"How does this keep happening?"

A familiar scenario played out on a Mini Quest. A bit of peril forced the team through a passage that ended with a door that closed behind them. Once again the space was very cramped.

"Rachel, Bryan, you know what to do."

With a puff the little space got less squished as Rachel and Bryan turned themselves into squirrels.

"Okay, feel around for a door."

On the other side of the door was a very empty building. Well, it was full of things but no people. They were squished into a closet in the back of a shop of some kind. It was full to the gills of animal merchandise.

"What is this?" Sora asked, looking around. "A toy store?"

"What toy store only stocks animals?" Bryan asked.

"Ever hear of a theme?" Riku pointed out.

"Aww! It's so cute!" Kairi found a plump hippo plush with big adorable eyes.

"Put it back." Bryan strode passed her to the door.

"No need for irritability." Kairi pouted, giving the hippo a squeeze.

"Why not? I've already got an idea what's going to happen next."

"You mean-?"

"Yep."

Outside opened up into a cobblestone square. But it was so much more than that. Caws and other cries wafted through the pathways and other large buildings. It was all very neat and clean.

"Oooooh! I think this is a zoo." Rachel said.

That would explain nothing but animals in the shop. It must be the zoos gift shop. In the center of the square was an obelisk with a clock at the top. On the pillar itself were carved stone plaques with things like "Reptile House", "Aquarium" or "Monkey Island" and arrows to the pathways that led away from the square. A little box was at the base of the tower. A ring of red bricks circled the obelisk.

"This has a disgusting ring of familiarity to it." Riku said.

"So you think that-? Once we cross the ring of bricks-?" Kairi asked.

"Let's get this over with." Lea sighed in a resigned way.

They all crossed the ring. Except Riku.

"C'mon. It won't work until we're all over." Rachel said.

"I know. Why do you think I don't want to do it?"

But he didn't have a choice. And the second he stepped over the line a great PWOOF! of magic occurred. As expected, most of the team had regressed to their child selves. And Bryan wasn't the one left as his normal self. This time, it was Lea.

Lea looked down at the half-pints around him. This was even odder for him because he was so tall. "I'm not sure which is the worst side of the fence to be on." He eventually said.

"What are you talking about?" Sora said. "You said you were great with kids."

"Yeah, kids. Family, other people's kids, one day my kids. Not my friends turned munchkin."

"Who're you callin' 'munchkin'!" Little Kairi snapped, hands on her hips.

"GEEEEE! Bryan! You're so cute!" Rachel pounced on her brother with a big hug.

"Whoa, Bryan." Sora circled his friend. "I know it's because you're a kid now, but, this is the first time I've seen you without the mustache."

"I have."

"Shut up, Lea."

"Now, now, that's no way to talk to your elders, kiddo."

"Just read what the objective is this time!"

Lea chuckled and opened the little box. Sure enough, there was a scroll rolled up inside. Just like last time, as soon as he was done reading it, a little timer appeared in the corner.

"So?" Sora asked.

"Looks like we're gonna be lookin' for three jeweled boxes. Two are somewhere in the zoo, the last is actually in an enclosure."

"Guess we know who's got that job." Riku said.

"Wait, you mean me?"

"Yes, Lea, you."

"And why am I going to be the one getting in the cages?"

"You wouldn't really make a little kid get in with the lions or the alligators, would you?" Bryan put on his best innocent-kid pouty face. He even let his lip quiver a little.

"Guess it depends on how annoyed you make me."

"Will we keep getting younger, like last time?" Sora cut in.

"I think it's safe to say that we will." Riku answered dully.

"Let's get going before we can't properly enunciate anymore." Kairi said.

And so the march began. It was a quick march. Everyone scurried about as quickly yet thoroughly as they could. Even Rachel, the nature freak/animal lover didn't allow the incredible creatures to distract her attention for very long. Even when they did she still glanced around their enclosure for a jeweled box. And since the regression wouldn't begin until after the timer ran out, Lea didn't worry about the rest of them scattering to cover more ground so long as they were organized so not to waste time searching an already cleared area.

"Found one!"

It was Kairi. The outdoor enclosure of Monkey Island was just that. A tall jungle gym of posts and ropes sat atop a raised mound of earth and concrete. Surrounding it was a moat too deep for any monkey to brave swimming across. Even if they did they would be stopped by a brick wall for viewers to observe from behind. On the outside, one of the bricks was missing and a small jeweled box had been wedged in its place.

"One down," Sora said.

"So are they all going to be that little?" Rachel asked.

"I hope not." Riku said.

"And the note doesn't say. Just to look for three." Lea told them.

And so the search continued. Sora, Riku and Bryan searched the exhibits of the Reptile House while Lea and the girls continued outside. It was a welcome surprise to learn Rachel and Bryan, despite being little could still fly. That came in handy when retrieving the second box. Said box was bigger than the first. Just big enough in fact to hold the first box like a nesting doll. Bryan as able to get it down from its place hidden high in a tree next to the eagle enclosure by himself. Good thing too. It wasn't long after that the timer ran out. It wouldn't be long before the regression began. In fact, it started happening a little faster than before on the farm.

This of course was hardly a picnic for Lea either. Trying to keep five youngsters focused at a zoo? At least they all stuck together without a lot of fuss. And he made use of his height to be just intimidating enough that when he said it was time to move on they listened. But this was only half the battle. The third box was still in an enclosure somewhere. And there was no way of knowing if it was going to be smaller than the first or larger than the second. The second was about the size of a shoebox so Lea really hoped it would be bigger. That would make it easier to spot. Smaller? That might border on impossible if it wasn't blatantly up front somewhere. Though if that were the case it would most certainly be in a cage with a cranky gorilla or something venomous. The exhibits they'd explored before Lea was confident did not contain the last box. All six of them were focused and alert at that point and eager to get this over with quickly.

"Can we feed the ducks?"

"No."

"Can we go back to see the monkeys?"

"You're already a troop of monkeys you don't need to see them again."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are. And you two!" Lea reached up over his head, grabbed Bryan by the ankle and yanked him back down several feet. "Don't you go floating too far."

"We won't," Little Rachel promised.

"Do that again!" Bryan said excitedly. He flew up a little higher, hoping Lea would pull him back down.

"Is there ice cream?"

"Can I get a piggyback?"

"No, and no."

Little Kairi tugged on Lea's pant leg to get his attention. "Can we p'ease go see the fishes?" She pointed across the way to a large building with tropical fish painted on the walls.

"Fishies!?"

"No you don't!" Lea had to take three lunging steps and a jump to catch Rachel by the foot before she tried zooming off ahead.

"You pwomised!" Sora scolded after she was caught.

"That's right, she did. On the ground, both of you. Now."

Rachel huffed a bit but did as instructed. Bryan hovered a few inches off the ground. He looked up at Lea with a mischievous grin, testing if Lea would notice and if he could get away with not technically touching down like he was told. He didn't. Lea placed his hand flat on Bryan's head and pushed him down the last few inches. Bryan giggled, clearly thinking he was clever for trying.

Once they got to the entrance of the aquarium, Lea blocked the door and turned to his pint-sized posse.

"So what are we looking for?"

"Those."

Five little hands pointed to the jeweled box Lea had under his arm.

"We'll be indoors so no yelling and don't hit the glass. Oh, and whoever finds the box first gets a piggyback on our way out."

A squeal of delight erupted from the tiny troop and they rushed passed Lea to the aquarium.

The first thing to see was a huge wall of glass, behind which was stuffed to the gills (pun intended) with rainbow trout. The room was small but had another set of doors that led to the interior and main aquatic exhibits. The first room had another big tank of trout immediately to the right. Down a curved ramp smaller tanks lined the walls. This room was mostly freshwater fish. Nothing too big or flashy but it had the attention of the tykes all the same. All five of them swarmed each tank to see what was inside before moving as a single huddle to the next one. Lea had to remind them several times to keep an eye out for the box. The next exhibit was down a wide hall and separated from the freshwater fish by a curtain of colorful plastic chains. They didn't get anywhere for a few minutes because the chains were fun to play in. Around the next corner the little group got a little pushy trying to see inside a tank imbedded in the wall.

"It's an octopus!" Sora cried.

"Where?" Riku shouldered his way next to Sora.

"There!"

"I wanna see!"

"Where?"

"Right there!"

"I WANNA SEE!"

"Kairi! Don't yell."

"But they won't let me see!"

"Then look at something else until they're done."

"Kairi! Come see! Come see! Looklooklook!" Rachel pointed excitedly to all sorts of incredible and colorful fish in the next enormous tropical tank.

They watched large orange fish look for resting spots on the rocky back of the tank. A leopard shark went back and forth along the sand. Starfish the size of dinner plates slooooowly crawled up the glass. Kairi completely forgot about wanting to see the octopus. Bryan managed to elbow his way in to see it too then the three boys kept going, the giant wall of tropical wonder not keeping their interest very long. Neither did the tide pool room that followed. Lea had to shoo Rachel and Kairi onward so they didn't get left behind. There were several whiny protests when they couldn't stay to look at the tide pool because they had to catch up with the boys. Sora, Riku and Bryan presently were pressed against the glass of the next exhibit. They were watching little penguins watch them as they darted about in the water.

"I FOUND IT!"

"What did I say about yelling?"

"But I found it!"

Riku pointed excitedly in the big tank. At the bottom in the very back sat a large jeweled box. Of course it had to be at the bottom. And it water no less! Lea rolled his eyes. He didn't want to have to take a dive with a bunch of penguins. Then a thought occurred to him. He might not have to.

The penguin exhibit was in a deep half-circle in the wall. But it wasn't completely sealed. The water was kept back by a glass wall that went up about two feet from the water level. So, if tall enough one could actually put their hand over the top. Lea wasn't quite that tall but there were ways around that. And he had an idea of how to get the box. First, he called his Keyblade. His child friends watched with sparkly eyes of wonder. Obviously they'd forgotten they could do the same. It took Lea a second to remember how to best execute the thought he had via magic. Eventually it came to him and he placed the end of his Keyblade on the stone next to the tank wall. The stone reshaped itself and raised up against the glass, the top staying flat. The new platform stopped at a little over three feet. And of course the kids thought that was the most incredible thing ever. Then came the attempt of Phase 2.

Lea stepped up on the little platform.

"Hey, Rachel, c'mere."

"Me?"

"Yes you. I think you can get the box. Want to swim with the penguins?"

"Peyn-gins! Yesyesyesyes!"

"I wanna s'im with pegins too!"

"No, Kairi. This idea might not even work."

Lea lifted Rachel up and leaned over the top ridge of the glass. He reasoned if she and Bryan could still fly even through the regression spell, maybe the mermaid magic they had from the magic shells they used to carry still worked. Even as a mini-mermaid she might be able to get the box. If the magic didn't work she'd probably fuss over getting unnecessarily wet and he'd have to dive in for the box himself but both were problems he could live with if the need arose. Which it looked like he might have to anyway. Lea held on to her securely but over the water and she was starting to get squirmy. Swimming with penguins seemed like a lot of fun until the penguins got up close and curious.

"Now we're going to try something. And I'll be right here to get you out if it doesn't work so-."

"Um, no. No, no I don' wanna anymore."

"Why not? I know you like to swim."

"They won' go 'way!"

"Yeah, these featherheads are pretty nosy. Go on, beat it." Lea caused a wave of heat to surge across the surface of the water. The penguins darted off, startled. "There. All gone. Now come on. If this doesn't work you'll just get a bit wet."

"NO! No, no, no! Is too deep! Is too deep!"

"You'll be fine. If this works the depth won't matter. And if it doesn't I promise I won't let go."

It took a fair amount of coaxing and reassurances before Lea just went ahead and lowered little Rachel into the water. She fussed, squirmed and squeaked protests all the while, scared the penguins might be mean and not wanting to be dropped in the water. Eventually Lea just held on tight and dipped her in. She clung to his arm to his arm so tightly he was certain he'd bruise. He knew kids had surprising vice-like strength but he wasn't quite expecting what he got.

"Rachel, hey, you're okay. Look, look what happened. You have to open your eyes to see. A little wider. And keep them open."

Once again it took a bit of coaxing to make Rachel realize she wasn't sinking to the bottom of the briny depths to her doom while escorted by penguin cherubs. And once she saw what had happened once in the water….holy catfish that squeal! Little Rachel was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She had no concept of fear of water depth and her elation made it impossible to be scared of the penguins.

"Okay, are you done yet?" Lea tried to call after her third lap around the tank. Last thing he needed was for her to get too tired to haul the box over and be back to square one.

"Lookiemelookieme!"

"Yes! I see you. Everybody sees you! Now can you please go down and get the box?"

Thankfully she only took one more lap before doing as asked. It wasn't easy for her to get the box over however. She tried pushing but that didn't get her far. Pulling the side-handle worked but slowly. Every time she heaved the box would lift and she could pull it a few inches before it would drop again. The other mini-friends had their faces pressed against the glass, watching. Then came the time to actually bring the box back up. Lea wasn't at all surprised when Rachel couldn't do it. As hard as she tried the box was too heavy to lift more than a foot before losing strength.

"Hey, Bryan, your turn."

"Me!?"

"Yes, you. You should be ab-."

But Bryan didn't need to hear anything else. He leapt into the air and flew to the top of the glass. He also needed no encouragement to hold his nose and jump in. The mermaid magic worked just as well for him too. And it was no surprise when he too took several laps of delight around the tank instead of going to help his sister. Only he thought it was funny to chase the penguins. Not saying it wasn't amusing. However a penguin is a good sport for only so long before it's had enough. Then the tables turn in a big way. Bryan was only just able to keep the lead against the crankiest penguin. Rachel stayed curled up at the bottom with the box. Why invite trouble when not necessary? Eventually Bryan got himself to where he could missile-launch himself out of the water. Of course he was also aiming at Lea, probably thinking he could save him from the mad penguin. Only Lea wasn't completely prepared for that so while he did catch Bryan he also got significantly wet.

"That' peyn-gin's mean!"

"Then you shouldn't have been chasing it! Now get back in there and help your sister!"

Lea very unceremoniously tossed Bryan back into the water. Very, very quickly Bryan dove to the bottom before the nasty penguin realized he was back. But two fins were better than one and the final box was brought up easily. Once the box was out Lea hauled out the mini Masters. He gave up on being careful not to get wet himself. Good thing too. Bryan was still so stoked over the whole thing he took to the air again and showered everyone from the drip off his clothes. Naturally Rachel saw what her brother was doing and did it too. Sora, Riku and Kairi thought it was fun to get rained on.

"Okay, all of you, let's go." Lea put the smaller box inside of the last one. "We got what we came for so come on."

"Do we hafta walk?" Bryan asked.

"No. Just don't go too high or get to far ahead. And Riku, stop tugging at my clothes. What do you want?"

Little Riku clambered up to the top of the concrete platform Lea had created. Once up he stood there with his arms held up.

"I found it! And you said!"

"You're right. I did. C'mon."

Lea backed up to the platform and reached his free arm over his shoulder. Riku grabbed ahold and Lea hoisted him up to his back where Riku clung on like a koala.

The parade back to the obelisk began immediately after. Sora and Kairi kept jumping in the air, trying to fly like Rachel and Bryan. Rachel tried taking Kairi by the hand and lifting her up. That didn't work too well until Bryan helped her out. Even with two of them lifting from each wrist Kairi only came off the ground a few inches. But that was fine for her. Especially when they came to a long flight of stairs leading down to the main square. Three long platforms divided the flights. So Kairi held on tight and ran to the stairs. Once she reached them, she jumped and Rachel and Bryan zoomed forward, skipping the stairs completely. Kairi took more running steps once on the platform then the three repeated the process until they reached the bottom. It wasn't that surprising that Kairi was a squealing, shrieking mess of joy. Neither was it a surprise that Sora wanted to do it too. So Lea stood in the center of the stairs, took Sora by the wrist from the top step and swung him to the platform below. Not quite flying but it did the job.

"Okay, everybody, to the obelisk."

"Was an obbyisk?"

"The tall pointy thing."

"Okay!"

Riku was fine with being the only one not trying to be first to reach the obelisk. He wasn't going to cut short his well-earned piggyback for nothing. The other four were circled around the obelisk and trying to read the plaques attached to it. Of course none of them could read but they tried 'reading' by guessing the word based on the engraved image.

"Was that say?" Sora asked, pointing to a plaque he couldn't quite reach.

"Is say, crocky-dils." Bryan reported.

The plaque actually said Reptile House but it had a picture of an alligator under it so in his mind he was smart and correct.

"C'mon, Riku, time to get down." Lea stopped just outside of the ring of red bricks.

"No!"

"I think you're going to want to."

"No!"

"Suit yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you."

As soon as the last of the group crossed the brick line with the completed objective the magic came to a halt. The boxes were gone. The zoo vanished. They were all back in a basic starting room for mini quests and they could finish the day however they wanted. The age spell reversed.

"Whoa…my equilibrium just went…whoa." Bryan said. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"This is…eck, this is how it was last time too." Kairi told him.

Fortunately for Riku everyone else was turned the other way when he discovered where he was. Spatially their location remained the same even though the spell ended.

"Comfortable?" Lea asked just loud enough for him to hear.

A germaphobe couldn't have jumped away from a leper faster than Riku removed himself from Lea's personal space. He composed himself quickly before anyone else had a chance to see what had happened. It was very obvious how hard he tried not to look at Lea, much to Lea's amusement. Riku's posture however also very obviously said 'if you value life you will say nothing'.

Lea was okay with such an arrangement. Besides, it's the things you don't talk about right when they happen that make good blackmail material later.