A.N: Enjoy!
"I would give you a nasty look but I see you already have one" Jim took a huge bite of an apple, as a robot with a blue uniform handcuffed the bulky creature that attacked them before.
"Yeah keep rolling your eyes, you may find a brain back there" The brown-haired boy glared at him, slowly making his way back to his mother. Sarah seemed to be holding a very serious conversation with two police officers that carefully registered every word she spoke. Her face was wet in tears. Jim placed himself next to her, putting a hand in her back to provide support
However, an argument took place not too far from where they were.
"Why would you even bring her?! It's dangerous!" Riku ranted at Sora, who just stared at the ground like a scolded child.
"Hey, thanks a lot for the vote of confidence" Kairi feigned to be offended as placed her hands on her hips, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips.
"You know I don't mean it that way, Kairi." His tone softened a bit. "But still you haven't trained enough. Something could've happened to you"
"I don't recall that you had any training before taking off to new worlds, huh? Besides, you guys shouldn't be the only ones getting hurt, so don't tell me to stay behind"
"She's right, Riku. Kairi's just as strong as you or me" Sora met his gaze, nodding confidently.
Riku shifted his gaze between his two best friends. Stubborn as ever. This is exactly what they did with the raft. They formed an alliance against him so they could win every argument. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, which surprised his friends. Honestly, he was just happy to see them.
"All right. You win. Just promise to be more careful; both of you. Kairi's still in training and so are you, Sora" The silverette smirked.
"W-what? I'm not in training!" Sora punched Riku lightly in the arm, making the three of them burst in laughter. Rapunzel repressed her giggles, somewhat fascinated at the view. It was the first time she saw a group of friends interacting.
"Oh, by the way, this is Rapunzel" Riku placed his hand momentarily behind the blonde's back.
"It's nice to meet you" She greeted cheerfully.
"Hey, Rapunzel. I'm Sora" The spiky-haired lad grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.
"And I'm Kairi. It's a pleasure to meet you" The redhead beamed, offering the blonde her hand, only to be taken aback as it was taken by someone else.
"Well, hello, Kairi. The name's Jim" The brown-haired man held her hand gracefully, offering her a confident lopsided grin.
"Hi to you too, Jim" She chuckled, retrieving her hand as he let it go. Riku noticed that Sora furrowed his eyebrows slightly. He laughed to himself.
"So what's gonna happen to the inn?" Riku asked with genuine interest.
"The insurance will cover up for everything" He shrugged "We'll just have to stay with a friend for a week. Luckily for you my workshop did not end up in such a mess, so I can still fix your ship in a day or two. Is it okay if I give it to you in Radiant Garden? I'm gonna meet Cid there in two days".
"Sure. Thanks man" Riku grinned, lightly meeting the boy's fist with his own.
"Guys, I have to know. How did you find us? It was nearly impossible to see anything back there" Kairi said.
Sora confidently opened his mouth to answer, only to have his words stolen by Jim.
"This friend right here led us to you" He smiled, pointing to the ring in his ear.
"What… friend?" Rapunzel squinted her eyes.
"What friend! What friend!" Suddenly the ring turned into a smiling floating pink blob, with two popping eyes. It attempted to mimic Rapunzel's voice.
"Whoa!" Both girls jumped back, gasping in unison.
"His name's Morph" Jim enunciated, as the pink Blob floated playfully around Rapunzel's neck, tickling her as it did so. Riku huffed with a slight grin.
"You're so cute!" She chuckled, before the little fellow returned to Jim's side.
"Yeah! And we saw this brilliant light and it turned out it was you girls!" Sora exclaimed excitedly. "By the way, what was that?"
"Oh, that's right! I'd completely forgotten. You're not going to believe this! I got this huge burn in my arm and Sarah was unconscious -"
"Whoa, you got nothing! What happened?" Sora stared at her in utter surprise. Jim took a step forward.
"Yeah, what happened?"
Sora gave him a short glance, before fully returning his attention to Kairi.
"Ugh, I don't even want to think of the pain, but I can't thank Rapunzel enough for-" Kairi stopped herself midsentence when she glimpsed the blonde desperately mouthing "N-O", eyes wide open as she shook her head from side to side, although it was barely noticeable.
"Thank her enough for… what?" Riku raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to continue.
"F-for…" For a moment she seemed to have lost her train of thought, before returning to her usual self. "For holding Sarah for me" She grinned, making eye contact with the boys. "I used the spell Donald and Sora taught me to heal and I also healed myself. That's what caused the light"
"What? You made a huge burn disappear and brought someone back to consciousness with just the healing spell we taught you? It's just the first level…" He stared at her in utter disbelief, making a nervous Kairi smile for a little longer. Then his expression changed in one second. "You're amazing! Way to go, Kairi! See? This is what I'm talking about, Riku" Sora high-fived Kairi, before discreetly glaring at the festive congratulations that followed from Jim.
"Yeah, I see now" Riku replied absent-mindedly, staring at Kairi for several moments before shifting his gaze to Rapunzel. Something was off.
Sora walked over to him to snap him out of his thoughts. "So who's Rapunzel, huh?" He glanced at the blonde that now was engaged in an apparently funny conversation with Jim and Kairi.
He did not reply right away. "She lost her world to darkness and for some reason the Heartless are after her" Riku finally met his gaze "She's the reason Yen Sid wants to see me. One of them"
"Heartless?! I thought they were gone for good... He did sound worried, though. But… Heartless? Again?" Sora crossed his arms.
"I guess we'll find out soon what's going on" Riku shrugged, crossing his arms as well.
Jim and the girls walked in their direction.
"Well guys, I hate to do this, especially when there's such lovely company" He glanced over at Rapunzel and Kairi, making both of the girls giggle, his gaze staying with the redhead longer enough for his gesture to be noticed. "But I gotta go now" He faced the two lads, pocketing his hands. "There's lots of work to do" He sighed. "So, thank you for everything and, uh, see you guys soon" He turned around waving at Rapunzel and winking at Kairi, before walking away.
"He is quite friendly, isn't he?" Kairi commented. Rapunzel agreed with a nod and a chuckle.
"Yeah… we should probably get going as well" Sora gave one last glance to Jim.
"Agreed. Let's not keep Yen Sid waiting" Riku nodded and with that last statement, the small group started moving. Montressor's port was not too far away.
"Rapunzel! You're gonna love my gummi ship!" Sora cheerfully placed both of his hands behind his head, walking backwards momentarily to face the girl, as he led the way to the vehicle he knew all too well.
"It's way better than Riku's" He pointed sideways with his thumb, his voice noticeably louder, mirth washing all over his face. Kairi repressed a chortle.
"You're right, Sora" The silverette replied coolly, making everyone blink in surprise and bringing his fellow Keyblade-wielder to an abrupt stop.
"As long as I'm behind the wheel since we both know that what really matters is the pilot, not the ship. Don't worry, Sora. I'll take care of the Highwind on our way to the Mysterious Tower" A sly smile crossed Riku's face as he walked past Sora.
"H-hey!"
"Besides," He continued "Rapunzel already witnessed my advanced pilot skills, unlike yours. Right, Rapunzel?" His perfect smirk remained in place.
The poor blonde was taken aback. "I-I'm s-sure that both of you must be excelle-"
"That's because she hasn't seen anyone else pilot a gummi ship!" Sora caught up to Riku, completely oblivious to the voice of the blonde. "But I'll fix that. I'm gonna show her better! And I bet Rapunzel was terrified with you piloting the ship, but she was just being nice. Right, Rapunzel?"
"I-I really think-"
Riku let out a dry laugh. "Terrified? At least with me, not just Rapunzel, but no one in the ship has to worry about getting swallowed up by some mutant whale"
Sora's jaw dropped childishly in annoyance. Kairi couldn't even try to repress her laughter this time, causing Sora's cheeks to turn a bright shade of red. "W-why won't you just let that go? I already told you it was an accident. And it was pretty much Donald's fault! Besides I bet Rapunzel wants to see me piloting and not you!"
Rapunzel's mouth remained open, words somehow not finding their way out. A giggle came from beside her.
"They're always like that. Don't mind them" Kairi rolled her eyes, amusement visible in her face. "I would usually be the peacekeeper, but it's been a while since I've gotten to see them like this" She laughed.
The chatter of the male Keybearers became distant as they both walked ahead, leaving the two girls following their lead several steps behind.
Rapunzel turned her face to the redhead, giving up on listening to their argument, even though she could still listen to her name being mentioned a few times. "So, you guys are pretty close, huh?"
"Hehe, yeah. They're my two best friends. We've had many adventures since we were little and they've helped me through a lot. I just hope I can protect them back and help them out too"
"It sounds like a really strong friendship" The blonde smiled.
"Yes, it is" Kairi nodded, her features lighting up at the thought. Still, it didn't last long. She quickly eyed Riku and Sora. They were still too busy with their childishly competitive argument. Even if they were out of earshot, Kairi lowered her voice. "Rapunzel, can I ask you something?"
The blonde nodded. She could sense where the conversation was going.
Kairi sighed. "Why didn't you want me to tell them about your hair and how you healed me?"
Yes, just as she had expected. Rapunzel closed her eyes for a moment, before absent-mindedly looking at the ground. Kairi averted her gaze. It clearly was a sensitive topic for her.
"I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Kairi gave her a reassuring smile and placed her hand on her shoulder.
"It's not that, I just… I can't take any risks. It's too dangerous and…- I mean, I know Riku saved me and Sora seems really nice and trust-worthy, but… I just can't. Not unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm really sorry, Kairi. I feel like a despicable human being for hiding the truth and for making you lie for me, but please, you can't tell anyone." Rapunzel grimaced.
"You don't have to worry about that. That secret is not mine to tell. It will be safe with me. I promise." Kairi nodded.
Rapunzel met her gaze, smiling in relief. "Thank you, Kairi"
"What? Thank you! It's the least I can do after what you did for me. But I do have one more question… wouldn't it be easier for you to protect your hair if it were shorter?"
Rapunzel shook her head. "If it's cut it loses its power, so…"
"Oh I see…" Kairi glanced at the endless trail of gold that followed after her. "I know someone that would be more than glad to help you to make it easier to carry around" She cheered.
The colorful gummi ship was finally visible at the distance.
"-fine. I'll race ya. First one to get to the gummi ship gets to pilot it to the Mysterious Tower. If I win, uh… I'm better pilot than you and you have to do something I dare you to"
"Yeah, right. I don't think so, Sora. This is childi-"
"And if you win… you get to borrow my special gummi block whenever you want"
Riku's interest was piqued.
"You're that confident, huh?"
Sora smiled knowingly. "Kairi, Rapunzel! Will you be the judges of our race?"
"Okay!" Kairi waved before turning to Rapunzel. "Come on!"
They sprinted towards the boys that were already in racing positions. Each girl stood next to a racer.
"Ready?" At the sound of Kairi's voice both Keyblade-wielders seemed to tense, determination etched in their faces.
"Go!" Rapunzel pulled her raised arm down, both racers dashing towards their goal as soon as the word escaped from her lips.
A fond look washed over Kairi's eyes as her friends became more distant with every passing moment. The race was pretty even. She took a deep breath. "Some things just won't change, you know?"
Rapunzel let out a chuckle. "Who do you think will win?"
"I dunno. It doesn't matter" She shrugged.
"It doesn't matter? Why?" Rapunzel's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Because it's my turn to pilot the gummi ship" Kairi smiled proudly.
#
The trip to the Mysterious Tower went on without many surprises. At least nothing compared to those they found back in Montressor.
Rapunzel enjoyed herself while Kairi taught her the basics of what a copilot usually does. She proved to be a fast learner.
But unlike them, the boys didn't spend their travel time so comfortably.
Riku's eyes occasionally widened a bit whenever Kairi got too distracted with her new apprentice. Meanwhile, Sora pretended to look relaxed, although his white knuckles and tapping feet revealed his true emotional state, especially whenever Kairi decided to take sharp turns.
Relief washed over Riku and Sora once they finally made it to their destination. Rapunzel expressed how quickly the trip had passed, with her learning so much and all. Riku and Sora pretended to understand her disappointment.
Kairi and Sora disembarked easily, followed by Riku who offered a hand to an inexperienced Rapunzel in her way down.
"I think I'm getting the hang of it" She shrugged, laughing softly.
"Yeah, I think you are" He smiled back.
Her grin slowly faded away, before she looked at the green countryside and at the massive crooked tower that lay ahead, its roof a large blue cone-shaped turret decorated with stars and moons, adding to the surrealistic and eerie aura of the place. The tower was framed with countless stars that gleamed in the cloudless dark sky.
"This place… has a strange feel to it" Rapunzel shivered, noticing it had to be the smallest world they had ever visited (and that she'd probably ever will), unnerved by the fact that a lonely and small piece of floating land contained only an enigmatic tower. Her uneasiness was mixed with the vague memories it brought her of her own not-so-enigmatic home.
"I know exactly what you mean. But don't worry. This place is safer than Traverse Town and Montressor. I can assure you that" He gave her hand a light squeeze, and only then she noticed that none of them had attempted to let the other go. Not that she wanted to, especially because that small gesture somehow made her feel more secure.
"It's just… I feel like I've been here before…"
"Hm. How come?" Riku's eyes narrowed in thought.
She averted her gaze from the tower after a few seconds. "I know, it's silly. That's just impossible, never mind." She took a brief breath, disregarding her thoughts. Still, Riku found himself unable to do the same.
"Let's go with the others" She suggested. Riku saved his thoughts for later, before walking side by side with Rapunzel as he led her through the green pastureland towards the entrance of the tower.