AN-Hey! Look at me on a complete roll with this fic, getting three chapters out for it in less than a week! Well, what can I say, I'm SUPER excited about this story, so I might as well try to get us to the goods of it as soon as I can. So yeah, like I said, this chapter is mostly novelizing the non Aqua-flashback parts of Fragmentary Passage, but there is some original stuff sprinkled in here to keep things interesting! So with all that, I won't keep you from it. Here ya go! Enjoy!

Chapter 2: To Guard the Light

Breath, should I take a deep?

"The Keyblade Wars of yore plunged the true Kingdom Hearts into darkness and the X-blade was shattered," Yen Sid offered Mickey his wisdom as sagely as ever. The sorcerer had only just sent Lea off to Radiant Garden on what would be his first "assignment", and now both him and the king awaited Riku's return from his own suddenly-requested errand. In the meantime, Yen Sid heeded the copious questions his former apprentice had for him after their most recent encounter with Xehanort, questions that the prudent sorcerer shrewdly answered. "But the light still shining in the hearts of children rebuilt the world we know today. And the light from the broken X-blade was then divided into seven, to protect the number of pure hearts in the world."

"Seven pure lights…" Mickey repeated thoughtfully. "They're… the princesses of heart!"

"Indeed," Yen Sid nodded. "Those seven pure hearts form the very source of all light in the world. If they are lost, the world will again give way to shadow. Thus, even if we deliberately avoid finding our seven lights to avert another Keyblade War, Xehanort will still target the seven princesses in order to forge the X-blade."

"So… there's gonna be a clash between the seven lights and thirteen darknesses…" Mickey began, aptly worried. "And there's nothing we can do to avoid triggering another Keyblade War?"

The sorcerer didn't answer right away, his head bowed pensively before he offered his verdict. "That's not entirely the case. There are still two avenues we can take to prevent the worlds from falling into Xehanort's hands. The first, is to protect the seven pure hearts by gathering seven lights strong enough to stand against the thirteen darknesses."

"So… we're still missing one guardian of light…" the king noted with a frown. "Oh! But wait! What's the other way we could take?"

"The other way…" Yen Sid began, closing his eyes in thought. "Is to-"

Before the sorcerer could even get another word out, the door to his chamber suddenly creaked up, catching the pair's attention instantly. "Riku! You're back!" the king exclaimed, surprised as he turned to face the newly-named Master.

"That's right," Riku nodded before dutifully turning to the sorcerer. "Master Yen Sid, I brought you the 'guest' you asked for, but… you never said why…"

"Huh?" Mickey asked, confused, that is, until he spotted the new figure Riku stepped out of the way for. "Wow!"

"I have come to learn that you, too, can wield a Keyblade," Yen Sid addressed his new guest cordially. "I am glad you are here."

Slowly and somewhat shyly, Kairi nodded as she properly stepped into the room, feeling rather out of place, even with Riku standing right beside her. Before she even worked up the nerve to say anything, she stole a brief glance over at the new Master, who offered her a kind, confident smile and a reassuring nod, reinforcing the encouragement he had given her when he had first arrived at the island to retrieve her. "Y-yes, sir," she finally said, bowing somewhat out of respect for the sorcerer. "Though… I've only used it a few times… and I'm not really that great with it, to be perfectly honest…"

"Don't be so modest," Riku crossed his arms, still grinning over at her. "Sure, you're a little rough around the edges, and you can be a bit reckless—wonder where you got that from—" This was enough to elicit a small, bright chuckle from Kairi, one that was more than enough to set her at ease, especially as she warmly thought of who Riku was referring to. "But still, you've got plenty of potential."

"Aw, thanks, Riku," Kairi smiled, grateful. "I'm glad to have your vote of confidence."

Riku shrugged, his tone casual yet sincere as he offered her an affirming glance. "Well, if anyone deserves it, it's you."

"Indeed," Yen Sid interjected evenly. "The potential Riku speaks of is an admirable trait to be sure, one that can be honed and harnessed into the proper skill befitting a true eventual Keyblade Master. And in dire time such as these, it is potential that would benefit our efforts greatly." The sorcerer paused to let the weight of his words sink in as the trio gathered before him exchanged a wondering glance.

"The great battle with Xehanort is almost upon us," he continued, this time in blunt, simple terms. "As you know, we must take action to keep the seven pure lights safe, and thus we must hasten to assemble the seven guardians of light. It is time to return to our world the three Keyblade wielders we lost over a decade ago. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua must be saved from their sad ends, for they still have more to achieve. Following their first battle with Xehanort, Ventus' heart refused to awaken, and so Aqua found a safe location to conceal him. But when she set off in search of her other missing friend, Terra, she fell into a place from which there is no return without outside help." As Yen Sid finished this lecture, he nodded to his former apprentice, prompting the king to speak his piece on what he knew about Aqua's whereabouts.

"I saw her," Mickey began, his tone devout and serious. "In the Realm of Darkness."

In the brief silence that followed, Riku and Kairi looked to each other, curious, before devoting their full attention to the king and the tale of woe he had to tell. In deep detail, Mickey explained to them that Aqua had spent the past twelve years wandering the dark world alone, lost adrift the shadows in a place where time stood still and where the Heartless called their home. Bereft of her friends, Ventus and Terra, to stand by her side to support her and strengthen her, the Keyblade Master nearly drifted further into the cold, empty, all-encompassing darkness, only for Mickey to arrive just in the nick of time to come to her aid. From there, the pair teamed up to find the realm's dark Keyblade, a weapon that, when paired with is light counterpart, held the power to seal the Door to Darkness and protect the worlds from the immense threat the Heartless posed. And in the end, they succeeded in that task, helping none other than Sora and Riku seal the dangerous door from both sides. Yet even so, this victory came at a heavy price. In order to protect Riku from a converging horde of Heartless, Aqua fearlessly threw herself directly in the line of fire, though at the cost of escaping from the darkness she had been imprisoned in for over a decade. And in that darkness she remained, alone and unknown even still, without any hope of returning to the light on her own accord.

After the king had finished telling his story in full, a solemn sort of silence filled the room as they all reflected on Aqua's grim fate, a fate so undeserved for a Master so noble and so brave. By all accounts, it was a fate she was still suffering from, for as far as any of them knew, she would likely remain wandering in the vast, lonely shadows, lest a helping hand from the light finally reached out to her aid to bring her back home where she belonged. And, the more Riku thought about everything he had just heard, the more he realized, perhaps more than anyone else, that helping hand was more than a long time coming.

"She sacrificed herself… to save me?" he asked, his voice soft at first before he quickly turned towards Mickey in sudden frustration. "Why did you keep it from me for so long? All this time, she's been trapped in the darkness, and the only one who knew about it was you?! How is that fair?!"

The king sighed remorsefully, shaking his head. "I had to respect her choice."

"What about us?!" Riku countered hotly. "You could've given us a choice! We could have gone and helped her!"

"…I know…" Mickey admitted, genuine shame in his tone for letting his friend languish in the darkness for so very long. In truth, there had been many times when the king had wanted to venture back into the Realm of Darkness in a further attempt to rescue Aqua, but each time he had refrained out of fear, caution, or some other distraction pulling his attention away. And while he certainly understood Riku's righteous anger, he was hard pressed to come up with a viable excuse in order to quell that anger himself. Fortunately though, Yen Sid decided to step in to do that for him.

"Do not be rash, Riku," the sorcerer advised authoritatively. "As Mickey clearly told you in his story, reaching the Realm of Darkness the first time was not a simple task. And even if we had found a way back in, regrettably, none of us possessed the necessary means to get Aqua back out safely. So I forbade Mickey from telling you, let alone going after her."

"But why keep it secret?" Riku asked, still clearly upset.

"That much is obvious," Yen Sid said simply. "If not you, then certainly Sora would have staged a reckless attempt at a rescue."

Upon hearing this, Riku finally settled somewhat, knowing that there was certainly a good deal of truth in that statement. After all, he wasn't fond of the idea of owing a debt to anyone, but the fact that he essentially owed his life to someone he couldn't even return the favor to was more than enough to set him on edge to the point of compelling him to do something about it. As for Sora, well, to say that he always, always went out of his way to help just about anyone he met, even if it was at his own expense or the cost of his own safety or wellbeing, was an understatement. As much as Riku didn't really want to admit it, the sorcerer had them both pegged exactly right; for in their shared sense of justice, there's no doubt at least one of them would have tried to save Aqua from the darkness, only to likely end up trapped there themselves as a result.

"But now," Mickey spoke up with a sense of renewed verve. "We can help Aqua! You and I," he said, resolved as he turned to Riku. "We're gonna go find her!"

"Yeah!" Riku exclaimed without a second thought, more than ready to finally set things right. As far as he was concerned, Aqua had suffered in the darkness, a place that he was all too familiar with, long enough; it was finally time to help her return to the light. "Count me in!"

Despite the striking determination of the moment, Kairi couldn't help but cut in with a bit of a small, amused chuckle as she stepped forward. "Who's this new Riku and where is the old one?" she asked, offering Riku a bit of a wry grin.

"New me?" Riku raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Yeah," Kairi laughed again. "Right now, you sound more like Sora!"

"Should I be flattered?" Riku asked, catching on with a smirk. "I try too hard to be the role model all the time. Sometimes, its just more fun to listen to my heart. Which… is Sora-esque, I guess?"

"It sure is," Kairi retorted playfully. "But don't worry; we still like you." Riku stifled a laugh of his own at this, realizing just how much he had been missing Kairi's particular brand of good-natured teasing. He made a mental note to get back at her for it eventually, but for now, the mood of the room turned serious once again as Kairi approached the sorcerer's desk intentfully. "Master, I came here because I want to help somehow," she began sincerely. "What can I do?"

Yen Sid nodded, accepting her earnest proposal to join their cause, even despite the potential danger. "I have entrusted the wizard Merlin to oversee the training of our new Keyblade wielders: yourself and Lea."

"Lea?" Kairi frowned, unfamiliar with the name.

"He means Axel," Mickey pointed out promptly.

"What?!" Kairi gasped, instantly taken aback. The very moment the former assassin's name was brought up, memories of being dragged into the darkness and held captive in a cold and lonely cell against her will came rushing back to her like a sudden, very unwelcome flood. It was a time she didn't like remembering, knowing that the only good that had come of any of it was reuniting her with Sora and Riku by the end of it all. And it was all because of Axel, who had pried her away from the safety of the Destiny Islands and had plunged her into peril untold. The fact that he was even still around was baffling enough alone to Kairi, but the idea of working, of training alongside him was all but unthinkable, even as the king managed to explain.

"He's a regular person now," Mickey rationalized as encouragingly as he could. "He even saved Sora for us! You can trust him!"

Needless to say that Kairi wasn't convinced by that alone. Quickly, she glanced back at Riku, hoping that he'd offer her supportive solidarity or a way out of this or something, but all he did was nod in solid agreement with what the king had just told her. Thanks a lot, Riku, she thought with a small huff of frustration. You're a BIG help… A large part of her wanted to argue, to speak her piece and explain exactly why she had no intentions of training with her former kidnapper, and that they'd have to come up with some other way, any other way instead. She wanted to… and yet, as she took a moment to pause and take in the hopeful glances Mickey, Yen Sid, and Riku were all sending her way… she found that she simply couldn't. After all, everyone else had all gone through their fair share of unpleasant, unexpected experiences, Sora and Riku in particular, in their efforts to protect the worlds. What made her so better than all of them to think that she didn't have to bite the bullet and do what must be done as well?

"I… o-ok…" she agreed, her voice small and hesitant. Of course, there was much more she wanted to say on the matter than that, but she refrained, knowing that doing so would only make her seem immature and foolish. "Ok, I'll go."

"Great!" Riku said with a proud smile as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "And don't worry; you'll be just fine, Kairi. Knowing you, I have a feeling you'll be giving me and Sora a run for our munny in no time."

"You better believe I will!" Kairi shot back, though even her passion was somewhat halfhearted as her smile fell somewhat. "And… hey. Be careful out there in the Realm of Darkness. Ok? I… I almost lost both you and Sora there once. I don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you again."

"Like I said, don't worry," Riku said, still grinning as he pulled his hand away from her. "I'll be back before you know it. Now, Sora, on the other hand, he's the one you might have to keep an eye on."

The pair shared a warm, amused laugh at this, one that felt painfully too short as Mickey began to head out, beckoning Riku to join him. "C'mon, Riku! It's time for us to go. First we gotta find an entrance to the Realm of Darkness, and then-"

"Mickey," Yen Sid stopped the pair short before they could leave. "Take these with you." With a wave of his hand, the sorcerer conjured two large suitcases upon his desk. "The three good fairies asked that you be presented with them. They are new vestments that will shield you both from the darkness."

With dutiful bows, the pair retrieved the cases, thanking the sorcerer as they turned to take their final leave and head out on their mission. Kairi lingered back to hear whatever further instructions Yen Sid had to impart her with, but even so, she couldn't help but watch both wistfully and worriedly as Riku and Mickey left. She listened carefully to what the sorcerer had to tell her about her next destination from there, but all the while, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander. She had made her decision clear, even despite how she felt about it, but even so she still wondered if the decision that everyone expected her to make had really been the right one to make after all…

Mickey and Riku hadn't been able to leave the Mysterious Tower without passing by Goofy and Donald on their way out, and needless to say that when the pair revealed where they were going, the captain and the magician saw them off with an aptly emotional farewell. Their overwhelmingly concerned wishes for both their king and the newly-named Master to return from the Realm of Darkness safely had been copious and by the time they had finally been able to slip away from the pair to properly leave, it felt as though hours had passed. Yet even so, time seemed to crawl by the slowest for Donald and Goofy themselves after Riku and Mickey departed, leaving them to continue their surprisingly lengthy wait for Sora to return once more.

"Sora's late," Goofy noted as they both dully reclined on the tower's steps. "Do ya think he's ok?"

"He better be, if he knows what's good for him…" Donald grumbled, though the worry in his tone was clear. It was a worry that was equally shared between the pair, and with good reason; after all, they had only barely just gotten Sora back from a horrible fate that nearly hadn't been able to save him from. And yet, even despite that, he had brazenly decided to go off on his own on some unknown mystery errand, without bothering to explain so much as a single detail as to what that errand might have been. And with Xehanort and his other darknesses still out there on the prowl, needless to say they had very steady grounds to be as concerned as they were, if not then some.

Goofy frowned slightly as he heard Donald let out a loud, plaintiff sigh, and as a result, he decided to turn the conversation away from their currently absent companion, at least for the time being. "Gawrsh, Lea sure went back to Radiant Garden in a hurry," the captain mused thoughtfully. "And now Riku and the king are headin' off to the Realm of Darkness on their big mission to save Aqua!" Goofy paused as Donald cut in with yet another fretful sigh, one that was likely spared for the aforementioned duo, prompting the captain to divert the conversation once more. "Ya think we'll ever get to do something important anytime soon?"

"What are you guys talking about? You two do important stuff all the time!"

Upon hearing this, Donald and Goofy both immediately bolted upright with a simultaneous gasp of surprise mingled with an immediate sense of relief the moment they spotted Sora casually walking across the grassy yard to greet them. However, before he could even get so much as another word out, the pair suddenly pounced upon him, more or less tackling him to the ground in a tight, protective hug.

"H-hey! C'mon, you guys! Cut it out!" Sora exclaimed with a laugh as he struggled to escape from their hold. "You're acting like I was gone for years or something!"

"You might as well have been!" Donald snapped as the hug disbanded and the trio picked themselves up off the ground. "You're hours late!"

"Hours?" Sora repeated before shrugging easily. "Whoops, sorry! Guess I must have lost track of the time."

"Boy, I'll say," Goofy noted curiously as they began to make their way over to the tower. "You were gone an awfully long time. What were ya doin'?"

The Keybearer paused as he reached the tower doors, his back turned to his companions as his smile briefly faded into a look of slight confusion, almost as if he couldn't quite remember where he had gone or what he had done himself. Even so, he was quick to shake said confusion off, rebuffing it with a coy chuckle as he glanced back at Donald and Goofy playfully. "That's a secret," he said with something of a mischievous wink, one that obviously didn't answer either of the pairs' many questions.

With that, Sora threw the tower's main door open so they could head up to meet with Yen Sid to receive instruction on what to do next; however, before he could so much as even take a step inside the tower, he was met with perhaps the last person he could have ever expected to see there. "K-Kairi?!" he exclaimed, absolutely caught off guard.

"Sora!" Kairi gasped, her formerly apprehensive expression lighting up with a bright, elated smile. Without a single beat of hesitation, she threw her arms around him in a sudden embrace, one that Sora readily returned just as thoughtlessly as the pair shared a warm, delighted laugh over their unexpected reunion.

"I can't believe you're here, Kairi!" Sora said, still laughing as they parted a moment later. "Wait… what are you doing here in the first place? How'd you even get here? Oh! Hold on! Does Riku know you're here? Where is he? Are you-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Sora!" Kairi chuckled, amused. "Can I have a chance to answer at least one of those questions?"

"O-oh, right…" Sora rubbed the back of his neck, flustered. "Sorry."

"Well, if you really wanna know, Riku was actually the one who brought me here," Kairi began, her hands held behind her back. The pair stepped away from the door a bit, and though Goofy moved to follow them, Donald was quick to pull him back towards the tower in order to give them a moment of needed privacy. "You're never going to believe this, Sora," Kairi continued with a huge smile as she took both his hands into hers.

"Oh yeah?" Sora raised a curious eyebrow as he tried his best to avoid looking down at their joined hands, lest the welcome warmth already building in his cheeks finally show itself physically. "Try me."

"I'm going to learn how to use my Keyblade so I can fight alongside you and Riku!" Kairi exclaimed brightly, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet a bit. "Isn't that exciting?" Oddly enough, however upon hearing this, Sora's smile finally faded, clear concern replacing it instead, much to Kairi's confusion. "…Sora?"

"Uh… t-that… that's great, Kairi, it really is," Sora said, his tone sincere yet strained for some reason as he gave her hands the slightest squeeze. "A-and I really am happy and excited for you, but… it's just… being a Keyblade wielder and all can get… kinda dangerous, in case you haven't noticed, especially with guys like Xehanort and Organization XIII on the loose. I…" he trailed off, letting out a bit of a sigh as he offered her a small, somewhat sad smile. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Though Kairi had half a mind to react harshly to this, she found she was unable to as she meet his solemn, yet sweet expression. "Oh, Sora…" she sighed, returning his smile softly. "I appreciate your concern, but… that's exactly why I'm going to train! R-Riku told me about what nearly happened to you during your exam…" She stopped for a moment, glancing down fretfully at the frightening thought of what almost was. "If… if you… if Xehanort really had taken over your heart… I would have felt so… awful knowing that there wouldn't have been anything I could have done to save you. So that's why I want to, why I need to do this. So I can get stronger and protect you, just like you've always been there to protect me."

Sora hesitated, still clearly apprehensive about the idea, especially as he heard the motivation behind it. As far as he was concerned, nobody should have ever had to put their life on the line to save his, the least of which Kairi, of all people. If anything, the idea of him losing his own heart was far less painful than the thought of losing her in any way shape or form. And though some small part of him wanted to actually tell her that so he could make her understand exactly why he wanted to keep her out of this conflict, he found himself unable to as he met her expectant, hopeful expression once more. "Ok," Sora nodded with resigned acceptance. "If this is what you feel like you need to do, Kairi, then… then I won't stop you. Though, I am wondering how you're gonna do this whole 'training' thing in the first place. I mean, nobody trained me or Riku how to use our Keyblades; we were just sort of thrown into the whole thing headfirst and went from there, I guess."

"Well, not all of us can have that privilege," Kairi said, her tone turning playful once more as they finally let go of each others' hands. "I'm actually heading over to Radiant Gardens to train under Merlin the wizard. He's supposed to be teaching me and-" She sighed, clearly disgruntled as she finished. "And Axel."

"Oh?" Sora asked, though from Kairi's sour expression alone he was able to glean exactly why she didn't seem too fond of the idea. "Ohhhh… Oh, man, that's… Kairi, are you sure you're ok with that?"

"What?" Kairi blinked, surprised by such a question.

"Are you ok with going to train with Axel—I mean, Lea?" Sora reiterated somewhat awkwardly. "I mean, he did sort of… you know…"

"…Kidnap me?" Kairi finished, raising an eyebrow. Sora nodded and for a moment, the most Kairi could do was stare at him, dumbfounded to say the least. He was really the first person to actually ask about how she felt when it came to training alongside Axel, instead of simply assuming that she would go to do it regardless of her feelings out of a mere sense of duty alone. It was such a small thing, really, she couldn't deny that she was genuinely touched by the thought and concern he was focusing entirely on her alone. And though she didn't quite know how to explain it, she felt as though that concern somehow gave her just enough strength to carry on, even despite her still-persistent doubts and misgivings about the situation as a whole. "I… I know," she admitted, rubbing her arm. "B-but its ok! I'll… learn to deal with it."

"Kairi, you don't have to train with him, you know," Sora countered with a worried frown. "Yeah, I know he's on our side now and everything, but if being around him again is gonna make you uncomfortable, then we can always figure something else out. Maybe… hm…" he paused, trying to think of an alternative plan before snapping his fingers with an excited smile. "I got it! We can go back upstairs and we can try to convince Master Yen Sid to let you train with me, Donald, and Goofy instead! What do you think?"

Despite Sora's enthusiasm with this idea, Kairi was unable to hold back a knee-jerk laugh over it. "Well, as fun as that sounds, Sora, I… really think I'd just get in your way. Besides, I should probably learn from an expert. No offense."

"I am an expert!" Sora proclaimed pointedly.

"No, you're not!" Donald shouted all the way over from the tower, clearly flustering Sora even more.

"Hey!" he snapped, sending an insincere glare over to his chuckling pair of companions. By this point, Kairi had all but succumbed to her laughter entirely, though the levity was soon interrupted by the appearance of a portal of light materializing just a few feet away.

"Well… I guess that's my ride," Kairi inferred, taking in a deep breath as she turned to face the portal, though not before sending Sora a bright smile of farewell. "Wish me luck?"

Sora shook his head, grinning. "You don't need it. I have a feeling you'll do a great job all on your own."

"Here's hoping," Kairi said with a bit of a diffident smile. "I guess I should be wishing you luck on whatever's next for you instead, then?"

"I don't need that either," Sora said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a familiar charm that was still quite special to them both. "I've already got it."

"Y-you still have it…" she whispered, unable to suppress her joyful grin as she raced to hug him one last time, if only to share a quiet, private farewell with him. "I'll miss you. Stay safe."

"You too," he returned just as softly as they slowly began to part ways, though neither of them really wanted to. "See you soon, ok?"

"Yeah," she nodded, hopeful that their eventual reunion wouldn't be too far off as she headed into the light and whatever awaited her beyond it. "See you soon."

And with that, she was gone, though even still, he lingered to watch until the very last glimmer of light she had vanished into disappeared, her charm still resting in his hand and her words still ringing in his heart: "So that's why I want to, why I need to do this. So I can get stronger and protect you, just like you've always been there to protect me."

"I'll keep on protecting you, Kairi," he whispered to both himself and to her as he gripped her charm just a bit tighter, just a bit closer to his heart. "No matter what happens. I promise."

"Sora!" Goofy's call from the tower door was easily enough to break him out of his thoughts and back into the present. "Are ya comin'?"

"We shouldn't keep Master Yen Sid waiting!" Donald warned, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Coming!" Sora shouted back, carefully slipping the charm back into his pocket as he ran over to join the pair.

"Boy, he sure does got it real bad for her, doesn't he?" Goofy muttered to Donald with a small chuckle while Sora was still out of earshot.

"Tell me about it," the magician remarked, rolling his eyes knowingly.

"Tell you about what?" Sora asked, oblivious as he reached the pair.

"Nothing!" they both exclaimed in innocent unison as they led the way inside the tower. Sora eyed his companions suspiciously for a beat, but he didn't press them any further as the trio hurried up the stairs to receive their next assignment from Yen Sid, whatever it might be.

"We're back!" Sora announced brightly as the trio burst into the sorcerer's chamber. However, while he had hoped to surprise Riku in particular with his sudden return, the Keybearer was the one who ended up being both surprised and rather disappointed to find that the newly-named Master was nowhere to be found. "Huh?" Sora frowned, glancing around for any signs of Riku or the king for that matter. "Just us?"

"The others all had important work to do," Yen Sid informed simply. "So I sent them on their way."

"Aw, that's great," Sora huffed, crossing his arms. "They could have at least said good-bye."

"Well, Donald and I still got to see them off," Goofy pointed out.

"Yeah! Its your fault you missed them!" Donald accused pointedly.

"It is not," Sora countered. "I just like to say good-bye to all my friends."

"Then do it faster!"

"Hey! I'm here now, right?"

"Yeah, and ya did get a chance to say good-bye to Kairi," Goofy interjected in an attempt to make peace before their usual bickering could get out of hand.

"Yeah, see?" Sora sent Donald a smug, triumphant grin. "That means I wasn't that late."

As incensed as he was, the magician was more than prepared to keep the argument going, though Yen Sid was quick to cut in just in time. "We have important matters to discuss," the sorcerer reminded, prompting the trio to quickly snap into attention. "The first is information that Master Xehanort no doubt already has at his disposal, and as a result, it is essential that you arm yourselves with this knowledge as well. There is a prophecy, as old as time itself, that speaks of thirteen special Keyblades, each of them hidden far and wide across the worlds. It is said that whoever possesses all thirteen will be granted the power to rule over none other than the one, true Kingdom Hearts itself."

"What?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all gasped in shocked unison upon hearing such an alarming prophecy. After all, their past experiences with Kingdom Hearts had repeatedly shown that it was a dangerous force, an immense power that needed to be shuttered and kept safe from falling into the wrong hands. But to hear that the only thing standing between someone like Xehanort and all the power of Kingdom Hearts was a mere set of lost Keyblades was quite disconcerting indeed.

"I am almost certain that, aside from filling out his own ranks, Xehanort's current intentions are to gather these thirteen Keys to the Kingdom so that he may claim Kingdom Hearts as his own," Yen Sid continued solemnly. "It is for that reason that we must-"

"That you want us to go out there and find those Keys before Xehanort can, right?" Sora interrupted boldly, already resolved to do just that, especially if it was for the sake of protecting the worlds from darkness once again. "Well, don't worry! Consider us on the ca-"

"No," Yen Sid cut him off sternly, eliciting equal confusion amongst the trio.

"What?" Sora frowned, wondering what could possibly be more important of a task for them than keeping Kingdom Hearts out of Xehanort's reach. "But… why not?"

"Securing the Keys to the Kingdom away from Xehanort and the new Organization XIII is indeed a paramount task that must be undertaken to forestall the end of all worlds," Yen Sid mused. "However, it is not a task for you to undertake, Sora, at least not yet."

"Um… then what am I supposed to do?" Sora asked, more or less completely lost by this point.

"In order to defeat Xehanort, there are allies that we must gather, acting now to rouse them from their slumber," the sorcerer continued on a seemingly unrelated tangent altogether. "We have discussed this before. Your Mark of Mastery exam was conducted in the hopes that you would acquire the power to wake them. However, the darkness nearly took control of you, and your grasp of your new abilities leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, Xehanort nearly made you his vessel, and in the process, stripped you of most of the power you had gained by then. I suspect you have already noticed this, correct?"

Indeed, Sora had noticed. In fact, ever since he had awakened after the exam, he had felt somewhat… off somehow, even if he didn't know exactly how to explain it. At first, he had thought that strange, almost dulling feeling would fade over time, but it hadn't. Even still he felt… unbalanced; his Keyblade seemed to lack its usual radiant pallor whenever he summoned it, and though he hadn't recently had much of a need to really use any sort of magic, he could tell that his capacity to do so seemed oddly restrained and diminished for some reason. In truth, it wasn't something he had really put much thought into until now, but as he did, it certainly was quite sobering to say the least. To think that such a small twist of fate, a sinister trap he had been unfortunate and admittedly foolish enough to fall into, could rip so much away from him was more than enough to bring the Keybearer ample amounts of shame.

But even then, he would have no idea just how much Xehanort's sinister scheme had stolen from him until it was far too late.

All the same, the moment Sora noticed Donald and Goofy both equally fretting over his apparent dejection over this fact, he was quick to perk up once again. After all, there really was no need to worry either of his loyal companions with something that he was sure that, with a little time and effort, he was bound to bounce back from sooner or later. "Whatever!" he exclaimed with a flippant, reassuring grin, paying no mind to the baffled looks Donald and Goofy sent his way. "Happens all the time!"

"…Yes," Yen Sid nodded, though it seemed as though even he wasn't entirely convinced. "Chip and Dale are currently analyzing data that Ansem the Wise provided to Riku which could offer us a clue to retrieving the hearts of our lost friends. I have very high hopes for this data, however, our greatest chance of stopping Xehanort's plan lies in two places: in locating the thirteen Keys to the Kingdom… and with you, Sora. If you trust the guidance your heart gives, I know we will find all of the guardians of light as well as the Keys. But first, you must regain all the strength you have lost. Perhaps it is foolish to expect a full recovery, but it is absolutely vital that you perfect one power—the power of waking, which you failed to master during your exam. There's someone who lost his strength and found it again, a true hero to whom you ought to pay a visit."

Upon hearing this, Sora couldn't hold back an excited gasp, already catching onto who the sorcerer was speaking of based on his familiar tale alone. Donald and Goofy also joined in on the realization, and watched in apt amusement as Sora dramatically posed in an effort to emulate the aforementioned hero. "Perhaps he can point you in the right direction," Yen Sid finished, capping off all the wisdom he had to offer the trio.

"Got it!" Sora saluted firmly, more than ready to venture out on such a noble task.

"Master Yen Sid," Goofy spoke up as both him and Donald stepped forward. "You can count on us to take care of Sora!"

"I would have it no other way," the sorcerer allotted with a small smile. "I put Sora in your hands."

As if he wasn't already enthused enough about the adventure to come, Sora became even moreso upon hearing that his loyal companions would be coming along for the ride once again. "Donald! Goofy!" he exclaimed with a laugh as he pulled the pair into a found hug. "Looks like the three of us are finally back in action again, huh?

"Hmph! Only because you can't become a master without us!" Donald remarked, his tone pointedly playful.

"…Huh?"

"I never woulda thought you'd have failed that exam, Sora," Goofy added, albeit a bit more good-naturedly.

"Hey!" Sora huffed as he pulled out of their embrace, somewhat frustrated by their sardonic remarks.

"Face it," Donald continued wryly. "You're just a half-pint!"

"But," Goofy interjected with a wide smile. "The three of us together make a whole pint!"

"Pint and a half," Sora corrected, hands on his hips.

"And don't forget," Donald reiterated, now grinning himself as he laid a hand out flat before him. "We'll keep an eye on you."

"Oh, this is gonna be lots of fun!" Goofy exclaimed cheerfully, putting his hand down on top of Donald's.

"It's not a vacation!" Sora pointed out, before ultimately breaking out into a bright smile and joining his hand onto the pile. After all, despite everything that had happened and whatever they might possibly face, it was good to know that through it all, he'd have two of his closest friends on his side through it all once more. "Let's go!"

The Gummi Ship sailed through the space between worlds at a steady pace, despite the fact that it really didn't have any set destination or course plotted out. Inside of its cockpit, Donald and Goofy both looked to Sora expectantly, as they had been ever since they departed the Mysterious Tower to venture out and follow Yen Sid's advice. While the captain waited calmly for whatever their young companion decided to do next, the magician was a bit more impatient, especially since it seemed as though Sora had more or less solely been lost in his own inconclusive thoughts for the past several minutes alone.

"Well?" Donald asked, sending the Keybearer a skeptical glance. "Are we going or not?"

"Uh… well, we would…" Sora began hesitantly before muttering off his next statement. "If I knew how to get us there now…"

"What?!" the magician exclaimed hotly. "I thought you did know!"

"Looks like all the old highways are closed," Goofy pointed out, referring to the paths they had previously taken to traverse the worlds, all of which seemed to be all but gone now. "But didn't Master Yen Sid say that Sora should just trust the guidance his heart gives?"

"Yeah! C'mon, Sora!" Donald urged. "Which way?" The Keybearer didn't answer right away as he leaned back in his seat, his brow furrowed in thought as he tried to puzzle out a solution to their problem, as implausible as one seemed. Which of course, only set the already perturbed magician off more than he already was. "Hey! Would you get serious?"

"Give me a break!" Sora countered with an exasperated sigh. "These things take time!"

"Well, since we've been there before, why don't you try picturing our friends like we're there?" Goofy suggested earnestly.

"Hm…" Sora said to himself as he stood in an attempt to do just that. However, as good of an idea as it seemed to be, even thinking of their familiar friends still wasn't enough to open up the gateway they needed to proceed.

"Well?" Donald cut in, essentially interrupting the Keybearer's train of thought.

"Sorry! I got nothing," Sora admitted as he started to get just as frustrated by the standstill as the magician was. "What did you expect?"

A bout of disappointed silence fell over the trio at this, none of them really having the faintest idea of what to do to so much as even get them to where they needed to go, despite their best efforts. And yet, through this silence, Goofy suddenly spoke up to break it, thoughtfully muttering something that seemed to come to him almost out of nowhere.

"…'May your heart be your guiding key'…" the captain said, catching the attention of his companions.

"Huh?" Sora frowned, confused. "What's that?"

"Master Yen Sid always said that right before we went off on any of our real important adventures," Goofy explained with a bit of a grin.

"Really?" Sora asked, unfamiliar with the phrase. "Ring a bell?" he turned to Donald, only for the magician to shake his head, just as baffled.

"Hm, maybe I just imagined it…" Goofy wondered, scratching his head. Yet even so, the mysterious saying stood, to the point that Sora couldn't help but repeat it as he thought on exactly what it could mean.

"May my heart be my guiding key…" he said quietly, connecting it back to the advice Yen Sid had just offered him moments ago. Perhaps opening the way wasn't a matter of simply thinking about where they needed to go; perhaps, what would truly guide them was something else altogether: the heart.

On this sudden, newfound burst of inspiration, Sora gasped, a brazen smile lighting up his expression as he rushed to the helm of the Gummi Ship once more. "I've got it!" he proclaimed, not even hesitating to summon the Kingdom Key and point it forward into the seemingly empty void of space ahead. A warm glow began to form around the tip of the Keyblade, and from that glow appeared a swirling, familiar portal to another world altogether.

"It's a gate!" Goofy exclaimed as both him and Donald sent their young companion matching proud grins. "Sora, you did it!"

"Yeah," Sora nodded daringly as he took a seat, more than ready to steer them forward into the bold, new adventure that awaited them next, whatever it might be. "All right. Olympus Coliseum, here we come!"

AN-Yeah! Olympus Coliseum! Except we're not going there next time around cause we're gonna take a step to the other side of things and see what our baddies for the story are up to... ahaha fun! Anyway, its super late as I'm posting this and I gotta get to bed. Don't forget to follow/favorite/and REVIEW to let me know what you think (and thanks to everyone who already has reviewed, you all are super sweet ^_^) Until next time!