Chapter 134

Let the Sun Shine On

The party devoted the rest of the day to helping the people of Arendelle repair any damages that were sustained during the blizzard. A pair of soldiers escorted Hans to a cell in the dungeon as soon as he was fished out of the fjord. The Duke of Weselton's bodyguards, who had been locked up after the fight in the ice palace but were removed from their cells during the blizzard for their safety, were also locked back up. One of the dignitaries was dismayed to see that his barge had capsized during the storm, so Elsa created an icy path across the water to the barge, which Riku, Goofy, and the dignitary's guards crossed to break into the ruined ship through the hull to retrieve the essential materials. Elsa apologized for the damage she had caused and gathered the dignitaries to arrange transport for him and his entourage.

The castle's kitchen staff prepared a banquet for everyone for dinner, serving Elsa and Anna, the retainers, Kristoff, the foreign guests who came for the coronation, the townspeople, and the world-traveling visitors who had become known as honored friends of the queen and princess. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua sat near Elsa and Anna, who were side-by side with Elsa at the head of the table and Kristoff on Anna's other side. Rapunzel and Eugene sat near the party so that they could chat and catch up with recent events. As summer weather had returned, everyone had returned to wearing clothes that were more comfortable for the season.

"So, how is it, being back with your parents?" Kairi asked Rapunzel.

"It's nice. A bit weird. Still getting used to it," Rapunzel replied. "Dad is kinda overbearing, but I know it's because he's worried about me."

Kairi nodded, seeing where she was coming from. "I understand. Our parents were the same after we got back home from saving the worlds. Papa had me make sure he knew where I was going to be at all times for a month."

"You don't think that was a bit excessive?" Flynn remarked.

Kairi shrugged. "Well, I did get kidnapped, so you can excuse him for being extra careful." She giggled, and Rapunzel laughed as well. "I really like your hair," she said, changing the topic.

Rapunzel ran her hand through her brown locks. "Thanks. It's still a little bit strange not having all that hair, and not being blonde. But short hair is so much more manageable."

"I'm glad we don't have to worry about anyone tripping on it," Eugene added. "But, you know, it would have been nice to have a little bit to wrap ourselves up in to keep warm during the last couple days."

While Kairi was chatting with her friends from Corona, Sora and Riku spoke with Elsa and Anna. "So, wait. I'm confused. You said that you used your powers when playing with Anna when you were children. So how come Anna didn't know about your powers until recently?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that, too," Anna remarked.

Elsa sighed, preparing herself for the explanation. "When you were five, we were playing in the entrance hall. I'd used my powers to ice up the floor and create a bunch of snow that we played with." Anna tried to interject, but Elsa cut her off. "No, it wasn't outside. We played outside when it actually snowed, sometimes, but a lot of the time it was indoors. Anyway, there was an accident, and I… I hit you with an ice blast. You lost consciousness and started to grow cold. That's also when you got that streak in your hair."

Anna brushed the lock where her hair was white. While making herself up before dinner, she had noticed that the streak was gone and her hair was entirely strawberry blonde. "I guess it went away when you unfroze," Sora said, noticing the uniformity in her hair color.

"Wait… I wasn't born with it?" Anna realized.

Elsa giggled. "No, you weren't. So, mother and father took us to the trolls so they could heal you. Their elder, Grand Pabbie, did so, and took the magic out of your head. Along with it, he also had to pull out all memory of magic, shifting what was left so that you still remembered the good times we had, even if you no longer remembered that I had powers." She sighed and crossed her arms. Even though she was pushing past her trauma of that incident, she still felt guilt and shame for harming her sister all those years ago.

Anna put her hand on Elsa's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm glad I know now," she said. "And at least I still remember all the fun we had together."

Riku nodded. "Whatever mistakes and tragedies you faced in the past, you don't have to be afraid anymore," he assured Elsa.

"It's all in the past, and you're all right now. So you should just make the most of your time together from now on," Sora added.

Elsa smiled. Anna swallowed a piece of food and burped, causing everyone else to laugh. While Sora was simply enjoying spending time with his friends, a part of him was focused on Elsa's story.

Maleficent and Loki stood around the crystal ball through which they had observed the events of the blizzard, contemplating what had transpired. Loki was quite intrigued by how it had panned out, while Maleficent bore an expression of mild annoyance.

"Fascinating. She possesses all of the icy power of the Casket of Ancient Winters, yet she overcame the darkness and dismissed the cold," Loki remarked.

"Yes. Her 'love' gave her the ability to undo what she had done to the world around her," Maleficent said derisively.

"Your plan to corrupt her powers by fueling her fear fell apart when the waterfowl wizard and the Keyblade Master slew the Heartless that poisoned her state of mind. Where did that monster come from, precisely?" Loki asked.

"The Pisces Auracite," Zeromast answered, coming up behind them. They turned to address him, and he gestured toward the blue crystal on the table. "The treacherous heart of an ancient chancellor was sealed in the stone with the power of the region's elemental spirits in response to his betrayal and enslavement of his queen. Maleficent turned the heart into a Heartless and bound it to Arendelle's queen to draw it out of its prison."

"Ah. And much like the traitor commanded his queen's power, his Heartless used the link to the snow queen to draw upon her powers and create the darkness-infused snow monsters," Loki deduced.

"Curious of you to use the word 'traitor' so freely, seeing how you betrayed your own adoptive father and brother and murdered your own birth father," Zeromast teased.

Loki chuckled. "Fair enough. Of course, even his power of corruption could not fully conquer the snow queen's power and soul."

"Indeed. Perhaps her concern for the safety of her people and her love for her sister made her too strong for the Heartless to properly take control of her," Zeromast posited. "It was that love that made her afraid of her magic, and the same love that helped her overcome her fear." He picked the Auracite up and examined the symbol etched into it. "Pisces has a strong connection to the emotion of love, extending back to the fish from which this symbol was derived. It was probably that love that caused her to have such an affinity with the Auracite, as well as the element of ice under her command. Ironic how the love that strengthened her affinity to the Auracite was what helped her put an end to the curse that her fear and darkness unleashed."

Maleficent scoffed. "The light of their love smothers whatever potential they have for magnificent power," she spat, adding a spiteful enunciation to the words "light" and "love". With that, she turned and left the room.

"She really does not care much for light," Loki mused.

When night fell, Elsa had some servants lead the visitors to their guest rooms. Mickey and Jiminy went to the library to study Arendelle's history and culture and also look for clues regarding the artifact on that world. Mickey used the Gummi-Comm to connect with the Gummi Ship and confirmed that it, as well as all of the surrounding space, had been unfrozen along with the rest of Arendelle. Meanwhile, the rest of their companions settled into bed.

Long after everyone had fallen asleep, Sora's eyes shot open. He climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Kairi, who slept on the other bed in the guest room. It was not actually Sora who had awoken, though; he was in a dream, blissfully unaware of anything that was happening in the world around him.

"I don't like doing this, Sora," Roxas said under his breath. "But there's something I need to do." He tiptoed across the floor and silently slipped out into the hallway.

Kairi's eyes fluttered open and she pushed herself into a sitting position. Both parts of her had sensed something stir nearby, and had awoken in time to see "Sora" leave the room. Detecting that something strange was going on but having no idea of how to act on it, she went back to sleep, entering her heart to discuss the sensation with Naminé.

Roxas made his way through the halls, avoiding the notice of any servants who were active that night. He did not have a real reason to sneak around, but old habits from his missions with Organization XIII made him put effort into stealth. Fortunately, he was an expert in the art, even if Sora's shoes were not designed for silent footsteps, and there were not many servants moving about, so he was not inconvenienced. He slipped outside into the courtyard and located the nearest Safe Point. Taking Sora's Gummi-Comm out of his Somebody's pocket, he beamed himself up to the Gummi Ship, then selected coordinates and beamed himself down in the Valley of the Living Rock.

He wandered around the moss-covered valley, wondering if any of the sleeping boulders could help him. None of them budged in response to his presence, so he decided to wait for them to wake up. After a few minutes, the ground shook, and the boulders rolled around until they surrounded him, then unfurled so that the trolls were all standing around him. One of the trolls regarded him with curiosity, then softened into a warm smile. He was not sure which one it was; he was not entirely aware during Sora's visit to the valley, and he did not have enough familiarity with them to spot particular physical differences.

"Why, hello. You're Kristoff and Anna's friend, right? All by yourself, huh? So, I guess you aren't here because you changed your mind about you and your girlfriend?" the troll joked.

Roxas had to restrain himself from laughing. He stooped down so he was close to eye level with the troll. "Actually, I was hoping to ask Grand Pabbie something," he said. He silently cursed himself for forgetting to affect Sora's voice rather than his own. Fortunately, none of the trolls seemed to notice the difference. "I mean, you could help, too. Do you guys know much about memory magic, or is it just him?"

The trolls shifted their gaze awkwardly. One of them simply said, "I'll go wake him," and then rolled off.

A few minutes passed before the trolls shuffled apart, allowing another boulder to roll down the newly-made aisle. Grand Pabbie unrolled himself and stared up at Roxas. "Young man, I sense something different about you," he said.

Roxas sighed. He had been hoping to be discrete about this, but it looked as though he would have to let a few things slip. "I'm more of… another side of Sora. Something happened recently, and I think it caused me to remember something that had been wiped from my memory. It's not something that Sora ever knew about, nor does he know about it now," he explained.

"I see. And what would you like for me to help you with?" the elder troll asked.

"I don't really understand the details of it, but… The person I'm remembering, she… she died so that she and I could merge back into Sora to give him back what he had lost," Roxas continued. Thinking back on it, he had no idea of how he was planning to explain his concerns to Grand Pabbie without divulging too much about himself anyway. But Pabbie seemed wise and trustworthy, so it probably would not be a problem. "The thing is, when she died, everyone who knew her forgot about her. But I think she still exists. Her heart is inside Sora's heart, with me." He sighed. With the background information laid out, he decided to get to the point. "Elsa said that you cured Anna of the ice magic in her head by taking her memories of Elsa's magic out. I was wondering if it was possible to use the connection between her existence and the memories of her to bring her back."

"Hmm… Let me take a look." Grand Pabbie tapped Roxas' forehead, then waved his hand through the air. Swirls of colorful light floated around, and images from Roxas' memory materialized. Roxas saw the meeting in the Round Room where Xion was first introduced to the Organization, the day she removed her hood and showed him her face for the first time, the two of them plus Axel eating ice cream while sitting on the Twilight Town clock tower, the mission where he let her use his Keyblade while he picked up a wooden stick when she could not summon her own weapon, her dueling with Axel when she refused to return to the Organization, and her dying in Roxas' arms. Tears rolled down his face as he relived that horrible moment.

"I see. Her heart does still exist within your body," Grand Pabbie confirmed. "Your friend rests, partially aware but unable to fully form her identity." He waved his hands, and swirls of multicolored light looped around Roxas' memories, tangling together. "Your memories of her are realigned, but her own memories are buried, and will be difficult to sort among everything else, all of the other slumbering memories."

Roxas tilted his head in confusion. "'Other slumbering memories'? You mean there's more than just hers?" he asked.

"It's hard to determine. Your memories and Sora's memories are coherent." Grand Pabbie demonstrated by conjuring an image of Sora dancing at the Kingdom of Corona's festival. "But there appear to be strands of memories that don't go together, from at least two different hearts. It is possible that I could reorder them, but without an understanding of these hearts, it would take a great deal of time, and I might not be successful."

Roxas sighed. He could not hold Sora down and force him to devote an indefinite amount of time to such a procedure. He would have to find another way to restore Xion.

"And there is one more thing," Grand Pabbie continued. "I don't have a full understanding of your situation, but from what you said, your friend possessed a vital part of you. If her memories were reformed, and her heart was restored, that would be all that there is of her, a heart hidden among several others. And if you tried to separate her from yourself and Sora, I believe there would be severe consequences for all of you."

Roxas took a moment to consider the troll's warning. It was true that Xion's very existence had been a threat to Sora's prospects of ever waking up, as she had absorbed many of his memories and much of his power through him. Even if she could be brought back without tearing Sora's memories apart, it would still tear his body apart as Xion did not have a body of her own to put her heart in. I guess I'm going to have to figure that out, he thought. He let out a sigh and nodded. "Thank you. Well, I should head on back." He stood up, waited for the trolls to clear a path for him, and started to walk off. Thinking of something, he stopped and turned back to Grand Pabbie. "Hey, would you mind not telling anyone I was here? I'd like to keep this to myself until I can do something about it." The elder troll nodded. Roxas nodded in thanks and continued on his way, waving as he left. Finding the Safe Point, he transported himself to the Gummi Ship and back to Arendelle.

The following day had been devoted to repairing the surviving ships while the foreign politicians made up for lost time in speaking with Queen Elsa and her retinue. The next day, the dignitaries were preparing to leave and return to their home nations. The castle's servants helped them load their belongings onto their ships. The dignitary whose ship had been destroyed had arranged for himself and his entourage to return home on another ship, who would be passing their home nation on their own trip.

A pair of Arendellian soldiers and another dignitary escorted Hans, who had been changed back into the clothes that he had arrived in and who now sported a black eye, to the dignitary's ship, where the latter was thrown into the brig. Hans' horse had also been boarded on the ship.

"I will return this scoundrel to his country," the dignitary assured the soldiers. "We shall see what his twelve big brothers think of his behavior."

"Arendelle thanks you, my lord," one of the soldiers replied.

Further along the dock, the Duke of Weselton and his guards were escorted to their ship by Riku, Mickey, and a soldier. "This is unacceptable! I am innocent! I am a victim of fear. I've been traumatized," the Duke complained. Riku and the soldier simply glared at him, unamused. "I demand to see the queen!"

A royal retainer stepped down from the gangplank, having handed instructions off to the ship's captain. "I have a message from the queen," he dryly announced, unrolling a scroll. "'Arendelle will henceforth and forever no longer do business of any sort with Weaseltown.'"

"Weselton. It's Weselton!" the Duke corrected, indignant.

"In case you've forgotten, you ordered the attempted assassination of Queen Elsa. You should count yourself lucky that the message isn't a declaration of war," Riku remarked.

The Duke shrank under his glare and meekly crawled up onto his ship, followed by his guards. The retainer turned to Riku, Mickey, and the soldier. "I also instructed the captain to inform his king of the Duke's treachery," he told them with a smirk.

"No weaseling his way out of this one," Riku quipped.

They made their way back to town. As they walked by, they saw Sora, Kairi, Aqua, and Goofy as they helped Rapunzel and Eugene finish loading up their ship. Rapunzel gave Sora a hug, then did the same to Kairi and Aqua. "You should visit Corona soon," the brunette princess said.

"Of course," Sora replied.

"I would really like to see it," Aqua said.

"Good luck on your heroic quest," Eugene said, shaking Sora's hand.

"Stay out of trouble," Goofy advised. Eugene smiled and responded with a salute. He saw Riku waving good-bye to them and returned the gesture.

Riku, Mickey, Sora, Kairi, Aqua, Goofy, and Donald met back up, joined by Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf, and they waved everyone off as the ships' crews weighed anchor, unfurled the sails, and set off to open water one by one. They did not turn their attention away from the fjord until the ships were no more than specks on the horizon.

The townsfolk and castle staff turned off to go about their business. Anna leaned over to Elsa and whispered something into her ear. Elsa nodded with a smile on her face, affirming whatever she had said. The princess then sidled up next to Sora and whispered something into his ear. Sora grinned and turned to Riku. "Hey, can I borrow your blindfold?" he asked.

Riku blinked, confused by the strange question. "Uh… sure." He fished through his pocket, pulled out the black strip of cloth, and handed it to him.

Kristoff looked at Sora and Riku in bemusement, but turned his attention to Anna when she took him by the hand. "I want to show you something," she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Uh, okay. What is it?" Suddenly, Sora pulled the blindfold over his eyes and tied it behind his head. "Oh, it's that kind of 'something'. Whoa!" Anna dragged him along, running through the market in excitement. Sora, Elsa, Kairi, and Goofy laughed as they watched them go.

Anna wove through the crowd with Kristoff in tow, unimpeded save for one instance when she accidentally led him face-first into a pole. When they reached their destination, Anna stopped and helped Kristoff steady himself. "Okay. Okay. Here we are," she said. She removed the blindfold and turned Kristoff in the direction she wanted him to face. His jaw dropped as he laid his eyes on a brand-new sleigh, adorned with a fresh black coat of paint on the front and the sides and decorated with a big red bow. A lute had been placed in the seat, a bow also wrapped around the neck. "I owe you a sled," Anna explained. Sven sauntered up to the sleigh, showing it off to Kristoff proudly.

"Are you serious?" Kristoff asked in disbelief.

"Yes!" Anna squealed. "And it's the latest model."

"No. I can't accept this," Kristoff argued.

"You have to. No returns. No exchanges. Queen's orders. She's named you the official Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer." Anna pointed to the silver medal that Sven wore on his neck, which was engraved with a snowflake symbol.

"What? That's not a thing," Kristoff said, amused.

"Oh, sure it is. And it even has a cupholder." Anna let out a breath and calmed down. "Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Kristoff lifted her up and spun her around. Anna laughed in delight. "I could kiss you!" He froze and put her down in embarrassment, realizing what he had just said. "...I could. I mean, I'd like to. I'd… May I? We me—I mean, may we? Wait, what?"

Anna reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We may," she replied. In response, Kristoff leaned down and kissed her on the lips, which Anna reciprocated.

The rest of the party made their way back through the town square. "Hey, Mickey, were you able to find anything useful in the library?" Riku asked.

Mickey shook his head. "I'm afraid we couldn't find anything substantial that could give us even a hint at where the artifact could be."

"We learned a lot about Arendelle's history, but no clues to help us on our way," Jiminy added.

"The artifact that you said your enemies were searching for the counterparts to? I asked Kai, but he didn't know anything," Elsa said.

"Hmm… One of the books we found mentioned that the trolls were ancient and wise creatures that were attuned to the magic in the world," Jiminy recounted. "Maybe they might know something."

"I can talk to Grand Pabbie. I can see if he knows anything about it and, if it is in the trolls' possession, what he might want you to do with it to keep it out of your enemies' hands."

"Well, we don't exactly want to take it for ourselves. We just want to make sure they can't get their hands on it," Sora clarified. "If you can secure it, we might not even need to do anything. Heck, as powerful as you are, you might be able to protect it all on your own."

Elsa smiled and flipped her hair back, taking pride in the compliment. Riku smiled, glad that she could now see that her magic was something to be proud of.

"So, Elsa, what are you going to do now?" Kairi asked.

"Well, starting now, I'm going to be the queen that Arendelle needs me to be. And I'm not going to do it from behind closed doors," Elsa replied.

"No more hiding away in your castle," Donald said approvingly. "You have responsibilities now."

"But be sure to make time to have some fun with your friends," Goofy added.

"Speaking of responsibilities, I suppose we can't stay for much longer," Mickey said.

"Hey! You're leaving?" Anna asked as she, Kristoff, and Sven caught up with the group. Kristoff had donned an Ice-Master-and-Deliverer medal matching Sven's that had been left on the seat in the sleigh.

"I guess so. We still have a job to do in all the other worlds," Sora replied, shooting a teasing glare at Donald as he said "other worlds". "Plus, we haven't seen any Heartless since the blizzard, and there's been no sign of Maleficent or anyone else since she summoned that Heartless to torment Elsa. So it might be better if we checked someplace else."

"How can we let you know if we find anything?" Elsa asked.

"You can write a letter and ask the Moogle to send it to us," Mickey suggested. "Turns out they don't just sell wares to locals and synthesize items for keepers of order, but they have a delivery service for mail and packages."

"That actually makes sense," Donald mused.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye," Kristoff said sadly.

"Aw, don't be like that. They might be on other worlds, but friends will always be together," Olaf assured him cheerfully. "And they can visit whenever they want."

Kristoff chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, good luck."

"Hang on. I think we can spare a little time to give you all a proper thank-you for all of your help," Elsa said, giving her sister a wink. She stepped into the middle of the square and cleared her throat. "Excuse me!" she called out, getting everyone's attention. "Our friends will be heading out to help more people in other countries. Before they go—" She held her hands up and conjured snowflakes to swirl in the air above her palms "—and now that this isn't going to hurt anyone, how about we give them a fun little sendoff? If you want to join in, please grab some ice skates. If you don't have any, I'll provide them." The crowd cheered. Anna gasped in delight.

Smiling back at her, Elsa stomped on the ground, spreading out a layer of ice over the cobblestones. With a wave of her hands, Elsa froze the water in the fountains, creating shapes similar to those that she had previously made in her panic, only they seemed more beautiful than frightening. She shot an ice blast straight up, which exploded into a snow flurry. The townsfolk, having found and donned ice skating boots, started to skate on the frozen surface.

Elsa slid nimbly over to her friends and caught Anna as she was starting to slip. "I like the open gates," Anna said.

"We are never closing them again," Elsa promised. With a flick of her wrist, she created a pair of skates under Anna's feet.

"What? Oh, Elsa, they're beautiful, but you know I don't ska—AAY!" Anna squealed as Elsa pulled her along the ice.

"Come on! You can do it!" Elsa said enthusiastically as she skated with her sister. She pointed her fingers and created skates for Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald (along with shoes for them to attach to), and Goofy.

Sora laughed with a mix of amusement and nervousness. "Uh, I don't actually know how to skate," he admitted.

"Don't worry. I'll show you," Goofy replied. He took Sora by the hand and pulled him along. Kairi grabbed Sora's other hand and went along for the ride. Aqua took Riku and showed him the ropes, while Mickey and Donald went off on their own. Sven scrambled along the ice, but soon started sliding off uncontrollably, leading Kristoff to chase after him and try to settle him down. Olaf ran up and helped Anna stay upright as she got used to ice skating. As everyone got the hang of it, they split off to skate freely. At one point, Sora, Riku and Kairi went together while Mickey, Donald and Goofy skated about. At another, Riku and Elsa danced on the ice together while Sora and Kairi danced with Anna. Everyone laughed and had fun for the rest of the afternoon.