Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts stuff yada yada yada…. But I own Skyler, her dark side, her Chibbis, the Evil Chibbis, theMystical Orbs, and the Mystical Orbs of Skyler's dark side.

Next chapter! I now have a great idea for this chapter. Before, I was completely stuck and had no idea what I would write next. –holds up egg labeled "thought"- So, I put my thought in the Incubation Chamber and it hatched into… -holds up chicken-….an idea!

--

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Sora.

"I have no idea," I said. "I'm so totally stuck! It's so…frustrating!" I kicked the bed, which promptly folded up into the wall, revealing an entrance. "That was weird," was all I had to say.

We drank from the blue bottle, shrank to a miniature size, and ran through the entrance.

--

We were apparently in a royal court. Soldiers- rows of playing cards holding axes and other weapons- left their posts revealing the judge- a queen, and the defendant- a young girl, who looked like me, only different color hair and different clothes. Her hairstyle was different too.

The rabbit from before was climbing onto a tall pedestal. He carried a trumpet. Once on top of the pedestal, he blasted his trumpet and announced "Court is now in session!"

"I'm on trial? But why?" asked the girl who looked like me.

"Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!" announced the rabbit.

"This girl is the culprit," the queen announced quickly. "There's no doubt about it. And the reason is…because I say so! That's why!"

"This is so unfair!" cried the girl.

"Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" asked the judge/queen.

"Of course!" said the girl. "I've done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so…so mean!"

"Silence!" roared the queen. "You dare defy me?"

"Hey, guys," Sora whispered. "We should help her out."

"Yeah, but the-" began Donald.

"We're outsiders, so wouldn't that be muddling?" asked Goofy.

"Meddling!" corrected Donald.

"Oh, yeah. And that's against the rules."

"The court finds the defendant…" began the queen, "guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart, OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

"No! No! Oh, please!" begged the girl.

"Hold it right there!" cried Sora. We were charging into the court.

"Who are you?" demanded the queen. "How dare you interfere with my court!

"Excuse me, but we know who the real culprit is!" said Sora.

"Uh-huh," said Goofy. "It's the Heartle-"

"Hold on, Goofy," I interrupted. "I want to explain to this fat old lady-" the queen gasped "-why her court is so unfair. Can I try, Sora?"

Sora nodded.

"Okay, well, first of all, you, Your Majesty, have far too many positions in the court. You are the accuser, the prosecutor, the judge, and the jury. This makes the jury in favor of the accuser, which is completely unfair.

"Secondly, this poor young girl here has no lawyer. She is being forced to appear pro se, which is also unfair. So, I've got an idea as tohow to make your court more fair.

"I could be the lawyer, Sora and Donald over there could be the jury, and Goofy could be the prosecutor." I turned to them. "What do you guys say to that?"

"Well, if it would save that girl, I guess it's okay…just this once," said Sora.

"OKAY!" I exclaimed suddenly. "So, since I'm the lawyer, I'm going to start by saying that this girl is not the one you're looking for."

The queen gave me an amused look. "Have you any proof?"

"Um…"

--

The girl was locked in a small cage near the queen.

"Bring me evidence of Alice's innocence!" demanded the queen. "Fail, and it's off with all of your heads! Gather as much or little evidence as you please. Report back here once you're ready."

We walked over to the girl's cage. "Who are you?" she asked shyly.

"I'm Sora," my brother replied.

"I'm Goofy," said Goofy.

"I'm Donald," said Donald.

"I'm Skyler," I said.

"I'm Alice, as you've heard before. Pleased to meet you, though I do wish it were under better circumstances. I'm sorry I got you involved in this."

"Don't mention it," I said. Alice, the girl, giggled.

"You know," she said. "We look so very much alike. I bet that you could almost pass for me!"

I smiled back, and we exited, looking for evidence.

--

A cat head appeared once we had entered an odd forest (we were about as tall as the blades of grass…shorter, even!). The headappeared and disappeared several times before appearing one final time with its body.

"Who are you?" quacked Donald.

"Who, indeed?" said the purple-and-pink cat. "Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing!"

"She's not losing her head!" I announced. "I saved her…I'm such a good lawyer…"

"If you know who the culprit is, tell us!" demanded Sora.

"The Cheshire Cat has all the answers- but doesn't always tell." The cat was enjoying this- it had a huge grin on its face.

"You really enjoy tormenting us, don't you?" I asked.

"Maybe I do. Perhaps I don't. Think about it. The answer- the culprits lies in darkness."

The cat disappeared. "WAIT!" screamed Sora. "Nice, Skyler. You had to chase him away."

"HEY! It's not my fault!"

"They've already left the forest," came the Cheshire Cat's voice. "I won't tell which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in all. Three are a cinch to find. The fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find them all."

"Should we trust him?" asked Donald.

"To trust or not to trust? I trust you'll decide!" said the cat.

Should we trust him or not? Trust him or not? I thought to myself as we tromped through the forest searching for evidence.

"He knows the answers, but don't get tricked by his riddles," said a voice in my head. It wasn't the voice from my dream, but it was familiar. Very familiar.

"Hey," I stopped Sora and the others. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Sora.

"That voice…"

"We didn't hear a thing. The forest might be getting to you. It is kind of weird here."

"Okay…"

"They can't hear me," said the familiar voice. "Only you can. Now, the first piece of evidence is in the clearing over there."

That one? I asked. I wasn't speaking aloud, just thinking.

"Yeah, that one."

"Guys," I told my comrades. "I think there's a piece of evidence in there." I pointed.

"How do you know?" asked Sora.

"I dunno. I just…do."

"Okay…whatever."

We entered the clearing. "Okay," said the voice. "See that blade of grass over there? The one that's slightly darker than all the others. Pull it."

How can I trust you? I asked. I don't even know who you are!

"I'm someone you know very well. But I can't tell you who I am. I just can't. Anyway, pull the grass."

I walked slowly forward and pulled the blade of grass. A pink box fell out of the sky. Sora opened it. It was a photo of some Heartless fighting the queen's guards. Apparently, the card soldiers were easily defeated.

"Wow!" said Sora, impressed. "How'd you know to do that?"

"Don't tell him," said the voice in my head. "Just…make something up. I'd tell him if I could but I'm in big trouble if he knows."

"Um…" I began. "Lucky guess…I suppose."

"Where'd you get luck like that?" Sora asked.

"Lucky Chibbi?"

"Ok, cool."

--

The voice in my head continued to guide me, leading me to each piece of evidence. When we had found everything, we began our way back to the court.

"Oh, shoot!" Sora suddenly exclaimed. "My shoelace is untied. I knew I should wear smaller shoes…." He put the evidence down and began to tie his shoe.

While Sora was distracted, I saw a thin shadow slip behind us. It opened one of the pink boxes of evidence, took the photo out, slipped a different one in, closed the lid, and disappeared.

"Ok!" said Sora suddenly. "Ready? Let's go."

"Wait!" I protested. "I saw-"

"Not now, Skyler," Sora interrupted."I havea feelingthe queen will kill us if we keep her waiting too long."

"But-"

"No."

--

"Now, show me what you have found," said the queen once we were back in the court.

Four boxes appeared in front of us.

"Cards!" cried the queen. "Bring forth my evidence!"

The cards handed the boxes to the queen. She shuffled them, then frowned.

"Hmm…" she mused. "Checking all four would only be a waste of time…"

"But we worked so hard!" I screamed, even though we had not. The voice had been telling me what to do all along.

"NO!" roared the queen. "Choose the one you wish to present."

I suddenly realized what she was up to. "Sora!" I whispered sharply.

"Not now!" he hissed back.

"No! It's important. Look, while you were distracted with yourshoelaces, one of the card soldiers messed with our evidence. Pick the wrong one, and it'll look like we're guilty!"

He frowned, and then looked at my troubled face. "You pick," he decided.

I stepped forward and observed my choices. "HURRY!" roared the queen.

Which one? I thought. Which one!

"Second to the left," said the voice in my head.

How do you know?

"I had…I just do. Now, second box to the left."

I tapped the box. It turned into a photo of the Heartless fighting back the card soldiers.

"What in the worldare those things?" roared the queen.

"That's your evidence. Alice is innocent," explained Sora matter-of-factly.

The queen began to growl. "Silence!" she screamed desperately. "I'm the law here! Article 29: 'Anyone who defies the queen is guilty'!"

"That's crazy!" concluded Donald.

The queen wasn't listening. "Seize them at once!"

--

A tower with gears sticking outof itappeared out of nowhere. The card soldier who had messed with our evidence began cranking the gears. Alice's cage was raised high into the air. The cards began their attack.

"Cards!" commanded the queen. "If they touch the tower, you lose your heads!"

"The tower!" I whispered to Sora. He nodded.

Sora and I began hacking away at the tower with our Keyblades (in my case, a copy of the Keyblade). Donald and Goofy fought off the cards. A short while later, the first gear burst into energy orbs. Alice's cage lowered halfway.

Alice smiled gratefully and began banging away at the bars. She'll have no luck, I thought. We may look alike, but she was a docile girl who was afraid of confrontationand I was a skilled fighter who had spent my whole life fighting with other people on my island.

A short time later, the second gear was near to breaking. I laughed out loud. We were winning!

"ESSSSSSCCCCCAAAAAAPPPPPE!" a card soldier alerted his allies.

Escape? What was he talking about? Alice was still happily banging away at her cage bars, right?

Before I could think anymore, the card had grabbed me and taken me away. I couldn't tell where I was going. I tried to scream, but the card had covered my mouth and Sora was too absorbed in whacking the last gear to notice.

The remaining gear burst into orbs.

--

The cage came rattling down. Sora looked around. Then he turned directly to the queen.

"Where is she!" he demanded. "Where's Skyler?"

"I don't know!" she screamed back at him. "And I don't care. It's time to execute Alice."

I would have screamed "I'm right here!" but the card who had kidnapped me had threatened to execute me if I didn't keep quiet.

Sora dashed over to the cage, which was currently covered with curtains. The curtains were drawn back, revealing…me!

"Skyler!" Sora hacked at the bars with his Keyblade, but the soldier guarding me silently threatened to stab him. He tried talking.

"What happened to Alice?" he asked.

"This is Alice, culprit," said the card.

"No, it's not. That's my sister," explained Sora.

"No, it isn't," insisted the card.

"How you could mistake me for Alice I'll never understand," I retorted, glaring at the guard. "There is a significant difference in hair color."

"Do you know what happened to Alice?" Sora asked me.

"Maybe she escaped while we were breaking the tower.

"You fool!" the queen half roared, half wailed. "That isn't Alice!"

"Oh," said the soldier.

"CARDS!" The cards stood at attention.

"Find the one who's behind this. I don't care how!"

The cards scampered off, leaving us and the queen. The seconds that passed seemed like hours, until Sora finally posed the question.

"Well?" he asked testily.

"Well what?" replied the queen.

"Aren't you going to let Skyler go?"

"Why should I?"

"So she can help find Alice."

"No."

"What? Why?"

"Well, who knows, maybe she really is Alice." The queen eyed me closely. Then she proposed a challenge.

"Find the real Alice, that is, if this isn't the real Alice. Prove to me that this is your 'Skyler.'"

"But I am Skyler!" I screamed. "I mean, look! We look so different!"

Then I realized we didn't. We looked exactly the same, despite the different clothing and hair. If I dyed my hair blonde, I could easily pass for Alice.

"ARG!" I roared. "This is so…frustrating!"

"We'll find Alice…" said Sora, exasperated. They left the courtroom.

--

The minutes ticking by seemed like hours. It was a very uncomfortable situation, going something like this:

"Alice?"

"I'm not Alice."

"Of course you're Alice. Stop denying it."

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Try to steal my heart."

"I'm not Alice, and even if I was, Alice did not steal your heart."

"Who was it, then?"

"The guys in the photo."

"Hmph."

"Why did you send your guard to mess up our evidence?"

"I did no such thing!"

"Sure you didn't…"

"That's a good girl."

--

Later I tried contacting Sora. No luck. I tried to summon my Keyblade to hack at the bars, but when the queen saw me doing so, she screamed, "Give me those!" and snatched away my Mystical Orbs.

Horribly upset, I consulted the voice in my head.

Voice?

"Yeah?"

What should I do?

"I-I dunno. I've never been in a situation like thisbefore."

…Voice?

"Mm?"

I miss Riku…

A long pause.

"…..I'm sure you do."

What's wrong?

"Well, I guess that it's just…I miss him too."

I began thinking about Riku and reminiscing about the "old days" back on Destiny Islands. Riku was always there for me.

--

Flashback: Riku is 10 years old and Skyler is 5. Skyler is sitting on the beach, crying. Riku walks up to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Riku asks.

"The mean girl over there beat me up!" Skyler cries, pointing to Selphie, another girl from the islands, who is standing on the dock.

Selphie is bragging to several other kids about her victory. "Yeah," says Selphie. "She put up a good fight, but I eventually whipped her good." She brandishes her "whip," a jump rope. Riku walks over.

"So, I guess you think you're cool because you beat a five-year-old, huh?" he says.

"Hey, you never told us she was a little kid!" cries Tidus, who was in the audience.

"Which little kid was it, anyway?" asks another audience member.

"…Skyler," Selphie admits. "You know, Sora's little sister."

Tidus gets mad and walks away.

"Anyway," continues Riku. "If you're so tough, why don't you take me on?"

There is a great deal of whispering. Skyler, meanwhile, is watching from the beach. She smiles.

"This should be interesting," one boy whispers to another. "I heard that Riku's the best fighter on the island."

"Same here," replies the other boy.

Riku whips out his wooden sword and gestures for Selphie to "bring it on."

They fight. Selphie is easily defeated. She stomps off, angry.

Riku walks over to Skyler. "Well, that's that," he announces. "Now, how about we go for hot chocolate or something?"

He picks Skyler up and walks away with her on his back. The kids back on the dock are staring in awe.

--

Hours later, Sora and the others came to get me. "It took you long enough!" I screamed.

Sora sighed. "Okay…" he began, looking at the queen. "We didn't find Alice."

"WHAT!" screamed the queen. "Well, than it's off with this girl's head!"

"But…" continued Sora, tapping into his creativity. "We do think you're the prettiest woman ever."

"Really?" commented the queen. "Ok…well…I guess I can let the girl go…just this once…" She opened the door of my cage. "JUST GO!" she screamed, and we were gone.

"Wait," I said before we could leave. "Your Majesty, could I have my Mystical Orbs back please?"

--

"It seems Alice is in another world," explained Sora as we boarded the gummi ship. "We had to fight a huge Heartless, thinking we would find Alice, but after that, that darn cat appeared and told us she was gone! Darn it…

"But then the weirdest thing happened!" Sora continued. "The doorknob- the talking one- complained that we made too much noise. He yawned, and a little lock appeared. My Keyblade suddenly emitted a beam of light and locked it. Then it spit out a little green gummi block! Maybe it'll shut that door up…" Gummi blocks were the building materials of gummi ships. By collecting new gummi blocks, we could upgrade our ship to make it faster, stronger, and more durable. But this gummi block was differently shaped from the others- I couldn't figure out why.

"Oh!" said Goofy. "And we got these!" He held up three adorable, spotty, frightened Dalmatian puppies. "They belong to the dogs in Traverse Town, remember?" He tucked them away. "Cute, huh?"

"More than you can imagine!" I squealed, and we headed off to another world, laughing.

--

Wow, that chapter was longer than I expected…oh well! Time to start on the next one!