I wrote the majority of this chapter while in the Adirondacks with my family. c( ;

Whole Story

"Wait, twins?" Kairi asked in disbelief. "You're trying to tell me that these two are twins?"

"Yes," Alex's dad said solemnly.

"It makes sense." Everyone turned to look at Riku who had his arms crossed across his chest. "If you think about it they do look alike and in away they even act alike. Also seeing as they both have keyblades then they have to have similar qualities for the keyblade to pick both of them."

"Its getting late why don't we go inside and I'll try to explain." Alex's dad said ushering them towards the house.

"Well I guess I should start with your mother." He said after everyone was seated around the kitchen table, the same places as breakfast. Your mother and I were very happy together. In the times of peace there were people who lived nomadicly, traveling between the worlds. They had to be discrete of course, know one could let on about the other worlds. We lived like that for quite awhile, until your mother became pregnant. We toyed with the idea of raising you on the ship but we thought it would be better if we settled down. We found a nice house in Destiny Islands and settled down and we were happy. Then a few months before you two were born your mother told me the prophecy about you, but I'm sure you've heard an edited version Sora."

"Yeah, she said that an old woman told her that 'She would have a happy but troubled life and that one day she would have a son that would be more important than she ever dreamed. That he would be the key to saving many lives and keeping peace amongst the worlds.' Or something like that." He said, a distant look in his eyes.

"Well that's mostly true but it said that she would give birth to the key to saving many lives and keeping peace amongst the worlds. She was never sure whether or not to believe it and told me because she thought it was better for me to know just in case. A few months later she unexpectedly gave birth to twins. We lived normal quiet lives, though we heard tails of darkness growing in the hearts of the worlds like many of the nomads did. We grew more and more worried of what the growing darkness meant for the two of you. So finally we decided to separate you hoping that it would slow if not stop the darkness from finding you."

"Well obviously that didn't work as well as you'd hoped because we have been fighting heartless and Nobodys for two years now." Kairi said quietly.

"Well it did slow it down until I was old enough to deal with it." Sora replied

"Yeah, I guess it helped just enough to do some good." He just nodded.

"So I took Alex and your mother kept Sora on Destiny Islands. For a few years you and I traveled around from world to world but after a while I felt that it wasn't safe to have been to so many different places so we settled here." He was silent for a few minuets. "It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, leaving you and your mother behind." His eyes were glazed, probably reliving memories from the night he left.

"Do you have any pictures of her." Alex asked not looking up from her hands.

"Who, mom? Yeah I have one in our ship." Sora replied

"Can I... see it?"

"Of course." He got up and motioned for her to lead the way. On the way by she hugged her dad, he smiled a tear leaking out of his eye. Then she got up and left. The table was silent. Everyone contemplating one thing or another.

"Its down here." Sora said leading the way down the hall to the living aria.

"So this is where you guys live, its nice." She commented as he sat down on his bunk and reached into the alcove behind his bunk to retrieve the picture. She noticed that Riku had a knife stuck under his mattress, and that across the hall a door was half open to what she assumed was Kairi's room.

"It works well enough." He said handing her the photo.

It had obviously been taken a few years ago; in the front was a younger version of Sora in an odd red jumpsuit grinning so hard his eyes were closed. Behind him was a woman with blue-green eyes and hair the same shade as Alex's. She was wearing a green v-neck tee shirt and an aqua skirt too her knee. She had her hand on Sora's shoulder and she looked genuinely happy.

"She's beautiful." She said placing her hand on the glass.

"Yeah, she is." He said looking over her shoulder.

"What's she like?"

"She's the nicest person I've ever met, but sometimes she seems to get sad for no reason though I guess now I know why." He paused and shook his head. "I can't believe I have a twin sister."

"Yeah, its hard to rap your head around." She said setting the photo back on his bed. "What's her name?" She asked turning around to look at him.

"Her name's Airi." He said deep in thought. "What is your- I mean our dad's name?"

"Jake, well that's what everyone calls him but his full name is Jacob."

"So what do I call him do you think."

"Probably just dad." He nodded. "We should get back." He hesitated.

"Would you- I mean would you want to come with us when we leave?"

"I'd love to, but only if his thing with my town is resolved. Its my fault that all this is happening and I need to fix it." He nodded.

"I understand, and we'll be here to help. That is why we came."

"What do you mean?"

"Lets go back to the house and I can tell you and dad at the same time." She nodded and led the way out.

"Wow." Alex said after Sora Riku and Kairi had finished the tale of their journey over the past two years. I can't believe he succumbed to the darkness like that. She thought looking at Riku while Sora and Kairi answered her dad's questions. He turned and returned her gaze with an almost defiant look in his eyes, like he knew just what she was thinking. But he had been mislead by Maleficent and possessed by Ansem and he eventually found his way back to the light. She smiled at him and he returned it, he looked almost relived like he had thought she would start hating him because of the darkness in him.

"I think its time that everyone goes to bed, it's been a long day." Jake said standing up and heading upstairs. Kairi surprised everyone by kissing Sora on the cheek and heading upstairs. Sora just sat there shocked for a while and Alex went outside to get Luna. When she got her into the house she noticed Riku out on the porch again.

"Can't sleep again?" She asked walking over to him. The moon was still almost full and bleached everything silver. He shrugged as she leaned on the railing next to him. They were silent for a while.

"Sora asked me to come with you, when you leave." She said quietly. He turned to look at her surprise written all over his face. "Do you not want me to?" She asked misreading his surprise, her eyes betrayed her sadness at this thought.

"No, I want you to come with us I'm just surprised that he would have thought of that." He turned to look up at the moon. "I had been thinking of that myself. What did you say?"

"I said that I'd love to but I need to resolve this thing with my town first. It's my fault after all."

"We'll be here to help to, that's kind of why we came."

"That's what Sora said." She said with a small laugh. He smiled.

Why do I care so much about her? Why do I care if she hates me or if I never see her again. I just met her, why do I feel like I can't loose her? He thought as he watched her watch the moon. She's beautiful. He sighed and turned away.

Why do I feel That I have to go, it's not just because Sora's my brother its some thing else. Is it him? Why do I feel that I can't let him go? She kept glancing at him when he wasn't looking. Why wont he stop looking at me? Why am I glad that he wont? She turned and looked him in the eye. They stayed like that for quite a while, until they heard the door creak open. Then reluctantly they turned to see Sora standing in the door.

"Um, are you guys coming in?" He said, he noticed how close they were and wondered what they had been doing out here.

"Yeah, we're coming." Riku answered. They walked past him into the house their hands brushing and without looking at each other Alex headed upstairs and Riku went into the living room.

"What was all that about?" Sora asked falling onto his side of the couch.

He was silent for a minuet. "How do you feel about Kairi?"

"What?" He hated it when Riku countered a question with a question or just avoided it entirely.

"You heard me." He said pulling off his two shirts so he could sleep in just his pants. Just then Alex walked in, when she saw Riku was shirtless she stared for a second and then looked away. "Sorry, forgot my water." She mumble, grabbed it and left awkwardly. Sora noticed that Riku's eyes lingered at the stairs even after she was gone.

"That what's that about?"

"I'm not really sure." He sighed lying face down on the couch. He kicked off his shoes and peeled of his socks with his toes.

"You seem like you really connected." Sora said pulling off his outer shirt and kicking off his shoes and socks.

"Yeah, I just don't understand exactly what I'm feeling. It might help if I knew how she felt."

"Yeah, same here."

"You're an idiot." Riku rolled his eyes and grabbed a pillow rolling it up and sticking it under his chin.

"What?" He asked lying on his stomach.

"Its obvious how she feels."

"Really?"

"You really are oblivious." He said shaking his head.

"What do you mean?"

"Man; She kissed you earlier, you kissed in the ship, and don't bother denying it I saw you." Sora blushed at that. "You're always holding hands. You act like your going out." He rolled his eyes at his friends density.

"Yeah, but….."

"But what?"

"I don't know." He rolled over and put his hands behind his head.

"I'm going to sleep." He rolled over and reached up and turned off the light.

Deep in the forest, Riku was running. Trying to catch up to Alex. Now and then she would run so far ahead he couldn't see her, but he would catch up just enough to get her into view, but he couldn't catch her.

"She's here. I know she's here." She would call over her shoulder every few minuets but he couldn't tell if she was trying to find someone or running from someone.

He kept calling after her but she wouldn't slow or stop or even turn around. Then she ran ahead and he couldn't see her but no matter how fast he ran he couldn't find her. He ran right up to the edge of a cliff. Flailing his arms he steadied himself and backed up. At the bottom of the gorge was a rapidly flowing river. The waters were white and churning. He couldn't tell if she had fallen or if she had gone another direction.

"ALEX!" He called but there was no answer. Then he saw her to his left on the edge of the cliff, she was standing right on the edge looking at the rapids below. "No! Alex get back you'll fall." She looked up at him and he saw her face go from calm to terror as the rocks underneath her began to crumble. He tried to run over to her but he couldn't get there fast enough. By the time he got to where she had been standing he could just see her fall into the water, but he couldn't see her after that. "NO!"

"Nooooooooooooooooo!" He shot up, covered in sweat. It took him a few minuets to remember where he was. His breath was raged, he ran a hand through his hair. Sora ran into the room followed by Kairi and Alex.

"What, what is it?" Sora asked, looking around like he thought some heartless had shown up.

"Nothing just a dream, well a nightmare I guess." He nodded and left hesitantly with Kairi.

"You okay?" Alex asked, sitting on the couch next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"So what was the dream? Or do you not remember."

"I-I….."

"Its okay if you don't want to tell me."

"No, I- I don't remember the details I just remember that you fell off a cliff." He got up and put his shirts back on.

"Oh, that's all you remember?"

"Yeah." He lied, he remembered every detail.

"Oh, Okay. My dad made waffles before he left for work." She said. He nodded and they headed into the kitchen where Sora and Kairi were eating. Riku grabbed a plate and some waffles.

"We're going to start working on the ship today." Sora told him as he sat down.

"Kay, cool." He said then started to pick at his waffles.

"We're going to start carrying the boxes of the gummies down to the ship." Sora said then he and Kairi headed out back.

"Not hungry?" She asked when he dumped his untouched waffles in the trash and put his plate in the sink.

"Not really."

"Kay…" She said quirking an eyebrow. She knew he didn't talk much but he was acting a bit off. "So, you want to head down?"

"Sure." He said and walked out the door.

"You already confided in me once, why wont you now?" She muttered to herself, before she followed him out the door.

It took them four hours to get all the shield gummies, weapon systems and wings on the ship.

"Hey Sora, why don't you try and start her up." Alex called patting the side of the ship. He nodded a grin on his face and ran into the ship, a few minuets latter they heard a rumble and then the purr of the ship running.

"Alright now I just have to assemble the last wing and your ship will be all set." She said and headed up to her dad's garage.

"Riku, what's up? Your acting all weird." Sora said as he exited the ship. "Don't worry, Kairi's messing with something in her room."

"Is it that noticeable?" he sighed.

"Yeah, and it seems to be putting off Alex."

"That dream I had last night really messed me up."

"What was it about?"

"I was chasing Alex through a forest and she kept saying 'She's here. I know she's here.'. Then she disappeared and I ran out onto the edge of a cliff and she was down a ways along the edge and she fell over the edge. Then I woke up screaming. And ever since I've felt an on coming dread, like something bad, something evil is on the horizon."

"Do you think its that woman from before?"

"I'm not sure, maybe."

"I think you should go talk to her."

"Who's going to talk to who?" Kairi asked as she came out of the ship.

"Riku's going to go ask Alex if she could use some help with the wing." Sora gave Riku a go-on look and he got up and headed toward the garage.

When Alex reached the garage she immediately went to the stereo, plugged in her ipod and blared Stained. Then she went and started up what they called 'the forge.' Her dad had figured out a way to fuse gummies together by recreating an old time iron smith's forge. The forge was in the way back of the garage, in a room with lots of chimneys.

A little while later, Riku showed up at the garage. He heard music coming from in the back so he followed it to a room that looked like he had stepped into the dark age. Alex was standing in front of an old time forge only instead of heating metal she had a gummi in her tongs.

After she had that gummi heated she quickly pulled it out of the fire and stuck another on it then put them back in the forge. She continued to do this until she had used a quarter of the gummies they had collected. Then she put it on an odd shaped anvil. It was a long rectangular block of metal with a thinner longer rectangle sticking out of one side. She placed the large mass of gummi on the larger rectangle and grabbed a flat headed hammer and started to flatten it. When it was about ¾ of an inch thick then she put it in a bucket of sand and started the process over again.

Riku walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. Surprised she swung the hot tongs at him, she would have hit him in the face if he hadn't ducked out of the way. He held up his hands and backed up.

She replaced the tongs in the forge and grabbed a remote on a table a few feet away and turned down the music.

"What the hell were you thinking!" She said as she turned around. "Don't sneak up on someone who has thousand degree tongs in their hand!" She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"…"

"Well?" He didn't answer. "What the hell, Riku, I could have seriously hurt you." She looked like she wanted to cry and punch him at the same time. "I-," He didn't let her finish, she hadn't noticed that he had closed the distance between them as she yelled at him, she didn't notice until he was kissing her and she didn't realize until after that she had started kissing him back.

"So, what were you going to say?" He asked after they broke apart.

"I-I don't want to hurt you." She said quietly, looking up at him. "Shit!" She turned around and ran out of the garage ripping off the leather gloves and apron she had been wearing and throwing them to the side as she ran.

"What? What's wrong?" He called after her not understanding how things could have changed so fast. He started to run after her, as he ran he got a very bad feeling in his gut. That evil he felt on the horizon was going to rear its ugly head very, very soon.

"She's here." He almost stopped dead in his tracks, that's what she had said in his dream, but he managed to keep running.

They ran down her yard past Sora and Kairi, who would have thought they were messing around if not for the expressions on their faces, past the gummi ship and into the woods. The similarities between the present and his dream were too many to be a coincidence. They ran for a long time, past Alex's huge tree deep into the forest. Suddenly, he couldn't see her ahead of him, but unlike in his dream a few minuets later he heard Alex scream.

He quickened his pace, desperate to find her. Then he ran out not onto the edge of a gorge but into a large clearing. In the center was that woman again, Kurai. At her feet was Alex, she was unconscious. Kurai had seven daggers, the same dark purple as her scars, floating around her hands.

Riku quickly called Way to Dawn and, as Kurai walked towards him, he cast a dark curaga for Alex. She regained consciousness and rolled out of the way calling Deceit.

Just then Sora showed up and hid Kairi in the trees so she could heal others when needed, she wasn't a fighter. He then called Oblivion and crouched into his ready stance.

Riku's dream had come true, in a way he would have never suspected.

"Hmph, fine I guess I won't be fighting you tonight. I just wanted to let you know that I'm done on this tinny world. I've accomplished all I wanted to here. Its time for me to start on other worlds." She said before flipping the long side of her hair and disappearing in the wind.