Meanwhile
Three friends crouched along a dimly lit stone tunnel. At the other end a small cave opened up to a world of childhood memories. Roots from the trees above wove around the stones. The marks of a child's hands were present on every rock as high as a child could reach. Images of other worlds, monsters, houses and stars had been scribbled over nearly every inch of the rocks. Although many of these drawings were many years old, they looked as though they had been etched only moments before.
"It won't be too long before we won't be able to go inside the Secret Place anymore," Said a young man with spiky hair. He led the little group out of the tunnel.
"Yeah," A girl in a pink dress behind him agreed. "We'd better make the most of these old memories while we can."
"Do kids even come here anymore?" The second young man asked. "I mean, I haven't se-Ow!"
The tallest had just proven his friends point perfectly by running into a ceiling stone with his forehead.
"You ok, Riku?"
"No, Kairi. Countless battles against savage Heartless, Nobodies and Organization Thirteen couldn't have prepared me for a bump on the head from a low ceiling. The agony is unbearable."
Kairi took the sarcasm in stride and laughed, as did leader of the line, Sora.
The three friends stood outside the entrance of the Secret Place for a while. The waves quietly sang their eternal song. The gentle island breeze through the trees joined in and the babbling of the waterfall next to them created the perfect symphony. Looking over this haven with its lush vegetation, fine white sands, crystal clear waters and atmosphere of peace, they wondered how they could have ever wanted to leave. Even though they had had wonderful adventures in other worlds and had done great things for so many great friends, it would be a lie to say their minds didn't drift back to their peaceful island from time to time.
A few weeks had passed in blissful calm after the Organization had fallen. Riku's injuries had healed completely. Heartless had once again retreated to the shadows. The gates to the worlds had closed again. Donald, Goofy and the King had gone back to Disney Castle. Sora for one, hadn't felt the least bit sad. If there was one thing he'd learned throughout h many journeys, there was never such thing as a true goodbye. Only, 'c'ya 'til next time!'. Besides, what force in any of the countless worlds had the power to keep such an odd trio of heroes apart?
Suddenly, amidst their musings something big in the sky sped past them.
"What was that?" Kairi gasped.
"Were those…people?" Riku asked, not sure how that could be possible.
"Let's go check it out!" Sora led the way through the wooden shack to the stairs that went to the Bridge.
Riku and Kairi stood in the middle of the bridge and were able to catch a quick glimpse of the figures before they disappeared behind the trees. Sora had climbed a coconut tree and stood at the top, hoping to get a better look.
"See anything?" Kairi called up to him.
"Those were people, all right." Sora shielded his eyes with his hands to make sure the bright sun didn't interfere with what he was seeing. "And they're flying! I mean really flying! Like on Captain Hook's pirate ship!"
"But that doesn't make any sense." Riku said. "Even you can only Glide at the best of times and that kind of ability doesn't exist on Des-"
"I see them!" Sora exclaimed the second the strangers came into view.
"Where are they?" Kairi asked. "What are they doing?"
"They've stopped." Sora answered. "They're not moving, just… sort've floating above the island. I could be wrong, but from what I can see I think it's a boy and a girl. "
"I don't get it." Riku said. "They've got to be from another world but, I thought all the gates had closed. How did they get here?"
"Well, why don't we ask them?" Sora said. "Be right back."
"What are you planning?"
But Sora already had his Keyblade in hand. With a Hi Jump he leapt into the air and caught himself with Glide. Then, summoning a gust of Wind created an updraft that carried him high into the sky. Steering was a little tricky. He hadn't really given this plan much thought and he'd never tried anything like that before. Thankfully the strangers had seen him coming and met him half way. It was incredible. They really weren't Gliding. They were flying just as freely as Peter Pan. Sora said a cheerful "hello" which they returned. So far they seemed pleasant enough. They looked him over, at each other, then back to him.
"Are we wrong to assume that you're Sora?" The girl asked.
"Nope! That's me! How did you know who I wa-whoaoa!" Sora's balance on the wind had faltered. He corrected it but still had the problem that Gliding was a slow, steady descent over a great height or distance. It wasn't real flying. "Could we talk on the ground?"
The boy laughed. "Yeeeah. You look like you're about to fall from the sky."
Honest and not spoken with malice. Again, they appeared to be good people. Sora Glided back down to the Bridge and the strangers followed. Sora let himself drop the last six or so feet. The new boy did the same. The girl remained floating at the side of the bridge but had lowered herself to be at eye-level with everyone.
"That is amazing." Kairi said, watching the new girl float. The occasional gold sparkle would glitter around her.
"That is so cool!" Sora agreed. "Who are you guys? How did you get here? And how can you do that?"
"I'm Bryan," Said the boy. "And that's my sister, Rachel."
Rachel made an elegant mid-air bow.
"You already guessed who I am. These are my best friends, Riku and Kairi." Sora introduced.
"They already knew who you were?" Riku asked.
"Well, guessed." Bryan answered. "We were told this is where we could find him."
"By whom?" Riku asked skeptically.
"Master Yen Sid sent us here saying this is where we could find the other Keyblade wielders." Rachel answered.
"You know Master Yen Sid?!" Sora exclaimed. This was getting better by the minute. "How is-"
"Wait a minute," Kairi cut him off. "Other Keyblade wielders? Then does that mean? You both?"
Rachel and Bryan grinned a you-better-believe-it grin and their Keyblades appeared in their hands. The three friends jumped back a little, startled. Kairi looked adoringly at the glistening jewels of Rachel's Moonlit Majesty. Sora looked about as excited as a puppy who knew it was time to go outside to play. He held out his hand and called the Kingdom Key. He looked at Riku to do the same. Seconds later SoulEater appeared. Kairi hadn't been able to call forth a Keyblade since the battle in the World That Never Was.
"This is amazing!" Sora said.
"But how is this possible?" Riku said. "Where have you been that we've never seen you before? How do we not know about you?"
"Riku, relax." Kairi said with a smile as she gently punched him in the arm. "This is an exciting time! I'm sure they have questions for us too."
"Master Yen Sid told us about you." Bryan said. "Not in great detail but that you were Keyblade wielders and had defeated great forces of darkness more than once."
"The rest I think he left out for when we met you in person." Rachel added. She finally landed on the bridge.
"Ok, first question. How can you two fly? I could fly freely on Captain Hook's pirate ship because of a pixie named Tinker Bell's magic a few years ago but never anywhere else."
"We saved the Pixie Dust tree back in Pixie Hollow on our first adventure and as a thank you the fairy queen, Queen Clarion gave us a share of the pixie dust that lets us fly." Bryan gently patted a small pouch on his belt as he spoke.
"I remember Tinker Bell mentioning you!" Rachel said happily. "She said she granted you the magic to summon her when you needed help."
"Yeah," Sora said, fondly remembering. "She saved my neck in a few tough fights with her magic. You must also know Peter Pan to know what Tinker Bell said."
"We know Peter," Bryan said. "But it wasn't because of him we knew about Tink's adventures."
"But…how do you know what Tinker Bell said without Peter telling you?"
"Beeecause she told us herself." Rachel said.
"But I thought only Peter could understand her." Sora said, a confused look spreading across his face.
"Normally we couldn't either," Rachel explained. "Until she shrunk us to fairy-size with special dust."
"That's possible?!" Sora exclaimed. "How did-"
"How 'bout we go somewhere a bit more comfortable since this is obviously going to take a while. And we might have to change the topic so these two don't feel so excluded." Bryan cut it.
"Why don't we just go down to the beach?" Kairi suggested. "It will be more comfortable to sit in the sand than stand here."
Riku made a noise and nod of agreement. The three boys jumped down from the bridge to the beach below. Kairi understandably didn't want to jump, especially in a skirt. Just as she was going to take the long way down, Rachel took her by the hand and told her to jump. When they did, Rachel gracefully flew them down.
They talked for hours about their adventures. Questions were answered. Clarifications and explanations were made on both sides. Everyone had a chance to share their story. From when Rachel and Bryan were invited by a blue man to learn about their new weapons and to when the Destiny Islands lost its heart and began Sora, Riku and Kairi's adventure. Battles with Heartless. Nobodies. Organization Thirteen. It was quite a surprise to hear Rachel and Bryan had been confronted by a figure in a black coat a few times.
Eventually the sky blazed deep crimson and all the stories hadn't been touched on yet. Throats were parched yet no one wanted to leave. There was so much more to be said. But the appearance of thousands of stars said it was time to call it quits for the night.
"Do you two have a place to stay tonight?" Riku asked.
"You could come back to the main island and stay with one of us." Kairi offered.
"Thanks but we've got our own place." Bryan said.
"Really?" Sora asked. "Where?"
"On King." Rachel said.
Bryan pointed off on the horizon.
"King?" Riku said. "What's 'king?'"
"The name of our ship." Rachel answered. "The Sky King. Or just the King. It's where we stay when off-world."
"See you tomorrow?" Bryan asked.
"Absolutely!" Sora said. "We'll all meet right back here tomorrow morning."
They said good night to Bryan and Rachel and headed back to their boats. Sora turned just in time to see the siblings flying over the water back to their ship. Perhaps tomorrow they could see what a space ship that wasn't a gummi ship looked like. It truly had been an exciting day. Two other Keyblade wielders had been buzzing around the worlds the way he had and he never knew it. For a time Sora had wondered if he was the only one. Like maybe only one Keyblade wielder could exist at a time. Riku was supposed to be the Keyblades master but now had SoulEater.
"Soooooo, Riku." Kairi said with a sly smile. She rode in the same boat as Sora, only two oars lengths away from Riku's small boat. "What did you think of Rachel?"
"She seems really nice. Why?"
"Did you see the way she was looking at you?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kairi giggled. "I think she thinks you're cute."
"Excuse me?" Riku stopped rowing. "What makes you think that?"
Kairi giggled harder. "Well, for one thing, have you looked at yourself lately? Second, you both forget, I was here leading a quote 'normal' life while you two were away getting into trouble. I did learn a thing or two about the unspoken language between boys and girls. And let me tell you, she was eyeing you with some interest and I think you think she's a little more than just 'ok'."
Riku cast a pleading 'help me' glance at Sora but seeing his friends stupid grin knew he wasn't getting any.
"Is it just the last red rays of the sunset or is he blushing?" Sora asked Kairi in an I-want-him-to-hear-every-word-but-I'll-talk-as-if-it's-supposed-to-be-a-big-secret sort of way.
"I do not blush!" Riku snapped defensively.
Sora did an annoying, whatever-you-got-to- tell-yourself shrug.
Surely for Riku this was going to be a very long row back to shore.
The first thing Rachel and Bryan did when they got back to their ship was march straight to the galley, formed a huge ice chunk in a large pot, melted it with Fire then cooled it again with Blizzard and got very large ladles and started drinking like a dehydrated camel.
"I have never been so grateful for water in my life." Rachel gasped after taking a ridiculously large gulp.
Bryan didn't need to agree. His loud gulps spoke for themselves. "And I've never been so glad to meet someone new before." He said when he could finally breathe. "We've only known them for a few hours and they're great."
"I don't know about you, but I'm going to bed the second my throat stops feeling like the fields of Happy Valley, pre-harp rescue." Rachel said between sips. "That way tomorrow gets here faster."
Bryan nodded his agreement. It was a thrill to make a friend with the knowledge they could see them more often than whenever the worlds were in danger.
They each filled their ladles again but drank with much less fervor than before.
"Those two were pretty cute." Rachel said with a smile in her voice. "Especially the tall one. I mean, really, did you see that mane?"
"I really wasn't looking." Bryan answered. "What is with you and guys hair anyway?"
"The right hair style can make an ok looking guy look great and a handsome one look gorgeous."
"It's a wonder you could even see his face. He's got just about as much hair as you do."
"So you did notice."
"Only long enough to wonder how he can see. And if you're finished, both drinking and talking let's go to bed."
"A novel idea." Rachel took one last swig and followed Bryan.
They went to their respective cabins and got comfortable for the night. But both of them were too excited to go immediately to sleep.