Thanks, DinoWriter23, for helping out with this
Things were rather quiet for the group at the moment, since Jason and Aurora had made up.
Chase rubbed the back of his neck shyly as he turned to Clair. "So, um... when do you wanna go on that date?"
Dylan blinked with surprise. Chase asked Clair out on a date? When did that happen?
Clair looked at him. "I'd like to make sure we aren't needed for anything else before we do."
The oldest of the Enheart brothers nodded in understanding as Clair went to check with Merlin. "Do you still want us to stick around a bit longer?"
Merlin reset some of the furniture in the room before turning to face the mage-in-training. "I do believe you've trained enough for right now. All of you can have the rest of the day to yourselves."
Clair's eyes lit up before she walked back over to Chase. "Let's see if the others need anything." she suggested.
Chase nodded before he followed her up the stairs. However, Jason stared at them as they left, narrowing his eyes a bit with suspicion.
As they made it to the top, they saw Kairi, Lea, Donald, and Goofy speaking with Cid while Sora was talking to the Doctor.
"Hey, where's Nash?" Chase asked curiously.
"He's outside training with Yuffie and Leon. Riku's watching." Kairi replied.
"Need us for anything?" Clair asked.
"I think we're good, thanks." Lea told her.
Chase decided to ask one more question. "What are you guys up to?"
"Cid's been giving us updates on how the town's doing. I have no clue what Sora and the Doctor are talking about, though."
"We'll check on them." Chase said as he and Clair went over to the Doctor and Sora.
"... so there, I found this assortment of Gummi Blocks that could add some very special features to a ship!" The Doctor finished, his eyes sparkling as he showed the spiky haired teen a strangely shaped Gummi Block.
"Those blocks can do that?" Sora asked with surprise.
The energetic man gave a nod, pocketing the item. "Yep! These things can do wonders."
"What are you talking about?" Clair asked as they approached them.
"Gummi blocks. This guy's found a lot of them when travelling." Sora answered, gesturing to him.
"Do you need something?" The Doctor asked politely.
"Oh." Chase said, then shrugged. "Just wondering if you needed anything."
"We're fine. But we'll let you know if we do." Sora told them, folding his arms behind his head with a smile.
Sora then remembered the issue of the seats in the ship. "I gotta go talk to Cid. See you!" he told them before walking away.
"Well... I guess this means we're good." Chase remarked as he turned to face Clair.
Clair nodded. "Guess so."
Chase opened the door and playfully bowed. "Ladies first."
She smiled and curtsied before stepping outside. Chase followed her, shutting the door behind them as they walked away from the HQ.
"So, what would you like to do?" Chase asked.
"How about we check out some of the shops around here?" Clair suggested
Chase smiled. "That sounds like a plan."
However, Jason had stepped outside, having decided to go after them for a moment. "Hey guys!" Jason called out from behind them. "Can I get a word with Chase before you head out?"
Chase and Clair paused, a bit confused, but Chase smiled. "Sure, just don't take too long, okay?"
Jason motioned for Chase to come with him while Clair watched curiously. What did Jason want to talk to Clair about?
"So... what's up?" Chase asked curiously.
Jason folded his arms as he began to explain. "Okay. I know Clair likes you, and I trust her judgement. You seem like an okay guy, and the last thing I want to do is stir up trouble while there are bigger problems out there than my cousin's choice in boyfriends. But hear me out: You break her heart, and I break your face." he threatened, shooting him a glare.
Chase smiled nervously, but kept his composure. "Dude, that's fair."
Jason was gobsmacked by Chase's response, his jaw dropping in reply. "What?!"
"Look, Clair's amazing. If I ever mess up bad enough to make her cry, I'm counting on you to punch my face in. I'd deserve it, man." Chase told him.
The tough guy was left dumbstruck at what Chase was saying. "Oh. Um... okay?"
"Chase! We're going to be too late!" Clair called to him.
"Coming!" Chase called, looking back at Jason as he started to back away. "I'd better get going. Wouldn't want to make good on that promise already, would ya?" he joked before running back over to Clair.
"What was that about?" she asked him.
"He wanted to know I'm not just playing with your heart." he said as he took her hand. "I'll tell you about it later, okay."
She smiled as she also held his hand. "Okay."
As they left, Jason watched them thoughtfully. He hadn't expected Chase to be sincere like that. It wasn't well known on Harthyn, so to see his cousin with someone who wouldn't take advantage of her... it brought peace into his heart. As they left, a small smile appeared on his face. They were both lucky to have each other.
As they reached the market place, Clair and Chase began to look at some of the shops together.
"Hey, here's a bookstore." Chase pointed out to her.
Clair gasped as they stopped in front of it, her eyes lighting up at the sight. "It's so beautiful..." she whispered.
"Wanna check it out?" he offered. She nodded eagerly.
The two of them entered the store. They started looking at books together. Clair felt like she was on Cloud 9. She looked at books in history, fiction, science, romance, adventure, and horror. Just about all kinds of genres.
"You really like books, huh?" Chase smiled as he set down a comic book.
Clair nodded. "Books are pretty rare on Harthyn... Everything's holo-screen now."
Chase blinked with surprise. "Whoa..." he remarked.
Clair flipped through the pages of the current book she was reading. "You know, I love hearing the sound the pages make when you flip through them..."
Chase smiled.
"You'd love it on our homeworld. Not only do we have stores full of them, but we also have libraries, where you can borrow books for a while, and then return them."
Clair looked at him. "Really? Your world must be a paradise!"
Chase chuckled, then looked at the book she had been holding onto. "Do you want that book?"
She looked at it. "I don't know. There's just so much to choose from."
"Decisions, decisions, huh?" he joked, setting down a book. Clair cracked a smile, nodding.
"So hard. I just can't decide." she said as she looked at all the books on the shelf before her. Chase noticed how much her eyes lit up as she looked at the books.
"How about we start with something that could help us?" Chase suggested.
"Like?"
He picked up one book. "How about English to French? Or English to German?"
"I can't read English."
His jaw dropped. "Are you serious? But you speak it so well!"
Clair looked down shyly. "I don't understand why..."
It looked so much different from the Harthynian text...
Chase thought about it. "I may have an idea. There's this show back where I'm from called Star Trek. Involves deep space travel. Anyway, there's this device that works like a universal translator, allowing races of different planets to communicate with each other, but the person hears their native language. For example, say I met a... Wookie. The thing from Star Trek would allow me to hear English when speaking to a Wookie, but the Wookie would hear... whatever the Wookie language is called. You with me so far?"
Clair blinked at that. "What's a Wookie?"
"... I'll explain it later. But anyway, maybe its like that, but without the device. Let's ask Merlin about it." He then picked up a book. "In the meantime, how about I teach you to read English?"
Clair smiled lightly. "I'd like that..."
So the two sat down in a corner together as they looked at the book.
"We'll start with the alphabet." Chase said as he showed her a letter. "This is the letter A..."
Back at Merlin's home, Sora was currently speaking with Cid.
"So what's up, kid?" Cid asked, chomping on the toothpick in his mouth.
"Well, it's about our Gummi Ship." Sora began, getting his attention. "Since Nash joined us, there hasn't been enough seats for everyone, so the guy has to stand up during take off. Do you think you could-"
"Install more seats? Sure, kid." he said, getting up. "I'll get right on it."
The Doctor followed him, pausing to talk to Sora. "You don't mind if I take a look at it with him, do you?"
Sora blinked, but shrugged. "Go right ahead."
"Brilliant!" The Doctor ran out the door with an eager gleam in his eye as he followed Cid. Sora exchanged a look with Donald, Goofy, and Kairi, who were just as confused as he was.
Meanwhile with Nash, he had scrambled up to his feet after avoiding another slash from Leon's gunblade. He had to readjust his grip on his sais, now holding them in a reverse grip.
Leon narrowed his eyes as he charged at the teenager, ready to bring down his sword on him. Nash used both of his sais to block the blade, but Leon was stronger as he began to push him down. Nash strained, being forced to his knee as he struggled to push him back. They had been at this for quite a bit now, and Nash was starting to grow exhausted.
The moment Leon eased his grip on his gunblade, Nash forced him back, jumping up onto both of his feet.
When Leon's guard had been let down, Nash charged at him and sliced at him, managing to cut him on the leg. Leon winced as he crouched down a bit, but straightened himself as he knocked Nash back when he tried to attack again.
Nash groaned as he landed on his back with a thud. As he regained his senses, his eyes widened as he saw Leon leap up with his gunblade held over his head. The blue eyed teen yelled in panic as he quickly rolled out of the way with the sword missing him by inches.
He spun one of his sais in his hand, then threw it at Leon. The man blocked it, though, and the sai returned to Nash's hand in a flash of light.
Yuffie then threw a shuriken at him, but Nash dove out of the way. However, much to his surprise, the shuriken followed him and managed to leave a cut on his shoulder. Nash let out a cry, clutching his wound.
"Always pay attention to your enemies attacks!" Yuffie called.
Nash jumped to the side as the honing shuriken flew past him, nearly nicking him again as it returned to Yuffie's hand. Nash shook the pain off as best as he could, charging at the ninja as he jabbed his sais forward. She backflipped out of the way, avoiding his attack as she promptly threw her fuma shuriken at him. Nash dove down as the fuma shuriken sailed over him, returning back to Yuffie's hand once again.
As Nash got back up, Yuffie attempted to throw a punch at him, but he leaned back, avoiding her fist. He jumped back, panting a bit as Leon and Yuffie stood side by side together with their weapons ready. He was feeling like his knees were about to buckle, but he stood his ground.
"Come on, is that all you've got?" Yuffie challenged, holding another shuriken in her hand.
Nash wiped some sweat off his brow, then tightened his grip on his weapons with a determined look before he charged forward.
An hour had passed for Chase and Clair as they read the book together, finishing up the page they were on.
Chase smiled at Clair, who had made some progress. "You're doing a great job!" he praised.
She smiled gratefully. "Thanks."
"We can stop for now, and practice again tomorrow." Chase said as he closed the book. "'Repetition begets memorization'. That's what my teachers said... even though I did fall asleep in some of their classes." he admitted, cracking a sheepish grin. Clair giggled at that as he stood up, offering a hand as he helped her up.
Clair then walked over to the register with the book as she pulled out some munny that was given to her earlier, paying for the book. "Thank you. Have a great day." the cashier smiled.
Chase and Clair left the store together as they decided to take a look around the marketplace.
"Wanna have some sea salt ice cream?" Chase then suggested.
"That treat we had back in Twilight Town?" Clair smiled. "Sure."
Chase bought each of them a bar of ice cream and the two began to eat them as they resumed their stroll. "Salty, but sweet, just like before." he remarked. Clair gave a nod of agreement as she tasted hers.
They checked out some items that the shops were selling as they walked together. There were some pretty nice items, as well as potions and Ethers, and even an Elixir or two. Some of them had some kinds of accessories, as well, such as rings, chains, and bracelets.
Clair had found something for Chase at one of the shops. She smiled, hoping that he'd like it as she bought it. At the same time, Chase was off to the side and also found something he thought that Clair might like as well.
The two were surprised when they came face to face with each other with their gifts, but chuckled. Clair handed Chase a black cat plushie. "Here... I thought you might like this "
Chase smiled as he was given the plushie. "Thanks, Clair..."
His eyes then widened as he remembered his gift and showed her a bundle of flowers he had picked. "Um, here you go!"
Clair's eyes widened with surprise, but she then smiled, accepting them. "Thanks, Chase." She sniffed them, but suddenly sneezed, causing the flowers to fly out of her hands. She gasped as she tried to grab them as they flew away. Chase managed to grab one of the few.
"Sorry, Chase." she said sheepishly.
Chase just smiled, shrugging. "Ah, it's alright." he said, then looked down at the flower he had managed to grab before offering it to Clair.
She took it from him. She then tucked it into her hair. "How does it look...?"
Chase felt his face heat up. "P-Pretty..." he blurted, not just referring to the flower.
Clair smiled at him shyly. He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as they continued on their way. They eventually came to a railing where they got a beautiful view of the sunset. It almost reminded Chase of the one's from his world. "Wow..."
"So lovely..." Clair whispered. She hadn't seen a sunset this beautiful before...
"Yeah..." Chase agreed as he placed his hands on the railing, still staring at the sight before them. However, his hand rested atop of Clair's. The two blinked in surprise as they glanced down, then looked at each other.
"Oh. Sorry..." Chase blushed.
"It's... it's okay..." Clair said, blushing a bit as she trailed off. She found herself staring into Chase's mismatched blue and green eyes. He looked like he was lost in her eyes as well.
Then someone's stomach growled. Clair froze, looking embarrassed. "Um..."
Chase just chuckled. "Hungry?"
"I could go for some dinner." she admitted.
He held out his arm to her. "Same here. Well, I think we could find a spot to eat..." he smiled. "Shall we?"
Clair linked his arm with his as they they walked down a set of stairs together, searching for a spot to eat until they found a small outdoor cafe. Chase pulled Clair's seat out for her, taking his own seat once Clair sat down.
They placed their orders and waited as the waiter went to get their food.
"So..." Chase tried to start a conversation. "What was life like before you came out here?"
Clair was a bit surprised by his question, but decided to answer. "Well... I'd have school, homework, and time with my family. I'd also look around for books not in holo-screens. Usually, I'd have to go to an antique shop to find them."
"Did you have any friends?" Chase inquired curiously.
"Well... I knew a few people. There's Nettie Juarez... she always snuck her pet ferret into school."
"There are ferrets on your world?" Chase asked her.
She rose an eyebrow. "You have ferrets on yours?"
The goofiest of the Enheart brothers gave a nod. "Yep." he said, popping the 'p'. That made her smile.
"There was also another girl, Stella Valleys... She was... how do I put this?" she paused before admitting, "I... I looked up to her."
"She was a role model for you." Chase summarized.
Clair nodded. "Yes. She always got good grades, and most of the guys at school thought she was beautiful." Clair sighed at the thought of her role model. She did look up to her, but secretly felt like she could never be as beautiful as Stella was.
Chase seemed to sense her emotions. "Is... something wrong?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing." she said, unsure of whether to bring up the subject or not, so she decided to change it. "How about you?"
"Me? Well, I did say 'hi' to a couple people in the halls, but that's just about it. So it was just me, Dylan, and Anne as a trio."
"Just you three?"
"Yep." Chase nodded. "We've been best friends with Anne ever since we were little kids!"
That brought a smile to Clair's face. "That sounds so sweet... how did you guys meet her?"
Chase smiled at the memory. "It was about a year after our dad disappeared. Her family had moved into town, but she was very shy when she came. She didn't try to talk to anyone until we noticed her at the park one day. We saw she was playing alone, then Josh came to pick on her, so we chased him off and introduced ourselves. Dylan was the first to greet her. We asked her if she wanted to play with us, so she accepted and we've been best friends ever since." He then looked back at Clair. "Did you know anyone else back on your world?" Chase inquired.
"I do. There was Ashley. I think I mentioned her before, back in Salem."
"The one who slept in class a lot?"
"That's her."
Chase smirked. "Yeah, I think I'd know someone who'd relate to her." he joked.
Clair giggled. "Jason had this friend named Phil. He's REALLY into video games. They became friends after Phil fought him when he stole his gaming system."
The brown haired teen blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, really?" he asked.
"Yeah. He won Jason's respect that day." she confirmed, resting her chin on her fist.
"Wonder what would've happened if your Phil met the Phil back in Olympus?" Chase joked. Clair giggled at the thought of him meeting the satyr.
"I bet it would be so confusing." she remarked, trying to hold back her smile.
The teenage boy snickered. "I think you're right."
"Let's see..." She tried to remember who else she knew. "Oh yeah, there's also AJ Miyazuki. He was the biggest flirt in the entire school."
"A playboy?" Chase asked, earning a nod from Clair.
"He broke several hearts from his constant flirting. I'm really glad I wasn't in any of his classes."
"Do you think any of those guys made it off of Harthyn when the Heartless came there?" Chase asked.
"I hope so."
It was then their food had been brought to them. "Here are your orders. Enjoy."
They both looked at their food. Although they didn't have stuff like it on her world, Clair couldn't help but think about how she was liking food on other worlds better than her native one.
Chase smiled. "It looks delicious, am I right?"
Clair snapped out of her thoughts, nodding before they started to eat. Her eyes widened upon tasting it, finding it so good. She smiled as she took another bite. "What is this?" she asked after she swallowed.
Chase blinked in surprise, nearly dropping his fork. "You don't know? It's spaghetti." he answered after taking another bite.
"Spaghetti...?"
"You... actually don't have it back on Harthyn?" he asked, earning a shake of her head. "Wow..."
She started to eat more of the noodles. "Is spaghetti your favorite food?"
"One of them. I got several others I could list." Chase smiled, also eating some of the noodles." He then promised, "If we find them on any other world, I'm going to give you a taste test."
Clair smiled, finding herself looking forward to that.
By this time, they had finished their plates. Chase paid for the dinner with some munny. "You ready to head out?"
The teenage girl nodded before they left the cafe together. "So, madam, what else would you like to do on this magical evening?" the goofy teen quipped.
She smiled at him for that. "What do people usually do on your world for activities?"
"Hmmm... they hang out with friends and family, do things they like, play video games, read, watch movies..." he listed, counting off on his fingers. "... go to dances..."
"Dances?"
"Do you have those on Harthyn?" Chase asked. When she shook her head, his jaw dropped, now looking more shocked than before. "Are you joking?"
Clair shook her head yet again.
"No moving your feet to music?"
"No. Is... dancing fun?" Clair inquired curiously.
"You kidding? It is! It's awesome!" Chase smiled
"How do you dance?"
"Its easy! Come on, I'll show you." Chase offered her his hand. She accepted it as he took her to a music store that was nearby.
"Hmm... this spot looks good." he said to himself before turning back to Clair. "Okay. Dancing 101! Some dances are slow, but some are pretty fast."
Clair blinked, tilting her head at the explanation.
"You usually need music for a dance."
Something then began playing from inside the store. Chase was a bit surprised by the timing, but shrugged and went along with it as he began to do a little dance.
Clair observed him as he danced. She rose an eyebrow, but found it interesting.
"See?" Chase told her. "It's easy! Wanna try it out?"
"I'm not sure how." Clair said.
"Feel the music in you." Chase tried to recall how it was done in a movie.
Clair blinked, but tried to do what he said. She listened to the music playing, nodding her head to it.
"Good, good." Chase told her. "That's a good start. Now... Try to match the movement of the body with the beat, the tempo. Like this." He gave an example, tapping his feet along to the beat as he moved his arms.
As she observed, Clair thought she was starting to understand.
She looked down at her feet, trying it out herself as she tapped her foot, trying to copy his dance. However, she seemed a bit off.
Chase noticed, but he just gave a smile. "Now you're getting it. With a bit more practice, I'm sure you'll be a great dancer! Try to tap in rhythm with me." Chase encouraged.
He did a quick little tap dance. Clair tried to copy it, but she tripped and crashed into Chase.
Chase nearly fell down, but regained his balance as he caught her in his arms.
Clair's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"
Chase's face turned red as he felt his heartbeat quicken. "Um... i-it's okay..." he told her, managing to crack a smile despite what just happened. They then separated, blushing the whole time.
It was then slow, soft music came from within the store. "One more song?" Chase suggested.
Clair hesitated, but eventually agreed.
Chase gently took her hands in his. "This is called a waltz... Now, the people are supposed to dance together in a rhythm. One, two, three. One, two, three."
Clair followed his lead as he began to take the steps. She was doing a bit better this time.
"See? Now you've got it..." Chase praised with a smile.
He then stepped on her foot by accident. She bit her lip while Chase gasped, quickly lifting his foot. "Oh man, sorry!" he apologized quickly, hoping he hadn't ruined the date.
Clair winced, but managed to smile. "I-It's alright." It was then she accidentally stepped on his foot this time as she tried to waltz with him. "Oh! Sorry!"
Chase winced. "Guess we're even, now?" he joked. The two stared at each other before Clair's lips quirked up into a smile as she tried to hold back a giggle. Chase cracked a grin.
"I made you smile." A laugh escaped Clair's lips. Chase chuckled, as well. "And laugh. Two wins."
"You've had more wins than that, this day." she told him after she had calmed down.
Chase blinked. "I did?" he wondered.
She nodded. "You've shown me new tastes, new recreation, and have gotten me started learning to read in a new language."
"Oh yeah..."
Clair giggled again. It was then they realized they were still holding hands for the waltz. They both blushed at that realization.
Chase gave a sheepish grin, feeling his heart almost beat out of his chest as he tried to keep calm. "Uh..."
"Does this happen a lot?" she questioned. "When people dance?"
"Uh... sometimes."
Clair looked down, unsure of what to think about all of this. She did feel her heartbeat speed up. Why was it doing that, though?
"S-Should we head back?"
Chase snapped out of it. "Yeah, we probably should..." he said as he rubbed the back of his head. They walked away from the music store while holding each other's hands as the two teens headed back to Merlin's.
They did strike up a small conversation along the way. "I still can't believe that Jason and Aurora have finally come to an agreement." Clair remarked.
Chase nodded. "Seems like a miracle. One minute they're at each other's throats and the next, they're holding hands!"
Soon, the two had walked past the Gummi Ship, finding the Doctor and Cid working on it. Clair wondered how long until they would be back flying between the worlds.
She rose an eyebrow when the Doctor poked his head out. "Oi! Could you toss me that Gummi piece? It's the blue one shaped like a star!"
Chase picked it up, raising an eyebrow before tossing it to him.
"Thank you!" he called as he ducked back inside. The two teens exchanged a confused look before shrugging and resuming their stroll.
As they neared the headquarters, they did see Leon, Yuffie, and a disheveled looking Nash not too far away from it. Chase could see that Nash now had a pair of sais in his hands as he was training with them and cringed when Nash was knocked back by Leon.
"Well, at least he's learning how to fight..." he remarked as they observed Nash stumble back up, swaying on his feet a bit before he charged back at the more experienced fighters.
Clair strolled forward, but paused in front of the door as they reached it, turning to Chase with a smile. "Thanks for the date. I had a great time..."
The blue and green eyed teen blinked. "Even with the... foot stepping?"
"It was my first time dancing." Clair shrugged, giving him a reassuring smile. "I don't blame you."
Chase smiled with relief before Clair then added, "I'd... like to do this again sometime."
Chase froze, his mind trying to comprehend what he had just heard. "Really?" he nearly gasped, a wide smile appearing on his face. he nodded in reply. "So, um, does this mean we're... boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Chase asked in a shy tone.
She kissed him on the cheek. "I'm not sure about proper protocol for relationships, but if you'd like to consider us that, then I don't see why not."
Chase stiffened up, his face now as red as Clair's vest as he tried to process what just happened. Slowly, a goofy smile appeared on his face. Clair was smiling as well as she took her hand in his.
"Come on, let's go in."
The new couple pushed open the door, stepping back inside. They found just about everyone in the main room talking. The two realized that Aerith had arrived sometime after they had left, as she was speaking with Kairi.
Jason and Aurora were in a corner of the room quietly talking to each other. As for Anne and Dylan, they were relaxing near the stairs that led down to the room they trained in. Dylan was the first to notice they had come back. He smirked. "Hey, Chase. How was the date?" he decided to tease him a bit. Anne had a mischievous look as well.
Chase scratched the back of his head. "I-It was nice..." he replied. Clair gave a nod of agreement.
"So... are you two together now?" Anne asked, smiling a bit.
"Yep." Chase confirmed, then smiled teasingly. "What about you guys?"
"W-What?!" Anne spluttered as she and Dylan blushed.
The brown haired teenager grinned. "Relax, I'm just teasing ya!"
"But judging from the way you two are blushing, I'd say it's safe to assume you two like each other." Clair remarked as she observed them.
The two froze, their faces turning a bright pink. Dylan gulped as he glanced at Anne out of the corner of his eye, who did the same.
"N-N-No we don't!" Anne stammered, avoiding eye contact with Chase and Clair.
"Uh huh, sure..." Chase smiled as he noticed the looks they were giving each other.
Jason decided to step in. "If you two are done with the torturing of our team, we need to come up with a plan."
Anne blinked, her blush going down. "Plan for what?"
"What we're going to do." Jason said. "Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared. So far, our strategy seems to be just flying around through that... that starocean thing, whatever the in-between worlds void is called. We need a better way of pinpointing where and when the Heartless will strike a world."
"They tend to attack in random places at random times." Sora explained as he walked over to them.
"But what if it's not random?" Aurora questioned. "What if there's a pattern we haven't discerned?"
Sora paused to think about it. "Well..."
"Do we have a map?" Clair asked.
"Of Radiant Garden? Yes. Of the other worlds when we're not on them? No." Donald replied. "We do have a navigator on the monitor in the ship, though."
"Didn't you guys say that Heartless go after the hearts of worlds or people?" Anne remembered.
Riku nodded. "They'll strike at wherever they can."
There's got to be a strategic point to this." Jason growled. "We can't just wander around and hope we bump into them."
"Well... the last time we faced the Organization, they controlled the Nobodies, and before that, Xehanort's Heartless and Maleficent controlled the Heartless until Maleficent lost her control... the Heartless side with whoever is strongest..."
"And how did they use the Heartless? What worlds did they send them to?"
"They send them to wherever they wish, if they think there is a certain amount of darkness or light there." Riku explained. "It could be they're trying to make more Heartless and Nobodies to control and spread the darkness. Or perhaps the Organization is trying to continue their plan for the X-Blade... "
Aurora blinked, having forgotten what it was. "The what?"
"Its a powerful weapon said to unlock Kingdom Hearts itself... Xehanort wants that so he can recreate the worlds in his image." Riku frowned. "His Heartless and Nobody have tried to gain the power of Kingdom Hearts before through different means, but failed. It could be possible that Xehanort is looking for things that could help him achieve his goal."
Aurora looked at him. "Then let's review what each world had that might be useful to Xehanort."
"The spell book of Winifred Sanderson would be bad in his hands." Clair pointed out.
"Twilight Town once helped us get into the The World That Never Was before..." Goofy remembered. "We also faced that big swarm of Heartless there for the first time."
"There were a lot of Heartless back on Naruto's world... not to mention powerful ninja."
"It's pretty dark in Halloween Town." Dylan noted. "But it also has Santa Claus and Christmas Town, so that would be a type of light."
"And Wonderland had a buncha crazy stuff." Anne said. "Though I'm not sure it would have something the Organization would be looking for."
"And Agrabah and Beast's castle both had Princesses of Heart."
Jason worked at trying to find a pattern. "Didn't you say he was trying to find thirteen darknesses and seven lights?"
"Yes..." Riku's eyes widened. "He might be looking for more vessels. And he may be trying to spread the darkness as well while he's at it."
"Then maybe some of the worlds we've visited so far must some sort of darkness that meets his criteria." Jason guessed.
"Why don't we ask Chip and Dale?" Goofy suggested. "Maybe they can trace signals for us?"
Anne blinked. "Who?"
"They're our other navigators. We haven't contacted them in a while, though..." Sora winced, realizing he had completely forgotten about them.
"You had navigators this whole time?" Aurora asked. "Why didn't you say so?"
"I... I kinda forgot." Sora admitted nervously, rubbing the back of his head, earning sighs from Riku and Kairi. "They just point out stuff or signals for us as we fly around, sometimes even warn us about Heartless. Maybe they can help us out... if we can get the communicator working."
Riku looked out the window, seeing how late it was getting. "We should probably get some rest. Figure out a plan tomorrow. The Gummi Ship should be up and running by that point."
"You may all rest in here for the night if you'd like." Merlin offered, gesturing them to follow him downstairs, which they did.
"Thanks, Merlin. Is there any..." Lea trailed off as the sorcerer waved his wand, conjuring several cots for each of them.
"Beyond my skills right now." Clair told everyone before they could ask.
Anne tested a cot out. "Not bad..." she smiled a bit.
Clair sat down in one as well. "Firm, but comfortable."
"I hope you all get a good night's rest." Merlin said, then blinked. "That's odd. Wasn't there another one of you?"
As if on cue, an exhausted and disheveled Nash slowly made his way down the stairs. "That was rough..." he said to himself, panting a bit
"What happened to you?" Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Leon and Yuffie." Nash deadpanned, flopping onto a cot.
"Those two can be pretty rough when it comes to fighting..." Sora remarked, handing him a potion. Nash blinked at the drink, but chugged it down. A moment later, the injuries he had received during the training had vanished and he didn't feel as exhausted as before, but was still tired.
"Hm... you'll need to learn how to use magic in battle, too. How about tomorrow, you see me for magic lessons?" Merlin told the blue eyed teen.
He earned a nod from Nash. "Sure... sounds like a plan..." he yawned as his eyes started to droop, flopping his head back onto the pillow.
"Wow, they really wore you out, dude." Chase remarked as he got into a cot as well, one that was next to Clair's. Nash didn't respond, as he was already dozing off. Everyone decided to take a cot as well to get some rest. They would need it for tomorrow.
Sleep had come easily for nearly all of them as they all eventually nodded off.
Anne found herself walking down a path with several bushes and trees on the sides with her parents and her dog, happily chatting with them.
As they walked, however, Anne found that she was suddenly unable to move and had to watch as her family went on ahead. She tried to move her legs, but found they were firmly planted into the ground. "Mom? Dad?" she called, tugging on her legs to try and get them to move.
They turned around to face her as a large cloud of darkness appeared behind them. Anne gasped. "Look out!" she tried to yell, but no sound came from her mouth.
A large, dark hand shot out of the darkness, grabbing her parents and dragging them into it. Anne's widened in horror as she saw her parents let out cries of surprise as they were pulled in.
Boomer barked as he tried to run away, but got sucked into the dark cloud as well. "NO!" she cried out, trying to make her way to them, but her feet started to sink into the dirt path below her.
The teenage girl then saw beady yellow eyes hover above her as the creature reached to slam its hand down on her-
It was then she woke up with a gasp, sitting up in her cot as she panted a bit, her fists clutching the blanket she had tightly. A drop of sweat trickled down her forehead as she tried to calm herself down.
"Anne?"
She looked to her right, seeing Dylan sitting up with a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine... just a bad dream..." Anne told him, attempting a fake smile. Dylan, however, knew something was up.
"Anne..."
She slumped her shoulders, deciding to tell the truth. "Okay, I had a nightmare... about my parents being taken by the darkness."
Dylan's eyes softened as he turned his body to face her. "It'll be okay, Anne. They're out there somewhere. We'll find them." he told her, gently taking one of her hands into his own. Anne seemed a little dejected, but her eyes lit up with some hope.
Dylan gave her a gentle smile. "We'll search the farthest reaches of the universe if we have to. Just hold onto that thought, alright?"
Anne looked down for a moment, closing her eyes. She had to hold onto that hope. Dylan then surprised her by giving her a hug. Anne hesitated before hugging back. A smile slowly graced her lips, feeling better now. Neither of them could see it, but they were both blushing. "Thank you, Dylan..." she whispered.
"No problem, Annie..." Dylan said, trying to hide his blush. A moment later, they separated. "W-We should probably get back to sleep."
She nodded in reply. "Yeah. We'll need all the rest we can get."
The duo then laid back down with their backs facing opposite of each other, eventually drifting off to sleep once more. Unknown to them, Chase had woken up and had witnessed the whole thing, but just kept quiet as he smiled to himself, closing his eyes as he held the plushie that Clair had given him close to his chest.