Author's Note: Thanks so much guys for you patience! School has been really kicking my butt. Finals week has finally arrived! And thanks for all the reviews. You guys are awesome! ^_^

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square nor any of their characters.

Chapter 5: Nyctophobia

"Thinking of you, wherever you are.
We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope for our hearts to blend.
Now I will step forward to realize this wish.
And who knows:
Starting a new journey may not be so hard,
Or maybe it has already begun.
There are many worlds, but they share the same sky.
One sky,
One destiny

Awaken young Guardian.

Aqua's eyes fluttered open. "Am I dead?"

So much to do, so little time.

"Where is that voice coming from?" She thought.

Take your time. Don't be afraid. The Door is still shut.

"Why does this feel so familiar?"

Now step forward. Can you do it?

Aqua felt her feet move. Right, left, right, left.

Power sleeps within you, if you give it form. Choose well.

Three pedestals emerged from the ground, one bearing a sword, one bearing a magical staff and the other a shield. Aqua reached out for the sword. As she drew closer she felt something grab her feet.

The closer to the light you get, the greater your shadow becomes.

She panicked and looked down, seeing now that she was standing on a dark puddle. Dark arms grabbed Aqua, pulling her down, down, down into the abyss and then.

Light.

Aqua shot up with a start, breathing heavily. Sweat dripped down from her face. She felt... Alive. She was breathing, and could feel her heart pumping blood through her veins. "What the hell?" She started touching her arms, her hair, and stomach, making sure she was really there. " My hair has gotten so long. What is going on? Last thing I remember is fighting the traitor. Am I dead? Is this real?" She started to move to her feet slowly, her body felt light and agile. Looking around, she saw buildings on either side of her and big flashing lights of a sign overhead that read, "District One"

"This place, it can't be, I am in, Traverse Town." Looking around a bit more she spotted a figure with silver hair starting to stir and move about. She hid behind a barrel, observing from a distance. The figure rose, and looked around, rubbing his head. It was when he turned around that Aqua recognized his face. "I don't believe it. It's that bully who used to taunt and egg Sora on. What the hell is he doing here?" Aqua quietly moved out from behind the barrel she was using to hide and moved down swiftly the steps to where the silver haired figure was.

"It's been awhile, Riku" she said. She could hear the lessons of her master in the past replaying in the back of her head. "Rule number one, never let your enemy see you first" She winced but knew it was too late to hide again.

Riku turned around quickly to see who was addressing him. He was now standing face to face with a attractive woman with long blue hair and deep blue eyes. He did not recognize her, yet how did she know his name. "I am sorry, but who are you?"

The woman laughed a bit. "I am not surprised you don't remember, it was a long time ago, you were only five or six at the time. I am a friend of Sora's."

Riku's eyes narrowed, trying to match her face, but somehow he came up blank. He scratched the back of his head, "I am sorry, you must have the wrong person."

Aqua looked away sadly, now remembering why Riku could not remember her. Ven had locked their memories, but how could she explain it? She wasn't going to now, she had to find the king. "I am looking for the king, have you seen him?" She asked.

"No, I have not. I was about to ask you the same question." Riku trailed off, he couldn't finish. He had really been away on a mission for the King, but could not tell Sora or Kairi about it. He felt terrible for leaving without saying goodbye, but the King's letter instructed him to leave without a word to the other's. He realized the letter was a sham when he reached the world and there was not a heartless in sight. He went next to go see the King who told him he had never sent a letter to Riku. Panicking, Riku returned to his ship and headed back to the Islands quickly, the King tagging along, when he reached the Islands, instead of being greeted by his world, he was greeted by a dark hole. The memories were still clear as day from the night of the storm. The feelings of bitterness still lingered over what he had done in the past. A lump formed in his throat.

"What is it?" Aqua asked peering at him.

"I don't have time to talk to you I must go look for the King, excuse me." Riku said harshly now walking off.

"You know it would be easier if there were two people looking for the King instead of one. Besides I don't think it would be a good idea for you to wander about by yourself." Aqua declared. "I will just keep following you. So might as well just suck it up and deal for now."

Riku's face grew hot. "I am not a child. I do not need to be babysat. I know what's out there," he retorted hotly.

"Jeez, no need to get all hot headed. I am here to help kid. Like it or not. And I don't babysit, I can't stand kids. I just figure if you are here, then probably the King and other people are here as well." Aqua replied. "Maybe I can see Sora."

"Fine, but just don't get in my way." Riku muttered.

"What was that? I can't hear you! You know muttering is a bad thing, you should shout what you want to say." Aqua teased.

Riku sighed as he walked through the door to the second district. They had a long journey ahead of them.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK~

Roxas felt as if he was frozen into place; the words he wanted to say were at the tip of this tongue, the name, her name. Time seemed to freeze as Roxas continued to stand there, staring at her. He could not help but notice that she looked the same as ever. Finally Axel was the one to say it, the name that they had not heard in what seemed to be a lifetime.

"Xion," Axel whispered, "Is it really you?"

"Of course it's me, silly" Xion said with a giggle. "Who else could I be?"

"Xion," Roxas cried finally, he ran over and hugged her almost knocking her over.

"I am glad to see you too Roxas," Xion giggled again, "But perhaps it is best that we get out of the street, Twilight Town is not the place it used to be."

"I know just the spot," Roxas exclaimed as he let go of Xion, "quick follow me!"

With that Roxas grabbed Xion's hand and ran past several buildings and through a fence. Roxas slowed down, still panting slightly. He looked behind him to see that Xion had never let go of his hand. Axel and Namine had ran closely followed behind on his heels, both now panting and exhausted. There were now at the secret place, the place where he and his friends had cherished during the time that he was placed in the cyber world. It was dark inside but he hoped that it would be a safe place to talk. What he didn't expect was that company was already there.

"Who are you?" came a rough and tumble voice.

"Haner?" Roxas asked cautiously.

"Whose asking?" came the voice again. A boy appeared out of the shadows.

"Don't mind him," called a female voice, a woman walked into the shadows as well. "You look very familiar though. Who are you? I am Olette, this is Haner, and Pence should be back shortly. He went to go get ice cream. Have you done the homework yet? Reports are the worst, especially over breaks."

"I'm Roxas," Roxas said eagerly. They were real. His friends, the old man had made the world based off of real people. He could really be their friend now. "It's nice to meet you. This is Namine, Axel and Xion."

"Nice to meet you Roxas, I am Pence," a voice came from behind the group. He walked forward passed Roxas and extended his hand to shake. "Jee Olette, if you knew we were having more guest you should have told me. I could have gotten them ice cream." Olette shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know either. They just kind of showed up."

"It's..Okay..Really" Roxas stuttered. He was shaking from excitement. His friends were here. He could not get over it.

"Maybe we should find another place Roxas," Axel suggested, now a bit agitated that the other people were there.

"No it's okay Axel," Namine spoke up. "I can just open a portal. I think it is best that things are explained with the King. And I think you three need to come along." With this she pointed at Haner, Pence and Olette.

"Why us? We won't trust you! So why would we go with you?" Haner said annoyed.

"Because it involves you, and Sora." Namine explained.

Olette voice piped up. " Is he okay? Is he in some sort of trouble?"

"Yes, a war is coming. Eventually this will be your war too." Everyone's eyes widen when Namine spoke the last sentence. "Follow me and don't be afraid." Namine walked up to a wall and waved her hands a bit. A dark entrance appeared. "Just believe and you will get through." Without a second thought, she walked through, the others following closely behind.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK~

Aqua and Riku started to wander around the Second District. Things will extremely quiet, not a soul was in sight. "Too quiet for being Traverse Town" Aqua thought, now becoming more alert. "I don't like it, I don't like it at all."

Riku had wandered ahead and had reached the doors to hotel now in the Second District, still looking around with the problem following somwhere behind him. "Where are Sora and Kairi?"

"Hey wait up!" Aqua called from behind now running to catch up. She caught up to him quickly, now annoyed that he had gotten so far ahead. "Look if you don't like me that's fine, but something is wrong here. So let's stick together okay?"

"Look, I don't need your help..." Riku stopped upon heard something shuffle and reached down to summon his keyblade, but Aqua had beat him to it. Her long blue keyblade was pointed right in front of her, ready to kill. He gazed at her, puzzled. "A Keyblade wielder? Since are there more than just the three wielders?" Aqua looked at his puzzled face and laughed. "Don't worry, I am the real deal."

"I would keep an eye out if I were you, your enemy will strike out of nowhere, fast and furious." A voice came from above. Aqua looked around and squatted down to her battle pose. "Show yourself!" she bellowed. A tall man with chin-length brown hair came out, he was tall and had a x-shaped scar on his nose.

"Ah it's you. I thought you were, oh nevermind, I never thought I would see you again. Last time I saw you, you were a bit smaller though" Aqua said cheerfully. "And you didn't have the battle scars." Leon stared at her puzzled and deep in thought. Finally..

"Ah yes, I remember you. Sorry memory kinda escaped there," Leon said bashfully. "Come on, you guys need to get inside.

"Have you seen Sora or Kairi?" Riku asked desperately.

"About that.. It is best if we get inside." Leon said. "Hurry!" The two followed Leon into the hotel in a haste. Leon locked the door behind. "Keep going to the Red Room." Aqua kept walking down the long hallway until she reached the red door and pushed it open. Inside it was quite crowded with people. Everyone was quiet, but had a look of anxiousness on their faces. There were tables and chairs all around, with people sitting anywhere they could find space. A duck and dog sat in the corner talking quietly, there was a girl in a pink skirt serving tea, as well as a tall , thin man with spiky red hair. As Aqua was looking through the crowd, her eyes stopped, her breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be. "Ven?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" the boy said. "That is not my name."

Aqua's eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Lady, I think I would know my own name," the boy stated annoyed.

Before Aqua could argue she was pushed in further inside so the red door could be locked. Her eyes started to wander around again until she came upon a girl was lying unconscious on the bed,

"Kairi!" Riku called out! He ran over to her. "Is she okay, what happened?"

"Merlin found her. He left to go get us and when he came back she was unconscious. She is uninjured. She just is in shock." Leon explained.

Kairi started to stir in hearing the familiar voice. "R…i..k..u..? She opened her eyes.

"Hey there," he grabbed her hand, "just rest okay?"

"I am sorry, I let him take Sora. I am so sorry." Kairi kept repeating. Tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, I am sure the knuckhead is fine," he reassured her. She sat up seeing the group of people. "Your majesty, what is going on?" Riku looked behind him and bowed slightly to acknowledge the King.

Aqua sighed. "It's starting. And Sora is missing. This is bad. And I was this close to seeing the little tyke."

"Aw gosh guys, you don't have to use the formalities." The King said. "Well since everyone is here, I guess.. " he paused and gazed at Aqua. She coughed.

"I am sorry your majesty. I am a bit of a loss of how I am here, all that I know is that I am here and the others are not. It is good to see you again." She bowed slowly fumbling over words.

"Indeed. I wish it was on better circumstances, Aqua. It is good to see you again. Gosh, where do I start?" The King said grimly trying to recollect his thoughts.

"Let's go around and introduce ourselves first." Riku suggested. "I'll start. I am Riku, a friend of Sora's."

"I am Kairi, also a friend of Sora's from the Island."

Aqua could not help but smile, "You have gotten big. Last time I saw you, you were only four an had very big dreams."

Kairi stared at the woman before her. She felt so familiar somehow and yet..different.

"Aeirth, pleased to met your acquaintance," the pink skirted woman stated.

"Leon." A girl with short black hair who was standing next to Leon nudged him. "He likes to be called Squall. I'm the great ninja Yuffie." Leon looked annoyed at her but didn't say anything.

"Cid, I help with ships," an older gentlemen with blonde hair stated.

"Axel" the fiery redhead in the corner muttered softly.

"Roxas," said the boy who looked like Ven.

"Namine," chirped the blonde hair girl next to Roxas.

"Xion," muttered the girl next to Namine. Aqua could not help but notice that she looked a lot like Kairi and Namine.

"I'm Olette, and this is Hayner and Pence," said the girl next to Xion as she pointed to the two gentlemen beside her.

"I'm Goofy and this is Donald Duck." said the dog. The duck looked rather annoyed that the dog had introduced him, and stamped his foot in annoyance.

"Merlin," cried an older man with blue garments and a blue hat.

"King Mickey" said the mouse.

"Aqua." Aqua said. She didn't want to reveal to much at this point.

"Great now that's over, where do we start this story?" the King said thinking aloud.

"I guess I could start from the beginning your majesty, if you don't mind." Aqua chimed in.

"Please do," the King said. "You know more of the first part than I do."

Aqua stepped forward a bit and cleared her throat. "I come from a place that is far away. That was once beautiful with green lush grass, plentiful bountiful farms, and vast oceans. That place, no longer exists." She paused.

Long ago, all the world was connected,

"The people there were Keyblade wielders, guardians and descendants for those who came before them. Their duty was to honor the worlds and to keep the legacy alive. To protect the light at all costs. They guarded the heart of all the worlds, but their base was our world, the place we called home. The people thrived and all worked together in a common goal to protect the world, the light."

And a warm light covered it

"We lived in peace and harmony there for many generations. I am in the last generation. We are those who were able to escape the atrocity. This includes myself, my master, a boy named Terra, a boy named Ven, Sora, as well as a few others.

The people loved the light,

"That's not possible," Riku butted in, "Sora was born on the island with me."

"If you let me finish my story I can explain everything." Aqua chimed. "Now, where was I? Yes. Sora was born. He was a rarity, for once, a couple had a second child. Couples normally can have only one. His parents rejoiced and those who knew of his birth named him the child that was foretold to bring eternal light. As Sora started to grow, strange occurrences started to happen, most things that could not be explained. Around this time, fights started to break out. People were growing jealous, bickering and arguing amongst themselves. They all wanted the light for their own selfish purposes. Blood started to be leak from the heart of our world and chaos ensued.

and at length, the began to fight for it.

At a fast rate, darkness started to form and consume the world. The blood spilled on our soil started to poison the world that we had come to love so dearly."

Darkness was born in people's hearts.

"People began to disappear left and right, swallowed by the darkness. Consumed by hatred. A man emerged out of the shadows, though, a resident who said he could help. He had been experimenting with the heart of all worlds. He claimed that our world could be saved. His name was Master Xehanort." Aqua spoke his name with spite. She paused for a moment and continued again.

The darkness swallowed many hearts and much light,

"He came and tried to "fix" the problem. He did experiments trying to solve the mystery of the darkness. Really, he was after the heart of our world. His dark desires were twisted with lies of helping save what was left. The people trusted him, desperate to do anything."

and before long, it had spread far,

"He disappeared soon after saying it was too late to save our world, and that we must flee. Our world was soon devoured by the darkness. In a last effort, some ships were set off, but not many. A whole race was lost to darkness. Ven and Sora,were two of the lucky few to make it out. But the darkness started to creep into their ship and they got separated. Fate it seems intervened."

and the world disappeared into darkness.

"Sora arrived on an island where a lady had just lost her child. Stricken with grief she found Sora and raised him as her own son, claiming that he came from her and was a resident of the islands. Ven's fate was the same as the rest of us; he wrecked the ship into Radiant Gardens, where he and the remaining survivors started training on our own. As descendants of the Keyblade Masters before us and already chosen to wield a keyblade, we were able to summon and fight.

However in the hearts of children,

"In order to be a wielder, one must agree that part of their heart will always belong with the keyblade. We knew this from the beginning. We vowed to protect the remaining light at all costs."

there was still a small spark of light.

" We trained and slowly became stronger. Going out on missions to protect the light. By then the worlds had separated. Ven did not find Sora until several year later, when he accidently crashed his ship. I don't know how he recognized Sora nor do I know much of the first encounters. But I do know that Ven was crazy about Sora. And Ven would do anything for Sora. He loved him dearly."

"What happened to Ven?" Kairi asked.

"He's gone.." Aqua said looking down. It still pained her to talk about what happened. She blinked away tears as they started to blur her vision.

Gathering the fragments of light,

"I guess I can't keep the secret forever. A few of our missions were to protect the Princess of Heart and their light. Master Xehanort was after the Princesses, those of purest hearts, in order to control the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts. He and his apprentice Vanitas, created a false Kingdom Hearts. Master Xehanort believe that if he could summon enough hearts along with the light of the princesses, he could somehow manage to find the real Kingdom Hearts or have enough power to control the heart of all worlds on his own. Little did he know, though, that if he had the heart of one, he could have his Kingdom Hearts. The will of Kingdom Hearts resides in the heart of a person, a child to be exact. In order to unlock that heart, the princesses of heart are needed, as well the three keyblades, the Inverse Keyblade, the Master Keyblade and the Way to Dawn. Using those tools one could unlock the will of Kingdom Hearts that resides in that child's heart. That child is Sora." Aqua held back for a moment, wondering how much she should really say, "It was foretold that in a child, the will of Kingdom Hearts will lie sleeping. Sleeping until that power can be awakened. That what was told long ago, and it has come true."

"Whhhhhat?" Donald finally butted in. "You must be joking lady."

"I wish I was." Aqua stated. "If I was we wouldn't be here. It wouldn't be starting."

"That's not possible, Sora would have been taken by Organization 13 or somebody long ago." Axel said.

"No one was supposed to know. Those who knew were lucky. We also had to change a few memories in order to keep it hidden. I know Ven even modified Sora's memories, he didn't want Sora to bear that burden until he was old enough. He even modified our memories a bit. How Master Xehanort figured it out, I do not know. If Master Xehanort is back, I don't know how he managed it. I figure Maleficent has been helping him all this time, along with Terra. I know that if he is back, we have a long fight ahead of us.

and is made of many small pieces.

"That can't be possible. So the Organization was using the false Kingdom Hearts?" Axel said angrily.

"Yes. I can assume so if they didn't know about Sora. And what is this Organization you speak of?" Aqua looked at Axel puzzled.

"Thirteen members of people who are nobodies. After you, Terra and Ven disappeared Aqua, some new enemies appeared. Those who have no hearts but seek hearts called heartless, and those remnants of people who have strong hearts that became heartless, nobodies," explained the King.

"I see," Aqua stated quietly. "Much has changed since I left."

This was because the true light was still asleep deep within the darkness.

The room was quiet. All this time, Sora held that secret. The air grew tense with anticipation. Finally Riku spoke, "So what are we waiting for? Let's go get Sora"

"Hold on Mr. Fancy Pants. I don't think so." Aqua butted in. "I would like to hear how Sora got captured. It is important to have an idea of who our enemy is. We may not just be dealing with Master Xehanort."

Riku glared at Aqua. She was really starting to get on his nerves.

Kairi hesitated, feeling intimidated by the sheer number of people in the room and being put on the spot. She started quietly. "I was controlled. Some doll of Hades. This boy who looked like Riku was controlling me. He said something about a fake letter to the real Riku." With that Riku cringed feeling at fault. "A storm came, and I went to the secret place to get Sora. He looked..Sickly. He called out my name and faded into me. When I got here I was greeted by the fake who said I was just a puppet. He took Sora and ran off." Tears started to fall from Kairi's cheeks. "I am so sorry. That is all I know. I am so sorry."

Aqua walked over and placed a soothingly hand on the girl. " Crying won't solve anything. We'll figure this out. We will get him back. I did promise his brother after all that I would look after the little runt."

Kairi giggled and snorted a bit. "Chin up, okay?" Aqua said softly.

"What does it mean though, that Sora faded away?" Aeirth asked.

"It means," a small voice came from the table, "that he no longer has his heart. The fact that his nobody is standing tall without him, is proof of that." Everyone turned to face the blonde haired girl who had been sitting quietly all this time. "I guess it's my turn to explain. You see being the nobody of Kairi, the closest and dearest person to Sora, I have the power to manipulate his memories. A few years ago, I did such a terrible thing. I… I replaced his real memories with false memories. I was being controlled, but Sora saved me. In return for saving me, I asked him if he wanted his new memories or his old, he said old. He had to forget about me in order to have his old memories returned to him. I made him sleep in a pod while I rearranged his memories back to where they were. I didn't see him for the longest time after. I met him briefly when I was reunited with Kairi, and Sora with Roxas. I never got the chance to apologize or say thank you properly. When we got back to the island, I decided to sleep for awhile, but something stirred in me that day. I decided to depart from Kairi and figure it out on my own. That was when I came across Sora at the secret place. He asked me to, to shatter his heart, since I had the power to. He knew what was coming. Now all of those pieces are in the hearts of all his friends. If I put it in one person, that person would be in danger, or so he told me. I don't know if it caused any damage, but it will make it harder for Master Xehanort to find Sora's heart.

Aqua looked as if she could kiss her. That idea was brilliant.

"So where do we start?" Riku asked anxiously.

"I say we retrace the footsteps of Sora from his first adventure onward and go to all of the worlds he visited." suggested the King.

"All the worlds he visited? Am I missing something else?" Aqua asked curiously.

"Sora is the keyblade bearer," the King replied grimly.

"I see." Aqua stated quietly.

"Here is a report that should cover almost everything," said the King as he handed her a thick book of reports. "This should answer most of your questions"

"Thank you, your majesty," said Aqua as she took the report graciously. "So let's get going!"

"I am going too," stated Riku, "I want to help Sora. He is my best friend after all."

"Me too," cried Kairi. Before Riku could open his mouth to protest Kairi smiled, "Sora is hopeless without us after all. And besides its my turn to fight!" Riku sighed, knowing that he couldn't win.

"I want to come," said Roxas. He was ready to kill his other for leaving him in the dark.

"Well kid, I guess I will go too," Axel sighed. "I can't let you fight alone you know."

"Us too!" cried Namine and Xion in unison.

"We're going to!" exclaimed Donald Duck. He grabbed Goofy and moved forward. "Sora is our friend too. We want to help"

"I guess count me in, but how will we have room for everyone?" asked the King.

"Don't worry, I got the latest model. She's a beauty. And she's got room and extra cannons." said Cid. "Just don't get a scratch on her"

"So who isn't coming along?" questioned Aqua.

"I guess Cid, Aeirth, Yuffie, Merlin and I will stay and man the fort," said Leon. "You guys be careful."

Aqua nodded and started walking towards the great oak doors on to the next adventure.

Author's Note: Thanks again guys. Sorry it's kinda rushed. I will explain more things as I go along, like how Master Xehanort is back, (MHM!) as well as how Axel, Xion and a few of the other organization members have returned. See you soon! Hopefully break won't be too crazy so I can update more. Thanks again! And Birth By Sleep will be out January 10 in Japan. I can't wait. :DDD