Hey guys, I'm finally back! Just got done reading the new BLEACH chapter and... it sucked. Hopefully, you guys don't feel the same way when you read THIS chapter.

Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters, ect. (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 60

"Oh help! Someone help me! My latest experiment is gone! It's been stolen!" Dr. Finkelstein called out as he wheeled out of his lab, holding his hand against his head as he did so. The group immediately turned their attention to the distressed doctor as they followed him inside his house for a more detailed explanation. Once they were inside, he began his tale.

"I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked! I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!" he explained angrily, slamming his fist into his chair as he glared at them. Jack tapped his skull for a moment, before he began speaking.

"Don't worry, Doctor…we know who took it." He assured the creature. At this, the doctor leaned forward and clenched his fist. "Who?" he demanded.

"The Heartless." Sora answered, with Donald nodding in agreement. But the doctor scoffed.

"What, those wretched things? Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless." He scoffed. Kyrie was silent as she thought back to the silhouette in the woods, could that have been the thief?

"Not the Heartless, huh…" the boy spoke, crossing his arms as he thought about any other suspects.

"Who else could it be?" Donald asked, looking at the group. After a few moments, Jack gasped, holding up a bony finger.

"Say, I have an idea. The thief must like Christmas presents. So…We place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap." He exclaimed. The group looked at him as well as the doctor, their expressions unreadable as they stared at him.

"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" the doctor asked, unbelieving. Jack grinned and nodded.

"That's right."

"How will we know for sure?" Sora asked as he looked up at the pumpkin king. Jack's smile seemed to grow as he continued explaining his plan.

"Well, now, that's easy! We'll scare a confession right out of him!" he exclaimed. The group deadpanned at his plan while Goofy placed a hand on his chin, muttering. "Gawrsh…"

"What do you say we go with Jack's plan…just for now?" Sora spoke as he leaned in, Goofy, Donald, and Kyrie forming a small huddle as they did so. Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie nodded, making the boy smile as he turned to Jack.

"Let's go to Sandy's house posthaste! We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!" Jack ordered, pointing to the door. The group nodded and was off in a flash, ready to put a stop to the thief once and for all.

-Santa's House-

"Have you found the presents yet?" Santa asked as the group walked in. Jack held up a hand.

"Almost, Mr. Claws!" he assured him. Sora nodded in agreement.

"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait." Sora explained. At this, Jack spoke up. "Would you mind if we used your factory to create a few presents?" Jack asked. Santa paused for a moment, his expression reluctant.

"Presents as bait? Goodness…I don't like the sound of that." he answered. Jack looked down sadly and scratched his cheek, before Santa sighed. "Just this once, I suppose. It's for a good cause…All right, use the second floor. And put some heart into it." Kyrie smiled at this an nodded as she and the others went into the factory.

"This is great! We get to make Christmas presents just like the elves!" she thought happily. But when she remembered exactly WHY they were making the presents, she frowned. "But it sucks that we have to use them as bait to draw out the thief. Oh well…just like Santa said, it's for a good cause." she thought with a sigh. Following after the group, they got to the second floor and were met by a couple of elves, who were there to supervise them and to help them make the presents.

With their help, the decoy presents were quickly made, using the most appealing bows and wrapping paper as possible so the thief wouldn't be able to resist them. Once they were done, the group held up the presents.

"All done!" Donald exclaimed as he, Sora, Kyrie, and Goofy held up the presents in joy. But Jack wagged his finger at them.

"Not quite." Goofy and Kyrie looked up at him in confusion. "There's more?" he asked. Kyrie nodded.

"Is there? I thought we were just going to make presents." Kyrie thought as she stared at the skeleton man.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest." Jack assured them. With that, he ushered them on into Santa's house before retreating back into the workshop, to take care of whatever else was needed for the plan. Santa looked up from a list he was reading as he stared at them. "Did you finish making the presents?"

"Yup, just waiting for Jack." Sora answered. Goofy was quiet for a moment before he scratched his head.

"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" he asked, looking at the group. They shrugged their shoulders in reply before Santa answered.

"Oh, I know a good spot. Whenever you're ready just say the word." He answered. The group nodded before a voice spoke, startling them.

"I'm back." They turned to see Jack as he walked in, a large grin on his face. Santa nodded as he stood up before looking at them. "Now then, are you all set?" Sora nodded.

"Yes. Let's go!"

-Christmas Town-

The group was silent as Santa unlocked a gate that apparently led to a plaza, before he looked over his shoulder at them. "This plaza should work well for your plan. Now, Jack…what IS your plan?"

"I've got it all figured out." Jack grinned. This made the man stare at him in disbelief.

"You do…"

"Of course! And I also have a wonderful idea. If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the…" at this, Sora quickly covered his mouth, cutting him off.

"And on that note, we'll be going." With that, the group began to pull the bony man along as he protested.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" he protested. But after a few moments, he gave up and sighed as Sora and Kyrie patted his shoulders. They quickly walked into the plaza and set up the decoy presents before Jack pulled out an enormous box, picking up the four and throwing them inside before getting inside himself and closing the lid. Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to protest before Jack explained the plan to them, calming them down and keeping them from jumping out of the box. But Kyrie stiffened and sat very still, her eyes blinking as she tried to see through the darkness. But she couldn't.

"It's so dark…" she thought as she backed up, her back hitting the box as she did so. She hated the dark with every fiber of her being, and didn't like it that she had to sit and wait in this dark, cramped space. Donald growled as someone kicked him. "Stop kicking!" he cried, directing it at Goofy. But Goofy shook his head.

"It's not me, Donald."

"Patience, friends." Jack ordered calmly. But Sora quickly shushed them, keeping them quiet for a few moments. That is…until someone kicked Donald again.

"I said cut it out!"

"Gawrsh, was that you?"

"How come we have to be the bait?"

"Good plan, eh?"

"No, not good plan! Horrible plan is more like it!" Kyrie thought as she shuffled, bumping into Donald as she did so. "Ouch!" he exclaimed. But the sudden sounds of heavy footsteps hushed him as the group prepared to jump out and scare the thief. After a few seconds, the footsteps inched closer and Jack gave the signal.

"Gotcha!" Sora exclaimed as they jumped out, only to gape at what they saw. A large robotic-like creature was staring at them, its teeth gnashing angrily at them. "Huh?" Jack asked as they stared. After a moment, he came to a realization.

"Dr. Finkelstein's experiment did it!" Jack exclaimed. With that the experiment roared, lashing out and knocking over the presents as it made its way towards them. The group quickly got out of the box and surrounded the monster, Sora and Kyrie summoning their keyblades while Donald and Goofy summoned their weapons.

"This isn't gonna be easy." Kyrie thought as she stared at the creature. With that, the group rushed in, beginning their assault on the experiment. But Kyrie's suspicions were confirmed as it fought back, not planning to go down easily. With just the flick of its arm, it sent Donald and Goofy flying back into the pile of boxes, before turning its attention to Sora, Kyrie, and Jack. The girl gulped as it swung its fist, summoning her shield just as the fist made contact. It reeled back, howling in pain, before Jack and Sora rushed in.

"Kyrie, help Donald and Goofy!" Sora cried as he and Jack fought the experiment. The girl nodded as she ran towards the pile of boxes, sifting through them until she uncovered the two. Donald popped out of the pile like a jack-in-the-box while Goofy was a bit slower, obviously having taken more damage than the duck. With that the three rushed back into the fight to help Sora, who was being pinned to the snow-covered ground by one of its hands.

"Sora! Hang on!" Kyrie thought as she rushed in, swinging her keyblades like a tornado as she severed the robotic arm, leaving it on the ground as Sora scrambled out from under it. The creature roared in agony as the arm twitched, but Jack quickly threw a blizzard spell at it, freezing some of the body. After a while of this, the creature finally fell, its life force disappearing in a sea of darkness while the body remained. The group panted for a few moments, exhausted, before Jack smiled.

"We did it! The mystery is solved!" he exclaimed. Immediately they heard the sound of bells over their heads and looked up, to see Santa steering his sleigh into the plaza with his reindeer taking the lead. Once the sleigh landed, he got off and approached.

"Did you catch the thief?" he asked. Jack nodded and smiled broadly. "Naturally!"

"I just can't figure it out…" Sora started as he and the others looked at the remains of the experiment. "Why would the doctor's experiment go around stealing Christmas presents?" he spoke. Kyrie nodded.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, too. Why would it steal Christmas presents? Was it after something, or did it have something more foul planned?" she thought as she walked over, taking a closer look at the experiment. Santa blinked at them.

"His experiment?" he asked. Jack nodded. "The thief! It was a moving puppet made by Dr. Finkelstein." Jack explained. Santa nodded as he walked toward the remains, joining Kyrie as the two looked at it closely.

"Hm…the doctor's made a moving puppet? I see…he is always tinkering with things." he mused. After a moment, he turned to Jack. "Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like." Santa explained. The look on Jack's face was of pure joy as he stared at the smaller man in awe.

"Sandy Claws!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the sleigh, jumping in it instantly as he looked at the reins and such. Santa turned to the remains again. "Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart." he spoke before turning his attention to the sleigh. In moments, Jack and Santa were off. The group watched them go before Kyrie grabbed Sora's hand and began tugging on it, making him look at her in confusion.

"Huh? What's up, Kyrie?" he asked. She quickly pulled out her notebook and wrote something down before handing it to them.

Let's go back to Halloween town. We need to ask Dr. Finkelstein about the puppet and tell him that we found out that it was the thief.

Sora nodded as he handed the notebook back to her.

"Okay. Let's go."

-Halloween Town-

"Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own! In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!" the doctor exclaimed. When the group got back to Halloween town, they found the doctor in front of his house and approached him, then explaining the story of how it was his experiment who was stealing the Christmas presents. Kyrie rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips as Sora continued.

"Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart." He added. The group nodded in agreement as the Doctor pondered this.

"That's quite possible. Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart." He spoke, agreeing with the statement. With that, he turned and rolled his chair back to his house, leaving the group to wonder why it was stealing the presents.

"But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing all those Christmas presents?" Sora asked as Donald, Goofy, and Kyrie turned to him. Suddenly a voice spoke up, turning their attention to Sally as she approached them.

"Maybe because…presents are a way to give your heart to someone special." She suggested, making Sora place his hand against his chin in thought. "Hmm…when you put it that way, I feel sort of bad for it."

"Yeah. It was just like a nobody, in a sense. All the poor thing wanted was a heart…just like Axel, Demyx, and Xigbar." Kyrie thought sadly. Suddenly the sound of bells echoed throughout the town, it's citizens looking at the sky as they tried to discern what it was. But almost instantly, Jack flew down, landing on the cobblestones gracefully as he looked up towards the sky.

"Happy Halloween!" Santa called as he flew off, snow beginning to fall from the sky. "What a nice present." Sally said softly, smiling as the snow fell into her hair. But Jack looked around in confusion, not understanding her words.

"I don't understand. There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!" he exclaimed. Sora smiled and shook his head. "Jack, it's not about the box or the ribbons. It's about what's inside the box!" But Sally shook her head.

"No, Sora. What really counts- what's really special- is the act of giving the gift. To wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy." She explained. Kyrie was silent before nodding, agreeing with the girl.

"Yeah…Sally's right. Christmas is about joy and giving, not receiving." Kyrie thought as she stared at the sky, silently giggling when the snowflakes disappeared into her hair, blending in with the whiteness of her locks. "Right…of course! Thank you, Sally, you're absolutely right. Wait! What's this? I feel so strange …so very happy!" Jack spoke as he raised his arms to the sky.

"Jack, that must be Sally's present!" Goofy exclaimed, making the skeleton blink at him in confusion. "Really? This wonderful feeling?" he asked. He quickly walked over and took the girl's hands into his own, looking at her with a mix of both joy and guilt.

"Oh, Sally! You've given me the nicest present in the world! And I've nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything." He spoke tenderly, holding her hands in his as he gazed at her lovingly. The woman smiled as she placed her hands on top of his, returning his loving gaze.

"The nicest present I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you." She answered. Kyrie smiled softly as they guys looked at each other embarrassingly, Donald covering his eyes and Sora and Goofy looked away. Jack grinned at her.

"You don't even have to ask for that." He chuckled as he pulled her into his arms, picking her up and jumping towards the square before setting her down and taking her hands in his. With that they began to dance, a waltz similar to what Belle and the Beast danced. The four watched the two dance for a few minutes, Kyrie sighing in contentment as she watched.

"Maybe I never gave her a real present after all." Sora spoke suddenly, making the group turn their attention to him. Donald and Kyrie blinked at him. "Who?"

"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her." Goofy assured him as he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. Sora smiled at him.

"I know. That's what made it so hard to decide." He answered. Donald smiled as he placed his hand against his chest. "It's not the gift; it's what's in your heart!"

"My heart…"

"You bet, Kairi's like Sally!" Donald exclaimed. This made Sora and Kyrie blink at him in confusion. "How?"

"Well, as long as she can be with you, what else does she need?" Goofy explained. Sora was silent as he looked at Jack and Sally, a small smile on his face as he stared. Kyrie looked as well, and remembered the night at Beast's Castle, when she and Axel danced in the ballroom. She sighed softly as she looked at her wrist, the charm bracelet he gave her still there. She felt an ache deep inside her chest and placed a hand over her heart, looking back up as she did so.

"Axel…you've given me so much, yet I don't know what to give you in return. I…" she gulped as she felt the tears careen down her cheeks, a sudden realization hitting her. "I care about you more than anything else in the world. As long as you were with me, I never needed anyone else. Axel…I..."

*ducks under the table to avoid the fan freakout at the last part* Okay, I know you guys are probably like, "OMG! She realizes she cares about Axel! Squeee!" or something to that effect. Also, if no one picked up on it, the shadowy figure that appeared in the woods last chapter WAS the experiment.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!