Author's note: Hey guys, just wanna say a quick thanks to Crystal4458 and Eddie Camp for reviewing last time. =3 I realize this is coming 3 weeks after the last chapter instead of the normal 2 weeks, but I decided that I need to slow down publishing for now. If I keep publishing every two weeks then the writing will become sloppy and I won't be able to get so far ahead on writing—meaning you'll have to wait much longer for the final chapters, and we don't want that.

On another note, I did manage to post a Sora/Kairi romancy oneshot this past week, so if you're a fan of the couple, you should go read that when you're done reviewing this. (:

Chapter Six: Home

"I'm telling you he's alive," I said as I paced the room. Although we were still in King Mickey's office, it was only Riku and I in the room. The King kindly gave us some privacy after I proved to them that I was alright after the encounter with Isabella. What were they so worried about? I wasn't cursed or anything while I was there. They were just very concerned about my reaction to her words. They were both skeptical as to whether or not they were true.

Isabella said that my father was alive. Not in so many words, but I knew it was true. She told me to "ask my father" about whatever was keeping me from receiving my powers. And if she brought up the man who loved me and raised me up until his "death", I knew that he must have been alive. The feeling in my heart also supported it. Yes, he was alive. Somewhere. Somehow.

"You can't take her words so seriously, Steph," Riku said, staring at me from his spot in the room. He leaned against the wall, arms folded over his broad chest and solid black shirt. "She probably just said it to get under your skin. Which she did."

"Maybe that was some motivation behind saying it," I agreed. "But I'm sure she didn't just say those words without meaning."

"The meaning was to hurt you!"

"The meaning was to tell me that my father is actually alive!" I cried, glaring at Riku from my spot. "She wants me to find him for some reason. I don't know why, and honestly, I don't care. If my Dad's alive, then I'm going to find him." Riku sighed, obviously not believing in me. "Look…There's a small possibility you're right. But there's an even greater chance that I'M right."

"Why is that?" Riku asked quietly.

I swallowed, looking to the ground as I shook my head. "Because nobody knows her better than I do." I lived with her for over ten years of my life; if Riku didn't think I knew how to read her, then he was sadly mistaken.

"She kept her identity hidden from you your whole life, Steph," he said softly. "You didn't see any clues pointing to your heritage either. How can you say you know her that well?"

He had a point, unfortunately. The pain from remembering how easily I was led astray made me want to shut up, but I pressed on. "She did keep secrets from me," I agreed softly. "But Riku…I know her personality. She's always been cruel. Selfish. Unloving. Reading that side of her isn't new to me. I know that she was telling me the truth when she implied my dad is alive."

"I just can't believe her," Riku mumbled.

"Believe in me, then," I requested quietly, my soft blue eyes landing on him as I looked up. I walked over to him, stopping right in front of him and gazing at him from my shorter height. "I'm following my heart and my head in this, Riku. I promise I'm not leading you into a wild goose chase."

Riku looked away from my gaze, his eyes set on the ground. At least he was starting to consider what I had to say. Even if he didn't believe Isabella, he could trust me. He had to trust me, because right now, this was the only lead that we had on fixing whatever was wrong with me. He had to remember the initial goal here: they had to discover why I didn't receive my powers when I was eighteen.

"…We have to let your mom in on this," he said after a few moments.

"No," I said in disagreement, not hesitating. "We can't let her know. Can you imagine how devastated she'd be if I was wrong?"

"I thought you were sure you were right."

"Shush, you," I retorted gently, continuing. "Besides, what if she tried to stop us from finding him? I know she loves him and all, but this could be dangerous. She has to think about my safety before anything else."

"And so do I," Riku said. "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Can I be honest with you for a moment?" I asked, keeping my eyes on him as he finally returned my gaze.

"I hope that you're honest for more than just a moment," he said with a slight smile.

His more upbeat facial expression drew a weak smile out of me, even if what I had to say wasn't extremely nice. "Honestly…I don't really care what you think about the danger right now," I said quietly. "This is my dad, Riku. The one loving parent I knew until a few months ago. If he's alive and out there, then I need to find him. Whether I have your permission or not."

Riku's grave expression returned at my words. But that was the truth. He told me a long time ago that since he was so blunt, he could handle any bluntness I threw back at him. And I obviously took him at his word, since I was just very bold. That was unusual for me, but I would be whatever I had to be to find my father. I loved him with all my heart, even after he disappeared when I was just a little girl.

"You won't have my permission," Riku started softly. "But you will have me by your side. I'll help you search for him.

Relief flooded my veins as a smile reappeared on my lips. I didn't hesitate stepping forward and wrapping my arms around him. I was so unbelievably glad to hear that. "Thank you," I said quietly, feeling his arms go around me in return. It meant the world to me that he trusted me this much. It was obvious how much I trusted him, but it was nice to see that he returned the sentiment.

He grunted a response, like this wasn't a big deal. But we both knew that it was. Together, we were going to track my father down. I'd see him again for the first time in twelve years.

Thankfully Riku gave me some time to formulate my plan. He didn't pester me, even if he had no clue what to do until I told him what was going to happen. How could my dad even be alive? I wondered. There were absolutely no signs pointing to it other than what my mother said. But if Dad was alive, then he wasn't in Cadia. Why? Because if he was in Cadia, he would have revealed himself to my mom or me. But why didn't he anyway? Even if he was in another world, he could have made himself known. Was he worried about Isabella hurting him? Was he in danger? It was always a possibility.

If he was in trouble, I'd need help to save him. But that couldn't be my first priority. First, I had to find him. And since the last place I saw him was Twilight Town, that was the best place to start looking. Was he still there after eleven or twelve years? Maybe. Or maybe he left clues that would help me track him down. That was the only small lead I had, so I accepted it. Our first destination would be Twilight Town, and we'd see where we would go from there.

Of course, there was something else we had to take care of as well. My mother. If we didn't return to her within forty hours of leaving to face Isabella, then she was going to come looking for us. Unfortunately, we had to lie to her about what Isabella said to me and what we were doing. I couldn't have even her standing in my way. So what would we tell her? I wouldn't tell her anything, since I was such a bad liar. Riku would have to tell her. And I knew that he would hate finding that out; he was actually employed by my mom to keep me safe. And instead of doing that, he was letting me set out on a journey that was possibly dangerous. She would probably freak out if she knew the truth. We'd tell her we had a lead on a way to break the curse and we would need a few days to sort things out. Just me and Riku.

As soon as I explained the plan to Riku, of course he had his problems with it. Lying to her mom was obviously a problem, but he also didn't like that he had to go to her mom by himself. But that was just how things were going to be. Riku would buy her some time and she'd spend the day in Twilight Town trying to find leads on her Dad. That would be tomorrow. For the rest of today, they'd go to Twilight Town together. That was the deal that they eventually reached, though Riku did have one other condition to letting go alone.

He had to be allowed to go back to Sorceress Isabella, alone. He wanted to talk to her one more time to see if she was telling the truth about my dad being alive or not. While I thought that was a stupid idea, I had to give in or he wouldn't go through with my plan.

We left Disney Castle after about an hour of planning, heading to the place that I once called home. Twilight Town. Hopefully my dad left some kind of clue to lead me to where he was, because otherwise, I wouldn't find him.

I need your help, Dad. Please.

*…*…*…*…*

Twilight Town hadn't changed at all since I left a few months ago. Of course, that was no surprise to me. It hadn't changed while I was there; it was always the same. Always predictable, always monotonous. Being here gave me a really weird vibe. I used to live here as a normal person. I still was fairly normal, even if I was royalty, but it was still so weird. I wondered if Riku ever felt this weird when he returned home after gaining the Keyblade. He wasn't ordinary anymore; he was extraordinary.

"So weird," I murmured to myself, walking down the path from the train station with Riku right by my side. I knew this town like the back of my hand and yet this wasn't where I belonged. I was a little happy to be back here anyway, despite what happened right before I left. My friends accused me of abandoning them for Riku when that really wasn't true. I couldn't tell them what really happened though for more reasons than one. One reason was that nobody is supposed to know about other worlds; it can disrupt world order. And the other reason I didn't tell was because I literally couldn't. My voice was gone thanks to the spell that Isabella cast on me.

So many bad things happened here…but so many good things too. Most of the good things that happened here were with my friends. They were normally crazy, goofy, and amazing, not cold and heartless like the day that I left. I wondered if I could somehow make amends with them…I still considered them my friends, despite how they snapped at me and make wild accusations.

"What're you thinking?" Riku asked softly, probably responding to my muttering.

"It's just…so strange," I said quietly, looking around the empty shopping area as we kept walking at a calm pace. "This feels like home still, even after everything that happened here. I almost want to stay."

"But you can't," he responded gently. "You're a princess now. Cadia is your home."

"Is it, Riku?" I inquired. I let my eyes wander around the beautifully lit area, the air also warmer than Cadia was. There were kids running around the marketplace, unsupervised and playing a game of tag like they always used to do while I was here. It was like they were programmed to do that. "Home is where the heart is, and right now…I just want to be right here. I feel like I belong here."

"Steph…" he said, voice low and gentle.

"I know," I said softly. "I know you're going to say that I belong in Cadia now. But…I don't know. Being here and recalling everything good that's happened here…it makes me feel whole." For once, I didn't feel bad about my past. Now that I was here, I could actually remember the good things and put them above the bad memories. Maybe I was better off here. Maybe this was where I was meant to be. I knew my mom said that I was going to be the ruler of Cadia one day and that I didn't have a choice, but…

Again with the "buts", I thought, scolding myself. There were two sides to every coin. Cadia had its benefits and so did Twilight Town. Staying here wasn't even a choice though. My title wasn't one that I could give up. I didn't really want to…most of the time. I finally had the chance to be something great! To do something with my life! I had the power to help people…So why wasn't I satisfied with that? Was I really so selfish that I still longed to be normal?

Shaking my head a little, I brought up my thoughts from earlier. "Riku, I have a question," I said softly. When he grunted to encourage me to continue, I did just that. "You ever feel weird when you return to the Islands after a long time?"

"Weird in what sense?"

"Weird like…You've been staying somewhere else for a long time, but then you go back to the place you lived your whole life. All the memories come back and you just…You want to stay there forever, even if you can't."

Riku glanced down at the ground before he answered, his voice quiet. "I feel like that all the time," he said softly. "That's why I try to stay away from the Islands. I love that place so much, even if I once called that place a prison. Now I see it for what it really is. It's a small world, but it's a safe one. Heartless hardly ever attack it and the people are genuine and happy. Almost everything about Destiny Islands is perfect, but not everything. I'm too adventurous to settle down there. So even if it feels like home, it's best that I stay away."

"How do you know you wouldn't be satisfied there?" I asked softly, looking over at him. I sidestepped the kids playing tag, my attention on Riku.

"Sora and I defeated the Organization over two years ago, when I was sixteen," Riku stated. "I lived on the Islands with him and Kairi about a year after that, but eventually, I started sneaking off and fighting Heartless and going on my own mini adventures. Kairi was the first one to notice, since Sora was clueless as always. But they accepted it. The calm lifestyle of the Islands isn't for me now that I know what else is out there. And who else." He looked over and gave me a look, which made me blush. He left the Islands partially because of me, then. Even if he lived in Cadia with me for my sake, it was for his own sake too. He needed an adventure. That was okay. In fact, it made me feel better. How could I want him to leave his loved ones all for my sake? That wasn't fair to him. But if this was really his choice and it wasn't all based on me, then I felt better.

"I just wish that you weren't on this adventure, in all honesty," Riku said, shaking his head as he looked at the path again. "I care about Sora like a brother. I still get nervous whenever he's fighting on his own…Anything can happen, Steph. Anything can happen to him, and anything can happen to you too."

While I was touched by the sincerity, I felt like he was a little paranoid about me getting into trouble. But with all he'd seen in the worlds, how could I question him? He knew far more than I did. "I know how to defend myself," I stated quietly.

"I know. And that helps. But that doesn't change how quickly the tide can change. You can hold your own in a battle against Heartless, but what about super villains? You're not ready for that yet."

"I don't have to be," I said, giving Riku a look. "There's nobody threatening the worlds right now. If there was, you would be out there taking care of it with Sora."

"A new villain can rise at any time."

"And if they do, we'll be ready," I stated confidently. "I have plenty of time to train after I find my dad and figure out why I haven't received my powers."

Riku didn't bother responding. I had to admit, I had really changed since I first met him. I wasn't so shy and reserved anymore. I still was that way a little bit, but I was bolder than I was before. And more stubborn. Those traits must have rubbed off on me from Riku, so he couldn't complain about them. He was a good influence on me though. He wasn't pessimistic too often. My optimistic nature was starting to rub off on him too. We complimented each other well even if we grew up completely differently.

We walked in silence for a few minutes, which was okay. Despite the tenseness that could have lingered from the talk we just had, we were both so focused on other matters that no tension existed. He was focused on Sorceress Isabella and I was focused on my dad. How could two parents create so much drama?

"That's it, huh?" Riku asked softly. I looked up ahead and saw what he was referring to. The house that I called home for fourteen years. This was where I discovered the truth about Isabella. A chill ran down my spine, but I swallowed and nodded to Riku. This was it…My house. My home.

I started forward first. The house was identical to the way that I left it. Nobody bought the house because it was never for sale. Or because they didn't want to. Did they have any idea what happened in this house? Who really lived here? It was a witch who manipulated others into doing her will. She kidnapped me…verbally and emotionally abused me…And yet I couldn't make myself hate her. Instead, I hated myself for not hating her.

The door was locked so nobody would break in and steal the stuff. Makes sense to me, I thought, wordlessly bending down and picking up the key that had previously been under the mat. Twilight Town wasn't a bad place, but there were a few punks who would do something stupid for their own profit.

Was I really ready to face my past? I didn't have a choice now. Unlocking the door, I pushed it open and saw the sunlight creep into the foyer. Everything was exactly the way I left it. It was eerie. Nothing was the same in my life, but this place was. It was like it was frozen in time.

After a moment, I realized I was standing still. Before Riku could ask if I was alright, I started walking forward again. Somewhere in here, there had to be clues that led to my Dad's whereabouts. How did he survive anyway? And how did he reportedly die? I didn't even remember that much since I was so little. Six years old was too young to lose a parent. I knew he loved me, so why didn't he come find me? Why didn't he take me away from Isabella?

Too many questions, too little answers. "Okay, um…Riku, why don't you search around down here?" I asked quietly. "I'll…um…do the upstairs."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" he responded softly. Why wouldn't it be? I thought, though the answer immediately came. Upstairs was my mother's bedroom. That was where she betrayed me. And I still had nightmares of that betrayal.

"…Yeah, why don't you do the upstairs?" I said, changing my mind. I couldn't face my whole past in one day. For today, Riku could tackle the room that gave me nightmares. I'd check this floor and the basement for any clues.

Riku grunted, squeezed my shoulder, and then went for the stairs. I watched him go for a second, but then I turned around and shut the front door. I didn't want anyone sneaking up on me while I was searching. We clearly weren't burglars, but if real ones knew that the house was unlocked, they'd come. And I didn't want to face them. Not today or any other day. My dad was priority.

"Where would you hide a clue, Dad?" I mumbled, walking to the living room and seeing the furniture. Hidden between the cushions maybe? No; any clues hidden there could easily be found. In fact, if it was hidden in the living room, the clues could be stumbled upon very easily. He wouldn't risk Isabella finding out he was alive.

But wait…She already knew. How long did she know? Did she actually mean to kill him in the first place? "So many questions," I groaned, walking further into the room. I wouldn't get the answers for a while, though. Not until I found Dad. And to do that, I had to find the clues. If he left any. Bookshelf? No, too obvious. But…That was the only place I could think to look. I knelt down in front of the bookshelf that was only as high as my waist and started pulling out books, flipping through them carefully to see if there was anything there. That was an effortless task, so as I did that, my thoughts wandered.

My dad Terry must have wanted me to find him. I just knew he did! I couldn't accept any other reality. He loved me and I loved him. I was a daddy's girl growing up even if he wasn't in the house by my seventh birthday. I saw in his eyes that he loved me with all his heart, so something severe must have kept him away from me. Maybe he needed to keep my identity from me as long as Isabella could hurt me. Or maybe he was in trouble right now. Or maybe he was looking for me. That was a nice thought, but an unlikely reality. I wasn't the one hiding here. He was.

I searched and searched and searched (and searched) through all the books on the shelf, but there were no hidden notes. No writing on the sides of the pages that could lead me to him, no loose sheets of papers a loving father would leave for his daughter. No nothing.

Riku and I left the house unsuccessful that day, going to sleep in the ship so I wouldn't have to sleep in my old room. I forgot my positive thoughts from earlier; now I was miserable. All the bad memories were back to replace the good and my hope was already running thinner than it originally was.

I need a sign, Dad. Let me find you.