Authors Note: Hello, wonderful readers! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, even though it was mostly filler. I tried to make it as interesting as possible. I also want to apologize for the grammar errors that were in there. I posted it at like two in the morning and I didn't really proofread. Anyway, thanks so much to: kingdomdisney, Dracula-key, Makii-chan, soraroxas365, 1st class Soldier Girl13, SpringBorn, Wormo the Green Lantern, and CatchingForRain for their reviews. Also a big thanks to WalkingDisaster16 for adding TOE to his/her favorite stories list. So, I'll stop rambling now so you can read the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable. Just Katy, Ryan, Cassie, and Jordan, my OCs

Blissfully unaware about Maleficent's return, our four heroes climbed aboard the Gummi Ship and were greeted by the ships engineers Chip n' Dale.

If chipmunks were engineering MY spaceship, I'd be concerned…

"Howdy, everyone! How ya doin'? " Dale asked cheerfully.

They didn't wait for an answer before saying "happy flying!" In unison and handing over the controls.

"Only one?" Sora groaned referring to the amount of worlds, or lack of amount, that they could visit.

"That's no good." Donald agreed.

"Hey, isn't that Hollow Bastion?" Katy pointed out.

"Yeah! I think it is!" Goofy exclaimed

They quickly set course, letting Donald drive since he'd been away from his precious ship for so long, and after a short flight plagued by Heartless, arrived at Hollow Bastion.

However, they weren't the only one's visiting…

"Maleficent? Maleficent!" Pete called out as he roamed the Halls of Maleficent's castle. "Maybe they really did finish her off…" he sighed, slumping in defeat. "This castle sure isn't what I expected. No shine, no nothin'. Now what's gonna happen to our plan?"

While he was rambling to himself, the crow that had brought Maleficent's cloak to Yen Sid's tower had flown to the castle and perched itself on one of the tower's walls. It cawed to get Pete's attention and he whipped around, eyes bugging out when he saw it.

Sora, Katy, and the others ran through Hollow Bastion, noting how much better the place looked.

"I wonder if Leon and the gang are doing okay." Donald though out loud, the others nodding in agreement.

"Probably as good as it can get." Katy replied, warily watching as some Heartless disappeared from a nearby building.

"Looks like we're gonna have to do some fightin'." Goofy said, also noting the armoured creatures.

They passed many shops that hadn't been there before as they made their way to the center of town. Suddenly, beams of light shot began to shoot up from the ground all around them.

"What's happening?" Donald demanded

"That's the town's defense mechanism." A familiar voice answered.

They looked around before spotting an even more familiar ninja—excuse me—great ninja on the roof of a building.

"Yuffie!" Sora exclaimed.

The black haired girl grinned but it faded into a look of alarm.

"Look out!" she cried as several Dusks appeared.

They took care of them quickly (the defense mechanism was a big help) and when they were gone, Yuffie jumped gracefully down from the rooftops.

"Hey, guys. I see your still in top form." She said with a grin

You think she would have helped them take out the Dusks…

"What'd you expect?" Sora asked with a laugh. "Looks like you've been doing good too."

"Well what did YOU expect?" Yuffie countered.

"How's pretty boy and the rest?" Katy asked, referring to Leon and the others.

"Great!"

"Hey, Yuffie. Have you seen the King and Riku?" Sora asked

Katy tried and failed to suppress an eye-roll. He was obviously going to ask every living soul they met this question.

"Nope." Yuffie answered, cheerily, running partially down the street before turning back around.

"But I had a feeling I'd see you guys again."

Sora smiled and said in an exaggeratedly deep voice

"We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"Is that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie asked with a snicker.

Sora nodded and the others laughed.

"Everyone's working on stuff over at Merlin's house. C'mon, we have a surprise for you, Katy." Yuffie said over her shoulder as she ran off.

Now curious, the others hurried over to Merlin's house. Upon entering, they saw Aerith, Cid, and Leon standing with their backs to them. A ways to the left stood two very familiar looking people.

"OH MY GOD!" Katy shrieked, running over to Cassie and Ryan and tackling them in a hug.

"Katy, as nice as it is to see you, your crushing my ribs." Ryan choked out, sighing when she released him from her death grip.

After everyone said their hellos to one another, Sora, Leon and the others began to talk about the restorations going on in Hollow Bastion. Meanwhile, Katy, Ryan, and Cassie were having a conversation of their own…Katy had just finished explaining how she'd found Sora and what they could and couldn't tell him. It didn't really end too well…

"What do you mean he doesn't know?" Ryan hissed

"Shhh! Do you want him to hear you?" Katy whisper-yelled back

"He must be seriously dense. How does he think you got to Twilight Town? Magic? You were in a hospital on Earth! You had a giant gaping hole in your chest for God's sake! Does he think something like that just heals over night? Talk about oblivious…" Ryan exclaimed, his rant accompanied by violent hand gestures.

Katy didn't really know how to respond. Actually, Ryan had a point. Sora hadn't even asked her about how she got to Twilight Town after he saw Cassie and Ryan take her back home. Either he was, as Ryan pointed out, dense, or he thought he knew how she got there…

"Naminé!" Katy blurted out.

"Who now?" Cassie asked

"Naminé. She's the chick that put Sora's memories back the right way!"

"Put his memories…what the hell are you talking about?" Ryan demanded

Katy backtracked a bit and went on to explain what happened in Castle Oblivion so her friends could better understand.

"Okay, so you think this Naminé chick put a memory in Sora's head that explains how you got to Twilight Town." Ryan summarized

"Yes." Katy replied.

"So why didn't she, I don't know, tell you?"

"Well we weren't exactly best friends. She must've thought that this would piss me off. She was right. I'm royally pissed off right mow." Katy huffed.

"So why didn't that DiZ dude mention anything. He must have been thinking about this too, right?" Cassie asked

"He and Cloaky had a lot on their minds, worrying about the Organization and Roxas and everything."

The conversation continued with how their lives had been going. After Katy had disappeared from Disney Castle, Cassie and Ryan had hung out there for a while. They even were able to get in contact with Jordan to make sure she hadn't been arrested for impersonating a hospital patient.

"She was seriously pissed that we couldn't go get her, but it would have been too much of a hassle to go all the way back. Not to mention we would have probably been arrested for stealing the Queens ship." Cassie said, chewing at her nails.

Katy narrowed her eyes. Cassie only bit her nails when she was nervous about something. Something must have been up.

Ryan, oblivious to the black-haired girl's strange behavior, continued with the story.

"So after we talked to Tate, it started to get weird. We remembered you, and knew you left to go find someone, but we couldn't remember who. The Queen suggested we go to Hollow Bastion and talk to some of your old friends. We took her advice, obviously and they said the same thing. They knew you but they couldn't remember who the kid was that you followed around. Then a couple of days ago, we literally just woke up and were like "Oh, yeah! Sora!" Then you guys showed up and, well, here we are." Ryan finished, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"Geez, what a mess." Katy groaned, trying to wrap her mind around all of this information.

"Yeah, I'll say. Anyway, good luck with all this, Kate." Ryan replied, distractedly while he slowly gravitated towards Yuffie.

Katy looked over at Cassie questioningly and the dark-haired girl shook her head.

"Boy's got a thing for her. I told him he's in way over his head; that chick could kick his ass seven ways to Sunday." She explained, gnawing at her cuticles

Katy slapped her hand away from her mouth.

"Stop that! It's gross! Just tell me what's up already…before you chew all the skin of your fingers."

Cassie looked over towards the others nervously, before pulling Katy further away from them to ensure they were no longer in earshot.

"I've been having these dreams…about Riku."

Katy choked on her spit

"Dude! TMI!" She shrieked, causing the others to look over.

Both girls waved sheepishly before returning to their - hopefully still private – conversation.

"Not like that, you pervert!" Cassie hissed, "I mean dreams like Protector stuff!"

"Oh…I knew that." Katy said, managing a grin before becoming serious. "So, do you know where he is?"

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"No. If I knew that, I would have said something to the others. I can't even really see him…just feel what he's feeling. Sometimes if the emotion is strong enough I can get a blurry picture, but he's always in this huge black coat, so it's hard to see. But I'm positive it's him. It felt like it did the last time." She explained, referring to the time when Riku had gotten a hold of the Keyblade and she'd been dubbed his Protector.

"Does he know your there? Like last time?"

"No…I don't think so. I think that sometimes he suspects someone's there, but I don't think he knows it's me. Hell, I don't even think he knows who I am. He's only really heard my voice before. I never showed him my face."

Katy groaned again and rubbed her temples. One more thing she had to worry about.

As if she read her friend's thoughts, Cassie rested a hand on her shoulder

"Look, don't worry about the Riku stuff. I'll handle it. You just keep Sora and yourself alive, kay?"

"Ok, but keep me in the loop alright. And don't mention anything to Sora, he'll wind up dragging you with us and using you as a freaking prophetess." Katy replied, only half joking.

Cassie giggled, but sobered quickly.

"I feel bad keeping all this important stuff from him. He is the Keyblade Master after all."

"All the more reason to keep it from him." Katy replied, grimly.

Cassie sighed, but nodded and both girls rejoined the rest of the Restoration Committee in the center of the room. Katy managed to catch a snippet of Sora and Merlin's conversation about Sora's forgotten magic.

"I suppose I can lend you a spell." The wizard sighed, handing a small orb to Sora.

Upon seeing Katy lingering, he beckoned her over and handed her one as well.

"There. You'll have to get the others on your own, I'm afraid."

Sora nodded and turned to Katy.

"C'mon! Leon wants us to show us something at the Bailey. He already left like five minutes ago."

"Alright, let's get going." Katy said, following Him, Donald and Goofy out the door.

"Oh, this is for you…from Leon and the others." Sora said, fishing a plastic card out of his pocket.

It was an official membership card for the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, complete with her name on the back.

"That was nice of them." Katy muttered to herself, her thought ending with a small yelp as Sora grabbed her hand and literally dragged her towards the Bailey.

If she'd been given the chance to voice her opinion, she would have suggested taking their time getting there. She had a feeling that whatever Leon wanted to show them wasn't going to be pretty…

And unfortunately, being the Protector meant her feelings were never wrong.

A/N: I'm gonna wrap it up there, only because that was a lot of filler/plot and I don't want this chapter to get ridiculously long with the rest of Hollow Bastion. I'll try to have the next chapter up this weekend. I need to get all my homework out of the way first. Please Review!