And we are back! Today we finally get to see Radiant Garden! It's been quite some time since Sora has been here! How long? Ehhh…a year, maybe? Sure, let's go with that!

So what's happened here since Kingdom Hearts II? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.

Chapter 3: The Thief

"So what you're saying is that Xehanort has returned?" asked Leon.

"And he's gathering up a new version of Organization XIII?" added Yuffie.

Lea blinked. "Yes," he said. "That's what I just finished telling you."

"Just making sure."

"Well, that's just great!" came a low grumble from the back of the room. The three of them turned around to see Cid lounging in the corner. "We just got done fixing this damn town, and now the Heartless are gonna come back and tear it all down again!"

"You said that there was something else?" asked Yuffie.

"Oh yeah," said Lea. "Well, why don't you all take a look at…THIS!"

Lea held out his hand, but…

"Nothing happened," Leon drily observed.

"I can see that," Lea said. "I'm still getting used to it. Okay, how…about…now!"

"Still nothing!" Yuffie said, grinning at Leon.

"Okay, let me think, how did it work before?"

"So, when will Sora and the others get here?" asked Leon, as Lea continued motioning with his hand for something to appear.

"I don't know, could be a while. All I know is that there's going to be trouble, so you'd better get the town ready. Damn it!" Lea shouted, as his hand continued to spectacularly fail to produce anything of substance.

"Yeah, about that," said Leon. "That might be a problem."

"Why's that?" asked Lea.

"Well, you see…"

A bright light flashed outside with a loud "Whoosh!" The others turned to look at the source.

"What the hell was that?" asked Cid.

"Oh, that must be them now," said Lea, still looking at his hand. "Come on, come on…"

They walked outside to find Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey and Kairi all lying in a heap, moaning.

"Well, that could have gone better," said Sora.

"A LOT better!" muttered Donald.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" shouted Yuffie, running over to them in excitement.

"Hey, Yuffie!" said Sora, as Lea and the others walked over to greet them as well.

"Good to have you back, Sora, Your Majesty," said Leon, nodding at them. Just then, Yuffie noticed who else had arrived.

"Kairi! We haven't seen you in ages!"

"Oh, hi Yuffie! Hi Leon, Cid." Kairi said sheepishly. I don't even know them that well, but they're already acting like we're old friends, she thought. She then saw Lea looking at her with mild surprise, and turned away from him.

"And I'm guessing that you're Riku, huh?" asked Cid, holding out a hand. "Sora's told us a lot about ya."

"Really?" said Riku, somewhat nervously as he shook Cid's hand. "How much?"

"Just that you've been lost for a long time, and he was looking for you," answered Leon. "Well, I'm glad that he finally found you."

"Yeah," said Riku. "I'm glad to." Glad we don't have to talk too much about that, he thought.

"It's great that you're here!" said Yuffie excitedly. "There've been a lot of Heartless showing up lately. But now that you've show up, we have a bona fide Keyblade Master to fight by our side!"

"Um, yeah, about that," said Sora, rubbing the back of his head in an embarrassed fashion. "Technically, I'm not a Keyblade Master."

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" shouted Yuffie.

Leon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"He didn't pass the exam," explained Mickey.

"You have to take an exam?" said Yuffie in disbelief. "I thought that you just had to take a Keyblade and whack Heartless with it!"

Kairi tapped Sora on the shoulder. He turned to look at her.

"You didn't tell me about this," she said with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sorry," he responded. "I-I didn't want to worry you. It wasn't just failing an exam. I-I nearly-"

"It's okay," Kairi said with a smile. "Whatever happened, I don't think you're ready to talk about it just yet. Maybe later, if you feel like it."

Sora grinned. "Thanks."

"No problem," Kairi said, and a smug look emerged on her face. "Actually, this makes us equals, doesn't it?"

"Not true!" Sora protested. "I have experience!"

"Does that really matter?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, fair enough," said Kairi with a shrug. "But either way, you have to admit that you are still, for all intents and purposes, an apprentice. Like me!"

"Alright then, who's our master?" challenged Sora.

"I guess either Riku or the King."

"Why me?" asked Riku in disbelief. "I mean, training practice, sure, but I can't be my own friends' master! It would be weird!"

"The King then."

"Gosh," said Mickey. "I'd be glad to help out, but I don't think I'm the sort of person to be someone's master, royal duties aside."

"Wait, hold up," said Leon. "Are you saying that all three of you have Keyblades?"

"Yeah," said Sora, as they all summoned their Keyblades. "They got them when we were fighting the Organization."

"See?" said Lea. "That's what I was trying to show you. I have a –" The Keyblade suddenly appeared in his hands. "-Keyblade. Huh."

Yuffie's eyes widened. "Wow," she said, unable to think of anything else to say.

"You've gotta be kidding me," muttered Cid. "What, is everyone and their mom getting a Keyblade?"

"Well, Xehanort has a Keyblade," offered Goofy.

Cid glared at him for a moment, then just sighed. "Guess we'd better start packing then. The town not gonna last a week. Not even with those assholes in charge."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" asked Sora.

"Well," began Leon, "as I was going to tell Axel-"

"It's LEA," Lea interrupted. "L-E-A. Got it memorized?"

"Right, sorry. As I was telling him before you guys showed up, the Restoration Committee, while originally in charge of the town during reconstruction, well, isn't."

"Isn't what?" asked Donald.

"We're not in charge anymore," said Yuffie.

"What? Then who is?" asked Goofy.

"We are."

Coming down the street was a small group of people. At the head of them was a young woman with pink hair holding a sword. Flanking her were a young man wearing a cowboy hat and holding a shotgun, and a young woman with dark hair with a lance fixed to her back. They walked over to where Sora and the others were.

"We heard that there was some sort of disturbance over here," said the pink-haired woman. "Of course, Heartless don't usually appear in bright flashes of light, so I didn't think that we had much to worry about. And I was right."

She looked at Sora. "So, I'm guessing that you're the Keyblade Master, huh?"

"Um, sort of," said Sora, finding her icy gaze uncomfortable. "Who are you?"

"Sora, everyone," Leon began, "this is Cl-"

"Lightning," the woman interrupted. "Sergeant Lightning Farron of the Radiant Garden Defense Corps. This is Irvine-"(the man with the cowboy hat gave a small wave) "-and Fang," (the dark-haired woman nodded slightly).

"What's the Radiant Garden Defense Corps?" asked Riku.

"A bunch of jerks with a too much money, guns, and time on their hands," answered Cid.

Yuffie elbowed him in the ribs. "Be polite," she whispered.

"We were formed," said Lightning. "To protect the town from those who seek to harm both it and its citizens. We've been active for about 8 months now."

"It's basically a military operation," added Yuffie.

"Garwsh, I thought that defending the town was the Restoration Committee's job," said Goofy.

"Not anymore," said Leon. "They no longer think that we're qualified."

"Hey now, don't go putting words in our mouths, Leon," said Irvine. "You guys are still defending the town. You're just now the only ones doing it anymore."

"I would have thought that you'd be glad for the extra help," said Fang, although with hint of sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Now then," said Lightning, "have any of you got news for us? I was told that Lea was here, but I'm interested in hearing what all of you have to say."

Sora cleared his throat. "Well, you see…."

XXX

After they had finished explaining why they were there, Lightning turned to Leon.

"I think that this proves my point," she told him.

"But-"

"No. If what they say is true, then we need to step up our defenses."

"You're turning this place into a fortress," said Leon, gritting his teeth.

"And the return of this Xehanort doesn't justify a fortress? An army of Heartless, Nobodies, and what sounded like human soldiers doesn't justify a fortress?"

"We were able to defend this town last year!"

"Barely! And even then, only with the help of two Keyblade Wielders! And may I remind you, I don't remember them being here when the town fell over ten years ago? We need to be able to stand by ourselves, Leonhart!"

"Hold on!" said Mickey. "Whose decision was this, anyway?"

"The governor's," said Fang.

"Due to the previous ruler of Radiant Garden, Ansem the Wise, having been declared missing, presumed dead; a governor has been selected, in accordance with the procedures established by Ansem himself," said Lightning.

She sounds like she's was quoting some official statement, thought Sora.

"Who's the governor?" asked Kairi.

"Gestahl," answered Irvine, with a hint of distaste in his voice.

"I don't trust him," said Cid.

Lightning hesitated. "I'll admit," she said, "he's not the first person that I would have picked for the job. But the council that was elected to choose the governor picked him, so I'm obligated to serve under him."

"You could always quit and work with us," retorted Yuffie.

"You? You're lucky that Gestahl still lets you operate separate from us," responded Lightning. "He could very well decide to merge you with the Corps, or even fire you, if Leon here keeps up his current attitude."

"So what sort of changes have you made around here?" asked Riku with interest.

"Well," said Lightning. "First, we started recruiting around the town. The three of us were part of the initial batch, and we made some real headway against the Heartless that started appearing after the Organization's defeat. That got a lot of people signing up."

"After that," said Irvine, "well, in addition to the town's regular defense system, we've built a wall around the town perimeter, since most of the really powerful Heartless tend to spawn outside of the populated area. We've got turrets lining the wall every, I don't know, fifty feet? The biggest additions, though, are the cannons we've gotten stationed on the nearby cliffs. We've got a half dozen of those bad boys, and they're all pointed at the sky."

"What, are you expecting an aerial assault that big?" asked Donald.

"Better to be safe than sorry," said Fang with a smirk.

"Look, I understand why you're worried," said Sora. "But I really don't think that all of this is necessary. We have more Keyblade Wielders than there were before, so we should have an easier time protecting the town, no matter what Xehanort throws at us, as long as anyone works together!"

"Oh really?" said Lightning as she turned towards him, her eyes burning with anger. "Then how about this? Every night, there are people who go out after dark alone, and they don't come back. They just vanish when no one's looking, and no one knows how or why. We've tried instituting a curfew, but that hasn't stopped the disappearances. Everyone's scared, and they've been pleading for us to do something, but how can we do anything when all of our investigations turn up nothing? If you have a solution, then please, I'd love to hear it."

No one said anything. Lightning turned to Irvine and Fang.

"General Leo's going to want us to report in soon. We'll tell him what happened here, then continue our patrol." She then turned to Sora. "Welcome aboard."

The three of them left, leaving the others to ponder what Lightning had said.

"Well, that's a bit of a downer," said Donald.

"Is it true what she said?" Kairi asked quietly. "Have people really been disappearing?"

"Afraid so," said Yuffie, who looked at Leon nervously. "It's the reason they decided to form the Defense Corps in the first place. We couldn't do anything about it."

"We'll figure it out," said Leon with a determined look. "Merlin and Cid have been working at it for a while now. Hopefully, with you guys around, we'll finally be able to work this out."

"You can count on us, Leon!" said Sora.

"Yeah!" chimed in Donald and Goofy.

"We'll do our best," added Riku.

"I'm new at this," said Kairi, "But I'm going to do what I can to help you too!"

XXX

"Well," said Cid. "I'll be heading back to the hangar now. Can't have those kids screwing up my latest pride and joy."

"Aw, don't sell your new assistants short like that!" said Yuffie. "They're really good for their age."

"Sure, they're fantastic," Cid grumbled. "But I keep telling them, a Gummi ship doesn't need a goddamn juice bar! That comes out of my wallet, you know!"

"Technically, it's the government's wallet," Leon said as Cid stormed off. "But you get the picture."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Riku.

"Well, there aren't any Heartless at the moment," said Leon. "So why doesn't Sora show you guys around the Central Square or something?"

"Great idea!" said Goofy.

"I'll stay here with Leon and Lea," said Mickey. "There are a couple of things that we need to talk about."

"Alright then," said Sora. "Let's go!"

And so the five of them set off, unaware that a good distance away, a hooded figure in a black coat was watching their every move.

XXX

"Here we are!" said Donald. They had arrived at Central Square.

"Garwsh, this place looks a lot better than when we were last here," said Goofy.

"I know," Sora responded. "I think it was still under construction then. They must have been working really hard!"

"Impressive, I'll admit," said Riku.

Kairi didn't say anything. She was struck by a sudden memory…

XXX

"I just cast a magic spell on you." the blue-haired girl said. "One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe."

XXX

"Kairi, are you alright?"

Kairi snapped out of her trance, and found Sora looking at her.

"I'm fine," she said. "I was just remembering something."

"Oh," said Sora. He was silent for a moment, then spoke up. "You used to live here, didn't you? With you grandmother?"

Kairi nodded. "I still don't remember most of it, but sometimes bits and pieces of it come back, ever since you freed my heart, well, here."

She looked around at Square. "It stopped the year you were gone, though. Everyone else forgot you. I… almost did, but I could remember how I felt about you, and I… I didn't want to forget anything else." She looked at Sora. "Let me see the lucky charm I gave you."

"Um, sure, okay," Sora said, not sure what to think. He reached into his pocket and handed it to her. She examined it closely, looking at the drawing of Sora's face.

"Do you know what these are called?"

"I don't think so."

"It's called a Wayfinder. I'll bet you can guess why. The Paopu fruit is said to link friends together, so people would model them after it, you know, for luck." Kairi grinned sheepishly. "At least, that's what Dad always told me." They both laughed a little, but then Kairi grew serious again.

"I've always wondered how people stay connected to each other from so far away. Because even when I didn't even know your name, I felt you, somewhere, out there. Was it because you had this? I don't think so. I think it's because of the bonds within our hearts; they're deeper than most people's. I know that sounds kind of arrogant, but I think it's true. That's how we stay connected." She looked at Sora. "And you, you're connected to a lot of people right now."

"How do you…"

"I can feel it."

Now Sora was definitely not sure what to think. "Um, listen," he said to her. "Maybe if we stay here long enough, you'll remember more from back when you lived here."

Kairi looked hard at Sora, staring straight into his eyes.

The light of another.

"Yeah…maybe."

XXX

Three, two, one.

Contact.

Kairi smiled and held out the lucky charm. "Keep this safe, okay?"

At that moment, the cloaked figure rushed forward, knocking both of them to the ground. It leapt to the roof of a building on the opposite side of the square.

Sora struggled to his feet. "Hey, what's the big idea?!" shouted Sora.

"Sora," Kairi said. "She took it."

"How can you tell she's a sh-" Then Sora saw the figure on the roof dangling something a small chain. Something shaped like a star.

"What's going on?" Riku asked as he, Donald and Goofy hurried over to them.

"That woman! She stole my Wayfinder!" Kairi yelled.

"A THIEF?" Donald shouted. "Let's get her!"

"Hang on," Riku said. "We need a plan!" But the other four had already drawn their weapons and ran after the cloaked thief. Riku sighed and ran after them.

XXX

"So where are the others?" asked Lea.

"You mean the people you came with?" responded Leon. "Well, Lightning was reluctant to let them anywhere, but we managed to get them set up in the castle's laboratory. Are you sure that we can trust them?"

"I'm sure," said Lea. He turn to Mickey. "When we're finished here, we should go and see them. They might be able to give us a good idea what we're up against."

"Alright then," said Mickey. "Why don't we-"

CRASH!

There was a loud noise just outside. Yuffie came rushing in.

"Heartless!" she shouted.

They rushed outside. All around them, Heartless were swarming. Shadows and Soldiers were on the ground, while Air Soldiers and Surveillance Robots flew above them.

"This is bad!" said Leon. He turned to Yuffie. "Head to Merlin's house and get Cloud and Aerith, then find Sora and the others. We'll need to work together for this."

"Got it!" said Yuffie. Before she could head off though, she stopped and looked at Leon. "You do realize that she'll probably be there too, right?"

Leon hesitated. "It doesn't matter," he said, "just go!"

Yuffie nodded and leapt onto the rooftops, running for Merlin's house.

"We'll clear these guys out and head for the square," said Lea.

The other two nodded, and went to work.

XXX

You've got one on your right, said Roxas.

Sora blocked the lasers of a Surveillance Robot. Yeah, I know, he thought back.

Just checking.

Passerby ran out of the way, screaming, as the five of them ran through the street, Heartless emerging in their wake.

Riku launched a ball of Dark Firaga at a Soldier, defeating it. "Where is this thief, anyway?"

"Over there!" Kairi pointed, and Sora could see a hooded figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Keep going!" shouted Donald. "We'll have her cornered soon!"

They continued to run down the street. Shadows emerged to block their path, but Kairi launched a barrage of Fire spells at them, and they burst into darkness.

"Good job!" shouted Goofy, as he bashed another with his shield.

"Hang on! I've got her!" shouted Sora. He jumped to the wall and kicked off. Performing Wall Kick after Wall Kick he managed to leap onto the roof in front of the fleeing thief.

"Gotcha!"

The thief leapt over him and down into the square below.

"Oh, come on!"

"Sora!" shouted Donald. "Get down here!"

Sora jumped down, and the five of them looked to see the thief standing in front of a large fountain with her back to them, in the middle of the square.

Kairi noticed the figure holding the Wayfinder with her hand over it. She could here faint mutterings and see a few strands of darkness surrounding the charm.

"What do you think you're doing!?" she shouted.

She and Sora ran forward. The thief turned to face them. Riku noticed that the coat that she was wearing looked very familiar.

"Is that a member of the new Organization?" asked Goofy.

"Could be," Riku said. "Keep your guard up."

Just then, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cloud ran into to the square from another entrance.

"Sora!" Aerith yelled, and Sora noticed that she had drawn a weapon that he hadn't seen her use before, a long wooden staff.

"That's far enough!" Riku shouted at the thief.

"Yeah, give back what you stole!" Sora added.

The figure regarded them curiously. She took out the Wayfinder and gestured towards it. "Is this what you want?" she seemed to ask.

"Yes, that," said Kairi, glaring at her.

The thief pocketed the charm. Under the hood, she smiled.

Alright then.

She snapped her fingers. A circle of purple flames erupted around the fountain, cutting her, Sora and Kairi off from the others.

"Sora! Kairi!" shouted Riku.

"Um, Riku?" said Donald nervously, pointing behind them.

Riku turned around. Crawling down from the wall of a nearby house was a large, spider-like Heartless. It landed on the ground with a metallic CLANK. It bared its teeth and roared at them.

Inside the circle of flames, Sora and Kairi watched as the thief levitated to the top of the fountain. Her fingertips crackled with dark energy.

"Showtime."

To Be Continued

Next Time: An Old Friend Returns!

Well now, I think that this might just get interesting.

Feel free to imagine Kairi's theme playing when she's talking with Sora, and Hollow Bastion's battle theme playing during the chase.

The first person to guess who Cid's new assistants are gets a free internet congratulations!

Feel free to review!