"Hopefully this will be our last trip from here," Luigi said as they entered the gate into Traverse Town's first district. "Or at least like this."

"Mmm," Tippi said. She was still lost in thought about her interaction with Count Bleck. She had to learn the truth behind the little flashes of memory, behind Timpani, behind why she was feeling so bitter and hurt about it.

"Well, let's talk to Cid and then head off!" Sora said. They all began going towards the mechanic when Tippi felt herself stiffen.

What's…happening? She fell to the ground as her vision blacked out.

-x-

It was a strange day. She wasn't meant to be out this late, but she wanted to go exploring, just some innocent fun before she went to bed. She followed the familiar forest path to the base of the cliff and leaned against the wall to look at the stars. She saw another figure at the top of the cliff. Nobody in her tribe went there, the Tribe of Darkness was rumored to live there, and she was forbidden to interact with members of that tribe. The ground beneath the figure began to crumble. She shouted a warning. "Look out!" They looked down in alarm at the crumbling ground and began to back away, but not fast enough as they went tumbling down the rocky slope. She ran over to the figure, now clearly given shape. It was a boy, no older than her, from the tribe. He had a dark blue skin and his blue eyes opened just slightly in the pain. His clothes, once white, were now covered in dirt and blood from the fall. She knew for a fact that her face would be contorted in worry as she reached him.

"Help…please…" the boy pleaded as he looked at her.

"You're going to be just fine." She picked him up. He was lighter than what she'd expected, or maybe it was just adrenaline giving her the strength to help, but she couldn't leave the boy injured on the ground like that, no matter what he was.

-x-

She had been reading when she heard movement coming from her bed, followed by a soft groan. After being in her care for the past couple of days, it sounded like he was finally stirring. She ran over to the bedside in an instant, dropping the book on her desk in the process. "You're finally awake?"

He looked at her and the room in confusion. "Where… am I?" It made sense for him to be disoriented considering the fall he'd taken. "Is this…a human's home?" He tried to sit up, but he didn't know the extent of the damage he'd had. If he moved it wouldn't be comfortable.

She pushed him down. "Don't move or you'll just hurt yourself more!"

He looked at her with more confusion than ever before. "Hurt myself…more?" It was only then that he appeared to become aware of the bandages she had wrapped him in.

"I found you at the cliff base," she said in an attempt to explain. "You took quite a fall."

"You're a human, correct?" He asked her. She nodded in response; she'd never been anything else before that. "I don't…repulse you?" She gave him a look of slight confusion and concern. "I'm from the Tribe of Darkness…"

Before he could explain further she shook her head and scoffed. "Why would that matter? Anyone with a heart would not ignore an injured soul!"

He stared at her in surprise for a moment before smiling. "You humans are so weird. Most of us would have left one of you in an instant."

"I guess that makes me pretty unique then, I'm probably one of the only humans that would save a Tribe of Darkness." She smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Blumiere," he answered.

"I'm Timpani."

-x-

She'd been waiting in the clearing for an hour when Blumiere finally showed up. He came running in, looking like a mess with his hand on a now clean, white top hat. He smiled when he saw that she had stuck around.

"You're late. Did something happen?" she asked.

He nodded. "My father caught me. Sneaking out of the castle wasn't easy after that."

"I was worried you wouldn't come…" She admitted her fear that Blumiere had only promised to meet with her out of a sense of obligation for her saving his life.

"You really are a strange girl…" she shot him a confused look. She didn't understand what he meant by that. "You know what I am, but you're not afraid."

She glared at him. "I don't care what you are!" She couldn't stop herself from blurting it out. "I just wanted to see you. Is that…is that so wrong?" Her cheeks warmed as she began to blush.

"N-no, no, of course not." He seemed almost surprised that she'd think he didn't want to see her at all. "I wanted to see you too."

She smiled. "I'm glad, it's been lonely without you around."

"I missed you too Timpani," he said, not missing the hidden meanings in her words. "You know, we can sit on the grass."

She hadn't realized she'd been standing up and instantly sat down next to him, leaning her back against a tree. "Oops…"

"Did you learn enough about me when I was stuck in your bed?" Blumiere asked. "I'd like to start learning about you…"

-x-

She leaned against Blumiere's chest, near sleep. There was no possible way she could have been happier. She could have admitted to him the feelings she'd hidden deep inside, but then again, she didn't want to risk losing him either. It was kind of a standstill, but it could have been worse.

A bush rustled, and they both bolted up. Had one of them been followed, or worse, caught. If that was the case then she might never be allowed out of her home, let alone be able to see Blumiere again.

"Blumiere?" A little boy stumbled out of the bushes. He was a Tribe of Darkness, like Blumiere, but couldn't have been older than five.

Blumiere frowned slightly. "Damien, what are you doing here?"

Damien was the name of his younger brother, or at least she'd thought it was. "I followed you out to practice sneaking away." He walked up to her. "Who's she? She's pretty."

She might have laughed if she hadn't been so scared. "I'm Timpani…your brother's friend."

"You're Blumiere's friend? But you're not tribe." He seemed confused. "Daddy said that human's aren't nice."

"Timpani is though," Blumiere said. "She's a very nice girl, and to me, a very special friend."

Damien gave a big grin. "You're the girl he always smiles about!"

"Huh?" Now it was her turn to be confused as she looked at Blumiere, whose cheeks had turned to a darker shade of blue. He was blushing.

"Yeah! He likes you!"

"D-Damien-" Blumiere stammered out as she blushed. The kind of like the little boy had mentioned obviously went a bit more than simply liked judging by Blumiere's reaction.

"You love me?" she asked in a quiet voice. It distracted his attention from Damien to her and he nodded just enough for her to make out. He looked away, as though expecting an imminent rejection. Maybe somebody else would have, but she smiled. "I…I love you too."

The kiss that followed would have been perfect if it weren't for Damien in the background making puke sounds.

-x-

She tried to fight the feeling of panic that rose in her chest at the glowing red eyes that stared at her. The man's hands were surrounded by darkness. "My son could not have picked a more pathetic human if he'd tried."

"You don't know that! Blumiere and I-"

Blumiere's father slapped her, darkness seeping in just at the touch and making her feel sick and even more scared than before."You're nothing but an insignificant girl, what makes you think Blumiere truly loves you?" He started laughing at the look of fear on her face.

"What's-what's so funny?" she asked in an attempt to seem stronger than she really felt.

"What's funny is that this is only precautionary. My son will tire of you soon and hurting you honestly isn't worth it except as revenge." He approached her again and slapped her once more, more darkness attacking her whole body.

She collapsed to the ground. She could barely look at him for fear that her fear would show. "Revenge for what? I haven't done anything besides falling in love."

"For corrupting my son and trying to steal him away." This time, waves of darkness flew at her, knocking her out.

-x-

"Timpani! There you are!" Blumiere ran over to her with a smile, which she could barely respond with one of her own. "I've been looking all over for you."

Her smile faltered slightly. "You…you have?"

He nodded. "I've missed you so much."

"I…I'm sorry then…for everything…" She started to walk away before he could ask her what she'd meant by that. She hadn't expected him to grab her wrist.

"Why are you running a-" realization dawned on his face "-you've been avoiding me, haven't you? Why?"

She tried to pull her hand free of his grasp, but he just tightened his grip slightly, hitting one of the darkness infused wounds. "Ow…OW! Let go!" Tears started streaming down her face, both from the pain and from what she knew she would have to say if he pushed, all because of some stupid fear.

His grip lightened slightly as he saw the tears dripping down her face. "Huh? You're…crying? Timpani, what's wrong? Please tell me?"

"It's…it's nothing…don't worry about it…" if she could make him think she was fine, maybe he'd let her leave and she could avoid him again. "Just forget it…okay?"

The brief look of him out of the corner of her eye was so torn. It was obvious part of his wanted to do nothing more than reassure her while the other part wanted to find out why. He looked to her arm and gave a soft gasp, his hand dropping hers instantly. She could have made a break for it in just moments, but what he'd said stopped her. "Is my father behind this?"

"I'm…" she wanted to say yes. She wanted to say yes and just collapse into his arms and cry, but she remembered the threats, the pain. She couldn't handle that again. "I'm just an ordinary girl. No matter how much I love you, we must part."

"Timpani…I…"

She looked away. "I'm sorry, but this is good-bye Blumiere. There isn't another choice. This is our fate." She started walking, and he made no move to stop her. She couldn't look back, unable to bear seeing Blumiere's heartbroken face. Just as she was almost away, he spoke.

"I don't want to lose you, but if this is the path you want to take…" he sounded choked up and she stopped. "At least let me fix what was broken before I lose you forever."

"I-" before she could stop him he'd already run over, his face blank as kneeled down and ran his hand over the darkness stained skin, making each dark purple wound vanish. It was obvious he was trying to hide the emotions he was feeling.

"Th-thank you," she said and he nodded. He stood up, but before he could take a step away, she grabbed his arm, causing him to look backwards at her with hope. "I-" She collapsed, sobbing into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

-x-

"It's been a while since we first met," Blumiere said.

She laughed. "I never would have guessed considering I turn eighteen this week and we met when I was fifteen."

He smiled. "It doesn't feel like three years. Only that month felt like a while." That month, that's what they both referred to the time she'd been running away, the time she'd been hurt. "By the way-" He pulled out a small box "-happy birthday."

She looked at it skeptically. "You didn't have to get me anything."

"But I wanted to," he said. "Open it up." She opened up the wrapping to reveal a small purple box. She opened the box to reveal a small diamond sitting on a gold band. She looked at him, unsure how to react, in too much shock to speak."Marry me?"

It took her about five minutes to finally find her voice. "What…What are you thinking? There's no way…I mean…"

"If we can't find a happy ending here, I'm willing to spend forever looking. There are thousands of worlds out there, one of them will have to be safe," Blumiere said and smiled.

He was so hopeful, but they couldn't have been free yet, there was no way. "But is there even a place like that? I don't want either of us to get hurt again…"

"If our love has no home, we'll just keep looking for it forever. So Timpani, can I have your answer now?" he asked.

She fought a smile. "You just won't give up, will you? Of all the crazy…stubborn…foolish men…"

She could tell he knew she was just teasing by the way a smile lit up his face. "Is that your final answer?"

"Let's begin searching. It's time we find that world at last, one where we can be together." He didn't ask again as she slipped the ring onto her finger and leaned over, kissing him once more.

-x-

"Oh-oh my!" a voice said. Her vision was hardly able to discern more than shadows and her brain barely able to process what the voice said. She was losing the fight, she was dying. "M-miss?"

"T-t-tell…" she tried to form more words, but her voice gave out and she completely blacked out to the voice shouting at her to come back, to finish her words.

In the midst of the black void, she felt warmth, light, then a voice.

"So you've awoken at last?" She looked over at the blue cloaked wizard standing over her. She flew up weakly. "Please be cautious. The transfer just occurred."

"T-transfer?" she asked.

"Into the body you currently reside in. I'm Merlon, and you are?"

"…I can't remember…"

"Then we'll give you a new name. Your memories will hopefully return in time, but for now, what would you like to be called?"

It was strange, knowing what she could do, but not the first thing about herself. She was a scanner, one who could scan anything and learn the truth. "I'll be…"

-x-

"Tippi! Tippi!" Sora shouted. The Pixl hadn't realized she'd been on the floor until she'd already been there.

"H-huh?" Tippi asked, looking around.

"We were about to go talk to Cid when we lost sight of you," Luigi said. "We came back to find you lying here, screaming." They all looked worried, even Bowser. "What happened?"

"I…I don't know." Tippi couldn't face them. She did know, and she was lying to them, which hurt. Sora gave her a funny look. "We should go talk to Cid now."

"If you're sure…" Luigi looked at her before walking off with Bowser in the lead. Sora hung back slightly.

"What really happened?" Sora asked. He was looking at her with concern. She sighed, about to answer that she didn't know when he spoke again. "Tippi, you told me that you couldn't remember your past, if this has something to do with it…"

"I remember everything Sora, and I don't know what to do," Tippi said. "I have to save Blumiere, but I have to stop him too. It's not something I want to face."

"Huh?" Sora asked. "You know what, just put your trust him, I'm sure it will work out in the end," Sora said and ran ahead of Bowser and Luigi to reach Cid first.

"Hey, Sora, welcome back, what do you need my help for this time?" Cid asked.

Sora pulled out a Power Star. "We found another one. Can you install it?"

"Yeah, just wait a few minutes and I'll have the Starshroom ready for you," Cid said.

The moment the power was out of sight, Sora sighed. Bowser noticed. "What's got you down?"

"Oh…uh…" Sora looked away.

"Yeah, don't you remember what the princess told you? You should keep smiling so when we find your friends they don't see you so upset," Luigi said.

"It's just…I've lost Riku and Kairi and…" Sora decided to change the subject instantly. "How can you two still be happy? We haven't had any signs of your brother since we started this journey."

"Are you kidding?" Bowser laughed. "A day without Mario is better than any day with him. I'm only on this journey because Peach asked."

"Sora, I'm not worried because we were told the key would have the answers, and that's you," Luigi said. "You're the key, and we'll find him because of you. I bet you can save your friends no problem, so just have some faith okay."

"Just…believe in myself?" Sora asked.

"I believe in you." It was Kairi's voice.

A bright light flashed, and Sora saw a younger Kairi in a library talking to an old woman. "Where am I?"

"Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?"

The old woman told the story to Kairi. The little girl version of her nodded and Sora reached for her. "Kairi!"

As quickly as it happened, he was back in Traverse Town with Tippi, Bowser, and Luigi. "Huh?"

"Is something wrong?" Tippi asked, showing more concern for Sora than her issues at that moment.

"It's nothing…" Sora said. Kairi…did you call me?

"The Power Star's in the Starshroom. Just be careful, I almost guarantee that the world you're heading for is swarmed with Heartless."

"We figured, thank you…for everything," Sora said.

"Good luck kid. You're gonna need it." Cid nodded to them and they walked to the gates of Traverse Town, ready for whatever lay in their path.