A/N: Apologies for the impromptu break between chapters. I did not plan a hiatus nor did I jump between stories. I was just slow in writing my current chapter. But here you go now. Hope you enjoy.

A/N: Oh, I am going to be standing on so much thin ice with a particular scene in this, but I'll try to handle it in a respectful and interesting manner. Wish me luck.

Chapter 140

Going on an Expatition!

The party crossed the forests and hills of Neverland, Sora and Peter helping the younger children navigate the terrain safely. It quickly became clear that Sora was completely unfamiliar with the geography, so Peter came to his aid in explaining something that perplexed him. A few times, one of the kids picked on another, so Kairi, Donald and Aqua stepped in to put them in their place and encourage them to get along. At a few points, they were attacked by Pirate and Crescendo Heartless. The children were scared, but the heroes fought them off, aided by Peter, who hovered off of the ground and flew around swiftly while parrying and stabbing enemies with his dagger, and the Lost Boys, who drew the Heartless' attention and distracted them while throwing rocks and swinging their own swords and broken branches at them.

"Hey, Peter. You said that there were only six Lost Boys aside from you," Aqua said as the party took a rest in a clearing after a Heartless battle. "So, then, who are all of the other kids?"

"Oh, them? They're only here for the night. Well, it's night for them where they're from," Peter explained. "These kids dream of adventure, so when they go to sleep, their hearts come here, and then they appear here. They join us on adventures, then go back to their homes when they wake up."

"'An isle where innocence lasts forever, a haven for children who dream of adventure. Its magic fueled by belief, it services children who believe anything is possible,'" Aqua recalled. "Were all of you like that?"

Peter nodded. "Yep. We decided that we didn't want to leave and grow up, so we came here permanently."

"Wow. I never would have imagined," Sora said.

"So, you came to live here the same way as the rest of the Lost Boys? Then how come you look so much older than them?" Riku asked.

Peter stuck his tongue out at him. "Don't remind me. I just caught on to the trick a little late."

"There were some more Lost Boys before," the boy in the fox costume, Slightly, said.

"Yeah, but they chose to grow up and went back to where they'd come from," the bear boy, Cubby, added.

"Is that what you meant when you said that Ventus would be a Lost Boy if his heart had come here?" Kairi asked.

Peter nodded. "If his heart was separate from his body, and it had wound up here and couldn't get back, he'd have shown up here physically. Of course, if his heart is split or whatever like you said, I don't know how it would work for him, really."

Tinker Bell, who had been listening to the conversation along with the rest of the party, jingled in confusion. "But Tink says that she thought she had seen Ventus some time ago," Kairi translated.

"That's right," Peter confirmed. "Of course, I didn't see him myself, so I can't say for sure."

"Maybe he just looked like Ven," Goofy suggested. "If it couldn't have been him, it had to have been someone else."

"Tinker Bell, was there anything else you noticed about the Ven-lookalike?" Donald asked.

Tinker Bell thought for a moment, then started jingling again, gesticulating with her arms as if trying to convey her account visually, although this did not help much.

Kairi took it upon herself to interpret what Tinker Bell was saying. "He had a 'funny-looking sword' like Ventus did—a Keyblade—but he held it differently, more like how Sora holds his."

"Ven held his Keyblade backwards," Aqua clarified. She summoned her Keyblade and twirled it around with her fingers so that it pointed out behind her when she put her arm down by her hip to illustrate.

Tinker Bell continued jingling. "He sometimes seemed more interested in doing something else, but he followed her lead because he couldn't get very far without her pixie dust," Kairi translated. "And he wore a black coat."

"Like the Organization!" Sora blurted in surprise.

"Did anyone else wear those coats?" Mickey asked, recalling how he and Riku had worn similar coats for a year.

"I don't know," Riku replied. "No one we've heard of."

Tinker Bell continued jingling. "And he appeared and left through a black shadowy door," Kairi translated. "Wait… like a Corridor of Darkness?"

"That's strange," Aqua mused. "Who could that have been?"

"I wonder…" Sora muttered.

Peter shrugged. "Oh, well. Ven might not be here, and he might not have been here at all, but there might be something here that can help you find him. We'll take a look later. Right now, I'd say break time's over. Sora, you set to keep moving?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." He turned to the children, who had been talking, playing and exploring (without getting too far off, as Donald and Goofy ensured) while they spoke. He clapped his hands and gave a whistle. "Alright, everyone. Let's keep going!" The kids got up and enthusiastically gathered around him and his friends. Sora then led the large group along the route that had been laid out on the map.

"How are we supposed to get across?" one of the kids asked as they stopped at the edge of a ravine. The rift was two hundred feet wide and several hundred feet deep, with a river running at the bottom. There seemed to be no way to cross as far as the eye could see.

"You fly, of course," Peter replied as if it was obvious.

"How do we fly?" one girl asked.

"Aw, it's easy. Anyone can do it. You just think of lovely wonderful thoughts, and they lift you up in the air."

"Any happy little thought?" the girl asked.

Peter nodded. "Uh-huh. Care to show them how it works, Captain Sora?"

Sora grinned. He thought back to his previous flights. The first time he had done so, when Captain Hook was making him walk the plank, he thought about reuniting with Riku and Kairi, safe and sound and all friends again, the very dream that had motivated him throughout his first journey. When he had summoned Peter Pan and Tinker Bell during his second journey, he remembered how fun it had been to fly with him, sailing over Hook's pirate ship and circling around the big clock tower. Now, he imagined flying around again, this time along with Riku, Kairi, King Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Aqua. Flying on its own is an amazing experience, but it would be much better to have his friends in the air with him. He would finally get that chance, and the prospect was enough to lift him off of the ground.

"Wow!" "Cool!" "I wanna try!" The kids gaped in awe and amazement as Sora began to hover off of the ground. Sora laughed and ascended ten feet into the air, then spun upside-down and gave everyone a wave.

"Alright, everyone. Now you give it a try," Peter said encouragingly. "Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Kairi answered, blurting it before anyone else could get one in. She giggled as she thought of something to lift her off of the ground and, sure enough, she began to hover around. She did a pirouette and flew over to join Sora. "Thanks, Tinker Bell!" she added, giving a wave to the fairy.

One by one, the kids began to float as well. They each shouted out their own wonderful thoughts, such as snow, shooting stars, and toys on Christmas, and at once they flew into the air, soaring over the heads of everyone who was still on the ground. "We can fly!" they shouted. "We can fly!" The Lost Boys leapt up to join them in flight.

Goofy laughed and levitated off of the ground, followed by Donald. They were joined by Mickey and Aqua. Watching his friends play around in the air, Riku chuckled at their carefree attitude. He felt himself lift off and found that his feet were no longer on the ground. He struggled to move about, kicking and swinging his arms as he tried to push himself in the direction he wanted to go.

"Riku, don't science it. It isn't Glide," Sora advised. "Just let your heart carry you to where you want to go." To demonstrate, he performed a loop through the air, his arms crossed across his chest to show that he was not doing anything to propel himself.

Riku nodded and let himself relax. He found himself floating toward Sora and Kairi, making a beeline for his destination easily just by wishing to go to them. The three friends took each other's hands and spun around in midair, laughing.

"There you go! You've got it!" Peter commended, leaping into the air with his companions. "Now, you think you can fly across this ravine?" The kids cheered in reply. The whole group flew straight over the rift, the wind blowing through their hair as they went. They soon reached the other side, whereupon they returned to flying around the area for a few minutes before finally setting back down on the ground.

"That was so fun!" Kairi said cheerfully.

"I know, right?" Sora replied.

"Well, with that obstacle cleared, are we ready to go to the next spot on the map?" Peter asked.

"Yeah!" "Let's go!" "Can't wait!" the kids answered.

Sora grinned. "Alright, then. Follow me!" he said, beckoning everyone along as he led the march, reading the map to locate the next stop.

The expatition party carefully made its way up a narrow, winding path that dropped down a sheer cliff on either side. At the end of the path, they approached a wide plateau that overlooked the ocean. Teepees were placed all around the plateau, with a firepit in the center. A towering totem pole stood near the path, greeting all who approached the camp. Two men stood guard at the top of the path, each with skin tanned to an almost reddish color and braided black hair and wearing buckskin pants, brown moccasins, and a feather stuck upright in his hair.

"Look! Indians!" a boy said. Another boy laughed and made finger guns with his hands, taking the stereotypical stance of a cowboy getting ready for a duel at high noon. A dark-skinned boy shot a look of confusion at the first boy.

The native tribesmen maintained stone-faced expressions, although there was a hint of curiosity and anticipation in their eyes. "Little Flying Eagle," one of them said, addressing Peter. "Have you come for battle?"

Sora, Riku, and Donald tensed up. Were these native people enemies? However, Peter waved his hand casually, dismissing the notion. "Nah. We're on an expatition," he replied. "I mean, unless you guys want to go a round."

The natives smiled softly, then clapped their hands and turned to let out a loud crow similar to what Peter had yelled when he had first appeared to the party. An energetic drum beat could then be heard. The native guards nodded to the party, then turned to lead them into the camp. As they gathered into the space surrounded by teepees, they could see that some natives were sitting cross-legged and playing flute and on drums, while others were hurriedly setting their own instruments up. A group of women stacked and lit firewood, while others prepared meat and herbs for a meal, skewering the meat on a spit and mixing the herbs into a salad. In front of the teepee at the back stood a large man, fully-clothed unlike many of the other men in the tribe and with a severe expression, and a teenage girl, who had a less-discoloring tanned skin color compared to her tribesmen and who was dressed in a fringed buckskin dress and a blue headband with a feather stuck in the back. The man's long feathered headdress and aura of authority suggested that he was the chief, and the guests deduced that the girl must be his daughter.

When the expatition party was lined up in front of the chief and his daughter, the chief held a fist up, silently commanding the natives to stop playing their instruments. The girl regarded everyone in the group with a friendly gaze, focusing on the world travelers with curious interest, while her father stared at Peter. After a moment of silence, the chief raised an open-palmed hand. "How," he greeted.

Peter, the Lost Boys, and even Tinker Bell each raised a hand in the same manner and replied "How." The world travelers and the dreaming children followed suit.

The chief began communicating with Peter in a form of sign language, which appeared to be a mix of traditional hand motions and charades. While this went on, Goofy crouched down to talk to Nibs. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We have this 'war' with the Indians," the Lost Boy explained, speaking in a whisper but loud enough for Goofy's friends to hear. "On some days, we do battle, Lost Boys and friends against Indians. Sometimes we win, and sometimes they win. When we win, we turn 'em loose, and vice versa."

"So it's like a game?" Donald concluded.

"Yeah," the twins replied in succession.

"But it wasn't a game when Captain Hook kidnapped Tiger Lily," Cubby interjected. "The chief thought we took his daughter, so he captured us and threatened to burn us at the stake if she wasn't returned by sunset."

"The redskins threatened you for something you didn't do?" one of the kids asked, shocked. Riku raised an eyebrow as he regarded the boy, wondering if the natives appreciated the label.

"Yeah, but Pan saved her and cleared everything up, so we had a party," Nibs said. "Chief Great Big Little Panther even made Pan an honorary chief. So now we're back to the old routine, though we team up to hunt and to fight the pirates more than we did before."

"Wow!" a dreaming girl said.

"I'd like to fight the Indian braves," the pretend cowboy whined, whispering so the natives did not hear him. He proceeded to make finger guns and point them wildly. "Lost Boys versus the Piccaninny savages. That'd be fun." One native happened to hear him and rolled his eyes.

Donald swatted the pretend cowboy on the shoulder. "Keep quiet. They're not enemies," he advised. The boy deflated and stuck his hands in his pants.

Peter and the chief's visual conversation ended, and they let out a war cry, slapping their hands over their mouths repeatedly to create a pulsating effect. The Lost Boys and the other natives joined in, and the world travelers and the dreaming children followed suit.

The crowd began to celebrate. The natives broke into a dance, leading their guests to join in. Some of the native women made headbands with feathers sticking out for each of the guests, although one of them struggled to get them to fit on Sora and Mickey's heads. Tiger Lily danced with Peter and gave him a kiss on the nose, causing him to blush. Kairi noticed that Tinker Bell did not seem happy with that, but the fairy did little more than pout. One of the women tried to pull Aqua away from the celebration and get her to help with gathering firewood and cooking, and despite protesting the first time Aqua ultimately relented and started helping out.

The party calmed down as everyone gathered around for the stag dinner. As the children were manifesting hearts in a dream, they did not actually need to eat, but they did not protest against joining in. The children and the Lost Boys gathered together, laughing and chatting with some of the natives as they ate. The pretend cowboy invoked the "Cowboys and Indians" routine, but the natives, the Lost Boys, and some of the other children simply looked at him in confusion. Sora, Aqua, Kairi, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were invited to sit with Peter, the chief, and Tiger Lily. Tinker Bell, who did not seem happy that Peter and Tiger Lily were sitting together, floated around Sora and Kairi, not minding the redhead's proximity to the spiky-haired boy as much (though she was relieved that Aqua at least sat on the other side of the chief and next to Mickey, away from both boys).

"Hair-of-Morning-Sky," the chief began. It took Aqua a moment to realize that he was addressing her, at which point she acknowledged the greeting. "You and your friends do not seem to be the same as the children over there." He gestured toward the dreaming kids. "Furthermore, I believe that I have seen you before. Years ago, although you looked much the same."

Aqua nodded. "It's true. I was here before," she replied. "I think I was even in this camp at one point."

"We found you when we returned from hunting the evil spirits that plagued the island at the time, after the starstuff fell," the chief continued. "You seemed to have fought a man of the same evil nature. You were both on the ground and wounded, so we were not sure who the victor was. The evil man awoke and tried to strike you, but we drove him off, and he disappeared into a wall of shadow."

"Vanitas," Aqua breathed, recalling her duel with the masked boy. She had managed to overpower him and knock him out, but she had exhausted herself in the struggle and fainted right after. When she had come to, she was being treated by one of the natives, and Peter was by her side, pleading for her to wake up. She looked around and recognized the face of an older man, who smiled warmly at her. "I remember. You healed me. Thank you."

"Starstuff? Oh! That must've been me landing here with the Star Shard," Mickey explained. The chief and his daughter looked at him in confusion. "Uh, it was something that I used at the time to get from one world to another. We use a different means now. When I landed here, Vanitas ambushed me and shoved me into a portal."

The chief nodded, understanding. "I see. So you are indeed not here in your dreams like the children over there."

"You seem to have a different relationship with this island than the Lost Boys," Donald noted. "Earlier, you mentioned that you saw Aqua years ago. Peter and the others don't seem to think about the passage of time like you do."

One of the native men chuckled. "No, my friend. We did not come here through our dreams. We are not the Lost Boys. We are the Mollusk, this island's people. We cultivate the land and guide the children on the adventures that they dream of, while the fairies fill the air, leaves and soil with magic to make their wishes come to life. They keep themselves in the endless days of their childhood, while we live for each day. Our lives are not frozen, unlike Little Flying Eagle and the everlasting dreamers. We do age, although I believe our lives are longer than those in many of your worlds."

"We used to do most of the work in guiding them on each night's adventure, but since Little Flying Eagle and his young companions decided to stay permanently, our role has been reduced. Nevertheless, whenever they do engage with us, we carry on in whatever way provides the best dreams, and we do our best to entertain the children," a younger Mollusk added. "We have learned much about the cultures of the outside worlds, although I imagine not as much as we would if they were adults. And over the years, there have come children that speak of their perceptions of other indigenous people, either from their worlds or others. At some point, our ancestors decided to go along with it, if it was all in good fun."

"Wow," Sora said, amazed.

"I apologize for pulling you away from having fun with your friends," the Mollusk woman who had Aqua gather firewood said to the bluenette. "The boys may play, but the Mother types should properly take care of them." Aqua was momentarily stunned by the description that the woman had used, but she realized where she was coming from and nodded, understanding.

Goofy looked up, something catching his eye. "Up there!" he announced, pointing at something in the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a ball of shimmering light, much like what Tinker Bell had appeared as from a distance. The ball of light descended and came to a stop in front of Tinker Bell. Now that it was close enough, the light faded to reveal the glowing figure of a fairy with a medium skin tan with freckles, light brown hair in a braided ponytail, and amber eyes, who wore an orange dress with a vine around her waist, dark brown leggings, and orange swirl flats. The fairy began jingling erratically, her expression and body language suggesting that she was in a panic. Tinker Bell put her hands over her mouth in shock and began jingling erratically as well.

"Hey! Slow down, Fawn!" Peter pleaded, having trouble translating the fairy in her panicked delivery. "What's up?"

Kairi, however, had no difficulty understanding Fawn. "There's trouble in Pixie Hollow?!" she translated. She paused, the beat remaining completely silent due to Fawn stopping to stare at her in disbelief. "What's Pixie Hollow?"

"It's where the fairies live," Slightly explained. "It's a big tree that makes all the pixie dust that the fairies carry around Neverland."

"We should go help," Sora declared. His friends quickly voiced their agreement.

"Hang on, Sora! You can't just leave in the middle of the expatition," Peter protested. "You're the captain, after all."

"But isn't saving Pixie Hollow more important?"

"Hup! No buts!" Peter was adamant about Sora finishing the expatition.

"We can't go to Pixie Hollow anyway," Cubby said. "Only fairies can enter the tree."

"Hmm… I might have a spell for that," Mickey suggested. "And with the pixie dust letting us fly, I suppose some of us can go while the rest stay with the group."

"Okay. I'll go, too," Kairi said. "Riku, can you keep an eye on Sora?" Sora playfully stuck a tongue out at her.

"I'll come too," Aqua said.

Tinker Bell twirled joyfully in midair, while Fawn sized the three volunteers up, likely wondering how they would expect to help. Kairi, Mickey and Aqua began to fly, ready to set off for Pixie Hollow.

"Good luck!" Goofy said, waving them off.

"See you real soon!" Mickey replied. With that, he, Kairi and Aqua were off, following Tinker Bell and Fawn as they flew to the fairies' home.

After the expatition party had seen them off, Peter turned to address everyone. "Alright, then. Once we finish eating, shall we get to the next spot?" he asked.