As for what I wanted to happen well... I think I rambled enough for two chapters at the beginning of the last one, so why don't you just go ahead and find out?
Chapter Two
A New Quest
Sora finally opened his eyes after he had been lazily napping on the beach all afternoon. It was getting dark now, but Sora still had to shield his eyes from the remaining sunlight. He hadn't felt warmth from that sun in such a long time it felt like, yet it had been a week now since he and Riku had returned safely to their island.
Sora looked over at Riku, who hadn't yet awoke (who was the lazy one now?). Sora was so happy to see Riku back to normal... He was so happy to see Riku back home... He was so happy to see Riku safe... That's why he got so emotional... ... Or that's what he had been saying to himself for the past week anyway.
Neither of them talked about that anymore, and Riku had seemed kind of distant, but they still shared the bond only best friends can have. And no amount of strange feelings either of them had could take away from the rush of their sparring or the lazy contentment of their just being together again.
But still... Sora could not shake this unnerving feeling deep in the pit of his stomach...
"Are you just going to stare at me all day now?" , Riku asked without opening his eyes.
"Y-you're awake?" , asked Sora (only a little startled).
"Since about the time you started oggling me." , replied Riku getting up, wiping the sand off his clothes.
"I wasn't-- " , Sora started.
"I know I know." , said Riku, smiling at the younger boy.
Sora heaved a deep sigh. "... ... ... ... It feels like its been so long... Do you think we will ever see any of the others again?" , said Sora uneasily.
"Uhm... I was sparring with them earlier today Sora...", said Riku.
"No, I mean the people I met in the other worlds... Like Leon and Yuffie. I wonder what happened to all of them..." , said Sora, not without a tone of sadness.
"Well... You told me the Heartless' creation meant that all the invisible walls around the worlds were destroyed. The one thing keeping them separate was gone, until you sealed them away. So... I guess they are all back on their own world now..." , Riku suggested, trying to ease Sora's sadness. Since they had gotten back, Riku had felt strangely overprotective of Sora, almost like a big brother would, but different...
"Yea...", said Sora as he pulled his knees close to his body. "I just hope they are ok... And I wish we could see them again..."
Riku started to say something, but a small light caught his eye before he could. Pointing to the sky, Riku said, "Well why don't you wish on that?"
Sora looked up, and saw a shooting star in the sky. Before, this might have meant the destruction of another world at the hands of a heartless. But with them having presumably been sealed away along with Ansem, it was most likely just what it appeared to be... An ordinary shooting star.
"Ok then", Sora chuckled. "I wish that I could see all my friends from other worlds again!" Sora smiled and looked over at Riku. He hadn't had his old friend there to cheer him up in such a long time. He missed the feeling badly. And he felt oddly incomplete without Riku even with him just sitting right there. As if that wasn't enough for some reason.
But Riku's quiet smile faded suddenly as his eyes went back to the sky. Sora followed Riku's eyes questioningly, and his mouth dropped open. For good reason too. The shooting star was moving straight towards them.
"You have got to be kidding me? A million miles of ocean and it has to hit the one tiny speck of land?" , Riku exclaimed.
"Is that an engine sound?" , said Sora thinking aloud.
Sure enough, Sora's ears didn't deceive him. As the "shooting star" got closer, the boys could make out that it wasn't a shooting star at all, but a gummy ship (a large one at that). As it got closer it began to slow down, and Sora could make out the royal insignia of The King on the side of it.
Once it was overhead, it came to a complete halt and deployed its landing gear. Sora and Riku backed away as sand was upturned everywhere while it descended. It finally stopped moving and the din of its engines started to weaken. Within only moments of it's landing, a set of stairs lowered from the front of the ship. And Sora saw a very familiar pair of boots come down the steps.
"Leon?" , yelled Sora with as much enthusiasm as imaginable . "How did you get here! What happened before? Where are the others? What about -- "
"Quiet" , said Leon in his cool deep voice. "I'll explain everything."
"As if you know!" , chimed Yuffie as she exited the gummy ship behind Leon.
"You guys..." , Sora said, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "You're back... I didn't think I would see any of you again..."
"Well you're in for a little reunion then I guess..." , Leon said brushing his soft brown hair from his eyes.
Sora looked back behind him as more figures emerged from the gummy ship. First Cid (who had been piloting the ship), with a mischievous grin on his face. Followed by Cloud with Aerieth cheerfully walking alongside him holding his hand. A smaller figure followed them. Clothed in crimson, The King, Mickey, appeared.
"I think I can clear up some of your questions Sora" , said Mickey with his usual big smile on his face.
For a person of such high royalty he seemed to take everything so lightly. But Sora and Riku both knew there was no one you could count on more to help you out in a pinch. And King Mickey was just the person to rely on when things got rough.
"Well... What happened with the walls? I thought once the Heartless were destroyed the walls would reappear!" , said Sora.
"They will, if and when the Heartless are destroyed." , replied Cloud coldly. "However, you did not destroy them. You bound Ansem away. And its not that we aren't all completely thrilled to be rid of him, but we still have problems."
"I'm afraid he's right Sora..." , Aerieth added sadly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" , asked Sora.
"He means," , King Mickey began, "that it would seem people other than Ansem are capable of controlling the Heartless... Ansem's band of Unknown, The Organization, are still at large... Even without their leader, their priorities don't seem to have changed, and their progress hasn't come to a halt like we had hoped it would with Ansem's end."
"The Heartless aren't capable of devouring entire worlds anymore... For now." , continued Leon. "But I'm sure its only a matter of time. And we need as much help as we can get to take them out before that happens."
"Yea! Uhyuck!" , came a comical voice from inside the gummy ship.
"And we wouldn't want anyone besides you to help us!" , added a voice with deep seeded nasal issues.
Two heads poked out of the gummy ship with huge smiles plastered to their wacky faces.
Donald and Goofy.
As they started to make their way out of the ship, Goofy (with all the coordination of a blind walrus) tripped over his own feet causing the two to come tumbling down in front of Sora in a heap of tangled arms and legs.
Sora promptly helped them both up and hugged them tightly saying, "You guys too? I thought I would--".
"Yea yea we know, 'never see us again.' -- now let go already!" , Donald squawked in an agitated tone.
"You know we wouldn't just let you have all the fun now Sora." , Goofy said, as usual managing to talk in every octave his voice was capable of reaching.
"Enough." , came Leon's gruff voice from behind Sora. "There will be time for this later. We have to nip this in the bud before things get any worse than they already are. We don't need anyone else to surface up from The Organization to replace Ansem."
"Right..." , Sora replied as he regained his composure.
"I'm going too." , said Riku, who had until now remained silent. "I'm not going to let you go off and get yourself hurt or lost or a combination of the two. Especially since you lost your Keyblade."
"Now, you are more than welcome to come Riku, we can always use your help." , said King Mickey. "But don't be so concerned for Sora's safety. Just because his Keyblade is stuck inside Ansem doesn't mean he can't still fight. The light in his heart is his real weapon, and he can't ever lose that."
"... ... You're probably right. But I want to make sure..." , Riku said as he walked over to Sora and put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I refuse to lose Sora again."
Sora blushed lightly at the touch of Riku's hand.
"The light in my heart..." , Sora said to himself as he looked at his open palm, unable to feel any difference inside himself. "If I feel the same does that mean my light is still inside me..." , he continued.
"Of course it does!" , said King Mickey hopefully.
"You're going to leave again aren't you?" , came a small voice from the other end of the beach. Everyone looked over to see Selphie standing pigeon-toed in the sand.
Sora walked over to her and said, "Yea... I'm really sorry to be going off all quick like this. Tell everyone else I'm sorry too ok? And we will be back... ... ...". He leaned in closer, and, in a whisper, said, "Tell Kairi not to worry too will you?"
"OK! Just be sure to bring me back a souvenir!" , Selphie replied in her cheerful voice. "Hehe, Kairi's gonna be reeeeeal mad at you Sora! -- Huh..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Leon behind Sora.
The Gunblade wielder walked over to the two and a perplexed look crossed his face as well. "You look familiar..." , he said, furrowing his brow and rubbing his forehead as he often did when he was in deep thought.
"Yea, you do too... Strange!" , she replied as if the familiar sensation they had was a good thing.
"Don't we have someplace to go?" , Cid inquired as he made his way back to the ship.
"Right, time to go." , Cloud said as he and Aerieth (hands still intertwined) made their way inside the ship.
As everyone else started back to the ship, Riku grabbed a hold of Sora's shoulder again and said, "You know Sora, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. Last time we only barely managed to escape, but this time might be for good. You're ok with that?"
Sora smiled and said, "If it means keeping my friends safe... Anything is worth it." Sora looked at Riku as if it applied especially to him.
"Right then. Lets not keep everyone waiting!" , Riku said as he broke into a sprint towards the gummy ship.
"H-hey wait up!" , Sora said running after him. Wondering why he had this funny feeling talking to Riku just now.
"You better keep them safe! Or else I'll come after you!" , Selphie shouted to Leon.
"I'll do what I can." , came Leon's voice from the gummy ship.
"Good luck!" , Selphie yelled as the gummy ship took off and shot out into the sunset, leaving a small vapor trail behind it. Selphie looked off into the distance at the ship as it became a mere pin-prick in the sky and she wondered when she would see her friends again. "You better bring me back something good..." , she said grinning ear to ear.
Meanwhile, deep in the confines of Hollow Bastion...
"The boy has left Destiny Island master, just like you predicted." , an empty voice coming from a cloaked Unknown said.
"Good..." , a voice, seemingly coming from thin air, replied slowly. "Dispatch a small wave of Heartless to take the island back. And keep a surveillance on Sora and his friends at all times."
The Unknown replied, "Consider it done master..." And began to walk away.
The Unknown paused as the voice added, "And one other thing... ... The Dark one is still with him is he not?"
"... Yes... He managed to escape from The End of the World with Sora..." , said The Unknown.
"And his tie to us?" , inquired the voice further.
"... No change sir... It would appear Ansem's binding had no affect on it as we expected." , The Unknown concluded after a moment's deliberation.
The voice said, "Good... ... Very good... He will prove very useful to our plans."
"... ... ... If I may be so bold to ask..." , began The Unknown.
"You may" , answered the voice.
"What if Ansem was correct about what he saw in their hearts?" , asked The Unknown.
"Then any unnatural feelings they have that extend beyond a normal friendship will be their undoing." , said the voice coldly.
And that is how Sora's greatest adventure began...