Well this news is sure to be a few days old when the chapter is posted, but as of this writing it's just come out in the last hour.

Robin Williams is dead, and now in hindsight I wish I had given the Genie a larger role in the Agrabah visit since there really isn't anything else I can do for the man. My heart goes out to his friends and family. We ain't never had a friend like him.

Chapter 32: Straight On Till Morning

When the group returned to the village, they were met with a surprising sight: a square filled to the brim with cheering people, accompanied by the uplifting music from the Sound Ideas and the ringing of the church bells. Even as the people embraced them for saving their home, Riku had begun to take a few steps back in what was certainly an attempt to get away from the swarm of people, but a friendly shove from Sora and Kairi brought him out to the forefront. And the crowd didn't care that they had never seen Riku before, they embraced him just the same as the rest.

While Xion was enjoying the attention, she had to admit that it was borderline claustrophobic having so many people so close to her. So when the crowd turned their attention to Donald—who, as the smallest of the group, was the easiest to toss into the air with cheer—she squeezed between bodies and snuck out of the crowd. A grinning face caught her eye by the old church, the now familiar visage of Edward Chris von Muir. After helping them to clear the crowd away, Edward had invited everybody inside. Donald didn't follow, opting instead to radio Chip and Dale and get them to remote pilot the ship and pick them up. Since the Highwind was all the way in Twilight Town, it was sure to be a short while before they arrived.

Within the church, Edward congratulated them for finding the person they were looking for. But when he asked if there was any sign of more of those monsters that attacked the town when they had arrived, no one had an answer to give. After all, they hadn't seen anything like it in their journey across the Symphony of Sorcery. And Riku said he had never heard of a conductor monster before either.

But Edward was unconcerned. "We'll keep our eye out and hope for the best," he had said.

After that and a wonderful, filling breakfast, the Gummi ship arrived. The group bid Edward, Tellah, and the townsfolk farewell as they boarded up. The question of returning to Yen Sid was brought up, but the old wizard had told them not to when they left his tower and so they decided against it.

Now, everyone sat aboard the Highwind as it flew back to Disney Castle. While Sora and Kairi sat in on Riku's meeting with Jiminy to fill in the journal, Xion instead helped Donald and Goofy in the cockpit. Buttons needed pressing and switches needed flipping. Lights were flashing and radars beeping. Xion examined the digital map on a screen in front of her and her heart fell. So much around them was just empty, with not a world in sight.

Donald eyed Xion warily. "Xion, we can handle things here. Are you sure you don't want to spend time with Riku?" Xion's attention was pulled away from the controls. Confusion crossed over her face for a fleeting moment as she wasn't sure what exactly Donald meant. Then, when it finally clicked, Xion shook her head and cast a look back over her shoulder.

"I do, but even if Riku and I are friends we weren't as close as those three. Let them have their time together, they earned it after all of this."

Donald gave Xion a look, and Xion turned away from him to focus back on the ship's controls and avoid his prying eyes. When she heard a sigh and wordless muttering, Xion's lips twitched slightly; whether she was frowning or smiling, she couldn't really tell herself.

It was slow going on the flight back to Disney Castle, but it kept her occupied. She followed Donald's commands from the pilot's seat robotically. Turn that dial thirty degrees to the right, flick the second, third, and fifth switches but not the first and fourth. Never a dull moment.

However, as time went on Xion found herself struggling. Her eyelids were growing heavy and her head was drooping every few seconds. Her vision was glowing blurry and her thoughts fuzzy. Bringing a hand up to her mouth, Xion yawned loudly then reached higher up and rubbed at the tears of exhaustion forming in her eyes. There was a soft hmm behind her, followed by footsteps. Xion felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Goofy standing above her.

"Something wrong?" She turned back to the dashboard after asking the question and pressed a trio of buttons.

"Don't ya think you should get some sleep?" Goofy asked her.

Xion shook her head, her bangs swinging back and forth in front of her nodding head. "No, I'm fi—" she paused to yawn deeply "—I'm fine, Goofy."

Donald glanced at Xion and then shared a look with Goofy. "Xion," he began in his scratchy voice.

Xion groaned and leaned her head back. "Really! I'm tired, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Xion, you're falling asleep in your seat. Go to bed."

Xion groaned again and rubbed her face. She was starting to tear up again, and there were the beginnings of a headache growing behind her eyes. Darn it all, Donald was right. "Maybe just a quick nap…"

"Sure, a nap," Goofy said with a nod. He held his hand out and Xion took it, allowing him to help her stand up. Her legs wobbled slightly, having fallen asleep themselves while she had sat in the cockpit. Shaking her feet to get rid of the pins and needles, Xion yawned once again and stumbled toward the door. "Wake me up in an hour, okay?"

"Sure thing, Xion."

The door slid shut behind her, putting Donald and Goofy out of sight and out of mind. The halls of the Highwind were chilly, as usual, and the walls cool to the touch. Xion moved slowly down the hall, the heels of her boots clicking with quiet echoes on the floor. Her hand ran along the walls, fingertips just barely brushing against the cold material. Her room wasn't all that far, really, but her eyelids felt like they were being weighed down by lead. Xion wasn't sure if she'd actually make it or if she'd just collapse onto the floor and take her nap there.

"…and so Oswald and I went to Bog Easy…"

Xion slowed to a stop at an open door. This was the kitchen, wasn't it? Peering around the corner, she saw Riku, Sora, and Kairi, sitting around a table with mugs of something hot. Jiminy joined them, resting on top of an upturned bowl with his journal and pen. Riku was sharing his adventures and Jiminy was writing down every word. Xion blinked twice and turned to continue on to her room; she already knew they were doing this, so why did she stop?

"Oh, hey Xion! You wanna join us?"

Xion held back a sigh. Sora's cheerful invitation was innocent; though how they were all wide awake, she had no idea. All of them had spent all night out in the wilderness. Maybe that was coffee they were drinking? Xion never really had a taste for it. But back to Sora; he was watching her expectantly with a smile on his face, though before Xion could respond Kairi spoke up.

"Are you okay, Xion? You don't look so good."

Xion was thankful there wasn't a mirror nearby. She shook her head. "I'm just tired. I was going to go lie down for a bit."

"Aww!" Sora moaned. "Come on and join us, Xion! We'll get you some coffee to wake you up!"

Riku glanced at Xion for a moment and then to Sora. "Sora, if she's tired then let's let her sleep."

Xion pursed her lips at Riku's comment. A part of her knew he meant nothing by it, but another part of her—the cranky, sleepless part—was a little bit ticked off that he felt he had to defend her. "I'm not really a fan of coffee, sorry," she said to Sora.

"Well, I'm sure there's something else around here to wake you up." Riku shrugged, and Xion stared at him in bewilderment. Why did his stance suddenly just change like that? "Though it's up to you."

Xion locked her gaze with Riku's blue-green eyes for a long moment, trying to figure out what game he was up to, but she could only see sincerity. She averted her gaze and shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I really am tired. I'm going to go take a nap."

"We'll see you when you wake up, Xion," Jiminy said with a smile.

Xion nodded wordlessly and waved goodbye, then continued past the door to the kitchen and toward her room. The door slid open, revealing the small quarters that had been set up for her after the Battle of Hollow Bastion. A bed sat in the corner under a window, with a nightstand beside it. A chest holding potions, ethers, and other items sat at the foot of the bed. There was a little bit of room to move around in, but it wasn't especially large. That suited Xion just fine, though.

Xion kicked off her boots and watched them land in the corner of the room by the door. Without them and with only her socks covering her feet, the chilled floor was much more apparent. While it wasn't uncomfortably cold, she did hurry over to sit on her bed. Sliding her white and pink jacket off, Xion didn't bother to fold it up and just set it on the nightstand. Stitch's summon charm followed a moment later. Too tired to proceed with the rest of her clothes, Xion let herself fall backwards. The instant her head hit the pillow she drifted off into sleep.

x-x-x

"Here we are."

The corridor opened up before her, leading out of the Realm of Darkness and into whatever world he was taking her. For an instant Xion glanced aside into the blackness, thinking that maybe she could run away and find a way back to Axel and Roxas. It wouldn't be hard. It was impossible to tell how far you had gone in the Realm of Darkness, so if she got out of sight now and hid among the glowing stones or black canyons, he'd never find her. She could make a clean escape.

"Xion. Are you coming?"

Xion sighed. What would the point be, though? She couldn't go back, no matter how much she missed her friends. How long had it been now? Forty-two days by her count. Roxas and Axel…they had almost found her earlier today, in Twilight Town. And she had wanted them to so badly; she had wanted them to force her to come back so they could be together again, just the three of them, because she couldn't go back of her own will. She knew the truth now, and there was no way she was going to let Xemnas and Saïx have their way. It hurt Roxas that she was gone, she knew; it hurt her too. But it would hurt him even more if she was there. Set in her resolve, Xion continued forward and stepped through the undulating purple and black corridor of darkness.

On the other side it was considerably lighter than the darkness she had left, but still dark by any other standards. She stood behind finely-crafted pillars, and didn't move forward despite the gaps in them being more than wide enough to walk through. Beyond them was a beautiful deep blue sky, with the full moon and hundreds of brilliant stars lighting up the night. Two in particular shined brighter than the others, with the second star to the right the brightest of all.

Taking a few tentative steps to the edge of the platform, Xion glanced down and found herself greeted by the familiar sight of a city stretching out beneath her, like the view she had seen every evening before leaving Organization XIII. Only this time, she was much, much higher up—atop a clock tower that positively dwarfed Twilight Town's. A river snaked through the city, with bridges crossing over it to connect the densely-packed buildings, and an extravagant palace was at the base of the tower.

"What is this place?" Xion asked, turning around as the corridor closed behind her. Riku stood with his back against the wall. His arms were crossed over his chest, his mouth was formed into a thin line, and his face was completely unreadable behind his blindfold. Lowering his arms, Riku stepped forward and stood beside Xion.

"A city called London. I come here sometimes, when I'm not at Hollow Bastion or Twilight Town."

Xion nodded silently. During their time spent together while Xion worked up the courage to make a decision, Riku had taken her to the place he called the Rising Falls. He had refused to elaborate on its significance to him, but Xion could tell it was an important place. He was never happy there, always silent and lost in thought. Not that he was ever happy much anyway.

Suddenly, a spike of pain shot through Xion. Grunting in shock and grasping her head, visions assaulted her. In her mind's eye one of the giant clocks struck twelve, the bells echoing across the city. A shining keyhole appeared on the clock's face in a brilliant flash that lit up the night, and a boy dressed in red held up a gold and silver key to lock it.

'I still can't believe it… I really flew! Wait 'til I tell Kai—'

'Do me a favor? Look after her for me, will ya?'

"Ugh…" Xion stumbled and lost her footing. She fell forward, and as she dropped through the air the boy in red flew alongside her. A black and blue Heartless resembling some kind of specter appeared beside him, its cloak-like body blowing in the wind and smoke flying up from its arms. Magic flew through the night sky, accompanied by the constant echoing ticks of the clock hands. The Heartless reeled back, lurching over in pain before the clock face as a heart emerged from its being. Its corpse plummeted through the night alongside Xion and faded away into darkness.

"Xion!" Riku's voice pierced the memories' veil and Xion came back to reality as his hand grabbed hers. Xion glanced up as Riku added his other hand to the hold and struggled to pull her back up. Shaking her head to disperse the lingering visions, Xion brought up her other hand as well and helped him pull her back up as best she could.

"…Sorry," Xion said softly when she was safe and sound atop the clock tower. She rested on her knees and stared down at the floor, unwilling to look Riku in the face. She had nearly died…and would it have been better if she had? …No, she couldn't think like that. Sora wouldn't be able to wake up if she didn't return his memories. And speaking of Sora…

"What was that?" Riku asked coldly…though not as coldly as usual.

Xion shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "Sora…" She gulped, wetting her throat. "Sora has been here."

Riku grew silent and glanced up at the sky. What was he thinking behind that blindfold? Xion wished he would tell her; he knew everything about her, but she only knew things about him that she could piece together from the fragments of Sora's memories inside of her.

"…Yes. That's right," Riku said softly. There was weight behind those words, but she didn't think she was going to get more from him. Something told her whatever had happened here with Sora involved Riku as well.

Xion started to stand up, but much to her surprise Riku sat down. He crossed his arms and propped his back against one of the pillars, with one foot dangling over the city below and his other knee propped up. Turning his head, he looked out over the horizon. Xion raised an eyebrow at Riku's strange behavior but said nothing. Instead of climbing to her feet she turned around and moved her legs out from beneath her, so she was sitting on the edge as well.

The view definitely wasn't like watching the sunset in Twilight Town with her friends, but this London place had a beauty of its own. Xion watched the stars twinkle in the sky, counting all the worlds out there. Which one of them was Twilight Town, she wondered? Were Roxas and Axel there now? No, they were probably in the World That Never Was. Where was that? Xion looked to see if she could make out any familiar constellations to those she had seen at her night-time missions to Twilight Town, hoping to get a sense of direction, but none jumped out at her. They were in a completely different part of the universe, and not to mention in the Realm of Light instead of the Realm Between. Though did that matter? She wasn't sure if it did.

Xion spared a glance to Riku beside her. His head was tilted upward but with his eyes hidden she had no idea what star he was looking at. Destiny Islands? Hollow Bastion? Or somewhere else?

Turning her attention downward, Xion opted not to look at the sky but the city instead. Her first thought was to compare it to the Dark City in the World That Never Was, being that it was a city at night and viewed from above, but on closer inspection Xion realized that really wasn't apt. Where the Dark City was cold and uninviting, with metal buildings, constant rain, and a dread atmosphere caused by its absolute emptiness, London seemed warm and inviting even at night. Twilight Town would be more appropriate. Leaning as far forward as she could without falling over, Xion watched people in the streets below move about, active even at night.

Riku shifted beside her, reaching around the back of the pillar. Xion watched him with curiosity. Turning back around, Riku now held two small paper plates with a slice of some kind of food Xion had never seen before. It looked vaguely like some kind of bread, she guessed? With something white and creamy spread on top of it and a plastic fork beside it.

Riku held out one of them to Xion. "I know it's not ice cream, but I hope it will do." Warily, Xion took the plate and treat from Riku. Well, it certainly smelled good. But…

"What is it?"

Riku stared at her, and for once Xion was pretty sure she knew what his expression behind his blindfold must have been. But his face softened and he smiled softly, and he took a bite of his own pastry. "It's called a cake, Xion. Try it, it's good."

"Cake, huh?" Following Riku's lead, she cut a small piece off with the fork and brought it up to her mouth. As soon as the taste reached her she reacted in surprise, having expected it to be salty-sweet like ice cream. But no, this was just sweet; and it was good. Wiping some of the frosting off of her lips, Xion looked over at Riku again. "Where did you get this?"

Riku nodded toward the city. "A bakery down there. I bought it earlier today."

Was that right? "Well thanks, Riku. It's delicious," she said with a genuine smile. Her fingers went up to her lips in slight surprise—she had almost forgotten how to smile these last few weeks.

It was hard to tell in the darkness, but Riku's face seemed to grow a shade redder. "Don't mention it."

The two of them sat there without a word, just watching the city and sky while eating their cakes. Xion was a little embarrassed to admit to herself how quickly she had devoured it. She hadn't realized how hungry she had actually been until she had started eating. That could probably be attributed to spending the better part of the afternoon running around Twilight Town to avoid Roxas and Axel. It had been stupid to watch them, she knew, but she had to see them for the sake of her own sanity. And she knew that tomorrow she'd probably go out and find them again, against her better judgment, because they were her friends.

But tonight, spending the night on London's clock tower with Riku was enough.

Xion was beginning to drift off into sleep, the area becoming hazy and her eyelids drooping, when the metronome tick-tock of the clocks below was interrupted by the shuffling of fabric. Fluttering her eyes open, Xion watched Riku climb up to his feet and stare up at the night sky. He stretched his hand out toward the full moon and clenched his fingers into a tight fist.

x-x-x

Xion let out a groggy moan as she woke up. Pushing herself up off the soft, inviting surface of her bed, she slid her legs over the edge and sat up to rub her eyes. How long had she been sleeping? She had asked the others to wake her up in an hour, and since they weren't here yet the full time must not have passed. Well, she was awake now; probably couldn't get back to sleep if she tried.

"What a strange dream…" she muttered while pulling her jacket on and sliding Stitch's charm over her head. It really was bizarre, because while she was almost always haunted by her memories in her dreams, they were usually the bad ones, and any happy ones were things that Sora experienced and were just swimming around in her head. Those weeks spent with Riku were hard on her, but times like that night were welcome in a dark period of her life. She supposed having Riku back with them brought the memories to the surface.

Static came out of an intercom located in the corner of the room. Xion slipped her shoes on and then glanced up as the static cleared. "Hello? Cockpit to the rest of the ship!" Goofy's cheerful voice came out of the intercom. "Donald says to strap in and get ready for landin', 'cause we're almost at Disney Castle!"

Xion frowned. "That can't be right…" They were almost at Disney Castle? But it would definitely have taken longer than an hour to get there. Her frown turned into a grimace; they must not have woken her up after an hour like she asked. She was upset, but she also wasn't. She really did need that nap.

Fully dressed and ready to go, Xion opened the door to her room and almost collided with Sora walking down the hall to the cockpit. "Oh! Sorry, Xion." Sora grinned at her and stepped out of the way. Xion returned the smile. "I was gonna go see Donald and Goofy, to get ready for landing. How was your nap?"

"Just woke up," Xion replied while rubbing her eyes.

Sora chuckled. "I can see that, you still look half-asleep." He motioned down the hall. "Come on."

Their footsteps echoed down the hall, and theirs alone. Were Kairi and Riku already there, or were they still back in the kitchen? "How long was I asleep?"

Sora looked at her, evidently confused at first, then his eyes widened. "Oh! Sorry, Donald told me to wake you up, but I guess I just got distracted catching up with Riku."

Xion chuckled. "It's okay."

Sora crossed his arms. "Let's see… You were asleep, I think maybe, um…"

"Two hours!" a little voice chimed in. Jiminy jumped out of Sora's hood and landed on Xion's shoulder. "Well, two and a half, technically. You were really tired, Xion. I wish the others had taken your advice; growing kids need a good rest!"

"Gee, thanks, Jiminy," Sora said with feigned hurt. The three of them laughed as the door to the cockpit slid open in front of them, revealing that, yes, Riku and Kairi were already there and strapped into their seats. Riku nodded at the three of them as they entered and Xion smiled in reply, but said nothing. While Jiminy hopped off her and landed next to Goofy, Xion sat down in her own seat.

Sora took to helping Donald prepare the controls for landing, and Riku watched them with interest as he had never been aboard a Gummi ship before. Xion opted to watch out the window; Disney Castle was rapidly approaching, growing larger by the second. Belatedly she realized this was her first time seeing it from the air, having not watched the world when they left it last time, and immediately the map of Wasteland hanging at Yen Sid's tower came to mind. The castle itself sat near the center of the world, with a town all around it. A snow-capped mountain was to the east and a rocky one to the west, with a river beyond that—that must have been the Timeless River that the King had mentioned before. And to top off the dramatic changes in environment, a jungle with another river was to the south of the frontier region.

The Highwind flew low over the town—'Disney Town', she heard Riku mumble to himself—and swerved into a tunnel leading to the castle's underground hangar. As soon as the ship came to a stop Xion saw the little figures of Chip and Dale scurrying toward them across pipes while working together to hold a toolbox.

Donald jumped out of his seat. "It feels so good to be home!" he cheered, running out of the cockpit and toward the main door before anyone else could react. Goofy laughed and spared a moment to pick up Jiminy before running after Donald himself. Sora and Kairi followed soon after. Riku let out a sigh while he unbuckled himself and stood up.

"Something wrong?" Xion asked him before he had a chance to leave.

Riku glanced over his shoulder, sighed again, then turned around and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "It's just been a while since I was here, that's all."

Xion tilted her head and brought a hand to her chin. "You know nobody here is going to care what happened."

"No, no. I know." Riku ran a hand through his hair. "But even if they don't care a lot has happened. And I'm going to try to move past it, but the Ki—I mean, Mickey is going to want to know the story."

Xion gave Riku a solemn nod. "It's hard to move on when you have to bring the past up. But sometimes that's the best way to put it behind you."

Riku smiled. "I'll take your advice. Thanks, Xion."

Xion felt heat creeping up her cheeks and averted her eyes. "D-Don't mention it."

Riku point his thumb over his shoulder. "Well, come on then. Let's go join the others."

"Right behind you."

The ship was empty while they moved down the hall, everyone else having left for the hangar by now. Xion noted Riku still didn't seem totally calm; his shoulders were still tense, and his eyes were darting back and forth from window to window. Coming up to the already-open door, he took a deep breath and stepped off of the Highwind.

All of their friends were standing on the metal floor of the hangar, and Xion could hear Chip and Dale moving around on the ship's roof above her. She leaned against the doorframe while Riku walked out, and Sora noticed this behind him. Turning around and moving away, Sora revealed a familiar figure standing in the middle of the group. Riku came to a stop, his feet apparently having stopped working.

King Mickey walked up to him, his face unreadable, and placed his hands on his hips. He locked eyes with Riku and took in a deep breath…and then his face relaxed and his signature smile returned. The King held up an inviting hand.

"Welcome back, Riku."