As the Highwind hurtled through the Lanes Between, Sora stared at his small gift.

For so long he had seen himself in a mirror, seeing a broken, malfunctioning thing that was once human. He had always seen a boy that was furious with fate and the world while he cradled and mourned the fragments of happy memories. The pity he always felt made him burn with anger, so he made a habit of not looking at himself in a mirror too often.

But now, he saw himself through someone else's eyes. After all, Donald had made it, so that was probably what he thought Sora was like. The small figure in the glass looked sad, tired, lost, but not broken. Rather, he looked like he was confused as to what he needed to do. Like he wanted to ask how, but didn't know how to ask.

Maybe I should try to let things go... Sora thought as the shook the snow globe, watching the glitter swirl around and settle on his miniature double.

"You really like it, don't you?" Donald asked. Sora nodded, then replied with an inquiry of his own "Do I really look like this?"

Goofy confirmed it "Yep, most of the time you either look like that or annoyed."

Sora set it aside, sighing. He had an idea for the next step forward... Just how was he going to take it? He barely noticed Donald and Goofy landing the Gummi ship.


The world was desolate. A place filled with dust and dried red earth.

"Kingdom Hearts! What made you guys pick THIS?!" Sora sighed, his voice echoing displeasingly. Donald and Goofy shrugged

"Who knows where they're keeping Kairi."

"We just set up a random set of coordinates and go to the nearest world."

Sora folded his arms, then turned "She's not here. No one's here-"

"I wouldn't say that."

Sora turned, not even bothering to acknowledge his friend. Riku was smiling warmly, but there was an... Unnerving quaility to it.

"Funny, how we meet again. Here, somewhere abandoned, forgotten." He said, walking towards Sora. Sora only stood still, wary of his friends actions. He thought he saw a flicker of gold in his eyes. Riku stopped in front of Sora and held out his hand, but Sora only glared at his hand, then him.

"What's the big deal?" He asked, slapping the hand away "Last time we met you were chewing me out and with her."

"He was with who?" Donald asked.

"Maleficent." Sora answered curtly, summoning the Kingdom Key and taking a step back.

Riku looked regretful "Okay, Sora, I know you might be hurt about that, but I promise, I'm not up to anything against you-"

"Oh, so you think berating me for not trying hard enough is nothing against me?! You think you have nothing against 'an idiot who can't keep himself out of trouble'?!" Sora snapped.

Riku looked unnaturally calm, but that was a quality he had always possessed. He then put his hands in his pockets and looked at one of the cliffs that loomed in the distance "I've found Kairi. She's fine-"

"Then. Where. Is. She." Sora hissed through gritted teeth. He was getting really annoyed with Riku's attitude.

"With Maleficent-"

"Then how is she okay?!" Sora threw his Keyblade at Riku, who quickly summoned his own and hit it out of harms way. Now his calm demeanor was breaking

"Sora, calm down and use that demented head of yours. I'm playing double agent, I'm pretending to help Maleficent. I've been waiting for you to get smart enough to find her hideout, so we can both get Kairi out." He paused, then extended his hand again and pleaded "Come on, I can't do it without you..."

Sora looked at his hand, then asked "Where's the world?" He then muttered "You could've told me, bastard."

"A place called Hollow Bastion. Maleficent says it was known as Radiant Garden an age ago, though."

Sora folded his arms in front of him "Then I'll meet you there."

Riku waved his hand with a smirk, a portal of darkness appearing "We can go there right now, together." Sora saw a flash of gold in his eyes again, but decided he was just imagining it.

Then he waved him away, saying "I'll get these two on track, I'll meet you there. You can leave it open for now."

Riku nodded, then disapeared into the darkness.

Sora stared at it for several seconds, his expression hard to read.

"Gwarsh Sora, you were both acting a little... Antagonistic." Goofy said, walking over. Donald nodded "But are you sure you want to go with him?"

"He's... He's my friend..." Sora said softly "I can trust him... But, he felt..." He thought for a moment "not Riku. That's the best I can explain." He sighed and shook his head "But we have to trust him. It's the only lead on Kairi we have." He looked down at Donald "Think you can put a trace on me or something?"

Donald nodded "Sure, but what are you thinking?"

Sora looked into the darkness. "You two go get the King. I'll find Kairi, and we'll get her back home."

Donald then cast a spell, Sora's necklace taking on a brief glow. "There, we should be able to find you as long as you wear that." He then began making his way back to the Highwind "Come on Goofy, we gotta go get King Mickey."

Goofy then gave Sora a brief hug, saying "Stay safe." and left with his companion.

Sora turned back to the darkness, and stepped inside.

That's just what it was. Darkness. Chaos without any sign of where he was. He tried breathing, but the inky black was constricting him, squeezing the light that dared to enter its realm. A firm grip wrapped itself around his wrist, and, instead of crying out in alarm like he wanted, Sora's lungs were filled with shadows. He panicked as he choked on the cold, harsh element. I can't breathe! I can't breathe-

He tumbled out into the light of a different world, landing on his hands and knees and scraping them, gasping and wheezing for air.

"That's why I wanted you to stay with me." Riku sighed.

"KINGDOM HEARTS HOW CAN YOU STAND THAT?!" Sora yelled out of panic and disorientation.

Riku cringed, holding a hand to his ear "Kingdom Hearts you don't need to yell."

He then helped Sora up, saying "Anyways, welcome to Hollow Bastion."


Another chapter up! and guess what guys and gals, we're almost done with part one. About six or so chapters for the epic final fight and then there'll be a cliffhanger so you can eagerly await part two.

I know, laziness on my part for having them just randomly meet up at a certain graveyard. Just review