A/N:Hey guys it's LegendaryHero1 here and welcome back to a new chapter of Kingdom Hearts II: Hearts of Destiny! Thank you all so much for your patience with waiting for the anticipated and long awaited 3rd chapter of this wonderful and amazing story! I hope you guys enjoy reading every new chapter I post as I continue writing it and branching out the plot more, and of course taking your suggestions and ideas to make the story even better! Again as always, thank you for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows on this story, as it lets me know and tells me that you guys are enjoying it and wanting more of this story with Sora, Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy together! I promise though, this is only just the beginning and I have more surprises and shocking moments in store for you all in the later chapters of this series! I've actually been thinking of making this story at least 32 chapters or so and adding the final mix stuff at the very end so I can continue the story with Sora and Yuffie together (and if you guys would like to see a continuation fanfiction of Sora and Yuffie later down the line maybe leading up to an alternate story of them in a separate story or a more better version of the story in KH3, again that depends on how successful this story is and how popular it is)! I have to say though I didn't expect this story to get up to 500 views in a week when I posted chapter 2 and edited a few grammar and spelling mistakes to have it make more sense story-wise. I really appreciate all of the views, as it helps me gain more support to continue this story! Aside from being busy, it does take me a little bit of time to come up with more ideas of how to make the story stand out more and make it more uplifting, so now I have a document of the next chapter in telling me how to plan important events that will happen in this fiction down the line in the later chapters and we're getting to the Disney worlds part shortly, starting with The Land of Dragons and then so on, but I hope you all with bear with me and enjoy the Sora and Yuffie moments that I put in between the chapters as the journey continues and as I said before: this is only the beginning! I will try to write and work on more chapters as much as I can and post a chapter or even two if I have time every week or so, but nonetheless I hope you will continue to anticipate and look forward to the release of the next chapter when it comes out! :) Anyways sorry for the long note and let's get to the next part of the story! I hope you guys enjoy and remember as always to leave suggestions and reviews to this story as it may help me come up with more new ideas and branch it out more easier in the later chapters, but for now I'm making it up as I go and trying to keep it fresh! See you guys in the reviews or next chapter when I write it! Please enjoy!

A/N (Updated after writing Chapter 3): So it seems that this will be the first and last time that I make a chapter this long and I will try my best to make the upcoming chapters (chapter 4 and later) the same length as Chapters 1 and 2 or close to them from now on. Not that I didn't enjoy writing and branching it out as much as I did, it just took a lot longer for me to come up with ideas of how to make the plot feel natural and make more sense and not as fast paced or rushed as it was originally. But after writing and finally completing the 3rd chapter, I was satisfied with the way that it ended up turning out in the end overall and am glad I took my time and thought into writing it, which I hope you all enjoy reading it and are satisfied with the way it all connects and flows together at the end too! Again thank you all for waiting patiently for me to take the time to write and release this chapter for you all, I really appreciate it and all of the support that goes along with it too, especially all the reviews, favorites, and follows to this story as well! It helps me to keep this story going and I hope that most, if not, all of you continue to read and go along this adventure with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie, as more secrets are revealed and more surprises are bound to happen to them along the way as they travel to the different worlds together, but does that mean everything will be and easy and turn out the way they want it to? As I said in my previous Author's Note above, this is only just the beginning of this amazing and wonderful story, and I hope you all continue to look forward to what lies ahead in store for our heroes, because more tragedy may just be yet to come with Organization XIII still lurking around.

Anyways I realized that I posted this chapter around the day after Kingdom Hearts III was released 2 years ago and want you readers to post your opinion and what you thought of it whenever it was released in the reviews section along with your overall review of this chapter as well. Were you hyped for it and excited to play it like all the other Kingdom Hearts fans when you played it the day it came out? Were you satisfied with the way it turned out after you played it? For me personally, I was hyped for it to come out and excited to play it ever since Kingdom Hearts II, even when it was never officially announced yet, but regardless I still played through all of the games (BBS, 358/2 Days, somewhat Re:coded even though I didn't enjoy the gameplay as much from it, and of course DDD) while I like many other fans waited for it patiently to be announced at E3 2013 and fully released on January 29, 2019. After I saw the early leaks of it come out on December 2018, I tried not to spoil myself, but knew I would be disappointed even when I bought and played the game myself when it came out, but I still had a little bit spark of hope from the gameplay and story aspects of it when I played it all the way through. Even though I was disappointed and I knew how the ending would turn out from the leaks, I still appreciate Kingdom Hearts III for what it is, even though the story and the gameplay both aren't at their best, I'm still glad Square Enix is continuing to branch the series out for the next saga with more Kingdom Hearts games to come, because Kingdom Hearts is and will always be apart of my childhood and apart of me forever. And I am glad they are finally fixing Kairi's character arc a bit in the way it should've been written originally for her in Kingdom Hearts III in Melody of Memory by having her train under "you know who'' which is a spoiler. Which has me really excited and not as disappointed in the series as I was before for a while when I played Kingdom Hearts III.

To end off on this note, let me know your thoughts of this chapter and what you thought of Kingdom Hearts III before and after you played it! I'd really love to know your thoughts and opinions of it and the series as a whole going forward too! Enjoy the 3rd chapter of Hearts of Destiny! As always take care and stay safe out there, as I shall see you guys in the reviews or in the next chapter in my author's note! Cheers! :)

HoD Chapter 3: The Journey Ahead


(Hollow Bastion - Merlin's House - With Aerith, Cid, and Merlin)

Aerith, Cid, and Merlin are all at the computer with Cid continuing to type and make adjustments to the Hollow Bastion Defense Mechanism as Aerith and Merlin watch code on the computer flow downward in readings that only Cid could understand. Then they hear the front door of Merlin's house open abruptly. Leon, Donald, and Goofy all walk in and close the door behind them.

"Oh!" Aerith shouted. "You're back! We were beginning to wonder if you guys would ever be back soon! Are you all okay?!" She ran towards Leon.

"Yeah, we're okay." Leon replied to her while looking back to Donald and Goofy who nodded their heads.

"That's great!" She exclaimed, then thought about Yuffie. "But what about Yuffie? More importantly, where's Sora? Is he okay? He ran out of here earlier looking for Yuffie.."

"Well, we think she's okay now." Goofy replied. "But Sora had to save her from getting hurt by Organization XIII. Now I think he's having a personal talk with her about what happened before we came here."

"Yeah, she was lucky that Sora was there to stop her and prevent her from attacking the man in the black coat!" Donald shouted. "It was very dangerous!"

"I see now.." Aerith looked down at them with a worried face. "You both must know how much she cares about Sora though, right? Even if Sora himself doesn't realize it yet. She had to have gone after him for a specific reason."

"Gawrsh you're right." Goofy replied. "I didn't even think about that. It must've been her feelings towards Sora that made her try to attack Organization XIII. The man in the black coat must've been trying to intimidate her to go after him, just like when Sora got knocked unconscious earlier too."

"Yeah." Donald began. "She's still going to have to train more and be cautious about who and what she's dealing with if she's going to be traveling with us to the other worlds to look for Riku and the King though."

"You're right." Leon replied to Donald, looking down. "And since I'm allowing her to go with you guys though, I'm trusting the three of you to keep her safe throughout your journey, and ensure that nothing bad happens to her with the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII. I know she can take care of herself and she's proven that to all of us, including me here in Hollow Bastion, but she must learn to take care of herself spending her time with Sora and you guys, as you continue to look for Riku and the King." He turns to Donald and Goofy, who agree and nod to him.

"Leon's right." Cid said while flicking his pipe. "If she's going to go out there and help you defeat all them Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII, then she will need to prepare and be ready for anything that may come your way!"

"Before she can go with you though.." Merlin explained. "I will need to cast a special spell on her, in which I'm hoping her and Sora return back here soon-" He sees the door open again. "Ah, perfect timing!"

Sora and Yuffie are seen at the door, both out of breath.

"Sora! Yuffie!" Leon shouted. "Are you guys okay? What happened?"

"Leon, Donald, Goofy… everyone." Sora says trying to catch his breath.

"The gate is open!" Yuffie shouts, while catching her breath.

"Gate? What gate?" Aerith questioned.

"The gate that lets us travel to other worlds!" Sora shouted excitedly.

"Oh boy!" Donald shouted.

"Hyuck! That's great!" Goofy said happily.

"Wait.." Leon started. "So you're telling me you can go in your Gummi ship and travel to other worlds to continue looking for Riku and the King now?"

"Yeah! And it had something to do with the Hollow Bastion membership card you gave me, which I never go to thank you for yet, so thank you Leon!" Sora smiled at him.

"Oh, it was nothing really.." Leon replied sarcastically while crossing his arms.

"No it wasn't, Leon!" Yuffie shouted jokingly at him."You gave Sora a membership card for a "special" reason, not just to give it to him!"

"Hey!" Donald shouted. "What about us?! Goofy and I are just as special as Sora too!"

"Apparently not as special for me to use the keyblade on it in order for us to travel to other worlds." Sora said sarcastically to Donald.

"Qwack!" Donald replied with an embarrassed look on his face.

Everyone looked at him and laughed. Merlin went toward Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie. "Now now Sora, Donald, Goofy.." He started to explain."I'm sure you three already know that Leon has agreed to let Yuffie go with you to look for Riku and the King on your second journey, correct?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded to him.

"Well.." He continued."In order for Yuffie to go along with you three on your Gummi ship and to the different worlds outside of Hollow Bastion, I will need to cast a special spell on her." He turns to Yuffie.

"Really?" Yuffie asked. "What kind of spell is it? And what will it do to me so I can go with them?"

"My dear." He explained. "It is a spell that will allow you to be protected by the dangers, and even the darkness that lurks within the paths of all the different worlds you will travel to on your journey."

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" She shouted happily.

Merlin nodded to her, then turned back to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "But first, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, I will need all of your permission to allow her on the Gummi ship to travel with you before I cast this spell on her, granting her access to go with the three of you into the different worlds with both protection and awareness."

Sora turns to Donald and Goofy with a pleading look on his face. "Can Yuffie please come with us on our journey to look for the King and Riku, guys? I mean, she can take care of herself and I've seen it, and plus I really think she can be a great help to our team if we brought her along. It would really mean a lot to her and I if she was able to come along with us!" He looks at Yuffie worriedly.

"Well, as we told Leon before you and her arrived back here." Donald replied. "If we're going to be taking her with us on the Gummi ship, then she's going to need a little bit more training and to be more careful of the types of dangers we might be dealing with in the worlds themselves, including Organization XIII!"

"Yeah." Goofy exclaimed. "Besides she could've gotten seriously hurt out there by the man in the black coat like you did before, without thinking things through first."

Yuffie looks down at Donald and Goofy. "Look I'm really sorry about that. I don't know where my head was at that made me charge at him like that unexpectedly.. I just felt really sad and all about Sora not being there and wanted to get revenge on Organization XIII for what they did to him." She looks at Sora with a serious face, who nods at her, then looks back to them. "But now I know what I'm dealing with and next time I will be more careful and prepared while I'm with you guys. I promise I will continue training and become more experienced at fighting and taking chances against the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII, and I will also be a big help however I can if you let me go with you guys on your ship!"

Donald and Goofy look at each other, then move away from her, Sora, and the others to discuss what they think to each other.

"What do you think, Goofy?" He says.

"I think she can be a great help to our team like Sora and her have both told us already. But we also know how she feels about Sora too, and I'd hate to leave her here with Leon and the gang while she's worried about Sora and not being able to come with us either." Goofy replied.

"Hmmm. You have a point." Donald said. "Alright, we'll let her tag along with us. As long it makes Sora and her both happy, and she'll be a greater help to us with fighting the Heartless, Nobodies, and taking down Organization XIII once and for all than just the three of us! It might be best if we keep a close eye on her though, to make sure nothing bad happens to her again, like Leon said to us, he's trusting us to look after her and protect at all costs."

"Hyuck! Yeah!" Goofy shouted.

Donald and Goofy head back to others, giving Yuffie her answer. "Okay, Goofy and I have decided that you can come along with us!" Donald cheered. "Yay! Thank you so much, you guys!" Yuffie shouted as she hugged Donald tightly. "I promise I won't let you guys down!~"

"And I've already started to regret it too.." Donald grumbles to himself. "Aw phooey!"

Everyone except Yuffie and Donald laugh at them.

Yuffie releases Donald and hugs Goofy. "Thank you, Goofy! This really means a lot to me!" Goofy hugs her back. "Gawrsh, you're welcome! Donald and I are just glad to have you come with us to look for the King and Riku, along with you and Sora together!" She breaks the hug and nods to him, smiling. Then she goes to Sora and hugs him tightly. "Congratulations Yuffie! Welcome to the team! We're very glad to have you join us on our journey, as am I!" He shouted. "Thank you, Sora! I'm very excited to be apart of your team and can't wait to travel the different worlds with you, Donald, and Goofy to look for the King and Riku and bring them back home safely!" 'I also can't wait for us to spend more time together on this journey too and hopefully you'll realize my true feelings for you..' She thought to herself.

She breaks the hug and looks at Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Merlin smiling. "And thank you all, Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Merlin for allowing me to go with Sora and them on their ship to travel through different worlds to help them look for the King and Riku! You guys have no idea how much this means to me and I'm truly grateful for you all looking out for me during the time I've been with you guys in Traverse Town over a year ago to now in Hollow Bastion! I'm really going to miss you guys while I'm gone though.." She frowns and looks down at the ground, starting to feel sad.

"Aww. We'll miss you too, Yuffie!" Aerith goes toward her to hug her, in which she accepts. "Come on in here, Leon, Cid, and Merlin." They all nod and get in a group hug together. "It sure won't be the same without you here, kid! But we'll always be here for you if you ever need us!" Cid replied. "You promise?" Yuffie asked. "We promise, Yuffie. We're not going anywhere after all." Leon replied. "Okay. Good to know." Yuffie smiled, breaking out of the hug and looking at them. "But before you head out.. I still need to cast that special spell on you in order for you to travel with Sora, Donald, and Goofy on their ship." Merlin explained.

"Oh. Right." She realized, then frowned. "Which reminds me, I still need to go to my house and pack up my stuff before I'm ready to go with them."

"That's okay, dear!" Merlin replied to her. "You can do that after I cast this spell on you, which won't take but a moment."

"Okay then. Sounds good!" She shouted gleefully.

Now then, are you ready dear?" He asks, as he lifts his wand up toward her and begins to cast.

"I'm ready!" Yuffie replied.

"Alright then." Merlin began. "Now as certain as am I, this special spell shall protect you and rid you of the dangers, and even keep the darkness out that lurks within the paths of all the different worlds you will travel to for as long as you are alive and well. In its entirety, this spell will never wear off of you, no matter what world you are in or what world you travel to, you will always be protected by the light that keeps the darkness away!" He casts the spell with his wand as a reflective light sphere forms upward around her head all the way down to her black shoes and then particles drift off from it.

Sora gasps as Donald and Goofy shout, "Wow!"

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Yuffie was amazed. "Thank you so much, Merlin!"

"Yes, my dear." Merlin smiled and nodded to her. "You're very welcome! Now you are fully protected by the dangers and the darkness that lurks between the worlds and are now ready to face the real threats at any time!"

"Alright!" Yuffie nodded, shouting as she got her shuriken out. "Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII, here I come to take you down!"

"Now now.." Merlin turned to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "I'm sure there was something else you forgot to mention and tell her about when you four travel to the different worlds together, am I right?" He rubs his beard skeptically.

"Huh?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy both look at each other, then think for a moment. "Hmmm."

Merlin sighed. "I'm guessing you boys forgot all about it while you were out sleeping for a whole year too, huh? No matter, this is why I'm here to remind you before you go off flying to the other worlds beforehand. You three must tell and explain to Yuffie about the "World Order" and the laws that surround it."

"Oh! Right!" The three of them realized. "I can explain all about it to her!" Donald replied.

"Huh?" Yuffie was confused. "There's a "World Order" when traveling to other worlds? You mean like the order in which we travel to other worlds?"

"No." Donald began to face her. "The "World Order" is a type of magic when we travel and land in different worlds where sometimes we'll have different forms and we have to protect the order by becoming those forms for the duration that we are in those worlds until we leave it and move onto the next one!" He explained.

"Yeah. That's right! Hyuck!" Goofy agreed. "Just like how we were in different forms when we traveled to Atlantica and Halloween Town on our first journey!"

"Oh, that's right!" Sora remembered. "In Atlantica, I turned into a mermaid like Ariel, while Donald turned into an octopus, and you turned into a sea turtle, Goofy. While in Halloween Town I was wearing a Dracula-like costume, Donald was a mummy, and you were a werewolf."

"Wait. You're telling me that the worlds we'll be going to.." Yuffie replied. "We're going to have different forms that we'll transform into?! Even me?! What will I turn into in one of those worlds if the magic takes effect on all of us in it?!"

"I'm afraid you won't know just yet, my dear." Merlin answered. "That's also another part of the reason why I casted that special magic on you, is because of the "World Order" that you may encounter in some of those worlds!"

"Wow! I can't believe this!" Yuffie said excitedly. "This is all so scary, yet exciting to me! I can't wait to go with you guys to other worlds now!"

"Eh, Goofy and I are used to it." Donald explained. "Sora on the other hand.." He looks at Sora and laughs.

"Hey! Gimme a break!" Sora says embarrassed. "This is only my second journey with you guys and I'm still doing fine! Cut me some slack, at least, especially in front of Yuffie!"

"Hehe, I can tell this is already going to be quite an enjoyable and fun ride for me to be with you all! Especially you, Sora!~" She winks with a peace sign in front of her.

"Haha yeah. Just wait until we go to a world and you'll see how much Donald freaks out a lot about mostly everything." Sora pumped his chest, smirking at her.

"Qwack! I do not tend to freak out about everything, Sora!" Donald screamed. "Only when there is real danger!"

"Oh, so only when there's Heartless in every world we go to right?" Sora joked.

"I'll definitely be looking forward to that." Yuffie giggled.

"Oh brother, now there's two of them.." Donald sighed, looking down. "Aw phooey!"

"Well, you should've thought about that before you allowed her to come with us, Donald." Goofy exclaimed. "Hyuck! Even I knew that!"

Everyone laughed, except for Donald who had an embarrassed look on his face.

"Oh, that's right!" Yuffie realized. "I still need to go to my house and pack up before we head out!" She turned to Sora. "You want to come with me and check it out, Sora?"

"Oh. Uh. Sure!" He turned to her and replied. "But what about-"

"Okay great! Let's go then!" She shouted happily as she took his hand, opened Merlin's front door, and rushed him out of it.

"Uh. Okay then! I'll be back soon! Donald, Goofy, everyone!" Sora called out to them as his voice faded.

"Those two will never change, will they?" Leon shook his head with his arms crossed smiling.

"Nope. They never will." Cid flicked his pipe. "They're practically made for each other!" He laughed.

"Which brings up the question.." Aerith started and turned to Merlin. "How was Sora able to come back to life? Could it have been magic?"

"Oh, my dear!" Merlin answered. "I couldn't tell you, although I may have a hunch as to how he was able to be brought back to life without any damage done to him as he was when he got knocked out."

"Really?" Donald replied. "What is it?"

The others turned to look at Merlin as he turned his back to them to explain what he meant.

"Now this may just be a hunch, but it could be a good one at that.." Merlin started, as he stroked his beard. "Correct me if I'm wrong though. Do you all remember when Leon brought Sora in and Yuffie went to him and she put her head down on his heart calling out for him to wake up."

"Uh huh." They all nodded at him.

"Well." Merlin turned to them and continued. "What if it's possible that Yuffie somehow was able to call out to Sora himself within his heart and gave him the strength to come back and regain his consciousness again?"

"Gawrsh, ya think…?" Goofy wondered.

"Again, it may just be a hunch and I could be wrong, but most of the time I am usually right about these things. I am a wizard, after all!" He replied.

"But then, how would she have been able to bring him back to life like that then?" Leon asked, confused.

"Simple." Merlin answered. "Their hearts have a special connection with each other."

Everyone looked at each other for a moment before freaking out and shouting at Merlin, "WHAT?!"

"Yes, I know. You must all think I'm crazy now!" Merlin replied. "Surely, you all haven't seen the way that Yuffie acts towards him and perhaps the way she feels about him, too. Have you? Or am I wrong?"

"Yeah you're right.." Leon answered. "Still though, it's just a little strange how she would be able to do that."

"Ah well. I'm sure they'll both figure it out on their own when the time comes.." Merlin assured. "Until then, I must return and go back to my studies. Catch you all later!" He waved as he casted a magic mist and disappeared into it.

"Ohh. My head hurts." Donald groaned as he touched his head.

"Same here, Donald." Goofy groaned as he touched his head.

"I don't understand." Cid scratched his head in confusion. "If Yuffie was able to do that, wouldn't she have some type of special power to awaken Sora's heart? Eh. I think I'll just go back to typing on the computer and not figure this out." He returned to the computer and started typing again.

"It is rather strange how he was unconscious and she brought him back while you, Donald, and Goofy were at the Bailey with her still." Aerith told herself. "Are you sure there isn't a far more greater power that lies within her, Leon?" She asked him.

"I'm not certain." Leon looked at her with a serious face. "But I guess we'll just have to take Merlin's word for it and they'll figure it out on their own when the time comes as she's traveling with Sora, Donald, and Goofy on the Gummi ship.."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." She answered going back near Cid to see him type more code on the computer.

"Hmm. Strange." He says quietly to himself. "And what am I going to do with you two while they're gone still?" He goes toward Donald and Goofy both sitting on the ground groaning with both of their hands on their heads. "Agh, Sora.." He sighs as he facepalms his face.


(Hollow Bastion - Yuffie's House - With Sora and Yuffie)

"Come on, Sora!" Yuffie giggled, running as she dragged his hand with her. "We're almost there!"

"Wait! Slow down, Yuffie!" He laughed nervously while hanging on to her hand.

They suddenly stopped as Sora and Yuffie approached a rather large house in front of them: It was made of cobblestone brick, with the roof being plated brown, the two front windows glass white with flower pots in front of them, and a wide yellow front door. "Whoa…" Sora gazed upon it, as Yuffie stopped holding his hand and bent over to grab the key out from under her door mat that had a shuriken painted on it. She unlocked the door to her house and led Sora inside as she introduced him to her living room and kitchen area standing side by side to each other as they entered.

"Well?" She began with a smile. "What do you think? Do you like it?"

Sora walked into the living room area and looked around it: The floor carpet was gray and the walls were white. There was a brown leather sofa, with a wooden lamp standing on a cupboard next to it, including a photo stand that had a picture of Leon, Aerith, Cid, and Aerith: Leon crossing his arms and frowning to the side, Aerith putting her arm over Yuffie's shoulder, Cid smiling while flicking his pipe straight, and Yuffie putting her arm around Aerith while making the peace sign and winking in the frame. Sora picked up the photo and smiled down at it.

"Sorry about the mess in the kitchen!" She laughed at him nervously. "Aerith had been staying with me for a few days before you got here! We have kind of been spending some time together before you came to visit and I just haven't had the time to clean it up yet!"

"Oh. It's alright!" Sora answered as he looked at the amount of dirty cups and plates that were piled next to the sink. "I didn't even notice it until now." He showed her the photo. "I love this photo of you, Leon, Aerith, and Cid, by the way. When was it taken? Recently?"

"Oh thanks!" Yuffie took the photo from him and they looked at it together. "I believe it was taken a while ago. It was when the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee was formed and we all wanted a photo of that memorable day to never be forgotten." She explained.

"Oh I see." Sora replied to her. "That's really cool! And now I'm now apart of the Restoration Committee along with Donald and Goofy, the three of us as Honorary Members!"

"Heh." Yuffie grinned. "That's right, Sora!" She put her arm around Sora and pulled him closer to her, smiling. 'You're so cute, Sora. Never change for me ever, okay?'

"Hehe." Sora smiled back at her, then looked at the photo again, looking at Leon frowning with his arms crossed. "Leon never changes, does he? He stays the same, it seems like." Sora laughed.

"Nope." Yuffie laughed along with him. "And it seems you don't either!" She playfully punched him in the shoulder as she handed him back the photo. "Anyways, I'm going to go finish packing up. You can come with me to my room or just wait for me on the sofa until I tell you to come.~" She turned around and walked straight and then turned right to where her room was located as she went into it and closed the door slightly behind her.

"Okay." Sora answered, turning his head back to her, then back to the photo. "I think I'm going to look at this photo more closely, though. There's just something about it that's calling me towards it." 'Hmmm. Weird.' He thought as he put his finger on his chin and sat on the sofa in the living room. As he looked down on it, he didn't feel quite like himself for a moment and then tears began to run down his face. He didn't notice at first, as if he wasn't in control of his body. 'It almost reminds me of the photo that was taken with Hayner, Pence, Olette, and I back in Twilight Town.. I miss them so much..'

Suddenly, Sora regained control of himself again and noticed the tears that flowed down his cheeks. "Huh?" He realized. "Why am I crying?" He wiped the tears from his face. 'That's weird. This is just like what happened before Donald, Goofy, and I got onto the train to Yen Sid's tower and we said goodbye to Hayner, Pence, and Olette before we left.. Why is this happening to me, I wonder?' Sora thought, as he put down the photo back in the photo stand next to him.

As Sora sat on Yuffie's brown leather sofa, waiting patiently for her to finish packing for the journey ahead, he heard her call out his name saying, "Sora. You can come in my room if you want to. I'm almost done packing up all my stuff now."

"Okay." He replied. "I'll be right there!" He got up from the sofa and headed down towards Yuffie's room.

As he opened the door slightly and came into Yuffie's room, he was amazed by how neat and organized it all was compared to his room back home far away from the Destiny Islands: The floor carpet was light green and the walls were painted bright yellow. Her ceiling fan was a black metal. She had a Moogle lamp on her bed stand next to her bed, which had a cover with ninja shurikens all on it, a trophy case hung up on the side of her wall where she used her different shurikens to fight in battle with, her dresser where she placed her different shirts, shorts, and socks to wear, and her open closet that was next to a window with light beaming out from within it, filled with her different ninja outfits and attires she wore on an every day basis.

"Wow, Yuffie!" He began."Your room is incredible!"

"Haha thanks!" She replied as she was packing up Potions, Ethers, and other equipment and accessories in her bag on her bed. "You like what you see? I tried my best and spent my time wisely to make sure that at the very least that everything in my room was more neat and organized than the outside of it, in case someone were to check it out!" 'And I sure am glad you were able to come with me to my house to check it out as well, Sora.'

"Yeah I can tell, haha." He laughed nervously. "Your room is more neat and organized than how I remember my room as I left it before I first started my journey going to the Destiny Islands again to make sure the raft was still intact."

"Oh really?" She asked. "You're telling me that your room is way messier and unorganized than mine? I find that very hard to believe, considering you wield a weapon as powerful as the Keyblade!"

"Yeah." He laughed as he went toward her standing next to her bed where she stood, crossing both of his arms. "Well, it seems to me that even though I wield a weapon as powerful as the Keyblade, the "Great Ninja Yuffie" who wields shurikens is able to have her own room that's way cleaner and organized than mine." He playfully punched her shoulder.

"Hehe, I guess you're right." She looked at him with a smirk, then closed up her bag. "Alright, that should be everything it looks like."

"That's great!" Sora shouted happily."Are you ready to go now?" He noticed Yuffie looking down at the floor of her room. "Huh? Yuffie… What's wrong?" He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Sora…" She spoke softly, as she turned to face him and hug him tightly. "It's just.. I thought I lost you back there. I thought you had left me on my own back there for good. I'm glad you're alive and okay, but how? How are you alive right now?"

"To be honest with you.." He hugged her back."I don't even know. It's a long story, Yuffie.."

"What do you mean?" She questioned."What happened before you were knocked unconscious and no longer had control of your body anymore?"

"Well." Sora began. "I remember being intimidated by the man in the black coat, as he tried to get away and disappear into his portal. I ended up rushing at him, trying to stop him from getting away, like I had a purpose in trying to protect you from the Organization, in a way where I would always want to protect Kairi from danger too. As I rushed him, he ended up summoning what looked to me to be an arrowgun rifle that was able to catch me off guard and leave me vulnerable, unable to react quickly and defend myself when he shot a couple of lasers from it and I was knocked to the ground, unable to move or get up as I blacked out from consciousness."

"I see now." She replied to him."And so that's when Leon was able to pick you up and carry you, along with Donald and Goofy back to Merlin's house and then I saw you.." She begins to sob. 'That's when I knew that you were gone for good..'

"It seems so." Sora said, as he gently rubbed her back. "It's okay, though, I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere ever again."

"Y-You promise?" She sniffles, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"I promise, Yuffie." He reassured her."Besides, remember what you told me back in the Bailey? We have to stick together and watch each other's back more than ever now since you'll be coming along with us to travel to others worlds as we continue searching for the King and Riku together, right?"

"Yeah. You're right." She replied to him softly. "Aside from that, how were you able to come back to life, though? You still never told me that part yet."

"Well after I blacked out from consciousness, everything went dark and quiet." Sora continued to explain."At first, I couldn't feel or hear anything of the sort for a while. It was like I was paralyzed and unable to move or have control of myself. But then I ended up hearing your voice cry out to me, like it was the end for me and I would never be able to return back to you again. I opened up my eyes and I saw myself calling out to your name as I floated down a light cylinder pillar with a younger version of myself along with Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi carved into it and saw that my consciousness had awakened inside of my own heart."

"No way!" Yuffie gasped, holding on to him tighter. "That's crazy! What happened next?"

Sora held her even tighter as well, bringing his chin to her head. "I stopped floating down and stood on the light cylinder pillar as an unfamiliar voice had called out to me, one I've never heard before, saying to me, "There had been a turn of events it seems. "A change in this time has been altered." Whatever that meant, I don't know. Anyways I had to defeat some Shadow Heartless within my heart, then after I defeated all of them the voice told me that my heart had stopped working and was sleeping again, like when I had turned into a Shadow Heartless from saving Kairi here in Hollow Bastion about a year ago.."

"Oh my God, Sora." Yuffie replied, frowning. "I'm so sorry that happened to you! I can't even imagine what you had to go through!"

"Believe me, me either, Yuffie." He continued. "And then he told me that another heart had reached out and touched mine and I was slowly waking up from consciousness again, but in order for me to fully awaken and get back to my body, I had to defeat the darkness within my heart once more."

"Oh wow." Yuffie gasped as she answered. "Whose heart do you think it was that that reached out and touched yours? Do you know?" 'Could it have been me that made Sora gain consciousness again and be able to come back to life once more? It's possible.. But I won't know for sure unless he tells me. And I was with his body when Leon was holding it and I cried into him..'

"To be honest with you." Sora answered. "I'm not sure. I wasn't alive to be able to know or tell who it might've been, but something tells me they might be the reason why I'm alive and am here with you again now." He smiled down at her. 'I care about you, just as much as I care about Kairi, Yuffie. You both matter to me and always will.'

"I see.." Yuffie frowned in disappointment, hoping to get a clear answer from him. "Continue on though."

"After that, I went through a pink door, ventured deeper and further into my heart and fought more Shadow Heartless along the way, until finally I had made it to what looked to be the center of my heart itself as a light shone itself down on the same light cylinder pillar that I floated down the first time I woke up in my heart. I heard your voice call out to me once again and then suddenly I became lost, calling out your name back, but then got no answer from you." Sora explained.

"Hmm." Yuffie began. "Are you sure that was really my voice calling out to you or were you just imagining it while you were inside your heart?"

"I mean it sounded exactly like you were calling out to me from within my heart, but then again maybe I could've been imagining it or the voice tricked me into thinking it was you, when he could've just been imitating your voice the whole time to lead me into his trap." Sora wondered. "I don't know."

"Yeah you could be right about that, Sora." Yuffie said. 'I don't know, he could be right, but at the same time I still have this gut-wrenching feeling that it was me who saved him from the darkness within his heart.. I guess we'll never know..' She thought. "Who was the voice that led you to the center of your heart though and what darkness did you have to defeat within it?"

"Well, the voice had appeared behind me and turned out to be a dark shadow version of me with bright, glowing, yellow eyes in the form of a Shadow Heartless, and the crazy thing was, he was able to wield his own version of my Keyblade, except it was darker than mine." Sora described.

"No way!" Yuffie gasped, looking up at Sora's face. "Are you serious?!"

"Yes!" Sora shouted. "So I ended up fighting and defeating him, barely holding on, when suddenly 'something' had reminded me in my head of what I was able to do with my Keyblade and I blasted him away with a light beam from within my Keyblade as he was vanquished by the light and disappeared for good, or at least I had thought. Then another pink door had appeared in the middle of the circle pillar and I was about to go through it, when my darker version of myself had appeared behind me again and told me that he would always be the darkness that resided in me if I were ever to grow weary and restless if I fall into unconsciousness again, and then the light will not be able to save me again for a period of time or ever again. But then I proved him wrong by telling him that I'd known that, but my friends and I will always be surrounded by light in order to make sure the darkness doesn't overtake us. Deep down inside of our hearts, there will always be light that will never go out to light the darkness. Finally I woke up and was greeted with Aerith and Cid telling me that Leon, Donald, and Goofy had gone back to the Bailey to check on you and see if you were doing okay since you ran off so suddenly, and that's when I rushed there to save you from Organization XIII themselves!"

"Wow!" Yuffie was shocked. "I'm honestly speechless right now, Sora! You really told him and showed him who's boss inside your heart! I'm very proud of you and wish I could've been there to help you defeat him. But since you saved me from the Organization, I'll be able to travel with you, Donald, and Goofy on your Gummi ship to train and help you guys out more as we search for the King and Riku!~" She smiled at him.

"Yeah!" Sora shouted excitedly. "You will definitely be a big help to us, while traveling the different worlds with us, and I can possibly help you train to become more skilled and aware of your surroundings when fighting too!"

Yuffie broke the hug. "I'd really like that, Sora." She looked down at his silver crown necklace that she's seen him wear the day she met him a year ago on his first journey. "You've always worn that necklace ever since you disappeared from your Island, haven't you?"

"Oh this?" Sora lifted up his crown necklace to her and showed her. "Yeah. I've worn it and have never taken it off for as long as I can remember since Riku and I were on the Island with Kairi about a year ago."

"Interesting.." She looked at it and inspected it closely.

"Why?" Sora asked. "What about it?"

"Well.." Yuffie started. "Have you ever thought about or considered that this necklace could be the reason why the light protects you from the darkness and why you don't fall to it so easily?"

"Hmmm. You're right!" Sora answered her. "I never even thought about that before. This necklace has always been with me and could've possibly protected me from the darkness the whole time I've worn it! Even when Kairi had saved me from being a Shadow Heartless forever!"

"See? I'm smart, Sora." Yuffie giggled.

"Yes you are smart, Yuffie." He replied jokingly. "But I'm also smart too." He playfully pinches her cheeks and plays with her face.

"Hahahahaha!" She laughs. "No Sora, I'm way smarter than you! Just admit it!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!" Sora grabs her and tackles her on her bed with her bag rolling to the side a bit.

"Sora, stop it!" She continues laughing and starts to blush.

"Nope!" He jokes. "I'm not stopping until you say it!" He then starts to tickle the sides of her stomach with his fingers from both of his hands.

"Oh my God, Sora!" She starts laughing hysterically. "Stop that! It tickles!"

"Say it and I'll stop!" He says playfully, as he continues to tickle her.

"Okay. Okay! Fine I'll say it!" Yuffie stops to catch her breath as Sora stops tickling her. "You're right! We're both smart! There. Are you happy now?"

"Mmm. Maybe just a little bit." He joked as they both lay back on the bed side by side.

"Oh. You're such a dork, Sora." She said sarcastically as she hugged him on the bed. 'I wish we could stay like this forever..'

"Not as much of a dork you are, Yuffie." He replied, hugging her back and patted her head gently.

"Well. It seems that we have a special friendship bond." She broke the hug and got out from on top of her bed standing up and facing Sora who was still laying on it. "I say we should go train for a bit by defeating some Heartless and Nobodies, before we head back to Merlin's house and get ready to go."

"Wait, what?! Now?!" Sora asked her as he got up from the bed. "But won't Donald and Goofy be waiting for us to get back from your house right now as we speak?!"

"They will.." She answered. "I'm sure they'll be fine though, after all they have Leon and the others to keep them company and sure they wouldn't want to bother us at my house either. And it's not like they'll be leaving without us right?"

"Yeah I guess you're right!" Sora agreed. "I'm sure they won't mind waiting a little longer for us and we have plenty of time before we have to leave anyways!"

"That's the spirit, Sora!" Yuffie grinned. "Besides I'll leave my bag here so we can come back and get it after we're done."

"Okay. Sounds good!" Sora replied.

"There is something I want to talk to you about involving the training though, Sora." Yuffie said.

"Sure. What is it?" He asked.

"So you know how you've done team attacks with Donald and Goofy in the past when you traveled into the different worlds with them on your first journey a year ago?" She explained to him.

"Yeah?" Sora replied. "What about them?"

"Well, I was thinking you and I could make up our own if that's okay with you.." Yuffie continued, clasping both of her hands in front of her.

"Hmmm. I'm sure it's possible that we can." He answered. "How would we make it up to where we could practice and try it out for ourselves, though?"

"Well..." Yuffie replied. "It could start out like this.."

(She explained to him her layout of fighting techniques and abilities that they could perform for their team attack, which lasted for several minutes, but Sora understood and agreed they could find a way to make it work).

"Alright. I got it now!" Sora shouted. "Should we go outside of your house and try it now to see if it will work?"

"Yeah! Let's go find some Heartless and Nobodies to defeat so we can test it out and see if it will make a great team attack while we battle them in the other worlds as well!" She agreed.

Sora and Yuffie both run out of her room and open the front door of her house to go outside and look for Heartless and Nobodies to defeat.


As Sora rushed to an area outside of Yuffie's house, she got out her door key and locked her house. She put the key back under her shuriken mat, then sprinted toward where he stood.

"Alright." Sora began. "Now if we're going to try and perform this team attack on Heartless and Nobodies, where would we stumble up some?"

When he said that, Heartless and Nobodies suddenly appeared all around them: A group of Heartless Shadows, Heartless Soldiers, Nobody Dusks, and Nobody Assassins.

"Well I guess that answers your question." Yuffie answered him smirking, as she got her shuriken out.

"Heh. Yeah." Sora replied, summoning his Keyblade out. "Let's get 'em!" He looked at her.

Yuffie nodded and struck one of the Nobody Dusks with her shuriken, damaging it a little.

Sora decided to take on the Heartless Soldiers first, attacking and slaying them with his Keyblade as he guarded them when they tried to attack him with their claws. Then he used his Cyclone reaction command at them, defeating a couple of them in the process. He then used Blizzard magic on another one shouting, "Freeze!" as the Soldier froze and vanquished. The last Soldier lunged toward him and he almost didn't react fast enough, but then, "Hyaaahhh!" Yuffie threw her shuriken at it and saved him from getting hurt.

"Whew! Thanks, Yuffie!" He shouted out.

"No problem, Sora! Come on, let's take out the rest of them!" She shouted back to him.

He nodded and proceeded to follow her, but got surrounded by the group of Shadow Heartless and used his fire magic on them. "Fire!" He shouted and flames circled around him and vanquished all of them at once. "Well that takes care of that!" He laughed, then saw Yuffie fighting and struggling with the two Nobody group types that began to surround her and ran toward her. "Yuffie! Hold on! I'm on my way!"

He went toward her and distracted the group of Nobodies yelling, "Hey Nobodies! Over here!" But only the Dusk Nobodies went his way, while the Assassin Nobodies stayed near her. Sora groaned in disappointment. "Great! Now what?" "Sora, it's okay! I can take them on myself, remember?!" She called out to him. "Oh! Right!" He realized. 'I keep forgetting that she can fight and take care of herself, unlike Kairi and am thinking that she's the same as Kairi in a way, when she's not and she's way more different than her..' "Don't worry! I'll be fine and will take care of them all!" Yuffie shouted as she began to attack multiple of the Assassin Nobodies with her shuriken. "You just worry about your group of Nobodies and take care of them!" She ordered as she dodged their attacks.

"Okay!" He nodded to her, understanding what she said, and ran toward the Dusks with his Keyblade. "Bring it on, Nobodies!"

Sora approached them in his fighting stance and remembered his reaction he used in Twilight Town with Donald and Goofy at the Station Plaza, using Reversal on one of them to confuse them all and make them turn, as he slashed it and did a combo on it fully shouting out, "Take this!" and defeated it while the other three Dusks tried to attack him, but he moved away from them and dodged them again. He went back to them and did his Reversal reaction command again on another one to confuse them all again, as he decided to use fire magic on them again like he did with the Shadow Heartless. "Fire!" He shouted and used it two times at the Dusks, with only one standing left. Knowing his magic would run out soon and wanted to save some for him and Yuffie's team attack that they would have yet to perform, he decided to end the last Dusk with a finishing combo, shouting "Back off!" as the Dusk was defeated. He continued to run toward Yuffie who he saw did a significant amount of damage to the Nobody Assassins, but not enough to kill them completely.

"Yuffie!" Sora rushed toward her with his Keyblade. "Now!" His eyes glaring with seriousness as he told her what he meant by that. Yuffie stopped attacking the Nobodies as she saw him flip over the Assassins right next to her. She looked at his face, knowing what he was trying to tell her, and nodded to him. "Right!" She shouted. He nodded back at her, as they began to perform their team attack together around the Assassin Nobodies: Sora uses his keyblade to slash and attack a couple of them, while Yuffie throws her shuriken beside him at the other couple of them. Then for their final move Sora suddenly throws his Keyblade to her, shouting, "Yuffie!" As she holds it in one of her hands and her shuriken in her other hand. She closes her eyes and feels the light residing from within the Keyblade, making it stronger, while she combines it with her shuriken making it glow and more powerful than before. She uses both of the weapons to her advantage and throws them alongside each other around the Assassin Nobodies to circle around them, doing massive damage to them. She glares at them shouting, "It's over!" as a huge light beam forms from both the Keyblade and her shuriken, taking out and vanquishing them around her and Sora.

Sora covers his eyes with his arm, as the light starts to blind him, then uncovers them again as he sees the Nobodies taken out completely. "Whoa!" Sora looked around, then to Yuffie. "That was awesome, Yuffie!"

Yuffie recovered from her team attack with Sora and looked at him grinning. "Heh. Thanks, Sora!~" She winked. "But I couldn't have done it without your help after all! It seems I was right about our special friendship bond after all and the power that resides within your Keyblade helped combine with my shuriken, making the light able to take out the Nobodies for good!" She hands him back his Keyblade.

"Yeah. Haha." Sora replied to her, taking back his Keyblade. "It seems so! I'm just surprised that it ended up working out so well, since that was the first time we performed it ever and it took me some time to get the hang of with both Donald and Goofy when I performed their different team attacks with them.."

"Hmm. I see." She said skeptically. "Well maybe our friendship is stronger and more special than theirs is! I don't know! That could be why, right?" She answered, smirking at him.

"Heh. Maybe.." Sora replied. "It wouldn't be the first time you're right about something though." He joked.

"Hey!" She playfully punched him. "What's that supposed to mean?! I've been right about stuff most of the time! When have I ever been wrong?!" She said sarcastically.

"Okay. Okay! You're right!" Sora laughed. "I was kidding after all. You know what I meant though!" He smiled at her.

"Yeah. I know." She giggled.

"So about our team attack.." Sora began. "What should we call it?"

"Hmmm." Yuffie wondered. "I say Ninja's Revenge!" She shouted excitedly at him.

"Ninja's Revenge.." Sora said to himself, thinking about why she would call it that. "Oh! I get it now! It's because you're using both my Keyblade and your shuriken to get revenge on enemies, right?!" He exclaimed to her.

"Yeah! That's exactly it, Sora!" Yuffie said happily. 'And also because I want to help you out and protect you from the dangers that may lurk and try to separate us in the worlds we travel to..'

"That's a pretty sweet name! I love it! It definitely suits our team attack all together!" Sora shouted excitedly.

"Heh. Thanks, Sora! I'm glad you like it! I definitely think it suits our team attack all together too!" Yuffie nodded cheerfully at him. "Anyways, we should start heading back to the house to get my bag and get ready to start heading out with Donald and Goofy back at Merlin's house."

"Oh. Yeah you're right." Sora replied. "We definitely should be heading back there and not keep them waiting for longer than we had anticipated them to, after all!"

"Yeah. Yuffie answered. Besides, I'd say we've done enough training for now and are ready to conquer anything that may come our way, don't you think?"

"Definitely." Sora agreed.

"Come on, let's head back to my house!" Yuffie ordered running back to her house.

Sora nodded, as he followed behind her.

They approached and made it back to the front of her house again, as she got her house key from underneath her shuriken mat and unlocked the door, opening up the inside of it. She led Sora into it, closing the door behind them and they headed straight to her room to get her bag all packed up and ready on the bed. She lifted it up and wrapped it over her shoulder, turning to face Sora and hugging him one more time before they headed out.

"Thank you so much for helping me out with our team attack, Sora! I really appreciate it! Without you, it would never have been possible to perform it! So thank you! It really means a lot to me!" She thanked him. 'When I'm with you, I feel like anything is possible and we're unstoppable together against anything!'

"Aw. Of course, Yuffie!" Sora hugged her back. "Anything for you! I'm always happy to help you however I can with anything!"

Yuffie looked at him. "Then can you promise me that we'll be able to perform it again sometime in one of the worlds that we travel to? It doesn't have to be in every world we travel to, but I think we could prove useful and we can use it to our advantage in the most dire situations we could encounter with the Heartless, Nobodies, and even Organization XIII themselves too!"

"Yeah. Definitely." Sora replied to her, smiling. "I think it could prove very useful to us whenever we are able to perform it again!"

"Alright! That sounds good! I'm very glad to hear that, Sora!" She shouted excitedly.

"Heh. Same here, Yuffie!" He replied.

"Alright, I think I'm ready to head back to Merlin's house!" She broke the hug and went toward her bedroom door, turning around to face Sora again. "Are you ready to head out, Sora?" She smiled.

"Yeah, I am now." Sora nodded to her. "Let's head out now!" He went toward her.

"Okay!" She nodded at him.

They went out of her room and approached her front door. Yuffie began to unlock and open it again. As she opened it she told Sora, "You go on ahead, I'll just be a moment." He nodded to her, knowing what she meant and went out of the house. She turned around and looked at her living room and kitchen area one more time telling herself, "I hope Sora and I will eventually be able to come back and spend some time with each other here at my house, just for a little while longer, and then maybe just maybe, I'll muster up the courage to let him know how I really feel about him.." She looked down sadly, as she closed her front door and locked her house up completely. She put her house key back under her shuriken mat and went after Sora back to Merlin's house.


(Merlin's House - With Leon, Donald, Goofy, Aerith, and Cid)

Donald and Goofy continued waiting for Sora and Yuffie to get back to Merlin's house, along with Leon, Aerith, and Cid focusing their attention back to the computer with Cid still typing.

"Ohhh!" Donald shouted. "What could be taking those two so long?! They were supposed to be here as soon as Yuffie finished packing up!"

"Gawrsh, maybe they're taking a lot longer than they intended to or maybe they ran into some more trouble along the way to her house?" Goofy replied.

"Why!" Donald freaked out. "If they don't return back here soon we'll have to find-" He was interrupted as the door of Merlin's house slowly opened.

Leon, Aerith, and Cid all turned around from the computer to see Sora and Yuffie run into the house and close the door behind them, catching their breath as Donald and Goofy approached them.

"Quack!" Donald shouted. "Where have you two been?! Goofy and I have been waiting for you both to return for longer than we thought you would be gone!"

"Yeah." Goofy answered. "We were starting to get worried and thinking we would have to go after you both and make sure nothing bad happened!"

"Sorry! Donald, Goofy." Sora laughed nervously. "We didn't mean to keep you waiting for that long! Yuffie and I were training and fighting some Heartless and Nobodies for a little bit outside of her house and came up with a new team attack that worked out well in the end!" He smiled and turned to Yuffie.

"Yeah, sorry guys!" Yuffie apologized and scratched her head. "It was mainly my fault for dragging Sora along the whole time while we were at my house. I wanted to train with him for a little more before we decided to head out, so that way we would be more prepared to face the danger that we may come across in the worlds that we travel to on our journey!"

"It's okay, Yuffie." Goofy replied to her. "Donald and I understand, right Donald?" He turned to Donald, as Donald nodded to him hesitantly, still angry. "Hyuck! Besides, we think it's a great idea that you and Sora decided to train a bit more and come with a team attack of your very own, even when we knew what your intentions were when you were out spending time with him!"

"Oh!" Yuffie gasped embarrassingly. 'Wait, so have they known about my true feelings toward Sora all this time or..? Oh no..' "Wait! I can explain I-"

"It's okay, don't worry about it!" Donald calmed her down and grinned. "After all, it's not your fault and we know that you're still new to all of this. But Sora on the other hand has been with us for a while now and should know better by now already.." He said sarcastically, turning to Sora.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Sora said, embarrassed.

"Well, you should know by now that we can't waste any more time than we already have and get ready to head out to look for the King and Riku, unless you're not that concerned about finding out what happened to him and if he's okay than you were before we came here." Donald joked.

"No! It's not that!" Sora answered. "I just wanted to spend more time with Yuffie by checking out her house and training with her a little more before we left! You never know what kind of Heartless or Nobodies we may come to face, especially with Organization XIII running around causing chaos!"

"I understand and you do have a point.." Donald replied. "But our main focus is still the King and Riku and bringing them back, do you understand? We have to find them and make sure they're okay!"

"Yeah. I know.." Sora looked down. "I really hope he's okay.."

"Well don't worry! We'll find them soon enough!" Donald reassured him. "But first we need to get Yuffie settled in and head out to our Gummi ship." He turned to Yuffie carrying her bag over her shoulder. "Are you all set and ready to go, now?"

Yuffie nodded. "I am. But do you think it would be okay if I said goodbye to Leon and the others one last time before heading out?"

"Hmm." Donald thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Well. Okay. But make it quick, we're tight on schedule and need to get it going soon!"

"Don't worry! I'll be quick!" She assured him and ran to hug Aerith first.

Aerith hugged her back. "So are you leaving for real, this time?" Yuffie nodded to her. "I am, but I promise I'll see you all again soon!"

Aerith nodded. "Oh I'm sure going to miss you while you're gone! All of us will!"

"Aw. I'll miss you guys too! I'll come back soon though, I promise!" Yuffie replied to her.

Aerith broke the hug. "Make sure you have fun and enjoy your time with "you know who" while traveling together." She motioned toward Sora.

"Heh. You already know I will." Yuffie answered her, as she went to hug Leon.

"Please stay safe for all of us and for my sake, okay?" Leon hugged her back. "We don't want anything bad to happen to you while you're gone."

"Don't worry, Leon. I promise I will this time." She looked up at him. "After all, I can take care of myself, remember?" She smiled.

"Yeah I know.." Leon answered looking down at her. "You've told me that many times, but still.."

"Sora, Donald, and Goofy will take care of me and make sure I stay safe along with them. You have nothing to worry about, trust me." She assured him.

"Yeah. You're right." He broke the hug. "Sora's a lucky guy to have you go along with him, Donald, and Goofy to help find the King and Riku, after all. So I trust him to take care of you. He looks at Sora, then to her. "But still come back to check in with us to let us know how everything's going, okay?"

"I will." She replied to him, then went to hug and say goodbye to Cid.

"Goodbye, kid." Cid hugged her. "Come back to see us again soon, eh?"

"You know it, Cid." She laughed.

"I hope everything ends up working out with you on your journey. Especially with Sora." He replied.

"I sure hope so.." She frowned, then looked at him. "I'm not giving up hope yet though." She smiled at him.

"Heh. That's what I like to hear!" He broke the hug, then looked at her. "I'm sure he'll come around eventually and figure it out soon enough. Just keep your hopes up and don't give up." He flicks his pipe enthusiastically.

"Yeah. You're right." She answered softly and turned to look at Sora, smiling at him, as he smiled back at her. 'I'm sure he will.' She thought.

Then she looked around and searched for Merlin, then seeing as he was nowhere to be found, she turned to Leon and Aerith. "By the way, where's Merlin? I thought he would be here to say goodbye to me before I left.."

"Oh. He decided to go back to his studies and read some more on how we might be able to stop the Heartless roaming around and take them out for good, along with their castle standing far away from us."

"Aw. That's a shame." Yuffie frowned in disappointment. "I really wanted to say goodbye to him at least once before I left. But I understand and we'll definitely help you guys out more on taking out that castle when we get back!" She assured them.

"Right. For now though, focus on finding the King and Riku for us with Sora and them while we try to figure it out for now." Leon answered.

"Okay." Yuffie nodded as she headed back to Sora, Donald, and Goofy waiting for her. "Well. I'm ready now. Let's get going!"

"Right!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy shouted excitedly and began to turn to Merlin's door.

"Actually, hold on y'all!" Cid called out to them, typing away on the computer. "I almost forgot to show your new and improved Gummi ship to you before you left.." He turned around to show them on the computer. "Come here and see for yourselves!"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped and looked at each other. "New and improved?!" They rushed to Cid and the computer to check it out, as Yuffie followed behind them.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all amazed by their new Gummi ship design they were seeing on the computer. "Whoa! That's awesome!" Sora shouted happily. "Yup! I've worked on it, alongside the town's defense mechanism this whole time since you landed here. While you all were out there busy fighting the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII for us, I figured that I owed you. Think of it as a token of appreciation from us here in Hollow Bastion. And considering that you three are Honorary Members to our Restoration Committee and have Yuffie going with y'all on your journey now, check this out!" He showed the inside of the new and improved Gummi ship to them and showed the front of the ship to them. "First off I added a fourth seat next to your seat, Sora, so that way Yuffie would have a chance to fly beside you when traveling to the different worlds together, I hope you don't mind." He looked to Sora grinning.

"Oh! No, not at all!" Sora's face got a little red. "I'm sure Yuffie and I will enjoy being next to each other! Right Yuffie?!" He turned to Yuffie. "Yeah definitely!" She giggled at him. Donald and Goofy giggled quietly.

"Glad to hear that!" Cid laughed heartily, then turned back to the computer. "Anyway, I ended up looking for new Gummi blocks to improve it and installed them successfully within the inside of your ship to make it fly more efficiently and faster than before. So you now have A.I. voice functionality and capabilities, and even turbo speed installed within your control panel at the front of your ship. "Oh boy! This is going to be great!" Donald shouted excitedly, as Sora, Goofy, and Yuffie murmured impressed by his work on the ship.

"But that's not all.." He continued, showing them the back of the ship. "I even installed blocks to make a hallway with two intersections in the back of the ship where you three, including Yuffie, have your own bunk rooms to relax and hang out in, if you end up growing restless and weary in the different worlds on your journey ahead!" He turned to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie all shocked. "WHAT?!" They all shouted. "No way!" Yuffie put her hand over her mouth. "This journey just got so much better!" She exclaimed to him. "Heh. You better believe it did!" He turned and smirked at her, then looked at Sora, Donald, and Goofy who were still shocked from what they saw. "So, what do you guys think?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all started to hug him shouting at him, "Thank you so much, Cid! You're the best!"

"Eh. Don't mention it!" Cid answered. "Besides, you all better hurry and start looking for your King and Riku, before it's too late!"

"Right! Let's get going!" Donald shouted as he ran toward Merlin's door and opened it. "Come on Sora, Goofy, Yuffie!

"Hyuck! Wait for me Donald!" Goofy called out and headed to him.

Sora and Yuffie nodded to each other, then to head toward Donald and Goofy standing with them.

"Sora. Hold on." Leon called out to him. "Before you go.. There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

Sora turned to face him, as he looked to Donald, Goofy and Yuffie, then back at him. "What about?" He asked.

"It's better if it's between you and me, if that's alright with you." Leon answered.

"Okay then." Sora nodded. "Donald, Goofy, would you guys mind taking Yuffie back to the ship while I talk to Leon for a second?"

"Of course not!" Donald replied. "Besides there's something we need to talk about with her as well before we head out, right Goofy?" He nudged Goofy.

"Oh! Yeah! That's right!" Goofy answered him. "Come on, Yuffie. Let Donald and I introduce you to the ship!"

"Okay.." Yuffie nodded hesitantly at them, then looked at Sora with a worried face. "But Sora.."

Sora turned to meet her. "Don't worry! Go with them!" He gave her a reassuring face. "I'll be fine, I promise! This will only take a second!"

"Okay if you're sure.." She replied softly to him. "Come back to me soon.." She whispered close to him. "I will." He whispered back to her. She held his hand for a moment, then let go of it and turned to Donald and Goofy looking down at them. "Let's go."

Donald and Goofy nodded at her, then turned to Sora. "We'll meet you at the Gummi ship garage. Come meet us soon!" Donald shouted.

"Got it." Sora answered him, as he looked at Yuffie frowning and going with Donald and Goofy out of Merlin's house.

"Oh boy! My very own bunk room in the back of our ship!" Donald shouted with glee. "This is so exciting! I can't wait!"

"Hyuck! Yeah! Me too!" Goofy shouted excitedly with him. "I can hardly wait! What about you, Yuffie?"

"Oh! Yeah definitely!" Yuffie laughed nervously. "I can hardly wait either!"

"Glad to hear it!" Donald laughed.

Soon him, Goofy, and Yuffie's laughter and excitement could be heard fading more and more as they walked and turned around the corner of Merlin's house into Marketstreet.

Sora decided to wait until their voices could no longer be heard, before he approached Leon, whose arms were crossed and eyes were closed. "So. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Leon uncrosses his arms and opens his eyes, looking at Sora with a serious face. "I want you to promise me something and I want to make sure that you stand by that promise too.."

"Which is what?" Sora asked him.

"I want you to promise that you'll take care and protect Yuffie for me, no matter what happens out there. You and I both know that she can take care of herself and we've been seen that she can, but is she truly ready to take on the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII by herself all at once?" Leon asked him skeptically.

"But I thought you said that she was ready and willing to fight with us and help us look for the King and Riku?" Sora answered him, confused.

"I know. And I meant what I said about that." Leon replied to him. "But she still needs more time to train and become stronger, which I hope she will continue to, as she travels with you, Donald, and Goofy to the different worlds outside of Hollow Bastion."

"Okay. I understand that. But I know she can take care of herself better than Kairi could here in Hollow Bastion. I've seen it while her and I were outside her house training and fighting Heartless and Nobodies before heading here." Sora explained to him.

"Yes I know that. I'm not saying she can't take care of herself. I'm saying what if there comes a time where you and her stumble upon Organization XIII once again and she loses control of herself?! Like she did charging at them earlier in the Bailey before you saved her?! I'm just worried that she'll end up getting seriously injured or even worse become like you when you decided to charge at that man in the black coat.." He looks down at Sora.

"I understand now.." Sora looks down at the ground. 'He is right though, I'll definitely need to help her train more and become stronger like me as we continue looking for the King and Riku..'

"Look I'm sorry for being so hard on you.." Leon puts his hand on Sora's shoulder. "I just don't want anything bad to happen to her, like when you were unconscious and I rushed and carried you back to Merlin's with Donald and Goofy behind me. We were hoping that you would be okay, and then it turned out you were no longer here, which caused her to freak out and lose herself in a way that I myself or any of us here have never seen before. None of us want what happened to you to end up happening to her and we end up grieving and suffering the same loss to her as she did to you. Does that make sense?" He reassures him.

"Yeah. I got it and understand what you're saying." Sora replied to him, looking up, and nodding to him. "I promise that I will take good care of her, ensuring that nothing bad will happen to her. I will protect her, and bring her back safely. You have my word."

"Thank you, Sora. I'm really glad to hear that." Leon nodded, smiling at him. "I know you won't let me down. Which is why I trust you, Donald, and Goofy to take care of her and protect her as you continue to search for the King and Riku on your journey."

"Of course, Leon." Sora answered. "I care about her too!" He smiled.

"We know you do, Sora. And we can all see that too." Leon replied, taking his hand off of his shoulder. "But shouldn't you be heading to the Gummi garage to meet her, Donald, and Goofy before they start to worry about you, again?" He smirked.

"Oh! Right! I better get going now before Donald gets after me again!" Sora panicked and made his way to the door, before turning to Leon again. "Sorry to run, Leon, but other worlds are calling." He put his hand on his heart with a serious face.

Leon nodded to him, crossing his arms. "Organization XIII… They look tough. Be careful out there."

Sora smiled and nodded to him. He clenched both of his fists and called out, "See you soon."

Leon smiled and waved at him, as Sora closed the door behind him and ran to Marketstreet.


(Hollow Bastion - Inside the Gummi Ship Garage - With Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie)

Sora approaches Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie as they are all standing in unison beside the new and improved Gummi ship which was facing toward the opened garage gate to the right of them. It was even bigger and wider than before. Yuffie approached him, with her bag over her shoulder. "Sora. Your ship is even more amazing and awesome looking when you're this close to it in person!" She was amazed.

"Heh. I know." Sora answered. "That was my exact reaction to it when Donald and Goofy introduced it to me in Traverse Town for the first time, when we were starting our first journey to look for the King… and Riku..." He looked at her, then to the ship frowning.

"Oh I can't wait to see the inside of it now, since he installed our own bunk rooms into it!" Goofy shouted. "The ship will be even more relaxing and comfy now!"

"Yeah!" Donald exclaimed. "Which means I'll be able to rest my feathers more often after a tiring journey into the worlds that we visit!" He approaches and turns to Sora seeing his frowning face. "By the way, Sora, did you ever tell Yuffie the one rule that we applies to us when flying upon our ship yet?!"

"Oh! Yeah!" Yuffie answered him. "I remember now! This boat runs on happy faces, right?" She made a cheerful face.

"That's right!" Donald replied. "You remembered, Yuffie! No frowning and no sad faces okay, Sora?"

"Hyuck! Yeah!" Goofy said as he approached Donald and Yuffie standing in front of Sora. "We'll find the King and Riku soon enough, I'm sure of it! We can't give up just yet! And now we have Yuffie coming along with us to help find them too! That sure is exciting, right?!"

Sora looked up at Goofy, Donald, and Yuffie all smiling at him. "Yeah you're right.." He replied trying to smile. "I just wish I knew if Riku was okay or not."

"Well we already saw the King save us back in Twilight Town before we boarded on the train to Yen Sid's.." Goofy replied. "So that has to mean that he must know what happened to Riku before we saw him disappear."

"Yeah!" Donald shouted. "Which is why we have to look for him again, because he'll tell us what happened to Riku and lead us to him!"

Yuffie touched his shoulders with both of her hands. "We'll find him and we'll bring him back, okay? Both the King and him. I promise. We're all in this together okay, Sora? We all want to find the King and Riku and bring them back home safely. So let's go and find them." She reassured him with a serious look on her face.

Sora looked at her and grinned. "Okay. Thank you, Yuffie."

"Of course Sora, that's what I'm here for." She replied to him softly, smiling. 'I'll always be here for you, Sora. Always.'

"Let's get going then!" Donald approached the ship and slid the entrance door open into it.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie all went into it and saw that the ship looked to be the same, except bigger. The front of the ship where the control panels and the seats were located ended up being the same, but there was another seat added near Sora's. As they looked into the new back area of it, there stood a hallway that separated into four different rooms which looked to be where the bunk rooms had been installed into the ship itself.

"Oh boy!" Donald screamed with excitement as he entered his room labeled: Donald on the door. "My very own bunk room!" He jumped up and down on his singular bed.

"Wow. Cid sure wasn't kidding when he told us that he installed the Gummi ship to be more improved than it was before! This is even more crazy!" Sora was astonished as he walked through the hallway with Goofy and Yuffie behind him and found his bunk room. He went inside of it to check it out. "Wow it's so spacious! This is awesome!"

"Yeah, he did a really good job, didn't he?" Goofy replied, seeing his name labeled on his bunk room door.

"He sure did.." Yuffie spoke softly as she walked down the hallway and went to the right to see her name labeled on her own bunk door: Yuffie Kisaragi. She gasped and put her hand over her mouth as she opened the door and saw her bunk room filled with a comfy sofa, a table next to it, and her singular bed. She walked into it. "I still can't believe that I'm apart of this team now. It's so unreal and hard to believe."

"You better believe it. Because this is only just the start of it all." Sora called out to her, smiling. She turned back around and smiled back at him. "Our first journey together.." She replied to him.

"Come on, let's go to the front and get ready to fly." He motioned for her to follow him, still smiling. She nodded to him, placing her bag down on the sofa, as she followed him out of her bunk room, closing the door behind her.

Sora led Yuffie to the front of the ship where the control panel was and Donald and Goofy were already sitting in their seats. He turned the ship online as he pressed the ON button in the middle of the control panel. A computer voice called out saying, "Welcome Sora, Donald, Goofy and the newest member of the team, Yuffie Kisaragi!" "Qwack!" Donald freaked out. Yuffie was surprised, "Wow. Cid sure went all out with these new installments to the ship, huh?" Sora turned to her saying, "Yeah sure seems like it, this must be the new A.I. voice system he was talking about to us earlier at Merlin's house!" "The ship is now fully operational and is ready for takeoff at your command." The voice stated. "Oh, I can't wait!" Goofy shouted excitedly. "Me neither! Let's go, Sora!" Donald shouted. Sora and Yuffie got into their seats side by side, sitting next to each other. "Ready?" Sora smiled at her before he hit the START button on his control wheel. "Ready." She smiled. Sora hit the button on his wheel as it began to float and fly forward toward the open garage door. "Commencing takeoff in.. 3..2..1.." The ship blasted off at full speed upward into the sky out of Hollow Bastion. "Hang on tight, everyone!" Sora shouted. "WAAACCCKKKK!" Donald screamed out. "Yaaah-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" Goofy hollered.

From a distance outside of Merlin's house, Leon and Aerith can see the ship flying and disappearing upward into the sky and into orbit out of Hollow Bastion.

"There she goes." Aerith exclaimed to him, while looking at him staring at it. "Don't worry, she'll be fine with them. I know it." She reassures him, while smiling, and pats his shoulder and goes back inside of Merlin's house.

"Yeah. I know. You're right." Leon replied quietly to her. "See you soon, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Yuffie.." He says as he walks back into Merlin's house and closes the door.


(World Map - Inside Gummi ship)

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Yuffie all sit in their seats, looking out of the ship's front window into the World Map of nothingness.

"Whoa! What a rush!" Sora exclaimed.

"You're telling me!" Yuffie shouted. "Man that was crazy!"

"Yeah, are you guys okay back there?" Sora turned to Donald and Goofy.

"I think so.." Goofy rubbing his head.

"Ohh. I wasn't expecting the ship to go that fast." Donald groaned. "Must still be groggy from sleeping for over a year in that pod."

"Me too, Donald." Goofy replied.

"Sorry guys." Sora apologized. "I didn't mean for the ship to end up going that fast! It must've been one of the new parts of the ship that Cid installed in it."

"Oh. I think I'm going to have a headache." Donald replied. "Just put the ship into auto-pilot for now and then I'll be ready to go again in a little bit."

Sora nodded. "Goofy, what about you? Are you okay?"

"Gee I'm not sure.." Goofy replied to him. "I think I'm okay, not as bad as Donald is though. I say we stop flying for now and wait for Donald to recover."

"Alright then." Sora answered him as he put the ship in auto-pilot. "So what should we do while we wait for him then?" He wondered.

Yuffie thought, then said, "Oh I know. We can go to my bunk room in the meantime! Wanna come, Sora?" She winked at him.

"Oh. Uh. Sure." Sora laughed nervously. "I still have yet to see it fully after all!"

"Great! Then let's go!" Yuffie got out of her seat next to Sora and rushed to her room in the back.

"Okay, I'll be right there in a second!" He called out to her as he turned back to Donald and Goofy. "Will you guys be okay here, while I go check her room out?"

"Don't worry, Sora! We'll be fine! I'll look after Donald in the meantime while you go check out her room!" Goofy assured him, smiling.

"Okay! Sounds good!" Sora replied. "I'll be back soon then to check on you guys again!" He smiled and ran to the back of the ship where Yuffie was waiting for him and ran into her room.

"Gawrsh, do you think he bought it?" Goofy said to Donald.

"Of course he did." Donald replied, as he went back to normal. "We did this for Yuffie after all when she confessed her true feelings for Sora to us back at the Gummi garage, so they would be closer to each other while on our journey. He might not know what's going on and why we're doing this for him, but later he'll thank us for it, even if he doesn't share the same feelings as she does toward him right away! We're doing Yuffie a favor by giving her a chance at showing her true feelings to Sora when Kairi isn't with him right now."

"Yeah. I wonder what's going to happen between him and Kairi when she finds out and he sees her again back on the Islands.." Goofy said unsure.

"I guess we'll find out once we find the King and Riku and bring them back home for good this time." Donald answered. "Although I can already tell you right now, if Sora and Yuffie ever do get together on this journey, it definitely won't end well between him and Kairi."

"Yeah.." Goofy replied. "Let's hope we don't end up running into Kairi and end up having to save her again from the Heartless or anything like we did back in Hollow Bastion a year ago, otherwise we'd really be in trouble.."

"You're right." Donald said as he looked to the back of the ship's hallway that led to their bunker rooms. "Where are Sora and Yuffie? Shouldn't they have been back by now?"

"Hmm." Goofy wondered. "Maybe they're taking a little longer being in her room than we originally thought?"

"Aw phooey!" Donald shouted. "I knew this was going to happen! They better be back soon, as we're wasting more time already sitting here waiting for them to return and fly the ship again so we can travel to the different worlds!" He jumped up and down angrily in his seat.

(Inside Yuffie's Room)

Yuffie was sitting on her bed with her hands behind it and her legs out while Sora stood in front of her.

"Do you think Donald's okay?" Sora asked her.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine." She replied to him. "In the meantime though, we should use this time wisely as a way to get closer to each other!~" 'And for some reason, I am getting a little bit tired and drowsy from being in the ship and just want to relax for a bit before we head on out. Must've been all the training Sora and I did earlier.' She thought.

"Huh? Closer to each other? How?" Sora asked her confused, scratching his head, not knowing what she meant.

"Well, while we wait for Donald to recover.." Yuffie began nervously. "I was thinking we could hug and be closer to each other, since we're best friends, if that's okay with you.." She pleaded to him with puppy dog eyes. "I mean I am still new to all this after all, and it's a little scary for me to be honest.."

Sora knew he couldn't deny that face and decided to sit next to her on the bed as he hugged her tightly. "Well. Okay." He smiled. "There's no need to worry. I'm here for you, okay?" He began to pat her head.

"Thanks, Sora.." She smiled, blushing lightly to where he didn't notice it as she closed her eyes and began to relax within his arms as he hugged her. "I think I'm going to rest my eyes for a bit, if you don't mind.."

"Huh? Now?" Sora was confused. "Shouldn't we be getting back to Donald and Goofy soon?"

"Let them wait." Yuffie spoke softly. "I'm sure they're doing fine without us bothering them right now. I just want to enjoy this moment with you until we head out, okay?"

"Well. Okay." Sora replied to her. "I guess we can stay like this for now. I mean as long as you're okay with it, then I guess I'm okay with it too.." 'Why am I feeling tired and drowsy all of a sudden? That's strange. Did I use up most of my energy while I was training with Yuffie back in Hollow Bastion and now flying the Gummi ship?' He thought.'

"Sounds good, Sora.." Yuffie said as she began to drift off to sleep. "I'm really glad you're with me right now.. And together.." She spoke softly as she fell asleep.

"Me too.. Yuffie.." He spoke softly as he fell asleep.


(Inside Yuffie's Dream)

Yuffie was at the Bailey in Hollow Bastion leaning on the balcony and looking out at the Heartless Castle with pain and hatred hidden deep within her eyes. 'There's no way he's gone.. No way.. He can't be.. He just can't..' She thought about and recalled the events that had happened before that had led her to stand where she stood.

Yuffie looked at Leon carrying Sora in both of his hands, with Sora unconscious. She couldn't believe her eyes. She rushed toward him and started freaking out to Leon. "W-WHAT HAPPENED?!" She began to shout to him. "L-LEON WHY IS HE LIKE THIS?! WHY?! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM OUT THERE? LEON!" She looked at him with tears beginning to swell in her eyes. Leon looked down at her with pain in his heart and down at Sora. Aerith, Merlin, and Cid also looked down at Yuffie hearing her scream loudly with pain. Donald and Goofy also looked down with sadness on their faces.

"Oh Yuffie.. I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry.." Leon said with hurt in his voice. "Sora.. he got struck down by Organization XIII though.."

"No…" Yuffie began to cry. 'Not like this.. Not Sora.. He can't be gone.. He just can't be..' She went to his body to lay her head down on his heart and couldn't hear any beating in it. He was really gone for good and she couldn't believe it. She started sobbing with pain and tears in both of her eyes, her face all red. "Oh..Sora.."

'Organization XIII..They're going to pay for this.' Yuffie thought, still looking at the Heartless castle out in the distance. 'They're all going to pay for what they did to him.' She cried more tears out as she wiped them from her eyes.

"How did this end up happening?!" Aerith asked Leon.

"I don't know.." Leon replied to her, looking down at Sora. "Donald and Goofy told me that he tried to rush at a man in a black coat who was part of the Organization, trying to stop him from leaving into his portal, and then the man ended up shooting a couple of lasers at him with one of his arrowgun rifles that he summoned, knocking him out unconsciousness and his heart not responding anymore, it seems.." He walked and carried Sora to Merlin's bed, placing him on it for him to lay on.

"Impossible! Why, I don't believe this!" Merlin shouted. "How is the chosen Keyblade wielder supposed to conquer the darkness and restore balance to the worlds once again if he's not around anymore?"

"Aw! What are Goofy and I supposed to do now?! We can't look for the King and Riku without Sora now!" Donald shouted angrily.

"Yeah! And we can't just leave him behind either!" Goofy shouted.

"I'm not sure.. Donald.. Goofy.." Leon looked down at them with a sigh. "I wish I could tell you.. But I don't know what we can do for him now.. There doesn't seem to be much else to do since he's gone now.."

"NO! He can't be gone! He just can't!" Yuffie shouted angrily and went towards Sora's unconscious body. "Sora? Sora!" She shook his body as she called out to him. "Sora! Sora! Please wake up! Sora!"

'It was no use. He was gone. Forever.' She thought as she put both her hands on her face and covered it.

Yuffie looked down at him and cried into his chest.

"Yuffie I don't think he can.." Leon tried to touch her shoulder.

Yuffie suddenly turned around, "YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN THERE WITH HIM OR ELSE HE WOULDN'T BE DEAD RIGHT NOW! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! I HATE YOU LEON! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" She screamed at him with pain and horror in her eyes.

"Yuffie.. I'm so sorry.." He looked down and closed his eyes. "You're right I should've been there to protect him and I'm sorry but I-" She ran out of Merlin's house. "Wait! Yuffie!" He tried to stop her.

"Oh!" Donald groaned.

"Gawrsh, I hope she'll be okay!" Goofy replied sadly.

"She will.." Aerith replied to them. "She just needs time to process all of this. I know it's a lot for all of us to handle and we're coping with it the best that we can. You should probably go check on her and see if she's okay though, Leon." She looks to Leon with a serious face. "Talk to her and make her try to understand that things may not be the same anymore for her or any of us after what we have just witnessed right now with Sora.." She then looks to Sora's unconscious body on the bed.

"Okay.. I'll try.." Leon answered sadly. "I don't know how I'll ever get through to her and make her understand though, since we both knew how she felt about Sora for over a year now."

"Then try to make her understand." Aerith replied to him sadly, looking down. "That's all you can do after all.."

"Yeah. You're right.." He sighed, nodding to her. "I'm going to go check on her now and see how she's doing. I'll be back as soon as I can." He ran out of Merlin's house.

"I can't believe he's gone.." Cid sighed, looking at Sora. "Poor kid. I always liked him from the start when I first met him. Such a shame to see him like this. I hope Yuffie will be okay.." He then goes back to typing on the computer.

"Yeah. Me too." Aerith replied softly, as she turned back to see him typing code on the computer.

Merlin sighed. "Unbelievable." He turned to Donald and Goofy, looking down. "Boys, I think you should go check on Leon and Yuffie in case they come across and face any more danger out there, you never know when they may need more help. Do not worry about, Sora right now. Organization XIII may still be lurking out there waiting to strike!" He shouted.Donald and Goofy looked up at him nodding to him, both with a serious look on their faces. "Don't worry, Merlin! We'll go help out Leon and Yuffie!" Donald shouted, running out of the house. "Please take care of Sora for us while we're gone!" Goofy shouted, running after Donald.Merlin nodded, then turned to Aerith and Cid. "Aerith and Cid. Will you both please watch over Sora for me, while I go to my studies and figure out a way to bring him back?"

"Not a problem, we'll be watching over him in case something happens." She answered as he disappeared into his magic mist portal.

She looked at the computer again before hearing a familiar groan on the bed call out, "Where am I? What happened to me?"

Yuffie remembered fighting a group of Heartless Shadows and Soldiers as she ran to the Bailey, releasing all of her pain and sorrow at them with her shuriken crying out as she defeated them one by one, "DIE! OUT OF MY WAY! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE WHILE SORA'S GONE!" She ran to the Bailey crying uncontrollably afterwards and then ended up in the position where she was currently. "Yuffie!" She heard a voice call out to her, suddenly recognizing it. 'Sora?' She picked her head up from the balcony and looked in the direction of the voice, seeing that instead it was someone else who had called out to her. Someone familiar.

"Yuffie!" Leon called out to her. "Are you okay?!"

Yuffie looked at him angrily, then sighed, looking to the Heartless Castle again. "What do you want, Leon?"

"I came to check on you to see if you were okay." He approached her. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm okay." She answered him sarcastically, her face all red from crying. "Does it look like I'm okay to you?!"

"Look Yuffie.." Leon started. "I'm really sorry, okay? I know I should've been there to protect Sora and prevent him from getting hurt, but I tried my best and it was too late by then. Can you please at least talk to me?"

Yuffie sighed heavily, knowing that Leon wouldn't leave her be without knowing she was okay first and decided to tell him, "Fine. Let's talk."

"Thank you, Yuffie." Leon began. "You're not mad at me still, right? You don't really hate me after what happened, do you?

"To be honest with you.. I am a little bit still.." Yuffie replied softly. "But I'm more sad about Sora and angry at Organization XIII after what they did to him.. I know it's not your fault, it's mine. I should've told him how I really felt about him before he left and never came back.." She turned to Leon with a serious glance on her face. "It's just, why couldn't I have done more to help him? Why couldn't I have been there for him to protect him and make sure he wouldn't have gotten hurt and not be around anymore? I should've been there to help him and sacrificed myself for him, not let him sacrifice himself for me.."

"But. Yuffie.." Leon hesitated. "You know that he did more for you by protecting us from Organization XIII and the Nobodies here in Hollow Bastion. You can't let your feelings for him get in the way and feel like it's your fault for what happened to him.." He put a hand on her shoulder.

"That's the thing though, Leon." She answered. "Organization XIII and the Nobodies are still roaming around and alive in Hollow Bastion while Sora's dead! They need to pay for what they did to him and I'll make sure that they get what they truly deserve." She then looks down. "I wanted to go with him, Donald, and Goofy on their journey to help look for the King and Riku, if you allowed me to when Sora was still alive and breathing, but I guess that won't be happening anymore now that he's gone for good.."

"Look. Organization XIII and the Nobodies are a more serious threat, they are way more dangerous than the Heartless we've had to face in the past too! We may be able to still take care of all of them at once, somehow! I don't know! But you shouldn't face Organization XIII and the Nobodies by yourself when we're fighting the Heartless alongside them! We should always stick together and fight them! We still have Donald and Goofy that can help us take care of them while they're here, and then whatever they do next is up to them. If they have to go without Sora to go look for the King and Riku and bring them back safely, then that's up to them! I know you can take care of yourself though, I've seen you prove it to me countless times since I've known you, I'm just worried that you aren't ready to face a threat as big as Organization XIII by yourself and could get seriously hurt just like Sora did if you do end up going with Donald and Goofy on their ship! It's not that I'm not allowing you to go with them, I just don't want you to end up the same way Sora did earlier!"

Yuffie then looked up at him, thinking that she imagined what heard him say to her, but realized she didn't.

"Do you understand? I know you can take care of yourself, it's just you're going to need more training if you do end up going with Donald and Goofy to look for the King and Riku because of how dangerous Organization XIII and the Nobodies are." He told her calmly. "So if you want to go with Donald and Goofy on their ship, then you can go, but I want you to be careful and train harder if you come across and face Organization XIII and the Nobodies yourself along with them."

Yuffie understood what he meant and nodded, as she looked back to the Heartless Castle leaning on the balcony again, with more tears flowing down both of her cheeks. "But what's the point of going with them if Sora's not here right now?! We can't just leave Sora behind! I want to go with him, Donald, and Goofy! Not just Donald and Goofy!" She sniffled and wiped the tears off of her face . 'I miss you so much Sora.. Oh how I wish you were here with me right now..'

"Yuffie I.." He tried to lend her his hand for comfort, but then decided to leave her be for a moment. He leaned on the wall near the balcony seeing her face still red from crying all her tears away as Donald and Goofy came from behind him.

They saw her face and looked at Leon, beginning to talk to him quietly.

"Gwarsh, is she going to be okay?" Goofy asked Leon with a sad tone.

"Honestly, I'm not even sure at this point.." He replied. "I hope so, but at the same time, she'll probably never be the same again, now that Sora's gone for good."

"Oh. But he can't be gone. He just can't." Donald said looking down. "How are we going to find the King now without him?"

"Yeah, and Riku too!" Goofy answered.

Leon closed his eyes with his arms crossed thinking, then remembered something Yuffie told him. He told Donald and Goofy, "You know. She actually wanted to go with you guys to go look for Riku and the King this time."

"Qwack! Really?" Donald shouted.

"How come?" Goofy added.

"Well. She always had a thing for him if you never noticed and she would always want to be around him all the time." Leon explained. "He was the one who made her truly happen and made her who she is now.. Or who she was before he.." He looked down at them.

Donald and Goofy looked at each other with sad faces. "Oh… Right.." Donald replied.

"Is he really gone though?" The leader of Organization XIII called out to them, while appearing and standing outside of the Bailey gates. Yuffie turned around along with Donald, Goofy, Leon recognizing the voice preparing to get their weapons ready to fight. "No.. I'd say more like he has recovered and is doing quite well right now."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie replied, holding her shuriken down. 'Sora can't be alive, can he?' "There's no way.. I saw him and he was gone.." She looked down and ended up letting her guard down for a moment, then she remembered what happened and shouted, "Because of you, he'll never know my true feelings I had for him now!" She began to rush toward the black coat with her shuriken.

"Yuffie, no!" Leon tried to stop her.

"Wait!" Donald shouted.

"It's too dangerous!" Goofy shouted.

"Yuffie, don't!" A familiar voice shouted and pushed her out of the way before she could strike the man with her shuriken. She groaned and was knocked to the ground by a familiar face. It was Sora.


(World Map - Inside the Gummi ship - Yuffie's Room)

"Yuffie!" A familiar voice called out to her.

"What?" Yuffie slowly opened her eyes and found herself laid down on her bed, with Sora next to her calling out as he shook her awake, "It's time to wake up! Yuffie!"

Yuffie groaned as she got up her bed to face him standing in front of her. "Sora.." She stifled a yawn. "Sorry." She said embarrassed. "How long was I out for?"

"About seven minutes." Sora laughed. "It's okay though! You didn't miss out on anything important in case you were wondering! Donald seems to have recovered and is doing well now, which means we are safe to fly to our first world on the Gummi ship now!"

"That's great, Sora!" Yuffied shouted happily. "I'm so excited! I can't wait!"

"Yeah I know!" Sora replied. "Which is why Donald and Goofy wanted me to come get you and teach you how to fly the gummi ship first hand in the front, so you have to get up and follow me!"

"Okay! Just give me a second!" Yuffie answered him. "I'll be right there!"

"Alright! Don't keep us waiting for too long!" He joked, as he went out of her room.

'Ohh Sora. Always cheerful and having a smile on his face. It's one of the things I've always adored most about him..' She smiled, as she got up to stretch her arms and legs before heading out of her room and walked down the hallway. She approached the front of the ship as Sora stood in front of the control panel, as Donald and Goofy sat in both of their seats all waiting for her return.

"Welcome back, Yuffie!" Donald smiled warmly at her.

"Yeah! Did you have a good rest?" Goofy replied to her.

"Yeah I did. Even if it was only for seven minutes. Thanks for asking! " She giggled. "I feel recharged and ready to fight again!"

"Awesome! We're all glad to hear that, Yuffie!" Sora replied. "Are you ready to learn how to fly the Gummi ship first hand though?"

"Yeah. I am." She said nervously. "But how am I going to learn how to fly the Gummi ship on my own when you're teaching me?"

"Well I'm glad you asked." Sora turned to the side to reveal a world gate in front of them. "You're going to have to conquer a world gate in order for us to travel to our first world!"

"W-WHAT?!" Yuffie shouted. "B-But how am I supposed to know how to steer and fly the ship if I need to do it all on my own?!" She looked at Sora.

"Don't worry it's easy!" Sora explained. "Donald and Goofy showed me how to do it once a year ago before we ended up in Wonderland. Here I'll show you. First, put your hands on the control wheel. She did as he told her and put both of her hands on the control wheel shaking at first. "Good. Now let me help you!" Sora put his hands on hers on the control wheel while standing behind her. He was really close to her, as she blushed. ' Oh my God, he's so close to me right now! Hopefully he doesn't notice me blushing.' She thought. "Then you move hands along with the wheel in the direction that you want the ship to fly and steer." He moved his hands along with hers on the wheel as they drifted upward closer to the gate and a little bit to the left. "Oh my God! We're flying! We're actually flying! This is so scary, yet exhilarating at the same time!" She shouted excitedly. "Haha. See? You got it down!" Sora exclaimed. "Believe me I had the same exact reaction and experience you're having right now when Donald and Goofy first showed me! I knew you could do it!"

"Hooray!" Donald cheered.

"Hyuck! Great job, Yuffie!" Goofy shouted.

"Hehe. Thanks guys!" She turned around and smiled at Donald and Goofy, showing the blush on her face.

Donald and Goofy giggled quietly.

"So, now that you got this down, do you think you're ready to fly through this gate and conquer it, leading us to our first world?" Sora answered.

"I do, but I don't know I'm still scared, Sora.." Yuffie replied unsure, turning around to face him. "What if I'm not good enough and I mess up or I do something wrong that causes us to crash the ship?"

"Hey! Hey!" Sora hugged her from behind and calmed her down. "This is why I'm still here standing behind you. To help you if you do need my help. And don't worry! Donald, Goofy and I will be right here to help you if you get stuck or something happens along the way through that gate! Okay?" He broke his hug from behind and put his hands back on hers on the control wheel.

Yuffie turned to look at Donald and Goofy smiling, nodding to her. Then she looked up at Sora again, smiling and nodded to her. She turned to face the world gate in front of her as she remembered what she told herself back at the Bailey in Hollow Bastion, 'Organization XIII..They're going to pay for this. They're all going to pay for what they did to him.' She looked at the gate with a serious face. "Okay! Let's do this!" She shouted as she launched the control wheel forward flying full speed ahead into the world gate.

"Yaaah-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" The Gummi ship went straight through the gate, with Goofy's holler heard fading from within it.

To Be Continued...