Hey, guys!

So, if you guys have been watching the news and know about Irma…yeah…

I'm fine! My campus had to evacuate because we're in one of the coastal areas that were hit. I'm back now, but with trying to catch up on schoolwork and hunkering down for the hurricane and an annoying case of writer's block, I just haven't been able to work on this story for about a week. But now I'm cracking down!

Enjoy!

Spoiler Warning: A very similar feelsy scene from a very feelsy game is in your future.

The clash of metal on metal shone through the arena. Two redheads jumped back from each other, panting, readying their next attacks towards their rival. One, a tall, lanky man with mischievous green eyes motioned a "bring it on" with his hand. The second, a petite young woman with kind, patient blues, gave a knowing smile, shaking her head before stepping up to the challenge.

She ran to her rival, raising her Keyblade and striking down his, meeting the blade in a block. They locked eyes, the fun, excited energy obvious between the two. Before her rival could jump back and recover, she jumped to the side, bouncing on the ball of her foot and catapulting towards his back.

He tried to block, but in the fray was tripped by his own feet. Instead of blocking, he succeeded in sending himself to the floor, just in time for her Keyblade to land a hit to his stomach. He was sent sprawling, and from the floor called out with a laugh in his voice, "I give up."

"And that's the match!" declared Merlin, a wise old wizard overseeing the training of the two new wielders.

Recovering, the man stood up, clutching his stomach. He chuckled, "Heh, nice one Kairi."

The girl in question jabbed a fist into the man's side. He gave a holler, now clutching both his side and his stomach. "What was that for?"

"I know you did that on purpose, Lea," she replied.

"Aw, come on," Lea nagged. "Do you really think I'd hurt a Princess of Light?"

"Xehanort won't care and won't hold back," Kairi retorted. She stomped away, kindly thanking Merlin as she exited the sparring area. Lea lagged behind, watching his newfound friend go. She had been worrying so much lately. They had only been friends for…a couple months? It was hard to tell, time moved weird here. He sighed. I know Yen Sid wanted us to go somewhere 'temporally flexible', he thought, but did it have to be...so trippy?

It was true. The Mirage Arena sat in a multicolored, ever-swirling bubble of light protecting its inhabitants from the outside space. And it was exactly that that made him uneasy. Man, I miss roads. And buildings. Even seeing the sun would be nice for once instead of this weird light.

He paused, remembering older, simpler times. An idea forming in his mind, Lea swallowed the rest of his pain, grinning as he jogged to his temporary mentor.

Kairi trekked to another part of the Mirage Arena, thinking about which round of fighting she wanted to do next. I know I've just had a big fight, but I need to work hard to catch up with Sora and Riku, she determined.

At the thought of her friends, she came to a stop to the machine that generated the false fights. She looked longingly at the sky, gazing at the same stars she grew up knowing. Don't wait up on me, she thought, I'll catch up.

"Hey, Kairi!" Lea called out. She turned, seeing him slow and stop right in front of her. She stayed silent as he continued, "Merlin said we could take a break and leave for a little while. I was wondering if you'd like to come somewhere with me."

Kairi's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "Where?"

Lea smirked, a glint sparking in his eyes. "It's a surprise."

Kairi sighed, a smile curling her lips. "Okay, fine. It'd be nice to take a little vacation."

"Alright, then, let's go," Lea replied, heading to the gate leading outside of the Mirage Arena.

Kairi began to run after him; he was a pretty fast walker. "Hey, Lea," she questioned, catching up to him, her curiosity getting the best of her, "can you at least give me a hint for where we're going?"

Lea chuckled, stopping with one hand on his hip and the other scratching the back of his head. He threw a smirk back at Kairi. "Think of it as the icing on the cake." He barked out a laugh as Kairi protested against the so-called, nonexistent "hint".

Aqua's heels crunched onto gray sand, her eyes taking in the familiar sight of the dark ocean as the party of five trudged onto the shore of the Dark Margin.

"Finally," Riku sighed.

"We're here?" Nightly asked, letting out a yawn. The more they had walked, the more the group had noticed the increasing drowsiness of their youngest member. Her eyes blinked sleepily, seeing the ocean. As if a switch had been flipped, she gasped in excitement, her eyes wide open, hugging Chirithy tightly to her chest.

"What?" Aqua asked in confusion.

"The ocean," Nightly replied breathlessly.

"The last time we saw it, Nightly was with a group of her friends. They were taking a day off from their daily missions," Chirithy clarified.

"I bet'cha you're ready to get back to them, aren't'cha?" Mickey asked.

Nightly nodded, a faraway look entering her eyes, her smile disappearing, her face drooping. "What's wrong?" Riku asked, noticing the sudden change.

"N-nothing," Nightly replied, shaking her head a pulling a smile back onto her face. "I just…had a disagreement with a couple of my friends before I got trapped here. It's…actually the reason I was here when the world fell to darkness in the first place. I ran away so we'd stop arguing for a little bit."

Aqua smiled sympathetically at the young girl, knowing how hard it is to be in an argument with one's best friends. "I'm sure you'll make up. They'll be so happy to see you again, they probably won't even remember what you were arguing about."

"What were you disagreeing about, if you don't mind my asking?" Riku asked, concern filling his eyes.

"Oh, nothing too important," Nightly shrugged, a smile plastered on her face. "I'm sure we'll talk through it once we see each other again."

"That's the spirit!" Aqua said happily. "Now let's figure out a way out of here."

"We already know," Mickey replied. "Sora and Riku figured it out when they came here a little while ago. The connection between you and your friends will bring you back to the Realm of Light through the light in your hearts."

"Oh, really?" Aqua asked teasingly. "That easy, huh?" Mickey nodded, Aqua smiling back. She sighed, closing her eyes, pulling every memory she could of Ven and Terra, her heart aching with the pain of missing them while at the same time warmed with all the times they spent together.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she was blinded by a sudden sliver of light.

"This is where you wanted to take me?" Kairi asked awestruck, her eyes drinking in the stunning colors of twilight.

Lea smiled knowingly at her, taking a seat on the ledge of the clock tower. "Are you gonna sit down?"

Kairi shook her head, pulling herself out of her trance. "Oh, yeah." She sat next to Lea, carefully letting her legs dangle over the edge of the clock tower. Her eyes relocked onto the sunset before her, unable to look away.

She barely registered Lea's next word. "Here," he said, a tinge of humor in his voice.

"Huh?" Kairi asked absentmindedly. She looked to see a blue…popsicle? "Um…"

Lea chuckled. "It's ice cream. Sea Salt ice cream."

"Oh," Kairi replied, taking the ice cream on a stick, examining it.

"Go on, try it," Lea encouraged. Kairi tentatively took a bite. She recoiled, the clashing yet complimenting flavors simultaneously confusing and pleasing her taste buds.

She stared at the ice cream, taking another bite, growing accustomed to the taste. "How does this taste so good? It's salty, but sweet. Who thought of the flavor?"

Lea laughed, taking a bite of his own. "I believe his name is Scrooge McDuck."

Kairi gave Lea a skeptical look. "Seriously," Lea nodded, his mouth full of ice cream. "I think he's Donald's uncle, or something. He told me about him during the Mark of Mastery."

The two shared a laugh before gazing once again at the sunset, nostalgic looks in their eyes. "My friend and I used to have one of these at the end of every day," Lea said, holding out his ice cream, his mind wandering to better times.

"Roxas?" Kairi asked tentatively.

Lea sighed heavily. "For Axel, yes. For me, it was…someone else."

Her curiosity once again taking over, she asked, "Who?"

Lea took a bite of his ice cream, his frown stating he didn't want to say. Instead, he smiled and asked, "Hey Kairi, bet you don't know why the sun sets red."

Kairi, recognizing the distraction, decided to move on. "No, Lea, I don't," she said with a smile. "Why?"

Lea smirked. "Light is made of all sorts of colors. And out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest."

Kairi laughed. "Where'd you get that from, a fortune cookie?" she asked, waving her half-eaten ice cream at him. He laughed along with her.

Their conversation was interrupted when a small communication device Merlin had given to Lea when they had left the Mirage Arena rang. He pulled it from his pocket and answered. "Hello?" His expression turned from one of confusion to one of excitement. "Alright, sounds good. Thanks," he said, hanging up.

"What was that about?" Kairi asked.

"Riku and Mickey are back with Aqua. Yen Sid wants us at the Mysterious Tower when they get there," Lea answered.

"I wonder why," Kairi thought aloud. "I thought we'd meet them later after our training was complete."

"Who knows," Lea shrugged. "Probably something to do with Aqua."

"Maybe," Kairi replied hesitanty, biting off the last chunk of her ice cream. "Well, let's go."

"Alright," Lea replied with a chuckle, hopping to his feet and offering a hand to Kairi. She smiled, taking it with a nod of thanks.

Hi, guys!

I know this chapter took longer to come out than the previous ones...but college has kicked back in since the hurricane, and I've been debating how I want to write the scene that happens after the one you guys just read. But I wanted to give you guys the next part in this story, and this seemed like a good place to leave off until next time.

I know I said in the last chapter that Nightly would be shown how much time has passed, but...this scene has been playing over and over again in my head, and I couldn't wait to get it down and share it with you guys. Those details will definitely happen in the next chapter! So, let me know what you guys thought! There will be more Kairi and Lea in the story, especially in later chapters, when things start to get more interesting.

(Speaking of Lea...y'all have no idea how many times I almost typed Axel instead of Lea. I guess I miss him more than I thought I did.)

And since we're on the topic of names...If any of you have seen the recent update of Union X, you'll know about Blaine's official English name being Brain. Brain...

At first, I wasn't sure what to think, and actually didn't like it. But the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me. I'm interested to see where this goes. As we all know, whatever happens in Kingdom Hearts happens for a reason, so I'm inclined to stay optimistic about this one.

What do you guys think about this new name for Leader #4?

Thank you guys so much for enjoying my story! I don't know when I'll be able to update again, but I'll try to make it as soon as I can!

Love you guys! Bye!