Well, losing my main computer was more of a nightmare than I realized. Not only did I lose many story files (none of these. I save these to a flash drive thank goodness), but I lost over 1,000 songs. Some of them I still have on CD, but for some of them they're lost to the abyss forever. I also lost all the save files for my playlists for each story, including this one. Good thing I wrote a smaller list on another file which was saved. Now I just have to re-upload everything which will be a bit of a headache, but it'll be worth it. The AN at the bottom will have more details and info about the fate of this story, including why it took so long to finish this chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Aladdin pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. Word had spread through the tower that someone from his world had been found injured. He tried to get past King Triton and Phil who were arguing about what this news meant for their own worlds.

"Please, let me pass," Aladdin tried, but neither of them would budge.

"Ach, step aside laddie, I'll handle this." Scrooge took his cane and swung the handle hitting Phil on the head and striking the sea king in the back. "Would you two blockheads quit your squabbling and let this boy through? I'm sure you'd want to get in there if it was someone you knew!"

Both of them lowered their gazes and moved aside allowing Aladdin to slip through, but not before he gave the old duck his thanks.

Once inside the room Aladdin noticed several people were also there besides Aerith. The flower girl was trying her best to tend to the bird. Healing what she could and bandaging what she couldn't. Riku and Yen Sid were also there. Both of them wore very grim expressions.

"This is bad." Riku walked over to the wall to look out the window, he seemed at a loss from the news.

"How's Iago," asked Aladdin. Aerith looked up at him and gave him a small, sympathetic smile. "He has a lot of healing to do, but it's nothing too serious. I'm surprised he managed to get as far as he did with a broken wing."

Aladdin looked over at his friend who was unconscious. His right wing was heavily bandaged and his beak bore deep scratches and what looked like burn marks.

"He has given us some very grave news," said the master. "Agrabah was attacked by an enormous wave of Heartless. It seems Maleficent is no longer waiting for us to make the first move."

"You think she's trying to flush us out of hiding, or does she not care anymore?"

Yen Sid studied Aladdin for a moment. "It may be possible. But I think she attacked your world first for a reason."

"And what reason is that," asked Aladdin.

"The genie." Riku turned around to look at Agrabah's champion. "There are few whose power can rival hers at this point and she wanted to make sure they're taken care of first."

"So she attacked my world to get rid of him," asked Aladdin. It made sense and the more he thought about it the more frightened he became. He turned suddenly and headed for the door only to be stopped by the master's voice. "Aladdin!"

"I have to go, my friends need my help."

"And what good will you do when you're captured or turned into a heartless? You would do well to remember your stronger as part of a team then standing alone."

Aladdin turned and glared at the master. "You can't expect me to stand by and do nothing! I won't abandon them!"

"We're not suggesting you should," Aerith stood from her seat to face him. She had healed Iago as much as she could. "We won't abandon any world, but we need to form a plan. If we rush in blindly now then we'll only be walking into defeat."

Aladdin shook his head and looked down at his injured friend. "Did he say if anyone else escaped?"

"He didn't say anything," Aerith replied.

"Cloud's the one who told us what happened when he brought Iago back," added Riku.

Aladdin turned then and headed out of the room leaving the other three feeling uneasy.

~*~StL~*~

Down in the kitchen Cloud was making himself a cup of coffee. The way back to the tower had been a dangerous one and it took all of his skill to travel unnoticed. Heartless swarmed the regions of space surrounding the worlds. He'd try again later to set out on his mission, though he was doubtful he'd ever be able to complete it at this point. Though, he was tempted to take on the vast numbers of enemies now rather than listen to Jack's chattering much longer. If it were the Pumpkin King it wouldn't be so bad, but the pirate was another matter. Cloud didn't believe half of the stories the pirate boasted about having lived through such epic adventures. Fighting undead pirates, stealing back his precious ship time and again, escaping an island on the back of sea turtles, clashing blades with a squid pirate captain, sailing into an island-sized whirlpool and most outrageous of all, being swallowed by a sea monster and coming out alive by turning his own ship upside down. Even now he was insisting it was true.

"So I picks up me hat, place it atop my head, wipe the slime from my face and smile. ''ello beastie' I says before I charge at the beast. Oh 'e swallowed me alright, but not before I took a few teeth with me."

Jack took another swig of his drink before he nudged Cloud roughly in the arm. "So what sort of stories does a chap like you have to tell, eh? I'll bet you've tangled with a few legends."

Cloud huffed at memories that question brought up. "You could say that."

"Well? Out with it, come on, don't leave a man hanging. Let's hear some of your adventures, savvy?" He went to take another swig when he realized the bottle was empty. "Why is the rum always gone?"

The blonde fought the urge to roll his eyes when he heard footsteps fast approaching. He hoped it was Tifa coming to pull Jack away for some more training. Instead it was that one guy from the desert world. He looked right at Cloud and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know he was angry.

"What do you know," he demanded. "Tell me everything!"

Cloud turned his gaze away and took another sip from his mug. Aladdin stomped forward and knocked the mug out of the warrior's hand. It shattered on the floor, scattering shards of glass and spilling the coffee.

"Where's Jasmine!"

"I wasn't close enough to see," Cloud replied with cold eyes. "I only saw the bird escape. If I had seen anyone else I would have helped them."

"You didn't try hard enough," the boy shouted. "My world was attacked by the Heartless and you didn't even try to save it!"

He tried to grab Cloud's shirt collar and pull him up, but it was in that moment Cloud reacted. He knocked Aladdin's hands away and pushed him back before getting to his feet. "You think I didn't want to?"

It was a rare occasion to hear Cloud raise his voice. "I would have taken down a large number, but I would have eventually been overpowered. I know what it's like to lose my world. I fought with everything I had then and Maleficent still took it for her own. Even now it's under her control. I made the smarter choice. I chose to save someone and get the information back here. If I had fought both your friend and I would be in her dungeons now or worse. In case you hadn't noticed I have an important mission to carry out. Finding our one last hope to save everyone and if I don't find him then who will?"

Aladdin only glared at the blonde. "Then why are you still here?"

"Because he hasn't slept in several days."

Aladdin and Jack looked towards the doorway and saw Tifa standing there and she looked mad. She approached Cloud and placed a hand on his shoulder, but he turned and headed for the door. "I'm leaving." With that he was gone.

Tifa turned and glared at Aladdin. "He saves your friend's life and that's how you repay him, by accusing him of not trying hard enough?"

Aladdin felt like he had crossed some sort of line, but he wasn't in the mood to admit he was wrong. Tifa looked at both of them and pointed out the door with her finger. "It's time you two do something productive. If you want to be ready for the counterattack then get out there and start training."

"Sorry Miss Lockhart, but I'm more of the sailing pirate, not the fighting type."

She got right in his face so fast it startled him. "Get out there. Now."

"Aye aye," and just like that he was out the door. She turned to glare at Aladdin who followed the pirate. With a frustrated sigh she headed for the broom closet to clean up the mess.

~*~StL~*~

Cloud was storming across the front lawn. He opened the hanger doors to the garage that housed all of the resistance's vehicles. Fenrir was parked closest to the front, right where he had left it. As he wheeled it out and prepared to mount it he heard a group of voices calling to him. He turned and was surprised to see the three good fairies.

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather approached him and huddled close together.

"I'm so thankful we caught you in time," Fauna stated.

"I'm not running away," he stated, assuming the master wanted to make sure he'd complete the mission.

"Oh, no it's nothing like that," Flora assured him.

"We wanted to help you with your search," added Merryweather.

"Fenrir isn't big enough to take you three with me," was his reply to which the fairies laughed.

"Oh no, not like that," Flora replied. "We came to give you a gift."

"One that will help you find Sora," Fauna added.

"How?" They had his attention now.

"As the master once told Sora, all hearts are connected. However only a certain few can tap into that connection," began Flora.

"Most of them are keyblade wielders, who have strong connections with their own hearts and the hearts of others," continued Fauna.

"But in truth everyone has the power. That's why people are capable of making friends," added Merryweather. "That's how we know the power exists."

"That's basic knowledge," Cloud told them. "Anyone can make a friend."

"Yes, but few have the ability to tap into that power," Flora told him.

"And worst of all he's one of the few," added Merryweather.

"Who?"

The three fairies really didn't want to answer that question.

"I'm afraid…" Fauna started to way, but she was hesitant. Merryweather just glared at her before putting it bluntly. "Sephiroth."

Flora glared at her in turn before turning back to the warrior. "You see Cloud, while Sephiroth is incapable of making friends he can sense the power of those connections and follow it to their source. A visitor came to Master Yen Sid not long ago and warned him that Sora was in danger."

"He said that Sephiroth along with several others were looking for him."

"Who else," asked Cloud, curious to know who else he might be dealing with.

"The visitor only mentioned him, Maleficent and you," replied Fauna.

"I have to hurry." Cloud made to start the bike when the fairies flew in his way. "And that's why we're here. We're going to help you follow the connection that will lead you to Sora."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Come over here," Fauna said and he complied, taking a few steps away from Fenrir.

The three fairies made their wands glow and aimed them at the warrior.

Cloud wasn't sure about this. Only his pride prevented him from taking a nervous step back.

Flora nodded and they cast their spell, striking Cloud who began to glow a soft white.

"We three give to thee the power of the echoed heart. When the one thou seek thinks of his friends thou shall be shown the way."

It wasn't painful or uncomfortable, like Cloud expected it to be. Instead it was a feeling he found hard to describe. He could suddenly feel the connection from everyone he knew and he could almost see exactly where they were. He could sense Aerith speaking with Riku upstairs. Tifa was commanding the training sessions like a drill sergeant, Yuffie was complaining, Cid was arguing with Leon, and Zack was…

Cloud was glad when the light faded. "How long have you been standing there?" He turned towards the ex-SOLDIER who was making his way across the lawn towards them.

"Don't worry Spiky. I didn't see you glow or anything," he chuckled.

Cloud turned away from him to hide the embarrassed blush. He must've looked so ridiculous.

"I'm only teasing, whatever makes you stronger if fine by me," Zack added with a friendly grin. "Just as long as you don't grow sprouting fairy wings. No enemy would ever take you seriously then."

"You're not coming with me," Cloud told him as Zack placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I figured you'd say that, but don't worry. Yen Sid's about to call a war meeting. Looks like we can't afford to wait for you to find the kid."

The blonde looked over at him with confusion. "But only a keyblade wielder can lead everyone into a fight."

Zack nodded. "Yeah, Riku's going to take the other guy's place. But Yen Sid still wants you to find him. He can take over when he gets back."

"I will find him,"' Cloud promised as he mounted Fenrir.

"Try to sense him," Fauna suggested.

Cloud did just that and closed his eyes. The strongest connections he could feel were within the tower, so he focused on the ones that were farther away. If Cloud could describe what the sensation was like he'd compare it to an energy string. Each one had its own color and the closer he was to that person the brighter the strand. There were two he could sense that were far away from him, but relatively close to each other. One was white and it was flickering, but getting stronger while another was heading towards it. That was one a dark purple.

Cloud's eyes snapped open. He had a direction, but what worried him was the identity of the last connection. He revved up Fenrir and took off without another word to the others.

"Well so much for a thank you," grumbled Merryweather.

"He didn't seem happy when he left. Do you think something's wrong," noticed Fauna.

Flora studied Zack's expression which had gone serious. That wasn't a good sign.

~*~StL~*~

Sora was wandering through a forest. It was one he recognized well, since he had called it home for a couple of weeks. He was back in the woods surrounding the old mansion in Twilight Town. He followed the sounds on clashing weapons and saw Demyx and Axel sparring. It was good to see they were alright, though why it was a relief he couldn't remember why. Had something bad happened? The past seemed to be a forgotten mystery to him.

"Nice one Demyx. Keep trying and one day you'll be as good as me," Axel taunted. Demyx reacted by creating more water clones and strung a few cords on his sitar before they charged at him. Axel responded by throwing one of his chakrams, reducing them to steam as it spun through the air and returned to him like a boomerang.

"I'll fight the winner," Sora called.

The others stopped and waved to him before smirking at each other, they seemed to like the idea.

Suddenly the birdsong stopped and the forest grew still. Sora blinked and looked up towards the canopy and the two nobodies stopped when they all began to hear a strange noise.

"What is that," asked Demyx.

"Sounds like…giant wings," Axel replied.

Axel's guess proved right as the giant black dragon crashed through the treetops and hovered above the three. It let out a mighty roar before looking directly at Sora. Its eyes glowed a brilliant yellow as it opened its mouth to reveal an equally glowing throat. It lunged at Demyx who dodged out of the way. Sora rushed to help, his keyblade materializing in his hands. "Leave them alone!"

The dragon turned to face him and roared again. Sora stopped dead in his tracks, watching in horror as his keyblade vanished. The dragon hissed with delight as it turned and blasted a powerful flame at his friends.

"Guys RUN!" Sora shouted, but it was too late. They were both consumed by the flames.

"No!"

The dragon turned to face him once again and let out a victorious howl. Sora fell to his knees as the beast took flight and set the forest around him ablaze. It directed its flame at him next and just before the flames reached him he shut his eyes and sat up shouting.

"Sora! You're awake!"

Sora opened his eyes and looked to his left. Demyx was sitting there with a relieved grin on his face. "Oh man you don't know how happy I am to see you awake. Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?"

Sora tried to focus on this reality, though he wasn't entirely sure which one was real. "What's going on?"

"You were cursed by one of Xaldin's traps," replied Axel who was standing by the door. He approached the teen and looked right into his eyes.

"Looks like the witches did the job."

"Witches? What job?" Sora was starting to get nervous again.

"We had to take you to some acquaintances of mine. It was the only way to break the curse. Xaldin could have done it but, he didn't play nice with others and he's gone anyway."

"What's the last thing you remember," asked Demyx.

Sora thought back to before. "We were…it's hard to remember. There was a castle…"

"That's right, Beast's Castle," Demyx corrected.

"Everything's all a blur. It was raining. I was running from something and I was scared. It felt like it had happened before."

"I don't know about before," Axel replied, "but you were running from Cloud."

"I was what? But, how? He was in Radiant Garden!"

Axel shrugged. "That's what happened."

"Yeah, and you seemed really scared of him too. You couldn't jump onboard fast enough to get away from him," added Demyx.

Sora was so confused. He was sure he hadn't told them of the nightmare he had about what happened. Did that mean it happened for real? Where was the dragon? He couldn't tell the difference between the two and it only made him more confused. What he needed was some sword practice to get his mind and his nerves in order. He reached for his sword and all he felt was empty space.

He looked down and didn't see his weapon anywhere. "Where's Phoenix?"

Demyx glared at Axel who closed his eyes and became stoic.

"Guys…?"

Dem's glare hardened and Axel sighed. "Sora, you have to understand. The ones who helped us out cured you, but it came at a price." He waited to see Sora's expression before he continued. "They wanted your sword."

"And you gave it to them?! That was my only means to fight!" Sora rose from his bed and staggered a bit before regaining his balance. "You had no right!"

"I'm sorry, but we had nothing else and they don't accept IOUs."

Sora shook his head in anger. "How could you!"

"It was the only way," Axel tried to get him to understand, but Sora wouldn't hear it. "I trusted you and this is what I get? How am I supposed to fight Heartless now?"

"With the weapon that you've always had," argued Axel, he was done tip-toeing around him.

Sora turned away from him and clenched his fists. "You know I can't use it anymore."

"Can't…or wont," challenged Axel.

"I wish I had never joined you," Sora replied.

"Sora," Demyx began, but Axel stopped him.

"Leave him."

The blonde nobody looked from Axel to Sora, hoping one of them would give in and apologize, but it didn't happen. So he got up and left the room. Axel followed but stopped in the doorway.

"I tried to help get through to you, but if you really have given up then there's nothing more I can do, except keep Roxas safe."

He closed the door and Sora turned just in time to hear the click of the lock. He ran over and started pounding against it. "Let me out! You can't keep me in here! Axel!"

"If you want to get out then use your keyblade. It can unlock doors, right," were Axel's parting words before his footsteps echoed down the hall.

Sora slammed his fists against the door at the same time and shouted in anger before he turned and leaned his back against the door and slid down until he was sitting. He hugged his legs to his chest and couldn't fight the tears that started to fall.

~*~StL~*~

Demyx watched Axel as he sat in the pilot's chair.

"Don't give me that look. What else could I do?"

The blonde sighed before shaking his head, knowing that nothing he said would change Axel's mind.

Axel started typing away at the controls. "Set a course for Radiant Garden. His friends should be able to keep him under wraps."

"Maybe they'll be able to get through to him," offered Demyx.

Axel huffed in response. "Just set the coordinates."

Demyx sighed in defeat before complying. His hands froze above the keypad as he stared at the monitor.

"Um, Axel, there's something on the radar."

The redhead looked over to the monitor that Demyx was pointing to. "It's too small to be a Heartless ship."

"Yeah, but it's coming right at us, and it's going really really fast," replied Demyx who sounded a little worried.

"It's probably a stray asteroid. I'll blast it away with the cannons." Axel headed over to the weapons system and took aim. "It's so small, I can't make it out," he stated. He took aim and fired.

Demyx saw two explosions off in the distance before Axel returned to his seat smiling. "There, problem solved."

"But,…you only fired one missile, didn't you," asked the blonde.

"Yeah, so?"

"So how come there were two explosions?"

Axel looked through the targeting system again and his eyes widened. "Oh crap!"

The ship was suddenly jerked to the side as if impacted by a large blast. Demyx was thrown from his seat while Axel managed to hold on. Alarms started blaring and red lights flashed through the halls as the main power was knocked out.

"What's happening," shouted Demyx.

"We've got to get to Sora," Axel shouted back as he struggled to make his way out of the control room. Demyx hurried to catch up. They headed for the stairs instead of taking the ship's elevating system. More explosions sounded from outside, rocking the ship violently around. Debris fell from above, forcing the two to duck and dodge.

Meanwhile Sora had tried to short out the door's circuits and escape when the impacts started. It forced him face first into the door and when he turned he let out a frightened squeak as the heavy desk came flying at him. He just barely dodged in time as it slammed into the door, sending it flying off its hinges.

Sora smiled, but it didn't last for long. He heard Demyx shout from down the hall. "We're almost there!" the brunette wasn't in the mood to run into them again and tried to find a way around them when the biggest impact by far struck the ship. Sora was knocked back into the room and he saw both Axel and Demyx fly into the wall at the end of the hall. Metal beams fell down on top of them and Sora's eyes with wide.

"Guys, watch out!"

A dust cloud blocked them from sight and Sora jumped up to try and get to them, holding his shoulder which had been injured when he was slammed against the wall. That's when something else lowered down from the opening in the ceiling above. Sora froze and stared in fear as the figure spread his dark feathered wings.

"At long last," he said. He approached the boy who had taken a step back. "It wasn't easy to find you. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or not."

"Wh-what?" Sora was too stunned to understand what he meant.

The silver-haired man charged at Sora. The teen resisted, but one blow was enough to send him flying and he hit the wall, knocking the wind out of him. Sora lost all strength and could only look on as Sephiroth grabbed him and took flight. They flew from the ship where Sora could see the full scope of the damage. Half of it was in flames.

"Hmm, that won't do."

Sora looked up in time to see Sephiroth raise his free hand and summon a barrage of meteors which he directed at the ship. They exploded on impact and within the seconds the whole ship exploded.

"NO! Axel, demyx!" Sora struggled against the villain's vice-like grip. "Let me go!"

Sephiroth just watched the boy struggle with contempt for a moment before he grabbed the boy's forehead. "Sleep."

Sora fought it, but he became so tired. The last thing he saw was the remains of the ship falling towards a large floating rock and then everything went black.

AN: Whoohoo! You don't know how happy I am to finally have this chapter done! After all the planning and rewriting and going over and rewriting again I'm finally happy with it. I won't even go into detail how horrible the first draft was. Depending on how the rewritten story goes, I may leave this chapter as it is. I still need to work out which draft will work best for one of the big fights coming up soon, because I have at least five different versions written for it. Heh, ^^; That might take me a bit, but other than that the ending is in sight and it's looking good. Thank you, my wonderful readers for having such patience with me and for sticking around. If there's anything from this version you want me to carry over to the rewrite then let me know in a review. It'll help a lot when I go to actually write it, since I'll end up changing a lot of things.