Alright, here's how it works with the music.

That indicates to start the next song on the provided playlist. If a song is playing and this appears, stop it.

*But if you see a star next to a sentence, immediately follow up with the next song, unless it's a double star, in which you keep the same song playing.

Playlist

Dive Into the Heart: watch?v=gOpB12ow-VM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgOpB12ow-VM

Shuffle or Boogie: watch?v=MoYm2itZktc

Chapter 4

Ed and Al stood in front of the mess that was left behind for dinner.

"Ready, Al?" Ed asked.

"Ready," Al replied.

Al clapped his hands together, and placed them on the dirty dishes. The messy spots gathered into one spot, and compacted into a ball.

"There we go!" Ed replied cheerily.

Al carried the compact ball into the trash can, where many other trash spheres lay. Al clapped his hands again, and compacted the trash spheres into one less space-consuming ball. Ed smiled.

"Sure takes me back," he said.

"I know it does. Thanks again for what you did. Giving up 'Fullmetal' for me," Al replied.

**Sora snatched the military invitation from Roxas. It wasn't as long as an invite to war probably would have been.

Dear members of the Strife family,

You're skills in combat are very well known to us. We are running low on soldiers to fight the Heartless, and we must replace the fallen as quickly as possible. We request that you join our army immediately to fight, and assist in the downfall of the Heartless. You have until Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Laguna Loire

"Who's Laguna?" Sora asked, handing Roxas back the letter.

"How the heck should I know?" Roxas replied.

Sora received yet another text from Kairi.

Just got this from Squall's dad. You going?

It was a picture of the same military invitation.

"Apparently he's Squall's dad," Sora said, after reading the text aloud.

"Wait... Squall Leonhart?" Roxas asked in disbelief.

"You know him?"

"He's the Gunblade Master! The one who killed that army of Invisibles near Traverse Town!"

"Cool!"

"You think we should accept?" Roxas asked, a bit anxious.

"School's super boring, so what the hell?" Sora replied, grinning.

"Let me show this to Mom and Dad."

Roxas left the room. Sora jumped into the covers of his bed. He closed his eyes, subconsciously drifting into a gradual sleep.

He felt cold wind sweeping around his body. He was falling. Yes, that must've been it. Falling into a deep abyss of darkness. Sora flipped his body, and noticed something.

It was a giant figure of himself, but different. This version of him had paler skin and black hair. It looked at him with gold-amber eyes, grinning evilly. It reached out for Sora, and consumed him.

Sora jolted awake. He checked a clock. It had been an hour. Just for that? Sora just couldn't shake off that strange feeling. He felt bloodlust, loneliness, and… pleasure. Sora had liked it when that thing consumed him. He shook his head.

Cloud, Tifa, and Roxas came into his room.

"Do you want to?" Cloud asked, holding up the military invitation.

Sora clenched his fists, and nodded curtly. "I'm not letting the darkness consume the light."

"Phew! I thought he wasn't going," Cloud said to Tifa.

"He's your son! Of course he's going!" Tifa replied.

"When do we leave?" Roxas asked.

"Tomorrow," Sora said.

Cloud and Tifa left Sora's room.

"You gonna tell Kai?" Roxas asked.

"... No. I don't want her to get hurt. Besides, defense is needed here," Sora replied.

The next morning, Sora arose, and peered out the window of his room, giving him a nice view of the front of his house. He saw a black limousine, labeled with the insignia of the military: a heart (Kingdom Hearts without logo).

He threw on his longer black jacket instead of his short sleeve one with white sleeves and a blue hoodie. He changed his red baggy shorts into navy blue jeans that were more suited to combat. He put on his crown necklace, which he found on the ground many years before he knew Kairi or Riku.

Sora stepped outside, and saw the rest of his family. He also noticed a man with black hair that covered one side of his face.

"I'm Laguna Loire. You're the last member of the Strife family leaving today?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sora replied bluntly.

"We're gonna need proof. Show me the Keyblade."

Sora flashed it into his hands. Roxas noticed that strange shadow covering Sora's face. It was... thicker than a normal shadow.

It's probably nothing... he thought to himself.

Sora flashed away the Keyblade. Laguna grinned. It was a cocky grin.

"Good. Alright, we'll be leaving now. Get in," Laguna stated, opening one of the car's doors.

The Strife family got in, Sora being the last on the right. He left the window down as the car drove off.

**Kairi stumbled through her door, just in time to see the car pull up in front of her house. Laguna stepped out.

"Are you here to join us in the Heartless War?" he asked, looking down on her (he was at least two feet taller).

Squall stepped out, all dressed and ready to go. He saw Laguna.

"Hey, Squall," Laguna said plainly.

Squall glowered at him. "Tch..."

"You coming with?"

"'Course I am. This place is too boring..."

Squall got into one of the other car doors, in front of the Strifes. Kairi noticed Sora, who looked really... serious.

"Sora, you're going with them?" she asked, a worried look in her eyes.

He looked at her, showing no emotion. Kairi felt a chill go up her spine, and she caught her breath. She could've sworn she saw a trace of gold in his brilliant blue eyes.

Lightning and Tidus stepped outside. "We're both going."

"L-Light!" Kairi said. "What about Serah and the others?"

"They're staying behind. To watch after this place," Tidus said, gazing at the house.

"Oh…"

Laguna invited them into the limo, ad Kairi decided to squeeze in with Sora. Cloud and Tifa got out, and sat in front of Squall and the others.

Sora gulped uneasily. "H-Hey."

"Hey!" Kairi said cheerily.

The limo began to move and leave the neighborhood. Sora uneasily shuffled in his seat, unsure of what to say. He decided to summon the Kingdom Key, and began stroking it absentmindedly as he stared out the window. Roxas whistled awkwardly.

"Something wrong, Roxas?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," he said, glancing at Sora.

The limo stopped, and Riku slipped in next to Kairi. Sora immediately got out. He slammed the door fiercely and moved up next to Squall With Roxas.

"So, Squall… Any other reasons you're joining the military?" Roxas asked, quickly getting over the fact that he was sitting next to Squall Leonhart.

"Um, well… I'll be able to see my girlfriend again…" he mumbled.

"That must be nice…" Sora muttered a bit harshly.

"That's right. You're in love with Kairi…" Squall whispered.

Sora's face heated up, even though his facial expression didn't change.

"When did you become so serious?" Roxas asked.

"We might never come home. That's what's bothering me…" Sora said.

"Course we'll come home!"

"Well, what if we don't?"

"We'll worry about that later," Squall said.

It was nearly three hours before they got out of the limo. A soldier greeted them.

"Welcome back, Sir Loire!" he said, saluting.

"At ease, soldier. I'm just Laguna right now. Just wait till I'm in my uniform, alright?" Laguna said, leading the group inside the collosal fortress.

Cloud smiled as he looked around. "Sure brings back memories…"

"Dad, you were in the military?!" Roxas exclaimed.

"You never told 'em, Cloud? This place is the reason you and Tifa met!" Laguna said, chuckling.

Sora looked around. The ceiling was at least sixty times his height, made with high quality glass. Most of the material was colored a turquoise-green. He ran to the gift shop.

"Wow!" he exclaimed in wonder.

He then noticed the buffet. He sprinted over but then rushed back.

"Can I…?" he asked Laguna.

Laguna nodded. Sora was back in seconds, loading three plates at a time. Kairi jogged over, Riku and Roxas trailing behind.

"You aren't gonna eat all that, right?" she asked, casually stealing a plate from his arms.

Sora turned, a chicken drumstick already being devoured by his mouth. "'Course I—Hey!"

Kairi giggled, already munching on the cheeseburger with ketchup, BBQ sauce, fried onions, mustard, pickles, lettuce, and basically everything on the perfect burger. Sora miraculously snatched the plate back, but Kairi still had the burger.

"It's mine, now," she said, keeping it back from him as he reached for it.

Roxas had six stacks of three plates, already filled with food. He grinned at his achievement. Then he saw Riku with five stacks of four.

"You are not gonna beat me," he growled, going back for more food.

He then saw Cloud, who was balancing an impressive thirty plates with one hand. He was whistling the Final Fantasy Victory Fanfare.

"Oh, hey, son," he said.

Roxas nearly dropped the plates in awe. "Dad…?"

He then saw Tidus with thirty-two plates, chasing after Cloud. "You ain't besting me this time, old man!"

At the end of the day, Cloud won with forty plates of finished food, followed close behind by Tidus. The group was sent off to their rooms. Sora and Riku were sharing, Cloud and Tifa were sharing, Kairi and Lightning were sharing, Tidus and Roxas got a room, and Squall got his own room.

Riku lay across forge bed from Sora later that night. He was still wide awake.

"Hey, Sora?" he whispered.

Sora made a loud snoring noise. Riku grinned.

"Well, if he can't hear me…" he said. "I'm thinking of sharing a paopu fruit with Kairi."

Sora turned in his bed sheets.

"Is… that okay with you?" Riku asked, even though he knew Sora couldn't hear him.

Riku lay down, and closed his eyes, smiling.

Sora was awake, and had heard every word. Sharing a paopu fruit? With Kairi? It was the next best thing to proposing. He gripped the blanket tightly, a gleam of amber reflecting in his blue eyes.