Donald looked angry. That was nothing new, really. Goofy just looked happy and relieved to find Sora. Again, normal. For a brief moment, Sora wondered if perhaps they'd miraculously forgotten his furious outburst and that everything was right again in the worlds.

"You're in big trouble, Sora," Donald said, his hands on his hips.

No, they remembered all right.

"At least we found ya," Goofy added, grinning. "Ya had us real scared, ya know. We were worried you were mad at us."

They thought he was mad at them? "Uh... no, I'm not mad at you guys." Sora managed a sheepish smile and scratched the nape of his neck. "I guess I lost my temper, huh? Sorry. Um..." he looked around nervously. "Where's the king?"

"He's back with Riku and Kairi."

"Which is where we should be going right now," Donald added, clearly still miffed.

Sora glanced over his shoulder at the files, which were floating aimlessly about. "But..." Well, he was pretty much done anyway. He could probably leave now and show the others what he'd done so far. Maybe he could show King Mickey that he wasn't just too sensitive – that there really was a connection between Nobodies and their hearts. "Tron – I'm going to go with these guys. Once I'm out in the real world, could you display these files here on the screen for me?"

"Of course."

Goofy gazed, slack-jawed, at the drifting clumps of data. "Gawrsh... what are these things?"

"They're data. I'm not sure how they work in here, but I think they can help us find out what happened to Axel – and to me and Kairi too." Sora followed Goofy's gaze. They were actually pretty, in a strange, unearthly sort of way. "...At least, I hope they will."

Donald must have heard the note of distress in Sora's voice, because the irritation melted from his features. He sighed and shook his head, as if to say, what can you do? "Come on, let's go." He walked back to the door, the others falling into step beside him. "You know," Donald remarked as they headed towards the port in the I/O tower, "the king was really worried about you too."

"Really? Why's that?" Sora asked.

"He was afraid you'd go off and try to find Kingdom Hearts again," Goofy replied.

Sora raised one eyebrow. Kingdom Hearts...? What would... Though it was small, a morsel of an idea hatched in Sora's mind. "Why was he afraid we'd do that?"

Donald raised his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "I dunno! He wouldn't tell us much. Maybe you can ask him when we're back outside."

It was a good idea as any, though Sora was loath to face the little mouse just yet. It seemed he wouldn't have much of a choice, however. They reached the port and activated it; again, their bodies were broken down into tiny bits of information and whisked through the computer system to be reconstructed in the real world. Once outside, Sora blinked and shook himself; it always felt weird to be in real clothes after being inside the computer. Riku and Kairi were standing in front of the terminal, expressions of shock and worry on their faces. "Give us a little more warning before you do that next time, okay Sora?" Kairi said, her voice shaky.

"Sorry, guys. I guess I was a little too excited," Sora said. It seemed he was apologizing an awful lot today. Out of the corner of his eye, Sora spotted a small red figure and his throat tightened. He hadn't seen King Mickey at first and had hoped he'd left.

The king strode up to Sora and frowned up at him; Sora figured he'd look a lot like an angry parent if he weren't so short. "You've really got to stop runnin' off like that, Sora," he said. "Ya make people worried."

For some reason, Sora did not feel compelled to apologize to the king. He merely shrugged and smiled lopsidedly, hands in his pockets, looking everywhere around the room except at King Mickey.

Mickey sighed and shook his head. "Sora, I know you're upset – and I know what you're thinkin' too. Ya don't think I have any what you're going through. Well, you're right, kinda. No one's experienced what you and Kairi have gone through, so no one really knows. But I can still guess."

Sora finally managed to drag his gaze to meet Mickey's. "At least let me show you what I've found," he pleaded. "I've been looking through Ansem's work on his computers, and I think I've found some really important stuff!"

The king looked inquiringly at his two subjects, who just shrugged. "Well, okay," he said. "Though you've gotta remember that a lot of Ansem's work was just hypotheses – educated guesses, ya know? It might not be right."

"I know, I know." Sora hurried over to the computer terminal. "Tron, display those files I wanted."

"Right away." The screen flared to life as the files began opening in rapid succession. "Any particular order, or...?"

"No, this is good." Sora turned to Mickey, gesturing at the screen. "See? Look here. 'If the heart is strong, then the Nobody retains its form and even some memories of its previous life. Surely ties to such a strong heart could not be broken so easily. Indeed, residual ties to its heart could explain the lingering memories of some Nobodies. The heart is the source of memories, after all.'"

King Mickey rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... can I get a better look at that?"

"Here, let me help," Riku offered. He bent down and effortlessly lifted the little king up so he could see the screen, taking the opportunity to get a closer look himself.

"How recent is this document?" Mickey asked, peering at the dense text as if trying to decipher a code hidden between the lines.

Several lights blinked on the terminal before Tron told them when the document was last modified. Riku's eyes widened in surprise. "That's after we left Castle Oblivion – at least, after King Mickey and I did. Ansem must have continued his studies right up to the end and somehow sent the files to his computer here, even while he was away."

Sora pursed his lips. "Oh yeah... Castle Oblivion..." He still couldn't remember a single thing about the time he'd apparently spent in the castle. All he knew was what Riku had told him, and his friend had remained inexplicably evasive on the subject. "So... that means this info is..."

"About a year old. Maybe a little less," Riku said. "Is there anything newer on here?"

After a few seconds of processing, Tron pulled up several more files, starting with the most recent. "This is the newest," he said. "And the others get older by approximate one-week intervals."

Kairi shouldered her way between Sora and Riku so she could see the screen better. "'All hearts eventually return to their source – Kingdom Hearts,'" she read. "'This much is fact. And I have been led to believe that the strongest of hearts are still connected to their shells, however tenuous the hold. What happens if the shell is destroyed? I have a rudimentary theory: perhaps, like a rubber band stretched tightly, the bonds that connect heart and shell "snap back" when the shell is annihilated. Do the memories and experiences of the shell disappear, or do they return to the heart? Perhaps. It almost seems wishful thinking that creatures as wretched as the Nobodies would have such a fortunate afterlife.'"

The room fell silent as everyone digested the concept that Ansem had suddenly presented them. To Sora, it was practically a godsend. If he understood what Ansem was saying – and he was pretty sure he did – then maybe Axel hadn't just disappeared. Maybe he'd been reunited with his heart at last – wherever that was. Sora just hoped he was happy now...

King Mickey looked up at Riku. "You can put me down now, Riku. Your arms must be gettin' tired."

"I'm okay," Riku insisted, but he put the king down anyway.

The little mouse paced around the room, hands clasped behind his back. "I spoke to Ansem a lot, and he never mentioned anythin' like this."

"There must have been a reason why he kept it secret."

"I can only think of a couple," Mickey said, nodding. "One, he was afraid of the Organization getting' their hands on this info. Who knows what they coulda done with it."

Sora leaned close to Kairi. "Wouldn't they have just, you know, killed themselves or something? Since that would have made them 'snap back?'" he muttered.

Kairi shrugged. "But then I think they would've lost their individuality, and they didn't want that."

"Oh."

"Or two," King Mickey continued, "he wasn't sure of his hypothesis yet. I'm kinda leanin' towards that. This idea goes against one of the most fundamental qualities of Nobodies – that they don't have hearts. Even just havin' connections to their old hearts changes the whole picture. It's not just an idea you throw out there on the fly."

The king continued to talk about Nobodies, hearts, and the lack thereof, but Sora was no longer listening. Instead, like a jigsaw puzzle, all these different pieces of information were coming together, and he was starting to see the big picture. If Nobodies are made when someone loses their heart, that means their heart is destroyed. When hearts are destroyed, they return to Kingdom Hearts, which means... Sora gasped. Of course! Then if Ansem's theory was right, Axel would be inside Kingdom Hearts! Sora grinned, amazed at how simple it seemed.

Then he remembered – Goofy had mentioned Mickey's concern that Sora would try to find Kingdom Hearts again. Did that mean he knew about this all along? But the king had said Ansem never told him... Sora bit back the questions and accusations that threatened to burst out, resigning himself to merely watch the mouse closely for any sign that he was lying. It wasn't like the king to lie; he seemed such a good-hearted king, if something of a busybody. Still... Sora's faith in King Mickey had been shaken by the incident at Disney Castle.

Or maybe Sora was just still mad at him.