Wings of Avalon: I know, it would be such a great world!

Jake Hallows: I'm not sure what you mean by that. If you're implying that she'd lose all of her training just because she's holding a sword instead of a Keyblade, that doesn't make sense to me. The technique and the muscle memory is still there. If you're saying that swords can't 'hit' or kill Heartless - we've seen Leon and Cloud both do it, and we've also seen multiple Disney characters kill Heartless without any kind of weapon except magic. From what I've heard/read, other weapons can temporarily kill Heartless, but only the Keyblade can release the heart and send it back to Kingdom Hearts.

Posting a day early again because I'm going out of town for the weekend! This chapter features a reunion that you guys may or may not have been waiting for...

Chapter 13

Perspective – Riku

Five worlds turned into six, then seven, then ten. We visited a pair of sisters – a queen and princess, of course, because this was Sora – and heard more comments about how Meli's unusual hair would cause her to stand out. They invited us to stay for some kind of ice festival they were about to have, but were mostly satisfied with Sora and Kairi's promises to come back and visit another time. Kairi, in particular, seemed to be enjoying meeting some of the new princesses of heart.

We went to a world full of friendly monsters, and I got to experience my first transformation thanks to Donald's magic built into the ship. It was an experience that I had no desire to repeat anytime soon. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't given me so much fur...and a tail...or if I had been given a little more clothing...or if Sora hadn't had his phone out taking pictures of all of us from every conceivable angle the whole time. The one thing that made me feel a little better about the whole thing was Kairi's giggly insistence that Meli was going to adore all of these photos when we got her back.

My second transformation turned me into a tiny plastic toy, and I wasn't sure how to feel about that, either. It was certainly better than being a monster, though getting around in a normal-sized world was a challenge. The group of toys we were visiting also stirred up quite a fuss about whether or not Sora, Kaj, or I were actually some character named 'Yozora', which turned into a couple of hours of them teaching Sora how to play the game so that we could see him for ourselves. Personally, I didn't see the resemblance to any of us.

They hadn't seen Meli, either, though we warned them that she would be people-sized, assuming that she didn't have a way to transform. I wasn't overly confident when leaving that world that our visit had done very much good. The toys very rarely left the house, after all. Sora suggested printing out Meli's picture and making flyers to hang around the neighborhood, but since no one who saw her would have a way of contacting us, we ended up vetoing the idea.

The world of San Fransokyo left me with perhaps the most confidence of any of the worlds. Sure, Meli's purple hair was a lot less unusual here, and the city was huge. But the kids who called themselves 'Big Hero 6' took our request very seriously, and seemed to have all the smarts and equipment they could possibly need to find her if she did show up there. Hiro, the youngest but seemingly the leader, immediately started typing away on his computer, saying something about algorithms and facial recognition. I didn't get most of what he was talking about, but apparently by the time we left he had created some sort of program so that one of his robots could fly around the city and look for Meli. They promised to use it frequently, and told us to check back in whenever we could.

There were a few other worlds along the way that Sora pointed out he had been to without Meli, but most were places like Neverland and Wonderland that she and I had been to while staking out the Organization. Another was Atlantica, which we determined she couldn't have gone to without a transformation spell. The only other world we came up with that hadn't been from his most recent trip was Deep Jungle, and that visit didn't take too long. Tarzan and Jane assured us that they would know if another human showed up anywhere nearby.

All in all, once we left Radiant Garden the journey through 'worlds that Sora has been to but Meli has not' took us almost two weeks. By that time, the days of travel in the Gummiship had begun blending together into one, never-ending blur, and we were all ready for a break. I wasn't sure how Sora, Donald, and Goofy had handled this kind of thing three other times, but all of that time cooped up in tight quarters with three other people was about to make me snap. Maybe it was because Sora, Donald, and Goofy weren't introverts like me.

Regardless of exactly how tense each of us may have felt, the unanimous vote was that we stop off in the nearest familiar world and rest a few days before taking off again for phase two. Which is how, to my simultaneous relief and dismay, we ended up back in Twilight Town, sitting outside at the bistro and waiting for the arrival of Lea, Roxas, and Xion. Relief and dismay quickly changed into something else altogether, however, when they showed up with a too-familiar figure in tow.

Somewhere past the roar in my ears I heard Kairi give a little yelp and scuttle backwards in her chair, nearly knocking it over. That only added to the fury burning in my gut.

"I told you this was a bad idea, Lea..."

The redhead waved a hand and addressed us. "Hey, guys. I know this is a bit of a shock, but before you freak out –"

My fist was connecting with Saix's nose before he had a chance to finish. Stumbling backwards, he bent over with a hand pressed to his face, blue hair falling forward to obscure most of the blood that was now flowing freely. Sora ran up and placed a hand on my arm as if to keep me from swinging again, but he needn't have worried. I had no intention of going any farther. I just needed to get that out of my system.

After a moment, the man sniffed and straightened, changing the position of his hand against his nose. He still didn't make eye contact. "I suppose I deserved that."

I gritted my teeth together, but kept my voice low and steady. "That was for Meli."

His eyes – which I now noticed were blue-green, no longer yellow – widened ever so slightly. "Alright. I definitely deserved that, then."

Suddenly a burst of color flew past me, and Kairi's foot was smashing into his stomach, folding him even further in half than before. "That was for me, and for my sister!"

He coughed lightly. "And I deserved that, too."

Lea stepped forward and placed a protective hand on his friend's back. "Alright, that's enough! I mean I get it, I do, but you guys realize that he already died a violent death at Meli's hands, right?"

"Which I also deserved." Saix stood straight again, with a little more effort this time. "Besides the fact that I was dealing nearly as much damage to her at the same time. It's alright, Lea. Let them do what they feel they must."

"We're done," Kairi spat, crossing her arms. "Or at least, I am." I didn't speak when she glanced at me, but I dropped my fists to my sides in answer. "That doesn't mean I'm ready to sit down and have dinner with him, though."

Sora spoke up for the first time. "Yeah, look, we know that you're not the same person anymore, and that you and Axel are friends or whatever. We're learning to forgive all the old Nobodies and figure out who they are now. But, well...what you did was personal. And horrible. So...it's probably gonna take us a while."

"If you hadn't done what you did to Meli, then she never would've gotten PTSD. She never would have given into the darkness, which means she'd still be alive right now!" Unshed tears were audible in Kairi's voice.

Saix's face registered his shock, and he shot a look at Lea, who scratched his head sheepishly. "I was not aware..." He stopped and swallowed before continuing. "It appears I have even more to be sorry for than I realized. As I said, I told Lea that coming here today was not a good idea. He...he wanted me to have the opportunity to say what was on my...my heart." With a furrowed brow, he placed one hand on his chest, as if the idea of his heart's existence was still difficult for him to grasp. "And that is that I am truly, very sorry, for everything that Saix did. That..I...did, as Saix. I...do not expect to forgive myself anytime soon, and I expect forgiveness from all of you even less. Perhaps someday you will be able to see me as Isa, rather than as Saix, but...I ask nothing else of you." Clasping his hands in front of him, he bowed low.

I had found myself incapable of speaking for several long minutes, but now I forced my throat to work. "As much as I hate to say it, I...have been in your place. Everything that you just said is very familiar to me, because I've said it before myself, not that long ago." I cut my eyes over to Roxas and Xion, who were staring at their shoes. "So, even though I don't at all want to, I find myself believing you. That doesn't mean I can forgive you," I quickly added. "At least not yet. But...maybe one day."

Saix – Isa – bent his neck in another slight bow. "That means a lot to me."

"Maybe one day you guys can find it in you to listen to Isa's side of the story," Lea piped in. "Not as an excuse or anything just...just so you know exactly what was going on."

"For tonight, however, I think it is best if I take my leave."

No one argued with him. Lea nodded, clapping a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. "Yeah. I'll come with you. You two feel free to stay if you want," he told Roxas and Xion. "We'll see you at home later."

We all stood frozen into place, watching them go until their backs had disappeared from sight. Sora was the one to break the motionless silence, turning to face me and clutching onto my wrist. "You okay?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah. I'm okay." Glancing over at Roxas and Xion, who had still not said a word, I grimaced. "Sorry about...all of that. Didn't mean to ruin everybody's dinner."

Xion finally made eye contact, the tiniest of smiles on her lips. "It's okay. Neither of us blame you. I don't even know what it is he did to any of you, or to Meli, but...I'm sure it wasn't good."

Kairi drew in a shuddering breath. "Yeah. You could say that."

We all moved back to our chairs, settling in around the table before the conversation continued.

"Saix was..." Roxas pressed his lips into a thin line, gazing off over the rest of the bistro. "He treated us both like crap the whole time we were in the Organization. Like we were...bugs, that he could smash under his boots. So yeah, you don't have to apologize to us for punching him." The corner of his mouth quirked up slightly. "It may be my favorite thing that you've ever done."

Before I had a chance to respond to that underhanded compliment, Xion shot him an exasperated look. "We're trying to get to know the new him. He's...actually not so bad, as much as I hate to admit it." She winced. "So I feel a little bad for him, getting punched and all, but...I also completely understand."

Roxas huffed. "Yeah. What she said." Xion just rolled her eyes at him. "It's gonna take us a while before we can actually get used to him being around. I mean it's only been like a week so far since he got back. Maybe one day we'll be able to all be friends, like Axel wants."

"Yeah." Sora smiled, ever the optimistic one. "Maybe so. I bet we can."

I heaved a sigh. "We'll see. If we actually get Meli back –"

"Which we will," Kairi interrupted.

"–then I have a feeling she'll have a different opinion on that. And I'm still not sure what my opinion is on that, honestly. Like I said before, forgiveness may come eventually. Anything beyond that will remain to be seen."

The waiter arrived to take our orders, distracting us from the conversation for a few minutes. Kaj had stayed out of everything up until that point, but he was quick to pick it back up afterwards.

"What did that guy do to Meli, anyway?" he asked hesitantly.

"Let's not ruin everyone's appetites by talking about that," Kairi immediately replied.

"Right, or whatever good opinions of Isa these guys have been able to conjure up this week." I ran a hand through my hair. "Besides, it's...kinda more their story to tell." I gave Kaj an apologetic smile.

"No luck finding her still, huh?" Roxas inquired.

I shook my head, but Sora beat me to a verbal response. "Not yet! But we've still got plenty of worlds to check, right guys?"

Kaj sighed heavily. "Right. But after we take a break from that smelly ship."

Sora bristled. "My ship does not smell!"

"Your ship?" I cocked one eyebrow at him, amused.

"Kaj has a point." Kairi offered a sympathetic face, but shrugged. "It does start smelling after a while of all four of us being crammed in there. It's kinda hard to avoid, what with the sealed off air and the body odor, morning breath, leftover food..."

I cleared my throat loudly. "Speaking of ruining everyone's appetites!"

She gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

Xion had a smirk on her face as she steered us back on topic. "So, what's the plan now, then? After your break from the smelly ship."

"I guess we're starting on worlds that Meli has been to before," Kairi responded, glancing at the rest of us as if looking for our agreement. "Unless we come up with something else brilliant before then."

"Seems like as good of a plan to me as any." Roxas tilted his head to the side. "Just because I woke up in a random world doesn't mean everybody would."

"And even if she did, doesn't mean she would have stayed there," Kaj pointed out. "I mean, Nobodies are the original ones to use dark corridors, right? I think we should assume that she still has all of her dark powers."

"Right. It's just a matter of whether or not she remembers how to use them," Kairi nodded.

Sora frowned, leaning back in his seat. "Yeah. I keep forgetting about all of that."

I didn't. Ever since the dark corridors had first been mentioned, it had been constantly on my mind – the knowledge that we might be on a wild goose chase, forever just missing her as she hopped from world to world. I couldn't think about it for too long, though, or I'd drive myself crazy.

After dinner, we said goodbye to Roxas and Xion, who apologized profusely for not being able to house us while we were in town. Their bedrooms were full, though, and now they had Isa sleeping on their couch, as well. Thankfully for us, Twilight Town had a hotel, and we were more than happy to spend the munny for a couple of nights not on the ship. It took some debating to figure out how to arrange everyone, but since Kairi claimed – while blushing profusely – that her parents would kill her if they found out she had roomed with just Sora, and I could also tell she felt uncomfortable about sharing with Kaj, it ended up being the two of us in one double room and Sora and Kaj in the adjoining double room.

That night, I lay in the bed with my hands tucked behind my head, staring up at the shadows on the ceiling created by Kairi's nightlight. She had been embarrassed when she had pulled it out of her bag, but I managed to convince her that I understood, and didn't mind. Apparently the glow of the console in the Gummiship had been enough that she hadn't been needing it, but here in the darkness created by the thick curtains it was a different story.

"Hey Riku?"

I rolled my head over to face her side of the room, though the little bit of light wasn't enough for me to actually see her. "Yeah?"

She didn't speak again for a minute. Finally, I heard her draw in a deep breath. "You're worried, aren't you?"

"Worried?"

"That we won't find her."

Now it was my turn to fall silent, wondering how to answer that. "Yeah. Of course I am. I...it's kinda hard not to be."

"I know. I just...I wondered if you were...starting to lose hope. Second guessing the decision to look."

I swallowed hard. Am I? Sure, it was getting harder and harder to believe that things were actually going to work out, the longer this went on, but... "No. Not...not yet, at least." I sighed. "I stil believe she's out there. And of course I still want to find her. It's...hard. But I'm not gonna give up, at least not as long as there's still a chance we can find her."

"Good. Me either."

The corners of my mouth lifted slightly, and I turned back to the ceiling. "Good."

A/N: He had to show up at some point. I debated whether or not their reception of him was too harsh, but ultimately decided to leave it. They've all got a lot of pent-up feelings toward Saix, and Kairi especially deserves to finally get to wail on somebody who hurt her.