DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: I'm back! This time, I have also brought CHAPTER 27!

This is a LONGER Chapter compared to some of the other ones I've written recently. So, I'll be letting you go on and read here - SHORTLY!

First, I'd like to say I'm impressed with the number of Reviews I just started receiving not two weeks ago. If this keeps up, the Goal of 100 Reviews WILL BE MET! If that happens, I'll be posting my next, too!

For the record, my writing style may have changed somewhat, but I still have included a number of "SURPRISES" in this Chapter. One, I'm sure you can see by Skimming, is the number of FLASHBACKS I've included.

Also, in case you didn't notice, I've added a POLL to my Profile page. PLEASE ANSWER IT!

Anyways, without further ado, let's hop back into THE 100-ACRE WOOD!

CHAPTER 27
Lost In A Maze of Illusions

"Hello," Pooh declared. "It's nice to meet you! Happy Windsday!"

"'Nice to m-m-meet you?'" Piglet exclaimed in alarm. "But Pooh, it's me; Piglet! Don't you remember me?"

"And me too?" Sora added. "We're friends!"

"We are?" Pooh questioned. "Hmm… it seems I can't quite remember."

"Oh Pooh," Piglet wept when he realized Pooh had forgotten all about him. "That's v-v-very sad!"

As he walked away in depression, a gust of wind snatched Piglet clear off the ground. Away he flew in the strong wind. "Goodbye, Sora! Goodbye, Pooh!"

"Piglet!" Sora yelled with concern in his voice.

"My," Pooh chuckled to himself. "That looks rather fun, doesn't it?"

At that moment, the wind ceased and Piglet came to a landing upon a branch in a tree overhead.

Sora said, "Jump down, Piglet. We'll catch you!"

Piglet looked hesitant. "Oh, d-d-d-dear!"

"You can do it, Piglet!" Sora encouraged. "You just have to be brave!"

A long pause followed before Piglet said, "Alright Sora, I'll t-try!"

Covering his eyes, Piglet leaped from the branch and straight into Pooh's hands. "My, that was rather frightening," Pooh exclaimed. "I do hope that you are alright, Piglet!"

"Pooh, you remember my name?" Piglet gasped in amazement. "You really, truly remember?"

Pooh said, "Of course, Piglet," Pooh admitted. "But today, I believe I shall call you my friend Piglet who is very brave!"

"Me? Brave? No!" Piglet contradicted. "But it's easy to be brave when I have a wonderful friend like you, Pooh Bear."

"I'm happy for you guys," Sora smiled.

Pooh turned to Sora. "Oh," he said. "And thank you for rescuing my friend Piglet, Somebody-I-Don't-Know!"

Depressed by this, Sora was discouraged. Pooh still did not remember his name. "Sure," he sighed. "Don't mention it."

Time had started to drag on at a sloth's pace. Now Sora was beginning to yawn and stretch his arms every few minutes. The sun's light had vanished since the procession left the peaceful scenery of the meadow. With Rabbit using the map to lead the group, Sora, Riku, Violet, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore soon found themselves following the bunny in what appeared to be a series of twists and turns before arriving in an open field.

This way and that way the map had led, so far to all the places Christopher Robin wasn't and to none of the places he was. For all Sora knew, Rabbit didn't quite know which way he was navigating the group either. A small wind picked up from the opposite direction, blowing a few, small brown leaves into their eyes. Every now and then, the breeze would stop for several minutes before starting back up.

Sora rubbed his arms and began shivering. This was a total inverse climate from what he had grown accustomed to back on Destiny Islands. The warm, tropical paradise of the archipelago would have seemed cozy in comparison to the autumn winds blowing across the landscape in the 100-Acre Wood. In fact, they would have looked much more soothing than ever before. At this rate, it might've been assumed snow was next in the forecast for the rest of the Sleeping World, too.

As he reached the edge of a cliff, Rabbit came to a sudden halt in his footsteps. He swept his eyes across the parchment in his hands. "So, first we headed East by South, then South by East." he muttered aloud. "Of course, judging from the magnetic variation minus the wind drift, we clearly go… "

Unaware of Tigger glancing at the map beside him, Rabbit allowed it to furl up as he pointed into the distance beyond the cliff. "…This way!"

It was a moment later when Rabbit realized the map had rolled up onto Tigger's nose. With a rapid snatch, the bunny yanked it off, forcing the tiger to rub his face.

Sora shook his head and smiled. This was how he had always pictured the pair would be responding to each other. When he had initially met Rabbit, he could tell the bunny was always getting frustrated about one thing or another. When Tigger first bounced onto the scene, Rabbit had tried to stop him but the bridge leading between the two halves of the bunny's garden was smashed in the amount of time someone blinks their eyes. Tigger had immediately bounced straight into Sora, absentmindedly shoving the latter onto the ground in the process. From then on, Sora had arrived at the conclusion Tigger was constantly teasing Rabbit, upon which Rabbit was becoming all the more annoyed.

"I wonder," Pooh suddenly spoke up. "If those rather forbidding things might be the 'Forbidden Mountains' where Christopher Robin is."

Spinning his focus from Rabbit and Tigger, Sora found himself staring in the direction Pooh was referring to. In the distance was a large range of sharp peaks bathed in a flurry of shadows and half-submerged in a thick fogbank. The entire region really did look as forbidding as Sleepy Hollow had been described in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — only different.

Yeesh! Sora thought to himself. If Christopher Robin happened to be somewhere in those mountains, then perhaps the strange guy in the black-hooded coat was holding him captive after all. Talk about a place to hide a prisoner! With all that fog and extensive amounts of shadows, it would be the best place for any villain to lurk without being seen.

"You're right, Pooh!" Piglet said with a cheerful tone to his voice.

Tigger shook the bear's hand happily. "You found 'em, buddy bear!"

As Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger started to follow Pooh straight to where the mountains were, Riku and Violet glanced over to Sora. Not sure about how effective he could be as leader for anyone besides Donald and Goofy, the brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder shrugged. Taking this into account, Riku and the angel did the same before heading off where Pooh and the others had gone.

Sora was about to follow suit when a voice called out, "Excuse me?"

Everyone came to a stop in their tracks and turned their heads back to the cliff. Rabbit was still standing on the edge, his right index finger pointing to the open air beyond. "The way to there is over here," he explained.

Sora was as perplexed as everyone else. The overhanging cliff was leading into a region where there apparently was nothing but fallen trees. For that matter, it was leading away from the mountains. Based on the given information, Sora was certain Rabbit was trying to lead them in the wrong direction.

"But Rabbit," Pooh stated. "Isn't that them over there?"

Rabbit casually strolled up to where Pooh and the others had marched to. "Now, which are you going to believe?" he inquired. "An official map? Or your own eyes?"

Holding up the parchment for all to see, the bunny continued, "Just look and you'll see we're right on course. It's all right here in black and white."

Taking a mere glance for himself, Sora was starting to wonder what Rabbit was getting at. Did the bunny really do everything by the book? Had he ever used his brain to accomplish any task? Something really seemed off.

"Could be the dreams," he mumbled softly to himself so nobody would hear him. It had to be an illusion; he was positive about it.

Rolling the map back up, Rabbit continued, "Why would anyone want to wander around wondering which way to go when they have a map to follow?"

Puzzled by this, Sora remained silent as Rabbit clarified, "A map is a dependable, unwavering portrayer of your position. If it says so, then it is so. If it is so, so it is!"

Through his peripheral vision, Sora noticed Pooh looking back at the distant mounts. "Yes Rabbit," he said aloud. "But I think that—"

"Never use that thing between your ears," Rabbit interrupted, seizing looks of shock from the others. Even Violet was baffled. "Brains will get you nowhere fast; haven't had a need for mine in years. On the printed page, the truth appears."

Sora rolled his for the first time he could recall ever doing so. Rabbit had just admitted to being dumber than he seemed. The bunny clearly did do everything by the book, which would most-likely leave an opening for gullibility. Hopefully no one would make a mistake in written directions or Rabbit would easily fall for it and be in quite a bind.

Holding out the map, Rabbit cheerfully announced, "Good thing we've got this. So we don't need to fret about it. If it says so, so it is!"

At that exact instant, a small creature swooped through the clearing. A pair of claws snatched the parchment out of Rabbit's hands as the monster headed towards the edge of the cliff. After watching this entire event, Sora was taken aback. The creature was in the form of an eagle with purple wings, yellow claws, a green beak, blue head, and red tail.

"It's a Nightmare!" he cried out.

Rabbit was hysterical. "The map!" he hollered. "Get the map! Without a map, we're… we're as good as nowhere!"

With a call of determination, Tigger shouted, "After that map!"

"And the monster!" Riku affirmed followed the tiger ahead of the others.

Pursuing a piece of parchment was harder than Riku had thought. What made it harder was the fact it was still in the clutches of a Nightmare. The creature had swooped in a zigzag formation as it dodged a number of fallen trees along the way to the cliff edge. Riku had to jump over each log while Tigger simply bounced across without a care in the world. From what the former could tell, it appeared an entire forest had been consumed in a huge blaze and was now lying in ruins. All the broken sticks with some burnt tree bark gave evidence to support his belief.

Before two minutes had passed, Riku and Tigger had reached another cliff edge. In the middle of the gorge was a fallen tree forming a bridge over what looked to be a bottomless pit. They paused about halfway across. Standing on the other side of the cliff was the all-too-familiar sight of the young man wearing the Organization's black-hooded coat. The eagle-shaped Nightmare flew up to him, releasing the map from its beak. With one swift movement, the strange man snatched the parchment, keeping it firmly within his grasp.

"You're behind this?!" Riku exclaimed in alarm. Last he recalled, this guy had already shown up in random locations throughout Traverse Town, Corona, Pixie Hollow, and Rascal's Dreamland. For some unknown reason, he hadn't appeared in The Grid. Had he? Unless Sora was keeping secrets from the silver-haired youth.

"Yes," the strange guy replied. "I need this to get back where I came. Or, perhaps I wanted to keep you and those figments away."

Riku was appalled. The youth had claimed the residents of the current Sleeping World were figments — illusions. That couldn't be true. "Pooh's friends are not 'figments'!" he countered.

"Yeah," Tigger broke in, waving his fists in the air. "Who's callin' who a 'fig-a-mint'?!"

The strange man snorted before shaking his head. "Maybe this will slow you down instead."

He placed his right boot upon the makeshift bridge. With a violent STOMP, the tree snapped into two. Unable to react quickly enough, both Tigger and Riku plunged into the crevice.

As he fell, Tigger yelled, "Christopher Robin!"

Riku just screamed as he fell into the gorge.

Back up on the cliff, Violet was busy searching for any sign of where Riku and Tigger had gone. When the map had been stolen, the pair had took off in such a hurry, they could've easily gotten into one form of danger or another. Perhaps they were ambushed by a pack of Nightmares. Maybe the strange youth had appeared again. Whatever the reason, the Angel of Dreams knew she had to help track them down.

"Anything?" she heard Sora inquire from outside the log.

Violet sighed as she took one final sweep through the interior of the burnt piece of wood. The only source of light in the decomposing cylinder was her radiance. Even that wasn't enough to illuminate the whole inside. At least the air was too chilly for any insects to be dwelling within.

"Not yet," she replied. Whose idea was this? She thought to herself. A sensation of realization crept into her mind. Oh yeah; it was mine!

Next time someone had to search a dead tree, Sora would be chosen. No more laziness for him. The angel was tired from all the excitement of the past few minutes and desired a chance to calm down. Either way, it would not be long before she would be unlocking the Sleeping Keyhole with Sora and Riku. It would be quite a sight for sore eyes.

As she crawled out the way she had come in, Violet was approached by the brown-haired teenager. The two had agreed to work together to find where Riku and Tigger had ventured. Why had Sora recommended searching through such weird places? Perhaps it had something to do with how he would make friends with all sorts of creatures — including a little cricket. At least he hadn't made friends with a total stranger. Had he?

"Next time, I choose where to search!" Violet strongly specified, dusting off her dress and wings.

She noticed Sora shaking his head and smiling. Did the spikey-haired Keyblader assume this was some type of game? If he did, it was far from silly.

"Christopher Robin!"

The duo froze in their places. They had instantly recognized the scream as coming from Tigger's mouth. This meant something had happened to the tiger and (possibly) Riku, too.

"Did you hear that?" Pooh called out from where he had been searching with Piglet.

"Oh no!" Rabbit cried out. "That was Tigger's voice!"

Sora nodded. "C'mon!" he ordered. "Let's check it out!"

Determined to ensure Tigger and Riku were okay, Violet followed the others through the fallen forest remains and to the edge of a cliff.

As soon as they reached the cliff, Sora and the others came to a halt. Spotting Violet teetering on the edge, Sora rushed over and grabbed her arm. Gently pulling her back to the solid ground, Sora took a deep breath and smiled. "Never thought I'd save an angel!" he perked up.

Violet shook her head. "True," she affirmed while panting. "Yet… Riku did the same… in the data world."

Sora crossed his arms in disappointment. Every single time he was certain he had been the first to do something unique, Riku had already beat him to it. This ongoing issue was what had initiated both Sora and Riku's constant rivalry. It had begun with doing chores and who would be the coolest-looking student in the school. When Kairi had entered their lives years ago, the two had started competing for her attention instead of the numerous other things they used to fight over.

None of the reasons Sora could imagine were able to explain why Riku seemed to be better at everything. Unless it had something to do with how the silver-haired teenager was a year older. But that couldn't be it. Could it?

Finally able to catch her breath, Violet turned to the others. "That's a deep trench. They're on a tree about halfway down."

Peering over the cliff edge, Sora, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, and Eeyore took notice of what the angel had meant. Before their eyes stretched what appeared to be a bottomless gorge. A short distance down was a thick tree trapped between the shear walls of rock. Both Riku and Tigger were situated on it.

"Tigger," Pooh called down from above. "Of all the safer places to be, I don't think this is one of them. You could fall."

"Yeah," Tigger called back up from where he clutched the fallen half of the tree. "You know what they say, 'whatever doesn't bounce up, it's gotta fall down.'"

Riku shook his head. This was no time for joking around. Here he was stuck kneeling upon a tree in the middle of a deep crevice with Tigger, and all the tiger could do was think of having a sense of humor.

At that precise second, the log began to lose its hold on the rock wall behind them. As it started to slip, Riku called back up, "Can you get us out of here?"

"I can carry one of you up here," came a reply. "The other will have to climb or jump."

Riku nodded, recognizing the voice of the Angel of Dreams. She could lift him out of the canyon and back to the top. This meant Tigger would have to bounce out himself. If the tiger had the capability Sora had claimed he did, then Tigger shouldn't have any problem getting out of the crevice.

"You can carry me," the silver-haired Keyblade wielder announced. "Tigger can bounce out of here!"

"No way!" Tigger denied without wasting a second. "The wind isn't right!"

Wind? Riku was perplexed. He hadn't felt the slightest breeze blow through the gorge since they had fallen in. Why was the tiger claiming wind was blowing through? Had the fall disoriented his senses to the point where he was sensing something that wasn't there?

"But there isn't any wind," Piglet called down.

Riku took note of Tigger's quivering lip. "Okay!" the latter wept. "The truth is… my tail just doesn't have enough strength!"

"Oh?" Pooh declared. "Don't worry, Tigger! Christopher Robin said all I have to do is remember you're… 'Taller than a beam'. Or was it 'Slower than whipped cream'? Do you feel any bouncier now?"

"No," Tigger confessed. "Thanks for trying. I'm going out the way I came in — a second-rate bouncer!"

Riku sighed deeply. Whatever Pooh had been trying to recall, it didn't seem to be helping Tigger in the slightest way possible.

Sora shook his head. First Pooh had failed to provide comfort for Piglet. Now, he had been unsuccessful in encouraging Tigger to bounce out of the crevice. Things couldn't get any worse. Could they?

At that moment, the sound of a dark portal opening and closing filled the air. Sora and Violet swung their eyes to the other side of the gorge, upon which stood the man in the black-hooded coat. His hair seemed darker than before as he held out a piece of parchment.

"You again?!" Sora exclaimed.

"He has the map!" Violet proclaimed, indicating the parchment.

"This 'map' is useless to us," the young man declared. "Catch it — if you can."

With a thrust of his arm, the stranger tossed the map into the crevice. Spotting it, Pooh leapt over the cliff edge with Piglet still holding his hand. The two missed and plunged into the canyon. In a state of total distress, Rabbit jumped after Piglet, unknowingly taking Eeyore with him. The donkey found himself grabbing a long root beneath the cliff. Peering down below, Sora felt the cliff edge collapse underneath his weight, causing Violet to grab him. Unable to remain aloft with the teenager, the angel found herself descending into the trench.

Up on the cliff above, the strange youth snorted in disapproval. "No wonder you've made it so easy," he smirked to himself. "Wait 'til they hear about this."

With a hidden smile and muffled laugh, the youth stepped through another dark portal before it disappeared from sight.

Still situated upon the slipping log, Riku had slapped his hand to his forehead the minute he had watched the entire display unfold. When the map had been thrown, Pooh had dived into gorge with Piglet in tow. The latter had been seized by Rabbit, who fell in hanging onto Eeyore's tail. The donkey's teeth were clamped onto a long, thick root sticking through the ground and into the crevice. Shortly after, Sora had fallen over the edge trying to peer inside, resulting in Violet grabbing him. Apparently, the spikey, brown-haired sixteen-year-old was too heavy for the angel; she plunged down into the gorge. Fortunately, Violet had grabbed ahold of Rabbit's feet. In turn, Sora clutched Violet's ankles.

There they were, one long chain consisting of a mixture of animals, a teenager, and an angel. It took everything Riku could do to prevent himself from bursting into laughter. The last time he had done so, Sora had come close to strangling him. Whatever had come over the sixteen-year-old back then was clearly a result of humility combined with Darkness. Nevertheless, that had occurred ages ago — back in the now-awakened kingdom of Corona. What difference would it make now? Riku didn't want to take any chances.

"Tigger?" Pooh asked, his hand reached out directly overhead. With a sigh and whimper, Tigger accepted it. "Oh… okay," the tiger sighed.

At the same time, the log broke clear from the cliff face. "Riku!" Sora shouted. "Grab my feet!"

Reacting with haste, Riku jumped from the log and into the air. Clutching his best friends shoes, the seventeen-year-old looked down just in time to watch the log he and Tigger had been perched upon not two minutes before plunge into the depths of the crevice.

"Thanks, Sora." Riku sighed with relief.

"Hey," Sora smiled. "You would've done the same for me."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "Or I might've just let you fall."

Sora shook his head and smiled. Riku relaxed, knowing it was okay to kid around.

"Look at the biceps on that bear!" Tigger proclaimed, grabbing the attention of the two. "I don't deserve to dangle from the same precipice!"

Both Riku and Sora exchanged glances with one another. They smiled; Tigger was being as exaggerated as ever.

A few seconds later, Eeyore muttered something through his clenched teeth. Overhearing the mumbling, Tigger asked, "What's Donkey-Boy sayin'?"

"I said 'Ouch'!" Eeyore shouted back down. Without realizing it, the donkey had released his grip on the root. With a series of shouts and screams, Sora, Riku, Violet, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore all plunged into the deep crevice.

Shaking the mud off his body, Sora took a moment to realize he had startled Piglet. "It's okay," he calmly said. "It's me."

Piglet gave a sigh of relief. Sora smiled. If falling halfway down a canyon wasn't enough, the whole group had caused a humungous KER-SPLASH the instant they landed in a muddy river. Peering back up, Sora took into account how far they had fallen. Had it been miles? Most likely not; they wouldn't have survived. It had to be at least five thousand feet at best.

Piglet yelped as another figure emerged from the mud pool. Wiping away the mud from its face, the figure said, "Don't worry, Piglet. It's only me."

Sora smirked a grin. He had never foreseen Pooh making Piglet feel nervous. The two had been such close friends, it appeared nothing could get in their way.

"Yipe!" Piglet exclaimed as another being rose from the mud.

Shaking away the mud from their bodies, Piglet relaxed. It was only Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore. When yet another individual appeared from the mud pool, Piglet's heart began to race.

"Don't be scared," Sora soothed. "It's Riku and Violet."

As Riku wiped the mud off himself, Violet swept the particles off her dress. Riku tried to help clean the angel's wings, which didn't last long after Violet started laughing uncontrollably.

At that moment, a piece of parchment came floating down from above. An excited Rabbit snatched it, looked it over briefly, and exclaimed, "The map! We can go now!"

Before anyone could speak a word, the eagle-shaped Nightmare swooped towards the river. Before the creature could attack anyone, Violet summoned her Keyblade and sliced the blade clear through the monster. The bubbles left behind drifted over to Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger.

"Reminds me of the time I invented a long-lasting bubble," Tigger beamed as he popped several of the remaining bubbles.

Piglet nodded. "And Pooh got stuck in it."

Rabbit sighed. "How could anyone forget that time? I was trying to bring us some culture! What's wrong with 'Our Friend — The Lima Bean'?!"

Sora shook his head. Who would wish to hear a lecture about lima beans? Maybe Goofy would, if he was allowed to eat them afterwards. Then again, the clumsy knight would probably fall asleep in the middle of the lecture and start snoring.

Sora continued to listen patiently until a loud GROWL filled the air. He heard Pooh softly exclaim, "Worry now, Piglet. It's the 'Skullasaurus'!"

Suddenly full of horror and anxiety, everyone leapt to their feet and sped off into the distance.

Rabbit finally said, "Perhaps it's all this blustery wind, or he actually needs even more honey, or he's sleep-walking and… and dreaming!"

Pooh approached Rabbit. "Well, if I am dreaming," the bear stated. "Which I suppose I could be, I hope I get to the part where you invite me to lunch again very soon, Rabbit."

"That's right!" Rabbit acknowledged. "You're always stopping by for lunch."

He froze. "Wait! Pooh, you called me Rabbit!"

"Why of course, Rabbit!" Pooh confirmed.

Noticing Eeyore, Pooh added, "And hello, Eeyore. It's ever so nice to see you today."

"Thanks for noticin' me, Pooh Bear." Eeyore affirmed.

Sora bent in close with anticipation. "And hello," Pooh said. "Somebody-I-Don't-Know."

With a sigh, Sora knew this meant Pooh hadn't recalled him yet. He smiled in reply. "Well, at least you remember Rabbit and Eeyore now."

A couple more hours had passed. Riku was following Sora and the others as they proceeded through the mountains Pooh had noticed earlier. The fogbanks surrounding the peaks were so thick, it was hard for the silver-haired Keyblader to pinpoint which direction Rabbit was leading them. Even though they had succeeded in recovering the map from the young man in the black coat, it was becoming apparent the bunny had no clue where they were.

"Where are we, Rabbit?" Piglet questioned out loud.

Overhearing this, Riku realized he had been thinking the same thing. Where had the group ended up?

"Well," Rabbit responded, a smirk on his face. "If Christopher Robin was here, what would he say?"

"I don't know," Pooh blurted. "He's not here."

All of a sudden, Rabbit broke down in despair. He collapsed to the ground sobbing. "He'd say I can't function in this humidity! This fog's not even on the map!"

After a few more sniffles, Rabbit continued, "I'm just not smart enough to know where to go or what to do!"

Sora sighed. From what Riku could tell, the brown-haired teen was probably feeling the same thing Rabbit was.

After hearing this, Pooh strode forwards. "At a time like this," he explained. "Christopher Robin told me all I have to do is remember."

Rabbit looked up in surprise. "Remember what?"

A few more moments passed as Pooh tried to recall something or other. Riku crossed his arms as he waited. For all everyone knew, this next piece of advice was going to be as inefficient as the previous two.

"I forget," Pooh finally admitted. "But it's something like… 'You're smarter when you're pink.' Does that help?"

"No," Rabbit answered. "I don't know where we are and where we aren't. I haven't known for hours."

He gave a deep sigh. "I've failed us all."

Pooh placed his paw onto the bunny's shoulder. "I believe I have as well."

"Me too," Sora confessed. "I don't know who this 'Christopher Robin' is, but I feel as responsible as the rest of you."

Riku sighed. This was clearly one of the times when Sora could feel the emotion his friends were going through. Back in The Grid, Riku had felt a similar effect after learning about how Sora's friend, Tron had supposedly been eliminated by CLU. He had already become well aware of how terrible it was to lose a friend. The only thing worse than losing a friend was never getting them back. At the moment, Pooh and his friends felt as if they would never be able to rescue Christopher Robin — no matter how hard they tried.

"Let's face it," Tigger declared. "Without Christopher Robin, we don't stand a chance of finding Christopher Robin."

When Sora and Violet sighed deeply, Riku nodded. Everything looked hopeless. Perhaps if Pooh had recollected what Christopher Robin had said… it might not have made any difference. It had become apparent Pooh and the others were too dependent upon Christopher Robin to do anything on their own.

All at once, Riku spotted a nearby opening in the side of one of the mountains. Since it wasn't that far away, he pointed it out to Sora. Sora, in turn, called out, "Why don't we head in there until the mist is gone?"

The rest of the group agreed, though Violet seemed hesitant.

As they all strolled to the nearby cave, Eeyore muttered aloud, "End of the road. Nothing to do, and no hope of things getting better. Sounds like Saturday Night at my house."

After Tigger had bounced around for a while, he turned to Pooh and asked, "Well, Pooh Boy, I bet you remember me now, eh?"

Pooh replied, "Well, I remember bouncing always makes me hungry."

Tigger was stunned. "All that bouncing," he muttered. "And he still doesn't remember me. Well then, I guess bouncin's not the answer. It almost makes a Tigger never want to bounce again!"

Disappointed and depressed, Tigger tossed the bottle of medicine aside. It landed in front of Piglet.

"Oh, please be careful with that," Piglet said.

"Oh, sorry little Piglet," Tigger apologized. "But, Pooh's not remembering me has me confuzled. I don't even feel like bouncin'!"

"Oh, but Tigger," Pooh spoke up. "I always thought bouncing was what Tiggers did best."

Hearing this, Tigger was amazed. "Pooh Boy," he exclaimed. "You remembered me! You do remember your Ol' buddy Tigger after all!"

Pooh nodded. "Of course, Tigger."

Tigger was so happy he started bouncing rapidly upon everything in sight. Sora was feeling relieved, but disappointed about how Pooh still didn't remember him.

Sora gave a sluggish yawn as his arms stretched to the point where one more inch would have made them snap off. He rubbed his drowsy eyes before turning to observe his companions. The only light he could see was coming from the still-glowing coals of the dying campfire and the violet-colored illumination from Violet. The angel was leaning against the wall with a hint of restlessness on her face. Clearly, there was still not enough light to fight against the depth of dark shadows in the cavern.

Sora sighed as he recalled the time he had been inside the gloomy Underworld to chase down a fleeing member of Organization XIII. He secretly smiled as he remembered how nervous Donald and Goofy had felt during the venture into the caverns. Fortunately, the three of them soon located the member, Demyx. When Demyx had first noticed them, he apparently assumed Sora was "Roxas". This had not made any sense until Riku later elaborated on who Roxas was and what experiences the latter had gone through. If only Sora could have had the opportunity to speak with his Nobody. If only he could tell Roxas how much he deserved to exist independently. If only he could.

"I tried to find you, Christopher Robin!"

Sora's ears perked up to the familiar voice. He sighed; it was only Pooh. This time, however, the bear's voice seemed to be quivering with loneliness. He glanced around only to notice Violet was standing next to him. Sora asked, "Where's Pooh?"

Violet pointed to the mouth of the cave. "He sounds depressed."

"Yeah," Sora approved. "Let's check on him."

With a nod of agreement, Violet followed Sora to the cavern exit. Outside, the mist was thicker than ever. The only thing still visible was a cloudy sky with a few stars shining through. They carefully watched their step as they approached a giant tree rising up through the mist. Standing upon one of its branches was Pooh.

"There he is," Violet whispered.

Sora nodded. "Wonder what he's up to."

From where they stood, both Sora and Violet could hear Pooh talking aloud. "I've looked in all the places you weren't. I just can't find the places you are. Perhaps, if I were to wish very, very hard… "

A short pause followed before Pooh continued. "Come out, moon. Come out, wishing star. Come out, wherever you are. I'm out here in the dark, all alone and wide awake. I'm empty and I'm cold. My heart's about to break. Come and find me."

As they listened, Sora started to realize Pooh was asking for the wishing star to appear along with the moon. The moon, he understood, would help brighten the darkness of the night. But why the wishing star? Did Pooh believe he could simple "wish" Christopher Robin back? The bear seemed to think so.

"I need you to come here and find me," Pooh called out, a few tears leaving his eyes. "Without you, I'm totally lost. I've hung a wish on every star. It hasn't done much good so far. I can only dream of you, wherever you are."

At that second, Sora thought he could hear the sound of child laughter filling the air. Pooh must have heard it, too; he continued, "I hear you laugh! I see you smile! I'll be with you, just for a while. For when the morning comes, the sun begins to rise. It's just a dream. When I open up my eyes, I will lose you."

By this point, the clouds had cleared out of the sky. There was the moon shining beside one, very bright star.

"Must be the wishing star," Sora told himself.

"I used to believe in 'Forever'," Pooh continued on. "But 'Forever's' too good to be true. I don't know what else to do, except to try to dream of you. I wonder if you're dreaming too, wherever you are."

With a series of deep yawns, Pooh finished, "Wherever you are…"

Before long, Pooh had fallen into a deep sleep on the branch.

Still watching from down below, Sora heard a sigh. Turning to Violet, he asked, "What's up?"

"Don't you mean 'what's down'?" the angel returned.

Sora nodded. "What is it?"

Violet gave a deeper sigh. "I understand what Pooh's saying. He feels lonely without Christopher Robin. I… feel the same way. I never knew anyone I could stick to all the time."

"What about us?" Sora inquired. "You're never alone with friends. It doesn't matter if you've got nobody beside you. Your friends' hearts are connected to yours. They're your power."

Violet looked up, wiping away a few tears. "Sora," she smiled. "Thank you."

Sora felt mystified and shocked. "What'd I do?"

Violet only smiled as she headed back to the cave. Still confused by what the Angel of Dreams had meant, Sora asked again. "What'd I do?"

He continued to do this until the two had gotten inside and fallen into a deep state of sleep.

A/N: What a solemn ending... Hopefully Chapter 28 will conclude this particular world and allow us to FINALLY move on to the NEXT WORLD.

As it is, I hope you enjoyed the different Flashbacks. I tried to match those quotations the best I could, but it was still from memory - to a degree.

Also, did any of you notice the references to the Winnie The Pooh Episode, "Bubble Trouble"? That has GOT to be one of the sillier ones, in my opinion anyway. In case you've never seen that one, you SHOULD be able to find it on . That's where I did.

Plus, don't forget to check out the POLL on my Profile Page. I'll be waiting for RESULTS!

One last thing, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!

This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"