Me: Bleh, well, I practically forced the middle and end of this chapter today x.x Oh, and it doesn't really help that NO ONE REVIEWED LAST CHAPPIE...
Char: Saf, don't review-whore. It's not cool.
Me: Well, I'd seriously appreciate a little feedback. It's part of the reason why this chapter is so late, actually... I was going to update on my 15th birthday, but, I dunno, I just didn't FEEL like it.
Char: AND your English teacher is psychotic.
Me: Right, that too.
Char: Anyway, Saf's pity-whoring aside...
Me: HEY!
Char: ...here's the semi-crappy new chapter.
Me: Yeah... this is the part where I'm fairly uninformed. I haven't played KH1, so I don't know what Maleficent's castle used to look like. You'll see why that's important in a bit... (wink)

Disclaimer- No.

Char sat in her respective chair in the Gummi ship, staring off absently out the windows. After they had warped back to the Gummi hangar, the group had promptly been greeted by Chip and Dale, the chipmunk pilots, who enthusiastically thanked them for their assistance. Sora had looked confused the entire time, and Donald and Goofy had had to explain to him what had happened while he had been up in Kingdom Hearts. But, thank the gods, they hadn't told him about what all Sora had done while he was a Heartless.

It was this relief that caused Char's melancholy. If she had known she was going to feel so bad about it later, she certainly wouldn't have treated Anti-Sora the way she did – like a pet, a little brother, almost; protecting him from what he feared.

But what was I supposed to do? she argued mentally. Kick him around?

The main thing that bothered her was that if it had been the real Sora – the brown-haired, Keyblade-wielding, dorky Sora – she would have picked that option. Char was the type of person who thought the only way to get anywhere was to be as tough and dependable as possible, and so far, that had worked.

Now, only – Char scanned her memory briefly – three days into this momentous journey, she could see that forcing everything on Sora and the others could not be the best course of action.

She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her knees. Outside the window, green wisps of cloud rushed by as the Gummi ship headed toward Hollow Bastion.

Hollow Bastion. The thought of heading back home again made her shudder. She supposed that she should feel happy, but remembering the events that forced her to leave tainted whatever happy times she had had there. Char could hardly remember the antics of Braig, the clumsy enthusiasm of Ienzo, her brief time with her pet Heartless, without reminding herself what had happened to them all.

She could hear the others talking behind her while the chipmunks piloted. Sora's brown hair flashed out of the corner of her eye, inadvertently bringing back the memory of earlier. Char felt heat flow into her cheeks and ducked her head in an attempt to hide it; but thankfully they didn't seem to notice.

In reality, she had no idea what had possessed her to hug him when she saw he was back. Relief, surely – but if that had been it, she knew she would have done nothing more than pat him on the back and give him a thumbs up.

There was also that other tiny little possibility –

Char pushed that thought to the back of her mind at once. She knew for sure that she didn't harbor a crush on the Keybearer; and even if she did, the purpose of both her and Sora's quests would keep them from doing anything.

Char had never been the type of girl to swoon and float after boys. In fact, she was probably more apt to slice them to pieces if they tried anything; this had put them off and she had been mostly left alone. She dismissed the aforementioned girls as stupid, no-personality suck-ups with no pride. Unfortunately, this seemed to be all that men were attracted to.

She suddenly realized the implications of what she was thinking about, and shoved it to the back of her mind.

She pushed a stray piece of her bangs back off her face, which promptly fell back into place again. As she did so, her eyes scanned the area – for what reason, she didn't know; perhaps boredom, she mused. Her gaze met Sora's. They stared into his own sapphire orbs for all of about a quarter of a second before he darted them away.

Char knew he was thinking of the way she'd hugged him, and couldn't blame him for his attitude – the memory still brought heat to her cheeks.

She sighed inwardly. This has to stop. If they were to make it through this journey, there could be no awkwardness between the two of them.

Swiftly, before she could persuade herself not to, she got to her feet. Sora had clearly caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and lifted his head quizzically.

Char took a deep breath and walked past him, to the entrance to the back room of the Gummi ship. She stopped at the door and turned to give the brunette an expectant look; he jolted to attention and followed her into the room.

The sound of the door closing behind them suddenly seemed to shut out everything else; even Donald and Goofy's voices were muffled, clear as they had been from outside. The abrupt silence unnerved Char, but she sensed that Sora had something he wanted to say.

After a few moments of agonizing silence, Sora finally spoke. "Well… um… So about today…"

"You're wondering about the hug," Char interrupted. Without really intending it, her voice had hastened in the last part, very nearly skipping over the last word.

Sora closed his mouth and nodded, staring at his shoes.

Char sighed. "To be honest, I don't even know why I did that. I guess…" She groped for the right words; words that wouldn't give the poor boy any ideas. He already had Kairi; he didn't need anyone tampering with that knowledge.

"I guess I was just relieved," the redhead finally said. "I mean, you turned into a Heartless, and the rest of us had to race against time to get you back."

Sora shrugged, but he did raise his eyes to meet hers. "Yeah, you're right." His mouth formed into a small, crooked little grin. "Thanks."

Well, Char thought, the kid was trying. That was a start.

In response, she took a step forward, almost like someone who wanted to observe a wild deer up close: careful, stepping lightly so as not to scare it away. She saw the smile fade a little, but he kept his gaze locked with hers.

"I have an idea," she began. In response, Sora tilted his head.

"I think… we should just sort of forget about everything that's already happened. Not literally, of course," she added irritably at the look on his face, quailing at the idea of losing memories. Ironically, he didn't even remember the experiences at Castle Oblivion that had given him that fear.

"No, I just mean, like…" Char hesitated. "…maybe we could keep going. As… friends."

Friends. The word felt strange to pronounce in her mouth, or at least the plural form – the only true friend she'd had as of yet was Riku, and even now he was far away. Char bit her lip as she realized that, at this point, she really could use a friend.

If Sora noticed the way her mood jarred at the thought of Riku, he didn't say anything. His face brightened slightly. "Yeah, I think that'd be good."

Char stared at him for a moment. In that infinitesimal sliver of a moment, she thought she'd seen something of Roxas flash across his face.

The thought of this almost brought a wild, reckless grin to her face: this meant that Sora was back for good. However, as it was, the unbridled happiness had to be toned down to a subdued smile.

"Yes. I'd like that."

She cleared her throat, pushed her hair out of her eyes, and stuck the other hand out in front of her. "So. If we're starting over, I'll have to introduce myself. My name is Char Nightblaze; I use dual blades, I hate the Organization, and I love autumn. I actually have no clue why."

Sora chuckled and stuck out his own hand to shake hers.

It was so bloody ridiculous, Char thought later, but in that moment she really did think they were starting over. It could very well have been that – just a boy and a girl, trying to reestablish things and get things right.

Donald's voice suddenly called, "We've reached Hollow Bastion!"

"Gotcha," Sora called back, and turned to Char. "Okay. We're heading to Merlin's house, right?"
Char shook her head and "tsk"ed. "Sora, your bad memory precedes you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?!"

Char simply laughed in reply, then glanced toward the windows. The sky showed that it was getting pretty close to sunset; the clouds had darkened, and Char guessed that rain was coming to Hollow Bastion later. Red and orange streaked the sky, seeming to dance together and swirl into harmonic reddish-brown.

In that moment, Char felt like things were going to be all right.

They landed the Gummi ship in the same place it had been before – at a high point of the town, where stairs sloped down to enter the marketplace. Char stepped out first, restraining the urge to inhale deeply like before and relish being home. She knew they couldn't stay here for long; they had a mission to accomplish and a castle to save.

The idea of showing Sora and the others to her old home flashed briefly across her mind, with such vivid clarity that she could almost hear her own voice telling them everything. The thought sent an unexpected burst of sorrow through her, making her stride a little more uneven.

Donald gave her an odd look, but he ran on ahead of them, shouting, "To Merlin's!" all the way.

Goofy sighed. "Y'know, he really ought to wait for us before he runs off…"

Sora shrugged. "He's got the right idea, though."

They followed the duck across the marketplace and into the more isolated district of the town. Char looked around, noticing things that she hadn't seen the last time they were here – mostly because last time they had been busy fighting the Nobodies. On the obsidian wall of the stairwell nearby, she could see the small crack where Braig had always had his target practice; near Merlin's house itself, she spotted the path leading into the back alley where she had found her pet Heartless.

Gods, she thought, as a powerful wave of nostalgia washed over her. You've gotta get over this… You can't go practically falling to pieces every time you come here.

The group entered Merlin's house. "Anybody home?" Donald called.

"Merlin! The castle's in danger!" Goofy added.

Char sighed. "Oh, like he's gonna know which castle you're talking about…"

But at that moment a sound behind them made them all turn. Merlin had just entered the room – clearly not through the door, since white smoke was fading from in front of him. "What is all this racket?" he complained, and then started when he saw them. "Oh, it's you!"

Char lifted a hand in a half-hearted wave. "Hey, Merlin. Look, it's not like we don't love to pop in just to say hi –"

"But we have big trouble!" Sora cut in. "Maleficent's back."

Merlin's dark eyes widened. "Oh, dear… Inside your castle?"

Donald and Goofy's horrified looks affirmed his question.

The wizard put a hand to his beard, staring at the ground in dread. "This is not good at all…"

"And there are Heartless in every part of the castle, and the queen's in danger!" Donald added urgently. He looked like he was about to keep on going in a rant about how terrible the situation was, but Sora shook his head.

Merlin suddenly sat up straight. "Hold on just a minute!" He looked at Char. "Was it truly Maleficent that showed up in the castle?"

"No, it was just a simulation…" Char began, adding for safety, "But we know it was her."

"Yeah, I don't think Pete could make something like that." Sora shivered at the memory of the woman he had hoped never to see again. When he, Donald and Goofy had fought the witch as herself and then as the dragon, the situation had been terrifying enough; now it was all the more important, because more people were in danger.

He unconsciously lifted his chin in a more determined way. I'm not going to let Maleficent get away with this.

"Yes, I see," Merlin mused, turning away briefly.

Char couldn't help but tap a foot impatiently. "Merlin, we came to you because we thought you'd be the best bet. Apparently, this kind of thing hasn't happened in the castle before, so the answer to this problem isn't in a book."

"He's thinking," Donald said before Merlin could speak.

Char returned the duck's glare. "I know that! But we're running out of time as it is."

They squared off for a moment before Donald growled and looked away. Char guessed that he had conceded her point; it was his home that was under siege, after all.

"Sora." The sound of Merlin's quiet voice made them all jump. The wizard was looking determinedly, yet nervously, at Sora, as though there were some task that he wasn't sure the brunette could complete.

The Keybearer stood up straighter. "Yeah, Merlin?"

After a few moments, during which Char began to wonder with a sense of dread whether Merlin had an answer at all, the aforementioned wizard spoke. "Do you know where Maleficent is hiding now?" (1)

"So, is this really the only way?" Char asked, not without a note of despondency in her voice.

Merlin nodded. "Yes. As far as I can tell, there are no other alternatives. At first I thought there might be a portal through which the Heartless have been going to reach the castle, but then I realized that there was no way that could be."

Sora tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

"If the Heartless had entered the castle from the inside, they would have been eliminated at once by the Cornerstone of Light. Am I correct?" Merlin directed this question at Donald and Goofy.

"Yup, you're right. That Cornerstone'd wipe 'em all out as soon as they got in," Goofy said, his eyes lighting up with understanding.

"But it still doesn't make sense," Char cut in. "If what you're saying is true, then they shouldn't even be there at all…" Her voice trailed off. If that had been true, Sora, in his Heartless state, would have vanished as soon as the Gummi ship had landed. There had to be some other point to this.

She glanced at Sora. He was currently looking at Merlin with his head of spiky chocolate-brown hair tilted to the side. At any rate, I'm just glad he's back to normal.

"Maleficent probably realized this, and so she had to ensure that her Heartless had some sort of protection," Merlin went on. "And for that, there had to be another, special kind of Heartless, one that was immune to the Cornerstone. A sort of older brother Heartless, if you will."

Char's eyes widened and she looked at Sora again. "But… Sora became a Heartless right before we decided to go to the castle! So –"

"Exactly," Merlin finished. "When Sora became a Heartless, Maleficent knew she had to act and send her own Heartless to the castle."

Sora had a look of shock and disbelief on his face. "So this all was my fault?"

Donald shook his head vigorously. "Of course not! It's that girl who turned you into a Heartless."

"Yeah…" Char murmured. She realized that this was partially her own fault as well – if she hadn't helped kidnap Roxas, Anxclof wouldn't have tried to get him back through Sora.

The redhead looked back at Merlin. "At any rate, we still have to do it, right?"

Merlin nodded. "Yes… but I'm not quite sure you're prepared."

"Too true," Sora murmured. "Maleficent was so hard to beat the last time we fought her…"

"But that was only because of Riku," Donald corrected.

Char nearly flinched. The mage's words brought up the memory of when Riku had told her about his past. The silver-haired teen had been staring at the ground in shame, his words nearly muffled, when he'd mentioned how he had exploited the darkness in Maleficent's heart to make things difficult for Sora.

As it was, the redhead had to keep up her act of not knowing anything. "You mentioned Riku before, right? Wasn't he your friend?"

Sora gave her a sidelong glance that was partially hidden by brown bangs. "It's a long story," he murmured.

"But think about it, guys: she hasn't been back for too long, so she hasn't had time to build her power up!" Goofy pointed out.

Char put a hand to her chin in thought. "You have a point. I mean, how long has she been gone?"

"A year, at least," Sora answered. "You're right." He suddenly looked at Merlin. "But how can we even be sure she's still stuck up there at the castle?"

"Your news is the first I've heard of Maleficent's return. The citizens would know if she had left the tower."

"You're right." Sora turned to the others and took a deep breath. "All right. If we're absolutely sure this is the only way…"

"It is," Char said abruptly. "I know Merlin; he wouldn't make this kind of decision rashly. I trust him."

The wizard gave her a grateful look.

"So we're really infiltrating Maleficent's castle?" Donald asked, the nervousness showing even through his show of bravado.

Everyone unconsciously flinched. Even the mention of Merlin's dangerous plan sent an uncomfortable feeling swooping through the pits of their stomachs.

"Guess so," Char murmured. Her swords appeared in her hands and she lifted her chin. "Let's go."

"I'll set the town's defense mechanism to high alert so that you won't have to fight too many Heartless," Merlin said. As he spoke, he was walking over to the large computer screen and typing some password into it; the strange characters appeared on the screen as he typed them, along with some confirmation method.

The four of them left with their weapons drawn, but not without some trepidation in their hearts. Even Char, who knew the least about Maleficent's power, felt a tremor of anxiety.

Why couldn't the Heartless have gone through that stupid portal thingy? she thought in half-hearted anger – trying to block out the danger of the situation by doing what she always did: shifting her thoughts to something else. At least then we wouldn't have to fight a crazy Heartless-controlling witch who wants all the worlds under her rule!

The sunset cast their shadows in a garish, almost ominous way, while the sun's dying glow turned the clouds grayscale. Sora watched his own shadow out of the corner of his eye as it twisted about, following the somewhat jerky movements of its owner. If the Keybearer hadn't already known how to get to the castle, the walk would be even longer and more nerve-wracking, so there was at least one bright side of all this.

He sighed and looked up at the sky. Around him, people were bustling about, trying to get some last-minute shopping in before night fell and the shops had to be closed. A small group of young children raced by the solemn group, failing to pick up on the mood as they giggled and chased each other around the marketplace. Sora wished he could join them, but as it was he had a castle to save.

But that was just the way it was, wasn't it? Ever since he had obtained the Keyblade – rather, since his home had disappeared – it felt like Sora was always carrying some burden or another, a burden that just kept getting heavier and heavier. Ansem's attempt to shroud the worlds in darkness had been bad enough, but now the brunette had the Organization to worry about.

This time, though, things were different, he tried to tell himself. The wind caught his unruly spikes of hair and gently pulled them to sway; he glanced at Char. The redhead was staring straight ahead from her position at the rear, following Sora as they entered the bailey. He had another ally to help him – not the most enthusiastic of him, sure, but her skill with the sword was undeniable.

And she was coming around. Sora felt himself warm for some reason at the memory of earlier, when she had come to him and asked if they could go on as friends. In fact, that was what he had wanted from the beginning, since he had tried to talk to her at Yen Sid's tower and she had all but ignored him. It seemed like this time, she was genuinely trying to change. In his opinion, it was probably a good decision on her part – Sora wasn't sure if he would have been able to handle her cold attitude of blind hatred throughout the rest of the journey.

By this time they had gone down the broken stairway that led down to the ground level – Donald had tripped and fallen over the steps several times, hampered by the added weight of his staff, but Goofy had helped him up in time. In front of the group lay the plain strip of land that encircled the ruins of Maleficent's castle.

I just hope she's still there, Sora thought. It was ridiculous, considering that at first everyone had rejected the idea of fighting Maleficent, but it made sense. If the witch wasn't operating things from her old hideout, then Minnie and Disney Castle were, for lack of a better term, screwed.

The brunette blinked. Char was definitely rubbing off on him.

He suddenly realized how quiet it was. The orange rings of the defense mechanism were blinking on and off rapidly, annihilating the potential enemies before they could even show up. No one apparently came to this part of town, because it was so close to what was practically Hollow Bastion's local haunted mansion. As the small group trekked silently across the plain, the only sound was the wind whistling softly.

Another thing that hit Sora abruptly was how close the castle had become. Anxiety quickened his companions' strides, causing the journey to become considerably shortened from what it normally would have been.

He swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. If this is really the only way to save the castle, he told himself, then I'm more than ready to fight Maleficent again. The least he could do was protect others' homes, even if he no longer had his own.

They halted in front of the once-magnificent castle and got a good look at how decrepit it had become. The parapets had crumbled, the debris of which was still scattered around the castle. Moss covered the walls in dark green mounds, hanging down around the balconies, and what looked like caricatures of skulls surrounded the area in a foreboding ring. The one things that felt familiar to Sora were the tall towers that rose up within the circle.

Char took a deep breath, breaking the silence. "So, we're going in there." It wasn't really a question so much as an acknowledgment.

Sora nodded. "Yeah. Guess so."

They all stood around a little awkwardly, wondering who would be the courageous one to go inside first. Donald finally spoke up. "Well, let's get going!" he squawked, puffing his chest out and heading for the nearest entrance: a rather inconspicuous hole in the wall.

"Donald, wait up!" Goofy raced after his friend.

Char and Sora followed a little more sedately. As the group headed up the winding staircase, Char found herself gripping the hilts of her blades tighter in anticipation; while part of her dreaded the upcoming battle, another part was soaring with exhilaration at the prospect of an actual fight, something she felt she hadn't experienced since the battle with Shan-Yu. Sora brought his Keyblade a little closer to his body, hoping fervently that they wouldn't have to face many enemies in here. The memory of the enemies he, Donald, and Goofy had faced in this castle still made him shudder.

But if I'd had dual Keyblades, it would have been so much easier, he reflected. Then he frowned. Now, how do I know that?

His thoughts were interrupted when Char nudged him in the side; he stiffened, half-expecting a jab in the ribs, but surprisingly, she had merely tapped him. He angled his head to look at her. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking earlier," she began, almost hesitantly. "You guys have been in here before, right?"

"Yup," Goofy said, pushing aside some moss that was protruding into the room from a hole in the wall. "There were lots of Heartless." He shivered. "We almost died lots of times, didn't we, Donald?"

The duck shrugged. "It wasn't that bad," he muttered.

Sora stared at him in shock. "Are you kidding, Donald?! That's gotta be the understatement of the year!"

Char chuckled. "Heh. Guess Maleficent didn't fall back on her 'big bad witch' duty, did she?"
Before Sora knew it, the stories of the past had carried them up the stairwell, past the old library, and down the hallway that led to where Sora had battled Riku.

"…and then I bashed that stupid dog Heartless over the head, and –" Donald broke off abruptly when he saw where they were. He scratched his head with his free hand. "Huh. Are we that close already?"

"Donald, we don't even know where Maleficent is," Goofy reminded his friend.

The mage rolled his eyes. "I know! But it would make sense if she was in here!"

"Hm, you have a point." Sora put a hand to his chin in thought. He glanced at Char and gestured with his free hand at the room ahead. "That's where I fought Riku, the last time we were in this place." He stared at the ground almost guiltily. "And where I…"

"…first turned into a Heartless," Donald finished.

Char's eyes widened slightly. "You turned into a Heartless before?" Sora opened his mouth to reply, but she shook her head. "Eh, never mind. You guys can tell me after we've defeated Maleficent."

"Right!" Donald said. Without another word, he pulled the door open, straining with effort at opening the huge gate, and rushed into the room.

"Donald, wait!" Sora called.

"I guess he'll never learn," Char muttered.

Goofy followed the mage, keeping his shield up in case Maleficent chose to appear, leaving Char and Sora outside.

The redhead sighed and pushed her bangs back. "Damn. Joining armies, saving Keybearers, fighting witches… I can't quite decide which one sounds more appealing."

Sora couldn't hold back a small laugh. "Yeah, me neither." He suddenly realized something. "Hey, Char?"

"Hn?" she replied.

The brunette hesitated. "We're… friends now, right?"

Char blinked. "Uh, yeah. Why?"

Her ice-blue eyes seemed to pierce into his, so that he suddenly had to look away. "Nothing," he answered. "Just… you're trying a little too hard." (2)

Char snorted and crossed her arms. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"

You don't have to pretend you're not who you are, was what Sora was going to say. Just do everything you can and that'll be enough. Stop being something you're not.

He would have said these things, if a sudden cry hadn't interrupted him.

"Sora! It's Maleficent!"

(1) Thus begins a rather plot-twisty story arc. Plus also I don't feel like writing the entire Timeless River thing. (is lazy xD)

(2) And so was I - writing this chapter. --

Me: Well, the only reason I made things turn out like this was because A) I need to find some way to stall until Anxclof has her post-Roxas angstfest, and B) I REALLY want to write some more action.
Char: So, this is the part where you all review flaming Saf for mutilating the plot of the game and making me become actual friends with Sora way too fast.
Me: ...you're so mean...