Me: -dies-
Char: She's just annoyed because even though her house got power back, she has school tomorrow.
Me: AGH...
Char: Oh, and the fact that she was repressing herself from adding any Falcon/Copperhead flashbacks in this chapter, because A) it didn't really fit, and B) she doesn't want to exhaust her ideas. And not to mention the fact that she's short on time right now.
Me: Pretty much. But I am happy that the chapter number isn't freaky 37 anymore! And that I almost have 100 reviews :D

Disclaimer- No.

After the entire group, including Jack, Will, and Elizabeth, had been fed – with Sora and Will working in the galley and finally preparing a meager, but filling, sort of stew – the captain of the Black Pearl set them back on their journey back to Port Royal's mainland. As her wound still hampered her movement slightly, little bursts of pain shooting through her belly almost every time she moved, Char took her respective bowl of stew and moved relatively steadily to the cabin, where she could sit down and eat. Much to her own shame, the events of the day had strengthened her appetite, so the stew vanished from the bowl, froth and all, within all of about five minutes.

She could hear Sora talking to the others outside. The obvious happiness in his voice still made her cringe a bit, even though over the course of the past eleven days or so she'd gotten used to him. Only now could she admit without flinching in self-reproach that Sora had grown on her, if not rather grudgingly. Yet, nevertheless – it had happened. She had let him in, and now, it seemed, there was no way to go back to the days in Twilight Town when it had just been her and Riku.

The memory of the way Sora had held her back in the moonlit nook of the cavern still was whirling through Char's mind. For some weird reason, she imagined the areas on her back where his hands had been were still tingling, but she shook that thought away almost before it entered her mind. Char was no hopeless romantic, and she knew she never would be.

Besides, she had to think realistically. Sora had only done that because he was so relieved that Barbossa's attack hadn't killed her. Sora had started this journey for Kairi and Riku, and he was going to finish it for Kairi and Riku. Not for Char, a catalyst that had been unexpectedly added to the mix of these events.

Predictably, that failed to reassure her. She let out a groan of frustration and raked her fingers back through her bangs.

Idly, she began scraping at the bottom of the bowl with her wooden spoon, blinking when a few small flakes of material promptly fell off of the bowl. Well, she thought dryly, this is a pirate ship; I guess it makes sense that some things are pretty crappy.

Gods, this was just another sign of how bored she was. She put her free hand on the side of the chair and got to her feet, fully intending to head out to the deck and watch the waters for a while.

Another memory of her days in Hollow Bastion rushed back to her, and she replayed it back in her mind as she left the cabin, a small grin curving her lips. She came to a stop in front of the rail, near one of the ropes that tethered the sails to the ship, and closed her eyes for a moment, deeply breathing in the salt-encrusted air. The slightest hint of silvery moonlight pierced her lids, and she opened her eyes to see that the clouds had revealed the moon again. It was a beautiful night, she thought.

"Char?"

She turned, almost but not quite surprised into jumping, and saw Sora, standing there beside her. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and a bandage adorned his cheek where, apparently, he'd been wounded. Whether it was from Barbossa or traveling to rescue her and Will, Char couldn't tell.

The redhead inclined her head to him. "Hi, Sora."

He smiled, apparently relieved that she hadn't snapped at him, and she made a mental note to amend the faint fear he still felt toward her. I was pretty bad back then, she reflected, thinking back to when they'd first met and he had demanded her purpose.

"Hi," Sora answered, his voice quiet.

Char glanced around. "Where are Donald and Goofy?"

Sora shrugged. "Up by the helm, talking to Jack, Will, and Elizabeth."

That unnerved Char a bit. If everyone else currently stood up in the upper part of the deck, then she was left alone with Sora.

She wasn't sure why that sent such a weird, traitorous, warm feeling tracing fingers down her spine, but it did. Stop, she ordered firmly.

Char hadn't noticed that Sora had made a questioning gesture until she saw him tilt his head to the side. She realized that he wanted her to make room for him beside her, so she dutifully moved a ways to the side, setting down her bowl and spoon as she did so.

For a while, the two of them just stood there, forearms resting on the rail of the ship, letting the salty wind wash over them. The companionable silence was broken when Sora spoke, causing Char to turn her head in his direction.

"What a day, huh?"

"Yeah," Char agreed, looking back out at the currently-calm sea. "Pirates, and curses, and bondage fetishes…"

"Bondage… fetishes…?" Sora blinked, but he seemed to realize her meaning when she rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah," he chuckled. Then his face contorted into a serious expression. "But my question is, what about you? Barbossa cut you up pretty badly."

"I was hoping I could go half an hour without you asking that question." Char let out a huffy sigh. "Sora, I'm fine, I told you. It still hurts occasionally, but I think it'll be better in no time. You and Donald practically jumped on me when Barbossa finished slicing at me."

"All the same, I think we should take the rest of the day to rest," Sora said, his concerned expression not wavering in the slightest. "I already talked about it with Donald and Goofy, and they think it's a good plan. They're hurt too, so it's not like it's just you."

Char was a bit taken aback. "O-okay," she acquiesced, and narrowed her eyes. "But we set off first thing tomorrow morning, got it? It wouldn't do to put off your journey for too long."

"Of course," Sora said.

Suddenly feeling the need to fill up the silence with some sort of conversation, Char spoke. "This isn't the first time I've traveled like this."

"Hm?" Sora's eyes were glowing with curiosity as they met hers. "You've been on a ship before?" he asked, sounding a little envious. Char wondered how, with Destiny Island being how it was, he'd never traveled by boat before. Then again, though, it was precisely that kind of isolation that had spurred the start of all this in the first place.

"Yup," Char answered, making sure to pop the final consonant. She smirked at the jealous look on Sora's face and had to fight the urge to laugh at his wide blue eyes and his slightly-open mouth. "Don't worry, Key-boy; you weren't missing anything."

The reminiscence flowed back into her mind with the gentle, pleasant force of a stream. She looked away, struck with the strange desire to cry; Char told herself that that little impulse made no sense at all, and with that she was able to snuff it out.

"Yeah," she repeated, a little more subdued than her last word spoken. "Master sent Ienzo and I out to a world called Atlantica, supposedly to take some notes on the aquatic life of the area. And," she chuckled, "there was a lot of fish, let's just say that."

"We've been there!" Sora said enthusiastically. "Did you see any –" He abruptly broke off and looked down.

"Don't bother, Sora; we already knew about the mermaids and mermen before we got there." Char didn't look over at him, fearing that the waiting tears would be reborn anew at seeing him. She did hear him let out a little "oh" of recognition, and she opened her mouth to continue.

"You mentioned Ienzo when you were…" Sora hesitated.

"Drunk?" Char inquired dryly. She still cringed at the vague, but humiliating, memory of what she had done under the influence of the rum. However, thank the gods, Sora seemed to have forgiven her for the things she had said and done. "You can go ahead and say it, Sora; I know what I did. Ienzo…" The mention of his name sent a weird feeling spiraling through her, a feeling that brought back everything she'd known as Ienzo: his gray hair; his violet-blue eyes; the way he would always gnaw the tip of his thumb when he was thinking hard. She shook it off, knowing that all of his gentle qualities had died with the birth of Zexion.

"He was one of my fellow students," she said at last.

"Was?" Sora queried.

Damn. She'd let her tongue slip again. "It's nothing," Char muttered.

She glanced back and saw that Sora's eyebrows were furrowed ever so slightly, his face tight with concern. "Don't worry about it," she grunted, feeling very much like a parrot with her repetition of her previous words.

"Right," Sora murmured after a moment, but there was still a trace of skepticism on his face… almost as though he wanted to worry about it. Char ignored that and continued.

"When Master sent me with him, it was one of my first trips out of Hollow Bastion. But Ienzo was a year older than I was, so he knew exactly what to do."

Listening to her story, Sora could almost imagine Char, raring to go to other worlds – the thought of her being nervous about it was too strange; this was Char, after all – with Ienzo ready to help her. Then a thought struck Sora. "How did you leave Hollow Bastion to go to Atlantica?"

"We had our ways," Char answered, a little too smoothly. Sora felt an irrational burst of annoyance; even though he could call her a friend now without feeling like he was lying, she still was hiding things from him.

But he chose not to dwell on that fact and just kept listening.

"Before we left, everyone was teasing me about how I'd supposedly get 'seasick' or some stupid crap." Char snorted. "Apparently the first time Ienzo had traveled by boat, he'd gotten sick and emptied his lunch over the side. Something told me it wasn't a very pleasant trip." The last sentence was filled with a kind of sardonic acknowledgment.

"And did you?" Sora asked.

"No," Char replied proudly. "I ate before we left, so my stomach was relatively empty when we got on board the ship. The captain was pretty nice about the whole thing, considering that to him, we randomly decided to tag along on his voyage at the last second.

"So we stood there on deck, and the sailors pummeled us about the reason why we were there. Thankfully, I was only eleven, so I didn't have the issue we had with the pirates today. I like to think I was a cute kid, though," she added sarcastically.

"I think you were," Sora laughed, and then blinked at his own audacity. He mentally hit himself on the head repeatedly. Why did I say that?!
Fortunately, Char didn't flare up or bristle. She just narrowed her eyes playfully. "Don't push your luck, Key-boy.

"Finally, we got out to sea. I was rambling about how great it would be if we saw a mermaid, and Ienzo kept telling me to keep dreaming." She shrugged a little self-consciously. "We never did, but it was a nice thought."

Sora couldn't imagine Char doing something like that – being the dreamy one and not the voice of reason. Clearly, she had changed in the five years between then and now.

"But then there was this massive school of fish, and – gods, Sora, it was great. Ienzo and I couldn't even take notes for a bit, we were so awed. The sun was going down, so it was shining along the fish's scales, and…" Char exhaled, as though even the memory playing back in her mind filled her with wonder. "You should've seen it; it was – dare I say it? – it was beautiful."

It occurred to Sora that he had never seen her like this: eyes wide and glowing with awe, her face so absolutely open and a breathless smile covering her features. It was strangely… nice.

"Zola!" Jack's airy voice drifted down to them and they looked up to see the captain gesturing at them. "We've arrived at the port."

While Sora huffed out a sigh and called, "It's Sora!", Char merely nodded before looking back at him. Donald and Goofy were descending the steps and approaching them. "Well, you heard the captain, Sora. Let's go."

"Right," Sora agreed, still looking a bit indignant at Jack's constant memory lapses of Sora's name.

The ship stopped, and Will tethered it to the docks with a rope. "What are you going to do now, Will?" asked Donald, tilting his feathered head to the side.

Will shrugged. "Head back home with Elizabeth, I suppose." Elizabeth approached from his other side, a warm look on her face at being home again.

"Think I'll stay with my ship," Jack said.

"Of course," Char muttered, grinning. "Wouldn't want your dashing presence dazzling the civilians too much."

"Touché, darling." Jack sighed. "Well, after you all leave, I'm off."

Will stepped down onto the pier first, and extended out a hand to help Elizabeth, who followed suit delicately. Sora looked back and figured that he wouldn't have to do the same for Char, as she was now placing one foot on the docks, gritting her teeth visibly.

"Don't your wounds still hurt?" Goofy asked, looking worriedly at her.

"Of course they do," Char answered, her response somewhat muffled by her clenched jaws. "But I can deal with it; I've had much worse."

Donald and Goofy looked doubtfully at her, but said nothing.

"Thanks again, Jack!" Sora called.

"Naturally," the pirate responded.

"So," Char said as the group started back to town, "where to next, Sora?"

Sora put one hand on his chin in thought, his index finger resting against his lower lip. "I guess we'll just check the map to see if any new worlds have popped up," he finally decided, making sure to keep his voice quiet so Will and Elizabeth wouldn't hear. That worry turned out to be groundless, however – the two residents of Port Royal were clearly off in their own world. Char rolled her eyes. If this was what being in love was like, then she wanted nothing to do with it. She couldn't afford to let her guard down, even for a moment.

"You didn't check before we left?" Donald growled, hitting Sora with one feathered hand.

"I didn't see any more new worlds when we left!" Sora protested.

"We won't know till we look," Goofy pointed out, looking bemused at his comrade's belligerent action.

"Yeah," Sora said.

Char wasn't listening anymore; in her mind, she was still reliving that time with Ienzo, on the blessedly-non-pirate ship in Atlantica. Eventually they had taken those notes, but the notebooks allotted to them had remained mostly empty. Naturally, when Even had come to take them back to Hollow Bastion – using a prototype DTD that could transcend the boundaries between worlds – he had chided them endlessly on how they had wasted their time in aesthetic matters of Atlantica. It didn't help that DiZ – Master Ansem, whatever she wanted to call him – had mostly repeated the older apprentice's words, with a bit of a softer edge to his voice. Needless to say, Ienzo and Char had never really been sent back there again.

And now, here she was, five years later, repeating that experience of traveling the sea. So much had changed since then that it made Char's head hurt with the force of it.

Or maybe that was just the fading hangover. She made a mental note to drink all the water she could when they got back to the Gummi ship, to decrease the lingering alcohol in her system.

"We'll leave you here," Will said, smiling at Sora and the others. They stopped in front of the stairwell that led up to the rampart where they had left the Gummi ship; Char looked up and saw the garish colors of the vessel shining out at her through some gaps in the dark stone.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said to them. "I would never have escaped if not for you four."

"I-it was nothing," Sora rebuffed her statement, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Will and Jack helped just as much as we did." Donald looked away, his facial feathers reddening slightly, while Goofy kicked the ground lightly and muttered something like "aw, shucks".

"But you took out those Heartless," Will pointed out. "I owe you a great debt."

"It's fine, really," the Keybearer laughed. "Just be safe. We'll be back."

Will and Elizabeth exchanged a glance before returning their gazes to Sora's group and nodding. It struck Sora then, how completely and utterly at peace they looked.

His fist clenched. Hopefully this journey of his, this journey that had extended out for so long, would be finished as well.

"Come on, guys," he told Donald, Goofy, and Char, and the four of them left Will and Elizabeth there, the two Port Royal residents lightly clasping hands as they watched the others leave.

Char groaned as they entered the Gummi ship; one hand found its way to her forehead and her thumb extended out to massage her temple, the finger pressing down harder when another pang went through her skull.

"What, too much love for you?" Donald asked sardonically, referring to Will and Elizabeth, folding his arms across his chest.

"Of course not, duck boy," Char retorted gruffly. "I just… that damned hangover's still there. And I need a shower, and a nap…"

As she spoke, feeling somewhat bratty at voicing her complaints, Char walked further into the interior of the Gummi ship, not taking her hand off her face. A flash of dark red along her body caught Sora's eye and he stepped forward, fear widening his eyes. "Wait, Char – take off your jacket for a sec."

"Che, why should I do that?" Char shied away from Sora's fingers. Unmoved by her attempts to shake him off, Sora seized her jacket at her shoulders and tugged it away.

A thin, ragged-looking line of ruddy red extended from the bottom of her ribcage down her abdomen, finally stopping right before her hips; the dried blood was visible through the fabric of her white top. As Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched, filled with shock, the line thickened ever so slightly.

"You're still bleeding, aren't you?" Sora asked, one hand already lifted and glowing a soft green.

Char snatched her jacket back from him and held it protectively over the wound. "I'm fine, okay? Some wounds aren't meant to heal from spells; sometimes they just have to close up on their own."

"Don't be stupid," Donald snorted, putting his hands on his hips. "You almost died from that! It only makes sense that we healed you up."

"Oh, would you leave me alone?" Char growled, pushing Sora's hand away.

"Char," Sora suddenly said firmly, and something in his voice made her glance up. His features had tightened with irritation and concern, and his eyes were full of something that made her do a double take.

"Let us help you," the brunette continued, sounding a little less annoyed at her stubbornness and a little more earnest. "You don't have to just let it go away on its own."

She stared at him for a moment, then relented. "Oh, all right," she growled.

Sora smiled, putting his hand against her abdomen. "Heal," he whispered, and the emerald droplets danced briefly over the wound before vanishing.

Char gingerly touched the wound and sighed in relief when she felt no pain. "Thanks," she muttered.

Only then did she realize that his hand was brushing very gently against hers, and she abruptly yanked her arm back.

"Right then," she grunted, averting her eyes and trying to ignore that stupid fluttering feeling in her stomach. "I'm going to go shower." A thought suddenly struck her and she raised one eyebrow. "Did Cid even put a tub in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, he did," Sora told her, refusing to meet her eyes. The thought that he was offended by her previous action flitted briefly through her mind before vanishing. "I think there's a shower head in there, too."

"Gotcha." Without further ado, Char set off toward the door so inconspicuously labeled "bathroom" in blocky-looking handwriting.

As the door closed behind her, Donald looked at the brunette with one eye narrowed more than the other in the illusion of raising one eyebrow. "Sora, I thought you liked Kairi," he commented.

Sora blinked. "I do," he replied, confused. He removed his jacket and plopped down in one of the seats.

"Gawrsh, Sora, it didn't really seem like it a bit ago," Goofy remarked.

"What's that supposed to…"

And then he remembered Char's slightly cold hand resting near his. Oh. Right.

"That was nothing," he said quickly. "Anybody would be embarrassed if somebody of the opposite gender was nearly holding their hand."

"The way you hugged Char back on the Isla de Muerta didn't seem like relief, either." Donald sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Sora, I hadn't pegged you for the hormonal type."

"I'm not!" the Keybearer protested, his voice arching toward the high notes in his effort to get his point across. "I was relieved, okay? That was why I hugged her."

Though he had to admit, the feeling of that red hair sweeping over his hands had been nice, not unpleasant at all…

Ack, no, stop thinking like that!

He quickly glanced back toward the door to see if Char could hear; but the sound of water running reached him and he knew she couldn't hear them. Oddly, he felt relieved at that.

She was his friend, Sora told himself. It was perfectly natural for him to act relieved when she came back from what could have been the brink of death.

He looked away quickly from Donald and Goofy, leaning one elbow against the dashboard and propping his cheek against his upraised palm. He heard the two animals snickering and narrowed his eyes slightly, but he didn't speak.

About twenty or so minutes later, Char emerged from the bathroom, still massaging her wet hair slightly. She had dressed back into her old clothes, but they too looked slightly damp, and the mark that the blood from her wound had made on her white top had all but vanished.

"Hey, guys," she greeted, then blinked at the sight: Sora looking determinedly away from his other allies, while Donald and Goofy wore the expressions similar to a child about to get a piece of candy. "Geez, what happened in here?" she inquired dryly, dropping her hands and sitting in the seat next to Sora's. "Did a duck-and-dog-benefiting hurricane pass through or something?"

The mage and the knight exchanged a slightly bemused glance, and she sighed irritably. "Che, you know what I meant by that. What's got you all pissy?" she asked Sora.

He looked up in her direction and felt a surge of annoyance at seeing her narrowed eyes. "Nothing," he answered, giving a little smile. "I'm gonna go shower too."

He got up and headed for the bathroom, not daring to look back at the others. Char stared after him, then abruptly glared at Donald and Goofy, the two of them cringing visibly at the venom in her eyes even as the bathroom door swung shut.

"All right," she growled, "what did you two say to him?"

"Well…" Goofy began, looking a little guilty; but his friend beat him to it.

"What do you mean?" Donald asked innocently, dark eyes wide. "We didn't say anything."

"Bull," Char said bluntly. "He wouldn't act like that unless something happened. And seeing as how the Gummi ship can't talk, the blame automatically falls to you two." She put out her first two fingers and wiggled them in Donald and Goofy's general direction on the last part of her comment.

Donald hesitated, as though seeing her point, and Char took that moment to pounce again. "So what did you say to him?"
Quickly Donald and Goofy looked over to the bathroom door, presumably to see if Sora was listening. The water had started running again, though.

"Just tell me," Char sighed, raking her fingers through her wet hair. "He's not even listening; it's not like he can."

"We… kinda…" Goofy fidgeted.

"We kinda said that we thought he…" Donald stopped abruptly and let out an uncomfortable murmur, suddenly finding the ground very interesting.

"Oh for the love of… Look, either you two can tell me, or I'll ask Sora myself later. Which will it be?"
"We said we thought he had a crush on you!" the mage said hastily.

Char blinked, taken aback by this. Well… that was unexpected. She had thought that they had insulted Kairi and Riku or something. But this…

We thought he had a crush on you. The words sent an odd tingling feeling running through her body, traitorous thing. As of late, he had been acting strangely, yes, but not… It didn't remind her of the way Ienzo had behaved toward her, she decided.

"You know he loves all his friends," she finally said. "It's probably just the fact that we're friends that motivates him."

"I think you're right," Goofy said, glancing a little nervously over at Donald.

The duck looked skeptical for a moment, but when Char gave him a threatening glare, Donald grumbled to himself. "You've got a point," he muttered.

No wonder they had jumped at the chance to tell her when she gave them the ultimatum of that or making Sora tell her. The thought of the latter was too awkward to even consider.

She looked away, to the seat where Sora had been sitting. And no wonder he had seemed so put out about the whole situation; Char knew as well as anyone else that his heart lay with Kairi, and Riku, and the home he had lost. The thoughts she had had earlier came rushing back to her; she had no right to disrupt his moral compass, not now, when they were so close to the Organization.

Which, of course, reminded her of the real reason why she had accompanied him: to guide him on her path to revenge, and no more. Char felt a little prick of guilt; she hadn't exactly been living up to that purpose lately. She wanted to see Riku so badly, if only briefly; wanted to see that flash of silver hair and the joking arrogance in his turquoise eyes, if only in a glance – but it was hardly likely that Riku would be lurking around the worlds. He was probably sitting with DiZ, bored out of his mind, with her old master's constant droning on and on about darkness and hearts and all that. Char chuckled to herself at the thought.

Besides… A twinge of bitter knowledge caused her stomach to clench.

She hadn't seen that silver hair and turquoise eyes since Riku had allowed Xehanort's Heartless to take over his appearance.

"Char?" Goofy waved a hand in front of her face, causing her to stir and glance at the knight. "You okay?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah," she answered, folding her arms. "Just thinking."

"Didn't know you could do that," Donald remarked dryly. Char's first reaction was to insult him back, but then it occurred to her that maybe he was just trying to get the normal atmosphere back.

"Whatever, duck boy," she grunted.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly, with Sora returning from the bathroom a few minutes after the conversation. After a while of debating what to do for the rest of the day, the four of them decided that Sora, Donald, and Goofy would go out to the town for supplies while Char rested at the Gummi ship. Naturally, the redhead vehemently protested this arrangement, but eventually relented when Sora said something similar to his previous comment about "letting them help her". In the end, the Keybearer set out with his two long-time comrades.

Surprisingly, the market around Port Royal was rather active. Sora knew he should have suspected that, since the sun was a ways above the horizon in a way that glittered almost blindingly off the gentle waves of the sea beyond. Yet he still felt a bit overwhelmed at seeing all the people swarming the market, haggling and selling their wares. Clearly, Donald and Goofy felt the same way, both pairs of dark eyes wide with surprise and excitement.

The three of them eventually spotted a general food area and made a beeline over to it, trying not to elbow their way past too many patrons as they did so. The person manning that part of the market reminded Sora strongly of Jack Sparrow, as this man's hair was also bound in dreadlocks. The brunette wondered how and what the captain was doing right now. Probably sailing around with that compass open, he answered himself, laughing quietly. He voiced this thought to Donald and Goofy, and not surprisingly, they had the same opinion.

It was late in the afternoon by the time the three of them returned, loaded down considerably by the amount of groceries they had purchased. Sora shuddered a little at remembering how the man had nearly forced Sora to give up his Keychains in exchange for all that food. Fortunately – and a little predictably – Donald had somehow filched a couple of medallions from the gold pile back on the Isla de Muerta, so that more than served as enough. Sora and Goofy still weren't sure whether to scold Donald or thank him. The duck was obviously aware of that; he still was, if the lingering smugness on his feathered face indicated it at all.

"Hey, Char!" Sora called as he ascended the ramp that the hatch provided and entered the main section of the Gummi ship. He set the bags down as gently as he could on the floor, sighing in relief at being freed of the burden; his arm muscles seemed to sigh with him. "We've got some food for later."

The situation reminded him far too much of the days back in Destiny Island, when his mother would open the door and make much the same remark as he just had. Knowing this, Sora carefully skirted around the words we're home.

He bit back a sigh. Gods only knew when he'd be home again.

There was no response, and Donald and Goofy turned their gazes to him curiously. "Think she's sleepin'?" Goofy asked.

"Probably," Sora answered. "Well, let's just go store all this."

As they were putting up the last of the food, practically stuffing it into the portable refrigerator in the kitchen-like room, Char entered from her own designated dormitory. She certainly didn't look groggy at all, but she was stretching her arms high above her head and letting out a half-stifled yawn as she entered.

"Think you guys could try and be a little quieter?" she inquired, lowering her arms and walking closer. Her eyes widened. "Damn, how much food did you guys get?"

"A lot," Goofy said, giving her a dog grin. "Didja sleep well?"

"Mostly," she replied, blinking her eyes to get all the sleep out of them. "How'd you pay for all of that?"

"Donald stole a couple of medallions." Sora shrugged, as though the matter was nothing.

"Hey!" Donald squawked. "If it weren't for my supposed 'greediness', we'd be starving right now!"

"Calm down," Sora laughed. "We appreciate it, Donald. I was just kidding."

"Typical duck boy," Char chuckled, shaking her head.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, nothing…"

In reality, Char had dreamed, and that, not the sound of the others returning, had roused her. In the dream, she and Riku had stood on the clock tower in Twilight Town; she reflected on how happy she was that he hadn't accused her of abandoning her this time.

Though he was clad in the black Organization coat she had always known, he had let the hood down so that the wind toyed playfully with his long silvery hair. He had looked at her with green eyes that glowed in the late afternoon sun, a sun not unlike the one that currently shone down upon Port Royal, green eyes that held almost the same warming effect as the sun.

And he had looked at her and said, "Char, have you ever been up here before?"

She had shaken her head. "An – DiZ never took us here before. As you know, he didn't create the virtual version of Twilight Town until a while ago; but the seven of us never actually saw this place. Unless you count books, of course."

"Up until a while back, I'd never been here either." Riku sighed. "Good thing DiZ let us walk around town."

"Yeah," she laughed. "I was starting to go a little crazy, staying cooped up in that mansion all the time."

Then she had awoken, right when Sora and the others had walked into the Gummi ship.

The four of them ravenously dug into some macaroni and cheese that, miraculously, Goofy had managed to cook without too much interference from Donald. They had found the box of pasta and cheese in one of the drawers, some more food that Cid had probably supplied them with. The sun slowly began to dip below the horizon as the four of them ate.

During the entire meal, Char had had a contemplative look on her face, staring out at a fixed point in the window of the Gummi ship. Now, however, she took a final, decisive-looking sip of her water and stood up. "Sora," she addressed him, crooking her index finger in a gesture that told him to follow her.

"But I'm not done yet," he protested around a mouthful of noodles.

Char's eyes narrowed at his words and she suddenly pointed to his face. "Chew," she ordered. Sora promptly obeyed, his jaw moving in a way that set off the bemusement and light indignation that had taken residence on his face.

He swallowed and stood. The brunette gave Donald and Goofy a glance. "Could you guys put the dishes up?" he asked, a little apologetically.

Goofy gave a nod that made his ears swing, while Donald grumbled a "whatever." Without waiting for a response, Char immediately turned on her heel and headed briskly toward the second largest room – the room that had been in the Gummi ship before Cid's quick renovations. The room where Char and Sora had done some sword training a while back.

The thought of another training session sent mixed feelings of dread and excitement roiling though him. Since his sword skills had improved since that last time they had trained together – what felt like so long ago – he anticipated a slightly longer session.

Char closed the door to the room behind them, and the two of them took the time to survey the room. Cid had made almost no changes to this room; it was as empty and cold-looking as it had been the first day Yen Sid had given the ship to them.

"All right," Char said, taking a deep breath. "You probably know what's coming next, but I'll refresh your memory anyway. We're going to have another training session."

"Yeah," Sora confirmed. He summoned the Hero's Crest in a flash of light and got into his battle stance. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"Slow down there, sparky." Char sighed. "You might want to go out there and warn Goofy that you're going to be using Valor Form for a bit."

"What?" When she rolled her eyes and put her hands impatiently on her hips, her words seemed to sink in. "Oh, right!" Sora chirped, and opened the door slightly ajar. "Uh, Goofy? I'm gonna use Valor Form for some training, okay?" he called, a little awkward knowing that Char was watching carefully behind him.

"Sure, a-hyuck," the dog called back.

Sora turned back to Char and let the door ease shut again. "Uh, so… are we going to practice dual wielding?"

"The boy learns fast," Char remarked sardonically, and chuckled when the pout appeared on his face. "So, go ahead and do… whatever it is you do."

Sora nodded once and concentrated; after a few moments of reaching deep inside himself for the power he needed, he finally got ahold of it, and he rose up into the air as a flash of light temporarily obscured his vision. When it faded and his body touched gently down, Sora tentatively cast a glance down at himself. The sight of the scarlet garb and the lavender Star Seeker in his normally-free hand made him sigh in relief. It worked.

"Okay," the girl abruptly said, pacing around him. "You're obviously… not used to twin Keyblades yet." For some reason she hesitated, and a brief shadow crossed her eyes, as though she didn't believe her own words.

"Heh, yeah, kinda," Sora admitted.

Char rolled her eyes, but continued. "So, I thought I would give you a few tips." Her own, triple-bladed swords appeared in her hands, and her fingers clenched around them as the flashes of light heralding the swords' appearances faded. "There are a few things you need to remember when you're using two swords instead of one. The first obviously being that you need to make more allowances when you're attacking. It requires more concentration, and remembering that you have more than one way to guard against enemy attacks. It's part of a little thing I like to call the three C's."

Sora was surprised despite himself; he hadn't expected her to use such a method to remember it. "The three C's?"
"Concentration, control, and conniving," Char explained.

"What's the 'conniving' for?"

Char folded her arms across her chest, being extremely careful not to cut her body with her swords, and smirked. "Because when the enemy's blocking one of your blades, you can lay into them with the other."

That seemed a little… well, conniving, for lack of a better word. But Sora told himself she knew better than he did, and waited for her to continue.

"But I guess the only way for you to really get it is some hands-on demonstration." Char swung her blades out to the side; it reminded him strongly of the previous session, only the swords she held now were shorter and had two other blades extending out to the side of the main blade.

And she actually cared for him as a friend; he couldn't forget that little detail.

"I think you know the drill," Char commented, and charged forward.

Instinctively, Sora brought up one Keyblade to block her attack; when she spun and made as if to drive the unoccupied blade into his belly, he hastily guarded with the other Keyblade.

"Oh, come on, Key-boy," Char grunted. "Don't be so predictable. Get off the defensive and attack!"

She pulled back, only to crouch slightly and dart to the side. Sora whirled to follow her path, tracked her carefully with his eyes, and jabbed forward with the Star Seeker. She lashed out with one of her own swords, aiming not for his body, but for the Keyblade itself. Startled, Sora yanked the lavender Keyblade back. Remembering her strategy, he whirled before returning to face her and lunged forward with the Hero's Crest. Caught off-guard, she stumbled back, and he took that moment to charge at her. She barely blocked all of his attacks, and only when her back hit the wall did they both realize what had happened. Sora panted slightly, his body flaming with exertion, the Hero's Crest dangerously close to her neck. Char stared at him, their eyes meeting in a mutual understanding; and Sora grinned, knowing that he had won.

"Not bad, Sora," the redhead conceded after a moment of breathless silence. Her swords vanished, and one hand flew to her stomach. "But now my wound hurts."

Sora blinked, his previous triumph replaced by concern. "I'm sor –" he began.

She waved her free hand at him for silence. "Don't be sorry; it was my own fault for exerting myself so much in the first place. I just need a good night's sleep and I'll be fine."

"Okay," Sora reluctantly agreed, and instantly reached out with his hands when she straightened shakily. "Can you get to your room by yourself?"

"Of course," she answered, but the tightness in her face belied her words. She started slowly toward the exit of the room.

As the door closed behind her, Sora felt something leave his body, and just like that, he was back to normal: darkly-attired and only holding the Hero's Crest. Goofy materialized beside him.

"Gawrsh, Sora, you're sure getting good with that form!" the dog chirped.

Sora smiled at his ally. "Thanks." He made his Keyblade disappear and yawned. "I'm tired. Let's get to bed."

For the night had already descended upon them, as had the exhausting events of the day. After saying good night to Donald and Goofy, who shared the room directly across from his, Sora went to his own room. Stripping down to his pajamas, the Keybearer slid into bed without pulling back the covers and was asleep in minutes.

Rushed ending is rushed. Again, I'm short on time. I, like, JUST finished this.

I hope the way they got to Atlantica from HB seems possible. I think they would go to other worlds for research and stuff, not just look it up in books; and for that, they must need SOME way of travel.

One more thing: I have a gift for you guys:

Ask the main characters any question you want.

I'm serious. Ask Char, Anxclof, even any of the canon characters anything about anything in TSA, and they (I) will answer to the best of their (my) ability in a review response. (If you're reviewing anonymously, make sure you leave an email address to reply back to.)

Ask away.