Author's note: Wow, can't believe it's been two weeks since the last update already! My update days are sneaking up on me now that I'm back to updating every two weeks. xD Still, everything will continue on schedule as long as nothing drastic happens in my life.

Thanks to SSBTMM, Luthien Eriol, Naivette, mezwantzygs, Ravlia, and Crystal4458 for the reviews last chapter! You know how I love the reviews, and I know how you love the new chapters. ;3 With that being said, I won't keep you away from the chapter any longer. Here it is, enjoy!

Chapter Eleven: Trust

Two days went by after the encounter with my dad. He hadn't resurfaced since then. That was devastating on so many levels. I knew he cared because of what happened the other day, but avoiding me wasn't a good thing. Riku seemed pleased though. Ever since the encounter he had been trying to get me to not start searching for him again. He believed that the Darkness within Dad made him absolutely evil and that he was a danger to me now. As if. My dad was my dad, no matter what side he was on. But I still needed the truth. If I had to, I'd discover it on my own. I just had to find a way to shake of Riku. It wasn't like I needed to worry about John getting in my way.

John didn't want me to get hurt either, but he at least trusted me. I wished that he was the one sticking around and not Riku, but unfortunately, he had to leave me alone. His family was on vacation now. So there was no voice of reason to get through to Riku other than mine. And lately I felt like I had no voice at all. I could hear myself, but Riku wasn't listening to a word I said. He had a right to be paranoid about the Darkness but this was starting to get ridiculous. What happened to the understanding we had a few days ago? I was seeing his point of view and realizing there was danger, but he wasn't seeing my view at all. So what if there was danger? This was my best friend. No way was I going to give up on the one parent who made me feel loved growing up. If I did that, I'd have a heart full of Darkness myself.

"Steph."

I shifted my gaze to Riku standing by the ramp of the gummi ship in silence, knowing that he was ready to go. Despite how overbearing he was, I was able to convince him to go to my mother alone and tell her we still needed a few days time. Riku believed I was going to cope with the loss of my father on my own as we tried to find another cure to break the curse that was holding back my power. In reality, I just needed to get him away from me. I'd find my father on my own.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," Riku said.

How kind, I thought sarcastically. But instead of starting yet another argument, I silently nodded to him. If he wasn't hearing my voice, maybe he'd hear my silence. I didn't appreciate how he was treating me and trying to take control of the situation. And he was trying to control me as well. Neither of the two were meant to be ruled by him. Things would unfold however they were meant to and I would travel my own path and somehow wind up where I was supposed to end up. He was scared but I wasn't. It would be okay in the end as long as I was by my dad's side. Hopefully Riku would be by my side as well. And I didn't mean this crazy, uptight, controlling Riku. I meant my Riku.

"I'll speak to your mom and buy us a few more days time," he continued. "We'll search this world for a day to find a cure and if we don't, we'll go to Radiant Garden. If all else fails, we'll have to tell your mom the truth."

"Riku, I know," I said quietly. We already went over this.

He nodded even if he didn't seem to register what I had to say. "I'll be back before the end of the day. We'll meet again in front of the house. Okay?"

I nodded in silence.

"Okay. Stick to finding a way to break the curse. Don't go looking for trouble."

Meaning, don't go look for Dad. Again I nodded as Riku stared at me. He didn't call me out on my lack of enthusiastic response. Instead, he turned around and entered the gummi ship alone. I took a few steps back as the ramp closed and folded back inside the ship, the door shutting so that nobody could get inside of it any longer. That was a nice farewell Riku gave me. Not. How cold could he get? This wasn't the young man I was falling for before. This was a stranger.

This "stranger" did have the same skills with gummi ships though. It only took a few moments for Riku to turn on the ship and fly off into a warp hole in the sky. After he was gone, I sighed. Whether it was a sigh of relief or sadness I didn't know. I'd worry about Riku later; right now I needed to find my dad. If my suspicions were correct, he was most likely keeping an eye on me and waiting for Riku to leave me alone. But of course, he couldn't get extremely close since Riku would know if he was near. No, I'd need to make it clear that I was alone.

I walked away from the train station and into town. My hands were curled in loose fists beside me as I tried to think. In our last encounter, my dad made it clear he couldn't answer any of me questions as long as other people were around. So I'd need to be in a secluded area so that I could speak candidly with him. Would he even risk coming out in the secluded townhouse area of town? That was the only place I could think to go, so that would have to do for now. I headed in that direction.

Thankfully, I didn't run into anybody on the way there. None of my former friends ever hanged out in this part of town anyway; they were always either at the beach or the mall.

The empty townhouses lined the streets as I walked down the sidewalk. There wasn't a single car here, not that many people drove cars in Twilight Town. Most people took the bus. Regardless, nobody lived in this area since the houses weren't done. They were all started on and looked terrific from the outside, but eventually they ran out of money and couldn't install plumbing and electricity for the homes. So they were vacant for now.

"I'm alone," I said softly into the air, stopping and looking around. There was no sign that my dad was in the area. If he was here, maybe he wasn't convinced I was truly alone. Maybe he thought Riku convinced me to trap him or something. The thought of betraying my father made me sick.

"Riku is gone for the day, we only have so much time before he comes back," I continued, speaking as if somebody was listening to me. "John's gone too. He's on vacation."

Silence.

"Dad, please…" I'd beg if I had to. I just needed to see him right now. Needed to know what happened to him that made him give into the Darkness. Needed to know why my best friend hadn't spoken to me the past twelve years.

I heard a leave crack behind me and I spun around to see who had caused the noise. But there was nobody there. There was, however, somebody standing right behind me. Their hand went over my mouth and I let out a small yelp as I struggled against the strong hold.

"Shh."

I glanced down at the hand and saw a small glimmer of light, the sun reflecting off the ring that I immediately recognized. My father's wedding ring.

Exhaling a breath of relief into his hand, I stopped struggling against him. Thank goodness it was him and not somebody who would hurt me. When it became clear that I wasn't going to scream, he slowly took his hand away from my mouth. "Sorry,"Terry said as he took a small step away to give me space. "I thought if I startled you, you'd scream and call attention to us."

"I almost did, but it was because of your hand," I retorted a little shakily. Despite my frazzled nerves, I was thrilled to see him here. Apparently he was watching out for me like I believed that he was.

"Sorry," he said again.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about it." I spun around completely and hugged him without caring about how random it was. He was my father and I would embrace him however long I wanted to. Or however long I was allowed to.

Dad hugged me back for a few moments and accepted that this was what I needed, but he wasn't satisfied just by my presence. "Come with me," he said quietly.

I withdrew from the hug and looked up at him in surprise. "Where?"

"Somewhere more private."

This isn't private enough? I wanted to ask as I looked around the empty area. But maybe it wasn't empty; maybe there was somebody hiding in one of the houses, keeping track of me or my dad. I'd have to trust him and do as he said until we could really speak. "Lead the way," I said quietly, looking back up at his bright blue eyes. I'd follow him wherever he went. He looked relieved at my faith and silently motioned for me to come with him as he walked away from the houses.

I had no idea where we were going, only that we were heading in closer to the town. Was that really so smart? He didn't want anyone knowing that he was here. That was pretty obvious, even to me. We didn't go into town, though. He stopped me underneath a bridge as he observed the area around us. If somebody was following us, they were doing a terrific job of it. I couldn't see anyone.

"Do you trust me?"

"What?" I asked in confusion, looking back at Dad. He was staring at me intently, deathly serious as he lifted a hand to my shoulder.

"Do you trust me?" he asked again.

Slowly, I started nodding. "Yes," I said quietly. "I do." I trusted him despite the mysteries surrounding him.

He glanced around the area one more time before he opened his free hand and summoned a type of magic. I had seen it before on a few occasions. The circular blue and purple blob appeared on the wall a few feet away from us, swirling its colors and seeping with Darkness.

It was a Dark Portal.

Hesitantly, I looked back at my Dad. "Go on through," he said quietly. "I'll be right behind you."

This really, really seems like a trap, I thought as my father removed his hand from my shoulder. I glanced from the portal to his bright blue eyes, seeing him silently encouraging me to go through. The look his eyes was so gentle, so sincere…He couldn't do this to hurt me. This wasn't a trap.

I looked back to the portal and silently nodded to him before I walked towards it. My hand was open by my side in case I had to summon my weapon once I was through. I couldn't help but be just a little cautious, since Riku would kill me if I didn't listen to all his concerns about my dad. But they were only concerns, not absolute truths. My dad couldn't be completely evil.

I walked through the portal and ended up on the other side of it in a new area. It was completely devoid of people and of Heartless. It was lit up very well though. It was one of the tunnels in the underground tunnel system in Twilight Town.

What a relief. I took a few steps away from the icky portal and leaned my back against the wall in silence. My dad said that he would be right behind me, so I would trust him to be true to his word. I sank down to the ground and sat down with my knees bent, feet planted on the ground in silence. Thank goodness I even found him. A part of me was worried that he disappeared forever, but he hadn't given up on me because of Riku. He just had to avoid him now for whatever reason. Honestly, it was okay. I trusted my father completely.

He walked through the portal about sixty seconds later and allowed it to close behind him. His expression said more than words could. Thank you for trusting me.

"Dad," I said softly. "…Can you tell me what's going on now? Please?" I couldn't be kept in the dark any longer.

Terry nodded and glanced around the area before he walked over to one of the walls and leaned against it. He had a clear view of the only entrance to this one room that was separate from the rest of the tunnels. He was paranoid, but it was okay. He probably had reason to be. "That day at the beach twelve years ago…" he started, shaking his head faintly at the mention of it. "I had a feeling that Isabella was going to try to dispose of me that day." When I was silent, he continued. "I didn't think that it would happen at the beach. If I did, things may have been different. I probably would have invited somebody else along to take you and John away from the scene."

"Isabella summoned those Heartless?" I asked weakly, sad and angry at the person I once considered to be my mom. How could she…?

"She did. And that was actually the best thing that could have happened. Since the attack happened right by the seawall, I fought for a while and then retreated in there. It was easy to convince everyone I was dead, since the Heartless leave no trace of their victims."

"Why couldn't you go straight for Isabella? Why did you…?" Why did you let me endure twelve years of mental and emotional agony with her?

Terry sighed sadly, shaking his head as he shifted his gaze to the ground. "I feared that Isabella would threaten you or your mother. About a week before my disappearance, she had a conversation with me. She said that she realized what a "treacherous swine" I was and promised I'd pay the price for my rouse. The witch...She said that Olaf, Gregory, or Tristan could kill your mom at any point. So if I tried anything, she'd send the order to kill her."

"Witch" is the right title for her, I thought as I glared down at the ground. This was just another offense to add to the long list I was building up mentally. The more I heard, the more I hated her. This was the first time I actually experienced such rage towards a person. I didn't like it at all.

"Apparently she didn't trust me not to act anyway," Dad continued. "It would have been convenient for her to keep up the rouse of us being a happily married couple and basically forcing me to be a slave on the threat of your mom's life. But instead, she tried to kill me. I let her believe she succeeded because I didn't know what else to do. She probably would have taken drastic action if she found out I was alive to threaten her plan to raise you and gain immense power through you."

Power. He was referring to the powers that I was supposed to receive on my eighteenth birthday. Those same powers would not only help me have wisdom to guide a kingdom, but it would also set my destiny. My path would either be Light or Darkness based on that, but the powers never came. "I never received those powers."

My dad didn't seem too surprised. "I was afraid of that," he said, glancing at the door before he looked to me. "As soon as Isabella was defeated and Olaf fell, I was afraid she'd jinx you so you didn't receive your powers."

"But she says she didn't do anything."

"Really? I'm surprised she wouldn't own up to it. I thought that would be something she'd be proud of."

I shook my head. "…No. She insisted that she didn't do anything. And…she implied that you were somehow responsible for this. Or at least you knew what happened," I said quickly, seeing my dad's expression.

"Why would I know anything?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But Riku's sure you know something. That's partially why he dislikes you so much."

Terry grunted and pushed himself off the wall as he started to pace. "That's another thing," he said in irritation, lifting a hand and running it through his brunet spikes. "Who is this Riku guy?"

"He's my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

"He's also the person who ended up saving me from Isabella and Olaf when the time came around," I added, seeing my dad's glare. He seriously disliked that I was in a relationship with somebody so…obnoxious. That was the side of him that he saw two days ago. "Now he's my bodyguard in Cadia."

"Has Andrea lost her mind?" he hissed.

"W-what?" What was that supposed to mean?

"Keyblade wielders shouldn't be anywhere close to you. They attract danger!"

"But Dad…Don't you wield a Keyblade."

He stopped pacing and stared at me as if I was absolutely insane. "Of course I don't wield a Keyblade," he said. "Why would you say a crazy thing like that?"

I blinked, leaning forward and setting an arm on my knee as I gazed at my father. Was I even more insane then I thought I was? "That day at the beach when you fought off Heartless, you had a Keyblade."

Terry shook his head, gazing at me with an unreadable expression. "Sweetheart, that's a little…far out," he said gently. "At that age, you wouldn't have even recognized a Keyblade."

That was very, very true. "Maybe I imagined it, then," I murmured. "Or Isabella planted it in my head."

"What?"

"Oh, um…" He didn't know all that Isabella did. I would have to fill him in, whether I wanted to or not. "I just discovered the other day that Isabella messed with my memories. She at least buried them deeper in my head so I can't recall them without some kind of reminder. I…There's a lot that's fuzzy and unclear to me right now, but I'm starting to gain the memories back now. The smallest things remind me of them."

"That's…terrible," Terry said softly as he turned away from me. "Steph…"

I swallowed and looked down at me knees, feeling myself get a little emotional at the thought of how easily I was played by the witch. I lost so much because of her, and even if I was gaining it back now, it wasn't the same. She inflicted this on me. It was all her fault! She would pay for it all. As soon as I won back all that was once mine, she would have to look me in the eye and see she failed. And then…Then what? Death? Did I really wish that upon her now?

"…I'm sorry," he finished.

"I'm fine."

He didn't bother protesting even if that wasn't true. "I won't let her hurt you again, ever. Where is she?"

"Locked away in the Realm Between."

"Are Olaf and the others still alive?"

"Only Gregory."

"Why is he alive?"

"He turned against Olaf and Tristan," I said honestly. Remembering back to that day, he was the one that was supposed to kill me. But instead, he protected me. Since that day, he had been a true friend to me. "He saved my life."

Terry snorted, shaking his head. "Don't trust him."

"Dad-"

"And don't trust Riku," he said, gazing at me with intensely bright blue eyes. "He's bad news."

"You don't even know him!" I cried in Riku's defense. I couldn't not trust him; he was my best friend! And the person I was destined to fall in love with. If my dad knew that, though, he would freak out for sure. "I know he comes off rough, but he has good intentions…"

He shook his head. He walked over to me and knelt down right in front of me, setting a hand on my knee as his eyes locked onto mine. "Listen to me, Steph," he said quietly. "Keyblade wielders always have their own intentions."

I remained silent, suspicious. That wasn't true. Not at all.

"I'm not trying to brainwash you, Steph," Terry said with a small sigh. "Just…hear me out. Let's say that Riku's sincerely on your side. But doesn't he act like he knows it all a lot of the time? Doesn't he try to control everything?"

…He does, I had to admit. He was always saying stuff like "you'll understand someday" or "just trust me." But why did I have to trust him with every little detail of my life? He couldn't control everything, no matter how badly he wanted to. He tried keeping me away from Isabella. He tried to keep me from searching for my dad, and now he was trying to keep me away from him. It wasn't fair!

"Just keep everything in mind, okay?" Dad asked as he brought me back to my thoughts. "You need to keep your eyes open. Don't trust people blindly. …I know you're good at that."

Even if my dad spoke with a gentle voice, I felt offended. I was so naïve that he knew I retained that trait even after twelve years apart. "Did you really have to say that?" I asked weakly.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, running his thumb over my knee. "I'm just really concerned about you. I've been trying to watch out for you the past twelve years, but I lost track of you when you went to Cadia. I couldn't risk making myself known when I didn't know for certain what happened with Isabella and her minions. But now…Now I'm concerned for your emotional well being, not just you staying alive. I saw how your friends took advantage of you in the past; it could easily happen again."

"I'm different now than I was then," I said with more confidence and boldness.

A small laugh left his lips as he smiled. "Yes you are," he responded quietly. "I see the fire that burns within you. You're not so timid anymore."

"I'd like to think I'm braver," I said softly. Braver and stronger. Those were two attributes that I wanted to make stronger. I wanted the courage to face new situations and the strength to overcome them. And I wasn't referring to just physical strength; that word encompassed so much more than that. I needed the strength to endure trials, the strength to stand up for what's right. Strength to finally stand up to people who wanted to use me for their own gain.

"I think you are," Dad said as brought me back to the moment. "Walking through a Dark Portal takes a lot of guts."

"Well, I trust you," I responded with a weak smile.

He smiled back briefly, though that expression quickly disappeared. "I'm going to need you to trust me again right now," he said quietly. "I need to go."

My eyes widened in shock. "W-what? Why?" There were still so many questions I had to ask!

"You'll understand later," he said, squeezing my knee before he rose to his feet. "We have to call it quits for today, but I'll track you down again soon and speak to you when you're alone." Because you don't trust Riku, I thought. But instead of saying that, I only nodded. Dad smiled faintly and took a few steps back. "I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Dad," I said softly. I watched in silence as he took another step backward. Against the tan wall, another dark portal formed to take my best friend away from me. I didn't bother asking where he was going since he didn't offer the information in the first place. I had to believe that there was a reason for all the secrecy. He gave me enough reason for his absence the past twelve years for me to believe that he was sincere. Staying away twelve years for the safety of me and my mother was a perfectly good excuse for not watching me grow up. But if that was true…why did I feel so heartbroken anyway?

"Oh, and Steph?" my dad said before taking his leave.

"Yeah?"

"Try to keep this to yourself for now, okay?"

"Yeah…okay," I said softly, nodding faintly as well. I'd keep it a secret.

I watched in silence as he vanished into the portal, leaving me by myself.