PrismRain13: happy holidays everyone! I really wanted to get this out to you guys in time for Christmas, but my computer was being stupid and wouldn't let me in to my account :(

Pooh: I hope your holiday was merry and filled with honey! Just like mine was!

PrismRain13: Yeah, what's the holidays without honey?! I still own nothing!

Chapter 40: A World Without Darkness

After leaving the restaurant, the group had decided to stay on Radiant Garden for a bit before heading back out on the Gummi Ship. Lea was wandering through the rebuilt streets of his old neighborhood, finally stopping in front of his old childhood house. It had been completely rebuilt from the heartless invasion and Maleficent's takeover. He knew another family already moved in, but it still made him happy to see the familiar red house he once called home.

"Your house was red, huh. Why am I not surprised?" Lea turned around to find Lydia walking over to him with her arms crossed. "I'm not happy about it; but the king convinced me to talk to you. So, let's hear it."

"What?" Lea asked in confusion.

"You know what I'm talking about, Axel." she retorted. "Why did you dump me?! And why did you say all those hurtful things to me?! Did I really mean nothing to you?!"

"Lyd, it's complicated-"

"Don't give me that crap! I want the truth and I want it now!" Lydia violently snapped, breathing heavily as seconds of silence seemed to drag on for them. Lea stared at her with wide eyes; he had almost forgotten how scary Lydia could get when she was angry. Lea sighed, rubbing the back of her neck and about to tell her.

"I.. I Never wanted to hurt you. But it was the only way." Lea explained. Lydia rolled her eyes as he continued. "After Larxene found out about us, she told Xemnas. He wanted to use your love-filled heart to start building Kingdom Hearts since we couldn't release hearts from the heartless without a keyblade. I wanted to leave the Organization so I could protect you, but your dad stopped me."

At that statement, Lydia's eyes widened in confusion and disbelief. "My dad? Axel, what are you talking about? He lost his heart to the heartless, I saw it happen!"

"Then he became a nobody; Durol became Luxord and joined the Organization."

"So, wait, you're telling me that my dad joined the Organization and stopped you from running off with me." Lydia stated, in a confused, aggravated tone. "Now why do I find that hard to believe?"

"I didn't believe you guys were related at first. But, he honestly didn't want Xemnas to hurt you. I said I'd do anything to make sure you stayed safe. Luxord knew that the Organization didn't want a broken heart; it wouldn't work. So, he asked me to break up with you. I didn't want to, but he told me that I had to say some cruel stuff to you or you wouldn't believe me."

Both remained silent as Lydia thought about what he had told her. The gypsy scoffed, thinking back to her father and how he had put gambling over his family. Her thoughts shifted to when she first met Axel, and the day he ripped her heart in half. Running her fingers through her hair, Lydia groaned. "Look, I still don't forgive you."

"I know; I didn't expect you to." Lea sighed. "All I wanted was you to hear me out." The red-haired former nobody turned away and started walking down the street. Back to the castle, leaving Lydia alone with a lot on her mind.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me?!" Lydia snarled to herself. "Yesterday I couldn't stand the thought of him. But now... Now I don't know what to think anymore."

~*KHIII*~

Sora and Kairi had chosen to spend their time exploring the restored Radiant Garden. He had taken her to see every place he knew about and they even discovered new additions to the world such as the Gummi Garage and Aerith's flower and medicine shop.

They were currently in the castle library, which looked much more welcoming an cleaner than it had been two years ago. The books and shelves had been freshly dusted, not a single broken wire was visible in the celing and new curtains hung around the giant windows.

"They really did a great job restoring this place." Kairi stated, looking around with excitement. "It looks even better than I remember."

"Well, that's the Restoration Committee for you." Sora smiled. "They always pull through the hardest times." Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Merlin, Kim, her boyfriend Ron and Zell sitting at a table at the bottom of the stairs with stacks of books, reading through them. At least, Kim and Merlin were reading, Ron and Zell had fallen asleep with their heads resting on open books.

"Hey guys!" Kairi exclaimed, waving and walking over to them. Ron and Zell woke up, yawning.

"Ah, Sora, Kairi." Merlin smiled. "How have the two of you been getting along with your magic?"

"We're doing great, Merlin. Kairi's a natural; she picked up cure magic like it was nothing!" Sora stated while Kairi blushed. "So what are you guys doing?"

"We're trying to find clues on what Xehanort might be planning." Kim replied, looking up from her book. "Tron's searching his old computer so we thought we might look here."

"So far we're having lousy luck!" Ron stated, Rufus, his pet mole rat nodding in agreement on his shoulder. "KP, when can we have a naco break?!"

"Yeah I'm starving!" Zell whined.

"Guys, relax, we'll take a break soon." Kim stated, giving Ron a kiss on the cheek.

"Do you guys need any help?" Kairi asked.

"You and your team are doing enough out in the worlds; you deserve a break." Merlin stated, standing up and adjusting his glasses. "But actually, Sora. There's something I want you to see." Merlin began walking further into the library while Sora and Kairi followed him. Soon, they stopped in front of a beautifully decorated golden pedestal, holding a book with a glass case covering it. Sora stepped in front of it and his eyes widened in excitement at the sight of a familiar book with himself and a small yellow bear in a red shirt looking up at the stars on the cover.

"Pooh's book!" Sora exclaimed happily.

"Winnie the Pooh?" Kairi asked. "Is this the magic book you told me about?"

"That's right." Merlin nodded. "I created this case after the book's repairs were completed so Pooh and his friends inside would be safe. It prevents anyone dark from touching it or entering; including the heartless." Merlin waved his hand over the glass as it dissolved. He then picked up the book, handing it to Sora. "I thought you might want to visit that world before you leave again."

"Wow, Merlin. Thank you!" Sora smiled, but remembered he was supposed to be showing Kairi around. He looked towards her as she hugged him.

"It's okay, Sora. go visit your friends." Kairi said, giving him a pat on the shoulder and an encouraging smile when she let go. "I wanted to check out the rest of the library anyway."

"I'll be back soon." Replied Sora, handing the book to Merlin. The old wizard opened the book as it began to give off a warm golden glow. Sora dove into the pages without hesitation, a blinding golden glow appearing. Closing his eyes, he was ready to visit the Hundred Acre Wood again.

Hundred Acre Wood

When Sora opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on the familiar woodland path he knew lead to Pooh Bear's house. Sora smiled as he took in the peacefulness around him. No heartless, no fighting, just the Hundred Acre Wood and his friends.

It wasn't long before Pooh's house came into view. The happy yellow bear was sitting on a log in font of his doorstep, contentedly eating a jar of honey. Sora laughed behind his hand, remembering all the good times he spent in this world as he continued walking.

"Hey! Pooh Bear!" Sora smiled and waved. The stuffed bear looked up from his honey, eyes sparking with joy. Pooh set his jar down and wasted no time in running up to the spiky-haired teenager and hugging his legs, almost causing Sora to topple over.

"Sora!" Pooh exclaimed happily. "You came back!" Sora bent down and hugged the bear back, feeling the soft, warm fluff against his fingertips.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come back for a visit." The teenager said as they separated.

"Well I'm certainly glad you did." Pooh replied. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"So, how's everyone been?" Asked Sora, thinking about all of the rest of his friends in this world.

"Why don't you ask us yourself?" A familiar voice exclaimed. Before Sora knew it, he was knocked to the ground as someone bounced on top of him. He smiled as he recognized the enthusiastic, orange and black-stripped stuffed animal.

"Tigger!" Sora exclaimed, as Tigger bounced off and he pushing himself back up to his feet. When he looked up, he saw Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Gopher, Kanga and Roo all running up to greet him.

"Oh Sora!" Piglet smiled. "I'm so glad you're back! We all missed you so much!"

"Now I hope you've been eating your vegetables, Sora." Rabbit stated.

"Come on, Rabbit. You sound like my mom." Laughed Sora as the group of animals surrounded him. "I'm really happy to see you guys again!"

"Did you find your friends, Sora?" Kanga asked, Roo jumping out of her pouch.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, they're travelling around with me now. Maybe I could bring them to visit sometime." The group all nodded enthusiastically.

Eeyore sighed gloomily as he joined the group. "I bet you forgot all about me." Sora only smiled and ruffled his hair.

"No way! I could never forget about you, Eeyore! So, how've you guys been?"

"We've been stuferpendous!" Tigger exclaimed, bouncing around them.

"Oh! And we've got a new friend for you to meet!" Roo suddenly spoke up, bouncing over to a nearby bush and peering behind it. "Come on out, Lumpy! Come meet Sora! Don't be shy."

Slowly, a light purple elephant shyly emerged from the bush, trying to hide behind the tiny Roo. They both wandered over to the group as Sora stood up to his feet.

"Sora, this is Lumpy, he's a heffalump and our new friend." Roo smiled, as Lumpy shyly waved with his trunk. Sora held out his hand, Lumpy looking up at him curiously.

"It's nice to meet you, Lumpy." He said with his usual goofy grin. Lumpy stared up at him, then burst into a smile too as he shook Sora's hand with his trunk. "I'm Sora."

"Roo and everyone told me so much about you." Lumpy replied in an English accent. "They said you were really nice."

"Well, I'm always happy to make new friends." Replied Sora.

"Enough talkin' already!" Tigger exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in circles around the Keybearer. "Whatcha wanna do first, Sora?! You wanna go bouncin'?!"

"M-maybe we could go fly a kite." Piglet suggested timidly.

"Nonsene, Piglet. What Sora really needs is to relax in the garden" Said Rabbit.

"Why don't we go blow up more tunnels with dynamite, sssonny?" Gopher suggested.

"Perhaps you'd like to hear the tale of how my Great Uncle Waldo-" Owl began, but was interrupted by the sound of Pooh's tummy rumbing.

"Sora, do you think maybe we could stop for a small smackeral?" Pooh asked with a small smile. Sora immediately started laughing, playfully poking the bear's tummy.

"I think I know what we're doing first." Sora beamed, taking Pooh Bear's hand and walking down the path to his favorite honey tree, the rest of their friends following closely behind.

The Keyblade Master's worries and troubles seemed to fade away as he spent time in the Hundred Acre Wood. He had helped Pooh get some honey, luring away the bees while Pooh Bear flew up by holding on to a small blue ballon. Unfortunately, the bees weren't too happy with the bear and had chased the entire group back to Rabbit's house. Rabbit had insisted that Sora give gardening a try and they had to chase Tigger, Roo and Lumpy around, who were contently bouncing around the garden and unfortunately knocked Eeyore's house down again. Everyone pitched in putting it back together again.

Then, they had moved over to Tigger's bouncing area. Soon, everyone including Rabbit were happily bouncing around the clearing. After that, Kanga had invited everyone over to her house for some honey and cookies, which Sora had to admit, rivaled his mom's. Wile they ate, Owl told stories of his relatives. And both Pooh and Lumpy were scarfing down as much of the sticky honey as they could, so much that they'd run out again and went back to the honey tree together more.

By then, the weather had turned a little blustery, so it was a perfect opportunity to fly Piglet's new kite. Piglet rested on Sora's shoulders so he wouldn't fly away again. When the wind proved to be picking up too much, they all moved down to Gopher's tunnels, which Sora never got to see before. He was really impressed that Gopher had done such a good job on his own. They wandered the tunnels for awhile, until the wind stopped and finally resurfacing in Heffalump Hollow where Lumpy lived. There, Sora got to meet Lumpy's mother, who was really happy that Lumpy was making so many friends. They rode on Mama Heffalump until it started to get dark and rested on the Starry Hill.

Roo rested comfortably in Kanga's pouch while Lumpy was curled up beside his mother. The others were scattered around the hill, looking up at the stars. Sora rested on the warm, soft grass until Pooh came and sat beside the spiky-haired boy.

"Something wrong, Pooh?" Sora asked, sitting up.

"No. I was just thinking." The small bear replied. "You'll be leaving soon, right Sora?" At Pooh Bear's statement, everyone's ears perked up, and some faces frowned in disappointment.

Sora sighed, knowing Pooh Bear was right. "Yeah. I may have found my friends, but there's still some things I need to do." The hill was silent, until Pooh smiled up at him.

"Well that's okay. Because even though you're not here; I know I can see you whenever I want. In here." Pooh said, pointing to his heart. Sora smiled, remembering that was what he told Pooh a year ago when he didn't want him to leave. Both boy and bear embraced, the other residents of the Hundred Acre Wood surrounding them.

"I hope you'll come by and visit us again, Sora." Piglet said.

"Yeah, we had lots of fun with you today." Roo agreed.

"You gotta keep up your bouncin' skills if you wanna be as good as me someday." Added Tigger.

"Don't worry, I'll come by and visit again soon." Sora reassured them, jumping down from the hill and waiving goodbye. "See you guys later!"

"Goodbye Sora!" Pooh waved as Sora walked away. "We'll see you soon!" The young Keyblade Master smiled, sad to leave the warm environment of the hundred acre wood. But knowing that they'd be thinking of him just like he'd be thinking of them was enough to put him at ease. Sora closed his eyes as he was soon engulfed by a warm, golden glow.

~*KHIII*~

When Sora opened his eyes again, he was back in Radiant Garden's library. The sun still shone through the windows as though no time had passed at all. Kim, Ron, Rufus and Zell were still surrounded by a pile of books with Merlin standing closely beside them.

"Ah, well I see you took your time." The old wizard observed. "Did you have fun, Sora?"

"Yeah, how long was I gone?" Sora asked sheepishly, Merlin stepping behind him and carefully placing Pooh's book back in its case.

"About an hour." Kim replied. "We didn't find anything while you were gone."

"It really sucks!" Added Zell when Sora noticed Kairi on the top floor of the library, curled up in a soft, light green lounging chair and reading. Thanking Merlin for showing him Pooh's book, Sora climbed up the stairs, sitting in a matching chair beside Kairi.

"Hey, what are you reading?" Sora asked as Kairi looked up from her book and smiled at the sight of him.

"Just something Merlin gave to me while you were gone." She replied. "It's my Grandma's journal. Some of the pages are missing, but he thought I could find something in here they couldn't about Xehanort."

"Maybe the pages will turn up when we head out again." Sora suggested. "Did you find anything interesting?"

Kairi nodded. "Apparently she knew Xehanort when she was younger, because her younger sister was a Keybearer too."

"Are you serious?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Yes! Yoake, I think her name was, they studied under the same master. The journal's missing details about their visit to Radiant Garden, what happened to Yoake and what my Grandma thought about Xehanort, and it ends right before the heartless invasion. Merlin said that's because that's when she died; trying to protect me." Kairi's voice cracked as she released a small sob, a stray tear sliding down her cheek.

Sora didn't waste any time pulling her into a tight embrace. "Hey, it's okay. We're all here for you." He whispered in a comforting voice.

"I know that." Kairi replied, composing herself. "It's just a lot to take in right now; the Mark of Mastery, finding Lea and West, seeing so many different worlds and Xehanort coming back. I was nervous, about stowing away with you guys but after all this, I know it was a good decision."

"You're learning a lot." Sora pointed out. "Give yourself credit for that, and about Xehanort, with all of us working together I don't think we need to worry."

Kairi smiled, hugging him back and placing a small kiss on his cheek. "Sora, thank you."

"For what?" He asked a little nervously.

"For keeping your promise; you never changed."

"Hey! If you two lovebirds are done up there; the King says it's time to go!" Both Sora and Kairi looked over the railing to find that everyone had gone, leaving only Riku looking up at the with a playful smirk. The two teens quickly separated, their faces turning bright red. Riku laughed as his two friends walked down the stairs towards him, still blushing. "Come on guys, let's get going."

"You know that was the worst possible timing, Riku." Sora playfully punched him in the arm while the silver-haired Keyblade Master ruffled his friend's hair.

"Yeah, well, I know how much you want to get back in the field."

"I have to admit, I'm excited to get back out there." Kairi exclaimed excitedly, laughing at the two boys. "Maybe we'll get to see some more of the worlds you guys went to."

"You're adjusting." Riku smiled while they wandered the castle halls.

"I guess I just got sick of always being the damsel in distress." Shrugged Kairi. "That's why I wanted to come along so bad, I wanted to get stronger. And I think I succeeded."

"You sure did!" exclaimed Sora. At that moment, he noticed a familiar-looking charm peeking out of Kairi's black pouch, recognizing it as a summon charm. "Where'd you get that?" He asked curiously.

Pulling the charm out of her pocket, Kairi quickly explained. "I found it in a chest near the library." The charm was coloured various shades of pink and had an outline of a rat on the front. "The Mole Rat charm, I think it's called."

PrismRain13: Hope this chapter makes up for updating late. Again, sorry guys. But hey, we've got why Lea and Lydia's relationship ended, a visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, some Sokai fluff, Sora, Riku and Kairi friendship...

Pooh: Oh bother, now I've gotten lost. What happened in this chapter again?

PrismRain13: silly old bear :) be sure to vote on my poll for what you'd like me to publish next, since I'm almost done with Radiant Days, Hollow Nights.

Pooh: Stop by and review! And have some hunny!