Author's Notes: Okay, this is the last pre-written chapter I have. I've got... about half of the next chapter started already, but I seem to have forgotten what direction I was going with it. Oh well. Almost forgot - we got an idea for a Kingdom Hearts Awards chapter today, so expect that soon. (Erica promised that if I wrote this one, she'd pick up the next.)

Enjoy!

(Sakura's POV)

"So, this is called a Clow Card?" Sora asked, examining The Windy.

"Uh-huh," I replied, lying on my back in the courtyard and staring up at the endless, cloudless blue sky.

The Windy was the first card I had ever captured. Actually, Windy never escaped, because I was holding it in my hand at the time I broke the seal on the Clow Book and released all the other cards. Nonetheless, it was my favorite card, and one I used quite frequently.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"Don't you have a weapon or magic?"

"Yeah, of course. I use the Keyblade," he answered.

"What's a Keyblade?"

Sora sat up, closed his eyes and extended his arm. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and a weapon appeared in his hand. I recognized it from The Key card.

"Wow! That's a Keyblade?" I asked excitedly.

"You bet," Sora replied.

I lay back down, letting the sun shine bright on my face. The green grass beneath my back was cool and refreshing. King Mickey rushed into the courtyard, winded from running. Sora sat up with a bemused look on his face.

"Your Majesty?" Sora asked.

The mouse caught his breath. "Master Yen Sid's looking for you two."

"Who's that?" I whispered.

"The King's teacher," he answered softly.

"He's waiting for you in Twilight Town. Take the Gummi Ship-"

"Yes!" Sora cheered.

"-to the train station and take the train." He turned to Sora. "You know which one."

"Yessir," Sora said, saluting.

"Good luck," Mickey said.

Sora yanked me to my feet. He pulled me into the guard house, which, I realized, was not a guard house at all, but a hangar, for whatever this Gummi Ship was. It was colder inside, and the metal floor clanked beneath our feet as we walked across it. A large flying ship hung from the ceiling, suspended from strong cables.

"You guys ready up there?" Sora called.

Two chipmunks scampered across the control panel, to where we could see them through the window, and gave a thumbs-up.

"That's Chip and Dale," said Sora, "The Gummi Ship experts."

I smiled and waved up at them. The one with the red nose tripped over a lever on the control panel and fell over. The black-nosed chipmunk helped the other to its feet, and pushed a button to release the ship.

"Here we go," Sora said, climbing into the ship.

I followed him, pulling myself up several rungs of a ladder to the door. Inside was larger than I expected. Nearly everything was metal, with wall-to-wall buttons, switches, and blinking lights. At the front of the ship, in the cockpit, were two large captain's chairs, and behind that, three smaller seats.

While I stood, taking in the ship and its various devices, Sora had strapped himself into one of the seats and flicked several levers. The ship began to rumble and shake, throwing me off balance and into a wall. I recovered quickly, running up to the second chair up front and sitting down to avoid getting knocked down by the next movement of the ship.

As I strapped myself in, the Gummi Ship rose off the ground, hovering above the floor. Sora signaled the two chipmunks, who opened the exit gateway by pressing another button. We carefully pulled out through the door, moving painfully slow. I looked out the window at the dark blue sky, or lack thereof, as we shot out into space.

xXx

Twilight Town was beautiful. The summer sunset sinking below the horizon set the hills on fire with vibrant colors, bright hues of red, orange, and yellow. Above the station loomed a handsome tower with an intricate clock face.

"Sora!"

Sora turned around; three kids were running towards us, two boys and a girl, about his age.

"Hi, Hayner. Pence. Olette. What are you guys up to?" Sora asked.

"We're going to the beach!" answered the girl, a brunette.

"Who's this?" asked the shorter boy, with dark hair that stood up ridiculously.

"This is Sakura," Sora said.

"Hi."

"Come on, we're gonna miss the train!" the last boy, a blonde shouted.

Sora laughed. "Nice to see you too, Hayner."

The three kids ran off into the station, and we followed them inside. Inside the station were two trains, a fairly normal-looking yellow-gold engine, and a midnight-blue train with ornate gold decorations and a smoke stack shaped like a wizard's hat. The door to the blue train slid open, as if waiting for us. We walked inside, and the door slid closed once again.

xXx

As we stepped off the train, it pulled away, leaving us stranded.

"Does it always do that?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Sora said, just as uneasily.

Before us stood a tall, twisting tower, with several spires and turrets. Its roof was blue, covered with paler blue stars, and slightly resembled the wizard hat on the train. From the varied shades of color in the sky, it was impossible to tell whether it was day or night, but judging from the time in Twilight Town, it must have been late afternoon.

"No sense in waiting, then," Sora said, walking towards the tower.

"I guess not," I agreed, walking behind him.

He knocked on the large, ornate wooden door. When nobody answered, he pushed the door open and walked inside. It was cold within, and the small room had a very foreboding atmosphere.

"Look out!" Sora shouted.

I turned around; one of the Shadows from the park was behind me. Sora sliced it with his Keyblade.

"What was that?" I asked, still shocked.

"A Heartless."

"I've seen them before…"

Just to be safe, I summoned my weapon before we ran up the spiral staircase. I took the stairs two at a time, wanting to get to the top of the tower as quickly as possible. We reached the door at the top of the stairs and opened it to find… more stairs.

This flight of stairs was straight and short, I could see the exit on the other side of them. Unfortunately, several Heartless also stood in our way. We charged through them, me clobbering them on the head with my Clow Wand, and Sora slashing them with his Keyblade. Several flights of stairs later were yet more stairs. We were tired after climbing this set of steps to the top, to the door.

"How much farther up can it be?" I panted.

"I've got a good feeling about this one," Sora said.

Behind this door was a dark study. There was a blue chest in the corner, and a desk in the center of the room, behind which sat an old man.

"Master Yen Sid," Sora yelled, "Why are there Heartless in your tower?"

"Times have changed. It seems we have unfinished business with the little cretins," he said in reply.

"All that work and there are still Heartless to take care of," Sora muttered.

"You must be Sakura," Yen Sid said.

I nodded, lowering my staff.

"You two must go on a journey, to protect the worlds from the Heartless, and… a new enemy," he continued.

Several silver figures appeared in the room, very life-like holograms. The creatures had long appendages, faces with no eyes, mysterious symbosl decorated their foreheads. The position of their mouths was indicated by a zipper.

"This is called a Dusk. It is one of the lesser Nobodies, but still a very formidable opponent. A Nobody is created when someone with a strong heart, such as you, gives in to darkness and becomes a Heartless. This is what's left of the body after it casts off the heart."

I shivered involuntarily.

"However…" He gestured, making the Dusks disappear. In their place, images of people dressed in cloaks formed. "Some Nobodies appear in human form. Do not be deceived, as they only pretend to have emotions. They are hollow shadows of the hearts they used to be. The stronger Nobodies belong to a group called Organization XIII. Be wary of them."

Sora nodded.

"Heroes of the Keyblade-"

"I don't have a Keyblade," I interrupted quietly.

"Let me see the cards I sent you."

I passed the deck to him. "You sent these to me?"

He nodded. "I did, but let me assure you, I am not responsible for the large Heartless that came to your world. I merely used the meteor shower to make sure these got to you safely. You will need them."

Yen Side continued to shuffle through the cards, stopping when he found what we was looking for. He handed a card to me – The Key.

"Go ahead, Sakura. Use it."

I gripped my staff tightly, and held the card out in front of me.

"Key Card!" I cried, striking it with the edge of my wand.

Similar to when I used The Sword, my Clow Key transformed itself into the weapon.

"There you are," said Yen Sid.

"You were saying?" Sora asked.

"Heroes of the Keyblade, you must start your quest. Keep each other safe, and be careful."

The Gummi Ship floated outside of the tower's window. It was time to leave.