The World Of Destiny Island

A/N: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square-Enix blah, blah blah...

Fall On Me is by and copyright REM, from their Eponymous album.

Fall On Me

St. Swithin's day if thou dost rainFor forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.
—St. Swithin's day rhyme (AN: and has nothing to do with anything)

The owner of the Café At The End Of The World realized that he was pretty much ripping off the concept from some guy, whose name escaped him most of the time. It wasn't his fault that he built his ship stop café at the end of the world, or that the name sounded catchy.

What's a small business owner to do?

A St. Swithin's Day theme, that's what! Drape every surface in evergreen boughs; place strings of lights and candles on every shelf. Then install a special fireplace and keep it lit all hours of the day. The menu will always feature hot chocolate and fresh baked gingerbread.

"This place smells good," Lilo said when the children wandered into the Café on the evening of the disastrous wish. "I'm so hungry."

They all came to and found their ship parked in a very unscientific-looking parking lot floating in a nebula.

No Earth in sight, just this ship stop in the middle of nowhere.

"Just a second gang," Chappu said. He wandered up to the bored-looking waitress. "Do you accept credit cards?" She shook her head.

"Gil?"

"Uh-uh."

"So what went wrong?" Zidane asked Wakka while their associate tried to shake down the waitress. "What precisely did you wish for?"

"To go home," Wakka said for the fiftieth time. "Obviously the thing is broken– just like Mog said." He felt terrible. They were lost, very lost, and they'd left Kairi at the mercy of those lunatics back at Isla Luminos.

"I guess so," Zidane said doubtfully. "But... Well, Lunarian does make the best machines and their company has won the Starship Trends Magazine's Precision Award twelve years in a row!"

"Nobody's perfect all the time, and it was experimental technology," Wakka said moodily. Too bad he couldn't order his slapdash "crew" to stop questioning him.

"What are we going to do now?" Lilo asked him.

"I don't know," he said quietly.

"Look kid," the waitress got impatient. "Are you gonna order, or do I have to ask you to leave?" Chappu grimaced.

"You have an ATM?" he asked. The waitress pointed to the machine in the corner. "Thanks, toots." She sneered at him. He told his brother, "I've got it covered. Have a seat everyone."

"What'll it be," the waitress huffed.

"Can we get some menus?" Wakka asked.

She slammed the menus on the counter.

"Excuse me, but…"

"What?"

"Where are we?"

"End of the World, kid," she rolled her eyes.

"Do you have any maps?" Wakka barely held onto his own temper.

"Gift shop," she huffed. "And your dog can't sit at the counter, sweetie," she snapped at Lilo.

"He's my seeing eye dog," Lilo argued.

"You're not blind."

"Perhaps..."

Wakka wandered into the gift shop area with Zidane. They found the rotating rack that offered a wide array of last year's maps. Wakka thought he saw Chappu sticking a crowbar into the ATM card slot, but when he checked again there was no crowbar in sight. His little brother waved and smiled innocently at him.

"Recognize any of this?" he peeped over Zidane's shoulder. The pilot shook his head.

"I've never even heard of these places, and a couple of these maps contradict each other." He pulled out every map and shoved them into his pockets.

"What are you doing?" Wakka asked, horrified.

"Getting us some maps," Zidane was confused. "What?"

"Are you going to pay for them?"

"Uh… sure."

"Okay then."

The bell above the front door jangled loudly. A loud, grizzled man trudged into the Café, smoking a cigarette.

"Put that out this instant!" the waitress screamed.

"No f–ing way! I'm a hardworking taxpayer and this is a damn bar," he shouted back.

"Hey, there are kids here!" Wakka shouted at the man.

"This is not a bar!" the cook came out of the kitchen and joined the argument. The man seemed a little surprised.

"This isn't a bar?" he looked around at the decorations, at Lilo and Chappu (whistling innocently.) "Um... I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Well, it was a bar a week ago." He put his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe. "What the he– heck happened?"

"Marketing synergy," the cook replied. The man swore very quietly. The bell rang again and a couple walked in: a beautiful young woman with long wavy hair and a somber man with a scar on his face.

"Hey, what happened to the bar?" the young man asked. The woman brightened.

"This place smells wonderful!"

"Wow!" Zidane whispered, his eyes traveling all over the woman. "Homina-homina…"

"You still serve coffee, right?" the older man asked.

"The best in the universe– Dunkin' Donuts!"

The newcomers cheered and sat down at the opposite end of the counter from Lilo.

Wakka and Zidane sat down with the young girl. Lilo looked uneasy with Stitch on the floor, drumming his little claws against the tile.

"Why don't we just sit down at a booth," Wakka suggested. "We can hide Stitch by the window." They moved from the counter and piled into a booth. Chappu finally joined them.

"Took you long enough," Wakka said.

"Bank security's a hassle," Chappu said. He patted the large bulge in his shirt. "But dinner's taken care of."

They ordered and ate heartily, because no matter what the theme, ship stop food at the end of world is bound to be really good.

All through the meal, Zidane couldn't take his eyes off of the mysterious woman at the counter.

"Hey," Zidane nudged Chappu and nodded at her, "I think she's checking me out!"

She's staring at Stitch, Wakka thought, but he didn't say anything.

"Watch this," Zidane said. He raked his fingers through his hair and checked his breath. He walked over to the three people, they all stopped talking and looked at him, the men gave him hostile glares.

"Yes?" she said.

"Hi! I'm Zidane," Zidane leaned against the counter and smiled rakishly, "I'm a thief. And I'm here to steal your heart."

Shing! The sound of really sharp weapons being drawn made his smile freeze.

"Just walk away, kid," the cigarette-smoking man muttered, he lifted the edge of his jacket and showed the kids that he was also packing a gun in the waistband of his pants.

Zidane frowned and backed away from the hostile people. The woman shrugged apologetically, she looked embarrassed.

"Sorry, not interested," she said.

"Okay, s'fine," Zidane said quietly.

"I didn't think that was called for," Wakka whispered when Zidane sat back down.

"Oh great, now they can't stop staring at us," Chappu said and ducked his head. Zidane halfheartedly mumbled under his breath and prodded at the remains of his dinner with his fork.

Nobody teased him.

"What was their problem?" Chappu complained as they left the diner.

"People are nuts," Wakka shrugged. Wakka noted the out of order sign on the ATM sign.

Lucky Chappu was able to get his money out before it went on the blink, he thought.

"But what would make someone pull a, a great big knife–

"I believe that was a sword," Wakka said.

"Yeah. Why pull a sword on someone like–"

"Low self-esteem," Lilo said. The guys looked at her. "Well, isn't it?" she asked them.

"Wow! Look at that," Zidane said. "Look who's traveling in style." They stood in awe of the large, not-that-sleek, but not-that-ugly-either gummi ship in the parking lot. The thing made the Altoona look like a soapbox racer.

"Ah, she's not that good-looking," Chappu said. "Bet she flies like a chair on re-entry."

Lilo walked up to one of the spindly legs and kicked at the tire.

"You don't need to be petty," Wakka said.

"When you look at a car, you're supposed to kick the tires," she explained, and kicked it again. "Yep, it's a tire."

"What's that supposed to show?"

"Dunno," she shrugged. Stitch gave the ship a kick. Zidane shrugged and kicked the tire as well.

"Maybe a good tire makes a certain noise," Chappu suggested, and he kicked the tire.

"Hey, guys? Can we stop kicking the homicidal people's ship?" Wakka said. His crew ignored him and kept kicking at the tire.

"I heard something," Zidane said. Everyone stopped. It would've been possible to hear a pin drop in the parking lot.

The sound of a tiny bolt and the three quarter inch pinkie flange it used to secure bouncing down through the layers of moving parts met their ears.

The noise started out quiet at first, and then crescendoed until the bolt finally fell free of the ship and hit Stitch squarely on the head.

THOCK!

"Ouch!" Stitch winced, but he didn't seem to suffer more than a minor annoyance. Then they heard a new sound. Everyone looked everyone else in the eye (sounds hard to do with four people, five if you count Stitch.)

"Start. The. Engine," Chappu whispered to Zidane and he shoved him toward the Altoona.

The ship groaned.

"It's moving," Lilo said.

"Um, no it's not." Chappu pulled them toward the Altoona.

"Hey you kids! Get away from my ship!" the angry captain ran out the front door of the Cafe and shouted at them.

The front end of the gummi ship suddenly rattled and sank about two feet. The Altoona's crew dropped to their knees, raised their arms above their heads and screamed. But the gummi ship swayed on it's loose leg smoothly, leaning away from the kids and finally it decided on a direction. It fell forward, towards the front of the Café where the captain and his two friends dove out of the way.

"Get to the ship!" Wakka shouted. The sound of breaking glass, furious swearing, and crunching metal filled the air. It was the second scariest sound he'd ever heard.

They all jumped when they heard a gunshot (incidentally, the first scariest sound Wakka ever heard) and found they had the ability to run even faster than before. Zidane crawled aboard first and lunged for the pilot's seat while Wakka and Chappu yanked Lilo and Stitch inside and slammed the hatch shut.

"What's going on?" Mog poked his head out of the service ladder.

"Some crazy people are shooting at us!" Chappu shouted. Mog ducked back into the engine room. The ship lurched as it took off.

"Those poor kids," Aerith said.

Half an hour after the accident they were still stuck at the Café, trying to sort things out with the police. "What did you shoot at them for?" she railed at Leon.

"It was an accident," he said as though he didn't care, "Hair trigger."

"Poor them?" Yuffie fumed. They somehow pried Yuffie out of the remains of the Shiva, dark nail polish stained her pajamas. "What about me? I coulda been killed!"

"Who's going to pay for this?" the cook yelled at Cid again. More screaming ensued when the security force from the bank showed up after McDuck Intergalactic Banking received an electronic alert that one of their ATM's had been tampered with, and the waitress reported that a large portion of the stock from the gift shop was missing.

"Who wants beef jerky?" Zidane yelled.

"Ooh, gimme!" Stitch and Mog said.

"Excuse me, everyone. Everyone?" a new voice floated over the arguing.

"Now what?" the cook muttered.

The newcomer stepped out of his two-man ship and flashed a badge.

"Seifer Almasy, I'm a bounty hunter, with Lunarian," he said. Everyone shut up and turned to stare at the bounty hunter. He appeared to be a man who always thought prudently about business, a calm tracker, if a little accident prone.

"Hey, he's got a "shaving scar" just like you do," Yuffie said to Leon.

"Meh," Leon replied.

"I'm looking for a group of children, ranging from ages seven to seventeen? Reports… uh, report that they may have some kind of pet with them?" Everyone gathered around Mr. Almasy curiously. "They may or may not be armed and dangerous? Anyone? Anyone? Geez, why doesn't someone say something?"

Portico City Train Station wasn't the busiest station, but it was built for volume. In centuries past, the great cities to the south enjoyed a healthy trade in a magical substance called mist, a delicious liquid that could be used to power magical devices and sweeten beverages. Mist was largely consumed by the wizards and mages of the world to boost their flagging natural abilities. Then the mist dried up at some point, the trade routes pretty much vanished, and most magical acts were forbidden by strict laws in order to conserve what little energy was left for important functions (mostly maintaining the health and safety of the powerful and elite.)

The trains remained, even if business fell off. They were the prized darlings of the cities that ran them. Large, complex, and built to last the ages, the Southbound Line cut through the dense rainforest of the Gibraltar Continent at speeds that could only be matched by airships. The trip to Zanarkand would only take them a couple of days.

You meet some weird people on the train, Baralai thought.

Case in point: the guy who accosted him as they waited to board the Southbound.

"You sir!" the little man in the looked like he carried every worldly possession wrapped in colorful scarves on his back. "You look like you're off on an adventure."

"You could say that," Baralai said politely.

"I remember when my wife and I took our second honeymoon in Mysidia," the man said and sighed. Baralai wondered why this guy wanted to tell him his life story. "I guess that is where you two are headed. Am I right?"

"What?" he looked over his shoulder and saw that the guy was looking at Myrna as she arranged her blouse again. She'd made a clever little pouch for Goliath to hide in when they were around crowds.

He thinks... Baralai almost laughed in the man's face.

"A romantic getaway always helps, am I right?" the man winked.

"I wish," Baralai said. He sometimes felt like the only person in the world who associated Mysidia with mind-numbing work and duty. When was the last time he had taken a trip anywhere for fun?

Like he could even afford to, those alimony payments pretty much had him nailed down in one place for the next twenty years. And there was the kid to think about, maybe when he was smaller he would've liked to travel with him and now that he was older...

"Things gotten a little stale between you and the wife?" the man went on, dragging Baralai out of his thoughts, "I could tell, my friend–"

"We're not married," Baralai interrupted brusquely.

"Okay, your "life partner" then," the man soldiered on. "She just doesn't look at you the way she used to? We've all been there–"

"You couldn't be more wrong if your name was W. Wrongy Wrongenstein."

The mayor? And him? Ewww... well, maybe if they were the last people on earth and he got a head start after all was said and done... nah.He could've slapped himself, it's always a mistake to engage these people.

"I'm not interested," he told the man and left him standing there.

One thing about the low number of travelers, it guaranteed a private car and they weren't hassled about their pets– not that he considered Goliath an animal, he even corrected their conductor on that point with such a lengthy lecture that the man avoided them for the rest of the trip.

It turned out that their new friend– the ninja– had a dog. They had been introduced to the creature before they walked to the station.

"He doesn't like stran– hey! Interceptor, stop that!" The dog headed straight for Baralai and stuck its nose into his crotch.

Encounters like this always took Baralai back to his days as a novice in the Order.

Flashback...

"Now," Galuf said to the dashing lad. "We're going to introduce you to some wyrms. They're juveniles, like yourself, it's usually best to introduce the two species to each other when you're younger, but it's not too late for you to learn to communicate with them. We've had novices learn the dragon languages as old as twenty-three!

"No matter what happens, you must remain calm."

"I'm not afraid of anything, Master," Baralai said. "I'm stronger than anyone else in the order, and I've never run from anything, ever."

"Boy, there is a time and a place for boasting."

"But it's true, Master."

"You're strong enough," Galuf agreed, "But that's useless here. You're not here to master the dragons– that's a myth the Order allows to thrive because it's useful. Dragons and Dragoons are partners, we are ambassadors of our race to a fine and noble people."

The old Curator tended to repeat himself.

I know how it works, Baralai thought as he checked his immaculate robes. The dragons/dragoon relationship was based on respect. He'd just wander in and the dragons would respect him because he stood out among his kind as a powerful force. It's all about manners, really. As long as I don't piss them off they'll be happy to work with me.

End Flashback...

Ah, he'd been such a brazen little thing. He listened respectfully to old Galuf and followed him into the Wyrm's cavern. He even walked boldly into the center of the nest and introduced himself.

A couple of hours later a team of older men from the Order rescued him from the young wyrms, and it was the first time he ever cried publicly. Oh, the wyrms didn't hurt him. Far from it, they adored him. The event remained a mystery to him and the Order until he met Frega nearly a decade later.

"Kid, you've got a bit of elf in you," Frega said when they met. "I'd bet a gajillion gil on it."

It seemed like a good explanation, too bad his special brand of "elvaan glamour"– or whatever the hell it was only worked on animals, and dragons.

Baralai still couldn't keep himself from going ballistic every time he saw a young child loving his or her beloved pet to death.

I shall love him and name him George.

He shuddered.

Once they located their compartment, Baralai settled himself where he could watch the whole room. Interceptor climbed up on the bench beside him.

This is so awkward, he thought. Shadow glared at him from across the car. Just then Goliath settled on his lap and started to nibble on the hem of his surcoat.

"No, don't do that," he said quietly to the dragon. Goliath looked up at him, and then started to nibble again. Baralai picked him up and held him at eye level. "No!" he said firmly. Goliath blinked and then started to nibble on the cuff. He nearly dropped Goliath when Interceptor went for his crotch again.

"Hey, don't let him chew on your clothes, that's not good for him," Myrna said to him as though he hadn't the sense to do otherwise.

Two hours after the train pulled out of the station he finally got Goliath to go to sleep, and Interceptor laid his body over Baralai's feet. He didn't want to ruin the bit of peace he got, but he was very thirsty. He was about to get up and head to the dining car when there was a knock at the door.

"Tea, anyone?" it was the salesman from earlier. He pushed a beverage cart ahead of him. "A cup of earl gray for ten?"

"Excellent," Myrna said. "Do you have any cookies?"

"For a lady? Anything," the man said. He poured her a cup of tea from a beautiful little teapot into a matching teacup. He served Baralai (Shadow preferred to remain unseen by people outside the group and he had somehow hidden himself as soon as the door opened) and moved on.

"Hey, he forgot my cookies," Myrna said after he left.

"I'll go get them," Baralai handed her Goliath and got up. "I need a refill anyway."

He left the compartment. There was something strange about the way the man acted.

"Ah, my friend," the man said when he caught up with him. "Did you enjoy your tea?"

"Alright, what did you do?" Baralai cut to the chase.

"My name is Quackenbush, Fester Quackenbush, and I represent the Rin Pharmaceutical Company." The man handed Baralai a card.

"Uh-huh."

"And I just gave your lady friend a free sample of our newest product!"

"What?"

"Freya's Love Is In The Air, an exciting new marital aid."

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"No, sir! Everyone on this train is going to experience RP's promotional giveaway."

Baralai grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back.

"We're going to see the conductor about this," he said. "Do you know how many laws you've broken?"

"Laws? Oh crap! I can't go back to jail!"

"Well you should've given your little plan a little more thought! You can't wander around slipping your snake oil products into people's food and drink without their knowledge. What if someone has a bad reaction?"

"It's not snake oil," Fester protested. "It's a fully tested product that uses .01 essence of real magic– it really works! You just watch, in about ten minutes your vacation is gonna get a lot better."

"Give me a break! Let's go," he hauled Fester toward the front of the train.

"Wait, just wait," Fester said desperately. "I can't lose this sale job, I can't go to jail– tell you what, why don't we wait around and see how your lady friend reacts, you won't be disappointed, I guarantee that!"

"What's going on? Why all the yelling?" Myrna stuck her head out of the compartment.

"This idiot slipped you a love potion," Baralai said. Fester objected to being called an idiot.

"Oh? Well, I'm flattered, sir, but I'm happily married," she smiled… and then her smile faltered.

She turned a pale shade of green for a second.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She locked eyes with him, and then bolted across the hallway to the bathroom and slammed the door.

"Uh-oh," Fester said as the painful sounds of regurgitation met Baralai's concerned inquiries.

"What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?" Baralai growled and twisted Fester's arm back even tighter.

"There was a– ouch, not so hard! There was a very, very, very small percentage of test subjects who reacted adversely to the product–

"How aversely?"

"–but I was told not to worry about it, the chances of a customer using this product and actually getting seriously ill–"

"What? What's in that stuff? Let me see the bottle."

"Sir, I can't give the product away! You'll have to purchase–" Baralai pulled twisted even harder. Interceptor started to bark and Goliath woke up and squealed. For his part, Fester did not scream.

"Okay. You win," Fester said. Baralai let go. "You're really a pain, you know. This is what I get for trying to help a guy out…" he reached into his pocket.

"Watch it," Shadow warned, he seemed to appear from thin air. Fester threw a small packet on the floor. A cloud of smoke filled the hallway.

"Why didn't you do something?" Baralai demanded of Shadow when the smoke cleared and Fester had disappeared.

"I said 'watch it.'"

"We have to find him."

"Why?"

"We have to be able to tell the doctor what she ingested," Baralai said.

"What for?" Shadow asked insolently. "Poison's are mostly the same. A shot of Esuna and–"

"Will you just help me? My god, she fed you, the least you could do is show a little common decency and help me find that man." Shadow drew his sword.

"An interesting game to pass the time," Shadow said grimly. "I shall find this man and kill him."

"You don't have to kill him."

"Why not? He won't be missed."

"You can't kill him, the Mayor wouldn't like it."

"I don't like someone jeopardizing the prospects of my getting paid. I shall return."

"Hey!" Baralai objected, but another smoke bomb later (was there a special on these things?) and Shadow was gone. Interceptor cocked his head and whined at Baralai. He could hear Myrna, still yakking up her breakfast.

"You two, stay here and guard the Mayor," he said to Goliath and Interceptor. Interceptor whuffed and sat down in front of the bathroom door. Goliath squeaked at him and tried to perch on his shoulder. "I said stay," he said. Goliath dug his claws into Baralai's clothes and stubbornly regarded him.

"Fine, but try not to get in the way," he warned him.

"Good morning, Girl Friday," Frega put his face close to hers. She clapped her hands over her ears. Her head hurt so bad.

"Go. Away," she twisted and buried her face into the couch cushion, but realized her mistake when her gorge rose. Frega hauled her upright and shoved the garbage pail into her hands before she could make a real mess of his beautiful carpet.

"First order of the day: I do not want you partaking of any more alcoholic beverages without my supervision, you are much too vulnerable to suggestion when you're drunk. And you dream too loudly," he said.

"You told me to," she argued lamely and wiped the tears off her cheek.

"And your unquestioning obedience to authority figures, while misguided, has recommended you to your new position in the company," he patted her on the head. He turned to his coat closet and rifled around. "I'm still in need of an assistant, one who won't try to pick my pocket," he snarled.

"I don't want a job."

"Too late," he sang. He held up a large contract printed on overly bright white paper. She recognized her signature from across the room, and saw a dark smear at the end of the name. Her thumb prickled, she saw a messy tear across the pad of her thumb. "See why it's not a good idea to let your guard down and get trashed around strangers? Now put these on, Girl Friday." He threw the old clothes she stole from him just a couple of days before at her.

Kairi didn't understand what was happening, but she was curious so she put the jacket and gloves on again without a word.

"Where's Edward?" she asked.

"Around," Frega said and he sagged for a moment. He then pulled a second, newer jacket from the closet and slipped into it. He and Kairi pulled on the matching boots and gloves, the scarves and the belts. Frega pulled the pointed hat from the top shelf and held it out by it's brim. "This is yours now," he said quietly. "Don't let it get smashed, and don't lose it. They're hard to reblock you know."

She put the hat on and felt a margin of safety in the anonymity. Frega pulled another hat from the closet and put it on. The only part of him she could see was his tufted tail. He reached into the back of the closet and removed a thick staff of polished black metal as tall as he was, hat and all. Lastly, he picked up a large bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Where are we going? And where's Edward?" she asked, a little scared now.

"Business trip," Frega said. "Now follow me, Girl Friday."

"Why–"

"I always wanted a Girl Friday, it's cute, isn't it?" he said in forced cheerful voice. "Now keep your questions to yourself and follow me."

She did as she was told, and stayed just two steps behind him. He stepped into the hallway, checking both ways with his staff held at the ready.

The hallway had been bright and beautifully decorated with strange plants and vibrant murals when she arrived, but now only a single light flickered above them and the only color she could make out was a black smudge that covered both walls and the floor. Everything smelled like ozone.

"Frega," she whispered. He froze. A million questions battered around in her head trying to get out, but all she could say: "I'm scared."

"Whatever happens, stay by me," he said. "Here, take this Bucky Ball." A heavy gray sphere was placed in her palm. "If we find any trouble, and things go badly for me, just toss this and run the other way. Understand?"

She didn't understand much else, but this little bit made sense.

"Bucky is magic," she stated.

"Very dangerous magic," Frega said. "Use Bucky only as a last resort. Now, let's go. If you notice anything, anything at all, just tap me on the shoulder. We must move quietly."

"Okay, sssss–" she hissed and spit, but the word forced itself out. "sir."

What the hell? she wondered.

"Good girl," Frega said, and she could sense a smile under that shadow. "Let's go."

To Be Continued