Chapter 4

Vanitas went to the gym and started to play basketball. With him was Chicken Little (the smallest player in the team) and Max Goof. PJ was watching them from the bleachers, recording them as they played.

"I'm going to take that ball away from you, Vanitas!" cried Chicken Little, acting tough.

"Pity chickens cannot fly." sneered Vanitas.

"Better be careful what you say. Or you'll end up in an electric chair." teased Max.

"Uh oh." said PJ, looking over the gym. Xion walked in, holding a notebook around her arms and sat down by the bleachers, next to PJ.

"You shouldn't be here." said PJ to Xion.

"Why?" asked Xion casually as she pushed her long black bangs around her ear.

"Do you realize the controversy of you being here?" asked PJ.

"What? Roxanne and Max are two kids from different worlds and yet they are dating." said Xion.

"That's different. It's not right for you to be here." said PJ.

"I can be here whenever I please. Besides, you're not the one dating him." said Xion.

"You and Vanitas cannot be a couple! It's against nature." said PJ, frowning.

"When did you become the couple's police?" asked Xion.

"All I'm saying is that you're relationship is pulling tons of feathers! Vanitas is Lord Xehanort's assistant! Meaning he works for that scary principal of ours!" said PJ.

"He's not a secret agent like those Turks from the Shinra Company." said Xion.

PJ wanted to say more but Vanitas, Chicken Little and Max met up with them. They overheard the conversation and it was Max who urged PJ to come with him.

"Let's go get something to drink at the lounge. Bobby's got that leaning tower of cheese thing I want to try out." said Max.

"B-but, is it okay?" asked PJ.

Chicken Little didn't feel comfortable. He also spoke. "Yeah! Let's go! I'll invite Abby." he said.

PJ walked with Max and Chicken Little while Vanitas sat with Xion.

"PJ gave you a hard time?" he asked.

"PJ is sweet. But he's concerned about me and you." said Xion.

"Sweet? He was acting like a cop." said Vanitas.

"Like you?" replied Xion.

Vanitas held her hand. "You good?"

Xion shook her head. "No. I'm not. Roxas said some things, and I'm starting to think that maybe we shouldn't be together." said Xion.

"Why? Because your first crush told you that we shouldn't be together?" asked Vanitas.

"Roxas is a friend of mine. A really good friend." said Xion.

"Ex is more like it. You did date him." said Vanitas.

"Yes. But when we broke up, it was mutual." said Xion.

"Why are we even talking about Roxas. Let's talk about us. Let's talk about how we are going to spend the evening together." said Vanitas.

Xion smiled. "Movies and chill tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah. We can go and get something to eat at the Rose Tavern, and we can rest. The principal didn't ask me to do anything today." said Vanitas.

"Nothing too dangerous I hope." replied Xion.

They both stood silent for a long time. Then Xion spoke. "What are we going to do." she said softly.

"What?" asked Vanitas.

Xion looked at him with her big blue eyes and Vanitas understood.

"How long?" he whispered.

"I don't know." she replied.

"Does Roxas know?" he asked.

"What? No! I would never talk to him behind your back!" said Xion.

"Who else knows?" asked Vanitas.

"Nobody. Not even Ms. Clarabelle." said Xion.

"You should go see her." said Vanitas.

"Ms. Clarabelle is strict. She can ask me questions and…" Xion was saying.

"I trust her. She's a good person." said Vanitas.

Xion nodded and the gym doors opened. In walked Ms. Aqua, one of the Gym Teachers.

"What are you two doing here all alone? This is not a good place for intimacy." said Ms. Aqua.

"My apologies. But we were having a private conversation." said Vanitas, lowering his gaze. However, he stood up against Ms. Aqua.

"Vanitas is it? You should get to class, as well as you Xion. You have PE in a few minutes. Go and change." said Ms. Aqua.

"I spoke with Mr. Hercules. He said I can skip this period. I have homework to catch up on." said Xion.

"Oh? Okay then." said Ms. Aqua.

"I'll make up the work." said Xion.

"That's something between you and Mr. Hercules." said Ms. Aqua. She then turned to Vanitas. She didn't really trust this boy.

"Get to class." she said again.

Meanwhile, out in the gardens, Sora was speaking to one of the ground keepers, Mr. Squall. Although, he preferred kids called him Leon instead.

"So you don't know who she is?" asked Sora.

"I don't really. But I could have seen her. I see kids come and go in this school." said Leon.

"Bummer." said Sora.

"Keep your chin up. You'll find this friend of yours. Maybe she moved to another school." said Leon.

"Maybe. But that's unlikely." said Sora.

"You know, if you lost something, go to lost and found. Maybe there's a clue there." said Leon.

"I'm looking for a person, not a thing." said Sora.

"I said you can find a clue. Maybe something that was hers is there." said Leon.

Sora's face brightened and he quickly ran to the lost and found area.

That area was tucked in a corner, and it was piled up with lost coats, notebooks, and even toys! Sora had to dig through piles of stuff to find… anything really. Anything that could have belonged to Namine.

As he continued digging, he pulled out a book and he quickly threw it…. Until he realized something that caught his attention. He quickly picked it up again and looked at the front cover.

It was a children's book. With a big worded title.

DISNEY'S STORYBOOK COLLECTIONS

What caught his attention was not the title itself, rather the pictures on the cover. They were bubbles, and each of them represented a person. A person Sora knew!

On one bubble, there was Ms. Mulan, the martial arts instructor! Another bubble had Ms. Snow White, the cooking teacher! Another one had Mirabel, Elsa, Simba, and even Mr. Buzz and Mr. Woody!

Sora opened the book and saw beautiful illustrations of his classmates and teachers… all of them wearing different clothes and living in different time periods or perhaps worlds? The thing was, everyone was doing something that reflected Sora's dreams.

Ms. Snow White fell asleep via poisoned apple. Mirabel's house was crumbling to pieces, and Simba fights the wicked Lion King with a scar. All of this he knew too well. He just had to show this to Roxas.

And then, as he turned around, something hit him on the head. And Sora was knocked out.

A few moments pass, Sora wakes up. He gasps aloud and quickly looks around for the book. And he didn't find it. Sora cursed aloud. The book was gone. The only piece of evidence he had of his nightmares and Roxas's was nowhere to be found.

At night, outside the garden, Vanitas stepped outside and heard footsteps. He turned around and saw a hooded figure wearing a black coat.

"You're here for vengeance?" he asked in disgust.

"I'm here for you." replied the hooded figure.

"Then come and get me." said Vanitas as he pulled out his weapon…. A knife.

The hooded figure pulled out not a knife but a katana.

"You make me laugh. You think you can beat me with a simple kitchen knife?" asked the hooded figure.

"Worth a shot." replied Vanitas.