AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hardest part of this story so far (aside from trying to get my head around an insane amount of lore): Chapter titles. Hate them. Suggestions on a postcard please!

CHAPTER SIX | BACK TO BASICS

Axel's sleep had been restless at best. His dreams were filled with phantoms, some of them the Kairi he knew and others the Kairi he had imagined over the years, shattered like glass and scattered across the worlds. As if those dreams hadn't been enough he'd later been haunted by shadows of Roxas – their fight beneath the tower and their clash in the old mansion – then, later, Xion and their countless run-ins, all the times he was ordered to bring her in and all the times he failed to object. The final straw then was Isa, who appeared at the end of a long corridor with his arms folded and his face twisted in to derisive sneer.

"You shouldn't be so surprised at your failures," he'd drawled. "You abandoned me, after all."

He finally gave up chasing any meaningful sleep around sunrise. With a resigned sigh he threw back the blankets and wriggled his way in to a shirt before dragging his still-sleeping body towards the showers. In an attempt to keep his hyperactive mind distracted he checked his phone, seeing more pictures from whatever mysterious destination Roxas and the others had found themselves in. They seemed to be in some sort of tavern; Roxas and Xion had taken a picture together, and in the background Axel could just about make out Naminé who seemed to be dancing on a table with-

He bumped in to something soft and fleshy and the phone went skittering from his hand. He swore under his breath, muttering apologies and crouching down to reach for the phone when a giggle caught his attention. He growled through a grin, snatching the phone and straightening his t-shirt as he stood.

"Good morning, Axel." Kairi was already dressed, the ends of her hair still a little damp.

"Morning Kairi. You're up early, everything okay?"

"I went to bed so early that I just woke up a few hours ago and couldn't get back to sleep," she answered with a nod.

"A few hours ago? What have you been doing since then?"

"Exploring, mostly," she answered. "I sat out and watched the sunrise. And figured out how to send a picture of it to Naminé."

"Has Xion given her phone back yet?" he laughed. The corners of Kairi's lips twitched in to a smile.

"Not quite, but she was allowed to call me and we talked for a while," she answered. "She's done so much and been to so many places... I hope I get to see them all some day."

"You will," he said. "Once this is all over, we're all gonna go on a grand tour, all of us together. And that includes Sora." He watched her carefully, wondering if perhaps he'd pushed his luck with the name that had yet to be spoken in her presence, but to his great relief she smiled and nodded.

"I'm sure he has so many stories to tell about the places he's been."

"And by the time we find him, I'm sure you'll have a few of your own." Ah. That seemed to be the line, though he couldn't figure out exactly what it was that had upset her. Either way her smile faltered by a fraction, though she quickly masked it by biting her lip and dropping her gaze.

"Axel, about yesterday-"

"Kairi-"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I lost control. I could hear you calling my name but I couldn't-"

"Kairi, stop," he said firmly, lifting her chin. He waited patiently until she finally lifted her gaze to his. "You never have to apologise to me. Got it memorised?"

"But Axel, I-"

"It doesn't matter. I mean it, Kairi. It's my fault you got tangled up in all this in the first place." She frowned then, pulling away from him, and he sighed. She was really gonna make him say it? "Face it, if I hadn't dragged you in to all of this you could'a been back at home. I should've left you well enough alone." Her fingers wrapped around his elbow, thin and cold and firm.

"Axel, you're not the reason I'm involved in all of this," she said. "I was a Princess of Heart long before I met you. If anything, Aqua saving me from the Unversed is the reason I'm here." He'd never thought about it like that before. He was surprised to feel his heart lift a fraction at her absolution of a crime that had never been his. He watched her carefully, almost able to see her piecing herself together as she quickly regained her composure from her earlier slip.

"Do you regret it?" he asked. "Everything that's happened to you since, all the things you've been through, do you ever regret getting tangled up in all of this?" She didn't try to smile then; instead her expression was thoughtful and clouded for several long moments before she finally looked up at him again.

"Ask me again when Sora's safe," she said. The words caught him off guard. He wanted to press her – to ask how she knew why Sora was in danger, where he was, what was happening to him – but he reined in his curiosity. For all he knew it was a gut instinct (after all, was there ever a time when the boy wasn't in some form of trouble?) and surely if Kairi knew something about Sora she would have told them by now, right? At last he forced himself to nod in response.

"I understand," he answered.

Axel was the last to arrive in the dining room. Kairi was seated next to Ven (Not Roxas, he had to remind his half-asleep brain) who was regaling her with anecdotes of his training. Terra sat nearby, interjecting every so often to add some amendment or correction to Ven's tall tales. Aqua sat opposite them, seemingly just enjoying the company.

"Good morning, Axel," she greeted as he took a seat next to her, grabbing a slice of tepid toast from the rack in the centre. He was met with a chorus of 'good morning's from the others before he could reply in kind.

"Once you've eaten we were going to start teaching you about keyblade transformations, if that still sounds like a good idea?" Aqua ventured, an unspoken question in her eyes. Axel nodded, chasing the dry toast with a mouthful of orange juice.

"Perfect," he answered. "I reckon we'll learn it in no time, right Kairi?" She hummed uncertainly.

"I don't know," she answered. "Ven says it's not all that easy to get the hang of." When Kairi looked away to refill her glass Axel shot Ven a hasty half-glare.

"Well Curaga isn't exactly easy to learn either," Axel countered, "but you picked that up pretty easily. You'll probably learn this faster than me too. In fact, I'll even place a bet on it. Last one to learn it has to buy the winner ice cream."

"I have no munny," she countered.

"Then I'll lend it to you."

"So, either way, you're paying for it?" she asked. He shrugged, leaning back in his chair with a smirk.

"Well sure, but if I win you gotta pay me back."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Is it a crime to want to buy ice cream for my friends?" he countered. With a roll of her eyes and a defeated sigh she crumbled.

"Fine, I accept. But if I win, I get to pick the flavour."

"You're gonna pick butterscotch, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she answered, sitting back in her chair with a confident smile that he hadn't seen in far too long. He grinned in response.

"You're on."

After they'd cleared away the dishes from breakfast Aqua led them outside to the arena. Axel summoned his Keyblade (with the threat of butterscotch hanging over him like a stormcloud he was determined to get whatever head-start he could) and he was surprised when Aqua told him to dismiss it.

"Before you can attempt to transform your Keyblade, you must be able to focus on your connection to it," she began. "Did Merlin ever teach you any hanshas?"

"Any what-now?" Axel asked. Aqua almost smiled, though she quickly smothered it behind a stern, teacher-ly expression. Axel didn't think he'd ever seen her look quite so serious and yet so nervous all at once.

"Hanshas are a series of exercises designed to help clear your mind," she began. "With enough practice, they also have the benefit of strengthening your body, too. When you can focus on what's most important, sensing your connection to your keyblade becomes a lot easier. The first one I'm going to teach you is designed to help you strengthen that connection."

What followed next were a series of poses and stretches that took a surprising amount of concentration. First they started upright with their palms pressed together over their hearts. Then they stretched towards the sky, one leg sliding forwards in to a lunge as the arms lowered, their body twisting to keep the left elbow over the right knee. A quick pivot on the balls of their feet and the position was reversed (which meant Aqua, now behind them, had to quickly skirt around them to be in front again). From here they leant backwards, turning their hearts towards the sky as they rested a hand on their back leg. At his side Kairi tilted with a yelp and spilled in to the grass.

"You okay?" he asked, offering her a hand. She pulled herself to her feet, her cheeks flushed with pink as she nodded.

"These things take time to master," said Aqua. "It's okay to not get it right the first time. You're almost at the end of the sequence, which is really good for a first attempt." Kairi nodded and silently mirrored their position, wobbling slightly as she tilted carefully back to lean on her leg.

The next step had them circling their arms like a windmill as they brought their feet together to touch their toes. Ven was easily the best at this one, as he rested his palms flat in the grass. Axel, on account of his long legs, could just manage to snare his fingers under the toes of his boots. From the corner of his eye he saw Kairi straining, her fingers just scraping the sides of her ankles as she teetered dangerously, though she managed to keep from falling again. Aqua kept them here for a moment, breathing deeply, before instructing them to rise slowly – back straight – to return to the starting position. From here they repeated everything on the other side with Aqua guiding them patiently through each motion.

They cycled through the sequence slowly several times. On their fourth time (or perhaps it was their fifth; Axel had lost track already) Aqua introduced them to the right way of breathing (and it had taken all of Axel's strength not to quip about there being a wrong way to breathe). The next time she guided them through the moves she led them by their breath, inhaling here and exhaling there. Once he found his rhythm Axel thought the breaths fit quite naturally in to the movement, though when he glanced to Kairi he found her lips pressed tightly together as she waited for Aqua's instruction to breathe out.

Finally, somewhere around the time that Axel's shoulders were beginning to burn, Aqua began to explain the process of seeking out the connection.

"Your Keyblade is an extension of your heart," she began, her body still guiding them through the sequence. "By focusing your attention on your breathing and your movement, you allow your heart to cut through all the noise in your mind. Some people find it easier to close their eyes, to visualise the connection like a thread." Trusting his body to keep him steady Axel did just that, and he moved through the sequence in its entirety once more before attempting to focus on his heart.

For a while all he saw was darkness. Dimly aware of his body still moving through the hansha he probed a little deeper, past thoughts and worries that had been swept to one side until he finally found it – a glimmer of light. Then, floating nearby, he spotted his keyblade. It had no form – no shape or substance – but he knew it all the same. And there, floating between them just as Aqua described, was a sliver of light no thicker than a thread. He reached his mind towards it, opening his heart to the connection and watching with fascination as the thread began to pulse in time with his heart. Each thwump-thwump sent a pulse of light along the thread, and the light of the keyblade thrummed in response.

The more he opened up his mind the more threads he saw, each disappearing in to the darkness, some thicker than others. He wished he could tug at them to see what was on the other end, but as he started to reach his mind towards them he was pulled back suddenly by a startled yelp and something colliding with his side.

He fell to the ground and blinked his eyes open, staring at the stalks of grass that were poking in to his nose. Hands clutched and jabbed at his side as Kairi hastily pulled herself back to her feet, murmuring several hurried apologies and refusing to meet his gaze.

"Are you okay, Kairi?" Aqua asked. She nodded quickly, her gaze still fixed on the ground. Ven laughed brightly.

"Oh, man, you should'a seen me when I first tried!" he proclaimed. "I was years behind Aqua and Terra so Master Eraqus was teaching me on my own. I felt myself falling so I reached out to grab whatever I could to keep myself steady… I grabbed his sleeve and tore it right off his robes." He dissolved in to a fit of laughter that had even Aqua smiling. Kairi glanced at him from the corner of her eye, taking some solace in his story, though it took a moment too long for her to smile.

"Why don't we take a break?" Aqua asked. "It's almost lunch time. Once we've had something to eat we'll start looking at transformations."

"May I go back to my room?" Kairi asked. Aqua blinked in surprise, before nodding slowly.

"Of course. You don't need to ask permission," she said.

"Everything okay?" Axel asked. Kairi nodded.

"Naminé said she had more pictures to show me," she answered, turning and heading for the door. "I want to see what I've missed. I won't be long."

"Bring it down with you," he called after her. "I need to make sure they're all behaving themselves." Kairi's laugh floated back towards them as she disappeared back in to the castle.

"Don't worry, Aqua, you're doing great!" Ven cheered. Axel turned, watching as she smiled fondly.

"I always wanted my own students," she mused. "I used to dream about the day I would become a Master and I could seek out my own apprentices. I didn't expect it to feel quite so intimidating."

"You'll do fine," Axel said, flashing her his favourite grin. "Besides, it's not like you have to have a Master in order to become one. No disrespect to Master Eraqus, of course, but just look at Riku. Hell even Sora is technically a Master now, even if he's not here to let one of you give him the title." Ven glanced to Aqua uncertainly.

"Axel, I'm not sure you're helping," he said cautiously. Aqua tried to smile, but there was a lingering uncertainty in her eyes that was beginning to fester. Not good. He quickly backtracked, throwing his hands up.

"What I mean is, don't think of yourself as the only way for us to become Masters. You're less of a teacher and more… a guiding light." Ven's eyes widened and he nodded furiously.

"Oh, yeah! It's more like you're just a really good friend who's here to help us out," he offered. "I guess that means it's not really that much different to when you and Terra used to help me out, only now you're helping three of us." She nodded, considering their words carefully before smiling.

"That… actually does help," she said. "Let's get inside. Terra said he'd make us something special for lunch."

By the time they arrived at the dining room Terra was waiting for them with a large pot of broth and two loaves of freshly-baked bread cooling on the table.

"A good morning?" he asked as he dished out several large portions, passing them down the table.

"It was great! We started learning hanshas," Ven exclaimed, tearing off a large chunk of bread and lathering it with butter before dunking it in to his broth.

"You'd think this was your first time learning it all," Aqua commented, gratefully accepting the bread and butter. Ven swallowed thickly.

"It never hurts to master the basics," he said.

"You sound just like Master Eraqus," she laughed.

"Well, I suppose one of us should," Terra commented as he sat next to her. "Where's Kairi?"

"She went to grab something from her room," Axel answered, drawing his phone from his pocket. "Maybe I should let her know the food's getting cold-" It was then that the door creaked open and Kairi slipped inside, her cheeks flushing a little at the sight of everyone seated at the table.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you waiting," she said as she darted in to the free see next to Axel.

"We'd barely started," Terra offered, standing to fill a bowl and pass it down to her along with several chunks of bread which she accepted gratefully.

"It's delicious," she said, sipping it carefully from her spoon. Axel felt his lips twitching in to a smile; she always had been such a lady when it came to her table manners.

"So what did Naminé send you? Anything interesting?" Kairi nodded.

"They're in the Kingdom of Corona," she answered. "Have you ever been there?"

"Can't say that I have," he answered. The others also shook their heads.

"It looks so beautiful," she said. "There's a festival, and everyone dances in the town square. Xion even got Roxas to dance."

"We should go check it out!" said Ven, his eyes shining at the suggestion.

"Naminé said the festival only lasts for a day, and it's already night for them," Kairi answered. Ven visibly deflated at the news before perking up suddenly.

"We should see if there are any other festivals we could go to instead. Do you think Disney Town still have their Dream Festival?"

"One thing at a time, Ven," Aqua said with a laugh. "First we have to teach Axel and Kairi how to get to different worlds. Then we'll go festival hunting." If anything this only seemed to make Ven happier, and he dug in to his broth eagerly.

Terra joined them in the arena after lunch. All five of them spent some time reviewing the hansha Aqua had taught them before Terra took over, asking them to summon their keyblades. Axel closed his hand around the hilt of Heart's Flame, watching the fire swirl up and down the shaft and spark along the fiery teeth. After a morning opening his heart and his mind to the connection he felt it stronger than ever; a warmth that spread through his body as he felt the keyblade shiver in response.

"This transformation ability is called a Glider Transformation," Terra began, summoning Earthshaker with a flourish. It was a formidable blade, with thick brass shaft and teeth that were sharp like picks on one side and flat like hammers on the other. "Each wielder's glider is different, unique to their heart and their keyblade, so it's not possible for me to tell you think about a particular appearance. Instead you need to focus your heart on the desire to travel; not just on being somewhere else, but why you want to go in the first place. A Keyblade Master should only travel in order to maintain the World Order." He paused, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "But, if we're honest, really it's the thought of seeing all that's out there that creates the strongest connection. And when it comes to matters of the heart, it's always best to be honest."

He walked several paces away from them, circling the keyblade at his side as he walked. Finally he came to a stop at the edge of the arena, where the ground fell away in to the vast world below.

"When a keyblade undergoes a Glider Transformation, it often needs room to rearrange itself," he called back to them. "Once your heart is set on the desire to travel, the easiest way to activate the transformation is by throwing the Keyblade as hard as you can. This will both give the keyblade the space it needs and, over time, you'll learn to associate the act of throwing with the transformation itself."

He took a moment to prepare himself, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders before winding back his arm and launching Earthshaker through the air. It circled high, disappearing momentarily behind a curtain of light before emerging in its new form. The blue steel guard had become runners of sorts, forming the base of the glider, while the brass shaft and teeth had formed the body and handlebars. As the glider looped back around Terra leapt high in to the air and landed expertly at the helm. He flew in a wide circle around them before bringing the glider to a halt.

"Your glider is still your keyblade," he said, "and it uses that same connection. You steer it with your heart."

"Ven, why don't you show them your glider?" Aqua suggested. "It's very different from both of ours." Ven grinned and bounded to the edge of the arena, throwing his keyblade out in to the sky with an eager yell. When it returned Axel almost couldn't believe that it had undergone the same transformation as Terra's. There were no handles and no runners; instead Wayward Wind almost resembled some sort of bird, with the green pommel now forming a jewelled head and the teeth mirrored on either side like wings. Ven rode atop its back, standing side-on with his arms spread wide for balance. It reminded Axel of the times he'd watched Roxas skateboarding around Twilight Town.

"That is different," Axel commented. Ven beamed, circling them with ease before coming to a halt beside Terra.

"C'mon, Aqua, let them see yours too!" he called. Aqua quickly obliged, sending Rainfell soaring through the clouds. Hers was different again, forming two completely separate parts. The shaft and teeth had become a gleaming base with a pointed snout whilst the hilt had become handlebars that curved around her on both sides in a protective guard.

"Your gliders could look like any of ours," Terra spoke, dropping to the ground as his keyblade returned to its natural form and disappeared. The others followed suit. "Or they could look completely different. There is no wrong way for your keyblade to transform."

At Terra's suggestion they partnered up. Ven bounded eagerly to Kairi's side like a boisterous puppy, talking a mile a minute about how he felt when his keyblade transformed and the things that helped him do it the first time ("The first time is the hardest," he said with a smile, "after that it gets much easier!"). Aqua meanwhile came to Axel, guiding him towards the opposite side of the arena to ensure that he and Kairi wouldn't clash blades.

"Y'know," he said, twirling his Keyblade anxiously, "throwing this away from me goes against all my basic instincts." Aqua smiled.

"You can never really throw it away," she said. "Feel for that connection; no matter where your keyblade falls, you'll be able to summon it back. It's merely an extension of your heart, after all."

Still it was difficult to launch it out into the sky. The first attempt was a predictable failure, and it took Axel several despairing seconds of watching Heart's Flame falling through the sky before he remembered he could recall it with a thought. It reappeared in his hand, bringing with it a rush of relief that coursed through his veins.

"Nobody gets it on their first try," Aqua consoled him (though he did glance over his shoulder just to make sure that Kairi hadn't gone and done just that). "This time, try thinking about why you want to travel. What's the biggest reason you have for wanting to transform your keyblade? If you can get your heart to understand your mind, you'll be able to master this transformation a lot faster." He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing and seeking that same speck of light from their morning session, all the while turning Aqua's question over in his mind.

Why did he want to travel? Well, right now the answer was food. He couldn't wait to show Kairi the Bistro in Twilight Town, or take her to the clock tower to watch the lazy clouds cast shadows over the town below with an ice cream in hand (butterscotch or otherwise). Food was perhaps too fleeting an answer, so maybe it was Kairi? He found the speck of light, honing in on it as he continued to explore the answer. He saw the thread that linked his heart to his Keyblade and he watched it for several moments as though that might give him the answer. When nothing came to mind he instead looked around, focusing on the other threads that disappeared in to the distance. One seemed to terminate nearby, and as he pulled at it he found his mind flooded with thoughts and images of Kairi. He reached out, tugging at another of the thicker threads. This time he saw Roxas, the good and the bad; all the things that tied them together.

Perhaps that was it, he thought, tugging on another thread and finding memories of Xion. It wasn't enough to want to travel for Kairi's sake; he was travelling for his own, out of a heartfelt desire to see his friends. He tugged at another thread, this one weary and fraying in places but no less strong, and the memories of Isa all but confirmed his theory.

He didn't want to be alone again.

He opened his eyes, pulled back his arm and launched Heart's Flame in to the clouds. This time instead of falling it rose up, arcing through the sky and disappearing behind a flash of light. When it emerged it was nothing like Axel expected. It had formed in to three separate pieces, each resembling the hilt of his Keyblade which, in itself, was a sort of homage to his old chakrams. The largest formed a platform while the other two floated above, set at a peculiar angle. Axel leapt high as it approached and the glider raced to meet him, connecting with his feet and sending that familiar relief washing over him as his hands gripped the floating handholds.

Having the glider and steering it were two separate feats. It was all well and good that Terra had told them to steer with their hearts, but it was another to try and figure out what exactly that meant and how he was supposed to do it. Eager to avoid being hit by Kairi's Keyblade he somehow managed to circle out over the void, feeling his stomach drop as he saw just how far he might fall. He swallowed nervously, gripping the handholds tightly and focusing on his breathing. At long last he felt his panicked heart slow as the rush of adrenaline wore off, and with barely more than a thought he brought the glider around, heading back towards the arena where Aqua and Terra were waiting patiently for him.

"That's one hell of a thrill," he laughed as he pulled the glider to a halt.

"Congratulations," Terra said warmly. "How do you feel?" Axel dropped to the ground, his knees knocking together a little as he dismissed the glider.

"Honestly? Overwhelmed," he answered, ignoring the shivering thrill that raced up his spine.

"You did well to master it so quickly," Terra continued, "but it'll take time before it will come naturally. Ven's right, the first time is the hardest, but it won't get easier unless you keep practicing." He turned on his heel then, heading across the arena towards Kairi and Ven. Axel watched after him, catching sight of Destiny's Embrace falling through the clouds. The Keyblade reappeared in Kairi's hand and her shoulders slumped with frustration; Terra was quick to place a reassuring hand on her elbow as he offered quiet words of encouragement. She stood tall, nodded firmly, and wound her arm back to try again.

"Terra makes teaching look easy," Aqua laughed, though there was no ignoring the undercurrent of frustration in her voice.

"Ven's right, y'know. You're doing great," Axel said. "I thought you always wanted more students?"

"I did, but I would have preferred you all to be a little greener. Ven's already completed most of his training with Master Eraqus, you were already a skilled fighter before you became a keyblade wielder, and Kairi isn't exactly inexperienced." She sighed and folded her arms. "Sometimes I feel like I'm just not qualified enough to teach anyone anything, let alone call myself Master."

"Well you earned the title, right? That's yours, whether you want it or not," Axel countered. Aqua laughed.

"You're right, I guess it is," she said before turning away from Terra to look sternly at him. "Which means I'd better make sure my pupils undertake the proper training. You should try it again."

It took four more attempts before he could summon his glider a second time, and it took two more summons before Aqua determined that he was ready to move on to the next stage of his training. After summoning her own glider she led him on a journey around the castle, starting out slow and easy and soon moving on to more advanced aerial acrobatics. The glider, being an extension of his heart, would never let him fall but it still took some time to get used to the wind rushing past his face. It left his eyes stinging.

"One of the benefits of wearing full armour," Aqua called as she pounded the pauldron on her left shoulder and disappeared behind her gleaming blue and silver helmet. "Try to keep up!" With a flash her glider surged forwards, disappearing behind the clouds. Axel grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes before pressing after her, feeling the wind whip his face. His eyes were streaming tears by the time he caught sight of Aqua again, making her little more than a blur in his peripheral vision as he passed her. Feeling more daring by the second he looped high, flipping himself upside down as he circled around her, thinking all the while about how he couldn't wait to show Roxas and Xion.

After a while Aqua finally placed herself in front of him again, and through the haze of tears he could see her motioning for him to follow her back down. They looped back through the clouds, circling one last time around the castle before setting back down in the arena where – to Axel's surprise – Kairi was still struggling with the transformation. Her frustration was almost palpable, and as Axel dismounted and his glider disappeared in a shower of sparks she flung her Keyblade in to the clouds with such force that Axel thought it might never come back.

"Whoa, easy, Kairi," he called. "Anyone would think you didn't want it anymore." She sighed and summoned it back to her hand.

"It's okay," Ven said with a smile that wasn't quite as bright as before. "It takes time."

"Not this much time," she countered, staring down at her Keyblade.

"Axel, how did you do it?" Terra asked. "Perhaps you can help Kairi. Ven and I have been doing this for so long that I think we've forgotten how we started." Axel blinked in surprise and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well I… I just thought about why I wanted it," he started. "At first I thought it was just to see more of my friends, but then I realised… well… I realised I didn't want to be alone anymore." He felt rather exposed by his confession, and he folded his arms across his chest, drawing himself up to his full height. Kairi saw right through him; her blue eyes pierced through the façade and stared hard, as though searching for something. After a long (rather uncomfortable) moment she banished her keyblade, closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths. She stayed like that for several minutes until she finally – suddenly – whirled on her feet to send Destiny's Embrace spinning through the sky.

At long last the blade rose instead of falling, disappearing behind a cloud and a flash of light. It glinted in the sunlight as it emerged, a gleaming blur as it sped rapidly towards them. Kairi leapt high and the glider caught her, whisking her away on a wide, victorious loop through the clouds. Axel's heart soared as her laughter floated back to them, bubbling brightly through the air as she swooped back around.

Her glider was smaller than any of theirs by a sizeable margin, but it was by far the most elegant – much like Destiny's Embrace itself. Like Terra she stood on two runners, though these were elegant swathes of gold that faded through amber to a deep crimson behind her heels. The nose of her glider was a crimson gem encased in gold that sprouted up, splitting in the centre to form fixed handlebars that swept round to either side, wrapped in gilded ivy that gave way to a cerulean wave on the outer edge of each handle. When the light caught it the handles seemed to shimmer, giving the impression that Kairi's glider was cutting through the ocean, a spray of sparkling gems forming a guard over her knuckles.

"What did you think about?" Axel asked. If he had to bare his soul, it seemed only right that she did to. He expected her to flush or maybe to drop her gaze, but to his surprise she only stood taller.

"I don't want to be left behind again."

She could summon it every time after that; Aqua had her do it several times just to make sure. Finally satisfied, Aqua had them return to their rooms to fetch their cloaks. It was still strange to Axel, seeing Kairi dressed all in black. Out of the corner of his eye, where he didn't see the crimson of her hair, he mistook her for Xion several times as they made their way back down to the arena. She was several steps ahead of him, one hand flicking through messages on her phone and the other playing with the metal toggle of her coat.

"I meant to ask you, Kairi," Axel began, reaching over her to hold the door open for them both, "where did you get your cloak?" She paused, her thumb hovering momentarily over the screen before she resumed her swiping.

"I just sort of… found it, I guess," she answered. "I don't really remember. Oh, look! Where do you think this is?" And she thrust her phone towards him, showing him a picture of a gleaming castle made of ice.

"Arrendale, I think. Can't say I've been there myself," he answered. "Ask Naminé, she should know. I'm not sure there's a world that she hasn't been to yet."

"I've never seen snow like that before," Kairi breathed, looking through more photos. "I hope I get to see it in person some day."

"I'm sure you will," he said as they began on the winding path down to the arena.

I could go on, but the next section is almost as long as this one – so in an attempt to break it down in to more palatable chunks I'm slipping a split in here.

Don't worry – the next section is already drafted and nearly ready to go. See you again soon!