~Author's Note~

Hello, everyone! Katie again, sorry this update is so late, Steph and I just came back from seeing Cinderella. It was fantastic and magical! Truly done in a Disney fashion. Oh, here is the story. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 16

"Our next Fastpass is due in half an hour, but we may need some extra time to digest our lunch." Steph told the group as they were walking in the direction of New Orleans Square.

"Okay, where are we going?" Haruhi asked.

"Taking it slow by going on a round trip of Disneyland on the Santa Fe Railroad!" Katie answered. "I think the right train is on the tracks today for a special view of the park. I wish we could tour the Lilly Belle, but this will suffice instead."

"It will be a nice break to get off our feet." Haruhi remarked. Everyone nodded, even though they didn't really notice their feet.

"We'll take one stop at Main Street to enjoy a show about Disneyland and the very first complex audio-animatronic." Katie continued as they waited for a flood of tourists to pass by.

They made it to the New Orleans Square station. They got in line while Steph went to talk to a conductor.

"Out of curiosity, do any of you know morse code?" Katie asked. Everyone except Honey and Tamaki nodded. "Okay, wait a moment and listen closely."

Everyone waited a moment. Suddenly, a clicking noise started up. Kyoya started writing while the twins were taping on their palms, mimicking the noise. Mori and Haruhi both closed their eyes and tried to mentally decipher the code. Kyoya, who was writing the words down, needed only a few seconds to get what the message was. He laughed and wrote the neat fact down. Haruhi was next as she smiled and said "Clever." Mori figured it out next and quietly explained it to his cousin. The twins got it in the end and, like Kyoya, laughed.

"What was it?" Tamaki whined.

"Imagineers are clever. They wanted an old-time feel with this station, so they have morse code always in the background. Most people can recognize it as morse code, but not many can decipher it. It is actually Walt's opening speech. The 'Welcome' one."

Steph was walking back to them. "You told them about the code?" Katie nodded. "What about the prank?"

"I was waiting for you to tell that one once we got into the car." Katie said smoothly. "I think the train is coming now."

Just then, they heard a steam engine whistle and a magnificent train came into view. It pulled to a stop at the station and the hosts noticed something unusual about the train. It had no walls, but that was to be expected. What was strange was its seats. They did not face the engine like a typical train would. They instead faced the station and, when in motion, in towards the park. As some people left the train, Katie directed their attention towards the caboose. It was an actual car, with bench seats on the sides of it and windows to look out of. Not fancy, but it looked a lot more comfortable than the plastic seats.

"We'll be sitting in there?" Honey asked. The girls nodded and waited for the train conductors to let the people in line for the train on. As soon as they were allowed aboard, they made their way to this caboose car.

"This car is no secret. Anyone can sit in here." Katie said. "And, like Fastpass and the connecting shops, it is not used often." Everyone got in. It was small, but very cozy. As soon as they sat down, everyone was painfully aware that their feet were throbbing. Honey, who's feet couldn't reach the floor, started kicking his legs to keep blood flow going. Mori was flexing his feet and shaking them. The twins were doing the same while Kyoya started rubbing his feet through his shoes. Haruhi stretched out like a cat and Tamaki slumped down, exhausted. Katie and Steph stretched out a bit and kept their feet on the ground.

Compared to the door of the car, Katie was on the far right of the caboose followed by Kyoya, Steph, and Mori closest to the door on that side. On the far left was Tamaki, Haruhi, the twins, and Honey, respectively.

"Can we hear this prank now?" Hikaru asked.

"Okay, so you heard the morse code outside the station, right? Well, some imagineers decided to change the message while Walt was still alive." Steph spoke excitedly. "They made some rather rude comments with the morse code. They thought they were really clever and, to my knowledge, no guest noticed."

"But," Haruhi guessed. "Someone did."

"Correct." Katie said, taking off her hat and putting it in her bag. She handed out the waters from lunch again. "Someone did find out. Someone who had worked with morse code before and was sure to tell Walt."

"Who was it?" Honey asked. Everyone leaned in to hear the punchline.

"Lillian Disney. She told him immediately when she came to visit." Katie finished.

Everyone laughed and imagined her telling Walt what exactly the code was saying.

While the train was stationary, everyone sat facing the middle of the car. Kaoru was reminded with a certain familiarity his theory of the magic spell as everyone laughed. The interior of the caboose car was almost identical to the pumpkin carriage, but there were a few important differences. One was the new faces. Kyoya, who is often alone in the group, the seventh wheel, was no longer alone. Katie was able to provide enough knowledge to interest him and was fun enough to bring out another, more human side in the shadow king. The younger sister seemed to bring out the differences of the two brothers even more than Haruhi did. They didn't see Steph as a toy, but a friend. And, finally, instead of Tamaki diving the carriage, another, more powerful force was driving them. It was fate for them to be a family.

Kaoru was in the middle of realizing this when a jolt brought him out of his thoughts. The train started moving them. He directed his thoughts to the park behind him. He decided to sit on his knees and turned around to face the window. The people on the left side of the caboose followed him, watching the park go by. A voice, not unlike the one heard on the Mark Twain, came over the sound system.

They exited the station and entered the tunnel. Katie closed her eyes and sat back, resting. Steph talked about how they were currently above the Haunted Mansion stretch room.

"How are you enjoying the park, Haruhi?" Tamaki whispered.

"Its amazing here. I am so glad Kyoya-senpai thought of doing this." Haruhi whispered back. Tamaki smiled. He was happy when Haruhi was.

"Takashi, this might even be better than cake!" Honey remarked to his cousin. Mori's eyes widened at the statement.

"You sure?"

"If we had cake, this would be my version of heaven!" Mitsukuni sighed, content.

Mori thought about it and nodded. It was perfect here.

"Hey, Kaoru?"

"Yeah, Hikaru?"

"I'd want to work here. I never really want to leave."

"Well, we still have two weeks, brother. Not leaving anytime soon. What makes this place so special?"

"We are seen as individuals. I am learning new things about you and you can learn things about me. Maybe we are becoming less reliant on each other. Our would may be expanding." He glanced at Steph, who was chatting in Mori's ear about her after dark Disney challenge he should do.

Kaoru nodded. "I believe it is." The twins exchanged a glance and smiled.

"I never knew such a childish idea could bring out so many emotions to adults and kids alike." Kyoya was saying.

"Childlike, Kyoya. Childish has a negative, bratty connotation. Childlike describes someone who looks at the world with wonder and amusement." Katie corrected him with her eyes still closed. She opened them and turned to him with a smile. "Im very happy you like it though. Get to be a kid again?"

Kyoya looked down at his lap. "More like be a kid for the first time. At home, I am constantly judged by my father and tested by him. Here…"

"You're free." She guessed. He looked at her in her eyes and smiled. The smile warmed both of them.

"I'm free."

They were coming to the end of the tunnel. Steph's attention turned to the group. "Everyone, if you look out the left side windows at the very edge of the tunnel's end, you will catch a glimpse of another ride we will go on today. Its called Splash Mountain from the movie The Song of the South. I doubt any of you have seen it-"

"On the contrary." Kyoya stated. All the hosts nodded, stating that they had seen the movie.

"Oh, that's right." Katie said, sitting up suddenly. "It just wasn't reproduced in english because of… I get it. I wish I could have seen it!"

Steph cleared her throat comically and faked a glare at her sister. "As I was saying, take a look at the Zip-A-Dee-Lady!"

Everyone was able to catch a glance at a whole bunch of AA figures singing and dancing on a boat, but the small river that flowed through it all had logs in it and in those logs were… people.

"It's a flume ride." Mori muttered.

"Yup! It's a water ride!" Steph announced.

"Like, you actually get wet?" Haruhi asked, apprehensive.

"Yup!" Steph said again, cheerfully.

"Nope!" Kyoya and Haruhi said at the same time.

Steph sighed. "Wimps." She muttered. Katie sent a glare at her and spoke to the group.

"I have some ponchos for those who do not wish to get wet. I myself do not wish for that, so we can split into two groups, but we can do that later."

So they focused back on the trains. They passed many neat scenes, such as minor wildlife AAs, a view not unlike they got on the Mark Twain of Tom Sawyer's Island, and a friendly Indian Chief on a horse.

"To my knowledge, there were more little scenes that were deemed politically incorrect that existed here." Kyoya stated, pushing his glasses up in his usual way. Katie nodded and sighed.

"The quest for PC in America. It removed some awesome things and cool uses of technology."

They went through another tunnel pulled into the next station, Toontown/Fantasyland. Katie relaxed again, closing her eyes. Tamaki's attention was turned to a theater nearby. He could see the show going on inside.

"Say, what show is that? It looks pretty awesome!" He asked.

"Hey! No peeking! We're watching that tomorrow!" Steph said, with a kind voice, but one that must be obeyed. So everyone faced the center again and chatted on.

The one who seemed most interested in the trains was Hikaru. He asked a bunch of questions and seemed to know a lot about trains himself. Kaoru was surprised.

"You like trains?" He asked. Hikaru, like Kaoru did earlier at Space Mountain, blushed and admitted that it was a fascination of his. He continued to ask questions and everyone was happy. They started moving again out of the Toontown Station. They rolled on, chatting quietly amongst themselves. They saw the backside of It's a Small World and went through its façade. In no time, they arrived at the Tomorrowland Station. Since they had never been out that far in Tomorrowland, they saw a new ride.

"It's a bunch of cars." Tamaki remarked.

"Not very economically safe cars." Kyoya remarked, wrinkling his nose after smelling the oil and gas.

"True on both accounts. Its called Autotopia and we will ride that tomorrow. This ride is truly meant for kids, so we will ride it tomorrow morning." Katie remarked, gathering her stuff together.

"We're getting off on the next stop, but there is an amazing display in between the Tomorrowland and Main Street stations. We're taking a trip!" She said, putting her cap back up and putting everyone's waters away in her bag.

"Okay, everyone! When we go off, look out the left side windows. Spread out so everyone can see. It's an amazing diorama of the Grand Canyon!" Steph said as the train was still waiting for people to get off and back on.

"Whats that?" Haruhi asked. Katie smiled as she reminded herself that these guests were not used to American tourist attractions since they were from Japan.

"Its just a canyon, but it is one of the largest in the world. Its quite beautiful, so it gets a lot of tourists." Kyoya answered. The Shadow King really did know all!

The train started moving and they entered into the diorama. It was gorgeous and huge, like the original canyon, and had a few neat AA devices, such as goats, rattlesnakes, and other small creatures.

Then, the announcer said that they were going back in time, to the time of the dinosaurs.

Honey freaked out a bit. He loved dinos, which nobody knew about. Not even Mori knew. So he stayed quiet until…

He saw the huge, amazing Audio Animatronic dinosaurs. Some herbivores were munching on leaves, baby dinos were hatching, some looked like they were flying! But Honey had to say something when he saw a Tyrannosaurs Rex fighting a Stegosaurs.

"THAT IS SO AWESOME!" He yelled. Everyone jumped at the sudden noise from the smaller boy. Honey didn't even blush as he was focused on the sight before him.

"Mitsukuni…" Mori seemed to ask the entire question with that one word.

Honey turned to face his best friend. "What? Just because I like cute things doesn't mean I can't like dinos!" Everyone laughed and agreed with the little Boy-Lolita.

They soon pulled into the Main Street, U.S.A station. They got up and stretched before exiting the caboose. Everyone was happy for the alone time, away from the noisy and claustrophobic masses. No one entered the caboose, believing it to be for special guests, which was incorrect.

They walked towards the exit when Katie heard a mother in line for the train talking on the phone, a whimpering baby in her arms. She seemed to have split form her group to find a more quiet spot and was talking to her husband, who probably was keeping another child entertained.

"I'm getting on the train now, hopefully he could nurse there. Its out of the shade but it is so loud…"

Katie asked her group to wait for her on the street. Kyoya and Haruhi stayed behind with her while everyone else went down the stairs.

"Excuse me Ma'am, I am a Disney Cast Member and I have a suggestion for you." The woman said goodbye to her husband and hung up. She looked desperate for some help.

"That caboose back there is fairly cool and quiet if you are looking for a more private place. And, if that does not feel right for you, there is a better place at City Hall." Katie quietly informed her with a smile.

Both hosts present had the same thought; this girl had the same skills as a professional host. She had a beautifully pleasant voice and genuine emotion, with a pretty face and a comforting air. He sister was different but could be a host as well.

The mother joyfully thanked her and went to the caboose. They watched until the train pulled out of the station. No one else entered the caboose. The woman gave a wave out her window as she left, smiling hugely as her baby was nursing under a blanket.

Katie had a smile on her face as she turned to face Kyoya and Haruhi. Kyoya was writing in his notebook as Haruhi smiled at Katie. They went towards the street, rejoined the group and walked towards The Disneyland Story featuring Great Moments With Abraham Lincoln.

~AUTHOR'S NOTE~

So much feelz! I love the train, it really was Walt's pride... *Sigh*... I'm a nerd. Anywho, I hope you enjoyed, please R&R, your comments are always so uplifting you guys are the best, and I will see you Wednesday.

THATS ALL! 3