Rapunzel was right.

Best.

Day.

Ever.

Sora had never experienced anything like the Starlight Festival. Oh sure, they'd had celebrations and other events back on Destiny Islands, but nothing ever quite like this, nothing this… this… freaking huge! Heck, his entire home island probably could have fit inside the space this festival was taking up alone with room left to spare!

And don't get him wrong, they certainly knew how to throw parties back on the islands! But they mainly just involved music, dancing and food. Lots and lots of food. More food than even Sora could normally stomach and that was saying something!

But here, they had stuff like puppet shows, caricaturists, and acrobats! Rock climbing walls and gigantic inflatable slides! They'd even found a photo booth where they could dress up in all sorts of wacky costumes for the silliest pictures. It'd been a squeeze cramming their whole group inside and a bit of a challenge getting Flynn's college buddy to put something on, but in the end through Sora and Punzie's combined pouting efforts they'd managed to wear him down. He'd ended up snatching up the top thing off the costume pile - a giant horse head mask - and cramming it on himself in a huff before demanding they get the picture over with already.

It'd been such a blast! Sora just wished-

...he only wished that Kairi and Riku could be here too so they could enjoy it all with him.

Before the stray thought could bum him out, Sora gave himself a small shake and his nostrils flared. He'd find them. They'd gotten off the islands just like him and they were out there somewhere. He knew it somehow. He didn't know how, but he just knew. And some day soon they'd all be together again and maybe next year, all three of them could come back here and enjoy the Starlight Festival.

Together.

In the meantime, he had some new friends he could enjoy this current festival with right now.

Er… well he had one friend here with him at least.

Punzie glanced over at him as they walked side by side, flashing a happy grin. He returned it with a tiny 'heh', lacing his fingers together behind his head. It was currently just the two of them as they retraced their footsteps back through the fair, making sure they'd seen everything there was to see and done everything there was to do, not wanting to miss a single thing. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, painting the sky in reds and golds. The lantern show would be starting soon, but there was supposed to be some sort of speech first by the festival organizer, which is where the two of them were heading now.

As for Flynn and Maxie, they'd disappeared a few minutes ago, Flynn claiming he'd forgotten something and had to run back to get it, saying he'd catch up with them again shortly. Given that Maxie was still handcuffed to him, he'd had little choice but to go with him. If those cuffs were supposed to be a prank, Sora wondered not for the first time why Maxie hadn't unlocked and separated the two of them yet, seeing as the joke should probably be over and done with by now, right? …guess it was just a really long prank? Huh… he didn't get it. Must be some sort of college humor Sora would understand more one day when he went to college himself.

In any case, he and Punzie were now approaching the back of a large gathered crowd. "This is probably the place. Bet they're all here for the speech too," Sora said, getting on tip-toes trying to see over all the people in front of them. Man, being so short really sucked sometimes!

"Sounds like it's already started too. I think I can faintly hear someone talking. Come on!" she giggled, grabbing Sora's hand and gently pushing her way through towards the front.

Before long they broke through the masses to find themselves at the foot of a small stage, upon which were two people. One was currently standing at a podium and addressing the crowd, but it was the second person standing next to him who really drew the eye. He was a rather stately looking older gent, with a neatly trimmed beard and mustache and brown hair with silver streaks just over his ears. Though his blue eyes were bright and reflected the warm smile he wore now, they also seemed almost a bit sad.

"And now without further ado," the person at the podium was saying, "please give a warm welcome to the great man we have to thank for all of this: Thomas Tyrann!" Sora and Rapunzel joined in as the rest of the audience started to applaud and whistle.

Clapping as well, the introducer backed away from the stand and the sophisticated looking fellow - aka Thomas Tyrann - stepped forward to take his place at the mic. Once the crowd quieted down again, he began in a deep, resonating voice, "Thank you, one and all, for being here with me today. Without you, this event wouldn't be what it is now." He gave a small laugh, "I can't believe we're already celebrating our eighteenth year of the Starlight Festival."

"Hear that?" Punzie whispered excitedly, nudging Sora's arm with her elbow a few times. "Eighteen! That's how old I am today too! It's another sign that I was just always meant to be here!" Sora simply grinned and nodded as they both returned their attention up onto the stage.

Only a sliver of the sun shined over the mountains behind Mr. Tyrann now as he went on, "Many of you already know the story behind why I organized the first festival all those years ago, so I won't bore you all with yet another long winded tale recounting all the details." A smattering of polite chuckles fluttered through the gathered people. "I'll just leave it at this: several years ago, I lost someone very…" he paused as his smile faltered slightly and his eyes seemed to mist over a bit. He sighed, "...someone very dear to me. I know she's out there still, somewhere in the big vast world, though I have not seen her in… quite some time.

"But maybe, just maybe, with a little bit of hope and luck, these lanterns…" he reached back just as the person who'd introduced him stepped forward to hand him a paper lantern emblazoned with a familiar sun symbol. His gaze slowly swept the crowd now as he continued, "will act as a beacon that will light her way back home… back to-" his words stuttered to a stop, seemingly just as his eyes landed on Rapunzel. He blinked, silent for a few seconds before it appeared to occur to him that he was still in the middle of a speech. Finally he spoke again, though it sounded somewhat distracted now as he said, "Back to me."

Quirking an eyebrow, Sora glanced over to Punzie. She seemed entranced, hanging on his every word and simply enthralled. Then again, everything about this festival seemed to enthrall her, so no surprise there. So captivated was she that she hadn't appeared to notice Mr. Tyrann's reaction to seeing her, or if she had, didn't seem to think it odd. Sora looked back up at him to see he was still talking and though his gaze now roved over the rest of the audience as he spoke, it had a tendency to briefly flick back to Punzie more often than not.

Sora squinted with a frown.

Huh.

There was something funny going on h-

"Psssst! Sora!"

"Eh?" Sora jerked at the whispered hiss, glancing about for a few seconds before spotting Flynn a few people over in the crowd waving at him. Maxie was beside him, looking as cranky as ever. As Sora began to reach for Punzie, intending to get her attention so he could point them out to her, he was brought up short by a hasty hssst from Flynn. He rapidly shook his head at Sora before gesturing with his chin for him to come over.

"Uh… " Brow furrowing, Sora shrugged and told Punzie, "Be right back." Still engrossed by the speech, she just waved Sora off, eyes remaining glued to Mr. Tyrann. With that, Sora waded his way through the fairgoers towards the other two. "Hey Flynn! Hey Maxie!" he happily greeted upon reaching them.

"Don't call me that," Maxie growled. "It's Maximus."

"Got it, Maxie!" Sora beamed and Maxie just hung his head with a sigh. Sora then shifted his gaze to Flynn, "So what's up? Were you able to find that thing you went back for?"

"Yup!" he grinned big, before proudly pulling out from behind his back a pair of giant lanterns, one in each hand. "Well? What do you think?"

"Uh…" Sora frowned uncertainly, scratching his head. "...I think I would've remembered if you'd forgotten and misplaced a couple of lanterns…"

Flynn snorted, "No, kid, that whole 'I left something behind' story was just that: a story. An excuse for me to slip away and get Blondie a little something for her birthday. Found out that this whole big lantern shebang isn't just for show, it can be a hands-on experience too. Anyone can light up a lantern and send it flying off with the rest. Thought she might get a kick out of participating. So…? Do you think she'll like it?"

With a small huff, Maxie grumbled, "I've had to listen to the idiot bellyaching for the past twenty minutes over finding the perfect gift, so please, for the love of god, just tell the man she'll be over the goddamn moon about it so I can finally get some peace and quiet."

Smothering a laugh behind his hand, Sora grinned, "I think she'll love it."

A mixture of relief and joy flooded Flynn's face as he perked right up at that. "Great! Looks like it's almost time for it to start too, so better get her birthday surprise to her pronto. Where is she?"

"Huh? What do you mean? You saw her next to me just a sec ago, Punzie's right over-" he turned around to look towards where he'd been standing with her, only to realize she was now nowhere to be seen. "...Rapunzel?"

Without hesitation, Axel hunched forward into a battle stance, throwing his arms out wide as flames sprung ferociously to life within his palms.

"Geez, calm down, Stretch. I'm not trying to start anything, so there's no need to get all hot under the collar like that," Larxene snerked. "I just came here to talk."

He just stood there, eyeing her for a moment. Luckily, the festivities around them were distracting enough that none of the people walking by seemed to notice that his fingers were on fire. (Well… no one that is except for one four-year-old who, upon trying to excitedly get her mom's attention to show her, the woman didn't bother to look up, just murmured, "That's nice, dear" as she continued to peruse a booth selling hats.) After a long uncertain pause, Axel finally straightened up and closed his hands, putting the flames out. "I have nothing to say to you," he told her, turning to leave.

"Then don't talk. Just listen," she called after him.

He stopped, turning his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye.

…this was probably a bad idea.

But he'd be lying if claimed he wasn't curious.

After a brief pause, he nodded at her, then turned a corner onto a deserted street where random passersby would be less likely to overhear them, expecting her to follow. She did. He walked over to a wall and spun around, leaning his back against it and crossing his arms. He then fixed her with a bored stare. "Okay then. Talk."

"Aw, why so cold, Hot Stuff?" she began with a little pout as she stepped in front of him. "And after all the fun times we've shared together, I would've thought that'd earn me at least a slightly warmer greeting from you. Is this anyway to treat an old girlfriend?"

She waited, giving him a chance to respond, but he remained silent. Idly twirling one of the silver drawstrings on his hoodie around her index finger, she continued, "Don't tell me you're still all bent out of shape over that bit of roughhousing I did with your new buddies back at the club last night. Really, if anyone's going to be cross here, it should be me at you, seeing as how you've decided to abandon the Org and fly solo without even giving me so much as a teensy-weensy goodbye."

When still she got no reaction, Larxene sighed. "In any case, the higher-ups wanted me to pass a message along to you." She paused yet again as she watched him, clearly expecting him to ask her about said message. Instead, he just began inspecting his nails. She harrumphed. "They don't know what you're up to, but since this is only the first time you've screwed the pooch, they want you to know they're willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Just as long as you remember whose side you're really on." She jabbed a finger into his chest a few times, emphasizing the last few words she spoke.

"See, they think you were just putting on some front while the girl was around, pretending that you've gone all noble. That you have some big endgame in mind in order to score yourself some major points back at HQ. That you're just taking initiative. And if that is what you're up to, then they want you to prove it to them by midnight tonight. They don't care how you convince them, whether you try to maintain your cover or not, they just want it done. If you fail..." she let her words hang as she dragged her thumbnail across her throat.

"As for my take on it?" she went on, leaning into him, her eyes flashing. He turned his head away from her. "That's all a load of crap. You're not that clever, Firecracker. No... when it comes to that little ice princess, my guess is that your thinking is all below the belt. In which case, you really traded down, but hey, boys will be boys, right?

"Regardless, whenever you've had your fun and tire of your new toy, just know that I'll be waiting. If you ever have any doubts about where your true loyalties lie, you need only remember..." she reached up and gently caught his chin in her hand, forcing him to look down and meet her eyes once more as she continued in a whisper, "...that I can be very persuasive."

She rose on tip-toes then, pressing her lips to his.

This was ridiculous.

Axel was ridiculous.

And Elsa still couldn't believe she'd let him talk her into playing Hide-and-Go-Seek with him.

She sighed as she wandered aimlessly around the festival. The sun was beginning to set and she hadn't found him yet. Hadn't found the Keyhole either for that matter. All she had come up with was a whole lot of nothing, not even the tiniest of clues. She just hoped the others had had better luck than her. She supposed that she'd find out soon enough, as it was pretty much time to be meeting up with everyone else again.

If only she could locate a certain dorky redhead first.

…she supposed technically she didn't actually need to find him. He knew when and where they were supposed to rejoin the others. She could head back on her own and let him find his own way back. Then again… knowing him, the giant dope might just hole up in his hiding spot forever or until she found him, whichever happened first.

Ugh.

She supposed she could check just a few more alleys at least, just to see if anything caught her eye. Elsa shook her head, fighting a tiny grin. After all, how hard would he be to spot, really? With that bright crimson mane of his, the boy stood out as easily as Rudolph's red nose on a dark winter's night.

The last two backstreets had been a complete bust, with bare walls and bits of trash littering the ground and absolutely nothing unique that looked out of place or otherwise called attention to itself.

No giant dummy acting like a kindergartner and hiding in a dumpster or some other silly spot.

No supernatural floating keyhole protecting the heart of this city.

Nothing.

As she navigated the throng of people to reach the next alley, she shifted her grip on the snowman plushie and idly wondered if searching for the Keyhole was pointless. Maybe Sora was right. Maybe you didn't find Keyholes so much as they found you when they felt you were 'ready.' Maybe that was giving an inanimate-albeit-mystical object too much credit. In any case, it didn't hurt to check one last sidestreet - it was right there, basically on the way to meeting up with everyone else, so why not? Expecting another plain, empty, unmagical alley just like all the rest, she turned the corner and-

She immediately froze, eyes wide.

There in front of her, just a few feet away, was Axel, back reclined against a wall, hands in his pockets. He was not alone. A girl was with him. Her back was to Elsa, but she'd recognize those blonde antennae anywhere: Larxene. She was pressed up against him.

They were kissing.

Larxene broke it off, dropping her heels back down onto the ground as she pulled away. Axel was staring at her, his eyes vacant. Then his gaze shifted and locked on Elsa, noticing her for the first time. He blinked.

Detecting that his attention had shifted, Larxene turned to see what he was looking at. When she spotted Elsa, she smirked, a soft chuckle humming within her throat. She then glanced back at Axel over her shoulder and simply said, "Think about it." A pool of swirling darkness erupted around Larxene's feet. Tendrils from it flew upward, coiling around her, encasing her until she was completely hidden from view. There was the sound of suctioning air, then the darkness dissipated. Larxene was gone.

Axel and Elsa just stared at each other for a few long seconds, neither uttering a word. His face was blank while hers was still surprised, now with confusion and dread slowly beginning to seep in as well.

His expression suddenly brightened with a smile as he gave a chipper, "Hey, ya found me!"

…sense the tone, bucko.

With a start, Elsa realized she was strangling the life out of her little snowman doll. It took some effort, but she relaxed her grip somewhat as she struggled to find her voice. When she was finally able to string enough words together to form a coherent sentence, she asked, "What... was that?"

Using a foot to push himself off the wall, he began to approach her with a shrug. "Nothing really. Just a sales pitch."

As he got closer to her, unease settled in the pit of her stomach. And restlessness. She couldn't stand still. She needed to move. She needed to keep distance between them. Her feet chose a random direction and started walking, moving past him and through the alley to the opening on the other side. She heard him following behind her. "A sales pitch, huh?" was all she could think to say at first. She was still processing that statement, still processing what she had seen. For the first time, she realized her cheeks felt warm. Was she blushing?

She came out the other side to be met with metal railing blocking her path. A river lay beyond it, with more of the city on the opposite shore. The sun had dipped most of the way behind the far off skyline by now, almost completely gone. Feeling the need to hold onto something, she placed a hand on the rail bar, her knuckles turning white as she squeezed. She sensed Axel coming to stand beside her, but didn't look up at him. He didn't say anything, seemingly waiting on her. Finally, she choked out, "Seemed rather... intimate... for a sales pitch."

"That's just how Larxene operates," she heard him say. "Trying to assimilate me back into the hive mind that is the Organization by appealing to my baser urges. But I'm not the least bit tempted, so you don't have to worry."

"Worried?" she laughed sharply as she scowled down at the snowman. Its stitched smile seemed to mock her. "Why would I be worried? Upset, maybe, since while the rest of us are wearing ourselves thin running around trying to find the stupid Keyhole, you're wasting time by making out with a girl. Or feeling betrayed, possibly, since that girl you were lip-locked with tried to kill us less than twenty-four hours ago.

"But I'm not. Feeling upset or betrayed, that is. Because hey, no biggie, right? Easy to brush something off like almost being murdered." Uh oh, she was babbling. "And I'm most definitely not worried. Why should I be worried? That would require that I care what you do. Which I don't. Not in the slightest. Nope. You can do whatever you want, bro." Bro? Dear lord, someone stop her. "It seriously makes no difference to me. You don't owe us anything, so please, go skipping off hand-in-hand with Larxene and plot and scheme and bake cookies and have tea and braid each others' hair or whatever it is you do with your free time in the Organization, if that's what you want. Have fun with that."

Her lips finally had the decency to clamp shut and she was horrified with herself. Where had all that come from? It was like someone had shut off her brain and let her mouth run wild. Now all she could do was fidget with the plushie as she waited for Axel to say something. When he didn't, she grit her teeth and slowly, hesitantly tore her gaze from the little felt snowman to look at him. He was hunched forward, elbows resting against the railing, his chin propped in his palm, fingers covering his mouth. He was just... staring at her. His expression was unreadable. Not that it would have helped if she could read it, she supposed, since it would have just been for show. A fake reaction assumed appropriate for the situation.

She bristled slightly, feeling her grip tighten around the doll once more. "What?" she challenged.

He slid his hand away from his mouth, resting it against his cheek instead as he smirked. "You're flustered. It's cute."

A strangled noise emitted from her throat. Now her cheeks felt like they were on fire. If there had been any question before as to whether or not she was blushing, there certainly wasn't now. She hastily looked away from him again and snapped, "You're a Nobody, you can't-"

"I didn't say it made me feel anything. Just made an observation. Having eyes doesn't require having feelings, ya know," he shrugged. Then a sigh escaped Axel as he turned his head away, closing his eyes. "But dang, shoulda seen this coming."

Elsa squinted at him suspiciously. She shouldn't ask. She knew with every last fiber of her being she shouldn't ask. And yet… "...seen what coming?"

"Don't get me wrong, I'm so flattered, really!" Another sigh, accompanied now with a shake of his head. "But it was bound to happen I suppose. Not a question of if, but merely when. A tale as old as time. Emotions become confused and tangled, the line between teacher and student becomes blurred… especially when the teacher is as studly a dreamboat as yours truly is, if I do say so myself. It was inevitable, really."

Her left eye twitched. "What was inevitable?" she asked slowly through clenched teeth, this close to choking him with the stupid snowman plush.

"Isn't it obvious?" He glanced to her once more, lips now stretching into an infuriatingly smug little cheshire grin. "Your lil crush on me."

Mi-

Guh-

Ha-

Sorry, her wha-huh on the who now?!

Burning so hot now that her blush had spread all the way down to her toes, Elsa stammered out, "My- You- I- Cr- I most certainly do not have a crush on you!"

"Sure ya do," his grin twitched wider as he winked. "Why else wouldja be so jelly of Darth Pikachu giving me a lil facetime?"

"That- It isn't- I am not jealous, you- Stop trying to change the subject and distract me from the real issue here, you're the one who-"

"Hold that thought," he held a finger up in front of her face, digging his phone out of his pocket. Apparently it had just buzzed, alerting him to a notification he'd received.

Elsa's eyes narrowed.

"Oof, looks like we gotta jet, there's-"

Axel looked up just in time for the snowman doll to smack him square in the face.

Fumbling to catch it before it tumbled into the rushing current of the river below, he pouted, "Hey, rude! I won this for you, is that anyway to treat a gift?"

She said nothing, simply crossed her arms and looked away with a tiny hmph.

Puffing out a slow breath and scratching the back of his head, he said, "Look, I know what you walked in on looked bad, but you're just gonna have to trust me when I say I'm still one hundred and ten percent on Team Good Guy." Eyelids drooping, Elsa shot him a flat look. He chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, I know trust is in short supply these days and I still have a long way to go to earn it back, but we really gotta just pop a pin in that right now. The bat signal's flashing, we hafta vamoose." He held his phone screen up towards her, showing a text message from Sora. It consisted of only three letters.

S.O.S.

"Over there!"

Having finished taking a second to shoot off his hasty text, Sora pocketed his phone and looked up just as Flynn called out, glancing towards where he was pointing. Where…? Ah, there! Punzie! He spotted her just beyond the back row of the crowd, being dragged off by a giant brute with ugly sideburns who was muffling her shouts with his arm. In the blink of an eye, Sora charged off after her and he could hear the pounding footsteps of Flynn and Maxie following not too far behind him. As he ran, Sora squinted at the guy. Who…?

"Is that one of those Stabbington chumps?" he heard Maxie ask behind him.

He glanced back, eyebrows knit together. "Stabbington…?"

"Couple of kids that I tric- I mean, that polity offered to… help me out of a bind yesterday…heh…" Flynn puffed out between breaths as he sprinted, eyes shifting.

Maxie blew out a derisive snort at that. "Help nothing, this jackass duped those suckers and now they're most likely out for revenge. Probably why they snatched the girl. Surprises me tho. Wouldn't have thought the chumps had it in 'em, they seemed harmless back at the precinct."

"You tricked them?" Sora turned his head, directing the full force of his big, sad, disappointed puppy eyes at Flynn.

"Aw, look, kid… can we save the guilt trip for later? There's much more important things to worry about right now!"

They'd just finished barreling through the press of people, bursting out the back row just in time to see that Stabbington guy yank Punzie into a dark, narrow alley. As the three of them rushed towards it, Sora had to wonder how no one else seemed to be noticing any of this. She'd been right smack dab in front of the crowd and yet no one had seemed to see her get grabbed, no one had spotted her being carried off clearly against her will, no one even seemed to be aware of this little chase going on at this very second. Was everyone oblivious? C'mon now, the speech wasn't that fascinating, was it? Whatever, there was no time. His friend was in trouble, he had to deal with that first. There'd be plenty of time to puzzle over all this other weirdness later.

They entered the alley and came to a screeching stop. Stabbington stood before them, still firmly holding a struggling and kicking Punzie in his arms. The path ended in a dead end behind him.

Good.

They had him cornered.

"Let her go!" Sora yelled, glaring at him. "Dunno what you were trying to pull but you got nowhere left to run, big fellah, so you better just give up now!"

The brute didn't respond. He didn't budge either. Just stood there, maintaining his vice-like hold on his captive and staring at Sora. Staring with eyes that were unblinking. Empty. Dead.

The hairs on the back of Sora's neck stood on end.

"You deaf, sasquatch? You heard the kid, let the girl go," Flynn snapped, beginning to take a step forward.

Sora's arm shot out, blocking Flynn's path. He frowned, "No, wait… something's wrong…"

Shadow tendrils suddenly burst up from the ground a few feet behind the Stabbington guy, growing and coiling together to form-

"A Corridor of Darkness!" Sora hissed at the same time a startled squawk of "Son of a-!" erupted from Maxie. Ignoring him, Sora wasted no time summoning his Keyblade to his hand in a flash of dazzling light. The look in Stabbington's eyes made a lot more sense now. They reminded Sora of the way Hans's eyes had been during that final battle back in Arendelle. Had Stabbington's heart been consumed by the darkness as well, just like Hans?

Something was coming through the black portal and Sora assumed a fighting posture. What was it going to be? Larxene or some other Organization member? Heartless? Sora scowled. Whoever or whatever it was, it was gonna be sorry it'd ever messed with any of his friends, he'd make sure of it!

But then a figure stepped out of the swirling shadows and Sora's whole body went rigid as he sucked in a sharp breath. "You!"

The person in Riku's hoodie.

Lowering his Keyblade slightly, Sora's forehead wrinkled and he began to take a hesitant step forward, "What are you-"

He was immediately stopped in his tracks and silenced by a familiar batwinged blade being pointed at his face, its sharp tip brushing against his nose. He looked from it to its wielder who said nothing, just stood quietly there staring back at him from within the concealing shadows of the hoodie. Sora then glanced between them and Stabbington, slowly starting to put two and two together. "...you're working with him? Why?" No answer. "…I thought we were friends. I thought you were one of the good guys. But… but good guys don't kidnap people!"

Still they said nothing. Instead, they just turned their head towards Stabbington and gestured with a lift of their chin for him to get into the Corridor of Darkness. As if in a trance, he began to slowly lurch towards it, pulling Punzie along with him. Her muffled cries grew louder, her struggling more wild and frantic, but still she couldn't break free. The person in Riku's hoodie turned away, moving to re-enter the portal as well.

"Wait! Stop!" Sora yelled after them, but they did not stop. Hands balling into fists, Sora started to run after them. "I don't understand, why are you doing this?!" He thrust one hand out in front of him, desperate to grab onto something, an arm, a shoulder, anything just to keep them from leaving.

What he managed to latch onto was the back of their hood, his fingers digging into the fabric and pulling it down.

The person gasped, spinning back around towards him, their own hands flying up to try and grasp for their hood to keep it from falling back. But they were too late. Their face had been revealed. And when Sora saw it, his heart nearly stopped dead.

He knew that face. Had been searching for that face day and night. Had been having dreams about that face ever since Destiny Islands had disappeared. The face of-

"...Kairi?" he whispered. Almost as if he were afraid if he spoke her name any louder, she'd vanish like some kind of mirage.

She stared back at him, blue eyes round and body trembling slightly, noticeably even though she was practically swimming in Riku's hoodie. Her lips parted, but no sound came out, as if the words were getting stuck in her throat.

But it was her. Without a doubt, it was her. Exactly as Sora remembered her.

Well… almost exactly…

Her hair was no longer its vibrant auburn color he'd come to know so well. Instead, pure jet black locks now framed her face. And while it was sort of an odd time for her to decide to dye her hair, honestly it was the furthest thing from Sora's mind. All that mattered to him right now is that it was her. She was here, right now, in front of him. At long last, he'd finally done it. He'd found one of his friends! And all he could do was stare.

Like a total brainless bozo.

He should do something. He should tell her that he'd been looking everywhere for her. He should tell her he'd known in his heart this whole time, just known that she'd been okay, he'd just needed to find her. He should hug her. He should… should… tell her he liked what she'd done with her hair! He should-

"Grah!" The hush that'd fallen over the alley was suddenly shattered by a pained yelp from Stabbington. Apparently, Punzie had bitten him, causing him to stagger back and release her. He recovered quickly and attempted to grab her again, but she was faster. In a blur, she'd run past Sora and straight into Flynn's arms.

Stabbington began to go after her, but halted when Kairi held up a hand. She then jerked a thumb towards the Corridor of Darkness and he wordlessly followed the silent command, stepping into the portal.

Panicking as he realized she was about to follow him into it as well, Sora shouted, "Kairi, wait, where are you-"

"I'm not her!" came an abrupt outburst from her as she rounded on him. He stumbled a step backwards in surprise, his head rocking back slightly. She just stared at him for a moment, chest heaving and expression hard. But then it cracked as her bottom lip quivered slightly and tears brimmed at the corner of her eyes. She blinked them away and as she did so, her pupils suddenly disappeared, consumed by swirling, roiling darkness. She blinked a second time and just as abruptly, her eyes were back to normal - so quick you'd almost think you'd imagine it. Almost. "Not… anymore."

With that, she turned and stepped into the Corridor of Darkness and it immediately vanished, leaving Sora with nothing but an empty alley and hundreds of questions.

Author's Note: THE FACE OF THE PERSON IN RIKU'S HOODIE HAS FINALLY BEEN REVEALED! But is it really who Sora thinks it is? Or could it be someone else...? That's the fun of writing fanfiction based on KH, you really can't be sure, can you? xD At least not until more of my lil tale is revealed xP Tiny fun fact about this chapter: the scene between Axel and Larxene was one of the first things I wrote for this story, even before chapter 1! Not only that, but also the first half of the scene afterwards when Elsa walked in on the, hrm... sales pitch xD That whole bit was just very clear in my mind for some reason and I couldn't wait to write all the teen angst drama xD

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