Pebbles: So...do you like waffles?

Okay, so I embarrassed myself so much at the talent show. But hey, at least know EVERYONE knows I'm a prat, not just my friends. Woo!

APOLOGY TIME!!

Okay, I am so sorry you've had to wait so long for this chapter. But things with my grandfather's funeral just threw me off completely, and when I got back it was straight into revision for exams. I've just had my last one today, thankfully got them out of the way early, so now I can get back to writing again. I'm so sorry this has taken so long.

Now my exams are over, I will be writing more, but it's not all fun and games for me now – now I'm pulling double shifts at work and working extra days, and inbetween I'm trying to get fit, so I'm swimming every other day. So I'll be writing when I can, and I'll still be aiming to update EVERY OTHER FRIDAY.

(Oh, funny story!! I finished the chapter Friday night just over 2 weeks ago, kept checking my inbox for reviews, none came, I thought it was odd but maybe you were all angry with me.... I hadn't posted the chapter online. SOOOOO to make up for this heneios oversight on my part, I will be updating again THIS FRIDAY!!)

(Another funny story - I posted chapter 10 before chapter 9, so if the story didn't make sense, apologies. This chapter should help.)

Thanks for sticking with me. :D

Oh, and for those interested - the audition I mentioned was for Peter Pan, I auditioned for Wendy. I didn't get it, so I think I'll take another year out of drama to focus on my school work.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any of the Disney characters, places or products, or any of the Digimon characters, places or products. However, I will claim to own the concept of this story.

*****

Lost

*****

Wow; her head hurt. It was a horrible, throbbing pain that trickled down her spine like syrup, sticking to everything it touched and spreading out from there. And slowly – very slowly.

"She's so old!" a voice whispered.

"Yeah, but she's got no sword, see?" another replied.

"And no wooden leg!"

"Not all of them have wooden legs, Cubby!"

"Well, ya never know!"

"I like her; she looks like a lady," a younger voice said quietly.

"But she's wearing trousers! Ladies don't wear trousers! They wear skirts and frilly things!"

"Quiet, boys, she's awake."

Deciding there was no more reason to try and fake sleep, she cautiously opened her eyes and came face to face with a boy – probably about ten years old – dressed in green. A green top with jagged edges along the bottom and the sleeves, and a green cap with a single, red feather in it. His blue eyes stared at her, and he tilted his head to the left and then to the right. She stayed silent during the inspection, waiting for him to speak first, aware that she was tied up. Finally, the boy broke the silence.

He drew back suddenly, fists on his hips as he towered over her.

"Well, she's not a grown up!" he exclaimed. The boys behind him – all dressed in different animal suits – cheered. "But-" The boys stopped "-We don't know who she is!"

"Maybe she's a spy!"

"Or a traitor!"

"Maybe Hook sent her! Maybe she's going to reveal our secret hiding place!" The boys suddenly huddled together, only the green-clad boy remaining, still scrutinizing her. With a flash, the boys suddenly had weapons of all types pointed at her.

"Stop!" the boy in the hat exclaimed as the others started to advance upon her. Hikari stared at them with wide eyes; the tips on those arrows were sharp, as were the swords. The boys froze in place, looking at him in shock.

"But, Peter-" the one dressed as a brown rabbit started, but the boy, Peter, interrupted with a silencing hand. He leant in again and now started to touch her – picking at her clothes and inspecting her fingernails. Finally, with a smile, he ruffled her hair, to which Hikari protested.

"Hey!" Peter laughed.

"Don't you see, boys?" he asked. "She's like Sora!" The boys excitedly whispered the name to each other, and Hikari suddenly couldn't shake the image of Sora from her world, with her short red-brown hair and her blue-grey eyes wearing an animal costume – most likely a bird.

"But she might be like the Wendy lady!" one of the two in raccoon costumes – there were two of them; identical down to their mannerisms – exclaimed. "Maybe she knows stories!" The boys echoed his excitement as they dropped their weapons and rushed forwards, surrounding her.

"What stories do you know?" one asked.

"Do you know any good games?" asked another.

"What about pirates? Do you like pirates?"

"Don't ask her that! Nobody likes pirates!"

"What about fairies?"

"Yeah, fairies!"

"Where's Tink?"

"Tink!"

"Tink, where are you?" Suddenly the boys were running away again, searching for something, or someone, judging by the way they were calling. Maybe a fairy?

Hikari was vaguely aware that she was now untied, and she stood away from her restraints; she had been tied against a tree, and the ropes were now gathered around the bottom. Turning, Hikari saw Peter looking at her, and then suddenly he was right infront of her.

"What's your name?" he asked, curiously, leaning in until his nose was less than an inch away from hers. She leant backwards slowly.

"Uh... H-Hikari," she stammered, shocked. Her head still hurt. "And you're Peter, right?"

"That's me," he said proudly, darting backwards, fists on his hips again. "Peter Pan! That's who I am!" And then, like a bullet, he shot up into the air.

Hikari staggered back – he was flying! She watched as he looped in the air and disappeared behind a cloud, only to come rushing down towards the ground again. She screamed – surely he would kill himself! – but at the last possible moment he righted himself, hovering a few inches off the floor. She stared at him open-mouthed for a moment.

"You're...you're flying...I mean, you're not flying now but you flew," she said quietly. He cocked his head to the side, confused.

"And you can't?" he asked. She shook her head – no. "But then how did you get here? You're too old to have fallen out of your pram, and you're a girl – much too clever – so how are you here?" Hikari paused, unsure of how to answer.

Suddenly her answer didn't matter as the boys rushed back into the small clearing, one boy leading with something gold and glowing inbetween his clasped hands.

"We got her, Peter! We got her!" they chorused at different times and speeds and pitches, causing an instant racket as they stumbled through the bushes.

"Well, let her free then!" Peter ordered. The boy opened his hands and suddenly a glowing ball of light, followed by a trail of shimmer gold, flew upwards, flying around the boys and pinching their ears and tugging their hair before landing on a leaf, its actions accompanied by the loveliest sound of tinkling bells.

When she stopped flying, the light dimmed, and Hikari could see that it was a little person – a tiny woman with a green, ragged, strapless dress, blonde hair in a bun and a pair of dainty, translucent wings. Hikari took a gentle step forwards and looked at the fairy with interest. She was so pristine, her skin glowing a gentle, white-gold. The fairy turned to face her and stared at her; Hikari remained perfectly still, scared the fairy would fly away if she breathed. But then the little person started nodding and grinning, and again Hikari heard the tinkling of beautiful bells.

"Ha, she likes you," Peter exclaimed, hovering next to Hikari. Tink nodded again and suddenly flew around Hikari, who straightened at the sudden movement. Glittering dust showered Hikari hair and shoulders, and she felt her body tingling, but not in the same way that it did when leaving Andalasia. She sneezed – it was like pepper. She tried to brush it off, but it remained, sinking into her skin. She turned to Peter, confused.

"Pixie dust," he said, as if that explained everything. When she didn't reply, he continued. "You need to learn how to fly, if you're going to be one of us, and I'll have to teach you." Suddenly the boys, having just realised what had been said, suddenly started protesting.

"But Peter!"

"She's a girl!"

Peter cut them off with a hand, turning his back to Hikari.

"If I say she's one of us, then she's one of us! Come on, boys, we need another mother!" The last part was said more like a plea than an order.

"Mother?" Hikari asked as the word registered. "But I'm too young to be-"

"But Peter," the one in the bear costume said nervously, "I thought mothers didn't play. I thought they stayed at home to darn socks and sing us to sleep."

"Not this one," he said, gesturing to Hikari. He turned back to her. "What games do you know?"

"Uh, games?" she questioned.

"Yeah! Like Hide and Seek!" the twins asked, one echoing slightly after the other.

"Or Snakes in the Grass!" another boy exclaimed.

"How about Pirates and Indians?" the chubby boy from before asked.

"Nah, we played that yesterday!" the twins answered.

"We could play Tag?" Hikari suggested meekly. The boys, including Peter, stared at her, heads cocked sideways in unspoken curiosity. Feeling slightly braver, Hikari straightened up and started to explain.

"Well, when the game begins, one person is 'it', and they have to try and get somebody else to be 'it'. They do this by touching them, like on the arm or the shoulder, and then that person..."

The explanation lasted the better part of an hour, and Hikari felt exhausted afterwards. The boys had many questions, all of which Hikari answered as patiently as she could. They seemed a little hesitant and, seeing she was done, were probably about to suggest something else, but Peter spoke first.

"A brilliant game! Come on boys, she's 'it'!" With that, he took off into the sky and flew away, and the boys rushed away from her, all trying to find somewhere to hide. Before she could object, she was left alone in the clearing, with no idea of her surroundings.

"Help..." she whispered quietly, sitting down on a nearby rock. She rested her head in her hands and frowned – this wasn't how she had hoped it would turn out. She had assumed that these were the people supposed to help her, as Mickey had said, but now that they had left her by herself, she wasn't so sure.

She heard a gentle tinkling of bells and she looked up slightly. She recoiled at the sight of Tinkerbelle nearly standing on the tip of her nose, and the sudden movement threw her off balance, making her land on the flat of her back on the ground, legs still resting on the rock. The bells sounded again as the most beautiful of laughs, and the fairy flitted closer. Once her figure was visible, she motioned for Hikari to follow her and flew off in the direction of the deep grass. Hikari slowly rose to her feet and rushed after the little fairy, careful not to trip over anything hidden in the foliage.

She ran for quite a while, following the little, golden light, and then suddenly, Tinkerbelle stopped and motioned for Hikari to be quiet and stay where she was. Hikari stopped and watched as the golden light flew slightly further forwards and then seemed to dance up and down in the air. Hikari's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out the meaning to the cryptic message, and she guessed Tinkerbelle had found one of the boys. Slowly, Hikari crept through the grass, creeping forwards until she saw the back of the boy in the bear costume. Smiling, she lunged for him, tapping his shoulder and shouting, "You're it!" He turned to face her, surprised, and she only smiled and ran off. She heard laughing bells as Tinkerbelle caught up to her, and then took the lead, taking Hikari to a hiding place.

The day continued in this way. The boys, with their superior hunting skills, managed to always find Hikari and tag her, but with Tinkerbelle's help, it wasn't long before Hikari was tagging someone else, and so the game would continue. She didn't think about how odd it was that she didn't feel tired or hungry, she simply focused on the game, hiding and tagging until the sun set, and she wearily followed Tinkerbelle to a hollowed tree.

*****

His peers might have laughed at the situation, he assumed. In fact, they probably wouldn't have believed him, and would have forced him to sit down with books and notes and study. But Taichi was confident that he would pass his test tomorrow; he had been revising throughout the year, and felt the information secured in his mind. Lying on the sofa, listening to his music through his headphones, he nodded to himself. Yes, the test would go well tomorrow.

He closed his eyes, listening intently to the new melodies in his collection. Yamato had sent another demo CD to him (the blonde, now out of high school, was secured in a well-payed job and working avidly towards getting his band in the charts) and Taichi had to admit that it was definitely good. Some of the melodies were a little darker than usual, but on the other hand, some of them were much lighter and more energetic. This particular track, however, seemed to have a strange, offbeat buzzing noise accompanying it.

Opening his eyes, Taichi glanced over to the coffee table in the middle of the room and noticed his mobile crawling slowly across the table as the screen lit up periodically. Taking out his headphones, he sat up and reached over. He didn't recognised the number, but he answered anyway. Probably someone calling from a payphone or something.

"Taichi?" a voice asked, scared. He knew that voice – it was his mother's.

"Mum, what's wrong?" he asked, leaning forwards. His mother's worried tone sent shivers down his spine; what had happened?

"Have you heard from Hikari recently?" she asked. Taichi felt an icy grip claw his stomach.

"No," he said softly. Please let this be a prank, he pleaded, please let this be a joke...

"She's missing," her mother answered, and Taichi felt his breath catch. Slowly, he leant backwards, trying to keep his composure, and he ran a hand over his face in an attempt to reset his features.

"Are you sure?" he asked finally. He heard his mother sob lightly.

"Yes," she answered. "I phone her at home on Monday, like we always do when we're away, but there was no answer. I tried her mobile, but it was out of signal range, and I tried the friends that we knew the numbers of. Miyako and Daisuke haven't seen her since the last day of term. Nobody knows where she is..." She broke down completely now, and Taichi ached to be with her, to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be all right.

He heard a rustle on the connection, and then his father spoke.

"Taichi, you're only a drive away," he said. "A long drive, yes, but you'll get there sooner than we will. Please, Taichi, if you get time, see if you can find her." Taichi nodded, still clutching the phone to his ear.

"Of course," he replied, "I'll go tomorrow. She'll be around. She's probably kept to herself the last few days – you know how she gets sometimes."

"Thank you, Taichi," his father said.

They said their goodbyes and Taichi slammed his phone shut, leaning forwards against and resting his head in his hands, and his elbows on his knees. Where could she be? An idea struck him and he rushed to his laptop, firing it up. He wished it would start faster. As soon as it was ready, he opened the communications programme which would let him get in contact with anybody on the "digital" network. He typed in the access code for Gennai and waited patiently.

Nothing happened.

With a growl of anger he tried again, doing his best to keep calm. There was a high chance with Hikari missing that it was something digital related, and his current lack of contact with Gennai was slowly proving his theory right.

Please be okay, Hikari, he begged. Please...

*****

Sleeping in Peter's den had been a strange experience. To get in, you had to slide through a hollowed trunk attached to the main, hollow log. Then there were numerous ways to get down, depending on who's entrance you took – come went down in hammocks on pulley systems, others had ladders and others just skidded across the floor. Then you had to pass under a pond with a transparent bottom, and Hikari had been unnerved by the fishes staring at her. Thankfully there had been a spare bed and Tinkerbelle had shown it to her, warding off any of the boys who tried to collapse into it. Hikari had wanted nothing more than to go straight to sleep, the activities of the day had finally caught up with her and she was exhausted, but the boys wanted to stay awake and hear a story. She couldn't think of any to begin with – she had never been that great of a story teller in the first place – so she made one up, about a daring prince who didn't want to be king. Peter especially had seemed like that story.

Hikari had had a fitful night's sleep – the bed felt...strange; comfortable and yet not at the same time. She had then been woken early to the announcement that they were going on a treasure hunt. Too asleep to remember breakfast (not that she seemed to feel any form of hunger), Hikari followed them, crawling out of the den and mindlessly following behind. She noticed Peter swooping ahead of them with a map in hand. He suddenly plopped through the trees, stopping them in their tracks.

"I've buried the treasure somewhere near Cannibal Cove," he said proudly. "First one to find it, wins!" He then disappeared back into the trees, and Hikari watched as all the boys ran in different directions, as if Cannibal Cove could be anywhere. She immediately turned to Tinkerbelle who was perching on a leaf nearby, and the little fairy jumped to her feet before floating gracefully towards Hikari. She took hold of Hikari's t-shirt and started dragging her through the grass. She released Hikari after a second, and Hikari took the hint to keep following her.

They ran through the grass and the trees for a long time before coming to a wide river. Hikari groaned at the sight of it – the current looked too strong to swim against, and I looked too deep to wade across. Hikari watched as Tinkerbelle flew straight across, stopping on the other side. She turned to look at Hikari and bobbed up and down, motioning, but she was too far away for Hikari to make out the action. Hikari shrugged, not wanting to shout over the roaring river. Tinkerbelle instead flew back over to her and flew around her, leaving a trail of dust that, like the first time, soaked into Hikari's skin, tingling slightly. Tinkerbelle then hovered infront of Hikari's face and started to motion again.

First she pointed to her mouth and grinned widely, and then she tapped the side of her head. Hikari cocked her head to the side.

"Smiling head?" she guessed wildly. Tinkerbelle frowned and tapped Hikari on the nose harshly. Hikari winced and watched Tinkerbelle motion again.

"Uhm...happy?" she asked at Tinkerbelle's grin. The fairy nodded and then grinned, pointed to it, and then pointed to her head.

"Happy...thoughts?" Hikari tried again, and Tinkerbelle nodded vigorously. She then tapped her head, pointed to her grin, and tapped her head again. Hikari frowned.

"Uh...Think happy thoughts?" she asked, not being able to think of any other options. Tinkerbelle nodded again, and then repeated the action followed by an imitation of somebody rising into the air for the first time. On a whim, Hikari suggested, "Think happy thoughts and I'll fly?" At this, Tinkerbelle nodded, obviously overjoyed.

Hikari shook her head at the notion. Flying was impossible-

But Peter can do it.

The thought made her overactive brain stop. Peter could fly – it defied all the laws of physics and nature and others she couldn't name, but he could do it. He did. It shouldn't be possible, but he made it possible. Perhaps...

Hikari closed her eyes to compose herself and started to think. Happy thoughts...happy thoughts... She thought of her friends, all the happy memories they had had together. She ignored all the times they had ignored her, all the times she had planned for a reunion and nobody had turned up. She focused on the good times. She focused on Gatomon, her digital partner, and all the times they had laughed, in more innocent times before Hikari knew about other worlds and the raging darkness. She thought of Kurokiba, and how at peace she had felt with him when they had just sat in the other's presence.

Hikari felt a tap on her shoulder and she gingerly opened her eyes. With a gasp, she glanced downwards and noticed she was hovering at least ten feet off the ground, maybe more, and she only seemed to be rising. She let out an elated giggle – flying was euphoric! With a seemingly innate understanding of how it worked, she kicked the air slightly, as though swimming, and found herself flying forwards more than she expected. She giggled again; this was beautiful. Neverland looked even more appealing from the air.

Tinkerbelle flew next to her, constantly covering her in pixie dust, and Hikari felt her confidence growing. Within moments, she was gliding over the trees and flying up river, letting her hand trail in the water. She couldn't get over the natural high that came from flying, and she closed her eyes as she flew on her back through the air, letting the feeling fill her from head to toe.

The sound of beautiful bells brought her from her reverie and she glanced over to Tinkerbelle, who looked somewhat annoyed. Hikari blushed sheepishly, mumbling an apology. They were supposed to be on a treasure hunt; this was not the time for Hikari to be wasting time gliding through the air.

Tinkerbelle shot off towards the coast (Hikari could just make out the glimmering blue of the ocean over the trees) and Hikari followed. They're progress was quicker now that Hikari was no watching out for vines or tripping hazards, and soon they came to the coast.

Hikari could have guessed Cannibal Cove without Tinkerbelle's help – it was a giant cave in the side of a tall cliff, with a seemingly-natural appearance of a skull on the front. Hikari and Tinkerbelle flew through one of the eyes and Hikari gasped at the shining chest of treasure sat on a mound of sand. She circled lower and placed her feet on the ground, but as she tried to walk forwards, she found herself gliding along the surface, still flying. She turned to Tinkerbelle.

"How do I get down?" she asked, wanting now to walk. Tinkerbelle thought for a moment before jumping into another mime. She pulled the saddest face possible and pointed to it before tapping her head, and Hikari understood instantly.

"Sad thoughts," she said, and Tinkerbelle nodded. Hikari didn't need to search far to find sad thoughts. Kurokiba's betrayal was still a fresh wound, and so was the lack of contact with her friends. She hadn't spoken to her brother in a long time, and she hadn't spent proper time with her parents for even longer.

She found her feet solidly on the ground again and she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. She felt upset now, and even though she wanted to celebrate winning the treasure hunt, she found that she couldn't.

Hikari heard tingling bells, and she glanced over to Tinkerbelle. She jumped up at the sight – Tinkerbelle was stuck inside a glass jar, being held by a strange pirate-like form. It was mostly black with a red bandana and other pirate attire. An army of Kurokiba-like heartless stood behind it and, without any form of signal, suddenly surged forwards, attacking Hikari with a vigour.

She didn't know how it appeared in her hands, but she knew that the instant she started to swing towards a heartless, the keyblade was there, slicing through the being and turning it to black smoke. Others came and Hikari defeated them. It was just like the park in New York, but in a more enclosed space and with less people watching.

Realising, she didn't have to worry about spectators, Hikari felt something inside of her grow. It was a mix between rage, anger and ultimate control. Suddenly the keyblade was an extension of her body; she was so at east with it, it might as well have been attached to her hand since birth. For a few minutes, not a single heartless got close enough to touch her, and Hikari revelled in the adrenaline. She had a gut feeling this would never get old.

She glanced to her left and noticed a large group of heartless charging at her. She looked to her right for a way to get out, but another group came from that direction. There were two more groups, one from infront and one from behind. Knowing she would be unable to fight them on the ground, she closed her eyes and jumped into the air, focusing on her happy thoughts. When her feet didn't return to the ground again, Hikari opened her eyes and stared downwards, watching as the heartless headed for a collision they couldn't possibly avoid.

"Thunder!" she cried, keyblade high above her head. The bolts of lightning struck the ground and most of the heartless disappeared, turning to smoke. Landing back on the ground, Hikari started to attack with the keyblade again. Their numbers seemed to be down to less than a quarter now, and there didn't seem to be reinforcements. This would be easier than her last encounters with them.

The small, black bodies kept rushing towards her, and for each wave she was able to execute a number of moves that wiped them out, and she would stand ready for the next attackers, who charged as eagerly as the ones before. Hikari became lost in her own actions; she felt as though she were nothing more than a keyblade with a person attached. There was a certain sense of calm that came over her as she struck and lunged, destroying more and more heartless as she continued to defend herself. Something in her mind told her that she was no longer on the defence – now the heartless seemed to be protecting themselves from her. The power running through her veins was a mix of adrenaline and something else – something stronger than anything she'd ever felt before.

She swung her keyblade and paused when she realised it didn't hit anything. Returning to her senses, she looked around and noticed that not a single heartless remained. There were no black bodies and no black smoke. By the entrance of the cave, the little glass jar sat half-buried in the sand. Hikari rushed over to it and picked it up, opening the glass door. Grateful, Tinkerbelle flew around Hikari a few times, revelling in the freedom, before landing on Hikari's shoulders. Hikari was quite shocked that she didn't feel anything, as though the fairy wasn't even there.

Hikari's head shot up at a crowing sound – half rooster, half war-cry. Peter flew from a hiding place down towards her, stopping infront of her and hovering about five inches off the floor. He smiled a playful smile at her.

"Looks like you won," he declared. "Tough luck, boys!" At this, the lost boys crept from their hiding places, looking around cautiously. Hikari remained silent – there wasn't anything she could think of saying. Instead she watched as Peter flew to the barely closed chest and opened it. More fold spilt around it as he rummaged through, trying to find something. Finally, he thrust his hand into the air with a triumphant cry of, "found it!" Hikari stared at the object, it was a plain but beautiful silver tiara. There were no jewels, but it shimmed in the light as though studded with thousands of tiny diamonds. Peter flew over to Hikari and placed the tiara on her head. He bowed and the boys followed suit.

"All hail Princess Hikari," Peter announced, "the first lost girl!"

*****

Pebbles: Again, so sorry this was late. Does this make up for it? I hope so. The other chapter should be on time. I've got most of it written!! 

REFERENCE POINTS:

List of heartless (You can find the pirate described in the chapter on here):

http :// www . khinsider . com / chain-of-memories /

REVIEW RESPONSES:

dracula-key: Thank you. Just saying that means a lot to me. 

Aster Selene: I think so, but at the time when I started posting it, I didn't know there was a crossover option, and I'm reluctant to move it now.

Nobody added this to their Favourites list this time =[.

Nobody added this to their Alert list this time =[.

(Many thanks to devilwanab for adding me as a favourite author! That means a lot =] )

Pebbles: So, not much to say this time. I'm working on another side story for when I get writers block, but I'm not posting until this one is finished. See you in the next chapter!!!