Author's Note: I'm too tired for an author's note. Enjoy the chapter :)

"Let's get some ice cream!"

xx

King Mickey sat at his desk, his hands folded neatly out in front of him. He looked very business-like, almost. Across the desk from him, stood Aqua, Terra and Ven. Terra and Aqua stood very rigid-like. Ven was slouching, much to Aqua's chagrin. Mickey didn't seem to care though, that Ven was slouching.

"I really must thank you for coming and helping with that Castle Thorn on such short notice," he said with a little bit of a laugh. He looked from Terra to Aqua to Ven, smiling.

"No problem, sir," Ven said, putting his arms behind his head. "I mean, it's part of our job, anyway."

Mickey nodded. "I just know that you three are busy with another task."

"We were close by when you called," Aqua said. "It was nothing to drop by."

"What was that thing, anyway?" Terra asked. "What did you call it? A Castle Thorn?"

Mickey nodded. "Thorns are a large type of Nobody."

"What's a Nobody doing here?" Aqua asked, frowning.

"Thorns typically appear as a World's attempt to put itself back into balance," Mickey explained. "It happens very frequently in Worlds that lie between light and darkness."

"I doubt this World counts as being in between light and darkness," Terra said.

"It isn't," Mickey said. "But it's been through some balance struggles."

The King flinched as he said this. Almost as if he blamed himself for the imbalance. Perhaps he did.

"That Thorn should be the last of it," he continued, now looking relieved.

"Well, you let us know if you've got any more trouble," Ven said.

Mickey smiled. "Aw, shucks. Thanks, guys."

"No problem."

"Of course!"

"Sure thing!"

"Is there anything else we can help you with?" Aqua asked.

The King shook his head. "If there was, we would have heard about it by now. Goofy is very vigilant." He said this with a laugh. "However, if you three have a moment, I would like to hear about your adventures."

"We've sealed two Keyholes," Ven said. "One in the Dwarf Woodlands and one out in Deep Space."

"The one in Dwarf Woodlands wasn't too hard to find," Terra said. "One of the dwarves led us right to it."

"Then it was just a matter of fighting all the Heartless," Ven added.

"And protecting the Princess," Aqua continued.

"She's safe, though?" Mickey asked.

The other three nodded.

"The Deep Space Keyhole was much more difficult to find," Terra said. "Luckily Aqua stumbled down the wrong corridor."

"More like the right corridor," Aqua teased.

"Still, it took forever," Ven grumbled.

"No matter," Aqua said. "It's sealed now."

"Axel and Xion covered the one in Enchanted Dominion," Ven said. "They came across it by accident."

The look on Mickey's face clearly questioned the bit about a Keyblade Wielder coming across a Keyhole by accident part.

"Well," he said. "It sounds like the mission is getting along well. Where do you plan to go next?"

"Well," Aqua said. "We haven't been to Castle of Dreams yet. Though we were thinking of heading to Twilight Town or The World that Never Was, since they're closer to the darkness."

"No need to worry about The World that Never Was," Mickey said. "I sealed that one myself."

"Which explains why Sora didn't mention it," Ven mused.

"Twilight Town sounds like a good place to go next," Mickey said. "Though, I warn you, Master Yen Sid hasn't been able to locate it so far. You may have some trouble finding it."

"I still think that we can find it," Ven said. "It'll be a fun challenge."

Mickey nodded. "Sounds like you have your work cut out for you."

Terra, Aqua and Ven all agreed.

"How goes your Master training?" Mickey asked.

"Both Terra and Ven are doing wonderfully," Aqua replied.

Mickey smiled. "Excellent!"

Ven grinned. Terra smiled too, though his was more subtle.

Mickey looked directly at Terra. "Are you still concerned about the darkness rearing up inside of your heart?'

Terra's eyes widened. He hadn't really been expecting to be asked that question. Especially from the King.

He summoned his Keyblade to examine it. It was almost as if the darkness in his heart and his Keyblade were linked. Technically, they were, even outside of his own thought process. The cracks had decreased significantly since the day he had gotten it back several weeks ago.

He studied his Keyblade intently for a few moments before looking up at King Mickey.

"Not as much as before," he said finally. "When I'm fighting enemies, I don't have to try as hard to keep the darkness in check. It's still there, but I don't have to fight it, too."

"That's swell!" Mickey exclaimed. "It's really swell that you've been working on this."

"It's not just from just my own doing," Terra said, giving a little shake of his head. "Master Eraqus has helped."

"Ah yes," Mickey said, sitting back in his seat. "A small portion of Master Eraqus' heart resides in you."

Terra nodded.

"I feel that it's the least I could do, after everything," he said quietly.

"What's the least you could do?" Ven asked.

"Offer him a place to stay," Terra said, his hand hovering over his heart. "However, I can feel the presence fading." He looked up at Mickey, eyes questioning. "Why is that?"

"Over time," Mickey said. "It's very likely that Eraqus' heart is just fading."

"Is that bad?" Terra asked.

King Mickey shook his head. "No, just a part of life."

"It's good though," Aqua said. "That he offered out his light in order to help you. Master Eraqus did always treat you like the son he never had."

Terra smiled at this. "Yeah, yeah he did."

This actually, got everyone in the whole room smiling.

Before anything else could be said or discussed, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Mickey said.

Lady Daisy made her way in.

"Your Majesty," she said, giving a little nod in Mickey's direction.

"Yes, Lady Daisy?" Mickey asked.

"There's a matter of importance that requires your attention," she said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"May I ask what it is? Provided our fellow friends can learn of this as well," Mickey replied, gesturing to Terra, Aqua and Ven.

"The fairies are here," Daisy replied. "Queen Minnie is currently seeing them in the Audience Chamber."

"Fairies?" Ven asked, cocking his head to one side.

"His Majesty called all the fairies from across the worlds to come and meet here so we could figure out more ways to keep the darkness from spreading across the worlds," Lady Daisy explained.

"Is everyone here?" Mickey asked.

"We're just missing Tinker Bell," Lady Daisy said with a shrug. "Though, she is a pixie…"

"Don't belittle her," Mickey warned. "You may just regret it. Have any of the other mystics and sorcerers shown up?"

"Rafiki's here," Daisy replied. "But no one else."

"Merlin will probably be late," Mickey mused. "And Master Yen Sid will come on his own time…"

"Can we come?" Ven asked. "I mean, isn't keeping the darkness from spreading our job too?"

"Ven," Aqua said. "We already have our part in this job. King Mickey is meeting with people who have a different skill-set than we do."

"Gawsh, I told you that you can leave out the 'king'," Mickey said, looking rather embarrassed.

Aqua smiled. "I know that, sir. But consider it my form of respect. Sort of like how we refer to Master Yen Sid as just that—Master; despite him being a retired Wielder."

Mickey nodded at her. "I see your point."

"He's meeting with people who are good with magic, right?" Terra asked. "Then why don't you go, Aqua?"

Aqua's face flushed red and she looked down at her shoes. "I may be good with magic, but I'm not anywhere near the level of a mystic or a mage."

"Nonsense," Mickey said. "You've undoubtedly improved greatly in your magic-casting."

"I feel that my place is here," Aqua said. "With my Keyblade and training them to become Masters."

"And that is perfectly honorable," Mickey said with a nod. "If you feel a calling to something, no one can stop you—except yourself, that is."

Aqua smiled.

"So are we going to go off to Twilight Town, then?" Ven asked.

Aqua nodded. She turned to Mickey. "You'll keep us posted on what's going on, won't you?"

"Of course!" Mickey exclaimed. "You let us know here what's going on with you guys on your side of this mission."

"Yes, sir!" Terra said, nodding.

"Naturally," Aqua said with a smile.

"You got it!" Ven said, grinning.

Mickey smiled and nodded at them. "Well, in that case, you guys head off and do your part and I'll do mine."

Terra, Aqua and Ven turned to leave. They all nodded and waved at Lady Daisy as they walked out of the room. She nodded back at them and almost subconsciously gestured them towards the door.

"So what do you suppose all the fairies and mages are going to do about the darkness?" Ven asked as they walked down the hallway.

"I don't know," Aqua said.

"They may not even know yet," Terra added.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Aqua said. "But I'm sure we'll find out when it happens."

Ven sighed. "But I want to know now," he muttered.

Aqua and Terra looked at each other and laughed.

"What?" Ven asked.

"Patience, Ven," Terra said.

Ven sighed.

"To Twilight Town, then?" Aqua said, trying to channel Ven's want to go to the fairy meeting into something productive.

"Sure," Terra said, going along with it.

"Can we get ice cream there?" Ven asked.

Aqua and Terra laughed again.

"Sure," Aqua said, still giggling a little. "But what's so special about ice cream there?"

"Axel said it was the best," Ven replied with a shrug. "And there's something… almost familiar about the feeling of getting ice cream there."

"Well, then let's go get ice cream there," Terra said. "We'll be wandering around the place anyway searching for the Keyhole."

"I see nothing wrong with the plan," Aqua said.

By this point, they had reached the gardens, which is where they had arrived when they had used the star shard to get there. Out of habit, they had gone back there in order to leave.

"Have a magical day!" Goofy yelled from across the courtyard.

Ven, Aqua and Terra looked over to see him waving excitingly at them. They all waved back. Goofy grinned.

"See you another day!" he said.

"Of course!"

"You betcha!"

"See you another time!"

Aqua pulled out the star shard and linked arms with Terra and Ven. With Goofy still waving at them, a giant grin on his face, she activated it.

The three of them appeared off in a little alcove out of the way of everything else going on on Market Street.

"Let's get some ice cream!" Aqua declared.