Pretending

Screaming bloody murder, Kaity and I whipped around to face the voice. In the process of turning, Kaity flung her arms out and elbowed me in the gut. I huffed as the air was knocked out of my lungs and my foot slipped from the top step. The same foot hit the next step and then it just all went downhill from there - literally.

I yelped as I tumbled down the staircase. I rolled off the last step and somersaulted into a table that sat against the wall across from the staircase. My back slammed against a table leg, making whatever was sitting on top of it wobble and fall over the edge. It didn't hit me or shatter against the floor either. Weird.

Reaching up, I seized my head and held it. My teeth grinded from the pain exploding across my body. So much for mostly healed bruises. I could already feel the bump forming on the back of my head. I just curled up into a fetal position and tried not to cry from the pain. At least nothing was broken...that I know of. My ribs were on fire, but not the pain from broken bones. I took a slow deep breath and groaned at the searing ache of my lungs.

"Sam!" Someone said from far away. I growled into the cool floor. Whoever said that was going to die if they spoke again. My head felt like it was going to explode and all the talking and frantic sounds weren't helping. Oh God, please don't let me have a concussion. Footsteps thundered down the stairs and stopped in front of where I was resting.

"Oh my God!" I heard Kaity exclaim from somewhere near me. "Sam! Are you alive?"

"No," I moaned in pain.

"Jeez, Sam," I heard Kaity choke with relief. "You're such a klutz."

"Shut up," I groaned. "Head. Voice. Hurts," I grumbled into the wood floor.

Opening my eyes, I blinked a few times to clear the fuzziness from the shapes around me. After batting my eyes against the fuzzy images, I lifted my arms to peer out from under them. There were so many pairs of shoes around me. Looks like I caused a scene. Fully removing my hands from the forming bump on my head, I used my arms to push myself up to sit criss-cross on the floor. The first thing I saw when I looked around was blonde and silver. Kaity, who had been kneeling next to me with a concerned/about-to-burst-out-laughing look on her face, moved back when I sat up. Behind her was a really tall guy with shoulder length silver hair leaning slightly over us both. An amused, but concerned smirk was on his face. Oh, how I wanted to wipe that smirk off. I didn't think my situation was funny at all.

Looking over toward a doorway on my right, two other figures were standing in the room. One had brown hair and the other had blonde hair.

"Oh, God," I groaned silently in despair and humiliation.

Casually leaning against the door frame was Sora, staring at me with wide eyes. The commotion must have brought him out. Woops. I ran my eyes over him, taking it all in. He wasn't in his Kingdom Hearts II outfit. Instead, he was wearing a pair of dark colored jeans and a red tank top with a short-sleeved black hoodie. Same shoes though, yellow and all. His hair was still styled in gravity defying brown spikes and his eyes were still the same drop dead gorgeous blue.

After I was done looking over Sora, I looked over at Roxas. He was standing a few feet away from me holding the lamp that I heard fall off the table. Well, at least now I know why it didn't shatter.

Roxas was wearing basically the same outfit he wore in the game. The only thing different was that he didn't have on the short-sleeved jacket he always wore. So, he was just wearing his black sleeveless shirt and cream-colored pants. And, of course, his black, red, and white shoes. His hair, like Sora's, was styled in gravity defying blond spikes. The only difference between the two styles was that Roxas had more spikes in his hair then Sora did. And, you know, it's blonde. Then there were his eyes. The same drop dead gorgeous blue as Sora's.

Roxas set the lamp back on the table and turned to stare at Kaity and I. I flickered my eyes to the three of them. They all were staring at us weirdly. And I was still on the floor.

I blushed from head to toe. God, this so embarrassing. I picked myself up off the ground, wincing as I stretched my bruised muscles. I silently cursed all the laws of gravity. Whatever force brought us here was really sadistic. First, they made me drown, then they had me tossed around in Dive into the Heart, and now they have me falling down a flight of stairs. It's either that or someone just really doesn't like me.

Kaity helped me stand up from the floor. Now what do we do? Say "Hey, how ya'll doin'? Do you know why we suddenly appeared in your realm? Yeah, your realm, not ours. You see, we come from a galaxy far, far away and we need you to help us get back before we disrupt your space-time continuum. No, we're not crazy. Who are those men in the coats? And why do they have needles?"

Yeah, I don't see that going over too well. It's probably best that they don't know where we're from until we know why we're here.

"Uh, sooo...-" Kaity said looking around at all the boys.

"...Who are you guys?" I interjected. Kaity looked at me with a look saying "What-the-hell-Sam-we-know-who-they-are". I pushed some loose hairs behind my ear and smiled shyly at the guys around us. Kaity saw my sign and relaxed. She knew I had thought of something and that it was just better for her to play along.

Sora and Roxas exchanged a look before looking over at Riku.

"And where are we?" I continued a moment later after no one said anything. From the silent conversation between them, it seemed that they were debating on whether to tell us anything. What do they think we'll do? Knock them over the head and steal away on the Gummi ship? If they even have the Gummi ship.

After a moment, Riku walked from behind Kaity and told us to follow. Jeez, why is he so serious? He needs to lighten up. What does he think we'll do? Although, he has good reason to be so closed off. We're too strange girls that just appeared out of the middle of nowhere. For all they know, we could be the next thing to disrupt the order of the worlds.

...I'm not even going to comment on how true that could be.

Kaity followed him into the next room with Roxas behind her. I went to follow him, but stopped when a sharp pain pierced my mid-section. I lifted my shirt to see that the gash had reopened. My tumble probably pulled the thin layer of skin apart. I gently ran a finger over the wound. Blood stained my fingers when I pulled them away. Crap.

"That doesn't look too good."

I looked up to see Sora examining my reopened wound. "No kidding," I retorted.

Sora reached into a pocket and pulled out a small object. "Here," He said handing it to me, "This will help."

I lifted the object and saw that it was a small round vial with shimmering green liquid in it. It looked gross. "What is it?" I asked.

"A potion. It will heal the wound and make the rest of your bruises disappear," He explained. "We gave you some when we first found you. But you were so battered that we couldn't give you enough to completely heal you without making you sick. It's been long enough, so you can take another."

"Thank you..." I said looking down at the little bottle.

"No problem." He smiled and went into the other room. I uncapped the vial and downed its contents. Oh, yuck! I made a face at the empty vial. This stuff is gross! I was still making faces when I walked into the room. My bruises and gash disappeared though.

The room was nice. Very bright and homey. There was a white mantel fireplace with random picture frames on it. A flat screen TV was hanging on the wall above the fireplace mantel with a couch about six feet from the mantel and a oak coffee table sitting a couple feet in front of it. A matching loveseat and chair sat on ether of the couch's sides and a few other random objects scattered the room. Yeah, okay, everything may look all homey and stuff, but to me, everything looked so fancy.

Oh, Jeez.

Riku had sat in the chair to the left of the couch while Sora and Roxas took over the couch. Kaity was already sitting on the loveseat. She was on the side closest to the couch, so I next to her on the seat farthest from the couch. I didn't want to sit, but it would be weird if I stood. The TV was sporting an epic blitz ball game, but disappeared when Sora picked up the remote on the coffee table.

Seeing the remote and TV reminded me of my sister and how she was watching it earlier. Silently, I wondered if she was okay. What did they think happened to us? How long has it been since Kaity and I disappeared?

That was the question. How much time has actually past? We could have been unconscious for days. Did time move the same here as on earth? Or was one faster and the other slower? Is anyone searching for us now? It frustrated me that I didn't have any of these answers. A noise pulled me away from my running thoughts. I looked up at Riku. He was looking at me expectantly, like he's expecting me to say something. Aw, crap. I zoned out and he probably asked me something.

"Uh, sorry," I apologized sheepishly, "Zoned out." I blushed again despite myself. Stupid, stupid me! I've got to be paying attention.

"Told you," Roxas chuckled at me. Kaity snickered as my blush deepened. I definitely missed something. Damn my easily distracted mind.

"So, uh, what were you saying?" I said trying to resume the conversation.

"We introduced ourselves," Sora answered.

"Oh, uh...well, please start over," I said indicating my hand at Riku. "I'm paying attention now."

Riku smirked and pointed to himself, "I'm Riku."

"I'm Sora," Sora smiled.

"Roxas," Roxas stated.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," I said politely. "My name is Sam," I pointing to myself.

"I already said who I am," Kaity smirked. "'Cause I wasn't off in dreamland." I thumped her on the head.

"You two know each other?" Sora asked bluntly after seeing us react to one another.

"Obviously," We both said at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed.

"Then would you both mind telling us how you ended up here?" Roxas asked.

That's what I want to know, but I don't so how do I answer? That we were sucked into the ocean on our world and appeared here? No, we can't tell the truth. I have this feeling in my gut that is telling me that it would be a very bad thing to tell them where we are actually from. And as for the how we got here part...I have no clue. I mean, we were sucked into the ocean! All right, I think I have a plan. Moreover, the plan is called "Jack Sparrow". We will just make it up as we go. Very simple.

I glanced over at Kaity. She was already starting to say something. I opened my mouth to cut her off, but I wasn't fast enough.

"We...um..." I scratched my neck while burning holes into her skull. She saw me and closed her mouth. All eyes were trained on her. "I don't really...remember. Do you remember how we got here, Sam?" She looked over at me. She needed help making it up. I'm sure she could've made up any story we could dance too, but I guess she wanted me to throw in a few details. I guess this is supposed to be the part where I put on a fake confused expression. But I don't need to. I was actually confused. What am I supposed to say? Well I need to say something.

"Uh, not really," I said slowly. I looked down at my feet as they lightly brushed the floor. I closed my eyes. Well, we could tell half the truth. They just can't know that we're from a different realm. "All I remember is water. A lot of water. I couldn't breathe. Then...nothing. Just darkness." I said opening my eyes. I looked over at the boys. "I don't remember coming here. Wherever here is." That would be a good question to ask. "Where are we?"

"You're on Destiny Islands," Sora answered, "Our home world."

"You think you both drowned and somehow washed up on our shore?" Riku asked leaning forward. I don't think he believes what I'm saying. Typical.

"Um, I guess so..." I said trailing off.

"What were you doing before you think you drowned?" He asked.

"Swimming, obviously," I ridiculed.

"I meant before that," he retorted.

Kaity answered this time, but only after sending me a sharp look. I gave her a "What did I do?" look. She only rolled her eyes. "We were sparring on the beach," she piped in confidently. "I remember that much. After we were done, we decided to cool off in the ocean. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a room I don't know."

The three guys exchanged a look.

I knew where the boys were trying to lead us. They were trying to get us to say where we're from without being too obvious. Well, if they want to know, they'll just have to ask the stupid question. Is it so hard to just say "Hey, what's the name of your world"? The only problem is that I can't tell them the truth. I don't know if there is a world here called Earth. Maybe I could give them a fake one? They don't know every world out there, so I could give them a fake one. I just hope that it doesn't bite me in the butt later...

Just as I came to the decision, Riku asked the predicted question.

"So," He said looking us over. "This is going to be a weird question, but...What is the name of your world?"

Kaity stayed silent, expecting me to answer. Good. I had one.

"Castaway Cay," I said confidently. "It's our island."

"Castaway Cay..." Sora murmured thoughtfully. "I've never been or heard of that world before."

"Been there?" Kaity said looking at Sora. "What, can you, like, travel to different worlds or something?" Good Kaity. Maybe being a actress is a future for you.

"Yeah, actually." Sora smiled. "Kind of cool, huh?" I swear I could hear Kaity's heart pick up a beat from that smile. Oh, boy...

"Really cool," She smiled keenly.

"So what you're saying," Riku said, ignoring the interruption. "Is that in your world, Castaway Cay, you both were sparring on a beach and decided to go for a swim. Then, I'm guessing, you were hit by a tidal wave or something, nearly drowned, and somehow ended up here in Destiny Islands?" From the way he said that, I don't think he believed us at all. No...He believes that we are from a different world and that we were somehow transported here, but he thinks that we're hiding something. Not telling the whole truth.

I can see that backfiring on us.

"Yes," I said narrowing my eyes slightly, but remaining confident in what I was telling them. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Riku nodded slightly as if he accepted my answer and seemed to get lost in his own thoughts. I'm going to have to be careful with what I say around him. He thinks too much. I could accidently slip up and it would all be over.

"Oh, yeah," Roxas said suddenly as if he just remembered something. He stood up from his spot on the couch and walked into the other room. "I almost forgot." He said coming back into the room with a object in his hand. "We found this close to where we found you, Sam." Roxas lifted the object and offered it to me. "Is it yours?"

In his hands was the long bow I had been given from the Dive into the Heart. "Oh, yeah," I said taking it in my own hands. For some reason, it seemed a bit shorter. I stood it in front of me. Yup, it now stopped at my elbows. Huh. Wonder why it changed... Maybe so I could carry it around easier?

"You have a bow?" Kaity said surprised. "Where did you get that?"

"What do you mean Kaity," I said through gritted teeth. "This is my bow, I've always had it." Why? Why now?

Come on, Kaity, I thought desperately. The guys were watching us with weird expressions. Hurry up, Kai. This is not a time to make mistakes!

Kaity narrowed her eyes at me in confusion. "What are you talking about, Sam? You've never had-" She stopped talking abruptly when she saw my eyes harden and narrow. Her eyes widened in comprehension and horror, realizing what she said and our remembering our situation.

She had just admitted that she didn't know about my bow. If we had really been sparring before we drowned or whatever, she would've known I had one. However, in reality, she doesn't know because I never told her that I got a bow from the stupid Dive into the Heart. Ugh. This is my fault. I should have told her about the Dive into the Heart earlier. But I didn't, so now she has to cover her mistake. And the clock is ticking.

Kaity quickly wiped the horror from her face and sunk her head into her hands. I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she tried to think of some way to make Riku, Sora, and Roxas pass over what she had just said. I searched desperately in my head. She's not speaking quick enough. "Don't you remember?" I said confused. I made my jaw relax. "I brought it with me to the beach. You know, just in case I decided to do target practice or something." I made a scene of looking the bow over for any casualties. "It must have been caught in the same tide that got us or something."

"Crap," Kaity whispered silently to herself. "Must've hit my head on something hard. I can't remember much from before or after we went to the beach. Just flash's." Kaity sighed while gently rubbing her temples. "Sorry guys. Short term memory loss." I mentally relaxed as the guys seemed to casually brush it off.

"Don't worry," Sora said giving Kaity a reassuring smile. "After a bit of food and rest, I'm sure you'll remember everything soon enough."

Roxas nodded, "Yeah, when we're done talking, you two can have a look in the kitchen. I'm sure you're famished."

My stomach gave a small rumble. I'm so taking up his offer, I thought staring at the kitchen doorway longingly.

Kaity gave them a small sad smile. "I'm sure," I yawned. Wow, I'm also really tired. I looked over at Kaity. She looked almost dead on her feet. Except she's not on her feet...she's sitting down. Whatever, I'm tired. I looked over to Sora. "You said that you travel to different worlds, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we travel in a vessel called a Gummi Ship." He explained. "When the passages between the worlds are opened, we can travel between them."

I thought for a moment about that. Well, wouldn't it be convenient if earth was in this realm, I thought tiredly. I highly doubt it is, though. Earth isn't Disney. Now that I think about it, what does earth signify in this realm? Though there are many Disney movies based on earth, none of the worlds would be like our earth. The real earth. They would be centered on the movie theme for that world. But perhaps there's a way to find it... Somewhere we could check...

I was still worried about Trina and Natalie. What would they do once they figured out Kaity and I are not on the same island as them? Much more, in the same realm. How are we going to get back to them? Can we even return to our own world?

The questions just keep piling up. For what reason are we here? Who or what brought us here? And how can we get back? Those questions are the only major ones I have at the moment. In addition, my instincts are telling me that the only way we are going to find the answers to those questions is if we leave the islands and we really need to find some answers. So the only thing to do is figure out how the hell we are going to get off this world and figure out where we have to go to find the answers.

Back to the reality around me, Riku went on with the conversation, "Actually, we have to leave later this afternoon. If you two happened to wake up before then, we were going to give you the choice of either staying here or coming with us."

"And you did wake up, so...," Sora said. "Do you want to come with us or stay here?"

Wait, what?

"Wait a second, why do you have to leave?" Kaity said curiously.

"A few days ago, we received a message from someone," Riku explained. "The king, to be exact. He has summoned us to his castle and told us to arrive as soon as we could. The three of us were going to set out for Disney Castle this afternoon."

"The king?" I asked faking interest. "What king?" Of course, I already know that they were talking about King Mickey. What actually captured my curiosity was that they received a message from him. Could it be the same message that Kairi found at the end of Kingdom Hearts II?

Sora answered my curious question. "The king of Disney Castle governs all the different worlds," he explained. "He watches out for them and takes care of the world order. If anything happens or goes wrong with any of the worlds, he's supposed to know. His job is to make sure that none of the worlds are disturbed."

"The amazing thing is that he knows almost every world there is," Roxas added. "He could help you find your home."

I know that Castaway Cay isn't a real Disney world, but by going with them, maybe we could find some answers.

"Do you really think that he will be able to help us?" I asked him.

"I don't know, but there's no harm in trying," Roxas shrugged.

I smiled and nodded my head. "Alright then. We'll tag along with you." Perhaps we will find our answers there. Or at least it will be a good place to start.

"So then," Roxas sighed. "We'll just wait for the girls to return and then we'll head off." Huh? Wait a second, what girls?

Did he mean Kairi and Namine?