"Uhn…ohhh…"

He opened his eyes. He was greeted with a nearly cloudless sky, along with settled weather. His breath tasted like rotten milk. Sora hated waking up. No matter how much he tried to sleep at appropriate times like a normal human being, he still felt like crap by the time the sun rudely interrupted his slumber.

He was still in the alleyway. His memories were dusty, but he and Xion must have fallen asleep out there. It was dangerous, but fortunately, there were no signs of them having been in contact with another human being. His sister lied her head on his lap as if it were a pillow. He chuckled at her innocence. He carefully hoisted her upper body and lay her back down on the rough ground. Xion may have been the sweetest thing in the world most of the time, but if the girl woke up on the behalf of someone else, you might as well have summoned a demon. Both cases offered a possibility of death.

Sora stretched as he stood to his feet. He wondered what the agenda today would be. He obviously had to get more food, with last night's fish dinner fully digested. He wanted to get them some breakfast, but he couldn't leave Xion alone by herself while unconsious in broad daylight. At the same time, waking Xion up was not an option.

He decided to just wait her out. Then they could grab some breakfast together.

He heard footsteps. Had she woken up already? Sora turned to see a black creature with sharp yellow eyes creeping up on his sister. It was a Heartless! He thought he'd seen the last of them years ago. Its claws curved into the air.

He used the brunt of his elbow to knock the Heartless back a few feet.

"Back off," Sora yelled as he got into a protective stance. The Heartless's attention shifted towards him. It flung in an attempt to whip Sora with its claws, but he dodge rolled out of the way, all the while grabbing one of the sticks he used for fish eating last night.

Sora got into a stance. The Heartless grazed towards him the only way it knew how. Sora parried every mindless movement it made. He glanced at Xion. How was she able to sleep with all this commotion?

He somersaulted into the air in another attempt at dodging. Xion gradually came into consciousness. Her groggy eyes quickly turned into alert ones when she noticed her brother battling with a Heartless.

Sora landed close to his sister, who was still in terror on the ground. "Xion, get out of here! It isn't safe!"

Who did he think he was? Did he not learn anything from last night? She stood up to her feet and took his side.

"What are you doing?!" Sora rolled his eyes. "I said leave!"

"Not going anywhere. I'm not gonna just leave you like this."

Sora groaned. Why did she have to play hero all the time? If Xion would just listen to him, life would be so much easier. Nonetheless, once her mind was made up—it was set in stone.

The Heartless sprung towards them, targeting Sora first. It hurled both of its feet to kick him against the wall. Xion angrily spun in the air until her foot connected to the Heartless, knocking it back a few. Sora helped himself up. It seemed like no matter what they did, they weren't strong enough to put this thing to rest.

Sora ran towards it with his stick trailing behind, but the creature propelled its body towards the boy. Sora swung a slow, heavy hit, giving the Heartless enough time to duck and scratch at his chest. Sora crashed onto the ground. He didn't let his failed attempted at badassery get to him as he sprung back up to his feet, only to be met with the wrath of claws scraping at his face, finishing it off with a hard blow to the shoulder. Sora's limp body arched in pain.

Xion winced and slapped her forehead. Perhaps a whiz at thievery, but a lost puppy when handling creatures born from darkness. She sprinted at the Heartless that was inches away from devouring her brother, and she quickly hit him with hard left and right fists. She ended her assault with a spin in the air, finishing with a hard punch right to the creature's face, which thrust its back onto the ground, skidding across the dirt.

However, it wasn't long before the Heartless leaped back up to its feet, seemingly unharmed. It didn't matter what they did, they didn't have the attributes that would grant them victory, and this Heartless was practically toying with them. Xion knelt down to her brother. His skin was dryer than a raisin. She shook him to get his head back in the game.

"Come on, big brother! This is the absolute worst time to take a nap!"

He responded with a moan. Xion trembled as her eyes settled back onto the Heartless closing in on her like prey. She gulped but put her fears behind her. Sora wouldn't give up on her if their roles were reversed. She squared up, albeit a bit timidly.

Before they could begin the skirmish, the Heartless suddenly collapsed into dark matter. Xion paused. What just happened? Did she have x-ray vision—was she the second coming of Medusa?!

All those potentially awesome thoughts came to an end once she saw Cid in the distance with his high-tech firearm in hand.

"Cid!" she cried.

He stepped up to her with a wink. "I got ya covered, Xion." He noticed Sora before returning his attention back to the raven head. "What happened?"

"I dunno, I just woke up and I saw Sora fighting that—that thing! It's called a Heartless, right?"

"You'd be correct, darlin'." Cid crouched down to take a look at the bruised and battered Sora.

Xion watched him as he awkwardly stared at her brother. "Uh—do you think he's gonna be okay?"

"Meh, just a few minor hits. He may need an ice pack or somethin', but other than that, the bastard'll be back on his feet in no time," Cid said as he grabbed Sora by the head, smirking at him looking so defeated. He was used to seeing Sora standing tall with an 'S' on his chest so much that it was a little amusing to see him so conquered.

"How did you know we were in trouble?"

"Didn't. Just so happened to pass by. You kids should consider yourselves lucky." He spun his blaster in hand swiftly. "I never leave the house without this little guy. Ya never know when fate will decide to screw with you for a bit, and then you might need it."

She couldn't argue with that. The predicament she had just went through attested to that statement.

"I'll say. Think I can borrow one of those?"

Cid chuckled as he stood up and disheveled her hair. "Maybe when you're older. There's been a couple sightings of Heartless around the town, but the king and queen sent out some fellas to put a stop to that earlier."

"Where are you headed? You going to work?"

"You didn't hear? King Hope has requested every male go to the palace. There's some sort of Keyblade in a stone. Whoever pulls it out has to protect the princess from these kinda threats."

"Threats?"

"Don't ask me for details. I'm almost in the same boat as you. But just think if I can get that Keyblade—I'll have the power to do whatever I want, and quit my pathetic job too!"

Xion wondered if perhaps Sora would be capable of obtaining that Keyblade. If he could, they could finally get out of these streets and not have to live in a library anymore. Their lives would definitely change—and hopefully for the better.

She looked at her snoozing brother. She giggled at the drool dangling the corner of his mouth. He was so hopeless, she doubted he'd ever be able to pull out that Keyblade. And with the way that Heartless whooped him, he probably wasn't even suitable for that kind of responsibility anyway.

She noticed Cid daydreaming about quitting his pathetic job.

"Hey, a little help?"

Cid picked Sora up and draped the boy over his shoulder. He climbed up the ladder with Xion following behind. Cid opened the window and crawled inside with some effort. He grimaced at an obnoxious odor. It was such a shame to see these kids fend for themselves in this rundown library. He would have taken them in himself if it weren't for the fact that he could barely make ends meet for him alone. How could he handle two teenagers?

Besides, they lived here by themselves for the past three years. If they could do that, which was highly impressive for their ages, then they obviously had what it took to survive for a while longer. That didn't stop him from worrying, though.

Xion went past him and stopped at the table, pulling out a chair. "You can just set him right here."

Cid did as requested, once again turning his attention to the scenery. It was such a shame for these kids to have to go through something like this. Their childhood years were completely ripped away from them.

"Hey kid, you ever think of you and your brother—I don't know—going to a foster home or something? Maybe put yourselves up for adoption?"

She jeered. "We like the freedom that we have. This may not be the cleanest of lifestyles, constantly worming around the city shoplifting our needs, sometimes even begging… but it's all we know." Xion went into one of the cabinets and pulled out a first aid kit. She used it whenever Sora came home with some kind of injury. "Besides, we're teenagers. Sora's only two years away from being an adult, and I'm going on sixteen soon myself. It's a bit too late for adoption."

Xion sat in the seat next to Sora, his eyes still shut. That Heartless must have really done a number on him. She went into her box until she pulled out some wipes that could clean the blood. She wiped his cheeks.

Cid looked at the sight admirably. These kids were strong. He didn't even know if he could handle half of what they had to go through every day even at his current age. But their age? He had a feeling these two were destined for greatness. They wouldn't have survived this long if they didn't have a purpose. They didn't need his protection. This was where they were supposed to be.

"Well, if ya ever need anything, you know where to find me."

She gave him a smile. "Of course. Thanks, Cid."

He saluted to her.

Master Xehanort and his grandson walked up to some sort of house. It looked like a dome cut in half with a door in the front. Next to the door was a keypad.

"This is where I once lived," Xehanort said. "I studied the darkness of the heart until I deemed myself worthy of destroying Radiant Garden."

Xehanort pressed the appropriate numbers on the pad. An automatic door opened before them. The old man presented it to Xemnas.

"You first."

Xemnas entered the facility and was amazed at what came into his sight. The area was mostly white, but there were lots of equipment resting in the area. A lot of it was blanketed with dust due to the absence of any presence for years. The place smelled awful, but the scenery was too impressive to allow his attention to be diverted. There were stations that showcased containers of liquids, lab jackets hung on the coat racks, and the walls had plenty of computers on display.

"So this is where you worked…" Xemnas said to himself mostly.

Xehanort stood next to him with his arms behind his back. "It's been about eighteen years, but this is where I used to conduct experiments on the heart. I used to be exceedingly intrigued by it."

"I never knew you were a scientist."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, boy." Master Xehanort paced himself over to one of his inventions, placing a hand on it as he looked at it with reminiscing eyes. "This was one of the first contraptions I ever created."

"What does it do?"

He gave Xemnas a smirk. "It will return me my strength. I saved it just for this sort of occasion."

Xehanort pressed a few buttons on the pad, afterward pulling a big lever. The machine began rumbling, causing Xemnas to get a little cautious. Xehanort never moved an inch as he smiles devilishly. Out of one of the capsules, a vial popped up with green liquid inside. The elderly man took it without indecision.

"With this, boy, we'll be able to really begin our plans. It only takes one sip…"

Xehanort poured the contents of the vial down his throat. Xemnas watched in horror as the Master started hacking. Xehanort crouched down as his body transformed.

"Grandfather!"

Master Xehanort cried out of pain as his muscles tensed up. His hands quivered with sweat, but that diabolical smile didn't leave once from his disturbing face. "Yes…yes!"

Xemnas eyes focused hard as the smoke cleared to reveal his grandfather—but he no longer looked eighty four years old. He looked as if he were in his early thirties.

Master Xehanort's hair was long and refined, reaching slightly past his shoulders. Xemnas helped Xehanort up to get a look at his face. Without a doubt it was younger, what with his chiseled features.

Xehanort opened his eyes and it wasn't long before a smile took over his face yet again. An evil, suggestive one, that is. He tried to stand up on his own, but he staggered slightly. He soon recuperated his balance, standing up straight.

"This power—I feel new again." His voice was deep, but it wasn't as scratchy as it had become. He placed his hands on Xemnas's shoulders. "I feel like I can take on any challenge, and now, we can take this on together."

"What happened to you?"

"It has the ability to revert the nervous system to a previous state! I worked with the settings so that it would return me back to my youth without dispatching any of my memories that I've gained. I built this just in case I lived to be an old man, and now that the time was right, it came to good use."

Xemnas was impressed by the convenience of it. "Grandfather…this is amazing…"

Xehanort cringed.

"Don't call me that anymore. From now on, just refer to me as your master, Xehanort."

Kairi sat in front of her mirror. It was an immense mirror with floral designs as its frame. She was brushing her beautiful, auburn hair. She was ready for the day as she had already heaved herself in one of her tight red dresses that hugged her figure nice and snug. As she finished brushing, she placed her cute tiara on her head. She gave the person looking back at her in the reflection a small smile, and she smiled back. Kairi had her own insecurities, but her physical appearance was not one of them. She was proud of the way she kept herself.

Kairi took a deep breath. Hopefully they wouldn't be serving that god awful generic breakfast this morning. Serah said that the servants had returned back from Balamb Garden, so there had better be something Kairi would gladly consume. She also hoped her pesky aunt wasn't anywhere around either.

Kairi opened the door, but saw the last person she wanted to see. It was her aunt and she ended up accidentally knocking her fist against Kairi's forehead.

"HEY!"

Serah realized what she did and tried stifling her laughter. "Sorry."

Kairi used all she had to not slap this chick right in her face. "What is it, Serah?"

"Aunt Serah," she corrected.

"I refuse to call you my aunt."

"So, I take it you're grouchy again? Oh well. But I just came to get you to come see the trial."

"Trial? What trial? And why wasn't I informed of it?"

"Don't you remember? You were acting like, well, you yesterday, so everybody left you alone. Basically, every man in the town has come here to the palace to pull a powerful blade out of a stone my father created."

"WHAT?" Serah recoiled slightly. Now what was Kairi's problem? "There are peasants within the premises?" Oh, that explained it.

Kairi knocked her aunt out of the way as she marched downstairs and towards the main entrance.

"Move!"

Serah dusted her sleeve off. She didn't let that get to her, since she was used to Kairi's irrational behavior. She was the quintessence of selfishness.

Kairi went over to the rails on the second floor. She looked down, and sure enough, Serah was telling the truth. There was a long line of men dressed in rags entering from the large door. They were all in conversation. Currently, there was a man trying to pull something out of a stone as her parents and her grandfather, Merlin, watched nonchalantly.

"WHAT IS THIS?"

All heads in the room averted up to Kairi on the second floor.

"Oh, Kairi. You're awake. Did you sleep well?" King Hope asked with a generous smile.

Kairi growled. She stomped downstairs until she made it to the thrones.

"Hello Kairi, my, have you grown—"

"Move it, frog!" Kairi said as she shoved Merlin to the side to look at her father.

Merlin fixed his blue cloak while eyeing his granddaughter with disgust. "My word…"

"Father, what is the meaning of this?!" She pointed at the line of men accusingly. "Why are these filthy peasants in my abode?! It should be a law that they not be allowed in my presence, the wretched scum!"

The commoners took offense to her venomous words as they all shared side conversations about her.

"Is that the princess? Man, why is she such a bitch?"

"Is that who we're supposed to protect?"

"If that's the case, why am I even here?"

She scowled at them. They were the equivalent to a herd of rats. She couldn't bare to even look at them. Claire stepped up before them. "Sorry about that everybody! She doesn't mean what she says, she's just—uh, she just woke up, that's all."

The commoners remained skeptical, and continued bad-mouthing her, but noticeably softer than before.

Kairi crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I don't care who it is, but somebody better answer my question—why are these people here? And what's the point of this?"

"Kairi, will you shut up for a second?" Hope asked as he pinched the bridge of nose. Kairi gasped at her father for saying such words to her, but she complied regardless. Out of everybody, she respected her father the most, and he was the most likely subject to calm his daughter down and discipline her. But not to the point where he had complete control over her either.

After a long sigh, Hope continued. "Serah should have told you—our situation right now is iffy but we may end up having to partake in war. Do you see that stone? The one that has a Keyblade sticking out?" he asked his daughter.

She looked at it with a blank expression. "Yes…?"

"Only the chosen one can lift the Keyblade from its place and exploit its power. Whoever this chosen one is, according to your grandfather, is the one who is best fit to protect you from any unforeseen danger."

"Chosen one, huh?" Kairi said as she let the information settle. "So what are you waiting for, father?"

"Huh?"

"Go lift that Keyblade out of its place! I want you to be my protector. Not one of those unsanitary peasants!"

A chuckle escaped from him. That was probably the closest he's had to flattery from his daughter in quite a few years. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way. Unfortunately, I'm not the chosen one, apparently. I already attempted to lift it, but I guess you can figure out how that turned out."

Kairi stomped out of anger. "This is so unfair! Why wasn't I consulted about this before?"

Claire placed a hand on her hip with an irritated sigh. "For the way you're acting right now. We knew you'd resent our proposal and make a big deal about it, but the bottom line is that your father and I need to go check out the situation in the town, and we can't leave you without protection. And considering what might be upon us, I don't think a guards is going to cut it."

"So basically you don't trust me?"

"Pretty much!" Serah interjected cheerfully.

"Oh, I get it! Knock a princess while she's down, huh? Sure!" Kairi made a pouty a face. She noticed one of the men in line looking at her with confusedly. "What are you gawking at?"

The man cowered back, not wanting anything to do with an angry princess at the cost of his head. Kairi noticed this, and soon an evil sneer traced on her lips. She rubbed her hands together as she snickered. Her family exchanged worried glances.

"Huh, so basically whoever the dirty peasant is will be my slave that I can give personal commands to, correct?"

Merlin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that's not exactly—"

"Cool! Maybe this won't be so bad then. Having my own personal slave has always been a dream of mine."

Serah raised an eyebrow. "Since when?"

"Since none of your business." Kairi sat down in the biggest throne on the stand and made a snooty face, clapping her hands together. "Alright, commoners! Let's get this back up to speed! I don't have all day, you know!"

Everybody stared at her with mixed reactions, but not one was positive. Hope gave her a glare.

"Get out of my chair."

Sora's eye lids slowly ascended until his pupils were completely visible. His memories returned in a quick flash and he sprung up from his spot, looking around with vigilance. "Xion!"

The first thing Sora noticed was that he was in his sleeping bag. The second thing he noticed was that he was at home in the library. The third thing he noticed was that Xion was sitting at the table reading that book she had been attached to lately. His sister looked at him with and adjusted her reading glasses.

"Aw man, I was hoping you'd stay asleep," she said. "You looked like you could use the rest."

Sora rubbed his head with his eyes looking paralyzed. Was it all just a dream? It felt so real. He touched his face and felt a band aid. Then he saw that his arm was wrapped up. Okay, so it wasn't a dream then.

"What happened?"

Xion closed her book. It looked like she wasn't going to be able to get another chapter in before bed. "That Heartless handed your ass to you."

Why did she have to put it like that? Does no one ever look at the positives? Like the fact that he put forth his best effort. But no, they just want laugh at the situation.

"Kinda embarrassing…" Sora said as he raked a hand through his messy hair.

"Not many people would have been able to do much better, and that's me included. You probably did better than what your average person could do."

He sat up straight, relaxing his elbow on top of his arched knee. "Thanks…I think…" He wasn't sure if that was a compliment. "So, what happened? Did you fight that thing off?" he asked incredulously.

"And if I did?"

"Then kudos! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Too bad that's not the case."

Sora smirked. "I knew it."

"Shut up. Basically, we got hit with a stroke of luck. Cid just so happened to walk by and blasted it to death with some kind of weird tech thingy. You know how he is. If it weren't for him, we'd both be goners."

Sora looked up at the ceiling. So the Heartless were back, huh? The boy was never ardent when the topic about those creatures hit the air. They were the reason his parents died. He never made any oaths to kill every Heartless he saw, nor did he swear to avenge their deaths, Sora never had that much anger in his heart to begin with, but he didn't want to be reminded of them either. If these beings were making a comeback, it wouldn't be safe to go out into the streets, especially at this hour, when the sunset had kicked in. By the time the sun left, Heartless would definitely come out to use Radiant Garden as their own personal playground, lurking the streets for victims. They preferred being in the dark.

But how would he and his sister eat? The only way he was able to get food was by heading out into the town, but how would he be able to accomplish that without getting his heart gobbled up?

Why did life always have to dick people around so much?

"Cid helped me bring you in here," Xion continued, pulling him from his thoughts. "After he left, I fixed you back up. You should be good as new in about a day or so."

He looked at the wrapping around his arm again. "Yeah, thanks."

She placed a finger to her chin. "He said something about a meeting at the palace. There's some kind of Keyblade stuck in a stone, and whoever can pull it out must serve as the princess's protector. Any of this pique your interest?"

It did sound interesting, getting to leave this dump and go live at the palace as the princess's bodyguard. But that didn't matter, because Xion came first and foremost. He was not going to leave her for the sake of some rich revelry. As far as Sora was concerned, everyone in royalty was just a stuck up snob that didn't lift a finger once in their entire life.

"Nah, I'll pass. I need to be thinking about taking care of you first."

"But what if you are the guy to do it, then we can leave this filthy place and finally have a real meal."

"If I know anything about these royalties, I bet you that only one of us will be allowed to go." Her facial expression demoted, seeing as to how he was probably correct. "Besides, I don't think I'd be the one who'd be able to do it, anyway."

She smirked. "Yeah, I don't think you're up for the task either."

He looked at her with mock anger. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She giggled. He smiled back.

"What's with the glasses?" he asked. "You don't even need them, and they're not prescribed to you."

She pursed her lips as she adjusted them again. "But they make me feel smarterer…"

He laughed. "Well, I don't think it's working."

A loud grumble widened their eyes. Xion placed a hand to her tummy and blushed.

"Hungry, huh?" Sora asked.

"Starving."

Well, he had no choice. He couldn't let Xion go hungry. He promised to stay by her side, but he had to at least try to head into the city for her sake.

The sixteen-year-old stood to his feet. "Well, I'll go grab us something."

"Oh, no you don't! You're not going out there when the Heartless are loitering around. You stay right here, mister."

"But—"

"We can grab something tomorrow when it's daytime. More people will be out, so it won't be as dangerous. But we can go a night without something to eat."

He slouched. "But you said you were starving…"

She sighed. "I am. But we can't take the chance. I don't want you getting hurt out there, Sora." She took the glasses off and stood from the table, making her way towards him. She pointed at him accusingly. "Promise me you won't go out tonight!"

He turned his head, not really wanting to look at her in the eyes. He hated it when she got so demanding, because he knew that she knew it was hard for him to resist. "Iprmise…" he said muffled underneath his breath.

"What was that?"

"I promise…" he still said quietly.

"What?"

"I promise! Okay?"

She backed off of him with a satisfied smile. "Good!" She skipped over to her sleeping bag. "Then go ahead and get some shut-eye! You'll need it if you wanna heal up."

"Okay, you win." He tucked himself back into his sleeping bag. "But what about you?"

She waved it off. "I'll be fine! Seriously, you worry too much. Relax, okay? We'll both survive the night, so don't get all frizzy, Mr. Frizzy pants."

"Mr. Frizzy pants?"

Xion tucked herself into her sleeping bag. She took a hold of the candle that was next to her and looked at Sora one last time. "Goodnight, big brother."

He smirked. "Goodnight, Xi."

She blew the candle out and the two were immediately shrouded in darkness. Xion closed her eyes to visit the realm of her wondrous imagination. Sora's eyes never closed. Lest did she know, he was crossing when he promised her earlier.

Once he heard her faint snoring, he got straight out of the sleeping bag. He lit a match that he had in his pocket. It wasn't much light, but it was something. He managed to locate his way around the room until he came across what he was looking for: his trusty pocket knife. If only he had a gun or something so that he could defend himself against the Heartless, but sadly that reality remained dormant in his dreams. Sora placed the knife in his back pocket. He blew the match out, shook it a few times before tossing it to the side, and then ran towards the window. He opened it to be greeted with the nighttime breeze. He looked back to see Xion face lit by the moonlight, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. He sighed wearily.

It wasn't like he wanted to do this, but he had to make sure there was food on the table. And since nobody was outside right now, this was the best time to do it. "I'm sorry…"

He snuck out onto the balcony and gently closed the window, praying he'd be able to come back in one piece. Otherwise, his sister would kill him. He slid down the ladder and landed on the ground gracefully.

It was times like these when Sora wished he had some shoes. He had to walk around barefoot every day, and it was quite prickly.

Sora walked cautiously, skimming his hand against the wall of the library to lead him out of the alleyway. He did as such and was greeted with the night sky, and a full moon smiling at him. Or was it frowning? He couldn't tell.

Sora walked around the lifeless streets of Radiant Garden. This town wasn't what it used to be, but it was still a very beautiful place to live in. So far, so good. Not a Heartless in sight. The boy stopped in his tracks once he saw a cart full of meat was laid out in the open. It looked like a haven to him. Usually, people forgot little things like lettuce or apples, but not full-blown food like this. Sora ran towards the cart like he was a kid who spotted a candy shop.

He salivated to the sight. Where did he start? It all looked so delicious. Sora came to the realization that he forgot to bring his backpack. He slapped his forehead for having such a derp moment. He decided to let it go. He'd just have to keep coming back and forth until he got a satisfying amount. It wasn't like the library was too far from there. He started grabbing as much as he could and stuffed his hands with provisions like turkey, salami, baloney—anything in sight.

His smile told the whole story. Xion was going to be so proud of him after she got done scolding him about leaving this late, but it'd all be worth it.

He turned around and ended up bumping into a soft, plump belly that had seemingly been waiting on him. He looked up with a traumatized face. It was Pete, sneering at him mischievously. He had guards standing on both sides of him giving the boy a similar stare.

Sora chuckled nervously. "Hiya, boys…what are you guys doing out here so late?"

"His Majesty sent us out here to check on the Heartless situation to make sure it didn't get too crazy. We don't need an infestation, ya know?" He used a finger to pounce Sora on the chest. "What I ain't know was that we had a street rat infestation too, hehe!"

Sora gulped before looking out in the open area and pointed at something. "Holy crap, is that the queen walking around in a bathing suit at this hour?!"

The body guards looked around with their perverted goggles initiated. It wasn't a secret that a majority of the male residents in the town had a crush on their queen, and that included the guards.

"Huh?"

"Where is she?"

"I wanna see Queen Claire in a bathing suit!"

"I want her step on my crotch while she spits in my eye!"

Sora tried to not let that last comment paint any unnecessary visuals as he crawled under Pete's legs with him inattentive. He sprinted away.

Pete looked back down and noticed his sight missing an annoying spiky-haired brat. He turned around and saw Sora running off with some ham in his hand.

"Get that little punk! I want his head as a trophy, I tell yas!"

The guards forgot about their fantasies and chased after the kid. Sora noticed but continued running. He could sneak home by going through the shortcut, slipping into the dark along the way, but he felt the need to teach these guys a lesson so that they could get off his trail. He stopped and looked around at his surroundings to see if he could use anything to his advantage. Come on, hurry! He had to improvise.

Sora saw a cart with oranges in it. He snapped his fingers once he thought of a plan. The boy ran over to where the cart was, the guards followed inevitably. Sora slid on the ground while making sure he kept the ham protected close to his chest. He whipped out his pocket knife cut the bottom hinges on the cart, allowing the oranges to plop on the ground freely. The guards ended up slipping on the bowling balls of fruit.

Slapstick was a useful method to Sora's style. It was used as comedy in the movies, but he knew first hand that if those stunts were pulled in real life it'd be no laughing matter.

Sora laughed maniacally at their misfortune. "Is this what I'm up against? I've had more trouble getting rid of the fruit flies at my place."

"You laugh now, but Pete's gonna get you!" one of them yelled, before tripping once again.

Sora backed up, preparing to make his escape. "Like I care. You think I'm scared of him? He can kiss my—" Sora bumped into a similar plump belly from earlier. "He's right behind me, isn't he? Seriously, this joke is getting old…"

Sora turned around and it was Pete, inevitably.

"What were you saying?" the gruff man asked.

"I was saying that I think we've come far enough in our relationship that I think I can tell you just how much I've come to grow fond of you." He pulled a list out of his back pocket, which was really just his to-do list that had nothing to do with the fat officer. But Sora felt like being a little overconfident. "Dear Pete, you are the best pal I've ever had."

Pete groaned. This kid's stupid jokes were annoying and distracting.

"I don't think you're all that bad, Pete. People I know always tell me that you're a big, fat, smelly, gross, disgusting, fat, sloppy, contaminated, unhygienic, uncoordinated slob. Did I mention the fat part?"

Pete groaned.

"Oh, okay. I did. Anyway, the point is—"

Wait a second, why was Pete listening to this? He bear hugged Sora violently, crushing his torso with his arms. Sora struggled to get out of his grasp.

"I got you now, you arrogant little twerp!" Pete snarled as he squeezed Sora harder. "You got a smart mouth for somebody whose bones are about to get crushed! This could all go smoothly if just shut that trap of yas…"

Like hell if Sora was going to just give up like that. He bit Pete's thumb, sinking his teeth into it with the most jaw movement he could deliver.

Pete let go of Sora and began shaking his thumb, sucking on it to ease the pain.

Sora gently placed a hand on his ribs. Come on, Sora, nothing too bad. Maybe just a few cracked ribs. Baby stuff…

He didn't waste any time and shuffled his feet. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention and ended up slipping on the oranges he had laid out for the guards. The boy couldn't stop himself and ended up crashing into a wall. He could practically see stars orbiting around his forehead.

He saw Pete looking down at him with a triumphant sneer. "Looks like that ego of yours finally bit you on the butt! I knew it would eventually."

Damn it, he should have listened to Xion. In hindsight, he could have gotten away easily, but like Pete (and Xion) said, his luck must have finally ran out. He had to admit, his ego was pretty big when it came to this kind of thing, but he never pictured himself capable of defeat. He should have seen it coming because his usual luck with stealing had been on edge.

"You're comin' with me, kid. I've been waitin' years for this!"

"Uh, to where…?"

"Where do ya think, ya nimrod? To prison!"

And that was the dagger. Sora could now officially admit it to himself...

His luck finally ran out.

I thank everybody for supporting this story! I'm glad there are people liking it already, because it hasn't even truly begun yet.

Don't worry, Sora and Kairi are going to meet each other very soon, so stay tuned! If I work hard enough, I might be able to get the next chap up within the next day. I hope you liked it and drop a review please!