Chapter 35: Break Down The Walls

-April 14, 2009-

Sylvia's POV

There was a dull pain; a throbbing ache. I opened my eyes with more difficulty than I felt was necessary.

The first thing I noticed was that it was quite dark. What I assumed were bushes were everywhere around us. A large hollow open tree trunk sat to my left. I reached over to Donald, who laid a few feet to my right, shaking him a few times.

Finally, he stirred with a groan, "What… happened…?"

"You made us crash." I answered, smugly.

"You were fighting with us too! If it's my fault, then it's yours too!" He squawked angrily.

"Only because you started it. Whatever." I rolled my eyes, before changing the subject, "We should start a fire for the night. It'll be easier to explore in the morning with light. I learned that in summer camp one year."

Getting the bark off the tree was hell in itself. Eventually we sat in front of a crackling warm fire.

As I laid down on the soft moss covered ground, staring up at the starry night sky, a question popped into my head. It left my lips before I could stop it, "Hey, Donald? Do you think my friends and I'll get to go back home to our world?"

The ground rustled as he shifted, "Why do you say that?"

With a sad sigh, I closed my eyes for a moment, "I don't know actually… Just… thinkin' out loud… I guess…"

He shifted once more, "Well… I think you well. I mean… From what I've seen… Something has to happen. Right? All of us will be able to return to our homes after all of this is done."

"Right..." I agreed half-heartedly.

Silence.

"Night." Donald mumbled.

"Night..." I mumbled back with a frown.

I opened my mouth to speak again, but decided against it. However, I repeated this several times until, to my surprise, Donald had spoken.

"For Merlin's sake! What's on your mind?!" He squawked angrily.

Startled, as I hadn't been expecting that, I stared at him for a moment before lying through my teeth, "Uh… Um… I dunno… I was just curious… about… yours and Goofy's lives…" Well, if that wasn't complete bullshit, then I don't know what was.

Donald sat up, scooting closer to the fire with narrowed eyes, "If I tell you, you tell me. And if you give me a bullshit answer, so help me you will regret."

I frowned, a little shaken, "Fair enough…"

With a deep sigh, he began his tale I knew like the back of my hand, "I'm from Disney Castle. And we're on a mission to find our King. King Mickey. And you?"

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for his reaction, "I'm from a world called… Earth."

His eyes narrowed once again, "I was taught and learned about all the worlds. I've never heard of Earth."

I shrugged, "I don't have an answer for that. Maybe it's because we're on a different plan of existence. Heartless are quite powerful, so they musta destroyed the planes that connect them." I sat up straighter, excited, "Or maybe! Maybe Earth was already on this plane, and just hidden by some higher power. But who could've been that powerful? Xemnas? No he's not that powerful no matter how awesome he is. Ansem wasn't in existence... Merlin would never do that, and-"

"What the hell are you talking about? And don't shrug this time. Give me a straight answer." Donald crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hehe… Straight… Definitely not completely." I snickered before answering with a serious face and a shrug just to spite him, "I suffer from… Uh… Well… I have issues. My pills are back on Earth." Not a total lie. Not even close to the truth.

He looked like he believed me, until I burst into uncontained obnoxious laughter. Oops. I smacked a hand over my mouth, but I couldn't stop.

"Alright alright! Shut up!" Donald squawked loudly before poking the crackling fire a few times. We were silent for a few moments before he spoke up again, "So, what's this Earth like?"

"Uh... Um... It's, uh... Kinda sorta..." I scratched my head in thought, "Hm... It's big?"

He gave me a blank look, "...And?"

"And... It's full of humans and non-talking animals." I wrapped my arms around my bent legs, resting my head on my knees.

"That's probably why the heartless attacked your world then. Full of people." I heard him mumble, "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" I stared at the fire, trivial memories prancing through my mind of the girls.

"A job or schooling! I don't know! Give me something to work with! You're a mysterious stranger! Why should we trust you?" He hissed.

With an increasing frown, I stared at him, throat swelling and stinging at the corners of my eyes. Donald's eyes suddenly shrank as he began stuttering out an apology.

"I-It's fine. After all, we are strangers who appeared out of nowhere. And we weren't even supposed to be on this journey. W-We're just here…" I rolled over, back facing him, "It's not like it hasn't happened before…"

"Sylvia… I'm sorry. It's just… I'm worried about King Mickey, Goofy, all of us. And you four girls and Sora. You guys are just children. You shouldn't be out here in what is supposedly a war. And the Heartless? You've got your whole lives ahead of you. Things are out of our hands. If there's anything I can do… I'd like to help." I refused to turn over so he wouldn't see my tears trailing down my cheeks. My body shook with the effort not to sob out loud.

I sniffled, forcing myself to answer through my sobs, "W-We k-kno-ow m-mor-re t-than w-we-e l-let-t o-on… B-But-t… T-that-t d-does-sn't-t m-mea-an w-we'r-re b-bad-d p-peop-pl-le… P-Pl-leas-se… d-don't-t m-mak-ke it-t h-har-rd-der-r o-on u-us-s… W-we'-re… k-keep-ping-g s-sec-cr-ret-ts-s f-for-r a-a r-reas-son-n…"

Donald sighed softly, "Okay… I trust you… But just because you believe it's hard to do this on your own, doesn't mean you have to…"

Without a word, I crawled closer to him and laid my head in his lap, curling up with a frown, tears still not ceasing. I wasn't sobbing out right, but the whimpers still could be heard. Without prompting, Donald's feathered fingers gently stroked across my scalp.

The sob began to crescendo because it was just the way mom had done it.