I'm feeling a little better, and I didn't think it fair for you guys to not read any chapters. Thank you everyone for your words and who have supported and understood my grief. I can't thank you enough for being such wonderful people. =)

Marie's casual wear:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/I-bring-you-peace-214094964?q=gallery%3Aswirl3y%2F29599925&qo=5

Chapter Fourteen
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Exposed

"Could you be a little slower?" Aura said while panting heavily. Riku stopped for a moment, but then began to thrust a little harder. He wasn't going to let her have her way, and she wasn't going to win either.

"What? Don't tell me you can't handle it," he said while also panting. He gave another thrust, and he could tell that Aura was finding it a little hard to control herself. She was trying to stop him, but his thrusts were so powerful and fast. Riku chuckled, and he merely stared at her while sweat dripped from his forehead.

She bent down to catch her breath. Training with Riku certainly proved difficult for her, since she severely underestimated his prowess. This was the first time fighting him too, since the first time she saw him was when she first lost her memory of him. A lot had happened back then, and Aura remembered him with silver hair and a blindfold. Now she could only see a shadow on his face, since it covered his face. She really didn't want to see it anyways, since she knew he looked like Xemnas, or whoever Xemnas' original was.

She remembered from the dreams she had while being part of the Organization that Marie often thought Riku as handsome. This was something Aura couldn't bother with, since she didn't really care about appearance. Plus, she wasn't fazed at all with Riku. He was another person who sometimes got on her nerves, and he was a person who sometimes made her feel like she could breath without a care.

"I think we should stop," he said, willing his Keyblade away. She stood up straight, and wiped the excess sweat on her forehead with her arm, while also willing her Keyblade away. She sighed as they walked towards the mansion in Twilight Town, and the walk was quiet but enjoyable.

"I didn't realize that fighting with one Keyblade would be really hard," confessed Aura. She didn't realize how hard the change was from downgrading to just one blade, and it certainly ruined the balance she had with her fighting abilities. Of course, she didn't regret it. She knew Marie needed help with the whole changing into a guy thing, so she was more than willing to help. She felt responsible, naturally. She had no right to interfere with Marie's memories, or making her forget about Sora and their relationship together.

"I hope Marie remembers about Sora, soon." she lowered her head, and Riku looked at her. He could tell that she really did feel sorry about the whole incident, but he also knew how she felt to an extent. She was angry at how she couldn't live out her fairy tale ending, and she wanted the two people who were a part of it to suffer. They weren't positive, but Riku knew that those were emotions Aura felt.

"I have a feeling she will," he replied, wiping any sweat he had on his face. Fighting in the forest was a great way to prevent anyone from seeing, since most of the townspeople didn't really go near the forest or the mansion. Riku stopped when they reached the gate of the mansion, and looked at Aura. "Say, have you talked to Stella lately?"

"Not really, she's been keeping quiet," she replied, stretching her neck. Aura did find it weird that Stella wasn't talking, since that woman had too many things to say. She was a bit concerned though, and she wanted to know what was up.

Stay where you are. I need to speak with you and Riku.

"What?" she said a loud. Riku looked at her weirdly, wondering what she was saying that for. His look returned to normal though, since she was probably talking to Stella. A short silence appeared for a minute, and then a whooshing noise was heard from behind the bushes. Aura and Riku turned around, with their weapons suddenly summoned. As the person arose from the bushes, Riku lowered his weapon, and eventually willed it away.

"Huh, so you're back?" he asked as the person—who appeared in front of them—smiled at them. Aura looked at the person. It was a woman with fairly long blonde hair, and the softest looking honey brown eyes. Her bangs were swept to the right, and it complimented her soft facial expression. She appeared to be in her mid thirties, and she placed her hands in front of her.

"It seems so. It's nice to finally meet you, Aura." she looked at the young brunette, and Aura gasped when the voice of the woman sounded so familiar. It was Stella...

"Y-you're Stella!" she semi-shouted. It was incredibly hard to believe that, but she couldn't explain or convince herself that it was someone else when that voice she heard sounded exactly like Stella. Was it possible that someone so other-worldly could appear in-front of her?

"Hard to believe?" she asked as she tilted her head and smiled. Aura's eye twitched, there was something oddly familiar with this woman, but she couldn't pinpoint how. Stella noticed this—as well as heard it since she was able to hear Aura's thoughts—and laughed. "I wanted to show you that I am a human being that existed in this world. Well, not this world to be exact. I came from Destiny Islands."

"Heh. The world were everyone basically originated from, huh?" Aura smirked, and she placed her hands on her hips. It was nice that Stella wanted to prove a point, but what was her actual intention of showing up? "So, why exactly are you here?"

"No reason. I just wanted to keep testing this hologram thingy," she smiled and pointed to herself. Aura raised her eyebrow, this woman definitely reminded her of someone else. "Well then, I'll be going."

As fast as she appeared, the woman whooshed out of their sights, and both Riku and Aura were left with opened jaws. She was certainly an odd one, that Stella figure. But it was really odd. Aura shrugged it off, and left to go inside the mansion. Riku stood there for a moment, and scratched the back of his head. She shook it, and followed Aura back inside. Stella was indeed weird.

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Sora

As he and his friends reached the base of the summit, they saw a sketchy looking eagle fly toward the tip of the summit. It reached a tall, bulky and quite scary-looking man. It was no doubt Shan-Yu, but what caught Sora's attention was the horde of Heartless that appeared behind him. The enemy raised his sword up, and ordered the piranha-looking Heartless to attack. One by one, they swam towards Sora and his crew. Sora prepared his Keyblade, and everyone else took their stance.

As they engaged the Heartless, Sora insanely ripped each apart. He was angry that this guy was preventing him from seeing Marie, and not only that. He was angry at how he and Marie were, she was angry and he was angry because she was angry. It didn't really make a whole lot of sense, but he just wanted to be how he was with her.

Ping struggled to attack the Heartless, but she tried her hardest. She was going to prove that she was worthy of being in the army, even if it would have to cost her an arm or a leg. She didn't want to dishonour her father's name, but she didn't want to fight. Of course, she had to do this for her father, he was much too old to go, so she had to take his place as his "son".

As both Sora and Ping got rid of another set of Heartless, Donald and Goofy were also doing their part in defeating the Heartless that surrounded them. They were defending and supporting both Ping and Sora, while Donald occasionally fired spells at the opposing team.

Sora attacked another group of Heartless, and growled as he looked at the other batch. Just how many Heartless did this guy have? This was getting ridiculous.

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Marie

I brushed my hair after getting changed, getting rid of all that static feel that was in it. It felt nice to wear light wear clothing, and not the bulky hunk of heap I was wearing before. I switched my Keyblade, too. The one I was using suddenly disappeared, and I have no clue where it is now. It's like it magically went away, although, that wouldn't be too hard to understand. I looked at myself in the mirror one last time, and walked outside the ship.

I started walking to the recruitment camp, maybe Sora and the others are there already? Oh but, maybe the captain is there too? Man, being a girl in this place sucks really bad. I touched my neck, and sighed. I can't believe I lost my necklace. There was something I liked about that necklace, but I couldn't figure out why. This is going to be bug me for a while. Great.

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Sora

As Sora, Ping and the rest of the crew finished up fighting off the rest of the Heartless, Shan-Yu called for some more and glared at them. He raised his blade once again and he, along with the new horde of Heartless, started charging at Sora and his crew. Sora gasped, and the three men that had previously beaten Sora appeared in front of them. "Leave this to us!"

The short, stubby man placed a firecracker down on the snow and positioned it towards Shan-Yu, he was not gonna get away with his crimes. Ping noticed the tip of the mountain, and thought of a plan. She pushed the guy away, and ran a little ahead. She placed the firecracker down on the snow again, and positioned it so that it would hit the mountain. She looked around for a lighter, and when she couldn't she looked at Mushu. He got the sudden realization of what she was planning, and tried running away. Ping grabbed him before he could though, and when she squeezed a small flame out of his petite body, Mushu jumped on top of the firecracker as it went soaring through the sky.

As it crashed into the mountain, snow started toppling down towards Shan-Yu and the rest of them. Sora looked behind him, and noticed the captain. Ping gasped, and quickly ran towards him. Shan-Yu tried running away, but his massive self was caught within the avalanche. Sora and the others noticed, and everyone started running away. Ping grabbed the captain's hand, and led him to safety.

As the avalanche gave out, Sora and the others jumped to the floor. They got up after a few minutes, and the captain thanked Ping. She smiled, although looked quite bushed. "It...was nothing."

"I should have never doubted you,' said the captain, who indeed looked at Ping with respect. She smiled at him, and he looked at the avalanche. "From now on, you have my trust."

Ping thanked him as she bowed. Mushu appeared from the snow, and started mumbling complaints about being turned into a cannon ball. He rubbed the back of his scaly neck, and walked towards Ping. "Come on, Mulan. Let's leave this dump and go back home, girl!"

"Mulan...?" the captain looked at her in disbelief. After all this time, trying to believe in her abilities, when it turned out she was a woman. Sora, Donald and Goofy came running towards the two, calling out their names and asking if they were alright. The captain grew furious, yet calmly walked up towards Sora. "You knew, too? You knew Ping was a woman in disguise. I bet you knew about Mario!"

Sora and the others stuttered and tried thinking of ways to defend Ping—or Mulan. When they couldn't think of anything, the captain walked past all of them, and looked back for a moment. "The punishment for high treason and dishonouring the army...is death!"

Mulan gasped, and watched as the captain told her to get out of his sight, telling her to run away. Sora tried calling out to him, and the captain silenced him by saying his debt was repaid, but he could do nothing more. He ordered his men to move out, saying the emperor was waiting. Ping sighed as they did, and Mushu apologized while admitting that it was his fault.

After a moment if taking off the armour she was wearing, ping—now Mulan, let her hair down. She turned to Sora and his friends while thanking them for helping her out. Sora asked her what she was going to do now, and Mulan looked around the area while thinking.

"Go back home," she said as she began to walk. Mushu sighed, scared to think what her father would say and do. Mulan sighed as well, since she was frightened as to what he would do. Sora smiled, and assured Mulan that he, Donald and Goofy would share the blame with her. She turned around, and smiled at them. "Thanks, you guys. You're all such wonderful friends."

They all began walking back towards the recruitment camp, so they could pick up Marie. Sora was worried, since she would probably get punished. He wanted to save her from that, so they hurried along the way. As they walked outside the summit, they suddenly heard a loud growl. They looked down towards where the avalanche had been, and saw Shan-Yu getting up groggily. Mulan gasped, along with the others as they saw the remaining Heartless beside them.

"Shan-Yu!" shouted Mulan. They all stared at him while he glared at the city. As he began to walk, it was certain that he was heading towards that place. Mulan got up from the snow, and looked towards Donald, Goofy and Sora. "We've got to warn Shang!"

"But—" Mulan interrupted Sora and assured him that they would quickly grab Marie from the camp. Sora nodded, although hesitantly, and they began to ran towards the city.

ଓ
Marie

It was taking me a while to get to the recruitment camp, mainly because I had stopped suddenly from time to time. I was having too many things in my head, and it was seriously distracting me from going anywhere. I scratched the centre of my palm as I walked, since it was itchy, and I let out a huge sigh.

As I reached the end of the forest trail, I heard clanking noises and feet shuffling. I hid behind a tree, and noticed the captain with his men walking towards the recruitment camp. I knelt down a bit, trying to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't catch much of it.

"I see. We have no time to look for her, we must report to the emperor." He turned away from the recruitment camp, and walked towards somewhere else. It was most likely to the way where the emperor lived. I waited a couple of minutes after he left, so that I was sure he wouldn't return. I felt my neck burn, and when I touched it I hissed a bit. I forgot that I had a bruise there from Shan-Yu. It doesn't look as bad as I imagined, but the fact that my life was literally in his hands scared me. I have to be more careful.

After waiting for a while I finally ran out of the forest and into the open, but as soon as I was able to turn around I bumped into something. I fell flat on my behind, and couldn't help but scream when I did. I heard a grunt from the opposing side, and I stared at who bumped into me. Let's just say...a weight lifted from my shoulders.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" I said happily as I got up. I brushed off the dirt from my clothes, and I ran up to hug all of the guys. Donald quacked, while Goofy did his Goofy laugh. I noticed Sora was silent, but his hug was awfully tight. It didn't matter though, I was just really happy to see my friends again. As I pulled away from the hug, a woman appeared from behind Sora, Donald and Goofy. I smiled at who she was, since it was pretty obvious that the only other woman around here was Mulan.

She didn't smile at me though, and instead stared at what I didn't want people staring. I should have brought a scarf or something, but...even that would cause a curious stare or two. I sighed, and covered it up with my hand.

"Marie, what happened to your neck?" she said in a concerned voice. I looked away, since I couldn't bring myself to say that I wasn't strong enough to fight off Shan-Yu. Sora noticed the bruise on my neck, and worry washed over him fast than a tsunami. He walked up to me, and I kept looking away. He held his hand up and it moved to my neck, trying to pry my hands off of it. I decided to move it away, or else Sora would bug me forever about it if I didn't.

His eyes lowered, and he had a rather pained look on his face, like he was the one who got hurt. I couldn't understand him at times, but it actually...felt oddly nice that he was starting to care. Maybe I was just getting used to his over-concerned, odd, caring ways.

"Did...did someone hurt you?" he asked, still looking at my bruise. I sighed, and tried smiling as to comfort him. I wish I could just hide this stupid bruise, but that was a little impossible.

"I was there when Shan-Yu attacked the village. I tried fighting him, but he just overpowered me. My cover was blown too, and the captain found out I was actually a girl," I said as I rubbed the bruise on my neck. Mulan's eyes were wide, probably because I was crazy enough to attack a brute like that idiot Shan-Yu. Sora sighed, and looked down at the floor. I kept looking away, mainly because making people worry about me was the last thing I wanted to happen. This wasn't going well.

But there were more important things at hand. What happened to the captain? Did he find out about Mulan? "Hey, guys, where did the captain go? I saw him leave towards that way."

I pointed towards what looked like the city, and Mulan gasped quite loudly. "We have to go!" she said. "The emperor and the city are in danger! Shan-Yu is still alive!"

I couldn't really say anything, since Mulan grabbed my hand and started running towards the city. Sora, Donald and Goofy followed close behind, and I wasn't given enough time to grasp what Mulan had said. Regardless, someone was in danger, and that was more than enough for me to get into fighting mode. As we got closer to the city, Mulan made a turn and we headed towards a giant castle. From there, we were able to see the captain and his men move along closer to it. Mulan let go of my hand, and she started running faster towards the captain.

"Shang!" she shouted, clearly out of breath. "Shan-Yu is alive! He's coming this way!"

The captain didn't believe her, though. Sora butted in, and told him she was telling the truth. I tried saying something, but since I wasn't there to physically see it for myself, I held back my tongue. As we stood there waiting for the captain to reply, Donald and I saw an eagle pass by the castle. The captain took notice, and saw it fly towards the roof of the castle. He gasped, and ordered his men to guard the emperor.

The three coloured soldiers ran towards the castle, while the others suddenly turned into Heartless. I quickly took out my Keyblade, as did everyone else. Sora told the captain to protect the emperor while we dealt with the losers that were here with us. He hesitated a bit, but Donald "ordered" him to go. The captain quickly left to go, and we were left with the Heartless here.

Sora turned to me, and I looked at him. He was still worried, from what I could see, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from fighting. I gave him a small smile, and took my stance. "I'll be okay! Let's do this together!"

He nodded, and attacked first. Mulan followed in after, and she was pretty good with a sword now! I didn't have time to comment on that though, since a Heartless was headed my way. I immediately blocked it's attack, and spun my Keyblade around and attacked. It quickly recovered though, and attacked. I was able to partially block it, but I tripped a bit and it attacked once more, making me fall behind. I groaned as I hit the floor, and I looked up at it. It raised it's hand, and I gasped. It was floating above the floor, so kicking it's ankles or something was out of the question.

I placed my Keyblade in front of me, hoping to block it. I felt something burn up in my body, and I closed my eyes. When it became unbearable, the burning sensation suddenly felt like it exploded and I opened my eyes. Bad mistake though, because when I opened them a blinding light came up and the Heartless hissed as it disappeared. I actually heard the rest of the Heartless his, and when the light subsided, I looked around.

Not a single Heartless in sight...my eyes were huge, and I slowly got up from the floor. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mulan all looked at me, and I couldn't help but look away. This power...it's not the power that came from Kingdom Hearts, is it? Is this my power? The one Stella told me I had deep within me?

"Marie..." I looked at Sora, and he had that same worried look in his face as always. I sighed, and smiled at all of them. I motioned my hand towards the castle, and Mulan gasped knowing we had to check on the emperor and the captain. She ran past me, and so did Donald and Goofy. I was about to run, but then Sora appeared running past me. He grabbed my hand, and smiled as he turned around. I stared at him like a deer in headlights, but I didn't object to it. I was starting to like having someone care.

As we ran to the entrance of the castle, we saw Shan-Yu holding a knife to what I assumed was the emperor's neck. He smirked at us, and we were all on our toes. "Now, you'll bow to me," he said.

We all stood waiting to make a move, and then suddenly the captain appeared and attacked the brute. When he was staggering, the captain brought the emperor inside the castle, and those three soldiers closed the door. Good, now the emperor was safe. Mulan ran towards the entrance as we followed close behind, preventing him from entering. He growled loudly, and I was a little scared. This guy did almost kill me.

I could tell Mulan was serious since she was the first to attack Shan-Yu. Sora came in to back her up, but Shan-Yu managed to block both of their attacks. Donald fired some spells, and it made him stagger a bit. Mulan dived in to slash him, and Sora did the same. Goofy would occasionally defend for Sora or Mulan, and I attacked when I had the chance. When it came to this guy, I was actually scared to fight full on.

But I shook my head. I just needed to concentrate, and beat this meanie!

Chapter fourteen is out and about. Sorry for the really depressing and awkward and probably random week. I really thought this year would start off great, but sometimes things aren't always as they seem.

Lvl-ZeR0:
Haha, glad you liked the chapters. Hmm, well I don't love food enough for it to come between me and my video games. I guess you win. And thank you so much, I don't want to be selfish and not write at all, though, so I'm trying my best to write chapters.

dracula-key:
Axel is confused and confusing. Aura is definitely feeling weird about it all, but that will hopefully change in time. Yeah, Sora strikes me as the type to like personality over looks. Not because he's deep like that, but because he's too hyper and moronic to notice looks like that LOL. It's not that hard, just picture Roxas' sleep wear but red and black. Haha, Sora doesn't notice a lot of things. If he couldn't tell that Ping was Mulan, how could he with Marie? Ryan was added last minute, actually. He's sort of a tribute to a friend who is diagnosed as iron-deficiency anaemic, and he likes my story. Other than that, I also wanted a little surprise for my story, too. So I'm glad it got you interested more. The necklace situation will be brought up soon, since a nobody will interfere with it. It shall be quite interesting. XD

Shadow 1n2:
LOL. Yeah, some people had to double check to see if their hotmail was lying or something. Yeah, Ryan is her cousin to be more specific. Soon, he'll be a big part of the team, but when that will come is still unknown. Yup, I know how it was made. She just touched it and BOOM, instant Keyblade powers. I just hope she gets useful in KH3 or something, since I've heard nothing from her. I've actually seen a lot of videos like that, and it's actually not that hard to connect everything together. It just takes some time. Thank you so much for your condolence, I've gotten better but I'm just still in shock. She was still young, and I had this crazy idea that she wouldn't die for a very, very long time. And yeah, gangs in central/south America is killing me. My sister lives in fear in Guatemala cause of the dangers that are there. I'm sorry about your grandfather and uncle, oddly enough my uncle passed away too, and both of my grandfathers were dead even before I was born.

Lele-the-Greek-Geek:
Ugh, yeah. I love College, but the workload and hours are just brutal. No time for me to just chill and sleep. Haha, I feel bad for this too, but it's too fun to pass up. Don't worry, though. The truth will come to Sora...but in the way you wouldn't expect. Haha, and that...let's say a kiss will be present. And yep, Ryan is her official cousin. Thanks so much, but I'll still try to write for you guys, so that I'm distracted.

Dracula X:
LOL. I would have done the same. Eh, well none of them know who he's talking to, so it's not like they can say anything without knowing something...I think. DX haha, yeah. Mario is like the opposite name for Marie/Maria apparently, so I was like "WHY NOT?" and I would love that. I'll add you on that Dox thingy? Thank you so much for you caring attitude, it really means a lot. I think I would die if any of my immediate family passed away. Family means a lot to me, despite all the hardships we go through. I always told myself that if my dad dies before I find love, I'll never marry. I would love it if he'd walk me down the aisle. True, Marie just punched him out, so she got a chance to change back into her girly self.

AlexMontgomery:
I see a lot of Japanese names or really long names like Bella Stella Ally Ashley de la fleur. For me it's more of a 'I hope my character can relate to others so that she isn't mary-sueish.' it would suck if no one would relate to her and eventually accuse her of being a mary sue. Ah, I love that name. It's actually unique to me. XD

SisterOfScarletDevil:
LOL. No one did! And thank you, I'm feeling better though, and I still want to write. It helps with everything I'm going through at the moment.

TheEspadaSisters:
Actually, it was because of that that I thought it would be perfect to do the whole oblivious thing. Sora is waaay to oblivious, and well...stupid. But I love it like that because I have someone to poke fun at, even if he is a video game dude. Nah, they're actually cousins. She was just adopted into his family since Stella disappeared. Thank you for understanding, though I still plan to write. I think it'll keep me distracted from thinking of my grandma.

InuyaKoneko:
XDXD. I've actually never played that game, but I heard it was good. I'm actually looking forward to seeing the walk-through of that game, sine I don't have the console. I think I've received it. I'll go check again. And don't worry, it won't be much better, but at least Sora will know soon enough that Marie isn't mad at him. Ooh, well I can't wait to see you! The more the merrier. Ah, and I won't be doing a story on that game. I don't think it'd be much point since it's actually data Sora doing all the work, and it's not the real deal. And yeah, the user has been banned from that site, so I feel relieved about that. XD

grapejuice101:
Thank you, that means a lot to me! I'm still sad about it, but I have to move on. I know my grandma is in a good place, so I have nothing to fear.

Fictionalcharacterwish:
thank you, I am feeling better and I'm still writing. I really appreciate all the support I've been getting. =)

TheEpicBlueNinja:
Nah, that's fine. I'm glad you got the chance, though. I've been sleeping all day the first few days, but I'm feeling better now. So I'm very happy you sent me those kind words. =)

DaniPotterLovesGod:
Thank you for your words. I know there will be brighter days, and I've been feeling better now. I heard the song, and it's really catchy, glad you told me about it! :)