I have just gotten my 50th review! Just in time for the mansion. Yuffie?

Yuffie: "Alright! DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything other than his plot and O.C.s. And guess what? The first one shows up in this chapter! Woot!"

This is why Riku likes her. She's really excited.

Yuffie: "He what?"

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Chapter 15: Memories of the Mansion

Sora, Kairi, and Hayner were soon joined by Riku's group.

"Beat you here!" Sora called when he saw them walking from the forest. They looked unharmed, for which he was grateful.

"Yeah, yeah, you beat us." Riku said, rolling his eyes.

"Tough going?"

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Riku said, he pointed at Pence. "You've gotta see this guy in action. He must've smashed like two hundred Heartless on his own!"

Pence smiled humbly as Hayner gave him a pat on the back.

"Welp, I see you're all here!" Came the squeaky voice from the forest. Everyone turned at the sound and saw the King walking out from the foliage, flanked by Goofy and Olette. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah." Sora said, "Hakuna Matata!"

"Excuse me?" Mickey asked, looking puzzled. Everyone was looking at Sora confused. All except Donald and Goofy, who grinned.

"I'll tell you later." Sora replied. He turned back to the mansion. "So shouldn't we be going in?"

"Yep, lets do it." The King said.

The group walked through the large stone gates of the mansion and into a kind of courtyard. Rose bushes lined the wall at either side of them. They walked up a cobblestone pathway leading to the front doors. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were at the front.

Sora pointed his blade at the doors, and heard the tell-tale clicks of the tumblers. He pushed the two doors open.

The huge foryer was before them. The paint on the walls was more chipped than Sora remembered it. There were bits of dried spackle littering the floor. Most of the window panes at the far end of the room (which showed the mansion's back yard) were cracked. A few bits of rubble were scattered across the room.

He didn't remember so much rubble being here.

As if reading his thoughts, Riku spoke. "Something happened here." Riku leaned down and picked up a chunk of stone that had probably once been a statue of some sort. "Recently. This thing is warm."

"That's weird..." Sora said. The wierdness continued.

As soon as Sora, Kairi, and Riku were all fully in the mansion, the empty doorway flashed briefly. The trio looked at the spot from one side, and the rest from the other. Donald walked forward to test it out, and regretted it.

His fingers met something. For the briefest of moments the nine of them saw a transparent, but very solid barrier. A half second later, Donald was tossed backwards by some invisible force all the way back to the front gate. He landed with a thud, causing the others to worry and call his name.

He got up a few seconds later with rumpled feathers and a bump on his head. He was grumbling to himself while he glared at the doorway as if it had just insulted his mother.

Sora had just enough time to make eye contact with King Mickey as he turned around. But then the doors slammed shut with a resounding crash that echoed through the old room, shaking a bit of loose debri from it's resting place.

Sora spun around immediately, and scanned the room. His hand was out in front of him, ready to summon the Keyblade if necessary. But nothing stepped forth to challenge them, and it was silent.

In fact it was too silent, he decided. There was absolutely no noise but their barely noticable breathing. The silence was somehow louder and more oppressive than any battle or explosion. Looking back later , he found a perfect way to phrase it:

The calm before the storm.

"I don't like this." Kairi muttered.

"I know." Sora agreed, "There's something here."

"Something from the dark." Riku added.

"Axel?" Kairi suggested. He doubted it. This didn't feel quite like Axel's style (which he knew about through Roxas). Plus, he wasn't so sure that Axel was against them anymore.

"No, I don't think so." Sora said. "If it were, he'd be standing right over there, monologing to us. And making sure he slipped 'Got it memorized' into his speech, somewhere."

They all had a good chuckle, which lightened the mood considerably. That was always one of Sora's best qualities, he could make you laugh. It was one of the reason's Kairi fell so hard for him.

"Let's check the rooms, and see what we can find."

Sora led the way up the stairway, and took a left. He pushed open the door he found there, and stepped into a room that Roxas remembered well.

The room was totally white. The smooth floor, walls, and ceiling shone pure white –in stark contrast to the crumbling, dark rooms behind them. The long table and it's chairs were white, the mantle place was white. Evan the vase and flowers on the table were totally white.

All about the room were drawings, all of them done with colored pencils. As Sora strode slowly through the room, he saw that many of them portrayed people, places or events that he recognized. He wondered what this place was. Who had made these drawings?

His question was soon answered. He felt a strange tingling sensation on his temple, and seconds later, a transparent Roxas was standing next to him looking at one of the drawings. He was smiling.

"I remember when I came here..." Roxas said.

"So do I." said a new voice. Sora turned around and saw a transparent blonde girl with blue eyes in a white dress. Namine walked to Roxas's side and looked at the same picture. He could see him grasp her hand.

"My entire life changed in this room." Roxas said reminiscantly. Sora and Kairi craned their necks to get a better view of the drawing they were looking at. A drawing of Sora and Roxas together.

"'You and Sora are connected'." Roxas quoted, ""And in order for Sora to become completely whole again, he needs you, Roxas'."

Sora's eyes widened a bit, and he traded a glance with Kairi. This was something private going on between their Nobodies, so they retreated into a corner and tried to be invisible. Riku stepped back into the hallway.

"I owe you a lot Namine." Roxas was saying. "You were there for me when I needed some guidance. I'd probably have been re-captured by the Organization if you hadn't helped me."

"It was my pleasure." She said, smiling up at him. "You needed help, and I wanted to be there for you."

"Thank you." Roxas said. He leaned down and kissed Namine gently. Namine smiled against their kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Back in the corner, Sora and Kairi smiled. He put his arm around her shoulders. Roxas and Namine's kiss was so strong that it actually made them shiver.

After a minute, they pulled away and turned to their others.

"Kairi, Sora?" Namine asked, "Would you please take these drawings away from here? I'd like them to be safe."

"Sure." Kiair responded with an understanding smile. The two ex-Nobodies smiled gratefully, and then vanished in twin flashes of gold and blue.

As Kairi went about collecting the drawings and placing them carefully in an inside pocket of her robe, Sora walked over to the single long window in the room and pulled back the curtains (also white). He looked down at the courtyard for his friends still outside. They appeared nervous wrecks, and Sora could only assume that there was no way around the shield at the door.

He hated seeing his friends worried, so he started waving his arms back and forth and hopping up and down. He was aware that he would look silly, but he had to get their attention. After a few moments, Goofy finally looked up and alerted the others.

As soon as they saw Sora in the window, their expressions softened. They were relieved beyond belief to see their friend safe. He gave them a noticable thumbs up, which they returned.

When he turned around again, he saw that Kairi had collected all of Namine's drawings. "We ready to go?" He asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

They crept out of the room and rejoined Riku. He was leaning against the wall overlooking the foryer, and turned his head at their approach. He smiled, "How are my four little lovebirds doing?"

"And how are my little Riku and Yuffie doing?" Sora countered. Riku's smirk was replaced by an embarrased blush.

"Come on. Let's check out the basement." He said.

The group walked across to another door on the second story. They stepped cautiosly through, and peered around the library. It was empty, and there was the staircase leading to Ansem's old poop headquarters. The three walked carefully down the stairs, and into the darkened hallway under the mansion.

Sora led the way, listening for anything unusual, keeping his eyes trained ahead for any sign of movement. They made a left turn, and saw the door to the computer room. It was closed, but through the crack it's edge, faint light was shining through.

He turned and whispered very quietly, "Be ready." They nodded in affirmation. They crept closer to the door, and Sora shoved it open quickly.

At the other side of the room standing at the computer with his back to them was a young man. Unconscious at his feet was the man that they had been sent to help. Axel had been bruised and beaten quite a bit. The figure didn't move at all when Sora entered with his friends right behind him.

The man was covered in red and black. He wore a blood red jacket that went down to his knees with artistically painted black flames at the hems, it's hood was up. His pants and boots were black as well. He had a dark aura about him, this was clearly a powerful being.

"Riku," He said with his back still to them. "Sora, Princess. I'm happy to finally meet you."

"Turn around and step away from Axel and we'll see how happy you are." Sora said threateningly.

"As you wish..." He said.

Slowly, he turned around. His jacket was open in the front, revealing a black T-shirt. A strange symbol was on it. It was a strange red three-pronged symbol surrounded by a circle of black, with spikes at the end of each prong. The hood covered up most of his face, so Sora couldn't see much other than the smirk on the man's lips.

That smirk looks familiar...

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

The man lifted his hands slowly to grasp either side of his hood. Just as slowly, he pushed it back off his head.

He had jet black hair that was spiked and flowing off his head to just below his shoulder blades. His eyes were a sickly yellow color. Both of these traits were foreign to Sora, but he had a face that he knew quite well. His previous question was answered before the man even opened his mouth.

"My name is Ruxik." He said with that same smirk. "And I am your Nobody, Riku."

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Bum Bum BUUUM! I'll explain it in the next chapter. So how many of you expected that? Sorry if this chapter was too boring for your tastes, there's a boss battle soon. Please review.

Elevategirl: Thank you!

Shinku Ryuuga: I've had moments like that. Never turns out so well for me.

Craxuan: Thank you!

Sniper Rifle Chief: Thank you. I hope you like it more later.

Voltair27: Yeah, I'm working on it.

Silk Dragon: (winks) Thank you. And you really should try them out, they're awesome!