Update, hoorah! So, before you all start getting into this new chapter, I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story! It means a lot to me when people take the time to leave a nice review, even if it's only a few simple words. So thank you! I love you lots and send you virtual hugs and kisses!~

Obligatory Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my .

Sing a Little Song

I walked through one of the corridors of the ship, stretching an arm up over my head and yawning. I had just finished taking a much-needed and, in my opinion, much-deserved nap. A nap which had thankfully been a dreamless one. After the maelstrom that had been my head a few hours ago, it had been a welcome break.

Right, a few hours ago . . .

A few hours ago me and Mari had finally been brought up to speed on what exactly was happening. To recap, we were given more info on the Heartless and the Nobodies, as well as what they were after, which turned out to be hearts, as hearts were apparently far more valuable out here than biology class would have you believe. Sora also told me a little bit more about Keyblades and how they 'worked', I guess. What was really interesting was learning that no one else could hold Dawnstar, meaning I didn't have to worry about entrepreneuring thieves getting their hands on it. We we're also given a brief rundown on the Realm of Darkness and Kingdom Hearts, also known as 'the place every villain ever to exist seemed to be gunning for' (including Maleficent, who I was given much more detail about. She is not a nice person, let's just say). Speaking of names, I finally got some clarification on who was who and why they were important, and lordy, it was a wonder how they kept track of everyone. After that, we segued off track and I got to learn a few tidbits about what the trio had done in the past, including traveling to different worlds and sealing 'keyholes'. Interesting trivia, basically. Oh, and the trio apparently had their own story chronicler, who I finally had the pleasure of meeting myself. Jiminy Cricket, was his name. He was a cricket. Really nice guy, though how anyone was going to read that story from such a tiny journal was anyone's guess.

And after that, Donald gave me a book to read.

Like seriously, an actual book that I had to actually read. Because apparently I had to learn the rules of magic before I could actually do magic. Which made me wish I could go back to Merlin, because he hadn't made me do this crap.

I'll skim, I decided as I continued walking. Besides, I had other things on my mind I wanted to think about, like, I don't know, everything. All this stuff . . . it had all been happening right above our heads. And now I was apart of it. Somehow.

We'd left Hollow Bastion some time ago, and where we were headed I didn't have a clue because I had kind of been asleep when we'd left. Someplace nice, I hope.

Rolling my shoulders with a satisfying pop, I lazily took in my surroundings. Still metal corridor. So in other words, still kinda lost. I should invest in a map.

"Hi Hikari!" a bubbly voice called, and I stuck my hand up in greeting.

"Hey Mari," I said.

She threw her arms around my shoulders, yammering into my ear, "You've been dead for hooooours! I thought we were never going to see you again!"

I rolled my eyes, "Mari, I was just asleep."

"And deeeead!" She continued blithely, "But anyway, did you sleep good?"

Shaking my head, I twisted out of her arms and said, "Pretty good. Anyway, what have you been up to? You know, in the time I've been 'dead'?"

Mari hopped next to me, lacing her hands daintily behind her back, "I got to be in the cockpit! It was kewl!"

"The cockpit," I said, interested, "So what did you break?"

"Oh, why do you always have to assume I broke something? It's quite cold, Hikari," Mari pouted. Pursing her lips, she looked away, mumbling, "And it was just one little lever!"

I quirked an eyebrow at her, smirking, "And what happened when you broke that one little lever?"

"I dunno," Mari said quickly, tugging at one of her ponytails, "But I think it almost short-circuited something, because the ship made a funny noise and the boys got really scared all of a sudden. I tried to sneak away after that, but Donald caught me, and I got in trouble."

She hung her head, "Now I'm banished . . ."

I chuckled, and she shot me a look, "It's not funny!"

"It kinda is," I said, "Anyway, I'm glad I slept through it. So what'd you do after that, because I know your reign of terror didn't end there."

"Well, actually . . ." Mari mumbled, looking down and digging the ball of one foot into the ground, "I was making something."

"Making what?" I asked, feeling mildly interested.

A small, hopeful smile curled the corners of her lips as she held out her arms, crying, "Tah-dah!"

Clasped in her hands was a decently sized bag made of a dark purple material, a golden sun embroidered on the front. The flap had a small silver buckle locking it in place, and a long, black leather cord hung limply beneath it, clearly meant to act like some sort of belt.

"Is that . . . a fanny pack?" I asked, staring at the object.

"Yup! I made one you have something to carry your stuff in! And see," she excitedly stuck her hip out towards me, and I saw a similar bag of gold with a purple flower embroidered on the front hanging off of her side, "We match!"

"Oh," I said, taking the bag from her hands, "Thanks, I guess. It'd be nice to have something other than pockets."

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, let me put it on, let me!" Mari pleaded, rushing forward and snagging the bag out of my hands. Before I could protest, she spun me around and looped the belt around my waist, and I heard a sharp click as it was secured in place. Spinning me back around, she leaned back and curled her fingers around her chin, examining me with a critical eye.

The fanny pack (for what else was it?) now hung off the right side of my hip, the belt snug around my waist, but not uncomfortably so. With a satisfied nod, a thumbs up, and a wink, Mari grinned, "Picture perfect awesome!"

I held up my hands, "Alright, alright, thanks. Anyway, you made these?"

She nodded excitedly, "Uh-huh!"

Lightly running a finger over the smooth material of the flap, I asked, "Where the hell did you get the material, exactly?"

She was all to happy to answer that, "Girl, you will not believe what I have found lying around this ship all willy-nilly," Placing her hands on her hips, she laughed, "Boys are such slobs!"

I nodded my head in her direction, "I guess."

Looking back down the corridor of the ship, I asked, "So where is the cockpit anyway? I want to ask them where we're going."

"Ooh, I can take you there!" Mari shouted, holding her hand up. Grabbing my arm, she began to drag me behind her, "This way, follow me!"

Mari had apparently become quite acquainted with the interior of the ship in the time I'd been out, as she got us to the cockpit in no less than a minute, tops. It was sort of impressive, actually.

Turns out you actually had to climb up into the cockpit via ladder, which was interesting. Placing a hand on one of the lower rungs, I turned back to Mari and asked, "So, are you staying down here? Being banished, and all that?"

Mari pursed her lips together as her shoulders slumped, "Yeah . . . Donald was pretty strict about it . . ."

"Eh, he seems that way about most things," I conceded, "Anyway, I'll relay what I learn back to you once I come down."

Mari perked up a little and nodded, "Okay! I'll go see what else I can find on this ship! Hey Hikari, what are the chances that I'll find a bunny rabbit?"

I sniggered softly, "Hey, you were able to make not just one, but two purses out of crap you found floating around out there. I'd say a bunny rabbit wouldn't be too far-fetched."

Mari grinned wide, pumping her fist in excitement, whispering, "Yes!"

She wiggled her fingers in farewell as she skipped down the hallway, yelling over her shoulder as she went, "Toodles!"

"Yeah, toodles," I said back, knowing full well she couldn't hear me anymore. Turning back to the ladder, I began to climb up, only to run into a new obstacle.

The cockpit door.

So . . . I thought, staring hard at the sealed door above me, Do I just open it, or do I knock?

There was a definitive latch recessed into the metal on the bottom right corner, one that looked like I could twist and pull if I simply reached up and took it. And rapping my knuckles on solid metal sounded very unappealing at this particular moment in time, so . . .

My fingers curled around the metallic latch, and with a sharp twist, the sealed door opened with a soft hiss of air that sounded like compressed gas being let out of a nearly empty can of shaving cream. Interesting.

I wasted no time in pulling myself up through the gap, the sealed door automatically sealing shut behind me. Standing up, I saw I was definitely in what one would call a cockpit, complete with a half-dome of glass that gave you a magnificent view of the space around it. A control panel ran almost the entire circumference of the circular cockpit, the glowing screens humming with electrical power. Three large, uncomfortable-looking seats were arranged in triangular order just in front of me, all of which had turned around at the sound of the door opening.

"Oh, hey Hikari," Sora said when he saw it was me.

"How ya doin?" Goofy questioned, face warm.

"Hey. Just fine, thanks," I replied. Walking forward, I came to stand beside Sora as he turned back toward the pane of (hopefully space-proof) glass, watching with interest as he clicked a few buttons that held absolutely no meaning to me.

"Don't touch anything," Donald warned me, tapping his finger in time with his words to give them an underscored emphasis, "It was bad enough when Mari almost broke the compressor."

"Yeah, I heard about that," I said. I looked at him, smirking, "Don't worry, I'll be good girl."

"Hmph," Donald snorted, but he seemed to find my response satisfactory enough as he turned away to get back to whatever it was he had been doing.

I watched as Sora flipped a small switch seemingly without even thinking about it, and I asked, "So, this is what you do up here?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Sora replied, not looking up from his task.

I quirked an eyebrow, "So, how exactly are you driving?"

At this, a small pout formed on his face, "I'm . . . not allowed to drive."

"Really?" I asked with some surprise. I mean, he was in the front seat. By anyone else's standards, that'd be pilot status.

"No, he's not. I'm driving " Donald explained, and indeed, I noticed a small 'wheel' positioned just in front of him, his feathery fingers clasped tight around the rim. He then gave me a short look, "And don't think you're allowed, either!"

I held up my hands, "Hey, I'm not interested in fiddling with things I have no idea how to work."

Donald nodded, and I posed the question, "So, where exactly are we going?"

Sora grinned, "You'll see!"

I stared at him, hands on my hips, "Uh-huh. And when will I see?"

"We're almost there," Sora replied, pressing another button with a soft boop, "So soon."

"Ah," I said, watching the stars fly past us in streaks of silver light. If I was quietly honest to myself, it looked really cool.

"Hikari, have you been reading that book I gave you?" Donald prompted, eyes not leaving the 'road', I guess one could say.

"Uh, Donald," I started, looking at him, "I went to sleep almost immediately after we finished talking. No, I have not been reading the book."

He shook his head, frowning, "Well, get started on it! The sooner you get done with it, the sooner we can practice!"

I rolled my eyes, voice taking a distinctly bland note as I intoned, "Yes, master. As you wish, master."

"Oh, knock it off," he grumbled.

I smiled and whimsically imagined small red horns appearing on my head as I chanted, "Yes, master. As you wish, master."

Donald let out an aggravated sigh but (wisely) refrained from speaking again. Sora and Goofy both chuckled.

Suddenly, a series of fast beeps sounded throughout the cockpit and my shoulders instinctively stiffened, "What's going on?"

Sora held up a calming hand, "Don't worry, everything's fine. The ship's just letting us know we've gotten where we needed to be."

My shoulders relaxed slightly, but my tight frown remained. I did not like unexpected noises, "I see."

I stared out the window to examine the stars around us, noting how they no longer whizzed passed seeing as the ship had stopped and now hung listlessly in place, looking for the world we had supposedly arrived at. Except all I saw were stars and the endless, empty black space between.

Brow raised, I gave voice to my observation, "Alright, nevermind. I don't see," turning to Sora, I questioned skeptically, "You sure your ship is working right?"

"Course it is!" Sora defended.

"Here, I'll pull up a picture!" Goofy offered kindly, pressing three small, flashing buttons in quick succession.

An image flickered into being on the glass dome, as if it were being projected there by some hidden apparatus I couldn't see. On it was the enlarged image of a world. A very blue, blue world, with seemingly nothing else to mar it's perfect azure surface.

"Uh . . ." I started, pointing at the screen, "Not wanting to burst you're bubble, but I don't see anywhere we can land."

"That's cause we're not going to land," Sora explained as if it were that simple, and I shot him an incredulous look. He turned away from me, fiddling with some knobs to his left, but just before he did I noticed him try to hide a grin. My red flags went flying.

"Okay, why are you smiling? What'd you know that I don't?!" I demanded, leaning forward threateningly.

"Don't worry, my magic will take care of everything," Donald supplied reassuringly, but there was a smug smile on his face that worried me. Oh god, what-?!

White light suddenly washed over the entire cockpit, and a sharp tingle swept over my skin, leaving goosebumps in it's wake.

"Ah, not this tingly crap again!"

{******}

As soon I was ejected from the strange light, I suddenly found myself flying forward and spinning helplessly.

This must be what it feels like to get shot out of a pressure tube, I decided sourly as I slowly spun to a shaky stop, holding out my arms to keep my balance and remain centered. A haze of bubbles obscured my vision and I angrily swatted at them, irritated and confused and wanting to ring that stupid duck's neck!

Wait . . . bubbles?

It was then I saw where I was. Where I really was. It was a small circular cove bordered by a high, yet strangely smooth, rocky wall, with only a narrow fissure serving as both exit and entryway. In the distance, framed neatly between the stony gap, I thought I could see the gleaming turrets and glowing lights of some kind of city. At the center of the cove was a smooth patch of sand, and around that were several steadily rising steps of sandstone that had eroded into being some time ago, with the very highest step flowing smoothly into the rocky wall with nary a seam. I was hovering just beneath an incredibly thick arch of stone, blanketed under it's impressively dark shadow. Like some sort of strange portal that was now inactive and empty. Small, bright, colorful patches of flora grew up from between cracks in the stone, waving gently in the current. Yes, current. Because all of it was underwater. All of it was underwater!

"What the he-," My hand reflexively flew to my mouth as I felt water rush in unabated, but it didn't choke me up like it usually would, which may have been the reason why I didn't start panicking immediately. In fact, aside from feeling . . . thicker, it was like I was breathing air instead of, you know, water. It was still absolutely bizarre, though.

Sora's thankfully familiar voice floated over too me, "Whoa, you okay, Hikari? You look a little sick."

I whirled around to face the boy and ring some much-needed answers out of him, but when I actually saw him, all I could do was gape like a fish. Why?

Well, for one thing he was shirtless, which is always a bit of a surprise no matter who you are. Not that he wasn't easy on the eyes or anything, I mean, maybe he was a little on the skinny side, but-and what am I even thinking, stop it, stop it now! No, the real kicker right now is that Sora didn't have any legs! None! Because in place of his legs was, was, was a tail! A tail! A real, moving, blue-hued, dolphin-like tail, with fins and everything!

"What-I can't-that is not-," I floundered as I helplessly waved my hands at the tail in hopes of getting my questions across.

He stared at me, clearly befuddled at my half-sentence before finally looking down at where I was gesturing. A look of realization crossed his face and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he faced me again, smiling, "Oh yeah, this is your first time with transmutation magic."

I stuck my hands out, looking at him unbelievingly, "Explain, please!"

"It's something Donald uses on certain worlds to help us blend in better," Sora explained, voice chipper. He casually laced his hands behind his head, flicking his tail to keep him aloft, "Don't worry, I didn't get it at first either, but it gets easier."

I let this new information sink in, nodding slowly, "O-okay, so . . . that's why you have a tail . . . thing?" I gestured stupidly at the tail again.

"Yeah, and you!" Sora said, and I felt my heart nearly stop. No . . .

Mouth hanging partly open, I slowly, slowly, looked down, dreading what I would see.

A tail. A tail! It was a tail! A long, lean, fishy tail with thin, tiger-like stripes of black and yellow that traveled down the length of it, with black being the more dominant color. A pale, translucent dorsal fin, convex in shape and spotted with black, extended from the edge of my lower back down to where the back of my thighs should have been, sweeping easily through the current. Just along the sides of the tail were several long, hollow spines with black tips, a paper-thin membrane strung between the base of each sharp prong. The longest spears were in the center, and they gradually grew shorter as they extended out until the shortest was no longer than my ring finger. At the end of my tail (it was my tail!) was a large, black, convex fin, perfect for beating through the water, the very edge rimmed with yellow.

Oh, and my shirt was gone, replaced by dark green seaweed wrappings protecting my, ahem . . . assets. Wonderful. At least my bracelet had been left untouched. And my new bag. I hoped it was waterproof.

"Uh, Hikari?" Sora asked, growing concerned by my silence.

I looked up, taking a deep, deep breath before saying with a faux smile, "Fine. Just fine."

"You sure?" Sora asked skeptically.

"Yeah, just . . . give me a minute to reconcile with the fact that I have a freaking fish tail in place of my human legs," I said, voice stiff.

A flash of orange and white suddenly shot through the arch, flying by me so fast it actually spun me around and left a trail of bubbles in it's wake. A moment later, an absolutely thrilled voice shouted, "THIS IS SOOOO FUUUUN!"

The shape spun to a gleeful stop, laughing ecstatically, and I stared in quiet disbelief, "Mari? Is that you?"

Hearing my voice, the blonde-haired girl turned through the water with ease, swimming toward me with seemingly zero difficulty. In that time, I got to take in a full view of her new appearance. Her shirt had gone A.W.O.L as well, and in it's place was what I could only call a seashell bra, which just looked all kinds of uncomfortable. Not surprisingly, she didn't seem bothered by it. She also didn't seem the least bit bothered by her new fishy appendage. Her tail was not as long as my own, and it was also much more colorful, with thick, alternating bands of white and orange scales that stood out expressively against the rock. A long orange dorsal fin swept over her, uh, buttocks area, with the very edge of the fin colored a deep black. Her tail fin was also convex, like my own, the whole of it alternating from orange to black to a very thin band of white at the very edge. The only thing that remained the same were the bows in her hair and the bag she wore around her waist.

She grinned widely at me, beaming, "Hikari! Isn't this just the coolest thing! We're like mermaids now!"

Mermaids. Sure, why not.

"Oooh, I like your tail!" She trilled happily, swimming circles around me, "It, like, screams you, ya know!"

"Yeah, uh-huh, sure," I replied, not amused.

Two more shapes swam around the corner and into sight, and I had to do a double take or risk losing whatever was left of my sanity.

"Hey fellas'!" Goofy cried cheerily, waving at us with a . . . fin. Seriously. His entire body was gone, replaced by the body of some sort of sea turtle. The only reason I knew it was Goofy was only because he still had his head.

"What're you guys doing down here? We gotta hurry or we're gonna be late!" Donald pressed, and all I could do was stare at him. He . . . he didn't even make sense! Octopus legs? Really?!

Well, I guess at least he still had his upper body. The same couldn't be said for poor Goofy.

"Oh yeah," Sora said, memory flashing in his eyes. He then looked at me, "But what about . . . Hikari, are you okay?"

I stuck a hand up, silencing him. No point thinking about it.

Shaking my head, I reached the conclusion that I had to start doing something if only to get my mind off the fact that I was underwater and some freaky fish-person. Anything, at this point. And then, in a flash, I came up with what to do. If I was going to be stuck like this for a while, I might as well learn how to swim.

"Okay," I said, thinking how I was going to go about doing this. So far, I was remaining afloat with only a few small kicks of the tail fin, which thankfully didn't require too much thinking on my part. But if I wanted to actually move, I was going to have to put more effort into it. So, hoping I didn't make a complete fool out of myself, I experimentally beat my tail against the water, a small arc of bubbles flitting up from where my fin cut easily through it, using my arms to keep myself balanced. To my relief, I did manage to propel myself forward, though my movements were not as smooth as I would have liked them to be.

"Aaaw, it's so cute!" Mari cooed next to me, hands pressed against her cheeks, "Hikari's learning how to swim!~"

Beside her, Donald made almost no attempt to smother his chuckle.

"Shut up," I said, voice dangerously low.

"Um, we can help you out, if you want," Sora offered, swimming beside me. The jerk made it look so easy . . .

"Yeah, it's easy when ya have someone to help ya out!" Goofy agreed, spinning in lazy circles above my head.

"Just give me a minute," I said snippily, frazzled and growing a mite embarrassed. To them I must have looked like a bumbling moron. I had to fix that quick.

I pushed forward again, this time much more smoothly and with much less jerky arm flailing. I did it again, and again, and each time it became just a bit little easier than before. It was just repetition, I decided. The more I did it, the more I'd learn.

"See, now you're getting it!" Sora said encouragingly.

"Just keep swimming!" Mari said in sing-song, grinning.

I glanced at her, feeling what may or may not be jealousy as I watched her swim about like she'd been born to do it. My eyes narrowed, "Just how are you doing this so easily? This is your first time here, too."

She just shrugged, still smiling, "It's just easy! Come on, tail up, tail down, you can do it!"

I rolled my eyes at her version of an undersea pep talk, but just a short amount of time later (thankfully), I was feeling much more confident and was soon swimming almost as well as Sora. Once I got over the fact that I didn't have legs anymore, it did become a lot easier. And when I did finally figure out how to maneuver, it was actually . . . kinda fun.

Sora glided next to me, asking, "Having fun?"

I glanced at him, smirking, "More fun than when I first got here, that's for sure. How did you deal with this on your first go?"

He pursed his lips together, nose slightly scrunched up as he thought, "Well . . . the first time we got here, none of us really knew what we were doing. If we hadn't met Ariel, we probably would have been stuck forever just trying to figure out how to swim."

I raised an eyebrow, no longer surprised that I was hearing a name I'd never heard of before, "Whose Ariel?"

"She's a friend of ours," Sora explained. "We'll probably meet up with her soon, but there's something we gotta do first."

"Something we gotta do first? Enlighten me," I said, interest peaked.

"Uh, well-Ah!" Sora didn't get to finish his sentence as suddenly something heavy landed on top of both of us.

"Oof!" I grunted, bubbles flying up around me as I struggled to swim up. Was that a hand on my back?

Then an unremittingly bubbly voice practically screamed into my ear, "TAG, YOU'RE BOTH IT!"

The weight on top of me vanished and I watched Mari swim away from us, giggling. Spinning until she hung upside down in the water, she waved at us teasingly before rightening herself and diving behind a patch of pinkish coral. Now, normally her childish antics wouldn't have been a problem for me. Normally, I would have just ignored her and gone about my day, none the wiser. Except it wasn't 'normally', because that little thief had somehow gotten a hold of my bracelet! Sticking her head out from behind the reef, Mari winked at me and held out her hand, the silver gleam of metal glinting from around her fingers and spurring me to action. My eyes narrowed predatorily. It was on.

"Alright, you asked for it!" I shouted, blitzing through the water.

Letting out a squeal, Mari bolted away from her coral shelter and swam as fast her fins would allow-which was surprisingly fast-weaving between the patches of plants and seaweed to shake me. Not that it deterred me any. After all, I had a bracelet on the line. Swimming up over her little obstacle course, I took to the 'high ground', eyes searching through the green fronds for the thief. It didn't take me long to spot her making her way to the stony arch we'd portaled in from, fin beating rapidly through the water, her flashy scales making her very visible against the pale sand. Had I been in a better mood, I may have laughed. When it came to hiding, those scales would definitely not do her any favors. A flash of blue from behind the stone caught my eye, and I smirked.

I took off after her, hemming her in from behind as she made a beeline for the arch. There was another flash of blue, and I saw Sora swim right into the archway's opening, blocking her path and any hope she had of escaping me.

I grinned wolfishly, I got you now.

Mari let out another squeal and braked to a halt, arms flailing as a wave of bubbles created from her sudden stop floated up around her. I propelled myself forward, reaching out to grab the wicked girl from behind, when suddenly Mari slammed her tail down and shot upward just out of my reach, my fingertips only barely brushing against the edge of her tail fin.

And since my eyes were following the girl and her unbelievable escape, I wasn't paying a lick of attention to where I was going. Boy did I pay for that.

I slammed headfirst into Sora and, thanks to the momentum I'd built up on my chase, we both went careening wildly into the sand below. Sora hit the ground first, his body breaking my own fall and I was pretty sure I felt the air (water?) whoosh out of his lungs on impact. Unfortunately for me, I was still under the control of my own speed, so I ended up bouncing off of him and rolling helplessly in the sand until my back hit harshly against a rock, jarring me to an unpleasant stop. I'd also somehow managed to land on my head, and I didn't even want to think about how undignified that looked.

Blinking unfocusedly, I groaned, "That . . . was not a very good idea."

"Yeah, I'll say . . ." Sora agreed, voice strained.

Above us, I heard Mari cackling like a hyena, and I could dimly see her rolling around on top of the arch, both of her arms wrapped tight around her stomach. Hovering behind her, I could see Donald and Goofy floating closer to our self-made disaster area. Goofy looked concerned, while Donald just looked annoyed. Heh, he was even face-palming. Something told me that this was going to hang over my head for awhile. Also, I needed more practice.

Flipping over so I was resting on my stomach instead of my neck, I scowled at the laughing girl, "You will pay for this, I hope you realize."

She chortled, waving my comment away with a noncommittal flick of her wrist, crowing, "Soooo worth it!"

Sora sat up soon after, running a hand through his hair to brush out any clinging granules of sand as he grumbled unintelligibly to himself.

"Gawrsh, are you two alright?" Goofy asked, floating over to us.

"Ah, they're fine," Donald said, waving a hand at us before we could say anything, "They're heads are probably hard enough to soak up most of the damage."

We both glared at him, simultaneously yelling, "Hey!"

Donald ignored us, mind evidently on other things, "Anyway, we've gotta get going, Sora! Sebastian's waiting!"

Of course, with the names . . .

Sora rubbed the back of his head, looking abashed, "Oh yeah."

As he pushed himself up off the sand, a small weight suddenly floated onto my head, cool and hard. Reaching up, I felt relief seep into my bones when I felt the familiar links of chain, and I wasted no time in pulling my bracelet back onto my wrist where it belonged.

I looked up just in time to see Mari-very quickly-swim away, knowing full well that my wrath could still find her even if I had my bracelet back. I'd have to get her back for this later, though, because right now it was obvious that the others wanted to be somewhere.

Pushing up off the sand, I followed the others as they made there way toward the narrow crevice that led towards that distant underwater city. I wondered if it would be just like a land city, or if it housed customs that would be alien to my landlubber sensibilities.

I'll find out soon enough, I thought.

We'd only just made it the narrow gap when a blur of red emerging from the crevice caught my eye. Narrowing my eyes, I looked closer and saw that something was definitely coming towards us. Something small and red and swimming rather awkwardly with the help of it's large, bulbous claws.

Is that . . . a crab, I thought in wonder.

Yeah it was. Really, I shouldn't be surprised by these sorts of things anymore. I was a freaking fish-person-thing right now, after all.

I also shouldn't be surprised that Sora knew him, "Oh, hey Sebastian!"

The little crab, Sebastian I guess, came to a stationary float in front of us, waving his little claws with purpose, "Ah! Sora, Donald, Goofy! Just the people I was hopin' ta find! I hope you've been practicin', cause we've got a lotta work ta do!"

"You bet!" Donald said, giving the crab a thumbs up and winking.

"Yep, we've been practicin' really hard!" Goofy agreed, nodding.

I glanced at Mari, who gave me a very helpful shrug before returning her focus to the conversation.

"Good, good!" Sebastian nodded, sounding pleased, "All we gotta do now is-"

The crab stopped talking when he noticed Mari and I hovering in the background, eyes flashing with curiosity, "Ah, and who might you girls be?"

I held up a hand and quickly introduced myself before someone decided to do it for me, "Hey. My name's Hikari."

"And my name's Mari! With an 'i', not a 'y'! Pleasure to meet you!" Mari greeted warmly, smiling.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya both! My name's Sebastian," Sebastian replied courteously. A sudden glint appeared in his eyes and he began to examine the two of us with a studious gaze as he tapped a contemplative claw against his chin. Oh boy . . .

Behind the crab, I noticed the trio share a look, and I did not feel like digging into the implications as to why.

A few moments later, Sebastian asked, "Say, how well can you ladies sing?"

I blinked and felt my fingers twitch. He did not just ask me that.

Beside me, Mari perked up, smiling brilliantly as she proclaimed, "I love singing! It's so fun and relaxing to just let out whatever your heart's feeling into a beautiful ballad!~" Her smile waned a bit as she shyly pressed the tips of her fingers, laughing slightly, "But I can't sing very high. It hurts my throat when I do . . ."

Sebastian nodded in understanding, "Well, not every singer can hit every range, it's to be expected! Still, it's a shame. I've been lookin' for someone who can sing high notes for awhile now," he glanced at the trio behind him, "One who isn't 'you-know-who', that is."

They all nodded in understanding, and I felt that good old familiar urge to ask what the hell they knew that I didn't.

That was when I saw Mari look at me, and I began to shake my head, hoping to convey my message of 'don't-you-freaking-dare' as clearly as I could without saying anything. But instead of giving in to my silent demand, she grinned evilly, and I felt my heart drop.

"But Sebastian, do you wanna know who is really good at singing high notes?" Mari asked sweetly, lacing her arms behind her back.

And intervention time! Sweeping up behind her, I grabbed Mari by the shoulders and yanked her away before she could finish, shouting a quick explanation to the baffled audience before me, "Hold please."

Pulling us both behind a thick bunch of green seaweed to get some semblance of privacy, I glared at her and hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"What?" Mari asked, smiling impishly, "You're a good singer, I was just bringing that to their attention!"

I prodded a finger into her chest, "And you know I don't like singing in front of people! The only reason you know is because you caught me by accident!"

She waved me off, eyes closed and lips pursed as she said, "That's just cause you're an anti-social freak," Opening an eye, she me a sideways smirk, "Besides, I think it'd be good for you to get out there and show 'em your stuff!"

My lip involuntarily curled at the thought of singing in front of an audience, and I sharply said, "No. And that's final."

"Well, I guess if you don't want to, I can't force you . . ." Mari said, but I didn't let my guard down. The way she said it . . . she had something up her sleeve.

True to my hunch, Mari looked up at me and smiled, "But if you don't, I get to tell them all about The infamous Renji scandal of Destiny High!"

I blanched, taken aback as I stuttered, "Y-you wouldn't!"

"Hey, the world, nay, the universe, has been deprived of your byoutiful singing voice for far too long. If that continues to happen, I feel it is only my duty to offer up some measure of condolence in the form of hilarious back-story," she explained simply, eyes twinkling.

"You . . . you're blackmailing me!" I accused her in disbelief.

"Well, if you wanna call it that . . ." Mari said nonchalantly, holding up her hands.

I glared at her, growling, "You . . . you're a devil in disguise."

She waved her hand at me as if to say 'aw shucks', but instead inquired, "So, are you gonna sing?"

"I . . ." I started, only to go silent. I was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now it all came down to which one did I feel like being embarrassed by more? On one hand, it was singing, which just sent all kinds of shivers up my spine. But on the other, I was threatened by the possibility of never living down perhaps one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. I sighed deeply. There was really only one option, wasn't there?

"Fine," I said through gritted teeth, "I'll sing."

At least with the singing I wouldn't have to live with constant ridicule. I hope.

"Yay!" Mari cheered, "Oh this is going to be so great! You'll be fabulous, Hikari!"

"But!" I cut her off, sticking a threatening finger in her face, "Don't think for a moment that I will forget about this. This makes two things I have to get you back for. Think of that fondly when you go to sleep at night."

I spun away from her and swam back to the group, face no doubt as dark as a rainstorm at night. Mari swam passed me and got to them first, holding out her arms to me like I was an object on display as she declared, "Sebastian, allow me to introduce to you your new soprano singer, Hikari! Can I get drum-roll, please?"

Sora gave me a stunned look, "Hikari, you sing?"

I glared at him, "No, I don't."

"Then why-?" he started to ask when Mari cut him off, smiling a sugar-coated smile at me, "Hikari, Renji says no-no!"

I glared at her venomously before grudgingly rephrasing my sentence, "Fine. I sing sometimes," I harshly added under my breath, "And not always of my own free will."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all shared a puzzled look amongst themselves, but Sebastian looked merely hopeful, "So you can sing the high notes? Go on then, give us an example!"

I stared at him, aghast, "W-what? Right now?"

"Well, I couldn't think of a better time," Sebastian nodded before waving an urging claw at me, "Go on, there's no need ta be shy!"

Oh god, everyone was watching me. Everyone! And Mari too, who looked positively pleased as punch over this whole affair, grinning dopily and holding her balled hands up to her chin as she waited for me to begin. I had to remember to punch her lights out later.

But there was no backing out now, not without the danger of Mari revealing one of my darkest secrets to everyone present. All I could do was charge recklessly forward and hope I didn't do something stupid.

Now, what to sing?

A memory, distant and unclear, came to mind. A memory of pounding rain, crashing thunder, and hiding under the bed sheets until a pair of gentle arms gathered me in their embrace. A memory of a soft, familiar voice singing a soothing melody into my ears until I finally dropped off to sleep.

It was as good a song as any . . .

So, after a very deep breath to steady my nerves, I opened my mouth and sang, "Little child, be not afraid, though rain pounds harsh against the glass like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I'm here tonight. Little child, be not afraid, though thunder explodes and lightening flash illuminates your tear-stained face, I'm here tonight," It was there I began to imagine another voice begin to sing alongside mine, a comforting voice that once had swept away every doubt and fear I'd ever had, "And someday you'll know, that nature is so. The same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand. Makes the beautiful world that you see, in the morning. Everything's fine in the morning. The rain'll be gone in the morning. But I'll still be here in the morning."

As soon as I finished the last line, I took a shuddering breath, ignoring the transfixed stares and the sudden pang in my heart as I looked at the crab, "There. I sang. Satisfied?"

"More than satisfied!" Sebastian said gleefully, and if his claws had allowed it, he looked as if he would have clapped, "You'll fill in the role perfectly! It might take a little more time to rehearse, but I have no doubt that it will be wonderful once it's complete!"

"Wow, I had no idea you could sing that good!" Sora complimented, and the slightly awestruck look on his face made me very uncomfortable.

"Isn't she great?" Mari asked happily, grinning from ear to ear.

"She sure is!" Goofy agreed amiably, and I silently pleaded for them to drop it.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say Donald actually looked a little bit jealous, "Aw, I bet I could sing like that if I wanted to."

Everyone turned to stare at him, and Sora gave him an incredulous look, "Oh really, Donald?"

"Oh? Why don't you give us a sample then?" Sebastian prompted, and I was pretty sure that the query was meant to throw Donald off his game.

"U-uh, well . . ." Donald floundered, avoiding eye contact with pretty much everyone at this point.

"Anyway," Sebastian said, "Since everyone seems ready and capable, I say we get ta rehearsin'! We got a lot to cover and only so much time to do it in, so let's get to it, I say!"

Everyone was in enthusiastic agreement with his declaration. Everyone except myself, that is.

Man, just what did I get myself involved in now?

So we have finally arrived on our first world! I hope it meets your guys expectations!

The girls mermaid-y designs take inspiration from such little fishys as the lion fish (Hikari) and the adorkable clown fish (Mari). I hope they came out alright.

Rate and Review, if it pleases you. ;)