"Sora wake up." Riku knocked on Sora's window. The boy yawned and looked out to see his friend in the light of the waning moon. He hopped out of bed and crawled out making sure not to make a sound. They hurriedly walked out towards the beach where the arranged gummi ship was waiting for them. Sora glanced back at the island and at Kairi's house before running up the ramp towards Riku.

"Sora! Riku!" A voice called from the cockpit and a duck came running out. Donald was wearing his usual mage clothes and he smiled up at the boys.

"Nice to see you Donald, but where is Goofy?" Sora asked and Donald pointed to the cockpit.

"He's sleeping again." The duck replied hoarsely. Riku and Sora went into the cockpit and strapped themselves in. Donald went to make sure Chip and Dale were awakened. When they were strapped in, Riku glanced nervously at Sora who was sitting in the pilot's seat.

"Are you sure you can drive this thing?" He asked and Sora gave him a genuine smile.

"Of course I can." He said confidently and started the ship. The gauges and switches beeped and the lights turned on. This woke Goofy up who rubbed his head and yawned.

"Sora, you're back!" He shouted, but was unheard since the ship was making too much noise. Instead Goofy patted Sora on the shoulder and strapped himself onto his seat.

"Ready everyone?" Sora asked and everyone nodded. Sora turned on the switch; the ship's rockets flared and soon they were off the ground. The gummi ship sped through space avoiding the heartless that resided there. It blasted away asteroids and swiveled around the chunks of debris. Riku was mortified the whole way. When they were in the orbit of Disney Castle, Sora took a break to sleep. He was tired and seeing Riku doze off was tiresome as well. Suddenly he heard Donald, Chip and Dale screaming. He also heard another scream which sounded very familiar. Sora took off his seatbelt and ran to the galley where the three were huddled together.

"What's wrong?" He asked and the three pointed to the counter. Sora went around and he found Kairi sitting there smiling up at him.

"Hello Sora." She said and he frowned.

"Kairi, you were suppose to stay back at Destiny Island!" He said and she frowned back at him.

"You were planning on leaving me. I told you that I was coming." She stood up and walked past him into the cockpit. Sora followed trying to stop her.

"Kairi, how did you know?" He asked and she just stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm not stupid Sora." She said. He reached over and shook Riku awake. The boy yawned and glanced up to see Kairi.

"Good morning Riku." Kairi said pleasantly to him and he looked utterly confused.

"I thought we weren't bringing her." He said to Sora and Sora shrugged.

"I found her in the galley." He said sitting down in his own seat.

"Stop talking about me as if though I wasn't here!" She said sharply and the boys looked at her. "You always leave me! Don't you understand how much I missed both of you? Don't you understand that everyday I woke up to find you never there? Don't you understand that it tore at my heart? Everyday I would remember something was missing. Until you came back I was lost. Now you were going to leave me again? You were going to bring back the pain? I don't want to go back there! Why can't you understand?" She shouted and they stared at her in silence. Sora was the first to break the silence.

"Kairi…I didn't know. We were trying to-"

"Protect me; yes I've heard it all before. I'm not a kid anymore Sora." She said.

"Just let her stay Sora." Riku said and Sora shook his head.

"Why not?" She asked frowning. "Didn't you hear any word I said?" She asked and he sighed.

"I heard it." He said and turned to her. "Look Kairi, this is a serious journey. We will face countless heartless."

"I have my keyblade Riku gave to me." She said.

"Numerous Nobodies." He continued.

"I'm not afraid of them." She answered.

"Evil beyond compare."

"I can handle it."

"It's going to be hard!"

"Don't worry." She replied.

"It's going to be tough!"

"I can take it."

"You'll have to walk until your feet blister!"

"I'm not that weak." She said starting to get impatient.

"There will be no time to take you to the mall!" Sora said triumphantly as he saw a look of horror cross Kairi's face.

"Sora there's a bug on your shoulder!" She said pointing to Jiminy.

"Who are you calling a bug?" Jiminy asked. "I am a cricket!" Sora laughed and introduced the two.

"Nice to meet you Jiminy. I thought you were some sort of heartless bent on attacking Sora." Jiminy chuckled and went back to his small seat on the dashboard of the ship. Sora watched him go before turning his attention back to Kairi.

"Alright back to this. There will be no malls!" He repeated.

"Sora! We don't even have a mall on Destiny Island. I'm sure I can handle it." Sora scratched his head and submitted.

"Fine. But if you die, I will never forgive you." He said and she smiled gratefully. Sora pointed to the seat in back of them.

"That's your seat I guess." He said and she walked down the aisle to get to it.

"Now before anything, tell us how you got here." Riku said intrigued. Kairi nodded.