Time went by slowly on Destiny Island. At least that's how Riku felt for the past couple of weeks. After they had returned to the islands from Yen Sid, Kairi and he parted ways and both went home to their families.

Riku had gone home previously on multiple occasions, leaving messages for both his and Sora's family; just to let them all know, they were all safe and sound. Then, when they returned to the Islands after defeating Xemnas and Organization XIII, both he and Sora went home for the first time; no messages just knocking on the door. He got an earful, but altogether his family was pretty cool about the whole adventure. Riku wasn't sure about Sora, but he didn't disclose the details about their journeys or tell his parents anything about the Keyblade. Talking vaguely about Radiant Garden and Ansem the Wise was enough to reassure his family of his safety.

This time, it wasn't all that different either. He just arrived and declared that he'd be staying home for a while.

The weather became cold and stormy not long after their arrival. He had almost forgot, that the islands could become like that as well. It would pass soon of course, but still, sitting inside his small room, looking at the distant island where they used to hang out all days long. It was very difficult to stay composed. There were nights, when he couldn't help himself — he sobbed quietly while looking through his dusty photo album. On other days, he was positive and bright, quite sure that he'd see the boy again soon. Sometimes he just wanted to board the Gummi ship and leave, but he didn't even know where to go. He could just pick random Worlds and visit them to look for Sora, but he had a feeling that this search wouldn't lead him too far. Face it Riku, you don't even know where he is… or if he exists in some form or not. The only two people who possibly knew more about this mysterious power were Master Xehanort and that other figure… what was his name again?

Riku let out an angry yell and slumped back onto his armchair. He closed his eyes and gave a weary sigh. It felt weird and stupid; he had been working behind the scenes over a year, gathered intel and knowledge. Yet none of it had any use in the end; not when it mattered the most.

He raised his head slightly and looked over to his wall, decorated with dozens of pictures. He picked his favorites from the albums, and pinned them onto his large bulletin board. Many of the pictures were of Sora, and there were only a few where he didn't appear in one way or another. Riku stared at the board, looking at his favorite picture: the one, which was made shortly before they began their Mark of Mastery exam. Kairi had just cut his hair before taking the picture. They were on it, all three of them. Sora was in the middle, winking with a mischievous grin, pulling Riku closer with his right hand around the boy's neck, Kairi holding onto his left hand. You couldn't protect him, not from his enemies, not from himself. Riku tore his gaze away, knowing he wouldn't bear to look at it any longer.

"Riku!" a voice came from below. It was his mother. "Kairi is here!"

"Kairi?" he leaned forward, slightly surprised by the sudden and unexpected visit; especially since it was night, and there was a large storm outside. "Coming!" he replied and jumped out of the chair, rushing down to greet her.

The red-haired girl was standing in the hallway, holding an umbrella (which didn't help her much staying dry by the look of it). She looked up at him and gave him a smile; one that Riku couldn't decipher. Was it encouraging? Was it a 'don't worry, I have a plan!' smile? Or was it just a general 'I hope all is well' sort of smile? He was usually good at reading people, but now— he was just terrible at anything in general.

"Kairi, what are you doing here?"

"Now is that a way to greet someone?" she pouted jokingly. "I know I'm not Sora, but we are friends right?"

Riku felt his cheeks flaring up in a manners seconds, so he quickly turned away to try and hide the shame, a bit too late though. "I…ugh…right. Sorry. You're always welcome here, you know that."

"I know, you stiff bum!" she chuckled. "I know it's getting late, hope I'm not disturbing."

"Not at all! Come on in! Would you like some tea and a towel perhaps?"

"I'll take both"

Riku led her to his room then went off to fetch her clean towel and a cup of hot tea. When he got back, he found her peering out through the window, looking at the distant island or their childhood. "Nice view" she mused "Sora liked it pretty much, did you know?"

"He was quite jealous about it for some time. He wanted us to swap rooms and didn't really want to take no for an answer" Riku said to the giggling girl. Why did you come here Kairi? "But I do remember inviting you over as well."

"Yeah, well, I knew when to take a step back and let you two hang out for a bit" she winked knowingly. "And in exchange I got to spend a lot of time with him without you swooping in and stealing the limelight." He wanted to come to his own defense, but suddenly he realized that Kairi was kind of right. When it was the three of us, he really did fight for Sora's intention, using mockery, taunting and competitions.

"Sorry about it"

Kairi shook her head. "I never had any ill feelings because of it. I enjoyed watching you two bantering."

"You started joining in towards the end" Riku said, thinking back about their final weeks before the first journey. "And that brought you closer to us, or at least to me."

"I'm glad you feel that way. Especially since, I really agree."

The two of them fell silent for a while. Kairi sipped her drink quietly, taking a good look at everything in Riku's room. He was watching her, thinking about what she was doing there. Was there a point to all this? Or was she just feeling alone? He did. He appreciated her being there, even if he wasn't prepared to accept that out loud.

"Did you come here reminiscence about him?" Riku asked finally, folding his arms.

Kairi shook her head, examining large board full of pictures. "No, I really didn't." She replied, and finished drying her hair with the towel, folding it neatly. "I was wondering how you were." Kairi's gaze fell on Riku. The boy frowned, not knowing how to answer the question. How was he holding up? Badly. When Sora was sleeping for a whole year, at least he knew what he had to do to wake up. But now…

"Well, I'm hanging in there."

"Me too" she replied, and gave a knowing nod. "But I've been thinking. I mean, I'm sure you've been thinking as well, but let's face it; if you're the brawl of the group, I'm the brain."

"Oh?" Kairi couldn't help but giggle, seeing Riku's face. "And here I figured I was the one standing for common sense out of the three of us."

"Yeah, definitely. You were the one who came up with the idea of leaving this place behind on a raft."

"Well you didn't speak out against it!" Riku grinned.

"I figured by the time we built it you'd find something else to keep you occupied."

"hmm" Riku faked deep thinking, rubbing his chin with his thumb and index finger, but still grinning. "Alright then; let's hear your wisdom! It better be something unthinkably brilliant though!"

Their eyes met, and Kairi didn't answer at once. She seemed to be thinking about her idea; about how she would explain it to him. "Well, I know we've already asked Master Yen Sid about Sora… but I think there might be a place, where we could potentially find something."

"Really?" Riku raised an eyebrow, not being entirely sure what she was hinting at. "Where?"

Kairi looked at the swirling liquid inside her cup. "It might be just grasping straws, you know, but I…" The boy patted her on the shoulder, and gave her a confident nod. "The place where Aqua and the boys live. They told me it was a huge castle and that they had learnt everything there from their Master, Eraqus. And I thought… maybe that Master Eraqus had some sort of ancient tome, or book, or anything. Any clue might help us. What do you think?"

Riku needed a few seconds to collect himself, so he wouldn't try breaking something. It was so simple and yet nobody have thought about it. Or have they? It is possible. Two weeks have already passed, and I'm quite sure Aqua had given some thought to Sora's disappearance as well. This might end up being another dead end. Still…

"I think you might be right" Riku said finally. "Well done. You really are the brain of the group."

"Do you know how we could get to the Land of Departure?"

For a second he thought he didn't. Truth be told he hadn't been there during its prime, but fate did send both Sora and Riku there at one point. Only, it was known as Castle Oblivion back then, and it had been occupied by Organization XIII at that time.

"I think I know the way there" he concluded, and gave Kairi a promising smile. "Alright then; let's do this!" The girl nodded in agreement. "Do you need anything? We might not be coming back for a while."

"I've already made arrangements" she winked with a mischievous smile. "My stuff is downstairs!"

"Okay. I'll pack a few things and I'll be down in a minute." he replied promptly and grabbed his backpack. Riku packed quickly and descended the stairs. Kairi was there, waiting for him. "Alright!" Riku said, feeling determined and hopeful once again, "Onward, to the Land of Departure!"

- O - O - O - O - O -

Isa didn't think he'd fit into the group. What he had done, how he had treated Roxas, Xion, or even Lea during his time as Saix; he didn't deserve to be part of the team. Yet Lea didn't let him go astray, not anymore. He and those two punks were all there for him. They welcomed him into the group with open arms and he was ready to atone for what he had done; ready to make amends and prove to the others that when they voted him confidence, they did the right thing. He wanted to get on good terms with not only Lea, but Xion and Roxas as well. He wanted to be a full-fledged member of the group so he spent his days, hanging out with all three of them. He took long trips with Xion into the various parts of town, exploring every bit of Twilight Town; and he practiced a lot with Roxas, teaching him a few new moves. He also became the main ice cream supplier of the group, even though nobody had asked him to be so.

There was, of course, one really important thing he wanted to do but he didn't want to bring it up just yet. The events surrounding Xehanort were still quite recent and Sora's loss afterwards had deeply saddened the three of them. Isa himself did not have a strong attachment to the boy, but he had to acknowledge the fact that if it weren't for him, none of them would be there, eating sea-salt ice cream together. So Isa decided to allow the others and himself a bit more time to recover before he would present his plans – which too needed some polishing – to the crew regarding that girl, Lea and he befriended back in Radiant Garden.

About two weeks had gone by since their trip to Destiny Islands. Isa grew determined; he had to talk it through with Lea. He was a bit afraid how his friend would react, but he also trusted him. If he had learnt something out of this whole ordeal, it was that Lea was much more trustworthy, than he gave him credit for.

The group sat at the clock tower as usual, looking at the distance, where the sun would sink under the verdant horizon, painting the sky orange and red one more time before allowing the stars to light the night sky. It was a truly magnificent scene and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He wanted to share this with her as well.

"What is it, Isa?" the red-haired looked at him with his usual mischievous smile. "You've been gloomier than usual today. Is anything on your mind?"

Isa was caught off-guard by that. He thought he had a good poker face; apparently, it wasn't good enough. Well at least this way I can't delay this conversation any longer, can I? He thought and considered how to introduce the topic. "So you've noticed."

"I've gotten your moods memorized" he joked, pointing at his head and winking at the blue-haired. "So, wanna share what's on your mind?" Isa didn't respond at once. He just ate his ice cream, contemplating. But is it a good time to bring this up? Or should I wait some more? He still had a chance to avoid talking about this, and he wasn't sure what to do.

"Isa…"

"We both gave up on her" he finally said, looking at the man sitting beside him. Lea understood immediately, and his eyes fell. Xion and Roxas might've noticed the change as well as they tried edging closer, to hear them more clearly.

"Who?" Xion asked curiously.

"A friend" Lea said softly, looking down at the ice cream in his hand, seeming all saddened suddenly. Roxas looked at him, and nudged him softly, trying to get more answers out of the man: "What friend? What's the matter? You know, you can tell us."

"Before we became Nobodies, we had lived in Radiant Garden" Isa explained. "Lea and I made a friend there, a girl who had amnesia. She was kept in the castle for whatever reasons. We infiltrated the castle and became Ansem the Wise's apprentices, so we could meet her again, and try to set her free. But by that time, she had vanished."

"That place still gives me the creeps" Lea admitted. "But you said yourself, even after becoming a Nobody and working closely with Xemnas… with Xehanort, you haven't gotten closer to the truth."

"That is true," Isa nodded shamefully. "But now that the rightful order of the world has been restored, we can finally speak to the man, who was in charge of the castle at that time: Ansem the Wise."

Lea froze for a second as realization struck him. He turned towards Isa with wide eyes and a big smile, ready to hug his blue haired friend "Of course! Ansem should know what happened to her! Or at least give us a hint! This is brilliant! Why didn't you say this before!"

"Why didn't you speak up earlier?" Xion looked at the blue haired man, who sighed painfully. Why indeed?

"I couldn't find the right time. Much has happened and for one, I still have a long way to go, to earn your, and Roxas' trust."

"Hey, I already told not to sweat it," Roxas sent him a smile, raising his ice cream. "You keep supplying these and we're all good!" The group had a hearty laugh at the boy's joke and Lea put his hands on Isa's shoulder.

"Well, at least you've come forward. And of course I'm all aboard with this! She is a precious friend to us."

"Alright, but how do we plan on going?" Xion looked at the boys with a puzzled look.

Lea raised his eyebrow, as he looked at the girl "What, you're coming as well?"

"What did you two think? We'd just stay behind and wait while you are out there, helping a friend?" Roxas pouted. "Well I've had enough of taking the back seat! I'm going too!"

"Yeah, and me too!" Xion nodded cheerfully. "Though, I'm still not sure how to proceed." she added quietly, already thinking through the possible ways of reaching Radiant Garden. The whole group fell silent for a second. Isa thought about trying to reach Riku and Kairi through their phones, but he was even more reluctant to bother them with this adventure. If anyone, those two were hit hardest by Sora's sudden departure. And he was in no spot to ask for any favors.

"We could ask for a ride anytime" Roxas suggested. "I'm sure my brother would be more than glad to give us a lift."

The brother he was referring to was, of course, Ventus, who looked identical to Roxas… or was it the other way around? The two of them became fast friends and quickly mastered the art of pretending to be each other, often confusing almost everyone. Yes, Ventus and the Keyblade wielders from the Land of Departure could've give them a lift, had they possessed a Gummi ship that is.

"They use their Keyblades to travel between the Worlds, dummy," Xion scoffed at the boy.

"Let's use our own Keyblades then!" he protested, but Lea shook his head, taking over the role of scolding the boy.

"We don't have those special armors they wear for traveling. Also, Isa hasn't got one."

"I could try to use one of the corridors," Isa offered. "I still have that old coat in my wardrobe."

"Like hell you will!" Lea retorted. "No more playing with the darkness. That'll just get you into more trouble. Hope you got that memorized."

"I was merely joking" Isa chuckled.

"Ah, really funny there!"

"What about taking the train to Yen Sid?" Roxas asked suddenly, earning a surprised look from the other three. "I mean, after Sora and I merged back in the day, they hopped aboard this special train, and it led them to Yen Sid's Tower."

Xion's eyes lit up. "You think that'd work? That would be really awesome!" Out of the four, Xion was the most adventurous one. She enjoyed taking long walks, exploring every corner and tunnel, remembering every bush and tree. She was better at finding secrets than Hayner, Pence, and Olette combined. She also really wanted to ride the trains.

"Well, we could give it a try" Isa nodded.

"Alright" Lea nodded looking at the other three "All in favor raise your hands!" he offered and raised his hand. The others followed suit and it was decided. "Good. Now which train could it be?"

"I have a feeling that Hayner and the others ought to know" Roxas mused, probably trying to remember the train himself. "Let's ask them."