((*gasp* I've written a lot of chapters!!
(kinda)

Eh...this ones a little bit shorter than a couple of the latest chapters. So you get a small bonus at the end, again ^_^.

Also, since I'm running out of ideas for Disney Worlds, if you contribute some ideas then that would be helpful! ^_^. I'll credit you..

Anyywaayyyy....

Enjoy! ^_^))

DAY 404 ~ The Same Face

(Chapter 18)

Sora woke up about half an hour before arriving in Hollow Bastion. Naminé was still sleeping, so he had to wake her up.

"Naminé," he touched her shoulder lightly. "We're about to arrive in Hollow Bastion. You need to wake up…"

Slowly, she opened her eyes. "What a weird dream…" she said. Then she yawned. "Okay, I'm awake."

Sora couldn't help but smile. There wasn't really a reason for it…but he did. She reminded him a lot of Kairi…

"Sora! Are you coming??" Donald shouted from the exit of the Gummi Ship.

"Oh, uh, yeah!" Sora and Naminé stepped out of the Gummi Ship and back into Hollow Bastion. Everyone headed for the secret hideout.

Sora almost--literally--ran into Yuffie at the entrance.

"Sora!" Yuffie jumped a bit, startled, but then a welcoming smile spread on her face. "Welcome back! So how was your trip so far?"

"It was…pretty good," Sora said, a but overwhelmed by her excitement. "I have to see Cid."

"Oh, he's out working at his shop right now," Yuffie told Sora. "But he should be back on his lunch break, pretty soon. What do you need him for?"

"Dale said that one of the engines on the Gummi Ship is going out," Sora answered. "We'll need to get it repaired."

"Already? How far did you go?" Yuffie teased. "Well, you can stay here for a while, if you want. I was about to go get some food, but you're welcome to come with me!"

"I think we'll stay…some relaxing time would be better," Sora replied.

"Okay," Yuffie smiled. "Well, I'll see ya later!" She ran off, as energetic as usual.

I probably would have sighed if I had my own body. Not really in a bad way, but it's just that before I'd never met a person more energetic than Axel or Demyx.

Maybe it's because she has a heart.

Sora and his friends headed inside and were greeted by Aerith.

"Welcome back," she smiled. "So how was the first part of your journey?"

"It was…okay," Sora replied. "We aren't really any closer to finding King Mickey, or Riku, or Kingdom Hearts and whatever."

"Oh…well, go ahead and have a seat here," she gestured to a group of couches set up around a coffee table, "they'll be at least another 20 minutes."

"Okay," Sora took a seat on one of the couches, and Naminé sat beside him. Goofy and Donald--who seemed to be in a bad mood, again--sat on the other full couch, and Aerith sat in one of the arm chairs.

They talked a bit. Sora asked how Aerith had been for the past year--since they hadn't had much time to talk in the last visit--and explained what he and his friends had done so far, at Beast's Castle and the Coliseum. Aerith asked a few more questions, and then Cid finally arrived.

"You already need repairs!?" he exclaimed, when Sora told him what had happened.

Sora laughed a bit. "Yeah. Guess we should give the ship more of a break, huh?"

"No kidding," Cid murmured, turning and taking a seat at his computer. "I won't be able to get working on it until this evening."

"How long will repairs take?" Goofy asked.

Cid shrugged. "It depends on how bad the damage is."

Sora didn't actually know how bad it was. He'd just taken Chip and Dale's word for it. They hadn't had any problems flying, though…

"I'm back!!" announced a returning Yuffie. Leon came in after her. "Lunch time!"

Everyone sat around the coffee table--the sandwiches didn't take up much of the space--and started to eat.

"So what worlds have you gone to, so far?" Yuffie asked, before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Only the Beast's Castle and the Coliseum," Sora replied.

"Fight any exciting battles?"

"Beast's Castle was a bit interesting," Naminé said. "It was a bit sad, but…it turned out good."

"Wait, what was going on there?" Yuffie laughed. "Tell us the whole story!"

'If you want, I could tell more about Beast's Castle before you woke up,' I offered to Sora.

'Sure!'

"Roxas is going to explain some about Beast's Castle, first," Sora said. "Then we can tell how our travel there went!"

So I spent some time explaining. I told of first exploring the world, some times I'd spent there with Xion, and the things Xaldin had said. They asked for me to explain more about the organization members later, but let me continue with the story.

The last thing I told was about when I had last visited the castle and how Xaldin seemed to be interfering. Then Sora took over, and told of the events that had occurred only a couple days earlier.

We all had a good time.

-----

That evening, they asked me to explain more about the organization. It was weird to have so many people looking to me for some information--I'd always had to ask others. Axel, in particular.

'What, are you shy about talking in front of them?' Xion teased.

'N-no! Of course not!'

We would have laughed, then, if we had our own bodies.

"So…where should I begin?" I asked the general group of people. We were gathered around the coffee table again, this time with a meal of…pizza.

"What's the Organization's goal?" Leon asked.

"Uh…" I wasn't actually completely sure.

'Well…something about Kingdom Hearts and completing it,' Xion told me.

"They want…or really, Xemnas wants to complete Kingdom Hearts," I said.

"But what does that accomplish?" Leon asked.

"I don't really know," I admitted. "Zexion had said that we could get hearts…but I'm not sure if there's anything else to it or not."

"Interesting," Leon commented. "What else did the organization have you do?"

"I had to perform recon at other worlds." At their confused expressions, I explained, "Explore it and gather information. Other than that…we were sometimes asked to eliminate heartless or collect hearts."

"So they must have a lot of hearts by now…" Yuffie said.

"They'll still get more," I told everyone, "as long as Sora is defeating heartless with the keyblade. That's why we need to destroy Kingdom Hearts, quickly."

"Sora…is helping them?" Aerith asked.

"No!" I automatically denied it, as if she'd asked that about me. Though I actually did help them at one point in time… "Not willingly."

"So basically, we have to wrap this up as quick as possible, right?" Leon concluded.

I nodded. Now if only we could figure out how.

-----

Cid had looked at the Gummi Ship later that evening, and said it could be fixed within a couple days. "It would be faster, but I have other work to do," he claimed.

When Sora fell asleep, Xion and I decided to try our idea. She told me to tell her what Naminé says, if she can't hear or see what happens.

It felt really…awkward to be controlling his body. Was it just the notion that I was doing something wrong, or was it because I hadn't had a body of my own in what felt like a really long time? Either way, I felt kind of nervous.

Naminé was sitting on one of the couches, making another sketch. Everyone else was asleep, or something.

"Oh, hi Roxas," Naminé said when she saw me.

"H-…hi. Wait, how do you know it's me?" I asked.

Naminé shrugged. "I guess since I have power over Sora's memories I kind of…just know. Like your presence feels different, or…" she shook her head. "It's hard to explain."

"Oh…" I didn't really get it, but it wasn't that important. "Well, um…Xion and I were wanting to ask you something…"

"What is it?" Naminé looked away from her sketching to give her full attention. Wow, she looked almost exactly like Xion…her face did, at least.

"Um…well, you know Riku, right?"

Naminé nodded. "He worked with DiZ a bit…why?"

"And Sora is searching, and has been searching for a long time, for Riku…" I suddenly felt more conscious of the room, and glanced around to make sure no one else was coming. I didn't hear anything. "Since we've all seen Riku…do you think we should tell Sora that? About where he might be?"

"He could be anywhere…but I see your point," Naminé replied. "I'm not sure…I'm assuming that Sora is asleep right now, or something? He can't hear us?"

I nodded. "We waited until he fell asleep."

"Well…out of all places, Riku seems to stay in Twilight Town fairly often…but that was before Sora awakened," Naminé paused. "But if Riku is still trying to look out for Sora…he might be nearer than we think." That gave me the urge to look around again. "We should probably wait for a while, before deciding anything."

"Okay," I agreed. "We…Xion and I…we thought it would be good to get your opinion…"

"It's good to know different opinions," Naminé commented. "Well…perhaps you should get back to sleep. Since Sora is asleep."

Meaning to return before he woke up, whenever that would be. "You're right," I said. "Thank you for…everything."

I started to turn, and was almost back to the bed room before I heard her say quietly, "I try to be helpful…at least it works a bit."

-----

"Were you able to listen?" I asked Xion."Or was it the regular white surroundings?"

"I could actually listen to the conversation this time," Xion answered. "Naminé seems so…wise. Like she always knows what to do…"

"Yeah…" They both looked so much alike. Almost identical. Why?

"Are…you okay?" Xion looked worried. "You seem…in a kinda bad mood…"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I didn't want her to worry. We already had enough to deal with. "Just thinking about things…"

"Okay…if you say so…" Xion was reluctant, but I was glad she let the topic slip.

Sora's dreams then came.

~Bonus~

•Saïx•
Lea has changed. Axel has changed. Why does he insist on protecting his fake friendship with a keyblade wielder and a mere puppet?

He even goes as far as calling them his 'best friends,' according to Xigbar. Why doesn't Xemnas intervene with this behavior?

It's affecting how well he follows the Organization's orders.

He meddles too much.

-----

•Xemnas•

((I DID write a Xemnas one??? o.o

I thought I didn't...oh well. It's really short anyway...))

Our puppet has finally left. I've sent Saïx to retrieve Roxas, since he has attempted to turn against the Organization. I will not allow that.

Our number XIII has the key to Kingdom Hearts. We cannot afford to lose him. Kingdom Hearts is necessary.

Once it's completed, our work can be finished.

-----

•Demyx•

Roxas has been acting really weird, lately. Maybe it was since we found out that Xion is a puppet, but I dunno. He's not himself.

Still, it is hard to take in. Xion's a puppet? She's the most realistic one I've ever met. Xion doesn't seem like one at all! She seems just like the rest of us!

Or is the Organization just lying?

((That's all the bonus I have written now...so if you get another short chapter in the near-ish future, let's just hope I write more bonus stuff by then...XD ^_^

Ideas are helpful from you all, too...;).

I hope you liked this chapter~ ^_^))