Sora expected those at Radiant Garden to know about his reckless behavior at Disney Castle, and he braced himself for a verbal onslaught as he exited the Highwind to meet Yuffie and Aeris, who were waiting for them on the tarmac. Yuffie glared at Sora, her face set in a ferocious scowl. "Soraaaa..." she growled.
Sora cringed and Riku exchanged worried looks with Kairi.
"What took you so long?" Yuffie demanded, gesturing wildly. "We were afraid you'd never come back!"
"Uh..." Caught by surprise, Sora blinked; the next thing he knew, Yuffie had enveloped him in a massive hug.
Aeris just smiled at her friend's exuberance. "It's been too long since we last saw you, Sora, Kairi – and you must be Riku," she concluded. Riku gave a self-conscious little wave at the mention of his name. Aeris returned the gesture, albeit more confidently. "Sora's told us so much about you that it's hard to believe we've never actually met."
"Sora's talked a lot about you guys, too," Riku replied, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Yuffie peered at Riku, but didn't release her death-grip on Sora. "So you're the infamous Riku, huh?" She tilted her head and pursed her lips, as if making some mental calculations. "Yeah..." she said finally, "you're pretty cute, I guess."
Kairi almost fell over laughing at Riku's bemused expression, while Sora took the opportunity to worm free of Yuffie's clutches. "Hate to tell you guys," he said, fixing his rumpled clothes, "but we didn't come just to visit. We need Tron to help us find some information."
"Ansem's computer?" Aeris asked. "What do you need information on?"
Sora squirmed uncomfortably. "Nobodies."
Aeris fixed Sora with a concerned, intense gaze. "Why? They haven't come back, have they – the Organization?"
"Something's come up," Riku replied, "and we wanted to look into it." His tone made it completely clear – no more questions.
After a heartbeat of awkward silence, Yuffie shrugged. "Okay, she said, taking things in her usual cheerful stride. "Let's go find Leon. He can help you with that computer stuff. I think he's working on some new construction."
They left the Gummi port and entered the city proper. Aided by interplanetary commerce, Radiant Garden had grown tremendously since Sora had last visited, and he probably would have gotten lost if Aeris and Yuffie weren't there to guide him. Gummi ships of all sizes flew overhead while the streets bustled with people, most of them human but a few obviously were visitors from foreign worlds. Aeris and Yuffie weaved through the crowd with practiced ease while the others struggled to catch up. At one point, Kairi grabbed on to the hem of Sora's jacket to keep from falling behind; Sora blushed but otherwise did his best to ignore it.
After a few minutes, they found Leon helping construct a house in the Borough. He couldn't hear Yuffie and Aeris's shouts over the noise of hammers and saws, so Yuffie decided to tackle him to get his attention. "Was that really necessary?" he asked, sprawled on the ground with Yuffie sitting on him.
By way of an answer, Yuffie pointed at Sora.
"Sora!" Leon pushed Yuffie off, got to his feet, and brushed the dust off his pants. "It's been a while. Good to see you're back. You too, Kairi." He stopped, not recognizing Riku.
"I'm Riku." The boy nodded politely in greeting.
Leon rubbed his chin as though Riku had just explained everything. "So you're Riku, huh? I've heard of you."
"So I've gathered."
Sora tugged at Leon's shirt like an impatient little kid trying to get attention. "Leon, we need your help. We want to access Ansem's computer."
"Ansem's computer? Any reason why?" Leon looked from Sora to Riku to Kairi, but they all avoided his gaze. He turned to Aeris and Yuffie for answers; they just shrugged and shook their heads. "Fine. Forget I asked." He waved at one of the construction workers and shouted, "Hey! I'm going on break for a while! Be back in an hour!"
"Really? You're helping us now?" Kairi asked, perking up.
Leon shrugged and started leading the way to the castle. "The most important things in life are the ones you can't talk about."
It was more like Sora was afraid that Leon would say the same thing Mickey told them, but Sora didn't dare admit it. He followed Leon through the city, mildly awestruck at all the buildings that had sprung up in his absence. Through the maze under the castle, Ansem's study, and the secret hallway, and they were at the terminal. Leon activated the computer with a few quick keystrokes and stood back. "Hey Tron, Sora's back."
A few lights winked on, the screen flared to life, and a digitized voice came over the speakers. "Hi Sora!" Tron said. "Glad to see you! Who are your friends?"
"This is Kairi, and this is Riku," Sora replied, gesturing. Kairi waved at what she thought were Tron's eyes while Riku just looked around the room curiously. "How have you been, Tron?"
"Optimal! Lately I've been restructuring the mainframe and giving the memory retrieval system a complete overhaul. Once I'm done, processing efficiency should increase by twenty-one point three seven percent!"
Probably the only one who understood Tron's enthusiastic speech, Leon smiled slightly. "I'd like to stay, but I need to head back to the Borough and help with the house. You guys should be able to handle it from here."
A look of sheer panic crossed Sora's face as he remembered the last time Leon left him alone with Ansem's computer. "B-but – "
"Relax," Leon reassured him. "Tron's been reworking the interface. It's much more user-friendly now." He headed for the door, throwing a casual wave over his shoulder as he left.
"Don't worry, Sora!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Me and Aeris will stick around for you!"
"Do you know anything about computers?"
"Nope!"
Sora rolled his eyes, a gesture mirrored by everyone else in the room besides Yuffie. He turned and surveyed the imposing terminal before him, determining his next course of action. "Okay, Tron. We need to access all the information you have on Nobodies."
"All right. Hit ALT and R." With Tron guiding him through the proper commands, Sora accessed the files about Nobodies in a matter of minutes. "Say," Tron said as Sora scrolled through a document, "where are Donald and Goofy?"
"Uh..." Sora glanced at Kairi and Riku for help; they shrugged helplessly and gestured for him to say something. "They'll be coming soon," he replied, unable to completely lie. At least, he figured they'd probably show up looking for him soon. He wasn't sure he wanted to face them when they did, at least not if King Mickey was with them. He couldn't face the little mouse just yet, not after what he'd done.
Suddenly, Kairi was right next to Sora, staring intently at the screen. "Find anything yet?" she asked.
"No... There's just so much stuff to wade through... oh wait!" One file name in particular caught Sora's eye – Destruction of Nobodies. He opened the file and began scrolling through the contents.
"What's it say?" Riku asked, peering over Sora's shoulder.
"'Nobodies, as I've stated before, are constructed of the cast-off body and soul of a being whose heart is taken,'" Sora read. "'What happens when the shell is destroyed? The heart returns to the source of all hearts. What is the source of bodies and souls, if there is one at all?'"
Yuffie jumped up and down to see over everyone else's heads, gave up, and put her hands on her hips. "He's asking more questions than he's answering, you know." Aeris quickly shushed her, but Sora was inclined to agree.
Kairi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she read the screen. "There has to be something here. Scroll down, Sora."
They read hundreds of musings and questions, dozens of postulations and hypotheses, but nothing definitive – no sure answer to what they sought. Sora's eyes ached and his brain was fried by the time Riku touched his shoulder, shaking him out of his reverie. "C'mon, Sora," Riku said, jerking his thumb towards the door, where Kairi was waiting. "It's late. Aeris knows a place we can stay the night."
"Hold on," Sora muttered, his eyes flicking briefly to Riku. "I think I'm on to something here."
Riku snorted. "You've been 'on to' something for the last two hours, Sora. Time to call it a day – give your poor little brain a rest. We can come back tomorrow."
Reluctantly, Sora closed the files he'd been scouring and shut down the computer. Riku threw a consoling arm over Sora's shoulders as they headed for the door, and Kairi took his hand before they left the darkened room, leaving the computer – and any truth it held about the Nobodies – lying dormant inside.