A/N: Oh boy, oh boy. Tempura here with the next chapter, and I'm pretty excited for this one. First, thanks to Gry19 for the review. That idea sounds cute, though I'm not sure if that would fit into the plot. But who knows?

Now, let's go. Chapter, start!

Read and enjoy.

Re-sketch

Chapter 14: Found

"It's kind of nice to be back in Traverse Town," Sora said as they walked through the entrance gates. "I like this place. Nice food, nice atmosphere…"

"Speaking of food," Hikaru said, counting out her munny. They'd been traveling for a few days, so actual food sounded great. "There's that one restaurant on the other side of First District. The one that has the menu on the wall? I kind of want to try their pizza."

"First we gotta find Leon," Donald said. "Where do you think he could be?"

"Let's ask," Goofy said. "I think I see Yuffie over there."

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Yuffie!" They sprinted across the square to the ninja who was investigating the public mail drop box.

"Hey guys," Yuffie said, looking over as they approached. "How's the search going? Found your friends yet?"

"Not yet," Sora said.

"Haven't found the King yet either," Goofy added.

"Bummer. Well, just keep searching. They're bound to pop up eventually! It may be a big universe, but things have a habit of working out." Yuffie grinned. "Anyway, what brings you back here? Just visiting?"

"Actually, we gotta talk to Leon," Sora said. "Do you know where he is?"

"Hm… Well, Leon's probably at the underground cavern. He trains there a lot. You can find the back entrance in the alley behind the hotel—just follow the canal. Though you may have to get a little wet."

"Behind the hotel… Right, thanks, Yuffie!"

"Don't mention it!"

The Heartless were there to greet them when they stepped into the alley, but it was nothing that some hacking and slashing and a few spells couldn't take care of. They stepped down into the knee-high water of the canal, Goofy hiking up his pants while Hikaru pulled off her boots to carry in her arms. Luckily it wasn't sewer water, but it stank of stagnation.

"I didn't realize this opened up into a cavern," Goofy said as they looked around. The manmade stone mouth of the passage slowly shifted into a natural stone formation. Water dripped from the stalactites above their heads, drops echoing around them. Wherever they were, it wasn't in the main part of town.

After wading through the water for about five minutes, they found the cavern that Yuffie had mentioned. There they caught a glimpse of Leon practicing his sword fighting skills and stances while Aerith leafed through a stack of papers.

"Hey, Leon!" Sora called out. "Aerith!"

"Hm. Well, look who showed up," Leon said, lowering his gunblade.

"What brings you down here?" Aerith asked.

"Yuffie said you'd be here," Donald said. "We need to ask you something."

"Ask away," Leon said.

"Well, while we were going around the different worlds, we found this gummi block," Sora said as Goofy held it out. "We're not sure what it's for. It came out of this… I guess it was a keyhole."

"A keyhole?" Aerith repeated.

"Yeah. We saw a couple of them on different worlds. The Keyblade kind of automatically locked them… I think," Sora said.

Aerith looked relieved. "That's good," she said. "You see, according to legend, somewhere in every world lies a Keyhole that leads to the heart of that world. Locking it keeps the world safe, and only the Keyblade can lock it. There must be a Keyhole for this world as well…"

"Ansem's reports probably have more information," Leon said. "We're still trying to reconstruct the rest of the texts we have. But from what we do know, the Heartless enter the world's core through the Keyhole and do something to it."

"What happens to it?" Hikaru asked. "The world, I mean."

"In the end it disappears," Aerith said.

"What?!"

Sora thought back to Destiny Islands. The storm, the Heartless appearing, the island falling apart… The door in the secret place… Was that the Keyhole? He gripped his hands into fists. He'd had the Keyblade! What if he could have done something to stop it? Seal the Keyhole or…

Hikaru thought of her own world. Hart's Haven and all the other places she'd visited—and the places beyond. It was hard to believe that a world of that many places and people could just… vanish.

A tactile memory flashed in her head, the feeling of someone holding her hand, of their grasp slipping away. Then there were terrified screams playing in her head… and she was sure that one of them was her sister.

"What happens to the people who were on that world?" Hikaru asked, her throat constricting as she spoke.

"Some of them end up here in Traverse Town," Leon said. "They might end up in other places too. But the ones who don't get out… Well, I'm not sure."

Hikaru exchanged a glance with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Did that mean that her family…? She touched her Wayfinder hanging from her belt for reassurance. No, she couldn't even wrap her head around that thought. If she of all people had survived, then there was no way that people like Akihiko and Yui and Mom wouldn't. Suddenly their cheerful mood had disappeared.

"That's why the Keyblade is so important," Leon said, reading the horrified looks on their faces. He was grimacing himself.

"Please, keep locking the Keyholes," Aerith said. "Keep the worlds and their inhabitants safe. You're the only one who can."

"I don't know…" Sora said, scratching his head. There were a lot of worlds out there, and the Keyholes weren't exactly easy to find. It was so much pressure, and he had his own things to do…

"Exploring different worlds will help you anyway," Leon said.

"Yeah, we gotta find your friends," Donald said.

"And King Mickey," Goofy added.

"I guess you're right," Sora said. "Okay. I'll keep an eye out for the Keyholes."

"Let's start with the one in this town," Hikaru said. "I'd hate to see this place disappear…"

Sora nodded, but he hesitated a moment, remembering why they'd come here in the first place. "Oh, and this gummi block… Do you know what it's for?"

Goofy handed it over, and Leon held it up to inspect it. "Hm… Can't say I do."

"Ask Cid—he should know," Aerith suggested.

"Cid… Okay. We'll go see him."

"It was nice seeing you again," Goofy said, waving goodbye as they left.

"Cid! We need your help!"

"My help?" Cid asked, looking over at them as they hurried over to the counter of the Accessory Shop. Goofy placed the block onto the counter. "Well, if it isn't a gummi block."

"What does it do?" Sora asked.

Cid laughed. "You're kiddin' me! You're flying a gummi ship and you don't know anything about navigation gummis?"

"Uh…" Donald crossed his arms and looked away.

Goofy scratched his head. "Well…This is our first ship and all…"

"Bunch of pinheads," Cid said, shaking his head. "Interspace ain't no playground."

"So what? We're not gummi ship experts. There's a lot we don't know." Sora flushed out of embarrassment. "It's not like we have a choice—we have to travel around to different worlds."

"I suppose that's true." Cid swiped the side of his nose. "Anyway, I'll explain: these navigation gummi blocks will help you get to new places. They expand your map system so you aren't flying blind. You want one on your ship, right?"

"That'd be helpful, right guys?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah," Donald said while Goofy nodded.

"I'll install it for you, then. It might take some time, though. While I'm working on it, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Sure. What do you need?" Sora asked.

"I need you to deliver this book for me," Cid said, pulling it out from under the counter and handing it over. It was a small book—a children's storybook by the looks of it—though it was in pretty bad shape, scuffed up and missing pages. "It's real old. When the owner brought it in, it was falling apart. I did my best to fix it, and it was a pretty good job considering what I was given. But it's time to give it back."

"Okay. Where's the owner?" Sora asked, giving the book to Hikaru to carry in her bag.

"He should be in the old house past the Third District," Cid said. "Behind the door with the big fire sign on it. Ever seen it? It's hard to miss."

"We'll find it," Sora said. "Alright, let's go, guys. Thanks Cid!"

"No problem. When you're done, stop by the old house in the Third District—I'll be waiting there. And keep an eye out for Heartless while you're out there!"

The house Cid had mentioned turned out to be in some cavern in the middle of a lake located behind a door at the end of an alleyway. Traverse Town had some really weird places, Sora had to admit, but it was pretty cool. They hopped along stepping stones that moved back and forth in the water, slipping only once or twice before the finally reached the island.

"This is the place?" Donald asked.

"It's the only house here," Sora said. But he had to agree with Donald—the house was run down, windows boarded up and holes in the roof.

"Where's the door?" Goofy asked.

"There's a hole in the wall right here," Hikaru said. She pointed towards a crumbling hole that a tattered red curtain covered. She slipped inside, Sora and the others following.

"There's no one here," Goofy said. It wasn't a large house, and it seemed like it hadn't been inhabited in years. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and walls, and Sora coughed, waving his hand in front of his face as their footsteps kicked up a cloud.

"There's something about this musty place…"

Sora blinked, turning around. He saw Kairi walking along the edge of the room, running her hand along the wall and rubbing away a streak of dust from the window.

"It reminds me of the secret place back home—that cave where we drew those pictures on the walls," she said, turning to Sora and giving him a sad smile. "Remember?"

"K… Kairi?" Sora whispered, taking a step forward.

"Sora, what's wrong?"

He turned away for a split second, looking to Hikaru, who was giving him a strange look. When he turned back, Kairi was gone. "I… Nothing," he said. Was he going crazy? He held a hand over his thumping heart and looked to the window. No streak in the dust on the glass. Maybe he was hallucinating.

"Well, well," a voice called from the entrance of the house. "You've arrived sooner than I expected."

"Wha…?" Sora looked to the others a moment before turning to the man in a blue robe who was ducking under the curtain. "You knew we were going to be here?" he asked.

"Of course," the man said.

"Are you… a Heartless?"

Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "He sure doesn't look like one," she said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, my, no," the man said. "My name is Merlin, and I'm a wizard. Your King has requested my help."

"King Mickey?" Goofy asked.

"Indeed! Donald and Goofy, correct?" Merlin asked, looking to them. "And… Who are these two young people?"

"I'm Sora," he said. "This is Hikaru."

"Ah, yes, that's right. I suppose one of you is the wielder of the Keyblade?"

"That'd be him," Hikaru said, nodding towards Sora.

"Very pleased to meet you all," Merlin said. "Now, just one moment. I'll get this place in order, and we can get down to business." He set a large travel bag onto the ground and pulled out a wand. "Presto…!"

The bag snapped open, and one by one a number of tiny objects lifted up into the air, bobbing and growing in size until they were proper tea cups and couches and bookshelves and dressers, spinning around the room and finding their proper places. A carpet rolled out, a table settled down on top of it, a number of chairs positioned themselves for tea, and even a lit candelabra joined the parade of magical items that floated through the air.

"Whoa," Sora said.

"There, much better," Merlin said once the room was set up. "Now, the King asked me to train you, Sora, in the art of magic. Help pick up some of the pressure from Donald here. We can start any time you like."

"Wow, really?" Sora asked. "That would be great! Hey, can we start with…" He paused, noticing Hikaru's wide-eyed and hopeful expression. It made him scratch his head and give a short laugh. "… Um, Merlin? Would it be okay if my friend took magic lessons too? She wants to be a mage, and she's pretty good with magic."

"Well, I usually only take one student at a time, but having classmate might provide motivation. The more the merrier," Merlin said cheerfully, adjusting his glasses. "Now, Hikaru, was it?" He walked over to her. "Ah… Yes, it seems you do have a talent for magic. However… Young lady, do you feel quite alright?"

"For the most part," Hikaru said. "Is something wrong?"

"Hmm… Perhaps not," Merlin said, shaking his head. "Maybe I'm imagining things. Anyhow, did you two have any suggestions for your first lesson?"

"Can we learn the Cure spell?" Sora asked.

"We can start on that," Merlin said. "Though you'll need to practice on your own to hone your skills, just as with any other spell."

It was a quick lesson, only about half an hour. Merlin told them about control and the desire needed to cast a Cure spell (compassion, as it turned out, was the main component along with the imagined warmth of sunlight after a cold, rainy morning) and by the end of it they were ready to do some basic battlefield healing with only a minimal risk of blowing up the target. Afterwards, they had a quick cup of recuperative tea to replenish their spent magical energy.

"This is delicious," Hikaru said as she sipped her tea. Donald and Goofy nodded, and Sora had to agree; there was a strong spicy scent to it, melding with the faint flavor of vanilla. He'd never been a big tea drinker, but if they were all as sweet as this, he wouldn't mind trying them a bit more often.

"Thank you, my dear," Merlin said. "It's my own personal brew. Took some time to find the right proportions, but I'm quite satisfied with the results. Would you like some milk to go along with it?"

"Yes please."

After they were finished, Merlin continued with business. "In addition to myself, there is one other person that is here to assist you on your journey," he said, turning towards the doorway.

A small pumpkin carriage by the door began to glow blue. The air in front of it shimmered and sparked as a woman in blue robes appeared. "Hello dearies. I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to help as well. If you ever find any lost creatures that need help, I will be more than happy to assist in their recovery."

"Ahyuck, nice to meet you," Goofy said.

"Before we go, Merlin, we have something for you," Sora said as Hikaru pulled out the book from her bag.

"Here you go," Hikaru said. "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Cid gave it to us to give to you."

"Ah, yes! Thank you." Merlin took the book, inspecting it. "This is an old book, so vibrant and full of life—a world within its pages. But I'm afraid when the Heartless attacked, it was damaged. Even though Cid did a grand job in repairing it, it's still missing a few pages… If you happen to find them, will you please return them to me? I suspect you'll be coming across them on your journey."

"Will do," Donald said.

"Well, thanks for all of the help, Merlin," Sora said.

"No, no, thank you for visiting," Merlin replied. "Good luck on your journey."

"Man, that was a weird house," Sora said as they walked through the fire sign doors. "But Merlin was pretty cool. Like the way he pulled out all that furniture from his bag! Can you do that too, Donald?"

"I'm a court wizard," Donald said. "I have more important things to do than enchanting furniture."

"So, that's a no, huh?" Sora asked, earning a scowl in response.

"I can't wait until we fix that book," Hikaru said. "A world within its pages, Merlin said. And it's Winnie the Pooh!"

"I'm going to visit that book world first," Sora said, linking his hands behind his head.

"Oh, really?" Hikaru quirked an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Let's see who finds the most pages first. That'll decide it."

"Deal." They shook on it as Donald rolled his eyes and Goofy stifled a giggle.

But the laughs were cut short. A rush of cold wind and the sound of rippling darkness set them on high alert. They jumped to attention, grabbing their weapons just as ring of Soldiers appeared in swirls of darkness around them.

"Heartless!" Hikaru cried, jumping back and reaching for her staff.

"Look out!" Donald shouted.

The Soldiers charged forward in unison, lashing out with their claws and swinging their legs. Goofy pulled up his shield to block one kick while Donald covered his back and blasted away the Heartless with fire and electricity. Sora bashed one of the Soldiers in the head, knocking it into the alley wall with a clatter, while Hikaru sent out a Blizzard spell to counter an incoming kick.

"Gah!" Sora gave a sharp cry as a pair of Soldiers came barreling past him, slamming into his legs and knocking him to the ground.

"Sora!" Hikaru took aim as the Heartless swung back around and reared back for another tackle. But before she could unleash another Blizzard spell, a blur of yellow, blue, and silver leapt down from the rafters above and sliced through the Soldiers with a wing-shaped sword. Sora and Hikaru jerked back with a start, eyes going wide as recognition dawned. "Huh?!"

The silver-haired boy spun his sword around with a familiar cockiness, taking a careful sweep of the alley before turning to look at them. And then he smiled. "There you guys are. What's going on?"

"R-Riku?" Sora shoved himself back to his feet and staggered forward, reaching out and poking Riku in the face before pulling at his cheeks.

"Hey, knock it off," Riku said with a laugh, swatting Sora's hands away. He looked over to Hikaru and nodded. "Hey."

It took a moment before it all registered in her head. "Riku!" She rushed forward, throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him down for a hug.

"Whoa! Hah… I, uh, missed you too," he said. He awkwardly patted her on the shoulder before she stepped away, her cheeks burning as she averted her gaze and rubbed her eyes. Oh, damn, was she really crying right now? Suck it up, Stonewall, she told herself.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked, looking up and down at Riku.

"I hope not. It took forever to find you guys," Riku said. "Are you doing okay?"

"Better than okay now," Sora said, shaking out his leg and rubbing his knee. It looked like it was going to bruise later, but for now, he seemed to just push the pain aside.

"Can't keep out of trouble, huh?" Riku smirked.

"Of course not," Sora said, knocking a fist against his chest. "When did you get here? And how'd you find us?"

"Caught wind that you two were in this town, decided to check it out," Riku said. "I just got in. Pretty nice place."

Hikaru looked to Sora and they exchanged ecstatic grins. It was good—no, amazing—to see another friendly face, even if it was a face that she'd only known for a few days. It felt like so much longer, those days spent on the beach, the movie party, the night of the storm, and all the time spent traveling in the Highwind to different worlds. But in reality, it had been, what… two weeks since she'd first wound up on Destiny Islands? Her heart pounded in her chest, loud in her ears, pumping adrenaline and endorphins or whatever it was through her body. Suddenly she was feeling lightheaded.

"So, where's Kairi?" Sora said.

Riku blinked. "Isn't she with you?"

Sora's expression slipped. "No…" He dropped his gaze, shoulders slumping. Hikaru shared his dejection. Kairi would've probably loved to explore some of these worlds—Hikaru wondered how she'd get along with the Cheshire Cat, or what she would think of seeing the gorillas. When everyone was back together again, they had to go out for a pizza or something at the diner and have a laugh about the whole ordeal.

"Well, don't worry," Riku said. "If we made it off the island, I'm sure she did too. She might even be looking for us right now. Have you had any luck finding your family, Hikaru?"

"No," she said quietly, and the guilt weighed down heavy on her shoulders. Her family would have loved seeing all the different worlds too—the places and people and the pure magic of it all. Aki and Tats would like a pizza party, she thought idly. Yui doesn't like Italian food though…

"We'll find them eventually," he said before he looked up at the stars. "We're finally off that island—can you believe it? We're free. And we'll all be together again soon—don't worry, just leave everything to me. I know this—"

Hikaru's head snapped up when she sensed the surge of darkness behind them, but when she turned, reaching for her staff, she saw Sora already leaping into action. He slashed through the Heartless in a swift move just as it leapt at them with its claws outstretched.

He straightened up, spinning the Keyblade around and slinging it over his shoulder as the last wisps of the fallen Heartless faded away. "Leave it to who, now?" he said with a wide grin.

Riku seemed stunned. "Sora… How did you—"

"I've learned a thing or two since we left the islands," Sora said. He nodded to Donald and Goofy. "Thanks to them. We've been looking for you and Kairi, and they've helped a ton."

Riku looked over to them, as if he were only seeing them for the first time. "Who are they?"

Donald cleared his throat, holding a wing over his chest as he straightened up. "My name is Donald Duck, and this is Goofy."

"They're my friends," Sora said. "The court mage and the captain of the guard for a king—pretty cool, huh?"

Goofy gave a pleasant smile. "We've been traveling around with Sora and Hikaru, fighting off the Heartless and helping people." He patted Sora and Hikaru on the shoulders. "They've learned so much since we first met. Don't know where we'd be without them!"

"We're a team—all for one and one for all," Sora said with a confident nod. Then he looked to Riku. "We searched so many worlds looking for you. Got into a little trouble here and there, but it all worked out and we came out on top."

"Really?" Riku said, his expression careful. "I never would've guessed."

"Oh, and guess what? Sora is the hero chosen by the Keyblade," Goofy said.

"Who would've thought it?" Donald asked, shooting Sora a look as he crossed his wings.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked, scowling. Hikaru and Goofy stifled their laughter.

"So, this a Keyblade?"

They turned around. Riku was holding out the Keyblade, examining it closely and giving it a few test swings. Sora blinked, looking down at his empty hands. "Huh? Hey, give it back!" Sora rushed forward, groping for the giant key, but Riku stepped back and Sora fell forward onto the ground. Donald's eyes narrowed and Goofy gave a gasp, but Hikaru laughed, walking over and helping him up. Sora nodded in thanks, seemingly unconcerned by his tumble.

"Catch," Riku said, tossing it back to Sora, who nearly dropped it on the ground as he fumbled to catch. "Interesting weapon."

"It's helped us out a lot," Sora said, letting the Keyblade disappear in a flash of light. "We've beaten up all these Heartless—you know, those creatures with the glowing yellow eyes? We just came from this jungle where there was this giant… chameleon-thing that could turn invisible. I think Jiminy—he's another one of our friends—wanted to call it the Stealth Sneak. Before that we went to this place called Olympus Coliseum, and I got to fight in a tournament!"

"Sora made it all the way to the semi-finals on his own," Goofy said.

"Yeah… Might've even made it to the finals too, but Cloud was really strong," Sora said. "You should've seen him—he had this giant sword and this gauntlet with claws… He's probably even stronger than you, Riku. But then this giant three-headed dog crashed the tournament, so we had to help out and take care of that."

"Don't forget about Wonderland," Hikaru said.

"Ugh, that place." Donald grimaced. "Don't remind me of it!"

"Aw, it wasn't that bad," Goofy said. "You got some cake out of it, at least."

"Bah…"

"Heh. Well, we went to a place called Wonderland too," Sora explained. "It was pretty weird. There were all those card soldiers and talking flowers… And then there was that crazy queen, and the Cheshire Cat who helped us beat the Trickmaster—that's the name of the Heartless boss we fought there. And we've learned a bunch of spells too."

Donald coughed. "Learning a bunch of spells," he corrected. "You're still both novices!"

"Yeah, but pretty good novices I think," Hikaru said, glancing to Riku. "Like—watch." She gave her staff a little spin and waved it in front of Donald's face. The Slow timer appeared above him, ticking by slowly as he tried to react.

"Hiikaaruu yoou liittle—"

Hikaru, Sora, and Goofy laughed. The spell wore off quickly and Donald sputtered, stomping his feet and quacking angrily. "Hikaru! I thought you were the well-behaved student! I thought you were above showing off like that!"

"Hey!" Sora said.

"Sorry, Donald," Hikaru said, feeling a strange mixture of sheepishness and pride. She wasn't sure why she wanted to show off all her magic now, but she supposed that she wanted to impress Riku. He may have had swordsmanship skills, but she had her own magic now, and she didn't think she was bad at it. She looked over to Riku, the grin still hanging on her face, but she saw him watching them with a guarded expression. "… Riku?"

"Hm?"

"… Nothing. Never mind."

"Anyway… You're coming with us, right?" Sora said again, looking at him. He seemed oblivious to Riku's sudden change in expression. "We've got this awesome ship, so we can find Kairi together. Not to brag, but I'm getting pretty good at flying…"

"Yeah, aside from nearly crashing into that meteor," Hikaru said.

"That was one time!"

"Hold on," Donald said. "He can't come. We're on a mission—select members only."

"What?" Hikaru and Sora said at the same time, rounding on Donald.

"Forget it!" Donald said, crossing his wings.

"Oh, come on," Sora said. "He's my friend!"

"Doesn't matter—we have an important job to do. Don't forget, we promised Leon and Aerith we'd look for the Keyholes! We can't afford any more distractions, and the ship is crowded enough as it is!"

"But we spent all that time looking for him," Hikaru said. "He should be an honorary member of the search and rescue team by now."

"Well, unless one of you wants to sleep on the floor…"

"Guys…" Goofy scratched his head, glancing up a moment. But then he did a double take. "Where did he go?"

They turned back around to find that the district was empty except for them. "Riku?" They looked towards the alleys, the upper floors, the stairs, but all was quiet except for the low hum of electricity powering the neon lights.

Sora's shoulders slumped. "Thanks a lot, Donald," he said. He sighed, but it was quickly replaced with a contented smile. "Oh, well, he likes to disappear on his own sometimes. At least he's okay. If we split up, we can cover more ground. Who knows—maybe we'll run into Kairi soon too."

"I hope so," Hikaru said, but she didn't exactly share Sora's optimism. They'd finally found Riku, but then he decided to run off? That hurt a bit more than it should have.

"Why do you care so much? You barely know him. You barely know any of these people," the voice in her head asked. "And in the meantime, how much do you miss your family?"

Hikaru tried to ignore it. Falling victim to her guilt wasn't productive. She knew she should feel bad—and she did bad right now—but this wasn't going to help her any. They're good people, even if I haven't known them for long. I… want them to be safe too.

They found Cid, Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie in a house near the Second District doors. Light streamed through the living room window and into the street, revealing the interior. It was a small house, with frayed wallpaper and old furniture and boxes stacked in the corners, but it looked big enough for everyone to sleep in if they optimized the space. Everyone looked up when they knocked at the door, and Aerith quickly moved to let them inside with a smile on her face. "Did you find this place alright?" she asked.

"We went around in circles a couple times, but it's fine," Goofy said.

"We delivered the book, Cid!" Donald added.

"Good to hear. You guys saved me some trouble." But even as Cid nodded, there was a strange uneasiness hanging in the atmosphere of the room—and it wasn't just the dust. "Hey, you guys ever hear of Maleficent?" He asked after a moment.

"Maleficent?" Hikaru repeated.

"Who is she?" Sora asked.

"A witch, man, she's a witch." Cid shook his head. "Rumor has it, she's been spotted in town. It's probably just rumors, but that name brings up some bad memories."

"She's the reason this town is full of Heartless," Leon said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "Don't take her lightly."

"She's been using the Heartless for years," Yuffie said. "We lost our world, thanks to her."

Cid nodded. "One day, a swarm of Heartless just took over our world. That was… Jeez, that was about nine years ago. I managed to get out of that mess and ended up coming here with these guys."

"That's awful," Donald said.

"Well, it isn't as bad as it could have been," Cid said. "We're still alive after all. Alive and kicking. Can't say that about everyone else—we haven't seen many others from our world since it happened…"

"Our world was ruled by a wise man named Ansem," Leon explained. "He began studying the Heartless when they first appeared. But he was swallowed up by the darkness along with our world."

"Ansem? Oh, right, the reports," Sora said.

Yuffie nodded. "Yup. Any luck finding the pages?"

"None so far," Sora said.

"Too bad. It's the same on our side too," Yuffie said. "Aerith's been looking through the papers that survived our world, but there's a lot to go through and not much success. It doesn't help that what we have found is pretty badly damaged. Cid's been building a scanner to help speed up the process, though."

"I'm sure Maleficent has most of the pages," Cid said. "She probably wants to keep it out of the hands of the people who would use the information to destroy the Heartless."

"Then we'll definitely keep an eye out for reports," Sora said. "In the meantime, we'll keep taking down the Heartless and locking the Keyholes—starting with this town! We'll look for the Keyhole so this world doesn't get taken over by the Heartless."

"Might take you a while," Leon said. "I'll call in for room reservations at the hotel, then. Have any munny?"

"Err… Well…"

"Not much," Hikaru said.

"Then you'd might as pick up some jobs to earn enough for supplies while you look around," Cid said. "The moogles up at the Synthesis Shop might need a hand, and the cafés and stores around town are always hiring for one-off jobs."

"Sounds like a plan," Sora said. "But first, let's get something to eat! Where are some good places?"

"You see?" Maleficent asked as Riku watched his friends through the window of the Third District house. Even from a distance, the light that spilled through the glass gave away every gesture of their hands and every smile on their faces. "It's just as I warned you. While you toiled away, trying to find your dear friends, they've quite simply replaced you. They've become so busy playing hero that they've forgotten you."

Riku clenched his fists. He couldn't believe it. Sora forgetting about him and Kairi? Replacing him with those two goofballs? No. He couldn't even believe Hikaru, whom they'd known only for a few days, would forget. But there they were, talking, laughing, joking with each other. They seemed so at ease, acting like they had not a care in the world…

Not to mention that Keyblade…

"Evidently, they value the two buffoons more than they value you," Maleficent said. "They didn't even search for you when you disappeared without a word. You're better off without that boy—he's only been holding you back. And the girl obviously thinks nothing of you, so why should you care about her?"

He thought back to finding them in the square. Sora staggering forward, pulling at his face like he'd seen a ghost—Hikaru rushing to give him a hug. He could remember his happiness at seeing them, feel the echo of Sora's poking and prodding and the warmth emanating from Hikaru… How could they not care?

"Now, think nothing more of them," Maleficent said, placing a hand over Riku's shoulder. He didn't try to shrug it off, still busy arguing with himself. "There are more important things to attend to. I'll help you find what you're searching for."

A/N: Oh boy, Riku. Don't do it. Don't do it, man.

This was an interesting chapter to write. Since this incident is so important to the plot of KH, I wanted to keep everything in-tact. However, the encounter with Riku in the game is a little weird in terms of everyone's characterization... so I had to try and write through that. Hopefully that feeling I was going for worked out.

Thank you for reading.