A new chapter before the end of the year? It's a Christmas miracle.

Every inch of the dour Raposa village was all the same. The clouded skies stretched into an endless faded void, and the wooden fencing ran in a crooked line alongside the black swampy goop that surrounded the town beyond. Cody leaned towards the edge, tapping alongside the rotting wood as he trudged through the chalky grass with no aim in mind. He needed to clear his head. And, well, just like he was glad she was there with him at the castle, he was glad she was with him now.

"You really could've handled that a lot better," Gwen stated bluntly.

"Yeah, I…" Cody bent over with weary eyes as he sighed. "I really should have."

"You don't have to get so down," she shrugged. "Pressure was getting to you. Happens to everyone."

"But how many times have I done the whole self doubt thing at this point?" His back arched further down. "I feel like I just keep going back to square one."

"If you're trying to change, falling back a bit is normal." He could make out a faint hint of a smile on her face. "You just gotta keep getting back up until you can't fall down anymore."

Cody smirked. "Yeah, you're definitely not real. The real Gwen would not be that optimistic."

"Shut up." Her shy smile broke into a full on grin as she tried her best to stifle back a laugh. It was such an unusual and infectious sight coming from her, he couldn't help but toss away his gloom and join her. For a moment, it was just the two of them, alone in the lonely ghost town, like they were the only souls around.

"Hey," he wiped the last tear of a laughing fit away. "You're an artist, aren't you? If only you were the one who got dragged here."

"Well, you're the one here. You can do the drawing yourself."

"Ptht, no I can't."

"Weren't you just complaining about your self doubt just a second ago?" She rolled her eyes. "Look, no one starts out as a good artist. When you draw, you need to want to draw. Even if it comes out crappy, you gotta own it."

"You want me to own all that?" He arched his brow with thoughts of those garbled excuses for doodles in his mind.

"If you can't accept the fact that you're not gonna be making masterpieces right away, then just quit while you're ahead… Uh," she quickly stammered, realizing what she just said. "But don't actually quit. Not right now at least."

"Easier said than done," he sighed. "Tell me something nice about those scribbles and I'll think about it."

"You weren't drawing from the heart, so there's nothing nice to be said."

"Wow, harsh," he let out a resigned smile. "Off topic, but you're surprisingly really easy to talk to."

"No, I'm not."

"You are though!" He beamed in response, the conversation having brought his spirits back up. "It's almost like you're actually here!"

…

It was like he had just activated something. Like he had just said something forbidden.

…

"...Are you actually here?"

…

"YO, CODY, WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?!"

Just barely stifling back a scream, Cody jumped over Izzy's sudden blast and frantically searched around for the source despite knowing full well about her current omniscient status. "W-were you here this whole time?"

"Darn straight I was!" He could imagine her nodding sternly. "Are you still dealing with that ghost problem? Why didn't you tell me? I could've sprayed you with garlic powder already."

"N-no, no, that's totally fine," he flapped his arms like a shield. "More importantly though, I feel like I owe you an apology for blowing up back there. Well, Mari and Jowee too."

"What? Naaaah, that's fine. You should say sorry for refusing my ghostbusting services back on the island though."

He nervously scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I've been kind of dick to you, huh?" He sighed. "I kept thinking about how annoying you were as if I had any room to talk. You're just trying to help, right? Sorry about that."

"Who cares?!" She shouted back like she had just thrown her arms in the air. "You're haunted, aren't you? Just tell me the name of the demon you made a pact with and I can beat them up already!"

"No, Izzy, I already told you, I don't need help with—"

"SHHHH!" Her attempts to silence him ironically reverberated throughout the scene. Cody had to hold on to his ears a bit just to refocus them after the fissures of her voice drowned away. But when he finally was able to absorb the general ambience again, he could hear it clear as day. Off in the distance was a shrill sound. Not just a sound, but a voice. A crying voice?

"Is that a kid?" Cody asked in concern.

"Quick, quick! She's over there!"

"Izzy, you've gotta be more specific. I straight up can't see where you're pointing."

"I said, she's over there!"

He couldn't even begin to describe what Izzy did next. Right before his eyes, he could see the grounds before him lift and cascade into the air. The crinkled up excuse for grass meshed into a curve, and the sky shoved itself impossibly towards his face. He yelped in fear and shielded himself despite the futility. Everything came crashing down, but there was nothing to prove it all happened. No feeling, no sound. When he finally let his arms down, the scenery was all the same as before, but different. As if the world had been turned over to a new page.

The child's cry was now completely audible and near. And not only that, Mari's comforting voice was alongside it all. Cody quietly walked towards the faded rows of buildings where the crying just grew louder and louder until, behind the darkest corner of the residential area, he finally found Mari crouched down alongside a young pigtailed girl.

"Um," Cody awkwardly glanced around as if he were crossing a street as he timidly entered the scene. "Is everything alright?"

Mari looked away from the child to gaze up at Cody. He could tell she was still frustrated from his earlier fit, but was trying her best to brush it aside. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah," he bit the side of his mouth. "I'm sorry about earlier…"

"That's alright," she turned away in a way that made Cody unsure if he was truly off the hook or not. "This little girl is Cindi," she continued on as she patted the child's back. Her wails had evolved into a fit of hiccups. "She used to live here until her parents decided to leave after the flood. She accidentally left behind her doll and came back to look for her."

"Any luck?"

"Well…" Mari edged her eyes wearily across the residential area. While the inky goop mostly acted as an isolating sea, small splatters of it had also found its way into the town proper a while back, and much of the buildings before them were tainted. "I've got a feeling it might be gone for good."

Cindi tried to say something in response, but all that came out of her frail mouth were stunted squeaks and hums. Mari could do nothing but continue patting the child's back, repeating "It's okay" over and over again like a lullaby. The mood dampened the already awful atmosphere of the town. And Cody just stood there numbly, biting his lips. He was frustrated. There were no Heartless to be found in this world, so there was nothing he could do to help. He tried earlier with that awkward drawing session, but that obviously went nowhere.

…That was all he could do, wasn't it?

"Better suck it up and actually try this time," he heard her say.

"Hey," he nudged the two Raposa. "I think I know I know what to do."

"What do you mean?" Mari tilted her head.

Ignoring her confusion, Cody looked up to the sky and bellowed to the world's temporary goddess. "Hey, Izzy!"

"Okay!" Her enthusiasm was so immense, he could've sworn he heard a desk slam. "So this is what you gotta do to properly prepare demon meat. You—"

"No, no, no," he waved his arms around. "I need you to do what you did earlier."

"Did what?"

"That thing where the ground just slammed into me or whatever."

"Oh, you mean this?"

It was happening again, only this time, like the flick of a wrist. She didn't turn just one page, but what felt like the entire volume. Just entire planes crashing into his vision over and over again. He hadn't felt a sensation quite like this since his stroll down memory lane when he nearly died from fighting Cloud back at Smash Stadium. His mind equally perplexed and in awe at the sight, he frantically searched for Mari and Cindi. Whatever this sensation was, it seemed it only affected him as an outsider because the two were nowhere to be seen. It was just him, exploring the world in this inexplicable view. He would catch glimpses of the book's contents, and much of it was all the same. The same dying sky, the same stretches of gray plains, the same constant stains of black. But occasionally, he would catch glimpses of what used to be. He would find the abandoned houses, faint in color, but still painting a nice picture of the past. He would see the trees that still stayed firm and strong and think of the resilience of those who were left. He would see the occasional open patches hidden in the sea of ink, the glimpses of hope that remained despite everything. It almost made him feel guilty that he was so quick to give up, so quick to say there was no way he could save this seemingly doomed world. All because he was too embarrassed to draw of all things.

The page turns slowed, and soon, his vision was repositioned to the familiar plain he had fallen upon earlier. Mari and Cindi were, of course, there, having just finished their own shortcut-less stroll. And right by a crooked tree were Mokona and Jowee, who had apparently decided to fight off their boredom by playing a version of poker that substituted cards with scratched dirt patches.

"I can see your cards right there, you know!" Jowee cried out. The game had gotten heated at that very moment. "You lost!"

"Nuh uh! Go fish, go fish!"

"I see you two are having fun," Mari let out a faint snort at the sight.

The two jumped and scrambled to stamp out evidence of their lazing.

"M-mari, you're…" Jowee's eyes shifted over to the one newcomer. It was someone he hadn't seen in a long time. "Cindi?! What are you doing here?"

The young child was about to answer, but her tears still had her choked up, and all that came out were hoarse coughs.

"She lost her doll and came back to find it," Mari replied in her stead.

"Uh," Jowee frowned. "You sure it's still here? We've already searched around a bunch of times for supplies and I've never seen anything that even looked like a doll."

"Well," Mari nudged over to her much taller companion. "Cody here has a plan I think."

"Uh, yeah," he added nervously. "Mokona, do you know where the pen is?"

Just like before, Mokona launched himself into violent fits of gags and wheezes before he finally hacked out the drawing pen like a cat hurling out a furball. Cody wasn't sure what to be more disgusted by; the slobbering state of the pen or the fact that Mokona had thought it was appropriate to stuff the thing right back inside him after he stormed off earlier. Either way, there was something else inside him that continued to eclipse his feelings of repulse. As he picked up the pen, he still had that sense of inferiority as the others just stared at him. He knew everything he'd make would look awful, but there wasn't anything else he could do. Carefully, he moved his hand and held his breath in anticipation…

…and out came a crooked stick figure.

Oh, God, that's awful, he thought to himself right as the doodle faded off like all the others before. A kid wouldn't like this. They…

…wouldn't like any of these, would they?

It came back. That self defeating pressure came back. This was simply impossible. Attempt after attempt spelled out the same result; an ugly excuse for a sketch that piddled away before they even had a chance to breathe. He didn't get it. He bested the odds and learned how to fight despite everything that went against him. Why was something as inconsequential as drawing spiking up his anxiety?

I can't freaking do this.

"Yes, you can."

Easy for you to say.

"You want to help that girl over there, right? Forget about whether or not you think it looks good, and draw for her."

Cody grit his teeth with unease and took a break to scan the faces surrounding him. It was the same as before. Everyone gathered around had watched with anticipation, but clearly grew restless the more he dawdled around. But then he caught Cindi's eyes. She wasn't looking at him at all. Her eyes were drooped to the floor and trying their best to hold it together. Just seeing her like that pained him.

"Remember," "Gwen" continued on with her pep talk. "You gotta own it. Draw because you want to."

Of course he wanted to draw…because he wanted to help a sad young child.

He took a deep breath. This next one for sure. No more worrying about how nice it looked. He would give it his all and make that doll for real.

The two older Raposa and Mokona watched in awe. Something had fired up in Cody. His sloppy strokes were all the same, but there was a sense of looseness in them, like Cody had finally let his mind free. His concentration had shifted away from meeting anyone's expectations and towards making what he wanted. For that short moment, he finally understood why Gwen had always hidden away to sketch in the shadows all on her own on the island. He felt relaxed like a weight was just lifted. And finally, the fruits of his efforts…

…Was another misshapen stick figure.

But unlike all the others…it took form.

"Ah!" Cindi jolted out of her slump like a switch had just been flipped. She ran up to Cody like her life depended on it and excitedly held up her arms with stars in her eyes. "Doll! Dolly!"

The sight left him with a warm smile. "Is this what your old doll looked like?" He gently held up the toy.

Cindi looked like a bobblehead with how quickly she nodded. With a proud laugh, Cody happily handed the doll over, and Cindi immediately bounced for joy the moment it landed in her arms.

"Amazing!" Jowee cooed with matching enthusiasm to the scene. "You really are a creator!"

"You're a god now!" Mokona clapped in celebration.

"See, what'd I tell ya?" Izzy beckoned from above. There was a self congratulatory tone in her voice that Cody couldn't help but be amused by. "Got the right person for the job."

"He actually did it," Mari found herself mouthing out in wonder. When her eyes finally met once more with Cody's, her face flushed and she timidly marched up to him with an apologetic bow. "I'm really sorry for how I acted earlier."

"Don't sweat it," he grinned in response as he began to twirl the pen around triumphantly. "You've got a town that needs reviving, right? Let's get started already."

"..." Mari smiled. "Yeah."

oOo

The next few hours blew by like a nice spring breeze. Cody went to town sketching and filling the pages with everything that was once lost. His banya crops were squiggly, his houses were simple squares and triangles, his streetlamps were practically lollipops. It was all so infantile, but it was exactly what they needed. Mari and Jowee were right. The moment life came back to the town, all the former residents came piling in. What was once an eerie ghost town was now filled with cheer and delight with everyone clamoring around Cody's child-like creations. With everything back in operation, there was one last thing to address.

Cody, Mokona, Mari, and Jowee, away from the newly formed joyous crowds, stood at the edge of town. They stared down the endless black ocean as if they were sizing it up for a final duel. Its very existence threatened to destroy everything that was restored. And with the sudden gurgles that had begun to sound off, it was apparent the stain was getting ready to fight back.

"It's getting louder, isn't it?" Jowee observed with furrowed brows.

"Maybe it's ready to flood out again," Mokona tilted his head in thought.

"Boy, I hope not…Uh…?" Jowee's eyes widened. The gurgling heightened into a seething pit of bubbles. He wanted nothing more but for Mokona's hunch to be nothing but, but they might as well have been on the edge of death right there.

"Cody," Mari looked over to the human boy, her steadfast demeanor easily clouding any fear in her face. "You know what to do, right?"

"Uh, yeah," he nodded, pen already in his grip.

The task was simple, but with the more the bubbling grew to a loud brew, the more he could feel his fingers tremble once more. The confident strokes he honed fell back to their uneven jitters, and he could feel what was supposed to be his final creation begin to shake and break before his eyes. The tides rose, ready to crash down at any second. Mokona and Jowee's hysterical noises lulled in the background as he struggled to regain his composure.

"Come on!" He heard "Gwen" say. "Just one last push.

"I believe in you."

Did she really? Like, would that be something the actual Gwen would remotely say?

Yeah, she was so fake.

Mari must've looked at him like he was crazy. He snorted into hysterics over the very thought of Gwen actually cheering him on in earnest, and he snorted even more when he started to hear the fake Gwen yell at him over his snorting. It was the exact levity he needed. Right as the ink went up, ready to crash down like a tsunami, as the others cowered in fear amidst his uncharacteristically misplaced laughter, he completed his drawing.

A bright glowing sun with a distinct shape of a keyhole at the center.

With a quick switch from pen to blade, Cody sent the book into a blinding light. In the blink of an eye, the ocean of ink was no more, now replaced with a beautiful mix of trees and meadows and the remaining lost residents who looked around in awe at the shower of sparkles they returned to. And up in the air was the book's brand new sun, an asymmetrical, lopsided, imperfect mess of a sun created by the Keybearer himself.

And it was its imperfections that made it so beautiful.

By the time Cody felt him and Mokona being vacuumed out of the book via his rabbit partner and Izzy's combined efforts, he was fully rejuvenated. All the uneasiness he felt returning to Traverse Town was all but gone. He thought to himself, this would be the last time he let his self doubt eat him up. Whatever comes up ahead, he'll keep going forward and face it all head on.

Because if the Gwen in his head thinks he can…

…Then maybe, just maybe, deep down inside him, he really did believe in himself.

Mari, Jowee, and the rest of the village were left with the magical drawing pen itself as a parting gift. If Cody could be a creator, any one of them could be too. And he couldn't wait to see what they'd make. With that, the pages of the Book of Rapo shut to a close.

…

…

…

It was just like how he had entered. In between the realms of reality and fiction were the halls of his dreams. He once again felt himself float through the castle walls with ease, touring it all for what practically felt like the hundredth time.

"I wonder," the fake Gwen murmured to herself. "How come we're not physically walking through it anymore?"

What do you mean?

"Are you dumb?" She groaned. Now that sounded more like the real Gwen. "Obviously it has to mean something."

Nah, you're overthinking it.

"And you're underthinking it."

Dreams are weird. It's probably just a part of Izzy's shenani…

…Something was wrong.

Someone else was there.

Someone was laughing. A little girl was laughing in the distance.

Her voice got closer, and closer.

Neither Cody nor the fake Gwen could see each other, but at that moment, they could tell they both had the same drained expressions, the same eyes of confusion and horror. It was like an intruder had invaded a sacred space. A little girl with hair as blonde as the shimmering sky and a green sweater twice her size dashed excitedly across the hallway. Her arms flapped up in the air, and she giggled and laughed with such joy and comfort, it was like this was her world; like it was Cody and Gwen who were the intruders and not her.

…Who is that?

"This is your dream, isn't it? Why are you asking me?"

I've literally never seen anyone like her in my entire life.

"Should we…talk to her?"

We're not even corporeal right now. How can we?

"Am I speaking rocket science right now? You just talk to her," Gwen responded with an irritated groan. "Hey, you!"

The little girl stopped in her tracks. She looked up at the ceiling, her lake blue eyes wide, as she searched around for the ghost who just beckoned to her. But before Gwen could say anything else, another shocking thing occurred. There was another voice, this time one of an elderly woman. As the library door opened up, the girl tossed her curiosity aside and ran straight into the garden-like room where the old woman herself greeted her with open arms.

"Once upon a time," the woman began. "There existed but one world…"