Alice POV

Curious and curiouser.

As I lay dazed upon the... Gummi Ship, I could not help her curiosity. A ship that can fly among the stars!

Oh! If only my father were here! Just on the other side of the glass are the stars themselves! Flitting about past them as they sailed onwards!

But that just reminded her of her current predicament.

After traversing the strange world Wonderland, on accident mind you, she believed them. About other worlds. It is hard to ignore as you watch them fly past you.

But that's not the predicament.

After I arrived with Sora, he had to go back. Something about 'sealing the Keyhole' and retrieving this… 'Navi-G gummi' from within. Apparently he needs two to go to the next set of worlds. He returned several minutes later with this strangely shaped red block with smaller multi-colored blocks embedded in it.

He also seemed really happy to find a random Keychain for some reason.

After, he explained the situation to me.

No, the problem is that she, Kairi and five other girls are targeted for nefarious purposes! She was to be kidnapped! Kidnapped!

Oh what would her parents say!

This strange boy, Sora, tasked himself with gathering up these girls to train them to defend themselves.

With the very people originally meant to kidnap them! And Kairi was in total agreement! Judging from their interactions, they appeared to be old friends.

I shall refrain judgement until the rest of the girls are gathered. I will discuss this matter with them.

Sora spent my time in a daze appearing to contact a friend of his. This Riku fellow. They also found a matching red block Sora came back with.

Sora asked for their block to fuse with his so they could continue on. Sora bid them to go to the next world in the area, Olympus Coliseum, and find Phill. But first Sora has to go to them to retrieve this other block.

Oh! To see another flying ship! What must this one look like from the outside?

In the meantime, she has the wonderful opportunity to learn how to fly this ship!

Well… she's watching as Sora teaches Kairi, anyway. Still!

As they await their friends, the discussion goes to the girls again.

There's currently herself and Kairi. But there's also: Jasmine, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora and Belle. As far as Sora was aware, he knows Jasmine is still on her world and at some point Belle was taken and this Beast followed to rescue her! A Beast!

Sora was quick to reassure them that Beast was, is, and always will be, a dear friend of his. Even if they hadn't met yet… Oh bother. Right, he's from the future! Oh dear.

By the time Sora figured out their plans for them, they were all already gathered. So, that meant, he had to resign himself to the kidnappers with finding the rest of the girls.

He seemed stressed. Understandable, but still.

Judging by Kairi's expressions, he's gone through a great deal already and is riding a lot of things on this plan of his.

I hope whatever it is concerning us defending ourselves, works.

It feels wrong, seeing him so sad and stressed.

~/~

The Kingdom

"That's it Riku. Slow and steady." Goofy encouraged the boy. Riku was trying again at flying, but taking it slow. Goofy stood behind the chair Riku sat, while Donald was on his own watching them.

Gazing out the window, Sora's ship was getting bigger in its approach. There looked like another person with them. Looking through the notebook, it must be Alice.

When Sora comm'd them to explain the Navi- G Gummi's Donald reluctantly agreed. They could always find more now that they know where to look. But Sora was on a tight schedule to get these girls trained.

Sora and Kairi were excited about Riku's adventures causing him to blush in embarrassment.

Sora stood and looked at Riku in the eye.

"I'm proud of you Riku." (Donald and Goofy laughed at how red Riku's face got!)

"Th-thanks Sora!" Riku beamed and playfully shoved Goofy away. (Alice and Kairi giggled.) "So what now?"

"Now, you go to Olympus to find Phil. It should be the next would you come across heading back to Traverse Town. Ask him to help train you for the Games. Don't fret if you don't get a ticket. Hades came out of nowhere for me and just handed me one." Sora rolled his eyes at how dumb his younger self was. "The only problem I had was fighting Hades and his three headed-dog, Cerberus. I found out later that Hercules basically tired him out by the time we got there so it was a relatively easy win."

Riku just stared. He's trying to figure out what counted as an easy win for Sora… would be easy for him.

Three headed dog?!

"Uh…" He started.

"Don't worry! With Donald and Goofy at your side, you can do anything! Trust me, these battles are easy compared to later on!"

Easy? Easy?!

Fighting Heartless 'small-fry' on two worlds, a giant invisible lizard thing, a poacher trying to literally hunt him down and now a three headed dog and the lord of the DEAD-!

Easy?!

He's still out of breath from fighting Clayton!

Just what did Sora, Donald and Goofy go through?!

No no no no. Wait. Correction. What did HE go through that made Sora think he could handle it? Oh, that's right.

Xehanort/Ansem Seeker of Darkness and Maleficent.

According to Sora, he went through much worse. The awe on Sora's face talking about his future counterpart in Traverse Town spoke volumes on how powerful he becomes.

Sitting back in his chair, he hysterically mused. Sora's right.

These were easy compared to later on.

"Yes, you're right. We also need to catch up to you. More practice for the long run."

Sora nodded.

A small smile graced his lips. Sora's proud of him. He has such high expectations of him from everything they went through together in the future.

Except…

Now, Sora's trying so hard to change his and Kairi's fate. She had no training and was constantly kidnapped for one reason or another. And him? Ansem and Maleficent played him for an idiot! He went down a very dark path because of them!

Sora's proud of him. He'll do whatever it takes to keep making Sora proud. And if traveling with Donald and Goofy means he'll take a weight off Sora's shoulder then so be it. Sora has enough problems to fix.

"Good! Oh! Before I forget!"

He held out his hand and the Kingdom Key appeared in his palm.

"Did you need it back?" Riku asked.

"You'll see!"

Then he detached the Keychain and attached the one from Wonderland, making Lady Luck appear.

"I have a Keychain too!" Riku held out his Jungle King keychain. Sora grinned.

"Alright! These are Keyblades." He showed Alice, letting her get a good look at it. "Keyblades change shape and style depending on the wielder. Keychains form through the experiences you make off world. Keychains, like this one, change it to represent those changes. They also provide various boons and tricks to help you the more you travel. The one you saw before was my own personal default Keyblade for me. Both Riku's and Kairi had their own style blades as well. Also, this now means we no longer have to share!" Grinning, he held out his other hand and the Kingdom Key appeared. He held out the Kingdom Key to Riku who got the hint.

Holding out his hand, Riku summoned it to his open palm.

He then switched it out for his Jungle King, marveling at its appearance. The Kingdom Key went back to Sora's hand and he held out Lady Luck to Kairi. She gasped and smiled, slowly reaching out for it.

"Lady Luck here came from Wonderland. Making it technically Alice's Keyblade. Riku's is called Jungle King from Deep Jungle. When we get another Keychain, this one will be given to Alice until we get one for Kairi. Riku! Just keep collecting Keychains. The more worlds you go to, the more you'll collect!"

Riku nodded in understanding.

Alice was mystified of the weapon that represented Wonderland, her! That Keyblade would soon be hers to use. Kairi smiled in encouragement.

Sora then stood straight, back to business.

"Once I install the Navi- G Gummi's to my ship I'm going to continue on, I know Jasmine's world is on the way. So, I'll pick her up along the way. Also, there's another in a world in the same area I want to pick up too, who's not a Princess."

"Who?" Everyone asked at once.

Sora startled, but continued. "Her name is Ariel. She's a mermaid on Atlantica. When me, Donald and Goofy first met her, she wanted to travel to other worlds. Ursula the sea witch, another of Maleficent's group, tried to trick her by using that against her. She was a good friend of mine and really helped me out a lot. I'd like to let her join the other princesses too for I could easily see her as a regular keyblade wielder anyway."

"A mermaid!" Alice asked in wonder. Sora looked at her with a smile.

"Yes. As a Keyblade wielder, I learned from Donald about spells to help disguise us as we travel from world to world. You'd be surprised at what appearances you would take." He grinned.

The girls grinned at each other. And Donald nodded, showing he does know that spell.

"I'm going to use it on her to give her legs. Hmm I should probably find some clothes for her while I'm at it." He started mumbling as he planned out his resupply at Traverse Town.

Goofy cleared his throat. Sora blushed and scratched his cheek. "Sorry."

Clearing his throat, he continued. "Well, anyway. She had a lot of potential and I want to work with that. I figured the same training with the Princesses would work."

"Sora!" Kairi spoke up with a giggle. "You don't have to explain yourself to us. If you believe she could help, even as a regular Keyblade wielder, I have no problems training with her. The more help the better."

"Kairi, thank you." He smiled.

Riku shook his head fondly. "Hey Sora!"

"Hm?"

"Should I be jealous? Aren't you getting a little too cozy with all these girls?"

"What?! Wait, no! It's not-!" Sora's embarrassment fell on deaf ears as the two groups laughed.

~/~

Traverse Town

Alice and Kairi walked hand in hand ahead of Sora. Kairi was pointing out various things for the ever-curious Alice.

During their short flight, he learned how Alice soaked up information about Gummi-Ships like a sponge. He could work with that.

Lifting up Alice to sit on the counter, she watched Sora and Cid geek out over Sora's new collection of parts. Cid patiently explaining what each one does.

It was apparent that her world was behind in tech, but the basics between sailing the seas and sailing in space were the same. They just have to build up her mechanical studies.

Cid actually looked forward to working with her.

While this was happening, Kairi went off to find Aerith or Yuffie for clothes for Ariel later, going off Sora's descriptions.

Sora said she was like Aerith in appearance, but needed clothes more to Yuffie's style for combat. Kairi was tasked with finding a happy middle. Ariel may not be a Princess of Light, but Sora said, she'd make a great Keyblade wielder.

Which sparked a shopping spree of sorts. Kairi knows she can't splurge her money, but if it helps, she'll offer what she can. Just something to get Ariel started.

She made sure to find clothes that were adjustable for size. They could always come back later.

Looking back in the general direction of the First District, she smiled as she remembered how happy looked to be teaching Alice about Gummi Ships with Cid.

He looks happy as a teacher. This could be good for him.

Seeing Heartless arrive, she calmly set their bags down and tried to summon Lady Luck.

Time for some more practice. Looking back to Aerith and Yuffie, the women nodded.

They have her back.

~/~

On their way back to the first District, The two women waved goodnight and Kairi started her trek behind the Accessory shop. She saw Sora halfway down the ramp staring at an empty alleyway with Alice snoozing on his back.

"Sora?"

"Hm?"

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh. It's just. You remember Jiminy Cricket? With Donald and Goofy?"

"Of course!" She whispered. Sora nodded to the empty space.

Some time soon, his family, Gepetto and Pinnochio will build a house here. I remember Pinnochio randomly showing up in the Accessory shop. Later we find him again in a space whale named Monstro."

She slapped her hand to her mouth so her gasp wouldn't wake Alice.

"The whale swallowed Gepetto and Pinnochio. When we found them Riku…"

Sora cut himself off. She remained silent, knowing of Riku's descent to Darkness.

"Anyway, to get them out, we had to get the whale to sneeze them out!"

She snorted and tried to muffle it. He simply started to laugh a little.

"I'm going to send Riku there next. Last time, he hurt Pinnochio in an attempt to save you. To solve the mystery of what happened to you. This time, I want to know what he'd do."

They stood there in silence as she let that sink in.

Just one more thing her friends went through because of her. Trying to save her.

"I want to know too."