A/N: 6.9.10: Today is turning out to be a great exercise for my eyes. Did some simple editing but also expanded the scene with Elie, Sora and the others.
Old: My goodness, guys, I didn't realize how long that last chapter was. It was over 7000 words, actually. xDD That's what you get for writing all day, I guess. I have absolutely no life, I know. And, I'm sorry for the late update. My grandma was admitted to the hospital yesterday, and after my grandfather passed away in February, I'm taking no more chances with missing visits. Anyway, you may be curious to know that the reason I updated so fast was because I'm leaving for vacation next friday. x.x And I kind of wanted this finished before I left, so I'm going to update as fast as possible.
Aerith had taken all of the noise of the Radiant Garden with her to the grave, which was both a good and bad thing. Good in that it meant that there was no trouble, but bad because most of the Committee had also become uncharacteristically quiet. The only evil present in the peaceful world were the neighborhood Heartless, so when the keyblade wielders returned, Merlin, who was moving furniture with his magic, was quite surprised. "Ah, back so soon?" He asked as he set the chalkboard against a wall before facing the group and cleaning his glasses. When he put them back on, he gasped. "Ah, Kairi! How on Earth did she get back with you, Sora?"
Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Luck, I guess. Some Keyblade wielder on Maleficent's side helped Kairi out."
Merlin examined them. "The four of you look... terrible. And so very upset. Might I ask what happened in the last world you were in?" He paused before looking over the group again. "Where's Keira?"
"In the last world we were in, Port Royal," Naminé began with a heavy heart, "A friend of ours, Captain Jack Sparrow, was taken down to the depths of the sea by the hands of the Kraken." She sighed. "While we were under attack by it, Keira was dragged under and we... couldn't find her."
Merlin scratched his forehead. "This is... no good." He concluded dumbly, at a loss for words. "The Kraken, you said? That is one hideous monster, yes indeed..."
Eager to get off the subject, Roxas asked, "Where are the others?"
"Out and about. It is day time here, my dear boy. I suppose you'll want to tell the others your news firsthand?" They nodded as they exited the house, each trying to hold back the feeling of tremendous guilt, particularly Roxas.
Their first stop was the Marketplace for the sake of restocking supplies. It was strange to be wandering around the Radiant Garden with the knowledge that they would not bump into Aerith. Instead, they found Denzel and Marlene sitting outside of an ice cream shop with cones. "Marlene! Denzel!" The two turned around at the sound of Kairi's voice.
"Oh, hi!" Marlene smiled as she licked some of her ice cream.
"What're you guys doing back here so soon?" Denzel asked.
Sora grinned. "Can't we drop by just because we feel like it?"
"Not when you were here just a few days ago." The boy stated, folding his arms; his attitude was a mixture of Leon and Cloud.
"Where is everyone?" asked Kairi.
Marlene beamed. "Oh, Kairi's back! Wait, where's Keira?"
"She decided to stay behind in Port Royal with the pirates," answered Roxas with ease. Naminé, Kairi, and Sora glanced at him quickly but recovered all the same.
"Oh." Marlene returned to her ice cream.
Denzel decided to help them out. "Everyone else is in the lab."
XxxxxX
Keira gazed around as rain fell onto her already soaked clothing, wondering if the sky was always dark in this world. Her eyes finally stopped as a golden, heart-shaped moon reflected in them. "Kingdom Hearts, you'll be helping us take control of it." She said nothing at his comment nor did she struggle against his grip. Her eyes returned to the asphalt, though, soon, they were staring at a clear blue bridge. When she glanced up again, she took in the castle's appearance, and then she realized it.
She had dreamt of this particular castle and the moon before, and she had been filled with knowledge about it. How? She did not know. There was something... Her eyes flew down to her chest, where her heart was, and questioned its strangeness once more. For the first time, she struggled against Saïx, but he had no trouble holding her. "Ah, so you've heard about this place before. Unfortunately for you, you're in too deep to back out."
XxxxxX
When Sora and the others arrived outside of the Study's door, they wondered why they had bothered running; it was not like they were exactly eager to share their news. They entered the room to find it quite tidy, a reminder of its previous owner, the man who had given his life to put an end to Organization XIII. A sad reminder indeed, given the Nobodies were alive and well once more. They entered the hallway outside of the study and found the Radiant Garden Committee (and Riku) hovering in the lab. Again, Sora was reminded, sadly, of Aerith from when he, Donald and Goofy had been in Tron's world.
They did not announce their presence, but they did not need to. "Back so soon?" asked Leon.
Riku strode across the room and stopped before his best friends. "Kairi? How?" She smiled and embraced him.
When they parted, she answered his question. "I had help from someone, a keyblade wielder working under Maleficent, though she didn't seem to like it much. Elie, that was her name." Something else came to mind. "Oh, that's right! The night I escaped, I noticed that the princesses, who were in the cell next to me, were gone. They couldn't have escaped, but I was asleep when they disappeared, so I can't be sure."
"Which princesses?" Sora asked, surprised that Kairi hadn't mentioned this earlier. He supposed they had been quite busy with Port Royal, his favorite world.
"Um... Aurora, Alice, Cinderella, Belle, and Snow White."
"That's one way to do a process of elimination," noted Roxas. "I guess we know where we're going next."
"The four of you look terrible," observed Riku as he looked them over. "Besides how dishveled you are, you guys almost look like you've been crying. What-?" But Riku cut himself off as realization dawned upon him. The room became quiet as the others seemed to notice the same thing.
With a suspicion that Riku could no longer speak, Tifa brought herself to be the one to ask: "What happened to Keira?" The wielders stared at the floor with clear guilt.
"We might as well tell you what happened while we were in Port Royal," decided Sora.
XxxxxX
Keira found her new home quite fitting: a jail cell. Unlike Kairi's, there were only bars and no walls, so she had no hopes of any type of privacy, though she was alone. At least, she thought she was alone. As the cell door flew open, a familiar blond stood in her line of vision. "I told you before that you might as well have given in. Looks like you did, too. I might feel pity for you... if I had a heart. Anyway, Maleficent wants to see you, so come on." Keira followed her without a word as they ascended stair after stair.
"Geez," Larxene said after a while of silence, "Have you gone mute, now, too?" She shook her head. "No, that's not it. You're giving up. Your friends turned their backs on you and now you've given up." Keira clenched her hands into fists, but did not argue the point. "Pathetic. Here we are." They had stopped outside of a large, ornate door, which Larxene knocked on thrice.
A voice growled from within, "Who's there?" With a jolt, Keira realized it was Maleficent.
"Number XII with the Princess, m'am," answered Larxene, dislike clearly etched on her face as she kept her tone civil.
"Let her in."
"You heard her, go in." Keira entered the door, which opened automatically, and heard it zip behind her. The first thing she noticed was the motif of the room, which was covered in black thorns. Maleficent was seated on a white throne with the same thorns encircling it.
"Ah, Princess Keira," began the witch with a smile full of malice. "Please, sit down." She signaled to a black chair before her, which Keira half-heartedly sat in the chair. "Ah, no hesitation? Does this mean you'll help us?" No response. Maleficent's face contorted into one of understanding and pity. "My dear," her tone sounded almost motherly. "Your friends turned their backs on you. They left you for dead. You were very lucky to have floated to shore like you did." Magnificent watched Keira's expression change contort, briefly, to one of anger. She could see the emotional turmoil within the girl's heart. "You gave those Nobodies hearts and what did they do? They let the Kraken drag you under. You owe nothing to those fools. Where were they when you were struggling against Quince? They did not even pretend like they cared. They didn't even see if there was anything could do, did they?"
Another was hanging around outside, her ear pressed to the door as she listened. "In fact," Elie heard Maleficent drawl, "I bet anything that you would like to get back at those fools; I can help you."
Elie's stomach clenched and she decided she'd heard enough as she pulled away from the door just to find herself face to face with a bright-eyed Demyx. "You were interested, too? It's always fun to listen in on one of Maleficent's little meetings."
Elie forced a grin. "You're right. You don't, by any chance, know what fools she was referring to?"
Demyx frowned. "In what context?"
"She said something about someone letting whoever's in there get dragged under by the Kraken..."
Though she spoke cryptically, Demyx seemed to know what she was talking about. "Roxas and Naminé. You know, Roxas used to be number thirteen of Organization XIII, dead last," he said in a matter-of-fact voice that was very unlike him. "And then probably the others, too: Sora, and... Kairi."
"Really? Imagine that."
"Actually, I think she knows Axel, too. He was number eight in the Organization. He and Roxas were best friends and probably still are." Elie smirked inwardly as his words started a plan in her mind.
"Honestly?" asked Elie with feigned disgust. "They're traitors to the Organization, then? I can't stand people like that. Where would I find Axel and Roxas?"
Demyx placed his fingers on his chin as he considered. "Well, I think Axel was in the Radiant Garden. Roxas is with the others, so he might not be back there, yet."
Elie nodded all the same. "Thanks, Demyx. You were a big help, as always." She said as she summoned a black-purple portal. "See you later." With that, she disappeared into darkness.
Demyx did a two finger salute. "No problem!" He called after her although she couldn't hear him as he walked off with a smile. "Well, that was pleasant."
XxxxxX
"The Kraken took 'er?" Cid asked and others nodded, to which the pilot whistled.
Riku pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry," apologized Roxas. Though things had never been exactly amazing between the two of them, Sora knew this would stick a further wedge between Roxas and Riku. "It's my fault, but I... had to help Naminé." A small voice reminded him that he could have easily dove back underwater after Naminé was safe and he knew, by the look on his face, that Riku felt the same.
Instead, all he said was, "You did what you had to." Meanwhile, a portal appeared in the hallway between the lab and study, and Elie followed it to the sound of Riku's voice.
"Excuse me, but who here is named Roxas and Axel?" Her appearance was strange, but not strange for a keyblade wielder (A/N: If you haven't noticed, every Keyblade wielder seems to have a taste in style that's different from everyone else. xD Aside from Naminé.) Leon pulled out his Gunblade.
Cloud pointed his Buster Sword at her. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?" His voice was quiet, but she did not miss the unspoken throat in it.
Elie held up her hands in a defensive position. "Whoa, there, calm down. I came here to help, believe it or not."
Kairi gasped, finally getting a good look at her. "Elie." The brunette gazed past the offensive men and caught sight of the familiar girl. Her clothes were slightly ripped and, distantly, Kairi wondered if it was from the fight with Zexion; somewhat fresh wounds were on her face and beneath the ripped cloth.
"Princess Kairi, glad to see you're alright."
Sora moved to the front of the group. "Calm down, guys, this is the girl that helped Kairi get out of the World that Never Was." Leon and Cloud both sheathed their weapons after Yuffie and Tifa insisted, simply on Sora's word, that the girl could be trusted.
"Axel, at your service." The man in question stepped away from the computer to make his presence known. He still wore his Organization cloak, causing Elie to do a double-take.
"And Roxas," added the blond said as he, too, revealed himself.
"Well, since I've found you two, I've found the right group." Elie sighed, blowing her thick bangs away from her forehead for a moment. "Another friend of yours is at the World that Never Was." The energy in the room immediately picked up.
"Keira?" Riku asked, taking a few steps closer to her.
"Ah, well that makes sense!" noted Elie, almost wanting to hit herself in the forehead. "Maleficent's easily turning her against you."
"We're still not all that sure about Keira's heart." King Mickey spoke up from his spot on part of the computer, "But we do know if she's turned to darkness, she can easily help Maleficent take control of all the worlds."
"We've got to go and save her," decided Cloud.
"Not so fast, Chocobo head," replied Elie. "They'll fry you the instant you step in; the World that Never Was is infested with more Heartless and Nobodies than ever before. Besides, it'll be my head if you go marching on in..."
Riku narrowed his eyes at her. "That's your problem." Elie frowned, feeling great dislike for him immediately.
"Sora, you said that the Organization wanted Roxas to join them again?" asked Axel as he recalled part of Sora's story about Port Royal. "I have an idea of how to free Keira and the others. Roxas and I are going to have to pretend to join the Organization."
"What?" All in the room exclaimed aside from Elie, Roxas, and the one who proposed the idea.
Roxas' eyes stared without focusing as he went over the idea in his head. "It's the best idea we have. This way, we can keep an eye on the other princesses, too, and Sora can go check on Jasmine and Aladdin without more or less trouble."
"Are you crazy?" gasped Naminé. "I know that you feel immensely guilty about Keira, but Roxas, you can't do this." He took his hands into his, and her protests quieted.
"Actually, I can," he pointed out with a smirk, "But we'll be okay; we know how to handle the Organization. At least, Axel does."
Tifa still seemed skeptical. "You'll have quite the job convincing Sephiroth."
"Don't worry," said Axel with a grin, "If we can convince the Superior, we can convince anybody."
"It's just crazy enough to work," agreed Elie.
Riku still did not seem ready to trust her. "Why should we believe you? How do we know you're not going to turn in Axel and Roxas the minute they set foot in the castle?"
"Hm, he does bring up a good point. Why are you helping, anyway?" wondered Kairi. "Not that I'm not appreciative for what you did for me."
Elie was quite sure she had never sighed so much in her entire life. "I guess you have every reason to be wary, so I could be honest..."
Naminé's eyes widened as her mind finally made a connection with Elie's name. She recalled going after Keira after Axel upset her, and talking with her in the Dark Depths, now infamous as the sight of Aerith's death. Back then, Keira had been worrying over the fates of her family and friends, one of those friends being... "You know Keira," she realized.
No one was more shocked than Elie, though everyone stared at Naminé with surprise. "How... did you know that?"
"Keira mentioned your name to me. She thought that your heart had been lost to the darkness with the rest of her family and friends," recalled Naminé. "If you show yourself to her... you might be able to save her, too, Elie."
Elie had, admittedly, not considered that thought. She nodded, a silent promise to keep the idea alive, as she turned toward Riku with a mischievous grin and raised eyebrow. "So, trust me now?"
XxX
Later, in the World that Never Was, Axel and Roxas found themselves walking through the familiar wet streets. Elie had used her own portal so as to not look suspicious; she had already gotten into one fight with Zexion, a losing one at that, and she did not need another. They were surprised when they passed Memory's Skyscraper without meeting a single Heartless or Nobody. "Is it just me or is something not right here?" muttered Axel.
"This place is always filled to the brim with at least Shadows, yet I haven't seen a single one," observed Roxas, "Too easy."
Axel grinned as he stared at the looming castle. "Maybe they know that we're joining up with them again." After another block or so, they finally found themselves before the Castle That Never Was, which, from the outside, looked the same as it always had. (A/N: This is unnecessary, but I love that name. It's like 'You don't see a castle here, it's your imagination. Anyway, sorry.) "Ah, it's been too long. Ready, partner?"
Roxas smirked. "Let's do it."
XxxxxX
"So, we're going to Agrabah?" Kairi asked as she climbed into the chair beside Sora while Riku took the chair on the other side of him. Naminé sat in the chair behind him.
"We have to go check on Princess Jasmine," answered Riku who, admittedly, felt slightly more at ease knowing that Axel and Roxas would be with Keira. Also knowing that Elie was Keira's friend from her own world eased his concern a little. The fact that she was from Keira's world, though, yet was with Maleficent still did not sit right with him. He did not voice these thoughts as he said, "Maleficent only needs two more Princesses now..."
Sora's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. "She won't get her hands on Kairi again."
"Not with us around," agreed Naminé.
Riku glanced at her with a smirk. "We'll have to keep our eyes on you, too. Roxas would kill us if anything happened to you."
"Considering how graceful you've been since he admitted that he was, ultimately, the one unable to save Keira, he might hold back. Might," added Naminé with the ghost of a smile.
"Am I the only one who thinks that Naminé and I can take care of ourselves?" pouted Kairi, though her lips were valiantly fighting to smile. They passed time the way any teenager would: talk on and on until they reached Agrabah.
"Isn't it funny to think," Sora began as he steered out of the way of a meteorite, "That if the Heartless hadn't attacked our island, we'd have never been dragged into all of this? We would still wonder if there were other worlds."
Riku laughed without humor. "And we wouldn't have had to witness all of the things we did; we never would have been separated."
"I wouldn't have ever known that I was a Princess or where I came from," added Kairi with wonder.
"So much would be different," Naminé agreed. "Roxas and I wouldn't even exist."
Riku grinned for a moment. "Kinda makes you glad that we've gone through hell, we learned a lot." Suddenly, Sora stopped the ship and got out of his seat.
"Let's go, the worlds are putting their trust into us. Our friends are putting their trust in us." Riku, Kairi, and Naminé shared smiles before nodding their heads in determination.
XxxxxX
Saïx stared at Axel and Roxas without any type of emotion though, even without, it was quite obvious that he neither trusted nor believed them. "So, you two clowns want to join the Organization?" The Organization was having an 'emergency meeting' since the ex-members stepped foot on the castle's grounds. Maleficent left it to them to decide, in order to preserve the idea that Xemnas was still in charge.
"Can they do that?" asked Xigbar. "They aren't Nobodies anymore."
Xemnas did not appear to care any way. "We could use all the help that we can get if we want to get rid of that wretched witch."
"But we can trust these two traitors to help us?" asked Marluxia with a sneer. "Remember who you're talking about, Superior."
"You're one to talk," snarled Axel and Roxas.
Marluxia continued to sneer. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get too fired up, Axel, or you might accidently kill yourself off again." Axel prepared to rise out of his old seat, but was stopped by Larxene's hands sparking with electricity.
"If either of you speak another word, I will kill you," she warned them, annoyed. Reluctantly, Axel and Marluxia quieted down.
Roxas looked up at the highest seat. "What do you say, Superior?"
Xemnas inclined his head. "Do not fail me." His voice was full of warning and foreboding.
"We won't."
XxxxxX
There was something therapeutic for Sora in walking the streets of Agrabah. For a change, they were completely clear of heartless and filled with merchants (most of which attempted to sell jewelry to Naminé and Kairi.) "It's peaceful here," noted Sora out of surprise. After his first two visits, he never thought that the world would be peaceful, especially with Jafar returning left and right. Another thing that Sora detected was the way that the merchants muttered darkly. It didn't seem to be about them, but it was odd in comparison to their usual demeanors.
"Where are we heading, Sora?" asked Naminé as they passed more merchants.
"The Palace," answered Sora with ease. "I haven't seen Aladdin or Iago for that matter..." Though he had expected, somehow, to easily get to the palace as he usually did, he found two very menacing guards posted outside of the doors. It dawned upon him that he had never been inside before, but he still did not remember any guards.
One of the guards kept his spear-like weapon inches from Sora's face. "What do you punks think you're doing?"
"We're here to see Princess Jasmine and Aladdin," he informed them with confidence. Kairi was clinging to Naminé's arm, and even Riku felt it a little foolish for his friend to act so boldly. The guards surveyed the odd-looking group with smugness.
"You want to see the Princess and her Prince?"
"Move aside, fellas," ordered a voice from beyond the palace doors. The guards immediately stepped out of the way for Aladdin, who was wearing his usual peasant clothing.
Aladdin beamed at his former companion. "Sora, it's only been a month or so since your last visit, what are you doing back here?"
"Funny thing, Al," Sora began, but he quickly stopped himself. "First things first, do you have any idea why the merchants are muttering so darkly amongst themselves?"
Aladdin's smile turned bittersweet as he led them inside. "You see, you've missed a lot since your last visit." At their hesitation, his smile returned. "It's alright, come on. Jasmine will definitely want to see you." He paused before leading them further inside. "I'm terrible, I forgot to introduce myself; I'm Aladdin."
"Kairi." She added with pride (loving the ability to say such a thing), "Sora's girlfriend."
Aladdin's eyes widened along with his grin as he returned his gaze to Sora. "You didn't tell me that you had a girlfriend last time that you came here."
Sora rubbed the back of his head before resting his arms behind his head. "Well, in all fairness, the last time I came here, I'd been separated from Kairi for a year. We got together shortly after starting this journey." Aladdin nodded with understanding although he had a look in his eyes that said Sora had better explain things later.
Returning his attention to Kairi, he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess."
"How did you-?" She began, but her words died and fell away as Aladdin held up a hand.
"After Jasmine returned to Agrabah after being freed, she told me about the seven Princesses of Heart. She told me that a young girl named Kairi was also a Princess, and she mentioned that it seemed Sora knew her." Kairi felt flattered that he remembered such a thing.
"My name is Naminé," she introduced herself with a small, shy smile. "I'm Kairi's Nobody." She decided that this way of introducing herself was best when it came to people "outside of the circle." Explaining how she was no longer a Nobody was much too complicated.
At Aladdin's confusion, Sora stepped in to explain again. "I know what you're thinking, and it actually isn't possible for a Princess of Heart to get a Heartless; Kairi didn't have one. As it turns out, during my first journey, Kairi's heart was inside of me the entire time. When I used the keyblade that unlocked hearts," Riku's expression shifted at the mention of the weapon, "and freed the six princesses' hearts, I also released Kairi's heart with my own."
"In other words," giggled Naminé, "I was born in an odd way."
Aladdin chuckled. "It's an honor to meet you, Naminé. Sora, you must've had a Heartless and a Nobody too, right?"
Sora nodded. "Roxas is my Nobody; he's actually an Organization XIII member," Aladdin's face became cautious at this piece of news. After Sora had told him about the Organization, which had luckily not come after Al, he didn't trust the name much. "But Roxas is on our side, totally and completely. I was only a Heartless for a little while; Kairi protected me from a group of other Heartless and guided me back to the light, so I found my heart again."
"Sheesh, there was a lot you didn't brush up on last time." Aladdin said, shaking his head before finally turning toward the last member of the party.
"I'm Riku," he began with a faint smile, "but I'm sure I don't need to tell you a thing about me."
Aladdin laughed, "Yeah, last time Sora was here, he mentioned that he was searching for his 'best friend, Riku.' It seems that you're all together now, though. And, as I was telling you before, ever since Jasmine and I got married-"
"What?" Sora exclaimed, but Aladdin continued speaking.
"...And I found my long-lost father," There was another shout from Sora. "The merchants have felt quite ill toward me. That's what you get, I guess."
"So," Kairi asked keenly, "Where is your father?"
"And Iago?" added Sora.
"The two of them went off together, but at least I got to see him for a while before he left, and, yes, Sora, Jasmine and I are finally married." Sora grinned with happiness for him; he guessed that was how Riku had felt when he and Kairi finally admitted their feelings for one another.
Sora was pleased that Aladdin finally had his happiness. "I'm glad that things finally worked out."
"Now, it's your turn. Why are you here? Trouble's never far behind when you're in different worlds."
"We were summoned from our world, actually. There's another princess that no one knew about until recently - only because her world was taken over by Heartless – and she carries a huge part in opening the door to Kingdom Hearts. Maleficent has been collecting the princesses again, and she's planning to use every one of them to seize control of all the worlds."
Aladdin sighed as dread filled him. "I should've figured it was something like that. How bad is it?"
Knowing better than the others, Kairi took the floor. "When I was captured, she had five of them. Obviously, she still has only five Princesses of Heart, but now she's captured the other princess, Keira, too."
"I'm guessing there's been no trouble here, huh?" asked Riku.
"Yep, it's been pretty normal here. I haven't seen a single Heartless."
"I hope it stays that way," replied Naminé, "And I hope we don't attract any..."
Aladdin shook his head. "I highly doubt it, they'd probably be afraid of Rajah." He paused for a moment and laughed. "I was afraid of Rajah when I first came here."
"Rajah?" repeated Sora, but no sooner than he asked did the beast in question show itself. The tiger bounded out of a door that had evidently been left open and snarled at the group of strangers
"Rajah!" A feminine voice scolded the growling tiger. Aladdin smiled as Princess Jasmine closed the door behind her with a large smile. The tiger immediately retreated to his mistress's side, like a puppy. "Sora," she smiled. "It's so nice to see you again!" All at once, the wielders bowed before her, earning them an annoyed stare. "You don't bow to Kairi every time she walks in the room, do you?" They shook their heads. "I assumed as much," she giggled before turning to her fellow. "Kairi, I'm sure you don't remember me, but-"
Kairi shook her head. "Of course I remember you, how could I forget? Besides, Sora's told me all about you and Aladdin. It's nice to see you again."
Jasmined turned toward Riku with a knowing expression. "I see you've found your best friend," she said, pleased to see him away from the darkness. "It's nice seeing you well, Riku." He knew what she meant by 'well' and began to murmur an apology, though he was promptly waved off. "No apologies." She said in a shockingly stern voice.
"I'm Naminé."
"You have a strange similarity to Kairi." Naminé and Kairi both flashed smiles.
"Naminé is my Nobody. Only, she has a heart now, and it's completely her own." The redhead stated, though she, like Naminé, knew it was a bad idea to get into the subject the moment the words left her lips.
Aladdin scratched his head. "How does that work?"
"Keira's handiwork," answered Riku in a quiet voice.
Jasmine was quite intuitive, for she noted, with a sad smile, "You care a lot for her, do you not?" At Riku's surprised face, her smile reached her amber eyes. "I am a woman, that's how I know."
Out of the entire group, only Kairi seemed shocked by the news. "What?" She rounded on Riku. "Are... Were you and Keira...?" She attempted to piece together her words to no avail.
"Heroes have a thing for Princesses," noted Naminé while Kairi mumbled something about being unsure of how she now felt about Keira.
Jasmine turned away from them. "Come on up to my room, I am sure we have much to talk about." She started toward the doors she had come through earlier with Rajah and Aladdin on her heels, as well as Aladdin. The teenagers exchanged looks before they also followed after the married couple, Kairi promising Riku that he had a lot of explaining to do.
A/N: It's short, I'm sorry. xD I totally blanked out on how Jasmine's room looks, too, I'll have to check that one out. It's been a while since I've seen the movies.
Hehe, Aladdin was my favorite && first movie when I was little. Just a fun fact. :D