Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own any part of Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II. The concepts and characters belong to SquareEnix and to Disney. I thank them humbly for allowing me to portray their characters in my story.

A/N: It's Chapter Four!! I actually did a little bit of research for this chapter in order to keep all of the facts straight. Yes, yes, I give you some answers in this chapter... kind of. Not really. And a little bit of Sora/Riku?? WHAT?? ...Just kidding. Kind of. What? Yes! On with the story!!!! [And please excuse my craziness. (^^)Y]

Oh, a quick side note: Thank you for all the lovely reviews!! And to people like kit572and faithwolff14 who alert/favorite/READ the story without reviewing, shame on you! Let me know what you like and don't like! Let me know how to improve my writing or how much my writing PWNS! Give me a hello, anything! Please? Thank you! Now, let's get on with it!

Nobody's Journey

Chapter Four: Initiative

Leon hovered over Cid's shoulder, watching intently as Cid typed away at the old dinosaur of a computer back at the base. He just couldn't figure out why the Nobodies were back in town, and it was eating away at him. Did the walls between the worlds mean nothing to them? Did Sora's Keyblade have absolutely no power over them? Or had the Organization somehow regained control and were now coming back into power?

With the Nobodies appearing at the castle, Leon had lost his precious access to the super computer. Without access, he had no answers, and he was extremely irritable because of it. On top of it all, there had been no word of warning from the king. Was Radiant Garden the only world the Nobodies chose to infiltrate? Not possible.

"Leon, stop that damned pacing!" Cid burst, spinning around in his chair. "And give me some damned space, for Pete's sake. I can't concentrate with you breathing down my neck all the time!"

Muttering an apology, Leon stalked to the window, crossing his arms across his chest in frustration. It was then that he caught sight of two familiar figures approaching the headquarters in much haste.

"Leon!!" King Mickey's voice rang through the air as he and Kairi burst through the front door. "There are Nobodies attacking your castle!"

Leon stared blankly at the king.

"Thanks for the warning, Your Majesty, but you're a little late." He tilted his head toward Cid. "We've been working on that one for a few days now."

"Where are Yuffie and the others?" Kairi asked, her eyes scanning the room.

"They're all out scouting," Leon explained, crossing over to look over Cid's shoulder yet again and ignoring the dirty look Cid shot him once he did. "We're all trying to figure out why those things are back and what they want with that castle."

Mickey watched Leon's expression shift from indifference to impatience as apparently Cid's research had failed to shed any light onto the situation. It looked like Leon had even less of an idea as to where this all started than the king did, himself. The king sighed, understanding how stressed and worried Leon must have felt this whole time.

"I wish we had some answers for you." Mickey offered a smile to his old friend. "But we might have a lead."

Leon's eyes shot over to the king, a spark of hope lighting his features. Leave it to the king to come bringing a light to lead their way. He gestured for Mickey and Kairi to take a seat, and he leaned against the desk beside Cid so that he could still peak at the computer screen every once in a while, much to Cid's discontent.

"All right," he said once the two were comfortable, "enlighten me."

Sora leapt backwards, panting heavily as he slid the back of his hand across his sweating forehead. The mass of Nobodies swarming around him seemed to have neither beginning nor end. Mustering what felt like the last dregs of his energy, he clutched his Keyblade before him and shot off a few rounds of Firaga, vanquishing the front line of Dusks in an explosion of fiery magic. It didn't even seem to scratch the surface. Sora smirked at the challenge. Sure, it had been a year or two since he'd last had a chance to make use of his combat skills, but it never crossed his mind he'd be back in the middle of an endless army battling for his life. The familiar rush of adrenaline set his every limb ablaze with excitement, and his exhaustion was nothing at all.

With a soft thud, Riku landed beside his friend, wearing a similar kind of electrified expression. He shot Sora a half smile and tossed him an Ether.

"You're more out of shape than I thought," he teased, adding a playful elbow prod. Sora stuck out a tongue in response but gratefully downed the item and felt instantly refreshed.

"I'm surprised you even have any medicine with you," he remarked as he tossed the empty bottle behind him. "It's not like we expected to be facing off with any Nobodies anytime soon."

"Are you kidding?" Riku readjusted his grip on his Keyblade as he spoke. "I know the King has good intentions and all, but trust me, any news from him is usually bad."

Sora laughed along with his friend, and together they darted back into the fray. Sora was aware of Riku at his side despite the smoke from vanishing Dusks clouding his vision. Sora swung his Keyblade easily, as if he had done so every day since he saved Kingdom Hearts for the second time, and his weapon cut through the Nobodies as if they were nothing more than air. As long as Riku fought by his side, Sora had a good feeling they'd be able to clear this impossible mass of Dusks before too long. After all, they had taken on much worse together. They had survived Kingdom Hearts together. They could certainly eliminate this useless swarm together, too.

The surrounding group of Dusks vanquished, a kind of clearing formed around the two Keyblade wielders. Sora took the chance to look over at his friend. Yes, he was certainly grateful that his friend was back in his life. After nearly two years of world-hopping, Heartless-slaying, and general good-deed-doing, all the while searching for Riku, it was admittedly strange to fight alongside him again. It almost felt surreal, as if in an instant he would vanish again.

Sora blinked out of his thoughts when Riku caught his gaze and gave him a quizzical look. Sora flashed a sheepish smile and shook his head. There was no need to say anything embarrassing; Riku would just tease him about it later. Before Riku had a chance to ask, Sora took off toward the next wave of Nobodies, Keyblade at the ready. It didn't take long for Riku to follow suit, and within instants the two were completely absorbed in their destructive dance.

No, there was definitely no need to say anything at all.

The view from the great glass windows of the Grey Area seemed just as Roxas had remembered. However, one monumental sight was missing: Kingdom Hearts itself. As Roxas stood beside the glass and took in the dark night sky, his mind drifted to that faraway day, a day he saw through Sora's eyes. Yes, he remembered it quite clearly, that brilliantly shimmering door that led the way to the heart of all worlds. And inside, the master of Organization XIII, Xemnas himself, waited, with all of the wisdom and power of the great Kingdom Hearts at his fingertips. And yet, even there at the heart of hearts, with the countless hearts that Roxas—and even Sora, though unwittingly—collected for the cause of becoming "Somebodies," it seemed to all be for naught. Xemnas was defeated as nothing more than the Nobody he was. The hearts he had taken into himself to aid his rampage had done nothing to change that fact. Involuntarily, Roxas released a long sigh. Was it really an impossible feat, to be somebody?

Well, according to Miki's logic, it may not be. Roxas closed his eyes thought back to their earlier conversation. He hadn't been surprised to find out that Miki was a Nobody, just as they all were. What was surprising, however, was how similar her proposal had been to the driving goal of the Organization. As expected, it had made Axel pretty angry.

"Where have you been, lady?" Axel had barked. "It doesn't matter how many hearts you collect, it won't do you any good. We're not supposed to exist! No amount of useless fighting is going to change that! We can't just keep taking hearts hoping that one of them is a match and makes us human. Tough luck, but it's just not going to work!"

"Axel has a point," Roxas added softly, glancing between his friend and the winged newcomer. "Even when Xemnas had managed to create Kingdom Hearts, he never became a person. There wasn't a heart in there that changed anything."

Despite their opposition, Miki let a smile draw across her face. She hovered across from the sofa where the two boys sat together, legs crossed neatly before her. When Roxas finished his argument, she raised a slender finger and waved it at them. Roxas and Axel exchanged suspicious glances but waited for Miki to refute them.

"Of course none of those hearts did any good," Miki agreed, her fuchsia eyes sparkling with some delight in knowing something they didn't. "It's because the heart he lost wasn't among them. I believe a man called Riku had it in his possession."

Roxas's eyes widened, and beside him Axel stiffened.

"You mean to tell me that it's still possible to go back to being human? If we find our own hearts!?" Axel jumped out of his seat before the words were out of his mouth, and he slammed his fists on the coffee table before him, bringing his eyes level with Miki's. The fairy girl responded with a mere smile and shrug, unafraid of his violence.

"It's a theory," she responded dismissively. "It's more plausible than your beloved Xemnas's plot was, though, don't you think? I mean think about it. Every person is unique, right? Why shouldn't their hearts be the same?" She held up that same finger pointedly as she explained her reasoning. "You need to find the heart that fits with the person."

The heart that fits with the person... Roxas repeated her words in her head now as he gazed into the deep nothingness that made up the Castle that Never Was's view. He knew what a weight Miki's words had placed on Axel—Roxas was probably the only one who knew just how desperately Axel wanted to be complete again. But why couldn't Roxas share his anticipation? No, he knew why. His thoughts drifted to Sora, living, breathing Sora, who had once succumb to the darkness and been resurrected from his Heartless form. The heart that could make Roxas whole again was residing inside not a Heartless, but a human. There was no way for Roxas to become complete without merging with Sora as he had before. But was that really what he wanted, to live a life watching through another person's eyes?

Roxas's attention drifted to Namine, who sat across the room with Miki, conversing and laughing lightheartedly. He watched her as she spoke, without hearing, and wondered whether she felt the same way. Kairi was the same as Sora, after all. Would Namine be contented to be an observer for the rest of her life? Never to act on her own will again? If they were to return to completeness, they would be prisoners.

So their options were to live without a heart or without a will? Roxas sighed again and returned his gaze to the darkness outside the window. Soon that sky would be illuminated by Kingdom Hearts, and the search for Axel's and Miki's hearts would begin. The path ahead was a long one, and not necessarily one Roxas was excited to take, but he felt that he owed Axel that much at least. He wasn't sure what awaited them at the end of the road, nor whether he would end up as nothing more than a voice in Sora's head in the end, but he knew that there was nothing but to embark on this new journey.