Alright, so this is 4 out of the 4 chapters that will be posted consecutively. Hopefully I can do this without tiring myself out, since it's been a while—although short—since I've had to write. I'm no longer sick, by the way. XD

Marie's "male" outfit:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Marie-s-Land-of-Dragons-outfit-204569547

Chapter Twelve
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Confusion

After finishing off two assignments from the captain, he sent Sora and Mulan on the third one. He wanted to see how Mulan, or Ping did with less people around her. I didn't mind that she went with Sora, because it meant that he was far away from me.

...I know that sounded really mean, but with the constant staring from him I was feeling uncomfortable. A break was needed, and I was feeling fatigued as well. I overexerted myself a little while fighting with this Keyblade, and it's like I don't notice my own stamina or whatever. I shifted a bit, and I heard something jingle. I looked down at the chest, and I dug my hand underneath my turtleneck. I took out a golden necklace with a crown on it, and I looked at it.

I never knew where this necklace came from, but for some reason wearing it made me feel safe and secure. I was always calm holding onto this necklace...

And yet...for some reason, I feel really sad. I feel like I'm forgetting something about this necklace, something important. You know, I've been feeling like that about this necklace for a while now, even back when I was at Twilight Town. I told myself I would never truly feel happy until I find out what I'm missing about this necklace...and it still stands. There's an empty spot in my heart, and I feel like it's changing me.

I shook my head, and sighed as I leaned back against the rock. I stared into the sky, until a trio of annoying soldiers blocked my view. "What do you want?" I said, voice cracking just a bit.

"Your face is too baby-faced," the short and stubby man said. I didn't really think they would start to catch on, or maybe they didn't. Maybe they were insulting me? If so, it really wasn't effective, in fact, that would be a compliment.

"Come back when you got better insults," I said plainly. I tried sounding like a disinterested teen-boy, but I don't think I was doing a good job. The very big guy started rubbing his belly, and wondered off muttering something about food. The tall and lanky guy ran off to follow him, and the short and stubby guy continued to look at me. Ugh, this is getting old.

"What the hell is that necklace for?" he said, finally staring at something else, though not really comforting. I jumped a bit at the question, and I was sweating trying to think of something. My mouth, however, thought of something else.

"S-someone gave it to me," I said, voice cracking. I wanted to slap my face and hide in the dirt, since this was getting real uncomfortable. He continued to stare, until he started smirking. I'm not liking this so far.

"Ooooh, so it's from a sweetheart?" he said. I almost choked on my own spit, and didn't know how to handle this. Do I say no? Or do I say yes? I closed my eyes for a brief moment, and thought about it. Okay, done.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. I figured I would possibly fit in more if I said yes, and hopefully he would get off my back. All I got was a punch on the arm, and a very witty remark from the guy. He walked away, and I was left to sit against my rock looking at my necklace. I sighed heavily, and took it off.

I can't let anyone know about this necklace, or someone might think it's actually mine instead of my "sweetheart". I quickly shoved it on my pocket, and continued to hang out against my rock while watching Donald and Goofy grab some food.

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Sora

Getting rid of the last Heartless around, Sora wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Ping placed her sword away, and she walked over to Sora. She was very scared about fighting, but she was learning. She was quite grateful.

"I think that's the last of 'em," reported Sora, who looked around the area. He sighed quite happily, and wanted to get back to Donald, Goofy and Marie. When he thought of the blonde teen however, he frowned.

"You sure don't look happy about it," replied Ping, noticing the look on Sora's face. He quickly looked away, and Ping tilted her head in confusion. "Something wrong?"

Sora quickly composed himself, and smiled brightly at the woman. He didn't want to frown or anything, and as much as it was about Marie, he had to make sure everyone else was alright. He rubbed his nose, and then placed his hands behind his head. "Nah, I'm just ready to go back to the camp."

Ping smiled at Sora, and the both of them walked back to the camp. They walked with the rambling of Mushu, and for a moment, Sora forgot about his problems hearing Mushu. But then the memories of back then started coming up, and Sora sighed quietly.

Marie sure was very angry about the Neverland situation.

ଓ
Marie

I was fixing my shoe when I began to hear footsteps. I looked up, and saw Ping, Sora and Mushu return. I quickly got up, and started walking towards them. I was relieved that nothing bad happened to them, since they're my comrades. It wouldn't be any good if they were injured, since Sora's our leader, and Ping is suppose to be training to become better.

"Oh good, you guys are back," I said, trying not to look girly. I looked over to Ping, and smiled at her. When I looked over to Sora, I noticed that he looked occupied with himself. I didn't want to bother him with whatever he had to think about, so I just continued to smile at Ping as we walked towards the captain.

"You did well," he said as he looked at all of us. He still wasn't sure of Ping's skills, but Sora reverted back to his old self and encouraged the captain to think otherwise. Donald, Goofy and I backed him up, and even Ping said she'd take on another mission to prove it. The captain was convinced, and told us to secure the path leading to the summit. He and his men would come after, so we'd have to be alert.

We left the area, and started heading out towards the summit. Ping and I got into our own little girl conversation, while Sora, Donald and Goofy talked about something else. You know, it felt really nice talking to another girl. Talking to Ping wasn't like talking to Olette, though. She's my best friend, and will always be.

"Say, the captain's pretty cute," I said, talking casually, since it was just us. I looked over to Ping, and I noticed that she was blushing. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Ping probably agreed with me. She just didn't word it out loud like I did.

"I-I don't think we should be talking about him like that," she stuttered. Oh Ping, you know it's true. But I wasn't going to bring it out of her if she didn't want to say it. I just nudged her, and she blushed even more.

As we walked further and further towards the summit, it suddenly got a lot colder. I looked up, and noticed a tall, snowy mountain. I started rubbing my arms, so that I would keep myself warm. We stopped when we noticed some of the soldiers walking by, specifically those three weird ones.

They complimented Ping about doing a good job, and we were all happy. She was happy herself, but she was eagerly waiting for when the captain would say "good job".

Speaking of captains, he arrived not too long, and stopped in front of us. Sora and Donald told him how good of a job Ping was doing, and he actually let Ping join the army. However, he still wasn't convinced, and I puffed my cheeks. What would it take for him to be convinced?

In any case, the captain walked ahead, while we walked along with the three other soldiers. We eventually made it to the second camp—which was a village—that was filled with snow. I wasn't expecting it, since it was pretty hot down by the recruitment camp.

Mushu stuck his head out from Ping's armour, and started talking about how he saw a real shady guy that looked like Shan-Yu. She gasped, and immediately raised her guard. I still wasn't sure exactly who this Shan-Yu guy was, but he was the enemy, and I think that was all I needed to know. Ping suggested we go and tell the captain, and I agreed. When we were about to leave, Mushu told us to wait and hear him out.

"Let's go find out where Shan-Yu is, by ourselves," he said, talking about how doing this will prove Ping's abilities and restore honour to her family. I was very iffy about this, since it didn't really seem like a good idea. After a while though, Ping decided that we should go and check it out. I had to say something, though.

"Well, if you guys are going, shouldn't one of us at least stay here?" I asked. Ping placed a finger on her chin, and thought about it. It made sense. While they were out trying to find this Shan-Yu, someone would be here to tell them what has been going on when they come back.

After a while, Ping looked at me, and nodded. Sora's eyes widened a bit, and my guess was he didn't want to leave anyone behind, but it was fine with me. I actually wanted to stay here, so I told her. "Okay then, I'll stay here while you guys find Shan-Yu."

Ping nodded, and asked Mushu where he saw Shan-Yu. He told the gang that he was in a cave just outside the village, and Ping, Sora, Donald and Goofy nodded. Before leaving though, Sora walked up to me.

"Hey, if there's any problems here come straight to me, okay?" he said. He looked a little worried, which was weird for him. But thinking back on our last adventure, I do remember that I had those fainting episodes. I didn't want to worry anyone, even if that person was acting weird.

"Don't worry, Sora. I'll be fine with everyone else," I smiled at him, and raised my hand. He raised his eyebrow, and when he understood that I wanted a high five, he returned it quite eagerly. He hurried to the cave along with the others, and I was left in the village to observe any abnormalities.

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Sora

Sora, Ping, Donald and Goofy all walked towards the cave just outside of the village. Once inside, they observed the area. There was nothing wrong with it so far, and as they stalked further inside it looked the same. Once they reached the centre of the cave, they all went to spread out evenly to look around. Sora noted that nothing was in the cave, and Mushu was sure there was someone in the cave.

"Oh, well..." said Donald, walking back to the entrance. Goofy quickly followed the duck, leaving behind both Sora and Ping. As soon as Sora was about to leave, a sudden barrier appeared between Sora, Donald and Goofy. Ping and Sora were on the other side, while Donald and Goofy were closer to the entrance.

What they hadn't seen, however, was the fact that Shan-Yu wasn't standing too far from the entrance. He smirked at the four, and headed out into the village.

Heartless suddenly appeared before Ping and Sora, and they both growled knowing the cave was a trap. Instantly, Sora took out his Keyblade and started hacking at the Heartless around him. Ping also fought off the Heartless, but she was still scared, and not very experienced.

The battle wasn't very hard, since there was just a bunch of shadows. The problem was that more and more would appear, and Sora didn't have time to deal with them all.

His main concern was Marie, and whether she was alright or not.

ଓ
Marie

You know, the snow was actually a refreshing thing to see. I love Christmas so much, since it's all white with colourful lights. I'm surprised though, since it's been a long time—eleven years to be exact, since I've had a Christmas...

It makes me wonder how my family is doing.

ଓ
Ryan

Ryan, along with his two best buddies Tidus and Wakka, searched and asked around about a certain teen girl. Tidus and Wakka knew the girl personally, but after she went missing, they tried hard to keep her remembered. They still remembered her, but some things about her were a blur. She had been missing for eleven years, now.

"Man, how could you guys not remember everything about her?" Ryan asked, scratching the back of his head as he stretched on a wooden bench. Some of the people they asked either forgot about her, or couldn't really remember what happened that day. The only person who had remembered was an old lady who passed away, and Ryan couldn't exactly talk to the dead.

"Well, she was always hanging around Riku, and they were always together," commented Tidus, who suddenly had a smirk plastered on his face. "Hmm, maybe they're boyfriend and girlfriend!"

In one hit, Tidus was knocked back by Ryan's smack. Tidus groaned in pain, and rubbed the back of his head while muttering some unpleasant words. This search that Ryan had been doing started from when Sora and Riku went missing. The search would have started earlier, but from the day he was born he was kept in the hospital until at the age of four. He was very weak when he was born, and although his parents went against it, having him stay in the hospital gave his parents preparation when the doctors told them that he would be diagnosed as anaemic later on.

"We could try and ask the old lady's daughter, ya?" suggested Wakka. Ryan's eyes widened, and patted Wakka's back right before dragging him, along with Tidus, towards the old lady's house.

"Man, why do you get a pat?" complained Tidus, still rubbing his head.

It wasn't long before Ryan, Tidus and Wakka reached the old lady's house. Ryan knocked on the door eagerly, and after a few minutes of waiting the door opened. Out in front of the door appeared a young women with blonde hair and blue eyes, Ryan noticed how beautiful she was, but he couldn't flirt right now. "Oh, my. Hello there, how may I help you, boys?"

Ryan dug into his pockets and searched for a certain picture of Riku and the girl he was hoping to find, and when he did he showed it to the woman. She took the picture, and frowned. Ryan, Tidus and Wakka noticed this, and stood there as the woman composed herself. "This little girl...She..."

"I really wanna know what happened to her," Ryan said with desperation in his voice. "My parents know something about her, but they won't tell me."

The woman frowned again, and motioned the boys to head into her house. They did, and walked all the way into her living room. The three boys sat on the long couch, and waited for the woman to sit across them. She stared at the picture for a very long time, and sighed as she looked at the boys. "My mother used this little girl as an example. She would tell me that her case would happen if I walked away with a stranger."

"What happened to her?" Tidus asked, getting curious himself. "Wakka and I didn't really know her that much, but she was close to Riku. If he hadn't disappeared, he would've told us about her. I mean, we can't even remember her name..."

"Her name is Marie," said the woman, smiling softly at the boys. "My mother used to babysit for Riku when he was younger, and she often saw these two play together."

The boys kept quiet when the woman sighed again, not wanting to disrupt her with questions. The woman placed the picture down on her coffee table, and placed her hands on her lap. "My mother said Marie was kidnapped by an older man, and she was there to witness it. At first she thought this man knew her, but when her parents panicked about her disappearance my mother felt like it was her fault."

"Because she couldn't stop it, ya?" asked Wakka. The woman nodded, and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they looked sad. "I work in the same company as her mother, and she tells me constantly how she misses her. As I talked to her more however, I found out that this woman was not actually her mother, but her aunt."

Ryan raised his eyebrow in confusion, why would an aunt pose as a mother? He asked the woman this, and she told him that she was doing her sister-in-law a favour. She said, "Marie's real mother disappeared about a month after giving birth along with her father, who was very sick. She asked her brother to take care of Marie for a bit, but when she disappeared she left behind a letter asking her brother to permanently take care of the girl."

"Did he do it, and what's his name?" Ryan was feeling something odd about this, but he decided to push further into asking.

"Yes, he did." the woman smiled timidly, and she pushed back a strand of hair as she looked at the photo. "His name is Eli Hill, and his wife is named Leah Devin."

"W-what? But that's..." Ryan started to stutter, and he looked away as he started feeling something swell inside of him. Was it anger? Betrayal for being kept out of the secret? Or did his parents not trust him enough?

"My name is Ryan...Ryan Hill. My dad and mom are named Eli and Leah Hill."

INSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANITY!

Shadow 1n2: Yes, almost. Well, you can tell me those predictions, since this chapter has pretty much revealed his position. And that's great! My favourite holiday is Christmas. Haha, Sanctuary is an awesome song.

SisterOfScarletDevil: LOL YES I AM BACK! I hope I can keep up with the writing, though. XD

AlexMontgomery: LOL. Well, I really like to use common names. I would feel as if I were butchering the Japanese language by having a name like Fuuka or Hamuko or something. And ooh, is it Leo?

InuyaKoneko: I don't know about what's going to be in KH3, but I heard they haven't even started production yet. But in any case, I would hope that she does? Oh, and Marie will be wearing a pirate outfit the first time she visits Port Royal. XD Lvl-ZeR0: Ahaha. Well, I made it to four chapters instead, but I'll try to be consistent from now on. And yes, I really do love spaghetti as much as you love donuts. XD

Dracula X: Sorry, it's only four. But I hope to be consistent from now on!

Dracula-key: Yeah, except this OC is more of a tribute? I guess, to a friend who has been diagnosed as Iron-deficiency anaemia. He's been my friend since we were little, so I had to honour him somehow. LOL, I know. Even though they're far away, they're still her parents.