AN: My God…this chapter hated me…and feeling so far under the weather didn't really help matters either. You have HeartofFyrwinde to thank for once again proof reading for me and checking it was coherent after my brain took a holiday without informing me xD but seriously, I'm experiencing a lot of cognitive related symptoms lately that make it very difficult at times to read, write, and make decisions (spirochetes are so very inconvenient like that…) I be working on the next chapter bit by bit when I can, but its going to take a long time. Again. I'm sorry about that :(

I hope to leave you all with a more happy and upbeat chapter in the not TOO distant future xD for now, the plot is being evil to everyone. That will be remedied soonish when I find my thinking skates and get on them ;)

So Distant

The first thing Lynn noticed was that she was hung over. She groaned and clasped her head in her hands, trying to remember the last time she had felt so awful. Possibly among Evie's memories…waking up to the smell of bacon and Rosie's sympathetic smile, while Samira did her best to politely ignore the state of her. She should have been more derisive, Evie would have deserved it…Rose had felt awful most days through no fault of her own. Evie just went out and inflicted it all upon herself, and even if Samira hadn't been devout in her faith she probably would have had more sense than Evie…

Lynn wondered vaguely to herself through the pounding headache why Rhiannon hadn't come to shout at her yet. She didn't remember all of last night, but she must have come back really late. Maybe she was shouted at then. If only she could remember past the splitting sensation in her skull…

A soft click, followed by an unfamiliar alarm going off. Lynn frowned, wondering when Rhi had changed the alarm clock; it should be a loud beeping noise, but instead she heard a gentle sort of chirruping sound. She froze when she heard someone groan and felt the mattress shift beneath her.

When she opened her eyes, she was looking at a window and not the wall that enclosed her bunk on Epona. Because of the hangover, she had scrunched herself into a tight ball and hadn't noticed how much space there was on the bed.

Oh God…

She wanted to find the deepest, darkest pit in the realm of darkness – dig a bit deeper – and hide there for the rest of eternity.

She had got so rat arsed last night…

"Hello." A familiar voice stated after the alarm was silenced, pitched low to account for the headaches they were both nursing.

Lynn cringed, wondering how to worm her way out of this one. Slowly, she rolled over and turned her head to look Lea full in the face. He looked how she felt, although less ashamed of himself, admittedly.

"Hi." She said back, feeling a little panicky. It was nice to feel more emotionally human, but this wasn't a very pleasant position to be in right now. "I need to go," she said, shuffling to the edge of the bed and dropping onto the floor where her clothes were conveniently piled.

Lea fell back onto the bed with a groan, and she ignored him while she got dressed hurriedly, fumbling through the haze in her mind on clips and buttons as she went.

"Y'know," Lea said languidly, folding his hands behind his head, eyes closed and face unreadable. "I think we should talk about this,"

"What is there to really talk about?" Lynn asked briskly. "We went out, got completely wasted, and to be honest-" she stood up to locate her shoes, and scuttled after them "-not that I think you're shit in bed or anything, but I don't really remember all that much from last night. So maybe we should just accept this was a drunken mistake, and move on," she had to be firm and clinical about this.

"Why?" Lea snapped angrily, making to get up and detain her.

Lynn pulled a face, wondering if she was doing the right thing by being brutal. "I thought it was pretty obvious. You, me – 'ent gonna happen mate, sorry. Last night was stupid and I shouldn't have encouraged you, and I shouldn't have got so drunk – so consider this my fault and just move on. I have to go,"

Before he could argue or do anything else, she left the room and sat briefly on the stairs to pull on her boots before finding her bag by the front door and legging it. Lea lived in a small terraced house much like the one Evie and Kenny had at Uni, on a nice little quiet street in the middle of the town. Lynn tried to run in a straight line back to either Merlin's or up to the castle to make it look like she had been doing something constructive all night before Rhi came to kill her.

Much as Lea got annoying over time, she didn't really want to hurt him…she knew guys viewed one night stands very differently, and mostly depending on the situation. And all he'd really said was that they should talk about it…

But what was there really to talk about? She was a Nobody – Lea was not. What kind of meaningful relationship could they possibly have?

Lynn had to stop and cling to a lamppost, shaking her head violently despite the pain and disorientation it brought on to try and clear her head. Of course, it just made it harder to think straight…

Stupid, stupid, stupid…

She was just stumbling down the road towards Merlin's house when she heard Rhi's voice from the other end of the street, and she gave in to defeat. The woman would be on her faster than you could blink, and then her throat would be torn out, so what was the point of running now?

"Where the-!?" she used several expletives, some of which were from her home world, which made Lynn wince all the more. Boy, she was so mad right now… "-Do you tink you've been then, eh?!"

"Around," Lynn snapped, suddenly remembering that Rose had left one of her medical kits for them on the ship. It was bound to have some of those tealeaves she used for hangover headaches. If she could just get to them…

"Been outta my mind with worry-!" she looked like a rabid dog. Rhi grabbed her hand and yanked so hard Lynn winced at the sudden movement. "Do you even know what's been goin' on?"

"No, maybe you'd like to enlighten me," Lynn snapped, an arm pressed against her forehead as she leant against a brick wall for some stability.

For a long moment Rhiannon said nothing, and they just stood there in tense silence while Lynn focused on her breathing. Then finally, she felt a tap on her arm before Rhi placed her hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, Lynn turned her face towards her, wincing at the excess sunlight pounding against her sensitive eyes. The rigid look on Rhi's face went a long way to sobering her up.

"Someone's kidnapped Leo. And it sounds like Mel's lost her Keyblades. And you," she gave her a contemptuous look. "By the looks of it, have been out on the lash, not a word about where I'd find ya! I thought they'd got you too, and all!"

Lynn blinked, trying to get her brain to work faster to catch the meaning of what she had just heard. "Leo's in trouble?"

"Yes!" Rhiannon tugged on her arm. "C'mon, pet. We have to go help!"

"'Ang on," Lynn frowned and rubbed her eyes hard enough to make stars pop in her vision as she let her friend drag her down the road. "How do you lose a Keyblade? I'd'a lost mine years ago if it didn't leap to my hand whenever I wanted it."

"I don't know, flower." Rhiannon said impatiently. "I was goin' to wait for you before I went off to find out."

"Okay, okay, gimme a sec," Lynn staggered sideways to lean against a wall, and gestured at Rhiannon. "You got any water?"

"Here," she said tersely, handing over a canister.

Lynn took a wonderfully long draft from the container, the contents spilling down over her chin as she tried to get the liquid into her system fast enough. After that, her head felt a bit less fuzzy, and she was able to keep up with Rhiannon's quick frog march back to Epona.

"Honestly," she snarled under her breath as Lynn struggled to keep pace all the way. "It's like that weekend in Glasgow all over again."

"Yeah." Lynn remembered rather vividly. "Boy was that a mistake and a half…"

Kenny was very proud of being Scottish, all except for the fact that Glasgow was a part of Scotland… The weekend in question had been a bit messy and not a little hairy at times. He could carry his liquor well, but tipsy Kenny was cocky Kenny, and him in Glasgow on a Saturday night after several lines of shots was bloody terrifying at times.

While Rhiannon was navigating the way to Land of Departure, Lynn took the chance to ransack the medical supplies and make a cup of tea. Rose had drawn a little smiley face on the label, which she scoffed over as she shoved a large amount of tealeaves into the mug for a strong cuppa. She tried not to think about last night and Lea's feelings, trying to focus on Mel's crisis, but it was hard. That girl adored the great-feathered lump, no question; heck, Lynn was fond of the brute, too. What must be going through her mind…

…And what about Lea?

Lynn chugged the tea after it had steeped long enough, but while it was still a bit too hot, and in the process scolding her tongue so it left that odd, prickly sensation whenever it touched the roof of her mouth.

There was nothing wrong with him, and he was likeable in his own way, but…the last thing she needed was to try and establish a meaningful relationship while she was a Nobody and emotionally unstable. The more she tried to not think about it, the more the memories trickled into her mind. It hadn't been horrible…Evie had had worse experiences; but neither did it feel exactly right. Being of impaired Heart and drunk off her face probably didn't help matters…

Lynn bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood, and rammed the heels of her hands into her eyes, making the strange lights dance across her vision in response to the abnormal pressure.

What a mess she had made…she should never have stayed in this town, she should have pushed off like she had originally planned and spared them all the trouble she had given them.

What to do?

XOXOX

It was not for the first time that Aqua wished ardently for her Master to be here. It probably wouldn't be the last, but it was definitely the most desperate yearning thus far. Aqua felt in shock – and if that was her reaction, who knew how Mel was feeling? Not even Mel seemed to know; after she came to she had been seemingly oscillating between emotions. One moment she was sat on the floor, curled up as tight as possible with her knees to her chest, the next pacing back and forth while she ran her hands through her hair, hiding behind convenient curtaining locks to deflect their attention. And then she would suddenly stop, maybe collapse against a wall or into a chair – or just onto the floor – and weep.

The castle felt so empty without Leo. It just didn't feel right; Aqua was so accustomed to turning a corner and finding his great-feathered face in her way, whining for her attention and affections. They were all taking his abrupt absence hard, but nowhere near as hard as Mel. Aqua desperately wanted to do something, anything to ease her friend's pain, but what could she do? She had asked Rhiannon and Lynn to come, and sent word to Master Yen Sid by way of magic, refusing to let anyone else out of her sight for fear of any more ambushes. She was pacing herself around the great hall while Mel lay slumped dejectedly against the dais when the front doors opened.

Terra rushed forward while Aqua hovered undecidedly, biting her lip and glancing back at Ven and Mel. He was nursing a headache, and probably a concussion as well, but he hovered close to Mel's elbow, trying to give her some comfort to which she did not respond.

"Got here as fast as we could," Rhiannon said swiftly, skidding to a halt at Terra's side as they drew level with each other. "Steady, pet!" she chastised as Lynn crashed into her back, unable to stop in time.

Aqua took a step towards her just as Terra held out a hand to steady the Nobody, but Lynn waved everyone away, blearily insisting, "I'm fine, I'm fine…" as she staggered sideways, looking rather ill.

"Right," Rhiannon said, descending upon the dais and looking to Aqua, taking charge of the situation for the moment. "What happened?"

Lynn crouched down beside Mel, who looked up briefly before curling in on herself again with a fresh wave of tears while Aqua and Terra tried as best they could to explain the events that had transpired. The woman listened with a dark expression, and the furrow in her brow told Aqua that she knew about as much as they did. It was a long while that they stood in silence once the explanation was over before Rhiannon spoke again, after exchanging worried looks like Lynn.

"Have you ever heard of Keyblades just breakin' like that?"

Aqua's heart sank. "No," she shook her head, trying to fathom the why of it all. "It…it shouldn't be possible, right?" she asked desperately.

Rhiannon took a moment before answering, then turned to Lynn who was trying to comfort Mel. Lynn pulled a face and mouthed something, and Rhiannon turned aside with an exasperated sigh as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Damn Kennt' for never being around when ya damn need him. He always knew that one piece of information that no one else did and that we needed…" She straightened up and looked Aqua in the eye. "You got word to Master Yen Sid?"

"On his way," Aqua told her.

The older Master nodded. "Good. He'll at least know what to do from here. Any thoughts on where Leo might be?"

"No." Terra answered for her as Mel stifled another sob.

"There's a spell for that." Lynn said suddenly, nodding at Rhiannon. "Chuck us m'bag,"

Rhiannon scooped up the rucksack from where she had dumped it on the floor and took a few steps in her direction before swinging it through the air. It landed and skidded on the marble floor towards Lynn, who leant forward with her long arms and dragged it the rest of the way. "Rose, you beautiful, wonderful woman," she muttered under her breath as she skimmed through the objects inside before plucking a rather unassuming leather bound book the size of her hand from within. "Give me a few minutes and I can probably locate his not-so-precise where abouts…"

"'Not-so-precise'?" Ven asked, agitated as he wrapped his arms around Mel in Lynn's absence.

"Hey, I'm a Keyblade Master first, not a flippin' Mage." Lynn snapped as she started scanning the pages of the book. "This isn't battle magic, which is my forte. Rosie's way better at this stuff than me, but she'll be home by now…take too long to get hold of her. But I've done this spell before, I just need to jog my memory…" she started rapping out a rhythm against her thigh with her right hand while she propped the book open with the other.

"Don't worry," Rhiannon said, patting Aqua on the arm as Lynn frowned deeply in concentration – though she looked a little pained. "She's an air head, but a dab hand at magicks. Anyone can find'im, she can."

Aqua could only nod, feeling wholly inadequate. She didn't want to be in control of the situation, she wanted Master Eraqus to appear and make everything right the way he seemed to do when she was a child. She was meant to be their guardian and she had failed them all miserably…

"Don't chuh' worry now, pet." Rhiannon went on, rubbing her shoulder soothingly, making Aqua want to burst into tears as well. She caught Terra's eye, and all he could do was spread his hands and gaze at her helplessly.

Aqua kept telling herself Master Yen Sid would know what had happened to Mel's Keyblades…but then again, he had barely known anything about Leo when he first hatched, and they had somewhat expected him to know.

The elderly Master arrived soon after, like an answer to their prayers. Terra again rushed forward to greet him while Aqua stood by Rhiannon's side, drawing some small measure of comfort from her solid and composed presence. Lynn set the book aside and looked up as he approached before turning back to Mel, who was trying to bring herself to look up and meet their gaze.

"Tell me," Yen Sid said gravely. "What has happened here?"

Again, they explained what they knew; Leo had been abducted, the Heartless were involved, and somehow her Keyblades had been destroyed. Yen Sid listened intently before he swept forth towards the dais. Mel winced and withdrew into herself, but looked up when the magician extended a hand towards her and spoke very gently.

"Melody, this is important. I need you to try and summon your Keyblades."

Mel blinked in surprise before getting unsteadily to her feet. She took a step back from him to allow herself enough room, and raised her hands. Her expression changed to a deep frown of concentration, and then exertion as she flexed her fingers and strained to bring her weapons forth. A very faint shimmer appeared in the air, followed by a vague shadow that coalesced into the outlines of her two Keyblades, though they lacked any colour or substance at all. As she laboured to summon them forth, two shimmering orbs of light started twirling and dancing around her form, mimicking the shape of a double helix around her while an insubstantial and glowing circle of pulsing blue light flickered like a candle's flame on the floor beneath her feet. For a moment, Aqua thought she could see something more than shadow in her hands, but Mel gasped and slouched with exhaustion suddenly, and it all disappeared at once.

"Hmmm…" Yen Sid pondered for a moment, stroking his beard while Lynn stood up and put an arm around Mel's shoulders as the younger woman fought not to dissolve into further tears. "We are in luck." The old man said eventually, and everyone focused their attention on him sharply. "It is rare enough that a Keyblade would change its allegiance while their Master still lives. Rarer still, that a blade can be completely destroyed. The χ-blade is by its very nature unstable, and thus is an exception to the general rule. However, there are ways to unmake a blade – powerful black magicks that are not taught to any student. There are some magicks said to bind one's ability to use the Keyblade and lock it away forever, though I have never come across such things in living memory. No, what ails Melody is another matter." He turned to her, and she looked up, but very quickly looked away, wiping her tears away hurriedly. "Whatever has been lost may be found. If you had lost your ability to use the Keyblade, you would not have been able to summon the phantoms back to your hand. There is another Keyblade that will answer to your call, but you will have to find it."

Mel just nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Now then." Yen Sid turned his gaze to Lynn, who shifted a little uncomfortably under the old Master's scrutiny. "Master Evalyn. If you would assist me with a spell,"

To make it a little easier, Mel gave them one of Leo's feathers that she had worked into a leather braid that hung from her shoulder guard. The tatty feather focused their search, and Mel started pacing up and down again as they worked.

Aqua noted the frown on both mages faces, and realised something was trying to block them out. Rhiannon and Terra added to the spell's strength, while Aqua and Ven went to Mel. She closed her eyes and clutched her head, bending over as though she were about to be sick as they approached, and then stood up straight abruptly, her face an unreadable mask.

Suddenly, the thing that had been preventing them from performing the spell completely gave way, and an image appeared between Lynn and Yen Sid. Leo was curled up on a stone floor, looking angry as he bore his teeth at something just beyond the field of the image, although it cast a very distinct shadow on the ground before him that they saw just before the spell gave out and disintegrated. Lynn fell to her knees with a gasp and Rhiannon flew forward to her aid as Terra steadied the old Master and motioned for him to take a seat on the dais.

"I have a feeling you know where that was." He said grimly, rubbing his temples.

"Maleficent." Came the flat and united response.

Aqua had thought it might be…but they had to know for sure before acting.

"It would appear she has placed ward spells around her castle to keep our searching spells out."

"Too bad Rosé's little book of cheat sheets accounts for those with counter-charms." Lynn said with a tired grin, raising the book into the air and shaking it for emphasis.

"You two…I don't know," Rhiannon said rather brightly with a grin of her own as she patted Lynn's back. "Must be a magus ting."

Aqua was suddenly very aware of Mel as she twisted out of her arms and started towards the nearest staircase. "Where are you going?" Aqua asked, reaching for her.

"To Leo." Mel said shortly, not turning to look at her.

"Wait," Lynn's smile faded as Rhiannon's frown returned. "You're not serious-?" she baulked when Mel stopped in her tracks and turned to give her an angry, tear stained glare that was so unexpected and looked so unnatural on her.

"Mel-" Aqua began, but Terra was already striding towards her as Mel turned and started off again.

"You can't just go off like-"

"Watch me." Mel snapped.

Terra faltered, but didn't stop. Aqua could only stand there and watch; she'd seen Mel give in to fear and grief before, but she couldn't recall a time when Mel had been truly angry. She was upset, on edge and frantic for Leo's safety, but right now she looked rather angry, too. It was one of the few emotions Aqua had rarely seen her display; annoyance and disdain were usually muted, and if she was truly irritated she usually got up and walked away from the source before it became any worse. This situation was testing her nerves to the limits.

"Mel," Terra said, trying to get ahead of her to block her path, but Mel lithely stepped out of his way and kept marching forward. "You're not thinking straight, just wait a sec,"

"Get out of my way." Mel said quietly when he finally succeeded in blocking her progress.

"No," Terra put his hands on her shoulders to try and steer her back. "You can't go by yourself, we need a plan first – how are you even going to get there by yourself?"

"Corridor of Darkness." She said shortly.

"You're insane!" Terra tried to protest as he tussled with her. "You're not even armed-!"

"I have my armour. And I can use magic. I'm not defenceless."

"You can't be serious-"

"Let go of me," Mel hissed, and Aqua guessed she wasn't too far away from losing it.

"We just need to-" Terra struggled for a moment to keep a hold of Mel while she did her best to break free.

"I said," Mel spat angrily in a low voice that seemed to bite him deeply judging by the way he winced. "Let me go."

"You're being unreasonable," Terra snapped back, making to forcibly restrain her.

Usually the two of them got on great together, and while both of them were stubborn in their own ways, Terra was the most unyielding. Mel could be stubborn, but she wasn't hard headed, and she was very good at compromising to avoid fights without truly yielding. They had grown used to her presence at the periphery of their squabbles, often smoothing things out if they got too heated, and for the most part refusing to get dragged in. Terra liked to tease her, and she liked to respond quietly in kind; she could deal with his more sombre and turbulent moods, but they had never come to blows before. It seemed that when Terra's stubbornness kicked in and he tried to force Mel to do what he thought was the right thing, against her will, something inside her snapped.

Terra reeled and staggered sideways as everyone stared in stunned silence after Mel had pulled her arm back and punched him hard in the stomach. She was small, but months of consistent training had leant her a more lean and athletic stature, though she usually never struck anyone outside of sparring matches.

"Stop it!" Mel shouted at him, tears streaming down her face, which she turned aside to avoid seeing his stunned and hurt expression, her hands held up in surrender. "Just stop it!" She took a moment to compose herself before advancing on Terra, who took a big step backward to avoid getting hit again. She didn't usually use them in fights, but Mel knew every pressure point on the human body, and he was well aware that she knew how to exploit them. She stopped a few paces away from Terra and raised a hand as though to jab him in the chest, and he recoiled instinctively, but instead she stabbed at the air to punctuate her words. In a shaking voice made shrill from her distress, eyes blazing angrily like an emerald furnace, Mel said, "I haven't come this far just to lose everything that I've gained! I have too much I care about to just-!" the words died on her tongue and she pressed the inside of her wrist against her forehead, her in take of breath hissing through her gritted teeth. Silence hung thick in the hall as they watched with baited breath. Finally, Mel found the composure she was looking for, and stood square on to Terra, shoulders hunched and jaw set the same way as Kyo's was when he refused to budge on an issue. When she spoke again, her words were pitched low and steady, and the hand that was raised and pointing at Terra was more relaxed though no less convincing. "I have come too far now to let anything stop me from protecting the ones I love." Her eyes darted to the left and she gestured at everyone congregated in the hall before fixing her fierce gaze back on Terra, saying, "You stay here and plan all you like – I'm leaving right now." She held his gaze a moment longer, as though daring him to try and detain her, before she slowly and deliberately turned her back on him, and started for the stairs again.

It was hardly surprising that events had provoked her to breaking point, but Mel's change in demeanour unnerved Aqua greatly. She turned to look at the others; Rhiannon's jaw was hanging open, and Lynn was staring after her wide-eyed, while only Yen Sid appeared unfazed though his expression was very serious indeed. Ven was twitching with anxiety, and apparently it was too much for him to handle because he suddenly dived forward and ran after Mel.

"Go away." She said loudly, not deigning to turn and face him.

"Mel, please," Ven begged reaching for her as he drew level. "Just let me-!"

"No!" she did turn this time, raising her arms in readiness to strike at him too. "Didn't you hear me?!"

"I won't stop you!" Ven insisted, holding his arms up only in defence, refusing to man handle her. "But they're right, it's too dangerous! I won't stop you, but I won't let you go by yourself either,"

Mel just looked up at him, stunned – as though her ire had just suddenly petered out. Then she seemed to crumble in on herself again, and when Ven tried to get closer to her she threw her head back, sobbing as she tried to wipe her hair out of her face. "I can't just leave him! I can't!" Ven offered his arms for support, and she just leant against him as she cried.

"No one's asking you to." He said firmly, putting his hands on her shoulders. "We'll go right now,"

"Wait just a moment," Aqua snapped out of it suddenly. She was instantly stunned again when Ven rounded on her, almost angrily.

"Then give us one of the Eidolons' crystals and we'll be on our way." He said with a raised but steady voice.

Ventus had spent the better part of his childhood trying to out smart and antagonise Aqua; the challenge in his eyes right now lacked any of that warm childishness of their youth, though it lacked real antagonism as well. Any vestiges of childhood, any remnants of the boy he had been were gone; Aqua could only behold the man before her who she suddenly realised she could no long coddle or command.

"Here," Rhiannon said loudly, making Aqua jump. The older woman paced forwards, nodding at Yen Sid as she did so while Lynn stuffed the book into her rucksack and stood up. "You know where this place is? Give us the coordinates, you lot go on ahead and we'll meet up with ya there."

"W-what?" Aqua stammered, unable to keep up with the speed of the ever-changing situation.

"Simple," Lynn said, with a fierce grin. "You lot pitch up and stake the place out, we'll go grab us some reinforcements. By the time we arrive, you'll have a more detailed plan, and-" she pounded a fist into her hand. "We proceed to beat the snot out of'em."

"Sora." Rhiannon stated, arms in the air. "One man army."

Lynn stood alongside her friend and used her shoulder to lean her elbow against at a jaunty angle. "Him and Donald and Goofy – dream team. Add Riku and Kairi to the mix, oooh," she pulled a simpering expression and shook her head condescendingly. "May the carnage ensue,"

"Right!" Rhiannon bellowed, clapping her hands together loudly and making a point of striding towards to exit. "I'll get the old engine fired up!"

Lynn turned to Aqua with pen and paper from her pocket, and she hastily wrote out the desired information. She stuffed the paper into her pocket and thanked Aqua in a low voice before hurrying after Rhiannon, pausing only to talk to Mel as she went.

"Don't worry sweetpea," she said bracingly, patting her shoulder as she walked by. "We'll knock that haggard old bitch for sixes."

Mel turned to watch her go before turning back to look at Aqua, but she couldn't hold the gaze. Instead Mel teetered for a moment, possibly on the edge of another bout of anger, casting every which way as if a solution would present itself to her, but of course nothing came. Instead, she exhaled sharply with exasperation before spinning on her back foot and making for the front doors with all haste, Ven following close on her heels.

Aqua walked towards Terra in the sudden silence as Yen Sid slowly started to depart as well. He was still staring after Mel with an almost lost expression on his face, nursing the bruises that she tried to remove with a Cure spell.

"Are you okay?" Aqua asked quietly. Terra only looked at her, and didn't say anything, though she could see the hurt in his eyes. Mel was the last person in the world Aqua thought would lash out like that.

"Good luck." Master Yen Sid said gravely to them as he walked past. "I must return. I will however search my records and see what I can find that will help Melody." He paused for a moment before adding, "Perhaps we have all underestimated the bond between a Keyblade Dragon and their rider."

XOXOX

Rhiannon felt on edge, but she also felt confident that they could cope. She thought of the many adventures she and her fellow pupils had embarked on when they had all become Masters; those may not have been as bleak as this now, but no less tricky and in need of a great deal of thought. So Evie wasn't quite herself and their main tank was missing, but so what? Terra qualified for a tank, and they had far more pairs of hands onboard to assist, which was what they were off to fetch right now.

Mel's reaction was a bit unexpected, but Rhiannon felt that was to be expected. If she had lost her Keyblade…she didn't know how she would go on without it – it wasn't just a weapon; it was an extension of her body. That, and after watching the way Leo and Mel were around each other, it was hardly surprising she was so upset and worried. That dragon would probably lay down his life for her, and Rhiannon had little doubt that Mel was prepared to do the same.

"We could also go grab us that red-haired twit," Rhiannon commented as Evie crawled into the chair next to the pilots seat as they set off, a cup of steaming tea in her hands. "Give us another pair of hands to help."

As she spoke, Evie had been sipping gingerly from the concoction Rosie usually made to cure their nights out, and as soon as Rhiannon finished she tilted her head upwards away from the mug, eyes closed and expression serene as she said without missing a beat, "No way."

Rhiannon huffed with annoyance. "Now's not the time to be picky about who we draft in to help." She lectured. "We could always use another twisted fire starter, since ya'know, we don't have Kenny around and all and you don't happen to have ya alchemy kit…"

"I said no, all right? Let's just grab Sora and Co and get goin', okay sweetie pie?" Evie said loudly with a little disdainful twirl of her hand and the putting on of a sarcastic tone that flagged up on Rhiannon's radar instantly. "Mels won't want to wait to get Leo back, so let's not make her wait."

She knew the kind of things that usually preceded such inflections in her speech. Rhiannon slowed the ship to safely avoid colliding with debris, and turning to give Evie a piercing look while her mind sifted through the available information and visible cues.

"What the feck you lookin' at?" Evie snapped angrily, clutching the mug closer in a familiar sign of stress.

The pieces fell into place quite readily and swiftly; Rhiannon leant her face into her hand and tilted sideways on the armrest of her chair, sighing heavily.

"Eaves, ya feckin' idiot…"

"Can we just stick to the problem at hand? Namely getting Duster back and beating the shit out of…an old aged pensioner this would sound so terrible if heard out of context." Evie pulled an expression that was almost contrite, but Rhiannon wasn't willing to be sidetracked right now.

"So what did you do?" Rhiannon asked resignedly, eyes closed. "Was this where you were last night, then pet?" she chanced a glance at her old friend; Evie's face was cast towards the ceiling, and obscured by her hands shaped into claws that tugged at her ridiculous hair. Oh dear God… "Took ya long enough to sample the local lad population…"

"Okay," Evie sat back up straight and winced at the quick motion. "First of all, screw you ya bloody hypocrite. Secondly, can't we worry about this first?" she waved at the coordinates on the dashboard. "Cause maybe I'm just feeling all sentimental and mushy but I kinda think this is the more urgent matter. My drunken mistakes can wait!"

"All right, pet. No need to be so dramatic," Rhiannon rolled her eyes and reached for the controls. Evie glowered at her, muttered a few profanities under her breath, and they left it that.

They stopped off at Destiny Islands first, which was over all just as well. Mindful that they stood out in this small community like a sore thumb, they tried to hurry along from the place they had hidden Epona, but were stopped short when Riku burst out of the undergrowth and ran towards them.

"Easy, pet," Rhiannon tried to calm him down – he looked very anxious about something, and she wondered if he had received word already.

"Have you seen Leah?" he demanded a little breathlessly of them as he skidded to a halt.

"Who?" They both asked blankly.

"Leah – she's a girl from our town. Fair skin, dark hair, light blue eyes? Usually wears a grey hoody-"

"Sorry, 'ent seen anyone matchin' that description." Evie told him, and Riku sagged, looking quite upset. Evie frowned and tilted her head, hand on hip. "'Ere, wassup?"

"She's gone missing," Riku explained quickly. "We've been looking everywhere – the Heartless were around earlier, but they've gone now. But no one's seen her in ages, I was hoping when I saw you arrive that maybe you had…"

"Sorry pet," Rhiannon didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but that was all they could offer for the moment. "We're here about sometin' else."

"What is it?" Riku asked, picking himself up and eyeing them both seriously.

Evie sighed and started ticking off on her fingers. "Let's see: Mel's Keyblade is officially missing in action and needs to be somehow replaced at a later date – we'll work on that later. Err – Leo's been dragon-napped by Maleficent, so we're here to ask for your help in kicking her into next week and retrieve him. And I suggest you don't really say anything to Mel for the time being cause she's very wound up right now not that anyone can really blame her,"

Rhiannon fought to not roll her eyes as Evie went on and on. Riku's eyes grew wider with each point that was ticked off the list, and when they finished he said, "I'll go get the others, you'd better wait here," and with that he went tearing off into the bushes and disappeared.

Rhiannon started pacing for something to do, trying to think on her feet, while Evie leant up against a tree and folded her arms, absently running her fingers over the feathered end of an arrow that didn't quite want to sit properly in her quiver.

"Oi, Rhi."

Rhiannon stopped and took a deep breath, keeping a lid on her impatience. With her eyes closed and back turned, she demanded, "Yes?" when she deigned to turn and look, she saw Evie's eyes were narrowed at the trees through which Riku had exited, and she had that look she got sometimes when a horrible and foreboding thought had occurred.

Slowly, Evie turned her head towards Rhiannon, and tilted her chin upward slightly before fixing her with a serious look. "You thinkin' its possibly connected?"

"What is?" Rhiannon sighed, rubbing her eyes. She could have done with Kenny around…if nothing else than to keep this egit in line…

"Only that we know that magical bitch's been snooping round after Leo for a while, and her chosen line of lackey is the Heartless."

Rhiannon snorted. "Good luck to her with that in the long run," she turned sharply at the sound of rustling leaves, but it turned out to be just a startled squirrel.

"Yeeeaaah." Evie closed her left eye and looked upward and to the right with the other, the way she did when she was trying to think of something, and unintentionally flashing her strange yellow eye. "Just that last I spoke to Riku he said the Heartless have been floating round these parts here recently, and when I suggested we come over and help he said he didn't want to trouble us any more than we already were." She pulled a face. "Said they'd be able to stay on top of it."

"And the point of this ramblin', flower?"

"Just seems over all a little fishy, is all I'm saying," she added, hands raised passively in defence. "What with the Heartless involvement…"

"Hmm…" Rhiannon had to admit she might have a point…

The trees rustled some way away, and they both straightened up and reached for various weapons and stances, but it was just Riku with his two friends – and lo and behold, Donald and Goofy were also with them.

"Bloody hell, was there a conference or something scheduled?" Evie asked bluntly.

"Waaaak!" Donald hissed angrily and started hopping from one foot to the other.

As Goofy tried to calm him down, Sora explained, "The Heartless attacked Disney Castle and tried to kidnap the Queen. Of course, they failed, but the King sent Donald and Goofy to check up on us." There was certainly a damper on his usually cheery self. "That's when we realised a friend of ours's gone missing, and then Riku said you guys had shown up."

"So the Heartless have been trying to run circles around us, have they?" Rhiannon asked flatly. She turned to look at Evie, and gave her a smirk when she saw her friend's seething expression.

"Right," Evie snarled, punching a fist into her palm with a satisfying smack. "The bitch's gonna get it. Mount up people!" she shouted, spinning precariously on her back leg (still contending with her hangover) and marching towards the ship with her fist raised above her head. "We ride for the Castle, and to beat the living daylights out of the slag!"

The poor five souls gave Evie a wide-eyed and wary look, which Rhiannon tried not to laugh at. "Right then," she said, clapping her own hands. "Sorry but Mel and Leo have to take priority. We could use your help-"

"O-of course," Riku nodded uncertainly.

"Where are the others?" Sora asked.

"Already on their way. You lot know where Maleficent's castle is?"

"I do," Riku told her.

Rhiannon nodded to herself, taking charge of the situation and marshalling her commands into order while she thought quickly. "Good. You lot bus up and we'll fly there together, just in case those blasted Heartless try to shoot us down. Once we get back Leo I'm sure we'll be able to help look for your missing friend,"

The three teenagers exchanged anxious looks, but nodded stoically in response. They all pelted off towards their ships, and Rhiannon sighed heavily as she went back to her own; they weren't really that much older than kids, whatever else they may have already gone through. They should be free to mindlessly frolic, and not bound up in all the crap the Keyblade liked to drag in its wake. Being the eldest Master within the immediate group, she felt a certain level of responsibility towards them; Master Sol had taught them that it was always their duty to protect and nurture the next generation, and while Rhiannon lacked the patience to diligently educate like a teacher, she had enough solidarity to pull others through with her. Not that she liked having to do so, but she knew Aqua needed help to hold things together – and as she was still younger than Rhiannon despite her rank, that was what she would do.

XOXOX

Leah stumbled as she was roughly shoved through a doorway and into a dimly lit room. Her mind had yet to catch up with what was happening, and a part of her was hoping this was a horrible and vivid nightmare that she would soon wake up from. The cold hard ground rushed up to meet her and smacked her knees and elbows so hard it left little doubt that she was awake. She looked over her shoulder and whimpered before turning clumsily and tried to back up, away from the strange creatures that were advancing on her. Horrible, small and humanoid with scary glowing eyes and odd-looking symbols on their bodies that looked almost heart shaped, but weirdly distorted; some had what looked like armour. As she scuttled backwards, trying desperately to keep them in her line of sight, Leah tried to cling to a vain hope that she had merely tripped on the way back from the bakers and hit her head very hard, and slipped into one of those comas that brought about vivid dreams that felt very real.

The things began to advance on her as she tried to retreat, and as they rushed forward Leah flung her arms up in a vain attempt to protect herself. She froze when she heard a terrible snarling noise, and remained stock still as something huge behind her moved. The dark things shrieked and scuttled away – some through the slamming door, others apparently through shadows in the walls that were not there when she looked again. Leah felt her heart in her throat, and clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Something hot breathed down the back of her neck, and she heard a snorting sound from behind. Very slowly, she turned to see what it was, and gaped for one long, agonising moment at the beast before her, just before she screamed.

An enormous black dragon with fierce yellow eyes was standing behind her, looking down from a tremendous height in the gloom above, nostrils flared like a hound catching a scent. She bolted; terrified that she was about to die in this strange, unfamiliar place where she had no idea how she had arrived in the first place. She was scared, disorientated, and convinced the dragon would either eat her or burn her to a crisp first. She had only gone out to buy some bread for her mother…how had this happened?!

Leah screamed for help, begging someone – anyone at all – to come save her. The dragon roared loudly, drowning her out, and as her attempts to force open the door with her fists failed, she turned with her back pressed flat against it in time to watch the dragon rear onto its hind legs-

And then it fell over backwards and shrieked with surprise as it became entangled in its own limbs.

Leah sank to the floor, her legs trembling so much they could no longer support her weight. Gaze fixed on the beast, her eyes filled with tears, and she started to sob. It was too much to take in…scary creatures that could have come from a video game or a crude monster from a child's nightmare, sucking her right into the street and further still; an ominous and forbidding castle complete with dungeons into which she had been thrust; and a dragon in her cell, like the monster from some melodramatic scene in a film to whom the villain throws his hapless victims. This couldn't be reality – these things didn't happen in real life, they were the plots of stories and films and video games. It wasn't real. It wasn't real…

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard as she cried, waiting for the dragon to sort itself out and eat her, praying it would be at least swift if it could not be painless. As she waited, she thought of her mother, who would be at home waiting for her…

Leah jumped when the dragon made a new sound – almost like a sob. She opened her eyes and looked at the beast, tangled up on the stone floor, and felt her heart skip another beat. Only this time, it wasn't for fear.

The dragon was crying. Just like her.

Leah caught her breath, and waited a moment, convinced it was some kind of ploy and that if she got too close it would kill her with one bite. But the dragon thrashed against something, wailing long and high in its throat before it collapsed at a very lopsided and painful looking angle, enormous ribcage heaving in time with its unsteady breaths, and tears glistening in the faint light as it keened forlornly.

Very, very carefully and slowly, with much inward debated and hesitation, Leah peeled herself away from the door and gradually crawled over to the dragon, to try and get a better look and hopefully a better gauge of the situation. The dragon was tangled up in a series of chains; it looked like each leg was shackled, as well as its neck and tail. The tail, which had a thick and stiff looking sail-like double crest at the end, was ensnared in one of the chains, while one of the front paws was tangled up in the one attached to its neck. She eventually managed to get close enough to touch – though she wasn't brave enough to tempt fate any further – and stared with disbelief at what she saw before her. The dragon shifted and raised its head a little off the ground; Leah shrieked and retreated with great haste, but it wasn't even aware of her presence. Instead, the dragon keened again, repeating the same sound over and over until it blended into one long cry, as though it were calling for someone – or something. When it was done with that, it lay still, panting in between muted sobs, shifting its enormous wings every so often as though it were in great discomfort.

Leah tried to back away further still, but she disturbed a few pebbles underfoot and froze like a deer, staring wide-eyed as the dragon turned to regard her. It looked a little curious, but whatever ailed it was apparently at the forefront of its mind, and its scrutiny didn't last very long. It tried to collapse as best it could, bound as it was. The shackles were buried into the floor, and allowed for precious little mobility, it seemed.

The longer she watched, the more Leah felt sorry for the dragon. Maybe it was a prisoner like her? It certainly looked that way…it couldn't hurt her at all if she strayed out of its range, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't, somehow…

Again, moving with the utmost care, Leah edged forward, and then around the dragon's curved back to look at the tail more closely. She got about a single pace away, and carefully crouched on the floor, looking to see where the tail was trapped and how it needed to be moved to free it. She flexed her hands once she was sure she knew what to do, her heart and her head warring heatedly within her. If she freed the dragon's movement, it might kill her. Although conversely, maybe it could be an ally…? Either way, she didn't like to see tears from anyone – this beast included, apparently.

Leah bit her lip and reached forward, deciding to take that risk, and grabbed the dragon's tail. She gasped in surprise, but didn't let go. In the weak light, she had assumed a scaly, bat-winged dragon of a black hue. Instead soft, delicate feathers caressed her skin, and as she leaned forward for closer inspection, she realised some of the feathers on the crest like structure at the end of the tail were purple. Close to, they resembled a pair of fins, with long flight feathers like those of a bird.

Carefully, Leah worked the dragon's tail out of the bind it had found itself in. when it was free it slid back at an alarming speed, and she shrieked as she tried to find cover; the tail landed on the floor and straightened itself out as the dragon groaned with relief. It stayed still for a moment, apparently resting until it moved its hindquarters and Leah scuttled out of range. The dragon managed to pull itself into a sitting position, but its right front foot was still stuck; it bared its teeth angrily and hissed as it tried to yank the appendage free. It snarled terribly and Leah cowered behind a too-small rock, heart once again in her mouth.

Then, she heard the fwump as the dragon settled again, felt the current of air it stirred up, and followed by the soft croaking sound that stopped when she looked at it. The dragon was watching her intently, and as she held its gaze it croaked again, and shook the offending paw caught in the chain. Leah slowly stood up, and nervously made her way forward, constantly backtracking every other step as she went. When she finally stood before the dragon, it made a soft noise, almost a bird-like sound, right at the back of its throat. There was nothing aggressive or violent in its demeanour – it looked at her pleadingly, shaking the tapped leg again.

"Okay," Leah breathed, reaching out to the dragon with her shaking hands.

The chain was wrapped around the leg twice, and close to the shackle around the base of its neck so that it could not easily bend and crane to look at it. Leah had trouble shifting the heavy chain, but the dragon helped by lifting and holding its leg to make it a bit easier for her, though she had to direct it since it couldn't see what she wanted it to do. Finally, once the chain was removed, the dragon slumped tiredly but with a happy croak, and Leah stayed very still. When the dragon finally brought itself to sit up, she didn't move and simply closed her eyes. If the dragon had tricked her, it was all over now; there was no point in running.

She squealed with freight when something hot and rough touched her cheek, and stared up in horror. The dragon had licked her, and then pulled its head far back away from her. A deep rumbling resonated in its chest, and the way its eyes creased made it look like it was smiling…

The dragon opened its mouth and croaked again, before very slowly leaning forward, snuffling like her grandmother's dog towards her hand as though asking to be petted. When she shakily raised her hand, she received another lick and a whine that sounded like it was asking to placate.

"Y-your welc-come." She stammered.

The dragon snorted, apparently pleased. Then it drew its tail in close, and Leah dodged around underneath it; each limb was tucked in comfortably to the overture of clanking metal, and the dragon settled down as though to take a nap – again, much like her grandmother's dog.

At that moment, as the dragon sighed sadly, Leah remembered that when she had been dragged here, she had been carrying the bread for her mother. She got up and went back to the door, and was pleased to see it was still there and remained carefully wrapped in layers of thin paper. As she walked back to the dragon, she felt hunger gnaw at her insides, but she ignored it as she broke off a large piece and held it out to the dragon.

"You hungry?" she asked, and jumped back when its head snapped up sharply to look at her. Rather than risk her hand, Leah tossed it at the dragon, who all but pounced on the morsel. Once it was gone, the dragon sat back on its haunches awkwardly and watched her expectantly, head cocked to one side like an inquisitive bird. "Want another one?" Leah asked, edging closer and holding another piece out.

Watching very carefully, the dragon edged forward as well. With deliberate slowness it opened its mouth and took the bread from her hand without touching her. It backtracked a few steps, and wolfed it down happily with a hum. Leah broke off another piece, which she ate herself before offering another to the dragon. This one it took but dropped in between its front paws; it stood up and moved clumsily to one side, and Leah saw it dip its head down into a metal basin. There was a sloshing sound, and when it stood up straight again water dribbled from its chin. It sat down where it had before, and ate more slowly – although such a small scrap of bread for such a big animal seemed just a bit inadequate…

Leah went to the basin, and slaked her own thirst before having some more dry bread. It was thick, white, crusty bread with poppy seeds – her favourite, though it was plain and made her feel even thirstier as she ate. The last piece she was happy to give the dragon, and as it chewed she felt a bit more confident and got right up close to its head. When it swallowed it croaked at her again, tail swishing like a dog's on the dusty floor. Leah reached up to stroke the soft pelt of feathers on its head, and the dragon gently leaned against her, thrumming deep in its throat at the contact.

"I hope that helps," she murmured, momentarily delighting in the comfort she suddenly drew from the dragon. Her heart had been right, and she knew she wasn't in any danger from the dragon. But… She gazed around the high ceiling of their prison, the bare stonewalls, and finally the chains sunken into the floor. "Where are we?" she asked out loud, not expecting a response. The dragon sighed heavily and cast its gaze at the ground, tilting itself right ways again. Leah patted its cheek, and took a good look at the dragon's face; the eyes were not just yellow as she had initially thought, but gold, like rich butter or honey. She jumped and felt her pulse quicken painfully when the dragon's head snapped up suddenly, but its attention was fixed on the door. Leah shuffled backward to hide just behind its head (she reckoned the skull alone was bigger than her torso) and waited; the door opened, and someone backed inside.

Staying out of sight, Leah held her breath and hunched over in the considerable shadow the dragon cast. There were a series of loud clangs and some splashing as water was poured into the basin. She tried not to panic when the footsteps stopped, but the door didn't swing shut.

"You're quiet," said an unfamiliar male, very human sounding voice – almost accusingly.

The dragon growled, but didn't get up, and Leah tried to shrink even further into his shadow. She stifled a squeal of terror by clapping her hands over her mouth when she heard the rustling of the baker's tissue paper that had been wrapped around her loaf of bread, that the voice had apparently just picked up.

"You're up to something then, Leo?" they asked a little accusingly.

The dragon tensed silently for a moment, before suddenly rearing up on its hind legs awkwardly and roaring at the top of its lungs. Leah couldn't stop herself from screaming, hands over her ears to protect her eardrums, collapsing to her knees. When the dragon settled down again, the room was empty but for the pair of them, and it snuffled its nose close to her, whining as though trying to make amends, and she shakily patted the very end of his snout, not sure if she should be so quick to trust her heart's judgement.

"O-okay." She said, not sure what she was acquiescing to.

After a while, and some increasingly comfortable silence, she got up the courage to ask a silly sounding question; the dragon seemed to have understood she was trying to help, and was very grateful for her meagre food ration, so it must have been at the very least a bit intelligent.

"Is your name Leo?"

The dragon raised its head and curled one of its paws closer to its body, tail swishing. It nodded its head, and then croaked something that may have sounded like "Yooo?" but it was hard to tell.

"Uh – I-I'm Leah." She said uncertainly. She was shocked when the dragon opened its mouth and gave a guttural sounding estimate of her name in response. "You can talk?" she squeaked through her hands, hardly daring to believe it.

The dragon – Leo – in response gave her an odd sort of expression. He rolled his eyes heavenwards before turning back to her, eyes now closed, and shaking his head; somehow quietly exasperated and tiredly happy. There was at least a glimmer of amusement when he opened his eyes again to look at her.

"S-sorry," she mumbled, feeling her face flush as she realised that she was actually being quite rude. "It's just that…I've never met a dragon…before…" she smiled when Leo licked her cheek again and snuggled her up against his side, throwing a wing over her to create a small pocket of warm security amid all the unknown dangers outside. At least she knew she was safe with him, and that she was forgiven.

XOXOX