Disclaimer- I do not own KH.

chApter 6

Saskia laid out in the middle of the library's floor with her limbs stretched out around her as she stared up at the ceiling. She rarely left Maleficent's castle. Neither did she ever feel the desire to. Laying there, stretched out helped her feel a little more confident, strangely enough. Perhaps it was because she was exposed and taking up a lot of space. She sighed loudly. Saskia hadn't managed to much serious studying, and she hadn't seen Riku much either.

She decided she ought to get out of the castle. It was suffocating her. With a new sense of purpose, Saskia sat up quickly, dizzying herself, but she struggled to her feet anyway. When she had regained her composure, she began pacing and thinking up a plan for where she would go. A book fell out of the shelf suddenly, attracting Saskia's attention. Carefully, she lifted it in her hands.

"Twilight... Town?" Saskia said uncertainly. It had a picture of a clock tower on the front cover. It was probably a fictional book, but maybe... Saskia could try teleporting there? Sure, she'd never tried teleporting to a place that was shown in a picture, but there probably was nothing wrong with trying. If anything, she could probably return herself to Maleficent's castle before she got into too much trouble.

"Ah, Sasha," a smooth voice interrupting Saskia's thoughts. Saskia turned to Maleficent wordlessly. The fairy woman gazed down at Saskia, seemingly appraising the girl for a moment. Maleficent did not give much thought to the book in Saskia's hands.

"I need you to do something for me," Maleficent continued. She waved her sceptre with a graceful motion, and a cloud appeared. Images surfaced slowly on the cloud. It panned over a strange world. There was a lot of sand and sun, and it looked like an overall unpleasant place to Saskia.

"Go here. There will be a man named Jafar that you need to deliver this message to. Remember, I will be watching," Maleficent handed a yellowing letter to Saskia then turned and left the library. Moments after her departure, an image of a boy with spiky hair and blue eyes appeared and then the cloud dissipated. Saskia stared into space for a long moment, her fingers tightening around the paper.

"S-sora?" she squeaked in shock.

.

Saskia stood in the middle of a bustling bazaar when she arrived in the sandy world known as Agrabah. It was a strange innate knowledge that came upon arrival in the place, and it disturbed her. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around the ability of the world to transfer common knowledge to her upon her arrival. Even so, Saskia couldn't worry herself over it too much as she had a job to do and take care of. If she corked off, Maleficent would surely have her head over it.

"E-excuse me..." Saskia began, looking toward the first stranger she saw but was promptly ignored. Glancing around, she met a merchant's eyes.

"Hello, ma'am! We have the finest jewelry here. Why don't you come and take a look at it?" the bearded merchant grinned at her in a friendly manner. His eyes gleamed at the chance for a customer to be reeled in.

"Everything is made from real jewels. Come, come! Take a look here. Maybe even try one on," he said in a way he believed to be tempting. Saskia almost forgot herself for a moment, but the fact that she had no money or time was impossible to ignore.

"N-no, thank you though," Saskia began, attempting to wave the man off, but he only appeared to grow more serious.

"You can only get the best deals here, ma'am. The prices are the best! You can't miss a chance like this," the merchant said with a look of vigour and several gesticulations. Saskia slowly backed off. After this happened several times to Saskia with several different merchants, she learned to never meet their eyes or even show interest in their wares. Her search for "Java" or something was going fantastically.

In her attempt to escape yet another merchant, Saskia ran straight into a boy with dark skin, bright blue eyes and sandy, golden brown hair. Her eyes went wide with realization. Sora!

"Ex-excuse me," Saskia muttered immediately looking toward her feet to hide her face.

"Don't worry about it," Sora grinned at her and hurried on. Saskia's heart was beating loudly in her chest. She couldn't believe Sora had grown up so much... but at the same time, he still looked like the little kid from her childhood. He really hadn't changed too much. Saskia shook her head quickly to regain her composure. She couldn't linger on thoughts of Sora right then... or Riku. With a deep breath, she began her search for Jamaar (or something) once more.

A sudden stroke of luck caused Saskia to see Jagger (or something) standing in the palace court yard as she passed by. On whim, she leaped into the grassy plaza with little thought to where she was leaping to. She rolled across the grass before jumping back onto her feet.

"You! I have a thing for you from a regal lady," Saskia said cryptically.

"Couldn't you have used the front gates to deliver it then?" He responded snobbishly with an annoyed expression. Saskia frowned slightly though she was not surprised. He was an acquaintance of Maleficent's.

"She ordered me to deliver it personally... as you will soon have some visitors," Saskia replied and held out the envelope. She wondered for a moment if it was some sort of gross love letter. She decided she didn't want to know. Jafar took the letter without hesitation and opened it. His eyebrow raised then he glanced at Saskia with a curious expression.

"So she sent you to watch me then?" he asked. Saskia opened her mouth to ask why he was assuming this, but she could see the words on the page through the paper. Her jaw almost dropped open in surprise.

"A-apparently," Saskia responded, taking a deep breath with the hopes of calming her clamouring heart. She really should have asked Maleficent more questions about the mission. Being in the dark was not turning out to be even minutely helpful. The courtly man then turned from Saskia.

"Come then. I shall show you to a room," he said in a vaguely irritated voice. Saskia frowned slightly at this. She didn't particularly want to be there either but that did not entitle Jafar to acting like a total douche bag. He was an archetypally unpleasant man.

Days passed, and Jafar turned out to be the most boring person Saskia could ever "keep an eye on". He mostly muttered to himself about some sort of diabolical plan or attend to his duties as a court official. It was actually pretty disappointing. Saskia was actually hoping for some action, but mostly she was just sitting on her butt more bored than ever.

"When do I get to leaveeeee?" Saskia complained loudly to herself.

"Huh? Who are you? ...and why can't you leave?" a gentle voice asked. Saskia turned around quickly to find a curiously dressed girl with long raven hair gazing at her. Saskia was amazed by how pretty she was.

"Oh. Umm... I'm a guest of Ja..." Saskia's voice failed as she saw the girl raise an eyebrow in an almost accusatory expression.

"You were about to say Jafar, weren't you!?" she said, pointing a finger at Saskia. Saskia was very confused by how she was acting and started to give a nod. She sneered in irritation. It really wasn't a good look for her, or anyone really...

"Another uninvited guest... what is he...?" she muttered to herself. Suddenly, something dawned on Saskia. She was a princess! One of the princesses that Maleficent was after! Saskia quickly lost the expression of surprise on her face and stiffly waited on the girl to continue.

"Are you a ..." she paused mid-sentence, frowning slightly as if she had no desire to even think about what she was about to say, "a harlot?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at Saskia. She strode forward, lifting Saskia's arms in her dark hands. Saskia immediately pulled away.

"N-no! What ever gave you that-" Saskia stopped herself mid-sentence, gazing at the girl curiously. There was an obvious difference between them. It was in that moment that Saskia recognized what exactly she was wearing. She almost wanted to die, but then, it made a good excuse, and Saskia really didn't mind sullying whatever reputation Jafar had.

"What if I were?" Saskia asked smoothly. The girl's facial expression softened immensely.

"You really are one of those poor girls..." she trailed off, bringing her hands to her bosom. Saskia made a slight face.

"Why does it even matter?" she asked. The princess paused for a moment.

"Oh! Jasmine, Aladdin's-" Sora stopped stunned for a moment upon seeing me. Saskia averted her eyes quickly, her mouth already drawn into a tight frown.

"You're the girl from the bazaar!" he said with sudden realization. Jasmine's face paled considerably at Sora's words.

"So she... to you?" Jasmine asked with a look of pure horror. Saskia almost gagged, but held herself together. Sora looked he didn't understand, but Saskia merely smiled.

"What? It's my job," Saskia said to Jasmine, who was bright red in the face.

"You filthy-!" Growing tired of Jasmine, Saskia disappeared from the pair's sight and reappeared within the palace. Jafar walked into the room as Saskia appeared.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"You're looking for Jasmine, right? She's with this guy called Sora... they're near the bazaar," Saskia responded dismissively. Jafar appeared surprised. Saskia smiled slightly before padding off. She really didn't want much to do with Jafar. The goal was to complete the mission that Maleficent had sent her on.

Suddenly a cloud appeared before Saskia. It held Maleficent's face in it, "Return to my castle at once." She ordered this in a sharp voice. Saskia was quick on her feet. She left immediately. She didn't want to be in Agrabah anyway.

.

"Ri-riku?" Saskia gasped in surprise as she appeared in the room. Riku didn't even turn to look at her. Saskia stared at her feet in silence. It was odd to see him in this back hall, since only her room was in the hall. Finally he turned to look at Saskia.

"You saw Sora, didn't you?" Riku asked with a bitter smile on his face. Saskia immediately knew that something was wrong with Riku.

"I did, but-"

"He didn't remember you did he?" Riku pressed. Saskia stammered.

"W-well, no, but-" Riku gave a short laugh. Saskia was confused. He lifted his head to look into Saskia's eyes.

"So you're just another person he's left behind..." Riku took in a slow breath, "...like me."

"Riku..." Saskia said softly in a concerned voice.

"You two are really similar aren't you? You just go and hurt people like me without a regret, huh?" Saskia felt a pang in her heart, and her eyes filled with tears. His words really hurt her.

"Tha... that's not..." Saskia began. Riku shook his head.

"Riku! Stop it!" Saskia yelled suddenly. She was shaking in anger, but also misery. Riku was her friend. Even if she wasn't his, she still wanted him to be hers. Riku grabbed Saskia roughly, lifting her up by her shirt. Saskia met his eyes bravely.

"Then don't lie! And tell me... why should I believe you?" Riku responded seriously. Saskia trembled, grasping his hands that held her in the air, and slowly, she began to speak.

"You should believe me because I want to be your friend. I don't want to lie to you anymore, okay?" Saskia responded. Slowly, Riku placed her back on the ground. Saskia sighed with relief.

"This is your last chance, okay?" Riku said. Saskia realized then that Riku was lonely. With a sigh, she decided to say something.

"My name is Saskia," she said simply, "And your world is on the other side of a door in my world. That's how Sora got there when he was really young. I'm only two years older than him..." Saskia drew in a slow breath. It was hard to talk about Sora.

"I just... I just wanted to be his big sister, so... so don't think I'm just going to abandon someone! I know too well what it's like! I could never..." Saskia hiccuped and wiped at her face. Riku stared at her, bewildered.

"Okay. I believe you," Riku said finally. He still sounded a little pained, but he just wanted to believe in something so badly and luckily for him, it was the truth. Saskia's one and only truth.

"Thank you," Saskia whispered. Riku didn't respond to that. He merely continued down the hall. Saskia wasn't sure of how she felt in that moment, whether it was relieved or something else... She only knew that she had been given a second chance, and she was going to do her best to not ruin it again. Saskia sighed loudly.

.

"SASHA!" Maleficent's voice reverberated through the entire castle. The woman was beyond irrate. She had told Saskia to return at once to the castle, but the girl had yet to report to her. It was enraging. Maleficent would have to discipline Saskia, though she had believed that she would not have to do such with the thieving girl. Saskia had appeared to know better. Saskia came running into the ballroom where Maleficent was waiting with a frightened expression.

"There you are girl... You met Sora, correct?" Maleficent began coolly. Saskia nodded slowly. She wasn't sure if she could drop her guard yet. Maleficent was conducting herself in a strange manner.

"What did you think of him?" Maleficent continued. Her eyes were narrowed, calculating. Saskia thought carefully. She had to chose her words in a way to not express any care for Sora. She had to create a first impression that was devoid of her familial love.

"He... is very driven," Saskia said simply. Maleficent smiled slightly.

"Indeed he is. It is one of his flaws..." Maleficent told Saskia. Saskia looked at Maleficent in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"He is a keyblade wielder, you know what that means, don't you?" Maleficent continued with a slight, malicious smile. Saskia nodded, taking Maleficent's words into account very carefully. She wasn't one hundred percent sure of where Maleficent was going with that but... she would take it with a grain of sand.

"Well, he is disrupting the worlds, changing them. And if he is not careful... his morals will drive the universe into chaos," Maleficent continued, appearing a bit concerned. Saskia looked at the woman in shock. That... Sora thought he was doing the right thing, but... he could be hurtling the worlds into chaos!?

"What?!" Saskia gasped, barely able to keep herself from saying much more. Maleficent gazed at her curiously. Saskia was currently unaligned, Maleficent knew this very well. Therefore, it was in Maleficent's best interest to place Saskia on her own team before Sora had the chance to influence her. Saskia could very well prove useful.

"He may not be aware of it, but being the keyblade wielder is very dangerous. He could do more damage than good... and I alone am not enough to stop him," Maleficent said carefully. Saskia stared at Maleficent, her hands trembling. She didn't know what to do. Her mind was spinning. Maleficent touched Saskia on the shoulder.

"Sasha," Maleficent began, "Will you help me help Sora?" Saskia stared at Maleficent for a long moment.

"Let... let me think this through," Saskia said nervously. Maleficent nodded.

"Of course. It must be a lot to take in," Maleficent responded, almost sounding like a caring mother. Saskia was taken in by the sudden shift in Maleficent's demeanor.

"You and Riku are like my children. I only want you two to be happy. Remember that, Sasha," Maleficent said as Saskia turned to leave the ballroom. Saskia was almost to the point of hyperventilating. She was freaking out. Her sweet little brother... causing the world to fall into chaos would tear him apart. She wanted to protect him more than anything. Saskia fell to her knees in the hallway outside the library, gasping for breath.

"Sora... Sora..." she muttered. She had to calm down. Tears blurred Saskia's vision. It was too much for her to take in. Her hands shook, and she clenched them into tight fists. She swallows, and her resolve settles in her stomach. Even if she became the "bad" guy, she would do this for Sora.

Thanks for reading! I'd love a review!

~Minatu-chan