Greetings readers!

Unfortunately, I ended up taking a long hiatus from this KH fic. Not to worry, though, I'll be jumping back into it as much as possible. My hands are very tied personally, so don't expect swift updates. Episodes will be rolled out as soon as they are done. It won't be a consistent schedule.

Please enjoy the fic as it goes! And feedback is so very welcome. 3

||Episode 3: Wonderland||

*Blast Away! -Gummi Ship II-*...[Ocean of Stars]

Donald told us all about how we were flying through the ocean of stars during our flight to the next world. Millions of stars dotted all of space, mesmerizing me and Sora. We had never seen so many of them so close like this. To give us an even more grand tour of everything having to do with space travel, there was a pair of chipmunks on the monitor to help us out. Their names were Chip and Dale. Although, it was the flight crew here with us that gave all the more details.

"Like I said before, we fly to different worlds using the gummi ship," Donald explained to us again while he piloted the ship. He was careful to avoid the space debris- asteroids and other large objects drifting around out there. Pointing at one of the monitors in the cockpit, Donald showed us a few different gauges. "We've gotta be careful to not get too damaged, or else we'll have to turn around and head back to town for repairs. This green one lets us know how bad the armor is. That blue one over there is for fire power. And, uh... I don't know what that yellow one is for. Oh, well, it's not important."

"Ah-hyuck, I hope ya remember all of that," Goofy chuckled. Sora and I learned that, as the co-pilot, Goofy was in charge of making sure to blast any debris flying too close to the gummi ship. There were only a couple of buttons designated for the job. One of them fired lasers and another was for cannons. "Out here, the Heartless have their own ships and give us a hard time."

"Always be on the lookout during flight!" Donald waved his finger in the air, avoiding another asteroid.

There was so much more that they had to tell us about flying a gummi ship. How to shoot and steer the ship. Some kind of mechanic built into the ship provided detailed reports about how the trip was after reaching the intended destination. But, that was a complicated detail that I found myself not caring for. I was more attentive for the part about how to handle the gummi ship. By far, all of that sounded way more interesting than anything else. However... I wondered if he would let us give flying a try during this big adventure.

I glanced over to Sora and smiled at his eager expression. His eyes were all lit up as Donald went over one more time about how the controls worked. Sora was ecstatic about the information Donald and Goofy shared with us. For now, instead of fretting over when it would be my turn to fly, I took the time to relax before we arrived at the next world. The gummi ship still had a lot for my eyes to see.

"Hey, Donald?" I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I was just wondering," I started and gestured to the door. "Is there a shower or anything in the ship?"

"Oh, right," Goofy chuckled. "We forgot to tell ya all about what there was. Go ahead and explore, Lu! Bathroom's on the right."

Nodding, I got up from my seat and wandered out of the cockpit to see what all the gummi ship had to offer. And, as I explored the other levels inside the ship, I cam across a few different rooms. One was marked as the sleeping quarters, so I assumed that was where we could go to sleep whenever we were exhausted. Just as Goofy had told me, the bathroom was a door on the right side of the hall. It had a shower and everything to take care of myself. Last room that I found was to the cafeteria. It was small but enough for all of us to sit in and eat.

I think I'll hit the showers first, I planned.

間

"So, what happened to you after that freaky storm?" Sora asked me as we sat down in the cafeteria with a couple of sandwiches. I was only a couple bites in when he brought up the events that separated us from each other and our friends. "It was strange. I was stuck on another part of the island, and then this huge monster from my dreams appeared. One on one, we fought and then got sucked up into that huge thing that was in the sky. After that, I ended up in Traverse Town. This dog woke me up, and then I started looking all over the place for you and the others."

The storm... I took another bite of my food while Sora rambled on about everything he went through. Everything before that night was so ordinary. We were finished with another year of school and enjoying our break. All of us got to play around as we usually did on the islands. Then came the day when I appeared on Destiny Islands. Rather, it was the anniversary of the time I arrived several years ago. That reminds me.

I pulled out the star charm that Riku gave me as a gift. The shining silver and star designs were all enticing. Riku had to have saved up a lot of money to buy this, but I somehow doubted that. The shops back home never sold anything like this before. Did that mean that he made it himself? That only just crossed my mind this moment. And, it wasn't just where it came from that intrigued me. There was some kind of power inside this charm, something that I couldn't explain. Power. It was an amulet that radiated with a peculiar power. I could feel it in the palm of my hand.

"Wow, that looks cool!" Sora poked his head over the table to see the star charm in my hand. "Where'd ya get it?"

"Oh, uh... Riku gave it to me a while ago," I told him. He didn't need to know the exact details about it. I was too shy to share that much, so I just gave him the gist. Somewhat minding my own business, I dug through my pockets and found a small chain that I bought before we left Traverse Town. Slipping it through the tiny hole, I put on the star charm as a necklace. Doing so made me feel a strange sensation, like the amulet's power was flowing into me. I sighed contently to myself and returned my attention to Sora and what he had asked me before. "Anyway, you asked me about what happened after the storm, right?"

"Yeah!" Sora nodded.

"Well, it's a little hazy, but I remember floating around in a bunch of darkness after we got separated," I explained to him about the events that took place on my side. The details were hard to bring up about what exactly happened before I woke up in town, but I could recall that much. "I think... I was being taken to another world. Eventually, I woke up in an alley in Traverse Town and had to find my way around. Someone helped me out when the Heartless came, and then I ended up finding you. I kinda wish it was Riku, though..."

"What was that?" Sora asked, holding his hand up to his ear. I blushed and dismissed what I said about that last part. "Heh, at least you and I ended up in the same world. All of us will be together in no time! And, I'll show Riku all my awesome moves with the Keyblade once we find him."

"Eh... Awesome?" I sounded uninterested at his bragging. "As far as I can tell, I'm much better than you are. Who was the one who got the last hit on that huge Heartless? Oh, right, it was me. Let's not forget who has a better skill at using that Fire spell Donald taught us. I think we both know who Riku will be most impressed with."

"Why you..." Sora grumbled and glared harshly at me. "The magic is a fluke! We're both new at it, so I'll be the better one eventually! Why don't we go a round to see who the better fighter really is?"

"Why not?" I smirked. "Let's do it!"

"All gummi passengers report to the cockpit! Wonderland is comin' right up!"

That was Goofy's voice coming from the microphone. Sora and I paused in our playful banter, listening in to the message. Wonderland was the world we were going to, I had to suppose. The teasing I threw at Sora was put aside, and we finished off our food before heading back to the cockpit. I giggled to myself on our way out and gave Sora a nudge to the shoulder. He was able to laugh it off, too, but he whispered to me that he was actually serious about sparring.

One day, maybe. I smiled at Sora and climbed up the stairs to the cockpit. More likely than not, he'd have a better time sparring against Riku again. Those two were competing with each other, after all. It did make me think about something quite a bit, though. I wonder if I could beat Riku now.

"Alright!" Donald stomped his webbed foot after getting everyone lined up in the ship. "Once we go down there, remember not to say anything about us being from another world. We're here on a very important mission! No matter what, we have to keep the world order."

"Border?" I scratched my head. "What's that about?"

"Order!" Donald corrected me. "We can't change the natural course of the worlds, or else balance will be lost. It'll be chaos!"

"Oh..." Sora and I nodded. So, that meant that we had to get in and get out as best we could without causing any trouble with the residents of the world. Protecting the world order was going to be hard if the Heartless got to this world. Donald trusted us to do our parts with keeping it, so we were going to have to do our best.

"Okay, beam us down!" Donald shouted as he stood next to Goofy. A light above our heads blinked above our heads. Suddenly, we were enveloped by a flash of light and carried off of the ship. It transported us from there to an open field down in Wonderland. "That's how it's done when we go to each world. The gummi ship will land itself with the autopilot, so we can get started. Any questions?"

"I have one," Sora said, raising his hand. "Why did we get beamed down over a giant hole?"

"What?" Donald blinked and gazed down at our feet. "Uh, oh..."