.:Author's Note:.

Zera: aah. yet another chapter! yay!

Yoko: ...woo...

Zera: hey, be happy! you kissed Riku!

Yoko: would you stop bringing that up?

Zera: no...now, time to finish up our trip in Halloween Town! Here's the chappie!

Disclaimer: nope, it's still owned by Disney and Square Enix

Confessions and Lies

Sora and Kairi were very confused at the moment. They were all sitting in the living room part of the ship. Takuto and Zera were sitting on the same couch, but as far away from the other as possible. They looked as if they were ignoring each other, but every once in a while they saw the two glace at each other and then turn away blushing when they saw the other looking. Something definitely happened between the two and Kairi wanted to know what. Not being able to stand the silence, Sora decided to say something.

"So...I wonder what's taking Yoko and Riku so long," he said. Zera stood up quickly.

"I-I'll go check on them!" she said and then left the room. Kairi smiled, having a bit of an idea as to what happened. She then turned to Sora.

"Hey Sora? Didn't Santa want to see you for something when we were done?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! I'll be right back," he said, and then left. She now turned to the only other person in the room: Takuto.

"So...what happened between you and Zera?" she asked.

"N-nothing. It doesn't concern you," he said snapped.

"Fine, jeez. You don't need to snap," she said. He sighed.

"Sorry. I'm just a bit flustered right now," he said. Kairi laughed.

"Yeah, I can tell," she said. Suddenly Sora burst back into the room with his arms full of presents.

"I got presents from Santa!" he shouted happily. He set them down and sat back on the couch.

"Um...does that mean you specifically or all of us?" Takuto asked.

"...all of us," Sora replied. Kairi looked through them and handed Takuto his as she found her. She found Zera's just as she walked back in the room.

"Hey Zera! Here's your...present..." Kairi trailed off as Zera kept on walking past her without a word, and then outside. They all looked at each other and then went over to the window to see Zera yelling and dancing around, seemingly happy.

"...uh," was all Sora could say as they all looked at each other again. Then the door to the gummi ship opened and Zera walked back in, now calm.

"I'm fine now," she said, grinning ear to ear.

"Um...what was that all about? And how are Yoko and Riku?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just felt randomly happy. Yoko and Riku are fine. Perfect! Just perfect!" Zera told them.

"Maybe I should go check on-"

"No! No, that won't be nesscesary," Zera said. They gave her weird looks, but didn't go to check on the two. "So what were you saying before I left?"

"Oh, um...Santa gave us all a present for helping out. I was just gonna give you yours when you walked out," Kairi explained.

"Presents! I'll go get those two lazy bums over here then!" Zera said, rushing back out of the room. She burst into Riku's room. They stopped kissing to look at her blushing.

"Zera!" Yoko shouted.

"It's not what you-" Riku started saying.

"I knew already. You guys were kissing. So what? I approve, now come on! We got presents!" Zera said happily and then dragged the two blushing teens down to the living room.

"We're back!" she shouted and sat down. Yoko and Riku took their seats.

"What took you guys so long?" Takuto asked.

"Nothing," they said at the same time.

"They just confessed their undying love for each other," Zera stated, grabbing the box that was labeled in her name. Yoko hit her over the head with her good arm.

"Zera!" she yelled.

"What?" Zera whined. "It's true though!"

The others just stared at the two, trying to understand the sentence that Zera had said.

"So...you two were making out, and that's why it took so long?" Kairi asked.

"No!" they yelled at her.

"Yeah, sure...that's what they all say," she said, smiling.

"Come on, let's open the gifts now!" Sora said.

"Let me put it on autopilot first," Yoko said. She came back a minute later, and they all opened their presents as they went off. Sora, Yoko, and Zera's boxes were all very small, and when they opened them, they found a keychain inside. They hooked them onto their keyblades and they transformed. Sora's was now the Oblivion keyblade. Zera's looked the same except it had a wing on the end as a blade. Yoko's also looked the same except it had a dragon wing on the end as a blade.

"Coooooooool!" Zera said, examining her newly transformed keyblade.

"I bet these keychains made them stronger as well as changing what it looks like," Yoko said, examining hers as well. Kairi's box was long and somewhat skinny. When she opened it she found a long staff inside. It was pink and had a black heart on the end. In the box were also some potions and ethers for her.

"Well these'll come in handy!" she said. "But I'll need to do some training cause I haven't been fight as much as you guys."

"Sora can help you," Takuto suggested.

"Yeah. That'll be fine," Sora said.

"Thanks," Kairi said. Riku opened his gift and found a new keyblade in it (It looks like the one he has in KH2). Takuto opened his box and inside was a new sword and a note. He opened the note and read it. His eyes widened and he closed it quickly before they saw it. It was instructions from Marla, Kurishi, and Amida. He hid it in his pocket, relieved that no one had seen him open it. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and turned his attention to the sword. It was sharp and delicately sculpted. The handle was silver while the hand guard was gold. The blade was silver with black designs all over it. He held it up to get a better look at it.

"That's a pretty cool sword," Sora said.

"Thanks," Takuto said, smiling.

"So were these like, early Christmas presents or something?" Kairi asked.

"Nope! They were actually given to Santa by the King. Santa said he just forgot to give them to us before we left, so he sent them over here! But he said Takuto's was from somebody else," Sora explained.

"Oh," everyone said.

"So where're we going now?" Riku asked.

"Neverland. Don't ask why. I just picked someplace randomly," Yoko replied.

"Why?" Sora asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Because. I'm impatient and impulsive. Get over it," she said. Since the presents were now all opened, Yoko went to go see where they were at the moment, and Riku went with her. Sora shrugged, and took Kairi to a room so he could help her practice with her staff and prepare for any fights they might encounter. This left Takuto and Zera...alone...together. Talk about awkward.

"Um..." Zera said as she shifted uncomfortably in the silence. Takuto looked anywhere but at her, and rubbed his arm nervously.

"Zera..." he started.

"Yes?" she said, looking at him.

"Um...well, I...wanted to say I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have...kissed you," he said. She looked down at her lap.

"Oh," she said sadly. "I-it's okay."

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything. I mean, it's not that I don't like you, because I do...a lot. But I just...shouldn't have done that," he said. Two tears went down Zera's cheeks.

"Why? Why was it such a bad thing that you kissed me if you do like me?" she questioned.

"It just is! I like you but I shouldn't," he said, frustrated. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why shouldn't you? I don't see a reason for you not to!" she said getting up too and walking over to him. "I mean, I didn't mind that you kissed me! In fact, I liked it! A lot! And you know why? It's because I love you!" She gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she said. Neither said anything, nor looked at each other for minutes. Yoko walked back into the room. She looked at her friends expression and quickly became concerned. She narrowed her eyes at Takuto, immediately suspecting him.

"Are you okay Zera?" she asked. Her friend took a quiet shuddering breath, and then smiled at her.

"Yeah. I'm fine," she said.

"You sure? I heard yelling."

"Mmhmm. We were just having a disscusion about...stuff, and then we started yelling and...yeah."

"Fine. Riku and I will be up in the cockpit."

"Gonna go smooch some more?"

"Oh shut it. Call me if you need me okay?" Yoko asked as she headed back to through the door

"Sure. Have fun up there you two. Love ya!" Zera called to her departing freind who said something along the lines of 'yeah, yeah, whatever'.

Her smiled dropped a bit as the door closed and her attention was turned back to the situation at hand. She threw him a sad smile as he looked up and then started to walk to her room. He wanted to say something, and reached out his hand to grab her, but hesitated. She kept on walking. He sighed and thought, 'what the hell'. He caught up to her, grabbed her arm, turned her around, and kissed her full on the lips. Of course she was confused, but also a bit happy, and soon melted into this kiss too. They intertwined their fingers as she ran her hand through his hair. His other hand went behind her neck, pulling her closer to him as it continued. His tongue traced her lip, asking permission to be let in, which she gave shyly. Their tongues battled until they ran out of air. They pulled apart, out of breath and flushed, and leaned their foreheads against each other's. Their fingers were still interlocked with the other's. Zera stared at him, happy, but confused.

"So what exactly does this mean?" she asked. Takuto laughed.

"Truthfully, I have no idea. I still shouldn't be doing this, but I am," he said.

"Why? You never really answered me before about why you shouldn't be kissing me," she said. She pulled him down to sit on the couch together.

"I shouldn't be getting your hopes up because I don't want to hurt you in the end," he told her.

"Thanks for thinking of me then," she said smiling.

"Mmhmm. Now, I have something I need to look into, so I have to go now," he said, giving her a peck on the forehead as he got up.

"'Kay. See you later," she said as he left. She sighed happily and let herself slide from the couch to the floor. Yoko walked back in to check on her friend.

"Uh...you okay? Where's Takuto?" she asked.

"I'm great," Zera said dreamily. "Takuto just left. He's doing something in his room."

"Oh...Well, glad you're doing better," Yoko said.

"Uh-huh," her friend said, dazed.

"I'll be going now," Yoko said, going back up to the cockpit.

"Okay. You do that," Zera said. She snapped out of her dazed state after a while, and went to do something while waiting for them to get to Neverland.

"We can fly!" Zera said as they got out of the ship. She jumped into the air, and flapped her arms, trying to fly, but ended falling flat on her face. She sat up as everyone shook her head and sighed. "Owie."

"Who dares board my vessel without my permission?" a voice said from above them. Some pirate heartless jumped down with rope in hand and tied everyone together before they had a chance to react. Yoko began to struggle a lot, muttering out curses at them all.

"Well done sir," another voice said.

"Why thank you Smee. I thought so-What's this? Well if it isn't bossy Riku and that blasted Keyblade master," Capitan Hook said as he stepped in front of them. Smee scurred over to his side.

"There's that girl who slept all the time too!" he exclaimed.

"Let us go!" Sora yelled.

"Now why would we do a thing like that? I could use you all for many reasons," Capitan Hook said with a dastardly grin on.

"Because if you don't I'll rip off these ropes and throw you overboard for that crocodile you're so afraid of to eat you," Yoko said, glaring at him.

"She'll do it too," Zera confirmed. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all nodded their heads in agreement. Captian Hook was a bit shocked by her threat, but remained calm as he heard no ticking of a watch, and shrugged.

"Not anytime soon she won't. Thriw them into the prisoner's hold," he said. With that, heartless they hadn't known had been behind them knocked them out swiftly and carried out their duties.

"Owwww," Kairi moaned as she came around. She sat up and saw that Sora and Riku were already up.

"Hey Kairi. You finally woke up," Sora said happily.

"Yeah, but with a blinding headache," she said, rubbing her head.

"You aren't the only one," Yoko said as she sat up, rubbing her head also.

"Yoko!" Riku said and hugged her. She blushed and fidgited nervously until he released her.

"Uh...nice to see you too," she said, smiling a little.

"Owie...what hit me?" they heard Zera mumble as she now woke up, and Takuto sat up not a minute after.

"Uh...hey?" she said as she saw them staring at them.

"Are you guys just gonna stare at us or are we gonna do something about getting out of here?" Takuto asked as he got up and then helped Zera up.

"Oh, right," Sora said. The rest of them got up, and they looked at the door to see if there was a way to open it. There wasn't a keyhole on it so Sora couldn't unlock it, but it seemed pretty firmly shut. After coming up with no ideas of opening it, short of knocking it down, Yoko stepped up to it.

"Move," she said. They all complied, and moved away from the door. Immediately she began to furiously kick at the door, attempting to force it open. It didn't budge and after seeing this, she stopped and sat down to rest herself.

"Man, we're gonna be stuck here forever!" Kairi groaned.

"Hello? Someone in there?" they heard a voice ask from outside.

"Peter Pan?" Sora said, recognizing the voice.

"Sora? Is that you?"

"Yeah! Can you get us out?"

"Sure. But is Wendy in there with you?" Peter asked as he opened the door.

"No, why?" Everyone walked out, glad Peter had been there.

"Seems Capitan Hook took her again. But there was some spooky guy with him too," Peter said.

"Well then let's go see if we can kick Capitan Hook and the spook guy's asses!" Zera said.

"That'l be fun," Yoko said, smirking.

"Always looking for a fight," Riku said, shaking his head, but smiling anyway.

"Damn staight," Yoko replied.

"Uh...Sora? Who're they?" Peter asked.

"The short tempered one is Yoko, the hyper one is Zera, the silver haired guy is Riku who you may have already met last time, this's Kairi who was 'sleeping' last time, and the other guy is Takuto. All my friends. We're travelling around now so that's why we're here," Sora explained.

"Oh. Okay. Well could you guys help me find Wendy while you're here?" Peter asked.

"Sure," Kairi said with a smiling.

"Thanks. Alright then, let's get started," Peter said. And so they all began searching the ship high and low for Wendy. Their search was in vain until they decided to look out on the deck. There was Capitan Hook talking with some ghostly phantom guy. Wendy was up above, tied up and out of the way. The two villans turned to the group of teens.

"Wendy! Let her go Hook!" Peter shouted.

"Now why would I do that? Then I would have any fun!" Captain Hook said with a grin. Heartless jumped down with rope in hand, ready to tie them up again, but they were ready this time. Unfortunately Hook had expected this and brought up another round which caught everyone but Sora, Riku, and Takuto, who had managed to spot them in time to get out of the way. Peter was already flying up to get Wendy.

"Why does this always happen?" Kairi asked. The guys were now trying to make their way over to the girls, but it was a bit difficult since a huge amount of hearltess just decide that they felt like appearing in between them right then.

"Cause we were unprepared and Zera has problems paying attention," Yoko said plainly. She tried to find a way to get out of her bindings, but it wasn't doing her much good.

"Hey! I don't have problems paying-Hey! what the hell do you think you're doing!" Zera yelled as she got picked up by a bunch of heartless and taken over to the plank. She was then set down.

"Aww, damn. You're gonna make me walk the plank aren't you?" she asked. The pirate looking heartless didn't respond. They just stared at her, swords pointed at her as they slowly began to advance towards her making her back up as well.

"Zera you idiot, don't back up!" Yoko yelled.

"I can't help it. Either I back up and fall into the water or get speared with their swords!" Zera yelled back, still moving closer to the edge. Suddenly her foot met nothing but air. "Oh shit," was all she could say before they saw her falling over the edge into the water.

"Zera!" they all yelled as a splash was heard. The boys fought even harded to get over there, and when the heartless were finally gone they found Hook in front of them, blocking their path. Sora and Riku lunged at him, giving Takuto a chance to run over to the edge to see if Zera was alright. He saw nothing but water as he looked down, scanning it for any signs of her. Meanwhile, Sora and Riku had been blocked from attacking Hook by the Phantom.

"So sorry about your friend, but don't worry," he said grinning, "you'll be joining her soon enough." Takuto turned to him and lunged at him to attack him too, and since the Phantom was already being attacked by Sora and Riku, Hook had to defend himself.

"I'm gonna push you overboard myself," Takuto said glaring at the villan as the dueled. Yoko, meanwhile, had been working on getting herself out of the ropes, but still wasn't having much luck. Peter made his way over to them after making sure Wendy was in a safe place.

"Need some help?" he asked hoving over them.

"It would be greatly appreciated," Kairi said with a smile. Peter nodded and undid hers and Yoko's bindings. Yoko smirked as she rubbed her wrists a little. She then got out her keyblade and went into an attack stance.

"Time for some payback," she said, and then jumped in started attacking Hook alongside Takuto. Kairi looked over at Peter and then nodded, and then jumped in to fight with Riku and Sora against the Phantom, since they seemed to be having a bit of trouble. The fight went on, and Takuto was beginning to get worried if Zera was okay or not. The Phantom had finally been destroyed, but Hook still seemed to have planty of energy. Suddenly the color drained from his face as he listened intently while they had stopped briefly. The ticking of a watch could be heard getting closer at a rapid pace.

"Oh no. That dreaded sound," Hook said as he trembled. They heard someone laughing manically, and the next thing they saw was Zera riding onto of the crocodile that ate Capitan Hook's hand jumping over the ship.

"Hey everybody!" she shouted as they landed on the deck with a loud thud. Everyone had blank expressions on their face. "What? So I made a friend that's a crocodile? There's nothing wrong with that! Really!"

"..."

"Oh fine. But he's helpful. See? Okay boy, he's right there. Go get him!" she said pointing at Hook who's eyes widened. The crocodile grinned and licked it's scaly lips, before charging towards Hook who then took off running and screaming like a little girl. Zera grinned. "So...didja have fun without me?"

Yoko walked over to her and hit her over the head. "Don't do it again. You scared us, and I think you almost gave Takuto a heart attack," she said, and then gave her friend a small hug. Zera smiled.

"Wow. I didn't know I was so loved!" she said. She then walked over to Takuto and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks for worrying about me!" Takuto blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Yeah...you're welcome," he said. He was beginning to feel very guilty. Yoko, though couldn't believe what she saw.

"Wait...so you guys like each other?" she asked, stunned that Zera had not told her.

"And apparently they've confessed too," Riku said with a smirk. The two blushed.

"Was that why you looked depressed at first, and then when I came back in like you were on Cloud Nine?" Yoko asked. Zera blushed a bit harder and nodded.

"Um...sort of," she said quietly. Kairi giggled.

"Well congratulations," she said.

"So why didn't you tell me?" Yoko asked, prodding her friend for answers.

"Well you caught me right afterwards so I guess I was kind of dazed, and then I guess I just forgot afterwards to tell you. I would've eventually," Zera confessed. Yoko rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway.

"Yeah, sure," she said.

"Come on, let's go see how Peter and Wendy are doing," Sora said. Everyone agreed, and they all left. Soon they were all on the Clock Tower. They had said their goodbyes to Peter and Wendy. He said he was going to take her back to her real home, and then he was gonna go back to Neverland. So now they were all just sitting on the top of the tower, enjoying the view. All the while, Takuto was growing more nervous as each second passed. He and Zera were sitting together on the other side of the tower with their legs dangling off the side, and her head on his shoulder. He kept fidgeting, and after a few minutes of this, Zera gave up leaning on his shoulder. She faced him with a look of concern.

"Okay, you're fidgeting more than usual. What's wrong?" she asked

"N-nothing. It's just that...I think we should go soon," he said quickly. He stood up and began to pace back and forth. Zera looked at him in confusion.

"Why are you so eager to go? We should enjoy the peace we have now while we can," she said. He stopped and looked at her.

"I know, but we really need to go. Right now," he said. He began to scan the sky as if he were expecting something to be coming for them.

"That didn't answer my question at all. I can feel that we aren't going to have to many more times like these in the near future. Something's coming, and we all take part in it. I just want to enjoy the time we do have, right here, right now," she said. He smiled a little at her before they heard a scream.

"That's Kairi!" Zera said, shooting up from her spot she started to run, but Takuto stopped her. He seemed hesitant, like he was going to say something, but decided against it. "What?"

"...Nothing. Come on, let's go," he said as he followed her. They turned the corner and saw three figures, all in long black leather coats, sort of like the one Riku had been wearing when they had first met up with him. The shortest one had caught Kairi and was dangling her from the tower.

"And the second one arrives," the person said. It sounded like a female.

"Hey Shorty! You give Kairi back or you and your buddies there are gonna get it," Zera said. Takuto hung back, watching everything. They heard the two taller ones sigh as the female twitched.

"Don't call me short!" she yelled. She then let go of Kairi's wrist only to catch it again quickly, but that didn't stop the red head from screaming a little at the sudden drop. "Or else I'll drop your little friend!" Kairi began to cry. Zera bit her lip and she looked over at Yoko helplessly. Yoko, Riku, and Sora were all currently in a fighting stance, facing the two other figures who had yet to speak. The one on the left decided it was his turn to cut in.

"We'll give her back as soon as you Twilight Masters come with us. We happen to need you for a little something," he said.

"No!" Takuto said, his guilt taking over. Everyone stared at him.

"Oh! Hi Takuto! How's it going?" the third one said. Takuto glared hard at him. "What? You're mad at us? Why? It's not like we're doing anything to you."

"Shut up," he said.

"You know him?" Yoko asked suspiciously.

"Of course he does. He works for us," the female said.

"T-Takuto? What..." Zera said confused at everything being said.

"Not anymore I don't. I won't let you take them," he growled.

"But my dear Takuto. You've just handed them to us on a silver platter. Gold would've been better, but it'll do," the female said. Takuto growled again and glared harder at them.

"Uh-oh. Looks like little Taki got feelings for one of the targets. That's not good now is it Marla," the third one said teasingly. They could see the one called Marla smirk.

"No. That just won't do. Well, we might as well take them as well as him. We blew his cover anyhow, but we need to teach him a bit of a lesson," she said. "Amida, Kurishi, go fetch." She threw Kairi at them and she landed on top of Riku and Sora. Yoko was about to see if Riku was okay, but was caught in a binding of darkness and fell into Kurishi's arms.

"Ah, ah, ah! You're coming with us little missy!" he said smirking. Yoko struggled violently, but the binds didn't give way. "Ooh. I like 'em fiesty. Keeps it interesting." He picked her up and the hit her in the back of the neck to knock her out. He then walked over to Marla who was waiting for him and Amida. Amida had, meanwhile, disappeared and reappeared through a portal behind Zera and Takuto, and bound the by darkness too. Zera was too stunned by this news to struggle much, but Takuto did. By the time he returned to Marla's side, carrying them, Sora, Riku, and Kairi had gotten back up. Marla smirked as waved to them as Kurishi and Amida walked into the portal Amida made for them.

"Ta ta my lovlies! Seen when we rule the universe!" she said. Takuto struggled even more.

"No! Erg. Hallow Bastion!" he yelled. "Go there! It's where-ah!" Amida shut him up by knocking him out as well. Zera was still out of it, and seemed she would be that way for a while.

"No!" Riku yelled as he ran towards the portal. Sora and Kairi ran after him, and caught him from falling over the edge as the portal disappeared. He sank to his knees and squeezed his eyes shut. He hit the ground next to him hard enough that his knuckles began bleeding.

"Dammit," he said through clenched teeth. "We should have never trusted him. God dammit!" he yelled as he punched the ground again. Kairi looked from her silver haired friend to Sora. The spikey haired man sighed.

"He did give us a location though. Hallow Bastion. We should start there," Sora said. Riku opened his eyes and glared down at the hard floor beneath him. Finally he got up and looked at them.

"Alright. Let's go," he said and then walked away. Kairi sighed and gave him a worried look. The two followed after their friend and onto the gummi ship. Kairi wrapped Riku's wounded knuckles, and then they set a course for Hallow Bastion...

.:Author's Note:.

Zera: ...wow. Lot's 'o drama!

Yoko: I'll say. I told you we couldn't trust Takuto.

Zera: No! He's still good I tell ya!

Yoko: Tch...whatever.

Zera: Okay, well here's a warning for the readers. It's gonna get really dramatic in the next chapter. Lots of blood and gore there. And tears. Can't forget the tears.

Yoko: Guess who gets a near death experience.

Zera: tell your guess in the review please! I may or may not tell you if you're right.

Yoko: just review okay? please?