Sora wasn't quite sure what to make of the long silence that followed once he was done speaking. Unnerved, he looked around the room to see what the others' reactions were. Donald, Goofy, and Riku were concerned for their friend. Kairi was sympathetic – after all, she was going through something similar to Sora. King Mickey was absorbed in thought, his brow furrowed as he rubbed his chin. Sora wanted to ask him what he was thinking so hard about, but decided it was best not to push it.

"Well," the king said finally, "Ansem the Wise would be able to answer all your questions if he were here."

That was definitely not the first answer Sora wanted to hear.

"But he's not here," King Mickey conceded, "so I'll do the best I can." He hopped off the ottoman and began pacing back and forth. "First off," he began, holding up one pudgy finger, "I think ya misunderstood Axel. He was a Nobody, and Nobodys don't have hearts. Because they don't have 'em, they crave hearts. Axel probably was attracted to Roxas because he was your Nobody and had some resonance with your heart. It wasn't actual friendship."

Sora shook his head. That couldn't be right! He shouldn't just brush off Axel's feelings like that! "But – "

"Secondly," Mickey interrupted, holding up a second finger, "far as I know, what you're describin' shouldn't be happenin' to ya at all."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, Roxas – and Naminé – weren't real people, see. They were just fragments of you and Kairi. So when they became part of you guys again, it's not like somethin' new was added to ya; it was just like puttin' back the missin' pieces of a puzzle. Which means that nothin' should've changed."

Sora was beginning to get irritated. "But things have changed! That's the whole point!"

The king held up his hands disarmingly. "Now now, calm down. I see that. Obviously there's more to what's goin' on than I know." He sighed, his whip-like tail tracing patterns in the air as he thought. "It might have somethin' to do with what happened in the time before ya were reunited with your Nobodies. Ya say ya have memories of people and places you've never seen?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. It happened before Roxas... before, too. Like, when I visited Twilight Town, it was like I'd seen the place before, even though I hadn't. But it's even worse now."

"It's the same for me too," Kairi added quietly, staring at her shoes. "But I don't think I have it as bad as Sora does. Only once in a while."

King Mickey nodded as though they'd just said something very profound. "It must be because Roxas and Naminé interacted with other people while they existed." He grew more excited as he spoke, as if he were discovering the ideas just as they were leaving his mouth. "Even though they weren't real people, they still acquired memories, and they must've used those memories to create somethin' like a heart so they could feel – or, at least, they thought they could feel. Their emotions weren't real, of course."

There was silence for a moment as everyone digested the king's hypothesis. Then, almost too softly to hear, Kairi said, "How can you say that?"

"Whaddaya mean?" King Mickey asked, frowning with confusion.

"I mean – " Kairi cleared her throat and began to speak louder " – I mean, how can you talk about them like they weren't actual people? How can you say their emotions weren't real?" She pounded her fist weakly on the table she was leaning against, as though she was physically and emotionally drained from the whole experience. "I'm feeling Naminé's emotions right now, and they're pretty damn real to me."

Riku and Sora exchanged worried, surprised looks. They had never heard Kairi swear before. Riku opened his mouth as if to speak and then, perhaps wisely, decided to remain silent. Sora also felt compelled to speak; he had throughout the king's explanation. He couldn't say why, but Sora knew – just knew – that the king was dead wrong. Maybe it was just because Roxas didn't like what he was hearing, that he felt insulted by King Mickey's description of him, but that was the whole point – that he felt.

"In my head, I know what you're saying is true," Kairi continued before Sora could speak, standing up straight and staring down at the little king. "But that doesn't explain why I feel so... so hurt when you talk about Naminé and Roxas like that. It's like you're talking about me." She stopped for a moment, then chuckled wryly. "In a way, you know, you are talking about me."

King Mickey was nothing if not a diplomat; he stifled his irritation and defensiveness almost immediately in face of Kairi's challenge and put on a conciliatory face. "Now, I understand you're upset," he said in his most pacifying tone, "and ya have every right to be. But that doesn't change the facts: Roxas and Naminé were Nobodies, and as Nobodies they had no hearts. That's the whole point of a Nobody's existence – or nonexistence, dependin' on how ya look at it – and because they had no hearts, they can't feel emotions like you and me. That's just how it is."

Kairi, hands on her hips, glared down at King Mickey with an expression that Sora had only seen a few times in his life, when Kairi got really mad. "Look," she said, "maybe some of those Organization guys didn't have hearts, but Roxas and Naminé – and Axel too – are different. I can feel – "

"How d'ya know the emotions aren't just yours?"

Despite her anger, Kairi was stunned into silence and merely stared at the king.

Encouraged, King Mickey continued. "The heart's a tricky business, ya see, and it's hard to – "

Sora couldn't stand it anymore. "Don't talk to Kairi like she doesn't know anything!" he snapped, jumping to his feet. "She's a Princess of Heart, isn't she? I'll bet she knows more about the heart than you ever will!"

"Sora!" Donald yelped, terrified of where the quarrel was headed.

"Calm down, Sora," Goofy pleaded. "Arguin's not gonna – "

"No!" Sora interrupted. "I'm tired of listening to Mickey talk as if he knows exactly what we're going through when he doesn't! It's more complicated than he thinks it is!" He turned to Riku, who so far hadn't spoken or so much as moved, for some support.

Riku peered out from beneath heavy bangs and locked eyes with Sora. "Don't drag me in to the middle of this," he warned. "You're overreacting way more than you normally would, Sora. It isn't like you to get this angry."

"I'm not angry," Sora retorted. He moved to stand next to Kairi, a show of solidarity against all opposition. "Roxas is."

If it were possible for someone to look surprised, irritated, worried, upset, and exasperated all at once, Riku did. He hesitantly reached out, as if afraid of what the strange boy before him who looked like his old friend. "Sora..."

Brushing Riku away, Sora took Kairi's hand. "C'mon, Kairi. We're going."

They stormed out the door and down the hallway, the others scrambling to catch up. Baffled servants and courtiers of all sizes and species parted to let Sora and Kairi pass, leaving a trail of curious whispers in their wake. Riku, the fastest of the group, was the first to catch up with them. "Sora, Kairi – what the hell are you guys doing?" he hissed as he jogged alongside them.

"We're going somewhere where we'll get real answers," Sora replied, looking straight ahead.

"You mean the answers that you want to hear?"

"Whose side are you on!"

"Goddamn it, Sora, I'm not on anyone's side! Don't force me to choose between friends!"

By now they'd entered the Gummi hangar. Sora paused for only an instant, then he spotted the Highwind and made a beeline for it. While he and Kairi boarded the ship without a second thought, Riku paused and looked towards the door, where Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey were running towards them. "Sora! Wait!" Donald and Goofy yelled.

"Riku! Do something!" King Mickey shouted.

Riku looked at the Highwind, back at the three running towards them, and ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "Son of a bitch," he swore, and he bolted up the gangplank just before the hatch closed. He entered the cockpit and collapsed into a seat just before Sora gunned the engines and they roared out of the hangar. Closing his eyes, Riku tilted his head back and covered his eyes with one hand while holding his aching ribs with the other hand, trying to catch his breath. "Shiiiiiiiit... shit shit shit..." He looked up at Sora, who was slumped over the controls in the pilot's seat. "Do you know what we just did?"

"Yes," Sora mumbled. Far from the rage he showed just minutes ago, now he looked absolutely miserable.

"We just stole a ship from the king."

"I know."

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"I don't know!" Sora's voice quavered with barely-restrained tears. "I... I've never felt that mad before in my life! I don't know what got into me. It's like... just listening to him made me more furious than anything..."

"You know exactly what got into you," Kairi sighed, gazing out the windshield. "...What got into both of us..."

An uncomfortable silence stretched on for what seemed an eternity. Finally, Riku looked at his two friends and asked, "So... where are we going, exactly?"

"Radiant Garden," Sora answered. "I figured... I figured we could ask Tron for more information about, you know, Nobodies and the Organization. Maybe we missed something last time."

Riku's mouth twisted in a sardonic smile. "Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea." He punched Sora lightly in the arm. "Probably the best idea you've had all day. Not that that says much."

Sora was not terribly amused.