I HOLD NO CLAIM TO ANY OF THE ORIGINAL KINGDOM HEARTS CHARACTERS! NOTHING! :(

Lucia, Kieran, Rayna, Claire, Renee, Zeke, Sienna, Jeanne, Melanie, and Charel are my OC characters from my Final Fantasy stories!

Chapter Seven

A Quick Reunion

Kiera stared at the ceiling above her head. The group had been in Traverse Town for two days now, taking a swift break while Cid worked on the second Gummi Ship. He was asked to just install a jump block but he decided to add a few more tune-ups. Renee was doing the same to Geoffrey's ship, though Yuffie was doing most of that work for her pregnant aunt while she instructed from behind. The children were due, soon, putting both Renee and Cid on edge but they were still as helpful as ever, even though the man's comments were getting sharper and sharper. Kiera wanted to be here when the babies were born, triples they were to be, but with the mission she had given herself, she doubted that she would be. Especially after finding this.

The book that Geoffrey had given her in Olympus had been read over three times already. Kiera had no doubt that this was Bailey's handwriting; her words. This was the book that her guardian told her that she was writing for her; the one that she never got the chance to give before disappearing from the face of the universe. Finally having it…it made the young girl want to cry. She missed her so much.

She missed Kairi, too, but apparently her sister didn't feel the same. According to Sora, Kairi didn't remember anything about Kiera or Bailey or anything else that she had before arriving at Destiny Islands. What had made her sister forget their home? Their friends? Her? Why did Kairi forget her?

Kiera had so many questions but no answers. It just wasn't fair. Why had something like this happened to her and the ones she cared for? Why were they burdened with pain like this?

Kiera wanted to cry again, and scream to let her anger out, but she closed her eyes and held the book to her chest, last words echoing in her head.

And never forget,

Though the road may be long and hard

And the trials dangerous and overpowering

Just have faith, and one day

Everything will be as it once was.

Everything will, once again, be right.

She just needed to have faith. She would find all her answers as her journey continued. She would find her sister and Bailey and all the others that were lost. She would have her home again, too. She just needed to have faith.

~Now I'm starting to sound like Geoffrey,~ She sighed to herself. The comment made her smile. There was nothing wrong with that but it just wasn't her style. She could handle acting like Alana, but Geoffrey was just on a whole other level. The one closest to him now that Lance wasn't around was either Kieran or Leon; Leon being the first in line. Kieran's personality was just too hotheaded for Geoffrey.

Kiera gave a small smile as she stood from her bed. She had been locked in her room since they had returned, leaving Geoffrey and the others to take care of Sora and the king's men. She should be helping Sora train or…something like that. She knew that pity and sorrow would get her nowhere in events like this. She had to be strong; had to stay strong.

Setting the book aside for now, Kiera locked the door behind her. Lucia would most likely be with Squall in their Secret Underground Cavern just under Merlin's home; then again it wasn't exactly secret anymore. Everyone pretty much knew about it by now. When Squall was needed, that's pretty much where you could find him if he wasn't in his room. Lucia called it his 'man cave'.

The air was cool tonight and not much was happening in the streets. It was rather late, but Kiera still expected to see Kieran or Rayna wandering around, on guard for the Heartless at any time. It was strange; she didn't run across any Heartless in the Second District, either. This was their favorite hangout, usually. She didn't get her hopes up, though. She knew that there was no way that the Heartless would give up Traverse Town so easily.

Kiera gave a frown as she paused in front of the fountain just outside of the apartments. If locking the heart of Wonderland and the Deep Jungle had removed the Heartless from those worlds the that meant that Traverse Town would have one too, right? If they could lock this one, then her worry for Leon and the others while they were out in the other worlds would be smaller; at least a little. But where could this one be? Merlin might know; or at least he could steer her in the right direction, couldn't he?

"Kairi!" The voice made Kiera lift her head. She didn't know why but being called her sister's name annoyed her to no ends. "Kairi!"

She pulled a face and turned. "I've told you before, Sora, I'm…" Her voice stopped and she frowned. "You're not Sora."

"And you're not Kairi."

About 15, he had long silver hair with a yellow vest with a large collar and blue trim. With black shorts reaching past his knees and white and blue shoes, he held a cocky air about him.

The boy wore a frown that mirrored her own. "Who are you?"

"Give your name and I shall give you mine."

He crossed his arms. "Riku."

"Riku, huh?" Kiera repeated the name. This was who Sora was looking for; this was another friend of her sister's. "You're the one that Sora's been looking for."

"Sora?" Riku raised his brows, his arms falling to his side. "You know Sora?"

"Vaguely," She replied. "He's raised up quite the storm, searching for you, you know."

The boy continued to frown. "Why do you look like Kairi?"

Kiera turned from him and began to walk away. "I'll let Sora explain it," She glanced over her shoulder at him. "You want to see him, don't you?"

Riku opened his mouth to reply but the girl had begun to walk again, making his frown deepen. She looked like Kairi, yes, but there was no way they were the same person. Their attitudes were completely opposite of each other.

Their movement to the Third District was silent and uneventful; Kiera was actually thankful to find the Heartless in the next area. Sora was there, currently taking battle lessons from Alana.

"Now, when surrounded like this," The older teen was saying from her seat on the wall. "It's best to let them make the first move. Keep your eyes and ears open and be ready for everything and anything."

"We've been at this for hours," Sora hung his head. "Can't we take a break?"

"Not until you get through a fight without getting hit. You want to be a KeyBlade Master, right? You won't survive out there without the proper skills, little man."

While the boy argued with the woman on the wall, the Heartless decided to make a move and rushed for his turned back. Kiera gave a cry and went to run forward but Riku moved first, whipping out a blade of his own; it looked more like a wing than a sword.

Riku struck a pose after killing the small group of Heartless. He turned to Sora, swinging his sword. "There you are. What's going on?"

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed as he walked up to him and pulled on his cheeks.

"Hey, hey, cut it out." Riku pushed him away.

"I take it this is one of the two he's been looking for?" Alana had left the wall and moved to join Kiera as the two boys talked.

"It appears so," Kiera glanced around the area. "Where are Donald and Goofy?"

"Geoffrey has placed the King's men under some of their own training for the moment," Alana told her. "He was going to put Sora under it but I saved him."

Kiera gave a shudder. Geoffrey's training was worse that Leon's.

Sora looked so happy. "Wait a sec. Where's Kairi?"

Riku gave him a look. "I thought that she was with you. I thought that girl over there was her, but apparently not," He glanced at Kiera. "You want to tell me what exactly is going on here? Why does she look like Kairi?"

Kiera crossed her arms and let Sora explain like she had said she would. Alana watched with a grin. If this was one of Sora's friends, then that meant that they were on the right track. If they found one, then they were going to find Kairi too; and the others.

"So…she claims to be Kairi's sister, huh?" Riku gave a frown as he looked at her. "And you believe her?"

Kiera gave a frown. "I don't care if you believe me or not. I lost a sister ten years ago during the destruction of my world. The fact that you and Sora both think I'm someone else explains enough. Take it or leave it."

"Forgive her," Alana smiled. "She doesn't like new people. It takes a while to warm up to her."

"Hmm." Riku turned back around. "Anyway, Don't worry. I'm sure Kairi made it off the Island too. We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now." A Heartless pulled itself out of the ground, and Sora summoned his KeyBlade. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this-" He was cut off by Sora attacking a heartless.

Alana and Kiera couldn't help but smirk as Sora struck a pose in front of his friend.

"Leave it to who?" Sora asked.

"Sora, what did you-" Riku looked back at him, and walked closer to him.

"Keira and I have been looking for you. And Kairi too. With some help. Alana's the one that's been training me. Geoffrey are helping the others."

Kiera couldn't help but smile at Sora's excitement in talking to Riku again. She gave a small frown, though, at Riku's reaction. He didn't seem to like the thought of Sora having gathered a few more friends.

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you." Sora continued.

"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed." Riku gave a grin. "What's up with that weird thing on your shoulder?"

"It's called a KeyBlade," Alana answered. "Sora and Kiera both have one. It's the only way to lock the worlds hearts away from the Heartless.

"So, this is called a KeyBlade?" Riku questioned, and they all looked and saw that Riku held Sora's KeyBlade.

"Huh? Hey give it back!" Sora jumped at him, but Riku jumped back, making Sora fall. He looked at it a bit longer.

"Catch." Riku threw it back to him.

"Okay, so, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asked. "We've got this awesome rocket. Wait until you see it. You can train with Alana and Geoffrey, too. Geoffrey doesn't talk a lot and his training is ridiculously hard but you should be able to get the hang of it."

"So are you trying to tell me that my training isn't hard enough?" Alana looked at the younger teen. "So, I need to kick it up a few notches, do I?"

Sora waved his hands at her as Kiera laughed. "No, that's now what I meant! You're training is really helpful."

Kiera turned to Riku as the duo continued to argue but gave a frown. "Your friend's gone, Sora."

"What?" Sora turned and gave a frown. "Where did he go?"

"Not very polite, is he?" Alana placed a hand on her hip.

Sora hung his head. "Oh well. At least he's okay. And who knows. Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too."

"Wait, that's it?" Kiera cocked a brow. "You've been searching relentlessly for this guy and then you shrug off his disappearance like it was nothing? And the guy just disappears like it was nothing? You might want to work on your friends a bit there, Sora."

"Oh, Riku's not that bad. You just have to get used to him," The younger teen told her. "He's actually really cool when you get to know him."

"I'm sure."

Alana gave Kiera a soft push and continued to smile. "Let's call the training to a halt for the day. Cid wants to meet up with us in that old building up there."

"The storage room?" Kiera raised a brow. "Why there?"

"Leon and the others have decided to give it to Sora and the kings men to use when they are here in Traverse Town. Unfortunately, our apartments aren't large enough to fit all of us in one place."

"I see," Kiera glanced at the boy beside her. "Ready?"

Sora nodded. "Sure."

Moving up the stairs to the small building that Alana had been talking about they found Aerith and Lucia rearrange beds in the room as Leon and Cid spoke. It came to a halt when the trio entered.

"Ahh, there she is," Cid looked at Alana.

"Got a question for me?" the young woman asked, taking a seat on one of the tables.

"Have you heard anything about Maleficent since leaving Traverse Town?" Leon asked her.

Alana's face got dark. "Should I have?"

"Has she shown her face again?" Keira asked.

"Who's Maleficent?" Sora asked, glancing at them all.

Cid looked at him like he was an idiot. "A witch man. She's a Witch!"

"She's the reason why this town is full of heartless." Leon explained. "Don't take her lightly."

"She's been using Heartless for years." Aerith told them.

"We all lost our world, thanks to her." Leon sounded cold, and he opened his eyes to see the look on Kiera's face. Lucia moved forward and placed a hand on her head.

"One day," Cid continued. "A Swarm of heartless took over our world! Keira wasn't old or strong enough to do anything, so, we grabbed her, and I came here with these guys."

"That was over nine years ago." Leon told him.

"Until Keira was old and responsible enough to take control of the Castle, our Ruler was Ansem, her Uncle. He dedicated his life to studying the heartless." Alana decided to speak again.

"His report should tell us how to defeat the heartless." Cid told.

"Where is this report?" Sora questioned.

"We don't know." Leon answered. "It got scattered when our world was taken over.

Cid snorted. "I'm sure that Maleficent got most of them."

Sora took in Kiera's look of rage. She undoubtedly hated Maleficent for everything that happened to her home.

"I've been thinking," Lucia began, running a hand over Kiera's head again. "You said that you locked two worlds from the Heartless. That means this town has a KeyHole as well, right?"

"I'm sure it does somewhere," Alana nodded. "Finding it is the hard part of it."

"If only someone had a clue," Sora gave a frown. "Do you think Merlin would know?"

"May-" Leon's voice was cut off as Donald burst into the room, panic in his voice.

"Sora! We found the KeyHole!"

Everyone stared at the white duck in shock. Alana gave a frown. "Bullshit."

"Geoffrey and Goofy are fighting that armor again! We need help!"

"Bullshit." Lucia echoed the younger woman.

"Duty calls." Sora gave a wave before following the duck out the door.

Kiera pulled a face. "You don't think they actually found it, do you?"

"It is Geoffrey we're talking about," Cid gave a smirk. "That boy could find a needle in a haystack."

"That's a scary thought," Aerith sighed.

"I suppose we should go help, shouldn't we?" Kiera sighed.

"Eh, let's let the boys do the hard work this time," Alana shrugged. "We'll take care of the next one."

Kiera gave a nod and glanced at the window. Maleficent was, indeed, the one that had caused the destruction of her home world but she was also in Bailey's Book. The dark witch had been interested in the darkness that Bailey could control. The two of them had several run-ins, according to the logs in the book. In fact, Bailey's last notes ended with an appearance of Maleficent.

Kiera was determined to get answers when they ran into the dark witch. For both her kingdom and for Bailey.

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