Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney. Seriously, don't sue me...

"It feels so good to be back here. strange, huh?" I smiled, folding my arms behind my head and looking around. We were back in Traverse town to stock up on supplies. Donald had finally realized we ran out of potions when I hurt my arm (which still stung by the way). I needed to change my bandage, too. The blood was beginning to seep though the white cloth. "We were only here for a little while."

They chuckled as we entered the second district. Thanks to Mr. Bepreparedforeverything *couch* Donald *couch*, we had spent over 6,000 munny on hi-potions and whatnot. Tidus was still hanging around and practicing with his sword like usual. The residents here seemed pretty content with the way things were. The only thing was that there were three people missing. We already checked the hotel but there was no sign of them whatsoever.

"I wonder were Leon is..." Sora yawned, turning the corner to the third district. I had been wondering the same thing. Where else could they be? The brunette looked through the window of the abandoned house they occupied that one time. We watched silently as his sky blue obs shifted to look around the dark room. "Nothing's in here."

I sighed and walked down the stairs to the bottom floor of the district. The lights were a lot more neon and brighter than in the first and second districts. A green water fountain rested in the corner of the area. Bright red flags adorned the walls along with hanging multicolored lights. I definitely liked this district the best. There was a door to the far left of the fountain. It was brown with a dull red flame on it. "Ooo what's that?" I said, walking over to it.

Goofy touched the door and it slid open. "Gawrsh, what is this place?" He asked, stepping through the doorway. It was a cave filled with nothing but water. Sounds of water rang throughout the small place. What attracted all the attention, however, was the boarded up house in the middle of the water. "How do we get over there?" Donald huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Before we knew it, Sora was hopping across the rocks to get to the other side. Why didn't we think of that?! We followed him and went inside the house through a hole in the wall. It was built out of stone and was gray inside. It was dull looking just like the cave.

"There's something about this musty place." A voice said in the far corner of the house. I turned to look at it and my eyes went wide. A very familiar red-head began walking around the room slowly with her hands behind her back. I quickly nudged Sora to look but he already had the same expression I did.

"D-dude, do you see this?" We asked each other in unison, staring at her. She giggled softly and shook her head.

"It reminds me of the secret place back home. Where we used to scribble on the walls." She said softly, walking to the window and looking out of it. She turned around and smiled gently at us, her dark blue eyes twinkling. "Remember?"

"Kairi?"

"Guys?" Goofy asked, looking at us worriedly. We snapped our heads around to look at him to see him and Donald watching us. I turned around and she was gone. It was like she wasn't even there in the first place. Sora and I stared at the empty space completely confused.

"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected." A old man said, walking into the house with a suitcase in his hand. I looked over to him and raised an eyebrow. He was wearing a blue robe with a matching pointy hat. Most importantly he was holding a stick and had a beard that almost touched the floor.

"Wha... You knew we were coming?" Sora asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. The old man chuckled a bit and nodded.

"Of course." He answered.

"Are you... a Heartless?" Sora questioned, sounding confused even by his own words. I gave the old man a once over and smirked. Heartless? This guy probably wouldn't hurt a fly. "He doesn't look like one." I said, shrugging my shoulders. Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Oh, my. No. My name is Merlin. As you can see, I'm a sorcerer." He explained, looking at all of us. Well that covers why he was holding a stick. I thought he used it to hit people or something. Though that would be pretty epic. "I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home. Your king has requested my help."

"King Mickey?"

"Yes, indeed. Donald, Goofy. And who might you two be, children?" Merlin asked, looking at me and Sora. Did he just call us kids? I'm fourteen! I'm almost an adult! I'm not a kid anymore... really! I seen Sora clench his jaw, this had obviously hit a rough spot for him too.

"I'm Sora."

"And I'm Sasuke."

"Ah. So, you have found the key." Merlin nodded, looking at the brunette teen. Donald and Goofy nodded in unison. "What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I was beginning to think that was a habit.

"Just a moment..." He said, walking to the middle of the room and setting his suitcase down. He opened the bag and flung around his stick while saying magic words. Soon after, books and furniture started flying out. Was this for real? A bed flew out of the bag and landed in the corner. The covers were made up and everything. By the time it was finished the house actually looked like a person lived there. "There now. Ahem. Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like. Let me know when you're ready to begin the training. Oh, and one more thing."

There was a swirl of glitter next to the boarded up door. An old lady in a blue robe/dress with white hair and a wand stood there. Okay, I've got to get me one of these robes. "Hello there. I'm the fairy godmother. Your king asked me to help you, too. I will assist you throughout your journey."

"I do not know how much I can be of help, but I will try." Merlin smiled, just as a panel on the ceiling floated onto the floor. He motioned for us to step on it and we did; I was doing so very hesitantly. It floated back up to the ceiling and I almost fell off. Good thing for Goofy or I would have landed flat on my butt. We ended up in a room that looked a little bit bigger than the house below. "Attack the moving furniture. Donald since you are already a sorcerer you may sit on the sidelines, you too Goofy."

We watched as the three of them walked to the corner of the room and left us there. A bunch of flying tables and cabinets spawned around the room. Sora didn't hesitate to set things on fire. With every piece of furniture he burned another one spawned in its place. I used lightning and took out two tables. Might as well help him out before he makes himself exhausted.

"Boy, I'm tired. Merlin really knows how to work a person..." I huffed, walking alongside Donald. After we finished training we went back to searching for Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. Sora had led us to the alleyway for the second time claiming that he 'Had a feeling they were over here!' for about the fourth time. There was a chance he was going a little crazy after he had disappeared into one of Merlin's books. He said something about meeting a 'Yellow bear named Winnie the Pooh' which I'm pretty sure was a lie. Nothing but peace and quiet was in the alleyway. Well that and water. We walked along the back of the hotel only to find nothing. "Well... were are they Sora?"

"You hear that?" He asked, walking over to the river of water. The water flowed through bars in the wall and that led to... I don't know. Maybe it was a sewer or something. He stood in front of the bars and tried to look past it but couldn't see anything. "Guys, help me break this down! I hear voices."

Donald and I started laughing, if you read in between the lines that was actually a really funny joke. Goofy scratched his head and looked at him skeptically. "I don't know, Sora. Do you really think they're in there?" He asked as we were staring to calm down. He nodded and so did we. "Alright, from shortest to tallest!"

Donald stepped aside so that I could go first. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the laughing duck. "Ha ha, very funny." I grumbled, stepping behind him. He charged at the bars, and then me, Sora, and Goofy followed after him. The bars broke and we tumbled on top of each other. "Can't breath... g-get off... please..."

Goofy and Sora stood up and I got off of Donald. He looked a lot like a pancake which made me laugh really hard. He jumped up and glared at me, "Hey what's the big idea!? It wasn't funny!"

"That's for calling me short!"

"But you are!"

"I'm taller than you! And no I'm not, I'm around average height for my age!"

"No, Sora's average height!"

"He's only two inches bigger than me!"

"Two inches is a lot!"

"No it's not-"

"Hey look, it's Leon!" Goofy smiled, pointing to the brunette haired man watching us with folded arms. We looked up and waved at him sheepishly as he shook his head. The first thing we do when we see him is argue about how tall I am. Yeah, we must look very mature to him right now. "So, you found the Keyhole." He said, trying to ignore what just happened.

"Yeah we did. The Keyblade locked it automatically." Sora smiled, walking over to him with us following. Aerith walked over to us and smiled gently. "Good." She said, nodding her head.

"Every world among the stars has a Keyhole. And each one leads to the heart of that world. There must be one in this town as well." Leon explain, crossing his arms over his chest. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was he trying to say? Sora must have been lost too by the look he was giving Leon.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was in Ansem's report. The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core. In the end, it disappears." Aerith told us, making all of us gasp dramatically. Did Destiny Islands disappear? All this was too much to take in. "That's why your key is so important, Sora. Please lock the keyholes. You're the only one who can."

"I don't know..." Sora whispered, scratching his head. This was a pretty big responsibility. Glad it's not me...

"Seeing other worlds would probably serve you well. Don't you want to find your friends and the king?" Leon tried, still no emotion on his face. I had to say though, he wasn't as expressionless as Cloud. I could barely get a sigh out of that guy. "Yeah... Okay." Sora agreed, nodding his head curtly. There was an earthquake as soon as he finished his sentence.

"What was that?" I asked once it was over. Leon and Aerith didn't look phased by it the slightest bit. Donald and Goofy, however, were holding onto each other and shaking in fear.

"The bell above the gizmo shop was ringing. Go check it out if you want to." Leon answered. Before he could say more we were already gone. We ran all the way back to the second district. "Uhh... any of you remember where the gizmo shop is?" I asked, looking around.

"In the third district?" Donald suggested, shrugging his shoulders. We went with that due to us not having any other ideas. This town was so confusing; I didn't get it at all. We walked through the doors of the third district and walked down the steps. There was no kind of shop in sight. "Where-"

"There you are. What's going on?" A familiar voice said behind us. My jaw dropped open and I turned my head around. Was this another trick or something? To my surprise, Riku was standing there with a Keyblade in his hands that resembled a bat wing of some sort. He had that same cocky smirk on his face like he usually does. "Riku!" Sora and I shouted in unison, running over to him. I hugged him while Sora yanked on his cheeks.

"Hey, hey, cut it out!"

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked as we stepped away from him. He looked completely shell shocked. I slowly nodded my head in agreement. Please tell me he's really here. I don't think I could handle another hallucination.

"I hope not. Took forever to find you two." He smirked, shaking his head a bit and flipping his hair. We just stood there with wide eyes and open mouths. "You know, I'd appreciate it if you guys stop staring at me like that."

"Wait, where's Kairi?" I asked, snapping out of my shock. He looked at me with those intense turquoise eyes of his before raising an eyebrow. "Isn't she with you?" He replied, his smirk fading. I lowered my head and Sora shook his.

"Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off of the island, too. We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now." He said, turning around and looking at the sky. A heartless spawned behind him and my eyes grew wide. Sora instantly took care of it though. "We'll find her. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this-"

Riku turned around to see Sora defeating one of the smaller Heartless. He had a surprised look on his face. Most importantly, he was staring at his key. "Leave it to who?" Sora asked, smirking at him. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Oh no, it's a Battle of the Cockiest People of All Time...

"Sora, what did you-"

"I've been looking for you and Kairi, too, with their help." Sora explained, nodding his head towards Goofy, Donald, and I. We nodded in unison as Riku watched Goofy and Donald closely. "Who are they?" He asked.

"Ahem. My name is-" Donald started by was cut off by Sora. He glared at the brunette as he began to to talk. "We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you." He said, smiling a bit and ignoring the extremely peeved Donald.

"Really? Well what do you know... I never would have guessed."

"Oh, and guess what? Sora's the Keyblade master." Goofy added, putting his hands on Sora's shoulders and looking at Riku. I scoffed and shook my head before crossing my arms over my chest. Donald must have been thinking the same as me because he had a slight scowl on his face. "Who would have thought it?" We sighed in unison, looking towards the brunette.

"What's that mean?!" Sora huffed, glaring at us.

"So, this is called a Keyblade?" Riku asked, holding Sora's key in his hands. He looked at him before looking at his hands. It was gone. How did Riku end up taking it so fast? "Huh? Hey, give it back." Sora said, running over to him. Riku moved out of the way, hoever, and he tumbled over and fell on his face. I tried my best to hold in my laughter. Hey, do you know how many times he's laughed at me because I fell on my face? I say it's only fair that I laugh too.

"Catch..." Riku smirked, tossing the key into the air. Sora jumped to his feet and clumsily caught it in his hands, almost dropping it a few times.

"Okay, so, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asked, not even thinking to ask Donald nor Goofy. Behind him, the duck was frowning at his every word. "We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'till you see it!"

"No, he can't come!" Donald snapped, glaring up at him. Sora glared back and bent down so that they were at eye level.

"What?!"

"Forget it!"

"Oh, come on! He's my friend!"

"I don't care! You're lucky we let HER on!"

"But-"

"Huh? He's gone." Goofy said, stopping their arguement. We all looked up to see if he was telling the truth. Just like he said, the silver haired teen was missing. It was like he wasn't there from the very beginning. Sora walked forward and looked arounf the area.

"Riku?" He shouted in hopes of him coming back. When he didn't he turned around and glared really hard at Donald. "Nice going... Oh, well. At least he's okay. And who knows. Maybe we'll run into Kairi, too."

Somehow I doubted that would happen.

Well, there's chapter ten. Did you love it? Hate it? Have any comments or ideas? Review!