DyingofFeels: We actually don't get to see Kairi's initial reaction to Zeph in this story :( But I am definitely now putting that on my list for a oneshot! You're right, I bet it would be funny.

Hcbnc: Yes, Zeph is Sora's doppelganger, so the only real difference between them is their hairstyles. See the above review reply for the answer to Kairi's reaction.

Coolmegan123: I'm glad you liked it so much! Yeah, anger is kinda getting the best of her a lot these days. Side effect of the darkness. Thank you for the awesome review!

Enamis09: Yep, I agree with your synopsis. Xemnas is a jerk, Kaj is an idiot, and Zeph is a dork. I'm glad you love Zeph! And I'm glad that I was able to make your day a little better.

A/N: This was a fun chapter to write, and I think (hope!) you guys will enjoy it! For once it's mostly fun (and a tiny bit of good old fashioned whump) with very little angst! Also, it's nice and long.

After a restless night spent at the mansion, I made a quick trip into town to stock up on some potions at the Moogle Shop. If I really wasn't going to be able to use Cure anymore, I was going to need them. I threw a few ethers in the mix, too, grateful for magical pockets that held much more than they looked like they would.

There was a new restaurant right in the corner of the town square, I noticed, and the smells wafting from it were heavenly. A line of patrons was already spilling out the door and onto the patio, however. Apparently everyone in town wanted to try it. I didn't have time for that this morning, so I opted instead to hop over to Agrabah for a cup of my favorite coffee to go, and a slice of warm baklava with it. Then, finding a hidden, empty corner of the marketplace, I re-entered the In Between.

I had woken that morning with a strong desire pulling at me, a desperate need to prove Xemnas and the obnoxious white-haired teenager wrong about my friend's views of me. It was probably actually as much a need to prove myself wrong about my own doubts as anything, but I wasn't admitting that to myself just yet. That, coupled with renewed loneliness after my time with Kaj and Zephyr had been cut abruptly short, had driven me to deciding I would track down Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Why not Grim?

I frowned as the thought poked its way into my consciousness. Because he's got special new clothes that keep me from finding him, I replied to myself sarcastically.

You've got stronger powers of darkness now. Remember how easy it was to find Kaj? Maybe you could find Grim, too. You'll never know if you don't try.

I shook my head with a huff. That's ridiculous, was my eloquent response. I didn't want to actually stop and think about why I was choosing to go see Sora instead of Riku. Reaching out my hand, I let my heart fly over its connection to Sora to his location, which was, I had to admit, amazingly easy this time. The place where I found him felt familiar. As the corridor opened, it clicked in my mind, and a wry smile spread across my face.

"Yo ho ho."

Stepping through the corridor, I was immediately assaulted not by balmy breezes and the smell of the sea, but grey skies and pouring rain. My clothes and hair were soaked in an instant. Wincing, I wiped away some of the water from my eyes, but more just ran down into them.

"Look! It's Mel!" Goofy called out, pointing.

Sora looked over from where he was busy steering the ship through the storm, and a smile lit up his face. "Mel!" Galloping across the deck, he threw his arms around me, and I gave a startled grunt. "You're here! We missed you!"

"You...you did?"

Stepping back, he planted his fists on his hips and grinned again. "Well, of course! We talk about you all the time while we're traveling...all the things you would have liked to see, how much easier certain fights would have been with your help...we had a lot of fun having you with us for most of last time!"

I couldn't help but smile back at him, my heart warm despite the chill of the rain. "I, uh...thanks. I'm glad I'm here." Regathering my thoughts, I glanced around to take in the scene. "So...what'd I miss?"

Sora put a hand to his chin. "Hmm...well...Organization XIII is here. A guy named Luxord."

"He's lookin' for a box!" Goofy chimed in.

"He thinks it's something that the Organization wants," Sora explained.

"But it really just has the heart of the mean ol' squid face guy in it!" Donald declared.

"Yeah. So that guy's trying to protect the box, but Jack wants it, too."

"Of course he does." Seemed like Jack always wanted something that didn't belong to him.

"Oh, and also there's a bunch of navy ships waiting to try to destroy all of the pirates. They're over...there...somewhere..." Sora pointed out to sea, then turned and pointed the other direction. "I don't really know where. I'm getting kinda dizzy going 'round and 'round this whirlpool."

"And we just finished rescuing The Black Pearl from a big ol' oct-y-pus," Goofy offered.

"Sounds...complicated." I shrugged, and squinted off through the deluge at the other ship that was across from us. "So what's next?"

"Uh uh uh!" Donald exclaimed, waddling up to me. "You missed one more thing. A wardrobe change!"

I glanced down at him, then back up at Sora and Goofy, just now realizing that they were all dressed like pirates. "Oh. Yeah. What's up with that? We didn't transform the last time we were here."

"Don't ask questions, just hold still!" The duck waved his staff at me, there was a flash of light, and for a split second I had on dry clothes again before they were sopping, too.

I looked down to take it in. Loose-fitting grey pants were tucked into knee-high black boots with folded down tops. The white top had long, billowy sleeves that buttoned at the wrist, and a black corset with gold accents laced up the front over that. Reaching up, I could feel a bandanna tying my hair back.

"What do you think?" Sora asked.

I crossed my arms and eyed Donald. "A corset? Really?"

He stuck his beak up in the air. "Hey, I don't personally design the entire outfit in my head! I just say, 'female pirate', and there you go! You're lucky my magic's so good and gives you a decent looking disguise."

I rolled my eyes, but he was probably right. I was lucky that I hadn't ended up in some cleavage-baring mini dress or something.

"Okay, now we need to get over to The Dutchman and help Jack." Sora gestured to the other ship.

"I can make us a corridor," I suggested, raising my hand.

"Alright, let's go get ol' squid face!"

We landed on the upper deck of The Dutchman with a thud of boots. Jack Sparrow, the clever but rum-addicted captain whom we had traveled with before, was down below with a small chest in his hand, turning and running away from a man who looked suspiciously like he did actually have a squid on his face. Huh. Guess they weren't kidding about that part.

"We're here!" Sora cried, and we all four jumped over the railing to land in between the two men, summoning our weapons as we landed. I fought to keep a smile off of my face. It really was good to be working with a team again.

"Tables have turned, mate," Jack said from behind us.

Squid Face sneered. "Hardly. Just a few more maggots to join my crew!"

With that, the fight was on. It only took me a minute to get back into the rhythm of fighting with these guys, alternating with Sora between up close combat and falling back for magic, while Goofy bombarded with his shield from the opposite side, and Donald hovered in the back casting spells. Even Jack got in on the fight on occasion, though I suspected he was spending a good bit of time hiding, as well.

The guy was tough, and had an annoying habit of sinking down into the deck only to pop up again on the far end of it. I was beginning to feel like we were spending half of the fight just running back and forth to catch up to him. But with all four of us working together, we were getting in plenty of hits, and taking minimal damage ourselves.

Then, without warning, something huge came shooting up into the air all around the ship before crashing down onto the deck. I just barely managed to keep my balance as the vessel shook from the impact. Looking around wildly, I gasped as I realized what these things attacking us were. Octopus legs. This must be what Goofy said they had saved The Black Pearl from. If just the ends of the tentacles were this long...I didn't even want to imagine how big the whole creature was.

We were off our game now, separated from one another. I could barely see Sora behind the leg that was in front of me, and Donald and Goofy were hacking at another even further away. I had no idea where Squid Face and Jack even were.

Something hit my legs hard from behind, and I landed on my back with a grunt of pain. The tentacle that had knocked me down came sliding back toward me, and I scrambled backwards and to my feet, trying not to slip on the wet surface. "Okay, Mr. Octopus. Take this!"

I sliced into the slimy leg as many times in a row as I could manage before it got angry and slammed into me again, sending me flying into the railing. Groaning, I shook the wooziness from my head. "You're gonna regret that," I growled. Thrusting my hand forward, I blasted the evil thing with darkness until it retreated, shuddering, over the edge of the ship and back into the water.

The boys had gotten rid of a few more tentacles, and we regrouped to take out the last one quickly. Then, what do you know, Squid Face showed back up, and of course he was on the opposite end of the deck. Sora was limping slightly as we ran, and I called his name to get his attention, tossing him a potion out of my pocket. He smiled his thanks, and drained the vial just as I finished my own.

A bit more tired now, but still determined, we fell easily back into the fight with Squid Face. Sora had picked up some new tricks and handy gadgets along this journey, I noticed. For one, his Keyblade could somehow transform into these mechanical claws that dealt a ton of damage. He and Donald had also learned some joint magic spells, and he and Goofy would periodically launch into some crazy, high-flying acrobatic tricks.

"Doesn't that hurt?" I asked Goofy after watching Sora hurl him down on top of Squid Face.

"Nah. I got a hard head, a-hyuck." He grinned at me. "You wanna try?"

I laughed. "No thanks." Just then, Squid Face sank into the floor again and reappeared on the upper deck. I sighed heavily, then quirked an eyebrow at Goofy. "But I'll let you toss me up there."

He bent down with his shield over his head. "Whenever you're ready!"

Backing up, I got a running start and leapt onto his shield. As soon as my feet were firmly planted, Goofy straightened to his full height and thrust out his arms, sending me high up into the air. I wasn't entirely sure whether to cackle with glee or flail in fear, but shoved both emotions aside to focus on blasting Squid Face with Dark Firaga a few times from above before hitting the deck and rolling to a stop.

The other three were running up the stairs as I got back to my feet and readied to attack again. "Nice one, Mel!" Sora called.

"Thanks! Learned it from the best!"

"Who, me?" he returned with mock humility.

"No, Goofy," I teased, sticking out my tongue.

It seemed like this battle had been dragging on for a long time. Surely this guy is almost finished now...right? I knew I was getting pretty worn out, and I wasn't taking nearly as many hits as he was. Just as the thought finished crossing my mind, tentacles came exploding out of the water and wrapped around the ship.

"Not again!" I groaned. Jumping down to the lower deck, I chopped at the nearest leg with vigor that came more from wanting this to be over than anything else. I didn't even feel the second tentacle snaking around my ankle until it yanked my feet out from under me, and I was sliding backwards on my stomach at a dizzying speed.

I screamed, eyes wide with terror, my fingers fumbling desperately for purchase on the wet wood but only coming away raw and bleeding. Then I was being lifted up, dangling upside down by one foot high above the ship. I screamed again, but the boys were far below me and too caught up in their own battles to come to my rescue.

Summoning the Keyblade I had dropped back to my hand, I clenched my abs and curled up toward the tentacle, heaving the weapon as hard as I could from that awkward angle to slam into the evil creature. Thankfully one blow was all it took. It released its hold on me, but then I was hurtling head-first toward the deck of the ship. I would have screamed a third time if the air rushing past my face hadn't completely taken my breath away.

The good news was, I didn't smash like a bug onto the deck. The bad news was, I was caught by yet another tentacle, this one managing to wrap all the way around my torso and arms so that only my legs were left kicking wildly. I could feel the slime and stickiness all the way through my shirt.

"Let me go, you disgusting beast!" At least I wasn't the only one being bested by an octopus leg. Sora seemed to have escaped for now and was putting the beat down on Squid Face, but Donald and Goofy were being tossed around pretty harshly by the giant creature.

I felt myself being swung out closer to the open ocean, and I panicked. It's going to eat me! I struggled, but the grip was too tight, and I couldn't even use my Keyblade from this position. Okay, Meli, think. Time to go Dark Mode. Squeezing my eyes shut, I focused all the fear and anger at the stupid octopus into a tight ball in my center, then let it erupt out of me with a roar.

The darkness that came off of me was so potent that the tentacle was completely obliterated. Apparently all of that emotional fuel I had been shoveling down into it lately had paid off in even more power, and I was automatically enamored. I used my hands to create a cloud of darkness beneath me, slowing my fall, then looked around at the remaining tentacles greedily.

"Take that! And that!" Each burst of darkness sent a thrill through my very core, and I found myself gasping from the intoxication of it. I am never ever letting go of this.

All too soon the creature had retreated in agony, and Sora and Jack sent Squid Face stumbling backwards in what looked to possibly be a final blow at about the same time. As much as I had wanted this fight to be over a few minutes before, I was now disappointed that I had nothing left to blast. The darkness was still pounding through my bloodstream like adrenaline.

"Care to surrender?" Jack stepped forward, sword still at the ready.

Squid Face merely growled, then lunged at the pirate again. "The chest. Hand it over!"

"Jack!" Sora ran toward them, eager to help.

"Stay out of this, boy!" Squid Face sneered, his sword locked with Jack's. On cue, two more tentacles crashed onto the deck, surrounding the four of us in almost a circle.

I grinned maniacally. Oh, yes. "Hold on, I've got this." Taking a wide stance in the center, I threw both arms out to the side and let the darkness loose. The tentacles jolted, writhed, then slid quickly away into the sea.

Dusting my hands off smugly, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Jack and Squid Face had somehow made their way up onto the rigging of the ship, locked in combat while Jack still held the chest fast in one hand. "Huh. That's a...weird place for a sword fight."

"Uh, Mel?"

I turned my attention back to Sora, and found him staring at me in some mixture of confusion and concern. "Yeah?"

"Are you...ya know, okay?"

I had an inkling of what he might be referring to, but chose to ignore the thought in the hope that maybe he'd drop the subject. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Tilting his head to the side, he scratched at his temple nervously. "That was, well...it was just..."

"That was a lot of darkness," Goofy finished for him.

Sora's mouth set in a firm line. "Yeah. It was a lot. Not just–" waving his hands, he indicated where the two tentacles had just been –"that, but–" he pointed up in the air, presumably at the invisible legs that I had taken out earlier –"that, and–" he gestured toward my Dark Mode outfit –"that."

I crossed my arms, automatically irritated. "I use darkness sometimes. You know that." You said you were okay with that, a long time ago. Why does now have to be different? I should have known that this conversation was going to have to happen at some point, but had secretly hoped that they'd just take the change in stride and let me be.

"Not that much," Donald put in.

"And the outfit...it looks an awful lot like the one Riku was wearing when Ansem had taken him over." Sora cut his eyes off to the side, unable to look me in the face.

Snorting a laugh, I shook my head. "Well, I can promise you that no one is possessing me. I'm the same me I've always been, just...using a bit more darkness these days." I threw my hands up. "It sure worked, didn't it?"

"Are you an idiot?" Donald exploded, jumping up and down. "Don't you know what that can lead to? You may not be possessed yet, but something bad is sure gonna happen if you keep it up!"

I rolled my eyes and paced away. "Nothing has happened so far!" Other than not being able to Cure myself anymore. "This has been going on for days now, and I'm perfectly fine! In fact, I feel better than I have in a very long time." Spinning back around, I glared at Sora. "I don't need you three looking after me and telling me how I should be doing things."

He lifted his hands in surrender, looking guilty. "I'm not...I'm not trying to tell you what to do. We're just worried about you, Mel."

"Yeah, yeah, everybody's always worried about me. I'm sick of it! What's it gonna take for me to prove that I can take care of myself?"

"Gawrsh, Mel, we know you can take care of yourself." Goofy scratched the top of his head, a sad smile on his face. "But every once in a while, we all need friends to help us along. You've said that before yourself."

I crossed my arms again, tightly, dropping my gaze to the deck and my voice to a mutter. "Yeah, well, I did need friends." Have for quite a while now, but no one has seemed to notice. "That's why I came to find you guys. But I should have known you would treat me like this."

Sora sighed heavily. "We just wanna keep you from getting hurt." He paused, seeming to consider his next words. "We want you to be here with us, you know we do. But...will you at least try to not use so much darkness from now on? You're a great fighter without it, and I don't want it causing problems for you."

"Oh, great, so I can stay, but I have to pretend to be something I'm not the whole time?" I sneered. "No thanks." Glancing up at the two pirates still balancing above us, I shook my head. "Good luck with the rest of this mess. Tell Will and Elizabeth I said hi."

"Mel, wait!"

Ignoring the chorus of calls, I stepped back into the never-ending nothingness of the In Between.

A/N: Donald = every one of my readers ("are you an idiot?")

On an unrelated note, I want baklava now.

Also, I haven't done any art for Meli's pirate outfit, but if anyone wants to go for it, please share!