There were footsteps coming from in the cave, but due to everyone's chatter, it wasn't heard. Two figures stepped out into the light. One, Areith, smiled in amusement at everyone. The other, Cloud, stared at the sheer numbers of people sitting around, laughing and talking. He hadn't seen this number of people in Traverse Town in a long time. And the fact that they were all so relaxed, so stress-free. Even Leon looked happy. Then he noticed why: Yuffie was sitting next to him, giggling. He smiled a little, but at that exact moment, someone hit in the face with water. Sputtering, he looked around for the attacker. Sora, Kairi and two blondes, a guy and girl he didn't recognize, were the ones sitting closest to him and were all killing themselves laughing at his reaction. Areith tried but gave up on trying to keep from laughing, attempting to hide it by covering her mouth with her hand. Cloud crossed his arms.

"Think it's funny do you?" He asked. Areith grinned helplessly at him. To her surprise, he swept her up and started to carry her to the center of the water where he was going to drop her. That was his plan, however it was foiled with Yuffie came flying at him and knocked all three of them into the water, causing everyone to laugh even harder at them. Cloud surfaced, scowling. Areith surfaced a moment later and stood up, trying to smooth out her skirt as it clung to her.

"We came to see what all the fuss was about and to make sure you guys were okay." She explained. A brown-haired woman with strikingly mismatched eyes grinned.

"We're fine." She replied. Grinning at the blonde man sitting next to her, she continued. "Just a little wet." She added, almost as an afterthought. Areith got out of the water and rung out the bottom of her skirt.

"Well, Nooj and Leblanc were getting a little antsy, so we came to see how you guys were doing." She said, offering Cloud a hand out of the water. The blonde man with Sora and Kairi looked suspicious.

"Nooj said he was injured." He accused. Cloud smirked.

"It seems he just said that to get the rest of you to go away." He said. Kairi giggled.

"Looks like Leblanc was after some alone-time with her Noojie-Woojie." She said, standing up. Sora grinned and stood up with her. Cloud, looking around at all the others sitting there, looked somewhat confused.

"Where did all these people come from?" He asked. Sora shrugged.

"I like to travel in numbers?" He replied, sounding unsure. Cloud didn't look like he believed him.

"I've only ever seen you with Donald and Goofy. Three isn't exactly 'numbers'." He observed. Sora shrugged again.

"I'm not even sure of how we managed to all end up together." He said. "I met up with Nooj, Baralai and Gippal when their hover was attacked. We got a distress signal from Leblanc, and when we showed up to help her, the rest of the girls and Tidus were already there." He said, pointing out each person to Cloud as he spoke. Gippal wandered over as well, grinning at Tidus.

"Poor guy. Stuck with the girls." He looked at Rikku. "I dunno how he could stand you, Rikku." He said haughtily. She frowned.

"You seem to like putting up with me." She replied, crossing her arms. Gippal's grin widened.

"I like a challenge." He said. Rikku gaped at him.

"So I'm just a challenge then?" She asked, glaring at him. Laughing, Baralai nudged Gippal, who scowled at him.

"What?" He asked shortly. Baralai grinned.

"You're an idiot." He replied simply. Gippal threw up his hands.

"Thanks!" He said sarcastically. Baralai was still grinning.

"Here's a tip: flatter your girlfriend instead of offending her every time she says something." He said. Gippal sighed.

"It's not like I mean to!" He replied, exasperated. Baralai glanced at Rikku, half smiling.

"I think that's as close to an apology as you're going to get." He told her. She grinned.

"Good enough!" With that, she tackled Gippal in a hug. He wasn't expecting her full weight to be thrown on him again, and both of them went tumbling back into the water. Cloud watched, rather amused and a bit confused. He turned his attention back to Sora and Kairi.

"Where did you meet these people? An insane asylum?" He asked quietly. Sora and Kairi both burst out laughing. Areith hit his arm lightly, trying to keep from grinning. Cloud looked at her. "What?"

"That's not very nice." She observed. Cloud shrugged.

"But it's true." He answered. Areith shrugged, deciding that he was right.

………..

"Just what were you all doing out there?" Leblanc asked, mildly surprised at their soaking-wetness as they arrived back at the Magician's House. The barricade was back up. Leon smiled, satisfied, and ignoring Leblanc.

"You guys mind if we stick with you for a while? The beasts should clear out soon, but I don't think we should stick around while they do." He said. Yuna nodded.

"Shouldn't be a problem." She replied. Baralai glanced at her.

"What would Brother say?" He asked. Rikku snorted.

"Who cares?" She said, grinning. She connected her comm.. "Hey! Anybody there?" There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for the reply. Finally, Shinra's voice came crackling out, layered with static to the point of being nearly incomprehensible.

"We're on our way." He said. Only moments later, even before Shinra had ended the connection, the airship could be heard rumbling towards them. Rikku raised her eyebrows.

"That was fast." She commented.

"This planet's really small." Shinra replied simply. Rikku shrugged.

"I guess we wouldn't know. We didn't get to see all of it." She said. Sora cleared his throat and she looked at him.

"Actually, you did get to see most of it." He replied. Rikku gaped at him.

"It's that small? Geez, how come we don't just go floating into space?" She asked, surprised. The group began to board the ship, one by one. Shinra's voice came over the comm. again.

"You wouldn't float away because of the density of the planet's core in relation to-."

"Right, I really didn't ask did I?" Rikku interrupted. Gippal grinned at her.

"Actually, you did." He replied. Rikku scowled at him.

"Whatever." She replied, unable to think of anything else to say. Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi had boarded with Leon, Yuffie, Cloud and Arieth, and were showing them around.

"So, how long you think it's going to be before the…things clear out?" Kairi asked. Leon shrugged.

"I have no idea." He answered. Sora frowned.

"Well, you guys do plan on coming back after, right?" He asked. The four of them nodded. Sora sighed. "Well, we've kind of made a habit of not sticking around one place for too long. By the time it's safe, who knows where we'll be, or how you guys will be able to get back here?" There was silence. This really was a problem. The six of them frowned, each turning the problem over in their minds. Just then, as they entered the bridge, Buddy spoke.

"Sora! You got a message. From some guy named Mickey." He said. Sora nodded. Yuffie grinned.

"Hey! We could go see what the King wants, and then you can drop us off there and we'll stay there 'til we can head back to Traverse!" She suggested. Kairi grinned.

"Sounds good." She replied. Leon was about to say something when Buddy interrupted.

"He wants us to go see him now. Says it's urgent." He said, pushing Sora to make a decision.

"Well, let's go see what he's up to then." He said. No one seemed to oppose the idea, so Buddy entered the co-ordinates and the Celcius kicked into gear.

…………….

A little on the short side, but whatever. So, here's the predicament: I'm going to be away for the next two weeks, so don't expect an update any time soon. Sorry this chapter wasn't a juicier note to leave on, but expect lotsa plot excitement first update after I get back! RnR!