A/N- I finally pulled my head up and decided to continue this story. I feel I may write the next chapters much better than the past ones, due to improved writing ability (I think) and a better general idea of the story's direction Sorry for keeping you waiting! General review thanks to –X- Deyoxis- X-, Shizuku Tsukishima749, buddybuddy96, and Tsuki-hime Neko.

BokMal14- Yes, that was a mistake. EVERYBODY: Maleficent is the antagonist in SLEEPING BEAUTY, not Snow White. Sorry for the confusion that may have caused.

Heart

Chapter 5: Training

A loud slap echoed through the padded room, and Robin laughed. "Come on, Raven, you have to try harder than that." He deftly dodged her flying fists, and captured her wrist with his hand, pulling it hard until it became twisted tightly against her back. She hissed softly in annoyance, and he chuckled again, releasing her. They automatically resumed their previous positions, bouncing lightly on the balls of their feet.

"Just try to always be one step ahead. Anticipate what I'm about to do," Robin told her. She groaned in response, fists held up halfheartedly. Robin rushed towards her, and she ducked as his fist swung towards her head. She then quickly darted to his side, delivering a punch to his lower stomach. She was disappointed that he didn't even flinch.

"Better," he said, "Better. But you're not quite there yet. I've seen you do better than this. You're not trying." She grunted in annoyance, and then surged forward. Robin ducked at her first hit, then just managed to escape a low kick. "Good," he advised as they sparred, "Use everything you can to help you. Don't rely on your hands alone." He reached forward with his hand outstretched, and she deftly kicked his ankle from underneath him so he fell to the floor. Robin looked up at Raven, her shoulders shaking with breaths.

"You're improving. But I wasn't even trying." She rolled her eyes and pulled him to his feet.

"Again?"

Before she could answer the question, Sora came to the room. He stood in the doorframe awkwardly for a second, and when his eyes met Raven's, she looked away. She didn't want him to think of her as the target, or worse, as the possessor of the darkest heart yet. And she didn't want to face Maleficent; her very heart pounded thick in her chest at the thought of it.

But Maleficent wasn't created from shadow; maybe Raven could fight her? She asked Robin this, but Sora was the one to respond.

"Chances are they'll just leave a main Heartless to do all of the work for them. I wouldn't count on seeing her at all. Then again, this'll be an important day for her. So maybe."

Raven sighed slowly. She and Robin both knew that her hand-to-hand wasn't terrible but sure wasn't great. Adrenaline usually did help her in fights, and may improve her accuracy a touch. Besides, from what Sora said, these Heartless that they would be up against (at least, the smaller ones) weren't very quick on the uptake.

But still. She needed a way to protect herself.

Sora was still standing in the doorway, and it bothered her, although the Keyblade was not even with him. He didn't seem like a protector to her; just a kid, one even younger than herself. Even so, she swallowed hard and said, "Sora, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Surprised, the boy nodded, and they left the room, also leaving behind a very confused Robin. Once in the hallway, Sora was about to speak, but Raven silenced him. She raised her hand and it glowed with a black aura, throwing open the door to the gym where she had been training moments before. As the door opened, Robin fell forwards onto the floor. His face reddened at being caught eavesdropping. He mumbled a quick, "I'll leave you two…," before hurrying off. Raven gave a faint, satisfied smirk.

"Go on," she prompted Sora.

"Well, I was just gonna ask what's up?" He answered, scratching his head.

"I want you to be absolutely honest with me right now," she said, and he was taken aback at how serious her tone was, "How much of a chance do we have of actually winning this battle?"

He hesitated, but knew that lying to her would do no good. "Well, it depends really. If Maleficent doesn't come, that improves our chances. If there aren't a lot of dark hearts on this planet to be used to create the main Heartless, the main Heartless will be weaker. It's all based on luck."

"But do you think Maleficent will come?" she prodded.

"I do," he admitted, "Because this is too important to her for her to miss it."

Raven's expression tightened, as if in resolve and understanding. She couldn't prevent this, she really couldn't. She couldn't just give herself up to the Heartless; her friends would still be in danger. "Thank you for being honest with me." The words sound forced, and she saw that he noticed. His eyes were already clouded with worry. Raven mentally noted that Sora needed to learn how to hide his emotions, but she couldn't be the one to teach him how. For the moment, she had bigger fish to fry. She walked away from Sora, towards her room. He watched her go, and she knew that his opinion of her had improved, if only a little bit, just because he had never heard her speak, and surely hadn't imagined her as anything near civil.

When Raven got to her room, the first place she went was to her bookshelf. Her pale, long finger trailed over the bindings of each old, musty book as she read their titles. She managed to pull out a few books, though none about the exact subject she had wanted, and set them down on their bed, where they let out a groan of old pages and a cloud of dust. Murmuring about how now she needed to change her sheets, Raven sat down and began to read.

A/N- Okay, now I'm buzzing with ideas! This will most likely be updated soon, or I'll at least try to do so. Until next time,

Ignite the Airwaves