Chapter 9

RIku's pov

After we had acquired Roxes, things seemed to go by fast with restoring Sora's memories but the Organization did not make it easy. They sent Axel after Roxas but in the end he returned to Sora and my best friend was back, though with no memory of what had happened. It seemed after that he, Donald and Goofy started to search the worlds for me well fighting against the Organizations plans. I made sure to stay away from his group as much as I could, giving them a helpful nudge here or there. I did end up going to Shisui's world for a bit to help him out there, and learn how to use chakra. I have to say being able to climb up walls like there's glue on my feet or walk on the surface of water was rather helpful.

It was also thanks to these new skills that I was finally able to gain an upper hand on Alex when we were sparing in our dream scape. Which of course pissed het off greatly. "Gah! I can't believe this! How did it go from me getting the hand up on you sometimes in our sparing to you kicking my butt all the time?!" she growled at me from the ground, flat on her back where I had tossed her.

I chuckled as I sat down on the grass next to her having noticed that she hadn't moved to get up and continue. It seemed like the best time to stop for the night and simply relax. "Sorry Alex but Shisui happens to be a good teacher. Though something tell me that if you were to train with him you would be picking it up the ninja stuff a lot faster than me." I told her as I lend back to look up at the stars above us. We were on the hill that was my quiet spot back on Destiney Islands and even though the stars were not real, they were still beautiful.

"I don't know about that Riku." Alex said as she looked up at the stars too. "I have more knowledge on hand to hand combat and because of that the concept of chakra might be too hard for me to grasp."

"Well you'll never know until you try." I told her as I started to run my fingers through her hair, which I knew she secretly enjoyed. It was times like these that I was grateful that I still looked like myself in our dream scape. I don't think I can face her well I'm stuck looking and sounding as Ansem as I didn't want to scare her.

"So where are Sora and company at the moment?" Alex asked after a few moments of silence.

I smiled as i knew what was coming next. "There in the ocean, visiting the undersea kingdom." I couldn't stop the laugh that came out of his mouth when Alex shuttered and quickly turned pale. "What you don't dream of meeting mermaids like every other girl?"

"Get one in a tank on dry land and I'm all for it." She told me before making a disgusted noise as she sat up, all well I laughed at her antics. "Oh yeah laugh it up Riku. Just wait till you find a world that holds your greats fear."

"Yeah… that will never happen." I told her as I got up and walked over to her.

"Oh and why is that? And don't say it's because you're afraid of nothing." Alex told me well poking me in the chest, trying to emphasise her point.

"No it's because my biggest fear these days is losing everyone I care about." I told her well gave her a look, noticing the look of surprise on her face. "I've already turned my back on everyone when I gave into the darkness, even you for a time. I don't want to loss anyone I care about ever again."

Alex looked up at me surprised but then she smiled at me gently as she took my hand in both of hers. "The only way you can truly loss any of us is to not let us in." was all she said before the dream scape became dark and I woke up in the room I was currently sharing with Shisui.

After Sora had been restored Shisui and I had headed to his world so he could check on the 5th Hokage's progress and train me. You see well restoring Sora Shisui and I had gone to his world to see what the situation with his village and clan was. It wasn't good as all bit to members of the Uchihi clan had been whipped out and it was one of the survivors who had done the deed. After hearing from Lady Tsunade that his younger cousin Itachi had brutally murdered everyone but his brother Sasuke, Shisui had told her everything. About how the clan had been planning a coup to over throw the village leadership, how he and Itachi had told lord third everything they learn. When he had told her about Danzo ripping out his right eye she was funning and was about to go rip the councillor's head off to get Shisui's eye back.

Shisui had acted quickly to reason with her, saying that gathering evidence to prove what he had told her was a better way. Well she was working on that he asked that she keep him being alive a secret, as Shisui wanted to go find Itachi and get the full story. When we did find Itachi, he had been beyond surprised and happy to see his supposed to be dead older cousin. That joy soon had turned to shame as Itachi was ashamed that he couldn't protect both the clan and the village. Shisui told him that it was ok and that he didn't hold him responsible for what happened to their clan. Staying with Itachi and his shark partner Kisame was very different and deep down not really where I really wanted to be.

This of course didn't seem to go unnoticed by any of my companions as I entered the kitchen and served myself some breakfast. "What has you so down in the dumps?" Kisame asked me.

"It's nothing." I told him internally cringing as I heard Ansum's voice instead of mine.

"Let me guess, he looks like he has a cloud over his head and has a far off look in his eyes?" Shisui asked a knowing smile on his face.

"Yes he does." Itachi confirmed for his blind cousin bot bothering to look up from his own breakfast, a rare smile on his face.

"Then he been thinking about girlfriend Alex again." Shisui chuckled happily.

"Shes not my girlfriend." I snapped as I was tempted to throw my chop sticks as him and the now grinning Kisame. "She is just a dear friend that happens to be a girl."

"From the look in your face I would say you do think of her more than that." Kisame grinned as I denied some more, he and Shisui laughing. "You know we should meet this girl and see if she's right for you."

"Like I need any of you to approve of who I'm friends with. Besides I've known her longer then I have known any of you." I informed him, hoping that would be the end of the conversation but of course neither of were going to let the topic be. In the end it took me promising to take them to her world to meet her to get them to stop. It wasn't the first time Shisui or I had taken Itach and Kisame to another world but I had to warn them about the dangers in her world. They were a bit confused about the rangers and their enemies but that confusion soon turned to awe when we exited a dark corridor and they saw her world. They stared at the buildings from the shadows cast by the grouping of trees we were hiding in. "So where does your friend live Riku?" Itachi asked me after he had described the sight before us to Shisui.

"I don't know where she is and we are not wondering around trying to find-" I was cut off as the sounds of some fighting retched our ears. Before I could stop them the 3 ninja's took off in the trees towards the sound, and I had no choice but to fallow them as best as I could. We soon came to a stop at a grouping of trees near what looked like a playground and I stared in awe. It was these strange bird like creatures with purple armor attacking… Alex?

It was her fighting the birds which outnumbered her 5 to one and she was fighting them without a shred of fear on her face. She was kicking, punching and flipping away from them faster than I had ever seen her move. "Whoever this girl is she's good but they're going to overpower sooner or later." Kisame pointed out as the bird brains began to surround her, which scared me. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as fear finally did cross her face as a bird grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground. "Agh… let go of me you bird brains!" she shouted well struggling to get free but one of the bird punched her in the stomach, winding her.

"Shut up keeper. We're going to take you to Lord Zedd." One said as we could see the fight had left Alex as she tried to get air back in her lungs. "He will use you as hostage to capture the Power Rangers. Wont that be great little keeper?"

Seeing the glare she sent them through the hair that had fallen in her face set me off as I felt a surge of power fill me, unaware that something had appeared in my hand. Itachi, Shisui and Kiasame noticed but I paid them no mind as I darted out of the trees and started to attack the bird men. The first one I attacked let out a shock squawk as he fell, and disappeared, well I moved onto the next one. I saw the one holding Alex let her drop to the ground, and that was the next one to fall as I sliced it in half, grabbing Alex at the same time. I turned to attack the next one to see Shisui using his own keyblade, Assassin's Edge to deal with two, well Kisame finished the last one easily.

With the threat gone I put Alex back on her feet which made her stumble a little so I held her to my side to steady her. "You alright Alex?"

She coughed, clearing throat as the others stood around us to get a closer look at her, having heard me say her name, and were now intrigued. "Y-Yeah, I'm ok but how do you know my name?" she asked as she looked up at me, seeming to see my face under my hood, frowning at me. After a moment her eyes widened as she pulled away. "Wait… Riku is that you?"

"Yes Alex it's me." I told her as I looked away, shame filling me bit it was then I saw the weapon that had appeared in my right hand and stared. It wasn't Soul Eater but it had some similarities to it, and I soon realised it was a keyblade. 'Way to the Dawn' this name came to my mind as I studied the blade.

"And who are you three?" I looked up and smiled at Alex, who was standing between me and the other males that had accompanied me to her world this time. Her hands were on her hips, an eyebrow raised as she studied the three ninjas closely, glaring at Kisame as she took in his strange shark like features.

"I'm Shisui Uchiha, this is my cousin Itachi Uchiha and his partner Kisame Hoshigaki." Shisui told her giving quick introductions.

Alex nodded. "Well it's nice to meet you all but I am a little busy right now trying to avoid Tengas not to mention the increased monster attacks. So you're all better off leaving, before you get the attention of the wrong people, or the rangers." She told us and it was then I saw the nervous energy she had coming off her, which was odd these days.

"Alex, what wrong?" I asked her as I put a hand on her shoulder, which made her look at me. She frowned at me again and before I could stop her she grabbed my hood pulling it back off my head. Her eyes widened as she took in my face but there was no fear as she looked at the face that was not my own. "Huh, you really don't look like yourself right now. So this is what Ansem looked like then?"

I didn't get a chance to answer as an odd beeping came from Alex's watch on her left wrist, which caused her to look worried as she covered it. "Alex what is that?" I asked her frowning at the watch I have seen on her in our dream scape but it had never beeped before.

"It's nothing, I have to go and you 4 should back to whatever world you came from." Alex said before she ran off and was soon out of sight, which was not like her at all.

"She's hiding something." Itachi said with a frown and I couldn't help but agree with him but there was something else. I knew now what the nervous energy was and I was kicking myself for not having figured it out sooner. She was scared which had me worried about her safety. So I opened a dark corridor sending the three ninja's back to their world without me as I took off after Alex. I was able to spot her as she left the park and headed into the city center, which left me with no cover. It was then I remembered the transformation jutsu Itachi and Shisui had taught me and I quickly used it. I was fortunate that this time I got it right and I now looked like myself.

I kept my distance as I fallowed Alex as she walked down the side walk towards what I quickly realised was the hospital. I fallowed her inside and watched as she headed to the gift shop and pick up a few things. The next part was a bit trickery as she took the elevator up to the 5th floor well I waited for it to come back to the main level. Once I exited the elevator and entered the ward on the 5th floor I discreetly looked around for Alex. I spotted her just as she entered a room at the end of the hall on my right, so I headed that way, making sure I kept quiet.

"-Tommy asked that I stop by a see if you needed anything before I meet up with them." Alex told a girl that looked to be a bit older than me with chocolate brown hair, who was laying in the hospital bed. She was smiling at Alex as she put the bag on the bed and the younger girl dug around in it. "So I grabbed you some shampoo and conditioner, soap, a tooth brush, hair brush and your favorite chocolate."

The older girl smiled up at her. "Thanks Alex, you're a life saver. I can now feel cleaner and chocolate makes everything better." I could tell from her words she was trying to lighten the mood a bit but from Alex's stiff body language I knew she wasn't happy.

"Kim do you know how much you scared us, scared me?" Alex asked the now identified Kim or most likely Kimberly Heart. "I have already lost too many people I love and care about Kim, I don't like thinking can loss anymore."

I could hear from her voice that Alex was in the verge of tears as Kim sat up and held my dear friend close. "Oh Alex, no tears. I'm not going to leave you or the others, not in the way your thinking. I'm too stubborn for that and besides you need to be reminded of what a big sister is for." Kim told her as she rubbed Alex's back as she sniffed and held on to her tight. I couldn't help but smile at the sight before me, glade to know that Alex was alright. I had just decided to leave when Kim looked up and locked eyes with me. "Oh hello there, did you need something?"

"Um…"

"Riku? What are you doing here?" Alex half shouted, half demanded as she looked at me confused, which I couldn't blame her for.

"Well um… when you ran away from me and the guys I was worried that you were keeping something from me and feared that something was maybe wrong." I admitted as I scratched the back of my head, sparing Kim a glance, noting the frown on her face as she looked me over. She did not look to impressed by me as her frown deepened as she pulled Alex closer to her. "Alex, who is this?"

"Kim this is Riku, he's an old friend of mine from before I came to Angle Grove and met all of you guys." Alex told her as she looked at me with a bit of apprehension and pleading with her eyes to come up with a reason for my presence there and fast.

"Oh really." Kim asked me, her frown by this point had become a glare as she sat back on her bed, pulling Alex firmly to her side. "Alex he wouldn't happen to be the same friend that a few months ago you told me he could be dead in the ditch somewhere and you wouldn't care. Would he?"

I saw Alex flinch at being reminded of that as she avoided looking at me but it was me who came to her defence. "In all honesty Kimberly, I deserved it at the time after how I had been acting towards her and my best friend. I have no excuse for it but I have already apologised to her for how I acted and she did say she forgave me."

"He is telling the truth Kim, I did forgive him, so please stop giving him a hard time." Alex said giving Kim a pleading puppy dog look that even I know I couldn't resist. So of course Kim caved and gave me a sweet smile. "Well it's nice to meet you Riku and I'm glade the two of you have worked things out between the two of you. I have to say Alex now that I've seen him I understand how you reacted to Rohan when you first saw him. They look exactly alike."

I frowned in confusion as I saw Alex's face turn beet red and panic filled her eyes. "Kim, you have no right to talk about men who look alike after your fainting spell at seeing the white stranger. So lay off." She snapped trying to glare at her sister figure but was failing miserly, which caused both Kim and I to laugh.

"I'm not sure what you two are talking about but this is too funny." I said around my laughter. I couldn't recall the last time I had laughed and as Alex soon joined in I couldn't help but feel lighter in that moment. Soon Alex and I bid Kim good bye and left the hospital, heading back towards the park as it had the best cover to open a corridor. It was on the way there I learned the reason Kim was in the hospital. It seemed that a well know gymnastics couch had taken her own and Kim had been working hard to improve her skills as a gymnasts. But the other night, she had been practicing by herself, slipped off the balance beam, and had hit her head in the fall. Kim was just lucky that their new friend Katharine had been there to call for help.

"Well I am glade that Kim will be alright but she really should be more careful about working too hard to achieve her dream." I told Alex as we entered the park and she lead the way to a spot I could open a way from her world.

"I agree with you there but that is not the reason you fallowed me is it? And by the way why do you suddenly look like yourself?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips and gave me a look that said she was not happy about something. "Why were you fallowing me in the first place Riku?"

I tried to think of a way to not tell her the truth but I realized lying to her served no purpose so I told her. "We could all tell that you were keeping something secret and that you were either on edge and/ or upset about something. I was worried about you." I told her as I looked off to the side, a slight blush crossing my face, as my heart beat faster in my chest, which made me lose control on the jutsu. I was now back to looking like Ansem but that didn't seem to bother her as Alex closed the distance between us. "It's sweet that you care so much Riku and don't you ever think it's a bad thing."

She then lend up on her tippy toes, most likely to place a simple kiss on my check but not realising this I had turned my head and her lips landed on my own. This time both of use blushed in surprise as she jumped away and we stared at each other. We stared at each other in shocked silence for a moment but Alex was the first to recover as she stammered. "I-I got to go, bye." and with that she was gone, bolting through the park and soon out of sight.

"What in the world happened to you? Are you sick or something?" Kisame demanded when I returned to the hideout not long after, my face still red. I gave him some random excuse as I headed outside to clear my head. As I did it was then that I realised something important had happened during my visit to Alex's world and I had failed to realize it right away.

I had a Keyblade and it had happened because I had needed to protect her.

Alex's Pov

A month had passed since the kissing incident, which neither of us brought up when we were together in our dream scape. Kim was gone, living and training hard in Florida under Couch Schmit watchful eye, to fulfill her dream of going to the Olympics. We were all happy for her but this of course meant that she had to give up being a Power Ranger. None of us were all to surprise when she had passed the power and the Crain Power Coin to Katharine. The Australian native had more than earned it in my opinion, as she had not only broke free of Rita's spell, she had returned the Crain coin where it rightfully belonged.

For Riku in that month a lot happened, Sora and the gang had finally made their way to the World That Never Was. There Riku helped to rescue Kairi, stop Xemnius and the Organization's plans, finding King Mickey and Ansum the Wise along the way. Unfortunately Ansum sacrificed himself to destroy Kingdom Hearts but in doing so returned Riku to him old self. When Riku told me what happened I was on the edge of my seat in awe and glade that he and the others were alright.

As for us rangers things had become crazy.

It turned out that Rita, besides having a bone headed brother, she also has a father, named Master Vile and it was clear to me where Rito had gotten his looks. First Master Vile set this crazy gooey monster at us and on the city, recapturing Ninjor, who had escaped and returned to us only an hour ago. Then after Tommy, Kat and I had secured a hug crystal called the Zeo Crystal Vile took away the other's Zords and was going to use them to destroy earth. Well the others went to retrieve the crystal and their Zords from another galaxy I retrieved Janet and James, taking them to the safety of the command Center. It seemed that Vile was trying to get the Light Shard's power as well, which meant he wants me and was going to use them to get both. I am just fortunate that my adoptive parents already knew about me and the other being rangers for many years now. But that is a whole other story to be told later (A/N: It's in my introduction story of Alex, The Keeper of Light. I suggest you read it, though it is a bit behind this one. Sorry)

I could only stand by and watch as my fellow rangers recovered their Zords, the Zeo Crystal and take out the gooey monster. That is the one disadvantage to not having a zord of my own bit I was able to use the teleporting ability of my coin and the Light Shard to sneak onto Vile's skull ship. As the zords fought the monster, the energy it had taken from Ninjor returned to the ninja master. When the time was right I had jumped in and helped Ninjor escape. After the whole fiasco Vile unleashed a singing monster that forced the others to dance, her voice taking control of them. Thanks to the Light Shard I am safe from such control and I was avke to stop Tommy from handing his power coin over. I kept the monster busy well the others used the new special armor Zordon had given them to use in emergencies. In no time the monster I had nicknamed Siren was defeated and we had a few days of down time. Because of this we planned to hit a carnival for some fun and more importantly celebrate Kat's birthday.

As we enjoyed ourselves I noticed the Adam was sticking close to me well giving me side glances when he thought I wasn't looking. The strangest thing happened was well we were playing one of the carnival games Adam won a round and gave me the stuffed bunny he had won, a blush on his face. I thanked him well I saw the knowing smile the others were giving me but left me confused. This was not the first time I had noticed this kind of behavior from Adam. They thankfully had stopped worrying so much since I bit their heads off on Phaedos but they seemed to know something I didn't. I wanted to ask them about it but then our wrist communicators went off and we had to teleport to the command center.

This time it seemed the Vile was planning to use an object call the Orb of Doom that if placed in exact coordinates on the earth would stop and reverse time. Zordon also warned me that the Light Shard must stay away from it as the darkness in the orb would repeal the light of the shard and harm me. So when we arrived I went with Billy, Adam and Aisha to fight some Tengus that went after the people at the carnival grounds. As we fought them the others activated their new armor well I tried to call on my phoenix spirit to aid me but I hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. Then suddenly the ground under our feet started to shack which only lasted for only a moment but that was the only indication we needed. Rito had been successfully at placing the orb, we headed back the carnival grounds to check on everyone.

We stood in the carnival grounds with everyone as the skies blackened and lightning flashed, giving everyone reason to stop and stare. Suddenly my head was filled with a stabbing pain, making me wince and hold it. "Alex, are you alright, what's wrong?" Adam asked being the first to notice.

"I don't know. My head just started to hurt." I said closing my eyes against the growing pain.

Suddenly Kat gasped. "Alex, look at your feet." She said making all of us look down and stare in shock. From my feet up to about my knees we could see right through me and slowly it was spreading, not only causing me to panic but rest of the rangers as well.

"Guys what's happening to me?" I asked watching as my hands become transparent, unshed tears filling my eyes.

Tommy quickly stood in front of me, grasping my shoulders and making me look at him. "Alex we'll figure it out, just try to use the Light Shard to stop- whatever this is." He suggested trying and failing to keep his own panic out of his voice.

I shook my head, in full panic now, tears falling. "Tommy, I can't- focus, my head hurts too-" I cried out still holding my head as the pain at this point felt like it was being ripping my head apart. "The grid is screaming!"

"Maybe if we can combine our Ninjetti energies into her and see if that helps." I heard Aisha suggest discretely pulling out her power coin. Seeing more of me fading, the pain I was in and no other option being offered, Tommy nodded. They all pulled out their power coins quickly and tried to push their energies into me and the pain lessoned. It seemed to work as for a few moments I became solid once again but then I screamed as the pain increased tenfold before I faded completely.

End of pov- Dream World: Travers Town

Riku stirred as he found himself waking up on the stone paved street in districted two, confused as he began to pick himself up. "What happened? Did I fall asleep?" he asked out load not expecting an answer but heard a groan to his left. Looking that way he was taken back as he saw Alex laying two feet from him on her side groaning. Riku was able to get up and went to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as she rolled over, well her eyes struggled to open. "Alex, are you ok?" he asked worried as he saw her wincing a bit as her hand came to rest on her face. It was then he noticed that she was looked to be 13, the same age when the Destiny Island disappeared.

"My head hurts enough already without you shouting Riku." Alex muttered as she pinch the bridge of her nose, willing the headache, no the migraine, she had to go away. "Wait Riku?" she finally opened her eyes and frowned at him.

"Yes Alex it's me but what are you doing here and why does your head hurt?" he asked as he helped her up, holding her against him well fishing out a potion and had her drink it. Alex's stomach turned as the potion hit it but she was able to keep it down and was relieved that the pain soon faded. She smiled up at him in thanks, which Riku was happy to return as he continued to hold her against him. It was then they both realised how close they were and blushed as Alex pulled out of his arms.

"So um… where are we exactly Riku? I don't recognize this place." Alex asked as she looked around trying to redirect their attention. Riku was about to answer when they heard soft foot falls causing both of them to take ready stances, Riku summoning Way to the Dawn. They both frowned at the beings walking towards them. Riku felt his eyebrows go up in confusion, well Alex looked like she almost couldn't believe her eyes. The red Tyrannosaurus, the blue Triceratops and the yellow Sabretooth Tiger rangers were walking towards them. "But how-" Alex started to ask but was suddenly cut off.

"Peace Keyblade welder and Keeper of Light, we are not who we appear to be. We are the Emissaries of the Morphin Masters and we come bearing a message and a gift for you young Keeper." The red ranger said in a voice that Alex did not recognize.

"The Morphin Masters, Alex what's going on?" Riku asked his dear friend well keeping his eyes on these three colorful costume people.

"It's ok Riku, we can trust them." Alex said as she made him lower his keyblade and stepped closer to the Emissaries. "What is this message from the masters?"

"It would seem that they were correct that you were told of them by your mentor, which makes this much easier." The yellow ranger said with an air of relief, before she/he continued. "As your friends Riku and Sora are here taking their Mark of Mastery Exam the Masters have deemed it time that you be tested as well."

"As Master Vile uses the Orb of Doom on your world to turn everyone, including the rangers into children, it seemed the best time. As children the rangers will have lost their ability to morph and as such your powers would be considerably weakened as well." The blue ranger explained.

"Ok so what am I to do for this test?" Alex wondered now a bit worried, well thinking that Riku had to bring her up to speed on somethings.

"You are to be tested on all of your skills but you are not to interfere with Riku's or Sora's exams. At the same time only Riku, who you are connected with through your dreams, will be the only one who can see you." The Red ranger explained further. "This means that you will not be able to interact directly with anyone but him"

"But wouldn't that be interfering with Riku's exam?" Alex asked worried as she knew how important this was for Riku.

"Hey don't worry Alex, we'll work it out." Riku told her as he took her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. He then turned back to the three standing before them. "You said that you had a gift for Alex."

"Indeed." Red said as the three walked towards her and placed an amazing object in her hands that made both Riku's and Alex's jaws drop in awe. "Use it well and wisely. For it will be your ally and your reward among many others if you succeed. Good luck and may the power protect and guide you both."