Writer: beckychan
"Right," Donald was saying in his raspy, avian voice, so hard to understand when he was excited. "Goofy and I will meet you on the beach in three hours."
Sora and Riku stood facing each other, Sora with the Kingdom Key and Riku with Way to the Dawn, blades crossed. A bluish orb of light was projected from the point where the blades met, and Donald's face could be seen within the orb. At some point, after what felt like an hour of frantic thought, it occurred to Sora that all of his talk about friends being in your heart wasn't just words, and together, with the power of the keyblades, they had managed to contact Donald and Goofy. Riku had been hoping for King Mickey as well, but as usual, he was away on business. Official, kingly, hush-hush business.
"Three hours!" Sora complained. "But Kairi could be in trouble now!"
"You wanna go for five?" Donald growled back, and Sora pouted.
"No..." he droned, properly chastised.
"Alright then. Three hours. Be ready."
"We're ready now," the spiky-haired youth muttered, but didn't protest loudly again.
The orb shrunk or burst or something, but one moment it was there and the next it wasn't anymore. Sora's blue eyes met Riku's green ones.
"Well, now what?" Sora asked, looking a little bummed out.
"What else? Now we wait."
Kairi couldn't believe the size of the hall she now stood in. Huge and white and expansive, it seemed like more space than any one person would ever need to themselves, ever.
"Wow..." she breathed, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Pluto, where are we now?"
The yellow (honestly yellow again! No more black and white!) dog barked, and it rang from the walls and ceiling, and made her feel very small in such a large room. He bounded around her excitedly, and she couldn't help but laugh at his exploits.
"Well, at least you're not growling anymore. That must mean that you're comfortable here. Well, why don't you show me around?"
Pluto barked again and ran off down the long runner that led all the way to the massive door at the other end of the hall. As Kairi approached it, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd ever get such a massive door open all on her own, but the closer to the egress she got, the better she could see that there was a much smaller door inlayed in the oversized ones, and that it wouldn't be at all hard to open it. Assuming it wasn't locked.
To her great relief, it wasn't, and she and her companion headed into the hall. On one side, tall windows were cut into the wall, letting cheerful sunlight, fresh air and birdsong filter in, making the whole place seem welcoming and friendly. And as she turned her head to the right she saw...
"King Mickey!" she gasped. And it was true. Portrait after portrait of the mouse king lined the wall in both directions. Several of the portraits made him look downright regal, but even more of them made him look humble and kind. She was particularly fond of one where he wore a simple blue tunic and a green hat with a red feather in it. In that one, he was holding an oversized pair of scissors like they were a sword. He didn't look like a king at all in that one, or even like royalty! In fact, he looked much more like a tailor, brave and cunning, but modest.
Pluto barked again, getting her attention, and she drew her eyes away from the painting to follow the dog. The hallway was long, seeming almost endless, but there were so many things to see along the way! Suits of armor and statues, and out the widows, a garden with giant topiary of animal people playing instruments! The number of triple-circle mouse heads that decorated almost every inch of the castle would make so many people think the King was narcissistic, but Kairi got the impression that the décor wasn't ordered by him, but added lovingly by his friends and followers without his request or, even, knowledge beforehand.
She'd met King Mickey once or twice, and Riku's closeness to him really made him likeable and trustable, but never before had she realized just how loved he was. The depth of the loyalty his subjects and friends showed him was truly remarkable. It wasn't every day a king came along that people would search for to the ends of the universe and through space and time.
Eventually, the mutt led her to another set of huge doors with another set of smaller doors set in them. Not feeling the need to ask the dog if he wanted her to go in – it was clear he did – she opened the door and entered. Beyond was a vast library with a large statue in the lobby. Kairi approached the statue and examined it. It was King Mickey, dressed in simple shorts with oversized buttons, holding hands with a man in a suit. She had never seen the man before, nor had Sora or Riku ever spoken about someone with his description. He was of average height – though he towered over the mouse – with kind eyes and a bristly moustache, and he pointed off in the distance, as if drawing the mouse's (and any viewer's) attention to the future. It warmed Kairi's heart, and she really wished she knew who the man was, had a sudden, flooding desire to meet him.
Pluto whined a little, looked just a little sad as he observed the statue. Kairi let her hand drop to his head and scratched him behind the ears.
"Why'd you bring me here, boy?" she asked softly. "To see this statue?" And then, a realization struck her. "Is... Is that my father?"
Pluto blinked and looked up at her, then shook his head so hard Kairi could swear she heard it rattle. He barked and bounded down the library's main aisle. The girl followed him at a run. He took a hard right, his feet scrabbling on the tile floor, then bolted up a curved stairway to the upper floor.
"Wait up!" Kairi called after him. "You're going too fast!"
She followed the way she'd seen him go, and when she caught up, he was sitting beside a (normal sized) set of wooden double doors, looking proud of himself. There was a bright light streaming through the cracks of the door.