Thank you, everyone! I got a ton of feedback last chapter! It made me really happy, and now I know I'm not writing to some cyber ghosts. I have to warn you, this one isn't one of my best. However, I've already written the next chapter and will post… maybe right after this one. Or I might just torture you and post it tomorrow… or next week.

Whatever I do, I know you'll enjoy the next chapter more, but this one leaks into the next to I advise you read it.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Part 7

The Caterpillar Perched Upon the Mushroom

"Who are you?" The caterpillar asked. Kairi stared as she stood frozen. The caterpillar wasn't gross to Kairi or freaky. He really didn't look like a caterpillar, but he had six arms. Kairi gulped as she spotted his blinding pink hair, and his body fit into a long, comfortable looking blue coat that slinked under his feet as he walked.

"I…," Kairi started and then sat down on the moist ground. "I'm Kairi. At least, I think so."

"Why don't you know so?" The caterpillar asked. He had a judging air to him that made Kairi's chest swell with uncomfortable self-consciousness.

"When I came to Wonderland I was Kairi," she replied, sighing. "But Sora called me Mary-Anne. The flowers called me a bug, and the Tweetles in the forest thought I was-"

"Enough!" The caterpillar demanded. He slinked above Kairi. He stood on a high mushroom, with his arms behind him. In his hand was a pipe with colored smoke emitting from it. He puffed in the smoke, and blew it out.

"Anyway, I really need to know how to get back to normal size," Kairi said.

"Do you?" He pondered. Kairi started recognizing him. Or felt like she knew him, but never met him. The name popped in as Marluxia.

"Yes, I do," Kairi huffed, getting up. "If you're going to waste my time, then I'll move on." The caterpillar puffed a huge cloud of vibrant smoke at her, blinding her and stinging her eyes. She coughed.

"The right grows and the left shrinks," he said, as she waved smoke away from her face, trying to get vision again.

"W-what?" She coughed. "The right of what?"

"The right!" The caterpillar exclaimed. Kairi groaned.

"Wonderland loves riddles," she grumbled.

"What?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. The caterpillar flicked its hair and sighed. He was impatient.

"Do want my help or not?" he asked.

Kairi moaned. "Yeah, but you said 'The right grows.' What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?"

Kairi stared, not sure what to do. She couldn't walk off; he would blind her again. She didn't want to sit down again, and this caterpillar wasn't making things any easier. She turned around, debating whether to leave that way or not.

When she spun back around, the caterpillar had been replaced with a cocoon. She gasped. It was blue and the shell reflected the suns light, making it beautiful to Kairi. She stared at it, deciding maybe leaving was a good idea. He couldn't blind her in a cocoon.

She walked past his mushroom, not looking over her shoulder. She swung her arms by her sides, making her walk faster. She felt energy behind her. She didn't look back; she didn't care.

"The right grows," she mumbled. "Whatever."

She was lifted into the air by the power of something above. She was placed back down, and looked up to see what had picked her up. Fluttering above her head was a huge butterfly. It had pink wings, matching the hair.

The caterpillar waved to her. She gasped at how fast his transformation had been. He had only two arms now, holding up his wings as he glided by. She gaped.

"You're amazing!" She called out to him through he cuffed hands. The butterfly shrugged pompously and turned to her.

"The mushroom," he called. She was confused at first then turned to where his perch had been. He pointed to it. His message clicked in. She raced to the mushroom while waving her thanks to the butterfly she only knew for a few moments.

She climbed up onto the top of the mushroom with difficulty. She needed to get to the right side of the mushroom; because it was going to make he grow back to normal size.

She ripped off a spongy piece of the yellowish mushroom. She licked her lips and weighed the mushroom in her hand. Too big of a bite and she'd be a giant, but just right and she'd be back to normal. She gulped and placed her mouth on a piece of mushroom. She chewed it carefully and swallowed cautiously.

She shot up and watched the trees become normal. She stopped right where she needed to be. She straightened her dress and started jogging in the direction she hoped Sora took to… wherever he was going.

She picked up the front of her dress, just in case she wouldn't trip over it. She went from a jog, to a sprint, then a run. She ran deeper into a dark and easy-to-get-lost-in forest. When the ground became purplish dark and sunlight didn't poke out of the trees, she stared cautiously walking.

She spun around when she heard an animal sound she didn't recognize. She gulped and stifled a scream when she heard a slither. She started walking stiffly forward. She heard bouncy humming. She closed her eyes and walked on, trying to calm herself with the familiar sounds of the island. She swayed to the imaginary sound of the waves.

The waves disappeared behind the sound of something heavy in the trees.

"Hi there," a voice greeted. She shrieked and started running faster than she thought possible in an unfamiliar dress.

"Sora!" she cried and tripped on her dress. She dropped to the ground defeated. She cried into the ground, the soil sticking to her wet face.

"Don't cry," the voice said calmly. Her tears froze in her throat when she recognized the voice. She turned her head to see Riku holding his hand out to her.

I was too impatient, so I posted this before my editor could edit it.

Please review!