The next morning, feeling rested and refreshed as usual, Sarah stretched and climbed out of bed. Scruffling Kuromaru's antennae as she made her way over to the duffel where she'd stored the extra clothes she'd taken along before this whole mess of an adventure had started. Since she didn't know quite where they were going to be headed next, and Traverse Town wasn't the warmest place in the 'verse, she chose long pants and a t-shirt.
Showering and changing into the outfit she'd selected, Sarah raised an eyebrow as Riku of all people met her at the door of her hotel room.
"Glad I managed to find you before any of those other guys got here," the silver-haired boy said, grinning as he reached out to take "her" right hand and pull her forward. "He really wants to talk to you."
"He?" she echoed, following along with Riku as the pair of them made for the Third District.
"He says that Maleficent isn't going to be a problem for much longer," Riku said, grin still firmly in place. "He also wanted to thank you, for creating those new weapons of yours."
She suspected that there was something more to False-Ansem's appreciation than Riku had tried to find out about, but that was Riku for you. He'd always come across as a particularly incurious sort, even when she'd just been playing Kingdom Hearts on her PS2.
The three of them continued on their way, passing through the doors at the end of the Second District and making their way across the courtyard that seemed to be a staple of both the First and the Third. Riku seemed to be searching for some out of the way place for the three of them to meet up with False-Ansem, and she suspected that she could hazard a guess as to why that was. It was also kind of funny, how she was the only one who saw anything wrong with that.
She wondered for a moment if that kind of thing was solely due to cultural differences, or if it was Riku's habitual incuriosity rearing its head again. Though it could have been a bit of both, Sarah had to concede. With Riku tugging her along, the three of them had soon found a secluded corner, out of sight of anyone who might have been looking out their windows.
The scent of fresh rain on warm concrete made itself known, along with the breathless sense of anticipation that she sometimes got before a large storm, and a tall figure in a deep-hooded, dusty-brown cloak appeared in a rush of purple-black flames.
"Hello again," False-Ansem said, a sly smile clear in his tone, though the deep shadows of his hood still concealed whatever he had for a head. "It has been a long time since we last saw each other," he continued, turning that deep-shadowed hood of his in her direction.
"Small world, huh," she said, tucking "her" hands into Sora's pockets; she wanted to have quick access to Marahute's gem, just in case.
"Indeed," False-Ansem said, his tone showing obvious interest, though the empty shadow of his hood remained just that.
"Wait, you to know each other already?" Riku asked, looking confusedly between the two of them.
"Yes," False-Ansem said, his tone steadily becoming a mixture of amusement and pleasure. "The two of us had a rather interesting discussion, back on that small island of yours."
"When was this?" Riku asked, side-eyeing her for a long moment.
"About a couple days before the whole World-shattering kaboom," she said, rolling "her" shoulders in an easy shrug as she side-eyed Riku right back. "I'd kind of forgotten about it till now, what with everything else that's been going on."
"Other things on your mind, of course," False-Ansem said, not sounding put out in the slightest. "That Heartless of yours," he continued, showing the first sign of interest she'd heard from him in any conversation she'd heard from him; though whether his interest was genuine remained to be seen, of course.
"Kuromaru and I go pretty much everywhere together," she said, as the Shadow in question peeked over "her" left shoulder.
"I can't believe you actually named a Heartless," Riku said, smirking in that way he seemed to do when he wasn't quite sure if someone was joking with him or not.
"It is rather interesting," False-Ansem said, seeming as though he would have said more, if not for the sudden appearance of Cid and Squall in the distant corner of the Third District where the four of them had been talking.
"Hey, I been lookin' all over the Second District for ya, kid," the blond said, making his way over to where she and Riku were standing, still within the shadows of the alcove where they'd previously been chatting with False-Ansem.
The fact that False-Ansem had vanished so completely at the approach of anyone else would have added one more line on her "list of reasons this guy is shady as hell"; if she'd needed that kind of thing in the first place, considering what she already knew about him.
"What were you two doing?" Squall asked, before Cid could say another word.
"Talking," she said, when the silence between them all had stretched long enough without even a single comment from Riku. "I thought about mentioning that balcony back there, but Riku didn't seem to have an actual destination in mind while we were walking, and I remembered that I didn't know how to get up there, either."
Cid laughed gruffly, making his way up until he was just about standing between her and Riku, and their two groups merged into one and made their way out of the alcove where False-Ansem had been so eager to meet them.
"You're a kid after my own heart, Sora," Cid said, once the four of them had made their way across the courtyard of the Third District and back up the steps to the Second's back entrance.
"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as their group pushed its way back into the Second District, and then continued onward past the hotel.
"Yeah," the man said, as their small group crossed through the center of the Second District and on to the double-doors separating it from the First. Cid laid a gentle hand on "her" head as Squall shoved said double-doors open. "I can tell we're going to get along just fine," the blond said, and Sarah could practically hear the grin in his voice.
"Wait, are you going to be working on that ship of yours?" Riku asked, not sounding particularly enthused by the idea; all to the good, as far as Sarah was concerned.
"Yeah," Cid said, as the five of them all made their way across the expanse of the First District on their way to the hangar where where she and Cid would be working for the foreseeable future.
Or, at least until other concerns called her away again.
"Great," Riku said, rolling his eyes as the four of them – Squall having split off from their group some time ago – continued on their way to the hangar. "Well, you guys have… fun with that, I guess," he continued, a dubious expression on his face.
"See you later, Riku," she said, offering "her" right hand, which Riku clasped, and smiling.
"Yeah, later," Riku said, a more genuine grin on his face, though the grin turned sly as he continued. "Sora."
Chuckling softly, as the silver-haired boy himself split off from their group, Sarah turned to follow Cid into the hangar.
~KH1~
As he made his way back through the Dark Corridor that Ansem had showed him how to use – better than Maleficent had ever bothered to – Riku looked back at the weapon that the kid who was still pretending to be Sora – he still thought it was funny, how no one else had even realized that he was putting on an act; they were all just so dumb – had had those weird Moogles make for him.
"Do you really think that this little thing will be able to do anything to Maleficent?" he asked, looking back at Ansem, and then back down at the little ball.
"She certainly seemed confident in her work," Ansem said, almost sounding like he was smiling, even though Riku hadn't seen his face even once.
Then, Riku realized just what the man had said.
"Wait, she?"
"Those who walk in the light do not often see things the way they truly are," Ansem said, still sounding like he thought something was funny.
Riku didn't know if he really believed what Ansem was saying; at least in this case. Sure, he seemed to know a lot of things, and it was really great that he was willing to share, but… Well, that kid pretending to be Sora acted a lot more like a boy than he did.
~KH1~
When she and Cid had finished their current workload, which for the most part had seemed to consist of a routine maintenance check for Fere's systems while they had her in dry-dock, Sarah had also been talking with the man about what had been going on in her life since the pair of them had first met. Back in his shop, however long ago that was.
"So, this mystery man of yours really made that bad an impression on you?"
"He was being cagy, never showed his face, and disappeared just before any of you could catch so much of a glimpse of him," she sighed, rolling "her" eyes. "So no, I'd have to say that he made just about the worst impression possible. Well, at least given that he wasn't trying to attack me," she continued, settling back into her seat as the computer that Cid had been showing her how to use quickly powered down.
"Does Riku know about that?" Cid asked, a worried overtaking his face.
Sarah sighed, leaning "her" head against "her" right fist as she turned back to look at Cid. "Riku… He's a good kid, good in a fight and pretty much as loyal a friend as you could ask for," sighing again, Sarah rolled "her" eyes, noticing the look of curiosity emerging on Cid's face. "Unfortunately, he's also impulsive, myopic, and not nearly as smart as he thinks he is."
"Ya talked to him about any a this, kid?"
"No," she said, continuing before Cid could question her decision. "The one thing you never want to do is corner someone," she said, offering a thin, humorless smile. "You might be surprised just how vicious some people can get when they think they don't have a way out."
"Yeah," Cid said, the expression on his face suggesting that he was familiar with the kind of extremes that cornered people could be pushed to.
She supposed it fit, since Traverse Town was a city of refugees, with all that that status implied.
When the pair of them parted company at last, Sarah liked to think that it was with a better understanding of one another than the pair of them had had before. Still, time would tell if that were ultimately true. For the moment, however, Sarah was rather more concerned with snagging a bit of lunch before going in search of her traveling companions.
Making her way back to Scrooge's place, already considering just what it was that she was going to have for lunch – though it would really be more like brunch, at this point – Sarah smiled as she caught sight of a familiar group making their own way to the restaurant, as well.
"So, how're you guys enjoying your chance to play tour guide?" she called, smiling as Aerith and Yuffie turned their attention to the boy almost everyone still thought she was.
"It's fun," Yuffie said, grinning in that irrepressible way that Sarah had seen the other girl doing nearly every time that the pair of them had ended up meeting, here on this planet of displaced wanderers and transient visitors.
Sarah grinned back; it was nice, finding someone else who didn't take everything too seriously when they didn't have to. Sure, she knew that everyone had their reasons for reacting to things the way they did, but too much time spent around people who were all doom and gloom could get very tiring. Of course, dealing with the opposite attitude for too long could be just the same.
As ever, moderation was key.
"It is nice to be around someone so happy," Aerith said, smiling cheerfully as she, Ariel, and Yuffie all made their way into the restaurant.
Pausing for a moment to let the three of them make their way inside, Sarah followed, letting the door close behind her at last. After brunch – Sarah was pleased to note that today's batch of pancakes was just as light and fluffy as any of the other batches she'd ordered – Sarah made her way back to the hotel where she and her traveling companions were staying. Blinking in surprise as she caught sight of Riku, standing in the hallway just in front of her room, Sarah raised an eyebrow as he stepped away from the wall.
"I'm coming with you, the next time you and those other guys leave for the Worlds beyond this one," the silver-haired boy said, a smugly determined expression on his face.
Sarah smirked right back. "Hi, Riku!" she said, deliberately chirpy. "It's so nice to see you again!" she grinned all the wider at the look of dawning comprehension that spread across his face.
Riku laughed. "All right, all right. Hi, it's nice to see you," Riku said, the look on his face plainly showing that he'd seen the game and was playing along. "I'm still coming with you when you leave."
She laughed softly. "Well, that is why I had that new seat installed," she said, folding "her" arms and grinning as Riku grinned back.
"What about the duck guy you're always going around with?"
She chuckled. "You leave him to me," she said, making her way to stand next to her door, she smirked as Riku seemed to deliberately slouch. "Well, I'd invite you to lunch, but I've already had my midday meal, and I'm hardly going to pay to sit around and watch someone else eat," she continued, offering a grin as Riku chuckled. "You could always come in for cocoa, though," she said, opening the door to let herself back into the room she was using.
"I think I'll do that," Riku said, looking rather pleased, as he followed her inside.
Kuromaru, who'd curled up in the rough center of the bed she'd been sleeping in for quite awhile by now, came scampering over nearly as soon as Riku had shut the door behind himself. Chuckling softly as the little Shadow climbed back up to its favorite spot on "her" back, Sarah made her way over to the nightstand. Unzipping her supply-pack, leaning against said nightstand so that she had it close at hand, Sarah dug out one of the specially enchanted thermoses.
Specifically, the only one that had been marked by a stylized fireball, as opposed to a snowflake.
It was a nice, simple way to tell the milk that she was carrying apart from the cocoa she'd prepared back when she'd had access to an actual kitchen to work in.
The scent of fresh rain on warm concrete – too strong to just be coming from Kuromaru – hit her, and Sarah narrowed "her" eyes as she turned to look over "her" left shoulder. "Is there some kind of an emergency?" she asked, more than a little annoyed, but wanting to have all her bases covered before she raked False-Ansem over the coals for invading her personal space.
"No," the man said, the usual smug self-assurance in his tone blunted by what sounded very much like confusion.
"Well then," she said, giving False-Ansem a firmly unimpressed expression. "You can go out back and knock on the door, like a civilized person," she said, skewering the cloaked man with her gaze for a long moment, before tugging Kuromaru's left talon to get the little Shadow's attention.
When Kuromaru obligingly peeked over "her" left shoulder, Sarah directed it to fetch a pair of mugs for her and Riku, smiling as the little Shadow hopped down and vanished through a portal very much like the one False-Ansem had used to let himself in.
Speaking of which… "Why are you still here?" she asked, returning her attention to the hooded figure who stood so brazenly in what had been her personal domain for as long as she'd been refugee population of Traverse Town.
"I'm curious: just what would you do if I refused this dictate of yours?"
Sarah gave the man a look that would've withered crab grass. "I'd toss you out on your cloaked butt, and then you could try knocking like a civilized person," she deadpanned.
Out of the corner of "her" left eye, past the figure of False-Ansem that she could see moving to stand beside her, she could see Riku struggling not to laugh.
"And, just how do you think that you alone would manage a feat such as that?"
"You don't actually have a body under there, and I've lifted Heartless before," she said, turning and making for her room's small, dark wood table, as Riku stood up and Kuromaru reappeared with their mugs.
"How would you know that?" False-Ansem asked, the tone of his voice – as well as the tilt of what passed for his head – letting Sarah know that the man was genuinely interested in her observations; just as he had been the first time they'd met.
Turning so that she could face the man more squarely, even as she pulled out a chair for her and Riku, Sarah sat down. Pouring out a generous mug full of cocoa for both herself and Riku, Sarah turned her attention back to False-Ansem, who had clearly been content to let her finish.
"Wait, why do you think he doesn't have a body?" Riku asked, speaking up for the first time since the beginning of their conversation.
"Well, the fact that he doesn't actually have a head, for one thing," she said, taking a healthy swallow of her cocoa and settling back in her chair again. "Now, if you just take a quick look at him, then sure you can get the impression that he actually has something under those robes of his, but if you take the time to look closer, you'll notice all the things that don't quite add up the way you thought they did."
"What do you mean?" Riku asked, turning confusedly toward her, while at the same time False-Ansem turned toward the boy pretty much everyone still thought she was with the mien of someone who was both satisfied and yet still curious.
"If you look closely at his hood, you'll notice that he doesn't have anything under it: no chin, no lips, not even the end of a nose, and just the roughest shape of what might have been his head," she paused for a sip, and then continued. "Now, whatever kind of fabric he's wearing wouldn't be heavy enough to obscure all of his features under lighting like this."
"You've seen a lot of guys in hoods, huh?" Riku asked, with a goading sort of smirk.
"Yes," she said, smirking right back. "But, I also know fabrics, and nothing light enough to move the way his cloak does would also be dense enough to block out the ambient light in a room like this," she paused for another sip, then resumed once more. "There's also the way he moves when he walks."
"Oh?" False-Ansem prompted, his tone suggesting that he would have been grinning, if he'd actually had a head under that hood of his.
"Yeah," she said, side-eyeing the man even as she smirked back. "Unless you're some kind of giant slug under there; which you're not, are you?"
"Certainly not," False-Ansem scoffed, though he didn't sound particularly affronted.
"I don't think he really could be a slug," Riku said, the grin on his face wider than she could recall seeing on his in-game counterpart. "I mean, he has arms."
"Would a giant, talking slug with arms really be the weirdest thing you saw since you left home, Riku?" she asked, amusedly raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, it wouldn't," Riku said, laughing in what seemed to be surprised amazement.
"Be that as it may, I am not a giant slug, and I would still like to know how it was that you determined I no longer possessed a Body," False-Ansem said, sweeping his hidden gaze over the pair of them.
"The way you move," she reiterated, taking another sip of her cocoa. "If you were actually walking, we'd be able to see the impressions of your legs through the robes; we'd also be able to see your feet when you hit the edges of your robes with them."
False-Ansem laughed softly. "How do you manage to see so many things?"
She gave the man a flat, semi-amused expression. "I look."
False-Ansem chuckled. "You are correct, however: I did cast off my Body when I departed from my World," he turned to face her more squarely. "And, unlike you, I was not quite so fortunate as to find another one awaiting me when I did so."
"So, you don't have a body?" Riku asked, eyes widening as he took in this new information.
"I cast off everything but my Heart, when I left the confines of my World behind," False-Ansem said, though he sounded more than a little satisfied about the accomplishment.
It was a strange thought, that; and more than a little troubling when you stopped to consider it. Not that she hadn't been perfectly aware of just how sketchy a guy False-Ansem was, but she just hadn't been expecting the man to tacitly admit that he was looking to body jack someone. Slanting a glance at Riku, Sarah found herself wondering just what he was making of all of this; nothing she'd seen of the guy suggested that he was good at discerning peoples' hidden motives.
Not until someone up and laid them out for him, anyway; she'd make it a point to look out for the kid, in any case.
The three of them wrapped up their conversation quickly after that, with her warning False-Ansem in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't hesitate to toss him out on his nonexistent butt if he tried to come into her room without knocking again. She and Riku said their temporary farewells after that, and Sarah arranged to meet with him outside the hangar before she and her traveling companions left for their next destination.
Once the pair of them had left, Sarah made her own way out of the hotel room and down through the expanse of the Second District. Passing through the doors and into the Third, Sarah hung a hard right as she passed through the courtyard. Merlin's flame-patterned door soon stood before her, and Sarah passed through it without a fuss.
Kuromaru squeezed "her" shoulders as she stepped out onto the rocks and they lined up neatly for her – so much more simple, and completely more satisfying, than having to hop from rock to rock whenever she wanted to consult with Merlin about something – and the pair of them crossed the rock bridge and continued on their way up to the teapot-shaped house in the center of the island.
She wondered, for just a moment before pressing determinedly forward, if Merlin had found this place to set himself up in, or if he'd created it using his magic.
When she and Merlin were able to sit down and talk with each other, she quickly brought up the concept of creating and enhancing thresholds in a building where they might not have existed before, and the pair of them hashed out a plan to further protect the hotel where they were staying in-between their journeys to other planets and places.
Once she and Merlin had finished with their plan, the pair of them departed to find the others; the rest of their group, those who would take part the ritual that would lend at least one more form of protection for the only home some of them had left. Once all of them had been gathered she, Squall, Aerith, Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy all met up in the hotel alongside Merlin.
The actual ritual to create and reinforce the building's thresholds was seemingly simple: Sarah took out the Keyblade and focused her personal store of Mana through it, imprinting an impression of herself into the very nature of the building. According to Merlin, this meant that the building itself would recognize, so that she could come and go more easily. It also meant that she would be able to set her boundaries and have them enforced by the building itself.
She was looking forward to speaking to Merlin about the concept in more detail, when the two of them had the time.
Once the ritual was over and done with at last, Sarah plopped herself at her room's table to replenish herself with a couple of turkey sandwiches, washing them down with a tall glass of milk. Meeting up with the rest of the participants in that particular ritual, Sarah bid the six of them good night, then turned to make her way back into her room for the night.
She could still feel the magic that had been stirred up by their efforts settling down around her as she climbed into her bed to sleep.
~KH1~
When she woke up the next morning, Sarah felt just that much more refreshed than she had on any other day. Considering what she'd taken part in yesterday, however, Sarah could hazard a guess as to just why that was. Tossing Sora's old pair of underwear to Kuromaru, Sarah took her morning shower and made sure to wrap herself in the towel as she made her way back to the duffel bag that'd carried her through her departure from Destiny Islands in the wake of the Heartless incursion.
And all of her other adventures after that, of course.
Grabbing one of the more generic outfits she'd packed, since she wasn't quite sure what she was going to be dealing with, Sarah took a moment to roll up the coat she'd brought with her. Just in case there was some inclement environment that she'd forgotten in the intervening time.
"Good morning!" Yuffie called, standing in her doorway with a wide, cheerful grin on her face. "Are you feeling as refreshed as I am?!"
Sarah laughed. "So, I wasn't the only one who felt that."
The pair of them shared another laugh, joining up with each other and making their way out of the hotel so that they could meet up with the rest of their group for breakfast. Squall and the rest of his people met up with her and Yuffie, with Aerith and Ariel coming to meet with them a few moments later. Breakfast was about as interesting as their dinner together last night had been, considering Ariel's presence.
Amusingly enough, Ariel and Yuffie seemed to have inadvertently teamed up to drive Squall out of his mind; or at least she suspected it had been inadvertent on Ariel's part, Yuffie she wasn't so sure about. It might not have been the most charitable thought, but it was still funny watching Squall trying desperately not to facepalm as he found himself at the mercy of two incredibly enthusiastic people who seemed to be actively encouraging the other to be as over-the-top cheerful as possible.
Once the seven of them had all finished breakfast, they broke apart to go their separate ways. Ariel tagged along with her, Donald, and Goofy so that she could catch a ride home, of course.
Tugging the straps of her supply-pack so that it settled more comfortably on "her" back, Sarah caught the scent of fresh rain on warm concrete, even as she felt Kuromaru shifting slightly against "her" back.
"Hey!" Riku called, grinning widely as he inserted himself into their group, walking next to her as the six of them – five who were actually walking – continued on their way up to the hangar so that they could depart on the next leg of their journey. "So, you're going to drop her off home, then move onto the next World?"
"That's the plan," she said, moving aside slightly as Riku slotted himself in next to her.
"Why are you asking?" Donald asked, sounding more than a little suspicious.
"I'm going to be coming with you from now on," Riku said, a look of self-satisfaction firmly on his face.
"What?!" Donald demanded, nearly bringing their whole group to a dead halt, before Sarah grabbed his left arm and gave him a sharp tug to keep him moving.
"We talked about this last night," she said, frowning at the duck as she hurried him along toward the hangar.
"Well, back then I didn't think he was actually going to show up!" Donald exclaimed, sounding defensive.
She chuckled softly, even as Riku burst into outright laughter.
When the six of them all made their way to the hangar at last, Riku was quick to take the seat behind the gunner's chair where she was sitting, and Sarah tilted "her" head as she settled "her" hands on the triggers and Donald took them out of the hangar at last. They paused for a few, long moments, allowing for Donald to teleport Ariel home; though not before the redhead had hugged everyone in the ship – including Riku and Kuromaru, which prompted a confused-seeming head tilt in the former's case, and an exasperated mutter of "girls" from the latter – and Riku grumbled a bit before settling down. Not long after that, Fere came into the vicinity of the next planet out from the one where Ariel, her father, and her people all lived.
Sarah raised an eyebrow as she caught her first glimpse of the planet they were about to leave for.
"Well, those are some interesting land masses."
Riku laughed. "It almost looks like some weird face, grinning up at us," he said, his habitual smirk stretching his face.
"Gawrsh, what if the people who live here are as scary as their World is?" Goofy asked, shuddering in his seat as he tried to turn away from the planet looming front and center in the cockpit windows.
"Well, if they try anything, we'll just have to scare them first!" Donald said, sounding decisive; and angry, but that was like saying that water was wet. "My magic will take care of this!"
Before any of them who were capable of speech could say anything, Donald raised his staff and there was a massive flash of colorless light, followed by the rushing sensation of teleportation…