! *points finger dramatically*

Riku: Er, what are you pointing at?

ElvenPrincess01: I'm…not entirely sure. I just wanted to be dramatic.

xxxxx

Previous Chapter

Cat Dude chuckles again. "Nice try, but the memory loss trick isn't going to work on me. I'm the mighty Pete! I'm going to help Maleficent conquer all the worlds with her Heartless army! And I'll show you why." He lifts his head up. "Heartless squad!" He shouts, scaring me a bit. "Round up!" I'm even more scared when I see what the Heartless squad is.

Several little black creatures barely three feet tall with yellow eyes and antennae sticking out of their heads materialize all of a sudden out of puffs of darkness next to Cat Dude. They twist this way and that on the spot, restless and unable to stand still for even a second.

They're small, but I've never seen creatures like that in Spira. Frightened, I scoot away faster, trying to get as far away from them as I can.

Cat Dude levels a finger at me. His goofy-looking face stretches out into a wicked grin.

"Get her," he commands his squad.

Chapter 3: I Want To Line The Pieces Up…Yours and Mine

The strange creatures set their yellow eyes on me, and my heart goes down into my stomach as they advance towards me.

"N-n-no!" Terrified, I scream, backtracking as quickly as possible. But there's no one around to hear my screams of terror. The others are too faraway to hear me. Cat Dude throws his head back, laughing evilly.

The creatures slink closer to me. I'm not sure what these creatures can do to me, but I have no wish to figure out.

A figure easily leaps onto the mountain side behind Pete and vaults across like a ninja, dropping down in front of me. The creatures cease moving forward as the individual lands between them and their target.

"Huh?" Cat Dude and I utter in surprise.

It's then that I notice my savior is Paine. She quickly gets down into a battle stance, her sword drawn and ready. It's long and thick and colored black with a thin slice of silver at the edge.

"Paine! You're here!" Words cannot explain how thankful I am to her now. She saved me.

Her back faces me so I can't see her face but it looks like her eyes are focused on Cat Dude. He's scowling at her.

"I thought I saw someone prowling the trails around here, someone who definitely wasn't from the Ronso Tribe. So I followed him here. Looks like I got here just in time." Paine speaks louder. "Hey dude," she almost shouts to the stranger, "you attack my friend, you gotta go through me. You got it?"

I know from experience that Paine's not someone you want to mess with. There's nothing but fearlessness in her voice. She's ready for anything.

Unfortunately for him, Cat Dude doesn't get the memo. He growls and his eyes narrow. "Heartless squad! Attack!" He points a finger at Paine now.

The creatures launch themselves at Paine and she lunges forward. She moves like a pro, slashing through the foes like they're paper. They disappear into puffs of darkness, much like they came, no match for her. Their weak attacks do nothing to deter her. She whirls around, defeating all the enemies in a matter of seconds.

Cat Dude's not happy at all, to say the least. "You…" He struggles to finish the rest of his sentence due to his growing anger. His enormous body trembles all over. "You're going to pay for that!" He shakes his fist in the air angrily. "No one messes with the mighty Pete!" He stomps his feet like he's planning on becoming Paine's next foe.

She remains unimpressed. "Bring it on," she says simply.

"Don't leave us out!" I hear a voice from behind Cat Dude. Yuna and Rikku jump across the mountain side much like Paine did and land in front of me, right next to Paine.

"Yuna! Rikku!" I exclaim. I didn't expect to see them.

"More brats?" Cat Dude wonders aloud.

Yuna seizes her guns out of her holsters and points them at Cat Dude. She fires a shot as his foot. He cries out, jumping. "That's for attacking our friend." She fires another shot at his other foot. He cries out again. "That's for tainting the sacredness of Mt. Gagazet." She fires yet another shot. Again, he cries out. "And that's for just being ugly," she smirks.

Once Cat Dude recovers and composes himself, and makes sure that Yuna isn't going to fire any more bullets at him, he growls indignantly. I think he's going to charge at her, but he doesn't.

He eyes study Paine and Rikku quickly; he probably isn't looking to take on three skilled opponents. Instead, he just points a finger at them.

"You're going to pay for this! You haven't seen the last of me!" And he scurries away.

Yuna, Rikku, and Paine relax their battle stances. "And stay out!" Rikku calls after him.

Paine is next to me a second later. "You ok?" She outstretches a hand towards me.

I grab it and Paine helps me to my feet. "Yeah, he just took me by surprise. Thanks for the help." She just smiles a little in reply.

"I wonder who he was," Yuna wonders as she sticks her guns back in her holsters. "I've never seen anyone like him before on Spira. And I've been to a lot of places."

I'm instantly taken back to what happened earlier today, when Cat Dude emerged from the dark portal. I still decide not to let the others know that this wasn't my first time seeing him. Then I'll have to explain the portal, and I still don't know what it was. And it isn't like much happened the first time I saw him. I only saw him for a few seconds. I have other things to worry about.

xxxxx

Later that night, while the fading rays of sunlight fall across the land and imminent nightfall approaches, I sit by myself with the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth in the distance.

The others are somewhere else in the village. I told them I was going to play some more games, but really I had gone to do some thinking by myself.

My mind is spinning as I recollect the events from today. First, there was the cat guy that emerged from the swirling portal, followed closely by the Sora boy. Cue him telling me about a past I used to have with him and me refusing to listen.

Then I ran into him later and he told me more stuff and demonstrated summoning his Keyblade but he still didn't convince me. I recalled the recurring dream I had been having about a mysterious person that I can only see the back of, and all the clues match up with him. And then there was the encounter with Cat Dude.

That makes two people who appear to know me. It can't be a coincidence. And they both knew each other, so there was a connection between the three of us. And what Cat Dude said got me thinking.

He said that Sora had followed him through a "Corridor of Darkness." Was he referring to that dark gateway that he had come out from? And corridors were ways of getting to places, like hallways. And Sora talked about other worlds. If that was the case, if there were other worlds out there, were these "Corridors of Darkness" used to get to them?

Sora talked about traveling to different worlds and fighting some things called "Heartless." And Cat Dude summoned a Heartless squad. That meant that Sora was right about the existence of Heartless. I had seen them for myself. It wasn't an illusion or a trick.

I hold my head in my hands as the information sinks into my brain.

What is going on?!

This whole time I thought I was originally from Spira, and it turns out I'm not. I'm from…What was the name of that place Sora mentioned? It's amazing how quickly I go from calling him 'that boy' or 'that guy' or something else along those lines to his real name.

Destiny Islands. That's what it was. Most likely a tropical place. No wonder I liked playing in the hot springs so much. I probably played in the water a lot on the Islands.

So…what does that mean now? I put most of the pieces of the puzzle together. Was there one last thing that I needed to know to get all the proof I wanted?

"You can summon a Keyblade too. Just hold your hand out and summon it to you." Sora's voice rings in my head clear as a bell.

Was that it? Was that what I needed to do? Test it out myself?

I slowly stretch out my arm in front of me, tentatively, almost like I'm expecting my hand to burst into flames or something. I don't know why I'm so nervous. Maybe because if I do manage to summon a Keyblade, it means that my life will be changed forever, and not in the way that I expected.

When my arm is completely extended in front of me, I stare at my hand and concentrate.

Ok Kairi…Just concentrate...visualize…and…

For a few seconds, nothing happens, and then I think I got it all wrong. But then there's a flash of light and something appears in my hand, startling me greatly.

There's a Keyblade in my hands. At least I think it's a Keyblade. It doesn't look much like Sora's. It doesn't even look harmful.

One side of the hilt is formed in the shape of a breaking ocean wave, while the other forms a beige vine of sand that wraps around the shaft, colored a deep shade of orange, like sunset. The vine connects to a bouquet of flowers, pink, purple and yellow, which make up the teeth of the weapon.

Looking closely, I see that the flowers entwine to make a heart. A red silken keychain connects the hilt to a yellow and orange star-shaped object that I don't recognize.

The whole thing is really pretty, but…

I fought the forces of evil…using this?

It doesn't look like much of a weapon. But if it worked before, then I guess I shouldn't be questioning it.

I flip it over, examining it for a minute. Then I rise to my feet and swing it around a few times. It actually feels kind of great. The Keyblade is nearly lightless in my hand as I swipe it through the air.

"Ok," I breathe. "Now I'm a believer."

I suddenly hear muted noises of what sounds like a fight coming from the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. My head perks up at the sound.

"Back off!" I hear someone say.

That's Sora's voice. And…it sounds like he's in trouble!

I don't know what happened. I don't even remember thinking about it. But as soon as I recognize Sora's voice, I find my feet carrying me towards the cavern, without a second to lose.

Wait a minute, I say to myself as I press towards my destination. Am I really going in there to fight when I just learned how to summon a Keyblade?

It's not like I have much of a choice. Sora needs help. And I still owe him for earlier when I brushed him off. Twice actually. And called him a stalker and a weirdo. I really need to apologize for that.

I bound into the cavern to see Sora on the other side against the wall. He's on his knees, his Keyblade at his side on the ground next to him. He's taking in deep breaths. Cat Dude is in front of him, his back towards me with some of those Heartless creatures he summoned before next to him.

He throws his head back, laughing menacingly. "Ha ha ha! Sorry kid, but you're a few years too early to be taking on me!" Sora glares daggers at him.

"Well then, why don't you take on me?" I say before I can stop myself. Way to throw yourself in there, Kairi.

"What?" Cat Dude whirls around to lay his eyes on me.

I think Sora is the most surprised to see me. "Kairi?" His shocked expression then changes into relief. "Kairi!"

Cat Dude's eyes narrow into slits. A low growl emits from his throat. "It's you again," he spits. "I still owe you from last time."

"Isn't that what you said last time?" I smirk. I don't know where this confidence boost came from but I kind of like it.

"You—"His face becomes furious and he begins stomping on the ground angrily, grunting as he does so.

"Heartless! Attack!" He points his finger at me like last time.

Taking a deep breath, I charge forward. I still don't know where the surge of confidence came from, but I suddenly feel like I can do anything. Like take out these creatures.

When the first Heartless creature rushes at me, I emulate what I've seen Paine do and swing my Keyblade to the side, destroying it. I move about, slashing my Keyblade through each enemy. I'm amazed at how easy it is.

I've held Paine's weapon a couple times, but just to hold it. I've never swung it around or anything. So it's not like I have a whole lot of experience with swords. But as I swing my Keyblade around, the motions feel natural to me. As if I had been doing this for a long time. I think even Paine would be impressed with how I was performing.

When it's down to the last two Heartless, they jump into the air at me. I tense and leap into the air too, higher than I would have thought possible. I do a spinning slash move where I hang my Keyblade out and spin around, hitting both Heartless in one strike. I lightly land back on my feet and jump into a battle stance, ready if Cat Dude wanted some next.

He stares in disbelief at me before snarling. I'm beginning to suspect this guy has some problems controlling his anger. "You just wait!" He cries out. "Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!"

"Well then, mighty Pete, how about you take the both of us on?" Sora asks tauntingly. He has risen to his feet by now and swiftly races over to where I am standing, getting into a defensive stance next to me.

Cat Dude growls. "I'm getting out of this world! I'll handle you pipsqueaks later!" And a tall, swirling portal of darkness appears behind him. Throwing us one last furious glare, he darts into it and it disappears behind him as he makes his exit. Talk about cowardly.

Sora and I relax our battle stances. He faces me, his face alight. "Kairi! You remember now!"

I smile a little. "Actually...I don't." I gaze down at the Keyblade in my hand and turn it over. "But I was able to summon this, so…I guess, you were telling the truth the whole time after all." My eyes meet his. "I'm sorry."

Sora shakes his head, surprisingly in a good mood. "Don't be. I knew you come around." A thoughtful look surfaces onto his face. "But now, we have to get your memories back...I'm sure Yen Sid will know what to do once we get back to the Tower."

"Wait." I hold up a hand. Sora looks at me curiously. "Before we do that, there's something I need to do before we leave."

"What is it?"

xxxxx

"...so I used the Keyblade to defeat the Heartless and drive Cat Dude away."

I exhale after I finish telling Yuna, Rikku and Paine what happened since we left Macalania Woods, up to the point where I defeated Cat Dude just now. I also told them the information Sora had supplanted me earlier, mainly about the Keyblade and its mysterious workings.

They gawk at me when I'm done telling the story. Yuna breaks the silence seconds later. "Oh my gosh," she breathes.

"You said it," Rikku says.

Paine doesn't say a word. She just stares at me with slightly widened eyes. She doesn't show emotion a lot, and when she does, it's subtle.

"I can't believe it." Yuna shakes her head. "This whole time, you were from a different world. And not just that, you traveled to other worlds. And fought against the forces of evil…That's incredible."

"Tell me about it," I say. I'm still in shock myself, though most of it had already worn off. Still...

Yuna stands up from where she was sitting on the ground. "So where is this mysterious guy?" Her eyes start to search the immediate area.

"Oh, you mean Sora?" I left him alone so I could go talk to Yuna and the others. I look around the area, trying to find someone with brown spiky hair. I spot him talking to a village vendor. What they're talking about, I don't know, but they appear to be in a casual conversation.

"He's over there." I point. Yuna looks him up and down, appraisal in her heterochromatic eyes.

"Hmm-hmm." A sly smirk slowly creeps onto her face and she nudges me playfully. "You know, he's kind of cute," she teases.

"What?"

"Don't you think?"

I examine Sora's face thoughtfully. I never really noticed until now, but he isn't too bad on the eyes. And he does have a pretty nice smile...

I quickly shake my head to remove the thoughts about Sora out of my head.

I shrug my shoulders. "I guess he's alright, I suppose."

I notice Rikku staring rather intently at him. Her expression is unreadable, but it's definitely not friendly. It almost reminds me of the way Kimahri stared at me when we first met. "I wanna go talk to him," she unexpectedly declares.

"What?" I wasn't expecting her sudden demand. The way she said it she's acting like he's a criminal.

She starts towards him, suspicion evident in her eyes. "I need to make sure he's ok to go with," she says as she strides her way over.

"Wait, Rikku!" I chase after her.

Sora swivels his head towards us we approach him. Rikku stalks towards him with purpose in each step. I scamper behind her.

"Hey. Sora, right?" Rikku asks in a blunt tone with her arms over her chest. She peers at Sora, but in a more curious manner than in a rude.

"Yeah," he answers, confused by the burning suspicion in Rikku's voice. "And you're...?"

"My name's Rikku."

"Really? My best friend is named Riku."

Rikku is astonished. "No way. Is she the same age as you?"

"Uh...Riku's a dude..."

Rikku tilts her head. "Wait, how does he spell his name?"

"R-I-K-U."

"Ohhhh. Mine is spelled R-I-K-K-U. Eh, it was close." In an instant, she's back into interrogative mode.

"Anyways, I came over here to check you out." She scrutinizes the poor boy, though in a different way than how Yuna did earlier. It's similar to the way a man might inspect a boy that comes over to his house to take his daughter out on a date.

Sora gives me an inquiring look. I shrug back as if to say, What can you do? Rikku is many things, but subtle is definitely not one of them.

"Okay," she says when she's done with her appraisal. "You pass inspection." She stares hard into Sora's eyes. "I permit Kairi to go back with you."

"Uh...thanks?" Sora doesn't seem to know how to respond to that. I wonder what would have happened if Sora didn't pass Rikku's inspection. I guess not let me go with him. But then how would I get my memories back?

Yuna and Paine stroll over to us casually.

"I guess this is it, huh?" Paine has her arms over her chest in her usual fashion. I can tell she's trying to remain passive and unemotional like she always does but I can detect a faint hint of sadness on her face and in her voice.

I give her a little smile. "Yeah, I guess it is." I look around at her, Yuna and Rikku. "Thanks guys, for everything. I don't know what I would have done without you. I'm glad that you found me and I'm glad for the memories we had together. I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world."

"Awww," Rikku coos, a wide grin on her face. "Group hug!" She opens her arms wide and engulfs Paine, Yuna, and me in a big hug.

"Ugh," Paine grunts. "I don't do group hugs."

"Too bad. Suck it up, Paine," Rikku responds as she tightens her hold on us, most likely to prevent Paine from breaking loose. "Kairi's going away. Deal with it." Even though I can't see Paine's face, I bet she's rolling her eyes.

When we break apart, Yuna gives me a hug of her own, a big smile on her face as well. "If you ever need anything, just find us. We'll be ready to lend a hand. You're an honorary Gullwing now."

"Thanks," I reply, grateful for the title. "I hope you guys find your ship and reunite with the rest of your friends."

"We will. I know you'll find your memories. Be careful out there, ok?"

"Don't worry, I will," I assure her.

"Well...bye," she says, her eyes filled with sadness. They start to mist up.

It's a bittersweet moment. After I lost my memories, these guys have been the only people I knew. I hate having to leave them behind, but now that I'm on the path to finding out my true past, I can't turn away from it. I have to go for it. It doesn't make this goodbye any less heartbreaking though.

"Goodbye guys," I say to the group at large. "Thanks for everything."

Paine smiles at me and her eyes drift up towards the sky. "It's getting late. We should be getting inside." Paine isn't very good at this saying goodbye thing.

"Ok." Rikku beams at me. "Bye Kairi! Hope to see you soon! Bye Sora!" She adds.

He reciprocates the smile graciously. "Bye Rikku!" He's already over the inspection he experienced before.

After we finish our endless goodbyes (and after another group hug courtesy of Rikku), the girls depart, leaving me staring at their backs until I can't see them anymore. My heart sinks a little but I try to keep positive. I'll see them again.

I now face Sora, who has been patiently waiting while we were having our final moments together as a team. "Ok, we can go now." No sooner than the words leave my lips, I realize something. Something very important.

"Um, how are we getting off this world?"

Sora opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Realization dawns on him too, if the look in his eyes is any clue.

"Uhhh..."

I heave a sigh. "Oh dear..." And here I thought it was going to be smooth sailing from here on out. I'd assumed Sora had a way off this place.

He closes his mouth, thinking now. "Let's see...How I got here..." He snaps his fingers. "Oh! I followed Pete through that Corridor of Darkness."

"So can you summon this Corridor and get us out of here?"

Sora gapes at me. "Are you crazy? I can't summon Corridors of Darkness It's why they're called Corridors of Darkness! You have to be capable of controlling darkness to use them, which is an ability I don't have. Besides, they're dangerous to go through."

I furrow my eyebrows at him. "Then why did you go through one?"

He scratches his head sheepishly. "Uh, well, I was being a little reckless. I forgot how dangerous Corridors can be. But the darkness doesn't have that much of an effect on me since I have a strong heart. I was just running so hard after Pete that my body couldn't take any more. Still, you shouldn't use Corridors too often. They can stain your heart with darkness eventually if you use them often enough."

"That…doesn't sound too good…"

"But if I hadn't gone through it, I never would have found you, so I guess it all worked out."

"Yes...but we're still stuck here," I state. It's almost funny seeing how quickly Sora's expressions change.

"Ohhh...right..." He shifts weight onto his other leg, wincing as he does so.

"Ow." He shifts the weight back to the other leg. "Hmm...I guess that fight earlier took too much from me. "You wouldn't happen to have any potions or elixirs on you, would you?"

"Potions?" I know Yuna and the others carry them but I certainly don't. I have no use for them.

"Sorry, I don't have any."

Sora pouts. "None? You usually keep them in your pouch." His eyes fall on it. "What's in there?"

I glance down at my pouch. "I don't really stick anything in here," I answer as I open it up and remove the contents. There's some tissue, two tiny bottles of water (still cold somehow), and a small, blue star-shaped crystal with a ring of green around the center and a green star in the center. A green, jagged lightning bolt emerges from the side.

I saw it in there a while ago but I never took it out, forgetting about it quickly. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I have absolutely no idea where it came from, but it's been in my pouch since I woke up without my memories.

The object is clearly familiar to Sora. "Is that…King Mickey's Star Shard?"

"What? You mean this thing?"

Sora snaps his fingers. "Of course! It all makes sense now!" He looks as if he has just solved some big mystery. "That's how you ended up here. You used the King's Star Shard to come here, and one way another, lost your memories in the world. I was wondering how you ended up here. This totally explains it."

I examine the blue object in my hand. Who knew this tiny little object would play such a huge role in my life? "You think that's what happened?"

"I can't think of anything else."

"Can we use this Star Shard thingy to get back then?" I'm not entirely sure how this tiny little thing can be used as a transportation device, but if it gets us where we need to go, then I'm all for it.

"Yeah. I know how to work it," Sora tells me, and takes the Shard from me.

He holds it up and turns it over a couple times. His forehead crinkles. "Now...how do you work this thing again?" He mutters under his breath.

I shoot him an amused look. "I thought you said you knew how to use it."

"I do, I do! It's just, I never really used this thing before. The King just told me how to work it," he says quickly. "It was a while ago though so cut me some slack."

Sora turns the Star Shard over again. My faith in his abilities is starting to waver a bit. "Ok, so what I think you're supposed to do is imagine the place you want to go to in your mind and say the name of the place out loud. You don't remember what the Mysterious Tower looks like so you can't do that part. I'll have to do it for you." Sora explains. "Just hold on to the Shard too and you'll be transported with me." I hold my hand out and touch the object.

Sounds simple enough. "Ready when you are."

"Ok then." Sora clears his throat. "Mysterious Tower," he speaks in a loud and clear voice.

Numerous splinters of light shoot out from the crystal and a bright light envelops us. I scrunch my eyes close, temporarily blinded by the dazzling light. A second later, my body feels lightless as if I'm floating through air, and then not even a full second later, my feet are resting on the ground.

I slowly open my eyes to see a brand new landscape. Sora and I are definitely not in Spira anymore.

The top half of the sky is a dark color, but beneath that is a mix of dark orange and yellow. Dozens of stars gleam in the strange-looking sky. Large yellow hills appear to be floating in the orange part of the sky. The place that Sora and I have arrived at is some kind of floating island. Giant shrubbery litters the ground, and frames the pathway to what I assume to be the Mysterious Tower.

The Tower is bent and crooked, but it looks like it was fashioned that way on purpose. It's golden-brown with blue cone-shaped turret roofs, and is decorated with images of moons and stars. It looms into the sky, forcing me to bend my head back to get a good look at it.

"Aww!" Sora groans from next to me. "I wanted it to take us inside the Tower. Now we have to walk up all those stairs…I guess I didn't use it properly."

But I don't care about the staircase right now. As Sora complains some more, I twist around on the spot, taking this surrealistic place in. I notice a glowing, blue, ethereal railway next to the island, hovering over the orange sea. I want to know where it starts, since there doesn't really appear to be any other ways of reaching this place besides the Star Shard.

Sora must have seen me staring at everything because he speaks up from behind me, "Yeah, it's a lot to take in. I did the same thing when I first got here."

I point a finger at the railway. "Where does that railway come from?"

"The railway? Well another way to get here is to take a special train out of Twilight Town."

"Twilight Town..." I murmur the words to myself. "Sounds like a pretty interesting place."

"It is. We should go there once we get a chance later. Come on, I'll take you to Master Yen Sid. He's a really powerful sorcerer. He'll be able to get your memories back."

xxxxx

ElvenPrincess01: Hmm…I don't really have anything to say here.

Sora: I do! How come you made me lose to Pete? I totally could have taken him on!

ElvenPrincess01: *rolls eyes* It was for the story. And you didn't lose to Pete, you lost to his Heartless. Deal with it. I can always kill you off, you know.

Sora: *gasps* You can't do that! I'm too important to the storyline! You told me that.

ElvenPrincess01: I can always switch things up.

Sora: *gasps*

ElvenPrincess01: I'm just kidding, I won't kill you off. I like you too much. Plus I'll have to rework some of the plot points which I don't feel like doing.

Sora: *sighs in relief* Oh, thank you.

ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for reading! Please subscribe and leave a review! Till next time!

xxxxx