I LIIIIIIVE!

So, tell me what mortal needs my protection, Great Ancestor. You just say the word, and I'm there!

-cough-Wrongmovie-cough- Watched that recently...sorry, guys -sweatdrop-

Anyway...-shifty eyes- Yes! I exist! It's been a little while, hasn't it? Blasted quicksand...

But that's okay! Because this shouldn't happen again for the next month or so...I have a lot of this next stuff prewritten. Looooots of it :D

Most of this chapter basically came out of thin air, because I refused to use the storylines for either II or III. Two and three of what, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! :D It'll make sense soon, I swear.

aniuwolfe: I try to stay true to the original storylines...with some minor alterations. I don't want to be quoting scripts word for word, unless the scriptwriting is so sensational I'm afraid to screw it up, lol. I do my best not to be a crazy copycat. But it irks me when huge pieces of plot are left out. So I try not to do that so much. I know how you feel with the 'too tired to say anything'. It's 1:50 in the morning, but when I finished this during the babysitting job I just got home from, I had to post it. I couldn't keep you guys waiting one more day! :D

SuperFriendlySoraFan203: I loved those gifts. They'll probably end up coming in handy sometime later, although exactly when is still a mystery to me...Oh well. It'll come along eventually. I did a hell of a lot of random research, trying to figure out colours and materials and stuff. I really feel like I should have a bibliography for this fic XD

rose93darkness: You know, I never really got why you used 'hard-headed' instead of...I dunno...something else XD He didn't strike me as all that hard-headed, at least not in the last chapter. But that's okay, lol. Everyone has their own perspective. :D

Renkin-chan: You know, it's been sorta difficult, what with Sora and Roxas in there, to keep them from randomly jumping into musical scenes. They haven't had too many that I've posted, but there have been little places where I've been like, "Oh, damn it, I want them to siiing!". But they can't, really. Maybe I'll save that for the blooper reel/deleted scenes too, lol. I've got a lot of stuff for that section...

blackpantherwolf: I should've been expecting that, seeing as I mentioned the Pride Lands in the first chapter, lol. They'll come along eventually. I wouldn't mention them and then not have it happen, lol. I'm not that mean. But I'm not telling you when. It could be next chapter...it could be the last world. I'll never teeeeeell...-shifty eyes-

Dragonfire411: Thank you for your comments. :) Hope you stay tuned :D

NaroRau: Naro, sweetie, you don't need that coffee. People tend to switch to decaf in the afternoons...maybe you should try that XD

Please see the Author's Note after the chapter if anyone gets confused. I'll try to explain my position on this whole thing.


The white light melted away, as usual. They'd ended up in some sort of park, this time; muted pastel colours making it appear soft and almost dull after Jamestown's vibrance. This place was certainly not wilderness; it was fenced in by white walls, and by the look of it, a gardener came three days in four to tend to things. Over the trees could be seen a castle, tall and thin and mostly composed of towers, with a clock tower rising from the dead centre. About six feet to their left, a path of white stone snaked through the park, disappearing off around a plot of bushes. The voices of several young women floated towards them, gradually getting louder as they got nearer. Idly, Riku leaned forward, gently tapping Sora on the shoulder.

"What do you usually tell them, Sora, when you just appear somewhere you weren't two seconds ago?" He murmured. Sora glanced at him, wincing sheepishly.

"I'm usually not dropping into places that are so obviously private." He whispered back. "But one of those voices sounds a little familiar, so we might not be in too much trouble."

A few minutes later, a party of about six women rounded the bend in the path. The one in the centre wore a blush pink gown with a tight-fitting bodice and ruffled sleeves. A gold choker set with a pale pink stone accented her neck, and her light blonde hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail with a flowered hairpiece. Obviously the most observant of the half-dozen twittering girls, she was the first to gasp in surprise. She had caught sight of Riku first, and a spark of fear flowered in her soft blue eyes.

'Uh oh.' Was the first thought to hit Sora when he recognized her. It had taken a second; she'd been in silver-blue the last time he'd seen her. 'Time for a little damage control.' He stepped forward quickly, between the two of them, his hands out in what he hoped was a calming sort of gesture. "It's okay." He called. "It's not who you think it is."

"Keybearer?" Her frightened eyes flicked his way. "I...I never expected to see you here." She fidgeted nervously, although somehow he felt that she was the tiniest bit more relaxed, knowing he was there. He relaxed too, cautiously approaching her.

"We didn't know this was your world...Princess." He felt a little awkward; he couldn't remember her name! "If we had, we might have given you a bit more warning."

A tiny smile touched her lips. "Cinderella." She supplied, realizing that was what he was searching for. Again, she glanced at Riku, the amusement draining from her expression and being replaced by ware. "Keybearer..." She paused, trying to find some polite way of phrasing what she wanted to ask. "...Why is he here?"

Riku took a deep breath. 'I'll have to get used to this, I guess.' He muttered internally. There were five other Princesses of Heart out there in the worlds; he would be surprised if any one of them didn't react to him like this. "I'm not Ansem, Your Highness." He met her light blue eyes with his own gaze, unsurprised when she couldn't look back for more than a few seconds.

"It's okay, Your Highness. This is my best friend Riku." Sora placed a gentle hand on the silver-haired teen's shoulder.

Roxas blinked. Curious, he leaned slightly closer to Kairi as Sora introduced the rest of them. "What's up?" He whispered. A little distracted, and looking quite sympathetic, the redheaded girl waved him off, her expression clearly telling him to save it for later.

The loud, low clang of a bell suddenly startled them all out of their skin. Turning, Cinderella looked up at the clock, which had rung to announce the hour. "One o'clock." She murmured. With a small smile, she turned back to the group. "It would be impolite to leave you out here. Please, come inside and meet my prince."

Sora glanced around to everyone else, taking their reactions into consideration before he responded. "I think we would be honored, Your Highness." He replied with a smile and a bow. The blonde princess smiled too.

"Wonderful. Please, come with me."


The inside of the castle was just as pristine as the outside, all white and sparkling, with bright carpets and tapestries on the walls. They were barely inside the walls, however, when a dark-haired man came striding up to the group of them, brown eyes alight when he saw Cinderella.

"My love, I was beginning to wonder if you had lost track of time." He teased gently, taking her into his arms. She giggled quietly, stifling the sound with one hand.

"No, my prince. I was delayed by the arrival of an old friend." She turned, gesturing to Sora and the others with a graceful sweep of her arm. "Your Highness, meet the Keybearer and his companions. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Riku, Kairi and Roxas. Friends, meet Prince Charming II, High prince of the realm."

When he realized the significance of the name, the prince bowed to the young brunet and his friends. "You are the one who defeated the witch that stole Cinderella away." He murmured. "For that, I thank you, young Keybearer."

Sora blinked, startled. "We just stopped Maleficent's plans for a little while, Your Highness." He explained sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "She's still out there. In fact, that's kinda why we're here."

"And modest, too. How delightfully unusual." Cinderella's prince canted his head slightly. "I would be curious to hear your story, and how we can be of service. If you would join us for tea?" He offered. When nods of assent came from everyone, Prince Charming II gave a warm smile. "Wonderful."

Despite royal protocol, Cinderella murmured something to her prince before she fell back to walk with Kairi. "You are the seventh princess, aren't you?" She asked. Kairi smiled sheepishly, flushing a soft pink.

"Yeah." She admitted. A tap on her shoulder startled her, and she turned around to find Roxas. "What is it, Roxas?" She asked, blinking.

"You're a princess?" He asked.

Kairi blinked curiously at him for a moment more, then suddenly laughed. "Oh, of course. You wouldn't know. Sorry, Roxas." She rubbed one cheek, brushing her hair behind that ear as she explained the Princesses of Heart and their significance to the Universe to the blond teen.

"So, okay. This guy, who called himself Ansem, gathered together the Seven Princesses so he could use their hearts to open the way to the darkness?" He arched a brow when Kairi nodded. "Okay. So who was this Ansem person?" He glanced at Cinderella. "And why did you think Riku was this...Ansem?"

Ahead of them, the silver-haired teen paused momentarily. Kairi glanced toward Riku and, seeing that he'd halted, shooed him forward again. He met her eyes and gave a tiny shake of his head before he continued walking, speeding up to pull even with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mickey.

"You okay, Riku?" Mickey's soft voice broke into his thoughts. He nodded, absently, looking distant.

"Yeah, I'm okay, King Mickey. I just don't like the idea of people flinching and being frightened around me all the time. It's...uncomfortable."

Mickey chuckled softly, gently patting Riku's arm. "I understand, Riku." He replied sincerely. Riku smiled, looking down at the tiny king.

"You always do."

Looking up, he noticed everyone else had disappeared behind an ornately carved wooden door. Obviously waiting for him, Kairi had stayed outside for a moment, looking back at him.

"Do you not want him to know, Riku?" She asked softly, when he got close enough to hear her. He shook his head, letting his voice drop to just below a whisper.

"To be honest, I don't much care what Roxas thinks. I'm just worried he'll say something to tip Cinderella or her prince off...I don't want them knowing about Ansem. If he really wants to know, I don't care if you tell him that I was Ansem's host...just don't tell him that Ansem's still there. At least until we've left."

The redheaded girl nodded. "Okay." She agreed. A tiny giggle left her when Riku blinked at her, obviously expecting a protest of some sort, or at least something...more. "Riku, it's your business. If you don't want me to explain everything, then I won't. You have your reasons, and even if you didn't, I wouldn't say anything if you didn't want me to. That's what friends are for." She winked at him before turning and entering the parlour where everyone else had gone.

Cinderella, seated next to her prince on one side of the rectangular table, called the redhead over to sit next to her. After glancing around at the available spots, Riku sat next to Mickey, who had been placed directly opposite Prince Charming. Sora, seated on the Prince's other side, canted his head at him curiously, but when he shook his head, the brunet teen left it alone.

Maids brought out trays of tiny sandwiches and tea, distributing them around the table with the various fixings. Sora smiled at the closest one in silent thanks, causing the young woman to flush all the way to the roots of her dark black hair. Roxas, beside him, grinned at the Keyblade Master, who looked quite surprised by the maid's reaction.

As the servants left, scrabbling noises and a chorus of tiny squeaks attracted Kairi's attention to her left. She glanced over, only to gasp as several mice in varying shades of brown scrambled over from the edge of the table. It took her a second to realize each one was dressed in tiny little outfits in vivid colours.

"Itsa teatime, Cinderelly? Itsa teatime?" They chorused, scurrying over to the blond princess. She giggled at them.

"Yes, it is." She took three biscuits from the tea trays and broke them up into pieces, piling the pieces on the satin tablecloth. Each mouse took two or three before scrambling off. Most of them went straight past Kairi again, but one, a thinner mouse in red, looked up at her in surprise.

"Whosa this lady, Cinderelly?" It asked curiously, before it stuffed its biscuit piece in its mouth and crept closer to the redheaded girl. Another mouse, a plump little thing in yellow and green, turned back, as if wondering what had distracted its fellow.

Cinderella giggled again, touching her lips with one hand to stifle it. "This is Kairi, Jaq." She explained.

"Cinderelly likey Kairi?"

"Yes, I do like Kairi. And her friends...would you like to meet them as well?" She gestured to the rest of the table, causing Jaq to turn around slowly. The other, plumper mouse hid behind Kairi's teacup when he saw how many people were watching the two of them.

"Jaq, Gus, meet Kairi, Riku, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Sora." The blonde princess introduced them all, going around the table. "Everyone, these are two of my dearest friends, Jaq and Gus."

The two mice bowed. Well, Jaq did. Gus tried to, but he leaned over too far and toppled forward. After their introductions, the two of them fled with their biscuit fragments, back down from the table and away. Mickey chuckled; he knew it could sometimes be scary, being smaller than everyone else.

Prince Charming watched them, amusement flickering in his dark brown eyes. When the tiny mice had vanished from sight, he turned to Sora. "I'm intrigued, Sora. You said that the witch Maleficent was part of the reason you are here. I am curious to know why that is. Do you believe she will come for Cinderella again?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't think so, Your Highness." He assured the dark-haired prince. "I think she realized she'd need to find some other way of taking over Kingdom Hearts when we stopped her the first time. But she's still out there, and we have a feeling she's still causing trouble. If we're going to stop her for good, there's a set of keys we need to find. Ten of them."

"And you think one of these keys is somewhere here?" Cinderella asked, blue eyes curious. Kairi nodded.

"We've already found one." She held the Earth Key up for Cinderella and Prince Charming to see. "We were wondering if either of you knew any tales about keys in your folklore, or perhaps know someone who does?"

There was silence for a little while as the two thought. "Perhaps Father might know, but other than that, I don't have the faintest idea who else would." Prince Charming admitted. "What about you, Cinderella? Have you any knowledge of someone who could help our guests?"

The blonde princess thought for a few minutes more, tapping her chin with her finger. "I think I might know someone who can help you." She admitted. "I'll call her as soon as I can. I'm sure she'll be glad to help."

"Thank you very much, Your Highnesses." Mickey smiled. "We appreciate it."

"I'll take you to see her after tea, then." Cinderella smiled back at the tiny king.


Once everyone had finished, Cinderella stood. She curtseyed to Prince Charming. "I'll be out in the garden with our guests, Your Highness."

"Of course, my love." He stood and embraced her for a moment. "I'll see you at dinner."

With a smile, the blonde princess turned to everyone else. "Please, come with me." She requested, dipping respectfully before she turned to leave. Curious, everyone followed her.

She led them back out of the castle and into the garden, choosing a secluded glade near the corner of the enclosure to stop. Sora looked around, expecting to see someone waiting for them. "Are they here yet? The person who might be able to help us?" He asked. Cinderella shook her head.

"Not yet. But I'm hoping she'll come." She replied mysteriously. Bowing her head, she fell silent, clasping her hands in front of her as if praying. For a long time, nothing happened.

A tiny sparkle drifted before Roxas' eyes. When he reached out to grab it, it flew out of his hand, wafting over to the space before Cinderella. Soon enough, more sparkles drifted into place there, outlining a shorter, plump woman. She seemed to look around, and then shake out her skirt, chasing the sparkles away. They vanished in an instant, leaving the woman behind.

"Oh, my goodness gracious. Cinderella, why have you called me, child? Do you need something?" She asked, her dark eyes on the blonde princess before her. Cinderella giggled softly.

"No, Fairy Godmother, but I was hoping you could help my friends." She turned, indicating the group behind her with a sweep of her hand. "Friends, meet my Fairy Godmother."

"Oh! It's you!" Sora cried, grinning. "Last time I saw you, you were at Merlin's house in Traverse Town!"

It took the older faerie a second to recognize him, but when she did, she lit up with a smile. "Oh, Sora, look at you! How you've grown!" She laughed, gently cupping his chin in her hands. Sora smiled.

"Yeah, it's been a little while." He admitted.

The Fairy Godmother bustled around the group of them, looking up and down each one of them in turn. She paused, however, when she got to Mickey. "Your Majesty." She curtseyed. "You grace our world with your presence."

"I'm honoured to be here, Your Excellency." He replied respectfully, dipping into a short bow.

When she'd finished taking in them all, she stepped back, pulling a long white wand out of thin air. "Let's see..." There was silence for a moment as she pointed each of them out with the wand, obviously muttering something to herself, although no sound left her lips. "What could you all possibly be here for? Is our world in danger again?" She finally asked, anxious. With a smile, Sora shook his head.

"I don't think so." He answered. "Not yet, anyway. We're hoping we can stop the darkness before it reaches the worlds again."

Kairi reached into her pocket, pulling out the Earth Key again. "We're looking for the ten keys to the Light." She explained. "Do you know if there's one here?"

The Fairy Godmother came forward and carefully took the key out of Kairi's hands. She tapped her head with her wand, the furrow between her brows obviously meaning she was thinking. "Hmm...No. There's nothing like this around here." Apologetic, she handed the Key back to Kairi. "I'm sorry, child."

Kairi glanced at Sora, who shrugged. "That's okay." He answered. "I guess that means we're only here to sightsee, then." He grinned at everyone, then looked back at the Fairy Godmother. "Thank you for your help."

"Oh, my dear, it's no trouble." She assured him. "If you need me again, just call." With a sweep of her hands, she burst into a shower of sparkles that winked out one by one.

"Well, okay. So now what do we do?" Roxas' voice piped up. Sora turned around, facing the blond with a shrug.

"I don't know. Do you guys want to hang around a little while longer? Maybe go down into the village and see what it's like?"

Kairi's eyes lit up. "I think that would be fascinating." She admitted. "To see how the people live here."

"You have the kind of interest in people that rulers need, Kairi." Mickey teased her. "No wonder you're a Princess of Heart."

Sora couldn't help but laugh. "Well, she is the foster daughter of the best mayor the Islands have had in the last twenty years or something." He grinned. "I remember my-" He broke off suddenly, and the momentary silence was awkward, to say the least. "...I-I remember hearing the adults talk about it when I was little." He finished, lamely.

Unsure of what had just happened, but quite aware that Sora was suddenly uncomfortable, Roxas not-too-subtly nudged the conversation back to its origins. "So, okay. We have one vote for staying a little while longer. Does everyone else want to go down into the town and wander?"

"I don't. I think our time would be better spent coming back another time." Riku spoke, voice low.

Kairi's blue eyes twinkled as she glanced his way. "Oh, come on, Riku. You're not curious? Not even the littlest bit?" She teased. The tiniest of smirks touched the older teen's lips.

"Maybe a little." He admitted after a moment. He quickly sobered again, though. "But we've got a bit of a task on our plates right now. The more quickly we can get it done, the less time Maleficent - and anyone else who might be interested in stopping us - has to plan. We can sightsee later."

There was quiet for a few moments as everyone considered that.

"Y'know, he does have a point." Mickey admitted.

"Your Majesty, we'll do whatever you're doing." Donald promised.

Goofy laughed. "O'course we will, Donald."

Sora looked around, surprised when everyone looked his way. "Why's everyone looking at me?" He asked, blinking.

"Sora, you're our unofficial leader. Who else are we going to look at?" Roxas inquired idly, which, of course, just made Sora more flustered.

"Whoa, hey, when did that happen?" He demanded. "I mean, I understood it a little while I was adventuring with you guys," here he glanced at Donald and Goofy, "but we're pretty much all on even ground, now."

Kairi rolled her dark blue eyes, uncharacteristically sardonic. "Who better, Sora? You know everyone, everyone knows you. You know most of the worlds we're going to." She explained. "Most of the people on those worlds know you."

The brunet teen was obviously still uncomfortable with his sudden role. "I suppose you're right." He admitted. "I just...I don't like the idea of having a leader. We're a team. 'Leader' makes it sound like one of us is better than the others."

"Sora, no matter what, we're asking you what you think." Donald squawked impatiently. "So tell us already!"

Sora fidgeted slightly. "To be honest, listening to him, I think Riku's right." He replied. "We'll have plenty of time after we find the other nine keys to come back and explore." He glanced at Kairi and saw her looking just the slightest bit resigned. "Sorry, Kairi. I know you were looking forward to going into town. I was too. But it makes sense."

She sighed. "I know it does." The tiniest bit of a smile touched her lips. "I guess exploring can wait. We've got keys to find." She turned to Cinderella, who had been quiet, letting them work through their dilemma on their own. "I'm sorry, Cinderella, but it looks like we'll be leaving a bit earlier than expected."

The blonde princess giggled softly. "Prince Charming will understand." She assured them. "I'll explain the situation to him. You'll always be welcome back."

Sora smiled. "Thanks a lot, Your Highness."

"Please, Sora. I'm not a 'Your Highness'." She protested. "Call me Cinderella."

He grinned at that. "Well, then. Thanks for putting up with us, Cinderella. Tell Prince Charming we said goodbye."

Cinderella touched one hand to her lips to stifle her laughter. "It was a pleasure, Sora, Kairi. King Mickey, Donald and Goofy." She paused momentarily, slightly awkward, when the only one left was Riku. "I'm glad I was able to meet you as well, Riku." Dipping a slight curtsey allowed her to close her eyes before meeting the silver-haired teen's gaze.

A small smile touched Riku's features. "Thank you." He replied.

"All right, then." Mickey glanced around at them all. "I expect it's time for us to be going, then." Turning, he bowed to Cinderella. "Thank you very much, Princess Cinderella. I hope your world stays safe from the darkness."

"Thank you, King Mickey." Was her answer as she curtseyed again. "I hope you all have a safe trip."


Roxas walked into the cockpit of the Gummi Ship, just the tiniest bit nervous. It was technically his first shift on the bridge, after all. He wouldn't even be with Sora or King Mickey, who seemed to know the most about Gummi Ships and Blocks and...stuff. Kairi was going to be his bridge partner for this shift, and while he did like Kairi's company, he would have felt slightly more comfortable being in the cockpit with someone more...experienced.

But that could have just been his paranoia talking.

He looked up and saw Kairi was already sitting down, looking over the controls. At the footsteps, she looked up. "Hey, Roxas." She grinned. "Looking forward to your first bridge duty?"

A nervous laugh passed the blond's lips. "Not...really?" He admitted. When Kairi laughed softly, he couldn't help but laugh with her. "I guess I'm just worried that something's going to happen that we're not going to be able to handle."

Understanding completely, Kairi patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, Roxas. Why should anything happen? We've had nothing but clear routes this whole time. Trust me." She assured him. "Nothing's going to happen just because it's your watch."

"To be honest, Kairi, I really, really hope you're right."

"C'mon, Roxas. Sit down." She tugged him over to the chair next to hers. "If something happens, you might as well be comfortable beforehand."

At that, the two of them shared another laugh. After a moment, Roxas leaned over, trying to get a good look at the navigational logs. "So, where are we headed now?" He asked. Kairi grinned.

"Atlantica." She replied. "Did you see the look on Sora's face? He practically split his face grinning. I have a feeling he really likes this place."

Roxas smiled. "I guess so." He agreed. "It should be interesting, at least."

For a few minutes, there was quiet as the two of them watched the stars fly by the Gummi Ship's nose. The silence might not have been broken, except Roxas had a few questions that only Kairi seemed to want to answer. "Hey, Kairi?"

The redhead blinked at him. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering what happened at Chateau Vitrearii...why was Cinderella afraid of Riku? Why did she think he was that...that Ansem guy?"

Kairi sighed. "That's right. I never explained that." She replied. "I'll try to condense this as much as I can...it's a pretty long story."


Okay. Now that I don't have to be all secretive anymore...

The first time I saw the scenes in the World That Never Was in KHII, there was one thing that bugged me.

After Riku and Sora meet again, after Riku's explained the whole thing about looking like Ansem and yadda-yadda...HE NEVER MENTIONS ANSEM AGAIN. Doesn't anyone else find that just the tiniest bit odd? I mean, you've got this evil, crazy, heart-stealing being living in your heart, you think that if something caused it to be forced out, you'd be dancing in the streets, lol.

So what happened? Did he go away during the heartshower? Somehow, I don't think so. You'd think Riku would've mentioned it, even just idly, if that was what had happened.

So...does that mean he's still there?

That's my theory, lol. I hope nobody finds this too hard to believe...I mean, I don't think that's too much of a stretch. Do you?

No matter what, I still love you guys -heart-

Ivy J.