Chapter XXXIV:
At the entrance of the Secret Place, Sora and Kairi stared out into the open and basked in the revived sunshine under the clear blue sky. Old, hazy clouds—remnants of the darkness—disappeared into the glorious sun. Immediately, the environment seemed to be coming back to life. The trees, island critters, virtually all life sprung out from their dormant states. Sora noticed the instant changes. He began to hear birdcalls from the distance and felt the gentle breeze now grazing comfortably by the back of his neck. He felt an incomparible tranquility deep within his heart, knowing his island home was finally safe.
Still, Pete's appearance was not so reassuring for the young Keyblade-wielder. Sora believed Pete's story, as it was pretty much the same as the one Maleficent told him, but whether or not Pete had any ulterior motive for landing on the islands Sora did not know. Was Pete telling the truth when he stated he randomly found his way to the islands? Even so, was he going to peacefully leave the islands? The thoughts annoyed Sora, which was not to go unnoticed by Kairi.
"Sora, what's bothering you now? Aren't you happy the islands are almost back to normal?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah, I am," Sora responded. He turned to face the inside of the Secret Place. "But… Pete. I still dunno why he's here or why he's still hanging around."
"Mm," Kairi hummed. She leaned her head on Sora's back. "You worry too much."
Maybe, Sora thought. "Hey, Kairi. C'mon, let's go back to the village where everyone's hiding. Maybe we can help get everyone back home before we have to leave."
"To find Riku and everyone else?" Kairi asked.
"We gotta find all the other keyholes remember? And, yeah, we definitely have to find Riku, too."
Normally, the beach on a typical summer day would have Sora, Kairi, and Riku sitting around by the shore, the dock or pier, enjoying the view of the sunset and the horizons. Further off, Tidus and Wakka would be locked in a competitive game of Blitzball. No matter what, there would always be many people out in the sunshine. At the moment, though, only Sora and Kairi inhabited the northern shores.
The two of them finally made their departure. Truthfully, Sora did feel relieved in their comfortable stroll back to the other villagers. He no longer had to continuously scan all around him for Heartless ambushes, worry about tripping over roots and shrubs in the dark, or fear getting lost in the entire process. The islands' keyhole was finally locked.
"Sora, why do you think Riku came back without telling us?" Kairi asked all of a sudden.
Because he doesn't want us to see him using the powers of darkness again, Sora would have said right away. He quickly thought of an alternative explanation. "Um, you know Riku's weird like that."
"Seriously, Sora!" Kairi groaned. "I'm really wondering now."
Sora sighed. There was no use dodging reality.
"Remember he had that blindfold when we first saw him after such a long time?" Sora inquired. "It's a sign. It's the same thing. He's using the powers of darkness again. And he doesn't want us to see him like that."
"Oh," Kairi said. "He's acting like such a big brother now."
"He is…" Sora said, his voice drifting off. He saw something in the sky. "What the…?"
Kairi followed Sora's eyes towards whatever caught his attention. A small speck? Before she knew it, Sora was already sprinting off in the direction of the dot in the sky. Kairi had no choice but to run along. Sora was shouting and madly swinging his Keyblade. Jumping up onto the coconut trees, Sora gained more and more altitude until he leapt nearing the height of the flying object.
It was the Highwind. But someone else was piloting it.
Making another giant leap, Sora clung onto the left wing of the Gummi ship. Climbing and inching closer to the cockpit window, Sora saw him.
"Pete!" Sora roared. He began to furiously bash the cockpit with the Keyblade. "Get out of there!"
"No can do, kid," Pete muttered in irritation. "I lost some of my powers. Gotta find some other way to get outta here first, y'know?"
Somersaulting, the Highwind threw Sora off, sending the Keyblade master plunging towards the ground. Sora thought he was a goner before something drew him into a force, stopping his disastrous fall. Instead of crashing, he was gently dropped to the ground. Sora turned and his eyes widened in astonishment when he saw Kairi, who shrugged coyly.
"Kairi? You did that?" Sora sputtered. "How'd you just randomly threw a Magnet spell out there?"
"Magnet?" Kairi wondered out loud, more to herself. "So that's what it was? I was just trying to do something, anything that can help save you from that fall."
"Well, it sure worked," Sora exclaimed. He couldn't believe it. Kairi was turning out to be more of a fighter than he imagined.
At least I can help now, she thought happily.
"Bad news though, Kairi," Sora said, changing his tone. "Pete took our ship."
"Oh," Kairi gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.
"Ugh, I knew it. I knew he was gonna cause problems for us," Sora grumbled.
"Oh, well, it can't be all that bad, can it?" Kairi suggested, trying to cheer Sora up.
"Well, besides the fact that we can't get anywhere else now," Sora grumbled again. He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just a little ticked by this."
"That's okay," Kairi said reassuringly. "We'll find some other way to travel. Anyway, we can't all be happy, perfect, and cheery all the time, right?"
"I guess that's true," Sora chuckled.
Alright, I scored big this time! Pete thought to himself. With this ship, I can practically go anywhere now! And I finally lost that kid for once. Now where should I go? Hmm…
As Pete pondered his situation, he thought about going back to the dreaded Maleficent, to gain some control over the Heartless again, or even raiding Disney Castle if he had a decently sized Heartless army. He scratched off the first choice. He could not go back to Maleficent. The sorceress took him for dead anyway. And the idea about raiding Disney Castle? Pete realized he probably had no chance of accomplishing anything there even with a decently sized Heartless army.
Pete's train of thought was interrupted by an infernal beeping noise. Spastic for a few seconds, Pete pushed random buttons to silence the noise. One button he pushed silenced the beeping, but turned on a transmission screen in the process. On it was the face of Donald. Pete gasped and flew backwards off his chair.
"Sora? Sora is that you?" Donald quacked.
"Er, uh," Pete mumbled. "Y-yes, this is Sora―"
"Huh…" Donald grunted on the other side. "No, you're not. You think for traveling over a year with Sora I wouldn't recognize his voice—eh… wait! You're not Sora! Show yourself!"
Pete raised his head a couple of inches, which Donald identified right away.
"Wak! Pete?!"
"Hey, you, how do you turn this contraption off," Pete complained, pushing more random buttons.
"You! What have you done with Sora?!" Donald quacked riotously.
"Geez, you're louder than that beepin' noise from before," Pete continued to complain.
"When we find you―" the mage threatened.
"We?" Pete asked cautiously.
"Shut up!" Donald screeched. "When we find you, the king's seriously gonna lock you―"
Pete finally pushed the right button that shut off the transmission screen. He heaved a great sigh and flopped back onto the comfortable pilot chair. Looking out into the void, Pete noticed a bright star in the distance.
Well, maybe I'll go there first, wherever that is. I ain't gettin' locked up.
Millions and millions of miles away, Donald violently smashed the transmission button on the Celsius. He roughly slumped back onto his chair, crossed his arms, and made a contorted face of utter fury. Goofy sat nearby, scratching his head.
"Ya know, maybe Sora's all right, he just doesn't know Pete hisacked the Gummi ship…" Goofy started to say.
"It's hijacked, Goofy! Get it right!" Donald shouted irritably.
"Right, he hijacked the Gummi ship. Maybe Sora doesn't know that―"
"Okay, fellas, we double checked everything and the keyhole's sealed, the people are safe, and we're good to go!" Mickey cheered, unaware of Donald's more than usual grumpiness.
"Oh, okay," Goofy said. "You sure you all are gonna be all right when we're gone?"
"Sure," Tifa said.
"There aren't anymore Heartless around. And if a single one shows up, we're all going to trash it before anymore come by! Right, you two?" Yuffie yelled enthusiastically while gripping down Cloud and Vincent who were standing next to her.
"Yeah. Trash it," Vincent mumbled in a monotone voice. "Certainly."
"We'll work on that attitude of yours," Yuffie snickered.
"Well, if you guys need anything," the king offered. "We'll be here to help."
All the warriors, Cloud, Yuffie, Tifa, Aerith, Cid, Barret, and Vincent all waved good-bye to the departing Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. After some hard work, their home world was again safe from Heartless threats.
"Yo," Barret grunted after the Celsius disappeared from sight. "What about those two goons in the black trench coats?"
"Whatever, man," Cid said, sighing and waving his hand in apathy. "If you see them, I won't stop you. Do whatever you want. I wanna go home."
Cloud nodded. He looked back up into the sky. For now, their story was over. Whatever happened from this point on would be dictated solely by the actions of the Keyblade-wielders. Before Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's departure, Cloud wished them the best of luck and to wish Sora and Kairi the same if they meet up with him again. Turning away with the others, he boarded the Shera, which took off into the horizon.