Before I start this next chapter, I'd like to apologize to everyone who's been reading this, especially my awesome beta reader, who has been bugging me endlessly to work on this story (and I thank her), for the very late update. I kinda lost interest in this story, but after watching a few DN Angel DVDs and playing KH a bit, my desire to work on it returned.

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel or Kingdom Hearts. Don't sue me, I don't have money either.

Now, without further babbling, I present you with another chapter of Hearts.

Disney Castle

It was a beautiful castle. It was also immense, covering a large area on the ground and stretching up towards the clouds with its many towers, as if trying to puncture them with the blue-hued points. The castle was made entirely of white stones, and appeared to glow in the sunlight, and there was a slight breeze, as indicated by the small orange pennants at the top of each tower fluttering. Inside, sunlight spilled through the numerous windows, landing on the stone floors and red carpet that stretched the length of the long hallway. This particular hallway happened to be the hallway that led to the throne room.

A figure was walking down the hallway at that moment. He was the court wizard, indicated by his attire—a purple, slightly crooked pointed hat similar to the ones usually worn by witches in children's drawings, a matching purple long-sleeved coat with gold buttons on the chest, and a dark blue belt around his waist. Over the coat was a dark blue vest with a pair of zippers leading from the neck—but this particular court wizard was actually a small, white duck.

He nodded and chuckled as a trio of brooms marched past him in the opposite direction, in search of their next cleaning assignment. He smiled as their shuffling footsteps got fainter and fainter, before he abruptly stopped and turned to his right. There, in front of him, was a giant set of purple double doors. The doors were enormous; the topmost part of the gold arch framing the doors nearly reached the high vaulted ceiling. It seemed impossible for the small wizard to open the doors by himself.

The duck cleared his throat, lifting a white fist towards his beak, before using the same fist to knock a couple times on the base of one of the doors. It wasn't a random series of knocks, though; it sounded like a tune, like a code or password of some sort. He dropped his hand as the doors emitted a clicking sound, and a tiny section of the giant doors opened to allow passage inside.

The throne room was vast, easily able to fit hundreds or maybe even thousands of guests at one time, but at that moment it was completely empty. A red carpet similar to the one in the hall outside stretched from the doors to the throne, and a matching tapestry outlined in gold hung behind the throne. The tapestry had three circles on it, a crest of sorts.

The wizard made his way down the carpet towards the throne, stopping briefly halfway to bow in greeting.

"Good morning, Your Majesty," he called out, before moving again. He stopped again in front of the throne and bowed again.

"It's nice to see you this morn—what!"

He had just raised his head, expecting to see the king he had come to see, but instead, he saw nothing. He froze, but silently panicked. What should he do? What would he tell the others? What would he tell the queen? In his panicked state, he didn't even notice the king's dog creep out from behind the throne, holding something in his mouth. It took him a moment, but then he noticed the dog.

"What are you holding, there, Pluto?" the duck asked, taking the object from Pluto's mouth.

It was an envelope, one that had the three-circle crest. The wizard opened the envelope and pulled out and unfolded the letter that was inside. There were a few moments of silence as he read the letter, then lowered it, blinking a few times.

A few seconds later, he burst out of the throne room, screaming and waving his arms like a madman, or in this case, a mad duck. He had to find the captain of the guard, the only one that he trusted with the news at that moment.

The guard captain in question was asleep at the moment in front of his own castle. Actually, it wasn't a castle, but a bush trimmed into the shape of the castle it was located inside. The bush castle was the focal point of the castle garden, surrounded by many different colors of flowers as well as other bush sculptures.

The guard captain himself was dressed entirely in armor, with the exception of his helmet, which was perched on top of his head. He had a doggie face, and his mouth was wide open and soft snores issued from it periodically. His arms were folded behind his head like a pillow, and one leg was stretched out in front of him while the other one was propped on the knee of the outstretched one.

The court wizard came running into the garden, still waving his arms and screaming, zigzagging his way to the captain, and nearly tripping over him before he managed to regain his balance.

"Wake up, Goofy! Wake up!" He yelled, jumping around hysterically. "This is serious!"

Goofy responded by moaning in his sleep, smiling, and letting out a long breath in the wizard's face. The wizard bristled and huffed angrily. Then, his gaze fixed on the sleeping captain, he pointed a finger skyward, yelled, and released a bolt of lightning from the sky onto Goofy. Getting electrocuted apparently was enough to wake him, and he jumped in surprise and pain.

Goofy landed with a series of loud clangs, and rubbed his eyes with one hand, attempting to clear his vision. As it cleared, he recognized the face of his friend.

"Hey there, Donald," he greeted, waving. "G'morning."

Donald ignored the greeting. "We've got a problem, Goofy!" He waved his arms again. Suddenly, he stopped and glanced quickly left and right, making sure there was no one else around. "But don't tell anyone…" he said in a much softer voice.

"Queen Minnie?" Goofy asked, eyes wide.

"Not even the queen!" Donald said, hands on hips.

Goofy shifted his gaze, but Donald didn't notice. "Daisy?"

Donald shook his head frantically. "NO! It's top secret!"

By now, Goofy wasn't even looking at Donald anymore. "G'morning, ladies," he said, waving to someone behind Donald. Donald froze.

"Wh-What?"

He slowly turned around, afraid of what he was going to see there. His fears were confirmed, however, when his gaze fell upon the aforementioned ladies, standing side by side underneath a bush sculpted into the shape of an arch. Donald gulped and laughed nervously as Daisy narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. Minnie tilted her head to the side in confusion.

It was another beautiful day on Destiny Islands. There were very few clouds, and it wasn't too hot. This was the very definition of paradise, which is what the islands were, as described by both adults and children alike.

There was a dull thunk as the side of the wooden boat hit one of the dock's support pillars. Daisuke climbed up onto the dock and stood to face the island, stretching to get the stiffness out of his arms.

"Daisuke!"

Daisuke opened his eyes and dropped his hands upon hearing a panicked voice call his name. A figure was running across the sand towards him; it was Risa. She looked worried and when she reached the dock, she was short of breath, apparently from running.

"Risa? What's wrong?" Daisuke asked when Risa approached him.

"It's Dark! I can't find him anywhere!" she cried, adopting a look of complete helplessness.

"I—I don't know where he is," Daisuke replied, stumbling over his words slightly. He really didn't know, and it wasn't helping that Risa was making him very nervous by standing so close to him.

"Oh. I really want to talk to him." Risa turned away from Daisuke slightly, sighing in slight disappointment. Then her eyes lit up. "Hey, have you ever heard of the legend of the paopu fruit?" She paused, then continued with a faraway look in her eyes. "They say if you share it with the one you love, you stay with them forever! Isn't that great? I would love to share a paopu with Dark." She sighed and Daisuke could've sworn his heart stopped for a moment.

"Um…t-that's nice, Risa. I hope that works out for you." Daisuke backed up and walked as quickly as he could away from Risa. He decided not to dwell on the conversation, since he was supposed to meet Dark and Satoshi so they could finish the raft. There was a door that led to the other side of the island, the one that Satoshi had been "guarding" the day before. Daisuke opened the door, which was unguarded, and went through it.

The other half of the island was much smaller and divided into two sections. The circular part Daisuke was standing on was made of stone and rose about four feet from the surrounding sand, with boards of varying lengths nailed upright around it. Leading from the raised area was a series of platforms that had once been a bridge before some of the planks rotted and fell down. Daisuke knew that one part of the bridge had a trapdoor-like section that was very dangerous unless one knew it was there and knew to jump over it.

The second section began where the bridge ended, and was separated from the first section by a long rectangular plateau, mostly covered by moss and flowering plants, with a set of stairs carved into the far right side. Right beside the stairs was the most noticeable part of that half of the island—a tall wooden tower with a ladder. To the far left was a small cave.

Daisuke trudged through the shallow water, making his way around the rectangle plateau and arriving at the "boat ruins". True to its name, there were bits and pieces of boats that had crashed along the shore. Beyond the ruins, there was a small grove of palm trees, and perched on a shelf high above the grove was a small tree with and enormous star ornament stuck onto it. A ramp on the right led up to the wall that divided the island and there were moss-covered shelves jutting out of it.

The raft was sitting near the shore, more or less completely assembled. The logs that made up the bottom were securely bound to one another and the cloth that Daisuke had found the day prior was attached to the mast as a sail. At the base of the mast, Satoshi was sitting cross-legged, reading a book.

"Hi, Satoshi!" Daisuke greeted his friend, jogging over to the raft. Satoshi peered up at the redhead; the action caused his glasses, which had slipped down his nose, to get pushed back up.

"You're late Daisuke. I wasn't sure you'd even be here." Satoshi replied, a faint smile creeping onto his face. "We're almost ready to go. We just need food."

"You mean Dark hasn't already come and done it?"

Satoshi's face resumed its normal expressionless look. "No. Actually, I haven't seen him at all today."

"That's strange," Daisuke muttered, looking towards the door he had come through earlier, having heard it open and close. Even Satoshi, who had turned back to his book, looked up just in time to see Riku appear next to the wooden tower. At her appearance, Satoshi merely waved, but Daisuke ran up to her and opened his mouth to say hi, but Riku beat him.

"Daisuke, what did you say to Risa? She's going berserk, going on about Dark and paopu fruits and she's driving me nuts!"

"Did someone call me?"

Dark appeared behind Riku as if he had appeared out of thin air, grinning. He sidled up to her and slid his arm around her shoulders and draped it there, causing the girl to twitch slightly. Then he looked down and saw Daisuke and feigned shock.

"Daisuke! Nice to see you here! Ready for a rematch already?" he teased, ignoring Riku's death glare, a look that probably would have killed him had he been paying attention to it. Daisuke rubbed the back of his head. He had lost the race the day before, but he blamed it on Dark's legs being longer.

"Yeah…Yeah I am!"

Riku had had enough. "Dark, I'd prefer it if you would keep your hands to yourself!" She told him, shoving his arm off her shoulder and moving away. "Pervert."

In response, Dark made the saddest, most pathetic face he could think of, but Riku did nothing. Defeated, Dark turned to Daisuke, who had climbed up to stand in front of him.

"I was thinking earlier, that we need a name for our raft." The older boy paused for a moment. "And a captain, of course, but for a name I was thinking Kokuyoku. What about you?"

"Umm…well…Menou sounds like a good name to me."

"I think it sounds stupid."

"That's mean!"

"Will you guys get over there, already?" Riku commanded, ending the insult round. Both boys immediately ceased the conversation and made their way over to the circular plateau.

"The goal of the race is to reach the tree with the star and make it back here first. Take any route you want, but don't kill each other. On your marks…"

"If I win, I get to name the raft and I'm captain. If you win…" Daisuke started, but Dark interrupted him.

"Winner gets to share a paopu with whoever they want." Dark stated matter-of-factly.

"What?" Daisuke nearly fell over. Those weren't the conditions they just agreed on! Sure, it was a good deal, but if Daisuke lost…

"Three!"

Well, he couldn't back out now.

"Two!"

Daisuke got into a running position as Dark did the same beside him.

"One!"

Daisuke shook his head to clear it. He had to focus on the race.

"Go!"

Immediately, Dark ran for the bridge, but Daisuke had a different plan. Instead, he jumped off the plateau and splashed through the shallow water below. Above him, Dark's feet thudded against the wood, pausing slightly when their owner stepped on the trapdoor section of the bridge, causing it to swing downwards. Unfortunately, the violet-haired teenager managed to avoid falling and continued.

Daisuke knew he was heading for the tower as he always did, to use the zipline. He reached the beach on the other side and focused on the incline that led to the wall. He passed Satoshi and the raft as he went, nearly tripping over one of the logs, but not falling. He went up the incline and across the mossy shelves to the star tree. He extended his arm to touch it and saw another one do the same. Daisuke was confused. How had Dark reached the tree so quickly?

Dark and Daisuke looked at each other for a second completely frozen, until both of them grinned and leapt off the shelf to the sand below. A quick but furious shoving match ensued, until Daisuke managed to get away and sprint towards the finish line. Upon reaching the water, he was only a few feet in front of Dark, but he managed to get through the water and climb onto the platform. Riku declared him the winner, and he relayed the fact to a panting Dark a few seconds later.

"Ha! I won! Now we're even!" he rejoiced, pumping the air with his fist. Dark glared at him.

"Sheesh, settled down, Daisuke. It's only a name."

That statement warranted another shocked look. He had changed the conditions again! Daisuke screwed his face up and went to Satoshi, which turned out to be a good idea, as Risa burst through the door ten seconds later, saw Dark, and promptly latched onto him. Satoshi was standing beside the raft when Daisuke approached him.

"Today we're supposed to collect provisions," Satoshi stated. "I would ask Dark to do it, but he seems…incapacitated." A faint smile appeared on his face again. "We need two coconuts, three mushrooms, three fish, a seagull egg, and," he pushed a bottle into Daisuke's hands, "drinking water. Fresh water, though, not from the ocean."

Daisuke went off to find the mushrooms first, since they were the toughest to find. They were large brown mushrooms that usually grew fairly far apart, but they were hard to find unless you were really looking for them. Luckily, Daisuke knew enough about the island that he knew where they were likely to grow. As it happened, there was one close by, growing near the entrance to a small cave with a large boulder sitting in front of it, just a little ways away from the raft. Daisuke carefully picked it before hoisting himself onto the plateau in front of him. He walked slowly towards the bridge, like he was going to go across it, but turned left instead of right, to face a large section of heavy vegetation. There, nearly hidden by crisscrossing vines, was a second mushroom. Two down, one to go.

Daisuke didn't think that any more mushrooms grew in that area, so he wandered, or rather made his way carefully, over to the door that lead to the other side of the island, remembering to jump the trapdoor on the bridge. He paused to smirk at Risa, who was tugging on Dark's arm, trying desperately to get him to come with her. Dark had his feet planted firmly on the ground and had grabbed a thick vine hanging from the wall to keep him anchored.

"Daisuke, help me!"

Dark got the sound of a door creaking closed as his answer.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Daisuke was halfway up the beach when he was suddenly waylaid by something tall and yellow. For a split second, he thought it was a large banana, until the "banana" started talking.

"Good morning, Daisuke." Wakka greeted cheerfully, passing his blue ball from hand to hand. Daisuke vaguely wondered what would happen if he stole the ball, but decided not to.

"'Morning Wakka. What are you doing over here?" Daisuke asked, gesturing to the corner where the shack met the raised portion of the land, where Wakka had been standing before Daisuke came over. Behind the yellow-clad boy was a waterfall that poured clear water into a pool below, the island's main source of fresh water.

"Waitin' for Satoshi. Me an' him, we're gonna do some exploring today. In the secret place. There's gotta be something in there, ya?" Wakka replied, apparently excited. He pointed to the other side of the pool, where there was a patch of shadow with a "door" of vines covering it.

"Oh. I was just about to go in there. Do you mind?"

"No problem, man. Just don't get lost, ya?" Wakka laughed, retrieved his ball from under his arm, and started spinning it on his finger. Daisuke walked past him and up the nearby ramp, towards the secret place.

Yay for two-part chapters! By the way, I'm not entirely sure that I got Wakka down right. Hmm...