Author's Note-grumbles at stupid flamers that have no idea what their talking about- Don't ya just hate it when someone flames your stories when they only skimmed over a couple of chapters at the end with hateful intentions in the first place? –tosses flamers to Hel herself- That's what I say to that! Ahem…right. Anyways, sorry for the long wait. I've been a bit uninspired lately (part of it is due to writers block…) and apparently I get more written during school than I do at home. –smiles and sweatdrops- And now that my long weekend is over, I shouldn't have much of a problem getting back to work. (Strange, isn't it? Normally you'd hear just the opposite…) Also, I've started a new original story and a new fanficceh, so that may steal a little bit of my attention, but not that much. The fanfic was started from boredom and starting original stories tend to be a bit slow for me, anyways. So I'll have plenty of time to write more to this. Oh, I'm debating on the next world for Riku's group and Sora's group to go to (prolly gonna be separate ones, still…), so if you have any suggestions, let me know. Word ofexplaination about the '?.!'s..I was a little pissed off about that. Stupid document manager and thinks I can't edit my ownword and I can't take it off. And it's not letting medo that without the period in the middle. So I'm just going to settle for that right now.Finally, I don't own Kingdom Hearts, so don't sue me. Now that I'm finished with all my rambles…onto the ficceh!

"Hyotoko! Hyotoko, wake up! Hurry up and eat breakfast; we're about to go!" Kiyoshi rushed.

Hyotoko groaned and opened his eyes slightly, glancing out the window. "Kiyoshi, it's still dark out. What time is it…?"

"It's dark in Traverse Town all the time. C'mon, you've slept for nine hours already." Kiyoshi whined.

"Nine hours? Really…?" Hyotoko asked. He sat up and rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes. "Alright, then, I'm up…"

"Hurry up and eat, then. The others said it would be alright to go see Uncle Ken. Cid's gonna lend us his gummi ship," Kiyoshi said.

Hyotoko blinked. "None of them are coming along? You mean they actually trust me?"

Kiyoshi blinked. "What do you mean…?" he asked cluelessly.

"Actually, no," a feminine voice said in the doorway. Both boys looked over to see Tifa. "Kairi and I are coming, too."

"Are you serious?" Hyotoko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Tifa confirmed. "So don't try anything." She then turned. "Well, I think I'm going to head off to the items and accessory shops… We're going to need a bit more supplies for our trip than we thought."

"Can I come, too? Staying in this house for so long is starting to make me stir-crazy, I think," Kiyoshi asked.

Tifa blinked. "Didn't you sleep?" she asked.

Kiyoshi smiled and sweatdropped, shaking his head. "Nope. I don't sleep that much. I guess you could say that I'm a little bit of an insomniac…" he admitted.

Tifa sighed. "Great. Then I don't know how you're going to survive in the gummi ship. C'mon, then…" she said, starting out.

Kiyoshi turned to Hyotoko. "Try to be ready when we get back, okay, Hyotoko? See ya." He said, walking out with Tifa.

Tifa looked down at Kiyoshi as they walked down the street. "Aren't you worried?" she asked.

"Well, I am a bit nervous. Hyotoko was right about one thing: I haven't seen Uncle Ken since I was only two years old."

"I'm not talking about that," Tifa said. "I mean, aren't you worried that Hyotoko's going to run away while you're gone?"

Kiyoshi blinked, then smiled. "Not really," he said. He searched his pocket, then finally pulled out a glimmering green orb. "I think Hyotoko had this with him when he promised he wouldn't."

"What is it?" Tifa asked. "It's pretty…"

"Sakura gave Taro, Hyotoko, and I these things the night everything happened. She bought them in the new accessory shop down the street. They're called destiny balls or oath orbs or something like that. If you make a promise on them, the promise will hold true. At least, that's how it works on our world." Kiyoshi explained.

"Friends? We're siblings-we're stuck with each other."

"Yeah…of course we'll always be friends…"

"We don't need oath balls or whatever the heck they're called to hold our friendship together."

Kiyoshi's look grew sad. "You know, though, when she gave us these, we didn't believe the legend. She wanted us all to make a promise that we would all stay friends forever and well…now look what's happened. Hyotoko's mad at Taro, Sakura's lost her heart, and Taro's probably on another world as we speak."

"But we'll find them all again and everything will be back to normal; you'll see," Tifa assured. "Kiyoshi, friendship isn't held together by orbs you buy in a store. The friends you have always stay with you in your heart."

Kiyoshi's look brightened to a slight smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said.

"Of course I'm right! You just wait. You'll see your friends and sister again soon, I promise," Tifa said.

Kiyoshi smiled a bit wider as he nodded. "Yeah…"

Tam growled, her ears twitching slightly, her eyes still closed. Somewhere nearby she heard stomping, singing, and trumpeting.

"Good lord, whoever's doing that ought to sit still and shut up. It's too early for this crap." She grumbled.

Stomp, stomp, stomp. Trumpet. "Oh, for the love of god…" Tim finally sighed, exasperation in her voice as she opened her eyes and jumped down from the tree. She looked around, then headed towards the source of the noise, grumbling, "The one time I don't have a pillow, the ONE time…!" She finally stopped when she reached the parade of singing elephants, tromping through the forest.

Tam twitched. "Hey," she said. No response. The elephants just ignored her. "Hey!" she tried again. No answer. "Oi! Can I have your attention, you stupid elephants?.!" she shouted.

The elephants all stopped, looking confused.

"Who is it?.! Who's giving out commands?.!" one of the elephants demanded, walking over.

Tam assumed this was the leader. She glared.

"Would you all mind being just a little bit quieter?.! Some of us are trying to sleep!" she snapped.

The leader frowned. "What? What's another mancub doing out here in the jungle?"

A female elephant walked over to sniff her. "She may look like a mancub, but she certainly doesn't smell like one," she said.

"What? That's preposterous! What is it then that she smells of?"

Sniff sniff. "Nothing. She has the smell of flowers, but it's not her scent. It doesn't exist. She smells like nothing. Almost like a shadow…"

Tam blinked, then glared. "What does that have to do with anything?.! I just came here to tell you guys to shut up!" she exclaimed.

Tam twitched as the elephants ignored her and argued amongst themselves.

"Tam?" A voice asked behind her. Tam turned to see a sleepy Sora behind her, blinking.

"Morning," Tam grumbled.

"What's going on?" Sora asked, looking up at the elephants.

"Stupid elephants can't be quiet."

"I see you've met the Elephant Brigade," Bagheera said, walking up to stand beside Sora.

"So to speak. They're very noisy. It really is uncalled for," Tam replied dryly.

"They didn't wake me up…" Sora said. Tam rolled her eyes.

"Don't tell me you're one of those early wakers," She said.

"No…" Sora replied.

Tam stared at him. "Then why the hell in your right mind are you up so early?.!" she demanded.

Sora smiled and sweatdropped. "I rolled off the branch…" he admitted a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Tam sweatdropped, the shook her head. "You are only human, I guess…" she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sora blinked, the smiled. "As opposed to what?" he asked.

Tam shrugged. "Talking animals? I dunno. Anyway…" she said, changing the subject.

"Right. First that Mowgli mancub from the other day, now two new ones?" the elephant leader said.

"Actually, three," Bagheera corrected with a sigh.

"What are you thinking?.!" the elephant leader demanded.

"They're not staying here permanently," Bagheera assured him. "They're only here to find and seal the keyhole, ridding us of the Heartless problem once and for all. On another note, have you seen Mowgli? It seems I've lost him again."

"Ahem, well of course! And elephant never forgets, after all," the leader said. "He was…um…uhm…"

"The barren lands! Wasn't it?" The youngest elephant piped up.

"Oh, yes, yes, of course! Just what I was about to say," the leader said.

"Well, that's one problem solved, huh?" Sora said cheerfully, looking over at his friends. But Tam wasn't listening. Instead she was focusing intently on something to her left, green eyes narrowed, ears twitching slightly. "Tam…?" Sora asked, blinking and looking off to the left but seeing nothing.

Nothing but a twitch in the bushes.

Tam turned to Sora. "The air here reeks with the scent of tiger. Wake up Taro and Baloo and let's get moving. I'm not in the mood to be breakfast," she said. She then glanced at Sora, paused in thought, and shook her head. "Know what? Never mind. I'll go get them. Sora, you stay here with Bagheera," she said, starting off. As she passed Bagheera, she said in a low voice to him, "Don't let that kid out of your sight. Every step he takes seems to get him into trouble."

"Believe me, I know the feeling," Bagheera sighed. "I will." Tam nodded and headed back to their tree.

Her eyes scanned the bushes and the trees. She was on high alert, the seeds of various plants held between each finger, ready to be tossed in the event of a sudden attack. "Geez, this brings back memories…" she mumbled. She was beginning to get the sinking feeling that maybe going alone was a bad idea. And leaving Sora all by himself, even if it was in the care of Bagheera (and maybe the elephants) was probably not the wisest of all her decisions…

"Mommy, Daddy, hurry up! I'm getting ahead of you!"

"Slow down," the woman with long black hair called.

"Yes, we wouldn't want to lose you," the red-haired man agreed.

The five year-old paused, blinked back at them, then laughed and ran up ahead. "Tam!" the man called. As their daughter faded from their view, he sighed and turned to his wife. "I'll get her this time," he assured her, running off to follow her.

Eventually Tam stopped and looked around. Where was she? She could only see bamboo towering over her on all sides. She strained her ears for the sounds of her parents' familiar voices. Nothing. Wait! There was something! Movement, coming from in front and behind.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

Rustlerustle. Tam turned. Her eyes widened as a dark figure with red eyes emerged. He looked down at her and unsheathed his sword. As he swung down, she screamed…

"Tam!"

Tam snapped out of her thoughts, whirling around as her hand raised, seeds ready. Taro held up his hands in defense.

"Woah, woah. It's just me, Taro. This isn't a bad time, is it?" Taro asked.

"…No. C'mon," Tam grumbled, turning and starting back to the field. "Where's Baloo?"

"We split up looking for you, Sora, and Bagheera," Taro said, blinking.

"Not…smart…" Tam criticized. She sighed. "Well, I'm sure we'll find him on the way. If a gigantic loud bear can manage to evade my senses, I'm going to have to label myself deaf, dumb, and blind."

"Hey, Taro!" a voice called. Taro and Tam looked around, finally spotting a large gray mass of fur several yards away. "You find anyone?"

"Did you miss that?" Taro asked, glancing over at Tam.

"No," Tam replied. She waved. "We're over here!" she called back.

The mass of fur-now officially identified as Baloo-tromped over. "There you are!" he said, looking down at Tam. "Where's Bagheera and Spiky-Hair?"

"With a bunch of annoying elephants. C'mon, I'll take you to them. They're really not hard to miss," Tam said, heading back briskly to their friends and the Elephant Brigade.

"Annoying elephants? You mean the Elephant Brigade?" Baloo asked.

Tam sweatdropped. "So, they're apparently well-known by everybody in this jungle. That's kinda sad…" she said.

"Yeah… They think they're important, but not really. At least they keep an eye on what's going on around the place," Baloo said.

"If you weren't lazy, you could probably do that yourself," Tam pointed out, rolling her eyes.

"But why do so when you've got someone to do it for you? Sometimes you have to learn to make do with what life gives you and how to take advantage of it," Baloo said.

"Words of wisdom from a flea-ridden bear," Tam muttered.

Baloo blinked. "What's wrong with you this morning?"

"That's just it. It's morning. I'm not a morning person," Tam grumbled. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I need coffee. And I wouldn't say no to a shower, either. Next world that we go to is going to be modern and human-populated."

Taro smiled. "I guess we'll see what we can do."

Author's Note-Like I said, sorry for the long wait, but I think I'm actually started to get inspiration again. I'm finally starting to write more to my rough draft. –grins, then yawns and sweatdrops- …I need sleep… -shakes her head- Anyways, I need to get FFX… -sighs- I got about halfway through it, but I've been renting it from Blockbuster. Now they don't have it. ;; So now I'm going to have to go buy it… -sighs again- But yeah. No need to worry about me getting Auron ooc, I think. I've done role-plays and I've played…um…part of the game. –smiles and sweatdrops- And besides, I probably won't have him actually meet the others until a little bit later. Well, I hope that answers that question, DemonSurfer and Doghouse. Oh, and about Auron? I know the whole sad story. Believe me, I have no life, therefore my list of KH2 info sites is…well, let's just say my parents don't really like how I make such big files in the favorites section. –smiles and sweatdrops- But it might be slightly altered in this version. I'm still developing the idea. But what I can tell you is that… -grins and shakes her head- Nevermind. Don't want to give away any spoilers! (Heheheh…) Oh, and yeah guys, I bring in Kenshin characters. To be honest, Aoshi, Saitou, Sano, and Megumi are actually referred to, but not by their actual names. To be honest, I wasn't that sure when I started this fanfic if I wanted to bring in animes, but now I'm pretty sure. Oh, and as for the other Kenshin cast…you may see them in the future, you may not. –shrugs- I ain't giving anything away for the time being. Oh, and yes, redheads rock. I know because I am one, heheh.. (part Irish and proud, lol!) –grins- To answer your final question, I have no idea where I got the name 'Anabelle.' I'm just not that good with names, usually, lol. So you can call me Anabelle if you want, though I'm usually known as Jessica. So, your pick. –shrug- Anyways, anything else I may have to say (because I have the feeling that I'm leaving something out, I just can't remember what it is…), I'll probably put it in my rant in my profile, which I'm going to update sometime within the next couple of days, so you can check here. -sweatdrops- Holy crap, this is a long author's note. Sorry to ramble; guess I'd better wrap this up. Oh, and thanks for the reviews, DemonSurfer and Doghouse. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, so please review! Ja ne!