A/N: Hey ya'll! Sorry about the wait, but I'm carrying 17 units right now and finals—and final projects—were killer. Though my audience is small, I really do try my best for them! (Puts a fist on chest, teary-eyed) My next chapter should be up soon!

A/N II: I think I got all the typos/format problems dealt with. If you see another one, let me know!

Disclaimer: If I own Kingdom Hearts, I am a purple-polka-dotted jackalope!

Chapter 8: Traverse Town II

I finally flopped into bed after playing a few rounds of spades with Cloud and Leon—losing horribly—hardly registering the rosy clouds in the east. I was probably out cold before my head even hit the pillow.

. . .She's escaped.

Who has, my lord?

One of the princesses of heart.

We know their identities?

No. As of yet, I only know this one. She is only a child as yet, but her heart is clearly part of the key.

Then why don't we send the heartless after her? Even they can handle one little girl, I'm sure.

No. We must be careful. The heartless are both drawn and repulsed by the princesses. It's like two magnets—one way they will be undeniably attracted, and the other way they will be inevitably repulsed. The princesses are the most immaculate of lights, and the heartless the purest darkness. The princesses' hearts will always long for the darkness that, because of the anomaly that they are, they cannot have, and the heartless will long for the light that they cannot consume. Too long in each other's presence and they will surely destroy each other.

. . .You are absolutely right, my lord.

You hid it from me so well, dear.

. . .My lord?

You not only had the power to escape from this world; you also knew when to leave, and where to run to. If it hadn't been for that bumpy landing, I never would have found you there. Some backwater world that hasn't even been connected yet.

So, my lord, what is the retrieval plan?

Retrieval? Surely you see that we cannot reach her now?

……

The world is closed off.

We can't just force our way in?

The door has to be opened from the inside. But there are ways that we can convince someone to open the door. I will handle that. Concentrate on finding the other princesses, for now.

As you wish.

Somehow I had the feeling that I'd heard the voice before . . .it sounded so familiar. But when I tried to remember what the two in my dream had talked about, I couldn't remember. Though I usually forgot my dreams, it never ceased to frustrate me—like I was getting cheated out of some big treat by not being able to remember them. I yawned and looked at the stripes of light across the blankets. Wait. Light? Sun? How late did I sleep?

I rolled out of bed and wandered down the hallway to the kitchen, where Aerith was doing . . .something. Ah, well.

She turned, "Ah! Amaya! I was just about to come get you."

I yawned again, "Whattaiit?"

She giggled, "What?"

"What time is it?"

"Umm, close to noon I think," she said, looking at the clock, "Actually, it's about a quarter after. That teleportation must have really worn you out."

I smiled, "Actually, I was playing spades withCloud and Leon until dawn."

"Oh my," she laughed, "I should have warned you—they're sharks. They didn't convince you to bet money, did they?"

"No. Not like I have any, anyway."

She shrugged, "That's true. Oh! Speaking of which . . .you're going to be staying with us, right?"

"Umm," I blushed, "If you don't mind . . ."

"Of course not! But we'll need to set you up a room. Since Sora and Kairi are going to staying I was going to convert the two back rooms into bedrooms anyway. Do you mind sharing with Kairi?"

"Oh, no. Sharing a room? Aerith, that will never do," I said theatrically, pretending to faint.

"Okay, then. We'll go furniture shopping later today. But in the meantime . . ." she held two pillows against the couch, "What sets off this fabric better—the olive or the sea foam?"

I kicked a small pebble off the roof, watching it clatter onto the street below, "So, what's it like?"

"Huh?"

"The island."

Sora grimaced, ruffling a hand through his spiky brown hair, "I was afraid you would ask that."

I winced, "That bad, huh?"

He shook his head, "Not bad, I guess . . .but really creepy. Like, the beach was all intact. You know, the trees, the waterfall, the tree house, all that stuff. And my house, and Kairi's house. But other places were missing. Like, you could see the outsides of people's houses, but the insides were missing. You just stepped into nothingness. We went to your house, and there were patches of black everywhere, where we couldn't remember things," he paused, "And it was really quiet. No one—none of the people made it back. And it was weird, because you'd hear birds and not see them, and there were no fish in the water."

I tried to soak all that in, and smiled, laughing, "Sounds like some bad science-fiction book, doesn't it?"

"Hey!" he protested, "Science fiction is awesome! I don't know what you're talkin' about!"

I just rolled my eyes and punched him in the arm, "So, what's the plan, oh fearless leader?" It was weird calling him a leader, even if I was half-kidding. But half-kidding meant half-not-kidding. After all, he had been the ringleader of his little circus, and I'd never graduated above "lackey". It really was stupid.

"Well, we don't really have any leads yet, so I dunno. We can just take things as they come, I guess." He looked over curiously, "You wanna go grab a burger or something? There's this place down on East 22nd street that has awesome milkshakes."

I rolled my eyes, "Only you would be thinking about food right now."

"Why not? I'm hungry! It's healthy to think about food when you're hungry. Besides," he struck a heroic pose, "We are supposed to be traveling the worlds together. We can't do that if we're constantly worrying about things we can't do anything about."

"I guess you're right," I shrugged, and we stopped for a minute, just looking at the street. I wanted to ask him why he didn't hate me. How he could go back to being friends so easily. But that was just part of being Sora, I guess. "So," I nudged his leg with my shoe, "Are we just going to talk about food, or are we going to go get a burger?"

He jumped up and we raced across the roofs, laughing as we battled for balance.

"Merlin?" I inquired, pushing my way through the tattered old drapes at the side of the door.

"Yes?" He looked at the . . .um . . . I guess we'll give it the benefit of the doubt and call it a door . . . "Ah! Kairi! Come on in!"

"Are you busy?" I noted the book in his hand, "I can come back later."

"Oh, no, not at all," he gestured toward the book, "Just remembering an old student of mine." He handed it over.

"King Arthur? You knew a king?"

"When he was just a lad, hoping to someday rank squire. Ah, he's been gone these many years, but he was a very good king."

I sobered, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, smiling, "It isn't so important that you live happily ever after as it is that you live. And live he did."

I thought about that for a minute, looking around at all the things in his little house—some I could name, most I couldn't. Merlin and I had become friends the last time that I was in Traverse Town. When I had let Sora go on without me. I was so mad at myself afterward. Giving him a little trinket, like they did in the movies, instead of arguing with him, fighting my fear and going with him. I wouldn't hide again.

"So, what brings you to my humble abode?"

"The worlds weren't restored, Merlin."

The old magician sobered, "I know."

I looked over, startled, "You know? Do you know why?"

He shook his head, looking tired, "No. And while Sora has done well in many ways, there is only so long the darkness can be kept at bay."

I stomped my feet angrily, "I wish it would all just go away! Why can't everything be back like it was?"

"Because, although neither can ever truly dominate each other, they won't stop trying."

"What won't?"

"The light and the darkness. They will forever be balanced, but each one is constantly trying to gain the upper hand. That's how they keep in balance, by fighting back with equal strength. But, somewhere along the line, the light became too weak, and the darkness began to win."

My mouth gaped open, "You mean . . .it's winning?"

"It's been a very slow process, going on for many years. Though I have searched for many years, I have not been able to find where exactly the weakening began, or what caused it. It must have been something very traumatic."

"Then we'll beat it! We'll get rid of the darkness forever!"

He shook his head, "We can't do that, Kairi. A reign of endless light would be no better than a reign of endless darkness. But I think I see where our strategy may have been wrong."

"Huh?"

"We have been trying to separate ourselves from the darkness when it is an integral part of ourselves. The darkness is not so much an enemy as a reflection of ourselves."

"I don't think inviting the Heartless to tea will help."

He laughed, "Of course not! The heartless are not natural creatures. They were created when the balance was disturbed. Or at least they didn't start feeding on us until the balance was disturbed."

"So what do we do about it?"

He looked at me thoughtfully, "I'm not sure yet. Now," he called over a teapot and two cups, leaning his elbows on the table, "Tell me everything about the island."

"Are you sure, Aerith? I mean, this looks okay?" I looked nervously at the girl in the dressing room mirror.

"Don't you like it? It looks wonderful on you!"

"Umm . . .well . . .it's just that I've never worn clothes like these before . . ."

Understatement. Aerith had just shoved me into a dressing room and ordered me to put on whatever she threw in there, and her fashion sense was beginning to scare me. First she'd tossed in a halter-top and a weird pair of—pants? Shorts?—that were short on one side and long on the other.

"Aerith, what are these?"

"They're blitz shorts!"

"Aerith? No."

Then she'd thrown in a short yellow dress with brown boots.

"Gaah! There is no way I'm showing off this much leg!"

"But it looks so cute on you!"

"Oh yeah, just curl my hair, give me a jump rope, and I'm all set. I don't think so."

Then she threw in . . .

"Aerith, this looks exactly like your dress!"

"So that's why I thought it was so cute!"

This outfit was the latest thing she'd chosen to inflict on me.

Actually . . .it wasn't that bad. A dark blue top—it was a little low-cut, but a black cami underneath would fix that—and dark jeans that flared over my feet. Okay, so maybe the jeans did cling to my legs a little tighter than I would have liked, but after spending the whole day shopping for furniture, and then clothes, I was ready to take 'em. I'd get myself something baggier later, when I had money of my own to spend.

Aerith was so excited about the outfit, and a number of similar ones we had in the shopping bag, that she just tore the tags off so I could wear the clothes straight out of the store, instead of wearing what Riku would have probably called my "Queen Gwenevere Reject costume". It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the bright light outside after the inside of the store. Unfortunately, I didn't have a minute.

"Oof!"

I blinked, trying to see what had barreled into me, nearly knocking me flat on my back. "What the . . ."

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry. Pretty stupid of me to run down a crowded street, huh? I didn't even see the door open there."

"Oh, it's alright," I said, a brown-haired boy starting to emerge from the black spots my beleaguered eyes were still seeing in the bright summer sun. Then I almost gasped out loud, 'He looks like the boy from . . .'

"My name's Sora," he stuck out a hand, "What's yours?"

I took it, "Oh, you're Riku's friend, right? I'm—"

"Amaya?"

I looked over and saw Riku, now dressed in an outfit similar to the one he'd been wearing when he crash-landed on my world, "So you ditched the Queen Gwenevere costume, huh? 'Bout time."

I stuck out my tongue, "Well, excuse me for not being able to go shopping for almost a decade. Besides, you were wearing a Round Table Reject costume not so long ago."

He looked over at Sora, "Oh, dude, this is Amaya. I met her on the way over here."

'Met me on the way over here? There wouldn't have been a way over here if it weren't for me!'

I don't know if he saw me glowering or not, I never saw his eyes move in my direction, but he added, "In fact, I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. I owe her big time."

'Yeah you do!'

"So, Amaya, Aerith," he seemed to notice her for the first time, "You guys want to come with us for lunch?"

"No racing, this time!" Sora promised, fist on chest.

"Oh, so that's why you were running."

Sora shrugged, "Old habits die hard. We used to race all the time back home. Of course, I always won."

Riku looked at him sardonically, "Yeah, right, man, you wish."

"What are you talking about Riku? Everyone knows I could beat you in a race, hands down!"

"Wow, I guess all those losses were so traumatic you blocked them out of your memory, Sora."

"Whatever man, we all know I'm the best."

"Yeah, but the question is, at what?"

Aerith and I just laughed, "Boys," and followed them down the street.