The heartless were finally gone, and the four stood around, looking at each other in complete silence. "Ok guys lets get a move on. Oh, hey." A figure, about 6'1" came out of the woods. He wore black boots and pants with brown belts, a white shirt and black jacket, scar across his nose, and brown hair. Patricia grinned.

"SQ...LEON!!!!!" He flashed a smile.

"Well, I like this place, I'm famous." He knelt down before her and kissed her hand. She laughed and blushed. Then he stood. "So would either of you two lovely ladies mind telling us where we are?" Kathryn smiled.

"Yeah, you're on earth. Oh hey, you wanna see my tonsils? Look!!!" She opened her mouth and shoved her finger inside. Leon shook his head, Sora laughed, and Riku rolled his eyes. Patricia patted her friend on the head.

"Ok so what brings y'all here?" Pat asked.

Kat whispered, "Uh... it's kinda obvious Pat."

"Oh, yeah." The guys just kinda looked at them.

The three strangers joined the girls for dinner but not bible study (they feared they might be gawked at.) Sora ate like he was starving, Riku ate like he had somewhere to go, and Leon ate like a perfect gentleman. They thanked the girls and left quietly. Sora had a huge grin on his face. "That Kathryn, she's funny." Riku looked over at him and chuckled.

"Looks like you have a crush." Sora blushed and grinned wider.

"Mabie I do, mabie I don't." He stuck his tongue out at Riku, who shook his head. Then he turned his eyes and stared at the sky, a gentle smile on his face.

"Wacha thinking about Riku?" Sora asked. Riku jumped.

"Wah...?" Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Sora looked confused then turned his head back to the road.

"Well that Patricia is nice lookin as well. She's mature and funny." Leon commented. Riku lowered his head and didn't say anything. Behind his blindfold, he was glaring fire at his feet. Leon just laughed lightheartedly.

Patricia sat on the leather couch, slouched so Bonnie couldn't see her. She was very quiet, which was a strong rarity. Kat poked her in the side. "Wacha thinking?" Pat looked at her and smiled lightly.

"Just about the guys. It's a weird day." She whispered back. Kat smiled.

"I think Riku likes you. Mabie even Leon. He sure is a good flirt." Pat snickered. They finished the lesson and Pat turned to go to the bathroom when Bonnie stopped her.

"You two need to stop talking during bible study." Pat rolled her eyes.

"Yes ma'am." And she rushed to the bathroom. After she got out, she noticed Bonnie talking to Kathryn, Kat's eyes were narrowed. She ran over to her friend and looked at Bonnie. "Someone said that Janet's purse is outside so Kathryn and I need to go look" With that, she pulled Kat away. "Well that was close." The brunette nodded in agreement.

The campfire crackled loudly, sending pops of sparks sputtering to the ground. Patricia sat to one side, deep in thought, between Leon and Riku. Kathryn sat next to Riku and Sora. Leon noticed Pat shiver and he placed his coat around her shoulders. She smiled and slid her arms through the sleeves, pulling the jacket, thankfully around her. Riku grunted, causing everyone to turn and look at him. "What?!? I didn't do anything." Pat smiled and nodded, then tossed a stick into the fire. She then prodded it with a longer stick, moving it into perfect alignment with the rest of the fire, till hers caught on fire. Slowly, she pulled it up and blew it out, softly waving it in the air to let the smoke dance. Riku watched her with deep interest, watching the small embers glowing in her eyes. He completely missed Sora talking to him.

"RIKU!!!!!"

"Huh? Oh, what did you say?" Sora rolled his eyes.

"Nothing." And turned to talk to Kat again. Riku looked at the ground for few minutes, then his eyes went to Pat's shoe, then up to her face again, watching her play with the fire. She rolled her neck and Leon moved to give her a massage. A soft sigh escaped her lips and he felt her slouch slightly.

"What's wrong?" He said, continuing to work on her neck, slowly inching down to her shoulders.

"Ah nothing really, just kinda lonely." He nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Ok that's it, enough." They both looked over at Riku, who was now standing. "Stop hitting on her, Leon. I'm sick of watching it." With that, he stormed off. Everyone exchanged glances.

"I'll go after him," Leon volunteered. Pat sighed.

"Nah, I'll go." Before anyone could day anything, she was off.

The woods gave Pat the shivers. Her eyes darted everywhere, her breathing staggering. "RIKU WHERE THE FLIP ARE YOU?!?" She yelled (and as the writer, I must say I have a LOUD voice.) Nothing came back but an echo, the rustling of trees, and an owl hoot. Her body began to shake uncontrollably. "I knew I should have asked Leon to come with me." Turning back, she heard a rustling behind her. A familiar feeling of dread flooded her senses. She turned back around and faced the huge heartless. "Crap, not the fat guy." Pat crouched into the tightest ball she could manage, and preyed. The sound of feet, carrying 10 tons of blubber, shook the ground below her. A soft whimper was all she could get out before she heard a grunt followed by a shout.

"Pat, stay close to me." It took her a few moments for her knees to strengthen enough to hold her up. When she finally stood, she was staring at the back of a head of silver hair. Resisting the urge to hug him, she stayed, obediently close to him. In a few moments, the monster was defeated. "What the hell were you thinking?!? Your heart could have been stolen?!? Why the hell did you come after me?!?" Pat's temper flared.

"Don't you bark at me. You're the one who ran off. I don't even know why. What did you think I was gonna go? Just let you go? Give me a break. I care, don't bite my head off because of that." She lowered her head and sighed. In truth, she was worried sick about him and she could barely move at the moment. A gleaming box caught her eye just then. The moonlight reflected softly on the golden corners. The blue of the main part seemed peaceful. Before knowing what she was doing, her feet padded towards it. She kneeled down and tapped the lock with her finger. The chest burst open with a bright light then disappeared. In its place, floating close to her hand was a sword. Its blade curved like a cutlass, and shone blue in the moonlight. The hilt was methril surrounded by a hand wrap of methril with a blue stone in it; the pommel was the Celtic sign for peace. Her fingers curled around the handle which was covered in soft leather. She smiled with satisfaction as she looked over the warm sword. She looked at her side and noticed a sheath that fit the sword, grinning, she slid it in. "Sweet. Now I won't be yelled at." Riku just stared at her, completely bewildered.

Her soft eyes turned to meet his. "So temperamental male, why did you storm off?" He blinked at her a moment. She sat down and ran her fingertips through the dirt.

"I... well... I'm sorry." Pat looked up at him.

"Care to enlighten me?"

"For yelling and stalking off."

"That's a start, why did you do it?" He just stared at the ground, and decided to sit. He said nothing, just stared at the ground. Her head shook as she sighed softly. She scooted to him and lifted his chin with her finger, till he looked her straight in the eyes. "What's wrong?" The question was asked in nothing above a whisper. Her finger slid under the blind fold, pulling it up and off his face. He blinked at her, surprised to lose his mask. A soft welcome seemed to come from her and drew him in. Before he knew it, he was telling her exactly what she wanted to hear.

"I saw you and Leon, and I just, got jealous. I'm sorry, if you two wanna be together, I should stay out of it, but I really like you." Patricia started cracking up. Riku looked taken aback.

"Dude I don't want Leon! He's like 10 years older than me!!! That's like wanting my Uncle's best friend." He smiled at her, obviously relieved. "Oh, you want your blind fold back?" His head shook at her.

"Keep it. I don't need a mask any more." Because his knees were strong, he stood up and extended his hand to her. Her smile flashed and she took it, and then fell into his arms. The hoarse laugh came from his mouth. It had obviously not been used in a while. One arm came under her knees the other, behind her back, as he scooped her up and held her angst his chest. Then they headed west, back to the campsite.

Leon looked after Pat and Riku with obvious discomfort. Kathryn noticed and smiled.

"Don't worry, Leon, Pat can take care of herself. Besides, she has a loud voice. If she needs help, we'll hear." He smiled slightly, and then turned hard.

"Sora, get Kathryn out of here." Sora looked deeper into the woods and understood. Obediently, he grabbed Kat's hand and led her out onto the road. There they met up with the monkey heartless. In the distance, Kat could make out the thud of the fat guy's feet, and Leon's shouts. She only hoped Pat was not running into that one. Turning her attention to the fight ahead, she dodged a slash attack and tripped a monkey heartless. It fell in time for Sora to hit it with his keyblade then use the lightning attack. Spotting an umbrella, she dashed towards it, a heartless right on her tail. She turned and smacked it over the head with the umbrella, then looked up. Sora had defeated the rest and shouted.

"Nice move Kat!" He noticed a chest, glimmering in red and gold, and tapped it, but it wouldn't open for him. Kathryn moved next to him and bent down to look at it. As soon as she did, the chest opened, revealing a sword with a katana-type blade, a black hilt and round pommel, with bat wings for a hilt and a demon laughing face in the middle. A black sheath also appeared by her side. Sora shivered.

"That sword scares me." Kathryn just laughed and sheathed it.