After three months of waiting, Chapter 53 is here! :) Sorry it took so long; senior year is proving to be more of a bitch than I thought. Plus I originally wanted to make this chapter longer, but I'd figured you'd all been waiting long enough, lol.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer- Don't own Kingdom Hearts. I do, however, own Char, Anxclof, Copperhead, Falcon, and the Shadowed Desert world.

This was not good. This was not good at all.

Char tightened her grip on the armrests, not daring to take her eyes off what lay ahead of the Gummi ship. She could hear Chip and Dale chattering urgently about what the screen revealed to them, but at the moment, all she could really absorb was the sight of the violet tendrils oozing from the enclosed castle in front of them – the globe that represented Hollow Bastion.

"Hollow Bastion! It's all covered in darkness!" one of the chipmunks cried, and a shifting flash of brown out of the corner of Char's eye revealed that said chipmunk was jumping up and down in his franticness.

"You're right," Sora said from beside Char, alarm audible in his voice. "I wonder what's going on…" He trailed off, as though not wanting to consider the options. Char shared his reluctance to consider it. I know what the problem is, and I don't even want to think about it.

"Sora, we better go down there and check it out," Goofy urged.

"Yeah," Donald agreed fervently.

"Yeah, you guys are right; Leon and the others could be…" Sora cut himself off then; Char had just enough time to wonder why before a tentative tapping against her shoulder made her jolt in her seat. With some effort, she tore her eyes away from what was visible through the green clouds and met Sora's eyes.

"What?" she asked a little roughly.

"Are you okay?" Sora inquired, tilting his head to the side. Char fought back the immediate increase to her heart rate at the genuine concern on his face; the fact that she could vaguely see Donald folding his arms and rolling his eyes behind Sora dampened that feeling considerably, however, and so she found herself responding relatively quickly.

"Of course," she answered. Only now did she realize Sora had never taken his finger off her shoulder, and she moved her shoulder away in what she hoped was a gentle manner. The look on Sora's face as he lowered his hand suggested that that had been a futile effort. "I'm just… worried about Hollow Bastion, is all."

Oddly enough, her strained words held a core of truth to them. However, contrary to what the others were undoubtedly thinking, the desperate worry that had riveted her attention to the darkness seeping out of Hollow Bastion – so powerful in its intensity that it was visible even without the Gummi ship's convenient map – hadn't arisen due to any lingering attachment for her old home.

If the darkness was this strong around Hollow Bastion, then the Heartless were coming more forcefully than ever to the half-ruined world. And if the Organization was utilizing the old Heartless factory near Ansem's study like Char had assumed, then that could only mean Xemnas had decided to make his presence more known to the worlds and tighten the grip of darkness over them – a grip he had already basically established, if the way the Heartless had kept mercilessly coming at Sora and the others in every world was any indication.

Just reflecting on the reason behind her worry made her fingers flex against the armrests of her chair again, as though the familiarity of the leather under her bare fingers would soothe her. Predictably, though, it didn't work, and Char was left cursing her own pathetic need to physically vent her feelings on something.

Thankfully, Sora didn't seem to notice her gesture of agitation; a look of understanding appeared on his face, however, and he turned back to Donald and Goofy. "Let's go," he told the duck, who nodded before flicking a few switches. Accordingly, the Gummi ship began to descend, right into the atmosphere of Hollow Bastion.

As the bright green sky petered off into a haze of bright white cloud, Donald suddenly yelped aloud and very nearly jerked the steering wheel in another direction in his shock. Char followed his gaze and couldn't hold back a tiny shudder as wisps of darkness whipped around them along with the cloudy mist. Unconsciously, she began to breathe a little more quickly, anxiety taking over her composure for a few moments, and she found herself straining for even the slightest glimpse of the bright blue sky beyond the mixture of white and black. Even on the days when storms had rent the air of Hollow Bastion, the cloak of clouds above the gray brick walls had never seemed so thick to her. She knew her own nervousness was giving her that illusion, but it didn't assuage her inner turmoil in the slightest.

As a result of her pounding heart and unease, the feeling of something sliding over her hand nearly startled her out of her seat again. Thankfully, though, like just a few minutes before, she managed to stay where she was, albeit breathing just a little more shakily this time around due to the source of the pressure on her hand.

She didn't dare look up at Sora's face, but she knew he had to be feeling just as nervous as she was if he felt the need to hold her hand as they descended.

Oh, dear gods. Char couldn't help but cringe a bit as it hit her.

He was holding her hand. Very gingerly, but he was still doing it. If her own damned nerves didn't kill her on this trip, the amount of blood rushing to her head would.

Sora's grip tightened very slightly as, all at once, the clouds thinned out and gray-shaded buildings loomed in front of them. Char realized belatedly that, for some reason, she had expected Heartless to be swarming the town and causing it to reflect the black-coated state of the atmosphere. But – an oddity given that the Gummi ship was hovering over the most bustling marketplace in this world, and, therefore, the best Heartless feeding ground – only people were moving about the area.

"We're going to land in the same spot we did last time," Donald announced. As annoying as his voice could be sometimes, the familiar hoarse squawk was a welcome interruption of the tense silence. "Just behind one of these buildings should do." He kept his eyes on the surroundings ahead, which Char felt a surge of gratefulness for. Although he was probably only avoiding eye contact due to not wanting his comrades to see the unease that was audible in his voice, she knew that had he glanced in Sora's direction, the duck would have seen the way the Keybearer's hand was still firmly twined with the redhead's own. And the last thing Char wanted was either a reaction of smugness or suspicion-laden annoyance out of the mage.

"How do you remember back that far?" Sora groaned.

"Because not all of us have the memory capacity of a goldfish?" Char muttered under her breath.

"Hey! I heard that!" the brunette protested. Interestingly enough, not even the force of his indignation was enough to make him take his hand away; Char found that odd, considering that he had immediately backed off when she had rejected his finger against her shoulder.

She also found that she did not know whether or not to object to his newfound boldness.

Donald scoffed, clearly about to say something else; but then he squawked aloud and slammed his foot down on something.

And all at once, the Gummi ship was making landfall in the Hollow Bastion marketplace, and suddenly, the fact that the Organization was using the abandoned factory to churn out Heartless didn't seem as important as the fact that the vessel was moving at an alarming speed toward the building they had planned to land behind.

"Brake! Brake!" Sora yelped, to which Donald shouted back an obligatory reaffirmation as to his knowledge of the validity of Sora's concern. Char didn't know Key-boy could get such a tight grip on something, but her hand was experiencing that all too well right now, much to her chagrin. The sound of Goofy screaming in a high-pitched voice that didn't befit his usual timbre wasn't helping, either.

Fortunately, a couple of the gods must have decided to have mercy on the Keybearer's group, and in the next moment, the Gummi ship skidded to a bumpy stop. Letting out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Char opened her eyes – when had she squeezed them shut, she wondered, before realizing it probably did not matter – and saw that the brightly-colored ship had gotten about a foot and a half away from making close and personal contact with the wall. "Oh… my… gods," she managed.

Even Sora was breathing hard, his face having gone completely white. Considering he had faced down rampaging Heartless, the end of his world, and the despair of having to fight his closest friend in serious combat, his ebbing fear wasn't something to take lightly. "Is everyone okay?" he panted.

"Yeah, I think so," Char murmured, trying to get her breath back. "Just… you're practically crushing my hand, but other than that and about twenty years taken off my life, I'll be okay."

Sora blinked; then his gaze moved to his gloved hand over hers and he recoiled with a start, as though he had kept his hand close to an open flame for too long and almost gotten burned. "Sorry," he muttered, averting his eyes. Char thought she saw his cheeks redden, but then his hair was covering half his face and she couldn't be sure.

"Gawrsh, Donald, y'almost didn't land us right," Goofy remarked breathlessly to his longtime comrade.

"Shut up!" the mage shouted, sounding just as flustered as the rest of them. "I just haven't driven in a while and was rusty, that's all!"

"Sure," Char huffed, folding her arms. "'Rusty,' yeah, that's it."

"At least I landed us on the right world," Donald retorted. "You couldn't even do that much."

Char cringed. Crap, he's right. She recovered just in time to reply. "Yeah, but I didn't almost crash us into a wall," she pointed out. Now that the adrenaline of the moment had made its rounds through her system, she was beginning to remember the reason behind her prior anxiety at coming here in the first place. With the remembrance of that unease came the return of her death grip on the armrest, and she added testily before Donald could muster a response, "Can we get a move on already? We need to figure out what's going on here before darkness eats Hollow Bastion."

"Oh yeah." Donald blinked before narrowing his eyes. "Right. Everybody got healing items?"

"Right here." Goofy withdrew a couple of Hi-Potions from the pocket of his jacket. Char raised one eyebrow, but chose not to comment on Goofy's sense of preparation; instead, she reached into the pocket of her own brown jacket, only to all but freeze as her fingers brushed against something distinctively metallic. In her frantic desire to get here as soon as possible, she had completely forgotten about the Keychain she had put there. Now that she was thinking about it, Char realized how idiotic it had been to just pick up something she couldn't even use. I should probably give it back.

Her fingers clenched around it, but before she could take it out, something took hold of her better judgment and refused to let go. Unbidden, the memory of the shape of the Keychain's charm came back into her mind – Kairi's good-luck charm. And at that moment, she realized the identity of the emotion that had hindered her from just giving the Keychain back to Sora and being done with it: jealousy.

Before she could push that stupidly irrational emotion aside – the fact that Sora's newest Keyblade happened to symbolize the Keybearer's dedication to his friends shouldn't matter to her, after all, and she had no idea why it did – the sound of the aforementioned brunette's voice tugged her out of her thoughts. Hastily, before she could fully absorb what he was saying, she moved her hand away from the Keychain in her pocket and forced herself to search for healing items. Thankfully, she could feel the plastic vial shapes of a couple of extra Potions she had totally forgotten about. "I'm good," she said aloud, not expecting a response. She didn't get one.

The sound of the voice that had distracted her from her own emotions continued, and, glancing over to Sora, she saw he was rummaging through his own pockets in search of healing items. She realized he was naming everything his search yielded aloud, not asking her about her status: a fact that made her relax slightly.

As much as her straining nerves would let her, anyway.

As Sora spoke, he found himself placing everything he found on the dashboard in front of him. "Let's see… Potions, an Ether for Donald, Keychains…" He thought he saw Char tense in the corner of his eye at that last part, but pushed that thought away in favor of counting his Keychains. Something nudged at the back of his mind, something he thought he should remember, and the thought of the oddity of a Keychain being in the same pocket as Kairi's charm came into his mind. Sora shook it aside, figuring that he must have put the Circle of Life in there by mistake.

And yet you found it in the same pocket you keep your other Keychains in. That makes sense, a voice in the back of his mind, sounding disturbingly like Riku and Char combined into one, pointed out. He forced himself to not think about that and stuffed everything back into their previous pockets.

"I think I'm ready to go." He raised his voice above the previous murmur he had been using so his companions could hear him.

Donald nodded, at the same time storing the healing items he himself had found; Sora caught a glimpse of bright blue among them and realized the mage must have entrusted himself with the magic-restoring items remaining among the four comrades. It made sense, considering Donald was the only one who used so much magic – a fact that had always impressed Sora, seeing as how the only magic that the focus required for battle allowed the Keybearer to use was the Curaga chain.

The brunette took a deep breath, suddenly aware of the danger that landing in this world entailed. If, of course, the darkness they had had to navigate through was any indication, then the Heartless had to be swarming around Hollow Bastion in full force even at this moment. The thought sent a flame of newfound urgency roiling through his veins, and for perhaps the thousandth time today he hoped Leon and the others were still all right.

"Let's go, then," he heard himself say.

As the group descended the ramp, Char found herself glancing around with narrowed eyes. A mixture of relief and suspicion began to seep into her veins when no Heartless greeted her eyes: relief that her home wasn't as infested as it had seemed from outside this world, and suspicion that they had not been attacked yet.

She looked up at the flash of movement that appeared in her periphery, only to gasp in shock as a small group of knight-like Heartless came bounding up the stairwell just beyond, their armor clattering all the way. The sounds of her companions echoing her surprise with murmurs of their own went all but ignored to her ears, and she was already beginning to concentrate to summon her dual blades before the Heartless had disappeared at the top of the stairs, announcing their departure only in bursts of purple-swirled black light. Reluctantly, she allowed herself to relax, if only slightly. There's our Heartless, she thought dryly, not knowing whether to feel justified in her previous assumption of the amount of enemies here or even more agitated that she was right.

Not surprisingly, the latter prevailed and made her shift uneasily from one foot to another.

"Do you think…?" Sora began tentatively.

"Looks like there's more Heartless now," Goofy confirmed the brunette's unspoken question.

Char couldn't hold back a muttered "lovely" under her breath, to which Sora cast her a worried look. "You okay, Char?" he asked.

At the audible worry in his voice, the redhead cringed slightly. Nothing she said or did escaped Key-boy anymore, it seemed. She couldn't hold back the small, self-deprecating thought that if she had only stuck to her original mission – revenge – like she had planned, he wouldn't know her so well after only a few weeks. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she murmured in response, the weight of what she was leaving unsaid thick in the back of her throat. Considering that the Organization is kicking their Heartless patrol into overtime just to spite me, I think I'm doing pretty okay.

Sora gave her a doubtful look – the anxiety that surrounded her was obvious even to him, after all – but chose to say nothing about it. "Well –" he began again, only to let out a cry as a set of white blurs undulated across the stairs in front of them.

As quickly as they had arrived, though, the Dusk Nobodies had vanished over the side of the precipice.

"Um…" Donald hesitated, clearly at a loss for words. For once, Char shared his sentiment; the sight of the Nobodies had caught her off guard as well.

"Let's… go check in with everyone," Sora suggested helplessly, saying the only thing that made sense to him right now. If the Heartless and Nobodies were both in this world at the same time, well… He let himself travel back to the last time they had visited Hollow Bastion, when Char had gotten her injury, and those powerful Nobodies with the pink cubes around them had attacked the Keybearer and Leon. The memory of how the Nobodies had almost killed him still made the brunette flinch, but what sent a more powerful surge of concern throughout his body was the possibility that even with Leon's power and Aerith's healing skills, the dual onslaught of Heartless and Nobodies alike might prove to be too much for Sora's friends here.

"I think they're at Merlin's," Goofy quipped.

As Sora nodded and moved toward the steps leading into the next part of the marketplace at a steady trot, Char absent-mindedly followed, at the same time never ceasing in her survey of the area. Her mind remained tense, ever focused on the task at hand in case any enemies took them by surprise and she had to summon her dual swords at that instant. She earned a few odd looks from passersby in the marketplace below due to the expression of concentration on her countenance, but she found herself unable to care very much; Char doubted that they would continue to look at her that way if she saved them from a horde of Heartless.

Or Nobodies, she reminded herself. Her fists clenched as she remembered the Dusks that had escaped deeper into town; hopefully they would be tasting the ends of her blades before long. Thinking of the satisfaction that taking out Nobodies would likely bring conjured up the question as to what she would do if a member of the Organization chose to show himself here.

Or if Anxclof showed up. She nearly tripped over the bottom step of the stairwell that led up to the next floor of the marketplace at the thought of the former Number XIV. Gods, she hadn't even thought about Anxclof; Char had been so preoccupied with thoughts of what kind of havoc the Organization's Heartless could be wreaking on Hollow Bastion, that any thought of the Blade of Vengeance had entirely escaped her.

The redhead unconsciously clenched her fist as the revelation she had had back in Twilight Town came back to her. This reminiscence differed now, though, in that she took a firm hold of her mind and halted it in its action of dodging around the issue. If Anxclof showed up, Char would make it the last battle that the two of them would have, and was prepared to die if that was what it took to take her adversary down and make her stop plaguing Sora for good.

Thinking of that should have boosted her resolve. However, not so surprisingly, thinking of what she would do to protect Sora had an entirely different effect on her. Contemplating her future actions sent a surge of icy fear lancing through her entire body, a fear that, she was ashamed to find out, she understood entirely.

This level of dedication, the dedication she never would have anticipated at the start of this journey, terrified the living crap out of her. And despite knowing that, the feeling of readiness – to do whatever it took to save the stupid Keybearer, even if she sacrificed herself in the process – remained.

Char was so caught up in her rumination that she didn't notice Sora had halted in his tracks until she nearly crashed into his back; thankfully, though, she managed to stop herself in time. Narrowing her eyes, she saw that the rest of her group was looking at something.

She shoved her way to the front of the group, eventually coming to stand at Goofy's other side. When she caught sight of the reason behind the group stopping, the redhead's eyes widened. Although she had only seen the blond-haired young man leaning against the gray-bricked wall before them a few times – one of which she had only been half-awake during, a memory that still sent a surge of hot embarrassment throughout her body – she still recognized the dark trench coat and fox-like badge on his chest.

"Cloud!" Sora greeted, obvious joy in his voice. "You came back to Hollow Bastion!"

"Did you ever find what you were looking for?" Donald added, tilting his head to the side.

Cloud had all but ignored Sora's welcome, but at the mage's words he raised his head, allowing his pale golden fringe to slip away from his eyes. Char almost started at the haunted look in those blue depths. What was he looking for last time he was here, anyway? she couldn't help wondering, and knew that what he sought must be more important than he was letting on if it made him look like this. Cloud looked like he had gone through hell and back since she had last seen him.

Donald's question finally seemed to pierce the fog that clearly surrounded the young man's mind, and Cloud spoke, his voice carrying the hoarse timbre of one who has not used one's voice in a while. "No. But I'll get him."

"Him?" Char thought aloud, folding her arms across her chest. Cloud's gaze slid to her, as did Sora's; this was the first time she had spoken since they had departed from the Gummi ship, after all.

"The one who embodies the darkness in me," Cloud explained after a moment, a moment that was obviously spent in reluctance. As he continued, though, his voice grew steadily stronger. "This time, we're going to settle it."

"Darkness?" Donald asked. "I thought you looked kinda different last time, Cloud."

Cloud snorted. "If I do, it's his fault."

Char raised one eyebrow. "You must be pretty desperate for help. Last time, you wouldn't even tell us why you were staying here."

Cloud simply averted his gaze, as though knowing the truth of her words but too stubborn to voice his agreement aloud.

"So," Sora tried after a moment of awkward silence, "who's the one who embodies your darkness, anyway?" As he finished his query, the thought that maybe Cloud had a Nobody he was trying to track down crossed his mind. The possibility coaxed a shiver out of Sora; he had had a difficult enough time fighting Cloud during his very first trip to the Coliseum. He didn't want to have to take down a doppelganger of his friend, especially with the Heartless infestation in this world to worry about.

"His name is Sephiroth," Cloud muttered, spitting out the name as though just the implication of the word flitting across his mind incited disgust within him. "Tell me if you see him."

Seeing Cloud's newfound desire to spill everything about what he was looking for, Char felt something odd within her. It took her a moment to place its name: sympathy, and the feeling of identifying with the dark-clad blond.

If I had told Sora and the others everything about my past, and what I was searching for, she thought, then where would I be now? Where would we be now?

She risked a glance at the brunette, who was eyeing Cloud with a mixture of determination and curiosity and concern rolled into one on his countenance. The way Sora could manage to fit that much emotion in one facial expression surprised her, considering that before this journey had even begun she had thought of him only as a brave, but somewhat vapid defender of the worlds. For some reason, thinking of the way things had changed between then and now caused something to burn at the back of her eyes.

"Yeah, we'll keep an eye out for him," Sora was saying. "What does he look like?"

Cloud shrugged one shoulder. "Silver hair. Carries a long sword."

Sora nodded. "Sure. Well, we'll be seeing you, Cloud."

As he turned away, Cloud suddenly said, "Wait," effectively catching all four of them off guard. Looking vaguely uncomfortable at having the entire group's attention on him, Cloud went on. "Be careful. He gets inside your head – makes you think darkness is the only way."

Char blinked, about to say that she doubted they would have a problem in that regard, when a gentle voice sounded.

"Is something wrong?"

She glanced over and spotted Aerith walking toward them from the direction of the marketplace. "Aerith," Char said, the sight of someone she knew assuaging some of the anxiety in her gut. The female brunette cast the redhead a small smile of greeting before looking back at Cloud expectantly.

"Uh…" Sora began, but Cloud was already turning and walking away from them.

When the blond realized that Aerith was following him, though, he halted in his tracks and pivoted back around to face her. "Nothing," he murmured, to which Aerith raised one eyebrow and put her fists on her hips. Char knew that that would be about as close as the flower girl would get to a scornful remark as to the blatant lie behind Cloud's statement.

Seeing the skepticism in Aerith's eyes, Cloud quickly looked away, down at the ground. "I don't want you involved."

This time, Aerith leaned back, her arms dropping back down at her sides. "You mean you don't want me there when you go away again," she said at last, quietly accusing.

"I just –" Cloud hesitated then, actually hesitated, much to Char's surprise. "Listen," he said, "even if I go far away, I'll come back."

"Do you mean it?" Aerith asked, and Char was shocked to hear an almost teasing undertone to her voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sora exchange a glance with his two animal comrades, and understood their bewilderment. Before now, Cloud had always seemed to keep the residents of Hollow Bastion at arm's length, kept them away from his best-kept secrets, had never seemed to want them to know anything about him.

"Yeah." Cloud's voice was barely audible now as he looked at the brick of the wall next to Aerith.

"But you don't look so sure," Aerith mused aloud, causing Cloud to glance back at her, his mouth open to say something else. Before he could, however, her finger had come up to his lips and effectively silenced him. "I understand – go get things settled."

"Hm?" was all Cloud could say behind the quieting barrier of her finger.

A smile twitched against Aerith's own lips. "No matter how far away you are… once you find your light, I'm sure it will lead you back here again." She lowered her hand, and Cloud's mouth immediately dropped slightly ajar. The sight would have amused Char, were she not feeling somewhat awkward for knowing this moment wasn't hers to see. Even in her periphery, she could see Sora felt the same; he was determinedly staring at the ground, clearly uncomfortable.

Or maybe he was thinking about himself and Kairi in the context of Aerith's statement. That irrational jealousy began to make its rounds through her heart again at the thought, and she found herself fingering the charm at the end of the Keychain that still lay in her pocket.

Goofy cast her a mildly suspicious look then, and Char realized that her feelings must have shown on her face. Quickly, she pulled her hand out of her jacket and put it on her hip instead, hoping he would turn around and forget about it, which he eventually did.

Cloud had remained silent during Char's lapse from reality, but now he spoke again. "I suppose."

This time, Aerith's smile took over her mien entirely. "Then I'll stay here… and I'll cheer for you. Okay, Cloud?"

"Okay," was all he said in response. But, looking at his face very closely, Char could have sworn she saw a light pink dust the bridge of his nose.

Then he walked down the stairs toward the borough and disappeared from view.

"Wonder if he'll be okay," Aerith murmured aloud as she watched him go, bringing up a hand to her chin.

"He'll be fine," Sora quipped, startling Char and the others; they had all but forgotten he was there. "He's got light in him somewhere."

Aerith looked at the Keybearer for a moment, then gave a subdued smile. "You're right."

She made as if to head toward the borough, and Char realized that she could glean some knowledge of her former home's status from the flower girl. "Hey, um, Aerith," she called hastily, and the female brunette turned to face them, eyebrows raised expectantly. "Is… is Hollow Bastion okay?"

Aerith tipped her head to the side, considering Char's question.

"It's just," Sora intervened, seeing the redhead's hesitation to reveal any more, "we were coming toward this world with the Gummi ship, and it was kind of…" He trailed off, staring at the ground.

"Covered in darkness," Donald finished. Goofy gave a helpless nod of agreement, for once not chiding the mage on his bluntness.

Aerith sighed. "It's been better, that's for sure. We're working the defense system into overtime." To Char, she asked, "Do you remember how I told you the more familiar the defense mechanism is with a type of enemy, the easier a time it has holding the enemy back?"

Char started a little, having not expected Aerith to address her. Now that she was forced to think about it, she could remember Aerith telling her as much; that day she had shouted at Sora and the female brunette had gently moved her to the conclusion that taking Sora to the field would suffice as an apology. The memory of how she had treated Sora still made Char cringe a bit, but thankfully she managed to keep her emotions in check. "Uh, yeah," she said. "That the mechanism has to read the enemy's signature in order to know how best to combat it."

Aerith nodded in confirmation of Char's understanding before looking back at Sora and the others. "We're trying to keep these new types of Heartless from overrunning the town, but it's hard."

"Good thing we came along when we did, then!" Goofy said, strained buoyancy in his tone. Donald gave a squawk of agreement, though even that seemed feigned.

Sora grinned and folded his arms. "Yeah, we'll help out."

Aerith gave the group a smile of relief. "Thank you, Sora."

"Where are Leon and the others?" Char asked, impatience working into her tone despite herself.

"At Merlin's house," Aerith explained.

Sora nodded. "Then let's go." Without another word, he began to make his way toward the borough and Merlin's house, in the wake of Cloud's footsteps.

Char started to follow after them, only to stop when she realized that no pink-bedizened shape was moving toward them. "Are you coming?" she asked, causing Aerith to halt in her own tracks and glance over her shoulder.

The flower girl shook her head, genuine regret on her face. "I would, but we're running out of healing items and…"

Char cut her off with a shake of her head. "Ah, no, I get it. I'll see you later, then."

She wasn't sure what possessed her then, but, almost against her own will, she found herself reaching into her pocket – the one that was currently filled with vials of blue liquid – and drawing out a single Potion. To her credit, Aerith only looked mildly confused as Char slapped the panacea into her hand.

"You need it more than I do," she muttered, feeling a strange need to justify her spontaneous generosity.

"Thanks." Aerith allowed her a small smile before turning on her heel and heading back into the marketplace.

Char watched the older girl fade into a brown-and-pink silhouette among the throngs of people before allowing the sigh that had percolated within her to escape.

"Char, hurry up!" Donald roared from further down the slope.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "I'm coming!" she shouted back, already shifting into a steady run.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had waited for her at the edge of the marketplace. As she slowed to a stop in front of them, stumbling just slightly over the edge of a protruding piece of concrete, Sora wondered why she had stayed behind in the first place. Nostalgia hadn't made her do so, surely; any sort of wistfulness she could have felt toward her old home had been thoroughly eclipsed by her agitation at the thought of the Heartless permeating this world, after all. Thinking of that anxiety made Sora itch to heed the impulse that had taken over him back on the Gummi ship and grab her hand in his, but something told him now wasn't the time to act stupid. He knew the only reason she hadn't bothered to punish him for that heedless action on his part was because she was clearly so antsy.

"Sorry," she panted. "I… needed to give Aerith something."

"Like what?" Goofy cocked his head to the side, making his long ears swing.

"Nothing you need to know about," she answered fairly smoothly, moving past them and further into town. After a few steps, she turned and gave them an impatient look. "Are you guys coming or not?"

"Of course we are!" Donald immediately stormed past her, staff already in hand. Goofy cast Sora a bemused look and a shrug, which the brunette returned, before following. Sora tried to hold back the sense of foreboding that was building in his belly at the openly suspicious look Donald gave her.

The Keybearer caught up with Char, who, as always, had taken up her position at the rear of the group. "Are you okay?" he asked her for the second time that day, keeping his voice low.

Char rolled her eyes, though he sensed that even that display of contempt contained a bit of hesitation. "I told you before, I'm fine."

No, you're not, Sora thought, annoyed, but said nothing. "Well, then can I at least know what you gave to Aerith?"

Char's stride faltered as Sora spoke those words. At first he thought it was because of his question, but then he saw that the intermittent limp had taken over her gait. His heart twinged in guilt at the sight, the pang so poignant in its strength that he nearly gasped aloud then and there. He supposed thinking about the way she had nearly sacrificed her ability to walk to protect him would never stop making him feel guilty, but it was still an unwelcome emotion – that, and the thought that nothing he could do for her would make up for the debt he still owed her for that.

The sound of Char's voice, barely audible as it was, effectively pulled him out of any chance to drown in his thoughts. He frowned. "What?"

"I gave her a Potion! Okay?" Char barked, albeit in a low voice so as not to be overheard by their comrades. He didn't know whether to feel pleased that she wanted to confide in him, or suspicious that she felt she couldn't say something like this in Donald and Goofy's earshot.

Sora tilted his head to the side, a playful grin moving slowly across his face in spite of himself. Even though Char had ducked her head immediately after telling him, he could still see the light heating of her face, visible due to the paler shade of red that made it easy to distinguish it from the dark crimson bangs covering her eyes.

"Really?" he drawled.

"I know it was a stupid idea," Char grumbled, "but I figured just helping them out with that one item would be –" His remark seemed to hit her at that moment and she jerked her head up, bemusement in her gaze and on her face. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, nothing," Sora laughed, amusement overtaking him at Char's flustered expression. "I just didn't expect you to care so much about the people who live here, is all."

Char snorted, folding her arms and averting her gaze. "Oh, whatever. I knew if I didn't help Aerith out somehow, I'd never hear the end of it from you."

"Sure," Sora chuckled, and was gratified to hear her let out a tiny grunt of surprise before she recovered herself and returned to glaring straight ahead.

He followed suit, although with a considerably gentler gaze than Char's. It hit him, for the first time, that they hadn't come across any Heartless on their way to Merlin's house. No Nobodies, either.

"Why are there so few Heartless around?" he murmured aloud.

Char glanced over, one eyebrow rising over an ice-blue eye. The mannerism behind her action made Sora think that he should know this already, a feeling that intensified when she responded. "Because the defense mechanism is killing the crap out of itself keeping the town safe?" she said. "Honestly, Key-boy, do you not know how to listen?"

Then why was there so much darkness around Hollow Bastion when we looked? Sora chose not to speak that question and instead laughed, a little self-deprecatingly. "Right, right…"

By this time they had arrived in front of Merlin's house. Donald stared at them, his arms crossed and one foot tapping impatiently. "It took you two long enough," he growled.

Char rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. "At least we got here at all."

"She's got a point there, Donald," Goofy shyly pointed out from where he stood on the duck's other side.

"Oh, shut it, you big palooka!" Donald muttered, glowering at nothing in particular. At the mildly shocked looks from his comrades, he looked back at them with actual contrition in his gaze. "Sorry," he said.

Sora shrugged. "It's okay. I think we're all a little… high-strung right now," he finished pathetically.

Listening to the brunette's futile attempt at reassurance, Char found herself agreeing with his words. Just the thought of the Organization – or Anxclof – showing themselves here and now made her fidget and think about summoning her dual blades just in case.

"Well, maybe Merlin'll know somethin'," Goofy suggested.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, you're right." As he began to make his way forward, Donald and Goofy wordlessly moved to take their places behind the Keybearer. Looking back at them, Sora shivered at the thought of losing any of his comrades now, at the thought of letting them down – even the sarcastic, bad-tempered redhead who had come to mean so much to him.

"Let's go," was all he said, and the others followed him through the doorway and into Merlin's house.

They were greeted by the sight of Cid in his customary position in front of the computer, typing something frantically while Yuffie looked on over the older man's shoulder. Hearing the door open, though, they turned in their respective tasks to see Sora and his companions approach. "Hey, everybody!" Yuffie chirped, grinning for some reason. Sora knew it was just the way she was – the self-proclaimed ninja was liable to find the silver lining in even these circumstances – but he still wondered why she looked so pleased.

"You're just in time," Cid added. "Got some good news for ya, so get yerselves over to Leon's."

Sora cocked his head to the side. "What kind of news?"

"We found the computer Ansem was using!" Yuffie grinned.

Sora heard Char draw in a sharp breath on his other side, and turned to look at her. "What's wrong?" he asked, ignoring the wide-eyed looks Donald and Goofy were exchanging on his other side. Even though he still did not know the source of the Disney residents' suspicion toward Char, Sora realized that now they might have a point. That she had had such a drastic reaction to hearing such news about the enemy Sora had fought so hard to defeat in the past… it was the impetus for a strange sinking feeling to coalesce deep within his gut. He wanted to believe Char had nothing to do with the Heartless or Nobodies, but now it seemed like his desperate trust of her – along with the other emotion he couldn't think of without feeling like he had betrayed Kairi – had been in vain.

The redhead started, as though she had forgotten her surroundings. "Uh, yeah," she managed. "Ansem, right? That guy you fought before?" Even as she spoke, though, a kind of tremor marked her voice, as though she didn't quite believe what she was saying.

"Yeah…" Sora trailed off.

Cid looked slightly confused, but continued anyway. "Well, you should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization."

"And maybe something on the dark realm?" the Keybearer asked, his heart beginning to pound, Char's odd behavior all but forgotten. If Ansem's computer really held as much information as Cid was purporting it to, then maybe he could get some information on Riku's state.

And Kairi… Just thinking of the way Kairi had been stolen away from Twilight Town – when he had been so close to getting her back – made Sora clench his fist.

At the curiosity on Cid and Yuffie's faces, Goofy explained, "Seems like that's where Riku and Kairi are." He shot a worried look in Sora's direction, at which the brunette forced himself to calm down and give the knight a reassuring smile.

"And the King," Donald cut in.

Cid shrugged. "Go see for yourselves."

"It can't hurt!" Yuffie added.

Char had remained silent up until now, so the sound of her voice startled everyone in the room, Sora especially. "We can get to it through the castle postern."

Donald narrowed one eye at her. "And you know this how?"

Sora half-expected her to fire back a scathing remark as to the duck's questionable intelligence. Instead, though, she lowered her head to stare at the ground, a shadow crossing her face.

Seeing Char like this – clearly anxious, to the point where any trace of her typical fire had all but diminished – concern took hold of the Keybearer's heart and refused to let go. Before he could say anything in the way of a gentle remark, though, Char looked back up at them. "I used to live around that area," she said, clearly having decided to reveal at least that much. "Me and the rest of the researchers."

Although hesitation veiled her words, as though she had her own reservations about divulging this, Sora's heartbeat kicked up nonetheless. At last – at long last she was revealing parts of her past that she had previously left to her companions to deduce on their own. While she had obviously chosen to confess that small amount of information under duress, the fact remained that she had at least succumbed that much. Sora found himself leaning closer to her, hoping with so much fervency that it pounded through his body and left him near breathless that she would say more.

But Cid was already speaking, effectively cutting off any chance she could have taken to do so. "Well then, Char," he growled, "lead yer friends there. Leon's waiting."

Char looked briefly startled at Cid's words, particularly the part about taking the lead in lieu of Sora. But just as quickly as the surprise had appeared, it had vanished, replaced by a mask of cold determination. "Gotcha," she said, and turned toward the door.

"Hey!" Donald shouted indignantly after her.

Char whirled around on her heel and glowered in a way that made even the grizzled Cid raise one eyebrow. "What?" she spat.

Donald was used to her displays of anger, however, and merely narrowed his eyes in response. "What about Sora?" he asked icily, and though he said no more, even the brunette himself could hear the accusatory tone in the duck's words.

Sora winced, hating to have to get in the middle of the argument-in-waiting, especially when Char looked so close to summoning her blades right then and there. "Uh, if Char knows the way, then we should follow her, right?" he asked hastily, hoping the glance he cast in Char's direction conveyed all the urgency he felt to find Ansem's computer as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the redhead seemed to understand. Her proverbial hackles fell, and she simply let out a tiny huff before turning back around. Donald looked somewhat irritated and opened his mouth, as if to protest, but a swift, pleading stare from Sora rendered him silent but for a few annoyed grumbles.

"Oh, hey, before I forget," Char said abruptly, still not looking at any of the others, "Cid, Yuffie – go ahead and turn off the defense mechanism between here and the Postern."

Cid looked skeptical. "Sure you want to do that?"

"Oh, come on," Yuffie argued. "If anyone can handle the Heartless, these guys can." She winked at Sora, which caused him to let out a startled grunt. Though they couldn't see it, a tiny smirk tugged at one corner of Char's mouth at the sound.

"She's right, Sora," Goofy quipped, smiling encouragingly at the aforementioned boy. "You're the Keyblade wielder, after all."

Sora tried to return the smile, but any attempt to do so felt feigned. "Well, then, Char," he said, moving to stand at the redhead's side, trying to ignore the glance she shot him and how he could see her fingers trembling even from here. "Lead the way."

Sorry for the mild OOC for Char early in this chapter. I figure the Oathkeeper would serve as a reminder of everything she couldn't have with Sora, so she might get just an eense bit pissed off thinking about it.

Anyway, yeah, things are gonna get good after this... x3 Reviews will inspire me to update sooner!