Riku concentrated on the navigation map inside the gummi ship King Mickey lent him. The king and Donald taught Sora and Riku how to drive a gummi ship after defeating Xemnas. Sora definitely made improvements- it only took him a week to drive and land without crashing into things. Riku only crashed once, and accidentally drove backwards off a cliff. The incident nearly gave Sora and Donald heart attacks. Riku chuckled at the memory.

He approached Destiny Islands and landed at the edge of the small forest, and headed into town. School was over for Kairi, so he headed to her mansion of a home.

XX

Kairi sighed as she finished up her homework. She started taking advanced classes so she could graduate early, so she could eventually join her friends on their journeys, and actually have a high school diploma. She stretched and yawned.

Ding-dong!

Kairi ran downstairs to answer the door. She smiled widely when she saw Riku. "Oh my god, Riku!" She hugged him and pulled away. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon. Where's Sora?"

"He is in the Realm of Sleep." Riku answered.

Kairi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Figures. So, what was this secret mission you guys had to do?"

"Actually, that's part of the reason I'm here." Riku pulled out a key to the gummi ship. "You up for a little road trip?"

XXX

After leaving a note for her parents, Kairi set off with Riku. Riku filled Kairi in on what exactly he and Sora were called in for.

"Mark of Mastery, huh?" Riku nodded. Kairi sighed. "Oh, I wish I could have been there. Seeing you two become masters. I can't believe I missed it!"

Riku bowed his head, closed his eyes in thought, then looked up. "Actually…only I passed the exam."

Kairi was shocked. "What?! I mean, congrats on passing, Master Riku- wow that was weird to say."

"Very." Riku nodded in agreement.

"But…Sora didn't pass? Even though he saved the worlds twice and really proven himself worthy?" Kairi asked in astonishment. "Why?"

"He fell into Xehanort's trap." Riku explained what exactly happened during Sora's dreams.

Kairi just stared in shock. "But that wasn't his fault!"

"Hey, I agree, but, well…" Riku shrugged.

Kairi sighed and shook her head. "How did Sora take it?"

"Surprisingly well." Riku nodded. "He's not me, remember? He's not gonna sulk and brood about his loss and almost-descent into darkness."

"Yeah, he's way too cheerful to do that." Kairi mused. "Anyway…thank you for saving him."

"Of course." Riku smiled. "So, what about you? What have you been up to?"

"I'm taking AP classes so I can graduate early before something else happens, if you know what I mean." Kairi replied.

Riku shifted uncomfortably. "How's that going?"

"Good! I should be getting my diploma this time next year!" Kairi said triumphantly. She noticed Riku's expression and her face fell. "Why?"

"Master Yen Sid invited you to his tower." Riku explained. "I think that 'something else' is pretty much happening now."

Kairi's shoulders slumped and she sighed. "Figures."

"Sorry." Riku replied, guilty.

Kairi just shook her head. "Remember when we used to just sit on the paopu fruit tree doing nothing?"

"Those were simpler times." Riku nodded slowly. His brow furrowed in thought as it drifted to Xehanort's plan and manipulation of the exam. That was pretty precise. "You know what I'm wondering?"

"What?"

"If Sora and I had only gone to the Mysterious Tower even a day earlier…would Xehanort still manipulate the exam?" Riku asked aloud. "Or would it have mattered?"

Kairi shrugged. "I don't know. If that's the case, then…if I had found that letter sooner…I was thinking of going to the beach the day before, but, I was too worn out from school." Riku glanced at her, and she sighed. "But we didn't know. I mean, I knew it must have been important, which is why I brought the letter straight to you guys, but…we had no idea what was going to happen."

"Still…" They were quiet the rest of the trip. As soon as Riku landed and climbed out of the ship, Goofy greeted him. Riku smiled and helped Kairi out of the ship.

"Kairi?!" Donald exclaimed. "You're the mysterious errand Riku had to run?"

"I guess so." Kairi smiled and shrugged. "It's great to see you two again. Is Sora back yet?"

"It's great to see you, too!" Goofy exclaimed. "And no, Sora's not back yet."

"Oh."

"We'll let you know." Donald promised.

Kairi and Riku headed into the tower and up to Yen Sid's office. Mickey exclaimed in surprise.

"I have come to learn you too can wield a keyblade." Yen Sid spoke. "I am glad you are here."

Riku finally guessed what Yen Sid was thinking and sighed inwardly. 'Oh, Sora's gonna love this…'

"Really? I just thought Riku loaned me a keyblade so that I can fight." Kairi said.

"You can't hold a keyblade unless you're meant to wield one." Mickey responded.

Kairi was surprised. "Wow…" She looked at her hand, then held it out. A keyblade appeared in her hand. "Hm. So, does this mean I'm going with you guys on your journey for once?" She smirked at Riku.

Riku chuckled. "Yeah, with proper training."

"Of course." Kairi nodded. "So, when do we start?"

"We can start now, if you'd like." Mickey suggested.

"Wait, before we start, there's one more thing I forgot to mention…" Riku said, then looked behind him to see Lea walking through the door.

Lea stopped short when he saw Kairi. He still had his memories from when he was Axel. "Oh, crap…"

"You!" Kairi angrily aimed her keyblade at her kidnapper.

Riku rushed in between Lea and Kairi. "Kairi, Kairi, relax. This is Axel's Somebody, Lea. He's actually part of the reason Sora is still with us."

"What are you talking about?" Kairi demanded.

"Lea blocked the part of Xehanort's heart from possessing Sora." Riku explained calmly.

"What?" Kairi asked in surprise. She dismissed her keyblade and slowly walked over to him. She hated Axel for kidnapping her, but…she couldn't hate him for saving Sora. She hugged Lea, much to his surprise. "Oh, thank you! Thank you for saving my friend."

Lea was getting a bit uncomfortable. "Uh…sure. No problem. Ahem."

XXX

Donald and Goofy still sat on the tower steps getting more bored by the minute. They were about to doze off, when Sora appeared in front of them. "SORA!"

"You're back!" Donald exclaimed.

"Of course I'm back." Sora smiled and put his hands behind his head.

"Boy, do we have a surprise for you." Donald half-teased.

"A surprise? Really?" Sora's eyes widened with interest.

Goofy put his hand on the doorknob and turned to Sora. "You will love it."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy headed up to Yen Sid's office. They were about to head in, when Riku came out the door and shut it behind him. "Hey, you're back!"

"Yep!" Sora said happily.

Riku sighed inwardly in resignation. "Donald, Goofy, can I talk to Sora for a minute? Alone?"

"Sure." Goofy replied. He and Donald headed inside.

"What's up?" Sora asked.

"First of all…you know that we need seven guardians of light to fight the thirteen darknesses. And the seven of light need to be keyblade wielders." Riku said.

"Of course." Sora shrugged.

"That means we need all the help and all the keyblade wielders we can get."

"I know. What are you getting at?" Sora asked, confused.

Riku swallowed and held his hands up. "Just remember what I told you." He opened the door and gestured for his friend to go in.

Sora walked in and stopped in his tracks when he saw Kairi holding a keyblade. Kairi was the one person he could count on who would be safe from any danger. Worry and anger at Riku rose up inside him.

"Sora!" Kairi exclaimed.

Without turning around, he grabbed Riku by his vest and dragged him out of the room. "Are. You. Kidding. Me?!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Sora…"

"Why…why would you even consider putting Kairi in danger like this?!" Sora whispered furiously.

"This isn't like those other times! We can keep an eye on her now." Riku reassured him calmly. "Plus, we can train her-"

"I don't want to take that chance!" Sora argued. "There has to be someone else- anyone else!"

"There are literally no other key bearers besides us, the king, Lea, the king's three missing friends, and Kairi. That's assuming we can even find and save those people!"

Sora exhaled sharply and turned away from Riku. He didn't want to admit it, but Riku's right. He didn't want Kairi to be put in danger again…but he doesn't want all the worlds to be engulfed in darkness again, either. He sighed and turned back to Riku. "I really hate this Xehanort guy."

Riku sighed, nodded, and clapped Sora's shoulder. "Me too, buddy. Me too."

The two friends walked back into Yen Sid's office. Mickey turned to them. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah." Riku nodded and glanced at Sora.

"You two weren't arguing over me again, were you?" Kairi half-joked.

"We were, actually." Riku looked at Sora apprehensively. Sora just smiled and put his hands behind his head. "We were arguing over who gets to train you first."

Kairi knew this wasn't true, but went along with it anyway. She laughed and ran to hug Sora, who hugged back. "Oh…I'm so glad you're safe."

"Me, too." Sora replied. He still didn't like that Kairi was dragged into this mess, but at least Kairi is where he can keep an eye on her.