Author's Note: So….I have a few things to say. 1) I'm sorry that it has been FOREVER since I have updated this fanfic. Life caught up with me big time, between watching my sister all the time and balancing work and night classes. 2) I admit that I did lose my spark on writing anything for any of my stories. 3) I want to thank KHLegacy for reminding my procrastinating and lazy butt about updating this fanfic. Like I said, caught up in life. I also wanted to try and finish Re: Kingdom Hearts. But, of course, lost my spark.

So I have ultimately decided to write again now that I have that spark back! And I'm going to try really, REALLY hard to keep up with it. So those of you who are reading this story and my other stories, be looking for updates, but don't expect them to be one on top of the other.

I won't keep you guys any longer, so, here is the fifth chapter of Next Generation. Enjoy, and please leave a review. I enjoy hearing your input. It makes me happy!

Chapter Five: Shrouding Dark Cloud

"I swear, it was like I had a twin!"

Zephyr had just finished telling Apolla about his dream. He had barely touched the bowl of cereal in front of him. He was still in his pajamas—a grey shirt with black sleeves and a pair of grey and black striped pajama bottoms.

"Well, how were you able to get out?" Apolla asked. She, too, was in her pajamas—a blue tank top with blue and grey striped shorts. She had just finished her bowl of cereal and was rinsing it off.

"I don't know," he replied. "I was completely consumed by the darkness. The only thing I could think of doing was closing my eyes. By the time I opened them, I was in my room."

"Strange," she mused.

Both had similar dreams, but not without having their differences. Apolla had only mentioned one enemy, and Zephyr mentioned three. She also had done a lot more falling, and didn't see many people she recognized.

They also paused because their mother had just walked in, a peculiar expression on her face.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Apolla asked. She had seen that looked before.

Kairi shook her head. "I'm fine," she answered. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand.

"Whatcha got there, Mom?" Zephyr asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing. Just a grocery list I wrote down last night. Do you have anything you need me to get when I go?"

"I'm good."

"Same here," Apolla said.

"Okay, well, if you change your minds," Kairi continued. "Just let me know."

"Okay. We're meeting Ren at the island, so we probably won't be back until after sunset."

Kairi smiled and nodded. "Fair enough. Have fun, and be safe." The last part was mainly added on with a worried look on their mother's face. With that, she headed out of the kitchen and went upstairs.

Once they knew she was no longer within earshot, the siblings continued on. "Do you think that Ren might have had the same dream?" Apolla asked. "More or less?"

"Hmm," Zephyr pondered. "Can't say for sure. We should just ask him when we get to the island."

"Good idea."

Zephyr inhaled what was left of his breakfast and the two of them headed to their rooms to change. He changed into a blue tank top, black shorts with assorted yellow belts, and a red and white over shirt. He was putting on his favorite pair of sneakers—black with yellow shoelaces—when Apolla walked in. She was wearing a lavender tank top with dark blue shorts and a black over shirt fashioned like a tank top, and had on her favorite blue Hightops on. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail and braids with a bandana wrapped around her forehead. In her hands was a pair of goggles.

"Why do you wear those?" Zephyr asked.

"Because, I think that they look good on me," was Apolla's answer as she put them on around her neck.

"Still don't see the point."

She merely rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Are you ready to go, Zeph?"

"Yeah, yeah."

With that, the two headed out the door, and ran towards the harbor tout suite.

xxx

"What took you guys so long?" Ren asked. He was dressed in his usual red and blue tank and black and khaki pants, and his favorite blue and yellow sneakers.

"Sorry," Apolla said as she waved. "Zephyr gets ready as though he's a girl."

"Do not!" Zephyr argued.

Ren laughed, Apolla giggled, and Zephyr merely growled.

"So what's on the agenda for today?"

Ren shrugged. "The usual, I guess. Race, spar, and eat ice cream."

"Looking forward to the ice cream part," Zephyr said.

"Oooh!" Apolla exclaimed. "How about we go fishing, too?"

"Sounds good to me!"

"Okay. Last one to the other side of the island has to spar with me first!" With that, Apolla ran off.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!"

"Zeph, she can't exactly spar with herself," Ren pointed out.

"Oh yeah!"

Ren just shook his head and took off, the younger friend trailing behind him.

When they made it to the other side, the boys noticed that Apolla had started hacking at some of the surrounding coconut trees, causing come coconuts to fall. They already saw that there was a small pile of wood set up in the middle of three logs in the middle of the beach, just back far enough that the waves couldn't reach it.

"'Bout time you two showed up, slow pokes!"

"Hey, you had a head start," Zephyr pointed out.

"What are you doing anyway?"

Apolla turned to face the boys. "Just getting something for us to drink after we've sparred and had lunch."

"Do you need any help?"

"Actually, Ren, can you get some drinking water?" she asked, handing him a gallon jug.

"Sure, no problem."

"What can I do?" Zephyr asked eagerly.

"You can grab your sword. We're sparring, sir."

"Aw, man!"

While Ren ran to get water, Apolla and Zephyr began hacking away at each other. As they were going at it, she noticed something different about the way her brother was fighting. When she was able to catch a break, she asked, "Zeph, have you been secretly practicing?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"The way you're fighting me now. You changed your fighting style."

"Sure did. Maybe that dream helped."

"Maybe," Apolla mused.

By the time Ren returned, Apolla and Zephyr came to a draw. "You mean you guys started without me?" he asked.

"Yep, and seems that Zeph's found some new strength."

"It was a tie," Zephyr proclaimed.

"Alright, Zeph!"

"Thanks, man."

Apolla grabbed the water jug from Ren so that he could spar against Zephyr. As they began, she placed the jug next to the coconuts near their makeshift camp. She sat down on the middle log and watched the two friends go at it.

Zephyr sure has gotten stronger, she thought. Practicing must be helping him a lot!

She couldn't help but think about the dream that she had. She had so many questions. What door was the voice talking about? Who were all those other girls I saw? She had recognized her mom and Aunt Naminé, but that was only because of the pictures she had seen of them when they were younger. And because of Aunt Naminé's drawings. But why were they in my dream?

"Apolla?"

Ren broke her out of her thoughts? "Hmm?" she asked.

"I won!" Zephyr announced. "It's your turn to fight Ren!"

"So it is."

It was a close call for those two, but in the end, Ren had won, leaving Zephyr to gape at them.

"How did that happen?" Zephyr asked.

"Have you been secretly practicing, too?" Apolla asked.

Ren shrugged. "Maybe you should stay focused."

"I am focused." She regretted jumping to that conclusion so early. Am I really focused?

"Well, let's fish," Zephyr whined. "I'm hungry!"

xxx

It was starting to get late, so the trio headed back to the other side. Since Apolla had lost, she was left with the duty of buying ice cream for everyone. When she got back, Ren and Zephyr had already taken their seats on the Paopu tree.

"As promised," she said as she made it to the tree. She handed each boy an ice cream, and then sat down to enjoy hers.

"Thanks, sis."

"No prob."

The three of them sat there in silence, just watching the sunset. The sky was filled with oranges, reds, and purples, reflecting perfectly off of the waves. Apolla was halfway done with her ice cream when she finally broke the silence.

"Hey, Ren?"

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Do you have any weird dreams last night?" she inquired. "Like, any dreams that were inexplainable?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I did."

This was what she was expecting to hear.

"Strange."

"Why?"

"What was it about?"

"Well, I was standing on all of these different platforms, each with the same pictures on, but in different colors. I was fighting these weird black creatures. And white creatures, too. Heck, I even had to fight a huge creature with tentacles coming out of its head. I could tell it was closely related to the white creatures I was fighting. But you know the weird thing about it?"

"What?" Zephyr asked.

"The pictures were of our parents. Uncle Sora, Aunt Kairi."

"Uncle Riku and Aunt Naminé, too?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Because we had similar dreams, Ren," Apolla stated.

"Really?" Ren pondered this new information. I thought that I was the only one. "What do you think it means?"

Apolla shook her head, and Zephyr shrugged. "I…don't know."

The three fell silent, and turned back toward the sunset. It was getting late, and they needed to head home.

"Well," Zephyr said, trying to cheer the others up a bit. "Last one to the boats is a rotten seagull egg!" Without warning, he jumped from his seat on the tree and began to run for the small dock.

Ren and Apolla quickly followed suit.

xxx

Something was definitely amiss. Kairi was in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes when she saw the storm beginning to form over the island where she used to play as a child. She would have thought it was just a regular thunderstorm, if the lightning wasn't a plasma purple color. Upon seeing that, she had the sinking feeling that what had happened to the islands all those years ago, was happening again.

She immediately closed the windows, shut the curtains, and ran into the living room.

Sora noticed his wife's horrified expression as she barged in, and it worried him. In his hands was the letter the King had sent. "What's the matter, Kairi?"

"It's happening," was all she managed to say. "Again."

Sora was confused by what she was saying, but realizing that Apolla and Zephyr were in the same room, he became understanding. "Hey, Apolla, Zephyr," he began, waiting for them to acknowledge him in some manner.

"Yeah, Dad?" Zephyr asked. Apolla gave their father her full attention.

"Can you guys go upstairs? Your mother and I need to talk."

"Sure thing," Apolla said.

Sora and Kairi watched as the two of them headed up the stairs. When they were no longer within earshot, Sora said, "Again? Are you sure?"

"Sora, there's a storm forming over the island. The same kind of storm that formed all those years ago."

Sora looked up towards where the stairs were and then down at his feet. Then, as if resolving an issue in his mind, he stood up quickly. "We can't let that happen again. We're going over there now, and dealing with whatever's going on before things get out of hand!"

"What about—?" Kairi could finish her question. She couldn't think of what would happen to the kids if the islands were lost again.

"I'm hoping that we'll be back and that it will be over with. Besides, they go over there to spar anyway. They should be fine if it came to that."

Kairi nodded and gave him a soft smile. "You're right. Let's go get Riku, Roxas, and Xion."

"Yeah. Hopefully they're already over there taking care things."

"Apolla," Kairi called up the stairs. "We're going over to Uncle Riku's. You're in charge while we're gone."

Apolla and Zephyr ran down the stairs. Kairi was hoping they wouldn't.

"Why is she always the one in charge?" Zephyr whined.

"Because I don't whine like you," was his sister's reply.

"I don't know how long we will be out," Sora began. "But if we're not back by the time you two go to bed, lock the doors and turn off all of the lights. Except for the study."

"Yes, Dad."

With that, Sora and Kairi hugged their children and headed out of the door. Kairi was the only one of them to linger at the door to get a good look at them before finally giving a soft smile and then closing the door.

Apolla and Zephyr ran upstairs and put on their shoes and grabbed their sparring swords.

"Are you sure we should follow them?" Apolla asked.

"Yes," Zephyr firmly replied. "Dad said that they can't let whatever happened to the islands years ago happen again. And I saw the storm Mom was talking about. That is definitely not your average storm."

"Yeah, I saw it, too. It really had her worried." By the time she had said this, they were already downstairs, and Zephyr was holding a piece of paper in his hands. "What's that?"

"It's a letter," Zephyr answered. After a brief glimpse, he said, "It's to Mom and Dad."

"Well, if it's theirs, then we probably shouldn't read it. It's probably none of our business."

"Sora, Kairi," Zephyr began.

Apolla sighed and shook her head.

Ignoring his sister, he continued. "I got your letter, and I fear you may be right. Something is definitely up with the worlds. I talked to Yen Sid about it. It turns out that several of the Princesses of Heart have disappeared, as well as the appearance of an enormous amount of Heartless and Nobodies in every world. We're not sure who is behind it, but, if you can, we need your help to investigate what's going on, and help bring balance to the worlds once more. I've sent Riku a similar letter, so he should be informed as well. Please do whatever you can...and be careful. King Mickey."

"King Mickey?" Apolla wondered. "Who's that?"

"And who are the Heartless?"

They were silent for a moment. Apolla couldn't help but think about the Princesses that were disappearing, and the Heartless appearing everywhere. They've appeared in every world, she thought. But what does King Mickey mean by that?That's when it hit her.

"Oh!"

This made Zephyr jump a little. "What?"

"Remember the story that Mom and Dad always tell us?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"They mentioned three friends who visit different worlds and save the boy's childhood friends."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with the letter?"

"Darkness spread throughout the worlds. The Princesses that were mentioned in the letter, what if they're the same Princesses that Mom had told us about in one of her stories. Not our usual bedtime story, but some of her other ones. I mean, they all pretty much had to do with the same topic."

Zephyr opened his mouth to say something, but caught himself. He was confused at what his sister was saying. But after a while, the wheels began to click in his head.

"So, you're saying that everything that happened in the story," he finally said. "That was real?"

"I don't know for sure," Apolla said. "But it's a possibility."

"We should ask Ren what he thinks."

"And then ask our parents?"

"Seems like the only thing we can do," Zephyr said. "Either that, or assume that it is. And I hate doing that."

"I agree. Let's go get Ren and then head for the island," she suggested.

"Best go prepared." At that thought, Zephyr grabbed his sparring sword out of the far corner of the living room, and handed Apolla hers. She took it from him without hesitation, and nodded.

"Let's go, Zeph."

With that, Zephyr and Apolla ran out the door and into the direction of Ren's house.

Little did they know that on the small island miles behind them, a battle for the fate of Destiny Islands, and of all worlds, had only just begun.

A/N: DUH, DUH, DUH! Anyway, I am planning on getting a deviantart account so that you guys can have better access to visuals of the characters, keyblades, etc. Heck, I think I will even put concept art for some of the worlds on that account, along with visuals for Re: Kingdom Hearts. So, be looking for an update on my profile page, that way you guys can get more of a visual (and I need to show my art off to the world!). So, reviews anyone? I promise I don't bite.