As he walked towards the secret place near the waterfall, Sora wondered what could be dangerous enough for a secret meeting like that. Sure, the king had visited them before, but he was always happy and cheerful, and they usually spent the day having fun at the beach. Could the nobodies be back again? Nah, it doesn't make sense…Xemnas is already gone, and for the past year, there hasn't been a single incident involving nobodies. The heartless are still there, of course. We realized a long time ago that the heartless can never be vanquished completely; they are creatures of darkness, and as long as darkness exists, we'll never be rid of them. Same with the nobodies, but they are much more reclusive and they've got minds of their own…we don't see much of them now. So, what could it be? He found himself standing in front of the dark entrance, he crouched and went inside. No matter how many times he went into that place, he felt a chill which he couldn't explain. Maybe it was because of the many drawings he, Riku and Kairi drew a long time ago. Maybe it was the nostalgic aura he felt whenever he saw that small paopu fruit drawing he and Kairi made. And of course, that mysterious door in the back of the cave drew a few question marks… he still wonders about it a lot, although the king told him that it probably houses the heart to this world. He feels that there's more to it than that, but there's no way to open the door, no handle, not even a keyhole. When he walked into the place, he saw the king and Riku standing near the door, examining it with interest.
Sora: Hey…any luck?
Riku and the king turned to greet him. Although King Mickey was the highest royal authority in Disney castle, Sora couldn't help smiling when he saw his big round ears. Riku walked up to him, then suddenly held him in a playful headlock.
Sora: Hey! ...what gives?
Riku: that's what you get for oversleeping…again.
Sora: come on, Riku, give me a break.
The king watched them with a calm smile. Those two will always be like this…always competing over something, but it's better like that. They'll realize it soon enough. A few minutes later, both of them stopped fighting and paid attention to him. Riku let him go and scratched his head in embarrassment.
Riku: sorry, your majesty. I just wanted to teach old sleeping-pills here a small lesson.
Sora: yeah, sorry for being late, your majesty.
The king: that's quite alright, you two. I actually enjoyed that your small brawl back there, kinda reminded me of the old days.
Riku: come on, your majesty…you want us to believe that you ,of all people, used to fight?
The king: I was not born a king, Riku, whatever you might think. I used to get into fights all the time. Pete was quite the adversary, I must say.
Riku: I am sure he was, he gave Sora quite the hard time, I heard.
Sora: yeah, he fights hard, and doesn't give up easily. That time in the underworld really tired me out, if it hadn't been for Hercules, I don' think I would have won.
Riku: I seriously doubt that, but anyway….
They both looked over at the king
The king: yes, I guess I haven't explained the reason for my visit.
Sora: is it something serious, your majesty?
The king: unfortunately, yes. I have news that look like they might be bad.
Sora: nobodies? Heartless? What is it this time?
The king: I'm not really sure. You see, after Xemnas was defeated, and you came back to the island. I went to Holl…err. I mean, radiant garden, where Leon and I spent some time trying to sift through the enormous database Ansem had created. It wasn't an easy job, at all, he had created some pretty strong passwords, and it took Leon a long time to decipher them.
Riku: and did you find anything, your majesty?
The king: we found a lot of stuff; Ansem had collected a lot of information about everything…heartless, nobodies, and the worlds in general. I had helped form the world database with him, but I never knew he kept such a detailed database. I'll admit, it was pretty informative, but I had a lot of things to do back at the castle, so I left the rest to Leon, and left.
Sora: I guess he did find something then, right?
The king: yes, Leon contacted me a little while ago, and told me that he found an interesting piece of information. I decided to go there right away, but unfortunately I must go with Donald and goofy to take care of other pressing matters, and that's where you come in.
Sora's excitement expanded enormously with the prospect of a new adventure. I was getting a bit bored with the quiet life on the island. He looked over at Riku, and his excited smile and gleaming eyes gave Sora the impression that he was thinking the same thing.
Riku: you want us to go to radiant garden?
The king: exactly, I want you to go and meet Leon, to see what news he has. We'll meet up later, and then we can discuss what it all means.
Sora: but how are we gonna get there? Last time I saw the Gummi ship was when we went to the World That never Was. Riku and I came back through the door to light, and I never saw it again.
The king: Well, Donald's never ending yapping about it made me go back and get it, so, in fact, it's just lying outside, near the island's pier.
Riku: Ok, so we should be getting on our way then. I have a feeling that this might be a bit bigger than we think.
The king: yes, I have the same feeling, Riku.
Suddenly, they heard a loud voice outside. Sora, Riku and the king hurried quickly to find its source. They were surprised to find Donald lying on the ground out cold, Kairi and goofy were laughing their hearts out.
Sora: what happened? Why's Donald lying on the ground like that?
Goofy: well, during our last visits, Kairi asked Donald to teach her how to use magic. He found her highly talented in using that stuff, and so, they went on with the training.
Riku and Sora turned to Kairi, who was blushing in embarrassment.
Riku: Wow Kairi, all that without telling us?
Kairi: well, you guys already had your keyblades, and I needed something to fight with. So, I asked Donald if he could help me to learn how to use magic, and he agreed.
Sora smiled, understanding what had happened to Donald, he walked over to him, and helped him up, then whispered in his ear
Sora: beaten by a girl? Aren't you embarrassed, Donald?
Donald: Waaak! I never knew she was so talented, Sora. She took me by surprise, and I am the court mage. Believe me; she's got a lot of potential.
Sora: whatever, the fact remains…you were beaten by a girl!
Sora walked away laughing, as Donald fumed with anger. He pointed his staff at Sora, have a taste of this then, wise guy! And fired a small fire spell at him. Sora's clothes caught on fire, he quickly ran to the sea, and jumped headfirst into it, putting the fire out, as everybody laughed around him.
Riku: well, that'll teach ya never to mock people, eh, Sora?
Sora: Sure, and especially Donald.
The king: I think you should take Kairi along too.
Sora: what? No way!
Kairi: why not?
Riku: you don't know how to fight, and we'll have to look out for you.
Donald: I don't think you'll have to worry about her battle skills, Riku. I made that mistake once before, and my tail still hurts from that lightning zap.
Riku: Oh well, I guess we don't have a choice.
Kairi: you won't be disappointed.
Sora: I'm sure we won't.
They smiled happily, and walked back to their houses. Their adventure was already underway.