This probably doesn't have any readers anymore, but meh, I'll finish it anyway. Btw, I haven't played KH3 so no spoilers and that's why the plot has nothing to do with the actual game haha.

Short chapter but I wanted to finish the Pirates of The Caribbean part to move on to more exciting stuff! :D

Nerves. Excitement. Fear. Anxiety.

That was the mix of emotions in Rapunzel after Gibbs had so mysteriously said 'her.' But, much to her relief, it turned out she'd just been stressing over nothing.

Or so she thought.

Apparently the mysterious woman's name was Tia Dalma and she was a mystic –Gibbs words-, but a very nice one in Rapunzel's opinion. This only left her wondering what the previous fuzz was all about. Although Tia Dalma's personality and decorating style were quite… unique, she had been nothing but very welcoming from the beginning and to say her shack was intriguing was an understatement.

In contrast to the surrounding gloomy forest, the hut glowed thanks to dozens of candles of every size. Even Rapunzel, who had made plenty of candles in her life, had never seen so many. It was extravagant, each log and plank from an entirely different size and kind of wood, making the walls and the roof completely irregular. The insides were teeming with a clutter of objects like jars of herbs and spices, caged animals, bones and dried plants, reminding the soon-to-be-Hogwarts-students of Diagon Alley.

In the while they'd been there, Sora almost knocked his head against a jar full of eyeballs –while staring at Kairi, Rapunzel noticed- which only gave Riku a pretext to drop a little his perpetual alertness and laugh at the expense of his best friend. The blonde would be lying if she said she didn't join the Keyblade Master in such task.

Sparrow did most of the talking, which basically consisted in asking Tia Dalma for help, but Riku noticed the mystic piqued a special interest in two people.

"You know I demand payment" The Voodoo Queen snapped at Jack after she was done with her detailed examination of Will Turner's face and arms.

As soon as the captain of the Black Pearl opened his mouth, she was quick to lift a finger.

Then pointed at Rapunzel.

"Da hair of da girl with a touch of destiny."

Confusion and shock struck the crew and the light protectors' features. Horror distorted Rapunzel's face.

"What?! N-no, you can't" She felt herself take a step back. Riku quickly hid her behind him, Sora following his lead. They were about to begin a staring-contest with Tia but Kairi was the one to make the first move.

Sora and Riku watched with caution as their childhood friend stood in front of the woman. They didn't want any trouble, but Rapunzel was one of them now. They'd protect her. And if someone dared to mess with Kairi, well… that was self-explanatory. "My apologies, Tia Dalma." The Princess of Heart said in a respectful but firm voice, like the innate diplomat she was. Having the mayor as her adoptive father sure had an impact in her life. "But I'm afraid it'll have to be a different payment." She shot a glance at Jack. "Right, Captain?"

Sparrow blinked twice, snapping out of his thoughts, but was interrupted before he could speak once again by Tia Dalma's booming laughter. Riku's eyes narrowed and he felt his muscles tense. The woman's unpredictability had the power to unnerve anyone around her.

"The truth is I do not wish anything you possess." She finally composed herself enough to talk. "Dat be just a taste of my funny nature… Rapunzellll." Dragging her name, she let out a few more mischievous chuckles and locked her dark brown eyes with Rapunzel's forest green ones. The blonde tried to recall if she'd even told Tia Dalma her name. "Magic… magic have funny nature too. Do you not agree?" The Voodoo Queen's smirk grew wider and the young woman's heart skipped a beat.

No way she knew. She couldn't possibly. No way her secret was out even in other worlds. "I wouldn't know." Rapunzel mumbled, making a huge effort to keep the tremor out of her voice. She failed.

"Magic. Funny. Aye. Understood." Jack cleared his throat as his eyes darted from Rapunzel to Tia Dalma, his face freely expressing how bored he felt. "I brought payment." He grinned broadly. It was no secret how much he wanted his own business solved.

Tia Dalma let out a disappointed sigh, as if the afternoon entertainment was over. And with that, all tension was gone.

Sparrow offered Jack The Monkey as payment. Rapunzel protested, but much to her relief, Tia Dalma let him out of the cage and he seemed happy enough. Then it was Gibbs' turn to protest as it had taken hours to catch him.

Soon they learned Sparrow was after some key that could open a mysterious chest that belonged to Davy Jones', the same man that had just sent the Kraken to look for him.

Riku couldn't believe the extraordinary ability of this pirate to get in trouble. It was even worse than Sora's. He glanced down at Rapunzel. After what happened with Tia she was deep in thought, a far-off look in her eyes. It didn't matter he was right beside her, she was completely absent, miles away. But what truly ate his insides away was how troubled she looked.

Why would Tia Dalma ask Rapunzel about magic? The first thing that came to mind was Hogwarts. She couldn't know they were going there, but considering the odd but strong power she irradiated, it was a possibility. But why would she address Rapunzel only? Unless… it wasn't about Hogwarts… But that made no sense…

"It seems we have a need to find the Flying Dutchman-" Riku heard Turner say only for Tia Dalma to hold her hands up dramatically.

"SHHHHHH!"

Everyone looked around as silence weighed heavily in the hut. The hands of the pirate crew hovered over the hilts of their swords.

Riku could feel it. That familiar, ominous shiver crawling up his skin.

Darkness.

"We have visitors." Tia Dalma smirked and in that moment, the door was kicked open.

Swords and Keyblades were out. Pintel who was closest to the door, had a dagger to the stranger's throat.

"Whoa, whoa, c'mon man, gimme a break!" A very familiar redhead complained wearily, holding his hands up and staying still, not removing his eyes from the dagger.

"Lea?!" The light protectors said in unison before they ran up to him, making an annoyed Pintel take a step back and allowing the pirates to relax their too tense muscles.

"You're here!" Rapunzel threw her arms around him, making Lea freeze for a split second. Oblivious to his reaction, she stepped back to observe his features in search for any signs that told her how he'd been in the last hours after the dementor incident. His eyes looked slightly glassy, but other than that, he seemed his usual cocky, lighthearted self. "How- how did you find us?"

He cleared his throat, regaining his composure as Kairi too hugged him. "You know… I'll always be there to bring my friends back." He winked at the blonde and once Kairi released him, Sora and Riku welcomed him as well, punching him lightly in the arm and patting him on the back.

"We missed you, bud!"

"Glad you came to join the party." Riku said and Lea smirked.

"Not that I got an invite, but y'know me. Never pass up an opportunity to have fun."

Something big and black hurtled through the open door, screeching as it slammed into a pirate.

The crew had their weapons out and more Heartless started appearing.

"Leave!" Tia motioned at Riku.

"What?! We can't leave you! Not with so many Heartless here!" Kairi groaned, her Keyblade materializing right on time to hit a Soldier, while Riku made a Shadow vanish. But this time they weren't only after Rapunzel.

They wanted Sparrow too.

"Leave or they take blond girl!" Tia's voice boomed as she took several crab shells between her cupped hands and closes her eyes. "NOW!"

"No! I can fight! I'll give it my all!" Rapunzel insisted

Riku cursed under his breath. His job was to protect other worlds and escaping certainly wasn't it. But he'd never let anything happen to Rapunzel.

"Leave! We've got this!" Will Turner assured them.

Sora and Riku nodded. "Lea!"

"Already ahead of you. Follow me!" He stood by the door, a frustrated Rapunzel behind his back. "Too risky, Punz. And Yen Sid's orders."

As if it would bring her any answers, Rapunzel shot one last glance at Tia.

Only to realize she shouldn't have.

The mystic took a strand of her own hair, pretending to cut it with two fingers. Her face in mock panic before smirking.

Kairi snapped her out of her shock, pulling her wrist and sprinting as fast as they could, in the middle of pirates murdering Heartless.

"We'll come back, Will! We're gonna save Elizabeth, I promise!" Sora shouted receiving a nod in reply, following after his friends.

"I'm so sorry Will! I'll help you find Elizabeth too!"

"We'll be fine! You be safe, Rapunzel!"

She clenched her jaw. Fine. She was no fighter. She hated violence to be honest. But that didn't mean she had to be useless.

"Hey, Heartless!" She stopped half way. "I'm here! LOOK!" Shouting and jumping, the blonde waved her arms, before storming out of the shack for her life, attracting the whole army of Heartless, even those who were previously after Jack.

"Dammit, Blondie, what the-?!" Lea burned four of Heartless going after his friend, as everyone ran for it, water splashing with every step they took in the middle of the river. The others were as shocked as Lea, dealing with double the Heartless in the middle of the escape. Most to Riku's confusion, Rapunzel suddenly burst out chuckling.

"Quick!" Lea kept shooting flames at the monsters. "Sorry about the spot, but the valet parking of this swamp isn't available at the time."

"Why did you bring MY ship and not yours?" Riku opened the gate, allowing everyone to access it, making sure the chuckling Rapunzel was the first to get on board.

"Aw, gimme a break. Thought you'd miss it so I did you a favor." Lea was quick to shut the ship behind him, and had his friends not been in such a rush, he would've made them laugh. "Geesh, you millennials are so unappreciative, sometimes".

"Shut up! You're a millennial too!" Sora replied, as Riku lit the engine. They were in space in a matter of instants.

"That was… wow." Rapunzel breathed, both because of running and laughing so hard. "What's a millennial?"

"Rapunzel," Riku began, realizing how stressful those last minutes had actually been for him. "What you did back there, attracting all the Heartless, can never-"

"That's right! You completed your first mission!". Catching her breath too, Kairi hung her arm around her newest friend's shoulders, catching the attention of everyone.

It took Rapunzel a few moments to snap out of her daze, Tia's gesture still coming back to her brain. "I… did. Wait, I actually… did it, right? Haha! I DID IT! I completed my first mission!" Realization slowly dawned on Rapunzel, excitement taking all over her features, and soon all the tension was gone. Even against his own will, her enthusiasm was all Riku needed to stop himself from starting to bicker to Lea about borrowing his gummi ship and insist Rapunzel on her safety.

Lea and Sora began congratulating her, and no matter how much of a lecture he still wanted to give her for how reckless she'd been, in truth, he knew it had been a very strategic move. She'd protected them by giving them advantage on the battle and a chance to escape. Sure, pirates are perfectly capable of fending for themselves, but having every Heartless going against Sparrow… chances were pretty dim for him not to turn into a Heartless.

Now THAT would have been a disaster.

Besides, Kairi was right. They did complete the mission. Now they knew the Heartless were after Rapunzel in every world.

Giving up, he huffed humorously. "Well done, light protector." Riku turned to meet her gaze.

Her enthusiasm stopped a bit, replaced by a giggle. Riku couldn't help but focus on her flushed cheeks, and long messy braid. "Thank you. I told you I could handle myself." She tried to be cool but giggled some more.

For a reason, he felt he needed to appear more manly. What was with him?

"Riku, eyes on the road!" Sora shouted, startling the Keyblade Master, even though there was just space ahead. Of course, who could say serious after that? Riku felt blood rushing to his cheeks, before punching Sora in the arm. He never gets embarrassed, not like this, what the heck?

"HAHAH-Ow!" Caressing his arm, Sora eyed Riku up and down carefully.

"Hey, why are your clothes so tattered?"