A day passed, then three, then a week, and no word from King Mickey came. A persistent feeling of despondency began to grow in Sora's chest, and he knew Roxas was beginning to lose hope. "Hold on, Roxas," he muttered to himself, gazing out the classroom window at the sun-drenched water.

"What was that, Sora?" his teacher asked.

Sora jumped back to attention, accidentally knocking his pencil off his desk in his surprise. "Oh! Nothing. Just talking to myself."

His teacher gave him an odd look but said nothing and continued with the lesson. Sora noticed that people did that a lot these days; ever since he'd returned they seemed to think he was retarded or insane or both, and determinedly ignored any oddities of his. Sora wasn't sure if it was better than being pestered with awkward questions or not.

"Here's your pencil," Tidus whispered.

"Thanks," Sora muttered back, leaning across the aisle to take it. "What class are we in again?"

Tidus snorted and slapped his desk. "I know exactly how you feel, man. I'm just counting the minutes until we're out of here for good."

"Really? How many are left?"

"Three thousand, four hundred eighty," Tidus replied without blinking. He caught Sora's awed expression and grinned. "Naw, I just made that up. I actually have no idea. Five days left, though."

The reminder did nothing to ease Sora's restlessness. The rest of the day was spent doodling, daydreaming, and staring vaguely out the window. When the day was finally over, the first thing Sora did after leaving school was head down to the beach. He combed the sand for any sort of container – bottle, plastic bag, he didn't care what as long as it could hold a note. He was so engrossed with his search that he didn't even notice Kairi until she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Somehow I knew I'd find you here," she said, smiling. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Sora replied, not meeting her eyes. However, her inquisitive gaze still burned into him and he felt compelled to continue. "It's just... the more I think about things, the less they make sense. All the Organization wanted was to have hearts again, right? Is that really so bad? I mean, it must be horrible to be alive, but not have a heart..."

"It is."

Stunned into silence, Sora stared at Kairi, who clasped her hands behind her back and looked out over the water. "What... what do you mean?"

"I mean, I remember what it's like. I remember the emptiness... it's horrible. I've never felt anything like it, and I never want to feel it again." Though the air was warm, Kairi shivered and hugged herself. "I know that what happened to me is different than what happened to them, but if what I experienced was anything like what Naminé and the others went through, then I don't blame them at all."

"So... you understand what I mean?"

Kairi nodded. "Absolutely."

Sora smiled with relief. "Oh good. I was afraid you'd think I'm crazy or something. I mean, the Organization were the bad guys and here I am feeling sorry for them."

"That's not crazy. That's called having a heart."

"Yeah..." A sudden breeze kicked up, forming little eddies of sand and tugging at Sora's hair and clothes, almost as if it beckoned him out over the ocean. Or perhaps taunting him because he couldn't.

The days seemed to grow longer and hotter as the end of school loomed. Though they were supposed to hold final exams, few teachers actually did, and many tests were so easy that no studying was needed. It was just as well – Sora couldn't stay focused for more than a few minutes, and the other students weren't faring much better. By that point, there was more chatting in the classrooms than learning.

Finally, the last day rolled around. The entire day was spent staring anxiously at the clock until last hour. Though they were now too old to count down aloud, it was obvious that everyone was mentally. "Ten, nine, eight..." Sora murmured, watching the second hand. He shouldered his backpack and readied himself to jump up at a second's notice. "...Three, two, one..."

Everyone sprung to their feet in unison and bolted for the door. Sora met Kairi in the hallway and they hurried down to Riku's classroom, laughing and gossiping with people along the way. They caught him just leaving the room, yawning and rubbing his face, and promptly pounced on him. "Riku! Everyone's headed out to the island!" Kairi said, jumping up and down a little. "Let's get changed and head on over!"

"Sounds good," Riku replied, loosening his uniform tie with one finger and unbuttoning his collar.

They started towards the door, letting themselves get caught up in the flow of students rushing for the exit. "I should've expected you'd fall asleep on a day like today," Sora teased, and he jabbed Riku with his elbow – but not too roughly.

"Shut up," Riku retorted, cuffing Sora lightly on the head. "I have to take my meds twice a day, and one of those times is during school."

"Couldn't you just take them once you got home?" Kairi asked.

Was that a mischievous twinkle in Riku's eye? "Yeah, probably. Like I said, it gives me an excuse to fall asleep during class. You would not believe how boring chemistry is."

The three friends went their separate ways briefly to return to their homes and change into their street clothes, then met up again and hurried down to the dock. Tidus, Selphie, and others were already launching their boats. An entire fleet of teenagers assaulted the island, beached their ships and surged up the sun-baked sand. As had been the ritual for countless summers, they whiled away the afternoon sparring with wooden sticks, playing blitzball, and racing around the beach.

After a particularly intense tree-climbing race with Wakka, Sora loped over to Riku's island to cool down. Not surprisingly, the silver-haired boy was sitting on the paopu tree, apparently deep in thought. "Hey, Riku," Sora said, leaning against the tree trunk.

"Hey." The two sat in comfortable silence for some time until finally Riku said, almost to himself, "Nothing's changed, huh?"

Hadn't they? All Sora could think about these days was how different everything was. But then... maybe things weren't so different. The sun still rose and set, the night breeze was still warm... most of all, he and Riku and Kairi were still friends. That'd never change. "Nope," Sora replied, smiling. "Nothing will."

"What a small world."

"But part of one that's much bigger."

Riku nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah..."

"Sora! Riku!"

The two boys turned to see Kairi running up to them, waving frantically. "Hey, what's up?" Sora asked as she skidded to a stop before them.

Out of breath from racing to find them, Kairi could only manage to pant, "Look!" and held up a glass bottle with a slip of paper inside.

Sora's eyes widened when he saw a green stamp on the paper; he'd recognize that seal anywhere! "From the king?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. He snatched the bottle from Kairi and slipped the message out. Kairi and Riku leaned so close that Sora could feel their breath on his cheeks as they read over his shoulder.

Sora-

Sorry I can't come see ya in person – a king can get pretty busy sometimes. But I got your letter and I understand why you're so upset. The heart is a very confusing business, and sometimes the more you think about it the more crazy it gets. Since I can't see you, you can come see me. I'm sending Donald and Goofy to come and get ya – and Riku and Kairi too, if ya want. Once you come back to Disney Castle, we can talk, okay?

--King Mickey

Sora couldn't quite believe what he was reading. Donald and Goofy? They're coming here? "When was this sent?" he asked turning the paper over to look for a date.

"Why?"

"Maybe they're already on their way! Maybe they're already here!" Sora would have run straight to his boat if Riku hadn't grabbed his arm to stop him. "C'mon, Riku!" he whined. "We've gotta go find them!"

"Sora, calm down. You have no idea if Donald and Goofy are even here yet." Somehow, Riku's words cut through Sora's excitement and managed to quiet him down. Once he was sure Sora wouldn't run off, Riku let go of his friend's arm. "We can go back now if you want, but don't get your hopes up."

"All right, all right."

The three walked back to their boats; Sora would have run if Riku and Kairi hadn't held him back. As they untied the moor lines, Wakka and Tidus spotted them and ran on over. Great, Sora thought. Now we have to come up with an excuse for why we're leaving. For some reason, explaining that they were expecting visitors from another would didn't sound like a good idea at the moment. "Hey, where you guys goin'?" Wakka asked as he tucked his blitzball under his arm.

"We've got some stuff to take care of back home," Kairi replied, flashing a winning smile. As if she'd hit a switch, her feminine charm was suddenly at a maximum. "You boys go have fun – we'll see you later, m'kay?"

Wakka blushed and scratched his head with embarrassment. "Okay, Kairi. See you guys later, ya? Let's go, Tidus!" They left without any further questions.

Sora and Riku stared slack-jawed at Kairi. Finally, Sora blurted out, "You are evil." He laughed and shook his head, almost as if he couldn't believe what he just saw.

Kairi looked as injured and innocent as an abandoned kitten. "Whaaat? Why? What'd I do?"

"Never mind, never mind." Sora waved his hands dismissively, still chuckling. "Let's go!"

They raced over the water as fast as they could and, once they reached shore, ran up the street towards Sora's house. Riku's house was on the way; his sister Yuri was sunning herself on a folding chair in the front lawn and looked up as they passed. "Hey, Baby Brother!" she called out, pushing her sunglasses on top of her head.

"What?" Riku replied, sounding more than a little irritated.

"Two weird guys were looking for you three."

That stopped them. "What do you mean, 'weird?'" Riku asked.

"Well... one of them was a duck."

"Donald!" Sora yelled, jumping in the air with excitement.

"And the other was... a dog or something."

"And Goofy!" Sora looked on the verge of exploding with joy. "When did they come? When?"

Yuri rolled her eyes skyward in thought. "Oh God, I dunno... half hour ago? Forty-five minutes? I told them you weren't around, and they asked where your house was, Sora. I pointed them in the right direction and off they went."

Sora, Riku, and Kairi were already gone by the time Yuri finished talking. They ran at breakneck speed all the way to Sora's house, even though they nearly got run over a few times while darting across the street. When they reached the house, Sora flung open the door and raced inside without bothering to remove his shoes. "Mom!" he yelled. "Has anyone – "

As he rounded the corner, Sora crashed into something and went flying head-over-heels in a cloud of white feathers. After a moment of seeing stars, Sora discovered he was laying on a very disgruntled duck, who promptly began squawking for him to get off. His mother looked over from her conversation with Goofy, who had just been complimenting her fruit smoothies. "Oh! Good, you're home. You have a few guests, Sora."