Hey! LV-chan here! I wanted to correct a few errors I made before because my computer was being stupid and it's gonna bother me unless I get this out there -
In chapter 1, I described Riku's eyes as "ocean-green" once. I know they're not green. It was 4 am and I was just getting over some writer's block, so I was a bit out of it. Sorry about that;;
Also, I'm gonna guess you guys weren't really complaining about my lack of talking, but sorry for not having any author's notes or anything in the last chapter. My computer is ANCIENT and let's just say I'm lucky it didn't explode last time I used it... :D Okay, I'll stop talking so you guys can read. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer - I do not own KH. And I didn't own it back in Chapter 2, when I forgot to put the disclaimer, either :D
3. Surprises.
The inside of the gummi ship was spacious, inviting, and a little cold. Just inside the doorway, there was the cockpit with two chairs for whoever was flying and whoever called shotgun. After that, there was a mini-doorway. On the left was a large black sofa with a single navy blue pillow. On the right was a small bed with white sheets and a solitary white pillow. A miniscule desk stood next to the foot of the bed, a silver lamp on the upper left corner.
"Wow... it looks so much smaller from the inside," Kairi breathed. Sora chuckled and Riku dropped his stuff on the floor next to the sofa before plopping down on the bed.
"Hold on tight!" Donald squawked from the captain's seat. The engine gave a deafening roar and suddenly the gummi ship was in the air, at a sickening speed. A loud crack of thunder sounded that made Kairi scream and unthinkingly cling to Sora.
"Um... Kairi... That's my keyblade arm..." Sora said, attempting to loosen her fingers on his shirt. She chuckled nervously and let go, blushing almost as deeply red as her hair.
"Idiots..." Riku muttered. Kairi stuck her tongue out at him. He stared out the window above the bed, gazing at the trillions upon trillions of stars. Sora summoned his keyblade, now in Kingdom form, seeing as he had lost all his previous keychains. Kairi called her own keyblade and looked at it fondly. It was decorated with hearts for the key and the blade was golden fading into deep red. There was an ocean wave on the one side of the pommel.
"Well, I dunno about you two, but I'm bushed," Riku yawned. He curled up into a ball on the bed and fell asleep, not a single sound escaping from between his lips. Sora yawned as well.
"I'm pretty tired, too. Are you?" He asked, his keyblade disappearing in a bliding flash of white light. Kairi nodded. She heard Goofy snoring from the shotgun seat.
"Donald, you okay to drive the night?" Sora called. He quacked an affirmative and Sora eyed the sofa furtively.
"Oh, do you want the couch tonight?" Kairi asked, getting up immediately. Sora sat down on the sofa and pulled her down next to him.
"Nah, I can sleep sitting up tonight. I'll just steal the bed tomorrow and Riku can sleep on the floor."
Kairi giggled and half-curled into a ball, scotching closer to the pillow, and regrettably farther from Sora. She yawned widely.
"G'night, Kairi," Sora said, putting his hands behind his head, his trademark pose. She answered with a muffled "Goodnight" and slipped rapidly into unconciousness.
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Kairi cracked on eye open and closed it immediately after, but it didn't stop the now flooding morning light from temporarily blinding her.
"Owwww..." she murmered, holding her head in her hands. She cautiously sat up to find that she was the first one awake. She peeked into the cockpit to see Donald snoozing in the shotgun chair and Goofy driving, keeping his eyes on the... road? Sky?
Whatever... She thought wearily. Kairi looked to her right and saw Sora sleeping peacefully next to her, his arm holding her close to him. She realized from her posture that she must have been using his shoulder as a pillow and turned beet red.
"Well, aren't we cozy?" Riku asked, getting up with a smirk on his face. Kairi grimaced and shook Sora's hand away.
"Grow up," she retorted. Riku chuckled and shook his head. It wasn't long before Sora yawned loudly and opened his eyes.
"Mmmm... morning Kairi. Morning, Riku," he said brightly.
"We're almost there!" Goofy called from the cockpit.
"Almost where?" Sora asked, peering at Goofy from the sofa.
"First thing's first, we're going to Radiant Garden to warn Leon and the gang," Goofy answered. Sora suddenly got very excited.
"Yay! Kairi, you can finally meet everyone! Wait'll you see Merlin. He taught me magic. And Leon! He-"
Sora then explained every member of Radiant Garden in full detail. Kairi didn't really pay attention, and neither did Riku, by the looks of it. He was gazing out his window again, lost in thought.
"We're here!" Donald yelled from the shotgun seat. Kairi shook her head; she hadn't realized he had woken up. The gummi ship landed with a quiet thump and the door opened, sounding a soft whirring.
Donald led the way out of the ship, followed by Goofy, Riku, and then finally Kairi and Sora. They were in the would-be marketplace of the half-built world. Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, came barreling into their uncle as soon as they saw him.
"Uncle Donald!" They quacked, all three giving him fierce hugs. He ruffled their feathers fondly.
"How's business, boys?" He asked in a somewhat fatherly tone.
"Great!" The ducks answered in unison.
"Hey," came a strong male voice. Kairi looked up to see a man with shoulder-length spiky brown hair that blackened at the tips. He had black eyes and wore a chain around his neck with a silver lion's head from it. He raised one gloved hand and Kairi noticed he was wearing black pants, a white shirt, and a black jacket.
That must be Leon, she told no one in particular.
Must be, Namine answered smartly. Kairi narrowed her eyes at her Nobody.
"Leon! Hey!" Sora called. He walked to them swiftly.
"This must be Kairi," he said before Sora could introduce her. She nodded shyly, a little intimidated by him.
"And you must be Leon. Nice to meet you," she replied. He nodded.
"Sora wasn't exaggerating when he said you were pretty," he reponded, his previous stiffness melting away. Kairi turned crimson at his words. Sora coughed loudly.
"Good to see you again, Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy," Leon said, nodding to each of them respectively. "What brings you to Radiant Garden?"
"We've got some bad news..." Donald squawked gravely. Leon raised one eyebrow.
"Well, we've got some good news for you guys. Let's go to Merlin's and we can talk about it there," he suggested. Sora and Riku nodded and soon they were walking. Kairi giggled as a moogle they had just walked past said, "Kupo!!!!" out of the blue.
"Are they always like that?" She whispered to Sora. He grinned.
"Hey, guys!" Said a female voice. Kairi looked up to see a girl wearing a slightly skimpy black outfit with short black hair standing on a pillar and waving.
"Yuffie!" Sora called. She bounded down and gave him a nearly back-crushing hug. Kairi felt a sudden flare of furious resentment.
Is someone jealous? Namine asked teasingly. Kairi smiled to herself, surprised. She would have never thought of herself as the "jealous type." Yuffie joined their group for the remaining walk to Merlin's house. When they got inside, Kairi saw a rugged man with blond hair and a toothpick in his mouth at a large computer, talking with a strong southern accent to a tall man in blue robes with a white beard and hair.
"Well, if it ain't Sora. And look, 'e brought 'is friends," the blond man said, swiveling around in his chair.
"Hey, Cid. Hey, Merlin," Sora greeted them, giving them a small wave as he acknowledged them.
"Where are Cloud and Aerith?" Leon asked, looking at Merlin.
"Oh, they're with Lifelle and Darran," Merlin answered, returning his eyes to the computer.
"They're with who?" Sora asked in confusion. Kairi racked her brain; she couldn't remember anyone named Lifelle or Darran in any of Sora's countless narrations.
"That's the good news I wanted to tell you about," Leon explained. Before he could open his mouth to explain further, the door opened and in walked who could only be Cloud and Aerith, followed closely by two people Kairi was sure Sora had never told her about. They were a boy and a girl. They both appeared to be about 17. The girl had midnight black hair about halfway down her back and light, chocolate-brown eyes. She was very pretty, in a sweet, innocent way. She wore a white tank top and black capris that swished softly when she walked. The boy had the same chocolate-brown eyes and black hair, only his was cropped around his face and spiked at the ends, almost like Sora's hair, but longer. He was just as attractive as the girl, only in a different way. He wore a crimson tee shirt and baggy black pants with numerous zippers. But the reason Sora, Kairi, and Riku's mouths dropped when they saw them was what was in their hands. Both of the strangers had keyblades drawn. The boy's was long, with a black pommel. It had threatening, jagged spikes that roughly resembled a heart with crimson dripping down the blade and fading into black. The girl's keyblade had feathery angel wings for the pommel, and what appeared to be a large, hooked wing for the blade. There were different degrees of powdery, light blue and the purest of whites for the bladelength.
"More keybladers?" Sora finally choked out.
"Hi. I'm Lifelle. Nice to meet you. You must be Sora, Riku, and Kairi," the girl said sweetly. Her keyblade disappeared in a flash of light. "This is my brother, Darran."
Darran looked up to meet Kairi's eyes, taking his own off them as he spoke. "Nice to meet you."
"Umm... this is wierd," Sora said, watching as Darran's keyblade disappeared as well.
"Their home world was destroyed by the new wave of heartless," Leon explained, "so they've been living here ever since. Their keyblades came to them about a month ago and we told them all about you guys."
"Oh... Okay," Sora answered, putting his hands behind his head again. "Awesome. So are you guys gonna come with us to save all the worlds again?"
"We were hoping to, yeah," Lifelle replied.
Kairi was starting to get uncomfortable. Darran still hadn't taken his eyes off her. She decided to break the contact and peered over at Riku, who was looking at Lifelle quietly.
"Oh, and Donald, Goofy, I have news for you," Merlin said, tapping them on the shoulders.
"More news?" Donald asked.
"I spoke with the King a few days ago. He requests that you two report to the castle for a week or two because he needs to 'tell you something important'," Merlin replied.
"But... what about the gummi ship? If we leave, how will everyone get to the other worlds to save 'em?" Goofy asked.
"No problem," Merlin said, waving his wand, "I will teleport you there myself."
And without further ado, Donald and Goofy vanished in a swish of sparkles and blue smoke.
"Wait," Riku said, finally speaking, "we're pretty cramped in the gummy ship."
"Cid's working on it right now," Aerith explained quietly. Kairi looked around; she hadn't noticed Cid left.
"Jus' finished, actually," Cid announced, swaggering into the room.
"Well, I guess we should go then," Lifelle stated. The other four keybladers nodded.
"Goodbye!" Everyone from Radiant Garden chorused.
"...'Bye," Kairi answered, stepping out the door and into the light.
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Hope you liked it, guys Reviews are always appreciated. Also, sorry again for any mistakes in previous chapters, because I know there are lots of them.
I'm almost done with chapter 4, so I'll update as soon as I can.