Chapter 13

Captain Sora of the Gummi Ship did his best not to turn around and look at us. His ears had turned a bright red for some reason. I didn't know what he was so embarrassed about, or why. After all, I was the one more exposed.

"We're almost to Hollow Bastion!" He exclaimed, still facing forward.

"Radiant Garden?" I asked as he spun around to look at me with a big question mark on his face. Well, I was glad I had finally distracted all of them. "You know what- never mind. I'm sure we're about to know about all of this soon enough," I said to Sora while crossing my arms.

"We're supposed to meet with Cid and Leon!" Goofy chimed in. "They have something they need to talk to us about,"

"Right… It's about Ansem's research- "I pitched in, before I suddenly had a realization. "Oh!" I said with a smile. "The King,"

"What about the King?" Donald asked, spinning around to look at me.

"Well, we're about to find out!" I replied. Donald raised an eyebrow as we began to land. We ended up landing at Merlin's house, Cid working away.

"You're back!" Aerith exclaimed, her fingertips pressed together and a wide smile across her face. She then turned to look at me, her smile remaining.

"Cid, Aerith, Merlin, this is Amara," Sora introduced me to everyone. "Well, we can explain why with everyone together," Sora said to everyone. "What was that you needed, Cid?" Sora asked, turning to him.

"Oh right, Leon is at the castle and has something he would like to show you," He said, pressing his thumb to his chin and flicking it away.

"Okay, let's go find Leon!" Sora said, making a fist and nodding to all of us.

"It was nice to meet you, Amara!" Aerith said to me, folding her hands behind her back. "I can't wait to hear what you have to say once we get everyone together!"

"You better make popcorn, we have a long story to unveil!" I giggled. She giggled back and nodded as we headed out the door and toward the Bailey.

We left quickly and I turned to look at Sora. "You know I could have told you that too." I giggle, he smiles and we are swarmed with heartless. "First we should do something about all these heartless." I swing my hand back and jump into action.

There were countless Heartless all around us, but despite them we finally made it to Ansem's study.

"Sora…" Leon greeted us, popping out from behind the door. I got the same look as before and I rolled my eyes. I supposed I should get used to this, as it was bound to only happen, I don't know, only fifty or so more times? This was my life now.

"Hi, I'm Amara, I'll explain later once everyone is together, it's better to do this in one go than twelve times," I huffed out with a half-smile.

He clicked his tongue against his teeth and smiled back. "Alright, through here is Ansem's Computer," He spun around, and we followed him into the secret back room.

"Oh, before we jump right in… I think you should ask everyone to meet, it'll be the best time to explain!" I grinned, knowing who was on their way here. He nodded, and I turned to see Sora, Donald, and Goofy messing with the Computer. Before I knew it, they were sucked right in.

Leon lunged forward to grab them and I pulled him back. "They're fine, they were sucked into another world!" I released his wrist and he stood up straight.

"In a way I'm glad I didn't go… but now what am I supposed to do?" I sighed, and Leon chuckled at me.

"Whad'ya know…" I heard a voice chip in from behind us. We spun around and there he was, King Micky, staring at us. "Riku was right!" He squeaked.

"Your majesty…" I said, walking toward him. "What was Riku right about?" I asked him. He looked around and placed his index finger in front of his face. "Don't worry, those three will be busy for a while," He nodded, and we moved back to Ansem's study once more.

"And don't worry, I know much more than you think," I spoke a bit louder. Leon then stood between us.

"I'm sorry, we're chatting like we're old friends," the King said, looking at the floor. "I'm King Mickey,"

"I'm Amara…" I introduced myself, grinning at him. "I have so many questions for you… but I want to start with one, before Sora returns," I took a deep breath and started again. "I'm well aware of Riku's situation, but I do want to know how he contacted my world…" I trailed off.

"I'm not exactly sure how Riku did either, but I do know it has something to do with your Keyblade," He said. Leon uncrossed his arms and spun around to look at me.

"You have a Keyblade?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded at him.

"Like I said before, I'll explain once everyone is together. Speaking of which, go get them," I commanded, pointing at the door. Well, that was rather out of character for me, now wasn't it?

He waved his hands at me. "Whoa, calm down there, bossy pants," He composed himself and headed for the door. I turned back to the King and continued his story.

"Riku found a strange case when we were in the realm of Darkness, and I heard stories about the Kingdom Keys,"

"Right… Well, let's wait until everyone is back, but for now, we'll just leave out the parts about Riku," I said, as he nodded. The last thing I could do is spout information about Riku in front of Sora. My hand came up and grasped my other arm holding myself close. I still had so many questions about Riku, but I can't expose what happened to him, not yet.

I sigh and sit against the desk, Mickey took notice of my uneasiness. He took a couple steps towards me and stopped. "Y'know… Riku, Sora… they are both very strong, and care for each other, when they do things they are always thinking and taking the other feelings into consideration to what they do, I've seen it over the years. I just know that everything will be okay."

"I know Mickey, but I'm still so confused about me…. About this…" I say swaying my arms around. He places a hand on my shaky hand, and smiles. "Well, we will soon get our answers soon enough."