Kingdom Hearts -- Season of Light

by SoraLego278

VOL. 2-MS: The Holiday Season is underway when Sora and friends are called for another quest. Maleficent's Council is trying to destroy Christmas and rule all worlds, and only Sora himself can stop them! As his team travels the worlds, secrets are revealed and more questions are found. Can Sora's team achieve victory? Or will Maleficent & the others win? Rated T for Safety.

34. Ch34 - Return To The Radiant Garden

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: HELLO THERE, EVERYONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR(S)! IT IS NEARLY 2017! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! YIPPEE! YIPPEE! YIPPEE! YIPPEE! YES!
Well, okay. It is not quite 2017 just yet. There are still three more days to go - including This One!

Either way, I REALLY wanted to get This Chapter posted BEFORE 2016 ended, so HERE IT IS - ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28TH, 2016!

So, before I let you go, I want to say a few things.

Last year, several well-known actor(s)/actress(es) passed away. Remember that? Well, THIS YEAR, we lost many more! Among them was one of my favorite actors and one of my favorite actresses. To that end, I want to take a few minutes to share moments of silence for each of them, alongside some others I am familiar with who also died this year.
(1.) Brian Bedford (February 16TH, 1935 - January 13TH, 2016; AGE 80) - He was the voice of Robin Hood in Disney's "Robin Hood (1973)".

(2.) Mike Minor (December 7TH, 1940 - January 28TH, 2016; AGE 75) - He was probably best known for playing the crop-dusting pilot, Steve Elliot on the show, "Petticoat Junction".

(3.) Patty Duke (December 14TH, 1936 - March 29TH, 2016; AGE 69) - She was known for playing two "identical cousins" on "The Patty Duke Show".

(4.) Alan Young (November 19TH, 1919 - May 19TH, 2016; AGE 96) - He was best-known for TWO specific roles. He played Ed's owner, Wilbur Post, on "Mister Ed", and he was the voice of the Disney character, Scrooge McDuck, from ~1976 through 2016; This DOES include "DuckTales" AND "Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep"! He was also the voice of the toymaker, Hiram Flaversham in Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective (1986)".
HIS DEATH STILL MAKES ME FEEL SAD! HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ACTORS, SO HE SHALL BE VERY MISSED!

(5.) Jack Riley (December 30TH, 1935 - August 19TH, 2016; AGE 80) - He was probably best-known for playing Elliot Carlin on "The Bob Newhart Show" and Stu Pickles throughout the "Rugrats" franchise. He also made a few appearances on the show, "Hogan's Heroes".

(6.) Florence Henderson (February 14TH, 1934 - November 24TH, 2016; AGE 82) - She was best remembered for her role as Mrs. Carol Brady on "The Brady Bunch". She was also the voice of Demeter in the Disney T.V. Series, "Hercules -The Animated Series".
HER DEATH REALLY GOT TO ME! NOT ONLY WAS SHE ONE OF MY FAVORITE ACTRESSES, SHE WAS ALSO FROM MY HOME STATE - INDIANA! IMAGINE HOW APPALLED I WAS WHEN I LEARNED A FELLOW HOOSIER DIED ON THANKSGIVING NIGHT!

(7.) Bernard Fox (May 11TH, 1927 - December 14TH, 2016; AGE 89) - He voiced The Chairmouse [of The Rescue Aid Society] in Disney's "The Rescuers (1977)" and Disney's "The Rescuers Down Under (1990)". He was also the Doctor in Disney's "The Rescuers Down Under (1990)". On top of that, he also played (although Uncredited) Lookout Frederick Fleet in "A Night To Remember (1958)", Colonel Archibald Gracie in James Cameron's "TITANIC (1997)", and the bumbling Colonel Crittendon on "Hogan's Heroes". He even made appearances on other Classic Shows - including "F-Troop", "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and "The Andy Griffith Show".

(8.) Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 6TH, 1917 - December 18TH, 2016; AGE 99) - She was the Last-Surviving Gabor Sister! Her sisters were Eva Gabor and Magna Gabor. She played Miss Erika Tiffany Smith on "Gilligan's Island". That was all I ever saw her in myself.

NOW, For The Silence. -GIVES SEVERAL LONG MINUTES OF SILENCE-

That all aside, there is some GOOD News! It appears Dick Van Dyke is going to be in the Sequel to Disney's "Mary Poppins (1964)"!
Now, How About THAT?!

What A Year This Has Been! I went to DISNEY WORLD, RE-Discovered some of my favorite, animated shows, and I discovered "McHale's Navy"!

To top it all off, the Classic Show, "F-TROOP", is now celebrating its 50TH ANNIVERSARY! YAY!

CONGRATULATIONS, "F-TROOP"! I SHALL BE WATCHING YOU FOR THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS - IF NOT LONGER!

Lately, I have been playing "FINAL FANTASY XV" ON MY PLAYSTATION 4! THAT IS PART OF THE REASON WHY I HAVE NOT WORKED ON THIS STORY FOR A WHILE - WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CHAPTER 33, OF COURSE!
Yes, I KNOW I had [CAPS LOCK] on the whole time I wrote that last part!

That's ALL I have to say! TIME TO READ - BEFORE 2017 GETS HERE FIRST!
GO ON! YOU CAN READ TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! JUST PLEASE REVIEW, TOO! PLEASE!

---

CHAPTER 34
Return To The Radiant Garden

The castle felt very empty. The hallways were all as white as clean, freshly-fallen snow. The floors and ceilings matched the color of the walls. An occasional marble statue of flowers in a vase on a stand could be seen at regular intervals. Large, fancy chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

As he strode down the corridor, the man had to grin. He had never been to this place before, even thought he had heard a lot about it from Saïx and Axel. Now, here he was strolling through it in person.

His smile seemed to brighten the halls, even though it was really just his shiny teeth. His short, brownish hair failed to cover his eyes. He wondered how well his Sitar would sound in this castle….

He reached out his hand. In a flash of magical something or other (water, perhaps?), a bluish instrument appeared. The shape resembled the Organization's logo, only with light-blue and yellow strings.

He started to strum a few bars. "Angels we have heard on high," he sang out. He had always loved that Christmas carol, and this was the Holiday Season! What better time to play one of those songs?!

"Cut it out!" a voice snapped from down the corridor.

The man spun around. Standing at the top of a short flight of stairs was another figure dressed in a black-hooded coat. His hood was also down, revealing himself to be a middle-aged man sporting long, black hair that was tied into a ponytail. A pair of small, round eyeglasses were positioned over his eyes.

The second man started towards the first one. "Do you realize how easy it is to lose your hearing when loud music plays?"

The brown-hared man shrugged. "I just like playing music. I don't like all those loudmouths!"

The black-headed man snorted. "And another thing — you are totally tone-deaf!"

"What?!"

"Now, pay attention!"

The brown-haired man snapped to attention. His instrument fell out of his hands and clanged onto the floor. The sounds of a few out-of-tune notes echoed throughout the castle.

"Have you taken note of Genesis's behavior lately?"

"Yeah! He's always wandering away when there's work to be done."

The man with the eyeglasses grinned. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

"Huh?"

"No matter," the older man strolled past the young one. As he headed further down the hall, he kept his eyes straight ahead. "I have begun to question his loyalty to our cause."

He glanced back. "I need you, Medy, to keep an eye on him."

"Why?"

The black-haired scientist just retained his grin. He proceeded further down the corridor and down the stairs beyond.

Medy was all alone. He looked down and sighed deeply. "Why do they always pick the wrong guy?"

---

The stars seemed a little brighter as Herbie soared away through "'The Other Sky'" — outer space, that is. One look out the window, and Sora felt comfortable once again.

He smiled, knowing several worlds were safe and secure for the Holiday Season. He felt proud, knowing he had helped lots of new and familiar friends protect their worlds from the Heartless and Maleficent's Council.

In Ancient Empire, Sora and his team had helped Milo Thatch and an entire expedition of researchers, explorers, and soldiers escape the Leviathan. Together, they had located the lost city of Atlantis. Sora had even befriended the Atlantean princess, Kida… although he knew she was queen now. Unfortunately, Commander Rourke and Lieutenant Helga had turned out to be leading a group of mercenaries in order to plunder the ancient civilization's treasures. Rourke had even gone as far as to steal the world's heart — with Kida and her heart trapped inside it! In the end, Sora had helped Milo stop the villain and save Atlantis from an otherwise inevitable fate.

Deep down, Sora thought Milo reminded him a little of himself.

After a crash-landing in Jamestowne, Sora and his friends had encountered the Powhatan tribe and learned about the Heartless threat in that world. After befriending Pocahontas and John Smith, Sora had come to realize neither side wanted to fight, yet they believed the other was responsible for the Heartless. When war was on the verge of breaking out, it became clear that someone else was behind the Heartless. Thistle — a member of Maleficent's Council had been there all along. Since John Smith had been injured during those turn-of-events, he had been taken back to England so he could recover.

Sora knew — without a doubt — one day, Pocahontas and John Smith's heart would lead them back together, again.

It was in La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches when Sora and his teammates had faced one of their greatest challenges ever. They had faced down the corrupt Judge Claude Frollo, a super-duper strict man with hypocritical beliefs. In fact, Sora had even taken notice of how nervous Pete and the Beagle Boys had behaved whenever they were around the judge. With the help of the cathedral's bell ringer, Quasimodo, a gypsy woman named Esmeralda, and the former Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, Sora's team was able to bring the tyranny of the public official to an end before the world was lost to the Darkness. Sora and friends had also helped Quasimodo realize he could not allow his heart to be a prison. In the end, the bell ringer stepped outside Notré Dame and was ready to explore the outside world with an open heart.

Sora was glad, knowing Quasimodo's heart was free to see what lay beyond the cathedral of Notré Dame.

In Middleton, Sora and his friends had befriended the World-famous teenage heroine, Kim Possible, and her sidekick, Ron Stoppable. At first, they had no clue as to what Kim's arch-nemesis, Dr. Drakken, was up to — especially since he was aligned with Pete and Don Karnage, two members of Maleficent's Council. Later, after a certain telephone call, it was learned how the villains had used the Heartless to take over a world-renowned fast-food business. During the final showdown, Sora had been forced to encourage Kim not to give up! He had been so relieved when Drakken and Shego were arrested. The night had been so much brighter after that.

He wondered if Kim and Ron were successful in their last mission — the one regarding the "Federal Reserve".

Upon a crash-landing into a snowbank, Sora and his team took their time visiting The Beast's Castle. After being reunited with everyone, Sora and the others had learned that the Beast had forbidden Christmas because of his painful memories regarding the castle's spell. Although they helped Belle try to celebrate the holiday anyway, the castle's corrupt composer, Forté, had been working with the Beagle Boys to make the spell permanent. Yet, Sora's team helped put that scheme's flame out. In the end, the Christmas party was quite the joyous celebration. Sora smiled as he thought about how happy and full of Joy everyone had been that night.

Deep inside, he still hoped the spell would one day be broken and the castle would be restored to its former, peaceful self.

Now, Sora and his teammates had just completed their quest into The Outback. They had helped Bernard and Bianca rescue a boy named Cody from a wanted poacher by the name of Percival C. McLeach. It was later revealed that the villain had been in league with Maleficent and her council. During their final showdown at Crocodile Falls, Sora had displayed his heroism when he had assisted Bernard in saving Cody from drowning in the river. Now, Cody was home — safe and sound.

He wondered what new assignment(s) Bernard and Bianca would be taking part in in the future.

As he thought back over everything that had happened, Sora wanted to grin. He had seen and experienced so much. In one world, he had learned a little more about the legendary Keyblade War. In another, sensed the strong Light within the world's heart. He had even tracked down Violet's sister, Indigo.

Now, with the angel and his sister, Amemi, by his side, Sora felt ready for anything. He knew Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy would also stick by him. Launchpad was also a loyal friend, even if he was clumsy and a tad absent-minded.

Sora looked around the cabin. He saw Donald, Goofy, and Amemi in the back seats. An episode of "WordGirl" was playing on the monitor. Ever since the fight before, Sora and Amemi had agreed to keep the volume lower, though it was nowhere near the volume the sandy-haired girl preferred to watch the show at.

That just left Sora, Indigo, and Launchpad in the front. The duck-pilot was busy steering Herbie through space. However, it seemed to the brown-haired seventeen-year-old that Herbie was busy steering Launchpad. This sight made him shake his head.

He looked into the space between himself and Launchpad. There was Indigo. She was gazing out the window with excitement. Her eyes were large and full of Light. Her hands were on the dashboard and her antennae were curved at the just the correct angle to indicate she was delighted. Her wings were neatly positioned behind her, even though they were flapping quickly. This made a slight breeze blow through the space, which helped Sora feel better. They had just come from a desert!

Either it was his imagination, or Indigo's wing movement reminded him of a dog wagging its tail. Maybe he was thinking of Pluto? Or Riku's brother's dog? He shoved the pondering aside.

"So pretty," Indigo marveled. "I love the stars during the Holiday Season!"

He mind went back to what had taken place aboard Herbie just after the group had departed from The Beast's Castle. He recalled how Indigo had told them a story about three train engines. Yet, she seemingly had avoided telling them the ending. He still wanted to know how it ended. What ever became of the three trains? Indigo knew the answer.

He turned to the angel. "Say, Indigo?"

Indigo turned her eyes to the Keyblade wielder. "Yes, Sora? What is on your mind?"

"Remember that story you were telling us?"

"The one about Duke, Stuart, and Falcon?"

"Yeah! That's the one!"

Indigo smiled. "Okay, I shall tell you."

"But, can you do a little recap?"

"A little what?"

"Go over what you told already," Sora explained. He had a hard time believing the angel did not know what "recap" meant. "Just in less detail."

Indigo gave a nod of understanding. "Oh — that! I thought it was called 'going over what has been told'."

Sora had to shake his head. Violet knew lots of words he did not understand. Yet, Indigo's word choice was about the same level as his own. He definitely liked this angel more. She was a lot more like he was — simple to understand and easily excited about stuff.

Indigo took a deep breath and started to tell Sora the rest of the story. "So, if you remember, there were three trains who lived on their own mountain railroad line. Their names were Duke, Stuart, and Falcon. Duke, being the oldest, did his best to keep them in order. They were happy and enjoyed each other's company for many, long years."

Sora nodded. He recollected each and every detail Indigo had described last time. Stuart and Falcon had nicknamed Duke, "GranPuff" because he was the oldest and named after someone very important.

"Then, the day came when the railroad line closed down," Indigo continued. "Stuart and Falcon were sold to another railroad line, yet they promised Duke they would all be reunited someday. Duke was locked inside a shed. He went to sleep, and everything around him changed."

Sora gave another nod. That was where Indigo had left off before. Duke had been put into a shed and fallen to sleep. As he had slept, the railroad line slowly fell apart. Mountain rains washed dirt over the tracks, the buildings crumbled, the machinery rusted and collapsed, and the forest grew in place of the railway.

"Yet," Indigo spoke up. "Duke was never forgotten!"

Sora's ears perked up. "He wasn't?"

Indigo shook her head. "No, he was not forgotten."

"Really?!"

Sora and Indigo shifted their gaze around the Gummi Ship. Amemi had paused the show, and now she, Donald, and Goofy were leaning over the seatbacks to see the two. Launchpad had given control of the ship to Herbie and was eyeing the two with anticipation.

Indigo's smile grew and dimmed. For a moment, Sora thought he saw her cheeks turning a slight shade of scarlet. He grinned and shook his head. He had the feeling the angel was a little shy.

"Okay," she took a deep breath. "Can I continue the story?"

Everyone nodded. Donald, Goofy, and Sora all looked very eager. It had been a while since they had heard a good story.

"Years had gone by," Indigo pressed on. "Stuart and Falcon had been sold to the main railway on the island. That railway was owned by the wealthy Sir Topham Hatt. Once he met the two engines, he gave them new names. Stuart became known as 'Sir Handel', and Falcon was renamed 'Peter Sam'."

Sora gave a nod. He was still wondering what direction this story was going to go in.

"One day," Indigo continued. "Sir Topham Hatt was visited by a team of researchers. The team had read about the lost railway, and they were determined to find Duke. Using the maps they brought with them — and Sir Hatt's knowledge of the area, they were able to find the exact location of the old railway station in the mountains. They were all sure, if Duke was anywhere, he had to be someplace close to the station."

"When did the leave?" Donald asked.

"They left at once. They travelled by train up into the mountains. It was not too long before they reached the old station's ruins. They searched the area, yet there was no sign of Duke."

"Aww…. "

"Yet, the researchers were not willing to give up! They continued higher and higher up the mountain slope. The days grew longer and longer. Finally, they reached a dead end in the tracks. From there, they continued on foot until they came across something that caught their eyes."

"Was it thuh shed?" Goofy inquired.

Indigo shook her head. "No, it was some old buildings. They had crumbled and most of the area was in ruins. A few old mines were found, yet they were all empty. As the team neared a rather high hill, they saw some half-buried railroad tracks down below. When one of them stepped forward for a better look, the ground gave way. Next thing that researcher knew, he had fallen through the roof of a completely hidden shed and landed on something metal."

Launchpad grinned. "I like stories with good crashes!"

"Inside," Indigo went on. "The researchers found an old steam engine. The engine snorted at the team and told them to go away or else. When the team asked why, the engine replied, 'Driver warned me about vandals.' 'We are not here to hurt you, Duke,' one of the researchers told the engine, 'We came to help you.' 'Yes,' agreed the other members of the team, 'Stuart and Falcon will be so happy.' Duke beamed when he heard the names. 'So they did remember!' he declared with glee."

"They found him?" Amemi asked.

Indigo gave a nod. "Over the next few days, the researchers cleared out the side of the hill and dug out the front of the shed. They also uncovered the old tracks leading up to it. Once Duke was safely out of the shed, he was carefully placed onto a flatbed truck and taken back to the main railway line. Once he was settled in a new shelter, Sir Handel and Peter Sam came to visit him. 'He is here!' they cheered. 'Shh! Shh!' Duke chided them, 'You woke me up! In my day, little engines were…. ' '…Seen and not heard,' was Peter Sam's reply, 'We know.' 'We shall all be back to work tomorrow,' Sir Handel explained to Duke, 'We are glad you came back. We can keep you order now!' Duke smiled, glad to be back with his old friends, being really useful once more, and free to live happily on the Island of Sodor."

"A-Hyuck!" Goofy remarked. "Another happy ending!"

Amemi smiled brilliantly. "I'm glad the story ended with those three being brought back together."

"Yeah," Donald nodded. "Reminds me of Huey, Dewey, and Louie."

"'Cept those three aren't so wound up!" Launchpad blurted. "They've become little angels — only without wings!"

"'Angels'," Donald snorted, recalling his three nephews. "Phooey!"

Sora had to shake his head. He had enjoyed this story, too. He started to wonder why Indigo had told them this tale in the first place. Wasn't there a reason why she had told them the story?

He turned to the angel. "So, why'd you tell us about Duke, Stuart, and Falcon?"

Indigo beamed with delight. "Duke had Hope his friends would not forget him. Despite all the years that passed, he was later rescued and reunited with them."

Sora had to nod. He knew there was nothing better than Hope. The Light deep with the Darkness. The Door To The Light. Just like what King Mickey had told him; "Don't worry! There'll always be a Door To The Light!" The King knew what he had been talking about. Around one year later, Sora was reunited with the King and Riku — only not at the same time.

King Mickey Mouse had been talking about Hope. Sora knew it was real, and it was certainly not just some old fairy-tale!

Launchpad turned his eyes to the front windshield. He pointed straight ahead. "Hey, guys! Get ready to land!"

Before anyone could react — let alone respond — the duck-pilot grabbed the steering wheel and pushed down on it with all his might. Herbie instantly dove downwards like a swan doing a nose-dive. Sora hastily buckled in, recalling the last time Launchpad had crashed Herbie in this style, the Gummi Ship had fallen over the edge of a waterfall.

"WAAK!" Donald screeched from the back. "STOP!"

Herbie dove straight through the atmosphere of the world below them. The modified racecar shook with tremendous force as it hit a large amount of turbulence. Indigo started to bounce out of her seat. Seeing this, Sora grabbed her seatbelt straps and snapped them in place over her. Indigo gave the Keyblader a nod of thanks.

That meant Amemi was the only one not strapped in tightly. She reached for her seatbelt, only to quickly discover the movement of the vehicle had thrown her out of her seat. She was tossed straight up and bonked her head on the ceiling. Goofy reached out and caught the teenager as the latter landed in her lap. "Are you okay?" the knight asked.

Amemi started to rub her head. "It could've been worse," she answered.

Goofy gave a quick nod. "Yup! I get bumped on the head all the time. It's no big deal!"

Sora had to shake his head. He knew Goofy was just being Goofy. There was no other logical explanation for why the tall, anthropomorphic dog had said what he had said.

The lower the Gummi Ship got, the easier it became to see what was down below. A large, silver castle was located at the center of a large town. A stone wall circled the town. Even from up here, the dust and smoke from dozens of construction crews was fogging up Herbie's windshield.

Sora stared, knowing where they were. That was when he also noticed the modified racecar was headed directly for the town's marketplace.

"Hang on!" he called out.

Launchpad grasped the controls and somehow managed to get Herbie upright before the ship stopped in midair. Then, it fell straight down.

CRUNCH!

The impact shook the cabin. Once it had passed, Sora took a deep breath and unbuckled. He opened the side door and took a step out. His feet landed on pieces of broken wood. A few shards of broken glass were also lying around. A torn banner was amongst the mess.

CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

He shook his head. Launchpad had landed onto another one of the market stalls. Sora turned around. Amemi was helping Indigo across the mound of debris. Goofy was directly behind them. The knight had Jiminy Cricket sitting on his shoulder. Then, Launchpad and Donald emerged from Herbie. Donald looked as red as a firework about to go off.

"You crushed another building!" the duck mage scolded. "That's the last time you're landing in any world!"

Launchpad seemed unfazed. He was smiling and standing as tall and proud as he could. "Well, it's like I always say — 'Any crash you can walk away from is a good crash'!" he looked back and gestured at the ruined structure. "And look! We're walking away from it."

Donald had reached his boiling over point. He unleashed such a loud, long list of intense energy, Sora nearly believed they were about to undergo a massive earthquake. Donald would be the epicenter, and the shockwaves resulting would affect the entire town. Talk about a major disaster!

The last time such an outburst had left the duck's mouth was back in the caverns of Ancient Empire. Only exception was Sora himself had teased Donald, too. As he recalled the startled looks on the expedition's crew's faces, the spikey, brown-headed youth had to cover his mouth to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

It always seemed like Donald Duck was just a ticking time-bomb about to go off deep inside a volcanic crater.

Sora swung his eyes around the marketplace. As he looked up at the distant castle, he took note of how one of the towers on the side had already been rebuilt. Some more paint had been applied to the top, which made the building seem more and more complete and less spooky (like when Maleficent had lived in it).

Sora knew he, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, Indigo, and Jiminy Cricket were now back at The Radiant Garden.

As he swept his eyes around the area, Sora realized no one had come over to investigate what had happened to the empty store. He relaxed, knowing it was no longer a big deal if Launchpad were to crash-land in this area for a third time (and ruin another abandoned building).

As Donald continued to scold Launchpad, Sora saw his sister and Indigo strolling around. The two were passing the stores on one side of the marketplace. They stopped at one labelled by a sign bearing a spiked ball on a stick, a Medieval shield, and a simple sword with a sharp, pointed tip. As Sora approached, he saw Amemi picking up a large, metal slingshot. "This looks dangerous," she said to Indigo.

Indigo gave a nod. She scooped up a spikey helmet and placed it on her head. Her antennae seemed to squeeze straight under the hard hat. "What do you think of this?" she asked.

Amemi shook her head. "You forgot to strap it on."

She grabbed the two straps on either side of the angel's head and connected them under the latter's chin. Indigo tried to smile, except the strap was a little too tight. She could barely breathe, let alone show a hint of a smile. "It is too tight," Indigo stated. "Could you please loosen it?"

Sora had to shake his head. He could tell Amemi and Indigo were bonding. He wondered if all girls got along that easily with one another. Maybe… not. He did not always get along with Riku, and he had seen Kairi get into fights with her three, adoptive sisters. Was it because she was not from their world? He doubted that was the case.

Amemi started to fidget with the strap. She saw Sora drawing close through the corner of her eye. "Sora," she said. "Could you please help get this unfastened?"

Sora stepped over and grabbed the helmet's strap. After a few seconds, he found the release button and pressed it. "Got it!" he declared as the strap's connectors separated and went back to dangling at either side of Indigo's face.

Indigo smiled all the more. "Thank you, Sora!"

"Don't mention it," Sora returned.

"Quack-a-roonie! That's a perfect fit!" declared a voice.

"Yeah!" another added. "We'll make lots of Munny!"

"Boy!" a third said. "Unca Scrooge sure will be happy if we make lots of Munny all by ourselves!"

Sora and Amemi looked around the immediate space. For a moment, the seventeen-year-old Keyblader thought he had heard these voices sometime before. They all sounded about the same; they were rather high-pitched and reminded him of Donald Duck's own voice.

"Who's there?" Amemi called out loud enough for anyone close by to hear her.

"We're down here," came a reply.

Indigo gazed over the store's countertop. Her eyes grew wide with amazement. "Look over there!" she declared, pointing over the counter.

Sora and Amemi turned to see what the angel had. To their surprise, three white, little ducks with orange beaks and feet were standing behind the counter. Each of the ducks had oval-shaped, blue eyes. Yet, each of them had a different colored outfit.

One of them was wearing a red shirt and matching baseball cap. Another was decked out in a blue shirt with matching baseball cap. Third also was dressed in a green shirt and matching baseball cap.

"You are all ducklings," Indigo smiled. She reached in to pet the one in green. "How sweet and cute!"

"Hey!" the duck green said. "We may be kids, but we're definitely not cute!"

Indigo stepped back. Sora had to shake his head. He had never known the angel liked animals. He wondered if she had created any "Spirits" of her own. Violet had possessed her own pets — those lovable, kind-hearted Spirits — while in the Realm of Sleep. Now, he wondered if all angels were the same way.

"Is that…. ?!"

Sora spun his head back. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were approaching. When they saw the three, little ducks, Donald and Launchpad rushed over.

"Boys!" Donald declared.

"Hi, Unca Donald!" the three ducks said together in turn.

Amemi was taken by complete astonishment. "You know them, Donald?"

"Yeah," Donald approved. "They're my nephews."

"I'm Huey," the one in red announced.

"I'm Dewey," said the one in blue.

"And I'm Louie," finished the one in green.

"A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled. He waved to the three. "Nice ta see ya!"

Launchpad barged his way through the group. "Huey! Dewey! Louie! How's it going, fellow Junior Woodchucks?"

"Great, Launchpad!" Huey answered.

"We're saving up Munny so we can go on a big adventure!" Dewey added.

"And we're rich already!" Louie decreed. He waddled over to the cash register and pressed a few buttons. The cash drawer popped open. "We've made 50,000 Munny in five months."

"Yeah," Dewey said, shifting his eyesight to his brother. "But Unca Scrooge says that's not enough for an adventure."

The three ducks sighed deeply. Sora wanted to sigh in turn. If only there was something he and his team could do to cheer Donald's nephews up. If only there was….

That was when it dawned on him. There was something they could do! He turned to the three ducks. "How about if we buy some of your items?"

"Yeah!" Goofy agreed. "We could always use some more of them Hi-Potions! I used five in thuh battle against that there piano guy!"

Amemi crossed her arms. "Don't you mean 'Forté'?"

"Oh yeah! A-Hyuck!"

The sandy-haired young woman wanted to slap herself in the face. Sora shook his head when he saw this reaction written directly on her face.

"What do ya want?" Louie asked. He paused and grinned when Huey and Dewey scowled at him. "Uh, what was I supposed to say? Oh yeah! Do you wanna buy or sell?"

"Didja get that mixed up?" Goofy inquired.

Louie gave a shy grin. "I'm usually in the stockroom, so I'm not used to dealing with customers."

"Yeah," Huey affirmed. "But Louie does an okay job as long as Dewey and I keep an eye on him."

"And I do all the cleaning," Dewey approved. "It's easier than our bedroom!"

"What're you saving everything for?" Amemi asked.

"We're gonna go on our own, big adventure!" Huey declared with delight. When he saw Donald shove his way through to the counter and open his bill to speak, the young duck speedily added, "Sorry, Unca Donald! No family discounts!"

Donald turned away and crossed his arms. He muttered a series of illegible garble that ended with "…Aw phooey!"

Sora shook his head. He had seen this look on Donald's face before. Every time Goofy had chuckled after making a silly mistake, the magician had nearly fainted, rolled his eyes, or simply did what he had just done. Each time, Sora himself had wanted to laugh. The duck's behavior always made him want to smile. It was a good thing he tended to hold his laughter back. Imagine how Donald would have reacted if he had overheard the brown-haired Keyblade wielder!

A scream filled the air. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo all whirled around. Across the square, a group of Neoshadow Heartless were rising up out of the ground. A young woman was trying to flee from them, only to have the creatures grab onto her purse's strap. They would not let go.

"The Heartless!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy declared in unison. In the time it took Amemi to blink her eyes, Sora had summoned his Keyblade, Donald had pulled out his wand, and Goofy had his shield in hand. The three stormed into the square.

Amemi had to nod. She knew what was going on. Those three were so accustomed to fighting together, they had rushed off without waiting for the remainder of their team to catch up with them. They were marching to a different tempo — one she still needed to get used to. Indigo was too new to the team to really have the chance to just jump into action so rapidly. Launchpad, on the other hand… maybe he was just too easily side-tracked to notice? She did not know.

Either way, she was not about to let her brother have all the fun taking on the Heartless. She reached into her green purse and pulled out a small handful of paper Munny. She slammed it down onto the counter before a surprised Huey. "Keep the change," she told the young ducks. She grabbed the metal slingshot from the countertop and charged after her brother.

"Quack-a-roonie!" Huey declared.

Dewey picked up the cash. He stared in total astonishment.

"Wow!" Louie exclaimed. "There's gotta be around five hundred Munny in there!"

"Yeah!" Dewey agreed in turn. "Boy! We'll be having quite the adventure one of these days."

---

Sora led the way to where the Neoshadow Heartless were chasing the woman. As he slid under a market stall's counter, the young man took note of how the Heartless had pinned the woman against the wall. When he saw the woman sported long, dark-green hair, the young man nearly slid to a stop. He saw the woman was about one year older than Amemi, and she was wearing a green dress with short sleeves, a yellow strap around her waist, and a blue ribbon tied into a bow in her hair. On each of her wrists was a red bracelet and a matching chain was around her neck. A pair of dark-blue shoes covered her feet.

Sora quickly realized who it was. "Phoebe?" he declared.

Phoebe looked straight up and stared at the seventeen-year-old young man through her sky-blue eyes. "Sora?! Help!"

Sora quickly gave a nod. He raced over and started to slash his way through the Heartless. As he did so, one of the monsters jumped and reached for Phoebe's neck. She screamed and covered her face with her arms.

A gunshot filled the air; a speeding bullet struck the Heartless and terminated it. Sora spun around. To his surprise, two men in dark-blue suits were rushing over. Thanks to one being bald and wearing sunglasses, and the other sporting red hair and goggles pushed on his head (and his messy uniform), Sora instantly knew who they were.

Reno and Rude — members of "The Underground Radiant Klass". Reno was wielding an Electro-Mag Rod; a nightstick with a taser on one end. Rude had a small, silver hand-gun in hand. Sora realized that was where the shot had come from.

"Well, well, well," Reno grinned. "Look who we have here. The leader of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee's back from his rescue mission."

Sora was confused. "How'd you two get here so fast?"

"Aw," Reno smirked. "I saw the Heartless coming a mile away."

Rude only grunted in turn. Sora did not bother to say anything to the bald-headed man. He seemed so stern and serious — the exact opposite of Reno's personality.

Donald and Goofy finally reached the group. Amemi was not too far behind. Sora noticed them through his peripheral vision. "What took you guys so long?" he enquired.

"This place's packed," Donald explained.

"Yup," Goofy nodded. "Peoples' everywhere. There's no place ta hide. It's all filled up like a swimmin' pool!"

Amemi saw the Neoshadows surrounding the young woman. She gave a nod and hopped over to the creatures. "I'll handle this!" she declared. She pointed her new slingshot at the Heartless. "Time to 'Word Up'!"

Sora swerved his eyes to the all the action. "Amy!" he declared. He'd just realized he had gotten side-tracked from the task-at-hand. How could he have let this happen? It felt the first time he had ever done such a thing. Hopefully, it would also be the last.

He raced into the horde. Donald and Goofy were directly behind him. They slammed, sliced, and bonked their way through all the Heartless turning to attack them. Reno and Rude raced over and started to eliminate the Heartless. Reno zapped several out of existence while Rude fired several rounds. At one point, one of his bullets bounced off a wall and nearly hit Goofy in the face. At the last second, the knight raised his shield and deflected the projectile.

"Gawrsh," was all the tall dog could remark.

Despite all the work they were doing, the six were unable to bring down all the advancing Heartless. To Sora's disbelief, additional Heartless were rising from the ground. He looked over to the other side of the plaza. Indigo and Launchpad were still at Huey, Dewey, and Louie's shop. They were surrounded by Heartless, too. Launchpad had his gas-gun out and was shooting it at the enemies. Indigo had summoned her mystical wand. She was using a magical barrier to protect Donald's nephews while she used blasts of magical energy to eradicate as many of the monsters as she could.

Yet, not even that was enough. There were so many Heartless in the square, it almost looked like an inky blot of black paint had been spilled over a colorful canvas. All the shoppers and shopkeepers had taken cover in their respective shops and in the spaces between the market stalls. To make matters worse, some Large Body Heartless had appeared. So had a handful of Air Soldier Heartless. There were also several Flying Squirrel Heartless in the horde.

He heard some loud gunfire coming from his left. Sora swung his head around. Barret was just outside the "The 7TH Heaven", blasting Heartless aside with his gun-arm. Tifa was with him. She punched, kicked, and threw Heartless out of her way. Some of the enemies she tossed landed onto other ones, terminating them as well.

Sora was relieved, knowing several of his friends were helping out in the midst of this sudden crisis. Just like when the town had been invaded by almost one thousand Heartless or so. It appeared everyone wanted the terrible monsters to stay out of their town. No one was willing to go down without a fight!

Sora swerved his focus back to Phoebe. The girl had ducked down and covered her head with her hands. When an Air Soldier Heartless swooped in to strike her, Sora ran over and swung his Keyblade. The blade sliced clear through the enemy, eliminating it in no time.

Sora gave a nod, knowing there was one less Heartless to worry about. Then again, the more everyone did to destroy the creatures, the fewer Heartless there would be in the town.

Before he could think more about it, Sora saw three more figures hurrying into view from the direction of the stairs leading into the town's neighborhoods. Leon, Yuffie, and Chelsy were coming to help.

"It's over!" Leon shouted as he slammed his Gunblade into a Heartless or two.

"Hee-yah!" Yuffie yelled as her shuriken flew directly through a number of Large Body Heartless and a few Flying Squirrel Heartless.

"Get out of here!" Chelsy snarled as she readied her bow. She shot an arrow at an Air Soldier Heartless. The arrow's tip flew straight through the enemy and five more behind it, annihilating all of them in turn. She then did the same for a handful of Flying Squirrel Heartless.

Sora gave a nod. He knew his friends truly were his power. And there was power in numbers. With Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, Indigo, Reno, Rude, Barret, Tifa, Leon, Yuffie, and Chelsy all assisting in the skirmish, the spikey, brown-haired youth knew they stood a chance against the overwhelming amount of Heartless in the marketplace.

After several more minutes had passed, Sora and the others took a few minutes to catch their breath. Donald and Goofy instantly collapsed. Reno and Rude leaned against a wall, wiping their foreheads. Amemi knelt and clutched the left side of her chest; she could feel her heart pounding away. Leon had lowered his Gunblade and was taking a few moments to catch his breath. Yuffie had fallen to the ground, gasping for air. Chelsy was leaning on her bow; she was hunched over, trying to catch her breath, yet she was still standing up.

Once he had caught his breath, Sora wiped some sweat off his forehead and cheeks. He looked around. Barret, Tifa, Reno, and Rude were nowhere in sight. He sighed, wishing he could have had the chance to thank them for their help in the battle.

All those Heartless had seemingly come out of nowhere. They may have won the battle. Yet, Sora had the feeling this was only the start of a major story arc….

"Well, that's that!" he nodded. He paused. "For now."

Before he could do anything, Sora felt a pair of arms grab him from behind. He was yanked back. "Thank you so much!" Phoebe declared. "I thought that was the end of the line for me!"

Sora wanted to relax, knowing the green-haired girl was just thanking him for saving her from the Heartless. Even so, he had never foreseen the teenager showing gratitude like this. She was hugging him so tightly, he hardly had room to breathe.

He had the feeling this was what Violet had meant.

Leon, Yuffie, and Chelsy approached. One look at Sora and Phoebe together, and Leon had to grin. "Sora, you did it again," he said, shaking his head.

Sora was puzzled. "Did what?"

"I see you've met Phoebe. I was going to introduce you when you came back, but you got ahead of me."

"She's Mike's niece," Yuffie explained.

"I know," Sora admitted as Phoebe released her grip on him. "She loves flowers. She showed me her greenhouse."

Donald came wobbling over. Goofy, Launchpad, Indigo, and Amemi were not far behind. When they saw Phoebe, Goofy and Donald started to laugh; they pointed straight at Sora like a clown mocking someone.

"What is so silly?" Indigo asked, clearly perplexed.

Amemi strolled up to Sora. "Sora," she started to say. She turned to Phoebe and then gestured to Leon, Yuffie, and Chelsy. "Who are they? Are they all friends of yours?"

Sora gave a nod. He gestured to each of the four and introduced them. "This is Leon, Yuffie, Phoebe, and Chelsy."

Amemi waved to the group. "Nice to meet you! I'm Amemi."

Sora put his arm around his sister's shoulders. "She's my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister, Sora," Yuffie declared. The near-stare she was showing indicated her shock. This reaction looked like someone had just told the ninja she had won the three-billion-dollar lottery.

Leon placed his arm at his side. He continued to smile. "I'm glad to see you back," he told Sora and the others with him. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and," he paused, noticing Indigo standing beside Goofy. "Who's this?"

Sora and the others all turned their eyes to the angel. Realizing it was her turn to speak, Indigo leapt back into attention. "Oh, yeah! My name is Indigo — The Angel of Hope."

"So, you found the angel you were looking for," Leon had to smile. "Sora, you're one special kid. Meeting an angel is a lifetime opportunity."

Sora nodded. He had to admit, Leon had a valid point. Not everyone had the opportunity to meet an angel in person. In fact, until he had taken his Mark of Mastery Exam in the Sleeping Worlds, the brown-headed Keyblader had never believed he would ever have met a real angel. He also had never imagined time travel was possible. That was where Xehanort had surprised him. Now, it seemed Science-Fiction and Mythology were truth and reality. Fiction had now become Non-Fiction. Or… something like that.

Sora's mind returned to reality. "What's going on? Where are all these Heartless coming from?"

"Villain's Vale," Chelsy informed the young man as she stepped forward. Her reddish hair seemed to flow gently against the breeze blowing through the area. Her yellow eyes were showing seriousness as she spoke. "It's the fortress located just outside of town. That place is surrounded by Heartless."

"Yeah," Yuffie confirmed. "It's never been this bad — not even when the MCP was making all those Heartless from inside the computer!"

Leon crossed his arms. "Now you know why we need your help, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, Indigo. Our world is in trouble. You're the only ones who can set this right again."

Sora knew Leon was correct. With everything going on, the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee would need all the help they could get. Now that he was their leader, he would be expected to act like one. He could not let them down. The very destiny of this world was in his hands. His Keyblade. His heart. Only he could bring this place back under control.

Only he could restore this world's peaceful state.

He had never had such a serious responsibility like this one before, not counting saving the worlds from the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII. It was possible the fortress outside of town was where Maleficent and her Council had set up their headquarters. Having never actually travelled inside that creepy-looking structure, Sora was not sure what to expect. For all he knew, Maleficent's Council was preparing a trap for him.

Either way, he knew he still needed to bring Indigo to The Mysterious Tower so Master Yen Sid, King Mickey, and the others could plan their next move against Xehanort. Likewise, he needed to find as many of the pieces of the torn letter as he could. Hopefully, he would recover all of them.

Yet, before he could do anything, he needed to ensure this world was safer than it was now. He knew there wasn't going to be enough time to put it all back to its former, peaceful self before he needed to leave again. So, he needed to do what he could for now. First step — check in at the castle.

"The town's safer than over here," Yuffie stated, drawing Sora away from his deep pondering. "Zell and Merlin are protecting everyone in the neighborhoods. The TURK(s) are patrolling the outer walls. Barret and Tifa usually have this area covered."

Now it was Amemi's turn to look bewildered. "Why did you three come over here?"

"Tifa called us for help," Yuffie tossed her shuriken into the area and caught it when it started to land. "Apparently, these sudden attacks are getting seriously out-of-hand."

"She's right," Leon affirmed. "There has been a major increase in the amount of Heartless attacks. Ienzo can fill you in with more information."

Sora gave a nod. "Thanks."

Leon picked his Gunblade up from where he'd stuck it into a crack in the concrete. "I'll escort you to the castle."

With another nod, Sora turned to his companions. He froze, seeing only Amemi and Indigo were present. He also took notice of how Phoebe had proceeded further into the market; she was now at Huey, Dewey, and Louie's shop across the way.

Sora swept his eyes back and forth. "Hey, where did Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad go?"

Chelsy took another step closer. She pointed to the right. "They went in there," she announced.

Sora and his teammates looked in the direction the archer was pointing. A rather small shop was situated next door to The 7TH Heaven. It consisted of one large, somewhat tinted window next to a glass doorway. A light-up ice-cream cone was attached to the wall beside the door; it resembled something similar at a Dairy Queen restaurant. When he saw the sign on the front window, Sora had to smile.

MCDUCK ENTERPRISES' ICE-CREAM PARLOR

He had the feeling he knew who owned this shop. He led the way in through the front door. As he stepped in, Sora noted how the shop's appearance reminded him of an ice-cream parlor back home on the Destiny Islands. Black-and-white square tiles covered the floor. There were tables set up through the room with metal chairs around them. Posters advertising ice-cream were pasted onto the windows looking outward. Only two people were seated in the lobby.

The counter was on the left side of the room. That was where Sora, Amemi, and Indigo found Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad. The three were sitting on stools and eating cones of ice-cream. Donald's was chocolate. Goofy had vanilla. Launchpad's was a combination of the two flavors.

As he stepped in through the doorway, Sora heard a tiny bell ringing. All eyes looked to the front, then away. Only Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad retained eye contact with the brown-haired Keyblade wielder.

"Sora!" Donald called, waving the Keyblader, Amemi, and Indigo over. "Come get some ice-cream!"

"Yeah," Goofy affirmed. He licked his cone. "A-Hyuck! Tasty!"

"No kidding," Launchpad added in turn. "And I have both flavors swirled!"

Although he knew they needed to keep going, Sora shrugged. "Why not?"

Amemi and Indigo followed the young man up to the counter. Standing behind it was an older duck sporting eyeglasses and wearing a top hat, a blue coat, and red spats. He had a brown cane situated on his wrist. When he saw the three coming in, the duck smiled. "Come in, come in! Thanks to Donald, the first round's on me. Not the second, third, or fourth rounds. I'm not made of money."

Amemi looked surprised. She turned to her brother. "He's 'not' made of money? He looks wealthy."

"That's Donald's uncle," Sora told her. "Goofy told me he's a business tycoon."

"Aye," the older duck nodded from behind the counter. "I am Scrooge McDuck — proprietor of this ice-cream parlor."

Amemi was more puzzled. Why would Scrooge claim he was not made of money when it was clear he had plenty of it? Once Scrooge handed her a cone full of Rainbow-flavored ice-cream, the sandy-haired teenager decided to shove the thought aside. With the cone in hand, she headed to another table and sat down to eat.

---

No sooner had she started to lick her ice-cream did Amemi notice she was not alone. To her left was a teenage girl about her age. Yet, this girl sported long, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was decked out in a lavender sweatshirt with red cuffs and a matching stripe across the middle, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes with lavender soles. Plus, she had an earring shaped like the moon on her right ear and a star-shaped one on her left ear. She also had what appeared to be a pink clip in her hair. She was sipping a milkshake through a pink straw.

Amemi paused for a moment. She was not sure who this girl was, yet as long as she was sitting with her, she decided to say something. "Hi," she said with a smile.

The girl looked up and smiled in return. She extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Sabrina Spellman."

Amemi shook Sabrina's hand. She looked at the milkshake. "Is that Rainbow-flavored?"

Sabrina nodded. "How did you know?"

"It's my favorite flavor."

"It's my favorite, too."

Amemi had to smile all the more. She felt like she had just done what Sora tended to do all the time. She had made a new friend out of a stranger.

"Amemi," Sabrina spoke up. "Have you seen a cat named 'Salem'?"

---

Back at the counter, Sora took a seat with Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad. Scrooge handed the young man an ice-cream bar. One lick of the bar and Sora shook for a moment. "So salty," he muttered to himself. He licked his lips. "But it's still sweet."

He knew exactly what Donald's uncle had given him. Sea-Salt Ice-Cream. As he continued to eat, Sora thought he could feel something inside. He tried not to pay it any mind, except the feeling remained. A finger tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back to see Indigo standing behind him; the angel had a cup of hot-fudge sundae in her right hand.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I thought I heard a voice calling out from inside your heart, Sora," Indigo answered. She pointed to his chest. "Is that normal?"

Sora shook his head. Deep down, he had the feeling that voice was not his. He wondered if Roxas had ever eaten Sea-Salt Ice-Cream while he had lived in Twilight Town….

Indigo headed to a nearby table. Sora noticed his sister was already there, along with another girl. He noticed someone else was seated at the counter to his right. When he glanced over, Sora realized it was a handsome young man with dark hair and bluish eyes. He was wearing a gray business suit.

Sora turned to him. "Hi."

The man stopped reading the newspaper in his hands and turned to gaze at the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder. "Hi," he returned with a smile of his own.

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced.

The man and Sora shook hands. "Nice to meet you," the former said. "I'm Willoughby Whitfield."

"I've never seen you around here before."

"This shop opened about two months ago. Before I came to this world, I lived in Hawk City, Missouri. My uncle owned a construction business in San Francisco, so I moved there. But later, I wanted to move back."

"Why?"

"You see, my uncle wanted to build the tallest building in the world. But to so, he needed a lot of land. One of the buildings he couldn't tear down was an old firehouse. I helped defend that place from him. It was owned by a kind, elderly woman who had a living car called 'Herbie'."

Sora's cone nearly slipped out his hands. "'Herbie'?!"

"Yeah. That was what she called him."

Sora could not believe his ears. All this time, he had thought Herbie had originated from Disney Castle. Now, he knew the truth. Turns out, the modified racecar-turned-Gummi Ship had actually come from whatever world Willoughby came from.

He wondered how many others in this world were not native to this world. That caused him to question the rest of the worlds he had been to. After all, Milo Thatch and the rest of the expedition's crew had been on a quest to locate Atlantis. How did he know they were not from a completely different world? What about John Smith and the rest of the explorers with him? Had they really travelled across the ocean? How did he know they had not crossed between worlds? He wondered if anybody in La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches, Middleton, The Beast's Castle, and The Outback was not from those worlds. Chances were, all those mysteries would always be mysteries.

A loud crashing came from behind the counter. Sora and the others all spun their attention over to the kitchen. Scrooge was in the back, waving his cane around like a sword. He was in pursuit of a black cat with a golden collar. A red pentagon jewel was attached to the collar. The cat had a pink spot on the bottom of each of his paws. "Somebody!" Scrooge yelled. "Stop that cat!"

The cat jumped over the counter. He landed on Donald's hat, startling the duck magician. The cat proceeded to leap across the room. Donald fell out of his seat; his cone landed onto his head. Melting chocolate dripped down the duck's face. He glared at the cat and waved his fist. "What's the big idea, ya big palooka?!"

The cat ended up on the table where Amemi, Sabrina, and Indigo were sitting. When landed on the circular tabletop, the three girls jumped up in surprise. The cat stood up and waved his paw at Scrooge. "You'll be hearing from my lawyer!" he declared. "Whatever happened to 'the customer is always right'?!"

Willoughby chuckled at the sight. "Actually," he remarked. "It's 'the customer is always right — within reason'."

Sabrina scowled at the cat. "Salem!" she scolded.

Salem crossed his paws across his chest. "It's not my fault," he stated, shutting his eyes. "Half the ice-cream in this joint's without fish. The other half has tomatoes covered in chocolate."

Scrooge waved his fists at Sabrina and Salem. "Take your cat out of my shop!" he snapped. "No pets allowed!"

Sabrina sighed and took Salem to the doorway. Launchpad rose from the counter and headed for the exit. Sora saw this and asked, "Where are you going, Launchpad?"

"Mister McDee said 'no pets allowed'," replied the pilot.

Scrooge shook his head. "You're not a 'pet', Launchpad," he announced. "I told you the same thing more than ten years ago — back when Huey, Dewey, and Louie stayed at McDuck Manor."

Launchpad started to ponder aloud; his hand went straight to his huge chin. "How long has it been?! I was in the 'Disney Royal Air Force' for twelve and a half years," he declared. He paused. "Or was it half of twelve years? Two years? Maybe it was one year!"

Donald retained his scowl as the ice-cream continued to drip down his face. He laid on his stomach and started to drum his fingers on the floor. He was grumbling, yet Sora could not tell what he was saying. The young man presumed that was a good thing. He had the feeling Donald's word choices were like that of a professional sailor — one whose reputation matched the style of speaking they were known for using.

Sabrina came strolling back to her seat and resumed drinking her milkshake. Outside, Salem was peering in through the front window. As he looked out the window, Sora saw Leon, Yuffie, and Chelsy outside. Realizing he had gotten sidetracked (again), the brown, spikey-haired youth quickly roused his teammates. After reminding them what they were supposed to be doing, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo all trailed Sora out the door.

Once they were outside the parlor, Sora strolled up to Leon. "Sorry about taking so long," he said, rubbing the back of his head and looking down. He gave a grin.

Leon had to show a smile. Sora knew that look. The man with the scar on his forehead had shown this look many times. "So, are you finally ready to go?"

Sora gave a nod. "Yeah."

"Let's go," Leon turned and headed down the stairs leading to the town's neighborhoods. Sora led the way for his friends. Donald and Goofy were directly behind him. Launchpad was next, followed by Amemi. Indigo was last in line.

"Please slow down," Indigo panted. She was not used to running so rapidly in unfamiliar lands. She would rather fly or walk than run. She had very little stamina when it came to dashing across the land on foot.

Yuffie and Chelsy remained at the marketplace. Without another word, the two began their patrols.

---

The town's neighborhoods seemed a little nicer than before. Large patches of moss and ivy covered the bluish stone walls. The sides of some houses were being painted. Red, blue, and green seemed to be the most popular colors. Some of the windows were shaped like perfect baseball diamonds.

As they passed one of the many small fountains located along the walls, Sora said, "This place looks better than before."

"This part is almost done," Leon informed the spikey, brown-haired young man. "When we get more of the town finished, I'll take you racing," he grinned. "Have you ever ridden a Chocobo?"

Sora stopped dead in his tracks. "Huh?"

He felt someone slam into him from behind. There was another impact, followed by another, then another, then another. He nearly toppled over onto the street. Sora stole a glance back. Donald had slammed straight into him. Goofy, in turn, had ran into the duck mage. Launchpad had crashed into the knight. Amemi had somehow bumped into the duck-pilot. Lastly, Indigo had banged directly into the sandy-headed girl.

Sora had to shake his head. He liked Slapstick comedy, but this was ridiculous. He turned his head back to Leon. The man with the Gunblade was shaking his head and smiling. "What's a 'Chocobo'?" Sora questioned.

"It's a giant bird you can ride," Leon answered. "You'll see. We're going to build a Chocobo raceway over there," he pointed into the direction of the still-under-construction areas. "Cid's drawing up the plans as we speak. I'll let you be the first one to try it out once it's finished, Sora."

Sora gave a perplexed look. Although he did not know what a "'Chocobo'" was, he decided not to let it get in the way of doing something fun. Even if he had to wait some time before he raced on one of those… "'Chocobo's", Sora would still give it a try when the time finally came to do so. Why not? They sounded like lots of fun. He could just picture himself riding a horse-like chicken. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best image he could come up with. Either way, he would most-likely enjoy it once he tried it.

"Okay," he said at last.

Leon had to shake his head again. A shout filled the air. "Help!" it said.

All eyes spun into the direction of the shout. Leon pulled out his weapon. "I've got to help them," he turned to Sora. "Go to the castle. I'll meet you there."

With that, the young man hurried down a side-street and out of sight. Sora sighed. He could not recall the exact way to the castle's entrance. The first time around, Bert had showed them the way, only that felt like days ago. Technically, it was days ago, yet who cared? It did not matter.

The point was, he did not remember how to reach the castle from the marketplace. He looked down at the ground.

"Sora?" Donald asked.

"Are you feeling alright?" Indigo inquired.

Sora shook his head. "Sorry, guys. I don't remember how to get to the castle."

Amemi folded her arms. "How could you forget which way we need to do?"

"Bert showed us last time."

"Who's 'Bert'?"

"Do you mean 'Bert' from 'Bert and Ernie' on the show, 'Sesame Street'?" Indigo asked.

Sora shook his head. "No. Not that."

"Gee," Goofy murmured aloud. "May-bee ya got all mixed up because of them Chocolate boards."

"Leon said 'Chocobos'," Donald corrected.

Sora shook his head. He was feeling totally downcast. He was not sure which way to go, let alone what to do. Here he was, supposed to be a leader. And yet, he was unable to find his way through the town. The place felt like a labyrinth, only in daylight. If only he had paid more attention before….

A deep voice chuckled. "Well, well! I ain't never seen anybody looking so sad in all my years."

The group whirled their focus to a nearby house. When he saw the umbrella-shaped gizmos on the roof, Sora knew it was Merlin's house. He led the others to the building. Sitting in a wooden rocking chair outside was an older man who looked familiar. Sora smiled, recalling this was Uncle Remus.

"Hey there, Uncle Remus!" he waved.

"Well," Remus said in a friendly tone-of-voice. "I haven't seen you since you left about one week ago."

Donald strode up to the older gentleman. "What's so funny?!" he demanded.

"Ya'll found my laughin' place."

"Huh?!"

"What's a 'Laughing Place'?" Sora asked.

"It sounds like a figure-of-speech," Indigo tried to clarify.

Remus seemed a bit surprised. "Ya folks have never heard of a laughin' place?"

Sora and the others exchanged looks that seemed to read "Huh?" Knowing they had never heard of such a place, Remus smiled. "Once, Br'er Rabbit tricked Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear into letting him go by taking them to his laughin' place."

Goofy and Launchpad both burst out laughing. Sora turned to them. "What's so funny?" he questioned.

"I haven't heard that story in years," Launchpad replied.

"Me neither," Goofy added.

Sora wanted to roll his eyes. He had absolutely no clue what Uncle Remus was talking about, only that it did not make any sense to him. He shrugged it all aside and turned back to Remus. "Hey, do you know the way to the castle?"

"Sure do," Remus answered. He pointed to the right. "If ya'll follow that road, it'll bring you straight there."

Sora gave a nod. "Thanks."

He waved goodbye and headed down the street. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi were directly behind. Remus chuckled as he watched the group disappear from sight. "That's why I called this spot my laughin' place," he said to himself.

---

As he and his team headed down the street, Sora had the feeling this was not the correct way to go. Nothing looked familiar to him. The further down the road they went, the more everything appeared to be closer and closer to be finished. The houses were becoming more and more complete. However, the castle was supposed to be surrounded by unfinished sites. Sora recalled all the construction crews and machinery he'd seen around the castle's base. He even recollected passing a stack of metal and plastic pipes.

Yet, this area looked all built up. He gazed upward. A fountain of water could be seen from the top of the nearest tower. As he looked closely, Sora thought he saw Reno and Rude standing on the top of the tower's roof. He dismissed it as his complete imagination.

"Come on," he told the others behind him.

"Gawrsh," Goofy remarked as everyone hurried down the street. "This don't feel quite right."

Sora ignored the knight's comment and raced around a corner. He sprinted with such haste, he slammed straight into someone on the other side. Amemi was moving just as rapidly and also rammed into the unknown figure. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo quickly caught up with the two. They all came to a stop when they saw the young man before them; the figure was holding a large brush that resembled something used in a barber shop.

Sora looked up into the startled man's blue eyes. One look at his black hair, worn-out dark clothing, and the black cap on his head, and the seventeen-year-old immediately knew who it was. "Hey, Bert! Long time, no see!" he declared.

It took Bert a full minute before he realized who had run into him. He grinned and tipped his hat to them. "'Ello, Sora!" he said. "It 'as been so long since you was last 'ere. 'ow's things?"

"It's been good," Sora admitted. True, things had ended up turning out good — in the end. He had saved an entire civilization from a greedy commander. He had prevented a war. He had ended a judge's reign of terror. He had stopped a mad scientist from taking over the world. He had brought Christmas and Hope back to a whole castle. He had even rescued a young boy from a wanted poacher and two others from Maleficent's Castle. A lot had happened, and he had the feeling his quest was only about half over.

There was just one week left before Christmas came, and he needed to ensure all the worlds were safely out of harm's way before the holiday itself arrived.

Amemi pointed at Bert with two fingers. "This is Bert?"

"Yes, ma'am," Bert nodded. He tipped his hat for the sandy-headed teenager. "Bert's the name. I 'ave been a sweep, artist, musician, carpenter, and plumber."

"Oh, so you're a jack-of-all-trades," Amemi smiled, sensing Bert was a kind-hearted fellow. She liked people who were sincere and friendly alike. "My name's Amemi," she introduced. "Sora's my brother."

Bert took a short glance between the two siblings. "I see," he acknowledged. "The resemblance is amazing…. "

"What do you mean?" Sora and Amemi said together.

"You both 'ave the same color eyes. Your faces look 'bout the same size, and you 'ave the same color skin."

Sora and Amemi both looked at one another. Their eyes may look the same, but Sora's were azure. Amemi's were a shiny-blue. Outside of that, everything else Bert had claimed was accurate. Apparently, it was easy to tell they were related, even if their personalities did not too much in common. Sora was a little naïve and held a strong sense of justice. Amemi was happy-go-lucky and self-determined to help everyone she could.

"So," Bert went on. "Can I 'elp you with anything?"

"Well, maybe," Sora said in answer. "We're on our way to the castle, but this area doesn't look familiar."

"No wonder it does not look right. You 'ave been 'eading in the wrong direction."

Donald scowled at Sora. Indigo folded her arms and stopped smiling. Amemi crossed her arms. Goofy and Launchpad both scratched their heads and shrugged. Jiminy hopped out of the brown-haired young man's hoodie and frowned. Taking all these looks into account, all Sora could do was show a nervous grin in return. "Sorry, guys. I guess I got us lost."

"I thought you said you knew the way to the castle," Indigo said.

Sora was shocked. "I never said—!"

"Why did you lead us this way?" Amemi inquired.

"You got us lost, ya big palooka!" Donald snorted.

"Well, he did say he didn't know thuh way," Goofy pinpointed.

"Maybe he needs a compass rose," Launchpad blurted. "But there aren't any flowers close by. Where can we find a rose?"

Bert smiled. "I can show you the way, I suppose."

Sora gave a nod. He placed his hands behind his head and relaxed. "Thanks, Bert!"

Bert led the way down the street. "Come along. I'll take you there."

Before long, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo were following Bert down the street. The well-built houses started to transition into half-finished structures that lacked paint. Pieces of lumber and steel pipes were lying on the sides of the road amidst crates of this and that.

As she strolled along, Amemi kept an eye on the scenery. This place seemed more and more like a slum back home on the Destiny Islands than a town under construction. Fearing the Heartless would jump out at any time for a surprise assault, the teenage girl kept in step with the others. Her mind started to wander. She recalled how Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were supposed to be from another world. Knowing what Sora had told her before about everyone in this place being from various worlds, she started to ponder deeper.

"Excuse me, Bert," she said. "What world are you from?"

Everyone slowed their pace, but they did not stop moving. Sora stared at his sister. He had not thought about it much, yet he had wondered what worlds most of the townspeople in the Radiant Garden came from. Several of them were wayfarers — not from this world. Scrooge McDuck, Merlin, and Willoughby Whitfield were among them. Now, he was questioning if Bert and Uncle Remus were also from other worlds. If so, where were they from? What about that girl Amemi had met? What was her name? Sabrina? He thought that was what he had heard Amemi say at one point.

Perhaps over half of this world's population consisted of the former residents of other worlds. What worlds they were and what had become of those worlds were mysteries Sora knew no one really wanted to discuss. That was especially true for those whose worlds had been lost to the Darkness.

He knew how that felt. His home — the Destiny Islands — had been attacked by the Heartless at one time, too. He knew there were lots of worlds that had been attacked at one time or another. Each of the official Sleeping Worlds had been attacked and destroyed, too. To think, Corona, Pixie Hollow, Rascal's Dreamland, Camelot, The Country of The Musketeers, and The Symphony of Sorcery had all been lost to Darkness. Chances were, so had The Land of Dragons, The Pride Lands, Port Royal, The Beast's Castle, La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches, Jamestowne, and Middleton. He had never visited any of those worlds during his first adventure with Donald and Goofy. They had all been restored back to their original states once the three, King Mickey, and Riku had sealed the Door To Darkness.

"Well now," Bert began, tearing Sora away from his deep contemplation. "I used to live in the city of London. I was working the streets. That is where I met the most beautiful woman you would 'ave ever laid eyes on — Mary Poppins."

"'Mary Poppins'?" Sora asked. In his peripheral vision, he saw Donald scolding Amemi for what the duck called "'meddling in other worlds' affairs'".

"Why, yes. If you ever met 'er, you would be on another jolly 'oliday. 'er imagination is strong enough to make the most impossible things 'appen. She asked me to join 'er, but I stayed with my first love — the London rooftops."

"Yeesh!" Launchpad declared. "Sounds like you were on Cloud Fifty-nine!"

"Yeah," Goofy remarked, equally amazed.

Donald rolled his eyes. Sora shook his head and smiled at their reactions. He turned back to Bert as Amemi asked him another question. "Why did you love the rooftops?"

"I'm glad you asked," Bert looked up at the bright, blue sky up above. Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo all did the same. "Up where the smoke is all billered and curled," the black-haired man said in a style that sounded a little like he was singing. "'Tween pavement and stars, is the Chimney Sweep world. When there's 'ardly no day, nor 'ardly no night, there's things 'alf in shadow and 'alfway in light."

Sora paused as he tried to picture what the man was saying. It appeared the rooftops of "London" in the world Bert was from mainly consisted of chimneys and lots of soot and smoke. With all that smoke, he could imagine the view would largely be darkened. Yet, he also knew there would be those times when the Sun's light would shine through the soot and provide a bit of warmth to the workers as they cleaned the dozens of chimneys. The description Bert had given was so picturesque, the spikey, brown-headed Keyblade wielder could see an image in his mind of what world the former had come from.

Knowing how Bert was a "'appy-go-lucky chap" as he would put it, Sora had to smile. He knew this meant the chimney sweep enjoyed what he did, even if it was not the cleanest job in any world. There was nothing more important to a person than doing a job they loved. It was clear the "'Chimney Sweep world'" was the young man's passion. Now, he would more-than-likely be doing the same at the Radiant Garden — once the town was finished.

"On the rooftops of London," Bert added. He smiled, as though reminiscing his former home. "Coo! What a sight!"

Through the corner of his eye, Sora saw Indigo cross her arms. She had her head slightly tilted and leaning against her left hand. Her antennae were slowly moving around like they were a submarine's periscope trying to locate an enemy ship to sink.

Sora's mind continued to wander. He wondered if anything Bert was saying sounded familiar to the angel. After all, she probably had been to many other worlds before he'd found her in that castle. Maybe she had met this "Mary Poppins" Bert had mentioned? Or perhaps she'd seen that world for herself?

The group rounded another corner and stopped. Bert pointed into the distance. Down a long, dirt road was the castle. Sora noted how red flags marked the road's outline, something he had not noticed before. His mind had probably been preoccupied the last time he and his friends had travelled this way.

Still, like before, there were lots of construction crews hard and work. An entire layout of foundations had been laid on in one area, and a foreman was busy checking the plans to ensure the buildings would look like the blueprints depicted them.

On the other side of the street, several workers were taking a break. Even though they were a distance away, Sora and his friends could hear their laughter. Several long, plastic pipes were stacked beside the workers; they were tied in place, clearly to prevent any from sliding done and crushing somebody.

Closer to the castle, a group of workers were using their construction vehicles to smooth the land and make the hill steadier. The bluish rock was being pushed aside and leveled out.

Sora then looked up at the castle. Not much had changed in regards to the building's appearance. The same cranes were still located along the base. The outside walls were just as silver as before, although the slight shade of pinkish-red coating along the foundation had spread across the entire first floor. The top of the structure was finished and bright yellow paint covered the tallest tower. A second tower was leaning out from the other side and the framework for two additional towers were still jutting out from either side of the castle a few stories above the base. The two lowest towers were partly covered by metal plates and some other things; Sora was not sure what they were called.

Sora turned to Bert. "Thanks, again."

Bert tipped his hat and smiled brighter than ever. "Like I said, 'I am just willing to 'elp'. G'day to you all!"

As the young man walked off, Sora led the way down the road to the castle. Indigo, Amemi, Launchpad, Goofy, and Donald were not far behind. They rushed past the resting construction workers. The workmen stopped their joking and watched as the group sped on by.

"What's their hurry?" one asked. The others shrugged. They returned to what they had been doing before. Laughing and sipping their coffee.

---

The castle's entrance was as empty as it had been the first time Sora had set foot upon it. Even though the group was outside, the area remained untouched. After charging up the flight of marble steps, the group took a few minutes to catch their breath. They had just run nearly a mile or two or three.

And what a run! Not far down the road, they had encountered some Heartless on the prowl. They had slashed, slammed, shot, and froze the creatures into oblivion. At one point, one of the Heartless had snatched Indigo's right wing. Amemi had spun around and fired her slingshot at the monster, terminating it in a flash. At another point in the frenzy, Goofy had shielded Launchpad from a charging Defender Heartless. Donald had also been forced to using a Cura spell on Sora when three Flying Squirrel Heartless had ambushed the Keyblader. Despite emerging victorious from that battle, Sora knew the Heartless were getting stronger with every battle they were doing.

He did not wish to think about what still lay up ahead on their quest….

After the battle, Sora and his team had headed down the rest of the road. At one particular spot, Sora had felt a strange presence. He had stopped for a moment; everyone else had continued, not even noticing he had halted. That same sensation of Light and Darkness mixed into one crossed his mind. When he had looked towards the castle's foundation, Sora had realized nothing looked out of the ordinary. He had then shoved the feeling aside and continued on his way.

Now, he was becoming curious about what he had sensed. Since when did Light and Darkness mix together? Usually, they remained separate. It was the same feeling he had felt the last time he had gone down this road. Deep, deep down, he had a very bad feeling something terrible was happening underneath the castle. Could it be Xehanort? Or was Maleficent up to her old tricks?

He decided to leave those questions for another day.

Sora led Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo to the entranceway. Dilan and Aeleus were still standing guard. After showing their red, VIP cards, the group was allowed into the castle. As they strode through the front door, Sora noticing something seemed different about the entrance hall. He looked up at the ceiling. Large, plastic snowflakes were placed on the second floor railings. Lots of colorful lights were strung around the room. At first, it seemed the lights were blinking. It turned out the lights were flashing in accordance to a song playing in the background on a set of speakers installed on the walls.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful," it went. "But the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

Sora had to smile. He knew that song anywhere. The actor, Dean Martin, had sang it years ago. "Let it snow" — that's what it was called! He enjoyed that song. His Mom always played it every Christmas, specifically when the group was setting up the tree and getting ready to open presents.

He wondered what his Mom was up to right now. She was probably worried about him and Amemi. That was common. She tended to become frantic when one of her children was not around, and she had no clue where they were. He imagined she was in total panic mode when the Destiny Islands had been attacked by the Heartless. Chances were, if she was concerned right now, it was because Amemi had stowed away aboard Herbie.

In the space between the two staircases, a large, evergreen tree was set up with gifts all around it. Ornaments of every size, shape, and color decorated the tree, along with silver garland, non-flickering lights, and a shiny, white angel on top. Seated on a wooden bench beside the tree was Leon. He appeared to be relaxing; he had been waiting for a long time.

When he saw the group approaching, the brown-haired young man smiled. "So, you made it."

"Yeah," Sora said, showing his famous grin. He scratched the side of his cheek with his right index finger. "Sorry about that. We got a little lost."

"That is not correct!"

The two swung their eyes to the left. Indigo was standing before the tree with her arms at her sides. She pointed at the angel on the top of the tree. "That is not what an angel looks like!"

Sora wanted to shake his head. It was true. It would take some time for everyone to understand what an angel truly was like. Violet and Indigo had broken the stereotype most people thought of when they pictured angels. The two sisters lacked halos and their wings were not feathery. They did not carry golden harps around with them. They also were not wearing white robes.

If anything, the angels partly resembled butterflies. How else could Sora describe the shape of their wings and their antennae? It was not easy. He was terrible at choosing words to describe things. He had failed English class two years straight, and he had the feeling he had failed it once again this past semester.

Leon shook his head and smiled. Judging from the man's reaction, Amemi had the feeling some of her brother's personality had rubbed off on him. That was far from uncommon. Sora tended to have a similar effect on lots of people.

Leon rose from the bench and picked up his Gunblade. He put it over his shoulder like it was a towel. "Let's go," he told the group.

Sora nodded. He led Indigo, Amemi, Launchpad, Goofy, and Donald up the stairs after Leon. They all headed down a short corridor and ended up in an enormous room in the middle of the castle. One look up or down, and it became clear how massive the building was in reality. Down below, there was nothing except dark shadows. Straight up, a giant, stained-glass window could be seen. Goofy grinned when he saw the distinct pattern on the window. "A-Hyuck! Sparkly!"

Leon led the group to a platform with a curved cage-like top. Everyone stepped aboard the platform. Leon shut the door and pushed a button on a small, rectangular box rising from the floor. The top face of the box was tilted at an angle, providing easy access to the controls on it.

The caged platform started to move. Up it went, higher and higher into the castle. Sora quickly realized they were on an elevator-lift — just like the ones the Beast, Goofy, Donald, and him had used to transport themselves through this castle. Back then, this place had been swamped with powerful Heartless. That was when Maleficent had been in control of this world.

After going up a few stories, the elevator-lift stopped at another landing. Leon opened the door and led Sora, Amemi, and the others off and down another corridor. It was not long before they reached a doorway. Leon and Sora pushed the large doors open, revealing a rather dark chamber.

One look around, and Sora believed his recognized this room. It resembled a hall, with a narrow corridor leading into a large, circular space. The floor was tiled with a silver coating. The walls were made of faded, white stone. The ceiling matched the walls, only with stone beams holding up the ceiling. Black lines representing black vines decorated the walls at regular intervals.

As he swept his eyes around, Sora suddenly remembered why he knew this room. This was where he had faced Maleficent around two years before. She had transformed into a dragon after Riku had used that Keyblade to unlock her heart. In the end, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast had struck her down, and the dark fairy had seemingly vanished into the Darkness. Later, a strange figure in a black-hooded coat had shown up in this same room.

This was the Castle's Chapel.

As he led the way through the room, Sora noticed two people at the far end. One was a young woman with golden hair that flowed gently down to her shoulders and pale skin. She was wearing a red dress with short sleeves that was decorated with lots of yellow daisies, blue boots, and had a green ribbon in her hair. She also had a shadowing on the upper part of her green eyes

When he saw a couple sparkles on each of her cheeks, Sora knew this was Myrna.

The other was an older, young woman sporting shoulder-length black hair and dark-brown eyes. She was wearing a long, sleeveless, blue sweater, a pair of matching arm warmers, a black tank-top, a denim skirt, a black ribbon on her left arm, black shorts, and a pair of silver-buckled black boots. When he saw her necklace with a ring on it, Sora knew this was Rinoa.

As the group drew closer, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo saw Myrna was kneeling on the floor with her hands folded. Rinoa was standing and gazing at the far wall. Her right hand clutched her necklace, even though it was around her neck.

Leon stopped and turned to Sora. "I have somewhere to be," he whispered. "I'll let you handle the rest."

Before Sora could speak, Leon turned and rushed out the door. Sora's team watched as the young man disappeared down the hallway beyond. Sora was stumped. Why did it seem Leon did not want to be anywhere near Rinoa? He had noticed this before, after Rinoa had called Leon "Squall" twice. Leon had mentioned something about Kairi and Sora belonging together… or something like that. Then, nothing. The man had not finished the conversation. It felt out-of-character for Leon to act this way, at least as far as Sora was concerned.

Curious if the two might have had a fight after he had departed before, Sora strode over to where Rinoa was standing. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad trailed the young man all the way. Amemi and Indigo walked over to Myrna; the young woman saw them and smiled.

Rinoa was not smiling. Sora tapped her on the shoulder. The woman spun around. She relaxed when she saw it was just Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad. With a hint of a smile, Rinoa placed her arms behind her. "It's good to see you again, Sora."

"Yeah, you too," Sora gave a nod. That was when he decided to get serious. "Rinoa, what're you doing?"

Rinoa's smile faded. She sighed deeply. "I was thinking about my cousin. This has happened every day for the last ten years…. "

Launchpad looked puzzled. "Why does this 'cousin' mean so much to you? I only have one cousin, but she doesn't crash."

"We were so close," Rinoa explained. She turned around and shifted her eyes to the ceiling. "We both loved to pick flowers, hear stories about the Light, and make things. I also can't forget how strong her Light was. It was brighter than anything else I've ever known…. "

Sora crossed his arms. For some reason, the more he listened to Rinoa, the more he thought he could hear Kairi's voice speaking to him. He knew that was impossible. Kairi was at Master Yen Sid's tower, training how to use her Keyblade. Then again, his heart was connected to hers. Maybe that was how it was possible?

He shook it off. Perhaps there was just one solution. He needed to help Rinoa leave her depressed state. To do that, he could only think of one option. "I'll find your cousin!" he blurted.

Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad stared at him. "You shouldn't make so many promises," Donald stated, shaking his finger at the seventeen-year-old.

Sora shrugged with a smile. "How hard could it be? She said her cousin has a strong Light, right? All we have to do is find a girl with a strong Light."

Donald and Goofy both looked at one another. They exchanged looks with Launchpad. Jiminy leapt out of his spot in Sora's hoodie. "Hmm," the cricket pondered aloud. "It seems to me, we should do what it best for everyone."

"I know," Sora said. "But I've already made up my mind. We'll find Rinoa's cousin!"

Rinoa showed a brighter smile. Sora had never seen her this pleased before. It almost looked like she had been switched out for someone with an opposing personality. "Thank you, Sora," she said. "When you find my cousin, you'll know it is her."

Sora gave a nod. Although he was not sure what Rinoa meant exactly, he decided not to let it bother him. Leave it to his heart to figure out. He never like riddles anyway.

Knowing he still needed to round up his sister and Indigo, Sora led Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad over to where the two were chatting away with Indigo. As they approached the three girls, Sora and his friends heard some giggling.

"I wonder what's so funny?" Goofy commented.

Donald put a finger to his bill. "Shh!"

The duck's shushing echoed through the otherwise silent hall. Myrna, Amemi, and Indigo all whirled their focus to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad. The three girls stood up straight and smiled. "Sora," Amemi said.

Myrna waved to Launchpad. The duck-pilot waved back; he had an immense grin showing on his face. She then turned her attention over to Sora. "Did you and your friends come by to help plan for our upcoming 'Christmas Celebration'?"

Amemi slid over to her older brother. "I volunteered the two of us to sing, 'The First Noel'. What do you think?"

Sora was startled. He had not expected someone else to make such a hasty decision for him. Knowing how much his little sister enjoyed that song, he nodded in return. "Okay," he agreed.

Donald raised his hand. "I wanna sing 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'!" he pointed his right thumb at Indigo. "And I'll do it with her."

Sora and Goofy both shook their heads. They recalled how Donald had had a terrible singing voice during that Undersea Musical in Atlantica. His voice was not just off-key, it had too much "'QUACK'".

Indigo shook her head and waved her arms into an X-like form in front of her. "No way! I do not like going on stage."

Donald slapped himself in the face. "Aw phooey!"

Sora had to smile. As he and the others laughed at Donald's reaction, a thought crossed the young man's mind. He turned to Indigo. "There's nothing to worry about," he told the angel. "If it's gonna help, I'll play the keyboard for you."

"You would do that?" a surprised Indigo asked.

Sora nodded. "C'mon! How hard could it be?"

"And I'll play the drums!" Donald boasted.

Launchpad sighed. "I guess Goofy and I will be on the guitars, again."

"Yup," Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Can I play the triangle?" Amemi asked.

Indigo paused for a short minute. She finally smiled and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I shall give it a try."

Sora gave the angel a thumbs-up. "Great!"

Myrna stepped into the middle of the group. "Do you want to say 'Hi' to Aerith?" she inquired.

Amemi swiftly beamed and nodded. "Yes!" she declared with delight. She had enjoyed meeting the young woman. She did not know why, yet she had sensed some kind of connection between the two. She still wondered what it was.

Myrna headed for the exit. She signaled for the others to follow. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo trailed her out of the room and over to a flight of stairs leading down into the castle's lower floors.

---

Myrna pushed the doorway open. After strolling down a white hallway, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo expected to end up in a plain, white room. To their surprise, the had ended up in a decent-sized waiting room with yellow walls and a golden ceiling. The floor seemed to sparkle with its yellow and blue tiles. A row of chairs lined two of the walls. In the middle of the room was a table covered in magazines and comic books.

On one side of the room, there was a doorway. Beside it was a glass window. A blood-red cross was emblazoned on the wall, indicating this was the castle's medical wing.

Sora had to admit, this area looked completely different compared to rest of the castle. It felt much brighter and nicer. As he looked around, he noticed a few more rows of chairs were stacked beside the doorway. "What's all this for?" he asked, gestured to the furniture.

"We haven't finished setting it up yet," Myrna informed the spikey-haired youth. She led the group to the next room. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad decided to stay in the waiting room and look at the books on the table. Only Sora, Amemi, and Indigo followed Myrna into the next room.

On the other side of the doorway, Sora, Myrna, Amemi, and Indigo found a wide space. Several rolling beds were set up. Curtains were attached from floor to ceiling. Large windows were placed along the wall to the right of the group. The ceiling was nearly twenty feet up in the air, so Sora was amazed the curtains were not falling down. He turned to Myrna. "How come everything is lined up like this?" he asked.

Myrna crossed her arms. "Once the castle's finished being restored, we'll have individual rooms for each of these beds."

Sora gave a nod. Being the leader of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee meant he needed to check on things like this. It was a good thing Myrna was easy to talk to. If it had been someone like Cloud, he would never have gotten an answer.

Myrna led the group to one of the beds. There, they found Aerith standing beside the bed. Sora and Amemi noticed the red cross marked on a white sleeve-like badge on her arm. Sora was not sure what it was called, yet he had seen people wear them in movies that took place during wartime.

"Is she going to be alright?" Myrna asked.

Aerith gave a nod. "She's okay, just unconscious."

Sora looked at the bed. A girl around Amemi's age was lying under the cream-colored sheets. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be dozing. Her skin was rather pale compared to the Keyblader wielder's, and she had short, reddish hair that seemed to point downwards on either side of her head and the back. She had two bobby-pins stuck in her right bang; they criss-crossed each other in the form of an "X". Her face seemed smooth and her chin came to a point above her neck. Her head turned slight, revealing she had the back of her hair tied into a small ponytail.

Indigo was nearly alarmed. "Who is this?!" she exclaimed.

"We don't know," Aerith responded. "We're calling her 'Jane Doe' until she wakes up."

"What happened to her?" Sora asked. He reached out and placed the back of his right hand against the girl's cheek. She did not move. He removed his hand and started to wonder who this really was. She almost looked like one of the character's in a Japanese anime show Kairi's sisters watched. Maybe… she was one of those characters? Stranger things had happened!

"She was attacked by the Heartless," Aerith explained, keeping her eyes on the girl. "Leon and Yuffie tried to help her, but she was thrown into a wall. She probably will have amnesia when she wakes up."

Amemi leaned against the side of the bed. One look at the girl, and the sandy-haired teenager sighed. She could not believe a Heartless could do such harm to someone. She felt angry at whatever Heartless had done this. She wanted to make those creatures pay. Whoever was responsible for allowing the Heartless to commit such actions needed to be stopped! The only question was, who was behind all those monsters? She had the feeling it was someone very dangerous and ferocious!

Amemi leaned close to the girl's ear. "Don't worry," she told her. "I'll help stop whoever did this to you."

The girl did not respond. Amemi sighed and looked down. She felt something on her hand. She looked up and saw the girl had reached out and touched her hand. She stared at the girl. She thought she saw a hint of a smile on the girl's face.

Amemi smiled. She knew the girl's heart had heard her voice. That was enough for her.

At that moment, Myrna rushed out of a nearby doorway. To Amemi, Sora, and Indigo's surprise, she was wearing her white uniform with the First-Aid logo. Sora remembered that outfit. He had seen Myrna wearing it more than once before.

Amemi rose from the bed's side and turned around to face Sora. "She touched my hand," she told her brother.

Sora crossed his arms in thought. He wondered if there was some type of connection between his sister and the mystery girl. If there was, he wondered what they were. Perhaps Amemi had already met the girl a long time ago? That did not seem likely. Chances were, their hearts were connected. Simple as that!

"Sora! Come on!" a perky voice called from the doorway. Sora, Amemi, Indigo, Aerith, and Myrna all whirled their attention to the doorway. Yuffie and a young man Sora recalled was Zell were standing just inside the room. Through the open doorway, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were gazing through the opening.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.

"You have to come with us!" Zell declared.

"There's something we have to show you," Yuffie explained. "Everyone's waiting in Ansem's study. Come on!"

Yuffie and Zell headed back through the doorway to lead the way. Recalling how he still needed to talk to Ienzo about the town's security systems, Sora shrugged and followed suit. Amemi and Indigo were directly behind him.

They all had the feeling this was something very important!

---

A/N: Are you wondering what Yuffie and Zell have to show Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo?
THAT SHALT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL CHAPTER 35, WHICH SHALL BE COMING OUT SOMETIME IN EARLY 2017!

Before I close out, I have some things to go over.
(1.) The named character at the opening scene was supposed to be Demyx's Somebody. I chose the name "Medy" simply because that sounds a little like "Melody", which matches Demyx's personality and "'Dance! Water! Dance!'" Style.
(2.) Much of Huey, Dewey, and Louie's characterizations and dialogue came from the Disney's "DuckTales" T.V. Series - the one from the 1980s. I wanted to point this out since Disney is going to be releasing a "DuckTales" Reboot sometime next year.
(3.) I know you know who most of the characters in there are from! In case you forgot, I recommend going over Chapter(s) 4, 5, and 6!
I WILL point out (again) how Phoebe Forest, Mike Millard, Chelsy, and Myrna are ALL among my Original Characters!
(4.) I enjoyed including the scene with Bert, the Chimney Sweep from Disney's "Mary Poppins (1964)". Every time I hear that part of the song in This Chapter, I feel a sense of mystery, spookiness, and magic - DISNEY Magic, to be exact!
(5.) For those of you who did not notice, the "Mystery Girl/'Jane Doe'" is actually NOT one of My Original Characters! In fact, she does NOT belong to Disney, let alone Square-Enix! In other words, she is part of a [partial] Crossover I did not announce at the Start of This Story. The reason why I did not announce it? I came up with it earlier This Year - she is from an animated show I had not seen at the time I wrote This Story's Storyline Summary!
I WILL Tell You All THIS MUCH! IF YOU WISH TO LEARN THE IDENTITY OF THAT CHARACTER NOW, LOOK UP THE ANIMATED SHOW ON NETFLIX!
Not enough information? Here are the show's initials: "GF"!
STILL Not enough information?! Here is a HINT to help you figure it out!
HINT: "SHE IS ONE OF FIVE GIRLS WHO TRY TO SAVE EARTH AND THE 'KINGDOM OF [FAIRYTALES]' FROM A GROUP OF DANGEROUS VILLAINS! THEIR MAIN GOAL IS TO BRING ABOUT HAPPY ENDINGS! THEY LIVE IN A REAL-LIFE FAIRY-TALE, AFTER ALL!"
I HOPE THAT IS ENOUGH INFORMATION TO HELP YOU PINPOINT WHO THE CHARACTER IS AND WHERE SHE CAME FROM! I SHALL BE REVEALING ALL OF IT AT A LATER DATE - SOMETIME IN 2017!

So, I believe I STILL have to say these!
Willoughby Whitfield is from Disney's "Herbie Rides Again (1974)". FUN FACT: The actor, Ken Berry, played that character in the movie!
Sabrina Spellman and Salem are from "Sabrina -The Animated Series-". FUN FACT: The ONLY reason why "Sabrina -The Animated Series-" ended up being a Disney show was because Disney owned "DIC Entertainment". I ALSO WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT THAT SHOW IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE ARCHIE COMICS CHARACTER! THIS VERSION IS SEPARATE! AFTER ALL, THERE ARE STORIES ON THIS WEBSITE THAT ARE BASED ON THAT SHOW!

Okay! I HAD to state that last point! I do NOT want to come on here one of these days, only to find out This Story was removed because those two characters were in it!

With all that said and done, I do not have anything else to say now. To think - I ran out of things to say just as 2016 comes to an end!

So Then, I'll See You Next Time!
In other words, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!

REMEMBER THIS - A MINIMUM OF 214 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 240 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME THE-SECOND-TO-LAST-CHAPTER IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!

This Is SoraLego278 Saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" Plus, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!" In Addition, "HAPPY NEW YEAR"!

I SHALL RETURN AND HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN - STARTING IN 2017!