Chapter 8:

I'm Not Alone

A/n: Marluxia... is kind of a pedo. But didn't we already learn that in CoM? Anyway, I'm really excited to do a chapter with Spira... but it's going to have to wait. Ah well. It'll be well worth it! I think... Dempsey is my last OC, by the by. No flames, please. :3 If you don't like the story, then don't review/read :P Please enjoy!

The title... is a lyric from the song, yes, but it has some meaning to a few characters. That probably won't be realized until much later.

Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts!

'Salt, sweat

Sugar on the asphalt.

Our hearts littering the topsoil.

Tune in and

We can get the last call.

Our lives are cold,

Salt, sweat

Sugar on the asphalt.'

-"Bleed American" by Jimmy Eat World



"Geez, I wonder if we're ever going to get a break," murmured Katalin some time later as she walked through the Marketplace with Kairi and Darcie, who had just finished telling them about her encounter with Marluxia. "For a Nobody, he sure seems taken with you."

Darcie nodded although she didn't say anything aloud. There was something about the whole situation with Marluxia that made her feel extremely uncomfortable and thoughtful, but... she would keep the thoughts to herself. For now.

"Well, at least we have a fair share of munny from all of the Nobody beating we did," pointed out Kairi cheerfully. "We can buy some stuff now." Katalin and Darcie giggled. They had expected that maybe Shawn would be the perfect addition to make their duo into a terrible trio, but he was just annoying. Kairi, on the other hand... She was a lot like them, enjoying some feminine activities but being mostly a tomboy. Of course, Kairi was probably that way from being close friends with Riku and Sora.

"And we get at least a day of downtime," agreed Darcie with a small smile. "Where are we going tomorrow, Kairi?"

As they entered the Radiant Garden's strip mall, they were immediately greeted by cool air. It was a refreshing difference from outside. "Destiny Islands, my home," answered Kairi. "I remember where the keyhole is because I went to it the night the world was destroyed."

"You lost your heart, right?" asked Katalin as they gravitated towards the nearest shop. Kairi nodded.

Darcie thought of something else. "But you couldn't get a Heartless because you're a Princess of Heart, and your heart joined Sora's for safety. And when he released your heart, a Nobody was born, right? Naminé?"

Another nod from Kairi. "Naminé..." She recalled what Riku had told both her and Sora about what Naminé had done to Sora's memories in the Castle Oblivion. Naminé had been forced to, though. In the end, she had redeemed herself.

'Are you... mad at me?' A voice, so soft that Kairi had been sure she was imagining it, spoke in the back of her mind. Kairi jumped, earning strange looks from those around her.

'Naminé?' Kairi had had many a conversation with her Nobody in her mind, sure, but it had been so long that she had nearly forgotten about Naminé's existence. Something of guilt bubbled in her lower gut.

'Kairi...' The Nobody trailed off and Kairi was abruptly enveloped in a golden light. Darcie and Katalin took a few steps backwards as a fragile-looking girl with some platinum blond hair thrown over one shoulder appeared. She was wearing a sun dress and much resembled a porcelain doll. Except that she was transparent. Nearby shoppers took off in the opposite direction.

"Even in worlds that are aware of keyblades, Heartless, and Nobodies, there are still ways to cause scenes," murmured Darcie as she and Katalin approached the girl. "Naminé?"

The blonde nodded. "Darcie and Katalin," she nodded her head in greeting to the two new keyblade wielders. Kairi stood beside her Nobody with a curious expression on her face. "I've wanted to talk to you all, so I thought that I would come on out," remarked Naminé with an apologetic expression. "I guess I should have given you a warning."

Kairi bit her lip. "Shopping can wait until later. Why don't we go talk somewhere else?"

XxxxxX

When they arrived at Merlin's house with a transparent girl, Tifa, Cloud, and Cid were a little more than curious. Leon, however, seemed exasperated. "How many people are you planning on bringing here?" he demanded. (A/n: That was comic relief. xD')

"This is Naminé; she's my Nobody," stated Kairi with a small smile. "I promise she won't take up any extra space."

Naminé giggled despite herself. "No more than I previously did," she joked.

"Where are Sora, Riku, and Shawn?" asked Katalin curiously when she noticed that the boys were nowhere to be found.

Yuffie shrugged, obviously more interested in the transparent girl standing in the living room. "Sora and Riku went back to the Castle with Donald, Goofy, and the King. Shawn... went for a walk, I guess."

Having all eyes on her made Naminé more than a little nervous, but she went through with what she had been wanting to say. "There's something about the Organization's revival that makes me nervous. Aside from the fact that Marluxia and Larxene are roaming free again," she admitted. "It just seems that there should be a reason behind it. The Organization wouldn't be revived just because. There must be something new that whoever revived them knows and needs the extra help of the Organization."

"Dempsey," remembered Darcie. "Maybe Maleficent is looking for the same thing as him, and he wants the extra manpower to beat her to the punch?"

Naminé nodded. "That's what I was thinking, but I have to wonder what. Maybe Ansem the Wise knew more than he let on." She brought her light blue eyes up to Leon's hard ones, knowing that he was relatively computer savvy. "Could you...?"

Leon nodded before she finished her sentence. "Sure, I'll go check through Ansem's files." He agreed before exiting the house with Yuffie in tow.

"She really hangs onto him, doesn't she?" observed Katalin as they watched Yuffie and Leon disappear.

Tifa shrugged lightly. "A little, but it's more of a sibling thing, I think. Leon already has a girlfriend, but she lives in another world."

"Really?" asked Darcie with interest as she sat down on one of the nearby couches. "How did they meet?"

"In Traverse Town when the Radiant Garden was overpowered by darkness. I guess her world was destroyed, too. They still keep in touch. Pretty sweet," remarked Tifa with a small smile as she sat down on another couch.

Kairi, Katalin, and Naminé joined them. "What world are you from, Tifa?" wondered Kairi.

"Well, this is actually my home world," answered Tifa. "But Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, and I were born in a world called Gaia. When the Radiant Garden was destroyed, I wound up in Gaia when the majority of them, excluding Cloud, appeared in Traverse Town." (A/n: Quick note. According to Nomura, the Radiant Garden is Cloud's homeworld... Tifa's hasn't been confirmed, so I'm just making stuff up. :3)

"That's odd. I was born in a different city in Des Plaines, but I've never actually left that world... until now," said Katalin.

Kairi shook her head. "I was born in the Radiant Garden, but I was sent to Destiny Islands. It just... happens, sometimes."

Beside Kairi, Naminé's body was faded in and out of existence quite noticeably. Smiling wryly, she observed, "I should probably return to Kairi." Nodding, Kairi stood up and gently grasped her Nobody's hand.

"If only there was a way to make you solid," murmured Darcie. (A/n: Definitely not foreshadowing.) As Kairi, whole again, resettled back onto the couch, Darcie added, "What should we do now?"

Grinning, Tifa remarked, "You're in the Radiant Garden. Why not try some sea salt ice cream?" Katalin and Darcie exchanged concerned glances while Kairi smiled and nodded her agreement.

"There's nothing like sea salt ice cream to make all of your worries go away. Let's go."

XxxxxX

"Naminé was thinking along the same lines as us? Can't say I'm surprised," remarked Riku with a faint smile some time later when Leon and Yuffie had joined them in the computer lab. Sora remained suspiciously quiet.

'You want to meet her,' guessed a voice that was not his own in the back of his mind. Roxas usually added thoughtful or witty comments when Sora was thinking about absolutely everything. His favorite seemed to be bothering Sora to make a move with Kairi.

Sora did not jump at the sound of his Nobody's voice. The occurrence was more common for him than it was for Kairi. Then again, Naminé was more of the shy type while Roxas was more of the in-your-face kind of person. 'Of course I do. I met her once and...'

'Not under the best circumstances,' came Roxas' reply. When Roxas looked through Sora's eyes, he could see Kairi, sure. Usually he saw Naminé first. Naminé who had helped him out and watched over him. He felt defensive towards his Somebody when it came to Naminé, and he knew it had to do with the fact that, technically, Sora had met her first.

"What exactly are we looking for?" asked Sora as he turned his attention away from his Nobody and to the computer screen.

Leon clicked a few buttons and cursed. "Access denied. Of course," he murmured.

"What can I help you with, Leon?" the all-too-familiar voice of Tron asked. Sora smiled at the voice; it had been a while since he had heard it. Tron did not visibly appear on the screen so, Sora guessed, the MCP could not see them either. Despite this, Tron added, "How are you doing, Sora?"

Grinning, Sora replied, "Great, Tron. It's nice to hear your voice again."

Riku shook his head and glanced at the ceiling. "Only my best friend can make friends with absolutely everything and everyone." Sora, Yuffie, Donald, Goofy, and even Leon managed chuckles in response.

"Tron I'm looking for... Well, I'm not sure exactly," admitted Leon. "Another secret file of Ansem's, maybe?"

The MCP did not respond for a good few minutes. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

XxxxxX

"That one Organization member seems to sure like that keyblade brat," remarked Pete in Maleficent's dark meeting room.

The witch cackled in response. "Oh, yes. Yes he does. I have my ideas as to why."

Pete fixed her with a confused stare, not that he did not always wear the same expression. "What're you thinkin', Maleficent?"

Maleficent shook her head. "Oh, you fool. You cannot be trusted with such valuable information. Now, I want you to go visit a few worlds. See if you can't gather up whoever is left of the old group and recruit some new people."

The dog-man paused at the doors. "Maleficent, do you think we should be worried? Not about the keyblade brats; the Organization reviver."

"Ah, yes, him. I will have to pay him a personal visit if I can track him down. Where does one keep an organization of people if not in a castle such as this?" asked Maleficent as she gestured to the room around her with a short laugh. "Yes, he certainly must realize what a fool he is by now, having recruited the wrong people. But we both have the same goal. It is just a matter of who gets there first. Now, leave my presence. I have things to attend to."

Pete exited the room in the same fashion as he always did: more confused than when he had first entered. Maleficent walked towards a wooden perch in the room and a small raven with piercing eyes hopped onto her arm. "My sweet, I need you to watch him. You know which him I am speaking of, I trust?" Diablo uttered a great caw before taking off of her arm and flying through a hole in a higher part of the wall.

XxxxxX

"I found it!" remarked Tron some time later. Sora and Riku had sat down in the back of the room, far away from the portal to the virtual world, and King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were checking out some books in the study. Leon had not moved far from the computer, so he immediately strode back to the keyboard. A file was pulled up on the screen. "One last secret file, Leon."

"Thanks, Tron," murmured Leon before dipping his head forward to get a better look. "Well, well, well. Look at that."

Sora and Riku immediately stood back up and came to stand beside the gunblade wielder. "Are you... kidding me?" murmured Riku with a groan as he read the words of the new report. "More?"


A/n: The words of the report, which you will not know of until the next chapter. x3 I had... a really tough time focusing on this chapter. Dx I have everything big planned out for this story, so I'm not sure when it will end exactly. It will be a great surprise. So, please review. Until next chapturrr.