Disclaimer: Not mine, yay!

Chapter 31- Complicated Conversations

Iji collapsed into Sora's arms, sobbing. Her mind was racing with thoughts. 'Now I know… I don't have a Heart. I am a shell, just as Menel told me.'

Sora was still shocked by what he had seen. Was that what had truly happened to Iji once before? Had she really died at the hands of a Heartless and somehow come back to life? It didn't make any sense. Sora was puzzled beyond belief.

"Ahem…?" coughed Donald, floating at the entrance to the grotto. "Are we gonna go or not?"

"We better get going… We have a job to do, don't we?" whispered Sora to Iji and slowly led her outside.

*****

The rest of the trip in Atlantica flew by like some kind of warped dream for Iji. Even the first battle with Ursula seemed otherworldly and unreal. As much as she tried, she couldn't shake the frightening visions of the Heartless's hand stuck through her body and herself smiling as blood covered her body.

"Iji! Watch out!" yelled Sora, pushing her out of the way as Ursula spat a series of exploding bubbles out of her enlarged mouth. Sora shook Iji hard. "You gotta snap out of it Iji! You gotta help us fight! There's always time later, okay?"

"She was right… I am but an empty shell…" Iji ignored him.

Sora grimaced as he was grazed by one of the bubble's explosions. He had to get Iji fighting. He stared into Iji's eyes. "Iji, why is there someone that looks like me inside you? Why do you have my darkness?"

Iji looked at Sora suddenly, shocked out of her daze by his questions. "Sora…?"

"Finally! Please, Iji, you gotta help us to fight!" pleaded Sora.

"Fight? Who are we… Oh…" Iji noticed the larger-than-life Ursula.

Sora grinned. "I've hit her forty-two times. Think you can catch up?"

Iji grinned back. "I'll beat your record and then some!"

*****

The trident glowed as it levitated above Ariel's hands. The relief glowed in response and a glass block appeared, revealing the Keyhole. Sora locked it with ease and watched as it shimmered away into the water.

"Tell me, Sora." Ariel said softly. "Your world… What's it like?"

Sora scratched the back of his neck. "Oh, about that… Sorry for lying to you."

The mermaid gave a small giggle. "It's okay. Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, then maybe I can too! Oh, so many places I want to see! I know I'll get there someday. I'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it." She swam slowly up towards the light that shone down from the top of her grotto.

*****

Iji gazed out of the gummi ship's window. She sat on a long cushioned seat that served as a makeshift bed and drew her knees up to her chin. Sora entered the back room where she was and placed a blanket around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry I had to ask that before. But I had to snap you out of it somehow." he explained slowly.

"It's okay." replied Iji. "It's just that I didn't know you knew."

"When I saw that girl, I just knew. How she looked, and then I remembered back to when we first met… It just clicked together." Sora gave a brief smile.

Iji suddenly frowned, as if something was distracting her. She turned to Sora. "Menel wants to talk to you." Iji's head fell forward for a second as if she had passed out.

"Menel?" asked Sora worriedly.

Iji stirred and came to. She lifted her head up and smirked at Sora. Iji's white eye had become completely black. The girl stretched. "It's good to feel alive, isn't it, other half?"

Sora blinked. "You're Menel?"

The girl tapped Sora on the nose and winked. "Bingo."

"And you're the darkness that Iji took out of me all those years ago?"

"Yep," Menel nodded. "And maybe it was for the best too. Anyway, I just wanted to speak to you about Iji and her past memories and that."

"Uh, okay. But firstly, I just want to know why Iji thinks she is an empty shell. Did you say something to her?" Sora frowned at Menel suspiciously.

Menel battered her eyelashes and pouted playfully. "You wound me with that comment, Sora dearest. But yes, I told her that. But only because it's the truth that Talara and I are residing within her. A kind of replacement Heart, you know? Since she lost her own, as you well know already."

"What happened to her after what we saw in that vision?" Sora asked.

Menel shrugged casually. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Yeah, that's some great help from you…" said Sora sarcastically.

"Ooh, now there's some of the Sora I know and love." teased Menel. Suddenly she growled. "No, I'm having fun with him! Leave me alone… Oh fine then!" She looked sourly at Sora. "The 'almighty' Talara wants to speak to you."

Again Iji's head fell forward and came back up. This time both her pupils where white.

"Er, Talara?" Sora was starting to get confused.

She smiled. "Yes, that's me."

"And you'd be… Riku's light I'm guessing." Sora winced as he said it.

"You're right again." Talara smiled. "I just want to thank you so very much for helping Iji through all this." She paused as she noticed that Sora looked sad. "Are you alright, Sora?"

"Uh, I guess. It's just that…"

"I'm Riku's light?"

Sora nodded. "If he still had you, then maybe he wouldn't have gone off into the darkness."

Talara patted Sora's shoulder. "I know, but it's destiny in a way. And there must always be balance."

"Will you two ever come back to us?" asked Sora suddenly.

Talara smiled. "When all this is over, then of course we'll come back and complete you."

"But then… what about Iji?"

She was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know." she finally answered. "Maybe she'll find her own Heart again. Or maybe she'll just… disappear. We'll only know when the time comes. I have to leave now, but please Sora." She lifted Sora's chin up to meet her eyes. "Stay strong. Not just for Iji, but for everyone else as well, including yourself." Her hand dropped and Iji fell to the side onto the bed, sleeping softly.

Sora sadly smiled at Iji. "I don't want you to disappear at the end, Iji. You're too good a friend for us to be simply cut off from each other. I'll make sure you stay with us. When all of this is over, you can come back with me, Kairi, and Riku and we can all live on Destiny Islands together. Everything will be like it was supposed to." Switching off the light, he went back to the cockpit to fill Donald and Goofy in.

*****

"Gwarsh, Sora. This is all getting pretty confusing to me." Goofy said with a dazed look on his face.

"Same with me." admitted Donald.

"Tell me about it…" agreed Sora. "All that vision did was give me more questions to ask."

A beeping sound alerted Goofy and he checked the radar. "Uh, a big ship is catching up to us!"

Donald checked it as well and looked out the window just as a large wooden ship cruised past. "That's a pirate ship!" he exclaimed.

The ship turned around to face the smaller gummi ship. Sora gave a sharp yell. "It's coming right at us!"

The pirate ship slammed into the gummi ship, sending the whole ship to go dark.