"This place is weird…" Reno said. Donald nodded in agreement. Sora was silent, still carrying Kairi in his arms.

"I'll go find a doctor…" Rude said. He walked down the hall. Sora didn't look like he was listening. He swayed over to the waiting chairs and sat down with Kairi. He stroked her hair lovingly, but didn't say anything."

"What's this place called?" Goofy asked, trying to divert everyone's attention.

"Erm…MD3, I think." Elena replied. She looked around. "Yeah…that would be the code name…it hasn't been named yet." It took a couple minutes, but Rude retuned with two doctors and a crash cart. Sora stood up and layed Kairi on the cart, and the doctors wheeled her away. Everyone sat down and waited for news.

"Why don't you tell us about the Radient Knights now." Goofy said. Reno nodded.

"Let's see...when the Knights were branded with their new name, they felt ashamed. They didn't want to be labeled as false. They got angry and they started recruiting people…really evil dastardly people from all over the world. Soon, they had an army at their disposal. They, being the founder and the original three, taught the army the Keyblade craft. Each made their own Keyblade and the army began to move into small towns that couldn't defend themselves. They took money, food, and other valuable things." Reno said

"This didn't set to well with Dalmasca or the larger Archadian Empire, so they fought back with Keyblades that were made by the Chasers themselves. The wars raged for a couple of days. The Chasers couldn't stand up to the advanced skills of the combined armies of Dalmasca and Archadia." Tseng continued. "The body count was immeasurable for the Chasers. Archadia and Dalmasca only lost ten soldiers. Soon, there were only 19 of the Chasers left. They were the founder, the original three, and some of the more promising recruits. The founder, whom the members referred to a Master Xehanort…"

"Xehanort!?" Donald interrupted.

"Not the one you're thinking of." Elena replied. "This one is rather old…bald. This is not the one that spawned Xemnas and the Heartless formerly known as Ansem." Donald nodded and allowed Rude to take his turn picking up the story.

"Anyway, Xehanort took himself and the 18 into hiding. They weren't seen for years. The truth is that their journey took them to the depths of the earth…they had nowhere to go...but the kept on going nonetheless. It took a long time for them to reach the
End of the World, but they did…and they waited for you." Sora's head went up a little bit. He was listening intently.

"Over the next couple of years, they waited for nineteen different subjects to pass through. Subjects with hearts…souls…and when they did, each of the nineteen studied them. Xehanort picked Xemnas…Ixiyx chose Riku….and so on…anyway, the Chasers adopted your mannerisms and feelings and finally exited the End of the World. This brings us up to the present day really…although there is one thing…the Xehanort changes every few years. It isn't a name, it's a title. The original was THE Master Xehanort from our story. The second was the Xehanort you were thinking of earlier. The third is the original's son. He is the current Xehanort, and operates under the name Mr. X. The fourth Xehanort will be chosen in a couple of days…it's supposed to be a man called Terra…he was one of the original three. He doesn't want the title and has been out to kill the current X lately."

"Why…wouldn't he embrace the title to become the leader of his faction?" Sora asked. It was the first time he'd spoke a complete sentence in a while.

"You would think, wouldn't you?" Elena replied. "But the truth is that Terra and the other originals, called Ven and Aqua, haven't really seen eye to eye with the Chasers lately…they've been hunting down the original Master Xehanort for ages, trying to kill him. If you can kill the original Xehanort before he dies naturally, you break the chain of Xehanorts…if he isn't killed, the chain will go on for eternity. The original, while still powerful and dangerous, has about a month left to live.

"That's…well…how do you know all this?" Donald asked.

"That's a secret...but I will tell you that it's the same reason that we know that all three of your friends' voyages are back. Donald smiled.

"Really?" he asked. Reno nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. A doctor wearing blue scrubs walked up to them. Sora shot up and rushed to meet him halfway.

"How is she?" Sora asked.

"I'm not going to lie…it was touch-and-go, but she pulled through. She's asleep right now, but you can go see her if you'd like…right after you get checked out too…you've sustained similar injuries, and your arm looks like it's been beaten to death with a sledgehammer."

"Something a bit bigger...but you pretty much got it." Sora interjected.

"Was that supposed to be a professional diagnosis?" Reno asked. The doctor looked at him shiftily.

"Anyway, I'd rather you get fixed up before you see her. If she wakes up and sees you with taped up wounds, it'll be bad, but not as bad as it would be if you went in there right now as you are." Sora nodded and allowed the doctor to take him to the nearest examination room.

Goofy turned to Reno.

"Anything more you can tell us while we wait?" he asked.

"Not really…only that 11 of the 19 are presumed dead…and that we know much, much better."

"You mean they're alive?" Goofy asked.

"I mean that I'm going to let you figure it out on your own." Reno replied. He waked off and started to take a nap, sprawling out on a couple of waiting chairs. Donald and Goofy followed suit…everyone was a little tired.

And then they all did exactly what the chairs were meant to be used for…waiting.

"Where is everyone?" Leon wondered aloud. He stepped out of the Gummi Ship and stretched his arms.

"Probably off doing stuff…I'm sure they're fine." Tifa replied, stepping off of the ship. She was shortly followed by Aerith, Cid, Cloud, Yuffie, and Amarant.

"Stuff?" Leon asked. "Could you be a tad bit more general…you see, it's too easy to understand you at this point."

"Ha Ha." Tifa replied. "Enough with the sarcasm! I know you're a worry wart and everything, but you have to learn to chill. They're all fine."

"Still…" Leon replied. "Everyone should be back by now…"

"Well speak of the devil…" Cid said. He pointed towards the sky. There was a blue Gummi Ship coming in for a landing.

"I told you not to worry, Leon." Tifa said. She raised her arms over her head and waved the ship down. Its landing gears extended and t slowly hovered towards the ground. Everyone stepped back and allowed it to land. It was the ship Riku had embarked on. The door opened and none other than Riku stepped out of it, stretching his arms. He was followed by Axel, Larxene, Roxas, a large intimidating blue lion, and three girls that Leon recognized immediately.

"Hey! I remember you! You took my munny!" Leon shouted. One of the girls gasped. It was the one with all of the braids in her hair.

"Leon…no one said that he was going to be a part of this…we're going back!" she exclaimed.

"To what…exactly?" Axel asked.

"Good point." The girl replied.

"Wait…didn't you three use to be about…a foot tall?" Aerith asked suspiciously.

"Erm…it's a long story…" replied the girl with the long ponytail. "We'll explain later."

"So I'm guessing you all have been acquainted before?" Riku asked.

"Not exactly…" Leon replied. "More like met-because-Sora-told-them-we-had-treasure-so-they-took-some-munny before."

"Well…this is Yuna." Riku pointed to the girl with the rather long ponytail. "This is Paine." Riku pointed to the silent girl with the black clothes. "And this is Rikku." Riku pointed to the last girl with the braids.

"Riku?" Cid asked.

"No…Rikku…with two k's." Riku replied. "Oh…and this is Kimahri Ronso…he's the one I told you about." Leon nodded his head at Kimahri.

"Are Tidus and Selphie back yet?" Larxene asked. Leon shook his head and took a seat nearby against a wall. Yuffie followed him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Any luck on your mission?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah…we managed to evacuate everyone from Yuna, Rikku, and Paine's building. They're over at the station getting their housing situations in order…you?" Riku replied.

"We managed to get all of the survivors, the data and documents from the study, and Pooh's book. You wouldn't believe how bad that place got in the short time we were away…we're planning on asking Mickey for some extra forces to help us search more thoroughly...but all the survivors should be getting acquainted with your passengers by now." Tifa replied.

"She means that they're getting their housing situations together too." Cid added.

"Yeah…I got that, but thanks anyway." Riku replied. He shook his head and took a sea near Leon and Yuffie.

"You think Sora and Kairi are back yet?" Axel asked.

"Yeah." Riku replied. "They're probably hanging out at the beach with Donald and Goofy."

"Sora is cub with ridiculous hair?" Kimahri asked. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah…that's him…" Riku replied.

"And Kairi is red haired girl?" Kimahri asked again. Riku nodded. Everyone was silent, waiting for Tidus's ship to come back. After, about, 15 minutes a ship came into view. It looked red. As it got closer, it turned out to be Tidus's ship. It landed and the doors opened. Selphie walked out, almost in a daze. She was supported by a tall man with long, dark hair. They were followed by a woman with glasses and her golden hair tied up in a ponytail. The man eased Selphie down against a wall, and allowed her to sit in peace.

"Mr. Loire? Ms. Trepe? What's wrong with Selphie?" Riku asked. Laguna walked towards Riku and whispered in his ear.

"She's had…an ordeal…" Laguna replied.

"What kind of ordeal?" Riku asked. "Where's Tidus?"

"That's just it…Tidus isn't here…" Laguna replied solemnly. Riku knew where he was headed with the conversation…he just didn't want to believe it…

"Isn't…here? Where is he?" Riku asked shakily. Laguna placed a hand on Riku's shoulder.

"He's…dead…"

Sora rinsed his face off with water. He was about to go see Kairi…she wasn't dead, but she was still unconscious. He dusted some of the dirt off of his shirt with his good arm and adjusted the sling that was supporting the other.

"What if…she doesn't wake up?" Sora asked himself.

"You can't think that way." He replied. "You want her to get better? Act like it." Sora nodded and began to walk out of the room when he heard a buzzing noise sound from somewhere nearby. He remembered the gem his dad gave him. He fished it out of his pocket. It had turned from a dark shade of red to a stop light green. He'd wondered when it changed colors, but he couldn't worry about it now. He wouldn't go without her, so this would be something to urge her awake with…if she could hear him in her subconscious that is. Sora left the room and walked across the hall to where Kairi was. He hesitated for a moment. Her scar had been stitched closed and bandaged. She had a bad looking burn on her left arm...and a breathing mask covering her nose and mouth…he didn't know if he could take seeing her like this. He pushed through it and walked towards her, pulling up a chair.

"Hey…" He said. "I'm sorry…for everything." He waited for a moment before he spoke again.

"The gem is green now…" He said. "My dad says it's ok to go back to the islands…so you have to get better…I won't go without you…promise me you'll get better…"

Sora clutched her hand and rested his head on the edge of the hospital bed…waiting.