A/N: Don't have much to say in this authors note to be honest. Ok, so the other day, I was trying to draw out what I thought Hope looked like….Yeah, let's just say, it was the worst picture in the world. SO, if any of you reviewers are like AMZING artists, I could use your help, and I please ask you to draw me a picture of what our lovely main character of this story looks like. You can find me on Deviantart, where I am known as prettystar78!

Hope smiled as she watched several of the local children playing together on the playground, laughing happily as they ran around. Her home was always full of such joy and happiness, and to see it made her happy as well. She was broken away from her thoughts by someone tugging on her shirt sleeve. She looked down to see a familiar little face.

"Hello, Kairi." Hope greeted, picking up the little red-head girl and sitting her in her lap, "What brings you here to the park?"

Kairi looked up at the older girl, a smile on her face. "I was wondering if you could tell me a story!"

Hope giggled at the young child's enthusiasm. Almost every time Hope would sit in the town square and tell the local children stories, Kairi was always there. "Hmm, well, I think that's a good idea. Any story in particular?"

"The one about Light and Darkness!"

Hope knew the story she was talking about. When she had been around Kairi's age, her mother had told her the story, just like Kairi's grandma did. And just as much as Kairi did, hope loved it too. "Ok, Kairi. I tell it to you. Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted the light for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of the light survived... in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?"

Kairi looked up at Hope, a small thoughtful look on her face, before giving a small nod, "Yes, I think so."

Hope smiled, patting the girls red hair. "Just remember, Kairi: Always believe in the light, and never give up on it, ok?"

"Ok, I will!"

"Kairi!" Someone called out.

"Oh! Grandma!" Kairi exclaimed, waving to the old woman from Hope's lap. Kairi jumped up and ran over to the old woman, greeting her with a happy hug.

"There you are, little one! It's time to go home now." The woman explained.

"Okay!" Kairi exclaimed, beginning to walk away, only to stop and run back to Hope, "Thank you, princess Hope, for telling me the story! Bye!" She waved, leaving with her grandma. "Grandma, why does everyone call Hope Princess Hope?"

She smiled down at the young girl, "Well, because she is the Wise Ansem's granddaughter. And many of us here in Radiant Garden believe that she is someone with a very pure heart."

Kairi gave her grandma a curious look. "A pure heart? What's that?"

"A heart that is full of plentiful light, and void of any darkness. The light in that child's heart is a light that will one day, if ever, save us all from being swallowed up by the darkness. Her light will push it away. Someone with a heart such as hers should be respected and regarded as a princess."

"You mean that she's like the story? She's the small piece of light that was left when darkness covered the entire world?"

"I suppose…that you could say that she is."

0o0o0o0o0o

Hope yawned as she approached Axel the following morning, rubbing any remains of sleep from her eyes. Although she felt the need to go back to sleep, she felt that Axel needed it more than she did. The bags under his eyes were perfectly clear to the eye, causing her to frown. Poor Axel had not had any decent amount of sleep in quite awhile. It was amazing how he could even stay awake with standing there like that. She walked up behind him and hugged him, showing her sympathy to his sleep deprived body.

"Huh? Oh, hey…" Axel mumbled sleepily, telling Hope that he had dozed off while standing there.

Hope smiled, enjoying the warmth he was letting off. He was like her own personal heater that was always around. "Axel, what's today's agenda?"

"We're going with Roxas on a mission to someplace called Agrabah."

Just as he mentioned the agenda, Roxas walked in and over to his two older friends. Axel turned toward the blond and smile enthusiastically. "Hey, get this: they paired me with you two as a "slap on the wrist.""

Hope shot a look at him. "Who you calling a slap on the wrist, hot-head?"

"What? Why am I a slap on the wrist!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Well, they just know how much I loathe babysitting…" Axel explained.

"Oh, thanks!" Roxas exclaimed, laughing.

"Axel, I thought we made it clear that I was no longer a baby." Hope said, laughing as well.

Axel smiled at the both of them, scratching his head. "Would it kill them to give me a day off? Look at these bags under my eyes." He mumbled, rubbing his temples while Hope frowned at how tired he still looked. Immediately, he smirked at them, scoffing lightly, "Pfft. All right, c'mon, partners!"

Roxas laughed, "Right behind ya."

"Let's get this show on the road!" Hope exclaimed as they all walked through the portal and out into a town. The first thing Hope noticed was that there was lots of sand and that it was scorching hot outside. She figured they must've been in the middle of a desert, apparently in the towns marketplace. "Man, it's hot…"

Axel scratched his head, "Whaddaya say we make this quick?"

Roxas nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

"The sooner we leave, the better." Hope added in, following the two further into the city.

One thing I do not like: Fighting heartless in the middle of a desert. I am probably the most sweatiest person in the world right now, and I have sand in places that shouldn't have sand there! To make matters worse, I have to fight alongside a pyro, making it twice as hot. Stupid desert…

"Where is it? It's gotta be around here somewheres…" The unfamiliar voice caused me to look up just in time to see some fat guy before Axel grabbed me and pulled me behind the corner with him and Roxas, my back connecting with his chest.

"Now who is that? And what is he up to?" Axel mumbled to us.

"He wasn't here the last time I came by, that's for sure." Roxas said, peeking around to look at the suspicious character.

"Hmm…" I looked up to see Axel wearing his thinking face before he peeked around the corner again, me doing the same.

"Grrr…Well, I aint givin' up till I find a way in!" The mysterious person exclaimed, his voice beginning to annoy me, "And once I find that lamp that's stashed down there…Heh heh heh….All my wishes will come true."

Axel and I turned back to Roxas, Axel frowning slightly, "He thinks some lamp is gonna grant his wishes?"

"Weird..." I mumbled.

"Yeah, strange guy." Roxas stated.

"You got that right…" I added in.

Axel gave us a grin, "Change of plans you two! Our new mission is following Lunkhead there." Axel said, pointing over at the guy

"What?" Roxas asked, confused by the new sudden change of plans. "But…we're out on heart collection. Won't we get in trouble if we just-"

"Looking into any suspicious characters you come across is an important part of the job." Axel explained.

"But wouldn't you still call it disobeying orders?"

"No, I'd call it flexible thinking. Got it memorized?"

"Yes, Axel, we have it memorized." I replied.

He sent me a grin, "Plus, we'll still have plenty of time to collect hearts afterwards. No harm, no foul."

Roxas looked down at the ground, "I guess…"

"Good, then we've agreed. Now, the key here is to keep your eyes on him, Roxas."

"Just make sure he doesn't lay eyes on you, ok?" I asked, earning a nod from the blonde.

0o0o0o0o0o

The trio ended up following him all the way out to the desert, finding a cave that was probably years old, due to pieces of the ceiling lying on the floor. Axel whistled at the size of the cave. "This cave's bigger than it looks from the outside…Hey, I think we lost him."

Indeed, he was right. The mysterious character was nowhere to be found inside the lower level that the trio was currently on. Because of this, Roxas turned to look at the two adults, "So, what now?"

Hope shrugged her shoulders, "Back to heart collection, I guess."

"You don't want to look for him?"

Axel looked down at him, "Nah. I would've liked to know what he was up to, but hey. Just finding out about this cave is enough of a feather in our cap for today. Plus, searching a place this big would be a royal pain."

"What happened to this being an important part of the job?"

Axel grinned, putting a finger to his temple, tapping it lightly. "Like I said, flexible thinking." Roxas and Hope began to laugh at him, causing Axel to scratch his head sheepishly. "Hey, let's just get this mission over and done with."

They both stopped laughing and exited the cave, heading back for the city.

Hope smiled as she watched the sunset, taking a bite of ice-cream, like Roxas and Axel. Hope smiled as she watched Roxas laugh, making him seem like a more outgoing person than he had been the first day she met him. Although he was still shy, he was more of a talker now.

"You're more outgoing now, you know that?" Axel asked, like he had read Hope's mind.

Roxas laughed, smiling. "Yeah? Well, you guys are too."

Hope gave him a surprised look, while Axel simply grinned. "Me? You think? Guess he musta rubbed off on me…" Axel mumbled.

Hope smiled when she realized who he was referring to. "Huh? Who did?"

"Heh, let's just say you can thank yourself that we all get to sit here again and laugh like idiots over ice-cream." Axel stated, causing Hope and Roxas to laugh, though Hope was confused as to why Axel had said we should be thanking Roxas for us being here.

Roxas took another bite, turning to look over to the side, as if he was searching for something. He stared for a moment before sighing sadly. "I guess Xion's not gonna show today."

Hope looked at him sadly, feeling bad that he was sad. That's when she remembered she had something to give Roxas and Axel, and decided that it would probably cheer Roxas up. "Oh! I have something for you guys!" She exclaimed, digging into her pockets and handing the two her gifts.

Hope's theme begins to play-

In their hands, they held heart-shaped good luck charms. The one Axel held was orange and red, while the one Roxas held was blue and green. Hope pulled another one out, this one her own. It was purple and blue. Roxas stared at it in curiosity, studying it carefully. "What is it?"

Hope smiled. "They're good luck charms that I made myself with what I had. I heard that somewhere at there in a different world, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit-and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. Well, I couldn't really make a nice looking star, so I made heart shapes instead. But, as long as my friends carry this charm, it'll never tear away the bond I have with those people. If we get separated, we'll always find our way back to each other again. I used magic on them, that way it can also keep you safe." She grinned happily, holding hers up, "An unbreakable connection!"

Roxas smiled as he looked at the charm, while Axel stared at intently, tracing a finger over the design before lifting it up and over his head, placing it around his neck. He turned to look at Hope, sending her a wink and causing her to blush. "Thanks, Hope."

"Yeah, thanks!" Roxas exclaimed happily, placing his over his head too, wearing it like a necklace.

Hope giggled, "You're welcome."

Now, there friendship could never be broken apart….But even the best of friendships couldn't last in peace forever.

A/N: Ok, the very few reviews I got last chapter is bothering me O-o. Was it really that bad? Please let me know…