Molly's Point of View

"Are you sure you don't want to come back to Destiny Islands with us?" Dad asked for the twenty-second time.

"Yes," I repeated.

"You know, I would feel a lot better if you stayed with Uncle Riku instead of the Prisms'," Dad tried.

"Dad, there's nothing wrong with Clarissa's family. Mr. Prism is really cool. Besides, Aly and Lucy are back, so they'll be around. How much trouble could it be?"

Dad sighed in defeat. "Alright. Don't be a pain. If something's not right, I want you to go to Uncle Riku's right away. I've asked him to check on you regularly. I know it's only three weeks, but... I'm a little worried. We've never left you alone for that long before."

"Again, I won't be alone. Mr. Prism will take care of me. He's always been nice to me, and Clarissa's my best friend. I promise that if something goes wrong, I'll talk to Uncle Riku, okay? Do you feel better now?" I groaned.

"A little, I guess. I still would like you to come with us. It's just for the summer. It'll be great. You could see your grandparents, hang out with your cousin, spend quality time with your brother-"

"Can we not talk about him?" I snapped. I couldn't stand Kai. He hated Alison and tried to drive me and her apart. Dad said he was just jealous, so I tried giving Kai a chance to be my brother, but when he continued to talk smack about Aly in front of me, I couldn't take it anymore. Since Mom and Dad went to spend the summer with him on the islands, I was stuck there last year. This year, I decided to stay in Radiant Gardens with my best friend, Clarissa.

Dad's expression was replaced with a look of disappointment. "Fine. You can do what you want. We'll see you when we get back."

I hugged him. "I'm sorry it has to be this way. I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, Butterfly. Have a good time. Don't do anything dangerous," Daddy warned.

Mom walked downstairs. "Molly, do you have anything else you're taking? I know most of what you need is already there, but I want to check."

"Nope. I already have everything I need there. It's not like I don't spend the night at Clarissa's a bunch anyway. If I need something, Mr. Prism already said he would bring me back to get it."

"You don't have a key," Mom pointed out.

I summoned my keyblade. "Yeah, I think I do," I chuckled.

"Okay, smartypants. Mr. Prism will be here any minute to come and get you. Are you going to do something with your hair?" Mom asked.

"No. Does it look bad?" I wondered.

Mom sighed. "No. It doesn't. When did our little Molly grow out of pigtails? You're growing up right before my eyes."

"Well, yeah. It's not like I get any younger," I chuckled.

"I can't believe we're leaving you for the whole summer. We never would have done that last year," Dad commented.

"I love you guys, but I'm okay. I don't need you as much anymore," I reminded them. There was a knock at the door. "That's Mr. Prism! I'll get it!" I exclaimed as I raced to the door. I discovered I was wrong as I saw a different figure standing before me. "Uncle Ienzo? What are you doing here?"

"I have great news! I received word that Brittany will wake up in three days!" Uncle Ienzo answered.

Mom and Dad rushed to the door. "Three days?! That's- we weren't expecting that," Dad mentioned.

"Well... that's wonderful. Perhaps we'll make the time to come visit soon," Mom added.

"You mean you're not going to stay for it?" I questioned.

"We have to go see... your brother," Dad answered.

"We're expected. I'm sorry, Molly. We'll come back with Kai to visit, though. We'll tell him the news as soon as we see him," Mom apologized.

"But you could always go after Brittany wakes up," I tried.

"Molly, Brittany's not- she doesn't belong to us, honey. She's not part of- Well, we love her, but we have to take care of you and your brother. You'll still be able to see her as soon as she comes home since you're staying here, but we really shouldn't..." The more Dad spoke, the more his resolve seemed to weaken. Mom's was as strong as ever.

"It's better off this way. We don't know how Brittany will be once she wakes up. We have already discussed it, and it's better to give Brittany some space so she doesn't get confused. Her parents are Riku and Yuffie now. We're a distraction," Mom stated.

"Wait, what?!" I shouted.

"That is... disappointing. I'm sure you will be missed," Uncle Ienzo said.

"So you're just- what? Not going to see Brittany? She's still the same Brittany. She just remembers more stuff. She's still your daughter. She's still my sister," I argued.

"I'm sure Brittany will look back on the time you spent together fondly. Tell her we said hello, okay, Butterfly?" Dad replied.

I was shocked that my parents would think that avoiding Brittany was the right thing to do. Anger swelled up within me. "Uncle Ienzo, will you take me to the Prisms? I'm ready to go. Mr. Prism was supposed to take me, but I think I would rather get a head start and meet him along the way."

"Of course, Molly," Uncle Ienzo agreed.

"Molly, wait-" Dad started. I turned back to him, waiting for him to say something. I could see the internal struggle between logic and emotions. He wanted to be there, but his brain believed leaving was the best choice. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."

I didn't spare them another glance as Uncle Ienzo and I headed toward the Prisms' house. We met up with Mr. Prism and Clarissa in town. "Clarissa, guess what? My sister, Brittany, is waking up in three days!"

"Little Raven is waking up? That's great! Are your parents staying a little longer?" Mr. Prism commented.

I looked to Uncle Ienzo, who shook his head ever so slightly with a look of pity on his face. I looked down with a slight pout.

"Oh. Sorry, kiddo. Well, hey, we'll have a great time this summer, and when Brittany wakes up, you can see her as much as you want. How about that?" Mr. Prism held up his hand for me to high-five, which I returned weakly. "Come on. You have to do better than that. Show me some enthusiasm!" I couldn't help but smile as I high-fived Mr. Prism with much more energy than the first time around. "Hey, that's it. Ienzo, I've got it from here. Thanks for bringing her out here."

"Of course. Don't forget to pick up the girls tomorrow and bring Alison to the castle," Uncle Ienzo reminded.

"Can't Alison come to be with me at the Prisms' house?" I requested.

"I want her home tomorrow. I'll see to it that she spends time with you the day after. There will be plenty of time for you girls to spend together. After all, you have the whole summer." Uncle Ienzo assured me.

"Okay, I guess," I sighed.

"Come on! Today is our only day without Lucy being in our way! We've gotta make the most of it," Clarissa urged.

Uncle Ienzo chuckled. "I'll leave you to it, then. Have a good time."

Clarissa and I said goodbye as Uncle Ienzo walked away.

We began to walk to Clarissa's house. Clarissa took my hand. "Hey, tell me one of those stories from your home world again. How about that one with the sisters?"

"Again? Oh, alright. It began with two sisters. One born with magical ice powers, one born powerless."

I loved every second I spent with Clarissa. When Lucy got home, she played board games with Clarissa and me until Mr. Prism said it was time for bed. Of course, that meant that Clarissa and I would spend half the night making a fort and playing card games until Lucy told us to shut up because we were being too loud with our giggling.

The following day, I finally got to see Alison. She made time to spend with just me and took me out to eat at Mr. Scrooge's restaurant.

"Did you hear about Brit?" I asked.

"Yeah. Things are going to be pretty weird from now on," Alison answered.

"Weird? Weird how? Brittany will be back. Things are finally going to be right."

"It's not that simple. We've grown up. She's been sleeping for so long. She'll have grown physically but not mentally or emotionally. Like your dad when he woke up from his coma in Twilight Town," Alison explained.

"Why was he in that coma again? I don't remember much from the games."

"Didn't your dad tell you these stories?"

"No. He doesn't talk about it much. Mom doesn't either."

"Well, I can tell you what I remember, but Brittany can tell you everything when she wakes up. She could probably quote conversations word for word even. She loved the games more than me, and you were still little."

"Do you think I'll forget everything from Earth?"

"Maybe, but there's a part of you that will never forget. In here." Alison pointed to my heart and chuckled lightly. "I would've thought that was so cheesy before. Now I know that all that stuff is true."

"Do you ever wish we could go back to the way things were?" I wondered.

"All the time. Sometimes, I wish on stars, flowers, or anything really that could be a magical object. We would have a normal life and, more importantly, be together. But you know, I look at my life, I look at Lucy, I look at Uncle Ienzo, I look at my school, and all the things that make this life worth living, and I realize that life here will be whatever I make it. If I only look at what could have been, I would never be happy, but if I look for it- for that happiness, it's there. I'm happy being here. I would have been happy back on Earth, but it's out of my control."

"I don't want to be apart anymore. That's why I stayed behind. They try to make me forget, you know. Mom and Dad. Kai too. They try to make me forget everything. You and Brittany, Earth, Disney movies, Kingdom Hearts... they try to make me forget everything."

"You'll never forget. I'll always be around. Even when I return to school, you can still call, and we'll still see each other on my breaks, and soon, I won't be in school anymore. Then I'll stay at the castle and always be around. I'm not going to let them keep you away from me. Brittany too. We're going to stay together, no matter what, okay?" Alison reassured me.

"Always," I agreed.

Arika 2023: I don't hate Kingdom Hearts III. It's not my favorite, but I don't hate it. I didn't cancel this fic, but it is coming to a close. The next chapter will be the last.