Le KH Fangiril: yes, in TXW the Marvel movies take place but only to a degree. A lot of Broad Strokes are involved. There are a lot of things that happen differently in TXW, which will be covered in Ripple Effects.

Fair warning everyone, this chapter will be filled with many tearjerkers both happy and sad, so grab some tissues. This is another one of those chapters that as emotional to read as it is to write so you'd probably better double the amount of tissues you'll need. Bring on the tears.

Episode 11: Mourning and Memories:

Mysterious Tower – The Tower

August 11, 2015

I'm going to miss him, King Mickey thought to himself as he gazed sadly at his former teacher's withered form. Out of everyone, Yen Sid's death hit him hardest of all. Even before becoming a Keyblade wielder, the mouse had always looked up to the ancient sorcerer as a father figure. Even after becoming King, he routinely came back to the tower for advice when he had a problem. The mystical building had become a second home for him, and without Yen Sid there to fill it warmth and light, the world felt hollow and empty.

A tear slid down his cheek as he placed the Keyblade Master's recognizable blue hat on his chest. A Coalition Gummi Ship had recovered his body at the lanes between, and Mickey had spent the last few days preparing to give the man a private funeral. He stiffened as he heard the doors creak open behind him, but relaxed when he heard the soft thumping of rabbit feet walking slowly across the Tower grounds.

"I miss him too," Oswald said mournfully as he and Mickey stood beside the great sorcerer's coffin. The mouse put a hand on his brother's shoulder in understanding. The two of them had both come across the Mysterious Tower completely by accident as teenagers. Yen Sid had taken them both in and became the father figure both had been lacking in their lives. After studying with the man for so long, Oswald wanted nothing more than to be a Keyblade Wielder.

When Mickey got that honor instead, he had been jealous. But despite the little incidents that resulted from that jealousy, Oswald had moved past it, and Yen Sid trained him in the art of sorcery. In the years that followed, Oswald proved to be a prodigy when it came to magic. Yen Sid had even told him that he was a prime candidate to take the aging wizard's place in the tower when he finally passed away. It seemed unthinkable all those years ago. But now… Oswald sighed as he passed Mickey the magical scroll he'd found containing their mentor's will.

"I thought we should read it together," the forty-five year old anthropomorphic rabbit said. "That's the way he would have wanted it." Mickey nodded in reluctant agreement, and the two brothers sadly read their surrogate father's last wishes together. As expected, Yen Sid left Mickey all of his books about the Keyblade and its history. But then came the big surprise.

"To Oswald, diligent student and beloved son," Mickey read aloud, since his brother was too surprised to speak. "I leave you my enchanted hat, my remaining books and possessions, and lastly, the Tower itself and all that remains on my estate. You will make a fine sorcerer someday, Oswald. I know you will make me proud." By the time the mouse king finished reading, both brothers were in tears.

Oswald was reluctant to take such a responsibility, but with a little encouragement from Mickey, he gently reached across their mentor's chest and retrieved the pointed sorcerer's cap. He wasn't going to interfere with the existing set up of the tower any more than was necessary to move his wife Ortensia and their 420 children into the tower. Mickey promised to give Oswald his old apprentice robes if his brother wasn't ready for a more regal looking wardrobe. Then with one final farewell to their fallen father, the two brothers closed the lid and lowered Yen Sid's coffin into the freshly dug grave at the base of the Tower.

Destiny Islands – Town

August 11, 2015

It was a quiet evening on the Destiny Islands as the blonde teen made his way down the paths leading through town. To anyone watching, he appeared to be just another interplanetary traveler, since those were becoming more and more common these days. But he wasn't. He had been born on these islands, had lived there for the first ten years of his life. Until one day he got stranded on the small play island during a storm, only to be rescued by a kind old man with a bald head and gold eyes.

Xehanort had taken the boy under his wing, teaching him how to wield a Keyblade. While the boy was reluctant to leave his home behind, Xehanort told the boy that he'd already spoken to his parents and they had agreed. Even so, the boy still had his doubts. After a year of intense, brutal training combined with his doubts and homesickness, he finally demanded to go home. Xehanort, being a master manipulator, summoned a horde of Neoshadows and told the boy he could return home after he'd strengthened his inner Darkness enough to defeat the monsters.

Ventus winced as he recalled the painful memories of his life with Xehanort. He was grateful that Namine had been able to repair his memories, but at the same time, it hurt to know how much pain his disappearance had caused his family. His parents probably thought he was dead and he hadn't even remembered them. Now that he did, it was time for a long overdue family reunion.

What'll they say? He wondered to himself as he walked through town. Will they be made at me? Will they ask where I've been? Will they accept what I've become? As all his worries and doubts flew around his head, he turned onto his old street and saw his parent's house sitting right at the end of the road, in the exact same place it was before he'd left. As he walked up to the front porch, hoping that his parents hadn't moved since the last time he'd been home, he failed to notice a young woman watching him from the upstairs window of a house at the other end of the street.

"Who is that guy?" Selphie Tilmitt wondered aloud as she looked out the window at the blonde stranger. "And what is he doing at Sora's house?" After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Ven knocked on the door.

Inside the house, Emi and Taro ate their dinner in silence, punctuated by sporadic bits of conversation. Sora and Kairi were off exploring the worlds before school started up again, but while they fully supported their son in everything, having him away from home for long periods of time always reminded them of what had happened to his brother. Before Sora was born, they had another child. A cheerful, blonde-haired boy. He would have been a little over ten when she was first pregnant with Sora.

But then one day, he'd been grounded for something. It had been so long ago that she didn't even remember what it was about, and it was pointless anyway. She always wondered whether he'd have disappeared if they hadn't grounded him. A monsoon had blown in during the afternoon, and she'd gone upstairs to bring him dinner only to find his bedroom window wide open and sandal-shaped footprints in the dirt below. She and her husband had raced out into the raging storm following the trail before the wind and rain washed it away.

They followed their son's footprints toward the docks, where they found that Taro's rowboat was missing. Realizing that their child was either stranded on the kids' island or being tossed around the waves, they quickly raced down the beach to where the island's emergency rescue boat was docked, and once the coast guard had been appraised of the situation, they set off through the stormy waters towards the small island.

There was no sign of him on the small island, and the coast guard searched the waters within fifty miles of the islands. After a day of searching through rain and sun, the only conclusion that could be reached was that their son had gotten lost at sea and drowned. The couple grieved for weeks before Emi finally got the news that she was pregnant. While she was nervous about being a mother again so soon after losing her first child, having Sora on the way proved to be what she and Taro needed to snap themselves out of their depressed funk and move on with their lives.

They still mourned their lost son, but as time passed, the pain became easier to bear. Once Sora was old enough, they told him about his lost older brother. Even though the whole island knew of their loss and offered their condolences on the anniversary of his death, it wasn't something that they liked to talk about often. Today marked eighteen years since their oldest son had disappeared, and they were eating all his favorite foods like they did every year.

A soft knock at the door brought the two parents out of their mourning. Since most of their neighbors didn't come over so that they could grieve their lost child in solitude, they were both confused as to who would be stopping by. Emi walked over to the front door and opened it. Whatever words she would have said died in her throat as she looked at the face of the blonde-haired teenager standing on the front porch. His hair had gotten longer and spikier, his clothes were so different that they just screamed "Keyblade Wielder", and he was much taller than he used to be. But one look and his eyes and she knew.

"Mom?" Ven began nervously. For a few seconds, Emi and Taro could only stare, unsure if this was real, a prank, or a grief-induced hallucination. But they looked in the boy's eyes and they knew. This was real. Their son was alive. And he had finally come home. Words could not properly express how they were feeling right now, so Emi grabbed her long lost son and pulled him in for the tightest hug she could give, with Taro rushing up to join them. Tears flowed down everyone's faces as they were finally reunited at last.

The names of Sora's parents come from the fanfic Islands Like Glass Towers by Organization VI, which is basically about how Sora's parents first met and fell in love, and its 2 sequels, which are about how his parents reacted to his being gone for a year. I wanted to refer to Sora's parents by name so I went with the names for his parents from one of the best fanfics that feature them.

For those who haven't played the Epic Mickey video games, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was Mickey's predecessor as Walt Disney's cartoon icon before executive meddling resulted in the loss of the rights for the character to Universal Studios. Disney got the rights back in 2008. Ortensia the cat is Oswald's girlfriend, and in Epic Mickey at least, they do have 420 bunny children.

In my theories of Ven's pre-Xehanort past, I always thought it would be fitting if Ven had come from Destiny Islands, adding another layer of significance to Xehanort brining him there after splitting his heart. The idea that Xehanort took Ven to die at home made sense, so I ran with that. Then I was thinking about how Aqua notes in BBS that 4-year-old Sora looks physically similar to Ventus. I was toying with potential explanations for why the resemblance is there, and thus, my head-canon that Ven is Sora's long-lost older brother was born.

Back before BBS came out, my theories regarding the connections between TAV and SRK were less of the outlandish "Ven is Roxas" variety, and more along the lines of characters being biologically related to each other.

I know the Acolytes of Chaos saga seems like it's just going to be a lot of fluff, but it's not. There is an overarching story, I just need to do some world building one-shots before I start telling it.

Coming up next: we check in with Phil, Meg, and Hercules and what they're up to since they found out that they're stranded.