Kairi awoke in a clearing surrounded by trees.

"Good mornin', gorgeous! How'd you sleep?"

Namine happily bounded over to her, carrying a makeshift tray with food on it. Four slabs of meat and two sunny-side-up eggs on a piece of wood. She stared at it awkwardly.

"What kind of meat is that?"

"Bear. Eat up. We're gonna start movin' when you're finished."

"Right."

Kairi ate slowly, staring after Namine. She swallowed, "Are you mad at me for trying kill you?"

"What?"

"The box of chocolates."

Namine paced as she stuffed more meat into her mouth. She swallowed again, her eyes following her companion's movements.

"No, not really. I didn't eat it 'cause I hate chocolate."

"That's a lie."

"No! I just don't like it." Namine frowned.

"Riku said otherwise."

Her frown deepened, her eyes becoming red slits. "You know this how?"

"He told me," Kairi got up and threw the wooden tray into the trees. "Are we going or not?"

The bored look on her face made Namine realized that they shouldn't waste time. "Yeah."

They began walking east, towards the ocean. "Why are we going this way?"

"I have to meet up with someone."

"Who," Kairi asked anyway, even though she knew she wasn't going to get a straight answer.

"No one you know."

Riku banged on the doors of the hospital. It wouldn't let him through! And his mom-slash-certified-crazy-bitch was on his tail.

He spun on his heels, breathing heavily.

"Riku?" she called down the hallway eerily.

"Dammit!" He grabbed the nearest thing around him and chucked it at her. That object happened to be the stapler from the receptionist's empty desk.

His mother actually caught it and threw it back with even more force. Riku ducked, and he threw the receptionist's chair at her, praying she couldn't catch it.

The chair hit her head and she dropped to the floor. He would've taken that moment to run, but he had just gotten the door open. And Riku wished he hadn't.

There were black holes, there were time-space continuums, and there was nothingness. And then there was this.

This never-ending vortex of darkness seemed to expand endlessly. Riku blinked, and he proceeded to drag his mother's unconscious body toward the vortex.

She awoke to her head dangling over the edge of the threshold, stark white tiles contrasting with her dark doom.

Riku's mother swept her son off his feet, causing him to fall over her.

And all too suddenly, he was catapulted over the edge of the threshold, into the never-ending vortex of sheer darkness, alone.

Adele shrieked, covering her face with her arms as debris flew everywhere. When she pulled her arms away, Terra's usual cobalt-blue eyes were a dangerous red. He had tendrils of darkness slithering up his arms, and his long fang-like canines jutted out of his upper lip. He was horrifying to her, the man who was just smiling at her minutes before. He turned and hissed at her, before attacking her. Adele fought, shrieking, until an incandescent light blasted from her fingertips.

The beast snarled and writhed, his claws digging into the dirt walls. Adele stared at her hands. She wasn't supposed to get powers. The first born never does.

She stumbled back as the animal change back into her older companion. "Terra? Wh-what happened?"

"Addy! I'm sorry," he said, taking her trembling hands into his own.

"Get away from me," she growled, pulling her hands away fiercely, "What are you?"

"I died, and the gods brought me back to life, Addy. That... I don't know what that was."

"Mommy told me about that. How her best friend died. She never said why. Was that you? Were you her best friend?"

Terra nodded. He picked up Aqua's body and held it bridal style, cradling her head against his neck. He shuddered at her icy touch. "What are we gonna do about Audrey and Nate?"

"When Mommy wakes up, she'll fix it."

"How do you know for sure?"

"I just know!" she said, giggling.

Terra silently decided not to tell Adele that he thought he felt Aqua's nose wrinkle at the warm, familiar smell of his neck.

Sora huffed as his rather large captor, Luxord, hit the table with force again.

"Where is she?" His thick Russian-accent was flooded with frustration.

"I said I don't know!"

"Well," the burly man cracked his knuckles, "ocean or desert?"

"Dessert! Is it pie? Or strawberries?" Sora happily bounced in his seat, his tied hands bumping against the back of his chair.

The man laughed, "You are funny man, Sora. Too bad your humor won't help you here. You are stupid."

"I'm not stupid. I just made you believe so."

"Too late! After my good friend Axel beat you 'til the point of unconsciousness, he called us, and we dragged you onto this plane."

"I know that."

"But where are we going, yes?"

At this, Sora would have scratched his head, but he was too busy trying to untie his hands. Rubbing his lucky charm, a sharp, metal star shaped pendant that he kept from when he was little, against the rope, he was absolutely determined to get the hell out of here.

"Can we go to Inca Notica?" he asked, hiding his grin, "Or maybe Aqua Regia?"

He has "people" in both regions.

"The little Dalorian makes good point," Luxord muttered to his accomplices, "To Aqua Regia's bell tower!"

Sora cringed at the idea of falling off a ten-story tower. He peered out of the small window he was by. The bell tower wasn't far. "Why don't I just jump now?"

Luxord grinned. "Okay!"

The man dumped the Dalorian-House butler out the slide door of the green military plane with amazing ease.

As Sora was falling, he looked up in time to see Luxord cackling and a soft glimmer of someone else falling...

Vanille burst through the hospital doors and rushed to the receptionist's desk. Composing herself she asked, "May I please see Prince Riku?"

"Room 617."

"Thank you."

Vanille tucked her hair back behind her ears and fingered the flowers in her pockets again. She'd made it a habit already, and she hated the idea. Opening the door, she wasn't surprised to see him hooked up to so many wires.

She didn't like the sight at all, though. It made worry settle in the pit of her stomach. She took a deep breath, and silently made her way over to the bed. She grasped his hand.

"Riku..."

She pressed a hand to his beating heart and kissed his palm softly.

"I have a question," she said softly, pressing his hand to her face, "Who am I to you?"