Wooh! Double upload! Not only that, but this is a long one to make up for my lack of updating! Plus I'm going to update Sailor Hearts now! (Now that there's this tangent about Hotaru, as well as teh other senshi being nobodies, hopefully there will be more intrigue for reading it...)

Hotaru continued to run, and then stop and nearly doubled over panting. Physical activity had never been her strong suit, being given to seizures and such, and she wasn't very far from the nobodies. Still, it didn't look like they were chasing after her.

Now that she wasn't fleeing for her life, she considered what the figure had said. That she had fallen to darkness…then…was that her Nobody? The idea of it made Hotaru feel sick. That meant she had become a heartless at some point. But how? And how was she here now, not a heartless?

But wait—the other heartless had seemed uninterested in her. What had the organization member said? She lacked something the heartless wanted…was she lacking a heart, in the end? Was that why the heartless ignored her? Why she could remember anything?

Why deep down, she had always felt so cut off and distant from everything else around her?

But then, that would make the cloaked figure her heartless.

Not that you'd recognize me. The darkness can change a person…

But no, that didn't really make sense. And besides, Hotaru could obviously feel, so she couldn't possibly be a nobody, right?

Naminé could feel…

Huh? Where had that come from?

The thought lay there in her head, and Hotaru instantly realized she knew it to be true. But how would she know that? Naminé was Kairi's nobody, sure, and Kairi had told her a bit about her. But to really know anything about her?

Was it a memory? Something to do with her past?

Hotaru shook her head. This was giving her a headache. She needed to get going. She prepared to start running again when a familiar face—and just a face—popped up in front of her.

"Ah, good. You got away from the Queen."

"Oh, it's you. I guess I should thank you."

"You guess?" said the Cheshire cat, cocking his head. "You know, guessing at things is never a good route. You should follow your heart and come up with a real answer. Guesses can lead you to all kinds of false roads."

Hotaru smiled. "Well, my heart says to thank you, and I will. Thank you," she said, curtsying a bit. "Why did you help me anyway?"

"Oh, I have a weakness for young heroes."

Hotaru bowed her head. "I'm no hero."

"Oh, are you put off by what that girl said?" Hotaru looked up at him. "I keep an ear low to the ground at all times. Darkness isn't something you should worry about. I sometimes use the darkness, too."

"You? The darkness?"

"Oh, yes indeed!" said the cat. "The world always needs a little darkness. I only ever use it to set the light back on track, though. The light will always chase after the darkness, and the darkness always chases back. An endless game of tag."

Hotaru shook her head. "You always have some words of wisdom."

"Wisdom? Well, I don't know about that. I'm glad for the appreciation, though. Sora and Roxas could never quite appreciate me…"

"You knew Sora?"

"And his Nobody. They were quite similar. Yes, I'd send heartless after them every now and then. Or I should say, I taught them where to look. They couldn't really see that it was the darkness that was truly seeking them all along. Such is the way when you have a keyblade."

"Huh. I wouldn't know," said Hotaru. "Well, anymore wise words? I should probably get going."

"Just one: duck."

The cat pounced onto Hotaru's head, knocking Hotaru down. Then he disappeared. "What the—

A fire spell whizzed over her head, right where the Cheshire cat had been. Hotaru sweatdropped. He saved me again, she thought.

"Stupid Emerald Serenades! Why can't you just stand still?" cried a girl's voice. Huh, she sounds kind of like Kairi, Hotaru thought to herself. Hotaru got up and turned towards the voice.

"Sorry! I was trying to get this heartless…" the Emerald Serenade was floating along in the air getting farther and farther from them, seemingly harmless. Hotaru laughed at the silly thing and then stopped when she looked at the girl properly.

Hotaru couldn't decide what was more surprising: The Organization coat the girl was wearing, the keyblade she was carrying that looked exactly like Sora's, or the fact that her face looked exactly like Kairi's.

Everything about the girl screamed wrong.

"So, what do you think the Organization wants in the Cave of Wonders?" asked Riku. "Who knows? The Cave of Wonders is supposed to be ancient. There could be all kinds of dangerous secrets in there."

"Yeah…" Riku frowned. "But what would they want Jasmine for?"

"Another good question. I guess we'll just have to find out." Riku smiled to himself. Usually Mickey carried himself wisely and seriously, acting as a king should, but other times, he had a happy-go-lucky attitude that reminded him so much of Sora. Maybe that was why he had taken to the king so much.

Jasmine hummed to herself in front of her mirror as she brushed out her hair. Then in the mirror she saw two female cloaked figures walk out of a corridor of darkness.

"Well, well, well, would you look at that? No Aladdin around to save you this time," said one of the figures, obviously in charge. The other figure walked forward. "Now, come along nicely…"

Jasmine instinctively gripped her brush and threw it at the girl. It planted itself right in her face, knocking her over into the other figure. Jasmine got up and started to run towards her balcony.

"Hey, get back here!" said the first girl getting up when Rajah appeared and roared at the girls. Startled, this time she backed into the other girl and they both tumbled down again.

"Ow! Xire, my back!"

"Grr! This is all your clumsy fault!" she said, sitting up. Her hood had fell down, revealing her long raven-colored hair.

"ME clumsy? You're the one scared by a stupid tiger!"

"Well, anyway…where is she going?" said Xire as she watched Jasmine jump off the balcony. "Uh, isn't that a little extreme?" said the second girl. Xire stood up quickly…and the rug was pulled from beneath them. Carpet dove towards Jasmine, catching her just before the fall. Xire, on her face for a third time, glared angrily at them. "I'M GOING TO TORCH THAT DAMNED FLYING CARPET!"

"Boy, she was a little more resilient that we gave her credit for, huh?"

Xire smacked the girl across the back of her head and ran to the balcony. The princess had disappeared. She peered a bit beyond the wall, but couldn't make out anything.

"Oh well, just another failure," said the other girl lazily, not bothering to get up for fear some other booby trap would simply cause them to fall again. "That combined with Riku and the King being here convinces me. Might as well call it a day and head back."

"It doesn't take anything to convince you to get out of work," said Xire angrily. "We're going to find her. She couldn't have gone too far."

The girl faced her angry partner. "Why are you trying so hard?"

"We aren't all lazy like you," she snapped. "Besides, the other members already hate us as is. We can't keep letting them down by botching up our missions!"

"Or someone can't let Axel down…"

Xire glared at her. "Seriously ! We're going to be turned into Dusks at this rate! Aren't you at all worried?"

"I don't see why we should work so hard to gain the approval of the stupid Organization."

Xire pursed her lips at this statement.

"Besides, turning us into dusks would be a little hypocritical, not to mention counterproductive."

Xire shook her head. "Too much is put together now. Aladdin's out of the way, Genie went off to try to save him, and the King and Riku should be preoccupied. And Zexion's out there as backup should something go wrong. We are not going to fail this mission again!"

The girl groaned. "You can't fail if you never try," she grumbled, but got up and followed Xire to look for Jasmine.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost," said Xion to Hotaru. Xion knew she wasn't supposed to talk to natives, but something about this girl set her at ease—she almost seemed kind of familiar somehow. Which was ridiculous, of course.

"You…you're…Xion?" said Hotaru, stuttering. The girl looked surprised. "Do I know you?" asked Xion, peering closer at Hotaru. Yes, there was definitely something familiar. Something small, but something…important…

"Yes," answered Hotaru automatically. "We met before."

When Xion first awakened at Yen Sid's, she told herself, but didn't really believe it. She knew what a Freudian slip was. Some how, subconsciously, she remembered Xion from somewhere else.

"Xion…" Hotaru suddenly didn't know what to say. Seeing her there, looking so innocent with Kairi's face and Kairi's eyes, a gentle smile on her lips that was slowly fading…Hotaru suddenly felt sorry for her. Well, sorrier than she had before. How could she put this?

"Xion…do you know where Sora is?"

Xion's face fell completely into a look of puzzlement. "Sora? How do you know Sora? What do you want with him?"

"Um…I'm a friend of Sora's. I just want to know he's alright."

"A friend of Sora's?" the keyblade disappeared from her hand and she crossed her arms. "That does sound like him…making friends he's not supposed to…" she shook her head. "Well, Sora's fine. It just so happens he's a friend of mine too," she said, beaming. It didn't make Hotaru feel any better though. Sora and Xion…friends? What exactly did that mean? She tried to think of something to say, something that wasn't too insensitive.

"Um…why were you trying to destroy that heartless anyway?"

Wrong question. Xion's face turned defiant. "I'm not sure I should tell you that. Why are you asking all of these questions?" The keyblade returned to her hand. "Are you against the Organization?"

So Xion had returned to the Organization. So, did that mean Sora…?

Xion got into a fighting stance. "Tell me what you know!"

With some difficulty, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy finally destroyed the last of the Dusks.

"Well, would you look at that? The little princess can fight after all. You should be proud of yourself, Kairi. Nobodies are a lot harder to take out than your average heartless."

"We're about to take another one out!" said Donald defiantly. The girl just laughed. "I'm not much of a fighter myself. I prefer to leave that to others. Besides…shouldn't you be checking up on Hotaru-chan out there?" she said, motioning. Kairi looked towards the door, then back at the cloaked figure. "Hotaru-chan…Do you know her?"

"Very well. I'm sure she'll tell you all about it later. But right now, there's someone else you should be worried about. You'd better hurry or you'll miss her."

"Who?"

"I'll give you a hint," she said sarcastically. "She looks just like you, wields a keyblade, you're only clue to your idiotic boyfriend?" Kairi needed to hear no more. She ran towards where Hotaru had gone, not even thinking that it may have been a lie or a trick. Donald and Goofy were a little more cautious and stayed put in front of the girl in the organization coat. "Just who are you supposed to be?" asked Goofy. The girl just giggled. "Aren't you curious about your friend Sora?"

"I'll bet you know more about where he is!" said Donald, waving his wand threateningly at her. "Well, aren't you a clever little duck? But that's for me to know, and you to find out." She waved as she disappeared into a corridor of darkness. Donald and Goofy exchanged glances, then ran off to follow Kairi.

"Do you know something about the Organization? Who are you?" asked Xion. Hotaru held her hands up pleadingly. "No! It's something I know about you!" she said. Xion's eyes narrowed and Hotaru could tell she had her attention. She couldn't help but think of how Sora would have just ignored her and yell on, and couldn't help but compare that angry stare to his.

"What do you know about me?"

That was when Kairi made her timely appearance. She automatically assumed a fighting position as she came across Xion. "It's you! Where's Sora? What did you do to him?"

Xion froze as she looked at Kairi. "Why…why do you look like me?" she said, dropping her keyblade a bit.

"You're the one who looks like me," said Kairi angrily. "Don't you even know what you are?" She wasn't usually so nasty, but…she needed to know about Sora.

"What I am…?"

"Now tell me, where's Sora!"

Xion stared silently at the ground.

"Answer me, you stupid puppet!"

Xion looked back up into Kairi's identical eyes. Tears began to form in both of them. "Don't you cry," said Kairi. "You're nothing but a fake! Whatever you think you feel is a lie!"

The sadness was replaced my defiant anger. "I'm not a fake. What gives you the right to say that? Who are you to judge what I feel?" Xion ran forward and attacked Kairi. Kairi parried the blow, and the two girls went at it.

"Guys, stop!" protested Hotaru. They kept on fighting anyway. Finally, Xion knocked Kairi down. She groaned and reached for her keyblade, but Xion stepped on it and held her own keyblade at her throat. "Could a fake have beaten you?" asked Xion a bit smugly. Kairi glared at her. "Riddle me this, then: why do you have that keyblade?"

The question obviously bothered her. She was about to respond when Goofy's shield came towards her face. She blocked it and jumped back as Donald and Goofy stood next to Hotaru. Xion looked at them, then back to Hotaru sadly, before disappearing into a corridor of darkness.

"No! Get back here!" said Kairi getting up. She reached the empty spot where Xion had been and held out her hand. "Sora…" she shook her head and fell to her knees. "God, I can't believe I just said that. Did that…"

"I can't believe you did either," said Hotaru coldly. She walked past Kairi wordlessly, avoiding her gaze. "Hotaru…"

"Forget it," she said, waving her hand. "I think we're done here for the day. Let's rest up some and head to the next world."

"Hotaru, is something else bothering you?"

Hotaru stopped. "Nothing's bothering me," said Hotaru. "I just wish you would've handled that better." She turned to face Kairi. "Now we've lost our only lead to Sora. I guess I'll stop being so frosty since I know you're beating yourself up enough about it," said Hotaru shrugging.

"Thanks for that," said Kairi nodding. They walked off, Donald and Goofy awkwardly trailing behind. Sora had never been this emotional.

As they neared the exit of the garden, Hotaru turned sharply as if feeling something. "What is it?"

"I don't know…these roses…" she said intently. "What about them?"

"Someone painted them red." She stared intently at Kairi, then smiled. Kairi laughed in relief. "You worried me for a second there!"

"Just trying to lighten the mood," said Hotaru. She reached out to pick one of the roses.

"Ow!" she withdrew her hand after poking it on a thorn. "Well, isn't that just my luck, to poke myself…" she said, sucking on it…

"P u r e N o K o k o r o…" whispered a voice. Hotaru looked left and right. The Cheshire Cat again?

The red-painted rose she had touched began to glow, and a white one next to it as well. Hotaru backed away as a strange sense of Déjà vu overcame her.

"PURE NO KOKORO!"

The two roses leaped up into the air and came down two twin monsters—one white, one painted red.

Daihmons.

"U-bara!" they said simultaneously. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy stood back, not sure what to make of it. "Are they…heartless?"

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look friendly," said Goofy, holding out his shield. Hotaru touched her head and collapsed.

"Hotaru!"

The white rose creature dove towards Kairi, knocking her down. The red-painted one started after Donald and Goofy. "Which one of you idiots tried to paint me red!"

They exchanged glances. It talked? "Uh, it wasn't us!" they said. The daihmon just growled at them. "Whatever, you're still going to pay!" The daihmon waved her hand and threw sharp roses at them. Goofy blocked them, and Donald began shooting spells at it.

Kairi had managed to get the other Daihmon off of her. "Firaga!"

"Gah!" said the Daihmon as it's leg caught on fire. "You stupid girl! I hate fire!"

"Good!" said Kairi. She shot a few more fire spells, finishing off the monster. Good thing, too. Her fight with the heartless, nobodies, and Xion had taken it out of her.

Donald and Goofy, too. The Daihmon dove towards them one more time, and Goofy bashed against it with all its might. Donald shot some fire spells at it, burning it's arms.

"Ow! You'll pay for that!" it said angrily. A bunch of vines came out of it's arms, ripping apart what was left of them. She then smiled vilely as she stuck them in the ground. The vines came from beneath Kairi, Donald, and Goofy, trapping them in. Kairi struggled, but it was no use. She was out of it.

That was when Hotaru woke up. Her eyes were glazed over, as if she couldn't really see anything in front of her. Her eyes were only on the enemy. "Hotaru!" Kairi gasped out. "Get away!"

But she wasn't listening, seemed unable to hear her. A symbol appeared on her forehead, and Hotaru reached out and touched a loose vine. "What are you—AH!" Hotaru gripped the vine tightly, and a pulse of her energy went through it. The plant-daihmon immediately began to wilt and lose power. It released the trapped trio, who quickly went to work on finishing it off.

They then all turned towards Hotaru, who had fallen unconscious again.

The cloaked Organization member looked from a distance. "Well, that was anticlimactic. Those daihmons suck." She shook her head. "And Hotaru…that was just what I was afraid would happen. And that battle was retardedly nostalgic. I hope she doesn't remember anything…not yet anyway."

Woah...so many things here!

First of all, I wanted Jasmine to be able to do something for herself-She's been in sort of a damsel in distress situation pretty much by default in the games so far, and in reality Jasmine's pretty fiery and a good fighter herself-not helpless at all. And I'm not sure why I didn't say the name of the other girl with Xire since it's pretty obvious who it is, but oh well. And there is more to her words than meets the eyes...

Finally-daihmons? WTF? I was lazy with descriptions, google search U-bara. As soon as you see a monster-looking thing with a yellow rose head and black leaves over its boobs you've foudn it. The battle was kind of a copy of the episode it appeared in, where Hotaru-in a trance-did basically the same thing described here. So...why the heck is there a daihmon here?