Me: Gah, sorry for taking so long. School and swimming and geometry and... yeah...
Char: Excuses, excuses.
Me: Shut up. At any rate, even though this took ages, it's one of my shorter chapters. For me, that really isn't saying much, but still. It could also be because Aladdin is the one Disney movie in KH2 that I HAVEN'T seen, so I probably don't have Aladdin/Jasmine/etc's characterizations exactly right. And the SoraChar fluff I have in mind later probably won't fit...
Char: Ugh.
Me: Yeah, let's just say it involves dancing and Char in a dress. -wink- Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer- I only own Char, Anxclof, Falcon, Copperhead, the Shadowed Desert, and anything else of my own design.

"How was school today?" Falcon's father queries.

Falcon cringes despite herself. She knows that her father's question is innocent, yet she can't help but feel a little backed into a corner. The girl sighs, plopping down in an empty chair at the table. "Horrible. I hate algebra."

"Some people are just good at different kinds of math," her mother suggests, putting one hand on Falcon's shoulder. "You'll get your grades up."

Falcon looks up at her parents. Her father's dark blue eyes are sincere and her mother just gives a reassuring smile. Well, Falcon thinks, it could be much worse – one girl actually burst out into tears today because apparently her average was just below par with her parents' standards.

That's not the only reason Falcon's just a bit more irritable than usual, though. The way Copperhead treated her at lunch today won't get out of her mind.

And why can't she stop imagining that her nose is tingling where he tapped it?

He's just messing with me, she tells herself, and that is that.

Falcon is fourteen when the strange dreams start coming. After one particularly exhausting day – complete with Copperhead pissing her off by parading over to her with his little fan-mob, of all things – she collapses into bed without even bothering to turn back the sheets.

And normally her dreams aren't so vivid, so that's how she knows that something's wrong. Dreams should not give her such sensitivity to the icy wind blowing; should not let her feel the stained glass platform under her feet like she's standing there in real life.

The first time she has the dreams, a strange blade appears in her hand. A "Keyblade", her mind tells her. Now how does she know that?

Mythology, she recalls. This year her class had been studying the wars of old. Falcon loves history; it's the only thing that makes school bearable, since her shyness keeps her from making easy friends and Copperhead is all but a golden-haired shadow. She recalls the name "Keyblade" from the discussions of the wars by that very name: warriors who took out creatures of darkness with those strange, fearful weapons.

So, now she has one. Very strange, for why would she of all people be chosen to wield such a sacred power?

Naturally, she keeps it a secret. She doesn't think her parents would believe her, and it's not like anyone else would care anyway.

Nonetheless, it still scares the hell out of her when she comes home from school one day to find the Keychain in her bag, an icy-blue, flame-shaped charm dangling from the chain. And a little feeling of anxiety – and the sense that the path before her is wreathed with shadows, and the unwelcome, weighty feeling of a burden being dumped upon her shoulders – shudders through her when she manages to summon the Keyblade for the first time. The "Azure Ice" Keyblade, her mind tells her.

And she has no way to explain how she knows that little fact.

Fortunately, it's not as though she needs the Keyblade. She never lets her guard down, not even for a minute, keeping the Azure Ice's Keychain in her school bag at all times just in case a Heartless or Chaser pops up out of nowhere.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, though, is the nagging premonition of trouble ahead. So, she trains herself with it: goes to the back of the school courtyard at lunch, where the surroundings are wreathed in the shadows cast by surrounding trees and she can practice.

No one spots her heading to the shaded area, because Falcon has always managed to stay on the edge of the school's gossip radar, much to her own chagrin. However, she welcomes the chance for privacy now.

Her heart is thrumming a little staccato pattern in her ears as she stops in her tracks and sets down her bag: gingerly, as though someone will spot her here. She knows she doesn't want to get caught, but she doesn't know why.

She reaches into her pocket and tentatively withdraws the Keychain, fingering the charm attached to the chain. Once her father showed her his collection of guitar picks, because he's been everywhere, even to the worlds normally divided, and he had allowed her to touch all of them. The charm feels about as smooth and thin as one of those guitar picks, and she takes comfort in the mental comparison.

Falcon shakes that thought out of her mind, replacing it with the uncomfortable feeling of keeping a secret and a tiny spark of determination. She's learned that in order to concentrate enough to bring forth the Keyblade, one has to wipe one's mind of all emotions except the determination to summon it.

Yet the feeling of slight guilt won't go away. She growls to herself when the Azure Ice fails to materialize in her hand and concentrates just a little harder, narrowing her eyes and furrowing her brow in her effort. This time, she manages to push away the thought of the secret she's keeping in order to summon the Azure Ice.

Falcon stares at the iridescent Keyblade, panting slightly in the aftermath of her efforts. A distorted vision of the ground is visible through the icy-colored blade. The hilt feels so right in her grip, like she's been wielding this kind of sword her entire life instead of just a few weeks.

"Falcon?"

Damn! Falcon jolts in shock and whirls to face the speaker; though she recognizes him even before she sees him, and her heart sinks at the thought. The long, dirty blond hair greeting her, stark against the dark green trees, doesn't help. He's wearing his hair in a ponytail today, and the stray locks that find their way out of the hair tie sway in the wind as violet eyes watch her.

Because who else would find her here, other than Copperhead?

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap… Falcon quickly orders the Keyblade to vanish in a mentally-barked command, and thank the gods, it heeds her, and returns to its chain-and-charm form in a flash of light. It's too late, though; Copperhead's seen the Keyblade. She meets his eyes defiantly, and for some reason, she nearly flinches away at the shock clear in his liquid gaze.

"The bell rang, and I didn't see you, so I thought… Falcon…" Copperhead's eyes are comically wide as he reaches out one hand, wearing a look much akin to a dumbstruck animal.

Falcon suddenly seems to come to herself and twists away from his touch. "Go away," she snarls pathetically.

Copperhead pulls back and sighs, folding his arms. He brings up one hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes. "Kind of hard to do that. We have the next class together, you know."

"How could I forget?" Falcon mutters, tearing her eyes away. She hears a little exhalation of breath from him, and she brings her head up to stare at him again. He's smiling, shaking his head with his eyes closed, and she realizes that he's just chuckled at her.

"I'm not gonna tell," he assures her, opening his eyes so he can stare right at her. The grin widens as he looks at her; she doesn't even want to think about how idiotic her expression must seem right now. So, she sighs in relief. He looks surprised for a brief moment – had probably expected her to snap back at him – but then the arrogant mask is back in place.

"Now let's get back to class." He winks. "I'm ditching my fan-girls because of you, y'know."

Falcon snorts, but she follows him out of the small copse anyway. It occurs to her that Copperhead has trapped her; they've got a secret now, and neither of them can take that back.

Dammit.

When she voices this thought, however, Copperhead just laughs, even as they enter the school building. He doesn't reply.

"So," Char began after swallowing her last bite of pancake, "where to next?"

Donald shrugged. "The only world that popped up on the map looked a lot like Agrabah."

"So we thought we'd head there," Goofy quipped.

Sora gave a nod, speaking around a mouthful of food. "Yeah, we can go check in on Aladdin and Jasmine."

Oh yeah, those guys… If Char remembered her days watching Sora's memories properly, Agrabah was the world where Jafar had attempted to transform himself into a powerful genie, only to be stopped by Sora and the rest of the group.

Not for the first time, she was struck by how much Sora had been through since all this had started – not just Sora, but Riku and Kairi and even Donald and Goofy, who, as the mage and knight of Disney Castle, had to be used to this kind of danger. Yet, through it all, Sora had grown.

"You're going to like Aladdin and Jasmine, Char," Sora was saying, sapphire eyes setting off his grin as he looked at the redhead. "Jasmine's a princess, but Aladdin still loves her as if she were in his class." Sora sighed in a playful way and shook his head. "In fact, I'd be surprised if he hasn't taken her on at least one magic carpet ride by now…"

"Yeah, I've read about Agrabah," Char answered, trying to keep her voice level and to not sound too startled after Sora had just knocked her out of her reverie. "It shows up a lot in the books." And she was being honest – Agrabah held a prominent spot not only as the location of the Keyblade War's turning point, but it was also the center of many mysteries that seemed to wreath around the world like mist.

Donald finished his fourth pancake – the guy's a bottomless pit and he still doesn't get any bigger, Char thought wryly – and rose to his feet. "We should get going," he said.

"Right," Sora agreed, and Goofy gave a nod of acquiescence.

Char realized that they were all waiting for her consent, and she quickly nodded herself. As the duck left the room with the door still ajar, she reflected on how just a couple of weeks ago, she had been anticipating that the trio would never truly warm up to her. But still, that had changed, hadn't it? Goofy treated her as loyally as he would treat Sora and Donald; Donald had formed at least a grudging respect for her; and Sora?

She still wasn't absolutely sure what Sora thought of her, and for some reason, her heart beat faster considering it. But she knew he considered her a friend; that much was certain.

At least, she thought with a kind of sardonic acceptance, the feeling was mutual.

"Agrabah! We made it!" Donald spoke while stepping down off of the Gummi ship's ramp.

"Gawrsh, I wonder how Aladdin and Jasmine are doing?" Goofy wondered aloud.

Char shrugged. "Probably fine, considering how you guys sealed off this world to Heartless and all."

"I don't know…" Sora murmured. He took his place at the front of the group and turned his head slightly so he could address the entire group. "We thought the Coliseum was safe, and then it wasn't, remember?"

"But we sealed Jafar away," Donald pointed out. Then he seemed to realize something and growled under his breath. "Don't tell me somebody set him free…"

"That'd be… kind of a problem, yeah," Sora laughed, a little nervously. The thought of Jafar's genie form being resurrected struck a chord of anxiety deep within him.

The four of them walked a ways longer, and then, abruptly, they found themselves in a marketplace of winding corridors and towering buildings. "Wow," Char couldn't help saying, staring around in awe. "The pictures in the books never showed this place as this big…"

Her voice trailed off when a flicker of movement caught her eye, and she whirled toward it. A blur of scarlet greeted her, scarlet that, she was sure, wasn't just her hair.

"What is it?" Goofy, who was walking on that side of her, asked, looking and sounding worried.

"Think we've got company," Char muttered, poised to summon her blades if she had to.

The crimson shape appeared in her peripheral vision again, and she pointed. "There it is!"

"Wait, wait, wait!" the shape squawked, even as Sora and Donald whirled around to see what it was. "Hold on a sec!" it protested, coming out into the dim light of the marketplace. Surprisingly, it took the form of a small crimson-feathered bird with azure-tipped wing and tail feathers, a bird that was currently flapping its wings frantically to both stay in the air and make its point.

"Uh-oh, it's… uh… um…" Goofy hesitated, trying to place the name of the bird, his eyes following the bird as it swooped in panicked loops around the knight's head.

"It's Iago!" Goofy suddenly blurted. Sora and Donald let out cries of shock and instantly drew their weapons.

"Who's this guy?" Char muttered.

"He was with Jafar," Sora answered through clenched teeth. "That's who was controlling the Heartless in this world."

"Wait, you got me all wrong!" Iago cried.

"You're Iago, all right!" Donald snarled, already positioned to cast Fira.

"No, I mean it's not the old me! I turned over a new feather! I'm legit. No scams, I promise!"

"Bet that's your new scam," Sora pointed out sarcastically, folding his arms.

"Ya gotta believe me!" Iago flew closer to them, turning his head frantically from one to the other. His eyes finally landed on Char and he approached her with a desperate look on his face. "You weren't with them last time, right? You gotta know I'm tellin' the truth here!"

One eyebrow rose over an ice-blue eye. "Yeah, sure. Problem is, I trust them more than you."

"Sora, let's go," Donald said haughtily.

"I was stuck inside that lamp with Jafar, remember?" Iago asked in one last attempt to gain their trust. "Well, I finally escaped. But then some things happened and…" He sighed, shaking his head as he lighted down on the broken stairwell nearby.

"So, free as a bird, huh?" asked Sora, rolling his eyes.

"Have fun!" Donald snorted.

"Gawrsh, guys, I dunno… he looks pretty sad," Goofy pointed out, casting a sympathetic gaze at Iago.

"Tch, sure. And the Organization is actually going to save us all in the end." A snort of skepticism tore itself from Char's lips.

But Iago was already talking to them again. "I wanna apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine!" the bird confessed, landing in Goofy's hands. "Could you guys maybe put in a good word for me?"

"Sure!" Goofy said, a little loudly. He gave Sora, Donald, and Char a hard look. "We can do that, can't we?"

"Watch out!" Iago suddenly screeched, pointing behind them and lifting off. The four of them turned and saw a group of dual-scimitar-wielding Heartless with scarves over their dark faces, much in the manner of a desert bandit.

"Geez, these Heartless have no creativity whatsoever," Char grumbled, summoning her swords.

"At least there aren't any Nobodies with them," Sora remarked, already charging into combat.

The four of them fought the Heartless back fairly easily, with Donald casting frantically and healing when necessary while the others attacked the enemies, but it seemed like with every Heartless they sent to Kingdom Hearts, another one appeared. It finally ended up with the four of them standing back to back, slumped a little with exhaustion, with Heartless surrounding them on all sides.

"Where are they all coming from?" Sora panted.

Iago had landed on the staircase, watching with wide dark eyes, but when a couple of the Heartless started moving toward him, he screeched and darted out of the way. The two bandit-like Heartless bumped heads and were lying on the ground, dizzy. Iago backed up in midair and soared past the group, continuous cries of panic rending the air as boxes and crates collapsed from the wind he created while flying past. The boxes landed on the Heartless' heads, upsetting their internal balance even more, and Sora spotted an opening.

"This way!" he shouted, and ran after Iago. Donald and Char let out irritated grunts, and the brunette stopped in his tracks to stare incredulously at them. "We can't win this," he insisted. "Now let's go!"

Donald grumbled to himself and started after Iago at an awkward-looking run, but Char remained staring at the Heartless a moment longer before following suit.

The group followed Iago into a room closed off from the rest of the marketplace by a multicolored curtain, and they stopped to catch their breath inside as Iago landed on a ledge. Sora glanced around and saw that a lot of merchandise was scattered haphazardly about the room, and that a pale blue, ragged, rug-like curtain was on the wall.

"Gawrsh, we would've been goners if Iago hadn't helped us," Goofy said gratefully. "Ain't that right, guys?"

"I guess so," Donald muttered.

"I guess we owe you one," Sora said, a slight grudging undertone audible in his words.

"Perfect!" Iago cheered, lifting off of the ledge in pure joy.

Char felt a smirk tug at her lips, but kept it back. "But you're gonna have to win over Aladdin and Jasmine yourself," she said. "So don't screw up, got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." Iago sounded a bit dismissive, but the grin didn't leave his countenance. Char rolled her eyes.

"Where is Aladdin, anyway?" Goofy queried.

Iago thought for a few moments, enough to make the group a bit impatient. "Betcha he's at the palace," the bird confirmed at last.

Sora turned to the others. "Then let's go!" Donald and Goofy nodded.

"One problem," Char said. "What'll we do about the Heartless?"

Sora hesitated. "Oh yeah… we'll just have to run from them, I guess."

"But you're the Keybearer!" Iago said disbelievingly, looking in shock at Sora. "Can'tcha kill those guys with just a swing of that big old key of yours?"

A stream of guilt actually ran through Sora at the way he was about to let Iago down. He was our enemy once, the Keybearer reminded himself. He shrugged, avoiding the bird's curious gaze. "Sometimes it's not that easy," Sora murmured.

"Besides, didn't you see the way they kept popping up like that?" Donald pointed out. "I'm not dealing with that!"

"Yeah," Char agreed, after a moment of switching her glower indecisively from Sora to Donald and back again. Sora knew she wasn't happy about their plan at all, but he figured she was just going to have to put up with it.

"You stay here," Sora told Iago, and when the bird opened his beak to protest, the Keybearer shook his head firmly. "Don't worry, we'll put in a good word for you when we find Aladdin and Jasmine."

"Oh, okay," Iago finally grumbled, looking away. "Guess I'll wait here till you get back."

"Right." Char sighed as she followed the others back outside.

"What's the matter?" Goofy asked, casting a concerned glance in Char's direction.

"Oh, nothing," she answered, at the same time summoning her swords in dual flashes of light. "Just thinking, is all."

She didn't notice the knight give her a skeptical look before drawing his own shield.

The group headed through the marketplace toward the palace, which they could see looming up in the distance in a conspicuous blend of golden-brown against the pale blue sky. They traveled in relative silence, silence that was further emphasized by the lack of merchants selling their wares or people wandering around the marketplace. Clearly, the residents of this world had realized the presence of Heartless and had duly taken shelter; whether out of fear or preparation, Char wasn't sure.

At least in Hollow Bastion, though, she and her fellow apprentices had had time to master a certain style of fighting or weapon to combat the Heartless, so they hadn't had to lock themselves up too much. Most of their time, however, had been spent inside their designated building or Ansem's study, working on a project or conducting research. It was a lonely prospect, but Char had had the presence of her fellow apprentices to alleviate the boredom.

She clenched her fists more tightly around the hilts of her blades. That friendship had certainly gone down the drain, as soon as Xehanort had become a Nobody and formed Organization XIII.

"Heartless!" Sora suddenly cried, and Char snapped to attention. More of the bandit-like Heartless had appeared, with a couple of large, ball-like enemies, which glared down at them.

Still no Nobodies, Char noted, and strangely, she felt worried at that. Anxclof surely would be back in commission by now…

And then the redhead inwardly smacked herself, because she should be rejoicing at the absence of the one who wanted to cut Sora down.

"Careful, these can breathe fire!" Sora shouted, barely blocking a blast from one of the round Heartless. The fireball turned to ashes against the Hero's Crest, but just as Sora lowered the Keyblade, another stream of flame came roaring toward them.

Char instinctively lifted her own swords to guard, realizing at the last moment that her blades would only get incinerated against the heat and bracing herself with a sinking heart. However, the impact never came: she opened her eyes from where she'd closed them in anticipation. To her shock, she saw Sora in front of her, Donald, and Goofy, Keyblade raised and with a translucent shield formed around them.

"Sora! You never told me you learned reflecting magic!" Donald squawked, almost indignantly, Char thought.

Sora gave the duck a self-conscious, sidelong glance. "Uh… I didn't even know either, until just now," he admitted, his voice slightly strained from concentration.

The shield made a strange, laser-like sound as it vanished, one of the beams cast by the disappearing reflection bursting against the round Heartless. The large enemy stumbled backward.

"Now's our chance; let's go!" As they took the opportunity to flee through the nearest doorway, Sora couldn't help but notice that Char squeezed herself against the wall a little more hastily than the rest of them.

"Glad that's over…" Donald sighed in relief, and gave Sora another reproaching look. "How did you get shielding magic? I don't even know how to do that!"

"Seriously, I don't know," Sora insisted, looking away a little sheepishly. "I… I was just thinking about shielding you guys, and then the next thing I knew I was using it." His gaze fell upon the marketplace beyond the wall they were hiding behind, and the brunette sighed in relief when he spotted no Heartless. "I think they're gone for now."

"Thank goodness…" Goofy murmured.

They stepped out from behind the shelter of the wall. Sora halted in his tracks when he noticed that a certain redhead wasn't following.

"Char?" he asked hesitantly, and Char jerked in surprise, as though she hadn't been paying attention until just then. "Are you coming?"

"Y-yeah," she answered. The audible tremble in her voice shocked him; his feelings must've showed, because she sighed irritably and growled, "Oh, come on. I'm fine; let's just go."

"Don't tell me you're scared," Donald taunted.

"I'm not," Char said icily, but her fingers tightened just a bit around the hilts of her swords. (1)

Sora raised one eyebrow and after a few moments of trying to figure out Char's problem, he shook his head and turned his eyes to the obvious palace walls. "We're pretty close. I think we can make it from here."

"I hope we can make it from here…" Char sighed.

They found themselves eventually in front of the massive oaken door to the palace, and Sora let out a "wow" as he stared at the walls. If it was this splendid-looking from the outside, he couldn't imagine what the interior looked like. As they wandered past the shrubs planted on either side of the stone path, the sun reflected off of the tan-colored walls and cast a small glare around them.

A flash of turquoise caught his eye, and somewhat to his relief, Sora spotted Jasmine standing in front of the palace gate. He called her name, approaching her a little tentatively. For some reason, just by looking at her from behind, he could tell she was a little anxious.

She turned at the sound of her name and smiled at the sight of them. "Sora, Donald, Goofy," she greeted enthusiastically. Her dark eyes fell upon Char and she raised her eyebrows.

"Your Majesty," Donald said extravagantly, bowing. Sora and Goofy followed suit, and after a moment, Char rolled her eyes and gave a little awkward curtsy of her own.

Jasmine delicately lifted one hand to her mouth to stifle her giggle. "Did you find who you were looking for, Sora?" she queried, tilting her head to the side.

It took a few moments and a not-so-subtle elbow in the ribs from Char before Sora realized what Jasmine meant. "Oh, erm, no," he said hastily. "This isn't Kairi. This is Char. She started traveling with us a little while ago." The words held more truth than any of them realized; Char wasn't anything like Kairi at all. The only similarity that could be drawn between them was the shade of their hair, and even then, Kairi's was more of a reddish-brown, while Char's was a dark crimson.

"Sora's told me all about you, Your Highness. Pleased to meet you." Char dipped her head politely.

Jasmine nodded in response, her terse gesture contrasting with her lingering smile, and glanced back to Sora. "I never had the chance to properly thank you, for before. You helped Aladdin defeat that awful Jafar and saved Agrabah."

Sora grinned and put his arms behind his head. "All in a day's work." But then the memory of the fire-breathing Heartless came into his mind and he hesitated, lowering his arms. "But, uh… it looks like the Heartless are up to no good again. Is there any way we can help you out?"

"I think we're all right for now." Jasmine's strong words belied the fear Sora could see growing on her face. And he really couldn't blame her for feeling that way: he could still remember how terrifying it had been, watching his island being devoured by the Heartless.

"And ya always got Aladdin," Goofy reminded.

Jasmine sighed. "He… he hasn't been himself lately."

"Is it because of the Heartless?" Donald demanded, already brandishing his staff.

Jasmine shook her head. "I'm not sure. Usually, he's the same cheerful Aladdin…" she mused, turning away and beginning to pace. "But sometimes, he just seems sad."

"Hm…" Sora put a thoughtful hand on his chin.

"He leaves the palace and goes off by himself all the time. I've asked him about it, but he says nothing's wrong. He left again today… what if he doesn't come back this time?"

"Hey! Maybe he's got a secret girlfriend!"

"Don't tell me…" Char whirled around and spotted the owner of the telltale squawk. "Iago!" she growled. "What the hell – I thought you stayed back there!"

Iago soared out of reach of the group and continued, shaking just a bit at the threat clear in Char's voice. "I know – I'll go find out who she is!" he offered.

Jasmine gasped and took a step back. "Iago!" she cried, already trying to strike at him. "Quick, Sora – catch him! And I'll warn the guards and everyone in the palace!"

Iago gulped audibly and hid behind Sora, who cast a brief reprimanding look at the bird before meeting Jasmine's eyes. "That's the thing… Iago's not…"

His voice trailed off as he watched her rush through the gates. As the door closed with a muffled thud, Sora's shoulders slumped in a sigh. He gave Iago a pointed glare. "Nice move," he commented sarcastically.

"Maybe it was somethin' you said?" Goofy quipped weakly.

Iago shook his head and let out a little disappointed murmur of his own.

Goofy turned to Sora. "Gee, maybe we should go talk to Aladdin," he suggested in an attempt to change the subject. "He's gotta be somewhere in town, right?"

"Good idea," Sora agreed. "I wonder what he's been doing."

Upon leaving the palace gates behind them, they promptly heard another voice: somewhat high-pitched with indignation, and raised in a shout.

"Stop! Thief!"

A little chittering noise made them all look down, and the strange sight of a monkey loping past them greeted them. Following close on the heels of the monkey was a dark-haired young man in an open purple shirt.

Aladdin!

"Hi, Sora!" the young man called breathlessly, running past them.

"Come back here!" the high-pitched voice shouted, and they spotted a diminutive-sized peddler chasing Aladdin and Abu, his size making his gait awkward-looking. Sora followed their paths with his eyes, but then a pang of agony in his head forced the brunette to his knees. The sound and sight of Char and the others kneeling at his side – in Iago's case, hovering – and demanding as to his status dissolved into blackness as another vision took its place.

"Thieves!" the same peddler yelped, chasing after a trio of young people. The three of them were sprinting side by side, their strange hand-me-down-looking clothing stark against the garb of the people in the marketplace. Hagglers and merchants alike turned and stared as the four of them passed. In the middle of the trio a brunette ran, her green eyes glittering and her lips pulled back in a devious grin. On one side an older-looking man with spiked-back crimson locks and eyes a slightly paler shade of grass-green kept pace easily with the girl, taking one stride for two of hers.

The youngest-looking, the boy on the other side, looked faintly disapproving at his two comrades, who were obviously enjoying the whole thing. The wind tugged at his honey-blond, spiked-up hair, and despite the reproach clear in his sapphire gaze, his face was also filled with friendship for his companions.

The brown-haired girl laughed, clearly exhilarated by the thrill of the chase. "Hey, Axel – catch!" she shouted to the spiky-haired redhead, and she tossed the object she was holding to him. A flash of golden chain caught the light of the sun, and Axel caught the necklace by the emerald jewel on its end.

"Guys…" The blond sighed and shook his head, but he didn't slow his pace. "I told you this was a bad idea…"

"Does it matter?" Axel panted. "Look, you were the one who thought this thing looked cool. We're just doing you a favor, Roxas!"

"A favor?" Roxas snorted. "You guys sure have a strange way of doing 'favors'…"

"Sora!"

Sora let out a grunt of surprise. He found himself still kneeling, with Char, Donald, Goofy, and Iago hovering over him. Aladdin was peering over their shoulders, dark eyes worried, with Abu perched on his own shoulder.

"Thank goodness, you're alright…" Aladdin sighed in relief. "What happened?"

"I'm… not really sure," Sora admitted, sitting up gingerly and putting a hand on his head. He raked his fingers through his brown spikes uncertainly. Another flashback with Roxas…

The question was, who was Roxas, anyway? He had had that strange girl with him – and what had they called the redhead? Axel? Yeah, that was it. The name struck a chord within Sora, a chord of almost-maybe-guilt, as though it was a childhood friend that he couldn't remember. And that made no sense.

Sora shook himself out of his reverie when he saw the others still eyeing him concernedly. For some reason, Char was avoiding his gaze, but when she saw him looking at her, she gave him a look that mirrored the others' expressions.

Sora sighed. "Well, it's nothing," he said, and got to his feet, however shakily.

"Sorry about earlier," Aladdin said. "Abu just can't keep his paws off that lamp," he added, giving the monkey in question a pointed look. Abu made a few hasty gestures and chattering noises, as though in protest. "No talking your way out of this one!"

"So, was that Jafar's lamp he was holding?" Char queried.

Aladdin nodded. "Yeah, that was it." He tilted his head to the side. "Did you just join Sora?"

"Yup. That's Char." Sora received an irritated glower from Char when he introduced her, but the brunette ignored it and looked at Aladdin instead. "It doesn't sound like you're too down in the dumps…"

Aladdin blinked. "Who said I was?"

The four of them exchanged a glance, then Goofy spoke. "Princess Jasmine."

"She's worried because you're always in town," Donald added. He cocked a teasing eyebrow. "Got a new girlfriend?"

"No way!" Aladdin fervently protested. He hesitated. "Though… I guess there's no foolin' Jasmine, huh?"

"So what's the problem?" Char asked, curiosity prevailing over belligerence in her voice.

"See, Genie and Carpet took off to see the world," Aladdin explained, turning away. "It's what Genie always wanted, so I wished him the best and all, but…"

"You miss him," Goofy finished.

"Man, things must be really quiet with Genie gone," Sora remarked, remembering the madcap antics of the blue genie.

"Yeah," Aladdin confirmed. He swept his dark gaze over the marketplace, currently bustling with an early morning crowd. "That's why I come out here. The action – the people. There's always something goin' on."

Sora thought back to the vision of Roxas and the others, stealing the necklace, and knew Aladdin was right.

"I mean, think about it – I met you guys here today, right?" Aladdin chuckled. "This place is full of surprises." He narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of which… why do you guys have Iago with you?"

"Oh, he wants to apologize for what he did," Sora said. He cast his eyes about and spotted the little red bird, who was currently shivering and shuddering on the ground.

"Uh, Iago? You feelin' okay?" Aladdin blinked.

"That lamp – it was the lamp!" Iago suddenly blurted, nearly crashing into Aladdin's face with how quickly he flew up to him. "I was locked up in that thing for months; there's no way I'd mistake it!"

"Then we'd better go back and talk to that peddler," Aladdin said, his face clouded with anxiety.

"Right." Char glanced at Sora. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Sora nodded, giving what he hoped was an encouraging grin. "Yeah. I just had a little headache there, is all."

"Sure…" Donald muttered skeptically.

(1) If you're not sure why Char's freaked out about those Heartless, think about it. Hades nearly crippled her with that fireball, remember? Sora's just an oblivious idiot, is all. :D
Sora: Oh, thanks a lot.

So, kind of a filler, but at least I got to polish my flashback-writing side a little bit! The little "Ask a Character" thing is still going on, btw. Feel free to ask any character anything. :)
Char: You're in an unnaturally good mood...
Me: It's probably because I got my new iPod yesterday!