The Gummiship flew through the Ocean Between.
"We seem to start here a lot, don't we?" Kairi muttered, watching the screen zoom into the familiar cockpit. Except, it looked different.
Goofy recounts how Cid also upgraded the cockpit, making it bigger, as well as adding missiles to the outside of the ship.
"He just did that for free?" Roxas asked dubiously, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Cid likes working on ships," Sora explained with a shrug, finally letting go of Riku's hand. "He just does it for fun."
Sora and Donald bicker about piloting again.
"You do that often, don't you?" Xion wondered, watching the screen. Not that it was that different from her's, Roxas's, and Axel's friendship. They argued about some things as well, though it was all in good fun. Mostly.
Goofy asks where they're going next and Donald says they're going past Wonderland and Sora pauses, looking away.
"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, seeing Sora's look onscreen and Sora smiled.
"I was just worried about Alice," he explained, feeling Riku tense up next to him a little. "I was thinking about her. But she's fine now." He gave Riku a quick look.
Donald sees the next world and Sora says that it's covered with a big beach. Jiminy corrects him, calling it a desert.
"Wait," Roxas said, thinking it over. On the couch with him, Xion sighed and buried her face in her hands to hide her expression. Axel had no such qualms, an expression of disgust and discontent crossing his face. "Don't tell me that's Agrabah."
"How'd you know?" Sora asked, turning to face his Nobody, who sighed. Xion screwed up her nose, the memories of their missions there flooding into her mind.
"We've visited before," he replied. "It's not great."
"Well, it's not bad," Sora responded, blinking in surprise when all three of the former Nobodies shook their heads in disagreement.
"If you're in a long, black coat which traps heat in, yes it's bad," Roxas refuted and several people winced at the image, seeing the outfits that the three of them are wearing now.
Sora is surprised that there is no ocean near the desert.
An ocean would have been fantastic, the three former Organization 13 members thought.
Donald sets the ship down near a town and Sora rushes out, followed by the other two.
Xion could basically feel the sand scraping up her arms and getting in her eyes just by watching it. Didn't help that the first time they went to the world, there was a sandstorm.
In the town, Maleficent and Jafar walked down the path, talking to each other.
Riku linked his fingers together, squeezing his hands together when Maleficent came on screen. I can do this, she's dead, she's gone, he thought to himself. What kind of a person gets freaked out by the image of someone?
Sora gave Riku a concerned look but didn't say anything. He was tempted to reach out for Riku's hand again but got a feeling it wouldn't be taken.
Maleficent asks about the Keyhold and Jafar answers that the Heartless are searching for it.
"Where are all the people?" Mickey asked, looking at the town surrounding them. Shouldn't there be at least one person? It looked like a market.
"The world was always busy when we went," Xion said, blinking in shock at the empty marketplace.
"They were chased out by the Heartless, I think," Sora explained. "But we got rid of them."
And you kidnapped yet another person, Riku spat at himself. Wonderful job.
A colorful parrot lands on Jafar's shoulder and he asks him if the bird has found Jasmine.
"Jasmine?" Xion asked, remembering the woman they had seen once or twice during their mission there, usually around the man, Aladdin.
"She's another Princess of Heart," Kairi explained, remembering talking to her quickly. "Maleficent kidnaps her as well."
No, you kidnap her. Riku tried to push away his thoughts, but it was either thinking about what he did or shivering at the thought of Maleficent.
Iago says that Jasmine has disappeared, and Maleficent tells Jafar that she thought he had this place under control. Jafar says that there are a lot of holes for rats to hide in.
"Rude," Kairi murmured, remembering how nice Jasmine was. "The only rat is you." She had learned from Jasmine that the man who had kidnapped her, Jafar, had worked for her family and betrayed them. He deserved everything he got.
Jafar asks why Jasmine is so important, that they could find the Keyhole with or without her.
So, Maleficent didn't tell anyone else about her plan? Aqua wondered. Strange. Though she probably was just using them to get what she wanted. She would have killed them after it all anyways.
Maleficent says that they need all seven princesses to open the final door. Any fewer was useless.
So, she did tell them? Aqua was trying to organize thoughts in her head.
What door? Several people thought.
Jafar says they'll find her if she's that important and instructs several Heartless to find Jasmine.
"So, it's not just Maleficent who can control the Heartless?" Terra asked, trying to figure out what exactly the Heartless were. It seemed like they were natural things, but they had been either copied or corrupted by Maleficent, which tracked, and she was able to control them somehow.
"Several others could," Sora confirmed. "But they were all given that ability by Maleficent. I think, at least."
Iago leads the Heartless away while Maleficent warns Jafar to not steep himself in darkness too much and that the Heartless consume the careless.
Hypocrite, several people thought. Riku flinched. That sounded far too close to what Maleficent and Ansem had told him.
Jafar says that her concern is touching.
Riku looked away, trying not to think about when Maleficent pretended to care. While part of him knew that she didn't actually, she couldn't, the smallest part of him had believed it. Had wanted that motherly love that he had been lacking so often in life because of his mother's condition and the number of his siblings.
As the two of them walk away, it is revealed that Jasmine was hiding behind a stand and watching them.
"They are… terrible seekers," Vanitas said with a laugh, surprising himself with the small joy he had gotten from seeing that. Just… they were so serious about needing to find Jasmine, and she was right there.
His laughter, to his even more surprise, spurred on Sora, Roxas, and Kairi, who each laughed as well. Aqua blinked in surprise, giving the dark user a look. What was his plan? Why was he doing that? Ven couldn't help the small giggle that escaped him either.
Riku wanted to laugh, he really did. He wanted to join in on that little bonding moment but… he couldn't laugh at Maleficent, not after everything she had done.
Sora and the others approach the gate into town and Goofy worries that the town might be full of Heartless.
And it was, Sora thought. He really needed to start listening to Goofy when he thought that.
Donald says they'd be okay, and Sora agrees, the three of them walking through the gate, only to get ambushed by Heartless.
"Well," Kairi said, watching Sora take down the Heartless in front of him. "At least you knew what you were getting into?"
The three of them fight the Heartless, but Donald realizes they're stronger again and the three of them flee into the alley.
"Maleficent was getting stronger," Riku murmured, having been there to see it. Aqua gritted her teeth. Perhaps it would have been better if she had finished off Maleficent all those years ago. She knew she had thought that before but… she was still conflicted, and she hated that she was. Maleficent had done so much evil, to the worlds, to Riku. But she had also been defeated and deprived of most of her power when Aqua talked with her after the whole dragon debacle. Could she had struck down an almost defenseless enemy, even knowing what she would do? She wished she had a concrete answer.
Donald looks around and wonders where everyone is.
A question that a few people were wondering as well.
Sora looks at the marketplace, getting scared when Jasmine's voice asks who's there.
"Sora," Kairi groaned, leaning on his side. "I don't understand you. How can you face down beasts five times your size without a single twitch, but jump three feet in the air when someone says something from behind you?"
Sora shrugged with a confused smile, rubbing the back of his head. He… didn't exactly know either.
Jasmine reveals herself, introducing herself. She says that Jafar deposed her father and now controls the city.
"But she got her kingdom back," Xion said, recalling Agrabah when she had gone. It had seemed like a nice, if hot, place.
"She did," Sora confirmed.
When Sora and the others don't know who Jafar is, Jasmine is confused about who they are. Sora says that they just came here.
"I'm surprised Donald didn't jump on you about world order," Mickey mused, thinking about his friend. He felt very strongly about that.
Jasmine calls them travelers and says that Jafar imprisoned everyone in the town.
Kairi narrowed her eyes. The more she learned about Jafar, the more she didn't like him.
Sora introduces himself and Jasmine describes that Jafar gained mysterious powers and used them to take over Agrabah.
"The Heartless," Ven mused, and Sora nodded.
Jasmine says someone helped her escape and Sora asks who, with Jasmine answering Aladdin.
Several people raised their heads at the name, recognizing it. Sora, because he had met the man, Xion and Roxas because they had seen him, and Naminé recognized the name from Sora's memories.
Jasmine says he left to take care of something, and she hopes he's okay.
"What would be more important than stopping the hostile coup?" Terra asked, raising an eyebrow, and Sora laughed slightly.
"Getting an all-powerful genie from a cave in the desert," he responded, remembering the Genie's power and humor.
Jasmine says that Jafar is looking for something and she clarifies that it was called a Keyhole.
"Again, terrible seekers," Vanitas snorted. "She heard everything, and they didn't even realize she saw sitting ten feet from them. Even with the Heartless."
Jafar suddenly appears and Sora shields Jasmine as she runs away. Jafar summons Heartless to fight Sora and the others.
Aqua narrowed her eyes as she watched. Was this person still a threat? Would she need to do something about them once they get out of here.
The three of them fight the Heartless as Jafar leaves.
It doesn't matter, Riku thought. Because I still kidnapped her. All you did Sora, was pointless. Though, doesn't it show the difference between us? You helped the light, tried to shield it. I tried to steal it.
After they defeat the Heartless, they sit down, worn out.
Concern went through several of the watchers, including Kairi, who had just started to get used to Sora constantly in danger, as much as that angered her.
"Sora?" She asked, worried that it showed that Sora was actively out of breath.
"The Heartless were getting stronger," he told her with a small smile. "It took more out of us to fight them." Riku looked away, guilt creeping up his throat again.
Sora notes that the Heartless are definitely stronger.
Riku's guilt didn't go away.
Donald says they have to keep fighting and the three of them head towards where Jasmine ran off to. They can't find her.
"She didn't get taken, did she?" Naminé asked. Even though this had also been something she had seen in Sora's memories when she was sifting through them, due to them being brought to the front by Castle Oblivion, she hadn't really looked into depth with them. Much like Wonderland.
"Not yet," Sora admitted with a grimace, not really reassuring anyone.
In the corner of the house, a carpet sits up and waves at them.
"Did that carpet… just move?" Terra asked blankly, getting the urge to rub at his eyes to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he was seeing. Aqua, Vanitas, and Ven were similarly confused, as well as the king and Kairi, but Sora, Riku, and the former Organization members all smiled, at various levels of intensity.
"The carpet!" Sora exclaimed, somehow having forgotten that they would be shown. "They're a big help."
Riku wasn't surprised having seen it the few times he had gone to the world, in disguise and only for short periods of course, during Sora's year asleep. He hadn't wanted to go, he hadn't wanted to see any of the Princesses of Heart, it made him sick to think about it, but he had to in order to spy on the Organization. Always after those visits, especially when he caught sight of Jasmine, something he usually avoided, he always spent hours alone, either locked in a downward spiral of dark thoughts, sleeping or sitting in front of Sora's pod, or destroying Heartless until his muscles ached, and he was panting and sweating. Anything to keep the pain away. Anything to hurt himself for what he had done.
Xion, Roxas, and Axel had all witnessed the carpet during their missions. Roxas and Xion hadn't known that there was something weird about flying carpets and Axel had seen enough strange things in his lifetime that he had barely blinked at it.
"Why can the carpet move?" Ven asked and Sora paused before shrugging. They hadn't really known.
"They just can," he responded with a smile directed at the shocked people. "They're very nice though."
"Cool, sentient carpet," Kairi muttered. "Just once Sora, go to a normal world."
Sora giggled. "No such thing," he told her, getting a huff in response.
Donald aims his wand at it and Goofy says it doesn't look like a Heartless, but Sora moves forward and gets the cabinet off it.
Kairi smiled. That was so Sora. Helping everyone, even sentient carpets.
The carpet bows to them before gesturing for them to get on.
"Why?" Aqua asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you get on a carpet?"
"It can fly," Sora responded casually, and Aqua rubbed her temples. You've seen crazier, she told herself. It didn't stop her confusion.
The three of them board the carpet and it flies off, out to the desert.
"Sora," Kairi said, getting sick of having to use the tone with him. "Please tell me you at least knew where you were going."
Sora, wisely, didn't answer her. She groaned.
Goofy wonders where they're heading.
Mickey couldn't help the slight worry and nervousness that built in him. It was one thing to throw themselves into danger, but they were just blindly trusting the carpet. It wasn't the greatest.
In a ring of rocks, Aladdin tries to free himself from quicksand, with little success.
"Aladdin," Sora explained, gesturing to the screen. "He helped us defeat Jafar."
Sora, on the carpet, comes close to him, asking if he's Aladdin. When Aladdin confirms it, Sora attempts to help him out of the quicksand, but is cut off when more Heartless appears.
"How did Aladdin even get into that predicament?" Xion questioned, thinking about when she had seen him. He was usually in the city, but Jafar had taken it over during this time. It wouldn't be great to stay there, she admitted to herself.
"He went to the Cave of Wonders," Sora said, thinking back to what Aladdin told him. "To get the lamp. But on his way back, he fell into the quicksand."
While the three of them fight off the Heartless, Aladdin pulls out the lamp and summons the Genie, who takes care of the Heartless at Aladdin's order, mentioning wish number one.
Xion and Roxas blinked, recognizing the Genie. He had been Aladdin's best friend after all. But he hadn't had the gold bracelets when they saw him and he had been traveling around the world, not in the lamp.
Aqua hummed. She had read about Genies in her books, magical people who could grant three wishes to the person who held the lamp. She never thought she'd see one in person though, even in the crazy life they lived. Well, "in person" was generous.
The three of them help Aladdin out of the quicksand and introduce themselves. Sora asks Aladdin what he's doing out in the desert, to which he responds that he's searching for legendary treasure.
"The lamp, I presume?" Axel mused, getting a nod from Sora.
Aladdin says he found both the carpet and the lamp, which Sora questions.
"Sora, didn't you just see the Genie come out of it?" Roxas asked, giving his Somebody a "you idiot" look. "Why are you doubtful of it?"
"Look, I was fighting during that bit," Sora defended himself with a little bit of offence. "I didn't see it myself happen."
Genie explains the whole shtick of the lamp.
"That… could go badly very quickly," Aqua murmured under her breath, shivering slightly as her brain unfortunately went through all the possibilities if someone like Xehanort got the lamp. A wish that did basically anything. Three of them. A glance from Terra said that he was thinking the same thing.
Vanitas thought it wouldn't be that bad of an idea. He wondered if he could wish that no one could find him again.
Aladdin thinks about potentially wishing to be a prince, speaking about Jasmine. Sora and the others remember and tell Aladdin that Jasmine's in trouble.
"How did you forget about that?" Roxas asked, Xion reaching over and poking him sharply in the side. He hissed out a breath, giving her a look, which she returned, a little bit of mirth sparkling in her eyes.
"Do I need to separate you two?" Axel asked, voice teasing and both of them turned to him.
"You're already separating us," Xion told him seriously, getting a fond eyeroll from the older Nobody.
Naminé and Riku both felt guilt and shame build in them as they witnessed the small scene between the three of them. They had ruined it, had torn apart that tight friend group, for the sake of Sora. Because DiZ had told them to. Though, they both thought angrily, that tracked.
And to them, it wouldn't have been the first time they ruined friendships.
The four of them ride on the carpet back to the town while Genie flies next to them, enjoying the air. Sora says that he doesn't get out much.
"No, he was trapped in that lamp," Sora murmured to himself. Vanitas hated the way that his chest clenched slightly. Too close, too real.
Genie says that whenever he doesn't have a master, he's trapped in the lamp is lucky to get out every couple of centuries or so.
Most people shivered at that. A few were more affected.
Terra laced his fingers together, taking in a deep breath, and trying to push away the memories that pounded at his head at Genie's explanation. It was… to close to what had happened to him in the past ten years. What was currently happening to him. Trapped on his slowly shrinking Station of Awakening, darkness wrapped around each of his wrists, the only company he got was when Master Xehanort came to gloat. And even that was few and far between, only happening once or twice. Or the times when the darkness came for his senses and he woke up on the always smaller Station, unable to remember what had happened.
Vanitas huffed, forcing his eyes closed and biting the inside of his cheek. Don't summon an Unversed. Don't summon an Unversed. He chanted the statement at himself, trying to make it all he thought about. He didn't relate to the Genie, what are you talking about? He was fine, he was Vanitas. He could deal with a couple of words, and it definitely wasn't getting to him.
Riku shivered, hands coming up to half hug himself. It reminded him of being possessed by Ansem, the feeling of his body moving without his consent, watching everything that happened, helpless to stop it. Everything… until he managed to hold Ansem back for a quick second. And then he was in the Realm of Darkness.
Aladdin offers to use his last wish to free Genie after they free Jasmine.
Good, three not so different people thought. No one should be trapped into servitude. In any capacity.
Aladdin asks the trio what Jafar is up to, and they tell him that Jafar was searching for both the Keyhole and Jasmine. Genie remembers that he's heard of the Keyhole but can't remember where it was.
"Do you think that Genie has met Keyblade Wielders in the past?" Terra wondered, question mostly directed at Aqua, who hummed in speculation.
"It's possible," she admitted. "With how old he is. Why else would he know what the Keyhole is?"
The five of them land in the streets of the town and are immediately attacked by Heartless.
Kairi and a few others tensed up, remembering Sora's last couple of interactions with them. They were getting stronger.
They see Jafar and Jasmine in a square and jump down. Aladdin tells him to let Jasmine go, but Jafar calls him a street rat.
"That was rude, but why am I surprised?" Kairi wondered to herself.
Jasmine tries to get to Aladdin, but Jafar holds her back. Aladdin uses his second wish for Genie to get Jasmine away.
Several people relaxed once Jasmine was almost out of danger.
Jafar says that Aladdin's wish was denied, and Iago steals the lamp from Aladdin, giving it to Jafar.
Terra, Vanitas, and Riku all tensed. This was bad.
The Genie disappears and Jasmine falls into a vase below, which turns into a Heartless and runs off.
Kairi's hands started to curl around Sora's arm again as she started to realize that fighting would happen soon.
Jafar summons Heartless to fight them as he leaves. They defeat them all, but don't know where Jasmine is. The carpet gets their attention and Sora guesses that the carpet knows where Jasmine is, and they fly off.
"How did the carpet know?" Roxas asked, skepticism in his voice and Sora paused before shrugging. It had just made sense to him at the time and the carpet was all sorts of magical. Of course, it knew where Jasmine was.
The carpet takes them to a statue of a lion's head and Aladdin says that the tiger god's mouth is closed.
"Tiger God?" Aqua asked, scanning through the knowledge in her head. When she had learned about Genies, there hadn't been anything about any gods, but she could have missed it.
"The cave," Sora explained. "It's in the mouth of the statue of the tiger god."
When Goofy questions him, Aladdin explains that he got the lamp and carpet from inside the Cave of Wonders.
"Well, that's a name," Axel muttered to himself.
Aladdin approaches the statue which rebuffs him. Aladdin doesn't understand.
"This world just gets crazier and crazier," Terra said, watching the statue start to move.
Roxas and Xion were glad they hadn't been in the world when all of this went down. They'd had their fill of crazy.
The tiger god opens his mouth, letting Heartless out. Sora realizes someone is controlling the tiger god.
"Jafar?" Kairi asked and Sora nodded.
"That must have been some magic boost," Aqua said. "To control something like that. Unless he used Genie's magic."
Aladdin and Sora attack the statue, hurting his eyes and stopping the possession of him. They run into the cave.
"That is a lot of treasure," Mickey noted, seeing the towers piled high with gold.
"And it's all cursed, according to Aladdin," Sora replied, thinking back to what Aladdin said. "You can't take anything out of it."
Deeper in the cave, Jafar is standing in front of a wall, Jasmine unconscious on the ground. Using his first wish, he has Genie reveal the Keyhole to him.
Multiple people noted that it was the most straightforward Keyhole so far, simply hidden behind a wall of rock.
Maleficent appears in front of him.
Riku breathed in through his nose, holding his hands tightly together. Maleficent appearing, on top of his… thoughts about the Genie, wasn't making it easy. A second later, Sora's hand landed on his arm in comfort and while he didn't look at the younger boy, it made him feel slightly better.
Jafar tells her that the boy who holds the key is on his way. Maleficent is surprised.
"Ha, take that," Sora said, repressing the urge to stick his tongue out at the witch. She had done nothing but hurt Riku and him and even helping him that one time didn't make it any better. "'Take me forever to find the Keyholes' huh?" Kairi giggled slightly at his words.
Jafar asks why she doesn't explain the situation to Riku and that he could be useful to their cause before getting cut off by Sora and Aladdin entering the cave.
Riku flinched at the causal reminder of what he had done, who he had helped. Sora's hand didn't leave his arm and several people shot him concerned looks but nothing was said.
Sora sees Maleficent and asks who she is, but Maleficent disappears.
Going back to manipulate a teenager, Aqua thought crossly.
Aladdin tells Jafar to let Jasmine go but Jafar says she's a special princess who is one of seven who can help open a door.
"Door? To what?" Aqua asked, looking to Sora.
"The Door to Kingdom Hearts," Sora explained and all three of the older Keyblade Wielders made faces, one of Terra's arms moving like he wanted to pull Ven into a half hug.
"Kingdom Hearts doesn't have a door," Ven responded, voice quiet, and Vanitas looked away with a barely audible growl, hands curling into fists. Both of them didn't want to remember what had happened last time.
"The True Kingdom Hearts doesn't," Mickey replied, bringing the attention to him. "The Kingdom Hearts that you three saw ten years ago was the True Kingdom Hearts. The Kingdom Hearts that Sora and his friends encountered was the Kingdom Hearts of Worlds' Hearts. A crafted one that wasn't the same as the true one."
"Like the Kingdom Hearts Xemnas was creating?" Xion asked, remembering all the hearts spilling from her Keyblade and into the heart in the sky.
"Yes," Mickey responded. Aqua placed her head in her hands and Terra looked away, hands shaking.
"Even if it's not Xehanort, people are still trying to summon Kingdom Hearts," Aqua murmured and Mickey sighed. He had hoped that with Xehanort's death, there would be no more seeking of Kingdom Hearts, but clearly that wasn't true.
"So, we didn't see the real Kingdom Hearts?" Sora asked and Mickey shook his head softly. His eyes dropped down.
Jafar uses his second wish to have Genie fight the others.
"You've got to run! The Heartless are coming!" Riku looked away with a swallow, tightening his hands together.
"Your body submits, your heart succumbs- So why does your mind resist?" Terra closed his eyes, reliving his last moments in the light, staring at his own puppeted body.
"This is your destiny, boy. There is no escaping from it." Vanitas growled again at the pain in his chest, doing his damn best to not summon an Unversed and throw the room into chaos.
The four of them fight Genie and Jafar. Sora realizes they just have to beat Jafar, because Genie will stop once he's gone.
"Get him," Kairi hissed under her breath, startling a quick laugh from Sora.
The four of them fight Jafar and it looks like they defeated him. They run to Jasmine.
Kairi tipped her head to the side, the confusion matched by Riku. They knew Jasmine still ended up kidnapped, they both knew that well. So how? If Jafar was gone. Unless he wasn't.
Jafar appears in the sky behind them and wishes for Genie to make him a genie.
Surprising all of them, Vanitas snickered after Jafar made the wish, immediately wishing he hadn't as all attention landed on him.
"Something funny?" Aqua asked but Terra had the almost same look on his face as Vanitas did and Riku felt the smallest smile creep up his lip.
"That's a terrible wish," Vanitas replied, and Sora blinked, realizing that Vanitas had figured it out even before he had during the time.
"Why?" Roxas asked, crossing his arms. "Genie seemed pretty powerful."
"But he was being controlled by Jafar," Terra responded. "He only did that because Jafar was holding the lamp. Because all Genies come with that. So, all Sora has to do is get a hold of the lamp that will appear with Jafar."
"Or Jafar will get trapped in his own lamp if no one claims it," Riku continued, thinking back to Genie's earlier explanation. The tension in the room dissipated as the words of the three Keyblade Wielders calmed their fears. Jafar wouldn't be all powerful once he became a Genie. If anything, he had just defeated himself.
Jafar is transformed into a red genie, and they fall into a pit below.
"Why is that even there?" Kairi whispered, worried despite what Riku, Terra, and Vanitas said. They still had to get Jafar's lamp after all.
"I… don't know," Sora replied.
The four of them fight Jafar with Sora eventually getting the lamp and sealing Jafar away.
Fitting, Riku spat in his head. Trapped just as the person you tried to use was.
Both Vanitas and Terra felt a sense of satisfaction in them.
A piece of paper comes fluttering down and Sora grasps it, unable to read it.
"What is it?" Naminé asked, looking at the paper on screen.
"A piece of Ansem's report," Sora explained. "It had gotten scattered across the worlds and while Maleficent had most of it, we still found a page or two."
The cavern starts to collapse around them so the four of them get on carpet and fly out.
Riku froze once he realized what was coming next.
Jasmine sits up and hurries to the edge, looking down. "Princess…" She turns at the voice and gets knocked out.
Riku flinched, looking down, remembering it. It had been easy. "You already kidnapped Alice, what was one more? It was for Kairi. You had to prove it to Sora, you had to prove yourself."
Several looks were aimed Riku's way, none of them angry. It was clear who had kidnapped Jasmine.
The carpet deposits the four of them back near the Keyhole, with Aladdin looking around for Jasmine.
Riku closed his eyes slowly, trying to breathe through the flashbacks. Sora's hand on his arm tightened slightly.
Sora seals up the Keyhole, causing the cave to start to shake.
"What, no mysterious Gummi block?" Axel asked with a hint of sarcasm and Sora rubbed the back of his head.
"So, maybe all of the Keyholes didn't give us something. But a lot of them did!" He defended himself.
Aladdin refuses to leave without Jasmine, but Sora says she might have already made it out. The four of them escape the cave.
No, she was just kidnapped by a stupid boy, Riku thought.
Aqua was thinking the same thing, only replacing stupid boy with villain and was aiming her thought at Maleficent.
Back at the abandoned house, they realize that Jasmine isn't in Agrabah.
When Kairi gave Sora a look, he explained. "We searched all of the town before this conversation happened," he said.
Sora promises to save Jasmine and bring her home.
Such a Sora statement, Kairi thought with a smile.
When Aladdin asks why he can't go with them, Goofy calls it meddling.
Ah waiting, Kairi thought. I know it well. It still sucks.
Genie reminds Aladdin that he still has one wish left and says that he can tell Genie to find Jasmine for him.
Oh, you better not, was the thought repeated in three boys' heads. Aladdin had promised to free Genie, so he wouldn't be controlled anymore. Terra understood that Aladdin just wanted to find Jasmine, but there was a good chance that the next person who held the lamp wouldn't be as good as him.
Aladdin instead wishes for Genie's freedom.
Smiles were reflected on many faces across the room, happy that Genie got a happy ending and was no longer confined to the lamp. Three smiles, or two smiles and one reluctant smirk, were wider than the others.
Genie's bracelets fall away.
Oh, Xion thought. Makes sense now why I never saw them on him when I visited.
Aladdin says that a deal's a deal and tells Genie that he's his own master now and can go anywhere.
Wouldn't that be nice? The smallest part of Vanitas wondered. To not be controlled or commanded?
Aladdin says it would be nice if Genie went with Sora to help find Jasmine. Genie says that he's done taking orders.
About half of the people in the room were waiting for when Genie would give up the act. Sora stifled a smile.
Genie says a favor is something different and calls him and Aladdin friends.
More smiles were tossed back and forth, many of the watchers happy that Genie had gotten such a good ending.
Goofy wonders if it would be classified as meddling but Genie says no.
"And who's going to argue with an all-powerful Genie?" Ven asked rhetorically, with a smile on his lips.
Genie shrinks down and hides under Donald's hat, saying that he'll give him a magic boost.
"So, if he went with you, what happened to him?" Roxas asked, tipping his head to the side. Because he saw the Genie several times when visiting Agrabah. So he wasn't still with Sora.
"He went home with Jasmine after we defeated Maleficent," Sora replied.
Sora tells Aladdin they'll find Jasmine and he says he's counting on him.
I need a tally board or something, Aqua thought, wincing at the repeated phrase. So I know how many times I have to tell Sora he can ask for help carrying the load.
The scene changes to a dark room.
Riku froze, fear and shame building in this throat. He knew what happened here, he knew what was said. Sora looked to him, moving his hand from Riku's arm to instead clasp one of Riku's hands. He didn't know for certain what happened here, but he was going to support Riku anyway.
Aqua was starting to hate seeing these clips. As much as it helped to see what the villains were planning, it also clearly hurt Riku.
Riku is seen watching from the shadows. Hook and Maleficent, looking away, stand at the table.
Riku shivered at seeing his past self so entrenched in darkness, both literally and figuratively. Ever since then, he had always had a hard time in dark rooms. It only ever reminded him.
Hook says that Jafar nearly had Sora and the others, but someone chose not to help them. He glares at Riku.
Don't glare at Riku, Sora thought, looking at Hook.
Roxas blinked, recognizing the man. Axel raised an eyebrow.
Riku says that he did his part, bringing the princess.
Riku flinched, looking away and biting his tongue. It had been so easy. What did that say about him?
Maleficent says that Jafar was beyond help, too consumed by his own hatred. She pulls Riku's attention, gesturing to the dais and saying they had a deal. An image of Kairi appears.
Kairi sucked in a deep breath at seeing the image of herself. She knew, this had told her that Riku had done this for her, but…
"Riku," she said softly, nearly wincing at the way Riku flinched. Sora gave her a look that said, 'don't make this worse', and she smiled gently at him. "Thank you. For attempting to save me."
Riku looked up at her, shock and surprise in his eyes. He hadn't… He never thought… Her smile never wavered however, and he took in a shaky breath, the familiar feeling of tears starting to burn in the back of his eyes. He had done all that… everything he regretted, for the two of them. For his friends. And it had been horrible and bad and something he would regret for his entire life. But he never thought that someone (besides Mickey) … would see the good that had first driven it.
Against his will, a tear slid down his cheek.
Sora looked up in shock. Riku didn't… Riku hadn't ever cried. He was Riku, the strong one, the one who could take everything the world threw at him. But… it was also Riku. Who had been so thoroughly manipulated and hurt that he allowed Ansem to possess him and sacrificed himself to the Realm of Darkness.
Choking back tears of his own, he had always been a sympathetic crier, he shifted his position better, moving to instead wrap Riku in a hug, clasping one of Riku's hands with his two, and pressed his forehead to Riku's shoulder. A scuffling of noise and the loss then regain of weight revealed that Kairi had stood up and crossed to the other side of the couch, pressing herself to Riku's other side. A second later, Riku buried his face into Sora's hair. Sora didn't even spare a thought to who else was in the room.
Aqua pressed a hand to her mouth, shoving away the pain and sadness that welled up in her. Stars damnit, they were children. Broken, hurting, healing, magical children. Who gave the world to these children and told them to protect it? She could feel Ven leaning on her, searching for comfort he wouldn't ask for and she wrapped an arm around him, tugging him close. She could feel Terra doing the same, the two of them sandwiching Ven in between hugs.
Axel wrapped both of his arms around the two teenagers sharing the couch with him. He had a feeling this wouldn't be the only time the three teenagers across from them broke down in tears and he highly doubted they would be the only ones to do so as the past continued to be revealed. None of them had good lives, none of them had easy lives. But perhaps, this would be good to help them start healing.
Mickey looked down, feeling the familiar sadness build in him. He could see the few more tears Riku was attempting to hide, and it hurt. He had tried to help Riku as best as he could and he would continue to do so, but he needed his friends. He needed to know how they felt. Looking to his right, he could see Naminé looking down at her hands and he reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder. The girl blinked in surprise, looking at him in shock before letting a small smile cross her lips.
Vanitas scoffed, looking away, desperately tamping down the feeling in his chest. He didn't want that, he didn't. He didn't need anyone; he didn't want anyone. He was fine.
Maleficent tells Riku to go to her.
Sora reluctantly raised his head as the screen continued, glaring at the witch on screen. She had hurt Riku so badly, and she wasn't even gone. She was still out there, to cause problems. Riku didn't raise his head, so Sora didn't move. On Riku's other side, Kairi gazed at him, sadness and pain warring in her eyes. He agreed with her.
Riku asks what the catch is, and Maleficent says there's no catch and Riku's like a son to her. She only wanted him to be happy.
Both Sora and Kairi made noises of anger. How dare she? They knew Riku's homelife was… unfulfilling. With his mom's anxiety disorder combined with the number of siblings he had, it was hard to get any attention from her, any positive at least. Riku was firmly stuck in the middle of a number of siblings and didn't really stand out in a way that would drag his parents' attention. There was a reason why Riku and Sora had so many sleepovers.
Riku flinched again and Sora and Kairi leaned deeper on his sides.
Riku says he doubts that, and Maleficent simply reminds him that she kept her side of the deal.
Sora hated her.
Riku walks off into the shadows.
The screen goes to black.
No one said anything for a while. Sora could hear Riku desperately trying to control his breathing and for a second, he was worried that Riku was having another panic attack, but it was clear he was just trying to stop crying. He closed his eyes as he leaned into Riku's side, holding Riku's hand tightly. He could see that Kairi had taken his other hand.
We're here. We're here, we don't blame you, and we're never leaving again.
