Chapter Ten:

Blinded

"Hello Coral," said Elijah, as he walked down a hallway in the Animal Headquarters. "You still turning into a hobbit?"

"It's not Coral anymore. It's Katrina now," said the grey-eyed hobbit lass, groggily.

"All right. What are you doing here… Katrina?" asked Elijah, confused.

Without warning, Coral lunged towards Elijah, pinning him against a wall. Before Elijah could recover, Coral kissed him square on the lips. The two kissed long, nearly forgetting the time. In another instant, Coral released Elijah.

"Wow. What was that for?" asked Elijah, stunned.

"Oh come on. Don't tell me he didn't feel that," said Coral, shell-shocked.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Elijah, confused.

"Frodo, of course. Frodo Baggins," said Coral. She snapped, repeating, "Don't tell me he didn't feel that! He must have felt something for me that day we kissed."

"Well, I can admit, you kiss good. It's just… Frodo's asleep. I'm sure he can't…"

"He can't what, Elijah?" asked Coral. "You're his Nobody, aren't you? Surely he must have felt something." She lashed out, "I don't care what he's done! All he could have said was that he cared for me." She shook her head, telling him softly, "I knew this whole thing was a waste of time."

"Maybe you should consider finding someone else. I'm sure Frodo doesn't want…"

Coral understood. "Oh yes, given his best interests are left with his friends, instead of a lover."

"Why don't we be friends?" asked Elijah, curtly.

Coral cracked a grin. "You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm being serious," said Elijah, showing some feelings towards her. "Let's be friends, Coral – Katrina."

Coral thought it over. "You may be right, Elijah. I'll meet you at the diner."

"Sure," said Elijah. He watched Coral, now Katrina, walk down the hallway. He asked himself, confused, "What just happened?"

o-o-o

At the diner, Elijah met with Katrina. There, the two sat down at an empty table. After ordering their meal, Elijah noticed Amber enter the diner. She glanced once at Elijah, before making her way towards Andalis Snowberry and Andales Lifel. Katrina eventually got Elijah's attention:

"Is something wrong?"

Elijah turned his gaze back to Katrina. "No. Why should there be?"

After a moment's pause, Katrina said, "So, I was talking with my sister Melena and she agrees that, given how the Pridelands are frozen in time, we should move the plans up to…"

Elijah zoned out Katrina's ranting. He turned his gaze once more to Amber, who seemed to be enjoying the conversation amongst other Nobodies. He wondered if Amber would have been interested in talking to him, but he knew he was wrong. He noticed Amber's gaze fell on him once again, causing him to look away. When he looked at Amber once again, she merely blushed a little before delving back into a conversation.

Katrina got Elijah's attention once again, "Are you listening to me, Elijah?"

Stunned, Elijah asked, "What?"

"It just occurred to me. How can you enjoy having a conversation between us, when your mind is on other matters?" asked Katrina.

"I'm sorry. How are you… Katrina?" asked Elijah.

"Still having trouble with my new name, I see," said Katrina. "I'm doing fine. My sister Lara-Belle stops by every now and again. She's really not as bad as you think."

"But still, Coral – Katrina, you're allowing evil to enter the headquarters," said Elijah. "Melena won't be too happy when she learns…"

"I'm quite capable of handling Lara-Belle. I've fought her before," said Katrina.

"It's not the same. You need to be careful, or you'll end up returning to the villains' side. Surely you don't want to end up doing something you'll regret," said Elijah.

Katrina paused. Re-thinking her new name, Katrina said, softly, "I'll think it over." She stopped Elijah with her words, "Hey, is it true, what you said about us being friends?"

"I meant every word, Coral," said Elijah, grinning. "You'll have to excuse me. I'm just going to talk to another friend of mine." He stood up and approached Amber's table. Once he got Amber's attention, Elijah said, "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Gorgeous. What are you doing here, Elijah?" asked Amber.

"I was hoping we could talk," said Elijah.

"We could talk here," said Amber. "Oh, and if you're so concerned about Frodo, you can find him in the sleeping chambers."

"Why don't we talk more in private?" asked Elijah.

"I believe you have a friend waiting," said Amber.

"What happened to you? Two days ago, you couldn't wait to greet me," asked Elijah.

"That was two days ago. My demands are still the same," said Amber. She stopped Elijah from protesting. "Have you grown up yet?"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," said Elijah.

Amber glanced up at Elijah, as she said, "Look Elijah, you may think you know what's best for me, but you clearly don't know me."

"Why can't we just get along, Amber?" asked Elijah, stern. He heard Katrina's voice, causing him to say to Amber, "Listen, I should probably go."

"Fine. Then go," said Amber. "I'm sure your new friend enjoys your company, a lot better than I did."

Elijah gave her a glum expression. He returned to the table, right as his and Katrina's food arrived. As he sat down, Elijah noticed Katrina's gaze fall on him.

"I take it, it didn't go so well," said Katrina.

"Ah. Amber still finds me childish," said Elijah.

"I don't think you behave as a child," said Katrina, confused.

"You don't?" asked Elijah, surprised to hear the news.

Katrina shook her head. "No, I really don't." She ended the conversation. "Come on. Let's eat our food, before it turns cold."

"Right," said Elijah, digging into his chicken.


"We'll have to let them know at some point," said Yen Sid.

Aslan continued to stargaze from the open window.

"Gosh. Is there a way to get these Nobodies back to their first form?" asked Mickey Mouse.

"It won't be easy," said Yen Sid.

"No, and bringing them back to their first form will be difficult. Until these particular Nobodies find their way back, I'm afraid Frodo Baggins may not wake up," said Aslan.

"What about his friends? Could there be any chance?" asked Mickey.

"Do you know how many Nobodies there are on the worlds? Some of the worlds belong to Nobodies," said Yen Sid.

"There's even a rumor now that Harry Potter has a Nobody," said Aslan. "I'll speak with the Nobodies at their base. See if they've found any new Nobodies."

"Aslan, what should my friends and I do?" asked Mickey.

"Allow Sora and Riku to take their test to become Keyblade Masters," said Aslan, taking his leave from the room.


As he walked down the hallway, Elijah noticed a crowd of Nobodies heading towards a mass of silver portals. He caught up to Melissa, who seemed determined to leave.

"Melissa, what's happening?" asked Elijah, confused.

"Aslan is sending all Nobodies out of the Animal Headquarters. Seems we'll be rerouted back to the base at Terranus," explained Melissa.

Elijah, while following the crowd, searched for Aslan. He found the Lion talking with a few Nobodies, including Andales Lifel and Andalis Snowberry. He caught up to Aslan in moments.

"Aslan, why are the Nobodies leaving?" asked Elijah.

Aslan finished his conversation with Andales and Andalis. He then turned to Elijah, "Elijah, this Headquarters is being closed off from Nobodies. I'm afraid I'm freezing time here for twenty years."

"Will Frodo be all right? Why are you doing this?" asked Elijah.

"Frodo will be fine. I've just made sure he and his friends will be able to stay young when the Animal Headquarters is frozen in time. Now, if you'll please, they have to shut this wing down," said Aslan, leading the way.

Elijah followed Melissa through one of the silver portals. He looked last on Aslan, before taking his leave.