A/N: I am baaack :D However, despite sitting on the beach with absolutely NO sunscreen, I am still white as a ghost. Sometimes I wonder. Moving on... I did something cool earlier. I was bored and doing nothing, so I was taking quizzes on quizilla and one of the quizzes had Sanctuary and Simple and Clean (The english KH 1 and KH 2 themes) backwards. If you haven't heard either of them, you definitely need to go to youtube and look for Sanctuary's because you'd be surprised at how fitting it is. Seriously.

Disclaimer-No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, the third one would be out by now.

Silence. It had been so eerily silent since Stefa had disappeared that it was almost maddening. Kairi and Naminé had taken Kath up to her room where the girl had fallen asleep, leaving the boys in the kitchen to wait up for some member of Stefa's family to return. Riku swung Way to the Dawn carelessly as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Riku, you're gonna break something," murmured Sora as he took a seat next to his best friend.

Without looking away from the front door, Roxas added, "Or scare off whoever comes into the house next." He was waiting for something to happen, mostly for Stefa to come through the door, laughing at the looks on their faces.

"This..." Riku had no words to describe the feeling. "It's like when you left after Aerith's funeral," he continued to Roxas and Sora, "that was the last time I saw her. I didn't get to say a proper goodbye. The next time I saw her, she was some... possessed puppet. It's been two years, and I..." He trailed off, shaking his head, and fell into silence.

About five minutes of more silence passed before the door flew open, but it was not a person they were hoping to see. A woman wearing Care Bear scrubs with short, reddish-brown hair entered the room, throwing her tote onto the stairs and placing her large Coach purse on the counter. Having not been aware of anyone else's presence, she started as she turned to face the three boys, and Riku had a moment's notice to make his keyblade disappear.

"The three of you are so quiet, you startled me!" Smiling she said, "You must be friends of Stefa, can I get you anything to drink?" She turned around to open the refrigerator and sighed, the view of the window in her peripheral vision. "It's raining again; such a dreary day before Stefa's birthday. Hopefully it will brighten up tomorrow." She pulled out a gallon of Arizona Ice Tea and placed it onto the counter.

"I'm Stefa's aunt Wilma, are you sure that you boys don't want anything?" She asked as she turned to face the boys once more. This time, she caught the expressions on their faces; they looked like they were mourning, almost as if they had just been through something horrendous. "Is something the matter?"

"Well," Sora finally spoke up; his voice cracking from the strain it took to speak so loud. "It's about Stefa. There's something you should know." He glanced at the other two.

XxX

An hour passed while the boys told Wilma what had happened. Only a few minutes into their tale, Kairi and Naminé had come downstairs to tell them all that Kath was sleeping. Wilma found herself fixing some hot cocoa for herself, Kath, and the teenagers sitting in her kitchen. "I-it's such a shame, it being her birthday tomorrow and all..." The distraught aunt murmured quietly as she handed each person their mugs. "It's even more of a shame that I never listened to Stefa. After all, if little black beings could jump into this world and kill so many, why couldn't it be true that she went to another world and fought? I am such a fool."

"No, you're not," argued Kairi. "It would seem barbaric to anyone of sound mind if they hadn't experienced it firsthand."

Wilma simply shook her head. "Her mother and uncle are probably frowning upon me right now. I let Stefa lose her heart... But maybe she's with them now."

Roxas also shook his head, mumbling, "No, not Stefa. She had a strong heart. If anything, she has a Nobody."

"Roxas, even if we could make her Nobody whole, she would be different from Stefa," reminded Naminé, and he had to agree. The two of them were extremely different from Sora and Kairi.

"How can you bring someone back from the darkness?" Riku muttered quietly, "That's nearly impossible."

"It's not." Kairi argued once again, "I brought Sora back, didn't I?"

"But, somehow, I don't feel that Stefa would be the same type of Heartless as Sora, even if she does have a Heartless," stated Naminé. "Over half of her heart is surrounded in darkness, and although that darkness should make her more malevolent, it doesn't. If her heart was in complete darkness again, well, then we would have a big mess on our hands."

Sora nodded a little grimly, "In the meantime, we have to find Stefa's Nobody and do what we can from there. That means we might need some help."

"But we have no ship," argued Riku. "We can't go anywhere or do anything without a Gummi Ship."

"I wonder if we could program Stefa's computer to reach the Radiant Garden?" wondered Kairi, speaking to no one in particular.

Roxas agreed, "It's worth a shot." He turned to face Wilma, who had been quietly sipping her hot cocoa while they discussed. "You don't mind if we inconvenience you for a little longer, do you?" She shook her head before grabbing Kath's mug and heading upstairs.

"Do what you can to bring my niece back," was all she said before disappearing up the stairs. The teenagers exchanged looks before they also headed upstairs.

XxxxxX

A certain blond-haired man awoke with a start. He had been quietly snoozing before the large computer in the old wizard's house when the sound of static awoke him. Cid groggily looked around before grunting and closing his eyes again. There was more static, and, this time, a voice. "Sora to Radiant Garden, do you read me? Over." At first, Cid was sure that he was dreaming, but then the voice repeated himself once more, this time with a key of desperation.

Cid shook the sleep off, pressing several keys so that the Sora's face appeared on the screen. Peering over his shoulders was the redheaded Kairi, the time witch Naminé, duel keyblade-wielding Roxas, and the ex-denizen of darkness Riku. "What in all of the hells are you contacting me for at this hour?" He grunted at the five of them.

"It's nice to see you again, too, Cid," said Kairi said a faint smile. The pilot waved her off as he waited for an answer.

In a serious voice, Sora said, "We've got a big problem here, Cid. Stefa lost her heart to a Heartless and now we're pretty sure that she's roaming around in the darkness with a Nobody running around here somewhere."

"That's not a very nice way to put it, kid," called the voice of another man. He was quite tall, donned in baggy black jeans, a black jacket with flames running down the sleeves and all over the back. The most noticeable thing about him was his spiked red hair.

Roxas and Naminé called, "Axel!"

Axel grinned. "You've got a mess on your hands over there, don't you?"

"We need a Gummi Ship as soon as possible," replied Sora.

XxxxxX

Waves were lapping up a beach in another world. All was dark except for the light given off by the large white moon in the sky. The tide was high and the hour was late, but there was still a girl snoozing away on the fishing pier; she was laying on one of the benches, totally undetected given the pier was, otherwise, empty. Her dark brown hair had silver streaks running throughout it and was tied into a low ponytail so that her long hair reached just below her middle back.

Somewhere below, a large shark smashed against one of the pier's legs in a failed attempt to catch dinner. At the noise, the girl awoke and sat up to take in her surroundings, only to find this place was unfamiliar to her as any other place would be. She was lost, confused, and tired. The very early morning was rather cool, making her glad that she was wearing long jeans with a strange sign repeating on both legs.

Her shirt was a white t-shirt with a pink daisy that had a heart-shaped center. As she shivered, she thought, 'Well, at least I have jeans.' The pier's lights abruptly turned themselves on, allowing her to take in her surroundings better as she leaned over the pier's railing. Down by the beach was a black blur standing by what would have been the edge of shore if it were not for the tide.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of wonder at what the person was doing, she ran down the pier and then descended the steps that led to the beach. She ran through the water as the waves crashed onto the shore, allowing her gym shoes and bottoms of her jeans to get soaked, but she didn't care. When she stopped a few feet before the blur, she noticed that it was a man wearing a black coat. She opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped when he held up a hand. "Do you know why you are here?" he asked in a deep voice, and the girl blinked a few times. What a strange question to ask a person. Well, it was strange, wasn't it? For some reason, the girl felt unsure. She did not respond, and the man chuckled. "Ah, a stubborn one, are we?"

"Do you know who I am?" she asked in a strained voice; it felt like she was speaking for the first time in her life. Her interest and confusion was overflowing, and she wanted answers... now. How was it that she looked seventeen but knew not a thing about herself?

"Answer that question yourself. Close your eyes and allow your memories to flow." The girl hesitantly obeyed and allowed her grey eyes to disappear beneath her eyelids. There was an image of a blonde girl with black-streaked hair and some strange weapon, but there was nothing more than that. She opened her eyes and stared at the man in wonder. "What did you see?"

"A girl..." She said, slowly, almost as if she thought that her answer would be wrong. "She had blond and black hair, and she had a strange weapon that looked like an oversized key."

"That is all?" The man inquired, and, even in his indifferent tone, she could hear the surprise.

"Yes," she replied solemnly.

The man took this in as he nodded his head. "Reixka."

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Reixka; your name," he informed her, and, from below his hood, she could make out golden eyes glowing dangerously.

"Reixka," she repeated. It certainly was a... different name. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "What do I do now?"

The man held out his hand and, in a moment, a black and purple flowing vortext appeared. "Come with me." He stood aside, allowing Reixka to go first, though she was a little hesitant to do so. "Come, and you will learn all you need to know." She decided that this seemed to be a step in the right direction and stepped into the portal, closely followed by the mysterious man.

XxxxxX

Five screams sounded as Roxas, Naminé, Kairi, Sora, and Riku hit the wooden floor of Merlin's house. Axel was leaning against a nearby wall and Cid was sitting at the computer chair, both of them staring at the dogpile, "Rough landing?" asked the redhead with a smirk. He held out a hand to help Naminé and left the others to get up on their own. Although someone usually would have smiled, laughed, or come up with an angry retort, their faces were wiped quite clean of emotions.

With a faint smirk, Cid said, "Right now would be about the time where Aerith got everyone some tea."

"With way too much sugar," added Sora with a nod, "Yeah."

Riku was all business, reminding the others, "We need to find a way to save Stefa's heart."

Axel nodded. "'Course, the others are in the kitchen." He entered the room first with Riku in hot pursuit while the others followed after.

Yuffie was leaning back in her chair with Leon sitting to her right. Cloud still looked the exact same as he did on his wedding except for the fact that he was wearing his regular clothes. Even Tifa looked the same although, Sora noticed, she was holding an infant swaddled in blankets. Marlene and Denzel's faces had aged a little, but their style hardly differed.

Maybe the most surprising thing was to see a tall woman with short brown hair, another tall woman with braided blonde hair, and a third tall woman with mousse-colored hair and black clothes. "Yuna? Rikku? Paine?" Sora asked incredulously; the three of them were fairies no more. Yuna smiled in response, Rikku gave him a little wave, and Paine nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"It's a long story," said Yuna.

Under her breath, Paine added, "Really annoying, too."

"Let's hear exactly what happened." Leon told them as Sora and the others sat, "When you're ready."

Sora began, "As you probably know, the King sent us a little while ago to keep an eye on things in Stefa's world..."

XxxxxX

Reixka was starting to wonder why she had followed a mysterious man into a dark portal. Now that she thought of it, something in the back of her mind was telling her this was an unwise decision, but it was such a small nagging part that she ignored it completely. "The Superior did well," the blonde woman, Larxene, commented as Reixka followed their 'Superior' down a hall. "Now we finally have another female member."

"You're welcome," said Demyx with an uncharacteristic smirk.

Larxene rolled her eyes. "I should be thanking the Heartless that did it, moron." Several others sniggered at the sitar player, who slunk off to his temporary room.

The hallways were so white in this castle, almost to the point that it was annoying. They finally stopped at a door at the end of the hallway with the Roman numeral "VIII" engraved into it. "This isn't a new room, but we'll only be here for a while. In the meantime, this will be your room." The Superior told Reixka before he summoned another black-purple portal and disappeared into it. Reixka stared blankly at the spot where he had left before she shrugged and entered the room.

If Reixka had thought that she'd seen it all, then she had been wrong. One of the key motifs of the room was the flames painted on the walls, not that she minded. Her hand traced one of the flames on the wall, but she quickly drew it back; she was almost willing to swear that the painted flame had burned her. She drew away from the wall and collapsed on the bed situated in the middle of the room. Other than the bed and a desk, it seemed that the room had been emptied of any and all furniture that it may have once held.

Beside her, she found one of the long black coats with a note. "'this is your uniform, wear any clothes under it that you would like'," she read aloud, eyebrows furrowed together. "Something tells me wearing these clothes under that coat would be a very warm mistake." She picked up the coat, allowing the note to fall to the crimson carpet.

XxxxxX

"How the heck is this plan going to be executed?" Rikku asked with a frown. "You either have to find the Nobody, or the Heartless that's taken her heart."

Riku shook his head. "That's the problem, though. I think her heart went straight to Kingdom Hearts."

"No, that wouldn't make sense," argued Naminé. "Her heart would go to her Nobody." Several other people opened their mouths to argue, but all went silent as Leon raised a hand.

"Calm down. The problem with all of this is that nothing like this has ever happened in written history, so no one knows what's actually happened with her heart." He sat a little straight. "We're going to have to find this Nobody of Keira's."

With a faint, wry, smile, Kairi gently corrected, "Stefa's."

"We don't even know where the Organization is," reminded Roxas.

Yuffie piped up, "Let's think on that for a minute. Where have you ever seen the Organization, aside from the World that Never Was?" The table sighed as they thought of this; it was unlikely the Nobodies would return to said world, given that the castle had been destroyed two years earlier.

With a smirk, Roxas said, "Somehow, I don't think you'd find them hiding in the Beast's courtyard though; not unless they wanted Beast to tear them apart."

"They wouldn't be in Twilight Town, either. Especially not in the Alternate one," added Riku.

Axel grinned. "Yep, that was my turf."

"So where else was Organization XIII?" asked Kairi, frowning.

"Well," Naminé murmured quietly, "Not all of them were there, but..."

"Castle Oblivion," finished Riku and Axel in perfect unison, not knowing why they had not thought of it first..

Tifa mumbled, "How do you get inside of a castle that's seemingly inside of the real realm of the darkness?"

To answer her question, Axel held out a hand and summoned a portal behind him. "What better way to enter the realm of darkness than using a portal of darkness?"

A/N: Ew, this was a short chapter. In all honesty, I've been working on this since I got back on Friday, but I keep getting distracted by playing Final Fantasy X-2. Heh. Originally the Nobody's name was going to be Rexka, but I thought that Reixka was a lot cuter. See you next chapter.