Disclaimer: Square Enix and Disney kingdom hearts :D

The Highwind landed with a thud on the sands of Destiny Islands. Though it wasn't a very smooth landing, it was much better then the last time it had disembarked on the island less than 24 hours ago.

"I said I was sorry!!" Yuffie whined. "Geeeze, when are you going to let it go?"

The man in the seat beside her just shook his head. "Not until I see a proper landing from you. A little harder, and we would have had to run repairs on it…again!"

Yuffie swore. "Pshhh my landing was just fine." She crossed her arms and nodded her head to emphasize her point.

Leon watched the two argue, and it reminded him of another time. The memory took hold of him, and it began to materialize, replacing what was actually happening in front of him. Suddenly he was no longer in the Highwind, but in the Ragnorak. The room was flooded with more light and people from his past stood in place of the ones in the present. Yuffie became Selphie, flying the Ragnorak with an excessive amount of enthusiasm. Beside her was Irvine, flailing his arms like a crazy person. He was panicking and telling her to slow down. The memory was almost enough to prop a laugh out of serious and unyielding Leon.

Irvine Kinneas…Leon repeated the name in his head. It was funny, he hadn't thought about Irvine in a long time, but then again, he hadn't thought about Selphie either until he had seen her alive and breathing the previous night. The memory faded and he was back in the Highwind, watching Yuffie fume at the redhead man.

"Keep telling yourself that sweetheart…"

"Oh that's it! You're going down!" Yuffie was ready to launch herself at him.

"Alright….enough!" Leon raised his voice. "Yuffie, let's go."

Yuffie turned to follow Leon.

"What, I'm not invited?" the man sitting in the chair next to the Driver's seat raised his eyebrows in mock disappointment.

Leon stopped and shook his head toward him. " Not a good idea. We'll have to explain once they're here on the ship."

The first thing Sora registered when he woke up the next morning was the sound of the rushing waves. They sounded to close to be coming from outside his window. Sora sat up from the sand and squinted in the soft morning light. Right in front of him the ocean waves stirred, and yellow light shone over the horizon where the sun would soon rise. "Oh yeah."

Memories of the night before flooded his thoughts and he understood why his muscles slightly ached. Granted, he had been through battles much worse than what he fought through the previous night, but he had been living the life of a normal school boy, and he had not fought an enemy for survival in a long while. Not to mention he had barely had a couple hours of sleep.

After fighting the heartless and re-locking the keyhole he had rushed back home to change out of his uniform. A huge bout of guilt weighted down on his shoulders when his mother had yelled at him for coming home so late. He knew that once he stepped onto that gummi ship, he wouldn't be coming home for a long time. He kissed his mom and apologized for being so late. Then he went up to his room where he wrote a goodbye note, and prepared for the next morning.

Though he had outgrown most of his old battle wear, his shoulder plates and belt still fit. So he chose some cargo pants with plenty of pockets for supplies, and a short-sleeved sweatshirt to pare with his old gear. He grabbed various key chains and potions, shoved them in his pockets and snuck out his window.

And so there he was, enjoying the soft gentle breeze that came off the shores of his home.

There was a soft grunt that came from his left: Kairi was sleeping beside him. She had changed out of her uniform too. Her long crimson hair was tied up in a ponytail, leaving a couple bangs in her face. She was wearing a jean skirt with pink tights that went just above her knees. Her favourite black bag was fastened around her waist and clipped to the left side of it was her lucky charm, the one that allowed Sora to use the 'Oathkeeper.'

He stared at her eyelids, thinking about the beautiful blue that lay behind them. But he realized that her soft features did not display the serene relaxed expression she usually displayed when she was asleep. She was nervous and frustrated about something, kinda like she was in some sort of conflict. Sora considered waking her, but he didn't want to disrupt her rest. He sighed and settled for placing a hand on her shoulder "I'll keep you safe Kairi." He said softly. Kairi's expression seemed to ease with his touch.

Sora rested his eyes as he lay next to Kairi. He stayed blissfully that way for only a moment.

"Rise and shine kids!!" Sora jumped as Yuffie had seemingly come out of nowhere.

Kairi looked stunned and had to gather herself and remember where she was, just as Sora had done a few moments earlier. She blushed at the realization that Sora had his arm around her shoulders.

"Oh you two are too cute!" Yuffie beamed.

Sora took his arm back, and he and Kairi looked away from each other shyly. He wished people would stop saying that. Roxas laughed at his embarrassment. As he began to stand up, Yuffie gasped.

"You've grown so much more since I last seen you!" She touched the top of his forehead as if she were measuring his height. "Your taller, and you look older too!"

Kairi giggled and Yuffie rounded on her too. "You too! I swear you were…" She raised a hand to indicate the height, "only this tall when I first saw you!"

Kairi shrugged, Sora scratched his head. "I guess a lot has changed in two years…" He searched for something to say to Yuffie, but through his eyes, well she hadn't changed at all. He laughed. "It's great to see you!"

Yuffie smiled. It was then the two saw Leon standing nearby. He stood beside Yuffie shaking his head a little. "Alright, enough messing around." He turned to Sora. "I noticed the lack of heartless around here. I assume it went well then."

Sora nodded.

"Great, well done. We'll have to discuss it once we're on the ship…it's parked just beyond that bend." Leon pointed in the direction behind him. Sora was amazed at Leon's ability to always stay on track; he hadn't even heard a 'good morning' from the man and they were already talking about leaving.

Yuffie put her hands on her hips "So then let's get goin—! Wait someone's missing…where's Riku?"

It wasn't like Riku to be late for something like this. They all looked around for him, and right on queue they heard his unmistakable, serious, no-nonsense tone:

"Quit following me! Go home."

They walked toward the direction his voice had carried from. Riku was reprimanding a puppy-faced Selphie, who had guiltily stuck her head out from behind a tree. "Ple-e-e-e-ase…?" She whined.

"I'm serious Selphie; you're not involved in this and you don't have to be." Riku argued sternly with her, not noticing the others were close by.

Selphie abandoned her effort to hide, and strode toward Riku with a determined look on her face. "If you have the choice to be involved, then so do I! You're my friends and I want to help!"

"My choices have already been made complicated by the ones I've made in the past. Friend or not, go home!"

The tension between the two was felt by the others standing nearby. Selphie and Riku stood their ground and seemed loyal to their convictions. Clearly, Selphie was determined to help, and it was never a good sign when Riku brought up his internal conflicts of the past. Sora had a feeling that neither of them would budge anytime soon, and so he had to step in. He placed himself between Riku and Selphie and turned to his best friend. "Easy Riku..." Then he turned to Selphie. "Thanks for everything Selph, you helped us out last night, but Riku's right, you don't fully understand what you're getting into."

Selphie shook her head. "But you don't understand, I need to…" She hesitated, her voice losing volume, "…I need to find out some stuff…"

Selphie's response trailed off. She didn't feel like explaining her blank past to everyone who was standing there. She hoped her vague plead would be enough to persuade them to let her come. She looked toward Kairi who was looking as if she was trying to think of something to say. Selphie knew her friend understood her needs and that if anyone there would back her up it would be her.

Then, she looked at Leon. The man carried an unreadable expression, but he was looking at her and not through her. Selphie didn't fully understand it, but she felt like he understood her too. She wanted to know why…she wanted to know who this man was and where he came from.

"Selphie we'll be okay, and before you know it, the three of us will be back on the island…" Sora was still trying to persuade Selphie to go home as he was completely oblivious to the emotional staring contest Selphie had initiated with Leon and Kairi.

"Let her come." Kairi suddenly spoke. She didn't want to say anything that caused more tension for Selphie and she hoped her expression was intense enough to convince Riku and Sora that she needed to come. She needs to understand…

Riku just crossed his arms and shook his head. He was not giving in that easy. As far as he was concerned Kairi shouldn't be coming either…

Leon crossed his arms. "She can come."

"What--?" Sora cocked his head sideways. He would never in a million years expect Leon to cave to request like this so easily. He wasn't known from straying away from the task at hand, he always remained focused, and frowned upon any distractions.

"You heard me. She comes. She's made her choice its no use arguing over it. If the four of you keep making an argument out of everything, we'll never get off this island." Leon turned around made a hand gesture that said hurry up. "This way."

Selphie moved ahead quickly just in case anyone changed their minds. Thank you…

"Whatever." Riku breathed, it seemed Leon would not permit him to win any battles.

"Relax Riku, she has her reasons for wanting to come." Kairi said putting a hand on his shoulder.

As they turned the bend, the gummi ship came into view. Leon slowed his pace, looking at the teens with a side-glance. "Listen…" How do I…? Well, they have to know…and someone has to tell them… "…we have some new members on our team."

"Really? That's great. I'd love to meet them!" Sora said enthusiastically.

"Well…" Yuffie bit her lip. "You kind of…already met them."

Sora scratched his head thinking about whom they could be talking about. Someone I already met?…Who's on the team? It had to be someone from one of the worlds. "Errrm…is Aladdin one of them? He was always offering to help in anyway he could."

"Um no…I've never met an Aladdin…" Yuffie seemed to be talking slower then she would normally.

"Is it—?" Sora was ready to launch into reciting a great list of all the friends he had made in his travels, but Leon cut him off.

"—Well, due to circumstances we really don't comprehend yet, it seems Organization XIII is not all gone…" Leon began, and mentally prepared himself for whatever came next.

The three Keyblade wielders all stopped in their tracks. Sora's jaw dropped. "What?! What do you mean?! That's impossible, I—!"

"—We," Riku's spoke matching Sora's shock. "We destroyed them!"

"Well… they're not destroyed anymore…" Yuffie said a little sarcastically, rubbing the back of her neck, trying to make light of the discussion.

"How do you guys know this?!" Sora looked between Yuffie and Leon, unable to understand. But…they're gone! Done! Finished! What's going on?! He took a deep breath and quieted his mind. "Okay, you know what? Let's just hurry and get on the ship so we can discuss this." And with that, Sora picked up his pace and jogged ahead toward the gummi ship, all thoughts of the new members forgotten.

"Sora, wait!" Yuffie called desperately. But he was already too far ahead to hear her. "…And he's gone. You think you could have been a little quicker with the explanation Leon?"

Leon glared at her. Whatever.

Sora reached the hatch of the gummi ship and propped it open. As soon as he stepped inside and saw who was occupying the central room of the ship, he took a step back in shock.

"You!" He pointed accusingly at the young man sitting comfortably with his feet up on the table. The blond had his eyes closed as he listened to his headphones. He hummed happily to his tunes until he saw Sora standing at the entrance with a fierce expression on his face. He jumped out of his seat. "Gaaaah!"

"You!!" Sora said again, louder, now that he had his full attention. Then it dawned on him…Organization XIII has commandeered the ship!

Roxas scoffed. What are you a pirate?

Sora ignored his nobody. He was a little irritated that he wasn't taking the Organization XIII seriously. This is Organization XIII! They're back, somehow, and they've taken over the ship!

Relax, it's just Demyx. He's not a fighter.

Sora laughed out loud. You've never fought him before, have you? Sora stared Demyx down. "You better prepare for a fight…you and whoever else you brought along with you…because you are all going down!"

The blond looked staggered, waving his hands in front of his face defensively. "No, wait I can explain!" He stammered.

Sora summoned his Keyblade, and was ready for battle. His eyes darted back and fourth from Demyx's face and Demyx's hand, anticipating the water wielder's attack. But the attack never came. Instead, the blond was running away, scampering toward the next room.

Sora relaxed his stance and cocked an eyebrow. "Hey! Get back here!" His legs worked automatically and began to follow him.

However, just as the blond reached the doorframe, another figure blocked his only way out.

"Axel! Axel!" Demyx nearly collided with the taller man standing in his way. "Hide me! He's trying to kill me!" The blond tried to hide behind the redhead, but Axel rolled his eyes and just grabbed him by the collar and shoved him toward Sora. The shove was enough to get Demyx's feet tangled in with Sora's legs.

"Don't be such a wimp Demyx!" Axel said in a half annoyed, half amused tone. And Demyx and Sora tumbled toward the ground, each trying to get away from the other.

Roxas was laughing hysterically at the situation and at his fellow Organization member's antics. Oh man, they haven't changed at all.

I'm glad you find this so amusing. Sora told Roxas bitterly, trying to get the heavy water wielder off of him. "Move! Get off!"

"Axel! Why did you do that for?!"

…I can't believe you ever felt threatened by Demyx…

Shut up.

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed it. Thankyou to everyone who has reviewed. Thanks for the cookies, i love cookies :D Special thanks to my editor 3

The plot will pick up next chapter :D, please review!