Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Legion

by lyokoMARVELanime

Sequel to Dual Keys. Sora, Donald, Goofy return to the worlds after an event that caused them to have their memories modified, and they're off on a new adventure with Ven. But this time they've some new friends with them. Can Roxas and Xion help to save the worlds from this new evil group? Is there some deeper mystery surrounding the two siblings? Find out along with the new team.

4. Summer Vacation: Day 4

AN: Well, once again, this took a little longer than I thought to finish, and also longer than I would've liked, but no use crying over spilled milk, right? Because either way, we're back with the next chapter of Keyblade Legion!

[audience applause]

Xion: And we're going to be seeing a lot of old friends returning this chapter too, both from the previous story, and from previous lives, namely mine and Roxas's previous lives!

AN: Hey! Just because I think you're cute, doesn't mean I'm gonna letcha steal my job!

Xion: Sorry. I'm just really excited for the new chapter and all the things we'll be uncovering here.

AN: Yeah, I can't say I blame you, but first, let's answer a review or two, shall we?

Roxas: How about we start with "Monkey D. Conan"? I think he brought up some very good questions.

AN: Sure. Let's see, regarding Axel's drive in the story this time, along with other Axel related questions...well, that'll all be something we give a little hint to or reveal later on in this chapter. Same goes for your question as to what Aqua has been doing all this time. Though why she has not come to see Ven just yet, well that's something that will be revealed later on in the story, assuming that you can't guess what the reason is by the end of the chapter. As for whether or not Ventus knows Flowmotion...To be honest, the thought had not really occurred to me that much until recently, but I would say that he at least knows the basics of it. He just hasn't had time to master it as of yet. The guy has been busy doing a lot of things in the last year after all, and since he received the Mark of Mastery.

Axel: There's also that question that "Greatwestern1522" asked about what your plans for the Battle of 1000 Heartless are, and whether or not the battles against the data versions of Organization XIII will be included.

AN: What the?! Where did you come from?! Better yet, where have you been? We were prepared to start this note forever ago, and you were nowhere to be seen.

Axel: Sorry, but I just had to step out really quick to grab...the icing on the cake. [produces a few sticks of sea-salt ice cream, two of which he immediately hands to Roxas and Xion]

Roxas: All right! [happily accepts the ice cream]

Xion: Perfect! Just what we need to really finalize a chapter being ready for viewing! [does the same as Roxas]

Axel: Yeah, and I would've been back sooner, but the line was so long I almost thought I was in Wonderland.

AN: Oh okay. Anyways, getting to the topic that Axel and that reviewer brought up, it is still a little too soon to be asking about that particular battle with the Heartless, so sorry, but I won't be saying anything on that just yet. As for the Organization XIII Data battles, I don't think I'll be going with those. You'll see the Absent Silhouette battles, but the Data ones, not so much.

Xion: Oh! Can I just give a quick comment to the guest reviewer "Guest" from 10/3/2018? Let me just say that...I really like you. That made me smile a lot when I read that review. It's always nice to see someone who cares so much about me.

Naminé: Same here.

AN: Yeah, I figured you would feel that way. Now, let's have a quick shout out to "Guest Isa"...

Roxas, Xion, & Axel: WHERE?! [Roxas and Xion whip out their Keyblades with hateful glares scanning the room while Axel frantically searches with hope in his eyes]

AN: Not that Isa, you guys. A guest reviewer.

Roxas, Xion, & Axel: Oh, yeah. We knew that. [all calm down]

AN: Ahem, first off, don't worry about how your criticism sounded, and glad to hear that your such an admirer of my work. As for the point you brought up in the first part of your review, you have to remember that despite their encounter with future versions of Sora and Kairi in Keyblades of Future Past, neither of them are able to predict the future, and only act to do what's best in that moment. Terra-Xehanort was highly amnesic and steadily showing signs of turning back into Terra at the time, but that would likely have never happened if he fell into darkness, so Aqua did what she thought was the best way to get her friend back to his old self at the time. As for Ventus, he was working really hard on finishing his training and becoming a Keyblade master at the time, so it was not like he was going to just drop everything to solve every problem that the worlds had just like that, especially since he considered it to be so important.

Ventus: Besides, you'll recall that Future Sora and Kairi asked Mickey to make sure to look out for certain KH characters, and Roxas, Xion, and Naminé were all on that list. DiZ is too consumed in his hatred and desire for revenge to really care about their well-being, so of course she and I are going to have to strongarm him on a few things to keep them safe. We understand his reasoning, but that doesn't make it any more right to treat kids the way he did so that he could fulfill a selfish desire. Besides, like lyokoMARVELanime said, I was busy training my ass off at the time to become a master, and I was not entirely sure if Xehanort the apprentice and Terra-Xehanort (or just straight up Xehanort) were the same person. Can't really act on a simple suspicion. Last time I did that didn't end too well if you'll recall.

AN: Moving on..."The Keeper of Worlds", you actually bring up a very interesting idea that I might run with later on as a little joke in the main story. Thanks for that in advance.

By the way, "Guest" of 10/4/2018, regarding your question about Ven and Aqua getting some alone time (wink-wink, nudge-nudge)...

Ven&Aqua: [both blush crimson at the implications]

AN: Yeah, if you've read some of my other stories, you should know that such things will be implied at some point or another, but we definitely won't be seeing anything on screen when it happens. Gotta keep it at PG-13 at most after all.

Sora: And while we're talking to guests, "Guest" of 10/9/2018, thanks for the wish of congrats in regards to my big win against Pit. Honestly, I'd be really surprised if there was ever any doubt about my victory.

AN: HEY! WHOA! BACK IN THE POD MISTER! You're still too early! [hits control]

Sora: Uh-oh. [suddenly finds the memory pod springing up around him before it retracts back into the floor]

AN: Oi. Some people are just so impatient. But yeah, I do agree with Sora. There really should never have been any doubt about that win. Let's wrap up these review answers with a response to "Anonymaton"...hmm, I really don't know, but I highly doubt that any Star Wars characters will be serving time as a secret boss in KH3, let alone total bosses like Vader or Maul, but I do understand why you would hope that would be the case at least. Let's be honest, we're all hoping to see a little bit of Star Wars or Marvel in KH3 when it comes out.

Now, I think we've wrapped up our review responses for this chapter, so what're we waiting around here for? It's time to Struggle!

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

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Chapter IV

With the start of a new dream, came some new visions, and as usual, they all followed the memories of Sora and his friends. The only difference this time, was that it looked like Sora was viewing a very important memory as well, as he was looking on at a much younger version of the red haired girl as she talked to a woman with blue hair. "Are these for me," the blue haired woman asked.

The redhead immediately nodded with a smile and explained, "I picked you some flowers. Thank you for saving me."

The woman's smile grew much bigger and softer after hearing that and accepting the flowers, and she did not seem able to hold back her appreciation when she next spoke. "Oh, they're lovely. You're so sweet." There was a brief jump in the memory, obviously skipping over a few things, as the next thing that was heard was the woman introducing herself to the redhead. "I'm Aqua."

Another scene jump in the memory being viewed showed the redhead listening to something an old woman was saying, likely the redhead's grandma, while Aqua watched them leaving, but only some of the last lines could be heard. "Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away."

"Something tells me I didn't run into her by accident," the blue haired woman could be heard saying before the memory Sora was watching came to an end.

Another scene jump showed the four friends standing in a very strange place, where it looked like the water in the falls surrounding them were ascending upwards as opposed to their proper direction, and an old, rather ruined castle loomed over them. For some reason, the place seemed to be frightening to Ventus, because he let out an astonished gasp as his face grew very pale. "What's the matter, Ven," Donald asked, feeling more than a little concerned for their friend.

Ventus did not say anything in response, and it almost looked like he had been completely frozen in place while his breath had gotten caught in his throat. It was not until Goofy gave him a small shake that the blonde finally came out of it, but his horrorstruck look did not fade at all. Seeing that, Goofy immediately asked, "Are you okay, Ven?"

"I wish I could say that I was," Ventus quietly admitted, earning more concerned looks from his friends. "I think…No, I know that I've been here before."

"You have," all three of the others gasped in shock, with Jiminy repeating the question once he had jumped up onto Sora's shoulder a second later.

"Unfortunately, yes, and I can say with utmost confidence that this world was nothing like it is now when I was last here," Ventus explained, having now figured out at least one mystery that had plagued him for many years now. "Hook was right to say that this place was the ruins of something, because Hollow Bastion…Is actually the ruins of Radiant Garden."

Another scene shift saw Sora and his friends confronting Riku once more, only for the silver haired boy to raise his hand up, and then suddenly seem to pull the Keyblade out of Sora's hand and into his own. "It's up to me," Riku grinned, mockingly. "Only the chosen Keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world. There can't be two wielders of the same Keyblade."

Sora could then be seen looking very downcast, while Ventus stood over him, attempting to cheer up the boy, and the speech he gave was likely a huge motivator for Sora. "I could sense that someone had indeed passed the power of the Keyblade to Riku, but I'm absolutely positive that the Kingdom Key was never meant for him. Surely you must have sensed something that would prove that to you better than anybody before it jumped to his hand, right?" He immediately took Sora's silence as a yes, and pressed on by saying, "Then it's up to you to get it back. In that moment, Riku managed to overpower your claim on the Kingdom Key, yes, but as its true wielder, you can still reclaim it by showing that you do possess the strength of heart to be the master of Kingdom Key."

"Are you sure," Sora asked. "What if I do try and it turns out that I'm not worthy of it after all?"

"Trust me, Sora. You have no idea how sure I am that you're worthy of Kingdom Key, and even if I didn't know, I'd still be telling you all of this, because I believe it to be true, just like I believe in you," Ventus promised with a smile.

Another scene jump saw Ventus summon forth a Keyblade from a Keychain, before Sora was seen using that Keyblade until they stood before Riku again, this time while the silver haired boy was wearing a very dark outfit that just radiated with the powers of darkness. "Are you sure you've met a Keyblade Master before, because if you did, you would know that a real master would never quit, especially not when they're so close to their goal like Sora and I are now," Ventus could be heard questioning Riku.

Riku was then seen throwing a blast purple fire at both Sora and Ventus, apparently in a blind rage, only for Goofy to jump in front of the blast and block it with his shield, as he was heard commenting, "But I'm not gonna betray Sora either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together! And not only is Ven one of my best buddies too, he's also the king's former apprentice and one of his best buddies, so I figure that betraying Ven might as well be just as bad as betraying the king."

"All for one and one for all," Donald could be heard cheering as he was seen joining the other three on their side. A minute later, the Keyblade disappeared from Riku's hand, and then rematerialized in Sora's once more.

"I know now I don't need a Keyblade. I've got a better weapon, and it's one that I've had all along: my heart," Sora declared proudly. "My friends are my power!"

"And that goes for all of us, too," Ventus punctuated, Guardian Wind at the ready as well.

A few scenes of an epic battle between Sora and Riku could be seen, even through a few of the blurry images of the red haired girl, including one of Sora holding her body in his arms as he shook her in an attempt to wake her up. At one point, one could even see Sora's body was lit up with a glowing aura of energy. "This is my Unique Tier One Command Style," Sora could be heard shouting as he charged in and began attacking in a much different way than before.

Another scene shift allowed one to see a massive bestial creature standing alongside the four friends, though from how little panic they were displaying, it was clear that they were not enemies of this beast. "So, your heart won this battle," the beast commented in a rough, growling voice.

Sora merely nodded in reply before the scene shifted again, showing both master and apprentice standing before a man in a black coat, who actually walked through Sora beforehand. A moment later, the mystery man shot out a stream of lightning from one hand, which Sora managed to block once he had summoned forth his Keyblade on instinct. After deflecting the electric blast upwards and away from him, Sora and Ventus seemed to just stare down the hooded man for several moments in silence. Whether or not a battle had followed afterwards would not be known, as the dream shifted once again, to show Sora holding the redhead girl's body in his arms, while mentally talking with said girl. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to go back into your body. You seemed like you were going to be able to go back on Neverland," Sora questioned.

"Sora, think for a minute. If all of the other Princesses of Heart are here, and have lost their hearts, then what do you think that this machine is for," the redhead reasoned. "This has to be what Maleficent and whoever's controlling Riku are using to create that Keyhole to darkness, so what if I jump back into my body only for the Keyhole to become fully completed?"

Whatever she meant about someone controlling Riku was cleared up, because the next scene shift showed Riku in his dark form, with a sinister looking Keyblade in his hand, and even in the dream, the feeling he gave off could easily tell someone that he was not truly Riku. "It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness," Not-Riku revealed.

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that," the Ventus could be heard asking as the scenes shifted a little once more. "I know the real Ansem, and I realized long ago that while the pages from the report we've been looking for were written by you, you're not Ansem. Not the real one, at least," Ventus informed him. He then placed a hand to his nose as he added, "Besides, I'd know the stench of your vast darkness anywhere, so you couldn't fool me with that lie even if you wanted to actually try."

Ansem just scowled at Ventus through Riku's eyes, having been able to quickly realize that the blonde was not bluffing, until he finally scoffed and remarked, "So, you think you've become so much smarter, do you, you feckless neophyte? Shame it won't stop me from achieving my goal." After another scene shift, one could see Sora on his knees, clutching his chest where his heart would be, while Ansem raised the sinister Keyblade up in preparation to run him through, as he could be heard shouting, "Lead me into everlasting darkness!"

"SORA," the redhead girl could be heard shouting from within his heart, almost sounding like she was struggling against something when she did, but thankfully, it was enough to pull Sora to his feet so that he could block Ansem's blade with his own Keyblade.

"Forget it! There's no way I'm ever letting you take Kairi's heart," Sora snarled as he finally managed to push Ansem back, finally saying the red haired girl's name in full for the first time in all of these dreams. "You'll have to destroy me before that can happen."

"And to get him, you'll have to go through me," Ventus promised as he ran over to Sora's side, Guardian Wind in hand and a glare firmly fixed on Ansem.

Several hazy images then played across the mind's eye, starting with Goofy, Donald, and Ventus all looking at Sora with varying degrees of panic and distress, despite their words of panic being silenced in the dream. The images then showed Sora giving the three a smile before he turned Ansem's Keyblade on himself and stabbed it into his chest, all the while, one could faintly hear him thinking, "I love you, Kairi."

The next images that played showed Kairi's heart returning to her body, while Donald and Ventus both rushed towards Sora as his body began to disappear into several faint lights as he fell towards the ground. Kairi could be seen trying to catch him before he fell, but he quickly broke apart into several, fading glimmers of sparks that floated up and twinkled out like stars. The next images were especially hazy, like someone had been going through the events with their eyes closed and with ear plugs in, because the only noises that could be heard, were muffled sounds of battle, and someone shouting out something that sounded like "Spellweaver," but a minute later, that same person who said that could faintly be heard encouraging Sora, but all that was heard was the end of her speech. "Kairi and the others are all waiting for you! NOW GO!"

The next images that faded through the mind's eye were a bit more focused, as they showed Ventus, Donald, and Goofy all battling off Heartless, while Kairi was suddenly surrounded by them, until a bright light suddenly erupted from the center of the dog-pile that jumped on top of her. When the light faded, everyone saw Sora standing proud and tall, with the redhead held in his arms. "Kairi," Sora whispered.

A minute later, a completely clear image of the redhead named Kairi appeared before the mind's eye, smiling widely, as if glad to see that someone she really cared about with all of her heart still remembered her. The scene quickly jumped again, this time showing the man known as Leon and his friends standing before the adventurers, as he revealed something that was rather disheartening. "Before all this, you didn't know about the other worlds, right," Leon asked.

"Well the reason no one really knew for sure was because every world was isolated," a woman named Aerith explained. "Impassable walls divided them, but the Heartless destroyed those walls, and if the worlds return, so will the walls."

"Which means that gummi ships will be useless, and all the pathways that you could travel will be wiped from existence," Leon finished at last, finally unveiling the big truth that had been kept hidden for so long.

"My friends and I were only able to reach other worlds because of our armor and Keyblades, and while there are people who can do so without a Keyblade, they had a very special magic at their disposal or help from another wielder," Ventus was then explaining. "For now, this could very well be the last time we see each other, at least as far as anyone who's from a world that is different from yours is concerned."

"But then…wouldn't that also mean," Kairi started to ask, her eyes already trailing back to Yuna and a boy known as Tidus. From the looks on their faces, it seemed that they had also realized this fact, and they were not any happier about it either. Yuna especially.

"No," Yuna whispered, shaking her head in defiance of the idea.

"Hey, it'll be okay, Yuna," Tidus tried to reassure her, even though he was clearly not so confident about it himself. His only response was Yuna shaking her head again, and he quickly stepped over to wrap his arms around her in a gentle hug. "Come on. It'll be okay. I don't care what the others say. We will see each other again someday."

"But…But…I don't want to say goodbye," Yuna whispered.

When the scene started to cut out a little, it did not do so for long, as Leon was soon heard saying, "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," Aerith added with a smile.

After another scene shift, Ventus could be seen sparing one last look to Leon and the others before he said something that sounded really empowering. "May our hearts be our guiding key."

Once again, the scene shifted, this time showing Sora and Kairi together in a cave, with Ventus somewhere close by, as the girl placed a star-shaped charm made of seashells into Sora's hand. "Take this," Kairi said. "It's my lucky charm. Be sure to give it back to me when this journey is finally over."

"Don't worry. I will," Sora said with a smile.

"Promise," Kairi asked. Sora's answer was likely a positive one to reaffirm Kairi's faith in him, but all the same, she could still be heard saying a few other things as the dream carried on. "I don't want you to get hurt, either, and that's why I have to go with you. I want to do whatever I can to help make sure that you're safe, and that we can all come back home after this is over. More than that, I don't want to be separated from you after being with you through all of this." When the scene shifted again, it showed Sora, Ventus, and Kairi each wielding a Keyblade as they faced off with a massive beast, as Kairi's voice could be heard saying, "Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

That was where the dreams ended on the segments involving Sora and his friends, including Kairi, who was now positively revealed as more than just a friend, because from that point on, it was showing more images of Roxas and Xion's time in the group of people in black coats. There was something different about them this time, because as a few of the visions passed by the mind's eye, there was clearly a third person that was often with Roxas and Xion, but whoever they were, their face was often hidden in a blur or behind the hood of his coat, even though there was a distinct feeling that he was not wearing said hood at the time.

The mystery figure did not appear right from the start, as the first scene showed Roxas standing at Xion's bedside, looking very worried, until the girl suddenly awoke with a gasp. "WHOA," Roxas cried out in shock when his sister suddenly jumped up in bed. He managed to regain his composure though, and greeted, "Uh…good morning, Xion."

"Oh…Morning…"Xion hesitantly replied, worried for her brother figure.

Seeing her distress, Roxas immediately reassured her, "You woke up so suddenly, you just startled me."

"S-sorry," Xion bashfully nodded. She was soon gazing down to the side in embarrassment until she noticed something lying on her pillow that brought a smile to her face. "Did you bring me these seashells?"

Roxas nodded proudly in reply, happy to see Xion smiling at the sight of the colorful seashells, and it grew a little more as she picked one up and held it to her ear with her eyes closed. "Do you hear it," he asked.

"Yeah. The sound of the waves," Xion confirmed with an almost nostalgic smile. After another moment of listening to said sound in the shell, Xion finally opened her eyes and asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"About twenty days," Roxas informed her.

"That long," Xion gasped in disbelief.

"Yeah. You were sleeping so much that me and…were getting worried," Roxas confirmed, and while it was clear that he had mentioned another name, for some reason, it appeared to be blocked out.

"I'm sorry about that," Xion apologized once again, before placing a hand to her chest. "Kind of weird that we can feel anything at all. Without having hearts to feel with…"

Roxas glanced down in contemplative thought, clearly having something on his mind, before he finally asked, "Do you really think…that we don't have hearts?"

"Huh? What do you mean," Xion asked with a curious look.

"Just…Just humor me for a minute," Roxas pleaded with her.

Xion scrunched her brow in thought before she finally said, "I'm not sure, actually. There are starting to be days where I think that…maybe I do have a heart, despite what the others say."

"Yeah," Roxas nodded, having felt the same thing quite a bit recently. He then shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it too much. I'm only asking because of something that somebody said to me a little while back while you were asleep."

A short scene shift saw a later moment in the same conversation, at a point where Xion said, "I'd like to tag along."

"But don't you need some more rest," Roxas questioned, clearly worried.

"I'll be fine. C'mon, take me with you," Xion insisted, and while she was not giving Roxas a sad-puppy-face, the way she was smiling at him with those bright blue eyes of hers was just so cute that it made it impossible for him to say no.

"All right…Sure," Roxas sighed in defeat, earning a cute little giggle of excitement from Xion, while he just groaned. "I swear, you are cheating when you look at me like that, Sis."

"Maybe a little," was the only response Xion could give, as she was clearly too happy to really care right now.

When the scene shifted again, one could see Roxas walking alongside a taller individual with Xion in his arms, apparently asleep or unconscious. This was the first moment when the mystery figure whose face was always hidden had first appeared. A minute later, another man that was just as tall as the mystery individual came to stand before the three, and dispassionately, though almost arrogantly remarked, "Well that didn't take long. Did it break again?"

"She's not an 'it'," Roxas angrily snapped, obviously having a problem with this individual. Apparently, the mystery man was not too fond of the comment either, as he stopped only for a moment to whisper some words of caution to the offender before moving along to carry Xion to bed.

Another scene shift saw Roxas and Xion sitting atop the Twilight Town clock tower with the mystery man, this time appearing to have his hood up instead of just having his face blurred out, and all three of them had sea-salt ice cream in hand. "Hey…," Xion suddenly asked, the name of the mystery man being blocked out, since it looked like she was addressing him.

"Hm," the mystery man hummed in question.

"You've been to Castle Oblivion, right," Xion proceeded.

"Yeah."

Xion just hummed at that response, and then fell silent before she asked, "What is it like?"

"What's it like? Just an Organization research facility," the man replied like he was talking about something that was not really a big deal.

"For research, huh," Roxas repeated. "Seems everyone gets sent there all the time. Especially you."

"Although…they never send me or Roxas," Xion softly noted.

"Well…they probably just don't need you there," the mystery man shrugged, but to the other two, it sounded like he was trying to hide something.

Xion then stood up to leave, apparently earlier than usual if Roxas's surprised look was any indication, when suddenly, she seemed to get dizzy, lost her footing, and fell over the side. Roxas did not hesitate to throw himself forward and grabbed her hand before she fell all the way down to the ground several stories below, and with the taller man's help, he managed to pull her back up onto solid ground again. "Maybe…you're not completely well yet," Roxas cautioned, after he had checked to make sure she was okay.

"No, it's nothing like that," Xion insisted, but her expression made it clear that she was not so sure.

The three were silent for a few moments afterwards, until the tallest of the bunch suddenly cheered, "Got it!"

"Huh? Got what," Roxas asked.

"On our next day off, let's all go to the beach, huh," the man excitedly suggested.

"The beach? Where did that idea come from," Xion questioned.

"We should go someplace different for a change," the man shrugged like it was obvious.

"You're talking about a vacation with friends," Roxas happily realized.

"Exactly!"

While the other two were clearly getting more and more excited about the idea, Xion seemed hesitant, even as she said, "I'll join you…if I can."

"What're you talking about, Sis," Roxas questioned.

"It'll be a blast, trust me," the taller man reassured her.

That seemed to be the thing that sold the proposal for Xion, as she immediately smiled brightly again and declared, "Yes, all right. Let's go."

Another scene shift saw Roxas and Xion standing in an alley of Twilight Town, and from the way Xion was holding her Keyblade at Roxas, it was not for a pleasant conversation. Still, from the look on her face, it was clear that the silent threat was not something that Xion was willing to follow through with, or even wanted to issue. Of course, that was only of mild note to how Xion had summoned the Keyblade into her left hand, and she did not change it over to her right, even after she had to deflect a red and silver chakram that came flying at her from out of nowhere. When the round, spiked weapon vanished in a small burst of flames, the mystery man with a blurred face casually stepped forward.

"Well, hello there, Xion," the man greeted like he was giving a normal greeting, only it was clear that his intentions were not friendly.

That became even clearer when Xion suddenly charged in and started attacking him, despite Roxas's pleas for them to wait. The man immediately summoned forth the chakram once more, in a burst of flames, along with a second one, and the two were soon going at it right before Roxas's frightened eyes. Clearly he did not want to see the two battling it out like they were bitter enemies, but there was obviously nothing he could do to stop them. Eventually, it became too much for him to watch, and he finally shouted for them to stop. Only Xion seemed to listen to him though, as the taller man immediately hit her in the back of the neck when she paused, and then scooped her up over his arm before teleporting away as Roxas tried to reach them. The blonde did not make it though, as the two were already gone by the time he was close enough.

"Well, that wasn't too smart of you," a new voice remarked, and Roxas turned to see the armored man approach him.

"I didn't want my sister and best friend fighting like that," Roxas tried to say.

"I understand, but all the same, you really should've just let it happen. He's too far deep into the Organization to do what Xion has already taken the first steps towards," the armored man informed him.

Roxas seemed like he was going to question the armored man on this, but the scene shifted again, to one that was far more pleasant, and likely earlier on, as it showed Roxas and Xion sitting with the blurry-faced man with smiles on their faces and ice cream in hand. "I just…want these days to last forever. Hanging out, the ice cream, the sunsets…" Roxas could be heard saying.

"Me too," Xion agreed.

"Well, nothing lasts forever, you know? Least of all for a bunch of Nobodies like us," the taller man told them, gaining the other two's attention. "But it's okay if things change and we can't meet up here. As long as we keep each other in our thoughts, none of us will ever have to be apart. Got it memorized?"

When another shift came, it saw Xion standing before the Old Mansion, with Keyblade in hand as she stared down the taller, blurry-faced man with a determined fire in her eyes, and somehow, it could still be seen through the blur that the taller man was in complete, disbelieving shock. "I'm not going back to rejoin the Organization, no matter what. I know what I have to do, and I need Roxas's help to do it," Xion resolutely informed the taller man. "If you want to stop me or Roxas, then you'll have to destroy me here and now. I won't be holding anything back even we are best friends,…"

Apparently, that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the mystery man, because after continuing to stare at Xion in disbelief, and eventually frustration, he angrily shouted, "What's your problem?! You both…think you can do whatever you want. Well, I'm sick of it. Go on, you just keep running. But I'll always be there to bring you back!"

Despite seeing him brandish his weapons at her, Xion could not help but smile at him, albeit sadly, as she stated, "I know…And thank you for that…"

Another scene shift saw Roxas standing before the tall man in a large room that was varying shades of grey, and he was clearly regarding the man with suspicion. "Have you known…about Xion this whole time," Roxas asked.

The taller man was silent, before he finally admitted, "No, not the whole time."

"Since when then?"

"Uhhh…I can't exactly remember when," the man hesitantly replied while scratching his head.

"Didn't get it memorized, huh," Roxas joked, showing that he knew that the taller man was being honest about that. His smile fell afterwards, and his next few sentences heard were clearly shortened or following off of something else, because there were a few gaps filled with static as he spoke. "Who am I, really? I'm special, like Xion. I know that, but the Organization wanted me out of the picture…they didn't need me anymore, and…, I guess you felt the same way."

"You're wrong there," the man immediately denied. "You'll always be…my best friend."

"Best friends are supposed to be honest with each other," Roxas heatedly pointed out. "Who am I, …?"

"Finding out the truth doesn't always work out for the best," the taller man snapped, sounding just as angry as Roxas now.

"What makes you so sure about that? I have the right to know the truth," Roxas retorted, shocking the taller man a little. "How did I even get here? Why am I so special? Where did I learn how to use the Keyblade?! I hardly know who I am! What is so wrong with wanting some answers?!"

"You've just gotta trust me, Roxas," was all that the taller man could say in response, his voice soft and a bit subdued.

"…I don't. I can't," Roxas finally stated before he turned away, not even turning back as the taller man called out to him. "Somebody knows where I came from, Xion has a clue about that, and if we can't get answers here, we'll get them somewhere else. Xion…No, my sister and that person are the only ones I trust."

---

Roxas awoke with a start right when the dream ended, and he could not help but pant like he had just run a marathon, even as his ran through the things he had just seen in his most recent dream. More importantly, he had to wonder how Xion was taking this information, since he now knew that she was seeing the same things in her dreams that he was seeing in his. Then again, that was not to say that she was seeing all the exact same things in the exact same way as him, or on the exact same nights even, but somehow, Roxas just knew that she probably was. His suspicions were quickly confirmed when he heard a knock at his door, and Xion came in with a concerned look on her face, still dressed in her night gown.

"You had another dream about Sora and the others, right? And about us in that group of people with black coats," Xion questioned.

"Yeah," Roxas nodded. He then smiled a little as he tried to cheer her up by saying, "Well, if these really are memories, at least now we know that you've always had a thing for seashells."

Xion smiled in appreciation for Roxas's attempts to make her feel better, because he was not wrong about that. The large number of seashells that lay in various parts of her room, such as her windowsill, dresser, and night stand could certainly attest to that. Still, there was one thing about the dreams that had her really concerned. "Hey, did you see a tall guy with a blurry face in your dreams that seemed to always be hanging out with us?"

"Yeah," Roxas nodded in reply. "But I get the feeling I didn't really trust him too much in the end, if the last conversation I saw us having was any indication."

Xion nodded in understanding at that, before her mind latched onto another thing that stuck out in her, or rather their dreams that seemed to pertain to their current situation. "'Promise'…and 'best friends are supposed to be honest with each other,'" she quoted from the dreams.

"Right," Roxas nodded, knowing that she referring to the situation that had now unfolded between them and Hayner. He waved his arm around like he was holding a Struggle bat, only to stop and scratch his head while he moaned, "What a mess…"

"Tell me about it. At least you're not the one that Hayner probably has the biggest problem with," Xion sighed in sadness.

"More like second biggest problem," Roxas corrected. "No matter what, we all know that Seifer's the person that Hayner will always have the biggest problem with."

Xion could not help but giggle a little in response to that, knowing that her brother was right, and then turned to leave the room so they could both get changed for the day. Despite whatever may have come between them and their friends, there was no way the twins were going to let that hurt their excitement for the tournament. At least, not by that much.

---

It was not until the two had finished getting dressed and gotten to the kitchen that they realized that they were going to be late for the tournament, and when they did strike this realization, Roxas and Xion quickly rushed through breakfast and out the door so that they could get to the Sandlot on time, the former more so than the latter, since he was the one who was actually competing in the tournament. Xion was really just rushing because she did not want to miss out on a single thing that happened in the tournament, and wanted to make sure that she could cheer on both her brother and Hayner for the entire time that they were in the event. When they finally got to the Sandlot, they had to breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that the opening ceremony was only just starting, and they were able to spot two of their friends pretty quickly. After giving Roxas a quick wish of good luck, Xion made a beeline for Olette and Pence, just in time to hear Olette say that she was going to be cheering on both of her friends at the same time, while Roxas just headed over to a spot that was closer to the arena stage in an attempt to try and spot Hayner, all while they both listened to the announcer making his opening remarks.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle-fiends of Twilight Town! It's time for summer's most sizzling clash," the tournament sponsor declared with a wide grin. "That's right! Today is the day for the Struggle and title match! Who will be the one to break through the ranks and take on our champion, Setzer?! And who will leave today as our new Struggle Champion?!"

"Hayner! Roxas!" Xion, Pence, and Olette all cheered, but their cheers were quickly drowned out when the crowd saw that the reigning champion himself had stepped into the ring with his usual calm, confident smile.

Setzer's usual smile was only one of the interesting things about him, as one would also quickly taken note of his long, silver hair and violet eyes, along with the number of thin scars that ran across his face. No one was really sure how he got those scars, as many people claimed that he changed the story every time he told it, but a lot of folks speculated it was from something in his life before he was a champion Struggler. His attire consisted of his usual lilac shirt that was slightly unbuttoned at the top so show a bit of his chest, black pants that were secured by a black belt with a silver buckle and tucked into knee-high lilac boots, a purple sash around his waist that covered half of his left leg, and a long black coat yellow lining being draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a short silver chain that was attached to two silver skull pins on either side of said coat. The only difference from his usual appearance was the fact that he had the championship belt draped over his shoulder. All-in-all, he looked like someone who had enjoyed being at the top of the food chain for quite some time, and the crowd's cheers definitely served as additional confirmation of that.

"Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next," the sponsor cheered. "Let's…"

"STRUGGLE," everyone shouted along with the sponsor, the crowd's cheers now reaching a whole new volume afterwards, while fireworks erupted in the sky above them. After listening to the fireworks for a few moments, Xion pulled her attention back to the arena, and saw that Biggs from the armory shop had taken the tournament's sponsor's place on stage.

"Hey, now! It's time to introduce today's combatants," Biggs shouted to everyone, and the crowd quickly responded as many would expect to each of the individuals that were listed off. "Regular finalist and head of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee: Seifer! Completely out of nowhere, who knew he'd make it so far this year? Vivi! An underground favorite and local attitude problem: Hayner! It's his first trip to the finals! And Struggler number four, who happens to be one of my two absolute favorite customers: Roxas! It's actually a bit of a shame that his sister, Xion isn't in this tournament too, but it's great to see at least one of the all-star twins here today, and we just might see her join in on the action for the title match, so fingers crossed for that. So, who will win this sweltering summer Struggle?! Who will take home the grand prize? The summa cum laude of Struggle: the Five Crystal Trophy! AND…a chance to take on our defending champion, possibly even in a two-on-one match, Setzer! It won't be long now, folks, so let's let our challengers make some final preparations and get this show on the road!"

While Xion was a bit flattered that Biggs would include her in his introduction like that, and say such kind things about her and Roxas, she still noticed how Roxas could only look down in sadness after Hayner had locked eyes with him and then turned away. Seeing the taller blonde react that way to her brother made Xion realize that he was probably not going to be too thrilled to speak with her right now either, but she still had hope that the boys could resolve things between them before they ended up taking out their problems with each other in the ring. Sure, Hayner's frustrations could leave him open quite a bit, and that would give Roxas an advantage, but so long as Roxas was still thinking about how upset his friend was over the misunderstanding from yesterday, Xion could not help but worry. She wanted to go over and talk to at least one of them, when she noticed that Seifer, Rai, and Fuu had disappeared at some point after Biggs's introductions were finished.

"Hey, did you guys see what happened to Seifer and the others just now," Xion inquired of Pence and Olette.

Pence just shrugged in response before heading over to the snack bar to see if he could score something at a cheap price, while Olette said, "I think they headed to the back alley. They're not really the type for big crowds, after all."

Xion nodded in thanks and then turned to see Roxas and Hayner stepping over to the bulletin board to see who they were up against in the first rounds of the tournament. Since they were taking some time, Xion figured there would be no harm in at least talking to Seifer and his pals for a bit, so she headed for the back alley. She barely noticed how Vivi was staring at her rather intently, but it was still just enough to know that there was something different about the way he was staring at her, and it was giving her a few chills. When she arrived in the alleyway, she saw Rai and Fuu basically giving Seifer a quick pep talk to help psych him up for his match, indicating that they already knew who he was paired up with for round one, but that quickly came to an end when they noticed her approach.

"Spy," Fuu immediately accused as she moved to stand in front of Seifer.

"So Roxas needs to send his baby sister to figure out a way for him to try and beat Seifer? Well it won't work, y'know," Rai growled.

Xion just rolled her eyes, doing her best to repress the urge to give a more verbal retort to the twos accusations while doing so, and simply said, "Relax, I'm not here for that. I just wanted to wish Seifer good luck in the tournament." When the three gave her weird looks in response to that, Xion explained, "Just because I don't like you guys too much, doesn't mean I can't be a good sport."

The other three studied her for a minute, trying to gauge how genuine she was being, until Seifer stepped forward and said, "How about a little match of our own then?"

"Huh," Xion asked, having not expected that.

"To be honest, I was hoping to face both you and your brother in this tournament, so I was a little upset when I found out you couldn't get in before all the spots were filled. Think of this as my way of getting that wish fulfilled while getting in some practice for my match, and letting you get some Struggle action of your own in for the day," Seifer admitted. "Because let's be honest, if Roxas does get through round one, he'll likely be facing me, and he won't be getting to face off with Setzer if that does happen."

Normally Xion's blood would be boiling at that comment, but she could tell that Seifer was being honest in his wish to have a match with her and Roxas both, so that meant he was trying to psych her out for this impromptu face-off. Even so, she was not going to hold back a retort this time. "Considering how often Roxas has beaten you on his own, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Xion retorted, albeit playfully. "I guess if you really want a sneak preview of how badly it'll go for you I could help you out."

Seifer grinned in response as he readied his bat and said, "Good, 'cause that's the only way I'll accept your wish of good luck." He watched as Xion smirked in return before readying her own bat, but when she dropped into her battle stance, he had to frown a little. "Are you really going with that again?"

"Huh? What do you mean," Xion inquired, not seeing a problem with her current stance.

"You just look like your copying your brother when you use that stance. Don't you have your own to use, or are you just too hard-lined into using the same fighting style as Roxas," Seifer explained.

Xion glanced down at herself in thought, because she knew that Seifer's question was valid. She did always seem to use almost the exact same battle stance as Roxas, but she did not really know why that was. Thinking this over made her recall the dreams she had last night, and how there was a moment when she saw herself fighting with the Keyblade in her left hand instead of her right, but she quickly shook that idea off, and instead just went for something that made a little more sense to her. She stood up straight, hips squared to her opponent, feet apart, and held the Struggle bat at her side, while holding her free arm up in front of her like she was planning to use it to block an incoming strike at any moment.

Her new stance seemed to satisfy Seifer, because he was soon grinning at the sight and dropping into his own battle stance once again, and when Fuu gave the signal, the two went at it. The instant they started, Xion quickly saw a difference in the way she fought. While her brother's style was more about power and muscling through, the new stance that she was using allowed her to be a little quicker and deliver some precise, decisive blows on her opponent. More than once, she managed to evade Seifer's strikes with little movement, such as just leaning side to side, or even just a quick pivot or spin on one foot, placing her directly behind Seifer or at another point where he would leave himself open for her powerful counterattack, and while she did find that her swings and attacks came much more quickly using the one-hand grip on her bat, she did still occasionally use both hands to attack as well. Of course, part of her still felt a little awkward for some reason, but she was more surprised by how quickly she had adapted a new fighting style and stance to really care about that. Normally, it would take a bit longer for someone to adjust to suddenly changing up the way they fought, but Xion seemed to be taking to this new form like a fish to water. It was almost like she had used this fighting style several times before now, but as far as she could remember, her style had always been similar to that of Roxas's strong-handed approach. It actually made her wonder if this had a connection to the "memories" of that other lifetime she and her brother were seeing themselves lead in their dreams, assuming Naminé was telling them the truth about that.

Those thoughts had almost left Xion open on more than one occasion, and did allow Seifer to land a few blows against her, but in the end, the raven haired girl managed to pull through and pull out a clean win against the taller boy. After all, her smaller size meant that she could duck and evade Seifer's attacks a little more easily than most, and it also allowed her to get behind him a lot more easily as well, creating more opportunities for her to turn Seifer's strengths against him. It came as no surprise to her that by the end of it, Seifer was down on the ground with Xion's Struggle bat being held at his neck, but what did come as a surprise was when Seifer actually laughed an honest, good natured laugh afterwards instead of brushing his defeat off as mere luck on her part. Looking over to Rai and Fuu, Xion saw that the two were just as stunned as she was, which meant that they were about to give the very excuse she had been expecting, so that meant that something was definitely up here.

"Good match," Seifer congratulated, pulling Xion's attention back to him. "Now I'm really disappointed that you weren't able to get into the tournament too."

Sensing the honesty in his words, Xion eventually smiled in return, lowered her bat and then offered Seifer a hand up. The taller boy did not accept it, unsurprisingly, but he did not cease being a good sport about his loss either, much to Xion's relief. "Well, here's hoping that it'll make sure you get through your first match in the tournament, because you've still gotta deal with Roxas afterwards, or Hayner if he wins," Xion cautioned.

"Trust me, there's not a doubt in my mind that your brother will be advancing to the next round," Seifer promised, and Xion knew that he was getting in a quick dig at Hayner when he said that, so any strangeness she was feeling from the taller boy's sudden show of good sportsmanship was now gone. Still, she was not expecting Seifer's last comment when she turned to return to the Sandlot, hoping that she had not missed too much of her brother and Hayner's match. "Let's have a real Struggle match sometime soon…Xion."

The surprising part was that Seifer had actually referred to her by her name. Normally, he would have called her pipsqueak like he had yesterday, so Xion was completely caught off guard when she heard him refer to her by name, but she appreciated it nonetheless. It really showed that even someone who was as big of a bully as Seifer could show some form of kindness once in a while. That did not mean she was going to change her opinion about bullies in general anytime soon, or that she and Seifer were suddenly going to become good buddies though, because she knew that tomorrow, or even in just a few moments, it would be back to business as usual between them.

---

Xion made it back to the Sandlot just when Roxas and Hayner's match was about halfway over, and from the way the two were battling it out, the raven haired girl immediately knew that they had made finally up over what had happened yesterday. Roxas was giving it his all, and grinning the whole time he fought, and Hayner had a matching grin on his face, despite the fact that he was clearly behind in points. You see, the way official Struggle matches worked was that you did not necessarily need to knock out your opponent, even though it was similar to a sword battle. Each player wore a special belt that contained several compressed, colored orbs, and a certain number of orbs would be ejected from the player's belt every time their opponent landed a successful strike. Every time a player had an opening, they would then need to grab the orbs that were dropped, and store them into their own belt, without losing any of their own orbs. The object of Struggle was to secure the most orbs or collect a total of 200 orbs before time ran out, and so far, Roxas was holding a solid lead over Hayner.

Another few strikes saw Hayner losing several more orbs from his belt, and Roxas easily gathered up a good number of them by diving to the side and then rolling to his feet again as he scooped several up, sliding them into his own belt as he went. Xion could tell that Hayner was about to retaliate, but to her surprise, Roxas did not seem to move from where he was standing all that much, at least not to do anymore than step back a little to keep clear of Hayner's incoming strikes. When the buzzer suddenly sounded, Xion realized why: Roxas had saw that there was little time left on the clock, and was just waiting it out. At the sound of the buzzer, everyone checked the scoreboard that was set up on the tallest tower in the Sandlot, and which was linked to the belts that the players wore, and quickly started cheering Roxas's name when they saw that he had won.

"And the winner is Roxas," Biggs announced, making it official as he stepped into the ring to lift Roxas's arm up in show of victory, while Hayner just dropped down to the ground in defeat. "Not even friendship will slow this kid down, and Hayner put up a great fight, too."

Roxas waved to the crowd in thanks for a few minutes before he rushed over to help Hayner up. Xion could not really hear what the two were saying to each other over the noise of the crowd, but from the smiles on their faces and the way they were playfully horsing around, it was obvious that they were both being great sports about it. That did not keep a frown off of Hayner's face as Seifer pushed past him on his way into the center of the ring, or Roxas from jumping in surprise a little when he noticed that Vivi had just appeared next to him, seemingly from out of nowhere, but the two did make their way off the stage and over to Xion and the others so that they could watch the next match. When she saw the two boys coming over, Xion immediately gave her brother a congratulatory hug for his victory before she slowly approached said brother's best friend.

"Listen Hayner, about yesterday…I'm really sorry," Xion said.

"What? You too? Like I told your brother, don't worry about it," Hayner reassured her. "Guess not knowing how to let stuff go runs in the family or something, or is it just that you've got a lot on your mind like Roxas?"

"Maybe a little of both," Xion joked in response, a small smile on her face.

Hayner looked a little sheepish at that, and then said, "Sorry, Xi." His brows then furrowed a little before he shot Xion a playful smile as he then remarked, "Wait, what am I sorry for?"

"Maybe for being a boneheaded hothead," Xion joked in response, grinning a little wider when Hayner chuckled at said joke.

Hayner then glanced over to Roxas before leaning closer to Xion, one hand cupping his mouth as he whispered, "Besides, Olette told me about that mission you and Roxas were on yesterday after we all left. That girl he fell for…is she really as cute as Olette says you made her sound?"

Xion adopted a thoughtful expression for a minute, though it was easy to see that it was not serious, before she finally said, "Yeah, she is, but Roxas would probably tell you that she's even cuter."

"You know I can hear you both, right," Roxas pointedly interrupted, but the only thing he managed to do was get the two laughing at his expense. It did not stop him from eventually joining in on said laughter along with Olette and Pence, though.

The five friends eventually ceased laughing so that they could watch the match between Seifer and Vivi, but for some reason, Roxas and Xion felt that the shorter kid was more interested in watching the two of them than he was the match. Not only that, but the way Vivi was staring at them was giving them more than a few chills. Thankfully, a quick comment from Seifer seemed to pull Vivi's attention back onto the match, and like that, the two were off and running the minute that Biggs and the event sponsor gave the starting signal. "Whew, just look at those sparks fly," Biggs commented over the loudspeaker. "I guess Seifer didn't expect to fight one of his own boys."

Apparently, that was not the only thing that Seifer or anyone else was expecting, because Vivi suddenly started showing a very unbelievable amount of skill and talent in his fighting abilities. The little guy was moving so fast that he was almost a blur, and his strikes seemed to pack quite a punch to them, as Seifer was losing a very decent number of orbs every time Vivi landed a blow. Seifer was not letting that get him down though, as he managed to retrieve a good number of his orbs before Vivi could get them all, so it was still proving to be a close match. All the same, after the practice match that she had with him, Xion had been expecting Seifer to be doing better in holding his own against Vivi. That was not to say that she thought she had helped Seifer be ready for fighting against someone shorter than him, considering that Vivi was much smaller in comparison to her, but as Biggs had just said, Vivi was part of Seifer's gang, so he should have known Vivi's fighting style really well. If that was the case, then why did it look like Seifer was having a hard time predicting Vivi's moves, or even getting past the little guy's defenses? There was something really weird going on here, and Xion was not the only one to notice, either.

"When did Vivi get so tough," Hayner asked, his voice both amazed and suspicious at the same time.

"Not sure," Xion muttered, while Roxas just shrugged in response, but from the way his eyes were narrowed, Xion knew that he was just as suspicious about this as she was. That look in his eyes was a lot more intense than the one he normally had if he was studying his next opponent.

As the match continued, Vivi and Seifer managed to keep their orb count from dipping too much lower than the other's, and it eventually got to the point where Seifer would just need to grab one orb from Vivi in order to win. Seifer must have realized this as well, because he quickly went on the defensive until he spotted a chance to land a quick hit, and when he did, Vivi was sent flying back, while a single orb was ejected from his belt. Despite knowing that the current orb count would cause them to go into overtime, Seifer immediately dived for the orb that Vivi had dropped, but in doing so, he had left himself wide open, and both siblings saw it right away.

"Seifer no! Don't let your guard down," Xion shouted in warning, but it was too little, too late. Right when Seifer was about to grab the orb, Vivi suddenly appeared in front of him from out of nowhere, and then retrieved his dropped orb and slamming a final hit on Seifer that caused the disciplinary committee leader to lose several orbs all it once at a speed that was almost unnatural, leading the crowd to go silent in shock as the buzzer sounded.

"I-I'm not sure what just happened…Um…but…the winner is Vivi in a positively blistering comeback," Biggs finally announced, sounding just as confused as everyone else. The announcement did serve to get the cheers going again, but Vivi just walked off like he had not done something completely unbelievable, while Seifer slowly sat up to glare after his smallest friend.

"Well…that happened," Roxas muttered, not really sure what to make of what they had just seen either. Xion could only silently nod in response, feeling just as uncertain as her brother, while their friends could only stare after Vivi in disbelief, until Seifer's voice suddenly caught their attention.

"That's not Vivi," the taller blonde informed Roxas, much to his confusion. Seifer offered up no further explanation though, as he simply just walked off with Rai and Fuu as he made a simple request for Roxas. "Thrash 'im."

Roxas just narrowed his eyes at Seifer's back, almost unable to believe that Seifer would make such a request, but given what had just happened, he could not really blame Seifer. Something about the way Vivi was fighting just now was not normal, and while he did not want to outright accuse the little guy of cheating, Roxas also knew that Seifer would not have said something like that unless the taller boy had the same suspicions. Even on the few occasions when Rai or Fuu did or said something that embarrassed him, Seifer would not have gone so far as to wish bodily harm to them. At worst, he would probably just play a small prank on them or make them do an extra patrol of the city and then let bygones be bygones. There was definitely something going on here, and Roxas was going to have to get to the bottom of it, most likely in his next match. Xion knew this as well, but she was hoping that they could figure out what it was before then. Sadly, that option ended up being taken off the table really quickly.

Moments after Seifer, Rai, and Fuu had left, the tournament sponsor came over to their group and informed Hayner, "It looks like Seifer's withdrawn from the Struggle for third place."

"So I'm in third now? Aw, baby," Hayner cheered excitedly.

Hearing that exclamation, Xion had to at least put on a small smile as she jokingly remarked, "But you still wish that you had a chance to show up Seifer in a match, right?"

Hayner shrugged with shameless smile, proving that she was right, but Roxas knew that Xion's joke was just a way for her to cover up the concern she felt for what he was about to get into when his next match started. Honestly, he was just as worried as his sister, but Roxas knew that he had little choice at this point, so he gave her a small smile of confidence in an attempt to reassure her that he would be all right. Xion saw this and nodded in reply, but Roxas did not really believe that she was no longer worried for him. After all, given what had been going on around the two of them these past few days, he was still pretty worried about what may or may not happen in the next match himself.

---

Roxas had more of a chance to think things over before his match with Vivi, as the sponsor insisted that they take a short break to ensure both combatants were properly rested up. Vivi had never been that good of a fighter, before or after he started training with Seifer's gang, and while there was no question that he did put in the work for whatever regiment he set for himself, the chances of Vivi suddenly becoming that good were just way too slim, even if this were one of the various fictional stories or series that he and Xion both liked. Sure, Seifer had let his guard down when he went for that last orb in their match, but there was just no way that Vivi could have recovered and then retaliated like that so quickly. It was just simply impossible, and yet, it happened. Roxas ended up spending the entire break talking over various different theories with Xion, but neither of them could come up with any solid conclusion as to how this could have happened. At least, not in the realm of logical reasoning, but then again, there was a very distinct lack of logic surrounding the two siblings lately.

Neither of them wanted to admit it, but given how sure Xion seemed to be about all of this, Roxas knew that they could not deny that this might be related to their weird dreams, the strange, silver creatures, and their encounter with Naminé yesterday. Although, Roxas was also certain that Naminé had nothing to do with this, but still, it did not rule out any connections to the other weird stuff that had happened to the two of them lately, and Xion had a really bad feeling about what it could likely lead them into when the dust had settled. Even so, there was not really anything that either of them could do about it right now, because there was just no way anyone would believe any accusation they could throw at Vivi without some solid proof, something that they were definitely lacking. Whatever the case may have been, they were just going to have to keep their eyes open for more weird stuff, and the only time they would see any of it would, unfortunately, be during the match, much to Xion's dismay.

Xion did not doubt her brother's ability to win the match, despite whatever new abilities and strange skills Vivi may or may not possess, but given how weird things had been lately, and how often it had led them into a confrontation with those silver creatures, she was very worried about what may likely happen to her brother when the signal to begin the Struggle was given. Roxas must have seen this in her eyes, because he had made it a priority to give her as much reassurance as he could before taking his place in the arena, despite his own nervousness. Sure, it was just as much for him as it was for her, but at the moment, it was of little concern since the match was due to start at any moment, and Roxas had to keep his mind cleared of any distractions or worries if he was going to win, despite whatever tricks Vivi may or may not pull on him.

"And now, the match you've been waiting for: Roxas vs. Vivi," Biggs announced, earning loud cheers from everyone other than Xion, who could only look on in worry as she prayed for her brother's safety.

There was not anything out of the ordinary at first after the start signal was given, but Roxas still opted to play it safe and wait for anything unnatural to happen, be it from Vivi or something else. Meanwhile, Vivi just jumped, spun, and cartwheeled all over the arena before he finally dashed forward and swung at the blonde. Thankfully, Roxas was able to roll aside, avoiding the hit, and he easily retaliated with a few swings of his own, forcing Vivi to drop several orbs that he instantly scooped up as fast as he could. Apparently Vivi did not care too much for Roxas's current strategy, and that was when things started getting a little freaky again. In order to make sure that Vivi could not retrieve any of the orbs that he lost, Roxas had immediately backpedaled away from the shorter kid, placing some distance between them, only to have to dive to one side as Vivi's bat suddenly grew longer and larger, right when Vivi had swung at him. Luckily, Roxas was not hurt, but when he looked back, he saw Vivi's bat was still at an extended length, and even as Vivi spun towards him, Roxas could swear that he saw the bat extending even further, forcing him to roll, duck, and dodge any way that he could in order to avoid getting hit by said bat.

When Xion saw this, she could hardly believe her eyes. There was no way that Vivi's bat was a normal one, even if it was handed to him by the tournament sponsor. Normally, her first hunch would be that Seifer had rigged the bats somehow, but given his comment after his own match with Vivi, she highly doubted that was the case. Still, as she watched Vivi continue to change and expand the bat in various different ways, often times leading him to gain several of Roxas's orbs, Xion was convinced that there was some serious foul play at work here. What she could not understand was how the crowd could still be cheering like they were at the sight of what was unfolding before them, especially in the case of everyone who was cheering on Vivi. Did they not see what he was doing right now? Did they not care that her brother could get seriously hurt by Vivi if his bat kept changing like that? Xion did not know, but there was definitely something wrong, and she was not going to keep quiet about it.

"Hey, come on, ref! What're you, blind?! Vivi's obviously cheating," Xion shouted as loudly as she could, but it did not seem like the referee could hear her. Her friends on the other hand could, but their reactions were nothing more than a bunch of confused gazes.

"What're you talking about, Xion," Hayner asked.

"You're kidding right," Xion questioned in disbelief. "Just look! He's obviously doing something to his bat that's making it get bigger, longer, or both when he attacks Roxas!"

Pence glance between the girl and where Vivi was, right at a moment when Vivi's bat had changed once again, until he finally said, "Look, I know Vivi's clearly gotten better, but that's no reason to make up stories."

"I'm not making anything up! It's happening right now, as plain as the nose on my face," Xion insisted, her arms waving at Vivi's bat as it continued changing while the small kid spun and dashed around at a pace that was not natural for anyone. "How can you not see that?"

"Well sure, we can barely keep up with Vivi's movements, but none of us are seeing his bat change," Olette informed her. "I know you want your brother to win, but accusing his opponent of cheating is not the way to do it."

"But I'm not…How can you…What is…" Xion stuttered, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. Why were her own friends denying what was right in front of their eyes? Then again, they also did not see Riku, or who she believed to be Riku, help Roxas up at the station the other day too, even though she and Roxas both saw him clear as day. Could something similar to that be going on right now, too? If that was the case, then Roxas was in more trouble than he had realized going into this match, and Xion was now doing everything she could to keep herself from jumping into the ring. She knew that doing so while the match was going on would likely get Roxas disqualified, especially if no one else could see what Vivi was doing, so she had no choice but to wait and hope that Roxas would find a way out of this.

Roxas was not about to let his sister down, and he proved it by finding a way around Vivi's little tricks. He made it a point to avoid the bat as much as he could, while getting closer to the shorter kid. Once he was within striking distance, he let loose, and delivered every single blow he could to Vivi, making the shorter kid drop several orbs that the blonde quickly retrieved and stored into his belt, while making note of how Vivi's bat had snapped back to its regular size when he was hit. At that point, Roxas knew that Vivi could not maintain his bat's altered size and length while he was under attack, or while his opponent was too close, and that gave Roxas the opening he needed as he charged once more. He made sure to stay as close to Vivi as he could for as long as possible, until he saw the bat extend once more and then jumped back. After avoiding a few more swings from the oversized Struggle weapon, Roxas got in close again and attacked, making Vivi's bat return to normal again, and earning him more than enough orbs to win the match regardless of anything Vivi could try at that point.

Glancing to the clock, the two siblings saw that they were winding down to the last few seconds, and Roxas determined to deliver one last blow just to emphasize the point on how cheap tricks would not be enough to beat him. Just when he was about to charge though, the air around him seemed to distort in an odd way, and when she glanced at her surroundings, Xion could see that the same thing was happening in her vicinity as well. When things finally settled down, the two realized that everyone in the Sandlot had been frozen in place like statues, much like people had been yesterday when Naminé had shown up, and Xion really hoped that this was a sign that said blonde was coming to pay a visit to them again. Roxas held the same hope as his sister, though for a few additional reasons that he would not admit aloud, but his wishes were quickly dashed when noticed that, while he was just standing in one spot, Vivi was not frozen like everyone else. A minute later, the shorter kid suddenly began glowing with a bright light, until he grew taller and became replaced with another strange silver creature like the photo thief and the ones that he and Xion had dealt with yesterday.

"Again," Roxas shouted in disbelief as several more of the creatures began dropping down from thin air around him.

"Well, you gotta give these guys points for perseverance if nothing else," Xion muttered, as she finally jumped up into the arena, ready to stand by her brother's side, even as more silver creatures appeared to chase after her.

Before he could comment on his sister's remark, a flash of light from the corner of his eye caught Roxas's attention, and he saw that his bat had once again become replaced by the Keyblade, while another, identical Keyblade appeared in Xion's hand as well. "And this thing's back again, too…" Roxas muttered.

"You complaining," Xion asked as she adopted her default battle stance, feeling that it would be better to use something she was used to as opposed to the new style she had just used against Seifer a little while ago.

Roxas glanced between the creatures, his sister, and the Keyblade in his hand for a few seconds before he followed Xion's lead, and replied, "Nope. At least not right now."

With the Keyblades in hand and their resolves steeled, Roxas and Xion instantly went to work getting rid of the silver creatures that dared to appear before them again, interrupting what should have been a fun day of a huge, friendly competition. Unlike the last few times though, the two knew exactly what to expect from these things, and were able to take them all down quite easily, with Xion not even needing to use magic unless she wanted to use it. Then again, considering how these things appeared to be responsible for whatever happened to Vivi that desire was very much present, so she had no problem with blasting several of these things over and over again with the ice spell that she had now seemed to be able to perform without any trouble. It was impressive, as was Roxas's skills with the Keyblade, and it also served to make the fight that much shorter in the end. Sadly, it did not look like setting things back to normal was going to be that simple this time.

When she cut down the last of these strange beings, Xion quickly stood up straight again, thinking that was that, but after glancing around, she saw that was not the case. Everyone was still frozen where they stood, and there was now no sign of Vivi at all. Roxas had taken notice of this too, and was ready to suggest that Xion try resuming her original place in the crowd or that they look around for any other weird thing that should not have been here right now, until they heard a single person clapping. The siblings immediately spun around and found themselves faced with a tall, thin-looking man in a black coat, just like the ones they had been seeing in their dreams and that the pickpocket wore, but when he spoke, they both silently gasped in recognition of the voice. It was the same voice of the mystery person from their dreams last night.

"Bravo Roxas. Brava Xion. All right. Fight, fight, fight," the stranger playfully cheered before he stopped clapping and started moving towards them. Neither of them really gave him much acknowledgement beyond confused, yet guarded looks, and Roxas slowly moving to stand between this man and his sister, and seeing this seemed to bring the stranger up short. "You really don't remember? It's me. You know," the stranger explained as he pulled back his hood to reveal a head of spiky red hair that was slicked back to show it reached his shoulders, and purple reverse-teardrop shaped markings under each of his green eyes along with his name. "Axel."

"Axel," Roxas and Xion both questioned, before they glanced at each other to see if the other could recall anything about someone by that name. Just because he sounded and looked a lot like the person from their dreams, did not mean that he was in fact the same guy.

When he saw the unsure looks on the two's faces, Axel could only sigh, "Talk about blank with a capital 'B.'" He then flexed his hands a little, conjuring up a pair of revolving flames from his palms, until the flames died down and revealed a pair of red and silver chakrams, just like the one that the two had seen in their dreams. "Man oh man, even the Dusks aren't gonna crack this one."

"Wait a sec, tell us what's going on," Roxas demanded as he came to stand well between Axel and Xion, ready to hold the Keyblade up in defense if he had to from the minute he saw the tall redhead summon his own weapons.

"This town is his creation, right? Which means we don't have time for a Q&A," was the only reply that Axel gave as he swung his chakrams round until he was standing in a loose ready position. "You two are coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story."

Hearing the redhead say that, Xion's mind immediately went to something she had heard in her dream last night, and she almost immediately repeated it out loud. "'Go on, you just keep running. But I'll always be there to bring you back.' That was you! You were the one who said that to me, right," Xion asked Axel.

That made Axel freeze up a little, before he straightened up and admitted, "Yeah, I said that, and I meant it too. Guess you remember a little more than you've let on, huh? But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given how you came to be, Xion."

"What're you talking about," Roxas asked. "Xion was born just like me and anyone else. There was nothing different about it."

"Actually Roxas, that's where you're wrong. It was different. Not that you seem to remember, but it doesn't really matter either way," Axel informed him.

"That's a lie! You know something about my sister, and that life we supposedly lived before we were here in Twilight Town, or maybe you forgot that best friends are supposed to be honest with each other," Roxas snapped, inadvertently admitting that he remembered a little more than he had let on as well.

Now Axel's eyes were widening in shock, before he sighed and said, "Well, this is certainly bringing on a bit of déjà vu, but like I said, we don't have time to rehash the past or old arguments."

"Then make time," Roxas snarled. He was not sure what he would do if Axel refused, but he did still remember the last thing he saw in last night's dream about how he apparently could not trust Axel. Whether that was still true or not, he did not really know, but he did know that Xion seemed to think this guy had some answers, so they should at least try and squeeze a little bit of information out of him while they had the chance.

Apparently, that chance was much more fleeting than they realized, because a moment later, the air around them seemed to become distorted again, making Axel jump a little as a worried look spread over his face. When things settled again, nothing had changed, and Roxas was now definitely fed up with every strange or bizarre thing that was happening around him and his sister. "What's going ON," Roxas demanded as he tossed the Keyblade down on the ground, watching it bounce away from him afterwards.

Xion was about to scold her brother for treating the Keyblade that way, when it suddenly vanished and then reappeared in Roxas's hand once again. The two were so surprised by this that they almost missed Axel's next comment. "Number XIII, Roxas, and Number XIV, Xion. The Keyblade's chosen ones. Although I gotta admit, I kinda miss your real Keyblade over that copy your holding, Xion. Makes me wonder if Roxas is using his real one right now, or at any time back in the old days."

Xion was now very confused. Sure, she remembered from her dreams that the Keyblade was supposed to be different for each person, but did this guy really see what her actual Keyblade was supposed to be, and why was he saying that her current one was just a copy? Did it have anything to do with the connection Naminé said the dark haired girl and her brother had with Sora? Glancing down at the Keyblade in her hand, Xion saw the blade flash a little while it vibrated in her hand, like something was trying to force its way out of the blade, and while it quickly passed, Xion could still somehow sense that was exactly the case. The only question she had now was, just what was trying to come out? Glancing over to Roxas, Xion could see it gain a faint, white aura of its own, indicating that the same thing was happening to her brother's blade, but it did not quite answer the question. Eventually, she saw Roxas reach his own conclusion, as he leveled one last angry glare at Axel.

"Okay, fine! You asked for it," Roxas shouted at Axel, dropping into his battle stance once more, ready to meet the redhead in combat.

Xion was a bit more hesitant than her brother, but all the same, she did fall into her own stance as well, this time going with the new one she had just used against Seifer, and declared, "Don't think we're going to be holding anything back, either."

Her remark earned a small grin from Axel, as he cheered, "That's more like it! Almost just like old times now, isn't it?"

Not another word was said after that, as Axel suddenly rushed the two, swinging one of his chakrams at them. The two were able to dodge his first strike, but using the momentum of his swing, Axel was able to spin around and then tossed the other chakram at Roxas. The blonde managed to deflect the spiked, weapon with his Keyblade just before it could hit him, and since Axel's attention was on him, Roxas could only smirk as he watched Xion try to rush the redhead from behind. Axel saw it coming though, and easily sidestepped Xion's sneak attack before attempting to retaliate with his recently retrieved chakram, but Xion managed to duck under the swing and then unleashed an ice spell at point blank range, blasting the redhead back. The magic attack did not really seem to faze him too much, because Axel managed to shake it off, and then engulfed his chakrams in fire before tossing them at the siblings. The two easily dodged the flaming weapons by jumping to the side, but then, they watched as they came back around to hit them again. Thankfully, Xion was able to get her Keyblade up in time to block the chakram heading for her, but Roxas was not so lucky, and got a bit singed as a result. When the chakrams returned to his hands again, Axel dived towards the blonde sibling, ready to deliver a finishing blow, but a sudden blast of ice in his path made him halt his charge, and another one soon followed after, making him back up to avoid getting hit.

Looking to the source of the ice blasts, Axel quickly spotted Xion preparing to fire off another one of said spells, and he just had to comment on the folly of this strategy. "Really? You want to use ice against a guy who's nicknamed the Flurry of Dancing Flames," Axel questioned. "Granted, it did stop me earlier, and that first one did sting a little, but any ice you throw at me is just going to melt before it can do any damage."

Xion quirked an eyebrow at this, wondering why Axel would tell her that. It was not normal for an enemy to be giving you pointers on how to beat them after all, but then again, it could have just been Axel mindlessly boasting about how he was so much stronger than her simple spell, so Xion was able to just shrug it off after a minute. When she did, she fired off another pair of ice spells, making Axel sigh in response as he engulfed his chakrams in flames once again, melting the ice shards before they could harm him. When the spiked weapons returned to his hand though, he found out that Xion was not aiming to hit him with her spells, but merely to distract him long enough for her to get in close, and he only discovered this after Xion had appeared before him and landed a solid hit across his front with her Keyblade. Axel was now playing a bit more defensively, as Xion was giving everything she had in a full-frontal attack, but the minute he saw an opening to retaliate, he took it, only to miss as Xion spun away from the attack. He fully expected the girl to either hit him from his side or behind, but in his haste to stop such a move, Axel had left himself open to when Roxas rushed in and landed his own set of strikes on his front.

Axel was sent rolling across the ground as a result of Roxas's last combo of strikes, but he managed to end upright once again, albeit down on one knee when he straightened, indicating that the two were in fact delivering a bit of injury onto him. "Not bad, Roxas. Probably should've seen that coming, given how good of a team you and Xion have always been," Axel admitted as he started to stand again. Slowly, but standing all the same, and ready for another round. It never came, as a sudden flash from the other end of the arena brought the appearance of a strangely dressed, masked man, who was glaring viciously at Axel the minute he had fully materialized. Given the way that Axel was glaring back at the man, Roxas and Xion were able to easily guess that he was not a friend of the redhead's, and the way he snarled at the masked man only reinforced that. "So it was you," Axel growled. "Always getting in someone else's way, no matter which side they may be on."

A minute later, the two watched Axel jump back, engulf his chakrams in an even thicker blaze of flames than any of the ones he had used before, and then throw them at the masked man as hard as he could. What came as surprising though, was when the two enflamed weapons bounced harmlessly off an invisible shield while the man did not even so much as blink in response. He then turned towards the siblings, and called out in a deep voice, "Roxas, Xion, this man speaks nonsense!"

"Roxas, Xion, don't let him deceive you," Axel cried out, pulling the two's attention back onto him. "I know we didn't part on the best of terms when we last met, but…"

"Roxas! Xion," the masked man shouted. "Do not believe what he may claim! He is your enemy!"

"No I'm not," Axel angrily shouted in retort. "You guys know I'm not!"

The next thing either sibling knew, they were looking back and forth between the two strange men, unsure looks on their faces as they questioned who to believe. It got to be too much for Xion before it did Roxas, because it seemed like only a matter of seconds before she fell to her knees with her head in hands as she tried to block the two out in order to calm the headache that was now forming. Roxas was soon right behind her, only with his hands covering his ears as he tried calling out to their friends, all while the world seemed to distort around them again, until finally, Xion had enough, and shouted, "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!"

With her cry of distress, came a blast of both ice and fire magic from Xion's hands, right after she had spread her arms out so that they were pointed to the men on either side of her and her brother. The ice magic immediately struck Axel dead center, while the fireball that had erupted from her other palm hit the invisible barrier of the stranger, only this time, his eyes widened in response. Roxas was also gaping at his sister, but he remained silent while the stranger muttered, "Another sign that we should have destroyed this puppet instead of allowing it to live. It's suddenly grown more powerful already, and at this rate, it will only be a matter of time before it endangers us all."

That broke Roxas from his silence as he turned to glare at the man and shouted, "She's not an 'it', and if you call her that again, I'll tear you apart!"

"You'll have to get in line, buddy," Axel groaned in response, glaring at the masked man all the while. "There are a lot of people who want to see this guy burn."

Xion and Roxas both looked to Axel in confusion before he suddenly vanished, and they were forced to shield their eyes as the whole Sandlot was suddenly enveloped in a massive, bright light. Mere seconds later, their ears were assaulted, not by another shouting match, but instead, by loud cheers from an excited crowd, and they immediately opened their eyes to see what was going on. Upon doing so, Xion saw that she was now back in the audience with their friends, while Roxas was still in the ring with his bat in hand, watching as Vivi fell to the floor, face-first, and the crowd merely continued cheering. Apparently, Biggs was as confused as to what had happened as the siblings were, as his next comment proved, but Vivi looked to be the most confused of all as he stood up straight and glanced at his surroundings.

"Huh," Vivi muttered once he was on his feet. "How did I get here?"

Roxas and Xion could only watch in disbelief as Vivi just shrugged and then walked off, clearly no longer caring about what had happened in the match, while Hayner and Pence jumped up into the ring so that they could congratulate Roxas. "Xion, come on! Your brother just won," Olette urged the dark haired girl before she followed the two boys.

Xion could only reply with a mute nod as she slowly followed after her friends as they crowded around Roxas. When she was close enough, she exchanged a brief look with Roxas, and like that, despite any joy that Roxas felt at hearing Biggs declare him the new top Struggler, they both knew that their questions had only increased just now. More than that, they also realized that they were both now determined to get to the bottom of every last mystery that was now appearing in their life, no matter what happened.

---

Compared to the drama and oddities that they had dealt with in the last match, the final face-off of the tournament with Setzer was nothing too special. As promised, Roxas took the option to make the match two-on-one, with Xion as his partner, much to her relief and the crowd's excitement, and when Setzer tried to bribe them into letting him win, the two found themselves with a very good reason to knock Setzer down a few pegs. Of course, part of their ferocity was also because they needed to vent their newest frustrations at the weirdness that had been unfolding in their lives, but they were still pretty upset that Setzer thought he could keep his title as champion through that kind of trickery. When the match had come to an end, the two had quickly learned that even if it was a standard one-on-one Struggle, either of them could have handled Setzer, because he had proven to be a very easy opponent to beat. It was so laughable at how easily they owned him that they had to wonder just how Setzer had become the champion in the first place, but that was nothing compared to the cheering of both the crowd and their friends when they had achieved victory.

When the tournament sponsor presented the championship belt to them, Xion only looked at it for a minute before making a big decision. "Roxas, you take it," she insisted. When she saw the telltale signs of her brother protesting, Xion added, "I wouldn't have even had a chance to participate in this tournament if you hadn't gotten all the way through to the final, and besides, in my book, you've always been the greatest champion of all. You deserve it."

Roxas knew when he was not going to win in an argument with his sister, so he elected to simply smile in thanks and accepted the belt. After staring at it for a moment, he looked to Xion and said, "You're a big part of the reason as to why I'm so good you know, Sis. Even if the final match wasn't set up the way it had been, you would've still been right there with me, having my back all the way through."

Hearing her brother say that brought a happy grin to Xion's face, and she quickly showed her thanks by giving her brother the biggest hug she could manage before stepping back and allowing him to lift the belt above his head as a show of victory. Of course, she did not stop there, as she was the one who went on to lead the crowd in cheering her brother's name over and over in further celebration of his new status as the Struggle champion of Twilight Town. Needless to say, both twins were all smiles for the rest of the day, even as they met up with Hayner, Pence, and Olette on top of the clock tower, with the Five Crystal Trophy being carried up by Xion. Roxas had insisted that if he deserved to take the belt, then she deserved the main trophy at the very least, if for no other reason than to show how happy he was to have her as the "best sister ever".

Now away from the excited cheering of the crowd and in the comforting quiet of the perch atop the clock tower as they all watched the Twilight Town sunset, the five friends could only sigh in happy contentment as they finally managed to calm down from the day's events. The silence was not broken by any of them until Xion began to pluck off each crystal from the trophy before having Roxas pass them out amongst their group. Olette getting yellow one, Hayner easily catching the red when Roxas tossed it over to him, Pence just managing to catch the green, and Roxas easily taking blue while Xion took the clear silver one for herself. "As promised," Xion stated as she set the main trophy aside while holding up her crystal so that the sun could shine through it, with Roxas doing the same.

"Thanks a ton, you guys," Pence cheered as he followed the two's lead.

"One more treasure for us to share," Hayner grinned in response while he and Olette did the same as the rest of their friends.

A minute later, Olette set her crystal down and produced five stick of sea-salt ice cream as she announced, "I've got a present, too, for all of us."

"All right," Roxas cheered as he jumped to his feet after he had pocketed his blue crystal. His excitement was a little too hasty though, as Roxas suddenly slipped on the ledge and began to lose his balance. When he finally tipped over, it was in the wrong direction, and the other four could only watch in horror as Roxas started to fall over the side.

"ROXAS," Xion cried out as she dived to catch her brother's hand before he fell too far. She did manage to grab his arm, but a minute later, a sudden, sharp pain entered her head, and she felt her grip weakening as she too started to slip, being pulled down by Roxas's weight. The next thing either twin could register was a sudden sense of falling as everything suddenly went dark, while a strange, yet familiar presence seemed to suddenly come into their minds.

---

Far away from the hustle and bustle of Twilight Town, and nestled in a nice, quiet little corner of interspace, one would find that twilight had started to fall on another, very peaceful world, where so many people were fated to meet and where one particular adventure had begun at least a year ago: Destiny Islands. After all the events that came from dealing with the Heartless, the island world had been restored to its wondrous, peaceful glory, though most of its inhabitants had seemed to have lost all memory of the islands ever falling into even the tiniest bit of danger, let alone the world being destroyed entirely because of the Heartless. The select few who did remember what happened had come to feel that it was probably better that way, because if everyone on the islands did remember what had happened, it would have been impossible for their world to really continue on in the peace that they had held before. Sure, those few were a bit saddened by what had followed those events, but they were able to find a way to press on with their lives regardless. It may have been hard, and there may have been times when they could not get through the day, but they still managed. What came as surprising was that one particular member of their small group was able to handle it better than all the rest of them, and she had been caught up in the storm of that adventure the most. That same girl, now having grown into quite a beautiful young woman, at the age of fifteen no less, was actually just heading on her way home from another day of school.

"Kairi! Wait up," a voice called out to the auburn haired girl.

Turning around, Kairi immediately smiled at the sight of her friend, Selphie running to catch up with her. Like Kairi, Selphie was also decked out in the girl's uniform for their school, consisting of a white shirt, sky-blue striped tie and matching skirt, navy knee-high socks, and black shoes, but unlike Kairi, Selphie wore hers in the same standard that everyone else did. Kairi on the other hand, actually stylized her school look as much as she could, namely by rolling her sleeves up and wearing her tie a little more loosely. Of course, that was not what allowed the auburn haired girl to turn so many heads even as she was walking down the street in her school uniform, and Selphie was not the only one to notice it. In the past year, Kairi had physically matured quite a bit, probably more so than any of the rest of their friends, and not just in the sense that she had become taller. Her body had also developed into that of a young woman, and in a way that would drive many men crazy, while her hair had actually turned to a darker shade of red as she grew it out a little more, allowing it to now reach her shoulders. Her bangs now parted to the right as opposed to a year ago when they parted to the left, but that was really more of a minor detail in comparison to everything else about her. If one were to look a little closer, they would also see that she had gained a little more muscle as well, but Kairi had never really explained how that had happened beyond simply saying that it was a benefit of a new workout routine that she had taken on. Either way, the only way anyone could describe the redhead was to say that she was simply gorgeous, and any boy would consider himself lucky if they got her to go on a date with them, but Kairi had refused any and all invites to date for some reason that was unknown to everyone other than Selphie and the rest of their little circle of friends.

As the two turned to continue on their way home, Selphie suddenly surprised her when she asked, "Hey, do you feel like going out to the island?" Kairi knew that Selphie was referring to what everyone referred to as the Play Island, and it was a regular hang-out for them and the rest of their friends, but these days, it was rare for all of them to go out there together. More to the point, Kairi had stopped going altogether quite some time ago for reasons that were largely unknown to everyone. That did not keep Selphie from asking her to tag along though, much like today. "Tidus and Wakka are all wrapped up in their ball game, or to be more accurate, Wakka's trying to keep Tidus focused on said game so that he won't think about…well, Yuna, so they can't go with me."

Kairi nodded a little sadly at that fact. Sure, Tidus had seemed okay about his separation from the girl he had met after the islands had fallen to darkness, but they all knew that he was just trying to appear strong for his friends. In a way, Kairi could relate to him, and that was part of the reason why she had given something close to the same answer to Selphie's offer to go to the island so often before, just as she would this time. "Not today, sorry," Kairi apologized.

"Aw, why not," Selphie whined, finally having had enough of the mystery and desiring a real answer to why Kairi was not going to their favorite hang-out anymore.

Kairi thought her answer over carefully before she finally questioned, "Do you remember those boys who used to hang out with us?"

"You mean Riku," Selphie hesitantly questioned. Everyone in their group was well aware of what Riku had done a year prior, and while some of them had forgiven him for what he had done, especially after Kairi had told him what happened to him by the end of the adventure, they were still a little hesitant to bring him up. It was not exactly easy to forgive the person responsible for destroying your home. When Kairi nodded in affirmative, Selphie reminded Kairi of this fact as she said, "He made it a little hard to forget about him even before everything that had happened. Do you still think he's out there somewhere?"

"No, I know he's out there," Kairi corrected with a smile. "He's far away right now, doing something really important, but I know we'll see him again."

"Sure. Of course we will," Selphie agreed with a smile, being one of the few people who had forgiven Riku the most easily. "I do miss him though."

There was no disagreeing with that, but Riku was not the entire reason why Kairi had brought that question up. "And the other boy," Kairi eventually asked.

"What other boy," Selphie questioned, no longer knowing what Kairi was talking about.

"The one who was with Riku and me all the time," Kairi explained with a fond smile that Selphie could not remember ever seeing on the redhead's face before. "We played together on that island. His voice always used to be there…but now it's gone. I can't think of his face, or his name…I feel awful about it. So I told myself I'm not going to the island until I remember everything about him."

It was a beautiful sentiment to be certain, and it was very clear to Selphie that whoever this person was, he was very important to Kairi in a way that no one else could ever have hoped to be. Even so, Selphie could not figure out who her friend was referring to, and that made her eventually ask, "Are you sure you didn't make him up?"

Kairi resolutely nodded, her smile not fading in the slightest to show just how certain she was, while her violet-blue eyes twinkled in a way that could only exist in the eyes of someone who was thinking of someone they loved. When she saw that twinkle, Selphie realized that Kairi really wasn't imagining things, because that was exactly the case here. Whoever this mystery boy was, Kairi was in love with him, and there was no way that Kairi could have fallen so hard for someone that she had just imagined one day. It was almost enough to make Selphie sigh in awe, and she would have too had Kairi's smile not fallen when she raised a hand to her head with a pained expression, like an intense headache had suddenly struck her. What Selphie did not know, was that Kairi had suddenly heard not one, but two voices in her head that she did not recognize, apparently calling out to her from some unknown location at that very moment.

"Naminé," the first voice questioned, this one obviously belonging to a boy. "Naminé…? What's happening to me?"

Then came the second voice, this one belonging to a girl, and she sounded a little more distressed than the first. "Naminé if that's you, then you've gotta help! I don't know if you can, but you have to, please."

"Who are you," Kairi mentally questioned, having become accustomed to speaking through her thoughts after her experience in the previous year. "And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."

"Kairi," the girl's voice questioned, sounding shocked. "No way! You're…"

"Yeah, that girl he likes," the boy finished, surprising Kairi a little at what these two clearly knew that.

"Who," Kairi asked, hoping that these two could help her fill in the blanks that had somehow formed in her mind. "Please, a name!"

"I'm Roxas," the boy's voice stated.

"And I'm Xion," the girl added.

"Okay, Roxas and Xion, but can either of you tell me HIS name," Kairi quickly pleaded, when she received her next answer, it came from neither Roxas or Xion, but from the voice of the very boy she was asking about.

"You don't remember my name? Thanks a lot, Kairi," the boy said, his tone joking in a way that Kairi knew to be just like him. After hearing Kairi gasp in shock, the boy then added, "O-kay, I guess I can give you a hint…Starts with an 'S'."

With that last statement, all three voices had disappeared from Kairi's mind, leaving her thoughts quiet again aside from her own, and her first thought was the question on when she had suddenly fallen to the ground. Clearly the unexpectedness of that sudden communication with those people had caused her more stress than she thought, and that had resulted in worrying Selphie quite a bit, judging by the look on the other girl's face. Still, nothing could break the good feeling that had now come over Kairi, and once she had reassured Selphie that she was okay, Kairi immediately sprinted towards the beach as fast as she could. When she finally arrived, Kairi allowed the calm, sea breeze to blow through her hair for a few minutes, the water gently lapping against the sand and over her shoes a little, but not to the point where it would actually get into said footwear. The calm setting only served to reaffirm what Kairi already felt in her heart, but she did not get around to actually doing it until after Selphie had finally caught up with her.

Taking a minute to brush her hair back behind one ear, Kairi set her bag down beside her, and then pulled out a bottle with a rolled up parchment inside so that she could set it adrift in the currents of the water. Selphie looked after the bottle curiously, trying to figure out what it was and why Kairi was looking after it so fondly, but was unable to come up with an answer, so she decided it was better to just ask. "What's that?"

"A letter," Kairi replied, her smile from before still shinning on her face. "I wrote it yesterday to the boy I can't remember. I said that no matter where he is…I'll find him. One day. And when I stopped writing, I remembered we made a promise, something important. This letter is where it starts. I know it."

"Wow…I hope he gets it," Selphie whispered, praying for her friend that this boy would receive the letter and the feelings that were embedded into it.

"He will," Kairi guaranteed with a smile. She then returned to watching after the letter as she muttered, "Starts with an 'S.' Right, Sora?" If she had realized that she had said that name at the end, it was hard for anyone to know, because a few minutes later, Kairi's eyes widened in shock as she jumped up and exclaimed, "Oh no! I'm going to be late! Sorry Selphie, but I've really gotta go now!"

"What? Where," Selphie questioned, until something clicked in her mind. "Wait, is it another one of those tutoring sessions you're always disappearing off to?"

"Uh…yeah, pretty much," Kairi confirmed, hoping that her little fib was not too obvious.

Selphie just sighed as she watched Kairi race away, muttering all the while, "I don't know why she thinks she needs to get any tutoring. She's easily one of the smartest kids at school, and could probably lead an entire tutoring session for everyone else if she wanted to. Guess she's just being a bit of an overachiever or something."

Kairi did not stop running until she had finally made it back to her house and up to her room, and once there, she immediately changed out of her school uniform and into her new regular attire. Unlike her old look from a year ago, this new look of hers was certainly a little more feminine, and tended to help her turn even more heads than her school uniform did. Instead of her old slip-on shoes, she now wore lilac sneakers, while the rest of her attire now consisted of a white halter top with a black hood on the back worn beneath a pink, strapless mini-dress with three zippers, two of which were more decorative than anything else. The wrist and armbands that she used to wear were no longer part of her attire, as they had been replaced by a set of three bracelets that she wore on her right wrist, and around her waist, she sported a black belt that was reminiscent of suspenders with a notebook shaped bag attached to the left side. The one thing about her day-to-day outfit that had not changed was her necklace with a silver bead, but the final piece of her attire was also what she considered to be the most important, mainly because of what it represented about her and what she had become last year. Taking the gauntlet out from where she had hidden it in the drawer of nightstand, Kairi watched as the enchanted piece of armor grew a little so that she could easily slide it over her hand and onto her left wrist, and then held it steady as it shrunk down so that it fit perfectly onto her arm just as it did when she first received it a year ago. After checking over her appearance in the mirror, Kairi nodded in satisfaction before she raced out the backdoor to a secluded spot on the main island, where she found a figure in a black coat waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm a little late, but there was something important that I had to take care of," Kairi explained.

The figure turned a little towards Kairi, their face hidden beneath the hood they wore, before they asked in a distinctive, female voice, "What exactly at the beach was so important that you needed to deal with it right away?"

"How did you…" Kairi started to ask, only to stop herself before she finished her sentence. She then smiled a little with a shake of her head and commented, "You know, some people would probably be freaked about their teacher stalking them."

"I'm not just your master at the moment, Kairi; I'm also your guardian. You're more than just a Keyblade wielder after all, so I think my overly cautious approach to protecting you can be forgiven," the woman countered, and even beneath the hood, one could see the playful smile on her face as she spoke in a matching tone of voice. She became serious again when she pointed out, "And you didn't answer my question. What was it that you had to do down at the beach?"

Kairi took a deep breath before she explained, "You know that boy I told you about? The one I couldn't remember? Well, I wrote a letter to him last night telling him about all of my feelings and how I plan to do what I can to help him soon, and I just sent it out to him in the currents."

"I get the feeling there's more to this than just a simple desire for you to send word out to someone you can't quite remember as well as you'd like," Kairi's master noted. "Did you remember something more about him?"

"Not really, but when I stopped writing…I remembered we made an important promise," Kairi answered, her smile growing a little more as she continued, even as she unknowingly finished her statement with something that her master did not expect. "I just know that somehow, he'll get the letter, and even if he doesn't, I'm not going to let Sora go it alone any more than he already has."

Hearing Kairi say that name drew a surprised gasp from her master, and the cloaked woman immediately had to make sure she had not heard wrong. "What did you say," she quickly asked.

"That I wasn't going to let him go it alone any more than he already has," Kairi repeated.

"No, your exact words. You said a name just now," the woman clarified. When Kairi's eyes scrunched up in thought, her master quickly came closer to her as she prompted, "Come on, Kairi! I know you can remember more about him now. The fact that you unintentionally said his name is proof of that. Just look deep inside yourself, look at your Wayfinder if you have to, and pull the memory to the surface."

Kairi did not pull out the charm that her master had mentioned, but she soon found that she did not need to, as she found the very feeling that the cloaked woman was talking about deep inside of her, and that helped her to slowly sound out the very name she unknowingly remembered just moments ago. "S…Sor…Sor-ra…Sora!" Kairi's grin was now wider than it had ever been in so long, while her eyes began to brim with tears a little. "His name's Sora! I can't…I can't believe I actually forgot about him," Kairi cried, one part in happiness, one part in sadness. "How could I have forgotten about Sora?"

"It was not intentional on your part. It was due to the actions that someone else had been forced against their will to take by some very bad people. Be thankful that you can remember him now after all this time," the woman advised, her own voice relieved and happy at the same time. She soon turned serious again when she added, "It also means that we may need to step up your training a little."

"What do you mean," Kairi asked.

"The fact that you've started to remember Sora, even if it's just a little bit, does not just mean that he will be returning to the worlds soon. It also means that a new battle is about to be upon us, and he will need all the help he can get if he's to stop this new threat. That doesn't just stop at his master, but includes all of his friends, including you and me," the woman explained in a foreboding tone of voice that was so certain that it actually sent chills up Kairi's spine. Even the last question that the woman asked seemed to make Kairi a little nervous. "Do you think you can handle all of that?"

Kairi was quiet for a minute, seemingly unsure of whether or not she could, but in the end, she gave a resolute nod in reply as she stated, "Yes. I'm not going to just sit back and wait like I have been for the past year. Sora and Riku need me, and I plan to be ready to help and even fight in any way that I can."

The woman nodded, allowing some strands of blue hair to temporarily slip out from beneath her hood as she did, before she summoned a grey and silver Keyblade with a boxy guard made up of two, small light grey boxes and a copper rod into her hand. "Very well, then," the woman decided. "Let's commence today's training, starting with a sparring match."

Kairi nodded and summoned forth her own, flowery-designed Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace to her hand, assuming the ready position she had steadily developed over the past year with a confident smirk as she met her master's instruction with a small challenge. "Ready any time you are, Master Aqua."

For the rest of that day, one could most easily hear the sounds of two blades clashing against one another, spells flying through the air as they were rapidly cast with the skill of a well-practiced mage, and the faint sound of one person instructing another. All this served as the true indicator of just how hard the master and apprentice would be training to make sure they were prepared for when the next battle finally began.

---

"Restoration at 79 percent," the computer reported, surprising DiZ a little with the sudden upsurge in progress that had just been made. He was almost beginning to think that maybe it was a good thing that Naminé had contacted Roxas and Xion, since that had inadvertently lead to this result, but only just. He still had no intention of letting Ventus's interference slide, but he was still willing to let his cloaked friend off the hook, given how steadfast his services to him had proven so far. Besides, Ventus was not in the mansion at the moment, so he did not really need to worry about anything the Keyblade master would say or do right now. All the same, what he was seeing was almost too difficult to believe.

"His progress is astounding," DiZ finally commented aloud, listening to the faint sound of the blue and silver crystals landing in his acquaintance's hand as he easily tossed them up a bit before catching them again.

Even though he was just as impressed as DiZ was about this new progress, the man still had to ask the big question, even as he ceased playing with the two crystals he had retrieved from the virtual replica of Twilight Town and slid them into the munny pouch he had swiped from said town. "So what happened?"

"Naminé's encounter with Roxas and Xion put their hearts in contact with Kairi's, and that, in turn, affected Sora," DiZ explained as simply as he could. There was a more in depth explanation that he probably could have given, but he had little doubt that it would have gone over the younger man's head.

It was enough to satisfy the cloaked man's curiosity though, as he quickly switched to a different topic. "Naminé…She's a wonder, probably even more so than Master Ventus would appear to think."

DiZ would have to give Ventus credit on that front, as it was the one thing that they could agree on in regards to the young blonde with such amazing powers. Even if they did think that for different reasons. "She wasn't born like other Nobodies," DiZ noted aloud, continuing the hooded man's observations. "She can interfere with the hearts and memories of Sora and those aligned with him. Though it would seem that certain individuals continue to remain unaffected, such as Master Ventus, or even Master Aqua, but that may be due to the fact that they were both made aware of the events that had transpired in Castle Oblivion. It's hard to really say."

"But still, whose Nobody is Naminé," the hooded man asked.

Now DiZ allowed his own curiosity to come into play, as he answered the question with a request of his own. "I could tell you, but first, perhaps you could tell me your true name?"

The man just stared at DiZ in silence, likely using his own special senses to make sure that he did not have to fear Ventus's sudden return when he made his revealed, and then pulled back the hood to reveal a tan face with amber-orange eyes, and long white hair, as he answered, "It's Ansem."

DiZ stared at the revealed man a bit sadly, clearly seeing something beyond the surface, before he turned away and let out a hollow laugh. When he finally calmed down enough, he looked back and said, "It's an honor, Ansem."

There was nothing more that could be said between them, as there was still more work to be done if they were to bring Sora back in time to help stop the coming evil that was lurking in the worlds, and trying to stop them even now.

---

DiZ and Ansem were not the only ones who were doing something to help the worlds, as one would soon find out if they were to wander into a secluded part of the woods just outside of Twilight Town, where Axel appeared from a dark portal with a disgruntled look on his face. "Seriously, why do I always get the icky jobs," Axel grumbled.

"Probably because they think you're so good at them, and in that case, you've only yourself to blame for that," a cheerful sounding voice answered, making Axel turn his attention to the armored for of Master Ventus who had just stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

Axel eventually had to give a light-hearted smile to the Keyblade master as he shrugged and said, "Yeah, I guess you have a point there." His tone turned serious again as he revealed his latest bit of information. "It's about to get really hard if not impossible to maintain my cover any longer. They've just given me the big ultimatum: either bring back both Roxas and Xion, bring back one and destroy the other, or destroy them both if they refuse to return. I tried to fight it as best as I could, but the decision was final, and if I don't, they'll turn me into a Dusk. Kind of makes me wonder if it really was worth it to become a spy for you and the old man."

"I understand how great the risks you've undertaken have been, and we all appreciate it. The same would go for Roxas and Xion if they could still remember and knew of what you were doing," Ventus reassured the redhead. "That being said, I don't think you need to worry about maintaining your cover for much longer. When this is over, Sora will return, and it'll be pointless for the Organization to try and retrieve their youngest members."

"At which point, any ruse that I've been putting up will be blown to bits," Axel finished. "So what do you want me to do at that point?"

"You sure you want to keep going with us? You've already gone through so much in this whole thing as it is, old friend. I can't really ask you to do anymore if you don't think you can handle it, Lea," Ventus questioned.

That earned the master a small eye-roll from Axel as he told him, "Like I've told you before, Ventus, it's not 'Lea' anymore, and if it's to keep my two best friends safe, I'll put it all on the line for them."

Ventus seemed to study the Nobody before him for a minute before he finally nodded and declared, "Good answer. Now listen closely, because this next part may run the risk of putting you in the crosshairs of the Organization and DiZ both."

"Sounds like a real party then," Axel grinned in repressed excitement, and he made sure to pay attention to every detail that of the plan that his old friend had lined up for him.

When the blonde had finished, Axel had readily agreed and then departed for an unknown destination through the same way he had come into the forest, leaving Ventus to stare at where the Nobody of his old friend had just been. He had not been lying when he told Axel that he did not want the redhead to risk anymore than he already had if he was not feeling up to it, but Ventus probably should have known better than to question Axel's resolve. Even when he was a whole person, Lea was the type of person who would do anything for someone he considered a friend. That was something Ventus had learned long ago when he first met the redhead on his homeworld.

---

Aqua's Journal Entry 1:

I had honestly started to think that I would always be alone, wandering in the Realm of Darkness forever, until Mickey and Riku had appeared before me. It seems like that was mere minutes ago, but I know that it had to have been at least a few days now, but more importantly, we were not trapped deep within that terrible place as I had once been just moments before we had to seal the Door to Darkness. I could sense it long before Mickey even realized what we were close to: the place where my friends and I had grown up and had once called home, Castle Oblivion, was just within reach of us. Despite the sad memories that now make up that place, and the fact that Ven's no longer there waiting for me to wake him up some day, it actually feels good to know that we're so close to a way back into the Realm of Light, and that we'll be getting there through a place that's so familiar to me. Many would think that such a miracle was too good to be true, and in this case, they would be right, because the castle is not as welcoming to us as it should have been.

Somehow, Riku had already found his way there on his own, and through him, I've already discovered that there are people in the castle that shouldn't be. I wish Mickey and I were already there helping Riku to force these beings out of what I had intended to be a safe place for all of my home's secrets, as well as a safe place for Ven to rest while he recovered, but we're still not close enough to do more than simply call out to Riku and lend him additional strength when he needs it. Even so, I know that Riku will be able to manage until Mickey and I get there, and it should not be too long before we arrive at that. Now that I know that Castle Oblivion is so close to us, I can better guide us out of this place, and back to where we all belong. The battle for the Realm of Light is not won yet, and I know what's at stake thanks to Terra, Mickey, Ven, Riku, and two other very good friends. I'm not afraid to face the long darkness, because my friends are always by my side, even now as Mickey and I race to where Riku is so we can help him. I will be the wayfinder that cuts through all the shadows so the three of us can finally reunite with our friends and loved ones who are waiting for us on the other side. I am Master Aqua, and that's a promise.

---

AN: Okay, so to do a quick, short recap on what we've seen here today: a few more clues about what changed from the canon version of 358/2 Days, Axel's appearance in VTT, an implication about Xion gaining her personal fighting style, Axel being revealed to be a double agent working for Ventus, and possibly others as well, and of course, finally finding out how Kairi's been doing, as well as the return of our favorite bluenette herself, Master Aqua! Yeah be honest, we all knew that I was going to have Aqua be training Kairi in this story, right? And speaking of which, Aqua's now joined into the fun of the journal entries we'll see in this story. Hers covers Riku's side of Chain of Memories, from her point of view, and will eventually lead up to where we found her today.

Aqua: I'm just glad to see that I'm back in the story again, and a lot sooner than last time.

Ven: Here, here!

AN: Well come on! Of course I'm bringing Aqua back in earlier than the last story. I wasn't going to just sideline her until the trip to Hollow Bastion where the gang meets Tron or something. My girl needed to have a bigger role than that.

Ven: Ahem. You mean my girl.

AN: You know full well what I meant. Anyways, Aqua's presence on Destiny Islands with Kairi will also have a few other effects on certain other later events (like we don't all know what at least one of those events will be), but I'm sure you're all more interested in why Aqua's still using Master's Defender instead of her own Keyblade. The answer: because she hasn't gotten it back yet. She was a little too busy with other matters to be worried about that, but as you can see, since she was sporting a cool black coat of her own like Mickey and Riku, she didn't need to really worry about needing a Keyblade Glider or a gummi ship to get around to other worlds that much. Anyways, yeah, Kairi's attire hasn't changed from KH2, save for the cool gauntlet containing Keyblade armor that we saw her get in Dual Keys, but really, who was actually expecting there to be any real change in her appearance? I mean, come on. Kairi looks great in all of her canon Kingdom Hearts looks, so why really change something that's so awesome that much. I may do a more original approach on her attire when we get to the Dream Drop Distance story in this series, but that remains to be seen.

Xion: I was kinda hoping that we would get to see me and Roxas fighting against Setzer, or at least see a bit more dialogue so we could find out if Setzer botched my name like he had Roxas's.

AN: Well originally, I was going to include that match in there, but the chapter was starting to get a bit long, and the only thing that really changed there was that you were present for the match, so it was only natural that I skipped over it. Oh yeah, speaking of matches, I thought it was a little odd that no one in the audience really seemed to be concerned about how Vivi's bat was doing all kinds of weird stuff during his match with Roxas like it was in the game, so I figured I'd give my own reasoning for why that was. I'm not saying that there was actually a rule against Vivi doing that stuff in canon, but honestly, that does seem like it could've been cheating in my eyes. So yeah, only Roxas and Xion could notice it just like they were the only ones to see Riku-Ansem on Day 2. I know it's probably a little cheap, but what other options were there to explain it, ya know?

Kairi: Now, I've really gotta ask, how long will it be until we see me and Aqua again? Because I don't want to wait for too long to join the mission.

AN: I'll try to get that chapter out as soon as I can, but we will have gone through a few other worlds by the time you reappear and reunite with Sora, Ven, and the others. Don't worry though, it will happen a lot sooner than it did in canon, and it will be a much more impressive encounter too.

Aqua: Now I'm really excited for that moment.

Kairi: Me too!

AN: Moving on, yeah, Axel's despite cutting down a few traitors to the Organization, Axel's now gone and turned traitor himself, acting as a spy for Ventus and a few other folks on what all they're doing. Obviously that means they know a few things about what's going on, but whether or not Axel's actually told them everything he knows remains to be seen. The reason why: well, he's probably waiting to find out if Ven's really going to keep his two best friends safe, or maybe he has revealed a lot of info already. Only time and future updates will tell. And just what is this mystery job that Ventus has now given Axel? Well, if it has a chance of putting him in DiZ's crosshairs, I can only think of one thing it could be. How about you guys? Do you have any guesses? Of course you do, but like the previous matter, only time and future updates will really tell about what's up with that.

Roxas: Translation, you're just really enjoying the fact that this lets you tease everyone about the things that are yet to come, much like you do whenever we get caught up in those spoiler-prevention gags.

AN: Hey, you said it, not me. But I am the one who said this: Onto the Preview!...

Roxas and Xion are more than a little thrown off by how the previous day had ended, and yet, they are still surprised to awaken in their rooms again. More unsettling is how their friends don't seem to remember anything about their falling from the clock tower yesterday, but any questions about that are shut down as they find themselves swept up in doing their summer homework assignment instead. Could their chosen subject may lead them to uncovering some new mysteries that could provide the final clues that they need to start piecing the full picture together though? Only time and a quick train ride will tell on Day Five, next time.

So, Day 5's going to be slowing things down a bit, getting the siblings back to at least a little bit more normal until things go a bit crazy again, as we should all know from playing through Kingdom Hearts 2, but until that chapter's come out...

Please read and review, and see ya real soon!