Chapter Twenty Four: Fa Family Supper

A/N: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Mulan. Respectively, they are owned by Square Eniz and Disney, and Walt Disney Animated Studios. I do not profit off of this work.

The Emperor had seen much in his time. He had seen the sun rise on the Eastern Sea. He had seen late snowfall blanket the ground, covering the flowers in his royal garden, killing most of them—though the ones that hadn't sprouted yet ended up being the most beautiful that year. He had seen a brown bear share its kill with a wolf. And some time ago, he had seen a boy with a Keyblade fight and destroy an enormous Heartless, which had once been one of his land's beloved dragons.

But one thing he had not done, to his own shame, was spend much time among the people themselves. He was the Emperor of China, but it had been years since he had left the capital. While this was hardly without precedent, it plagued his conscience—as Emperor of China, the people of the towns and villages, they were more than just his people. They were his family. He had no children of his own and his wife had passed on from an illness many years ago. His most constant companion was Chi Fu.

And as Fa Zhou reverently led the Emperor and Chi Fu into the chamber where they would be staying, it struck him just how large the room was. And well-kept.

"The most comfortable room assuredly, my Emperor," Fa Zhou said, his head bowed in deep respect. "If there is anything you need, I would be honored to provide it."

"Thank you, Fa Zhou."

The old soldier prostrated himself to the Emperor and Chi Fu, before rising and leaving the chamber. Fa Zhou grunted weakly—the Emperor recalled Fa Mulan telling him that Fa Zhou had been badly injured, many years before, and that the injury never fully healed. As he walked down the hallway, the Emperor could hear the heavy footsteps from Fa Zhou's limp fade away slowly and the *clunk* of his cane hitting the wood floor.

"Humph," Chi Fu scoffed. "This is the best they can provide for us? Hardly suitable to a man of my caliber, to say nothing of you, your Majesty."

The Emperor looked around the chamber again. It was fairly large, though sparsely decorated. There was a single bed, low to the ground. A wardrobe in the corner appeared to house old armor. It would take the Emperor less than a minute to walk from along the perimeter of this room.

It took him less time to realize that this was Fa Zhou's own bedchamber. Such a willing sacrifice on such short notice touched the Emperor's heart. And Chi Fu's own tactlessness caused his brows to furrow.

"That is enough, Chi Fu."

"But your Majesty," Chi Fu protested. "You are the Emperor, a divinity among mortals. To provide you with such meager accommodations is sacrilege!"

"Chi Fu," The Emperor said, his voice hardening. "You will show the utmost respect to the Fa family while we are here. They are showing great hospitality and placed themselves in danger."

"You said yourself that because of that wretch's behavior against the Huns, her family would have already been targeted."

"Fa Mulan is not a wretch!" The Emperor snapped, his eyebrows furrowing even deeper, to the point where it was difficult for him to even see Chi Fu. "You will show humility to her, and to the other soldiers going forward!"

Chi Fu bowed his head in deference to the Emperor. Whether or not he was truly remorseful, and whether he would actually begin to treat Fa Mulan and the other soldiers with due respect, remained to be seen.

"Your Majesty, are you certain that you are safe here? You trust that…child who reported Shan Yu's revival? She wears the robe of that…Organization. One of them put you into great peril not long ago."

"And another who wore their robe, despite his rudeness, risked his life to warn me of the machinations of the Organization. We will have to trust them, Chi Fu. And now for a more pressing matter, we must help attend to the preparations for the evening meal."

"I beg your pardon?" Chi Fu sputtered. "You, your Majesty? Subject yourself to cooking?"

"I will not be a rude guest," The Emperor said simply. "I will earn my keep for this family. And you shall as well."

oooo

"That's the last of the supplies," Xion said as she and Roxas set the last chest from the wagon down. "Is there anything else we can do to help, sir?"

"Thank you, children," Captain Li said. "I do believe that everything is order."

"Right…" Xion said, her eyes lingering on the 'cannons.' They didn't look like any cannons she had seen before—there were a few on the ramparts of Radiant Garden's bailey—large and heavy and with long barrels for the cannonball to go through.. And the weapons on some of the Gummi Ships she had seen were similar, once you got used to the funny shapes and colors. The weapons she and Roxas had helped stack were much smaller than those, tubes with dragon heads on one end.

Still a weapon was a weapon, and if these were 'cannons,' then that meant they probably were for long distance fighting. Xion paused a moment—unless she counted her magic, she didn't really do much long distance fighting. But it could come in handy later. She glanced at her hand…she'd replicated the mordite sword without really meaning to. And Goofy's shield…she had only held that as long as she had because holding it had been like holding Goofy's hand; replicating it hadn't really been a goal, but it wasn't something she was surprised by.

But the cannons…could she replicate a cannon? That might be a good idea, since they seemed to be the kind of weapons you could only use one time. Being able to get an extra could come in handy.

Xion placed a hand on one of the cannons as best she could without drawing attention to herself. She felt the now-familiar fuzzy feeling of her body recognizing a new weapon to summon. She wasn't sure when, if ever, she may need to use one of these cannons, but you never knew.

"Now that we have the cart unloaded," Chien Po said, "if it pleases you, Captain, I suggest that I might help Fa Li with tonight's meal. And ensure there is plenty for all our us."

"Very well, Chien Po, if Fa Li agrees to your request, then I feel that would be a most appropriate use of your time," Captain Li gave a brief nod and Chien Po scurried off towards the Fa's house. Xion bit back a grin. Chien Po was much faster than she would have guessed.

"Now as your friends have agreed to take the first turn on guard," Captain Li continued. turning his attention to Roxas and Xion, "I suggest you find some ways to assist the Fa family."

"Yes sir," Roxas and Xion said at the same time. Captain Li nodded at them and then went to take care of his horse, Koi. Behind him, Xion could see Yao chopping some firewood. Mulan was tending to her horse, Kahn.

"So…now what do we do?"

"I'm not sure," Roxas said, rubbing the back of his head. "The grounds here are…well-maintained."

That was certainly true. Xion looked from one end of the grounds to the other. Everything was taken care of—the bushes, the stables where the horses were being kept, the chicken coop, the blooming trees. In the distance, far from the rest of the house or stables, Xion could see a small building set up on a hill. Curiously, though it was set away from the rest of the buildings, it seemed the best maintained, though Xion couldn't see the inside of it.

"Bar-rar-bar-rar-rar-bar-rar!"

Xion blinked in surprise but she couldn't help smiling. A small dog came bounding up to them, barking his head off. He was so…cute! Small and bark-y and he had ears that stood up and a stubby little tail and short little legs. Xion giggled—Mulan hadn't mentioned having a dog.

"Ah! Little Brother, come back!"

Mulan was running towards them now, looking somewhat frantic. Xion knelt down and the dog bounded up to her, tripped over his own little legs, and then got back up. He put a paw on her knee and began to lick her face.

"Nice doggy!" Xion giggled. She pulled off her glove so she could scratch the dog behind the ears.

"I see you've met Little Brother. I was right, he does like you!"

Little Brother?

"Wait a second," Xion said. "You said that…"

"I said that Little Brother was too little to train with a sword," Mulan said with a smile. "And he is. Aren't you, smart boy?"

Little Brother tilted his head back so Mulan could scratch him under the chin. Xion smiled—Mulan looked so happy with her dog.

"Er, Mulan," Roxas said. "Captain Li asked if there were anything we could do to help. And…well, we weren't sure what needed to be done."

"Oh," Mulan paused. "Actually, I think it would be a big help if you could herd the rest of the chickens into their coop. And help me gather the eggs too, for tonight's supper."

Xion grinned as a chicken wandered by, pecking at a few bits of wheat. This was definitely something she could help with. How difficult could gathering chickens be?

xxxx

Gathering chickens was not easy. Not one bit. The chickens weren't very strong, but they were very wiggly and whenever you grabbed one, another ran away. And they ran all zig-zaggy, every which way. At least most Heartless ran *towards* her when she was fighting them. And Little Brother was running and barking everywhere and scattering the chickens all over the place.

"Little Brother!" Mulan scolded, as she struggled with a rooster, "Lie down!"

"Rar-bar-bar-bar—zzzzz!"

Xion couldn't help but giggle—Little Brother had fallen asleep on command, and he was snoring. It was…cute.

"He's not much of a guard dog, I take it," Roxas said, as he herded two chickens into the pens.

"No…he isn't," Mulan said. "We intended him to guard our chickens and the estate as a whole…but he didn't really meet our expectations."

"He's kind of like you, then," Xion said. "You broke all sorts of expectations to become a hero."

"Well-played," Mulan said. "I suppose that's how it works more often than not. And it's for the better, I think. Had I stayed here, and kept to what was expected of me, my father would have gone to war."

Xion had only met Fa Zhou briefly, as he had led the Emperor and Chi Fu to a room for them to stay in. But she had noticed he walked with a cane. He looked too old to have to go to war. Sure, people like Master Yen Sid were older, but Master Yen Sid was a powerful wizard. Fa Zhou didn't have magic powers…or at least she didn't think he used magic. And with the cane…he would have almost certainly have died. Xion's throat caught, and she forced herself not to think about that.

"You wouldn't have met Sora, then. Or Donald and Goofy," Roxas said. His voice was quiet. "And if you hadn't been there to fight Shan Yu, who knows what might have happened."

"Fair point," Mulan said. She placed another egg from a chicken nest into a basket. "I think that's it for the eggs. And I think there's…only two more chickens left to fetch. Now, where'd they go?"

"There!" Xion said, pointing. "They're over by that little building on the hill."

"The altar?" Mulan said. "Oh yes, of course. Where my ancestors lie."

"Pardon?"

"Does your village do things differently?" Mulan asked as they walked over to the building. As they got closer, Xion could see shiny black slabs in the building. One chicken was pecking at a worm at one end, and Mulan scooped it up without a word.

"Er, I'm not sure, exactly."

"Xion, you said you saw Shan Yu return from the dead, right?" Mulan asked.

"We both did," Roxas said. "And that's supposed to be strange, here, right?"

"Yes. When someone dies, their soul separates into two pieces. One piece, the hun, ascends to Heaven and the other piece, the po, remains at the altar. Those slabs are the tombstones of my ancestors, and that is where their po reside."

That sounded very, very different from what Xion had seen in Olympus, but she said nothing. The last chicken was inside the altar, and Xion scurried inside to fetch it. As she grabbed the chicken as gently as she could, she saw several statues lining the walls. There was a monkey, a rabbit, a bull, a goat, something she couldn't identify and finally a small, skinny dragon. That was somehow…familiar.

"Xion! The chicken!"

"Oh, right! Sorry," Xion apologized as she stepped out of the altar. "The statue of the dragon…it was familiar."

"Heh," Mulan gave a soft laugh. "I'm not surprised. That'd be Mushu."

"Wait, what?" Roxas asked and Xion was certain the surprised expression on his face matched her own. "Mushu's a dragon?!"

"Sora didn't mention it?" Mulan asked mildly. She bit her lip, as if trying to hide her laughter.

"We didn't…get the chance to talk to him about it," Xion said quietly. Really…when she thought about it, there were many, many things that she didn't get a chance to talk to Sora about. The only real conversation they had ever had was when she had told him that she could feel that Kairi had been alright.

I should have gone with him. I should have told him to rest, and found Kairi myself. But I didn't…because I'm selfish…

"Tell you what, come with me after supper, and I'll see if I can get Mushu to talk to you," Mulan offered. "I think he'd like hearing from a couple friends of Sora's. Now that we've got all the chickens, and the eggs, we can help my mother and Chien Po prepare supper."

oooo

It wasn't just Chien Po who was helping Mulan's mother prepare the evening meal. Roxas was surprised to see the Emperor chopping vegetables with Mulan's grandmother.

"Cucumbers and soybeans," Mulan's grandmother was saying as they walked in. "They may not be fancy, but they get the job done."

"I've always found them to be a most delectable option in a meal," The Emperor said. "And I most enjoy being able to help."

"We have the eggs," Mulan said. "Roxas and Xion helped gather them, and we were able to take care of the chickens as well. The coop is strong enough to keep out the foxes, so we won't have to worry about that either."

"Excellent," Chien Po said, from the corner, where he worked at the stove. "And with the rice and tofu, we'll have quite a lovely supper. Far better than the millet we had in the valley. And everyone is going to get helpings."

"Thank you, Chien Po."

Preparation for supper took a while longer, but the resulting stew smelled wonderful. Roxas didn't realize just how hungry he was. And Mulan and Xion looked close to starving. The memory from the previous evening—of Chi Fu deliberately pouring the pot of millet into the fire so that Xion and Mulan would have to go hungry—flashed through his mind.

"Alright then, everyone tuck in and I get the others," Mulan's grandmother said. She poked her head out the door and shouted out, "Oy! Dinner's on the table, get it while it's hot, or it's going to the dog!"

Roxas heard a series of assorted yelps from the soldiers, and Axel and Isa, and barking from Little Brother as they rushed into the room.

"Most amusing, ma'am," The Emperor said with a small smile. "I am certain that this will be quite a meal."

With everyone pressed into the room together, there wasn't a lot of elbow room. Roxas didn't mind though—he got to sit next to Xion. She smiled brightly at him when Chien Po poured stew into small wooden bowls for them, and then pulled out a large bowl of rice for everyone to share.

"Aaah, a most excellent meal, given the circumstances," Chi Fu said. "Soldier, your services continue to meet satisfaction."

"Well, now that we have a moment's peace," The Emperor said. "Why don't we all tell us a little bit more about ourselves? Now, I understand that the four of you all reside in the same village?"

Oh…this was going to be difficult. Talking to Mulan about Sora was one thing, but Roxas wasn't sure elaborating much further would be a good idea. But then again, if they were too vague, the Emperor might grow suspicious of them, and that could put his life in danger.

"That would be correct," Isa said. "While our community is not quite as communal or familial-centric as yours, we do maintain a comfortable lifestyle between the four of us."

"And what is it you do for a living? Forgive my impudence, but while you are all clearly disciplined, none of you have the organization of professional soldiers."

"I work with some other boys doing odd jobs around town. Moving heavy boxes, clearing woodlots…that sort of thing," Roxas said.

"Well…I do have a job in town too," Xion said. "We have a saleswoman who sells...desserts, and I assist her."

Nice work, Xion. Roxas had noticed that since this world didn't appear to have electricity, they probably didn't have ice cream. Or at least not ice cream shops. But pretty much everywhere had dessert.

"And I'm certain that you do a most excellent job," Chi Fu said. Roxas frowned. That certainly didn't sound like a compliment.

"I'm sorry, but have I said something wrong?" Xion asked. Unlike…every other time she'd said she was sorry over the last week or so, Roxas couldn't help but think that Xion sounded more bewildered than remorseful, even if she kept her tone level. He could see the tension in her shoulders. "If I have offended you, Chi Fu, I apologize."

"Hmmph, if that's what you call an apology, it leads much to be desired."

"Please, sir," Xion said, her voice catching. "I want to help everyone as best as I can. If I've done wrong…"

"Well, it's not anything *you've* done," Chi Fu said. "I can't imagine you would know better, if what you describe is typical of your village. I mean you no disrespect, but—"

"I beg your pardon, and with due respect," Isa said, before Roxas or Xion could say anything, "In my experience, those who say they mean no disrespect only to immediately follow with a contradiction tend to mean great disrespect."

"I must agree that a change in discourse would be most appropriate," The Emperor said. "Chi Fu, that's quite enough."

"Please, Isa, your Majesty," Xion said. "I appreciate your concern, but I think I would like to hear what Chi Fu has to say. I find that…keeping secrets, even if they're just secrets of opinions, tends to prevent missions from being able to be completed properly. Sir?"

Roxas paused. He felt his insides begin to twist. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what Chi Fu actually thought of all this.

"Very well," Chi Fu said. "I do not think it is appropriate for a girl to be a warrior."

"You just haven't seen her in action. Sure, she's a pipsqueak, but she's a lot stronger than she looks," Axel said. "And we have a tradition in our village—if you have a problem with someone, then don't beat around the bush. Say what's really bothering you."

"Well, if we're being honest," Chi Fu said, "Know that if I had my way, women would not fight."

Mulan was sitting exactly across from Roxas

"I'd love a world where women didn't have to fight. Or where men didn't have to fight either," Xion said. "But that's not the world we live in, sir."

"I should make my meaning plainer then. It is my view that the ideal is if a woman were to hold the weapons of a man, it would mean its execution."

"She's not an it!"

Chi Fu ignored the outburst, which came from Roxas, Axel, Isa and Chien Poi, while Xion gave a small cry of outrage.

"Perhaps not," Chi Fu said. "But I must say that looking at this…child, I don't see there's anything that she could accomplish. She hasn't the mind for a merchant, nor the strength for a soldier. She knows nothing of holding her tongue. I doubt she'd even make a decent concubine."

xxxx

Roxas didn't know everything, but judging from how Mulan was leading them back to the altar, Chi Fu must have pressed all of her buttons at once. And Axel had nearly toppled the table over. And the Emperor was furious. Helping Mulan with gathering the chickens again, even though they'd already finished that, was as good an excuse as any to get out of there.

"I knew he was insulting me, er, us," Xion said, through gritted teeth. "I probably should have just let it go. What was it he called me, exactly?"

"Never mind," Mulan said. "Chi Fu has many opinions about what is the proper role for women. Needless to say, his views do not align with yours. Or with mine. Now, I said I would see if I could introduce you to Mushu. After that spectacle, I can't think of a better time to see an old friend."

Mulan stepped up to the altar and bowed before the shiny slabs. This was the first time that Roxas had gotten a proper look at them. They were…tombstones. Roxas couldn't read the writing on them—it didn't even look like letters really.

As Mulan raised her head, Roxas could see that she was frowning. Nothing appeared to have changed, so Roxas wondered what was wrong.

"I had hoped that would work," Mulan said. "I met Mushu for the first time because my ancestors sent him to help me. I thought if I asked them to send him again, he would awaken."

Bang!

"Ow!" Xion said, rubbing her head. "Sorry! I think I hit my head on the…what is that anyway, some sort of lamp?"

"Oh, yes, that's where we hang a—what on earth?"

The writings on the largest slab began to glow shiny white, and then it was almost blindingly bright, and a figure emerged from the lab. The figure was very large with a thick beard and holding a staff. He was chalky white and light blue. Okay, now this, Roxas could believe was a ghost.

"First Ancestor!" Mulan gasped, bowing deeply. "I did not think that you would awaken!"

"Oh, should we bow too?" Xion asked, crouching down next to Mulan. Roxas shrugged and knelt beside Xion. He could feel her trembling beside him and wanted to reach out a hand to comfort her, but he didn't think moving would be a very good idea at the moment.

"Arise, you are not of my bloodline," The figure—First Ancestor—spoke in a deep voice that seemed to echo, even though he hadn't shouted. "How is it that I have awoken?"

"I do not know, First Ancestor. I only sought your guidance to awaken the guardian Mushu."

"You wish to speak to Mushu? Guardians only awaken when the Fa family is in danger! It is not a matter of casual conversation!"

"Please, First Ancestor, the Fa family is in danger. Shan Yu and the other Huns are indeed alive and seek to destroy us and the Emperor!"

"Please," Roxas said. "Mushu was friends with Sora and—"

The statue of the dragon began to glow, and shimmering golden light encompassed it. And the next thing he knew, Roxas was staring at a living, breathing dragon. Not a Heartless, but an actual dragon.

"I LIVE!" The dragon shouted, so loudly that Roxas and Xion covered their ears. Roxas could see First Ancestor roll his eyes. The dragon was tiny but made up for his lack of size with a very big voice.

"That's right, I live, Honorable Ancestor! Who dares threaten our family? Let me tell you, vengeance will be mine!"

"Mushu!"

"You'd have thought the bad guys would have learned their lesson after the last time! Well, no matter! I, the might Mushu, shall destroy them, every last one!"

"Mushu!"

"As I helped Mulan so long ago, so too will I any and all Fa family members! Now tell me, who is it who needs my aid?"

"Mushu!" Mulan said firmly, picking him up. "It's only been a few months! I'm still alive!"

"You are? Mulan, oh, I missed you!" Mushu squirmed out of Mulan's hands. "Man, it feels like it was just yesterday that you kicked Shan Yu's butt!"

"Yes, Mushu, well we're going to have to do it again," Mulan said. "Shan Yu is alive…somehow."

"What?! How?!"

"An evil witch named Maleficent—"

"Wait, her too?! Awwww, maaaaan. Sora, Donald and Goofy were supposed to have kicked her butt already. I should have known better than to think those three knuckle-heads would have made anybody stay dead. Sora, Sora, Sora, you can't help but love him, but man, does he get into trouble."

Roxas felt a prickle of annoyance in his belly, but it went away almost as quickly. Mushu was complaining about Sora…but it was good-natured. Mushu really had been friends with Sora, hadn't he?

"And hey, who are you? More new friends! Well, get in line, 'cause Mushu is the Fa family guardian!"

"Mushu…you were really friends with Sora?"

"Well, of course I was, kid! I got that boy out of a whole mess of trouble that he got himself into! And did he ever once learn not to run into trouble, Keyblade swinging, not even pausing to think about the consequences, no he did not! Now what's it to you—"

"Well, this is Roxas and Xion," Mulan said. "And they knew Sora from—"

"Know them, no that's not it! Look at 'em Mulan! They have Sora's eyes! And the buddy-boy, he's got Sora's face. I have no idea where the hair comes from, but with your faces and your eyes…there's only one logical explanation. Sora and Kairi got married and you're their babies!"

"Er…"

That wasn't the truth. Far from it—Roxas had been brought into existence when Sora had released his heart to free Kairi's…So he had come from Sora and Kairi…and Xion was a Replica of Sora based off his most precious, powerful memories, and took on Kairi's appearance because the memories of Kairi were the ones which were the most precious to Sora…

But that wasn't the same as Sora and Kairi being married and them being his parents. C'mon, the idea was just ridiculous…it was, it was, it was, it was! If they ever got Sora back, Roxas would never, ever mention this misunderstanding to him, ever.

"Sora and Kairi got married! Sora and Kairi got married! Sora and Kairi got married! Hey, wait, why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

"Mushu! It's been less than a year! Sora and Kairi couldn't have gotten married!" Mulan said.

"Well, how would you know?" Mushu said. "Sora hasn't been around to tell us otherwise, has he? Or has he, and you didn't bring him over to visit!"

"Mushu!"

The little dragon hopped up to the platform he had stood on as a statue. In the process, he knocked over the same tray that Xion had bumped her head on. It clattered to the floor and then more of the slabs' writings began to glow. More of Mulan's ancestors emerged, most of them elderly men and women.

"You!" First Ancestor barked at Roxas. "Take Mushu for a walk, while the other ancestors and I discuss…things."

"Er…yes sir."

"That's right, Honorable Ancestor, I'll make sure Sora and Kairi's kids don't get into any trouble!"

xxxx

"So why didn't Sora come and visit? He gets married and then he doesn't have anymore time for his friends?"

They were standing a short distance away from the altar where Mulan knelt before all of her ancestors. Mushu had had to carry the little gong that had woken everyone up, and had gotten tired of walking after less than two minutes, suggesting (demanding) they stay in the shade of the blossom tree.

"We're not his children!" Xion protested as Roxas ran a hand through his hair. "And Sora and Kairi didn't get married! They just shared a paopu fruit!"

"Paopu fruit?! With Kairi?! And he beat Riku to it?" Mushu asked. "Oh that's even better! Sora's been wanting to do that for ages! And he beat Riku to it, haha!"

"How well did you know Sora, anyway?" Roxas said, checking over his shoulder. The lamps were still lit in Mulan's family's home, but he couldn't hear what was being said.

"Well enough," Mushu said. "Fact is, I saved his neck from Heartless a whole bunch of times. But I told you all that already, Rocko."

"It's Roxas."

"Right, right, right. Roxas," Mushu said. "Well, I probably know Sora better than just about anyone."

"Um…do you feel him?" Xion asked quietly. "Roxas and me…our connection to Sora is weaker here and we don't know why."

"Hmmm…" Mushu shrugged his little shoulders. It looked kind of silly on a dragon. "Couldn't tell ya. That kind of cosmic connections wasn't my speciality."

"Mushu…do you know how to wake up the dead?"

"Well sure," Mushu said, hopping up onto a large rock. "I used to ring the gong to wake up the ancestors. I could wake up anyone."

Xion glanced at Roxas and locked eyes with him. Among the many things they shared were their eyes. They had the same eyes as one another. The same blue eyes as…Sora. Roxas knew exactly what Xion was thinking. It was a long shot. The longest of long shots. But out of everything he had seen, was it really that outlandish?

"Could you, please, Mushu," Roxas whispered. "Could you call Sora back?"

"Back? Wait, what?!" Mushu blurted. "You mean…but Sora…he can't…he can't die!"

"He's not dead exactly…he's lost somewhere…and we haven't been able to find him," Xion whispered, her eyes shiny with tears. "Please, Mushu. If you can wake up the dead, maybe you can wake up Sora, and he can tell us where he is, and as soon as we get rid of Shan Yu, we could find him and bring him home."

"I'm…I'm not sure that would work," Mushu said. "My power's tied down to this world…but…if I have something of Sora's…anything of Sora's that can act as an anchor…maybe…"

"I…I'm not sure I have anything of his," Roxas groaned. It was a wild chance, the slimmest of all chances…and even Mushu wasn't sure that it would work. But…he had to know. He had to try…but if he didn't have anything to serve as an anchor…

"My necklace!" Xion gasped, yanking it off her neck. "This orb…it was Roxas's, but then Sora held onto it for ages!"

"That's right!" Roxas said. "That won't hurt the necklace will it?"

"Pbbft!" Mushu snorted. "Of course not, none of the Ancestors get hurt do they? Except for Fa Deng…but that wasn't my fault!"

Xion set her necklace down gently on a stone bench and Mushu held out his gong and began to bang it. Nothing happened at first, so Mushu began to bang the gong more loudly and more rapidly.

It happened slowly at first, and if Roxas hadn't been paying attention, he wasn't sure if he would have actually noticed. But a figure began to take form. Unlike the ancestors from the altar, who were shiny white and blue, this figure was more like an outline. The colors were there, but only just. The outline of a boy just a teeny bit older than Roxas looked. His hair was thicker and spikier, though Roxas could see through him. But the eyes…the same blue eyes that he and Xion shared…

I'm not the only one seeing this, right? Please, please, please let this be real.

"Sora?"

A/N: Another chapter completed my friends! I originally planned to have this chapter a bit longer but I think ending it here works out for the best.

Thank you for reading! Leave a comment if you're so inclined! I appreciate each and every one of you!