It didn't take very long for the Celcius to reach Besaid. Kairi, Rikku, Paine, Yuna and Tidus were all walking together. Buddy and Shinra were walking a little ways behind and Brother was staying on the ship. Yuna laughed.

"I can't wait to see the look on Wakka and Lulu's faces when they see you" She said, smiling at Tidus. He smiled, looking thoughtful.

"Have they changed much?" He asked. Rikku giggled.

"Wakka's a daddy!" She said, giggling.

"No way! Really?" Tidus asked, surprised. Yuna nodded.

"Wakka and Lulu had a baby not that long ago, actually."

"He sooooo cute" Rikku said, skipping ahead. Kairi and Paine picked up their pace to keep up with the hyper Al Bhed girl, leaving Tidus and Yuna behind a little ways. Rikku settled down a bit, just enough that she could walk with Paine and Kairi. Kairi glanced back as the ship disappeared as they left the beach.

"That's an amazing ship." She observed. Rikku snorted.

"Don't tell Brother that. It'll boost his already too big ego." She warned. Kairi shrugged.

"I've never seen a ship that big. Sora's gummiship is so much smaller. It's good to get him around the Kingdom, I guess, but I can only imagine how many more world you guys could go to in that."

"Excuse me? We use the Celcius to get around Spira. What's this about other worlds?" Rikku asked, curious. Kairi looked dumbfounded.

"What? You mean you don't go to other worlds? That enormous ship is just for flying around this world? You've got to be kidding me!" She stared at Rikku, who stared back at her.

"I didn't even think of going to other worlds." Rikku admitted. "We can talk to Shinra about it though. Maybe we can go to other worlds and we just didn't bother." She suggested. Kairi shrugged and they came up to the village. There were people around, minding their own business, but a tall man with red-orange hair standing just outside one of the huts stood out among everyone else. Rikku giggled and waved.

"Hey Wakka!" She called, running over.

"Rikku! Hey, what brings you here?" He asked, grinning.

"Broken commsphere. How ya been, tubby?"

"Hey, I thought I told you to stop calling me that, ya?" He said, seeming a little embarrassed. Rikku giggled again.

"Where's Lulu?" She asked. Wakka didn't even have to answer. Rikku was already wandering into the hut where Lulu was. Looking around, he spotted Paine and Kairi next.

"Hey Paine! And who's this?" He asked, walking over to the pair of them as they approached. Kairi smiled, waving.

"Hi! I'm Kairi!" She said. Wakka smiled at her.

"And where're you from, hm?" he asked offhandedly. Kairi frowned a bit.

"I'm, uh… I'm from the Destiny Islands. You probably haven't heard of them." She replied quietly. Wakka furrowed his eyebrows.

"Nope, I can't say I have…"

-

Sora, Donald and Goofy wandered the huge city aimlessly, having absolutely no idea where they were going. They were simply exploring, now. They found their way to the beginning of the Highroad. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, they were wondering where to go.

"So, do we stay and explore the city some more, or do we check out this path up the stairs?" Sora asked. Donald shrugged.

"We don't have any gil and we aren't finding any here. Maybe we'll be able to get some there." He suggested. Sora frowned.

"Where would we get money if we were on a road like that?" He asked. Goofy thought a moment.

"Maybe we can get some from the Heartless?" He said thoughtfully. Sora looked confused.

"There are no more Heartless, Goofy..." He replied. Goofy frowned.

"Well, we didn't lock up this planet though, did we?" he asked.

"No, we didn't...I dunno. Let's go see. Even if we don't find anything on the road, the road's got to lead somewhere, right?" Sora said, starting up the stairs. Donald and Goofy followed. Even before the Highroad came into full view, they heard a strange roaring and a couple raised voices. They picked up pace and started running up the stairs. When they reached the top, they saw a strange looking machine (a hover) collapsing to the ground as a handful of wolf-like creatures and a number of strange looking blobs attacked it. There were three people riding the machine; a blonde man with an eyepatch, a blonde woman and a little boy. All three of them tumbled off the machine as it collided with the ground. The man rolled to him feet, getting between the creature and the two other passengers. There were two other men standing on the ground already; a silver-haired one and a tall man with graying hair. Both of them ran at the creatures and began to attack. They cut down all the lupins in moments. Sora, Donald and Goofy ran to join them. The three men turned on the strange looking blobs (flans) now. Sora saw that the fallen lupins were fading away. As he approached, he also noticed that one of them wasn't fading. A moment later, it lurched to its feet. Once it regained its senses, it tensed, ready to pounce on the silver haired man. The blonde man who'd been on the hover saw it a moment too late.

"Baralai!" He shouted, pointing his gun at the creature. Baralai spun on time to see the lupin launch itself at him. He had no time to react; all he could do was brace himself for the attack. It never came. Sora cut his Keyblade into the lupin, knocking it to the ground. Donald took down the last flans with a couple of spells. The three men looked quite surprised. Bararlai smiled.

"I guess I owe you some thanks." He said, poking the fading lupin body with his staff. Sora grinned, slinging his Keyblade over his shoulder.

"No problem. I'm Sora."

"Baralai"

"Nooj"

"Gippal. I've never seen you 'round here before. Where ya from?" The blonde man asked. Sora shrugged.

"I'm from the Destiny Islands. Not from around here." He answered. Baralai sighed.

"Destiny Islands? No, I can't say I've heard of it." He said slowly. Nooj shook his head.

"Neither have I." He agreed. "Where are these Islands?" he asked.

"They're near the Kingdom." Sora replied simply.

"The which?" Gippal asked, looking confused.

"The Kingdom?" Sora said. "You know, Traverse Town, Atlantica, Hollow Bastion…" He listed. The others looked confused.

"No, I can't say I've ever heard of it…" Baralai repeated. Sora stared at them in surprise.

"Alright, well, whatever." He said finally, shrugging. Gippal looked at Baralai and Nooj.

"So, we heading to Bikanel?" He asked. The other two nodded. As an after thought, he glanced at Sora and his companions. "You three want to come?"

"Sure."