LegacyReturns: Hey everyone! I know I've been rather quiet for the prologue and chapter 1 but I just wanted to say thank you for the support for this story. This is something that Wolfie and I have been working on for a few years now and although I didn't commit to it last time, I think that with both of us contributing to this fanfic, it can succeed as a compelling and exciting story with many of your favorite characters and some new faces. I'm very satisfied with how the story has come out so far and I hope you guys are too.

WolfieRed23: Couldn't have said it better myself! In any case, thanks to Antex-The Legendary Zoroark (Thank you for reviewing!) for reviewing, all 3 followers, 3 favorites and all 114 readers!

Now, this chapter. It is completely new from the original DD and even brings in certain story elements that I was never able to get to or reveal (two of them, in fact. It's gratifying to finally reveal them to you all in a chapter), so I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter! The encyclopedia, of course, will be updated with the new information and outfits featured in this chapter (no new Keyblades yet, so that won't change yet). Sorry it's not as long as the previous ones, but we thought it was a good length to stop at. I think I've talked enough now, enjoy!

Chapter 2: The First Step

Location: Baron - Castle Ballroom

She fingered the fine dark blue, gold and light purple silks she wore, so rare was she to ever be seen in them.

But, well, she supposed saving the world counted as a special occasion. Her mother had certainly thought she'd ought to dress up nicely. And so, she wore the colors of her country, her ceremonial kimono feeling odd in the absence of her usual, preferred, and combat friendly clothes.

To distract herself from how out of place her kimono felt on her skin, she looked around the ballroom instead.

As was tradition, the royal family and nobles of each kingdom had come together to celebrate the saving of the world. She could see those from Fabul wearing beautiful cheongsams and elaborately designed sashes, while those from Baron wore white and blue, favoring obviously formal wear, considering she knew Cecil and Rosa usually wore armor instead. Those from Troia wore delicate chitons that she would never wear while the representatives of Damcyan wore clothes that were meant to keep them cool in the desert.

She could see Anahita and her cousin, Merlane, standing off to the side, Merlane supporting his cousin. She also spotted Ursula and Ceodore speaking in quiet whispers, out of sight of her parents, but probably directly in his parents'. Palom and Porom were talking with Leonora about some trip they planned to bring her on, one they hoped would benefit Mysidia (or at least, Porom did).

She smiled as she turned to see her parents speaking with Cecil and Rosa, her father enthusiastic yet surprisingly calm while her mother was elegant yet down to earth in a way many ladies of the court couldn't be. She could also see Kain speaking, almost awkwardly, to Izayoi, looking as uncomfortable as she herself felt. Not far from them stood Yang and Sheila, enthusiastically talking with the remaining Eblan Four, probably about some training regime. And in a corner of the room, she could see Edward and Takara speaking with her brother, Arslan, and his wife, Etoile, as well as Harley, or maybe a lecture from Harley instead, who knew. And then there was Luca, her father Giott, Cid and Mid speaking near the dessert table that had been set up, probably about some machinery or other.

But as she continued to look around, she couldn't find one person. Growing concerned, she made her way over to her parents.

"Mom, Dad, where's my sister?" She questioned. Her sister couldn't be left on her own for long, after all.

Her parents, however, didn't answer. Instead, their eyes went over her head, as if they didn't see her…

Location: The Land of Departure - Castle

There was a loud banging on Lia's door, waking both the twins from their sleep. Lia turned her lamp on and rushed to answer the door. Gia was still rubbing the dreariness from her eyes. It was Riku who had banged on her door. He was already dressed for combat and his face was very serious.

"Master? What has happened?" Lia asked with concern.

"Lia, Gia, plans have changed. We're going to conduct a rescue mission. I'll explain in the grand hall. Meet me there in ten minutes. I'm going to wake up Marta and Ryo."

"Ryo?" Lia questioned out loud. Riku had already made his way own the hall to collect the other apprentices.

"Wait, so am I going too?" Gia asked.

"I think we can assume so. We better get ready."

"Right!"

Just as they had been instructed, the twins were ready in ten minutes, though Lia had taken slightly longer than Gia. They were patiently waiting for Ryo with Marta and the masters. Due to the early morning hour, Silva was nowhere in sight and Aqua and Ventus were both still in their nightwear, something Gia couldn't stop thinking about. It made her want to laugh because of how unprecedented it was to see one of the masters in such casual attire. There was Lea, but he was...Lea. Speaking of Lea…

Gia looked around for her master, which Ventus caught. "He's already left for his mission," said the blonde.

"He didn't even say goodbye. Rude…"

Ventus chuckled and said, "That's Lea for you."

Lia nudged Gia and whispered, "Remember, we're in the presence of masters. Please be more professional."

Gia whispered back, "Huh? Oh! Right!" She then straightened out her posture to resemble a good soldier.

The sound of boots stepping on marble echoed through the halls and soon, Ryo appeared in a rush, getting his gauntlets adjusted onto his hands. He stopped next to Marta and turned to face the masters.

"I sincerely apologize for my tardiness, masters!" he said with a bow.

Ventus smiled and raised a hand of forgiveness in response. With that, Riku began explaining the situation to the apprentices. He told them that Sari's team had been attacked while they flew through the Ocean Between. "I'm going to be taking the four of you to Crescentia where we will rendezvous with Jack. From there, I'm going to go with him to look for Sari and Rickson. The four of you will stay with the Highwind and do some information gathering on Crescentia. See if anyone there knows what happened to the materia. We're going to use a warp gummi to reach Radiant Garden where we can get another from a mechanic there. Once we get that warp gummi, we can do another jump into the Misty Stream Galaxy. From there, we're headed into the Etherium Galaxy, where Crescentia is. Is this understood?"

"Yes, master!" the four apprentices chorused.

"Let's move." Riku led them down into the ship hangar, hidden inside the mountain that the castle sat atop.

Lia was at the back of the group and before she could follow them, Ventus pulled her back with a firm, yet gentle grasp on her bicep.

"Master…?" Lia questioned, though her eyes were alight with hidden panic. What was he doing?

But Ventus simply smiled and placed a small, white box in her hand, closing her fingers around it.

"Just in case...he'll keep you safe." He smiled before he let her go, then yelled out to the whole group, "Good luck everyone!"

Lia simply tucked the box in her jacket pocket and ran after the rest of the group, falling into step easily as they reached the hanger.

Once everyone had taken their seats in the Gummi Ship, Riku prepared the ship for take off. The hangar door opened to reveal the dawning sky which Riku couldn't help, but grin at. His face straightened out as he focused on the task before him, blasting off from the platform and into the sky.

Location: Destiny Islands - The Secret Place

Kairi was silent as she knelt beside the wall of the Secret Place, her hand resting on the spot where her and Sora's faces had been carved into the wall. Whereas she had been smiling when talking with Aqua, now Kairi's expression was so morose, she doubted anyone would think she was the same person if they saw her in both instances.

Not that she thought anyone could blame her, her boyfriend had basically vanished and she had no idea where he had gone. Though, that wasn't the only reason Kairi was acting the way she was.

She just...she should've noticed something if Sora had been planning to leave again or if he was in danger. Just because the two of them had decided to return to Destiny Islands after...that, didn't mean that they wouldn't be targeted by or involved with the next time the darkness decided to act. And the fact was that Kairi didn't notice and she hated herself for it, she was a failure of a friend and girlfriend!

But that was also why Kairi had let Roxas, Xion, and Aqua know what was going on. She was going to find Sora and fix her mistake and, if he had left to save the worlds again, force him to take her with him because she was not staying behind again, not after everything.

"I'll find you, I promise." Kairi whispered to her drawing of Sora, her thumb rubbing against the drawing of the paopu fruit Sora's drawing of her held up to him.

Just then, her gummi phone rang in her capris pocket and the redheaded Princess of Heart turned away from the wall, tucking a strand of shoulder-length red hair behind her ear as she took the phone out to answer the call.

"Hello?" She answered as Xion's face appeared.

"Hey, Kairi." Xion answered, her smile welcoming and understanding. "Roxas and I just landed the gummi ship on the hidden side of the island."

"Right, I'm on my way. Thanks Xion." Kairi nodded with a smile of her own.

Xion shook her head and said, "Don't worry about it. We'll see you soon." The screen went black.

Kairi wasted no time after that, making her way out of the Secret Place and towards the hidden side of the island, the only place a Gummi Ship could be parked without scaring the other islanders who had no idea there were other worlds (as Donald constantly reminded Sora, they couldn't damage the world order even on their own world).

Sure enough, when she got there, she found Xion standing outside the Gummi Ship, waiting for her. Roxas was probably inside, at the cockpit because, as much as he would deny it, he loved flying the Gummi Ship as much as Sora did.

"Kairi!" Xion said excitedly as she opened her arms to hug her friend. "It's been so long."

"Yeah, it has," Kairi admitted. "I wish we could've reunited under better circumstances."

Xion's smile softened as she responded, "So do I, but don't worry. As soon as we find that goofball, we'll force an explanation out of him."

This made Kairi smile as a look of determination appeared on her face. "Yeah!"

"Ready?" Xion asked.

"Yeah. Let's go find Sora."

"You got any idea on where to reach him then?" Roxas questioned as the women walked into the cockpit and took their seats. "Cause I can't get any sense from him."

"What?" Kairi's eyes widened, to which Roxas grunted a 'yes'.

This just became a lot more serious. After Namine had been separated from Kairi and Roxas from Sora, they had all still been able to sense their respective counterpart's emotions, even more so if they were in a stressful or dangerous situation. But if Roxas couldn't sense anything from Sora, that meant that Sora was consciously blocking Roxas out, or...Kairi didn't even want to think of the other option. Without realizing it, Kairi was beginning to shake from the anxiety that came with that thought. She bit down on her bottom lip...hard.

"Hey, calm down." Xion said, holding Kairi's hands gently in her own fingerless gloved ones. "It's not the end of the world if Roxas can't get a sense on Sora. That just means only your heart can guide us to him. You can do this, Kairi."

"Right…" Kairi took a deep breath before she closed her eyes, searching for the bond she associated with Sora in her heart. Similar to what Roxas said, she noticed that it was a bit harder to locate Sora through their bond, but...there! It was faint, but she could sense him. "I know where to go."

"You got a gateway for us then?" Roxas asked, turning to her with a teasing smirk. "Cause otherwise, we're kinda stuck, Kai."

Kairi rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him before she summoned Destiny's Embrace. "Hold on, Sora. We're coming." She swore as she extended her Keyblade and it emitted a beam of light, opening a gateway that would lead them to Sora.

"Good job, Kairi!" Xion grinned as she returned to her own seat.

"Yeah, nice job." Roxas smiled as he laid his hands on the controls. "Now, let's go get Sora."

"Yeah!" Kairi nodded, hope filling her heart.

Maybe...this wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe, just maybe, this would just be a quick trip to find Sora and back home from there. Kairi hoped so desperately. As the ship rose into the sky and passed through the gate, Kairi was amazed by the brilliant white light that shined around them. She had witnessed this before when Sora would open a gate, but this was the first time that she herself had opened one. It was invigorating to see what she was capable of doing.

"Hope you two buckled in," Roxas said as he slowly pushed a lever forward. The Gummi Ship began to accelerate through the gateway, picking up more and more speed with each passing second. Kairi could feel her back pressing into her chair and soon, she was unable to move from the sheer speed at which Roxas was flying the ship. She managed to move her head slightly to the side to find Xion looking back at her with a shameful smile and an eyeroll. She must have gotten used to his piloting by then. Kairi wanted to get to Sora as quickly as possible but in that moment, all she wanted to do was stay alive.

Location: The Ocean Between - Just Outside Radiant Garden

After a couple hours of flying through the Ocean Between, Roxas finally exited the channel that they had been flying through. Before the world came into view, Kairi felt a familiar warmth, like a connection she had in her heart had grown stronger. They were approaching a very familiar world with blue soil, magenta skies, and a large castle sitting in the center of the city. Roxas, Xion, and Kairi all looked at each other with puzzled looks.

The black-haired girl asked, "Why would Sora be in Radiant Garden?"

Kairi said, "That's a good question. He would've told me if he came to visit Leon and the others. We should check the outlands for him. I'd prefer to avoid Namine."

"You think she would tell Riku?" Xion asked. "They don't even talk since they broke up."

"No, but I don't want to put her in that position."

Roxas responded, "Yeah, I understand. I'll lower us." Roxas said as he flew them in closer, making sure to keep the gummi ship away from the city. He landed the Gummi Ship in the canyon that stretched between the familiarity of Radiant Garden and Maleficent's castle, using the rock formations as cover to prevent anyone from recognizing the ship.

Once they were landed safely, Xion turned to Kairi with a smile. "Well, now that we've survived the first obstacle of this journey, what do you say to us doing some leg work to find Sora?" She asked.

"I'm in, let's go." Kairi nodded, her face entirely serious and worry shining obviously in her sapphire blue eyes.

Roxas didn't like that look, not one bit. So, he made a point of being quiet until they exited the ship and then…"Xion, did you just refer to my flying as an obstacle?"

"What else would you call that? We practically died a couple times," Xion teased, her gratitude of him catching on sparkling in her own eyes. The real reward, however, was the small giggle Kairi let out. And, just to encourage her, Roxas sighed, longsufferingly.

"Good to know the way we always manage to catch our targets so fast is an obstacle in your mind." He drawled sarcastically.

"Not my fault you crash so much~" Xion sing songed right back at him.

Kairi only laughed more and that pulled Roxas' own lips up into a smile. Sharing a look with his partner, he saw she was smiling just the same, relieved that the dark cloud hanging over their red headed friend was dissipating, if only for a moment.

Location: Radiant Garden - Maleficent's Castle

From the base, Maleficent's Castle had quite the imposing effect on a person with its five warped towers. It appeared as though it had been built atop a ruined city which seemed to have been empty long before Radiant Garden had been built. Maybe, this is why the world was called Hollow Bastion, Kairi thought to herself.

Roxas rested a hand on the redhead's slender shoulder, which drew her attention to him. "You okay?" he asked. Kairi couldn't help, but smile at him. She could see Sora in him, finding comfort in his concerned eyes.

Kairi simply nodded and said, "Yeah. It's just that this place...I get a bad feeling from it."

"Well with a name like Villain's Vale, that's understandable," Xion responded. "This place reeks of darkness so we better be on our guard. Maleficent might not be here anymore but she might've left some of her friends inside."

"Right," the others said in unison. All three summoned their Keyblades and entered with caution.

It was pitch black inside so Kairi took point and channeled some of her light energy into Destiny's Embrace, making it glow at its tip to brighten their way. Roxas and Xion both held their respective keyblades, Two Become One and Oathkeeper, with a firm grip. Over the years since they had become their own persons, Roxas never grew past Sora's crouched fighting stance, but Xion had adopted a single-handed hold.

The trio worked their way through the ruin, Roxas and Xion making drawing a mental map in their heads all the while. There were strange markings on the walls, resembling various things like people, animals, and some unidentifiable symbols. It was an archaic written language that none of them were familiar with in the slightest. In all of their travels, Roxas and Xion had never come across similar markings, especially since their trips to Radiant Garden were reserved for information gathering from their allies. No one ever bothered to come to Maleficent's castle for any reason, except for the horde of heartless that the three found in a large chamber, seeming to be at the highest point in the ruins and the access point to the castle built atop them. Their beady yellow eyes poked through the deep shadows beyond Kairi's light.

Roxas held his hand out, whirling his keyblade in a circle in front of him, before launching a small beam of light that flew across the room until it hit one of the Soldiers, knocking the creature off balance and allowing the warriors to see the enemies in front of them. The heartless began to stir, most notably, the Large Bodies that began to charge forward.

Roxas charged forward and called out, "Xion!"

The girl nodded as she threw her keyblade like a tomahawk and it ricocheted off a Large Body's stomach, allowing Roxas to catch it and use both Two Become One and Oathkeeper to guard against the heartless, making it stagger back. Roxas charged himself with light energy before pushing forward to zigzag around the Large Body and strike it in its weak spot on it back. With an x-shaped slash of light, Roxas made quick work of the monster.

While Roxas fought that Large Body, Xion and Kairi unleashed a barrage of light spells on the other heartless, lighting the room with streaks of white. Xion called out to Kairi and said, "Keep up the fire! I'm going in!"

"You don't have a Keyblade!"

"Roxas, would you care to fix that?"

Roxas nodded before tossing Oathkeeper backwards for Xion to wield. Kairi then gave Xion a nod, covering the black-haired girl as she quickly weaved through room, slashing away at any and all heartless that she set her eyes on.

Kairi understood that her role in the fight was to shine as much light inside the room as possible and if she managed to hit some enemies, then that was only advantageous, but missing targets would incite internal frustration. There were a couple times that she missed a heartless and Roxas or Xion would have to cover the other because of it. The others seemed to have everything covered for the most part, having dealt with the Large Bodies very early on in the altercation. As the number of Soldier heartless dwindled, Kairi began to feel more at ease. There were nine, then eight, then five, then three, and then two. Xion threw her Keyblade to slice through the Soldier before summoning it back in her hand.

The last Heartless ran from both Roxas and Xion, towards Kairi. They were about to use ranged attacks to strike it down but Kairi called out, "No! I've got this one!" She gathered light energy in her Keyblade to create enough light so that she could see the approaching enemy. She then pointed the weapon at it and fired her Flower Shoot attack at it. The shining ball of energy flew past the heartless and crashed on the ground behind it. Kairi noticed something odd about that Soldier - its skin was green. As soon as the attack flew past it, the Heartless changed directions and ran away from Kairi as well. She grimaced, disappointed in herself for not being able to hit her target.

Roxas and Xion shared a look before moving to corner the heartless, their keyblades lit with energy. Roxas explained to Kairi, "Kai, this Heartless is called a Deserter. It's not like normal Soldier heartless."

"Deserter? Why is it - wait a minute! It's running away from us."

"Bingo," Xion said. "So who should do the honors?" she asked Roxas.

"W-wait!"

Xion and Roxas both turned to Kairi who kept her gaze on the Deserter. The monster took notice of this and lunged at Xion only for Kairi to jump in to protect her friend, blocking the monster's claw with her weapon.

"Kairi, what was that about?" Xion asked.

Roxas was about to slash it when Kairi yelled, "Don't!"

"Seriously, what gives?" Roxas asked.

Kairi pushed the Deserter off and she answered, "It might be a Heartless but it doesn't want to fight."

"I beg to disagree from the looks of it." Roxas answered.

Kairi shook her head and said, "It's trying to protect itself like any person would. I may not have as much battle experience as you two, but I know that not everything is black and white - good and evil. Xehanort wasn't."

"Xehanort was a madman," Xion countered.

"Still...Sora told me what he truly wanted. Sure his heart was consumed by darkness, but you mean to tell me that after what you witnessed when he died, that he was purely that? Riku isn't pure light, but he isn't pure darkness either." Kairi dropped her fighting stance and held a hand out towards the Deserter. "I always wondered what exactly it meant to be a Princess of Heart, but now I think I know."

Roxas eyed her confusedly as the young woman began to near the heartless. "Kai, don't get too-" He was cut off by Xion holding her hand out in front of him. Xion looked at him with a discerning look before turning her attention back to Kairi and the heartless. Roxas then did the same.

Kairi continued to near the Deserter, which was oddly very still. It was tense but it did not seem like it would strike back, even when Kairi placed her hand on the creature's helmet. The young woman shuddered at the touch of cold metal, but once she overcame that initial reaction, she closed her eyes and allowed the warmth from her heart to flow through her body and wash over the heartless. Soon, both were engulfed in a warm, bright light that lit up the entire room until it faded, leaving Kairi with another young redheaded woman in her arms.

This young woman had her hair tied into pigtails and her fair skin was darkened by dirt and dust. Her face trembled as she struggled to open her eyes, her body resting against Kairi's. When she finally came to, she said, "Thank you." The young woman had a distinct accent in her voice.

Kairi smiled and said, "You're welcome. Can you move on your own?"

The young woman began to shift against Kairi, trying to find her balance, but when Roxas and Xion's light got in her eyes, she had to shield herself from it.

"Does the light hurt you?" Xion asked.

"It's just a little hard on my eyes," she answered.

When she finally managed to get onto her feet with Kairi and Roxas' help, the blonde asked her, "What's your name?"

"You can just call me Vanille," she responded.

"Where are you from?" Kairi asked.

Vanille looked down and crossed her arms, holding her elbows, as she said, "No where now. My home...it was destroyed long ago, thanks to me…"

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, her voice soft and considerate. The tone of her voice seemed to strike a chord in Vanille, who met her eyes for a moment before a smile bloomed on her face.

"Never mind. Thank you so much for rescuing me, I thought I'd never be free." She bowed to the Princess of Heart. "I'd be happy to help you if you ever need anything in return."

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Kairi smiled. "But for now, why don't we get you back to town and see if there's anything to be found about your home."

"Kairi, I thought you wanted to avoid Naminé."

Kairi nodded and said, "Yeah, that's true but I've been feeling a strong connection to her. I think she already knows that I'm here so there's no use hiding anymore."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." He looked at Vanille and said, "We should get moving before it gets too late anyway. And preferably before more Heartless appear. Can you walk?"

"Yes, I'll be fine." Vanille smiled. "Which way do we go?"

Roxas led the way out while Kairi and Xion each walked on one side of Vanille, forming a protective guard around the mysterious young woman, just in case. The entire time they were moving, not a single word was spoken, for fear of alerting the heartless in hiding to their position. Even so, despite the dark, Kairi could've sworn she could see a lost and guilty expression on Vanille's face when she looked at her from the corner of her eye. But as soon as their eyes met, the look was gone, replaced with a bright smile instead. This young woman was an enigma to Kairi.

Location: Radiant Garden - Outskirts

Gia threw up from the warp. It had been her first time moving through space at such a high speed. Corridors of Darkness were more like doorways from one point in space to another. Warping literally moved every cell in her body from one location to another and it was something her body had not been acclimated to.

Ryo too had never warped before but the jump did not make him vomit. It was seeing Gia vomit that did it for him. Riku looked over his shoulder and apologized, "Sorry about that. I should've warned you two that warping is hard on the body the first time."

"We're supposed to do that twice?" Gia asked as she wiped her mouth with Lia's scarf. The taller twin yanked the scarf from Gia's clutches and looked at the dirty spot with disappointment before glaring at her sister.

"Four times," Riku clarified. "Two one way, two back. You should be used to it by the end of the trip." He unbuckled his belt and stood up to face the apprentices. Before giving any orders, he looked down at the vomit and lurched forward slightly, but quickly covered his mouth with his fist and cleared his throat. Lia quirked an eyebrow and smirked behind her cowl. Noticing this, Riku said, "Lia, make sure to clean this up before leaving the ship." Her smirk dropped as her master began explaining, "I parked the ship just outside the city's gate because despite there being many people in this world who know of the existence of the other worlds, that's not everyone and our number one priority is always to protect the world order. I'm sure Gia can tell you guys that this means keeping this sensitive knowledge to yourselves."

"I can? I mean yes! I can…"

Lia just bowed her head and shook it.

Riku continued, "So this is what's going to happen. It's important for all of you to know who you can trust on outside worlds so you're going to come with me to Cid's shop. That way, any time you have to come out here, you will know exactly where you can find him. He runs a regular accessory shop in the market district, but that's just a front for his Gummi Block business. If you need a specific gummi block, Cid is the guy to get it from and he happens to be a good mechanic so I come to him to install Warp Gummis."

Riku opened the ramp to exit the ship and the apprentices followed behind him. As she stepped onto the ramp, Lia stumbled lightly but she managed to catch herself by holding the ship's inner wall. Ryo reached out to help her but she shook her head and said, "I'm fine. I'm fine. Thank you, Ryo."

"Y-you're welcome," he said as he followed behind her, still cautious in case she were to stumble again.

"Hey, Lia, are you feeling okay?" Marta asked as she turned to Lia, her eyes awake and concerned.

"Yeah, I just didn't get much sleep last night." Lia sheepishly shrugged, looking awkward. It made sense, considering she rarely, if ever, overslept.

"Well must've been that training with-"

Lia quickly covered Gia's mouth and whispered something into her ear. "Please don't finish that sentence. I'll explain later."

Gia looked at her sister with shock, but trusted her.

Marta asked, "Training with?"

"Training without knowing when to stop," Gia said. "You know how much of a workaholic Lia can be. I worry about her, honestly."

Marta eyed Gia with suspicion, studying her features with close intent. Suddenly, her face melted into a dreamy smile as she said, "Yup! That's Lia alright."

"Marta's right though," Gia told Lia. "You took longer than I did to get ready this morning. Wait, did you dream too? Of the ball held in honor of the Creator's defeat, I mean."

"Yeah...yeah, I did." Lia nodded, her own surprise forming as Gia grinned brightly.

"Wasn't that such a fun day? It was really great to have everyone together without a crisis going on, and having Cecil conscious of course!" She chirped happily.

"Yeah. I don't think Anahita enjoyed it much, though." Lia offhandedly commented, sounding lost in thought.

"True, but Merlane was there to help, along with our three Sages-in-training! She was okay!" Gia smiled.

"Um…wait," Ryo said, breaking the conversation. All eyes were on him now, which made him nervous. His eyes darted from left to right as he struggled to form his question, "I was just...um...wondering...uh...how did you two, you know, have the...er...same dream?

"Twin thing," they said together.

"Oh, they've practiced that for sure," Marta said, sounding impressed by them.

"Nope," they responded.

Marta told Ryo, "Oh, they're good. So who are all those people you guys were talking about?"

Gia explained, "Just some people we knew back home. Before we left, we helped save the world and, after everything calmed down, all the nobles insisted we have a celebration ball. Cecil is the dad of one of our friends, while Anahita, Merlane and the Sages-in-training I mentioned were all closer to our age. It was a fun night, despite the stuffy nobles and uncomfortable clothes."

"I'd like to go to a ball like that someday." Marta smiled.

"Maybe you will, once we find our home again! Right, Lia?" Gia whirled around to smile at her sister again.

"Yeah...right." Lia smiled. And if her eyes still seemed unfocused and far away, nobody commented on them.

Some time later, Riku had led the group to an accessory shop just as he mentioned. Inside was an older gentleman with golden blonde hair. There was the distinct smell of smoke in the air and it was plain to see why. The man had a cigarette lit inside his own shop.

"Howdy!" he said with a wave as he walked across the counter to greet Riku. "Woah there, you brought the whole dang daycare this time."

Riku chuckled as he turned to the apprentices and said, "I'd like you all too meet Cid Highwind, the best pilot and mechanic this side of the galaxy."

"Hey, I'm the best pilot and mechanic in the entire galaxy."

Riku's head bounced from side to side as he nodded in partial agreement. He said, "Yeah, I guess I can give you that honor. Anyways, I brought them with me to show them who they can come to if they need anything Gummi-related."

"I take it you need a Warp Gummi from me?"

"Yeah, I need one installed now to replace the one we used to get here and then I'll need another on our way back home. I'll pay upfront for both."

"You got it. Is the ol' rig outside the city?"

"Yeah, where I usually park it."

"Alrighty then, I should have the Warp Gummi installed within the hour."

"Thanks, Cid," Riku said as he paid for the parts and then led the apprentices outside. "Alright, since we've got an hour to kill, we might as well try to do some information gathering. It's doubtful that anyone out here may know about the materia shortage, but you never know so we'll split up and meet back here in an hour. Gia, since you've spent the most time world traveling, I entrust Ryo with you. Lia, you're with Marta."

"Yes, master," they all said.

Lia asked, "Will you be on your own then?"

"That's right. Remember, we meet back here in one hour. Break."

WolfieRed23: And there we are! I hope you all enjoyed, Legacy and I spent a lot of time trying to figure this chapter out, since our original plan was scrapped and expanded upon. I'm happy with how this chapter came out and I know Legacy is too. Next chapter, though, is gonna be a LOT of fun. A LOT. But we felt this was a good place to stop, considering the reveals this chapter featured and the introduction of Vanille...among other characters. Vanille is from FF13, in case some of you didn't know! It's been a while since I've written her, so this was fun for me! And I hope you guys enjoy the updated Roxas/Kairi arc that has now become a Roxas/Xion/Kairi arc meant to find Sora! For the record, just so everyone knows, the plans from the original story ARE still in effect, with the added bonus of better writing and story arc structuring. No matter what, the heart of this fic will always be what Legacy and I originally envisioned it to be years ago, finally realized with us being even better than we used to be.

That's all from me for now, we'll see you all again soon! May your heart be your guiding key!