So yay, here be chapter 19.
Char: Joy.
Me: You don't like anything I do for you, do you?
Char: Tch. Other than creating me, you haven't really done anything likable for me.
Me: Well, yeah. Case in point: this chapter. Like I said, it's really just a filler, but it has a flashback and some Char/Riku friendship fluffiness.
Char: WHY do I have to hug him?
Me: Anyway, I'm going to make this really quick because my computer keeps fucking freezing. -.-

Disclaimer- Me no own, you no sue.

Sora's belly rumbled loudly as they entered the Gummi ship, causing everyone's heads to turn. He laughed sheepishly. "Uh, I guess it's lunchtime?"

"Uh, no kidding." Char coughed in what was supposed to be a polite way.

"Yeah, I think we're all kind of hungry," Donald added.

Sora grinned. "Well, you know how it goes. Can't fight Heartless on an empty stomach."

Goofy made a beeline toward the pantry, while Donald sighed and flopped down onto one of the chairs.

"What a trip," he grumbled.

"Well, at least we got to meet Mulan, right?" asked Goofy, his voice slightly muffled from where he was rummaging for food.

"And we got to see Mushu again," Sora added. "That was a big plus."

"I forgot how obnoxious he is," Donald muttered under his breath. Sora suspected that if the mage were human, he would be putting a hand to his head in exasperation.

"Still, though, I guess it was nice to see your friend again," Char murmured, causing Sora to jerk in surprise. She had the tendency to sneak up on him; currently she stood next to him, unnoticed till now.

"So, Sora," she said, moving to sit in the seat next to Donald and focusing her gaze on the brunette. "Tell me a little more about these 'summons' you had. I know Mushu was one of them, but other than that…"

One eyebrow went up over one of Donald's dark eyes, as though he suspected she was just trying to fill the void of silence.

In contrast, Sora's sapphire eyes brightened. "Well, summons are creatures with strong hearts whose worlds had been destroyed," he began. "And they got sealed inside charms, which we all found on our last journey. They really help out a lot," he went on, practically babbling in his ardor.

Char couldn't hold back a small smile as she listened to him tell her about his various summons and what worlds they had come from. Admittedly, she had never seen the Keybearer summon anything other than Mushu, so in this case she was being honest in her curiosity. Sora's normal happy-go-lucky demeanor was magnified even more, his eyes large, bright jewels as he spoke.

Apparently he likes remembering his last journey, she thought. Inwardly, she frowned. Why would you want to remember something that tore you from your home and everything you cared about?

The memory of what had made her and DiZ leave Hollow Bastion popped into her mind, causing her to cringe a little.

Unfortunately, Sora noticed. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Char snapped back, a bit too quickly. She cursed her lack of tact when Sora gave her an odd look. Damn, how bipolar must she look now?

Fortunately, they both were saved by the sound of Goofy's voice. "Hey guys, how do sandwiches sound for lunch?"

"Yeah, sure," Sora called.

"We haven't eaten anything but pasta for the past few days," Donald grumbled, reminding Char that it had only been about two days since this journey had begun.

She leaned back in her seat, one arm against the armrest and the other lifted so her hand could push her bangs back. They promptly fell back into their place over her eyes again, and she sighed mentally. If only three days felt like forever, and factoring in the possibility that this journey could take months…

Good gods.

A memory flashed back into her mind, but not the unpleasant one of Xehanort and the others betraying her and their master. This one was a bit less painful for Char to remember, because it was of her last time in Twilight Town – or the virtual one, if you wanted to get really technical.

It was of the last time she had spoken to Riku.

"Tell her, Ansem." The dark-cloaked man opened his mouth to speak, but DiZ cut him off. "In private."

This time, both of the others looked bemused. DiZ just smiled.

Still blinking in confusion, Ansem – or perhaps Riku; Char had never stopped referring to him as Riku in her mind, since the true Ansem was already right there – led her outside. Once they were safely out in the mansion foyer, Char crossed her arms. "So, what did you want to tell me that Master couldn't say?"

Riku hesitated, then tentatively reached forward and placed a glove-clad hand on her shoulder, as though afraid that she might summon her blades and chop his hand off. The redhead flinched at his touch. Since when had Riku become such a touchy-feely person?

"Char," the boy began, his voice deep from the transformation. "I'm going to tell you something you might not want to hear. But you're going to have to hear me out."

Char's eyes widened. "Why wouldn't I want to hear it?" She thought of jerking her shoulder away from his grip, but she had the feeling that that would drive a wedge even further into their already-canyon-like relationship.

Riku's amber eyes – damn it, she would always force herself to think of them as the sea-green she had first known – flicked down to the hand on her shoulder. His eyebrows lifted, perhaps in surprise that she hadn't pushed him away. For some reason, this annoyed her more than his evasion of her first question.

"Just tell me," she insisted.

A silence passed between them, so long that Char was about to open her mouth and repeat the question again.

When Riku broke the tension, he spoke softly. "Sora will awaken soon. And when that happens, DiZ and I are going to have to leave this place."

"Leave?" Char couldn't help it; her voice cracked a little. "But – isn't that what he's going to think of first thing when he wakes up? He's going to want to find his friend, to see you again! And then… and then your whole journey will be over." Her voice almost broke at the thought of that.

Riku blinked almost teasingly. "So what, you don't want me to leave?"

Char scoffed, trying to cover up her previous anxiety. "Tch. Let's just say that I feel better when you're around. You scare people off."

"Pfft, thanks." Riku's mood turned serious again almost at once. "Char, I think what you fail to realize is that… Sora can't see me like this.

"Think about it. What if you saw your old friends again?" He emphasized the word "friends", and Char flinched. Friends…yeah right, she thought. Friends don't go off and become Nobodies, and then turn on their master and friend.

"I guess…" she began slowly. "Honestly, I would probably rip them apart."

"Exactly," Riku said. "If Sora sees me carrying the form of his old enemy, he'll attack me. And… I don't want him to see my darkness."

"See your darkness?" Char snorted. "What kind of garbage are you spouting now?"

"Just don't ask about it, Char," Riku replied sharply.

"Ooh, a little sensitive on this, are we?" Char snapped back. "I'm terribly sorry." She dragged out the word 'sorry' so that he would understand her sarcasm.

Riku pulled his hand away. "Look, if you're going to be like that, I can't tell you what else DiZ wants you to do."

"Oh yeah, he did mention that," Char recalled. "So, what does he want?"

"He wants you to go with Sora," the boy answered, almost instantly, as though he wanted to get it over with.

Silence passed. Then Char spoke again, eyes wide. "Wait, what? I thought I was going to stay here with you and Master!"

"Apparently not," Riku muttered tartly. "DiZ says you need to keep Sora on the right track. Be his guardian." Dryly, he added, "Babysit him, if you have to."

"I get it, okay?" Char shouted. "But why?!"

"It was just DiZ's orders!" By this time, Riku was yelling too, trying to match her. "What are you so mad about anyway? You said yourself that you were going to be bored waiting here with us."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't exactly in the best mood when I said that. It wasn't like I meant it! I don't…" Char groped for words that would describe her feelings without being vulgar, which was actually harder than it sounded. "I don't want…"

I want to stay here with you! was what she wanted to say – scream, actually, to get her point across. Somehow, though, she got the feeling that that pathetic statement wouldn't help her case much.

She realized suddenly that she could feel the shameful trail of tears making their way down her face, and felt a burst of anger at her own sentimentality. She lifted one hand and wiped the tear furiously away, only for it to be replaced by another. Growling in annoyance under her breath, she turned her face away.

"I… I just… I'll think of Roxas every time I look at him, you know," she mumbled pathetically.

A gloved finger beneath her chin turned her face back to look at Riku. His amber eyes were soft.

"What?" she snarled, but her voice was punctuated by a sob.

"I understand that you don't want to," Riku said, his voice surprisingly empathetic. "But you have to. I can't be seen, and DiZ is going to be busy wrapping everything up."

"I know," Char muttered.

Riku smiled apologetically. "I'd give you a hug, but considering how pissed off you are at me right now…"

"No," Char murmured, surprising herself. Apparently Riku as well, because his eyebrows went up again. "No, a hug sounds nice."

"Hm." Riku grinned wider. "Well then, princess, I guess I'd better listen."

"Since when was I a princess?" Char grumbled, even as he pulled her close. "Alright. I'll do it… but I won't like it!" she added quickly.

Riku laughed, wrapping one arm around her back and the other around her shoulders. "I figured as much." He sighed, ruffling her bangs slightly and sending a light flush across her face. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

"Char? Char!"

The redhead blinked her eyes open. "Hm?"

It was Donald, shaking her from her reverie. "The food's ready."

"Hm? Oh, yeah… right…"

As she pushed herself out of the chair, the redhead stared at the floor, trying to get the memory of Riku out of her mind. Sora and the others were bound to notice something was wrong if she kept acting like this, she told herself.

Sora already was wolfing down what looked like a ham-and-cheese sandwich; Goofy stared bemusedly at the brunette's appetite. Char raised an eyebrow as she walked up to stand beside him. "Feel better now?"

"Yeah, actually," Sora replied through a mouthful of sandwich. The redhead just gave him an annoyed look and turned to Goofy. "What've we got?"

"Food," Donald muttered before the dog could reply.

Char glared at him. "Uh, I'd kind of already gathered that, thank you very much." Turning back to Goofy, she just said, "Never mind, I'll look."

The knight shrugged with a grin. "Help yourselves, guys."

After they had all finished their meals, Char looked out the window and noticed that the sun was starting to sink. Has it been that long?

Sora apparently noticed it as well, since he jerked a thumb toward the window. "It's getting late. We should probably set out tomorrow."

Donald nodded vigorously in agreement. "Yeah, I think we're all a little tired…"

Char sighed; even she had to concede the point. She was exhausted from the big day. Avenging young children has a tendency to do that, she couldn't help but think dryly.

The group set up their blankets and sleeping areas on the floor. Char arranged hers absently, tugging her blanket one way and then the other, lost in thought. It occurred to her that they really needed to get some beds in the Gummi ship, because sleeping on the floor on a journey like this just wouldn't cut it. And they needed a proper kitchen too, but since there were only two rooms in the ship it would be rather difficult…

Gods, Char, you sound like a freaking interior decorator.

Char growled under her breath at the realization, and wondered if anything else would change her along the way.

Sora plopped down on his blanket. He lifted his arms in an attempt to get his jacket off over his head, only to get it hopelessly stuck over his untidy spikes. Char couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the Keybearer, hero of the worlds – trying to master his jacket, of all things.

"Nice move, Key-boy," was all she said.

Sora gave her an embarrassed smile, and wiggled so that the jacket was the rest of the way off, revealing his pale blue undershirt. "Sorry."

Goofy opened his mouth to say something, only to yawn so intensely that he fell back against the blanket.

"Goofy?" Donald poked him.

The dog didn't say anything, but a few snoring noises came from his side of the circle of blankets they had formed.

Donald groaned. "Geez… he always had this problem back at Disney Castle, too…"

"I never really got the entire story behind that, by the way," Char found herself saying. Then she blinked. What was she doing?

"Yeah, I know you guys used to live there with the King and Chip and Dale," Sora added. He was currently sitting cross-legged, and now he leaned forward with his hands on his knees, his eyes sparkling like an eager child at story time. "But what was that like?"

The duck turned his face away, but Char caught the look of excitement, the nostalgic look of someone fondly remembering the old days, flashing across his face. "Hmph. What is this, the third degree?"

"You know we're not gonna stop bugging you until you tell us," Sora whined, leaning over and poking Donald with each word for emphasis.

The mage snarled and cast a glare at Char. She couldn't help but grin. "He's right, y'know."

Donald's brow furrowed and he squawked irritably. "Okay, okay, geez."

Sora smiled eagerly, a smile that reminded Char of Roxas, for some reason. It was odd, because other than the memories with Anxclof, Char had never seen the blond Nobody truly smile.

As Donald told the story of his role back home, Char kept an eye on the moon, which peeked at them from the corner of the window. It steadily rose higher into the sky.

"…and then His Majesty sent Goofy and I the letter to go find Sora," Donald finished, and looked pointedly at Sora. "I think you know the story from there."

Char was about to open her mouth to ask more, then closed it abruptly. She reminded herself not to pry too much; while she wanted to keep up the ignorant façade, she wasn't too curious about the details of Sora's first journey at the moment. That can come later, she reminded herself.

Sora looked out the window and gave a start. "Wow, didn't think it'd get that late." He yawned as he spoke, distorting his words slightly. "G'night. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"'Kay," Donald said. "Good night, Sora."

"Mm-hmm," Sora murmured. He had already flipped over onto his side, his bangs flopping over his eyes.

This left Donald and Char as the only ones truly awake. Dark eyes stared into ice-blue for a moment; then Donald abruptly turned away.

"I'm getting to bed," he grumbled. "You should too." Dryly, he added, "Or else you're going to do badly tomorrow."

Char snorted. "Sweet dreams to you too, duck boy."

Surprisingly, Donald didn't seem to notice the pejorative. He just grunted in reply, and in a few moments had gathered the blanket around his feathered body and closed his eyes.

Carefully, so as not to wake everyone else, Char reached over to take her jacket off, then folded it beneath her to use as a pillow. She wrapped the blanket around herself, then leaned over and blew out the candle that Donald had lit earlier with his magic. She had to blink a few times to get used to the sudden change of lighting before looking around. The moonlight illuminated the trio as they slept.

She found her gaze drawn to Sora again. The brunette was sprawled out, his mouth opened slightly and messy bangs covering his lids.

Again, her words to Riku came back:

"I'll think of Roxas every time I look at him, you know."

Watching Sora, she knew it was true. As of yet, everything the boy did, whether it was as simple as walking through the forest or his tactics in battle, reminded her of Roxas.

As much as she hated to admit it, he had also been wise in activating – what was it he had called it? Ah yes, Valor Form – the form the fairies had given him to defeat Shan-Yu. Char's mouth twisted wryly; she had realized that they probably would have lost if Sora hadn't thought quickly.

You can't fight all his battles, she reminded herself.

The fight against Shan-Yu made her remember poor Ryou, croaking out his last words while blood oozed from his chest. Her throat seemed to close up at the thought, and so she turned her concentration toward sleep.

I can worry in the morning, she thought with a chuckle. The concept filled her with a sense of hope, and she sighed, because now she could finally get to sleep.

Closing her eyes and curling into a ball, Char drifted off into slumber.

Char's dreams were cluttered with anger and hatred. First it was of Xehanort, of the tragedy that, really, had brought her here in the first place. Her body shuddered as she watched the memory replay before her mind's eye. The pale-haired man had just stood there, watching in dull interest, as the Heartless had fallen upon him, a heaving, squealing mass of black through which the white of his lab coat had barely been visible.

She recalled all too vividly the pink of his own heart rising up through the skies of Hollow Bastion… up, up, up; swirling in a sparkling glow of colors until it took its place in what Char knew was called Kingdom Hearts. The Heartless cleared away as a different being entirely from Xehanort stepped out from the shadows, in a horrifying caricature of a phoenix flying out from the ashes.

Those amber eyes had looked at her, and the mouth that should have been torn and bloodied had smiled.

And Char had fled.

Reliving the memory inside her mind millions of times hadn't diminished the pain and fear of it. Thinking of it now made her tremble in her sleep.

Next came Roxas, and Anxclof, and Xehanort, who was now under the alias of Xemnas. All were holding Keyblades, blood-coated Keyblades, rusty Keyblades with a dull glitter. Char tried to turn, tried to escape, but found that her back was to a brick wall.

Roxas was wearing his Organization outfit, and stared at the redhead with dull, unaffected sapphire eyes. Char's body quivered even more as she realized she was looking into Sora's eyes. For some reason this made a cold bead of sweat slide down her cheek.

He was closest of all, and as he approached Roxas reached up, slowly, painfully, until the fingers of his free hand were stroking the side of her face almost lovingly. The blond was mouthing the same words over and over again, in an endless, unspoken rhythm.

Your fault.

Your fault.

Your fault.

Anxclof and Xemnas were also clad in the dark cloaks, only their expressions were full of hatred and anger. They raised their Keyblades, as if to deliver the killing blow.

Behind them walked an all-too-familiar young boy, a boy she had watched die that very morning, a boy who looked five but who was actually seven. The jagged blade still stuck out of his chest, and his eyes were still cold and dead, like windows looking out to the sky in winter.

If only you had been there, Char, his eyes seemed to say. Why weren't you there? You let me die.

That was when Char woke up with a start, her own eyes wide and her chest heaving in a panting, horrified rhythm.

Quickly she looked over at the others, and sighed in relief. So far, she was the only one awake, except for a barely-stirring Goofy.

Slowly but steadily, her heartbeat slowed. She lifted a bare arm and wiped the sweat off her face.

She had had some pretty horrible nightmares lately, but that had been the worst yet. Char shivered at the thought of Ryou, then reminded herself that she shouldn't be remembering the poor little boy that way.

Somehow, though, she doubted that if he had lived, he would want to be remembered as a casualty of a useless war.

That's all over now, she told herself.

Back when she had lived with Riku and DiZ, whenever she had a nightmare, Char had left her own room downstairs and gone into Riku's, which was right across the hall. Contrary to what it may have looked like, the mansion was larger than just the foyer, the stairs and what lay beneath the library. There was a system of interconnected hallways with many rooms inside, as though the mansion had been some kind of inn in a past life. Char and Riku had chosen their own rooms way back when they had all had to move there, rooms that had just happened to be right across from each other. Whenever a dream had shaken her, Char had slipped over to Riku's room to lie beside him, trying to calm herself; the silver-haired boy's presence had always helped with that.

Now that she thought back on it, Char realized it was rather childish for a sixteen-year-old to be doing, realized the implications of such a thing. Indeed, on the mornings succeeding these nights DiZ had often found the redhead and the silver-haired teen lying together in an awkward entanglement of sheets and limbs.

No amount of desperate explanations would ever make me live that down, Char thought with a small smile.

Perhaps it was an inflection on the fact that Char had grown up without a mother and, virtually, without a father, no matter what DiZ had said. In her mind, Riku was like an older brother, a person she could go to in times of comfort, a person she could confess to. Because in all honesty, Riku was a person who had screwed up enough times to listen to someone else's own mistakes.

Char dug around in one of the Gummi ship's drawers for a moment and sighed in relief when she found what she was looking for. Yen Sid had thought ahead to place a hairbrush in the drawer, since, being female, Char wasn't willing to let her long hair go untamed for long.

She absently brushed it out, watching as the others woke up. Goofy was first, which wasn't really surprising, since he was the first to fall asleep last night. The knight grinned at seeing her, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "G'mornin', Char! Didja have a good sleep?"

Char hesitated, then shrugged. "More or less," she muttered.

The dog tilted his head to the side. "Somethin' wrong?"

When Char didn't say anything, Goofy went on, "Y'know, whenever something's troublin' you, it always helps to say it out loud."

"Yeah, I know," Char muttered. I don't need you to be my psychologist.

Goofy gave her a doubtful look, then turned and shook Donald gently. "Wake up, Donald, a-hyuck."

The duck stirred, then sat up slowly. "Goofy…" he groaned. "I was having the best dream and then you woke me up!"

"Sorry!" Goofy said hastily, lifting his hands up in surrender.

Char heard a grunt behind her and looked to see what it was. Sora was sitting up, the blanket entangled around his body. He put a hand to his head, causing Donald and Goofy to snigger.

"What's so funny?" the brunette asked, lowering his hand and pouting.

"You've got a major case of bed-head, man," Char muttered, grinning.

Sora groaned. "So that's it? You know how my hair is!" He emphasized his point by tugging on one of the wayward spikes.

"Sure," Char laughed, handing him the hairbrush. It occurred to her how sanitarily bad that was, but she brushed it aside. Yen Sid should've thought to put more of that in here anyway, she thought. "Get your hair untangled."

She cast a look out the window. The sky was murky and dark with cloud, but the sun peeked through at a point near the horizon, showing that it was early morning.

"We have to get going," she said, turning back to the others.

"But aren't we gonna get breakfast?" asked Goofy.

Char hesitated.

"Yeah, we're hungry!" Donald added imploringly.

The redhead growled. "Fine, whatever," she grumbled, turning away.

At first it seemed like they wouldn't be able to find anything to eat, much to the disappointment of Sora and Donald. Men, Char thought, watching them frantically search the pantry. They're all bottomless pits.

At last, though, Goofy found some pancake mix in the back of the cupboard, and soon they had enough for them all to eat. Sora and Donald, of course, fell upon the food like ravenous wolves at a kill, while Char and Goofy took theirs at a slower pace.

"Geez," Char commented at one point. "Are you guys trying to get the hiccups or something?"

"What?" Sora replied through a mouthful of food, giving her a desperate, wide-eyed look. "I'm hungry here!"

Donald didn't even reply, he was so intent on breakfast.

Char finished the food on her plate, placed it at the dishwasher, and headed over to the screen that showed the new worlds. She allowed herself to look over the one that was the dojo and that was the Land of Dragons; they had already locked that world free of Heartless. Next to the Land of Dragons icon was what looked like a dark castle.

She lifted one hand and signaled for Sora to come over. "I think we should go to this world next," she said, pointing at the castle.

Sora shivered. "It looks kinda scary, though."

"But Riku and the King could be there," Donald reminded the brunette.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Char moved over so that Goofy could take the pilot's seat. A devious grin crossed her face as she made a mental note to pilot it herself sometime.

"And what are you so happy about?" Donald asked, giving her a suspicious look.

"Oh, nothing," Char replied airily, sitting next to Sora.

Said Keybearer gulped. "I don't think I want to know."

"No, you don't," Char muttered.

"Full speed ahead!" Goofy cheered, steering the ship into the mist.

Me: OMG! There's actually no annoying numbers to signify comments at the end! But yeah, like I said, quite a bit of Char torture.
Char: Grawr. Like I would ever really dream about any of that.
Me: Well, you need more character development, okay?
Char: I'm sure.
Me: Well, anyway, next chapter they're going to Beast's Castle! And then Anxy comes along again... (smirk) Well, you're just going to have to wait to find out!
Anxclof: Fortunately, though, Saf's Christmas break is coming up next week, so updates will probably be more frequent, just because she has no life.
Me: ;-; Anxy... that was mean...