As the three of them walk through the next white room, Donald hopes that the King is okay. Sora turns back to him, asking why he brought it up, and Donald says that he had to be sure he hadn't forgotten him.

Sora flinched, leaning into Kairi's side slightly as she turned to him in concern, having felt his flinch. He couldn't, he couldn't, forget Riku or Kairi. He couldn't. Not when all he had left of them was memories.

Unbidden, his hand slipped into his pocket and curled around Kairi's charm. It was a comforting weight in his hand. That and his necklace, no matter what, couldn't be changed. And thus, they would always be reminders of his friends. Through everything.

Goofy asks how'd that go and Donald replies good and says that he remembered they're on a quest to find the king. Goofy says he remembers as well that the King saved everyone by staying on the other side of the Door to Darkness.

Mickey couldn't help but duck his head slightly, trying to tamp down the slight flush that had come to his cheeks, as hard as it was to see it. He hadn't saved everything, and he certainly hadn't done it alone. Riku had sacrificed himself as well and Sora was the other one to close it from the light side.

Sora says he's looking for Riku, who stayed with the King on the other side of the door.

Sora reached out, slightly blindly, until he managed to grab Riku's hand, holding it tightly. Even now, the idea of being separated from Riku again… Having to be put in a position like that, where he had to let Riku go to save the world… He didn't know if he could do it.

Sora says that he guesses there's no way they'll forget the most important memories. Donald says that it's good and he doesn't want to forget.

I'm sorry, Naminé thought, pencil stuttering to a stop on the page. It was just finishing the tips of Roxas's hair and she couldn't help but remember their meetings, the way she had convinced him to go. And Xion before him. And before all that, when she messed with their memories. I'm so sorry.

Goofy says that he bets the king and Riku are still together.

"Were you?" Sora asked, turning to look at Riku, who nodded. While Mickey might not have been there in the flesh in the beginning, he had always been there for him. Even when he didn't deserve it.

In another room, Axel is watching a crystal ball.

Axel winced slightly when his past self came onscreen. He had a feeling he would be doing that a lot as they watched this section of the adventure.

"What are you looking at?" Ven asked and Axel tipped his head to look at the younger boy.

"It allowed us to keep track of Sora and even see what he was doing," Axel revealed, and Sora made a face from across the room. "Hey, the Castle was as tricky to you as it was to us," he defended himself. "We needed some way to keep track of you or we would lose you." Sora narrowed his eyes playfully, having already given up on the subject, but still sat back with an overly dramatic sigh, something that got many of the adults in the room smiling.

A woman stood across from him, saying that he seemed pretty intrigued by this 'Sora kid'.

Naminé's pencil slipped out of her hand and hit the floor.

Axel muttered a curse and was already twisting so, slightly falling off the couch as he did so, he was in between Naminé and the screen. "Naminé, Naminé, it's okay," he soothed, placing his hands on her shoulders and trying to bring her attention back to him. "She's not here." But the younger girl had gone shaky, just like her panic attack from twenty minutes ago, and her eyes weren't seeing anything.

Laughter and lightning and honeyed words and it hurt, she hurt, she hurt me- Naminé choked, ozone and laughter echoing in her senses, and she couldn't breathe-

"What's going on?" Sora asked, worry for Naminé spiking in him as he saw her reaction. "What's wrong?"

"That's Larxene," Xion explained, wanting to reach out a place a hand on Naminé's shoulder in comfort but didn't know if it would make it worse. "She's a member of the Organization-"

"A pretty sadistic one," Roxas muttered, remembering his few interactions with the woman before she was gone.

"Though I don't completely know why Naminé is reacting like this," Xion finished, acting like Roxas's interruption hadn't happened.

"Because Larxene was the main person who abused Naminé," Axel answered in a clipped tone, still focused on the girl in front of him, and the atmosphere in the room dropped ten degrees. Both Aqua and Terra felt anger rise in them on behalf of the girl sitting stock still in the room, while several people sent glares at the frozen screen. "C'mon Naminé," Axel murmured, reaching out to cup Naminé's cheek and try to turn her head away from the screen, but she flinched back violently from him, so Axel gritted his teeth and continued to try and get her attention through verbal means.

Vanitas watched all this, half sneering, half worried. No, he wasn't worried about the girl, shut up. It was so obvious that what Axel was doing wasn't helping. Maybe it had helped before, when Naminé needed comfort, but that wasn't what she needed right now. She needed someone to remind her, harshly if required, that she wasn't in the Castle with Larxene at the moment. She was so obviously stuck in flashbacks, how the hell did none of the Light-Walkers realize?

Maybe he realized because he knew what he needed, knew that pain had been the best thing to snap him out of his own flashbacks when he was alone and hurt and starving and the only things that could make him stop seeing Master Xehanort in the corners of the shadows and crevices was stabbing himself in the side, about two inches above his hip because, of all places, Master Xehanort had never hit there and it was enough of a reminder that he wasn't there and-

Well, Vanitas didn't mind being the bad guy. He already was.

Without a second more to deliberate, he slammed his fist into the arm of his chair, making a loud cracking sound that reverberated around the almost silent room, as they had all paused to try and help Axel get through to Naminé. Of course, they didn't realize that dead silence and one voice talking to Naminé was just as triggering as before, but it wasn't like Vanitas didn't already know that they were idiots.

"Naminé!" He barked out, loud enough to make most of the room jump. Aqua had already swung around to glare death at him, and she wasn't the only one, but he was focused on Naminé.

Who had jumped in surprise like everyone else, nearly falling from her spot. But it had been enough, the strangeness of someone yelling her name instead of purring it like Larxene or Marluxia would be enough to slam her out of the flashback. Because they hadn't ever been loud, they had been quiet and dangerous and gentle in their poisonous words and directions and-

She blinked at Axel. "Axel?" She questioned, voice slightly unsteady, and the older man snapped his gaze back down to her, surprise flashing in his eyes because had whatever Vanitas just tried to pull actually worked?

"Naminé?" He asked and she nodded once, still shaking. She could still hear Larxene's voice in her head, could still feel the lighting, but it wasn't… as much.

"What…" She swallowed, before leaning forward, Axel automatically wrapping her in a hug. Both Roxas and Xion gazed at her in surprise, her art supplies held carefully in Xion's grip, and Vanitas relaxed slightly, moving to rest his chin on his hand again.

Shut the hell up, he thought at his brain, which was going through a number of thoughts and emotions. If she doesn't stop having panic attacks, we're never going to get through this. And I have to be stuck with these Light-Bearers for more than I want to be. So, it made sense to help her. It's just sensible.

"What was that?" Aqua hissed out and Vanitas moved his gaze up to look at her. Aqua wanted to snarl at him, but there was a great amount of surprise swirling around her after what she had just witnessed, and she needed to figure it out now.

"You weren't helping," he replied deadpan, rolling his eyes. Was it just Aqua or did that action seem more forced than usual? "That helped."

"Huh," Terra murmured, giving Vanitas a searching look, and Vanitas snarled at whatever he thought he saw in Terra's gaze. Ven on the other hand, couldn't help the small smile that curled up his face as he watched Vanitas. His other half could deny it all he wanted but he had just done a good thing. For someone else. Ven wondered if Vanitas had actually thought before he did it or if it was just instinctual. His smile dimmed slightly. If Vanitas was truly capable of doing good things, did that mean he had simply chosen to do all the bad things he had done ten years prior? He immediately pushed those thoughts away. Vanitas was… He could help him. He knew he could.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi, from their spot on their couch, watched all of this with concerned, slightly confused expressions. Riku had wanted to stand up and head over to Naminé the second she had started to freak out, but he didn't know how that would be reacted to. Naminé certainly hadn't been reacting well to Axel, so how would she feel if he came over, especially when in the past she had been so… strange about his presence?

Sora worried his bottom lip between his lip, his nervousness felt by Kairi as well as she gazed at her Nobody. It was clear that Naminé had gone through many things at the hands of the Organization, and she didn't exactly know how to help her with them. She hadn't ever really gone through something similar.

Naminé relaxed backwards after a couple of deep breaths, extracting herself gently from Axel's grip, settling back between him and Xion. Said girl gave her the art supplies back, but not without a worried glance. Naminé tried to give her a reassuring smile, but she assumed it probably didn't work.

Before she moved back to her drawing, she wanted to do her best to not pay attention to the scene that they were going to watch, she twisted her head so she could look at Vanitas.

"Thank you," she said quietly, and Vanitas gave her a slightly surprised, slightly lost look. "That helped." After a second, he looked away with a scoff, his face nothing but careful blankness.

What was that, what was that, why did she thank him, he didn't nothing, he would kill her if he was told to, he was darkness, he was danger, everyone hated him, what the- Of course, his face didn't show any of his inner thoughts.

Axel asks if she's not and calls her Larxene. Larxene says she hasn't decided yet and what intrigues her more is Axel's interest in him.

"Because of me?" Roxas asked, trying to pull some sense of normality back into the room. "Did you know I was Sora's Nobody?"

"I did," Axel answered, giving him a smile. "And it was. I wanted to see how you were different, how you were similar. And I also had to protect you."

"Protect me?" Roxas questioned, surprise rushing through him, and Axel nodded.

"I didn't know if Marluxia's plan with Sora was going to hurt you and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen. Along with my other mission."

"Oh," Roxas replied, blinking. Well, it hadn't really worked but was Axel already protecting him? They had only known each other for three weeks at that point. Sure, they were friends, they had shared ice cream, but would Axel really go against the Organization for him? He hadn't later. His hands curled into fists. What had changed?

Naminé's new drawing started with a dark blue sky, nearly black, trying desperately not to let the voice coming from the screen cause her hands to shake too badly.

Axel says that there once was a time when Sora became a Heartless and when one becomes a Heartless, but Larxene cuts him off, saying that they lose their minds and their feelings and are consumed by darkness. Axel says that it didn't happen to Sora.

And thank goodness for that, Sora thought, absently tracing the lines of Riku's palm as he watched everything happen. I don't want to lose my emotions or my mind. I wouldn't have Riku or Kairi then.

Axel says that he held onto his feelings, even as a Heartless.

And those feelings led him to me, Kairi thought with a slight blush, looking down so no one would see. Just like my feelings lead me to him.

Axel says that there's only one other man who's been able to do that.

"Are you talking about…?" Riku couldn't help but trail off his question as his eyes slid to Terra, however involuntarily. Terra gritted his teeth and ducked his head, looking down at his hands when he realized who they were talking about. Xehanort, or Xehanort in his body, because you were stupid enough to get yourself possessed.

"Yeah," Axel replied, looking purposefully off to the side so he wouldn't have to look at the spitting image of who he was talking about. "While Ansem didn't have 'feelings' per say, he still had enough of his mind to take actions and put plans into place." Or at least, he assumed. He hadn't seen much of Ansem, before this at least, but he knew about the other half of Xemnas, knew that there were plans there as well.

"Because it was Xehanort's mind, so why am I surprised?" Ven muttered under his breath and Terra flinched slightly.

Axel says it's not just that and wonders why Goofy and Donald are still with him as the worlds are built from Sora's memories, and yet they remain with him.

"Was that not normal?" Sora asked, trying to distract slightly from the fact that he had just be compared to Xehanort, even if Axel didn't mean anything by it.

"I think what he means it that Donald and Goofy probably should have been cards the whole time," Aqua replied, going over the small amount of information she had in her mind about the Castle. Why didn't I ask Master Eraqus more? Why didn't I say more? Why couldn't I know more? "And yet, they're not, only for big battles."

Larxene asks if he's saying that the two of them have some kind of power or strength of their hearts and Axel says he doesn't know.

"It might have been your connections to them," Mickey said, and Sora turned to look at him. "Your connections to them, especially because a lot of your memories have them in it, might have stopped them from disappearing." Sora nodded once, in understanding.

Larxene says that it's the strength of Sora's heart that interests Axel so much and that he wants to know why the Keyblade chose Sora.

Sora frowned, going back to the conversations they'd had about the subject while watching. The Keyblade hadn't chosen him, someone else had. Or at least someone had given him the ability to eventually wield a Keyblade. But why? And who? And why couldn't he remember this person, because Aqua and Terra had made it sound like it was a ritual, something that had to be done by someone. So why couldn't he remember it? And that wasn't even going into the supposed connection between him and Riku, especially around their Keyblades. The fact that he had apparently held Riku's before his own or that Riku had held him. They couldn't… they just didn't know.

"Sora?" Riku asked, having felt him still slightly. "Are you okay?" Sora answered with a quick nod and smile. He was fine, there was no reason for him to be thinking about this right now. Not when everything else was going on.

Axel says that to unlock the secrets of the heart is the Organization's mission and Larxene smiles.

And to try and give us our own, Xion thought, pressing a hand to her chest and letting out a small sigh. Though, that wouldn't be possible now. She and Roxas were a part of Sora now in the real world and Axel was being, if Mickey was to be believe, reunited with his old heart, the one he lost. Did that mean that our entire lives were for nothing? She looked over to Roxas, giving him a small smile that he didn't notice. Even if our lives were for naught, I still got to meet you. And that's the most important thing to me. And maybe, if Sora was right and he could give Roxas a body, maybe he could give one to me as well, if there's anything of me left. And then we could be together again. Forever.

As the three of them walk through the room, Donald wonders if there's anything else they've forgotten. Goofy wonders if there is, what it would be and says that he can't think of anything so maybe that means that he's actually losing his memories.

Sora shivered; an action he knew he had done several times at this point. But he couldn't help it. The idea of losing memories, of not even realizing that he was losing his memories was terrifying. What if he forgot Riku? Forgot what Riku had done for him, forgot everything they had been through together? That would be worse than death.

Goofy says they couldn't have been that important of memories then and Sora agrees, saying that he didn't think he would have forgotten it then. Sora pulls out the charm Kairi gave him, showing it to the others and saying that it's special to her so he promised to return it.

"And you did," Kairi murmured, smiling at Sora. "It just took us being dragged to a pocket dimension to watch the past."

"Hey, I would have returned it!" Sora protested, giving her a smile back. "I bet had everything gone right, Riku and I would have walked out that Door to Light and found you guys! Then I could have returned it."

"Door to Light?" Mickey asked, thinking back. Had Sora said something about it when they first appeared there? He couldn't really remember; everything had been so confusing.

"Yeah, in the Realm of Darkness, Kairi's letter somehow made its way to me and Riku," Sora explained. "I read it and then the Door to Light opened."

"My letter did that?" Kairi asked, shocked, and Sora nodded.

"Yep," he replied. "And then we walked through it and ended up here. Instead of, presumably, wherever else we were supposed to go."

"How did my letter do that?" Kairi wondered and Sora shrugged. He didn't know.

"Maybe because you're a Princess of Heart," Aqua said, having overheard the conversation. "You might have imbued some… powers within it, perhaps, that allowed the Door to Light to open through your connection with Sora."

"Huh," Kairi murmured. I wonder what else I can do…

Sora says he'll never forget making the promise to Kairi and that's why he couldn't ever forget Kairi.

Sora's hand moved up to gently touch his necklace. And I'll never forget Riku, he thought. I might not remember the exact moment I got the necklace from him, but I'll always have it with me. Thus, I'll never forget him.

He asks if he's right and looks up for a second, seeing a vision of Kairi.

"Okay, now I don't have the excuse of being in your heart," Kairi said, frowning slightly. "How are you able to see me?"

"I could just be imagining it?" Sora offered, biting his lip.

"Or it could be the connections of your heart taking physical form," Terra mentioned, and several people looked at him. "Your heart seems to be stronger than normal, if it was able to keep Kairi safe within it for that long. Perhaps you're able to see the physical representations of your heart's bonds."

"And you are looking at the charm," Riku said, gesturing to the screen, and Sora nodded slightly. Maybe, he wondered. Does that mean I would see Riku? I mean, I heard him, back when I was fighting Ansem, but would it be possible to use the bond? To see him? Either a representation or maybe the real him? He hummed, trying to think it over. He really didn't know.

But as Sora looks at Kairi, a vision of Naminé appears behind him for a quick second, with Sora turning to look at her.

"Umm, Naminé," Sora said gently, turning to look at her. Her pencil, from where it was depicting a dark starry sky on a familiar beach, paused. "What was that?" Axel looked over to the young girl in concern, wondering if maybe he should explain instead. He knew what was happening after all.

"Marluxia…" Naminé started, voice quiet and not daring to look up. "He wanted me to… add memories into your mind." She bit her lip, already tasting the lie that she was saying. I didn't add anything, I changed it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But she was a coward and couldn't, and couldn't, bring herself to say the full thing. "Add memories of me."

"Oh," Sora murmured, looking down. "Why?"

"To tempt you deeper into the castle," she explained, having to remove her pencil from the paper so it wouldn't add scribbles and ruin the drawing. There were two sketches already in the foreground of the photo, of two young boys. "If you wanted to find out about me, then you would go deeper when maybe you wouldn't have… before." Her voice died in the end, shoulders hunching slightly as if she expected him to get mad at her.

"So, I find you then?" He asked instead of anything else she expected him to say and she couldn't help but raise her head in confusion at the excitement and thankfulness in his tone. "I save you then?"

Wait, what? She thought, blinking rapidly, nearly losing her pencil from her suddenly lax grip. Sora's face fell slightly.

"I don't?" He questioned and she shook her head rapidly.

"No, no, you find me," she replied and Sora's face split into a smile. Confusion raced through her.

"Good, I wouldn't want to leave you there," he responded. Not with everything he had seen, that she clearly wasn't treated well there. If his past self hadn't rescued her, he would need to make sure he made up for it. But he had, so that was the best thing to focus on right now. Not the missing memories.

Naminé didn't know how to respond and instead ducked her head, focusing back on her drawing.

Sora questions if he knows that girl and Donald asks him what he's thinking about. Sora jumps in surprise and says nothing, with Goofy saying that they should keep going.

Good, Sora thought, his mind latching onto what Naminé had told him. Go deeper so you can save Naminé.

Sora walks up to the door and grasps one of the cards, holding it up to the door until it starts to glow. They then walk through it.

Roxas groaned, garnering many looks, as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Roxas?" Xion questioned, looking over at him. "What is it?"

"He got Agrabah," he replied, and Xion made a similar face as he did while Axel simply screwed up his nose.

"Right, you guys don't like that place," Ven said, remembering their reactions to the first time Sora had gone there, and Roxas nodded. "Maybe the recreation of it won't be as bad as the real thing?"

"It was," Axel interjected, and this didn't help at all.

"Agrabah's not… that bad?" Sora mentioned with a shrug.

"Agree to disagree," Roxas replied with a single shouldered shrug.

Donald wonders where they are this time as they walk through a market area and Goofy says that this was Aladdin's world. Sora says he remembers but looks pensive.

Am I forgetting? Sora wondered. How much of this had I forgotten? Had I forgotten it was Aladdin's world?

Donald spots someone ahead of them in trouble and the three of them see Aladdin surrounded by Heartless. Goofy recognizes it as Aladdin and the three of them move forward to attack the Heartless, with Aladdin thanking them.

Aqua, well used to this by now, was already working to catalogue the changes. So, Aladdin is already in the city, she thought, mind wondering what would change. Will Genie show up? Or Jasmine?

Goofy recognized Aladdin, Sora thought, taking in a deep, measured breath. Goofy recognized Aladdin, so I probably did too. I had to.

They defeat many Heartless, but more just keep popping up. Aladdin says they should try and see if the legend is true and pulls out the lamp, summoning the Genie.

At the Genie's appearance, as he was clearly back in the lamp in this version of the world, Terra, Riku, and Vanitas all made faces, their minds going back to how they felt when they first saw him.

Riku shook his head slightly, trying to push those memories away. It's fine, this isn't real, he thought. It's a world created from Sora's memories. In real life, Genie is fine and free and living his best life.

The Genie tells them to stand back and that he'll take care of it. Donald recognizes him as the Genie, but Sora repeats the word, confused.

I forgot about Genie, Sora realized, with the feeling of a bucket of ice water just having been dumped on him. I forgot about Genie, even though Donald didn't. I'm losing memories even when they aren't.

Goofy asks Sora if something's wrong, but Sora brushes him off. Genie snaps his fingers and all the Heartless disappear.

Maybe Sora would have made a joke about how that would have been helpful at the Battle of Radiant Gardens, but he couldn't focus on anything else. He was losing his memories. How soon before he started to forget about Destiny Islands, about the people there? What if he forgot Kairi? What if he forgot Riku?

While Donald is surprised, Aladdin steps forward and thanks Sora, calling him by name. Sora says he would do the same for them, calling Aladdin by name as well, causing Aladdin to be surprised.

Maybe I do still remember, Sora thought, a little desperately. Unconsciously, he slid closer to Riku, leaning into his side. The older boy blinked in surprise, looking over to Kairi, who was giving Sora a concerned look. Why wouldn't Sora seek comfort in Kairi? But he shifted himself slightly to better accommodate for the younger boy.

Aladdin asks how Sora knows his name, but Sora says that Aladdin knows his, with Aladdin realizing. Donald asks Aladdin why he didn't just call Genie in the first place, with Aladdin saying that it's not that simple.

Aqua looked over to the couch with the Destiny Islands kids on it, biting her lip slightly in worry. It was clear that Sora wasn't taking his clear memory loss well, but she didn't know how to help him. Sure, he got his memories back eventually, but he still had to watch this all happen. It wasn't like they could change the past.

The Genie explains that Aladdin can only use a certain amount of wishes, with Goofy cutting him off and saying three. Genie says he's correct and that you can't wish for more wishes.

"It's… good that you guys seem to be remembering more this time round then in the Colosseum?" Xion said haltingly, trying to comfort Sora as best she could. She didn't like seeing him sad. "Maybe Naminé's powers… aren't working as well?" She didn't want to insult Naminé, but she didn't know how to comfort Sora otherwise.

Naminé, currently sketching a certain necklace in the hand of a boy, paused before leaning slightly on Xion, giving her a gentle nudge. Just a nonverbal way of saying 'it's fine'.

Aladdin says that he needs to get back to the palace and when Goofy asks why, Aladdin explains that Jafar, the royal vizier, had him get the lamp from the Cave of Wonders, but the whole place was full of Heartless, and he nearly died. Sora asks if Jafar made him go by himself and says that Jafar has a lot of nerve, giving dangerous orders like that.

"He has a lot more than nerve, something that starts with 'd' and ends with '-arkness', but sure, 'a lot of nerve' describes him too," Roxas muttered, getting a small laugh from Xion and Ven. He would be in a better mood, but everything with Sora was kind of dragging down the atmosphere, and every time he looked at the screen, he could feel the sand crawling its way up his arms and infecting his tongue and eyes. If there was ever a world he hated more than Wonderland, it would be Agrabah. It only just managed to save itself from that spot because there was no riddle giving people in Agrabah. And it made logical sense.

The Genie says he knows what Sora means, saying that people have been ordering him around for ten thousand years. Donald says that it doesn't sound like a good time and Genie scoops him up in a big hug, saying that it's really, really not fun at all.

Mickey couldn't help but giggle slightly at the offended sounds Donald was making, and he wasn't the only one. Even Sora couldn't help the small smile that crossed his face as he watched them interact. They still… seemed to act like themselves. Goofy was still caring, Donald still abrasive, and he still wanted to help people. Maybe… Maybe it didn't really matter that they were losing small memories here and there. They still seemed like themselves, right? Right?

Donald tells the Genie to let him go and as the Genie places him back on the ground, he says that he keeps hoping someone will wish him free but figures the odds on something like that happening. Aladdin says why doesn't he use his third wish to free the Genie and Genie is surprised, with Aladdin saying that he still had two wishes left and that he'll save the last one for the Genie.

Terra smiled slightly as he watched the situation play out mostly as it had in the real world. This Genie, for all he would disappear once Sora was gone, would still be free for whatever extra time there was. He didn't deserve to be enslaved to the lamp, forced to help whoever came across it. None of them did.

The Genie asks if he's being serious, with Aladdin promising that he'll set the Genie free with his last wish. Aladdin says there's really only one thing he wants anyway, and Genie says that it'll be piece of cake when he's got the Genie on his side.

"Jasmine, maybe?" Ven guessed, trying to think what it was. Before, it had been to try and save Jasmine, but maybe she wasn't in danger in this world? Did he just want her recognition then?

The Genie asks what it is, and Aladdin says that there's this girl named Jasmine, saying that she's the princess of Agrabah. Donald and Goofy both blurt out a Princess of Heart and Aladdin mistakes it, saying that she's a princess.

"Sora?" Riku questioned, having felt Sora go stiff next to him. But Sora simply shook his head, refusing to look away from the screen, and Riku bit the inside of his cheek, wondering. Should he push it? He didn't want to hurt Sora, not more than he already had, but…

He didn't know what to do.

Aladdin says that a street rat like him doesn't have many chances to see her and he thought if he got treasure from the Cave of Wonders then Jasmine would want to meet him. Sora says that it sounds like his wish should be that he could see Jasmine any time he wanted to, and Aladdin nodded.

That would be a wish I would make, Sora thought, holding Riku's hand tightly. If I could. That I could see Riku every day, never having to be separated again.

The Genie says that he's got the perfect idea and that he can not only help Aladdin meet Jasmine, but he can also help Aladdin do it in style, offering to turn him into a prince. Aladdin asks if he can really do it, and the Genie replies that he can, with Aladdin saying that they should get to the palace then.

"Wouldn't that be lying?" Xion asked, tipping her head to the side slightly. "That he's a prince? He's not really."

"Yeah, it's lying," Axel replied with a nod and Xion turned to him. "But it probably wouldn't work out in the end, and this is just a made-up world. It won't last long anyway."

Xion bit her lip and looked back at the screen. Lying, she hated it. It had only hurt her and her friends in the end.

The three of them run into a plaza and Goofy sees Jasmine unconscious on the ground surrounded by Heartless. Sora realizes that they'll never make it in time and Aladdin uses his second wish for the Genie to save Jasmine.

Kairi sighed in relief as the Heartless vanished into thin air. Even though she knew that this really wasn't the actual version of her friend, it was hard to not care about them. She still worried for this version of Jasmine like she would the actual and it grated on her, not being able to do anything. She had a feeling she wasn't the only one feeling that way.

Aladdin and the others run up to her, Aladdin kneeling at her side, while Goofy says that she just fainted and looks okay. Aladdin says he only has one wish left now just as bunch more Heartless appear.

"I swear it's like they're being… controlled," Roxas muttered, only to trail off in the end, flashing back to what had happened in the real world. "It's Jafar, isn't it? He's the one who sent Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders, I bet he's behind all this as well."

"Probably," Sora conceded. "But we'll stop him, just like we did before."

I wonder if it's even possible for Sora to lose, Aqua wondered, tapping her fingers together from where they were intertwined. In his memories, he won all the fights against these things, so is it even possible for him not to? Or are the creations only taking the base of Sora's memories to create the villains within it and how they would act, and then working completely cut off from the memories? She bit her lip as she thought, and felt her nails press into her palm to the point of breaking skin. She hated not knowing. It was just another way she was useless.

Aladdin apologizes to the Genie and says that he's the only one who can take care of them, but Sora cuts him off, telling him to save the last wish. Goofy says that they can handle the Heartless and Donald agrees.

Good, Vanitas thought, watching what was happening onscreen through half lidded eyes. Free him. He deserves it.

The four of them fight the Heartless until they're all destroyed. Sora says they didn't need the Genie, but a bird cuts them off and Aladdin realizes that he doesn't have the lamp anymore.

"Oh no," Kairi muttered as it was revealed that Jafar was standing above them, holding the lamp as the bird dropped it into his hand.

"It's okay," Sora said, trying to comfort her. "We'll just fight him and beat him again! We already did it once!"

Jafar says that it seems that his plans have gone amiss, and he was sure that Aladdin was going to use his last wish to save Jasmine but says it doesn't matter now that he has the lamp. Aladdin asks him why he's doing this and that he already has the lamp.

"Because he wants power and all that," Terra murmured, trying not to look at the Genie. His thoughts spun, along with his memory, and the last thing he wanted to do was fall into a flashback. "There will always be someone like that, in every world."

Jafar says it's such an interesting question and he knows that Aladdin was planning to use the lamp to win Jasmine's heart but tells him that Jasmine is his and if he marries Jasmine then nothing can stop him from becoming Sultan.

"Ew, gross, no," Kairi sputtered out, recoiling from the screen and making a face. She wasn't the only one, with Riku, Roxas, Xion, and Ven having similar reactions. Aqua glared at the screen while Mickey simply shook his head, wondering how someone could try and take advantage of love like that for personal gain.

"Where did the Castle even get that idea?" Axel muttered, reaching out one hand to place on Xion's head when it was clear that what Jafar had just said had upset her. "That wasn't what happened last time."

"Well, after the fact while we were searching for her," Sora explained. "Aladdin told me that Jafar had been seeking to marry Jasmine for a while, in order to get power. Maleficent just offered him an easier option."

"That it… so gross," Kairi muttered, shaking her head and resolving to give Jasmine a hug the next time she saw her. That idea, of being forced to marry someone for their own power gain, it made her recoil. Love was something sacred, something beautiful. Not something to be twisted for the gain of one person.

Jafar uses his first wish to make the Genie bring Jasmine to him and when Aladdin asks the Genie what he's doing, the Genie says that his hands are tied on this one and that he has to obey whoever holds the lamp.

Vanitas's hands flexed, fingers digging into the arms of his chair. The scars on his palms burned and he forced his eyes closed, trying not to give into the urge to create an Unversed. He was fine, everything was fine, he wasn't thinking back, he wasn't.

Jafar bids them farewell and leaves with the Genie, Aladdin lamenting that now he's lost Jasmine and the lamp. Sora tells him he can feel bad about it another time, telling Aladdin to come on.

"Always so optimistic," Kairi murmured, giving Sora a smile and being happy about getting gone in return. Hopefully that meant that Sora was falling out of whatever emotion had grabbed him earlier. It looked wrong for Sora to be upset about anything.

Aladdin says that there's nothing he can do now, but Sora says that if he doesn't pull himself together, he'll never see Jasmine again, and even if he lost the lamp, he can save Jasmine on his own. "Loosing someone you care about is bad, but not as bad as never getting them back!"

Aqua looked down at her hands as Sora said that, actions from ten years prior flashing in front of her eyes. She had lost them, lost Ven to sleep, lost Terra to Xehanort. She had lost Eraqus to Xehanort as well, and even lost herself to the darkness. She had lost all of them, over and over again in her dreams and memories. And yet… She wouldn't ever stop trying to get them back. She would not succumb to the Realm of Darkness, she wouldn't stop trying to save Terra from Xehanort, and she wouldn't stop protecting Ven until he woke up. She wouldn't ever… She wished she could believe it.

Axel couldn't help the flinch that went through him as Sora spoke onscreen. 'But not as bad as never getting them back.' In his mind, blue hair and yellow eyes were backlit by the sunset of Radiant Gardens. Have I lost you Isa? I 'got you back', if you could call it that, but you're still… gone. The Isa he knew was gone, lost to Saix. He never would have hurt Xion the way Saix did, never would have… Saix's claymore slammed into Axel's side, carving into his flesh as blood spattered the white floor beneath them. Axel choked, chakrams disappearing in the second as he fell to the ground, able to see out of the corner of his eye Saix rising from where he thought he was unconscious, glaring at the former number eight and raising his claymore to finish the job-

He gritted his teeth, shutting out those memories. I lost Isa, I lost 'Ri. I'm not getting any of them back, no matter how hard I fight.

Sora smiled as he heard himself say those words. It was hard, it was so hard losing Riku over and over again, he thought, leaning into the older boy's side. But it would have been worse if I gave up and never saw him again. It was worth it to fight and fight and fight until I got him back. I won't ever stop doing that.

Aladdin says that he's right and he's going to save Jasmine, but Donald interjects that Jafar has the lamp and they can't just walk up to him. Aladdin says that maybe they can and that he has an idea.

"Are you guy going to trick him into becoming a genie again?" Ven wondered, watching the screen in interest. "It's what worked last time."

Sora shrugged. He didn't remember what happened here. For some reason, that didn't bother him as much as watching himself forget did. He knew Naminé fixed it and now that they were seeing it, he would know it. He just hoped he didn't do anything bad as he lost his memories. Would he even? Would he change if he lost his memories?

Jafar was in front of the palace with an unconscious Jasmine.

Now, knowing what Jafar intended for Jasmine, it made Kairi even more uneasy to see them together. You better beat him Sora, she thought. You better.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy run up to him, with Jafar asking if Aladdin has given up on Jasmine already. Sora says that they're here to defeat him and Jafar says he won't waste a wish on the likes of them and that he'll take care of them himself, moving towards them.

"Oh," Vanitas said under his breath, mind connecting the dots. They're just doing what Jafar attempted to do to them, aren't they? Force him to use all his wishes. I wonder if…

Sora tells Aladdin 'now' and Aladdin jumps down from his hiding spot, heading to Jasmine. Jafar tells the Genie to seize Aladdin, with the Genie apologizing as he knocks Aladdin away.

Yep, Vanitas thought as Aladdin forced himself back to his feet. They are indeed.

Aqua had looked over when Vanitas had muttered, narrowing her eyes at the darkness user. What is he thinking? She wondered. Did he… realize what they were doing? Vanitas's actions from earlier hadn't left her mind, the way he was able to break Naminé out of her flashback when none of them could. Just how smart are you? She tried to ignore the worry and fear that rose up in her when she thought that. It's fine, she told herself. We can still beat him, even if he's smart. There's more of us and even he can't win against seven Keyblade Wielders. We'll take care of him once we're out of here.

Aladdin tells Jafar that he fell for it and when Jafar questions it, Sora says that he just used his second wish and only has one more left. Aladdin tells him if he uses his third wish to win Jasmine's heart, he'll still have to deal with them.

"And we can beat him," Sora promised, smiling as he watched the plan unfold in front of him.

The Genie tells them that it was smart, and Jafar says that it changes nothing. He has the Genie turn him into a genie with his last wish.

"Good," Kairi said firmly, as Sora, Donald, and Goofy faced down Jafar. She could see Aladdin getting Jasmine's body away from battle. "Now you just have to grab the lamp."

"And then Jafar's done," Sora finished with a victorious grin.

As Sora faces down Jafar, Donald and Goofy turn into cards.

"Ah, of course," Aqua muttered. "Just when you needed them."

"It's okay, I just need Jafar's lamp," Sora reassured her. "I can do it on my own."

You shouldn't have to though, Aqua thought, gazing at him but not letting the concern show on her face. For any of it.

Sora backs up, dodging one of Jafar's attacks, but the Keyblade does nothing against him. Sora pauses in shock and gets hit backwards.

"Wait, why can't the Keyblade do anything?" Roxas asked, worry for his Somebody rushing through him. "Didn't it work last time?"

"Yeah, it did," Sora replied, frowning at the screen. "I wonder…"

"Well, you guys 'defeated' him by getting his lamp right?" Terra asked, getting a nod from Sora. "Maybe your memories, or the Castle, twisted that memory a little bit until the only way you can defeat this version of him is to get the lamp."

"That's weird," Kairi muttered, worried again for the Sora onscreen as now he was alone and couldn't hurt Jafar with his Keyblade.

"Castle Oblivion is weird," Naminé noted, finishing up the shooting stars that streaked across the sky of her drawing. None of them could really argue with that.

Sora thinks, unable to remember how they defeated Jafar last time.

Sora swallowed, doing his best not to freeze or flinch. It's fine, I'm fine, he told himself. I'm still myself, even when losing memories. I still have my memories of Riku and Kairi so it's not as bad. I'm doing this to save Naminé, so I don't mind losing a few memories if it means getting her out of the Organization's hands.

Still, he leaned a little deeper into Sora's side.

He spots the lamp sitting on the ground a ways away and realizes that it can help. He moves towards the lamp while fighting Jafar, before being able to grab it and wishes that Jafar would be stuck in the lamp like a true genie.

Kairi sighed in relief as Jafar vanished, glad that Sora was out of danger. She looked over, a little worried about the lost expression on his face. Was it because he wasn't remembering as well?

Goofy and Donald appear again and Aladdin heads over to them. Goofy says everything turned out okay in the end and Sora tells Aladdin he still has one wish left as he hands over the Genie's lamp.

He will probably use that one to free the Genie, right? Terra thought. While there are small differences, the storylines seem mostly the same. The Genie should still be freed/

The Genie says that it's time to make a prince out of Aladdin and tells Aladdin not to worry about him, that genies can't be choosers and Aladdin's probably still miffed about the whole 'working for Jafar' thing.

You didn't have a choice, Vanitas's mind spat out, one of his hands curling into a fist. You didn't choose that, you couldn't say no. Neither could you.

The Genie tells Aladdin to wish for what's really in his heart, assuming that it'll be to be a prince, but Aladdin instead wishes for his freedom.

There were smiles all around the room as the Genie became free again.

Aladdin says that now no one like Jafar can use the Genie for evil again and the Genie thanks him but asks what about Jasmine. Aladdin says that if he used the Genie's magic to win Jasmine, he'd be no better than Jafar and that Jasmine means the world to him, he'll just show her the real him.

I highly doubt that you'd be as bad as Jafar, but I get the concept, Kairi thought, smiling as she thought about the two of them. You'll be happy together, I know it.

Aladdin thanks Sora and Sora tells him good luck, with Aladdin returning the sentiment. When Sora questions him, Aladdin says that when he was ready to give up, Sora's words inspired him, and that Sora much be looking for someone he cares about too.

Sora smiled, twisting slightly so he could press his forehead into Riku's shoulder, grabbing Riku's hand and holding it tightly. I was, he thought, feeling Riku's hand tighten a little around his. I really was.

Riku frantically tried to make the heat in his cheek go away.

Sora says he is and that they have to keep searching, so he wishes Aladdin good luck with Jasmine, and he hopes she likes him back. A door appears behind them and Goofy and Donald head toward it, calling back to Sora, who runs to them and follows them out.

And on we go, Sora thought, taking a deep breath. He still didn't completely know how he felt about everything that he was watching, but he knew that it would all be for the greater good. I can stand to lose a few memories if it means helping Naminé and defeating the Organization in some way, he reasoned. It'll be fine.

It'll all be fine in the end.