I own nothing.

WARNING: (For you OCD people who I love anyways.) One cuss word.

~Overcoming Fears~

Chapter 14: Memories

…well, not literally.

I scared a couple of you, didn't I? Well, if anybody's actually reading this. I mean, how could I have written this if I had actually DIED? Are you all CRAZY?

And for those of you who had faith…you know me WAAAY too well.

But anyways, I didn't drown or go the Pearly Gates or anything. Physically, nothing happened except me almost drowning. It was my soul that died a little bit. Why? Because I had a pretty random vision that brought me near tears.

"It was reckless to bring them here without at least using a vessel," Maleficent ordered a panting Riku. Kairi was discarded behind me, and I quietly moved into an overprotective position, because that's what I was meant to do—protect her. Right? Anna was next to him, a hand on his shoulder. That reminded me—she still thought I was asleep. I would have to tell her when I got the chance. "Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart."

There was a sudden large growl, and it took all of my willpower not to jump and scream. Riku himself jumped up and turned. "A castaway," Maleficent dismissed. Riku turned back to her, trying to look as if he hadn't been surprised. Anna grinned. Obviously, Lexi had helped her. I wish I could've told her, but it had been impossible. "Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her hear out of sheer force of will. But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match for your power."

My face abruptly when from sleepily calm to terrified until it forced it back to sleepy. No. Riku wasn't meant to be used this way. If she'd told me anything, this was it…Riku isn't supposed to walk the path of darkness. I continued to listen, becoming more and more horrified as time went on. My eyes were in slits so that I could see. "My power?" Riku frowned.

No, I thought, but it was useless. Maleficent continued. "Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it's time you awakened that power and realized your full potential."

A bright green light began glowing around Riku, and he took a deep breath, drinking it in.

"NO!"

Riku had toppled over, the weight of my cousin too much for him. She was sobbing in the shocked silence. "Riku, don't," she begged. "This isn't right! Your heart's going to be swallowed…don't do this!"

Riku looked surprised to see Anna crying into his shirt. His face twisted into a semi-concerned expression, but Maleficent just stared at her in disgust. The witch snapped her fingers, and instantly Anna was silenced and floating in midair, tears streaming down her face. She turned her wrist, and Anna convulsed, trying to scream, but no sound coming out. Riku was watching, horrified and stunned.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY COUSIN!"

Without realizing it, I'd stood and run towards the green woman, intending to hurt her as much and as hard as possible, with or without my blade. She was so surprised I actually had time to summon my blade (seeing it stunned her even more) and even landed a few good hits, making her stumble backwards. Then she roared and gave me the same treatment as Anna, but I didn't feel any pain. Unlike my cousin, who had been weak and taken by surprise, I was ready and fighting back. "STAY AWAY FROM HER," I yelled through the spell. "DON'T EVER TOUCH HER AGAIN!"

Maleficent's eyebrows rose before she grinned maliciously. Riku looked just plain appalled. "Well," she mused, "I'll just have to eliminate her then."

"NOOO!" I was thrashing wildly through the invisible bonds, trying to use the blade for a spell, preferably a killing one.

"Well, then," she nodded, satisfied. "It's your turn to serve me…"

"…Heartblade wielder."

I had been in Anthony's mind, I was positive. Which meant that…he had a Heartblade? What? I surfaced in an underwater cave-thingy. After shaking myself off and sitting on a rock, I groaned, running my hand through my hair. This was a disaster. At least one thing was settled; I had to find them. Maleficent…the ruins of Hollow Bastion, Captain Hook had said. Well, I had a destination. I shakily stood and splashed my way for about two steps before falling, face first.

Who was I kidding? I had no transportation, no food, and I'd probably drown if I tried to surface. What I needed now was someone who could somehow get to worlds on their own, someone who could provide me with the materials I needed who wasn't captured yet. Someone who had extensive knowledge of Hollow Bastion…

Someone…whose name started with B…and who was walking toward me right now.

"Broderick!" I called, standing unexpectedly.

"It's Alex," he replied, trying to act irritated but obviously pleased. I gasped and glomped him. "Hey—hey, Lexi, you're—ow! That hurts—Lexi, I—can't—breathe!"

I laughed and stood, letting him stand from my major bear hug. "It's so great to see you!" I squealed in a slightly out of character way, hugging him. He tensed, but when he saw that I wasn't going to sprain his back again (is that even possible?), he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me. I pulled away, grinning up at him. "'You're just the person I wanted to see!"

"I guess I should feel loved," he replied dryly.

"Alright," I declared. "Question time!"

"Questions?" He smiled without humor. "Oh, no. I just wanted to see you again before I died."

Meanwhile…

As Sora and friends alighted upon the boat deck, he frowned, looking around. "Hey, where is she? She said she'd stay right here!"

"Maybe she got something to eat," Goofy suggested.

"She's never serious," Donald grumbled.

Peter, on the other hand, was listening to Tink's report. "What? You have to be joking! No way!"

"What is it?" Sora frowned, looking at him.

Peter looked shocked. "Tink says that as we were leaving, she dived into the water!"

"WHAT?" the other three yelled in unison.

He nodded in agreement. "Apparently, she went pretty deep down, too. I wonder…" he stared at it testily. "What if she's still down there?"

Sora felt like screaming. He couldn't leave for five minutes without Lexi getting in trouble, could he? He stared over the edge, but the water was clear. Anything living had long since been eradicated.

Or had died.

"Maybe she came up and went to another world without us," Goofy suggested. It was a plausible theory, but Sora wasn't reassured. If Lexi was still down there…if she had died…

How could he ever forgive himself?

He should've insisted she came along. He should've grabbed her arm and flown her to the clock tower with him, no matter how much she protested. Maybe then…she would've lived.

But she was alive. He had to believe that, or he'd drive himself absolutely crazy. He took a deep breath and gave them an obviously fake smile. "Yeah," he said carelessly. "I bet we'll see her again when we go to Traverse Town."

It was then that Sora realized a very important fact.

He was in love with Lexi Meyers.

"What do you mean, die?" I scowled.

"What does it sound like?" he snorted. "Ending my life. Moving on. Going towards the light."

"No!" I replied desperately, latching onto his arm and staring up at him with big, watery eyes.

What happened to my hat and sunglasses? Well, unlike every other book and movie heroine, they floated off in the water, so I was left accessory-less. But anyway.

So yeah. Big, watery eyes. "Don't go kill yourself or something!" I pleaded. "Why would you do that? I care about you!"

"You don't even know me," he muttered in reply, trying to get out of my grasp unsuccessfully.

"Of course I do!" I frowned. What did he mean, I didn't get him? He was my brother!

"NO, YOU DON'T!"

I guess that was the last straw, because he had whirled to face me, obviously furious. "YOU DON'T KNOW ME AT ALL!" he yelled in my face. "I'VE ALWAYS BEEN COVERING FOR YOU, AND WHEN I NEED YOUR HELP YOU JUST SIT BACK AND DO NOTHING! AND THEN, WHEN I'M DOING SOMETHING THAT I HAVE THOUGHT THROUGH A MILLION TIMES, YOU TELL ME I CHOSE WRONG! YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ME! GET THE HELL AWAY!"

I was frozen, silent tears streaming down my face. He finally jerked his arm out of my grasp and walked forwards to go back wherever he came from.

"But…I love you."

He turned around, and I could tell my face was completely distraught. It's not like I'm an easy crier, nor do I usually get overemotional, but this was too much. I didn't even have the energy to be angry at him. I put everything I had into everything I did, and then I mess up. Sometimes, like this, I don't even know what I did, but I did it. It's mildly depressing to get yelled at like that by someone you love, in case you don't know.

God, I feel like such a girl.

For a moment, his face contorted into something like concern, but I just shook my head, wiping the tears off. I wasn't weak. I could be strong and get through this. And if I had to cry, I'd do it alone. "Fine," I said bitterly. "Fine. If you want to go break the heart of your sister, the person who loves you most in the whole universe, and get yourself killed in the process. Fine. Obviously, I won't be able to stop you."

"Lexi…" he said softly, and what he said next shocked me even more. "I'm…not your brother."

I stared at him, completely confused. My jaw had sincerely dropped. "What?" I demanded. "Of course you are! You lived with me for years, and you've always teased me, and…and…!" He was shaking his head, and I was becoming desperate for more reasons. "But we even look alike! Look! Our hair is the exact same shade of black!"

"Lexi," Alex said quietly, stepping towards me. "Listening to me. What is your full name?"

I hiccupped before replying, "A-Alexandra."

"And what's my name?" he continued gently.

"Alex…Alex…Alexandra? But…that doesn't make any sense! W-why is your real name so close to m-mine?" I frowned, tears and hiccups interrupting my speech.

He touched my hand, and I convulsed. Then I fell on the ground and saw something that would forever change my life.

…not like it hadn't been changed forever anyways, but you get the point.

DANG IT, I'm a hormonal teenager!

"She's not here," Sora said softly, slouching down. Donald and Goofy came up to him, panting. Moments previously, Sora had been sprinting through Traverse Town, yelling Lexi's name as loud as possible. Now he was completely and utterly depressed. What if she had really died?

No. He just figured out his feelings for her; she was NOT going to die before he could express them!

"Sora!" Donald warned

"Now, just remember what Donald said to ya," Goofy assured him. "No frowning, no sad faces."

"How can you be so cheerful?" Sora complained. "There's still no sign of your king. Aren't you worried?"

"Aw, phooey," Donald pouted in reply.

"The king told us to go out and find the key bearers, and we found you," Goofy smiled. "So as long as we stick together, it'll all turn out okay. Ya just gotta believe in yourself, that's all."

"Just believe…" Sora frowned. That's what everyone was telling him. But what if he couldn't believe?

"I believe in you."

And then Sora was taken into Kairi's memory.

It was a memory. Even weirder, it was MY memory. But…I wasn't myself. I mean, I was myself, but I wasn't younger me, I was just watching younger me. I was kind of…you know…floating above the scene?

I (my small self) was sighing and walking down a road, eyebrows creased into a frown. I was in jeans and a purple heart t-shirt, and a green backpack was strewn onto my back. My hair was behind my ears, but what made we wonder were my eyes. Instead of being brown, they were pure amber, and light was dancing through them.

I was staring at the sidewalk, walking like I was on a tightrope, when suddenly something crazy caught my (normal me, not mini-me) attention. A large spaceship-ish thing was flying through a vortex, which closed behind it. Two people jumped off of it, one clinging to the other for dear life. After a moment, their armor flew off and the spaceship turned into…was that a Keyblade?

"Is she here?" the girl muttered, not relinquishing her death grip. He blushed.

"Ah…does she have black hair?" he frowned in reply. His eyes were exactly the same as Sora's and stuck up in a similarly gravity-defying way.

"That's what she says," the girl agreed before calling, "Lexi!"

Miniature me froze and then turned around before squealing "Caden!" and bouncing on her. She laughed, and my normal self float-flied forward to get a closer look at her.

Her hair was black, too, but wild and unkempt, as if she hadn't bothered with it for weeks. She was wearing jeans and an orange t-shirt. Her eyes were amber like mine, but hers were slightly off focus, as if she couldn't really see through them.

"Have you grown?" Caden mused. "I can't tell."

I (small me—this is confusing!) laughed as she set me down, jumping and whirling in place. "Mom says I've grown a full inch!" I replied proudly.

She laughed. "I can tell," she agreed. "I'd say you're up to my belly button now!"

The boy was just kind of standing out of the way, but with a start, she remembered his existence. "Lexi," she grinned, "this is my friend, Ventus. He's helped me out of some tight spots."

Mini-me was, of course, immediately suspicious. "Are you two dating?" I frowned. "Because daddy says that your boyfriends aren't allowed to come into the house."

Caden seemed amused, but Ventus was blushing. I wondered how she could be blind enough not to see that he liked her.

…wait a second. Blind?

"I'm just a friend," Ventus assured me(you know what? Screw it. I'm referring to small me as 'Lexi' from now on) with a smile. Lexi grinned back up at him.

"Did Luna tell you he looked like Orlando Bloom?" She grinned.

Caden and Ventus both started gaping. "No," Caden finally decided. "No, she didn't."

"Thank you!" Ventus whispered to Lexi.

"Five dollars, please," she replied behind her hand.

Wow. Even when I was FOUR, I was awesome!

He grumbled a little but handed her the money. "So," she asked eagerly. "How long is he staying?"

Caden and Ventus shared a guilty look. "Well…" Caden replied hesitantly. "We actually just dropped in to see how things are doing. We need to leave, like, right now."

"What?" Lexi was completely distressed, but Ventus had a look that said I have a plan, and it's AWESOME.

"Hey," he offered, crouching to Lexi's level. "I've got a way we'll always be connected."

"Really?" she replied, excited.

He nodded, summoning his Keyblade. He reached it out towards me, and I took a hesitant step back. "Just touch it," he encouraged. After a moment, I did.

"That's it," he grinned, standing. "We'll be connected forever in our hearts."

I beamed at him before wrapping myself around my sister's leg. "You'll come back, right?"

"I promise I will," she replied with a smile.

Then the two walked off together, and I awoke from my memory with a start, finding myself on the cold cave floor. By then, I had realized two things.

The first was that I had just witnessed how I got the Keyblade. I was connected to Ventus now, just as much as Sora was connected to…whoever had given him his Keyblade. And that, therefore, had connected me to Caden, maybe even more than to him. And second…

That had been the last time I had ever seen my sister.

GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT?

Today's my birthday!

Yes, that is the reason I am updating today rather than tomorrow. It's also the reason I decided to give away so much info—'cause I'm in a good mood. And you know what you all could give me as presents? Reviews! So please, please, PLEAAASE review this story, OK? Even if you hate it, just knowing that you bothered to read it is awesome.

And, explaining the information, yes, that's how she and Sora dream together. They're both connected to Ventus's heart, which has bonded them more tightly than any paopu fruit ever could. Oh, and the Sora thing? Yeah. I'm just too lazy to write Kairi's light/darkness memory.

Thanks to those who:

Alerted(Last and this chapter):

LilPadfootChicky

burry and bunny

Nevergonnafitin

Platypus lass

TheBeginingsEnd

TheKeeperofKingdomHearts1

Faved(Last and this chapter):

SkyeRockette

burry and bunny

Hoshiakari Mitsukai

Kaiyt

rumxtapioka

Teilwal Yagami

The Silver Magician of Chaos

Review responses(Last and this chapter):

Lele-the-Greek-Geek: Merry belated Christmas to you, too!

Yeah, my first thought was, 'Holy crap, Aphrodite set this up' when I finally figured it out.

Wiki is awesome. NO WAY! I have to go buy Coded!

Namixas is my favorite, too. But Sorie(Sora/Marie) is AWESOOOME! I can't wait until SWIRL3Y gets back!

Yeah, of course I'd just randomly kill off the random main character. Nah, you know me too well to believe that. XD

BehindBeautifulEyes: The chocolate Spongebob guy = COMPLETE AWESOME EPICNESS!

I'm glad I made a dull day instead of just meeting expectations of a good day.

Thank you! I'm glad to know that my writing can capture you like that. Way to make me feel special!

And I agreed, you DID need a fast update to make up for it.

A hurricane of words: Aw, man! Thanks!

Pomegranata: You're the second person who's said that. XD Aw, but spastic laughs are awesome! Don't stop laughing spasticallyyyyyyy!

I think we've broken the scale by now. Let's go out of 100 from now on so that you don't have to trouble yourself, okay?

mysteriousguy898: Yeah, finally! Yes, sound is -ly important. I can't really say much now except that it has everything to do with BBS and blind people. :D Need help building one? I've got a couple spare parts in the inventory. Yes, updates will be a bajillion times faster now. And merry belated Christmannukwanzika!

Don't worry. Lexi's not dead yet!

Bubbles of Ebil: Ah, nutella. The things you do for us. Well, she kind of had some outside help…

kingdomdisney: Well, you know how at the beginning of KH, Sora's on that platform thingy? And in KH2, Roxas? That was Lexi's version of it.

mysterygirl123: Yeah, I think Sora's reaction is pretty awesome. And when he sees her again? Well…expect shock. Thanks for taking the time to review!

burry and bunny: Thank you! I'm glad she's realistic enough you can relate to her. Peter Pan is kinda rude, and so 4s Lexi, so I figured, "this shall be FUN. :D"

I stared your PS for literally ten minutes before figuring out what it meant. Thank yooooou!

SkyeRockette: Thanks, but mine actually isn't the only one on here. There are some out there waaay better than mine. But thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Yeah…I'm suspenseful like that. Don't worry, we're slowly getting closer to the confession. :D