Hey guys co author Riku Kingdom Hearts here! We are finally back to posting this! I have yet to find where Hika went though... (don't worry she is okay just she hasn't been feeling the mood to post but we keep our running joke going).

Anyways let's get back to the story!

Chapter 16

Roxas moved forward as he walked through the hallway, it was quiet, aside from the humming of strange machines. Up ahead there were pods and two of them held Donald and Goofy, but that wasn't even all of them.

In the next rook over, there was the largest of the pods. But before he could get very close, DiZ showed up, making Roxas's blood boil. Even with consoling words from Ventus, he still couldn't deter his frustration.

DiZ wasn't even really there, with every slash, it only pixelated through the body.

"I hate you!" Roxas shouted in frustration.

DiZ only hummed. "You should share some of that hatred with Sora. He's far too nice for his own good."

"No! My heart belongs to me!" Roxas was practically screaming at this point.

He ran once more and tried to land a hit, but it was the same as all the prior attempts. Only this time, DiZ's image finally faded away, and the large capsule started to open.

'Roxas…' Ventus whispered softly.

"I… I don't," Roaxs huffed.

He could already feel the pull towards Sora, who floated sound asleep in the couple.

"Sora…" Roxas muttered.

'Are you okay?' Ventus asked, trying to figure out how to console Roxas.

"Don't know… but I guess not," Roxas said as his shoulders slumped. "Look at him… just sleeping there. He doesn't even know. He won't even know who I am. But he's lucky."

'Why's that?'

"My summer vacation… it's over," Roxas said before closing his eyes. "But not for him."

Roxas could practically feel his body fade, returning to Sora like it was supposed to. He no longer felt any anger in him, all of it worn out from before. All he felt now was a sense of tiredness and a bit of ease.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. You'll still be resting in Sora's heart. You're still you."

"Huh?" Roxas said.

Opening his eyes he found himself to be floating down within a darkened abyss, but right across from him was a mirror. A reflection of himself. Though after a few seconds he realized it wasn't a mirror, the clothes were different and maybe the hair was a shade lighter.

"V-Ventus?"

Ventus's eyes opened as well, blinking a few times for clarity. He looked around, seeming just as surprised as Roxas was. He then looked back and smiled. "Yeah, it's me."

"Wait! I know you sounded like me, but you actually look like me too!?"

"Yeah. I didn't get it at first, but the more I thought about it… I think it's because my heart was resting in Sora's for so long."

"Huh, so your heart was with me the entire time. It's weird to think about."

"Well, you could say it's like having a brother," Ventus laughed.

"I guess."

"You know," Ventus said as he looked down. They were nearing what looked like a darkened platform. "This feels familiar…"

"How?"

"Probably from the first time I came to Sora's heart. Just being here again… but something does feel different this time. I don't know what though."

When the two of them touched the floor, it lit up beneath them. Light sparkled from it as doves fluttered away into the abyss, revealing the stain glass platforms design.

Ventus's eyes widened as he stared at the images that filled the panel. "No way…"

"What?" Roxas asked as he looked at the panel as well.

To him it didn't mean all too much, at least not initially. At first he thought the panel, like any other, mainly featured Sora, but then he saw that someone else was there too. Sora was sleeping on the right side in the image, but mirroring him was another boy. It was someone that Roxas wasn't familiar with, but he was in the same sleeping position as Sora.

The other person in question, sported pure white hair and a red scarf. The rest of his clothes were mainly whites and blacks, but the style seemed to be something much older than what Roxas was familiar with.

Looking between them, Roxas saw that there were seven circles, and surprisingly Roxas recognized only a few of them. In the center he saw Riku at the top followed by Kairi below. He thought the third in that row was himself, but after a bit of careful thought he had to assume it was Ventus. To the right two circles were two more that he knew, thanks to Sora's memories: Donald and Goofy.

That only left the two circles on the far left side. Those were two who Roxas had no familiarity with at all. The top was a boy with dark hair and a rather fancy fedora, and the one below it was a girl with just as dark hair and a kind smile.

"No way!" Ventus gasped again. "How did I not see it before!?"

"See what?" Roxas asked as he walked closer to Ventus. "What's with this? Who's the other boy?"

"That's… it's Ephemer," Ventus said as he pointed to the white haired boy. Then he pointed to the two unfamiliar people. "And then Brain and Skuld!"

"But what does it mean?" Roxas pressed, hoping to get an answer.

"It means that Sora is… that he's actually…" Ventus staggered back.

He stumbled enough that he fell back into a sitting position. With a sigh, he ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. He still had a look of shock and disbelief on him and Roxas sat down beside him.

"You think you can even tell me what the heck is going on?"

"Sora is Ephemer. There's no other explanation I can think of."

"Okay…? But who is Ephemer?"

Ventus looked over at Roxas, a small chuckle forming. He rubbed the back of his head before giving a big wide smile. "Kind of a long story, but to put it simply… eons ago Sora was Ephemer, and I was friends with him."

"Whoa wait a minute! Eons ago?! What, are you like 1000 years old or something," Roxas asked.

"Not exactly," Ventus said with a sigh. "It's a little more complicated than that."

Roxas tilted his head to the side. "And? Not going to tell me?"

"It would take a while to explain it all… never had anyone to talk about it before. I wasn't even awake before! So it's just a lot to process right now… But to make it simple I knew Sora in a past life, it's the easiest way to say it."

"If you say so…"

Suddenly the platform around them started to glow brighter, distorting their vision. Roxas went up to cover his eyes as everything seemed to fade around him. "What's happening?"

"I think Sora's waking up," Ventus replied.

"Waking up? What does that mean for us?"

"Don't know, I said I wasn't exactly awake last time so this is all new for me."

When the light around them cleared they were seeing what appeared to be the room Sora had been resting in, but now the perspective was different. It was as if they were watching a screen as someone else was moving.

"Are we watching… Sora?"

"I think?"

'Are we watching… Sora?'

'I think?'

"Huh?" Sora muttered, his mind still waking up. "Who's there?"

Before he could wait for an answer he heard different voices calling to him. He looked down to see Donald and Goofy looking at him.

"Sora!" Donald called again.

"Sora, wake up," Goofy added.

Sora yawned and finally jumped down from where he had been and almost topped on top of his two friends. Whatever he thought he heard must have just been his imagination.

"Donald, Goofy!" Sora cheered happily.

Soon enough they headed out from where they had been sleeping, after some debate and discussion just what had happened and how they could have gotten there. The most confusing part was probably Jiminy's journal saying nothing but 'Thank Namine'.

Eventually they exited out into town, trying to find some answers. One of them was nice enough to let them know that the King was looking for them, which led them to the train station. Once King Mickey found them, he handed them a pouch full of munny and told them to board the train.

Just as they were heading up to the strange purple train, they heard a voice from behind them. "Wait up!"

Turning around, Sora saw the three kids from before. Hayner finally came up closer and breathed out deeply. "Hey, Sora…"

"What's up?" Sora asked.

"Nothing, but…" Hayner started to say.

"We came to see you off. It just seemed like something we oughta do," Pence added.

"Oh… really? Thanks!" Sora said, starting to smile a bit more.

The sound of the bell ringing stopped the conversation short from going much further, but Sora couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his chest. After they got their tickets, Sora was just about to enter the train when he heard Hayner speak again.

"Hey, Sora. You sure we haven't met before?"

Sora hummed, thinking for a moment. It was an odd question, but for some reason it made him feel that odd feeling in his chest again. Something was aching once again.

After a moment he shook his head. "Positive. Why do you ask?"

Hayner shrugged. "I dunno…"

Sora smiled anyway, he did enjoy making new friends and he was happy to have met them. But suddenly that ache grew a little more and he felt something fall down his cheek. He gasped softly as he tried to wipe it away.

"You okay?" Olette asked.

"Y-Yeah. Don't know where it came from," Sora said quickly.

'Wait did I do that?'

'Why do you think that?'

"They were my friends… even if it was digital. I'm going to miss them.'

There were the voices again. Sora tried his best to not act too alarmed, knowing that he had to get going, but he could already feel a bit of nervousness inside of him. He quickly said his goodbyes to the trio and boarded the train.

He sighed as he tried to shake off what he had just heard. He hadn't heard any voices before, but he didn't want to think he was going crazy. "What was that… Did I really hear something?"

'Did he hear us? Is that possible? I thought we were just going to return to Sora and that was it…'

'I don't know! I still have no idea how I am still awake this time.'

"I am hearing things!" Sora gasped, letting his thoughts echo.

He saw Donald and Goofy give him a strange look, but he shook it off saying he was fine. But within his mind, that was another story. He knew he was hearing voices, and strangely enough the two voices sounded very familiar to him.

'Wait…' one voice said. It was the lighter sound of the two even if they were nearly identical. 'Sora, you can actually hear us?'

"Yeah I can. Who are you two?"

'Well it's been awhile so you may not remember me, but it's good to see you again, Ephemer,'

With those simple words the memories became much clearer than they had been in years. Sora started to grin happily and widely, both inside and out. "Oh! Hi Ven!"