A Tale of Two Hearts

by KingdomKat

One with a heart so pure…I fear the visions of the future I receive; the worlds drowning in darkness, one man standing triumphant above it all…Only you can stop this from happening. Travel with the Key Bearer, seal the hearts of each world, but do not forget: Many lives depend on you, and sometimes that calls for personal sacrifices. (Rewrite of a Kingdom Hearts Sora/OC story)

14. The Second Star to the Right

Sorry for updating later than usual! I've been super busy with the first two weeks of college! (Also this chapter turned out a teensy bit longer than I was expecting and by a teensy I mean a lot this is like 50 pages)

I changed a few things up this chapter (as per usual) but I think you'll like it! I'm also introducing more of my own flare on the plotline and lore because it's almost time for Big Stuff to go down.

What's important for you to keep in mind right now is that yes, the Gummi Ship quartet are in their pajamas basically this entire chapter. You'll find out why soon enough!

Also, if you haven't played Union Cross or watched Back Cover or anything of the sort with the Foretellers, you probably won't understand who the new character showing up is supposed to be. But that's okay! This is where I'll start to take creative liberty over the story, so throw away basically everything you know about Union Cross's plotline, I'm makin' my own!

Shout out to TheRoseAlchemist17 for volunteering to be a beta reader! I know my chapters are a lot to take on, you're truly a brave soul ^u^

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Chapter 13: The Second Star to the Right

"You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weights you down."

—Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

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Before me sat the three reports we had collected so far from Agrabah, Atlantica, and now the newest from Halloween Town. Jiminy managed to restore the waterlogged writing from Atlantica, and I perused the completed trio with interest. A hand placed lightly on my shoulder alerted me to Sora reading them over the back of the couch alongside me. I shifted slightly to allow him a better view before continuing.

There were gaps in the report of course, it didn't flow in a logical order, but we could still glean information from the short passages Ansem wrote.

"Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand.

I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times.

Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness."

The rest of the writing was illegible. I shuffled the paper to read the next section.

"The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?

All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless."

A shiver ran down my spine after reading the last sentence. This was the defining moment that changed so many people's lives for the worse, ours included. The rest of the page was cut off, once again preventing us from knowing what happened next. My eyes darted to the next page.

"I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance.

Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow.

But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place."

When I finished reading, I looked up at Sora. He was already watching my face expectantly and I quirked my brow in a silent question of why. He understood my unasked question without any sort of prompting.

"Akira, do you remember the night Kairi showed up?"

I scratched at my cheek, settling back into the couch with a hum. "Yeah, of course. It was a couple years ago, so some details are blurry, but besides that—why?"

"The material Ansem is talking about in that last report, it sounds like gummi blocks doesn't it?" he said as he pointed to the passage he was referencing. I nodded and looked at him curiously, not seeing the correlation between the two things.

"I remember Kairi being surrounded by this weird stuff," he continued, "It felt like rubber. Obviously, we didn't pay much attention to it then, but looking back on it now I'm sure they were gummi blocks."

At his words, the memory roused itself from the back of my mind. Multicolored pieces of (what we assumed was) trash, most likely from the wreckage she was dropped from. They were strange to the touch, yet even stranger still was how they stuck to her form like glue, almost as if they had brought her to shore safely and were now reluctant to let go.

"Yeah…yeah, I remember now!" I cried, looking back at Sora with a smile. His expression was solemn however, and I slowly realized her appearing with gummi blocks couldn't be a good thing. "So…if she arrived with gummi blocks then…something happened to her world, didn't it?"

Sora nodded in response. "They appear because of the boundaries between worlds breaking, right? And that happens 'cause of the Heartless so…I think the Heartless might've done something to her home world."

"And she doesn't even know," I whispered, staring at the pages of Ansem's report. "When we revive her, should we say something?"

"What would we say?" he said, sliding down onto the couch with a sigh. "Listen, we don't know for sure, but your home world you always wanted to visit was probably destroyed by the Heartless too?"

"Well when you put it that way…" I drifted off, setting the papers aside without another word. I couldn't read them over again; the words were starting to make me feel sick to my stomach. This man caused everything. Him and his stupid experiments were what unleashed countless Heartless onto all the worlds.

"Do you think Ansem knew what he was doing?" I spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen. "I mean, I'm trying to understand what could make a person do this but I just—I just can't. He took so much from everyone, even his own people! People who looked to him for protection! How could somebody—"

"Akira." Sora's hands enveloped my clenched fists. I abruptly shut my mouth, a flush overtaking my cheeks when I realized my voice had been steadily rising until I was practically yelling.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, it makes me angry too." Sora looked towards the reports, glowering ever so slightly. "I think the darkness must've changed his heart. He started out experimenting because he wanted to protect his people, right? But then something just…changed. Almost like someone else took up the pen in his place."

"Like…" My throat closed, preventing me from saying his name. Sora nodded despite this, squeezing my hand in comfort.

"Yeah. Like him." Sora suddenly fidgeted, looking slightly uncomfortable. "Akira—and don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way, I don't want you to feel pressured or anything but…have you made any progress on how to help Riku?"

I bit my lip hesitantly before shaking my head. "No, I don't think so. I mean, my spells are getting stronger, but I don't know how that'll help. I still haven't learned anything about how to start the dive, or whatever it was called."

Sora couldn't stop his heavy sigh, but he still managed a smile. "Well, that's okay. If you need any help just ask, alright? I don't exactly know how I can help but," he gave a light-hearted shrug, "you never know. Maybe I'll crack the code or something."

I puffed out a laugh. "Right, crack the code on light magic and Pure Heart techniques that are probably hundreds of years old and lost to the ages."

"Anything can happen!" he sniffed, offended by my lack of faith. Suddenly he perked up, tilting his head slightly. "Hey, do you think Kingdom Hearts would tell you anything?"

"Probably not…" I broke off hesitantly and rubbed the back of my neck. "See, they didn't really want me to try the dive in the first place? But Riku needs us, I can't just ignore something like this."

"They didn't want you to?" Sora's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

I flushed slightly under his intense gaze. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. "Something about it being beyond my ability level and it's, well it's really not a big deal."

Sora continued to stare at me, his eyes narrowing further in suspicion. "It's dangerous isn't it." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I wouldn't say dangerous," I said, suddenly finding fiddling with my hands interesting enough to avoid his gaze. "More like not advisable. But we can't say that for sure!" I quickly interrupted Sora's indignant remark. "We have no idea how it even works! Sora, I have to try—what else can we do?"

He fell silent at this, fidgeting in his frustration. "I don't know. I just…I don't want to have to worry about losing you too. It's bad enough that Riku and Kairi are in trouble, if you got lost like them I wouldn't—" he broke off with a frustrated sigh.

My expression softened at this, and I pulled him towards me in a semi-hug. He let me do this, but didn't move his arms to cooperate, ending up with him bending forward to lay his head on my chest with my arms resting on his back. "Sora, it's okay. I promise, this won't hurt or change me in any way. Alright?"

A disgruntled hum emanated from his chest.

"Look, I'll even try to talk with Kingdom Hearts about it tonight."

Another grumpy hum. His face buried into my shirt successfully hid his expression from view, but his arms couldn't resist the urge to return the hug. They wrapped around me while he maintained his unhappy disposition. I couldn't stop a short giggle at this relenting action. When his head raised up, he fixed me with a scowl that was obviously forced. "I'm being serious, y'know."

"I'm nothing but serious," I replied, mimicking his expression with pursed lips and a furrowed brow. His mouth pressed into a tight line as he tried to retain his air of seriousness. My expression broke at this, and I let out a short laugh as I brushed back the hair that had fallen into his face. It was a small gesture, one that I did without even thinking, but red still dusted his cheeks as I tucked the loose strands back into place.

"Your hair is getting long," I mumbled, trying to take my attention off the fact my heart jumped at the sight of him blushing.

He looked up at this, reaching up to tug on a naturally formed spike of hair. "You think so?"

"Yeah, it's starting to obey gravity." I was too busy laughing at my own joke to realize his hand had moved to the top of my head, and as such I was too late to stop the ruffling that ensued.

"Hey!" I slapped his hand away, immediately trying to smooth my hair back into its place.

"Your hair is getting long too," he chirped, grinning widely at my disgruntled appearance. I tried to keep my frown on as I patted my wrist looking for a hair tie, blinking when I felt bare skin. I always had one on me…My gaze snapped back towards Sora to see him dangling it from his fingers. When had he even…? I leaned forward to snatch it back, but he held it behind him.

"How come you always put your hair up?" he asked, watching me struggle with an amused gleam in his eyes. "You don't have the excuse of the Island heat anymore."

"I dunno!" I huffed, throwing myself against him and stretching my arm as far as it would go to try and recover my stolen hair tie. "It's just a habit at this point!" My fingers brushed against it, but Sora realized this and leaned further back, balancing precariously on the arm of the couch.

"You should try leaving it down sometime," he replied. I only gave a noncommittal hum at this, making another move to snatch the tie from his hand. Unfortunately, when Sora moved to counter this, we finally slipped off the edge of the couch and were sent tumbling painfully to the floor.

"What are you two doing?" Donald's voice shouted down the hallway, his tone accusing.

"Nothing!" we both shouted back at the same time.

"Stop rough-housing and go to bed!"

A door shutting echoed through the ship, leaving us alone again.

Spotting the hair tie laying abandoned on the floor, I darted in and picked it up before Sora could notice, then stood and brushed myself off. As I looked towards Sora from the corner of my eye I found him already watching me, his hand propped under his chin.

"Heading to bed?" he asked.

"Yeah, I got a busy schedule planned," I joked, internally grimacing about the idea of confronting Kingdom Hearts.

"Right! Well…good luck?"

I let out a puff of laughter at this, causing him to smile. "Thanks, I'll need it. See you in the morning, Junior Hero."

"You're a Junior Hero too y'know!" he called after me, a playful glare on his face.

"Yeah, but I'm not as bothered by it as you are!" I responded, closing my door before I could hear his indignant reply. I placed my ear against the door, listening to see if Sora was heading towards my room to continue the banter, but all was silent.

Laughing quietly to myself, I got ready for sleep and fell into my bed with a sigh. So…I guess it was time for confrontation over the dive. Swallowing my trepidations, I focused on calling Kingdom Hearts forth. The last time I had purposefully summoned them, it was because I wanted my questions answered. Hoping that wasn't just a coincidence, I thought about Riku and my strong desire to bring him back to his senses.

Sleep soon had me in its clutches, and I drifted easily into the dreamscape. When the blurriness in my vision cleared, I found myself on my Station of Awakening, as usual. Across the way from me was a figure, and I headed towards them assuming it was Kingdom Hearts. My steps faltered when I got close enough to distinguish they weren't who I was expecting at all.

She was most definitely a solidified human being, albeit dressed a little strangely. Her appearance was regal; she was clothed in a light blue robe which was partially covered by a white hooded cloak, embroidered with golden patterns. What was most peculiar about the outfit was the unicorn mask she donned, hiding her facial features from me. A golden horn protruded from the mask with loose strands of silvery hair falling around it. She basically radiated elegance, and I couldn't help but stutter as I spoke.

"W-Who, um, who are you?"

"My name would be of little importance to you," she replied, her voice sonorous and strangely alluring.

This unusual response caused me to hesitate. "Well…I'd still like to know."

She hummed thoughtfully at this. "Very well. I am Patientia."

She watched me as she said this, obviously waiting for a response, but there was none to give. The name didn't strike any sort of resonance with me. After a few moments of silence, I gestured slightly for her to continue.

Patientia laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. "I thought as much. But that's alright, like I said before, who I am is of little importance." Her cloak swished as she stepped closer to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her eyes were overshadowed, preventing me from discerning their true color. Despite this, I could still tell her gaze spoke of fondness and admiration. "You're a brave one, Akira. Smart too, what with being a self-taught Heartblade wielder, no Master to guide you."

"I—what is happening?" I asked, once again being gently shushed by her.

"Patience. I've been watching from afar, but this is the first time I could appear in a corporeal form. I suspect it has something to do with your desire to learn. It's not too farfetched of a theory, considering I was a teacher once."

"My desire to learn?" I frowned as I thought to myself what this statement could mean. A jolt ran through my body and my eyes widened as I finally realized what she was referring to. "You mean the dive to the heart? You—you're seriously going to show me how to do it?"

She nodded. "If that is what you wish."

"It is," I immediately replied. "I want to know. More than anything!"

I watched a small smile grace her features at my eagerness. Obviously, she expected no different. "Very well."

I could feel my pulse quicken as anticipation flooded my veins. It was actually happening. I would finally get some solid answers—I could finally tell Sora I had definite results!

Patientia stepped back, motioning me forward. I followed her to center of the stained-glass pillar, and she sat crossed legged directly in the middle. After a brief moment of hesitation, I did the same, pulling my legs in and settling across from her.

"The most important thing to remember is your breathing. This is how you achieve the dive." Her head lifted and her posture straightened as she drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. I followed suit, watching her with one eye opened. "It is all about synchronization. Two becoming one. Tune everything else out, focus only on the beating heart of the one in front of you."

Silence reigned after she said this, filled only by the sounds of our deep breathing. When she spoke again, it startled me slightly, even though her voice was low. "Usually, this can only happen with someone you're incredibly close to. Your hearts will be used to syncing together at this point, allowing for a deeper dive. Try to do this with someone you don't know or someone who's unwilling and you'll be rejected from their heart in an instant."

"So…how will I know it worked?"

Her mask turned slightly, letting me know she was looking towards me. "When you open your eyes, you'll be here. In their Station of Awakening. Now, the dive was used as a method of banishing darkness from one's heart, but, and I stress this, it was the last resort. When you're in someone else's heart, anything you do wrong could have deadly consequences."

I swallowed heavily at this.

"Don't stay longer than necessary. Don't interact with any thoughts or memories you may see. The longer you stay, the more things that could go wrong."

"Like becoming Heart Ties?" I offered in a whisper.

"I suppose. In being something that requires the hearts to touch, initiating Serēbat Cordis isn't out of the question." Patientia tilted her head, her tone becoming questioning. "Is that really your worst-case scenario for this situation?"

"I was told getting a Heart Tie would be the worst thing to happen, so…yes."

The air around us fell silent once again, but it was not a meditative silence. Patientia lost her focused stance and leaned in closer to me, the golden eyes on her mask unblinking and unnerving me ever so slightly. "Who told you such a thing?"

"K-Kingdom Hearts."

She leaned back, and I could see her taking a few moments of time to process this information. "So…Kingdom Hearts has finally decided to communicate with its disciples once again. I can only imagine the things it has told you…" She gave me a sidelong glance, her head tilted slightly. "Have you been taught about the Keyblade War?"

"Yes—well, sort of. It wasn't in depth, but I know it was between Pure Hearts and Keyblade Wielders, because the Heart Ties became corrupted. One of them formed the χ -Blade, which sounded like the turning point of the war…" I drifted off, noticing that even as Patientia looked straight at me, it felt like she was seeing far beyond my gaze.

"It was so much more than that…" she eventually murmured.

I could only blink at this ominous statement, not quite understanding the implications. She shifted slightly and cleared her throat, finally seeming to rouse herself from her memories. "Now then…onto the final step." Patientia pushed against the glass, her cloak rustling as she stood. "To banish the darkness, you need to cast a special light spell."

I watched from my spot on the ground as she brought her hands to her chest and bowed her head. Suddenly a light shone from within her clasped hands, and as she extended them forward, she revealed a small ball twirling listlessly between her palms.

"The light you use must come from deep within, like from the place you used to call me here. That's what makes it so powerful, and yet so hard to master for many. The workings of a heart are a mystery to most, including the owners of such a fickle thing." She explained this without meeting my gaze, instead viewing the light casting its bright reflection against her golden laced mask with a curious smile.

"This light is like a shard of yourself. When you cast it into the other's heart, any number of things could happen. What occurs next is up to you." With that being said, she clenched her fist, and the light dispersed. "And that's that."

"That's…it?"

Patientia let out a small huff of laughter once again, shaking her head slightly. "Said as if this is something easily done…Take this knowledge and store it in a safe place. I have a feeling you'll be needing to call upon it soon. I wish only the best of luck to you, Akira."

"You know, you haven't called me Pure Heart a single time," I noted. It was a thought I had been meaning to keep to myself, but it seemed my mouth moved on its own accord to share this with Patientia.

She only stared, and I could only imagine the bemused expression she wore beneath her mask as she spoke slowly. "Well…of course I haven't. You're more than just a Pure Heart. You're, well, you. A living, breathing, human being. Don't forget that."

As soon as she finished talking, a haze suddenly crawled over my vision. The colors on her robe blurred with the light emanating from the glass underneath as my eyes drooped. I was waking up.

Patientia simply watched, the same small smile on her face. Her lips moved, calling out last thing out to me, and I strained to pick it up as everything faded.

"May your heart be your guiding key."

KH

My eyes opened slowly, and I stretched the sleep from my system for a few seconds before I realized something felt…off. As my senses returned to me, I became aware of the fact the white noise of the Gummi Ship at work was gone. We were completely stalled. Even more disturbing was the lack of angry grumbling from Donald or the loud complaints of Sora at such an event.

A large thud and muffled sounds of shouting echoed beyond the walls, making me jump from my bed. With the sound of another thud, everything fell silent once more. That sounded like it was coming from Sora's room…was he in trouble?

With my heart beating loudly in my chest, I ran towards my door. Before I could even reach the handle, however, it started moving on its own. Without a preemptive knock or the hesitant call of my name, I knew it couldn't be one of the boys.

I leaped back and summoned the Heartblade as the door opened fully, confirming my suspicions. A tall man stood in the doorway, seeming surprised at my battle-ready stance. He was dressed like some sort of pirate captain, donning an ornate crimson coat. A matching hat with a large plume sat on his head, barely containing his long, wild hair. In sharp contrast to this, a thin black mustache angled up sharply from his face, seemingly styled more than his hair ever would be. It twitched as he offered me an unfriendly smile.

Blackened shapes slid past him, and my heart caught in my throat at the familiar sight of Heartless. We were under attack, and they were taking the cowards way out by assaulting sleeping enemies. I suppose that wasn't such a strain on the morality of a pirate.

"Now then, we can do this this easy way, or the hard way," the pirate spoke in a heavily accented voice, interrupting my disturbed stare down with the Heartless. He stepped forward, not so subtly revealing a sharp hook replacing his left hand. "Which will it be, lassie?"

I stood with the Heartblade grasped tightly in my hand, my eyes darting between him and the Heartless silently sneaking forward. I didn't have long to think of my response, but that wasn't a problem. Like I would ever go down without a fight.

"Aero!" I swept the Heartblade in front of me, letting loose the gust of wind. The Heartless were tossed into the various furniture littered around my room while the pirate was blown right out the door. I leapt over his stunned form, making sure my foot clipped his face on the way forward. Looking over my shoulder, I let loose a triumphant laugh. "Hah! Looks like I chose the easy way!"

It turns out I spoke too soon. My escape attempt was cut short as I slammed into a hard surface in front of me, sending me ricocheting backwards and tumbling onto the floor. I lifted myself up slowly, fixing a scowl on the perpetrator of this blockage. This scowl quickly dropped when I met Riku's narrowed eyes.

His hand lowered and the magical barrier I'd run into quickly dissolved, letting more Heartless step through and surround me. The unexpected presence of Riku rocked me to the core, leaving me floundering for words, not paying attention to the bad situation I suddenly found myself in. Thus, I was taken totally by surprise when I backed into what only could be a pointed sword, digging between my shoulder blades as a warning.

"No way out this time. Savvy?"

Something hard collided with the back of my head, cutting off my reply. I crumpled to the ground, quickly falling unconscious.

KH

Riku frowned slightly at the harsh manner Akira was knocked out, watching her body fall to the ground unceremoniously. However, with the blink of an eye, he banished those feelings of guilt.

He turned on his heels, the Heartless behind him parting to let him pass. "Take her to your cabin," he commanded, talking over his shoulder at Hook. He could hear the Captain grumble at being given orders, but still he hoisted Akira's limp form over his shoulder.

"What should we do with the others?" a nervous, nasally voice spoke up to his side. He turned to see Smee, the quartermaster of the ship and one of only a few pirates, for reasons unknown to Riku, who Hook refused to turn into a Heartless.

Riku let his gaze drift to the three they had managed to catch off guard. The King's followers had been easy enough to subdue. Sora, on the other hand, had almost managed to present a challenge. Almost. Obviously, the short skirmish was enough to lose the element of surprise with Akira.

"Um, excuse me, Riku, err, Mr. Riku, sir," Smee spluttered over Riku's name, not sure how to refer to this boy who was so much younger than him and yet clearly the one in charge. "I asked—"

"Take those two to the brig," Riku interrupted his bumbling, pointing towards the King's followers. His eyes then rested on Sora, who was leaning against the wall of the Gummi Ship. "Leave him with me."

"We should just take care of them now, when they won't put up a fight," Hook protested, making the Heartless halt in their response to Riku's orders. He brandished his rapier, pointing it towards Sora's chest. "Maleficent doesn't care what happens to them."

"Exactly, she doesn't care," Riku growled, shoving the weapon away, "so why don't you just mind your own business and let me do what I want?" He waved his hand outwards and the Heartless resumed their task.

Hook shot a dirty look towards him before gesturing for Smee to follow. They all plodded their way out of the Gummi Ship and onto the deck of the Jolly Rodger. Riku could pick up Hook's complaining despite the distance put between them.

"She kicked me, Smee."

"I know, Captain."

"Right in the face, the little bilge rat."

"I know, Captain."

"She wouldn't have stepped all over you if you were more competent at your job," Riku scoffed to himself. Eventually all fell silent again, and Riku was left on his own with the sleeping Sora.

His feet automatically moved on their own accord.

Despite telling himself otherwise, he was curious to see what Akira and Sora had been up to all these weeks by themselves. He pushed open the door to Sora's room first, viewing the disarray it was put in after the fight. Although, all things considered, it really wasn't all that different from how Sora's room usually looked.

After a brief moment of perusing the scene, a mess of items that had tumbled out of the nightstand beside the bed caught his eye. The drawer had been knocked over and its contents spilled, revealing a strange ever-growing collection. A small glass bottle with a tag reading 'drink me', a paper stating Sora's status as a 'junior hero', what looked like a slide for a projector, a few foreign gold coins, a waterlogged pocket watch, and a strange bat-shaped ornament. Trinkets from the worlds they've been visiting?

Riku shifted through them until reaching a particular item that made his heart stop. Pink and yellow shells stitched together with an efficient nature that could only be achieved by one person. He picked it up and examined it in the light, viewing the carefully painted blue eyes and brown, spiky hair. A Thalassa shell charm, made by Kairi. There was no doubt.

He fought strongly against the urge to pocket it. Sora probably wouldn't even miss it. Even if he did, he didn't deserve it. After all, Riku was the one going around to each of the worlds searching solely for Kairi. He certainly didn't have enough time to go around and gather memorabilia. And that dedication finally paid off with him finding Kairi, not Sora or Akira.

So why didn't he get his own charm?

He could feel his hurt and frustration interacting with the darkness in his heart, making it flare up. With a quick swallow, he regained control of his emotions. As much as he wanted to throw the charm to the ground and smash it to pieces, it was still something made by Kairi. He set it aside gently before abruptly leaving the room.

Looking into Akira's room next, he could automatically see the distinct differences in their personalities. The messy furniture and scattered bedsheets were from the Heartless attack, not the results of Akira living here. He walked among the wreckage calmly, not spotting anything out of the norm except a wooden toy displaying several ships rotating around a planetary system. Whoever made it was clearly skilled in woodworking.

He walked up and down the hallways, viewing a room set aside for training (shown by the broken and scorched targets), the kitchen, the living area, and the cockpit. Looked like they had everything they needed to live a good life on here. And all they had to do to get it was abandon their best friends.

Riku was pulled from his scornful brooding by a small groan. Sora was finally starting to rouse himself. It was about time. He pulled a chair out from under a table, settling into it with a sigh, and waited for Sora to come to fully.

KH

He hadn't had a headache this ferocious in a while. With his eyes squeezed shut against the pain, Sora reached down to grab a potion from his pockets. Except when he patted his thigh, he felt nothing but the soft cotton of his sleepwear.

It was then he remembered the reason his head was pounding so fiercely. He had awoken when his door creaked open. Expecting Akira, he had been taken completely by surprise when pirate-like Heartless had jumped him. He managed to shrug them off, but something knocked him out before he could shout a warning to the others.

He opened his eyes, slowly raising himself to his feet. Was he out in the Gummi Ship hallway? How'd he even get here? Looking down the stretch of hall, he could see the three doors to his friends' rooms were already opened. Peering into them cautiously, he could feel panic grip his heart at the sight of a struggle in each room. Where were they?

He hurried out to the living room, receiving such a jolt of shock at the figure reclining in a chair he physically recoiled. Riku was watching him with calm aqua eyes.

"Hey," Riku greeted him simply.

"Riku…?" Sora replied, still slightly slack-jawed from his sudden appearance. Flashes of what happened in Monstro ran through his mind, and he felt the full force of urgency press him to skip the friendly banter. "Where's Akira? What'd you do with Donald and Goofy?!"

Riku sighed heavily, kicking the chair back so that it was tilted on its back two legs as he relaxed. Sora knew better than that though; Riku was completely tense and not as relaxed as his persona would have him believe. "Not even a single mention of Kairi. Wouldn't you rather know she's safe? Hang on, let me rephrase that—shouldn't you rather know she's safe?"

"I know she's safe," Sora responded in a growl, his impatience building. "Akira told me."

"Oh, is that so," Riku mused. "So then, I guess she knows where Kairi's heart is and how to put it back? She knows how to bring back the islands? You two can just go off and play hero, forget everyone else's hard work."

"Well…no, but—"

"But nothing," Riku interrupted with a snort. "Sora, the only way to fix everything is if Akira comes with me and we find Kingdom Hearts. There's nothing else we can do."

Sora struggled to stifle the immediate protest that rose in his throat. Akira told him she could fix Riku's heart with some sort of dive to the heart, and so he believed her. But that required getting close to Riku. Maybe…if they went with him this time around…

"Y'know, you're lucky you're even alive right now," Riku spoke to fill the space of Sora's silence. "Maleficent wants you dead, and you would've been if I wasn't here."

"Going against your leader's wishes isn't dangerous?" Sora voiced, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Riku scoffed. "No. And she's not my leader."

"Certainly seems like it."

"Listen, I kept you here so we could talk. If you don't want that, you're free to go." Riku gestured back towards the opened Gummi Ship hatch. Sora could see they were docked on some sort of larger, wooden ship. That ship was anchored in some unknown land, which he could barely catch a glimpse of silhouetted against the night sky.

"Talk about what?" Sora eventually asked.

"Akira needs to come with me to where we've been building the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. We're close to getting enough energy to open the path, and when that time comes we need to be ready. This is your last chance to do the right thing and come along."

The gears in Sora's head turned as he considered the situation he suddenly found himself in. Wishing with all his might he had another voice of reason to guide him wasn't helping. He promised Akira he'd never let Maleficent even get near her, and that was a promise he still fully intended to keep. And yet, it seemed the only way they could get close to Riku was to travel to where Maleficent resided. If they were really going with him, they'd need some backup in case things went wrong. Sora swallowed heavily, speaking his offer slowly.

"If we go with you…Donald and Goofy come too."

"No."

"Then no deal," Sora immediately responded. "We don't go if they don't go."

"Why?" Riku scoffed. "Why ruin everything for the sake of two people you hardly know?"

"Because they're our friends," Sora growled. Riku's eyes flashed dangerously at this, and Sora realized his mistake too late.

"They're your friends, huh? Then what's Kairi? What am I?"

"You know that's not what I meant—"

"I don't care," Riku hissed. He rose from his chair sharply, sending it clattering to the floor. "You wanna hang out with your friends some more? Fine by me! Then you can stay here; Akira's coming with me."

"Riku!" Sora shouted in exasperation, but his friend wasn't hearing it. With a snap of his fingers, two pirate-like Heartless suddenly sprung to life on either side of him, their swords drawn. Sora looked to Riku with a disbelieving expression. Did he just summon the Heartless? "You…what did you just do?"

"The Heartless obey me now, Sora. I've got nothing to fear from them. You on the other hand…" he trailed off, letting the ominous warning hang in the air. Sora swallowed hard, finding it close to impossible to remind himself this wasn't actually Riku talking. The darkness taking over his heart was making him act this way.

"Take him to the brig with the other two."

The Heartless poked and prodded him with the swords, leading him to the opened hatch. Sora's mind whirled as he desperately tried to grasp for a last-minute plan. He could not let Akira go alone with Riku, it was too dangerous. He'd go get Donald and Goofy from the brig, and together they'd search the entire ship to find her. Once they were back together, maybe they could turn the tables on Riku…Without a second thought, he burst from the Heartless' grasp and ran onto the deck of the ship.

Pirates and Heartless alike turned to view him bursting onto the scene with surprise. Then in a flash they were all diving to catch him. Sora deftly maneuvered through these attempts, heading straight towards a door that he hoped would lead him to the lower parts of the ship.

He almost made it, he was so tantalizingly close, but a silver hook suddenly fell in front of his face. Sora skidded to a halt, falling on his back just in time to avoid impaling himself on it. He followed the hook up to the owner of the object, viewing a rather fancily clad pirate. If he had to guess, he'd say this was the Captain.

"Not so fast, boy. There'll be no shenanigans aboard my vessel!" the Captain warned, his mouth contorted in a snarl.

"Sora, I would've thought you were smarter than that."

Sora rose to his feet cautiously, viewing the scowling faces of the pirates and expressionless Heartless eagerly surrounding him. Riku strode towards the circle calmly, only a hint of exasperation beneath his smirk.

"Obviously, you need a special babysitter to watch you so there's no more…shenanigans." Riku raised his hand, which was suddenly coated in a strange green flame, then pointed to the ground and motioned upwards. A ghostly presence brushed against Sora's back, making his skin crawl. Whirling around, he faced the creature forming behind him.

His shadow was surrounded by the same green magic, twitching and rising from the ground to form its own shape. It ripped itself away from Sora and stood to its full potential, dripping with an inky black substance. Sora could only watch with bated breath as a Heartless version of himself came to life, gleaming yellow eyes staring holes into his soul.

"Like it?" Riku asked, leaning against the side of the mast. "I've picked up a few new tricks." The last of the fire flickered out of existence as he lowered his hand.

Sora noticed the crew members who weren't Heartless had flinched away from Riku and this green fire, fear evident in their eyes. The fact people were afraid of Riku struck a chord so deep in Sora it made him physically ill. Riku, the one who was so well respected back on the islands, the one who everyone was always clamoring to be around. His best friend. In that moment, Sora felt like he didn't even know who he was looking at.

It was the last straw.

"You're so STUPID Riku!" he shouted, not even caring that his voice broke from the intensity of his frustration. "Can't you see you're being tricked? Sooner or later the darkness is going to swallow your heart! This is just gonna backfire!"

Riku looked taken aback, as he should've. Sora very rarely raised his voice in his manner. However, this stunned appearance quickly fell, replaced by that infuriatingly uncaring stare. "Not a chance," he snapped, "my heart's too strong."

Sora stood with his jaw clenched, not sure what to do after being rebutted so strongly. Unfortunately, Riku had enough of him.

"You can go see your friends now." Riku waved a hand dismissively, and suddenly a trap door opened underneath Sora's feet. He fell under the deck with a shout, which was cut off by the door snapping back into place.

"Watch him," Riku pointed to the shadow Sora that still hovered over the trap door. Without a sound, it floated downwards, disappearing into the floorboards.

Riku turned around, viewing the crew that cowered from him with disinterest. His eyes flickered towards Hook. "Meet me in your cabin. And bring the other prisoner, we have things to talk about." Riku walked away without waiting for an answer.

"That scurvy brat," Hook sniffed distastefully. "He has the nerve to order me about on my own ship?"

Smee, ever the loyal follower, nodded his head fervently in agreement. "What should we do, Captain? The crew is ready if you give the word!"

Hook cast a look around at his surviving crew at this statement. It was true, they were as tired of the boy and the damned Heartless as he was. If Hook said so, they'd lay down their lives to kick the bothersome pair off the Jolly Rodger for good. But that was just the thing; if they tried they would all most certainly die.

"Nothing," Hook scoffed. "The hold is crawling with Heartless, Smee. They're like weeds, and our weapons can't reach their roots! They'll just keep coming back!"

"I suppose you're right, Captain," Smee sighed heavily. "We'd need those fancy Keys to kill them for good."

"Of course I'm right," Hook replied casually. However, his eyes widened when Smee's words replayed in his head. "Wait, Smee. Say that again."

Smee paused, looking as if he was struggling to recall what he just said. "You're right, Captain?"

"No!" Hook snapped. "The other thing!"

"We need those fancy Keys?"

"Yes…yes, that's exactly it…" Hook drifted off, looking far into the distance. Maybe he could get out of his deal with the devil after all. "Smee, I think I have a plan."

He pulled the little man closer as they walked towards the brig to fetch the fifth prisoner on the ship.

KH

When I came to, the sound of water slapping against wood comforted me for about a second. In my dazed state, I was lulled into believing I was back on the islands, asleep on the dock.

Then I realized I couldn't move my hands. I pulled at the restraints wrapped around my wrists, feeling like laughing at the absurdity of this situation. Rope? They seriously bound my hands with rope? I strained against it slightly, wondering briefly if I could just burn it off with a fire spell. Would that catch my shirt on fire with it though?

As I continued to fidget with the rope I sat up, viewing the room I was placed in with a foreboding sort of curiosity. It looked like some sort of captain's quarters. Velvety looking fabric coated the chairs and cots (like the one I was sleeping on) and piles of gold were precariously stacked on almost every table. My attention, however, was immediately taken by the figure lying in a lounge chair across from me.

"Kairi," I breathed out in a whisper, too shocked to even realize I was talking aloud. It was my first sight of her in months and my excitement bubbled up, overtaking the dread about my current situation. "Kairi!" I shouted again, grinning widely and scooting to the very edge of the cot in efforts to get closer to her.

My smile fell when she didn't even respond to my voice. It was then I finally became aware of her sickly visage and her half-lidded eyes staring into nothing. Even though she was breathing soundly, it was like she was without any life. Without a heart.

Before I had a chance to act further, the handle to the door jiggled. I tensed and flung myself back onto the cot, rolling to the same position I woke up in. Two bickering voices muffled by the wood soon became crystal clear as the door swung open. I identified the one complaining loudly as the pirate that had boarded the Gummi Ship.

"Why do these brats always insist on being so difficult?"

"Something in their blood, Captain," a nasally voice replied.

"Children these days, they have no idea how to behave themselves."

I strained against the urge to stiffen as Riku's voice entered the fray. "I hope I'm not included in that sentiment."

The Captain grumbled something rather rude under his breath, and I could tell by Riku's snort he had heard every word.

"So, what exactly are we doing with Wendy?" the nasally voice spoke up once again, and I risked opening my eyes slightly to see who exactly he was referencing to. A small girl stood in the midst of the men, her eyes wide. She was wearing a blue nightgown and her feet were bare; obviously she was taken by surprise, the same as us.

"We're leaving all deadweight back on Neverland," Riku waved his hand in dismissal before turning to walk towards a table near me. My eyes flew shut once again. "Wendy's part of it."

"Deadweight?" the Captain repeated, an incredulous tone suggesting he was gaping at Riku. "After all the trouble Maleficent had us go through to capture her?"

"We thought she'd be the final Princess, and we were wrong. So, we're going to drop her and the other three off before heading towards Hollow Bastion." A chair grated against the floor and there was a heavy sigh as Riku sat in it. "So, hoist anchor and all that."

"No—no! We're bringing this brat back to Maleficent! She expects us to just follow every beck and call—well I've had enough! If she really doesn't want the mangy thing, she can dispose of her herself!"

"Whatever," Riku sighed. "It's your funeral."

A heavy silence filled the space, and I could practically feel Riku and the Captain staring daggers at each other. Fortunately, a slightly echoic voice filled the room, cutting through the tension. It sounded like whoever was currently speaking was doing so through some sort of tubing system.

"Uh…Cap'n, some of the crew 'ave been sayin' they saw Peter Pan flyin' 'bout, he mighta already made it into the—"

"I told you he'd come!" Wendy shouted triumphantly, interrupting the message. "I told you he'd come for me and now he's going to—" A hand slapped over her mouth, muffling the rest of her sentence.

"Blast that Peter Pan!" the Captain barked. "Put the crew on high alert! You see something in the sky you shoot it—I don't care what it is! Post guards on every hall! Find him!"

"Yes Cap'n!" As the voice faded, I could hear the sounds of heavy footfalls above deck as the crew scrambled to follow the Captain's orders.

"…Like I was saying," Riku said, breaking the silence, "these things wouldn't happen if you were more competent at your job."

With a rather loud curse from the Captain, there were the sounds of a coat swishing before a door slammed, making me unintentionally jump. Silence reigned for a few moments longer before I heard Riku start to laugh sardonically.

"Y'know, Akira, I've seen you fake sleep before. You're too tense, and your breathing's all wrong."

My heart gave a painful thump before turning icy with apprehension. I took a second to draw in a shaking breath and steel my face before opening my eyes. I was immediately met by the unamused face of Riku, who was sitting in the chair backwards. His chin was perched on his folded hands, which were resting on the back of the chair.

Wendy was apparently left behind by the two pirates. She hovered in the background, either frozen in fear or unsure what to do with herself.

"Sorry about the ropes," Riku said, scratching at his cheek nonchalantly. "I told the Captain you'd just find a way out of them, but he wouldn't hear it. He doesn't like to listen to me, I swear he's got some sort of power complex."

I stared at him, my jaw still set in my silence. He couldn't just go back to joking with me. Not after everything he's said and done. He sighed at my stony glare, leaning back and prying a dagger from the table he was sitting at. I stiffened slightly as he faced me again, but he just tossed the weapon so it would land beside me.

I looked back and forth between him, the weapon, and Wendy, trying to calculate if this was some sort of trap.

"That's so you can get free, by the way," Riku snorted. "You're welcome."

"That's not very smart of you," I muttered, snatching the dagger from the seat. As I positioned it to saw through the bindings, Riku barked out a laugh.

"And why is it not smart, exactly?"

"Because when they're gone, I could just summon the Heartblade and bust my way out of here."

"But you won't."

I narrowed my eyes at the curt statement that was filled with so much confidence. The rope finally snapped and I brought my hands in front of me, rubbing my wrists. Riku continued to watch, not looking very concerned. "You're supposed to ask how I know you won't," he eventually said.

I didn't say anything. Riku's eyes drifted over to the reason I hadn't moved, who was still sleeping soundly. "Now that you've seen her, you can't just leave her. Not while she's like this."

"…No, I can't," I murmured. As much as I hated to admit it, Riku was right. We both watched Kairi, listlessly sitting there. It was such a stark contrast to her usual spunky self, and it disturbed me a great deal.

Riku broke the silence first. "We only have one more Princess, and then we can finally create the pathway that leads to Kingdom Hearts."

"And you need me to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. I already know all about this, Riku," I narrowed my eyes, "and my answer still stands."

"It's the only way to fix Kairi."

"We don't know that," I retorted.

"And you have a better idea?" Riku raised an eyebrow, a scowl forming on his face. "Akira, how long would it take to research it? To practice and perfect the idea? To make sure everything is right, because we might only get one chance? Because if you mess up, Kairi's heart could be gone forever."

I flinched slightly at this.

"Maleficent has been studying this for years," Riku continued, ignoring my wince. "I've seen the library and the research, I've flipped through some books myself. This will work, Akira. It'll bring Kairi and our Island back, as well as every other world lost to the Heartless."

"You mean the creatures you're siding with now?" I said, donning a sarcastic smile before I could stop myself.

Riku's gaze hardened. "I do what I have to do. Can you say the same?" He looked back towards Kairi, his entire persona softening as he did so. "Obviously not."

My eyes narrowed at this low jab, but it did the trick. Guilt and remorse flooded my heart, moved along by the sight of a lifeless Kairi. I tried to struggle against the doubts of whether I was doing the right thing, forcing myself to recall the ruthless nature of the Heartless and how Riku was more than willing to sacrifice someone's son for the sake of finding Kairi's heart, something she would not approve of.

My attention returned to Riku, and I found he was already staring at me. As we met gazes, Patientia's lesson came flowing back to me in full force. Obviously, my remembrance of this showed on my face, because Riku's eyebrow arched in a silent question.

I swallowed back my anxieties about the dive. "I…I may not know what to do about Kairi, but I know how to help you, Riku." I extended my hand outwards, towards his heart. "You aren't like yourself, this darkness is changing you. If you let me help, we can all fix Kairi together—"

This was a wrong move. Riku flinched away from my hand, a scowl crossing his face. "This darkness hasn't changed me in any way, Akira," he spat my name like it was a curse in his mouth. "If anything, it gave me the courage to act more like myself, to know that being a hero isn't about showing off for other's enjoyments. It's dedicating your whole life to something and knowing you won't get credit for it."

"Riku—"

"Sound familiar? Because you know I was always there for everyone, always in the background, always holding everything together, and yet no one thanked me for it. No one seemed to remember me—"

"Riku that's not true—!"

"But that's something that I've accepted! And yet, for some reason, you and Sora both can't seem to do something right unless people are watching and praising you for it." He broke off to snort in laughter. "Some good a heart full of light does, huh?"

I fell into a frustrated silence, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Riku watched this impassively, his face still contorted into a glare. I could see the flickering of darkness around his figure, taunting me with the implications of their presence. Riku was lost to me—I couldn't even do the dive if we weren't in agreement. What was the point of it?!

The sound of an echoy voice suddenly filled the room. A pirate requesting Riku's presence above deck spoke through the communication system. He sighed heavily before rising to his feet, giving me a sidelong glance as he passed by me.

"I'll leave you to think about that. I trust you'll be here when I get back."

Without waiting for a reply, he headed for the door, passing by Wendy who shrunk away from him. In the blink of an eye he was gone. The door shut slowly behind him.

The room was filled once again with the sound of waves. I watched as Wendy finally relaxed without Riku's presence and she immediately came skittering over to me. By the looks of her, she couldn't have been more than twelve years old.

"Akira, was it? I'm Wendy Darling. I see the pirates snatched you up before bedtime too." She nodded to our matching appearances, nighttime garb and bare feet. "They're such brutes. But don't worry—Peter Pan is coming to save me. I'm sure he'll save you and your friend too."

I didn't bother to reply to this, instead falling back into the cot with my head in my hands. That was a complete and utter failure.

"That boy, Riku," Wendy suddenly spoke up, rousing me from my thoughts, "he's a bit scary, wouldn't you agree?"

"I…" I opened my mouth and closed it several times, floundering for the right words. "I don't…he's not really—"

"It sounded like he's your friend, and I mean no offense, but…well, he wasn't really acting like a friend." She gathered her nightgown together and sat beside me on the cot. "He seems the type that's good on the outside but bad on the inside, like a rotten apple. You don't know it's bad until you bite in. I guess you already bit."

She stared at me with such earnestness and concern that I had to turn away in frustration. Why was this twelve-year-old lecturing me about friendship? She didn't even know the half of it.

I sighed deeply, burying my head in my hands once again to avoid looking at either her or Kairi. Wendy apparently saw this as a call for silence, as she said nothing more on the matter. I was thankful for the lull in talking, as it gave me a chance to be lost in thought once again.

At least until Wendy uttered a loud gasp, startling me enough to make me jump. My head jolted up, expecting more pirates or even Heartless, but all I saw was a gleaming ball of light.

"Tink! Oh, Tinker Bell!" Wendy sat up straight, a hopeful smile on her face. I felt my eyes widen in surprise as the light faded to reveal a small fairy flitting about the cabin. She darted over to us, glancing between Wendy, me, and Kairi with a frustrated scowl forming on her face.

"Do you know a way out, Tink?" Wendy leaned forward, giving a smile the fairy didn't seem to return. She flew over to an opened window, gesturing outside. Wendy jumped up and hurried to the window, leaning out and looking this way and that. I watched her for a moment before my gaze returned to the door. I kept expecting Riku to burst back through it any second now.

"Why, there's nothing here," Wendy huffed. "Are you saying to jump into the—" She broke off with a shout of surprise. I turned to see Tinker Bell with her tiny arms braced against Wendy's back, seemingly trying to push her into the ocean.

"Tinker Bell—stop it!" Wendy huffed. "You know I can't swim!"

The fairy pushed even harder.

Wendy ignored this apparent attempt of murder, instead offering me a confused smile. "Why aren't you looking for a way out too, Akira? Don't you want to escape?"

I shifted uncomfortably on the cot, glancing towards Kairi. "I mean, yes of course, but…I can't leave my friend."

"So bring her with you!"

"It's not that simple…"

Wendy blinked in confusion at this statement. By this time, Tinker Bell had exhausted herself trying to push Wendy out of the window. Her hands on her hips, she chimed once again in a language neither I nor Wendy could understand. Then she flew back out the window, leaving behind a small trail of glimmering dust.

"Tinker Bell, wait!" Wendy cried, reaching further back out the window. I watched with a twinge of remorse as she sat back with a disappointed sigh. "I guess she's gone to fetch Peter. I do hope they get here before the pirates come back."

I couldn't help but feel partially responsible for Wendy's predicament. After all, Riku was my friend, and he was the one who kidnapped her. And now I had the power to help her escape, but I wasn't using it. Why was I even hesitating? It's not like I could hope to break through Riku's aura of darkness now.

I wished I could ask Sora what I should do.

"I'm sorry, Wendy," I mumbled.

Wendy gave me a small smile. "It's okay Akira." She plodded over to us, settling back into her spot. "We'll just wait here for Peter. Then everything will be okay."

I looked towards Kairi at this statement, unable to share Wendy's hopeful outlook.

KH

Sora groaned and rubbed his back that now ached alongside of his head. Landing on Donald in a surprised squawk of feathers didn't really lessen the impact of falling, and now Donald was holding onto spite and refusing to heal him.

"As you can see," Donald gestured to his sailor-esque nightgown, "I have no ethers, let alone potions! If I go about using my magic willy nilly and we get into trouble later I won't be able to help!"

Sora simply gaped at the duck before gesturing wildly to the small room they were locked in. "We're in trouble right now!"

Goofy, who was dressed in a red onesie, peered out of the barred window. He then turned towards the squabbling pair with a deep frown. "Uh, Donald, y'know I think Sora might be right. There's a lotta Heartless out there."

"Yeah Donald," Sora huffed. "In case you haven't noticed, we're minus one right now and that's kind of a really bad thing!"

"I know that, Sora!" Donald screeched. "Why don't you help out and use your giant key to open the door?!"

"It's barred with wood! There's no lock on the stupid—"

A fourth voice, unknown to the trio, suddenly let out a loud cough, interrupting the squabble. "Ahem! Hiya!" Three pairs of eyes fell onto a boy who stepped out from behind a pile of boxes in the corner of the room. "I see you're havin' trouble findin' a way out?"

Sora judged this boy was about his own age. He was dressed entirely in green, down to the pointed hat barely containing his unruly red hair. He smiled at the group with a smug grin that seemed out of place for an apparent prisoner.

Goofy bent down and whispered to both Sora and Donald, "Was he here the whole time?" Sora could only shrug. Donald didn't answer, only because he was busy suspiciously sizing up this new arrival.

"Who are you?" he quacked.

"Me?" A smirk slowly spread on his face "Why, I'm the answer to your prayers!"

Donald let out a noise that was a mix between a snort of laughter and a growl of annoyance. The "answer to their prayers" scowled at this, apparently not liking the reception to his name. "Okay then, have it your way." To the groups amazement, he starting rising into the air.

"He's…flyin'?" Goofy mumbled as they all stared at the empty space between his feet and the floor. Peter grinned at their stunned silence, flicking his feet back and forth lazily to rise even higher.

"The name's Peter Pan." He rolled onto his stomach in midair and extended his hand in a casual greeting.

Sora reached out to accept the offer of a handshake. "I'm Sora…were you captured by the pirates too?"

Peter let out a guffaw of laughter, snatching his hand back at the mention of being held captive. "Ha! Naw, only dumb people let themselves get caught!" He looked around the room, ignoring the twitch of annoyance that rippled through Donald and Sora at the insult. "I'm just waiting for someone. Told her to meet me here…"

"Who?" Sora barely had the time to get the question out before a ball of light zoomed through the barred window, illuminating the room. He followed the light as it darted around their group before it faded enough to reveal the form of a small fairy. She wore a small dress seemingly made of leaves that left her shoulders bare, giving space for the pair of wings that sprouted there.

"Tinker Bell!" Peter called out. "What took you so long? Didya find Wendy?"

Tinker Bell crossed her arms at Peter's impatient tone. The light around her flashed and she made a noise similar to small bells chiming. Apparently, this was the fairy's way of talking, as Peter smiled widely.

"Goob job, Tink! Let's go—"

Tinker Bell waved her arms to get his attention and continued chiming.

"Huh?" Peter blinked in confusion. More jingling of bells, this time with a hint of urgency.

"How many girls? Two?!" He scratched at his head, lifting his hat slightly. "Sheesh, Captain Codfish has been busy! I guess we'll have to rescue them as well."

"Hold on." Sora leaned forward, suddenly becoming very interested in their conversation. "What's this about two girls?"

Tinker Bell chimed and Peter acted as her interpreter. "Tink says Wendy's in the Captain's quarters with two other girls she doesn't know."

Sora felt himself tense. Akira was no doubt one of these girls. Then the other…it couldn't be…

Tinker Bell suddenly flitted around Peter's head, chiming in what seemed like an annoyed manner. Peter let out a snort of laughter and waved her away. "No, that doesn't mean we can just leave Wendy there!"

The small fairy bubbled her cheeks and stomped her foot, showing her displeasure with this. As she darted to fly back out of the door, Peter leapt up and tried to catch her with his hat. Sora watched them bouncing around the room, still in awe at Peter's abilities of flight. "Whoa—hold on Tink! C'mon! At least tell me you found another way out of this room! That door's no good!"

Tinker Bell stopped at this, placing her hands on her hips and angling her face upwards with a defiant huff.

"What…up?" Peter followed her gaze that led to a partially opened grate in the ceiling. "Alright, well, let's go!" He floated up to the grate and pried it open completely before darting through without another word to the trio left behind.

"Hey! Peter!" Sora shouted after him.

Peter's head reappeared in the entryway, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's the matter with you guys? C'mon, Wendy's waiting!"

"Well for starters, we can't fly!" Donald grumbled.

"Can't fly?" Peter looked absolutely dumbfounded at this. Eventually he started laughing, descending back into the room while clutching his stomach. "That's ridiculous—flying is the easiest thing in the world! Anybody can do it!" Before any of the boys could reply to this, he whistled, bringing Tinker Bell back down to him. His hand snatched out and caught her by the wings as he proceeded to shake her over the three still stuck on the ground. "Just a little bit of pixie dust," Peter mumbled to himself as the sparkling substance rained down.

Sora held out his palm, watching the stuff gather in his hands like sand. Eventually Peter let Tinker Bell go, and she managed to retain her angered expression even as she veered away in dizzy, unstable flight.

"There! Now you're as free as a bird! Believe you can fly and you will!"

"Gawrsh, is that all?" Goofy mumbled, looking from himself to Sora and Donald. They didn't look any different. They certainly didn't feel any different. Suddenly Donald launched himself upwards, flapping his arms like mad. He hovered in the air for maybe a second longer than normal before crashing back into the ground with a painful smack.

Amused chiming rang from above as Tinker Bell pointed and laughed at Donald, making Goofy and Sora bite back their own laughter. Donald fixed them with a very angered glare.

"That didn't work at all!" he screeched, picking himself off the ground as loose feathers fell to the floor.

"Oh! Duh!" Peter laughed to himself, shaking his head as if the answer was obvious. "I forgot to tell you to think happy thoughts!"

"Now you say something," Donald grumbled.

"Any happy thought?" Goofy asked, tapping his chin.

"Uh huh!" Peter nodded. "You just gotta be happy!"

Sora, without any sort of hesitation, screwed his face up in concentration. He thought of all the summers spent on Destiny Islands and imagined being back there with his friends; with Riku, Kairi, and Akira…He felt the smile rising as his thoughts turned to her. How his heart soared when she laughed and smiled, how just a small touch against her hand sent sparks shooting up his arm, how he couldn't keep a silly smile from crossing his face whenever he spotted the way the crown necklace gleamed on his neck. He never took it off, not a single day after she'd given it to him.

"You're my best friend. It's my job to take care of you."

When he opened his eyes, it was the feeling of weightlessness that hit him first. He looked down and let out a gasp at the sight of his feet hovering off the ground. The strange pixie dust floated around him, drifting to the floor as he angled himself upwards, waving his arms. His body followed the command, rising to the ceiling. He couldn't stop the joyous laughter that bubbled up within him. He was flying. He was actually flying!

Slowly, Donald and Goofy rose up with him, and the three circled each other in the air with their laughter merging together and echoing in the small room.

"Now you got it!" Peter smiled at their antics before drawing a small dagger from his belt and dramatically pointing forward. "C'mon men! Onwards, to Wendy!"

KH

I had taken to pacing in the room, eyeing everything in it as if it could somehow help me sort my thoughts out. Several times my eyes skimmed over the map left behind on the Captain's desk, kept in place by piles of gold and a dagger imbedded into its corner. It was apparently detailing the positions of nearby worlds, leading up all the way to a particular world named Hollow Bastion. That was the world Riku was talking about returning to earlier, so if I had to guess, it was where Maleficent was operating out of.

Almost all of the worlds had large red X's over them…all except six. Two of them I recognized from the simplistic symbolism drawn to identify the elements of the world. One was an expansive desert with a large gleaming castle on top and a gaping tiger's maw on the bottom. The other was an odd-looking world with a towering rose garden and a castle shaped like chess pieces. A cat-like grin was scratched into the center. Agrabah and Wonderland. Jasmine and Alice.

Kidnapped by the darkness.

My gaze wondered towards Wendy, who had taken up a seat beside Kairi. Her chin was resting in her hands, and she looked longingly out the window towards the silhouetted land in the distance. Another kidnapped girl, her life thrown out of balance by Maleficent and her henchmen. But I guess that now included Riku…How many lives had they ruined in their search for these Princesses?

I turned to Kairi next. Her sleeping form hadn't budged an inch, no matter how much I had shaken and prodded her. Maleficent caused this, too. So why would I let Riku willingly take her back to that witch? I was trying to keep her safe, but that didn't seem the right way to do it. Thinking about going along with Riku to Hollow Bastion just seemed...wrong.

A plan slowly formed in my head, a horrible, not-thought-through-at-all plan, but a plan nonetheless.

I couldn't attempt the dive with Riku, especially considering Patientia said a dive with the unwilling was practically impossible. I couldn't go with him to Maleficent's realm either, not without Sora, Donald, and Goofy. And yet, I couldn't just abandon Kairi. So then, obviously, that left one logical choice.

Riku said I wouldn't leave Kairi behind. I guess he was semi-right, just not in the way he would've wanted. I was leaving with Kairi; she was coming with Sora and me, where she'd really be safe.

"Wendy, we're leaving now." I whispered, motioning for her to stand up. She did so with a surprised look, stepping back as I looped my arms under Kairi's neck and legs to hoist her up gently. Her head lolled in the crook of my arm, her eyes staring into the nothing above my head. I turned away from her and to the other young girl in the room.

Wendy was nervously fiddling with her hands, watching me with anxious eyes. "But Tinker Bell knows we're here. Peter is probably coming any minute, we just need to wait a little longer…"

"We can't wait any longer. Those pirates will probably just move us themselves when they come back, or worse. You'd be safer leaving with me."

She stopped fidgeting with her nightgown, seeming to be considering my words. I flashed her a quick smile, trying to alleviate some of her fears. "We're gonna be okay. Let's just find a quiet place to hide you guys so I can go find my friends and this Peter. Then we'll leave here for good."

Finally, she nodded slightly. With her on board, I inched my way towards the door and placed my ear against its surface. I picked up on the gruff voices of pirates holding a conversation just outside of it. Guards. Should've seen that coming. Guess Riku didn't trust me quite as much as he said.

When I stepped away from the door, I couldn't help but notice the hollow sounds my footfalls made against the wooden boards. I looked down, my eyes narrowed in suspicion, and shuffled the carpet aside. What looked like a hidden trap door was embedded in the flooring underneath.

I nodded towards it and thankfully Wendy understood my request. She lifted it slowly, carefully letting it fall without a sound. A ladder stretched down, further below deck. I could see Wendy peering into it before she held up an okay sign. No pirates in sight.

I carefully shifted Kairi to one arm, grimacing as I inched my way down the ladder. Wendy followed close behind me, closing the hatch after her. When we were both safely on the floor, we took off at a brisk pace down the empty hall.

KH

Sora made his way down the interlocking hallways and doors of the ship, having a hard time keeping his joyous laughter down. Flying was just so…it was just so much better than he could've ever expected! Something about being weightless with the wind tousling his hair—it was just so freeing! Whatever magic powered his flight must also amplify feelings of happiness, because he hadn't felt this great in months.

He did a front flip, dodging over a Heartless's fruitless efforts to jump and hit him, letting out another laugh as he did so. With a kick against the wall, he went careening into the Heartless with his Keyblade, knocking it flat on its back. Goofy dropped in from above, eliminating it with a gleeful chuckle before floating off once more.

"You guys, for real this time, this is the coolest world we've been to!" Sora said.

Donald sent a glare his way, gesturing up towards Peter, who was currently cutting a Heartless into ribbons with his dagger. He wasn't even paying attention to their conversation, so Sora dismissed Donald's concern with a grin and a flippant wave of his wrist.

"Aw, you know you love flyin' too, Donald!" Goofy called out, trying to give a hug to his companion in midair. Instead they crashed into each other, sending Donald careening into one of the wooden walls. Sora howled in his mirth, grabbing his stomach as he drifted languidly in the air.

His laughter was suddenly cut short as something slammed into him from above, forcing him into the wooden flooring. With a small amount of difficulty, he turned against the hand holding his head down and received a jolt when he stared into his own face, albeit shrouded in shadows. He'd forgotten about his shadowed self in the excitement of flight.

Peter swooped down and knocked the top of its head with his dagger, sending the creature skidding back. Sora jumped to his feet then, levitating back into the air with his Keyblade clutched close. His shadow eyed him and the Keyblade, eventually extending its hand out. Far underneath him, the shadow the Keyblade cast was sucked from the ground, zooming to the shadow's hand.

Then, as quick as it had come, it phased through the walls. The boys looked around, still tensed for sudden movements, but it appeared that the shadow had been placated. For now.

"Boy, when my shadow went missing it sure as heck didn't do that!" Peter said, nodding to below Sora. The three looked down, Sora just now becoming aware of the fact he wasn't casting a shadow.

"Sora…what was that?" Donald quacked, looking at him with narrowed eyes as if that was somehow his fault.

"Riku cast some sort of magic on my shadow…it turned it into a Heartless, I guess?" Sora rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. "I'm not really sure what he did."

"Add it to the pile of things to worry about," Donald grumbled.

"No, don't get worried!" Peter scolded. "Negative thoughts ruin the pixie dust's magic!"

The three blinked and looked around them, watching as they slowly sank to the ground. Quickly they all grasped back onto their happy thoughts as they madly flapped their arms, rising to Peter's level once again.

"Guess we just gotta stay positive, huh?" Goofy smiled at his two companions.

"This ship runs on happy faces, isn't that right Donald?" Sora nudged his feathered friend, who couldn't stop the smile that spread on his face. At least Sora remembered something he'd said.

KH

Unbelievable.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Riku ran a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath and trying with all his might not to utterly lose his shit. The Captain's quarters were empty. No Akira, no Wendy, and no Kairi. Of course, leave it to Akira to pull something like this…

"Oh dear…it looks like they discovered the secret escape route," Smee mumbled, pointing to the displaced rug. A well disguised trap door sat underneath and had obviously been pried open recently. In a flash Riku kicked it in, making the door swing open with a loud bang. Smee flinched back from the sudden violent movement.

"Y-You could've just o-opened it back up," Smee spluttered.

Riku ignored this, snapping his fingers. Heartless immediately appeared at his side. He pointed towards the opened door. "Find them." They slinked off immediately.

"Cap'n…" a voice spoke up from the small tube imbedded in the wall.

"What?" Riku snapped.

The voice on the other side of the communication system suddenly became even more anxious to deliver this news. The devil boy would sick the shadows on him without a doubt. "The…the prisoners have escaped, sir. Peter Pan helped 'em."

Smee watched in horror as a green fire burst to life around the boy. Letting out a small shriek, he scampered from the room to go find Hook and deliver the news. Plans had changed.

Riku, on the other hand, wordlessly jumped after the Heartless, the dark fire flickering behind him like a false shadow.

KH

"Oh dear, I do hope we come across Peter soon…he's the only one who can defeat Captain Hook, you know," Wendy whispered. I rolled my eyes slightly at that as I pressed myself against the wall, peering ever so slightly out into the next hallway. Wendy continued her adulation. "I've seen them fight before, it was quite nerve wracking—they were up on the masts of the ship—"

"Wendy." I interrupted the girl, trying to hold back my amused smile. "We have to be quiet."

"Oh, sorry!" She winced slightly, her cheeks flushing. "I talk when I get scared."

"It's okay, just try to keep your voice—"

"'ey! 'ey they're down 'ere!"

My head snapped up to see a pirate waving to his unseen companions, pointing wildly at us. Well…this really put a damper on my plans.

"Oh dear. Quick—in here!" Wendy gestured to the only opened door we could see. We bolted in and slammed the door shut behind us. Unfortunately, fate wasn't on our side; the room was just some sleeping quarters. A dead end. At least we had some luck in winding up in a room with a bureau. Quickly laying Kairi on one of the cots, I ran and pushed all my weight against the piece of furniture.

"Help me move this!" I called out to Wendy. The small girl placed both hands against it, pushing with all her might. Together we moved the heavy object in front of the door, successfully blockading it. I could hear the collective group pounding against the door, but it wasn't budging. That ought to hold them until I could find another way out…

First glance around the room revealed nothing, just four wooden walls with a few uncomfortable looking cots stacked against them. Then something caught my eye. I pushed a small cupboard out of the way, letting it clatter to the ground. A small rusted grate sat underneath it, seeming to lead to a new room.

I grasped the bars and shook hard. It moved slightly, creaking and groaning in protest, but still held fast. If I could just work it enough to get it loose, maybe a good kick would do it in.

"Akira, please do hurry," Wendy said kindly, but with enough urgency to show her fear. I took a moment to just stare at her. She looked so much like Alice…I couldn't let the same thing happen to her. With a nod to Wendy, I set about breaking through to the room below.

KH

They had to deal with his shadowed self several times as they flew through the ship, but Sora was beginning to get down the rhythm. He always knew when it was about to come from the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. It would almost always start with an upwards strike from right below him, which was easy enough to dodge and counter. But then, after getting a few solid hits in, his shadow would simply fade back into the walls, only to return a few minutes later. It was like a game—a game he was determined to win.

And so, being so focused on identifying where his shadow was going to spring out of next, he almost dismissed the familiar sigh that rang through the air as being in his head. Then a strange metallic ringing sounded behind him, followed by another very familiar noise of frustration.

Sora immediately backtracked, waving his arms in circles wildly to slow his motion. With his heart beating hard within his chest, he looked up to see a metal grate currently being assaulted by Akira.

"Come! On! You stupid—" she broke off to deliver a kick to the rusted metal, which didn't budge, much to her displeasure.

"Akira!" Sora cried, directing his body upwards. Of course, the sight of Akira mingled with the happy emotions powering his flight, which sent him directly into the ceiling. He smacked it hard enough to shake the floor, sending her sprawling forward with a yelp.

Her face pressed against the grate painfully as Sora rubbed his now aching head, each wincing slightly. However, when they met eyes, they recovered from their injuries quickly. The two teens smiled widely at each other, each overjoyed at the sight of the other safe.

"Akira!" Sora cried happily, his fingers curling around the grating as he pressed his face against it. Their noses brushed through the holes in the metal, coloring Akira's cheeks as she smiled even harder.

Two shouts of her name below Sora was all the warning he had before Donald and Goofy rose up, pushing him out of the way to see her.

"Are you doin' okay Akira?" Goofy asked, ignoring Sora's indignant cry as he was shuffled aside.

"I have a cure in me if you need one," Donald added. Akira missed the dirty look Sora shot the mage, instead smiling fondly and shaking her head.

"No, I'm fine. A knock on my head can't take me out of the game." It was then she seeming realized what the three of them were doing. "Wait a second—are you guys…" She balked at them for a few seconds, making Sora's smile return. "Are you flying?"

"Akira, I don't mean to rush you, but these pirates seem to be getting quite close to opening the door," a small voice pipped in from an unseen place. Sora didn't recognize this voice, but it seemed Peter did. They all tried to make room as he squeezed himself into the group hovering by the grate.

"Wendy!"

Sora heard a gasp from above followed by rapid footfalls. Suddenly Akira was moved aside, replaced by a young girl in a blue nightgown, her face framed by brunette curls

"Oh, Peter! I knew you'd come for me, I just knew it!"

The sound of splintering wood and muffled shouted squandered the reunion. Sora watched as Akira glanced backwards, her face paled and serious when she pushed Wendy back to stare at him with such concern it made his heart twinge.

"Sora. I've got Kairi with me, I—"

"What?" Sora sailed closer, pressing his face against the bars. His neck was bent at an awkward angle and it hurt to stay like that, but Sora couldn't help but stare. It was his first view of Kairi in months, and she didn't…well, she didn't look good.

"We need to get through this," Akira gestured to the grate, "pirates are about to come bursting through that door and I don't know if I can hold them off and protect these two."

That was all the information Sora needed. He grabbed onto the bars and placed his feet as a brace against the ceiling before pulling with all his might. The metal groaned in protest but didn't move.

"That's all you've got?" Peter snorted, shoving Sora aside to give his own attempt at prying the grate from the ceiling. Tinker Bell hovered above his head, pulling at his hair as if she was trying to get his attention. He waved her off impatiently. "C'mon Tink, buzz off!" They were all too preoccupied to see her stomp her foot and fly off, tears in her eyes.

"Donald, blast this thing open!" Sora demanded, still straining against the thing.

"With what spell? Fire? So I can set this whole ship ablaze?" Donald scoffed.

"Watch your fingers," Akira shouted from above, giving them enough time to move before she stomped as hard as she could against the metal. The wood around the grate cracked and it loosened even further, making all party members let out a triumphant shout. As Akira raised her foot to deliver another kick, a loud crash and a scream from behind her made her freeze in place. She glanced behind her and Sora watched as her face contorted in a snarl.

"Don't you touch her!" she shouted, jumping out of sight.

"Akira—Akira wait!"

Sora's shouts of Akira's name were drowned by the sounds of a skirmish above. The familiar sound of the Heartblade being summoned echoed in the air and Sora could hear Heartless being slashed through, but with a large metallic crash, something fell on top of the grate and blocked their way in.

"Akira!"

Despite the fact the room above had fallen silent, Sora struggled even harder against the bars. With another grunt and a pull filled with all the strength he could muster, he finally wrenched the grate from its place. He let it fall to the floor below and immediately went to pushing against the thing that was preventing them entry, calling her name again.

With all four of them working together, the thing (which turned out to be a stack of cots cut from the chains supporting them) was eventually shoved out of the way. They all quickly squirmed through the hole with Peter and Sora both fighting over who would fly through first.

As they emerged above, Sora noticed Wendy standing in the corner of the room, her eyes wide. Besides that, it was empty, with furniture upturned and the door kicked in.

Wendy noticed Sora's frantic darting eyes and pointed out the doorway. "She went that way, after a pirate who grabbed her friend!"

"You go on ahead," Peter commanded. "I gotta make sure Wendy's safe first." He gently picked her up without any sort of protest and flew out of the room.

Sora nodded, although he hadn't really processed what Peter had said. His entire being was focused on the task ahead. Only glancing back to confirm Donald and Goofy were following, the trio set off at a run down the hallways.

KH

My feet carried me through the winding hallways, in quick pursuit of the man carrying Kairi. I didn't even care how much noise I was making at this point, all my thoughts were on the fact this stranger, this pirate, had my friend in his grasp. Heartless were either eliminated with one fell swoop or outright ignored as I sped past them.

When I finally spotted the pirate, the raging emotions shooting through my body made me temporarily forget I had a magical weapon at my disposal. With an angered shout being the pirate's only warning, I slugged him full on the jaw. He reeled back, but unfortunately managed to keep his hold on Kairi. One of his hands reached up to lightly brush his now split lip, drawing it back to stare at his stained fingertips in confusion. The sight of his own blood seemed to send him into a burning rage.

"You lil' rat!" He slung Kairi haphazardly over his shoulder to free his hands, drawing a dagger from his belt. His eyes were alight as he pointed the weapon towards me. "I 'ad enough of brats wif no manners walkin' 'bout this ship! I'll teach ya 'ow ta treat elders wif respect!"

I shook my aching fist out and summoned the Heartblade into it, brandishing it in a defensive manner. This caused the pirate to pause. Before anything could escalate any further, I felt a hand grip my shoulder tightly.

"Don't do anything stupid."

Riku pulled me back, stepping forward to face the pirate. I lowered the Heartblade slightly, watching as the pirate's expression slowly morphed into one of pure fear. He dropped the dagger to the floor, holding his hands outwards.

"I didn't mean no 'arm, I-I wasn't actually gonna do it."

Riku simply stepped forward and plucked Kairi from her unceremonious perch on the pirate's shoulder. The pirate flinched back, letting this happen with barely a whimper. "P-Please, don't…"

As he stepped away with Kairi in his arms, Riku gave a barely noticeable nod. Suddenly Heartless jumped from seemingly nowhere, covering the man within seconds. I could only watch in mute horror as they dragged the man onto the floor, who could only croak out half a scream before he was devoured by the creatures.

Riku had no reaction to this. Instead, he carefully shifted Kairi to one arm, holding the other outwards. The shadows on the ground seemed to pull together at his beckon, rising to form some sort of portal. "C'mon, we're leaving," Riku nodded towards the portal. "Now."

My gaze was still locked onto the place the man was mere moments ago. That pirate was begging for his life…Riku killed him. He actually killed someone—without even batting an eye. Had he done this before? As he placed a hand on my shoulder, I slapped it away with a panicked snarl. "Don't touch me!"

Riku looked startled by this response. But before he could say anything, his eyes narrowed dangerously, locked onto someone behind me. I turned to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy making their way towards us. Donald and Goofy both had their weapons brandished, but Sora's was lowered at the sight of Riku. Without any sort of hesitation, I ran to Sora's side. He stepped closer to me in response but remained locked in a staring contest with Riku.

"Tch." Riku's lip curled and he turned away, backing into the portal without another word. It swallowed both him and Kairi before fading from existence.

Silence reigned, none of us dared to move or even breath and the tension was almost suffocating. Until I felt the warm liquid dripping down my face and onto the wooden floor in small plops, drawing Sora's full attention.

"Akira…are you okay?"

Words caught in my throat so I simply nodded, wiping at my eyes with one hand and warding the boys off with the other. If they came to consul me, it would just make my blubbering worse. And I couldn't break down here; we weren't out of the waters yet.

As if the universe heard my thoughts, the temperature in the hallway dropped and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Sora groaned in exasperation, as if he knew what was happening, before a shadow sprung from the ground in a sneak attack. Sora quickly parred the creature's clawed hands away, sending it falling back onto the ground. With inhuman speed and flexibility, it flipped itself back onto its feet.

I balked at the creature's appearance. "Sora, it…it looks…"

"I know. It's my shadow." He gestured down, and I blinked to see he was indeed casting no shadow. Quick as a flash, the shadow darted forward and made a swipe at Sora. He vaulted over the Heartless, seeming to be banking on the fact that he could fly, but gravity brought him right back down. I winced as he hit the floor and lay stunned on his back.

"I guess the pixie dust has a time limit," Sora wheezed. I stepped in front of him and deflected the next attack, giving him enough time to recover and take a defensive stance.

"Gawrsh, I feel bad fightin' somethin' that looks just like ya, Sora," Goofy mumbled as he blocked the Heartless's shadowed Keyblade and delivered a stinging counter.

"I don't," Donald quacked, blasting the thing with a blizzara spell.

Fighting against Sora's shadow proved to be trickier than I expected. Not only did it take Sora's shape, but his skill as well. As proficient Sora was with his Keyblade, this shadow imitated every block and powerful strike. As fast and nimble Sora was, the shadow was just as hard to hit. I gritted my teeth as it predicted another one of my attacks, even dodging the lightning spell I'd prepared in case I missed. It seemed it knew how I fought as well.

It lashed out when I didn't pull back in time, its claws leaving ripping through the thin fabric of my nightshirt easily. I hissed and fell back, hastily putting up my guard once again.

"You okay Akira?" Sora called out.

"Just peachy!" I returned, gritting my teeth against the burning sensation in my side. I'd risk a heal, but cure took up an awful lot of magic, and I didn't know how much trouble it'd be to get off the ship after this thing was dealt with.

Sora was even worse off than I was in fighting himself. It seemed the shadow knew his every move; for every attack there was a block, for every successful block there was a counterattack, which was blocked—and the cycle repeated. Even though he hadn't taken any physical damage, I could tell the frustration of being unable to land a blow was building up.

Just as the Heartless clawed at Donald and knocked Goofy aside with its strange Keyblade, the frustration overflowed. Sora let out a loud battle cry and jumped into the air, raising the Keyblade above his head. Everyone, including the Heartless, was taken by surprise when the Keyblade suddenly burst into flames. He brought it down in a powerful overhead arc, which brought a large fire blast shooting forth. Donald Goofy and I dove out of the way as the Heartless was caught in the center of the spell.

As the heat faded, we all raised our heads warily. Sora was standing in the middle of the now empty hall, his mouth agape. Random patches of fire burned along the hallway, but there was no Heartless.

"Whoa…what'd you do?" I whispered, unable to take my eyes off the fires sizzling away. Goofy was the first to move and pat out the flames.

"I got mad," Sora responded slowly, seemingly still in shock. "And I think I took some stuff out on my shadow?"

"The Keyblade is attuned to your heart, so I guess that makes sense," Donald responded, both proud of the power behind the spell and angry at Sora for his reckless use of magic.

Sora's excitement over casting such an amazing spell faded when his eyes landed on the spot Riku had disappeared. A strange stain marred the ground, but it was otherwise empty. "Gone again," he sighed.

"At least now we know where he goes," I said. The three boys looked towards me in surprise at this statement.

"We do?" Goofy asked, tilting his head slightly.

"I overheard Riku talking with the Captain earlier," I explained. "He was supposed to take us to a world called Hollow Bastion. Plus when I was searching around the Captain's cabin I found a map detailing how to get there, coordinates and all. My guess is that it's Maleficent's headquarters, so it makes sense Riku would go there." My heart gave a nervous thump when I remembered why exactly we were going to Maleficent's world, and I averted my gaze from them. "Guys…Maleficent's pathway to Kingdom Hearts is almost complete. They only have one more Princess to find, and then…they'd need me."

"To get to you, they'd have to get through us!" Donald quacked, waving his wand about.

"But they just did," I added reluctantly. "If Maleficent had been on this ship, I don't think we'd be having this conversation."

Donald fell quiet at this, looking slightly ashamed. I turned towards Sora, who had been awfully quiet during this exchange, and found him looking very pensive. Finally, he nodded as if affirming something to himself. "She can't get to you if we take her down first."

Now it was my turn to look at Sora in shock. "Take her down like…right now?"

"Why not?" he asked, his voice raising as he gained confidence in the idea. "We know where she is. We've got a map with the exact coordinates! And we've taken down every Heartless and bad guy she's sent our way!"

"I know b-but still!" I protested. "This is Maleficent we're talking about. We're just gonna storm her in her own castle?"

"If we don't, we'll be like sitting ducks," Sora countered. He then looked towards Donald sheepishly. "Sorry Donald." The feathered mage simply harrumphed in response.

"My point is," Sora continued, "she obviously knows where we are wherever we go. How else did they pinpoint our location in open space?"

"It'll be dangerous," Goofy added in a hesitant tone.

"When wouldn't it be dangerous?" Sora asked, his question rhetorical. Silence fell between us once again, each of us exchanging uneasy glances as we thought over our options. We could travel to more worlds, locking their Keyholes and honing our skills, or we could skip over all of that and just go to the source. No need to lock the hearts of the worlds away if there was no more Heartless army to worry about.

"Let's focus on getting off this ship first, then we can discuss what's next," Donald finally decided, gesturing towards the door with a sliver of moonlight shining through.

We did as he said and emerged onto the deck of the pirate ship. The Gummi Ship was already there, having been secured into place after it was hooked from its flight. But of course, leaving couldn't be that easy.

The pirate Captain was standing in front of the Gummi Ship with his remaining crew surrounding him. Hanging from a hook was a glass lantern box, containing the small fairy from earlier.

"Tinker Bell…" I murmured, watching as she pounded the glass with her small fists.

"It seems your dear friend Riku has left without you," the Captain sneered in a not so friendly manner. "Good riddance if you ask me."

"Good thing nobody was asking," Sora growled.

The Captain clicked his tongue in disapproval and wagged his finger. "Now now boy, none of that attitude!" He extended the lantern over the railing of the ship, dangling Tinker Bell over the waters. "Unless you want your little pixie friend to sleep with the fishes tonight!"

"What do you want?" I shouted.

"Retribution, my dear," the Captain answered. "You see, your little friend was quite a pain on my ship. I was going to use your Keys to get rid of his Heartless fiends, but it seems they went with him! So now I'll be taking them as acceptance for the collateral damage!"

The crew around him cheered, whistled, and whooped in support of this plan. The four of us shuffled closer together, glancing around at the roughened pirates with our weapons itching to be summoned.

"You know that's impossible, right?" I said to the Captain. "They'd just come right back to us." My lips twitched in a mocking smile at the flash of disappointment on his face.

"Will they still come back if you have no hands for them to return to?" the Captain snarled, bringing Tinker Bell's cage back onto the deck in order to show off his own missing hand, replaced with the hook. "Believe me, lassie, Captain Hook always keeps his word. You won't leave here without leaving something behind! Be it this pixie, your Keys…or your lives."

The crew once again raised their voices in excitement, particularly at the last option. However, as they quieted, a new noise was in the background. Every second it built up, seeming to be ringing in the air around us. All of us, including the pirates, looked around trying to locate the source of this rhythmic…ticking.

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

As our gazes returned to Captain Hook, only to see his confident visage had melted away entirely. His face was now pale, and he seemed to be shaking in his boots. "I-It's him! The crocodile that took me hand! O-Oh Smee, he's after me other hand!" Hook practically threw the lantern at a short, stubby man standing beside him before stumbling towards his cabin. "Take care of things, Smee! Fetch me when this wretched crocodile has gone!"

The door slammed, leaving silence behind. The ticking of the clock persisted. The pirates around us shuffled and murmured in confusion and uneasiness.

Smee seemed very unequipped to handle the job Hook left him. He was already profusely sweating and turning red under the attention. "S-So which will it be kiddos? You can hand over those…those blades…or you can go swimmin' with the fishes!"

Sora and I exchanged a look. Unspoken communication passed between us as we debated on whether we should just knock Smee out and take him out of his misery. Unfortunately, that still left us the rest of the crew to take care of as well.

Before we could decide on a course of action, Smee stepped forward in an attempt to appear menacing. However, as he did so, his footing slipped on a puddle of water spilled from a bucket. The lantern flew from his grasp and went sailing over the railings of the ship.

All I felt was a whoosh of air as Sora ran full speed and vaulted over the railings after Tinker Bell. It took a second to realize Sora had just launched himself towards the jaws of a crocodile, but once the reality set in we all let out various screams of shock and bolted towards the railings. Even Smee peeked over the edge, a look of surprise on his face.

My heart immediately jumped into my throat at the scene that awaited me. Sora was hovering ever so slightly above the jaws of the crocodile, his feet barely brushing against the top of its snout. He had his eyes squeezed shut, and he was clutching the empty lantern to his chest like his life depended on it. Tinker Bell flitted about above him, having just doused him with the biggest ball of pixie dust she could manage.

As he slowly floated upwards, his eyes opened slowly, viewing all of us staring at him with mouths opened wide.

"Nice one, Tink!" Sora smiled at the fairy, who seemed to turn pink from the praise.

"Oh dear, this isn't good," Smee mumbled, trying to discreetly step away from the scene. I stuck out a leg and tripped him again, sending him stumbling down to the lower levels of the deck. This seemingly roused the pirates around us, as they leapt to attention, each drawing a weapon from their belt with menacing growls rumbling in the back of their throats.

I felt the Heartblade enter my hand as I prepared to block whoever moved first, but a loud cawing above our heads drew everyone's attention upwards.

Peter was standing on the highest mast of the ship, looking down at the scene with a smug grin. As he cawed once again, a rock whizzed past my head and struck a pirate square in the face. He tumbled backwards, too preoccupied with nursing his injuries to notice the railings quickly approaching behind him. With a yelp of surprise, he was sent splashing into the water. The other pirates didn't even have time to process this before more rocks and flying projectiles started pelting them from all directions, sending them scurrying for cover or flying off the ship.

Six kids stormed the scene, jostling us backwards in the confusion. Peter swooped down to us as we watched in awe and fascination as the grown men ran from children dressed in animal costumes.

"Those are the Lost Boys for ya!" Peter said, sending a grin our way.

Sora swooped down with Tinker Bell close at his side, giving Peter a perplexed look. "I thought you left to take care of Wendy?"

"Wait, where is Wendy?" I chimed in, worry stirring in my heart.

"Awe relax will ya? She's fine!" He pointed upwards, and we followed his gesture to see Wendy in the bird's nest, waving down to us. "I just went to get more man power! After all, you can't overthrow a pirate ship without a loyal crew!"

"Quite," Donald muttered, clearly perturbed by the whole thing.

Peter, having caught sight of Tinker Bell crossing her arms and glaring at him, sobered slightly.

"I'm sorry I let Captain Codifish get ya, Tink." Peter scratched the top of his head, seeming out of his element giving an apology. Tinker Bell flitted forward and gave a chime, seeming to forgive Peter despite this. "You're right, I do owe Sora for this." He glanced upward at Sora, a smile reappearing on his face. "After all this is over, I'd like to make you an official member of the Lost Boys!"

Before Sora had a chance to respond one of the children, dressed as a fox, marched up to Peter and gave a salute. "All the pirates are overboard, sir!"

"Good job, men! Now there's just one more thing to take care of." Peter chuckled to himself before bouncing up towards the Captain's quarters.

In a flash Sora had flown up with him, a smile on his face as he looked back and gestured for us to follow. To my surprise, Donald and Goofy gave a massive leap and floated up beside him, leaving behind a sparkling trail in their wake. Then I realized the same substance was currently raining down around me. I held my hands out and gathered the material in my cupped palms before glancing up. Tinker Bell gave a cheery wave, letting more of the pixie dust shake off before darting over to give the Lost Boys the same treatment.

"C'mon Akira!" Sora called after me. He tumbled in the air, his laugher the merriest I'd heard in a while. "You've got the pixie dust, now just think happy thoughts and you'll fly too!"

His contagious grin made the same expression cross my face, and as I did I felt a strange warmth bubbling up in my heart. Was this the pixie dust's doing? Almost instantaneously, every negative feeling I'd been lugging around for the past few weeks shrunk and a massive weight was lifted from my shoulders. As if I now weighed nothing, my feet rose off the ground. I couldn't help but shriek as I fell backwards, the air catching me and bringing me upwards.

Sora's hands caught mine and steadied my flight, and I couldn't help but notice the way his touch sent sparks through my skin. I wondered briefly if that was the pixie dust's doing as well. It was unlike any magic I'd experienced so far, and I absolutely loved it.

As we gathered around Hook's door, we were all trying to stifle our giggles and snorts. Peter waved for us to be quiet as he pinched his nose to make his voice nasally and rapped lightly on the door with his knuckles. "Cap'n? Cap'n Hook?"

"S-Smee, is that you? Did you take care of the brats?"

More squeals of amusement and muffled laughter that were rapidly hushed by Peter.

"Aye, Cap'n! I had every last one of 'em walk the plank!"

We barely had the time to jerk our heads out of the way before his door burst open, and Hook reemerged looking wildly about the deck. Before he could realize what was happening, Peter swooped down and pricked his backside with a dagger, making the highest-pitch scream emerge from the full-grown man.

At this we all burst into hysterics, rolling through the air with tears gathering in our eyes. Hook turned as red in the face as a man could ever get as he spluttered through his rage. "P-Peter Pa—Blast you, Pan!"

"Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Peter taunted, twirling the dagger in his hand. "Say hi to all the codfish when ya get down there for me!"

"I've had just about enough of you! You and all your bratty friends!" Hook cried, unsheathing his own rapier and darting forward towards our group. We all scattered in different directions, causing Hook to embed the tip of his weapon into the wood of the ship.

"Oh uh, now you've done it Peter," a Lost Boy dressed as a bear mumbled, watching as Hook didn't waste a beat in recovering his sword from the hull of his ship.

"Aw, Hook's not too mad," Peter responded, waving his hand in dismissal. He lowered towards the Captain, who did indeed look very angry. "Right Captain? No hard feelings?"

"Peter—watch out!" Wendy cried from above. Peter quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding the sharp end of the hook, which still managed to pin his green hat to the mast. And yet he still laughed as this happened, deftly maneuvering out of harm's way. As the Captain moved to slice at Peter, he was jerked back by his hook, which was still imbedded in the wood.

"Blast this hook!" he cried, slashing at the mast with wild chops and yanking until he pulled himself free, taking a chunk of wood with him. Of course, given how hard he was pulling, once he was freed he nearly backed off the edge of the ship and into the opened mouth of the crocodile below.

"Whoa, watch your footing Captain!" Peter jeered, flying circles above his head. "Don't want to lose your other hand to ol' Tick-Tock now do ya?"

Hook growled something intelligible in response, charging back towards us with his rapier held high.

Hook was fast, I'll give him that. He showed the skills of a master swordsman as well, but his anger was clearly clouding his thoughts and muddling his ability. The laughter and chanting of "codfish" by the Lost Boys threw him into temper tantrums, making him swing his sword in wild, power-filled arcs around him as he screamed in rage. All of these swipes were easily parried or dodged, and it was quite…fun. Almost like a game. In fact, Peter seemed to be treating it as such, with his smile remaining wide even in the harrowing moments of the rapier barely scraping against his stomach.

Despite the fact almost none of his hits landed, it didn't stop Hook from spewing curses and profanities towards us in the air. Most just added to the fuel of the Lost Boy's laughter until Hook screeched, "You brats would never dare to face Captain Hook one-on-one! You're all cowards!"

Peter skidded to a halt, looking down at Hook as if this one word struck deeper than all the nicks delivered by Captain Hook's rapier. "Me? A Coward?"

"That's right!" Hook lowered his weapon, his eyes gleaming when he realized he finally got through to the aloof boy. "You'd just fly away—like a cowardly sparrow!"

Peter's lip curled in the first real show of malice I'd seen on his face. "Nobody calls Pan a coward and lives! I'll fight you one-on-one Hook, then we'll see who's the codfish!" He landed soundly on the deck, his dagger held in a defensive position.

"Peter…" I said in a warning tone, noting the wild look in Hook's eyes. If there was ever a bait for a trap, it was this taunt.

"So you won't fly?" Hook growled and pointed his rapier towards Peter, who warily twitched his dagger in response.

A cacophony of protest rose from the Lost Boys, as well as Wendy's pleading voice, all of which Peter silenced with a single glance. "No. I give my word!" He turned his glare onto us as well. "And nobody can intervene!"

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Donald muttered.

Despite our reluctance, the battle began with a quick slash from Captain Hook. Peter managed to dodge this and countered with his own jab of the dagger.

"Should we intervene anyways? It's not like Hook has any honor to barter with," I snorted.

"I think Peter's got this covered," Sora responded, nodding to where a fierce battle was taking place. I almost couldn't believe how fast Peter was able to parry and counter every attack thrown at him, just with a tiny dagger too.

"Gawrsh, he's pretty good," Goofy mumbled.

"Well duh." One of the Lost Boys floated towards us, his rabbit hood slipping over his eyes. "Peter's the greatest fighter of all time!"

"Captain Codfish doesn't stand a chance!" Two twin boys both dressed as raccoons chimed at the same time.

"He never has! Peter always wins!" The Lost Boy dressed as a fox said with a sly grin. The smallest and youngest member of the Lost Boys, dressed as a skunk, nodded vehemently in agreement with this.

Wendy did say Peter and Hook had fought before. And by the way the Lost Boys talked it seemed like they were lifelong enemies. But Peter was probably around our age—how far back could their rivalry really go? As I was preoccupied with these thoughts, a cheer from everyone suddenly jolted me back to reality.

Peter had managed to trip Hook up and disarm him, and now his rapier was pointed at his own chest. Instead of finishing it, Peter drove the blade into the ground beside his head. "I'm no pirate," Peter scoffed. "You're free to go."

As he turned around, his entire serious persona faded. Leaping into the air, he let out another victory caw, which the Lost Boys all joined in. Just as things seemed like they were over, he was suddenly viciously yanked from the air and slammed onto the ground. Hook hovered above him, his teeth bared in a snarl and his rapier poised to strike.

"Akira—cannon ball! Cannon ball me!" Sora suddenly shouted.

"Cannon…ball…" I trailed off, my eyes growing wide as I realized what he wanted. My rational thinking of 'this is never going to work, we seriously need to help him!' was overpowered by the pixie-fueled excitement of 'this is gonna be awesome!'

I dived down, grabbing Sora's hands as I passed by, and we spun through the air in an uncontrolled spiral. At just the right moment I let go of him, sending him like a speeding bullet into Captain Hook. Sora's feet collided with the Captain's face, sending him flying clear off the edge of the ship.

Peter remained on the ground, staring at the place Hook was mere moments ago. As a massive splash echoed far below, however, we all hovered closer to the edge to watch what occurred next. The crocodile that had been constantly ticking its way around the ship was now swimming towards the spluttering Hook and seemed to be licking its chops in anticipation.

Hook apparently still had stamina left after his rage-fueled fight, as he swam faster than I'd seen anybody swim towards the distant shore of the island. The crocodile followed after him in a slow but determined pursuit. Now, nothing more remained of Hook except for his plumaged hat, which Peter snatched from the waves and placed upon his own head as he let out a caw of victory. This time everyone chimed in…including me.

I blame it on the pixie dust.

KH

Peter and the Lost Boys were completely taken by raiding Hook's treasure stash, and now that the magic of the pixie dust had faded the emotional toil of the last hour settled in. I felt like I had just come down from a sugar rush and the crash was coming in hard.

Sora and I leaned over the railings of the ship, listening to the sound of waves in silence.

"Remember how we always talked about the super powers we wanted?" Sora suddenly spoke, still looking out over the waters. "I feel like I changed my answer weekly. But y'know what Kairi said every time?"

"She wanted to fly," I answered, giving a soft laugh.

He finally turned towards me at this, and I could see a suspicious shine in his eyes. But despite this and everything we'd just gone through, he still smiled. "Wait till we tell her; she's gonna be so jealous! She probably won't even believe us…"

"Sora…" I trailed off, placing a hand on his shoulder. He wiped at a lone tear that slipped through in frustration before shaking me off.

"I'm fine, really. Just a little overwhelmed."

Peter Pan, who chose a wrong time to emerge topside, didn't seem to understand this emotional display. He butted in-between us, snorting out a laugh. "Don't be such a crybaby! You can just bring your friend back anytime you want! Then she can fly with you!"

I glared at Peter for his less than gentle mannerisms, but Sora didn't seem to notice the insult.

"Yeah…" He perked up, his smile returning as if it hadn't ever gone away. "Yeah! We'll just bring her here! That way she won't be able to call us liars!"

"Alright then, it's a deal! You gotta come back and bring your friend with you!" Peter said, before he spat into his hand and extended it towards us. I stared at the offered hand in disgust, my eyes wondering over to Sora to see his response. His face was blank but, at Peter's urging, he repeated the action and they shook on it. Immediately after they let go Sora grimaced at his hand, holding it away from himself.

"Too bad you can't fly right now, otherwise you could wash that off in the ocean," I whispered.

"You're right…" Sora trailed off, starting to reach his dirtied hand towards my shirt. "Good thing I've got you then, huh?"

"Don't even think about it!" I hissed, giving him a wide berth. He gave a light-hearted shrug and wiped his palm on his own nightshirt. All our pajamas were now a little worse for wear, but the added level of grime still made me stick my tongue out in disgust.

"Attention! The first flight of Captain Peter Pan's pirate ship is about to commence! Hoist anchor!" Peter shouted the command from above, and I turned to see him donned in one of Hook's ornate coats. It was way too big for him, and the feathered hat he wore kept slipping over his eyes, but he still held himself in a very serious manner.

"Aye-aye, Captain!" the Lost Boys responded, scrambling to get the ship ready to sail.

"Peter!" Wendy paused, looking askance as she blushed, "Oh, that is, Captain Pan, could you tell me where it is we're sailing?"

"To London, madam," he responded, taking his hat off and bowing.

"Oh…Peter…" Wendy smiled widely, a smile that Peter returned.

"London?" Sora whispered to me in question. I shrugged in response.

"Akira!" Wendy turned her enthusiastic self to me now, flinging herself forward in a hug I wasn't expecting. "Akira I'm going home! I'll finally be able to see my brothers! And my mother and father! Oh, I'm so excited!"

I held my arms about me awkwardly as she continued to bury herself into the hug, catching Sora's amused stare as I did so. My arms finally lowered and returned the gesture, my own smile tugging at my lips. "I'm very happy for you, Wendy."

"I can't wait to tell them all about my newest adventures in Neverland…these stories ought to keep Michael and John satisfied for weeks!" She stepped back from the hug then, giving me a wide smile. "And of course, I'll tell them all about you! How we staged a daring escape attempt from pirates, and how you took care of those shadowed monsters attacking me in one fell swoop!"

"I really didn't do that much," I began to respond, but then Wendy's attention was taken by Peter once more and she bounded after the boy to tell him something new. I trailed off, still somewhat confused by the whole situation that occurred.

"You not used to kids looking up to you or somethin'?" Sora asked, a lopsided grin on his face.

"She's only two years younger than us," I chided. "And no…I'm not used to it. I don't think I ever could be used to it."

He laced his hands behind his head, his smile turning mischievous. "That's alright, I'll shoulder the burden of hero worship for ya!"

I rolled my eyes at this, causing his smile to stretch even further. "Boy, what a sacrifice that'll be."

"Hey, what're best friends for?"

We both suddenly lurched forward as the ship gave a mighty shudder, the wood groaning in protest. Sora and I grasped onto each other's hands and huddled closer, looking around in confusion. The ship now shimmered in a faint golden glow, which I soon recognized to be pixie dust. With our mouths agape, we watched the landscape quickly fade behind us as the Jolly Rodger or, as Peter renamed it, the Second Star to the Right, took flight before our very eyes. When Peter said first flight, I didn't realize how literally he meant it!

As I continued to watch our ascent into the clouds, I realized Sora and I were still holding onto each other even though the ship had stabilized. It seemed Sora became aware of this at the same time, as we turned towards each other simultaneously. The tips of our noses brushed slightly and, after a brief moment of surprise, we broke apart with hastily mumbled apologies and flushing cheeks.

"S-So, uh," I gave a slight cough, trying to return my voice to a normal pitch. "Do you know what Donald and Goofy are up to?"

"Last I saw they were in the Captain's quarters," Sora responded, gesturing with a thumb over his shoulder. "Donald said something about looking for more useful reports or maps? Something like that." He shrugged, returning to leaning over the railings. I looked towards the opened door to the cabin before deciding they probably didn't need any help and settling beside of Sora.

As the ship continued onwards, the cloudy skies suddenly took on a strange texture. Without any sort of warning, it was like a warp hole opened in front of the ship. A wide array of colors and lights displayed in nonsensical patterns all around us, causing both Sora and I to let out amazed gasps and awe-struck exclamations.

"Is this…warp travel?!" I cried.

Sora shook his head slowly, unable to provide an answer. "You don't think Peter knows about other worlds…do you?"

At this point even Donald and Goofy heard the commotion and rushed outside, also becoming dumbstruck by the light show.

"Gawrsh, did Wendy come from another world?" Goofy asked, turning towards Donald. As soon as he asked this, the portal's end was in sight. The ship sailed smoothly through and suddenly we were no longer over an ocean, but a large expansive city. There could be no doubt this was a new world.

"Maybe the barrier between these two worlds never formed?" Donald mumbled, looking more like he was talking to himself. "Travel to other worlds should be impossible without a Gummi Ship!"

And yet, here we were, on the deck of a massive pirate ship that just achieved interworldly travel safely. Maybe it had a gummi component we didn't know about…

"Wak!" Donald suddenly grabbed his head in his hands, seeming very distressed. "This breaks all kinds of non-interference rules! What if somebody looks up and sees a giant pirate ship flying around?! The world's order is going to be destroyed!"

"Hey, calm down duck!" Peter called over the wheel of the ship. "I dunno what you're screaming about, but this town is filled with adults! And they can't see what they think is impossible anyways! If a few kids spot us, nobody'll believe 'em."

We all exchanged surprised glances. Peter seemed to know a lot more than he let on.

As the ship continued onwards, Wendy seemed to be having the time of her life looking over her home town. "Look! There's my school! And there's the bakery…Oh, and of course there's Big Ben!" She pointed ahead, to a massive clock tower jutting up from the maze of buildings beneath it. "Peter! Can we stop by Big Ben? I've never been to the top of the tower before!"

"Anything for you, madam," Peter responded, adjusting the ship's course and furling the sails so it stopped right in front of a clock face. We all gathered around the railings, watching the massive minute hand tick by. Apparently, it was a minute till midnight.

"How beautiful," Wendy breathed out. And indeed it was. Thin metal spiraled outwards from the center of the clock, lacing together to create ornate details behind the clock's hands. It all seemed to be lit up with an otherworldly light, like a beacon of hope in the middle of the city.

The gears whirled within the clock once again, bringing the minute hand forward to line up with the hour hand. A loud chiming echoed within the tower, and suddenly the entire face began to glow in a blue light. We all shielded our eyes, lowering our arms slowly when the light had faded. My eyes widened at the outline of a Keyhole that had appeared from that blaze of blue.

"Well…I don't recall it ever doing that," Wendy said, her head tilting as she stared at the Keyhole.

Sora and I exchanged eager smiles. A world's heart recognizing our presence and revealing itself to be sealed away; there was something very surreal about that.

"Peter!" Sora waved to the boy standing at the wheel of the ship before pointing at the clock tower, "Can we get off the ship for a minute?"

"Uh, sure?" Peter's eyes widened as Sora started taking a step off the ship. "Wait! Tink hasn't—" He broke off midsentence as Sora stepped off fully, floating in midair without the help of any pixie dust. His flight was shaky and unsteady, but it was still through the sheer force of will alone. Peter let out a whistle. "Whoa, pretty impressive!"

Sora tossed a grin over his shoulder before his eyes landed on me, causing my amazed smile to drop. He honestly couldn't expect me…over that drop…

"C'mon, Akira! This Keyhole won't lock itself!"

"M-Maybe I can just try and aim from here?" I said, taking a step away from the edge. "Or we can bring the ship in a little closer?"

Sora hummed in disappointment at that, moving to float above me. His hands rested on my shoulder for a second before sliding down my arms and grabbing my wrists, tugging me forward. "I think it'd be easier if we just flew there!"

"Sora—Sora no!"

"I'm not gonna let you fall." Sora rolled his eyes, his tone insulted that I would even suggest such a thing would happen. His grip on my wrists tightened as we rose slowly into the air. "See? Everything's fine."

"Only 'cause we're still on the pirate ship," I mumbled, feeling my heart racing within my chest.

"Hey, faith and trust are way more important than pixie dust." Sora blinked as he said this, looking past me to the small fairy glaring at him. "Sorry, Tink!"

"If I could just get a little bit, I'd be okay!"

"We don't need it! You trust me, right?"

"Yeah…"

"You believe you can fly? You can't say no—you're doing it now!"

"…Yes."

"Then keep a happy thought in mind. Any happy thought." He then looked around the deck before his voice lowered, a suspicious gleam in his eyes. "Wanna know what mine is?"

I tilted my head, having a hard time breathing when he stared at me like that. "What…?"

With one hand, he fondly thumbed the crown necklace he wore. "You."

I could barely even register the fact I was floating without his help. How could a single word make me feel this happy? With one hand still intertwined with mine, he slowly led us over the edge of the ship. "Don't even look down, just look at me."

I did so immediately, locking onto his deep blue gaze.

"Now think of something happy, Like a memory or a feeling— anything!"

"Anything?" I repeated, trying to keep my attention off the fact I was about to hover over a dizzying plummet. I rapidly shot through my memories, desperate to grab onto any happy thought. So I shouted the first thing that came to mind. "Miska muska Mickey Mouse!"

Sora immediately burst into laughter, quickly dissolving into a puddle of tears and gasps for breath. "That's seriously the first thing you thought of?"

I joined in his laughter, not even realizing he was no longer guiding me upwards. "H-Hey, I was sort of under a time limit!" The same feelings of playfulness that built up in my first flight were returning, guiding me to shove Sora lightly. He tumbled through the air, still dying of laughter.

"I-I know, but still!" He wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hand, breathless giggles still escaping as he did so. "You could've picked anything!"

"How about the fact you called yourself Magic Master?" I added, still running through happy moments in the back of my mind. "Now that's a funny memory."

"You called yourself Backflip Master, so your teasing is null and void!" he chirped, his grin turning smug.

"Fair 'nuff! How about when we first met Donald and Goofy?" I said, practically soaring circles around Sora at this point. We were too busy recalling fond memories to realize our flight was becoming more natural with each shared thought.

"That was more painful than it was happy," Sora snorted. "Remember what it felt like to cast magic for the first time?"

"Yes!" I sighed, reminiscing at the rush of casting blizzard and freezing the boss Heartless in Wonderland solid. "But I don't know if can top the feeling of being turned into a mermaid."

We both bounced memories back and forth, mutually ignoring the one practically throwing itself at our feet and begging to be recalled and reminisced on. I let myself fleetingly remember the feeling of his lips against mine before it was banished once again.

"You two love birds gonna chat all day, or are you gonna lock that Keyhole?"

We both froze at this and turned guilty back towards the ship, seeing Donald watching us with his eyebrows raised. Even as he scolded us, a good-natured smile was on his face.

I summoned the Heartblade and held it outwards, an action mirrored by Sora and his Keyblade. A glimmering beam of light shot from our blades and entered the Keyhole, sealing it instantly. The heavy click of a lock sliding into place echoed through the streets (rousing a few sleeping inhabitants who quickly dismissed the noise and fell back asleep).

As we lowered ourselves back onto the deck, Donald and Goofy were both smiling proudly at us. Peter, judging we were done with our task, hoisted sail once more.

"Y'know, you didn't seem too scared of heights while you were flyin', Akira!" Goofy commented cheerily.

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Heights aren't so bad if I know I'm not gonna fall."

"You're welcome," Sora said, nudging me playfully.

Eventually, the ship was lowered beside a three-story townhome, with the window to Wendy's room already opened. The plank was lowered in order to give her passage inside, but she hesitated before stepping onto it.

"I guess this is…goodbye," Wendy said, turning towards Peter reluctantly. "Will I ever see you again, Peter?"

"Of course! We can see each other any time!" He smiled widely, taking her hands within his. "As long as you don't forget about me or Neverland, that is. 'Cos I'll always come back to listen to your stories!"

"Right. Because they're about you, and those are your favorite kind of stories," she giggled. Reaching up to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her face suddenly flushed. Quick as a flash, she gave Peter a kiss on the cheek. Before anyone could be sure that really happened, she hurried across the plank into her room.

Peter reached up and touched the spot on his cheek in a mystified manner, pulling his hand back and looking at his fingertips as if they might've been stained with something. "What was that…?"

"A kiss," I answered simply. As the ship started to pull away, a Lost Boy having taken the wheel, Peter rushed to the railings and watched Wendy as she became smaller and smaller with each passing second. I felt a tug in my heart at the scene. They were so young, and yet it was clear as day that cupid's arrow had struck them hard.

Donald suddenly nudged me with his elbow, ruining my musing. I looked down at him with my eyebrows raised, meeting a suspiciously cheeky grin. "Can you relate to that, Akira?"

My face immediately contorted in a fierce glare as my cheeks burned in protest, which was apparently enough of an answer for him.

KH

Riku stumbled into the entrance hallway of Hollow Bastion's castle, struggling to catch his breath. He'd never traveled so far in a Corridor of Darkness before, and the side effects from staying in one so long were beginning to settle in. He could only take a few steps before he had to set Kairi down. His legs finally gave out, forcing him to his knees with his palms pressed against the floor.

Every muscle in his body burned, and his heart was beating wildly out of control. He couldn't stop shivering; the cold darkness that seeped into his skin felt like it would never go away. He grimaced at how pitiful he must've looked, gritting his teeth against the pain and forcing the darkness back under control.

"It was reckless to travel here without a vessel," a cold voice echoed through the vast hallway. Riku scoffed, not even bothering to look up at Maleficent. She stood on the stairs to the second floor, watching him struggle to regain his composure. "You forget your heart is not immune to succumbing to the darkness."

"I don't need you…to worry about me," Riku panted, trying to still his trembling hands.

"But I do worry," Maleficent replied, her staff rhythmically clicking as she made her way down the stairs. "About you…and her." Maleficent finally reached where Riku had lain Kairi, and currently stared down at her with a look Riku couldn't read. "Do I need to get someone else to come and carry such precious cargo?"

"You…you never seemed to care this much about her…before."

"I have discovered much while you were away."

Riku looked up at her at this strange statement, meeting her yellowed eyes and watching a smile grow on her face. "…And what does this have to do with Kairi?"

"Everything, my dear." Maleficent waved her staff, becoming him to rise. "Come with me." She waited for Riku to regain his strength enough to lift Kairi in his arms once more, and then the two set off further into the castle.

"We've wondered more than once why the girl's body has not faded away without the presence of her heart," Maleficent began, looking down at Riku as she strode forward, "And the curiosity was beginning to eat away at me. I went searching through the library, because surely this could not be an isolated case, and well," she broke off to give an excited cackle.

"What?" Riku huffed, impatient.

"It is because she's a Princess, Riku. The final Princess of Heart!"

Riku halted abruptly at this. "You're joking."

"She was right in front of us this entire time," Maleficent continued, ignoring Riku's incredulous quip. "A Heartless is formed when a heart filled with darkness is taken. Princesses have no darkness in their hearts, so no Heartless was formed! Leaving her body behind." She stepped closer, her gaze eyeing Kairi hungrily. Riku unconsciously gripped her tighter.

"If she's the final Princess…then what are we supposed to do?" Riku asked, his eyes narrowing. "You said only they can reveal the pathway to Kingdom Hearts. How can Kairi do that without a heart?"

"In due time, Riku," Maleficent cooed, resuming her purposeful stride forward. Riku followed behind her and the duo eventually reached the Grand Hall, where the other six Princesses were being held. The walk down the hallway always unnerved him, as much as he hated to admit it. The girls were kept in glass coffins that drained their power and fed it to the Keyhole, and had been secured into place by dark thorns twisted around their legs and torsos. The healthy flush had faded from their cheeks and from this distance Riku couldn't even see their weakened breathing.

They ascended the stairs leading to the platform of the Keyhole, where Maleficent paused and gestured to something laying before them. A glass coffin, obviously prepared with Kairi's stature in mind. How long had Maleficent known about her true nature? Riku stared daggers at it, reluctant to put Kairi anywhere near such a thing, let alone inside of it.

"She'll be safe here, dear," Maleficent said, placing a comforting hand on Riku's shoulder. "Trust me."

Riku hesitated a moment longer before gently settling Kairi's limp body inside. She didn't resist, letting him situate her with her hands crossed over her stomach and hair brushed carefully behind her ears. As he leaned back, he couldn't help the frown that formed. If he couldn't see the faint rise and fall of her chest, he certainly would assume she was dead.

They stared down at her, the mechanical hum of the Keyhole they had built filling up the silence between them. Eventually Maleficent beckoned him away. As they descended the stairs Riku still shot several regretful glances back at Kairi.

"Sora and Akira are on their way here," Maleficent spoke suddenly, bringing Riku's attention back towards her. "We must prepare for their immanent arrival."

"They're honestly stupid enough to come straight here?" Riku scoffed. "Without any sort of reinforcement?"

"Whether they do so out of ignorance or confidence is yet to be seen," Maleficent answered. "They have yet to be stopped, after all. All of our members have failed to do so. Even you."

Riku curled his lip at this curt statement.

"I bring this up to lead to my next discovery." Maleficent looked towards Riku out of the corner of her eyes as she spoke, seemingly on an entirely new topic. "You told me how you came to open the door to your world's heart but, if you would, please regale me with the tale once more."

Riku stared at her with an annoyed expression. "I told you before, everything about that day is fuzzy." She still beckoned him to speak. He bit back a sigh and continued. "I saw the Keyhole in The Door. I'd been able to see it before, but this time was different. I could just tell. So, I held out my hand, and then it just…opened."

"Just as I thought."

Riku waited for her to elaborate on what exactly it was that she thought, but she fell silent. The clunk of her staff against the stone floor echoed throughout the castle. Riku noticed with a faint amount of interest that they were heading towards the library. He'd spent a lot of time there, reading over knowledge that survived for generations and crossed all world borders, but not for the last few weeks he spent on the Jolly Rodger. He had begun to miss the quiet contemplative aura of the place.

With a wave of her staff, the set of double doors opened at Maleficent's command, and they entered the library unbidden.

"I had been reading to learn more about the Keyblade and its powers, for the upcoming reveal of Kingdom Hearts," Maleficent gestured to the table where several books had been meticulously placed, "and I came across some rather…interesting information."

Riku leaned forward, viewing the image of two Keyblades drawn into the pages, which were yellowed and torn with age. One of them was identical to Sora's, down to the charm that hung from the guards. The other was almost an exact match, only differing from the first in color. Symbols and images surrounded the two that Riku couldn't comprehend.

"These are the Kingdom Keys," Maleficent spoke, emphasizing the name with a mystified tone. "You've noticed, I'm sure, that one of these is the Keyblade that Sora wields. But there is more to this blade than meets the eye…"

She paused to point to the symbols surrounding the Keyblades, as if it would help Riku decipher their meaning. "It is said these two are the oldest Keyblades in existence. This one," she gestured to Sora's, "is the guardian for the Realm of Light. And this one is the guardian for the Realm of Darkness."

"Like I needed a reminder on how special Sora is," Riku muttered.

Maleficent ignored this quip. "These blades are said to contain their very own hearts. This gives them a sentience above those of the normal Keyblades. These Kingdom Keys, therefore, chose their wielders, but only when their realms are threatened. Certainly, a crisis with worlds disappearing into darkness is enough to bring the Kingdom Key out of its slumber."

"I'm not seeing the point in this history lesson."

Maleficent eyed him critically before pulling another book forward. "Keyblade wielders are few and far between these days, but there are still ways of identifying them from a crowd." She let a finger trail down the page, written in a language Riku could understand, and then fell silent. He took this as a hint to read it for himself. He did so, noting the qualities of a Keyblade wielder with a hint of doubt. Sora didn't fit any of those categories.

Naturally skilled with a blade, proficient in magic, able to sense the Keyholes leading to a world's heart—

Wait.

Riku's eyes widened as he leaned forward, bringing the book closer to reread the criteria. Only Keyblade wielders can see the Keyhole to a world's heart. Riku could see the Island's heart on several occasions. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, he matched several of the listed characteristics of a wielder.

Maleficent, seemingly sensing his shock, finally spoke up. "Are you lining up the pieces, Riku? It seems you were a natural Keyblade wielder. And if you were, then the Kingdom Key was no doubt intended for you. This boy Sora...I know you say that day is fuzzy, dear, but I believe there might have been a moment in which he stole it from you. Can you think of it?"

Riku didn't respond. His eyes were glued to the page, distant memories starting to rise.

"In your hand, take this Key."

Riku clenched his fist, now acutely aware of the empty feeling in his palm. His Keyblade. The Kingdom Key. Riku was the chosen one all along, the one the Keyblade picked to be the savior for the Realm of Light. But Sora…

A growl escaped his lips, barely forming the name of his former friend. He stole the Keyblade. His Keyblade. "Tell me how to take it back."

Maleficent's eyes gleamed, like she had been waiting for him to say this. "With pleasure, dear." She ushered him closer to the books, her hand smoothing down the particular page displayed for Riku to see.

KH

This turned out so much longer than I was originally planning! But I feel like that always happens.

I liked the idea that pixie dusts amplifies all positive emotions and makes you act more like a kid, so I put that in the story! Sora and Akira needed to take a break from the stress of their best friend betraying them and the pressures of being world saviors.

Speaking on the ending a little bit, I always felt like the Kingdom Key had to be special? Considering how it has an exact replica in the Realm of Darkness and that it forms most of the χ-Blade's design. So I gave it some history!

Sooooo the next chapter is Hollow Bastion, basically the pinnacle of all Kingdom Hearts I novelizations. This is what makes you want to write an entire KH novel, so you can get to this specific chapter (at least that's how it was for me). I've been looking forward to it for a long time and I am so excited to finally be writing all of it in full! Be prepared for some heart-wrenching moments ;)

Also, college is totally destroying my free time so I might cut next chapter in half to get an update out earlier? It'll just be a Hollow Bastion two parter! But we'll see what happens

As always, if you liked the chapter please drop me a review! Getting feedback lets me know I'm doing a good job and that people are enjoying what I put out there! Do you like what I'm doing with the story? Do you like the renditions of the characters and the additions to the dialog and plot? If you wouldn't mind, please tell me what you do (or don't) like about the story so I can improve it for you all!

Thanks again, and I'll see you all next chapter!

Lvl-ZeR0: Thank you so much! I fully plan on keeping it up, even though school has officially started! I promise I'll write every chance I get.

Also true, the confusing plot is part of Kingdom Hearts' charm…I think lol. I appreciate it, I just enjoy poking fun at it every now and then!

I'M TRYING I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN AAAAAA! I'm super excited for it too though! That being KH3 releasing (Toy Story hype!) and writing for KH2! I already have an idea for Akira's Christmas Town outfit and it's not cliché at all (it's totally cliché). Thanks again for reviewing!

TheRoseAlchemist17: Hello ;) You're probably reading this after you finished beta-ing, which is super rad of you to do by the way! Thank you so much :D

Anyways—back to your review—it makes my day whenever I see you review! It means a lot that you say it's worth the wait, because I know how long those waits can be!

I DON'T KNOW HOW I WRITE THEM I just write what dialogue and actions come to mind! Honestly though I read this review like five times because it just made me so dang happy. Making my story and characters (especially Akira) realistic and believable is super important to me! I'm beyond glad they're all suitable for you guys :D

Also! I'm so glad you said something about still visualizing even though you don't play the game! Because I've always wondered if I did a good job writing for someone who hasn't played all or even any of the games, and now I have my answer! Sometimes I'll catch myself assuming the readers will know what I'm talking about so I just skim over description, but I think I'm better at catching that and going into details for those who might not know what I'm writing for!

I'm all about being clever in my writings ;) And yeah, Akira did not have a good day. Luckily, we had Sora and his ~magic vampire powers~ to save the day!

Thank you so so much for all your reviews and being a beta for this story! I can't say how much it means to me!

KittyCatKate: Your continuous support means so much to me! I'm so glad Sora and Akira are killing you with kindess (and cuteness) and I hope they continue to do so! Your description of their relationship is spot on, and it's one of the reasons I love it so much too!

The chapters just keep getting longer too lol! And it's not a problem, I know how life can get in the way! Especially with school starting up now! It makes me smile just to know you get happy reading the update :D

Also motivation and support multiplied by 1,000 from that last sentence! It's my new favorite thing now and I read it whenever I need a little boost of confidence! Thank you so so much Kitty, you're an awesome loyal reader!