I'm so sorry.

Good news, I got Dream Drop Distance for Christmas and am feeling inspired. Once I withdraw from my cave, I'll be back to writing more hopefully...

Kairi heard waves, and realizes she was lying on sand. For a brief moment, she believed she might be home, even though she knew it wasn't possible. The sand beneath her was cold, and it was far too eerily quiet for it to be the islands she knew. Still, she could just lay her with her eyes closed for a few more moments and pretend.

She could have, if a hand hadn't been placed on her head, shaking her awake. Kairi slowly raised her head, scared of what exactly she might have been facing, but found there was no need for alarm she stared into a pair of gentle blue eyes.

"Who are you?"

The girl smiled. "Thank goodness you're all right…" She held out a hand. "Please, call me Aqua." Kairi took her hand, and Aqua pulled her up. Something about Aqua seemed…familiar. And something about her instantly put Kairi at ease. "At least, you're as safe as you can be here," finished Aqua, sighing.

Kairi looked around. The place looked almost like an anti-Destiny Islands, which was peaceful and beautiful even at night. It appeared to be night here, but there were no stars out; the moon was the only source of any illumination. And what exactly was it? The water looked dark and empty, and strange looking structures—rocks? Some sort of warped trees?—were scattered everywhere. "Where is here, exactly?"

"The Realm of Darkness," said Aqua grimly. "Or, its edge at least. Do you have any idea how you ended up here?"

Kairi shook her head. "I'm not really sure…last thing I remember…" Kairi held out her hand and summoned her keyblade. Aqua's eyes widened. "A keyblade?" Kairi nodded. Aqua held her own hand out and summoned hers. "Small world, huh?"

"Not really," said Kairi smirking. Aqua smiled. "I guess not. What are the odds of the two of us meeting here though?"

"I don't know," said Kairi. "Something about you seems really familiar…"

"Funny, I was going to say the same. Oh, you still haven't told me you're name…" Aqua looked down and noticed Kairi's necklace. "Wait, that's—Kairi?" asked Aqua, looking at her sideways. Kairi nodded slowly. "So…we have met?"

Aqua nodded. "Yes, we did. I remember; I put a spell on your necklace, to keep you safe."

Kairi's hand instantly reached up and grabbed it. "I've had this since I was little. I always thought there was a reason I should always keep it on, but…I don't remember anything like that."

Aqua's face fell as Kairi said "Since I was little." She now stood back and took a good look at Kairi. "Since you were little…that's right. You were very small when I met you. And now…well, you've grown a lot." Just how long has it been? How much time has passed in the Realm of Light? Aqua thought to herself. She suddenly remembered something she had read about the Realm of Darkness in her studies a long time ago; that the darkness warped space and time, and could run more quickly in the Realm of Darkness. She suddenly worried about Ven, and how long she had left him alone.

"Where did we meet? Was it on the islands? I feel like I would've remembered you…"

Aqua shook her head. "It was at Radiant Garden."

"Oh, no wonder…I haven't been there since I was four."

"And…how old are you now?" asked Aqua fearfully. "15."

11 years…that happened 11 years ago! She'd been away for 11 years?

"Ven…" she whispered sadly. She shook her head. "What's been happening lately? I heard that the worlds were in danger. That there was a boy with a keyblade who's been keeping them safe."

"You mean Sora, don't you?"

Their eyes met. Aqua nodded. "It's a bit of a long story."

"I've apparently been stuck here in the realm of darkness for 11 years, and it still doesn't look like I'll be leaving any time soon. We have time."

Kairi saw a flash of pain wash over Aqua's face, and then it was gone, her face calm and collected once more. She's been here that long? Kairi thought to herself. And she's still able to put on a brave face…

Kairi nodded. "Well…I guess things started on that day the islands disappeared…"

"The fate of all occurs not by chance…" whispered Hotaru to herself, looking outside a window. She felt out of place in this white room, dressed all in black. It was night time, but the room was strangely illuminated despite their not being any actual lights in the room; the walls seemed to just glow. Naminé was scribbling in her sketchbook (where did she get that from? Hotaru had wondered), already getting to work on trying to salvage some of Sora's memories.

"What was that?" asked Naminé distractedly, not taking her eyes off the pad. "It was nothing. Where do you think Kairi is now?"

Naminé sighed. "To make a Nobody, there has to be darkness. Before, that darkness came from Sora. Kairi doesn't have any darkness in her heart, so she didn't turn into a heartless or anything like that, but she still somehow opened a whole into the realm of darkness. I'd go help her if I could, but…"

"As soon as you guys get too close, you'd start disappearing, right?" finished Hotaru. Naminé nodded. Hotaru took out her crystal change rod. "I'm starting to get my memory back now, seeing you. But I still can't transform…and I still don't remember how I got to Destiny Islands. And I have no idea why my friends are apparently part of Organization XIII."

Naminé paused her drawing. "They're Nobodies. Aren't they?" Hotaru nodded. "Hotaru…the last time I saw you, you and your friends were fighting against the heartless."

"So, you're saying we lost?" asked Hotaru, no emotion on her face. "Even if that's true, and everyone had their hearts taken, they still wouldn't join the Organization."

"You'd be surprised what someone without a heart will do to get one," replied Naminé simply. Hotaru sighed. "I guess. And it looks like they didn't keep their memories either…" Hotaru suddenly perked up. "Wait a minute. Do you think that means…they're still out there somewhere? Their somebodies, I mean. That's the reason you and Roxas didn't have any memories, right?"

Naminé pondered for a moment. "It's possible, I guess…"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Hotaru quickly raising her hands. "I'm distracting you, aren't I? Sora's the priority right now. I'll just take a look around the place. Maybe I'll find a bed."

Naminé nodded. "There's a bedroom a little ways down the hall, although I don't know what shape it will be in. I never really slept in it much anyway, and I don't think I will. I've been sleeping for a few months now."

Hotaru nodded and began walking out, but paused in the doorway. "Do you think there's really anything you can do?"

"I can't recover his memories of Kairi. Not unless Xion were to…" Naminé's voice broke a bit. She shook her head. "But there must be something I can…"

She trailed off and went back to drawing, ignoring Hotaru. Hotaru shrugged and walked out. She wondered if there was a piano anywhere around here…

Sora walked into his room and collapsed on the bed, exhausted. Man, he felt like he had remembered something very important, and now it was all gone…

He heard a knock on the door. He groaned and forced himself back up. The knocking came again, urgent.

"I'm coming!" he said a little testily, opening the door. "Uh…Xion?"

But it wasn't Xion; he knew as soon as he had opened the door it wasn't her, but it looked just like her. The girl had the same eyes as her, but was brunette, and her hair was a little longer. Their faces were identical, but…there was something about it that was somehow different than Xion's; something that obviously set them apart.

The girl took Sora's hand and placed something in his palm. "Come find me, Sora." She planted a kiss on his cheek.

"W-wait," said Sora blushing. But something about the kiss seemed…natural. Almost familiar. "Who…who are you?"

She winked. "It begins with a 'K'." She turned around and skipped off. Sora quickly dashed out and looked back and forth in the hallway, but she was nowhere to be found. "Huh…that was weird," he said. He looked at what she had put into his hands. It was some sort of good luck charm, made out of seashells…

His eyes widened. "Oh yeah," he said giggling a bit. Escape. He needed to escape the Organization, somehow. Well, he'd figure it out tomorrow. For now he needed to sleep…

Sora laid back down in his bed, clutching the good luck charm close to him. It seemed to help him remember better. He'd made a promise to someone, hadn't he? Someone important. His light within the darkness…

He held it tighter. He wouldn't forget again. He'd figure a way out of this.

Zexion walked up to Saïx, a particular look of disdain on his face. "There, I did it," he said angrily. "I gave him the stupid good luck charm."

"Thank you, Ienzo. That is all."

"How long do you think they'll notice before its missing?"

"They who?"

Zexion frowned. "Not everyone in this organization can have their memories erased. Someone is regulating it, and I'm sure there are other members on that person's side."

Saïx considered for a moment. "Whatever it is, it's my burden to bear. You won't hold any blame. I suggest you get some rest. You look irritated."

Zexion scowled as Saïx walked off. Was that all Saïx thought of him? That he was only worried about getting caught? He wanted to figure out what was going on. He wanted to get somewhere. He wanted…he wanted…

What did he want?

And where did he go from here?

The Next Morning…

Riku felt a slight tugging on his ear, and a strange noise. It sounded like…bells or something? Whatever it was, it was very annoying, and he just wanted to sleep. He waved a hand absentmindedly, swatting back the annoying bug or whatever it was on to the ground.

Tinker Bell stood up and brushed herself off, starting to glow red as she glared angrily at Riku, who was sitting asleep against a tree in the middle of the forest. She quickly flew up to his face and kicked him right in the forehead.

"OW!" Riku quickly stood up and grabbed his forehead. "What was that for?"

Tinker Bell flew up to his face and began waving her arms and making noises furiously.

"Uh…I'm sorry, I can't understand you…" said Riku, still rubbing his forehead. He looked around. He must have been in Neverland…what was he doing here? He remembered leaving the World that Never Was…

The corridors of darkness, he remembered, holding out his hand. He had been drained after his fight with Sora, and was too tired to really hold back the darkness. Not that he'd ever had to consciously hold back the darkness like that…just what was going on? This must have been the first world he could get to, and he probably collapsed instantly.

A sharp pain in his head brought him out of his musings. He'd forgotten about Tinker Bell, who had resorted to pulling on his hair to get his attention, still seemingly really angry.

"Tink?" Peter Pan flew out of the bushes. "There you are! What are you doing?"

Tink quickly started angrily pointing at Riku. Peter crossed his arms. "Say, you're right. He did use to work for that old codfish, didn't he?" He flew closer to Riku. "All right, spit it out: what do you know about Hook kidnapping Wendy and Tiger Lilly?"

"Wendy…uh, I don't know anything about it!"

"A likely story!"

"It's true! I don't work for him anymore! I'm friends with Sora now!"

Peter got uncomfortably close to Riku's face and looked into his eyes. "Well…if you say so."

Tinker Bell made a face of disbelief at Peter. "Aw, come on, Tink! If he's friends with Sora, he might be able to help us get past all those monsters!"

"Heartless here too, huh…" Riku frowned. "Why do you think Hook captured Wendy again?"

"As bait for yours truly, of course," said Peter, full of himself as usual. He then struck a serious military-like pose. "Now listen up: Since Tiger Lilly was taken hostage, all of my men are tied up at the Indian Camp until she's safely returned. Now, I don't usually ask other people for help, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Do you accept the mission, uh…hey, what's your name?"

"Riku."

"All right, Riku. Are you going to help me board Captain Hook's ship?"

Riku remembered the long weeks he'd spent aboard that ship, searching for Kairi's heart…no, searching for more power, getting closer to the darkness and helping Maleficent further her goals. Maleficent…and by extension, Ansem, and Xehanort too. He smirked to himself. His past seemed to be haunting him a lot lately. Well, it didn't seem like he'd be able to go anywhere for now. He suddenly felt stupid for leaving Mickey behind like that.

"All right. Let's get going."

"Yeah!" said Peter excitedly. "Now, Tink…hey, Tinkerbell! You have to give him some fairy dust!" shouted Peter as he tried to track down the angry pixie. He finally grabbed her and started shaking her like a salt shaker over Riku. "All right, that should do it. Now, follow me!" Peter flew into the air. Taking a deep breath, Riku tried to concentrate on flying. Come on, Sora flew, you know you can do it…

Peter frowned and flew a circle around Riku. "What's the matter with you? You know you need happy thoughts to fly, right?"

Oh, great. He needed to be happy too? Nothing that had been going on lately could really make him feel happy. Thinking about either Sora or Kairi always led to him feeling guilty, as much as he tried to hide it.

"Come on, you sourpuss!" said Peter impatiently. "There has to be something or someone that makes you happy!"

Someone…Riku started blushing as he thought of Hotaru, and the night they'd spent together on the islands. He reached into a pocket and took out the good luck charm Hotaru had given him. He'd almost forgotten he was carrying it around this whole time.

"Huh? That thing sure looks familiar," said Peter frowning as he looked at the object. "You know, someone here had one that looked just like that, but it was green instead of white…or maybe it was blue…"

But Riku was barely listening as he concentrated on the shimmering white wayfinder. She had given it to him so that he would always have a light…

"Come to think of it, I don't even remember who had it…oh hey, you're floating!"

"Huh?" Riku looked down to see himself floating a few feet off the ground. He almost fell, but steadied himself.

"Perfect! All right, let's get to the ship!" He said, flying off. Riku nodded and flew after him.

A corridor of darkness opened up; Mixa and Sora stepped out into the forest in Wonderland.

"Ah, good old heart collection!" she said happily. Which means Sora does all the work and I get to relax! she thought to herself. Sora sighed and hung his head. "Huh? What's wrong?" asked Mixa frowning. Then she started to get scared. Uh-oh…

"Mixa…we're friends, right? Sort of?"

She appeared to think about it for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose you could say that. We have gotten to know each other pretty well lately."

He nodded. "Mixa…you once said something to Xion. You told her that she had to stop thinking, and to just feel. I wanted to thank you for comforting her like that." He stepped away from Mixa, gripping Kairi's good luck charm tightly. "And…I'm sorry, but I have to do the same. I can't stay here with the Organization any longer. And I made a promise to someone. A promise I have to keep."

"Sora…" said Mixa sighing. "Sora, Sora, Sora…" She snapped her fingers. Sora gasped and looked around him. The area was suddenly surrounded by…chains? They seemed to be encased in some sort of dome…Mixa rose into the air, floating.

"You should realize, the Organization doesn't take resignations very well."

"But, Mixa…!"

"Save it. Stop thinking and feel…" she rolled her eyes. "Well, Sora, the funny thing about Nobodies is, we can't feel. We don't have hearts. Thinking, calculating…that's the only thing we can do. Oh, what?" she snapped in response to Sora's shocked face. "Weren't expecting that kind of talk from me, were you? You thought that maybe we were similar? That the weak and lazy Mixanko would just let you go?" A chain appeared in her hand. "Well, Sora, you've got another thing coming. We can't just let you run off on whatever stupid little mission your heart says you need to go on."

"Listen, Mixa, I don't want to fight you…" said Sora, summoning his Kingdom Key and assuming his fighting stance.

Mixa whipped her chain out, lassoing Sora's foot and pulling him up towards her.

"Crescent…" Energy began gathering in her finger as she pulled Sora close. "Beam!"

She blasted Sora right in the forehead, laughing as he crashed back down. She floated back down to the ground as he started to get up.

"Oh, Sora…we all knew you were a flight risk from the beginning. Everyone was sort of guessing that I'd be the one you you'd pull this on, so I'm pretty well prepared to fight you. You'd better not hold back if you're serious about leaving."

Sora growled and charged at her with his keyblade. She raised her chain with both hands, catching the keyblade in it, and then reached a leg up and kicked him in the chest. Sora quickly recovered, but stood his ground for a moment. Mixa knew how he normally fought, and besides that, she was stronger than the enemies he'd been taking out lately. He'd need to focus for this fight…

The figure in the organization coat sat in front of Ventus in Castle Oblivion, her arms crossed, her mouth pulled into a tight frown. She had come up with a marvelous idea the other day—to make a card out of her memories of this room. As soon as she had stepped through, she realized that this was the secret; unless you remembered a way, it was impossible to really navigate Castle Oblivion. But once you did remember it...

The room wasn't fake, the boy no projection or illusion of her memories. He was real. It made sense; after all, how else would Castle Oblivion project memories of itself?

She stepped forward towards the boy and wondered what to do now. No doubt the organization would want to know about this sleeping boy. Was this what Saïx was going on about was in Castle Oblivion? She wondered if even he realized exactly what he was looking for. As for Xemnas, well...he had disappeared, to god-knows where.

Maybe she should just leave him. Sit on this info for a little while. There was nothing to be gained now. But she found herself walking forward towards the boy. She ran a hand around his cheek...poor thing, she realized, his heart is broken. Broken and gone. No, wait, what was this...?

The boy's eyes opened suddenly, startling her. They were yellow, the color of darkness, and glaring full of rage.

The boy's eyes immediately closed again, and he fell limp. She tried all kinds of things, and even resorted to slapping him and shouting in his ear, but he didn't respond. Still...she felt like she had woken something up.

Great. Just great. She always got herself into messes...and other people's messes at that.

Screw it. She'd leave the boy there. Whatever was there had already left.

Mixanko staggered a bit. "Darn it…" She held out her chain. Sora across from her was starting to weaken too. She ran forward towards him and leapt into the air. "Wink-me Chain Sword!"

A sword of light materialized at the end of the chain as she came crashing down towards him. Sora raised his keyblade.

"Reflect!"

Mixanko's attack ran into the barrier; the barrier then exploded, knocking Mixanko back, giving Sora the opening he need. Cloaking himself in light, he rushed at Mixanko one last time…

Mixanko clutched herself and groaned. The barrier surrounding them disappeared as she fell to the ground. Sora turned and looked at her with pity. Not turning to look at him, she snapped her fingers, and suddenly found himself surrounded by dusks. The Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblades came to his hands.

"Saïx…" she croaked as she took out a communicator. "Saïx, Sora's escaping, send back-up…DAMN IT SAÏX!" she threw the communicator away and tried to summon a corridor of darkness, but she was too spent to do so. She crawled on all fours to turn towards Sora, who was dispatching the dusks left and right. Finally, he realized that there were just too many, and started to run for it, the dusks giving in to pursuit. Mixanko squinted as she saw him run off. Something seemed…familiar there…

Two odangos, long blond hair trailing after her as she ran…

"That's who he reminds me of…Ha, that dream is dead," she muttered, half delirious. "That dream is dead…" she whispered as she fell unconscious. No more memories, she pleaded. She didn't want any more…

Hey…an update. So sorry this took so long.

I have like a fully-fledged battle in my head between Mixa and Sora, but I don't think I could really do it justice so I just put in snippets. There can be more later. My head-canon fighting style for her is inspired partly by Mysterious Figure/Young Xehanort in Birth By Sleep, particularly the collision magnet move he uses. She also uses a series of whipping attacks, flings you around, bombards you with crescent beams…she's slower than most of the rest, and not quite as strong physically as some of the others, but she's very agile and more physically adept than you'd give her credit for, and her magic attacks can be devastating. In the manga, Minako is the leader of the inner senshi, and the strongest of them…just going to throw that out there ;)

Also head-canon: Minako puts her chains to good use for naughty time with Demyx…