A/N: Well, here's the next installment. Like I said before, I have lots of homework, but I'll update as often as I can. Not much to say but I'm gonna need some of the new names, if there are, of the Heartless.

            Sorry if Leon's kind of OOC, but I had to find the right lines for the situation.

            Well, on with the fic!

           

Trust

            'Leon?' he thought.

            'Yup.'

            Suddenly, time seemed to freeze around Sora. Tree branches stopped dancing to the wind, which has paused as well. Even Zell and Irvine have frozen in mid-actions. The martial artist was still looking at the direction to where the beam went, while the sharpshooter was in the process of reloading his gun, a bullet suspended in the air as he readied the rifle.

            'What happened?'

            'I needed to talk, but this link can't last more than a few seconds in real time, so I decided to ask someone to slow it down.'

            'Who…?'

            'I'll tell you later. I know you're in a fix, kid, so I'm trying to help.' 

            'How did you know?'

            'Cloud.'

            'He's there?'

            'He appeared after the worlds were restored. Informed us just now that he felt something dark going near you.'

            'Wha- how?'

            'Your Keyblade is a source of light, he still has the power of darkness, and I'm guessing you can figure it out from there.'

            'Still the man with few words, huh, Leon?'

            '…'

            'Oh, c'mon! I was only kidding!'

            'That's exactly why I didn't answer. Now, do as I say before this link drops.'

            'But Leon, the light you're telling me to follow leads straight into this freaky town…'

            'That swallows those who are lost and without a guide.'

            'What? You know about this?'

            'Surprised?'

            Sora remembered the times Leon knew a vast amount of information about a certain topic. That was the reason the teen always turned to the older brunette. The only time Leon didn't know about something was when Sora presented him with the gummi block, but that's out of the topic.

            'Fine.' he thought. 'It's not like I have any other choice.'

            'Good, follow the light, you'll find a gummi ship waiting for you, use that and find your way here to Hollow Bastion.'

            'I'll try, Leon, but I have no idea of where I am.'

            'Hn, it's not like that's stopped you before, has it?'

            Sora paused, not used to hearing the usually stoic Gunblade wielder give words of encouragement.

            'No, it hasn't.'

            'Besides there's a video-link installed. If you need aid, don't hesitate to contact us.'

            Sora grinned; Leon was back to his normal self, well, the way Sora knew him, of course, but the way Zell and Irvine…

            Wait, he forgot to tell Leon about those two.

            'The link's about to break, kid, good luck.'

            'Hang on! I forgot to tell you something!'

            As the world around him resumed motion, making him realize that his last message wasn't picked up by the man he called his mentor. As he was contemplating this, he didn't notice Zell turn to him.

            "Well?"

            He snapped back to the present situation.

            "Sorry?"

            "Well? What do we do now?" the blonde asked again.

            "We follow the light." Sora stated simply.

            "What!" exclaimed Irvine.

            "I said we follow the light." Sora repeated.

            "But you heard what that voice said." argued Irvine. "What if what it said was true, and we can consider ourselves dead the moment we enter?"

            "What I heard just now was Leon…er…Squall telling me that if we just follow the light, we'll find our way." said the youth. "And I don't know about you, but I trust him more than I trust that voice."

            The boy started for the entrance of the eerie town before glancing at his companions, who were currently speechless.

            "It only depends if you trust me…" he hesitated before adding. "just like you trust Squall."

            The two briefly looked at each other before coming to a decision. Irvine was first to pipe up.

            "Kid, I'm not sure where this beam of light will lead us, but you're our only chance out of this place." he said. "But prepare to be bombarded with questions later."

            "I look forward to it." Sora said sarcastically. "Zell?"

            "What could it hurt?" said the martial artist. "Besides, you make a convincing point."

            "Right." Sora grinned, turning back to the path. "Now, let's go."

            The three allies then headed inside, literally placing their lives on a single beam of light.

A/N: Wow! Can you believe it? I finally finished the fifth chapter and it was the first one without a fighting scene! Yay! Well, 'till next time! R&R pls!