Here's the first Disney world!

Hope you guys enjoy it!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Moana © to Disney!

Chapter 9

Xehanort glanced up at the sky from his bedroom. Coming back from their excursion on Yggdrasil, the two boys crashed immediately into bed. The boy vaguely remembered Sato saying something about going to another world the next day, but... he was so tired.

So, here he laid, still in bed, watching the sky fade from a dark blue to a soft pink.

"Xehanort! Wake up!" Sato threw open the door with a bang, his eyes sparkling. "Time to get up! We have places to be!"

The boy rolled over in bed, shoving his face into his pillow.

"Nope." His master grabbed the sheets and pulled them back. "Get up. We have training to do."

Rolling out of bed, Xehanort sighed. "What are we doing today…?"

"You're going to another world on your own!"

The boy immediately sat up, eyes wide. "I'm gonna, we're… another world? Really? On my own? Really?"

Sato shook his head, chuckling. "This is something my master did and now I do. I will leave you on a world alone for ten days, and it will be a world with some sort of issue that you must assist with, without a Keyblade; you're relying on your own skills. Get dressed and when you get to breakfast, I'll explain a bit more."

The master went downstairs to the dining hall. Eraqus already sat at the table eating his bowl of porridge while the other two bowls sat steaming.

"Morning, Master."

"Morning." Sato sat at his place. "For the next ten days, I'm sending you to Merlin for some magic training."

Eraqus laughed, speaking through a spoonful of porridge. "What? Need time alone without us around?"

"After Xehanort almost died, I got a lecture, you two ran off, and you two put a Princess of Heart in danger… yes. I want time off. Merlin has offered to take you while Xehanort is on another world, so I can have some time. Ah, there you are." Xehanort came over, his body almost jittery with excitement as he sat down. "Excited?"

Xehanort nodded vigorously. "Going to other worlds is what I've dreamed of for some time. I want to see as many as possible."

Eraqus grinned. "Yeah. It's fun! I went to a world called Koganei(1). There was this magical bathhouse and monsters and spirits. It was crazy."

"My master, Due Jager, did this with Yen Sid and I." their master smiled. "I went to a world called Mysterious Depths(2). I, a professor, and his assistant ended up inside a submarine with a madman. I was kinda trapped, so my ten days ended up being a few months. My master was one of those 'learn from experience' people and left me to get out of the situation on my own, unless my life was completely in danger. I'm not that strict." He sighed. "Yen Sid went to a world called Windsor(3), and got mixed up in some political mess; would be him to get the calmer mess, while I get stuck with months of claustrophobia."

The two boys laughed at their master's frustrated expression.

"So glad you're enjoying my misery."

"So, what world am I going to?"

Sato smiled. "One that should remind you of your home. It's called Via Ola(4)."

Xehanort blinked. Remind him of his home? His stomach clenched at the thought of home, but he couldn't back out now.

"As soon as you're done eating, we'll go."

Xehanort scarfed down his porridge, finishing before the others who started before him. There he sat, watching the other two eat. Sato worked so hard not to laugh. His new student looked like an expectant puppy. If he'd had a tail, it would've been wagging.

As soon as the master set down his spoon, Xehanort stood up. "So, we're going!?"

"Alright we'll go." Sato stood up and walked outside with the student. Summoning his glider, he allowed Xehanort to get on before getting on himself.

Again, as Xehanort flew through space with his master, he felt something pulling him. The cold darkness beckoned, calling him.

"Master. I'm curious about the darkness? It's cold. But, I want to learn more."

"Curiosity is not a bad thing." Sato smiled beneath his armor. "And darkness can be dangerous, but it's not… Darkness can take you down a terrible path, to do horrible things. But, if controlled and used properly it can work for you. But, it's a hard path."

Xehanort nodded. "Well, I like a challenge."

"We can discuss this further when you return. One of the reasons we do this ten day journey is to let you discover who you are and what you want to do. Put under stress, a person will figure out and do what they feel is right and best. You learn who you are."

Xehanort smiled. "Sounds good to me!"

The world that appeared before them in the darkness. An orb of bright blue in the darkness of space. Islands dotted the surface, but on one side of the world, a darkness seemed to thrive; tendrils, spawning from that side reached out to the rest of the world like cold fingers.

They hovered above the ocean as they lowered.

Xehanort couldn't help but feel a pang of homesickness as the salty air touched his nose. His mind couldn't help but wander to Venus and to the old library in his home with the pillow fort he'd spend hours reading in.

"Wh-what now?"

"A lesson." Sato turned around with a serious look on his face. "There is something that Keyblade wielders have said for many years… and it is practically what we live by. I want you to repeat it to yourself almost constantly until you have it engrained in your mind. Understand me?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. The saying is, 'May your heart be your guiding key'."

"May your heart be your guiding key… What does it mean?"

"That," the master tapped the head of his student, "is for you to figure out. But my heart has spoken, and I know where you will begin your ten days."

"Where?"

"Here."

With a shove, the man knocked Xehanort into the water.

The cold hit the boy like a shock before he came up to the surface, gasping for breath. "Master!?"

"You'll be fine. Have fun!"

Sato turned his glider around and vanished into space.

"What…?" The boy let out a long groan as he continued to tred-water.

Ok.

Taking a deep breath, the boy went through all the steps he'd learned on the islands in order to not drown.

As his mind continued to whirl, he stopped. Blinking.

A… wave.

Or, was it a wave?

A mound of water seemed to pop up out of the rest of the ocean. It looked at him, if that was the right word; if it had eyes, it probably would be looking at him. The water tilted to the side as it moved toward him.

"Uh. Hi…?"

The water didn't move for a moment before it swirled up into a giant wave. The wave swept up Xehanort.

"Whoa! Stop! Hold it!" The boy yelled as the water dragged him across the ocean at high speeds.

Everything rushed past in a blur. Suddenly, the water lifted him up and slammed him on a hard surface. "Ow."

"What!?"

Xehanort sat up, rubbing his backside. His eyes scoured the small boat he sat on. It only seemed big enough for one or two people. The sail lay slack against the mast, and the ropes were a mess.

The mound of water suck out of the ocean by the rudder, 'looking' at a girl. She wore an orange top with black accents, a tan skirt, sandals, and a necklace with a black and blue locket on the end. The girl, her cinnamon-colored skin shining with water, stared at him with almond-colored eyes framed in wavy black hair.

"Who are you?"

The girl turned to the water, eyes furrowed. "Now you're dumping random strangers on my boat!? If this isn't Maui, then he needs to go."

"Uh, who are you?" Xehanort pushed himself up to his feet. "And why did that," he pointed at the water mound, "bring me here?"

"It does whatever it wants." The girl groaned, glaring at the water. "And why would I tell you who I am? I don't even know you."

"Because I asked first."

The girl let out a long sigh. "Fine. My name is Moana of Motunui." She pointed to a chicken standing in the small hold of the boat. "This is Hei Hei. And now who are you?"

"My name is Xehanort."

Moana looked him up and down before turning to the water. "Why did you bring him here?"

The water merely melted back into the ocean and vanished.

"That was helpful…" The boy walked over to the girl, slowly. "Listen, I don't mean any harm, and I don't know why that stupid water brought me here. But, it looks like you and I are stuck together for now."

"It looks that way, Xehanort."

The boy sighed, looking around the ocean, which spread out on all sides with no end. "So, Moana, what are you doing out here?"

"I'm looking for the demigod, Maui. A darkness has begun to spread across this world and it threatens to destroy my island. Maui stole the heart of the goddess of life, Te Fiti, and now I'm going to find him so he can put the heart back."

Xehanort nodded, looking around the boat. "So, you're just letting the currents carry you wherever?"

"No!"

"Well, your sail is slack and the ropes are a mess. You won't be going anywhere with it like this. Didn't you learn to sail on your island?"

"Kinda…" she shrugged. "My father wouldn't let me go into the ocean, and our ships never went beyond the reef around our island."

The boy blinked. He'd been on a boat a few times and read up on boats and how they worked… and this girl… "You're telling me, you don't know how to sail."

"No!"

"Sounds like it to me."

"Like you can do better!"

Xehanort smirked, tossing off his outer cloak before he grabbed the ropes and began pulling and untangling them. Within minutes, he had the sail taut, the ropes tied off and the boat moving twice as fast. "Now, Moana, which direction is this Maui?"

Moana sat, slumped against the rudder, her brows furrowed and her mouth creased in a frown. "Figure it out."

"Oh then I guess this mission isn't that important to you after all."

"He's at the bottom of his fishhook in the sky, which is that way." She pointed slightly to the left.

Xehanort sauntered over to the girl, waving her off the rudder. "Excuse me."

"I know how the rudder works!"

"Could've fooled me."

The girl gripped the rudder and turned the boat toward the hook. Xehanort sat on the side of the boat, feet in the water.

"So, you're from an island too?"

"Yep." The boy nodded, glancing back at the girl. "But I'm surprised you're out here alone. If your island is dying, why doesn't anyone do anything but you?"

Moana sighed. "My father thought it was dangerous to go outside the reef. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the ocean and Maui. She gave me this when she died." Her hand came up to the locket and opened it. Xehanort saw a green stone that glowed with some sort of magic. "It's the heart of Te Fiti. She told me how to find Maui and what to do when I found him." She let out a long sigh. "I miss her… the people on the island thought she was a bit crazy…"

Xehanort blinked before he let out a soft chuckle.

"Oh, so glad my pain is funny to you."

"No, that's not it." Xehanort stood up, walking over to the girl. "My dad didn't want me doing things that he didn't like. He wouldn't let me do what I wanted and he was cruel. My grandmother used to tell me stories of heroes and legends, but my father thought she was crazy and had her put away." His eyes met hers. "You and I are kinda alike."

Moana looked back at him, blinking as a smile appeared on her face. "Sounds like it."

"Guess we just got off on the wrong foot."

"Guess so. And I blame the water." Moana laughed. "It just dumped you on here. We were both pretty confused."

"Yeah." The two of them laughed. "Honestly, I don't know everything about sailing, but I know a number of things. I could… teach you what I know."

"That would be awesome."

The water seemed to watch them as Xehanort showed the other islander everything he knew. Honestly, he didn't know everything, but he showed her everything he knew.

As the day drew to a close, the boy stared off into the horizon.

"Hey, Moana."

"Yes?"

"What color was the sky this morning?"

"What?"

"Was the sky red this morning?"

The girl nodded slightly. "It was red."

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." He pointed off in the distance at the dark clouds. "We might have a problem." The boy grabbed a rope and wound it around the mast before tossing one end of the rope to Moana. "Tie this around your waist!" He tied the other end around his waist.

The waves began to rise up and the choppy water tossed their boat around.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. The waves came up, higher and higher.

One wave, taller than the others pulled the boat high into the air. Xehanort quickly jumped around the mast, unwinding the rope as their ship began to tip onto its side.

"Hold on!"

The two teens caught hands, Moana holding Hei Hei in the other hand, before the boat finally tipped, dropping them into the raging seas before the wave slammed down onto them, plunging them into deep darkness.

As the seas tapered out and the storm settled, only one thing remained visible from their ship.

An unfinished letter.

Dear Venus,

I'm doing some training right now on my own. My master dropped me on a strange world for ten days in order for me to learn some new things on my own. The world is very similar to ours. The ocean looks and smells like home.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel a bit homesick, but I think I miss you more than our home. I met this girl, her name is Moana. She's from an island too, but she doesn't know how to sail. I couldn't believe it at first, but she and I… we're very similar. Her dad wouldn't let her leave the island and people thought her grandmother, who told magical stories, was crazy.

Sound familiar?

I think we'll get along. I'm going to help her save her world from this darkness, but we first have to find this demigod named Maui.

You would like her. She's spunky.

I'll be teaching her to sail, but I only know a little.

Oh, and Master told me this phrase, and I'm supposed to figure it out. "May your heart be your guiding key". I wish you were here to help me figure this ou-

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Footnotes:

(1) This world is based on "Spirited Away", and Koganei is a museum where the film's setting was based.

(2) This world is supposed to be "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea".

(3) This world is based on the 1953 Disney movie "The Sword and the Rose", which I had never heard of before writing this.

(4) This is Samoan for "living ocean".