"Where – where am I?"

"Don't worry – you're safe with me. Tsuki told me about you."

"Then – you beat the shit out of those losers?"

"Ha, ha! Yes, I guess I did."

"Well, you can call me Sulhadahne. Who're you?"

"I'm Rinoa."

Sora awoke the next day with a smile, ready to return home and finally see his parents and friends after so long! It was a fun night the night before, but all fun had to come to a close. So, stretching and getting up out of bed, Sora dressed, grabbed his bags, and headed to the gummi hangar.

"Hey." Sora greeted. Riku smiled and they walked towards the gummi.

"Let's hope the ship is duck taped today, huh?" Riku joked. Sora laughed.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be funny." He sighed. "I really want to go back home. Today's gonna be great!"

Radiant Garden was experiencing a beautiful afternoon as the top six of the Organization, not to mention Ariel, were heading off to Castle Hallow Bastion, and Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Namine were heading to the islands. The other nobodies were saying their goodbyes, and everyone was crowded into the gummi hangar.

"Hey!" Sora grinned. Leon was there, smirking, and waved at the boy.

"Gonna enjoy your vacation?" He grinned.

"OH YEAH! I can't wait! I'm gonna sleepalldayandswimandeatandpartyandfight and I'm gonna raceandrelaxandsleepsomemore – "

"Okay, kid, calm down!" Leon chuckled. With a serene smile he asked "You looking forward to this that much?"

"Oh yeah!" Sora cheered. Sobering up, he grinned sheepishly. "I miss home."

Back in the far corner, secretly plotting secret plots, were Luxord, Xigbar, and Xaldin.

"He's backing out, isn't he?" Luxord moaned.

"Oh yeah. Total nice guy." Xaldin muttered.

"Well, think of it this way; when Sora comes back, he'll get a double wallop of trouble!" Xigbar snickered.

Leon sighed. Sora was so happy he couldn't bring himself to push the little button that would break loose all hell for the poor boy. But oh well – there's always another day.

(HAHA! SLAY! YOU GOT TOLD! You thought you'd get to find out what Leon's little toy was! NUH UH! HAHAHA – smack. Okay, shutting up now.)

"So, you sure about going to the islands?" Roxas asked Namine.

"You sure you want to go to Twilight Town?" She retorted with a giggle. He sighed.

"Alright, I get your point." Roxas mumbled. Namine shook her head with a smile.

"It's not the end of the world, you know. We'll see each other again."

Roxas and Namine stood, looking at each other without a word, sort of like, "What do we do now?"

"Well, umm… see ya." Roxas muttered. Namine's face fell, but she nodded.

"Come on! Get on with it love birds!" Paine spoke as she walked behind Roxas, nudging him so that he fell. He caught his balance, but fell against Namine. The girl gasped with a red face, Roxas even redder. Clearing his throat, Roxas stood tall, leaning off her, shuffling his feet.

With one last intake of breath, Namine prepared herself, and then stood on tip toe, kissing Roxas on the cheek before turning, running off, and entering the gummi ship.

Roxas looked kinda like this: OO

Sora laughed hysterically, running over to the boy. "Still alive in there?" He taunted, earning a glare from the blonde.

"Yeah, I'm alive." He sighed. Sora looked him over.

"What? Not gonna go after her?" Roxas began walking away.

"No; not yet. It would simply make goodbye harder. But when she comes back…" Roxas grinned. "I won't let her go, never again." Sora smiled knowingly.

"Have fun!" Roxas cheered.

"You, too!" Sora replied. And with that, Roxas was gone.

With a sigh, Sora adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and turned towards the gummi ship.

"Hey, kid!"

Suddenly, Sora yelped when Yuna and Rikku leapt onto his back, not knocking him over but giving him a scare nonetheless.

"Don't worry about your nobody buddy!" Rikku smiled.

"Paine, Rikku, and I are going to set up shop in Twilight Town; we'll keep an eye on him." Yuna chimed sincerely. Sora grinned his appreciation.

"Thanks, guys. Err… girls." The two laughed.

"Come on, Sora." Riku called from the bridge of the gummi ship. "You're so slow." He laughed.

"I am not!" Sora defended himself, running up to the bridge.

"Wait up there, hero." Sora slid to a stop, spinning around.

Axel stood at the bottom of the ramp, with organization members 7 thru 12. Sora waved, and then looked puzzled.

"Demyx?" He asked.

"Job interview remember?" Larxene corrected the boy with a smirk. "Jeez, you really are slow."

"Stop making fun of me!" Sora demanded. The group laughed.

Riku stomped out of the gummi ship and took firm hold of Sora's hood.

"Come on, Sora!" Sora gasped for breath, choking.

"Bye guys!" He managed to stutter, waving to the group.

The engines flared to life as the people around them backed away with dampened spirits as the four children made their ways to the stars. Axel smirked and waved to the machine as it burst into flight, and then turned to board his own ship.

"Well, this is it." Tifa murmured.

"The group is splitting up." Cloud spoke.

Leon smiled knowingly. With a sigh, he brushed a strand of hair from his eyes and decided; it was now or never.

"Take good care of the Garden." He spoke, striding towards a single person gummi.

"Leon?" Yuffie cried, acting normally for the first time in days. The man smiled to his friends and waved nonchalantly.

"I have someone I have to find." He told them, getting up onto the side of the gummi. "Cloud, you're in charge." The blonde nodded his approval.

"Wait a minute." Marluxia, over with his group by their gummi, spoke with confusion. "Leon's leaving?"

Saix, herding Mitsuka and the others into the ship, turned back to watch as Leon started his ship. "I suppose so." He muttered, climbing into the ship after Mitsuka.

With a shrug, Marluxia leapt in.

And so, the three ships flew into the sky, leaving the beautiful Radiant Garden behind them.

"Well, kiddies, I say we'd better get going to our castle." Xaldin told the others, turning towards the door.

"How are you and your little friends getting to Twilight Town?" Xigbar asked Paine.

"The King, Donald, and Goofy are leaving for Disney Castle later tonight. They've offered to drop us off at Twilight Town then." Paine smirked up at Xigbar. "Why? Will you miss me?" The man smirked back, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Of course."

As Paine and Xigbar walked, the girl called back to Zexion.

"Make sure to keep us in the loop, Zexy." She taunted. Xigbar looked at her weirdly as Zexion seethed.

Later that night, the group would take to the skies, The King, and his friends taking Paine, Yuna, Rikku, Tidu, Mari, and Auron with Roxas to Twilight Town. The higher members of the organization would go to Castle Hallow Bastion. Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Namine would arrive at the Destiny Islands around the time Demyx would return to the World that Never Was from Atlantica. And so the countdown began.

One year, until total devastation. One year, until, unknown to the Organization XIII or their partner the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, the man known as Crive would unleash the devastation.

The Gate of Midnight will open.

"Where's Namine?" Sora asked, walking into the front of the ship.

"She's in the back, drawing probably." Riku told him.

"She's asleep, actually. She told me she didn't get to sleep last night till really late." Kairi corrected him, examining the stars outside her window.

With a heavy sigh, Sora collapsed into a chair.

"This is just great." Sora sighed, stroking his hair. Kairi chuckled at his unease.

"You've fought monsters and darkness, but facing your parents frightens you?" She asked.

"Hell yes." He said, laughing. Riku raised his hand.

"Second that." The three broke into laughter.

As the laughter died down, Kairi sighed contently and looked out the back window of the gummi ship.

"Even if it's only for a short time…" She sighed. "I will miss Radiant Garden."