AN: Wow! I'm on a roll right now! How long has it been since I last posted two things for a single story so quickly? A few months? Know what? Doesn't matter. What matters is that we've now got another new chapter for the epic of Keyblade Legion out now!

[audience applause]

Yeah, I know. Exciting huh? So I'm gonna be straight with you guys. I'm going to be putting a lot of focus into this story for a while, so I would expect several more updates to come for this one. I'd say at least until we've gotten through Roxas and Xion's 6 days of summer vacation.

Roxas: AKA the shortest summer vacation ever.

AN: Hey, you said it, not me (Even if I do agree with you). Anyways, it looks like the reviews for the first chapter are really blowing up too, because I also can't remember the last time I've had so many reviews for a single chapter in barely more than...what's it been since we first posted this story, two days? Three? And that's with or without it being the first chapter of a story. Just saying.

Xion: Well, I'd kinda like to answer a few reviews before we get into the story.

AN: And answer them we shall. Let's begin with "Twisted Pxl", and some of his questions. First off I'm not entirely sure why they could still say picture but not photo. That's how it happened in the game and, as far as I know, the manga, so I didn't really see a need to change it up. Also, I did not really fill in the blank on what word they were trying to say with anything until after I got enough context clues. I don't do things like that. It's a bit out of character for me. And regarding your question about Roxas and Xion regaining control over the lesser Nobodies...well I wouldn't really hold my breath just yet. It is a good idea though, but I don't think it will happen any time soon, or with very many of them. Maybe just the Samurai Nobodies if nothing else, since I've read once or twice that those were supposed to be directly under Roxas or something.

Next up is to "rmarcano321", I wouldn't say there was too much to inspire me to create any of the fanfics. I just thought of an idea, let a scene or two for it run through my head a few times, and say "I'm gonna run with it." In the case of this story, if you want a more elaborate answer, I'd say that it was partially something that just came to me as I was working on Keyblades of Future Past. The idea that KH history would be changed after that story concluded, no matter what, just got me thinking on what would have happened differently, along with how having either Roxas, Xion, or even both still around for the second adventure would make things different or more interesting. As for themes...well, that kind of thing has never really crossed my mind. If I had to put something down for this one, it would be continuing the history changes that we started to see beginning in Keyblades of Future Past and then continued to unfold in Kingdom Hearts Dual Keys, or even how the Kingdom Hearts 2 would've been different if Roxas and Xion survived and did not rejoin with Sora like they had.

Roxas: How about answering the questions of "theIrishWriter"?

AN: Getting to that. To be honest, this first part is actually going to be more of a general answer, since so many people were wondering about the roles that Roxas and Xion would have in the group. To be quite honest, if I were to assign specific roles, Xion would be a more speed/balanced type of fighter. Yes, she's good with magic, but she also mixes it in with her normal fighting abilities very nicely as well, so I wouldn't call her the mage. More like a...synergist or something, maybe. I can't think of the exact word to describe a person who uses both magic and physical attacks on an even basis while still being slightly stronger in magic, but that's Xion in this story. Roxas is definitely going to be the heavy-hitter fighter, due to the fact that he will indeed be gaining the ability to wield two Keyblades naturally. More on the latter fact later, but yeah, Roxas, brute force fighter here.

Getting back to "theIrishWriter"'s questions, there is in fact a big reason behind why Roxas and Xion are still in the VTT, but it's not because they can't give back Sora's missing memories while they "have" them. The exact reasoning will actually be revealed later on.

Riku: Why not just tell them that they were put there because...

AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits control]

Riku: [gets grabbed by a large claw and then spun around rapidly before he's thrown into the wall] Probably...should've...seen that...coming. [falls to the floor like a flat sheet of paper]

AN: Phew, that was close. Haven't had to do that in a while either. Hmm. Anyways, moving on with that same review answer, it's still a little too early for anyone to judge who's really the strongest Keyblade wielder right now, or later on in the story, even for Ven, so I wouldn't concern yourself with that too much just yet. Sora's not going to have a complete memory loss on all of his abilities like he did in the game, just so you know.

Ven: Isn't that a spoiler?

AN: No, it's me assuring everyone that Sora's not going to basically be reset from the beginning when he should have retained at least some small basic level of knowledge from his last journey that allowed him to remember at least some of the basic abilities as a Keyblade wielder without having to jump through certain hoops and rings in order to get them back. Anyways, didn't you say that there was a review that you yourself wanted to personally answer?

Ven: More like a part of a review, really. Namely the review left by "Dragon Rider 66", First the question about me knowing that "Ansem" is Riku. In this story, no I wouldn't say that I do know that. At least not for a fact. I have a hunch, but it's nothing concrete. It's not like he and I were hanging out 24/7 after all. Speaking of things that were going on 24/7, in regards to your question about me and my armor, namely how I took care of some things like showering and such...there are some things that are better left unanswered or just unsaid.

AN: Really?

Ventus: Well, for the most part. Plus, it's magic armor. I think it would keep you from needing to shower for a long period of time if that was necessary.

AN: I'm pretty sure you just took it off for as brief a time as humanly possible to do that stuff as fast as you could.

Ven: Okay, fine. If you want to basically spoil my fun.

AN: Okay, moving on. Anyways, in regards to your question about Darkwing Duck, there will not be a world for him, as I see his world being a part of Disney Town, but I can confirm that Darkwing himself will appear here at a later point in the story. Also, I just want to point out that I never said that Code Lyoko would not appear here in at all. Just not in its entirety. You'll see what I mean later on in this story. Oh, and regarding your question about Roxas and Xion's Keyblades, they're not going to get their own original Keyblades right away. They'll be stuck with the Kingdom Key copies for a little bit longer, but they will have their own Keyblades by the time that their summer vacation has ended. Sorry for that small spoiler, but I just couldn't keep it to myself in this case.

Now, to our old pal "Monkey D. Conan", sorry to say that Aqua will not have changed too much appearance wise in this story, but I can confirm that Xion's Keyblade will in fact be the Two Become One Keyblade, as we all saw her wielding in Keyblades of Future Past. Yes, all the original worlds of KH2 will be appearing in this story, along with a couple of new, original ones as well. You'll get an idea on some of the worlds we'll be seeing in the next chapter. About your two suggestions though, I do like there possibly being a clash between Sora and Ventus at some point, but it likely won't be over Sora learning about his future self's time-traveling. He's not going to learn about that for a long time, and by the time he does, it'll already have reached a point where it doesn't matter, because that will be the story that acts as the fully direct sequel to Keyblades of Future Past. Your second suggestion, while I do agree that Lightning would fit right in and get along with Aqua, I'm afraid that we won't be seeing this story crossover with the series that A Spider's Focus is a part of. We will be seeing the Spider-Man of this series again though, don't worry about that.

Finally, to everyone who basically left it at something like simple praise or how glad they were to see this story was finally up, thanks you guys! You and all the other reviewers are one part of what makes writing these things even more fun than they already are for me. Now, I think we've covered everything, so let's get on to Day 2 of the summer vacation!

I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

Chapter II

Sora was more than a little disoriented, and honestly, he just wanted to sleep right now, but whatever it was that was licking him, clearly seemed to think that he should wake up. When Sora finally opened his eyes, he turned to see a dog with yellow fur and a green collar, panting happily at him. After taking a moment to look around, Sora realized that he did not recognize his surroundings at all. "Where am I," Sora asked.

"What happened to my home?! My Island?! Riku! Kai—"

A fuzzy image of the girl suddenly flickered before the mind's eye, but it was far too out of focus to really see her. The image was just barely even clear enough for one to know that it was a girl that one would be seeing. When the image settled again, Sora could be seen facing a tall man in a black coat with a silver gunblade. "Who are you," Sora demanded.

"They will come at you out of nowhere, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade," the gunblade wielder informed him.

"WATCH OUT!"someone shouted, and Sora barely had time to glimpse a blonde man riding on a strange vehicle before said blonde dismissed the vehicle in favor of his Keyblade, and he quickly ducked down when he saw the man suddenly toss said Keyblade towards him, sending the blade spinning through the air like a boomerang so that it would strike both the Heartless that were trying to get the drop on Sora before returning to its wielder's hand just as he landed on the ground. The mystery wielder then slashed through the remaining Heartless with a speed and skill that only a master could possess, until finally, the area was clear for the moment, allowing him to turn towards an awestruck Sora. "You okay," the blonde asked.

"Uh…yeah," Sora nodded, still a bit awed at what he just saw, until he finally got a good look at the weapon that his rescuer was using. "Hey, that looks a lot like one of the Keyblades I saw in my dream from the other day. How do you have it?"

The blonde quirked in eyebrow in confusion at first, but he quickly waved it off with a smile and replied, "Well it would be a little weird if I didn't have my own Keyblade, wouldn't it?"

"So then…you can use a Keyblade like me," Sora asked.

"Close, except for one not-so-small difference: while you've just become a Keyblade Wielder, I'm actually a Keyblade Master," the older Keybearer replied with an easy-going smile. He almost laughed at the way that Sora's expression seemed to vary between one of offense and greater amazement, but that soon turned to concern when he heard an explosion nearby that was followed by the sound of two familiar cries of fright and said, "Uh, I think we should probably move out of the way."

"Of what," Sora asked as he turned to see whatever the Keyblade master had spotted. When he did, it was a little too late for him to properly move aside like Ven already had, and Sora ended up at the bottom of a dog-pile beneath Donald and Goofy. All three had to groan in agony for a minute, but they were able to shake it off soon enough, Donald and Goofy much more quickly than Sora since they were used to dealing with such injuries just about every other day of the week.

"How would you like to learn how to really use your Keyblade," the blonde asked.

"What do you mean," Sora asked.

"I mean that I can teach you how to become a true Keyblade Master like me, if you want me to that is," Ven explained. "More to the point, I can even do it while we travel with these two."

"Yeah, we can go to other worlds on our vessel, so why don't ya come with us," Goofy nodded in encouragement.

"So what do you say? You think you can handle fighting alongside us while training to become a Keyblade Master, trying to save the worlds, and searching for our missing friends?"

Sora looked down in thought for a minute, not entirely sure what he should say to that and seeing his uncertainty, Leon thought he should add his own two cents. "Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends," the man simply stated.

"Alright, that's what I was hoping you would say," Ven smiled gladly. "Now all that's left to do is have a few introductions. I'm Master Ventus, but call me Ven."

"Donald Duck."

"Name's Goofy."

"I'm Sora," the Destiny Islander finished as the four all put their hands atop one another's to seal the deal. "I'll go with you guys, and if you really can teach me how to be a Keyblade Wielder, then I'll gladly be your student."

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon commented as they studied the Keyblade in Sora's lap.

The scene shifted once again, this time showing Ventus in his first lesson with Sora. "You're right in saying that the Keyblade is different for every person, be it the basic level one that a wielder starts out with when they first awaken the Keyblade, or the evolved form it may or may not take on later when its wielder reaches a certain level in their skill, and that's because it's reflective of the nature of people's hearts. No two Keyblades are truly alike, just as no two hearts are the same." He then paused for a minute to let that sit before adding, "Aside from that, it sounds like you've got a pretty good understanding of the basics in what the Keyblade is capable of, except for one thing. With the Keyblade, you also have the ability to use magic."

"Magic," Sora gasped, clearly getting a bit more excited by the minute.

"That's right, but I doubt that what I mean is what you're thinking of. The magic one can use as a Keyblade Wielder is not like sawing somebody in half or any other thing that you've probably seen magicians do, but it is incredibly powerful. Most of the magic we can wield is used for various scenarios in battle, and it is often very easy to use. The simplest way to put it is to say that when we use magic, it usually requires us to want something. Take the three simplest spells that all wielders start out with for example: Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder. The names pretty much speak for themselves as to what element they are, but more importantly, when you cast Blizzard, you must want to cause your opponent to freeze. Keep in mind though, there are a large variety of spells out there with their own abilities, such as healing or freezing time around an opponent, and some spells are simply just more powerful versions of the basic spells that you start out with."

"So why not teach me some of the more powerful spells, or at least teaching me how to heal in case any of us are hurt," Sora asked.

"Hold on there, Sora. You can't just go and try using any spell you want, especially since you're just starting out as a Keyblade Wielder. The Keyblade may grant you the ability to use magic, but the spells still require a great deal of magical energy that you draw from inside yourself, and before you can use any of the more advanced spells, you need to build up that energy by using the magic you can already do," Ven cautioned. "Think of it like how you exercise to build up your muscles. If you can't lift something really heavy, then you shouldn't strain yourself trying to since you might tire yourself out or get hurt doing so."

The scene shifts once more, but this time to the moment when Ven was educating Sora on the history of the Keyblade. "When the Keyblades were first created, it was not for the same noble purpose we use them for today; they had been created as weapons for the most devastating war in all the worlds. Since the beginning of time, legends have spoken of a powerful light unlike any other, and after a time, many began to seek this light out for themselves. In order to do this, they forged powerful weapons in the image of the blade that acted as the counterpart and the protector of this great light, and thus, the very first Keyblade War raged until it had all but destroyed the worlds as we once knew them, and the blade that acted as that great light's defender was splintered into seven fragments of light and thirteen shards of darkness. Eventually, the lights of the new generation found a way to restore life to the lost world, leading to the rise of the worlds that we know today, but sadly, darkness will always exist so long as there is a single light to cast shadows. Knowing this, the surviving Keyblade Masters took up their blades once again so that they could act as defenders of the light, and teach the new generations of Keyblade Wielders that would follow them how to do the same, so that the balance between light and darkness would never again fall into as great a threat as the Keyblade War. Sadly, the number of Keyblade Masters has faded over the years since that time, and now, only three masters remain, including me. Well, I suppose that you could also count the king's teacher, but he retired from the life of a Keyblade Master some time ago."

The image faintly flickered to the same fuzzy picture of the unknown girl again, before it showed Sora and Ventus aiming their Keyblades at a large, glowing Keyhole, while a dark voice spoke out from some unseen place. "But the Keyblade Master and the boy are a problem. They've now found three of the Keyholes."

After that comment, the image flickered much more than before, until finally, all signs of Sora, Ventus, or any of the others that they were around vanished, and became replaced with the images of a different set of people all together. The room that was seen next was nearly all white with some grey in a few areas, while the occupants were all dressed in matching, long black coats. Some of them had their faces hidden behind the hoods of their coats, while others could barely be made out. At that moment, the person presiding over the group spoke up. "Good tidings friends," the hooded man greeted to the room at large. "Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat…Number XIV."

At that moment, a lone individual stepped forward in the center of the room, gazing around at the people sitting above her, until her eyes came to rest on one particular person. This person, was a young boy who appeared to be no older than her, and had spiky, blonde hair. She was not sure what, but there was just something about him that made her feel safe for some reason, a feeling that she could hardly find from any of the other twelve people in the room, and she gave him a small smile. When the scene shifted again, it showed the Number XIV in an alley somewhere in Twilight Town along with the blonde boy as he dismissed a Keyblade that looked almost exactly like Sora's.

"I've got someplace to be again today, so go on ahead without me," the boy said in an even, almost unfeeling tone before he started to head off. Just as he was about to walk past her, the Number XIV felt that she could not just let him walk off without doing something, and for the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt words beginning to form on her tongue and slip through her lips.

"R…Roxas," the girl murmured softly, and the boy immediately stopped, almost as though he could not believe what he had heard.

"Huh? Xion," the blonde gasped as he turned back to face her.

Number XIV slowly turned around so that she was looking directly into the blonde's blue eyes, and slowly said, "Roxas…is your name."

"Yeah," Roxas nodded in reply, and that was all there was to it for Xion, so she simply turned to leave, like it was no big deal that she had finally spoken for the first time since she had joined the Organization.

Another day passed, and Roxas and Xion were both out in Twilight Town today, when Xion suddenly came to a stop. "Roxas," Xion called out, getting the boy's attention just as she reached for her hood. Pulling it down, she allowed her face to be shown to the world, along with her crystal blue eyes, cute smile, and pretty black hair. "Best of luck today," Xion wished to her blonde companion.

Roxas on the other hand, was left speechless. He had never seen Xion without her hood on before now, and in point of fact, no one in the Organization had. More importantly, he could not really see why she would hide behind that hood, because she looked very cute in his opinion. He was not really sure what that meant, but he did hear a few people using that word a few times on some of the worlds he had visited before, and Xion seemed to fit that description pretty easily, so he figured that was accurate. After another minute or so, Roxas finally realized that he should probably say something back to her, but he could barely form too many words. In the end, he had to settle for keeping it simple, and just nodded as he said, "Yeah. Let's go."

Later on, Roxas and Xion were standing before a massive creature that looked like a giant, living shadow with a heart-shaped hole in its chest, and Roxas immediately charged in to hit it with the Keyblade. It did not go so well for him, as the creature merely pushed him aside, causing him to lose his hold on the Keyblade. A minute after it vanished, Xion dropped into a fighting stance that was very similar to Roxas's, and the very same Keyblade appeared in her own hand. Without even thinking, Xion leapt forward, and sliced through the monster, destroying it in one clean cut, and she could only listen on as it disintegrated into smoke while she landed on the ground behind the beast.

Roxas only just reached her as she stood up, and he could do nothing more than gape in awe before he finally confessed, "Wow, I…Xion, I didn't know you could use the Keyblade."

"You know…neither did I," Xion admitted as she lifted the Keyblade up so she could look it over, a small smile starting to slip onto her lips, even as the Keyblade vanished from her hand. At that point, the two could only stare at one another before they both let out a small laugh, never once knowing that two figures, one with silver hair and wearing a black blindfold and a coat like theirs, and another in steel blue, gold, and black armor and a long, steel blue cape were both gazing down at them from the rooftops up above.

Xion awoke with a start, barely able to believe what she had just dreamed about. It had become somewhat normal for her to have faint, barely visible images of the boy with brown spiky hair and a Keyblade, along with his various friends, but they had never been this clear before. More to the point, this was also the first time she had ever had a dream like that about her and her brother, and that was the part that made even less sense in her mind. What was that group she saw? Why did they refer to her as Number XIV? Was that some kind of cult or something? And how was it that she was using the Keyblade that Roxas had somehow summoned with just yesterday? These were all questions that were running rampant in Xion's mind, along with the ones that were put forward by the new knowledge she had learned about the Keyblade just before the dream had switched over to her and Roxas, assuming that really was them, but Xion just did not know what to make of any of it.

More importantly, was that really her and Roxas? Sure, it could have easily been someone else, but it was not like they had the most common names out there. Though again, she did not remember anything about being able to use the Keyblade, or being part of a group that felt as intimidating as that one she saw in the dream before, so just what was she supposed to think about everything? Of course, only one thing really stuck out to her, and that was the weapon that she had supposedly been able to use at the end of the dream. "The key…blade…" Xion murmured to herself as she held her hand out and tried to summon said weapon like she had in the dream. After a few minutes though, nothing happened, and she let her hand drop with a sigh. "I guess it is a little silly."

Her thoughts were quickly disturbed though when she heard a soft knock at her door, and she knew that it could only be one person. "Xion, it's time to get up," Roxas called from the other side, confirming what she already suspected. "I will come in there and get you up again if I have to."

"No need. I'm already up," Xion called back.

"Oh…Uh, are you dressed," Roxas asked.

"I'm still in my pajamas," Xion replied.

"Well hurry up and change into something that you can wear outside. We're going to meet up with Hayner and the others soon," Roxas hurried along.

"Okay, okay. If you're in such hurry, how about you just go and start making breakfast," Xion chided, albeit with a tone that was much more lighthearted than one would normally use in such an instance.

"That's part of the reason I'm here. What would you say to some French Toast for breakfast today," Roxas asked, and Xion just knew that there was a knowing smile on his face when he posed the question.

Not that it was surprising, especially considering the way that Xion's mouth was already watering. She loved it when her brother cooked, and his French Toast was one of her favorite dishes, so she had no problem replying, "I'd say that if anyone were to ask me to name a bad quality that you had, I would tell them that it would be how you spoil me so much."

Roxas just laughed from the other side of the door, and Xion listened to his footsteps fading away as he headed for the kitchen to prepare said breakfast. When she was sure he was out of hearing range, Xion climbed out of bed, and tried a few more times to either summon the Keyblade again, or perform the magic spell she used yesterday, only to have no success. She could not help but sigh in disappointment, but she was not sure what else she should have expected. After all, the whole thing was just some random, freak incident, so why should she think that she could just make it happen again on a whim? Glancing to the door, she wondered if she should mention any of this to Roxas, but quickly cast the idea out of her mind. She had kept all of her other weird dreams a secret from Roxas, so why change things now. It was not like talking about them would help her understand the weirdness she saw any better, and it was even less likely that Roxas would really be able to help her make sense of the things that she saw and heard in those dreams. Little did Xion know that Roxas probably would have understood far better than she gave him credit for, and he was just not sharing the information about his own strange dreams for almost the exact same reasons.

Later on that day, the twins were once again headed to the Usual Spot so that they could meet up with their friends, both of them eager and ready for another fun day of summer vacation. At least, that is how they seemed on the outside. On the inside, they were both secretly still thinking of the events that had taken place just yesterday, and of what they had seen and heard in the dreams that they unknowingly shared. Xion in particular was still trying to puzzle together quite a few things. Her dream did help her confirm that the ice blast she had used against that silver creature was magic, or at least that was what she was thinking, but she still was not entirely sure if she could do it again. More importantly though, she was still stuck on how, in the dream she and Roxas were apparently part of some strange group or cult, and they were both able to use that exact same Keyblade that Roxas had summoned yesterday. She had secretly tried more than once that morning to summon it herself, but each time brought no results other than thin air. Part of her was feeling a little silly for trying to call something that she had no memory of being able to use, but another part of her felt a strange sense of sorrow and disappointment in being unable to call it forth.

If any of the girl's worries were being outwardly displayed though, Roxas was too caught up in his own thoughts to really notice, as his mind was still wrapped around how he had summoned the Keyblade at all yesterday, and that he had apparently been able to do so easily before, that is assuming that part of his dream from last night was to be believed. Eventually, he could no longer take it with just thinking about it, and halted his trek towards the usual spot so that he could look around for a minute. Xion did not immediately notice that Roxas had stopped walking, but when she did, she quickly turned around to see where he had gone, only to pause in disbelief at what she saw when she did finally spot him.

"Uh Roxas…What're you doing," Xion finally asked after watching her brother swing around a random stick for another minute or two.

Apparently Roxas was not expecting Xion's sudden question, because he immediately jumped and spun around to face her when she spoke up. Even then, it took him a moment of sheepish chuckling before he finally answered her question. "Well…I was thinking about that Keyblade thing I summoned yesterday and I was trying to see if I could get it to…come back, or something using this."

Xion just stared blankly at her brother for another moment or two before she finally stated the obvious for them both. "Roxas, that's a stick."

"Yeah, and when the Keyblade appeared before, I was waving around a Struggle bat. How do you know it won't work if I'm not at least holding something that could be used like a weapon," Roxas questioned. Before Xion could say anything in reply, he then thought of something else. "Come to think of it, how'd you even know about the Keyblade?"

"Huh?"

"You know, when it appeared in my hand yesterday. I heard you call it a Keyblade, but as far as I know, you'd never seen anything like it before then, so how'd you know what it was," Roxas clarified.

Xion's brow instantly scrunched up in thought, trying to figure out the answer to that same question herself. She knew what Roxas was talking about, but what she did not know was the answer to his question. Finally, she just settled on the truth and said, "I'm not sure. All I remember is looking at the thing for a minute and then the name just…came to me. I remember being just as confused about it and its sudden appearance as you were, but then, as I looked at it, something about it just started to feel really familiar. I can't really explain it."

Roxas just hummed in thought once he heard his sister's explanation, before he finally decided it would be better to just forget about it, even if it did seem to have something to do with the weird dreams he had been having lately, and simply threw his stick away as he said, "Well, it's not like it really matters now. Still, I would like to know what that was even all about…"

"Roxas wait," Xion suddenly shouted, but her warning was too late, as Roxas had already tossed the stick away, and she could only watch as it hit someone behind him in the chest. Xion immediately flinched in response to this, and quickly stepped towards the stranger as she called out, "Sorry about that! My brother sometimes has a few moments of stupidity."

"Hey," Roxas snapped to his sister. He did feel bad about accidentally hitting someone with that stick, but he did not like it when his sister told people things like that. He most certainly did not have moments of stupidity; he just did not always think some things through is all. He then looked to the stranger and was about to apologize as well, when he suddenly got a good look at the black coat that he was wearing. "Hey, where did you get…" Roxas started to ask, but the stranger had already walked away before he could finish.

Xion glanced over to her brother in confusion once more, before letting her gaze wander between him and where the stranger had just been. She thought it was a little rude of the man to just take off like that, even if he was upset about accidentally getting hit with a stick by some random kid, but when she heard Roxas start to ask him something in a tone that made it seem like it was a really important question, all upset feeling towards the stranger were replaced with new concern for her brother. "Is everything okay, Roxas," Xion asked.

"Uh…Yeah, fine," Roxas reassured her, but no one could have missed the hesitation in his voice, especially Xion. When he saw his sister giving him a look that clearly said she was not buying it, Roxas immediately insisted, "Really, it's nothing. I just…thought I'd seen that coat he was wearing around town a few times, so I was curious about where everyone was getting them."

"You sure," Xion asked. She knew for a fact that was the first time she had seen anyone in this city wearing a coat like that, at least outside of that dream she had last night, but she was not about to question Roxas on it. After all, it was not like they did every single thing together each and every day.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Roxas promised. "Now come on. We shouldn't keep the others waiting."

Xion just nodded quietly in reply and followed after her brother, still unable to shake the feeling that he was not being entirely honest with her despite his reassurances. More than that, there was something about that mysterious man from earlier that felt familiar to her, but she figured it was partly because of the coat he was wearing. Still, if that were the case, why did she not get the same foreboding feeling from him that she did from the people she saw in her dream last night? More than that, why did she somehow get a sense of…safety from him? Not like the kind she got from Roxas, but certainly similar to that, if not something a little more special.

All thoughts about weird dreams, Keyblades, and strange people with black coats had quickly left both Roxas and Xion's minds when they finally entered the Usual Spot, and the reason was just as obvious as it was simple: sea-salt ice cream. It was the twins' favorite treat, as well as their friends'. In fact, everyone in Twilight Town loved sea-salt ice cream more than any other treat out there. Nearly place had the snack, but the one place that they all preferred to get it from was the best, local ice cream parlor, McDuck's Tasty Treat Parlor. The restaurant was established several years ago by an adventurer named Scrooge McDuck, and he had wasted no time in getting the popularity of sea-salt ice cream to sky-rocket after it opened. Sometime after the place's popularity, and that of its signature ice cream treat was secured, Scrooge had left the town to continue on many more adventures, simply saying that "adventure is the mother of industry, and dere's plenty more adventure waitin' fer me out dere." It was not long afterwards that the DuckTales series started showing up on the airwaves, and everyone was able to enjoy watching Scrooge at work on said adventures. Xion could attest to that, being one of the shows biggest fans. Of course, Roxas did like the show too, but he would honestly say that Xion liked it far more than he did. The fact that the best way to get her out of bed was to play the show's theme song served as strong evidence in regards to that.

After getting their own popsicles from Hayner, the two immediately plopped down in their usual seats and began to indulge in the tasty treat's delicious glory. They had just gotten a few bites into the snack when Pence suddenly asked, "Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?"

"I sure hope so," Olette confessed with a small smile.

"Huh? Where did that come from," Hayner inquired.

"Oh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud," Pence sputtered, making Xion think that he was just trying to cover up any worries he might have had about the matter. That alone made her give Pence a small, sad look as it got her wondering about the matter a little too. She did not want to think there would ever come a time when she and her friends were not all together, and a quick glance at Roxas immediately told her that he felt the same way.

Hayner must have caught on to this, because he quickly took it upon himself to alleviate the concerns that were now rising up in his gang of friends. "Well, I doubt we can be together forever, but isn't that what growing up's all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?"

Everyone sat in silence, contemplating Hayner's words for a minute so they could properly see the truth in them, until Pence finally decided to show his thanks for those words with a little joke. "Get that off a fortune cookie," the large kid laughed.

"That's it, no ice cream for you," Hayner playfully snapped in retort, earning a few rounds of laughter from everyone.

Suddenly, Xion had to stop laughing for a moment, and let out a soft groan as she clutched her head. Olette seemed to be the only one to notice this and immediately asked, "You okay, Xion?"

"Yeah. I just had the weirdest sense of déjà vu," Xion admitted. "Like I had heard something like that before."

"Now that you mention it…I got the same feeling too," Roxas confessed.

"Wow. You two really are twins," Pence joked. "You both get the same weird feelings at the same, but oddest of times."

"Oh thanks," Roxas playfully snapped, and like that, the laughter started up again.

When the laughs settled again, Hayner let out a soft moan as he complained, "Man, today's turning out to be a drag."

"Maybe because of yesterday's memory thief," Olette offered, and the twins had to agree with her guess, even if they did know a few more details about said event than she did. Hayner on the other hand had a different idea.

"Nuh-uh. You know what it is? We don't want summer vacation to be over. That's all," Hayner corrected, and Pence had to shrug in agreement with his friend.

"Speak for yourself. If it weren't for the fact that we always seem to find something we can do, I'd go crazy with having so much time off," Xion disputed. "At least when we're in school, we've got something to keep us busy.

"You're only saying that because you like school, Xion," Hayner disputed, acting like such a thing was completely alien.

"Actually, I agree with her. I'm honestly surprised I've been able to handle having so much time off," Roxas admitted.

"Of course you agree with her. She's your sister. You're obligated to do that," Hayner argued to his fellow blonde.

"Not true! Xion and I disagree about a lot of things, and we have plenty of arguments too," Roxas insisted.

"Oh yeah? Name five times."

"Fine. There's…uh…well there was that time…" Roxas stuttered, but he was not willing to admit that he was in fact drawing a blank.

"We disagree on what the best method for getting me out of bed is," Xion piped in, saving her brother a little while reminding him of how little she approved of his fall-back trick when nothing else worked. "And we also argue a lot about who does what chores at home. And we disagree on who's the better cook. Just for the record, it's Roxas."

"I'm good at cooking breakfast. You can cook any meal," Roxas disputed.

"You see," Xion asked, having now proven her point.

"That's still just three times. You have to name two more," Olette pointed out.

Now it was Xion had to pause and think, but now, she was unable to come up with anything. Sure, those things she mentioned before were reasonably good examples, but they were also pretty mundane and silly, and she could not think of any point in time when she and her brother had seriously argued over anything else, big or small. While some people would probably be happy over the fact that they get along so well with their siblings, Xion actually felt a little freaked out for some odd reason. She honestly felt like there was something she was forgetting about in regards to this topic, but she did not know what it could have been. That was pretty scary.

That seemed to be enough to satisfy Hayner for the moment, because he was soon jumping right back on to the point he was aiming for before. "Well either way, summer vacation's still going, and we need to enjoy it as much as we can without worrying about school or any other big thing," the blonde stated. "So how about this? We all go to the beach! And why do we go to the beach? Because we haven't gone once this entire vacation!"

"But I thought we agreed that we were going to do our homework today," Olette reminded him with a slightly pointed look.

"We'll do it later. Again, we haven't gone to the beach even once this entire vacation! Blue seas, blue skies…what's not to enjoy about a fun day at the beach? So let's just get on the train and GO," Hayner insisted with a wide grin. His excitement died a little bit though when he saw that none of his friends seemed as eager for such a trip as him. "No? Aw, c'mon!"

"Maybe you forgot, but we're broke," Roxas reminded his friend.

"Wait, don't you and Xion get money from your guardian every now and then," Pence asked.

"Yeah for the essentials like electric, water, and grocery bills. Anything else has to come out of our own pockets, and those are really empty right now," Xion clarified, going so far as to turn her own pockets inside out just to further prove her point.

"Well maybe you guys forgot I'm smart," Hayner cut in with a confident grin. "I can easily figure something out to fix that problem, and we'll all be on our way to the beach before you know it."

Roxas was about to argue a little further until Xion suddenly said, "You know, that he mentions it, the beach does sound like fun. Besides Roxas, you promised me that we'd go sometime this summer."

"I did? Uh…when was this," Roxas asked, having no memory of said promise.

"That one time when we went up to the clock tower to have some ice cream after school, remember," Xion replied like it was obvious. A minute later though, she started looking a little less sure as she added, "At least…I think it was after school. Or maybe it might've been after we'd spent the day doing some odd jobs for money. I know we were doing some kind of work that day, but I know for a fact that we were up on the clock tower when you said that we'd go to the beach on our next day off."

Roxas crossed his arms in thought for a minute, recalling the memory to his mind as he did, before saying, "Are you sure I said that? Because I thought you were the one who came up with the idea."

"See? That's even more of a reason to go! Because one of you two promised the other that you'd go next chance you got, and you can't get it straight on who said it," Hayner insisted, obviously feeling like this was turning to his victory. He then turned to race out of the Usual Spot, waving for the others to follow him, and with nothing better to do, the gang chased after him. Uncertain, but curious about what it was that Hayner had up his sleeve to make today a beach day for their group.

The gang did not get too far beyond Station Heights before Hayner had ended up spotting something that was of particular interest to him, and they all had to stop and see what it was. As it turned out, it was something that Roxas was excited for too. "The Struggle tournament! They've put up some more posters for it," Roxas asked, eagerly.

"Yep, and there's just two days to go before the big day," Hayner replied with a grin. "You and I have to make the finals, Roxas! That way, no matter who wins, the five of us split the prize!"

"Okay, you're on," Roxas agreed, knowing that the prize Hayner was talking about was the Five Crystal Trophy, an incredible prize that was awarded to the best Struggle fighter every year, and was infamous for being one of a kind, along with its five, different colored crystals. It was something that all five members of the group had dreamed about having the chance to obtain, but none of them had ever gotten far enough in the tournament before. This year though, Roxas and Hayner were both determined to change that. Pence and Olette would have entered as well, but they were not as into Struggle as the other two were, so they were okay with watching from the sidelines and cheering the other two on. Of course, that did not mean that the fifth member of their group was too thrilled to be sitting the tournament out.

Olette quickly took notice of how annoyed Xion looked from seeing the boys getting pumped up for the tournament, and could not help but ask the obvious question. "Still upset that you weren't able to sign up for a slot in the tournament before they were all filled, Xion?"

"Yeah," Xion moaned, miserably. "And I still don't get why they don't have a tournament for tag-team Struggle, too! It just doesn't seem fair, especially given how many people are having Struggle matches that way nowadays."

"Hey, don't feel too bad about it, Xion. Remember, whoever gets to the final round gets a chance to face the reigning champ. Not only that, but the player who does win gets to choose anyone they want to partner up with them for that match," Pence said in an attempt to cheer her up. Everyone thought that it was a little arrogant of Setzer to basically agree to let his match be two-on-one, but then again, considering the opportunity it presented to Xion, or anyone else who was not able to get a spot in the tournament fast enough, no one was complaining too much.

Xion did seem to get a little happier when she heard that reminder, and she quickly turned to her two friends who were competing and said, "Well, I guess that settles it. One of you two has to win the whole tournament so that I'll be guaranteed a chance to fight at least one match."

"You sure about that, Xion? I mean, you would be going up against the champ in that match, even if you would be tag-teaming him," Hayner asked.

"Positive. Besides, I don't really care if we win or lose the match. I just want to be able to participate in the tournament at all," Xion explained. Her smile did turn a little sheepish though when she added, "But if I'm being honest, I am hoping that Roxas will win the final round as opposed to you, Hayner. Partly because I know for a fact that he and I are a much better tag-team than you and me."

"And because you're my supportive little sister, right," Roxas added for her.

Xion just rolled her eyes at Roxas's "little sister" comment, all the while muttering, "I'm only younger by like seven minutes." She then looked Roxas in the eye and, with a straight face, said, "Yeah, I guess that might be a factor, too…Barely."

"Barely?!" Roxas exclaimed in disbelief, and that was what broke the serious façade that Xion was trying to hold with that little joke, giving way to unrestrained laughter for both her and their friends. "Oh, ha, ha, ha. Very funny."

"Either way, I'm not the least bit offended," Hayner reassured Xion. "I still remember the last time we tried to tag-team in a Struggle match."

Xion's face scrunched up a little bit in thought before she asked, "When was that?"

"You remember. That day when Seifer was messing with us and had Fuu back him up because Rai was stuck at home sick. Hayner asked you to partner with him because he thought having Roxas be his partner would be unfair or something silly, but you guys ended up getting creamed because you both underestimated Fuu," Olette explained.

That did not seem to ring any bells for Xion, and just when he was about to back up Olette's story, Roxas found himself unable to remember that day either. He was just about to say so when Pence said, "Either way, all three of you are gonna clean up, especially if it's Roxas and Xion who tag-team for the final round! You guys are the best tag-team Strugglers in the whole town!"

"Go get 'em," Olette cheered.

The twins did not really see any reason to disagree with their friends, and they immediately bumped fists with Hayner as the taller blonde declared, "It's a promise!" With that said, Hayner turned his mind back to their beach plans and said, "Now, let's get down to business. One ticket to the beach is 900 munny. How much for the five of us?"

"4500 munny," Olette instantly replied.

"And 300 each to spend there," Hayner determined. "What's that for all of us?"

"1500 munny, which totals up to 6000 munny," Xion quickly answered with a smile to Olette. The girls were both regular math whizzes, and they regularly had competitions to figure out who would get the answer to such questions quickest. Often times, it even extended to any tests for said subject in school, but it was always in good fun. "And if any of us want to get a new swimsuit, we'd need at least 350 each."

"I think I'm good on that front, actually," Olette reassured everyone, with similar voices from the boys minutes later.

"But what would we even need the 300 munny for? What are we going to spend that on," Roxas asked, honestly wondering what they could possibly need that much munny for while they were at the beach.

"Pretzels, of course! What else is there," Hayner questioned in reply.

"Well, there's always watermelon," Roxas suggested.

"Too pricy. They're, like, 2000 munny apiece," Hayner denied, making Roxas cringe a little when he heard that. There was no way they could get enough munny so that so much as one of them could get a watermelon at the beach before the day's end.

"Oo, oo! What about pizza," Xion offered.

"Not as bad, but still pretty pricy out there. One slice is 900 munny apiece, and a whole pie is, like, 1500," Hayner revealed.

That made Xion copy her brother's earlier reaction, and ultimately, both twins simultaneously agreed, "Pretzels it is."

"You know, it sometimes scares me how you guys do that," Pence admitted to the twins.

"Do what," both Roxas and Xion asked at the same time.

"Say the exact same thing at the same time. It's a little creepy."

The two looked at one another before they both shrugged with Xion saying, "It's a twin thing."

"You probably would be a little weirded out by it," Roxas finished.

"Twin-related matters aside, where were we at," Hayner inquired, getting them back on track again.

"We need 6000 munny altogether. But all we have is…" Olette recounted as she checked her pouch to see how much she had. "…650."

"I've got 800," Pence reported, having just checked his own wallet.

"150. Sorry," Roxas shrugged in apology.

"Um…100," Xion sheepishly admitted. When the others looked at her, she could only shrug and say, "What? I saw a cute pair of shoes in a store the other day, and I just had to get them."

"Seriously? Why shoes," Hayner asked.

"They're shoes, and I'm a girl. That's math even you should be able to do," Xion replied with a teasing remark at the end.

"Okay, fair enough. Either way, that's a total of 1700 munny, and we'll need another 4300," Hayner deducted, confirming for the others that he did not have any munny at all, at least once they were able to do the math in their heads. Having figured that out the quickest, both of the girls were prepared to call Hayner out on the fact, when he suddenly turned and raced off saying, "Let's find ourselves some odd jobs and earn some dough! We have 'til the train leaves to earn 860 munny each! Meet at the station with cash in hand!"

With that said, the other four just watched as Hayner took off and disappeared around the bend, heading into the Tram Commons so that he could snag a look at its job request board for said odd jobs. The other four just stared in silence before Pence finally asked what everyone was thinking. "Didn't he say he had it covered?"

"Well, that's Hayner for you," Xion shrugged with a sigh.

"Whatever. Those pretzels are sounding pretty good," Roxas dismissed. He then turned towards the Station Heights request board and said, "So, let's get busy and start pitching in on those odd jobs. Can't just leave Hayner to do everything, after all."

The other three just nodded in agreement and quickly followed after their friends, heading to one of the two request boards so that they could gather up the munny that they needed. Not once afterwards, did Roxas and Xion's second gap in memory cross anyone's mind, but if it had at least come to them, the two siblings probably would have found themselves with a slew of questions that would have led to another step in the greater mystery that they were already in the midst of facing.

The five friends spent the rest of the day doing whatever odd jobs they could find on the request boards, and there were quite a fair amount to be done. Whether it was delivering mail quickly while astride a skateboard, helping to entertain the crowd in a street show, hanging up a few more posters for the Struggle tournament as quickly as possible, or even just breaking up trash so it could be properly thrown out and recycled, the gang did it all. Sure they were not exactly the most glamorous jobs, but it was definitely the best work one could get on short notice, and it did pay pretty well too, when they did the jobs just right and fast enough. More often than not, Xion and Roxas found themselves working together on some of the jobs, but they did find it a little odd that neither of them ever encountered any of their other friends while they were hard at work on these tasks. Sure, Twilight Town's main city was a big place, but they were sure that they would have encountered one of the other three at some point. Eventually, they just shrugged it off, feeling too excited about a trip to the beach to really care that much in the first place, and got their share of work done before they had finally accumulated their share of munny for the trip, plus then some, and when they were done, they both made a beeline for the train station.

Both siblings arrived at the plaza at nearly the same time, and they quickly spotted the others waiting for them just outside the station's main entrance so that they could add their share of earnings into the already growing pool that everyone had already entrusted Olette to count up. With Roxas and Xion's latest contribution, Olette could only smile when she finished doing the final bit of math, and turned to face her friends with a wide smile on her face. "Nice work, everyone," Olette praised. "Added to what we started with, we now have…" She then paused for dramatic effect before producing her orange munny pouch and announcing, "Tada! 6200 munny!"

"Sweet," Hayner cheered, while the others either clapped or cheered along with him. "Any chance I can hold that so I can get a feel for just how loaded we are now?"

"No way," Olette refused before turning to the other blonde of their group. "Here Roxas. You hold onto this, and don't let Hayner touch it." The indignant response that Hayner gave to that burn went largely ignored for the most part, but only because they were all excited to finally be heading out to the beach. "Let's get tickets!"

"Right behind you, Olette," Pence stated as he followed after the girl who had just counted up their earnings.

Xion and Roxas were about to follow when they realized that Hayner was still rooted to where he had stood, having already calmed down from the recent bit of playful ribbing that was thrown at him. "We can't be together forever," Hayner suddenly said, eyes downcast and tone a bit somber, much to the two's surprise. "So we'd better make the time we do have something to remember."

"Huh," Roxas asked, obviously confused by this sudden break from character.

"What's with you all of a sudden, Hayner," Xion questioned, just as surprised as her brother.

Hayner said nothing in response for a minute, until he finally grinned at the two, lightly socked Roxas in the arm, and exclaimed, "Gotcha!"

"Hey! Not cool," Xion whined in reply to Hayner's joke as said boy rushed up to the station entrance as well.

Roxas could only grin at the two and their antics before he started to follow them, but just as he had taken three steps forward, something suddenly hit him in the leg and caused him to trip. The minute she heard something heavy hit the ground, Xion immediately turned back to see that Roxas had fallen flat on his face, while a small, familiar looking stick hit the ground a few feet away from him. That was not the only thing that registered to her though, as there the man in a black coat from earlier was standing right next to Roxas as well. That made her worries spike quite a bit, and when she saw the man suddenly lift Roxas up by his arm, she quickly rushed towards the two. She was not sure why this stranger was appeared to suddenly be roughing up her brother, but she had a feeling that it was not just for how Roxas had accidentally hit him with that stick earlier.

Like Xion, Roxas had also deduced that this guy was the same man from earlier, but he was basing it on both his coat and his build, and he knew that he should probably be fighting against the guy with how roughly he had been hoisted up, but for some reason, Roxas did not even try to fight back against the guy. If there was any fight in Roxas to direct at this mystery man, it quickly vanished when the stranger asked him something in a deep voice that made him pause. "Can you feel Sora? Do you know if Xion can feel him?"

"What," Roxas gasped, completely caught off guard by the man suddenly mentioning the boy from his dreams, and the implication that his sister might know something about said boy.

By that point, Xion had gotten close enough to where she was able to hear the question, too, and immediately froze up when she heard it. Why would Roxas be able to feel this Sora person that she had been dreaming about? Did it have something to do with how Roxas was using the Keyblade that she had seen both herself and Sora using, or was there something else there that Roxas was not telling her? Those questions had left her mind so boggled that she barely even noticed that the stranger seemed to turn towards her until he actually spoke to her. "You should trust your brother. It has saved you both before, and may likely save you again."

Now Xion was confused and a little bit frightened on a number of levels. What could that have meant? She was not able to ponder it any further though, because the sound of their friends calling to them pulled both hers and Roxas's attention away from the man in the black coat. The two nodded to show that they had heard and then looked back to the man, only to find that he had vanished without a trace. Roxas just stared at where the guy had been standing for a few moments before he turned to Xion, silently asking if she saw where he went. When she shook her head in reply, Roxas decided that they should put it aside. After all, they did not have time to think about it too much. They only had a few minutes before the train left.

They made it inside just as Hayner was ordering five student tickets, so Roxas immediately reached to pull out the munny pouch from his pocket. That was when he suddenly found a new problem. His pocket was completely empty. Keeping calm, he figured that he probably just put the pouch in a different pocket, so he checked his other one, only to find nothing there either. Now he was getting worried, and began to frantically check the rest of his pockets, only to find that the pouch was not in any of them.

"Oh no," Roxas gasped after fishing around in one last pocket, earning him worried looks from his sister and friends.

"What's wrong," Hayner asked.

"I can't…It's not…" Roxas stuttered before his mind finally latched on to the only possible conclusion. "That guy…He took it!"

"Are you sure," Xion asked, not wanting it to be true, but finding no other reasonable conclusion on what had happened to the munny. After all, if Roxas had dropped the pouch, he would have noticed well before now.

"It had to have been him," Roxas insisted before he turned to race out of the station and chase down the thief.

"Where are you going," Olette called out, worriedly.

"Remember when I fell? That guy who pulled me up," Roxas asked his friends. "I had the munny before that. I'm betting that guy took it! He couldn't have gotten too…far?"

When Roxas suddenly trailed off at the end of his sentence, Xion turned to the others to see that they were all looking at him with odd, confused expressions. "Guy? What are you talking about," Hayner finally asked. "There was no guy."

"Yeah there was. Roxas and I both saw him, plain as day," Xion insisted. "How could any of you have missed him? He stuck out like a sore thumb in that coat of his."

The other three shared a small look between them before Olette said, "Xion, Roxas just fell all of a sudden, and then you freaked out and went to help him up. There wasn't anyone else there."

"Huh? But he…There wasn't…really," Roxas stuttered in confusion, looking at Xion for help, only to receive a helpless look in response. It was obvious that she believed him and had seen the guy in the black coat too, but she had no idea why the others were saying that he was not there. Either way it did not matter, because at that moment, they all heard the bell for the last train ring, indicating that they had ended up missing their chance to get to the beach, much to their shared disappointment.

While the gang was sad that they were not going to be heading out on their beach trip after all, a quick trip to McDuck's Tasty Treat Parlor to get some sea-salt ice cream using some spare munny that Olette had set aside from the collective funds just in case quickly raised their spirits, and soon enough, they were all sitting atop the clock tower to enjoy the ice cream and the amazing view of the sunset. At least, most of them were, as Roxas and Xion just sat there with their ice creams hanging in their hands as they tried to puzzle together what had happened. They both knew for a fact that there was a man there when Roxas had tripped, and there was no way that they could have both imagined the exact same thing. Not only that, but while they were waiting in line to get their ice cream, the two revealed that they had both heard the man speaking to them, and told each other what the man had said, both to each of them directly and indirectly. With all of that in mind, they knew there was no way that they could have imagined him being there, and that was without accounting for the fact that it was impossible for two people to imagine the exact same thing down to the last detail. So why was it that the others did not seem to have seen that pick-pocket?

It did not take much for the others to notice the two's distress, especially given how neither of them had even taken a small lick of their ice cream, and Olette was the first to point that out. "Hey, it's melting," she cautioned the two.

"Oh! Right," Xion nodded half-heartedly before she took a tiny bite out of the ice cream, feeling the salty yet sweat flavor grace her taste buds seconds later.

Roxas did not eat any of his own popsicle right away, but instead, just looked to the others and mumbled, "Sorry."

"Cheer up already," Hayner told his two buddies, his tone showing that there were no hard feelings, despite the disappointment.

"That was definitely weird though," Pence admitted.

"Strange," Olette nodded along.

"You said it," Hayner agreed.

Roxas and Xion said nothing in response, but did let out simple nods to show that they agreed with the other three before they put all their attention onto their ice cream. After a few more moments of silence, Roxas quietly muttered to himself, "'Can you feel Sora? Do you know if Xion can feel him?'"

Roxas was not sure what the stranger was implying right then, but he did know that it had something to do with his sister. Whatever it was, he had to find out, for Xion's sake if nothing else. Of course, Roxas was not the only one who was concerned about what the stranger had said, because Xion's thoughts were just as preoccupied with what he had told her. "What did that guy mean when he said I should trust Roxas, and that doing so had saved us before," Xion wondered to herself. "Did something bad nearly happen to us? And just what should I be trusting Roxas with? Did he mean with the knowledge of my dreams? And if he did, how could he have known about them?"

"Restoration at 28 percent," the computer reported, much to DiZ's frustration.

"Naminé, hurry," the masked scientist muttered, partially to himself, knowing that they were running out of time.

His distress must not have been apparent, or at least not enough for the man who was tossing the munny pouch up and down in one hand to notice, because said individual could only ask one question of him, his tone disbelieving and a bit dry when he spoke. "Is it really that hard to make a beach?"

DiZ had expected that question to come up at some point, but he did not think it would come from the man he had been working with the longest as opposed to the armored Keyblade master was standing next to him. Still, he did have an answer at the ready all the same, and if he could see Ventus's face right now, he was sure that the man's expression would have been demanding an answer to that same question. "We'd be giving the enemy another entry point," DiZ replied as simply as he could.

"And it also serves as an excuse to not let the kids have any fun while they're in there, doesn't it," Ventus accused.

This time, DiZ did turn away from his various computer monitors so that he could face the Keyblade master, and stated, "If I did not wish for them to enjoy themselves, I would have placed them at a point when they were in school instead of summer vacation, while ensuring that they were always working. Or heaven forbid, not allowed them a chance to even taste sea-salt ice cream while they were in there."

The man in the coat stopped playing with the pouch so that he could stare at DiZ for a moment, and Ventus was sure that he could see the man's face under the hood, he would have seen an expression of disbelief. After another minute or so, the mystery man finally turned to Ventus and asked, "Is he serious?"

"Many things may have changed about him since I last met him years ago, but when it comes to his opinion of sea-salt ice cream, that is one of the few things that have not. Something I'm actually grateful for," Ventus admitted.

The man was not sure what to say to that, and instead just brought up another important topic as he held up the pouch. "And what do we do with this?"

DiZ looked at the pouch for a moment, before he suggested, "We can always buy some sea-salt ice cream for ourselves." His short, hollow laugh was the only response to his joke, as he was sure that both of the other two were giving him rather unamused looks in response to it, so he quickly turned serious once again. "Objects from that town must be kept out of the real world. You can delete that."

The man just shrugged in reply and returned to his previous activity with the pouch, until Ventus moved to stand next to him and whispered, "I wouldn't get rid of it just yet. It may come in handy later."

"Better safe than sorry right? Or do you just not want the rewards of their hard work to have gone to waste," the hooded man asked.

"Both," Ventus freely admitted as he turned his gaze back to the life monitor. "Besides, those two should have at least one souvenir from their time there when they come back out."

"And you really think that DiZ will let that happen," the man inquired as he discreetly pocketed the pouch.

Ventus left the question unanswered for a moment as he studied the scientist who was hard at work on the elaborate computer, monitoring the status of his first apprentice's recovery, and how the rest of Roxas and Xion's day went before they finally returned home to rest up for the day. "No, I don't," Ventus finally admitted as he watched the two kids in the virtual world get ready to turn in for the night. He then smiled a little behind his helmet as he added, "At least, not unless we help give the two a small push in rediscovering who they were a little more quickly, and I think we both know who can help with that."

If the stranger's face was not covered as much as his own, Ventus probably would have seen a smirk start to form on the his face as well, one that was very similar to the Keyblade master's, and showed that the man understood what the blonde had in mind. Of course, being able to see that would also mean that Ven would see the familiar face of someone that was supposed to have been defeated almost a year ago now, and the man in black was not quite willing to let the Keyblade master know of what had happened to him since they last met just yet, or any time soon if he could help it.

AN: So yeah, not much of a change here, but we did learn a little bit more about the workings of Twilight Town in this story. Like the reason behind the popularity of "DuckTales" in the story, a the location of where the gang normally gets their sea-salt ice cream from, and a little bit about Struggle and the tournament. Just to be clear, yeah, I changed the Four Crystal Trophy into a Five Crystal Trophy for a very obvious reason. I'm sure you can all figure out what that is.

Xion: We did get to see a little more banter between me, Roxas, and the Twilight Town gang, too.

AN: That is also true, and we saw that Xion is just as big of a Struggle player as Roxas and Hayner, while also explaining why she's not in the tournament with the boys. But don't worry, she'll get her chance to Struggle when the big day of the tournament arrives. And more than that, it looks like there's a few things going on with Xion and Roxas's memories, huh? I'm sure we can all figure out what the deal is there, right? Oh, and before I forget, a little something that I meant to answer in the opening note: the question of who Roxas and Xion's guardian is. Well, I suppose one answer would be to say that it is Ventus, but up until recently, he's been doing another job. If anything, it's just a cover for how DiZ is always manipulating the data in the virtual world so that the two have munny for the basic essentials of human living.

Speaking of munny, I did in fact do all the math that was necessary when they were first adding up munny for the beach trip, and you can even double check it all if you'd like. Also, I've seen a few times where some people would earn enough munny to have more than what you actually needed for the trip in the game, so I decided to go with that route here as well, but I made sure to keep it realistic, as there was no way that they could've earned that much more than a collective sum of 6000 munny before they needed to get to the train station.

Roxas: Speaking of the train station, looks like that encounter I had with Riku played out a bit differently this time around.

AN: Well what do ya expect to happen there? For it to be exactly the same as before? Of course Riku, or rather our pick-pocket in a black coat was going to question Roxas about whether or not he could feel Sora, or if Xion could, but I'm betting you're all more curious about his comment to Xion, aren't you? Well...sorry, but no spoilers there.

Xion: Oh foofie.

Roxas: Isn't that Yuna's line?

AN: Well it was more of her cousin Rikku's line, from my understanding of Final Fantasy X, but that's beside the point. Hope everyone got a little bit of a laugh from Roxas and Xion's time outside the Usual Spot with the stick. I remember reading about that a few times, and seeing it in 358/2 Days, so I just had to include that in there.

So, that covers everything, I believe, and ends one of the less eventful days of the summer vacation, so who wants to get a glimpse at the more exciting times of Day 3? Well, here ya go. Onto the Preview!...

With another round of strange dreams about both the adventures Sora shared with his master and friends, and ones about themselves in an odd set of circumstances, comes the start of a new day for Roxas and Xion. The difference being that the day is going to be even stranger than the last two had been before, as they encounter someone that may have some of the answers they're looking for. Of course, this same girl also has the effect of rendering Roxas a bit speechless and completely mystified by her beauty, much to Xion's amusement, but any teasing that the girl could dish out to her brother is put on hold when they encounter more of the silver creature that was responsible for the theft of all the photos. Just who is this mysterious, blonde girl in white? How does she know the two? And can they unravel at least one of the mysteries that have been on their minds lately? Find out just what day three has in store, next time.

Yeah, you all know just who's going to show up next chapter, and it's going to be quite the interesting time for our two newest heroes. Until then...

Please read and review, and see ya real soon!