Yen Sid looked over the gathered guardians of light. He took a deep breath.
"At last, we are all assembled. First: Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Ignus, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. And you, Aqua and Ventus: we are fortunate to have you back."
"Thanks. I only wish we could have returned to help sooner." Aqua nodded. "We're grateful to all of you for rescuing us."
"Thank you." Ventus added.
"Still, I feel like I'm letting you guys down." Ignus sighed. "We haven't been able to find Terra. We don't even have a decent lead."
"Don't. He studied with Master Eraqus, just like us. He's our responsibility." Aqua replied.
Riku turned to her. "Ignus told me that you saved me in the realm of darkness. I should have gone to help you right away. But I was too inexperienced. I'm sorry. I know that I let you down."
"No, just the opposite."
"Did ya know Riku's a true Keyblade Master now?" Goofy said.
"That's wonderful."
"Ignus too." Donald said.
"Good for you."
"You don't have to look so surprised." Ignus smirked.
Donald walked over to Sora. "But Sora needs work."
"Yeah, rub it in…" Sora grumbled, smiling at everyone's laughter.
"I'm happy to see that you haven't changed one bit." Aqua smiled.
"Huh?"
"Sora, you probably don't remember…it's okay."
Lea coughed loudly.
"Ah yes." Yen Sid said. "Let us not forget our new keyblade wielders. Lea, Kairi, you have made tremendous strides."
"Hey there. And that's 'future Keyblade Master'-"
"Kairi!" Aqua exclaimed, making Lea devolve into a stuttering mess. She walked over and looked closer at Kairi. "Incredible! It is you."
"You know her?" Ignus asked.
"Ignus, when you and I first met in Radiant Garden, the Unversed tried to attack a little girl. Do you remember?"
"Wait, that was her?" Ignus looked from Kairi to Aqua to Kairi. "Actually, I'm kinda surprised I didn't realize earlier. Guess it was longer than I'd care to admit."
"I guess it must've worked," Aqua said, "the spell that I cast on you."
"I'm sorry." Kairi shrugged. "Those days are hazy for me. But it sounds like I'd have been in trouble without you. So thank you."
"Please. You were really very little. Anyone would forget, hazy memory or not."
Lea again loudly cleared his throat. "This is all very touching, guys, but where do I fit in? Ven looks just like Roxas, or is it Roxas looks just like Ven?" He paused, looking at Ventus, who smiled. "And now I have to explain all of that to him – which is in itself a crazy long story – and, apparently everyone already knows everyone, and this is an insane amount to get memorized!"
"Sorry, Lea." Ventus grinned.
"You remember me?"
"Yeah, 'course! We're friends. I can't believe you became a keyblade wielder just like me."
"Yeah…"
"Axel, you know Ven?" Sora asked.
"Axel? Who's Axel?" Ven asked.
"See, see, see?" Lea said. "Major brain-ache." Lea recoiled as Jiminy hopped on top of Sora's head. "Now who?"
"Not to worry, folks. To help us out, I've given each of you a Gummiphone. They've got summaries of everything that's happened so far. That way, you can read up, if you'd like. And if anyone has any questions, we can call each other."
"Well," Ignus said, "we've got our seven guardians."
"Yeah…" Sora sighed. "But I do wish that Roxas, and Naminé, and Terra could be here with us too."
"Since when do you mope, Sora? Come on." Riku said. "Terra's gotta be with the Organization. Which means we'll have a chance to save him."
"Leave it to Ven and I." Aqua said. "We'll bring him home."
"Yeah, I made Terra a promise." Ventus agreed. "I said I'd be there for him when he needs me."
"And I'll figure Roxas out." Lea added. "Don't know how, but…I'll get him back."
"Naminé is right here, safe with me." Kairi looked at Sora. "I know that we'll find a way to help her. Trust me – I'm not giving up."
"It is a shame that all of our friends could not be here." Yen Sid brought the group back to order. "But our seven guardians of light have united. Perhaps you might say that we have nine guardians, with Donald and Goofy. Given time, I know the others will soon stand with us. Today, you recuperate."
Aqua poked Ignus, who scowled, then smiled.
"On the morrow, you journey to the fated place."
Notes:
Yeah, I'm going to try to remember to put more of my thoughts in these uploads. May you find my ramblings...informative? Entertaining? Whatever.
This scene just made me really happy to watch. All my friends are together, they're meeting each other, it was great. Makes me happy.
Also, still waiting on feedback for the bonus! Please, guys, it's my first time writing this sort of thing, and I need to know if it worked.
