I do not own To Love-Ru or Kingdom Hearts.

Another Departure - Another Search!

Traverse Town - First District

"Thank You."

Yami found herself outside the Item Shop, thanking the Princess of Heart as she took the bought Hi-Potions from the blonde and put it in her pouches. Unfortunately, her combat dress didn't exactly have pockets, so she found herself needing aid to carry it all; aid that Kairi was more than willing to give. Of course there was the option of using her trans-hair to hold it all, but she thought it would be best to make herself appear approachable and not frighten the shopkeeper...

"Oh it's no problem at all." Kairi assured with a kind smile as she stored another. "You should've said something sooner."

"..." Yami stood quiet as the girl continued; analyzing her further. This brightness of hers...honestly, it reminded her of-

"And done!"

Kairi brought Yami out of her thoughts as she finished putting the final Hi-Potion in her pouch. She closed the flap and buttoned it up.

Lea walked up to the two girls with Rito being slightly behind him "So you all set, Little Blonde?"

*Twitch*

Kairi noticed Yami's sudden frown along with her brows twitching in irritation before sending closed eyes and an uncomfortable smile to Lea "...I don't think she's the kind that enjoys nicknames, Axel."

Yami stopped grimacing. "Axel? I thought his name was Lea."

"Heh, I'm surprised you've got it memorized. I've never told you. In fact, I don't think we've ever told you our names."

"No, you didn't. But Yuuki Rito called out your names, and I was able to associate the names as we continued to converse." She turned her attention to each one as she called their names "She's Kairi, The man Yuuki Rito was hiding behind before is Leon, his partner is Yuffie..." she reset at Lea "And you're Lea, or so I thought."

The fiery red-head began picking at his cheek "Uh, well that's cause-"

"Axel is the name he used to go by when he met Kairi." Rito's explanation was simple enough without saying much about their history. "And Kairi feels more comfortable calling him Axel."

"...I see."

'Something...seems off with him.' Yami couldn't help but think that as she stared at Rito. Firstly, seeing him in such stylistic clothing was odd. But honestly, it was no different from an alien coming to Earth wearing outlandish garb, only on a grander scale. Secondly...

There was his disposition...

The way he hides behind others when in danger reminded her of a toddler running to their elders for protection, even though he's clearly not a toddler. It also shows his over-reliance on those around him. Despite that, underneath that timidity she found his still-courageous heart. For he was willing to take action and leap into danger with his allies. There was also that moment when he defended his own feelings and explained himself to her...he definitely has more backbone than before. While that is an admittingly admirable quality, it was not something she could imagine him doing at Sainan very much, when he was more going with the flow of things, and let things roll on and off him without doing anything to stand up for himself. He would for those around him; even her (As much as she didn't understand why), but rarely ever for his own being. Sure, he appears to be kind-hearted, wanting to help her despite his fear of her still in place, and he still has his perverted 'ability'. But it all accumulated with a distinct feeling that his presence itself has changed somehow...and that bothered her...

Staaaarrrreeee

She continued to silently stare at Rito, watching for any further oddities. The staring made him uncomfortable so he went further behind Lea to get out of her line of sight, which Lea took notice of.

"Huh?" he looked behind himself at the boy before shaking his head 'Oh boy...'

"Well, we're heading off." Lea announced to Leon and Yuffie. "I know it's not exactly what was planned but..." he trailed off.

"We understand all too well." Leon calmly replied with his arms resting across his body.

Yuffie nodded excitingly 'Yeah! It kinda reminds us of when Sora was setting out with Donald and Goofy!" She became more energetic as she talked about it "We were the ones who saw them off on their first journey together!" her body began moving up and down in place, as if trying to contain her excitement.

'Yes. When they went looking for Riku, His Majesty, and I. Even though I was with him the whole time.' Kairi recalled in her head, smile holding steady.

'Donald and...Goofy?' mentally wondered Rito. He's heard the name Sora before; from training. But never Donald and Goofy. The boy wasn't the only one pondering, for Yami was silently doing so as well, even about Sora.

'Donald...Goofy...and Sora.'

"...I must point out something"

"Hm? What is it Link?" Rito looked down to his neckchain at Link's dock, where he rested.

"Firstly, look up at the sky." Link instructed the rest of the group. As they did so, the program continued to speak "Each star in that sky represents a World's light, trying to find where two Users have appeared on any of these countless Worlds may take such a long time, I can't even begin to calculate the time duration of this search."

"Hmm..." Yami continued to look toward the stars. Before meeting the man in the Black Coat and discussing it with the others, It had never struck her that each one might represent a different 'World', where people went about their lives in complete ignorance of the events happening on the outside. The Greater World; The True Universe as he put it, was much vaster than she had realized, and full of more life than she could ever comprehend. And now she had to scour them to look for allies...

She turned her head from the stars to look at Rito. '...Go looking with him. Meaning an extensive amount of time with Yuuki Rito...meaning more perverted "incidents" between us...'

"...Is there anyway we can track or follow that Heartless swarm that appeared earlier, so I can find my backpack?" the question was thrown into the air by Yami, which caught the attention of others as they turned to face her, and they noticed that the blonde was looking at Rito with a deadpanned expression that read 'This is gonna suck...'.

Lea shook his head "No can do, Little Miss. From the way that Heartless Swarm left, and the fact that we haven't heard screams of terror in town yet, I can say it either 1:" He rose his right index finger up "Went away to some other World..."

"...or 2?"

Lea took on a frown as he pulled up another finger "2: It went back to The Realm of Darkness...and there's no way we're going in there."

"...The Realm of Darkness?"

"I've heard of that place." To her surprise, Rito came out from behind Lea "It's a realm that stands on the other side of The Realm of Light. It's the Heartless's home, nothing but the darkest of darkness as far as the eye can see." he looked over to the side at the pavement. "A place like that...sounds really scary..."

Funny he should say that...

'Nothing but darkness with monsters that constantly attack you. A world like that sounds all too familiar to me...' Yami thought back to being alone in the darkness of outer space.

"Speaking of the Heartless, there's also them moving about the Realm of Light making the Worlds disappear by consuming their Hearts. Another factor we must take into consideration." continued Link

"All the more reason that they need to go searching right away." Leon was in support of their search. "This might actually help you guys get stronger under the stress of actual combat scenarios."

"Should I call Restoration Committee Headquarters when I pair myself with The Invincible; to inform them of our situation?" Link inquired. To which Leon nodded his approval.

"Good idea. Cid can also give you guys insight on how to go searching the Worlds."

"It would appear we have a plan of action." Yami commented while silently taking mental notes of the stray information being spoken, like 'Cid' and 'The Invincible'. "But before we go, I feel I must warn you two about something."

Leon and Yuffie lit up with attention before feeling uneasy "Warn us about what?" asked the ninja girl.

"A dark witch named Maleficent appeared to me earlier, and spoke of using the unknown contents of a box to rule all Worlds."

"Maleficent?!"

Everyone around her (besides Rito and Link) shouted in unison with shock being evident.

"You know of her already?"

"Yeah...we do for sure..." Leon trailed off with tense anger that Yami could sense from his voice and body language. The way his fingers dug into his arms was a dead giveaway.

"She didn't strike me as the type to ever have good intentions...I suggest you be on the lookout for her."

Yuffie stood stunned before "O-Oh yeah! Thanks, but I thought Sora defeated her a while back? What gives?"

Kairi shook her head in response "I don't think he knew how she came back either." she paused for a moment before she continued "In any case, if she or the Heartless start trouble, you can call us right?"

"Yeah, we can contact Link from The Main Computer at HQ."

The Princess of Heart let out a sigh of relief "Thank Goodness."

"And with everything in order, I suggest we start headin' out." Lea turned to the main entrance/exit of Traverse Town "Let's go team!" he raised a fist full of confidence and started to walk.

Rito nodded with a smile "Kay!" and went to join him.

"C'mon Yami." Kairi beckoned while she hurried to the two boys. Before Yami joined them, she turned her attention back to Leon and Yuffie.

"If those other two I mentioned; Momo Belia Deviluke and Zastin, arrive to this town, can I trust you to notify us?" she spoke with a stoic monotone.

Leon stared at the girl with his own stoic expression before nodding "Of course..."

"...Thank you very much."

After her words of thanks, she went ahead to join the others.

"Wow...wasn't expecting that." remarked Yuffie with large eyes. "Maybe she's not as bad as we thought."

"I just hope she takes it easy on Rito." Leon's voice was gruff as he continued "I'm surprised he even suggested they stick together...The kid was scared half to death of her." his mind flashed back to when Rito was hiding behind him, shaking with terror.

"Aw! You've got a soft spot for him? That's sweet." Yuffie teased "I'm sure he'll be fine as long as Lea and Kairi are with him." she turned away "Hmm...Now that I'm thinking about it, she kinda reminds me of how you used to be."

His scowl deepened and he narrowed his eyes at her "What do you mean by that?"

There was a slight pause before the ninja girl looked over her shoulder at him with a playful grin "Oh nothing...Squall."

Yuffie suddenly broke into a energetic run, going further into the town leaving 'Squall' by himself, putting a hand to the top of his face in light annoyance.

"Whatever..."

Lanes Between - The Invincible Gummi Ship (Cockpit)

Yami stared out of the cockpit into the Lanes Between. How odd, she was most certainly sure that space was supposed to be dark, not this light blue nebula she was seeing. And was it just her, or did this ship seem bigger on the-

She shook her head 'Nevermind. It's probably due to a space-warping mechanism...or magic...'

Who knows? Maybe the nebula she's looking at isn't exactly the 'Space' she knew either. Stay with an open mind...

"Before we proceed with anything else, I must scan & register User Yami to my database of friendlies." Link spoke from around Rito's neck as he stood at the front of the cockpit.

She turned her attention to the program. "Register?"

"Scanning new User."

She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, as if trying to roughly keep him from leering over her "Don't scan me."

Not a moment later "Scan complete."

"Unbelievable..." she brought a hand to her forehead and massaged her temples.

"Sorry." Rito wore an apologetic frown as he took off his necklace and place it with Link in the socket at the front of the controls of the ship, his eye facing out to the rest. Rito became bright with a smile again as the whole cockpit lit up with various images and graphs on the dome and lights all around the deck.

"So Link is how this Gummi Ship is brought out of standby mode..." Yami observed.

"Not just that, he's our pilot too." from the way Rito sounded, he was happy to explain Link to her.

"Initiating conference call with Radiant Garden Restoration Committee HQ." with that said, a screen popped onto the dome of the ship in front of the seats, a screen that said 'Please stand by...' along with a tune playing.(*)

'I can't wait to tell Aerith!' Rito thought to himself with happy close eyes and a smile. Not too long later, the screen changed to show an older blonde man. He was wearing a pair of black goggles on his head that was being secured by a small brown belt wrapping around. He had blue eyes, a stubble of a beard on his chin, and was smoking a cigarette. Around his neck was copper chain with a rectangular charm; similar to a dogtag, and on his chest was a white T-Shirt with two small buttons going down the neck. And it may have been hard to see, but Yami could make out a very large dark-tan waistband going around his waist; fittingly enough.

"Cid, hello!" Rito gave a cheery greeting, something the Gummi Mechanic noted immediately.

"Well, aren't you in much better spirits. What's got ya-" He stopped as he saw an extra girl standing in the cockpit of the Gummi Ship. "Who's the little miss?"

"Hmm...I got ya." He responded "Yami here came from her World looking for the kid so she can bring him back home, got separated from the people she left with in the process, lost her own way back, and now you three wanna help her find her teammates before they get hurt by the Heartless that are destroying the Worlds." he summarized.

"Yeah, that's right." simply responded Rito.

"Are you trying to get Kairi caught by those Organization fellas?!" Cid suddenly loudly reprimanded the group, causing Rito to sink down behind Lea's chair.

"Relax gramps..." Lea spoke from his seat with a lazy tone of assurance "She wants to help out, right Kairi?"

"Of course I do."

He took his eyes off Kairi and back to Cid on the monitor "See? And that's her choice to make. She's not exactly a damsel waiting to be in distress anymore. As long as we keep a close eye on her, she'll be fine."

"Gruhh!" the Gummi Mechanic's body fidgeted in frustration before- "Fine! I'll leave it be." he begrudgingly relented while his body relaxed itself.

The Princess of Heart gave a soft apologetic smile to Cid. "Thank you very much."

He rubbed the back of his head "You just be careful out there, Missy..."

"Speaking of 'Out There'. Got any inputs on how to start our search Old Timer?" Lea asked

"Quit callin' me Old!"

"Hold on, can't you just pilot the ship to other Worlds?" Yami wouldn't be too surprised if the hooded man lied that night.

"Well yeah. Gummi Ships can go through the barrier between Worlds. But only if there is a Highway leading to that World in the first place, as far as I'm aware." Cid pulled his cigarette from his mouth and let out a puff of smoke. "Usually, there wouldn't even be any Highways at all, but ever since the Heartless started gettin' all antsy and attackin' the Worlds again, some new Highways may start showin' up."

"And from what I can tell..." Link added in to the conversation as a screen popped up next to the call screen featuring a holographic map showing one path from where they were "We have only one new path from Traverse Town, to an Unknown World."

Kairi was looking at the map with determination in her eyes "Well, then that's where we should start our search."

"If that World is on an unknown path to you, how did you get to Traverse Town?"

Lea lazily looked over to Yami "Sheesh. You sure like askin' questions, don't-cha?"

Her eyes narrowed "I just like to be thorough..." she emphasized.

"I've noticed." his reply was short and full of snark.

"You can thank the Loony Wizard Merlin's magical input for that. He added some special teleportation magic to the Warp Gummi installed onto the Ship. Let's it warp between Radiant Garden and Traverse Town." explained Cid.

"Speaking of Merlin, where is he? And Aerith too?" asked Rito, wondering why they were not on the call either.

"Aerith went into town to sell some of her flowers. As for the old loon, he went back to his World to check on a kid named...uh..." Cid paused and brought his hand around his chin, thinking back "...Warty?" he sounded unsure before he shook his head "Argh! Nevermind! Point is; he's not here either!"

"Oh...Okay." he seemed a bit down before he smiled again "Well, when you see them, can you tell them the good news? And what we're doing?"

Cid rubbed his hair and looked aside himself "Yeah, I'll go and tell em. Not sure if the Loony Wizard will like it, but he'll understand." he re-faced the monitor "Call anytime ya need somethin'. Good luck to ya's."

And just like that, the screen disappeared, ending the call. After a long pause...

"Everyone...I can't help but feel concerned for our current mission's success." admitted Link "As I stated before, there are a countless amount of Worlds. So I am unable to run the calculations on how long it'll take to succeed in this search and rescue."

"We'll be fine, there's no need to worry." Kairi brought her hands to her chest "All we have to do is keep believing in them with all our hearts, and we'll definitely find them again."

"Believe...You mean just know that we'll find them, without any sort of calculation of certainty?" Link assumed that's what she was talking about.

She sweetly smiled "Yes."

The program stayed silent for a bit "You're a User all right." he commented eventually "Your actions are highly illogical."

Lea chuckled to himself "If it's so highly illogical, how did Rito run into Blondie over there on his first World expedition?" he sarcastically asked.

'More like crashed into...' corrected Yami in her head.

The pyromancer continued to talk "Rito found her because he had the courage to go seeking answers at just the right time. And you can't calculate how Destiny, Fate, or Hearts will react down to a set of 1's and 0's. Sometimes there are curve balls, for better or for worse..." he went silent for a moment, reflecting on the past before speaking up again. "Point is; if we have time to wait, we should act. One of life's little rules..." he raised a finger to the side of his forehead while looking at Link's eye "Got it memorized?"

Yami stared at Lea, surprised that he was able to say something so profound 'Hmm...I suppose there's more to him than just the temperament of a rogue...''

"...Confirmed." the program said softly "I will encode this new knowledge into my database. Your explanation is appreciated, User Lea." The holographic map disappeared from the front of the cockpit dome. "We're all set for blast off."

"Heh, alright!" cheered Lea while Kairi gave her attention to Rito.

"Why are you still standing? you can go sit down in your chair."

The boy jerked in position before he hesitated "Um, I would but..."

"But what? What's wrong?" she asked with curiosity.

"...Yami's standing near my seat..." his voice was a mixture of shyness and timidity.

Yami's face deadpanned yet again 'Really?'

"Ohhhhh!" Kairi saw what he was talking about, figuring he was still afraid of her. "I get it! Uhhhh..." The other girl mulled over what to do "We could switch! Rito, you take this seat..." She stood up from where she was sitting "And I'll take the seat on the right next to Yami." The Light-Hearted Princess walked over to the empty seat Yami was standing next to and sat down just as Rito took the seat she was in before.

"You know..." began Lea with a slight aura of teasing "Most gentleman would offer a lady who is a guest their seat, kid."

"...A Gentleman?" the newest keyblade wielder wondered what that meant.

"Huh?" Once again, that was something Yami was not expecting from Rito. 'Maybe it's due to his laps in memories...'

"Why don't you do it then, Axel?" Kairi teased back with a giggle.

"Cause I'm Co-Pilot! Ah, forget it!" Lea let it slide as he focused back to the front of the Cockpit.

"Let's blast off!"

* - Imagine a Jukebox version of Radiant Garden's Field Theme from ReMind.

And now Rito has a window to his left, just like all High School anime protags...

Sorry I missed the anniversary of this story. But I prefer not to rush chapters out anymore after what happened with Chapter 3.

I've read some reviews, and I'm greatful for the likes and idea's, thank you so much! But, I have things more or less planned out already. Don't worry, plenty of twists and turns are involved to make your head spin. Hell, with how much this story is changing...

Nevermind, I'll keep that a secret!

And no, Team Rito does not have the Gummi Phones yet, they'll get em later.

Next time, we check back with Sora & Company!

(4/28/20 Update: General Updates. Got rid of Link's beep when completing scan of Yami, to be consistent with past chapters.)

(4/29/20 Edit: Got rid of Yami's thought reaction when hearing Lea's nickname for her. Her reaction to LEA calling her that was the point I was trying to illustrate and the thought kinda sent mixed messages with how it was worded. Less is more, sometimes.)