ARGH…I am so sorry! I didn't mean to leave this story out for three months, I swear! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me!

Just to remind you, these chapters update in a certain time with the original Kingdom of the Elemental Hearts fic. It averages one Inside/Outside chapter per world of KoEH, which average about two chapters each. So, every two or three chapters of KoEH is equivalent to one chapter of this. Get it?

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own Kingdom Hearts. I'm just a rather creative person with an overactive imagination.

Elemental Hearts - Inside/Outside

Chapter 3: Chain of Life

"Keep running!" Mickey shouted to his companions, racing along the black cobblestone streets.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Riku responded. He clutched the Soul Stealer in one hand, dragging Kouichi by the wrist with the other. The dark-haired boy was hanging onto his Staff tightly, occasionally risking a backward glance at the mob of Neo-Shadow Heartless racing after them.

"They're gaining!" He called in warning.

Riku hissed softly as they ran. "This is no good…"

Kouichi scrambled a bit, slipping on the cobbled streets but managing to catch up with Riku a bit better than before. "What do we do now, Riku-kun?"

The silver-haired boy hissed softly and increased his grip on the younger boy's arm. Just ahead of them, Mickey's long strides bounced and bounded along the cobbled streets in his normal cartoonish manner.

"Hang tight boys!" The King called back, turning his head for only a quick moment. "I've got an idea, just follow me!"

"Right!" Riku nodded and followed him down the long, dark street and sudden right turn. Almost as soon as they were around the corner, Mickey took a running leap through an open doorway. The boys stumbled but managed to do the same, Riku seizing Kouichi with both hands and dragging him to do so.

The three pressed against the wall near the door, counting their shallow breaths carefully, hesitantly. Mickey was pressed flat, his hands spread wide as he stared into space. Riku was turned slightly, his blue eyes locked on the door, right hand curled around the hilt of the Soul Stealer. His left around was around Kouichi's shoulder, the smaller boy having stumbled right into his grasp and was now lying against Riku's chest, gripping his Staff in one hand and the older boy's clothing in the other, his eyes locked in the same direction.

There was a long while of noise, chattering and footsteps as the mob of Heartless raced by, then a few quiet squeaks as the stragglers hopped after them. Then there was silence.

The three travelers let out their breath all at once, relaxing their tense bodies. Riku's arms fell loosely to his sides in considerable relief. "Everybody okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Kouichi sighed as he backed away, happy that it was too dark for the other boy to see the light blush on his cheeks.

Mickey grinned broadly. "Right as rain!"

Riku smiled, but before he or the others could say anything else a new voice spoke in a low, slow, feminine chuckle: "How nice to hear. It would be a terrible shame for my dear guests to have injured themselves on the doorstep."

All three jumped and were instantly in a well-practiced defensive position…Mickey bearing his Keyblade in front as Riku gripped the Soul Stealer inches behind the golden key. Kouichi held the Staff at a ready position and slide back to a cautious position behind Riku.

The laughter increased mysteriously as its owner stepped from the darkest shadows of the 'shop'. It was an old woman, smaller than Mickey thought that might have been because she was hunched over, wrapped in a long black cloak.

"Ah." She sighed, shuffling close to Mickey and presenting what could have been a bow. "A pleasure to finally meet your, your Majesty."

Kouichi drew in a sharp breath, tensing at the same moment as Riku. The three had been very careful to keep Mickey's true identity a secret, to avoid detection from exceptionally villainous parties.

Mickey seamed edgy as well. "Have we…met?"

"Indeed not." The woman chuckled. "But I do know of you: His Royal Majesty King Mickey of the Kingdom of Disney, Lord of Disney Castle."

"How did you…?" Riku couldn't finish his exclamation, the words dying in his mouth, so he tried again. "How do you know that?"

"I Know," The woman looked up at him with icy blue eyes and a playful smile. "And I know also of you, Riku the Earthbound, Possessor of the Soul Stealer, who hails from Destiny Islands.

"And this gentle one," she craned her head slightly to get a look of the final traveler, "must be Kimura Kouichi of Shibuya, Warrior of Darkness and Wielder of the Gravigra Bow."

Kouichi stared at her blankly. He'd told Riku and Mickey of his and his friend's previous adventure, naturally enough, but no one had ever addressed him by Lowemon's title before. "Who…Who are you?"

The old woman smiled at him mysteriously. "Just your everyday fortune teller."

"Fortuneteller?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. "Are you a Heartless?"

"No, not I." Laughed the woman, shuffling back across the shop. "I am just a humble purveyor of information for lonely travelers."

"I get it." Mickey spoke up suddenly, his round ears twitching in interest. "You got stuck here like us, but decided not to fight it. I bet when a Heartless comes in here, you pretend to be one of them, right?"

The woman nodded. "Ever the clever one, Your Majesty."

"But a fortune teller?" Kouichi cocked his head in confusion. He'd been under the impression that soothsayers only acquired steady income during festivals and New Year's.

"One must use one's own resources." Said the woman, settling into a nice-looking, though squatted, chair. "As you have seen, I have always had a talent for Knowing."

"Yeah, but how?" Riku frowned skeptically. "What kind of spies have you got following us?"

The woman looked at him. "You doubt?"

The silver-haired boy crossed his arms. "I don't believe in psychics."

Instead of arguing, the old woman lifted her hand and grasped thin air as though holding an imaginary guide wire. Then she pulled it.

"Ow!"

Riku stumbled forward several feet, hands flying up to his chest. Kouichi and Mickey were instantly on alert. "What's wrong?"

The silver-haired boy straightened, glaring at the woman. "What did you do?"

The woman laughed, as though enjoying a very good joke. "I merely gave this…" She held up her grasped, empty hands. "a short, harmless tug. You can't see it, of course. It's a special talent of mine, seeing the Chains."

"The what?" Kouichi asked.

"The Chains of Inga, my dear boy." Smiled the fortune-teller. "Of fate. The chains which bind all living creatures to the whims of Destiny. It trails and winds throughout space and time, leading those it binds along their destined paths."

"And you can see them?" Kouichi was rather interested, knelling near the woman, even as Riku rolled his eyes in disbelief.

"Indeed." The woman smiled. "And more."

"More what?" Asked Mickey.

The woman's eyes glistened mysteriously. "I see the Web."

"Web?" Both Mickey and Kouichi blinked.

"The Web of Life."

"And that is…?" Riku prompted.

The old fortuneteller didn't respond for a while. She reached into a bag by her side and drew out a long, coiled pipe that reminded Riku of a large blue caterpillar he'd met following Sora's trail to Wonderland. Producing a match, she lit it smartly and took a long, deep puff. When she'd drawn in so much that it seamed her little body might burst, she suddenly exhaled and filled the tiny shop with thick purple smoke.

"Look."

The three coughed against the heavy cover of smog, squinting their eyes from the burning foreign substance. However, their optic orbs widened in surprise as the smoke cleared just a bit, staring in shock at what they saw.

Dozens of wire-thin strings filled the tiny hollow, spiking through the walls and ceiling and floor without abandon in a rainbow of beautiful colors. If one's eye was so sharp as to trace them back to their source, one would find that each and every wire stemmed from one of the beings in the room, appearing suddenly around their fingers in dozens of loops and ties.

"What in the world…?" Riku breathed, spreading his hand to stare at his dozens of strings.

"They're amazing." Mickey breathed.

"But what are they?" Asked Kouichi.

Yet again, the woman in front of them chuckled lightly. "This is the Web, my dears." She said softly. "Each thread is what connects you to the people who have existed in your life, those you have met or spoken with, anyone who has given you even a shred of lasting memory. When new acquaintances are made new strings are formed. All life in the worlds is bound within the Web."

The three travelers were stunned speechless, staring at the Web around them. "Go on." Urged the woman. "The spell will not last long. Choose a string and see who it connects your heart to."

Kouichi reached out with his left hand to grasp a blue string on his right pointer finger. The image of a large, smiling boy in blue jumped into his mind and he laughed. "Junpei!"

Mickey chose a lilac thread on his left thumb and smiled as well. "Well, golly! It's Miss Daisy!"

Riku seized a black one on his left middle finger and frowned. Kouichi looked at him worriedly. "Riku-kun?"

The silver-haired teen glanced at him and sighed. "…Hook. It's Hook. One of the ones who worked with Maleficent."

"Yes." The old woman nodded with a light breath. "The Web is the connection in all relationships, the good…and the bad."

Riku frowned and traced his eyes over his hands again. He found himself drawn to the only thread attached to his right pinky, slightly thicker than the others and a dark, beautiful shade of red. "Let's see who this is."

He reached with his left hand and pulled lightly. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing, no image, no clip, not even a sound. He tried again, harder this time.

And Kouichi said, "Ow."

Riku stopped, tracing the red string only a few feet to find it connected to the other boy's left pinky. Kouichi followed his gaze even as the optical spell began to fade, staring at it a long while until he looked back up at his friend.

Riku grinned. "Everyone's connected, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Inexplicably, the dark-haired boy's cheeks held a light rose as the strings faded from sight. "Connected."

The old fortune teller smiled to herself wirily, taking another puff of her pipe. "Now then," she said, her voice suddenly stern. "It's about time you three got going."

"What, already?" Mickey turned to her. "But why?"

"A visitor is coming. Someone you three would wish very much not to meet."

Riku stiffened all over. "Heartless." He hissed. "I can smell them."

Kouichi nodded in agreement, making a face at the light sour taste that entered his mouth every time the Heartless were near. "They're coming."

"Indeed." The old woman moved her chair to the side, revealing what appeared to be a secret passage leading down into the ground. "Take this. The path should take you safely out of the city. After that, I'm afraid you're on your own."

With the sounds and smells of Heartless growing ever closer, the three travelers didn't have time to think as they scrambled into the small passage. Kouichi paused a moment to bow to the old woman. "What you, Obaa-sama."

"You're welcome." Said the woman, waving them on. "And good luck, dear."

Kouichi smiled at her warmly, them lifted the Staff into his grip and took off after his friends.

TBC…

Neo-Shadow Heartless are like upgraded versions of the original-flavored 'Shadow' Heartless. They're much larger, with long antenna, arms and legs, and they're strong, not to mention annoyingly fast.

'Riku' in Kanji means 'earth'. Adversely, Sora's name means 'sky' or 'fly'. So, instead of a title or last name, I decided to call them 'Riku the Earthbound' and 'Sora the Skyreacher', respectively.

Riku must have visited all the worlds Sora did, because he was able to go through all of them in Chain of Memories.

If you don't know why Kouichi's so embarrassed, go look for the references to a red string in 'Yu Yu Hakusho' (Yukina Saga) and 'Excel Saga' (Ep. 5), not to mention a random episode of 'Tenchi in Tokyo'.

Riku gets the ability to smell darkness in Chain of Memories, so I added it here. Kouichi's developing the same sense, though it is a bit different.

'Obaa-sama' - Extremely respectful form of 'Grandmother'. Can be used to address old women, or used as an insult, depending on the context.