Author's note: Okay, so maybe the last chapter wasn't as good as I thought. Sorry about that. I'll try and make it up for it.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, Kingdom Hearts 3 would've been different.

Chapter 44: Lairs of Thieves and Nightmares.

A few hours later, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aladdin, Abu and the reluctant and very terrified Iago rode on Carpet through out the desert, following the direction that the Oracle has directed them. Genie agreed to stay behind with Jasmine and the Sultan just in case the Heartless tried to attack again, though Sora's group weren't overly concerned about the Organization going after Jasmine since she was no longer their target, but it was still better to be safe than sorry. None the less, they had to awkwardly fight off Heartless themselves in mid-flight.

"I should've just stayed with the Genie." Iago complained, knowing that he'd been forced to come along for the rescue mission. "Manual labor beats danger any day."

"Oh, quit whining! You got picked for this!" Donald grumbled, already growing tired of the parrot's constant complaining. Sure Iago has done good in the past since ditching Jafar, but he was just as annoying as ever.

"Hey! You try the constant adventures with a bunch of bad guys since you three left!" Iago argued, glaring at the magican. "We had to handle Mirage, Mozenrath who I call "Jafar Jr", a crazy cleaning-freak inventor bad guy named Mechanicles, Imps, that sort of thing. I thought after the stuff that's happened two months ago that things woulda finally cooled down a little."(1)

Sora couldn't help but roll his eyes at this, and while he was surprised that Aladdin and everyone else had to deal with such problems in this world during his absence, the spiky haired teen kind of doubted it would've been difficult for him to handle. He kind of wished he'd known a lot sooner to help out, especially with some Mozenrath guy, who Iago dubbed him as 'Jafar Jr.' and wondered if he was just as powerful as the late evil Sorcerer. Besides that, he knew that Agrabah was not only in danger with the Heartless and Organization XIII again, but with Ourobos.

'I just hope that thing doesn't attack when we have to fight Xehanort.' He thought to himself. Since hearing about the monster from Master Yen Sid, Sora had been worried that it would attack during the Keyblade War.

Or worse; it might attack when the final battle ends and then it would use everyone's exhaustion to it's advantage. Those were the Keyblade Wielder's current and biggest fears, though losing his friends was still on top of his greatest fears list.

While Sora had been thinking these thoughts, he and the others held on tight as Carpet flew down the cliff and hovered over the shore sidelines where a fresh trail of horse tracks that looked very, very recent. Like it was made even just by almost a minute ago.

"Good, the trail's still fresh." Aladdin said.

"And they're right in front of us." Sora pointed straight ahead, spotting a few thieves running around a cliff-side corner, which made their job in finding the criminals a hundred times more easier. Most of them nodded in agreement, and Carpet flew a bit faster to catch up to them.

"Definitely should've stayed with the Genie." Iago whimpered in dismay, only to cry out in alarm when he and the others saw that they nearly crashed into all of the thieves had Carpet not skid to a stop. Especially when all of the thieving men had come a stop just on the shore of the ocean, overlooking the cliff walls an island on the other side of the water. Aladdin shushed his friends as Carpet silently back tracks before they all quickly hid back behind the cliff.

Aladdin sighed in relief after a close call, before saying to the group with a confident smile. "Well, they have nowhere to go. We have them trapped."

"We!?" Iago asked incredulously, bewildered while the others nodded in agreement with Aladdin, as they were ready to rescue Aladdin's father. The Parrot then pointed out to him. "They are Forty Thieves! We are you, a kid with a giant key, a duck, a dog, a rug, a monkey, and me...Wait, don't count me."

"Hey, they ain't movin'." Goofy whispered, risking to peek around the cliff. Sora, Donald, Aladdin, Abu, and Iago did the same and found that he was right. All of the Forty Thieves were just standing there.

"What's with them?" Sora whispered, puzzled. The men just sat on their horses, without so much as moving. Until the man in blue in front of all of them moved a bit closer, and Aladdin realized that it was the one who he fought earlier during the crisis at the wedding. The King of Thieves, himself.

Cassim, along with his men being fully unaware that they were being followed, held up a hand and shouted loudly. "Open Sesame!"

What came next was a shock to Sora's group, because the water began to boil and form a line of orange and yellow, the ground began to shake and the ocean became rough and wild. Just then, a beam of light split through the rock before it spread through the water, lining up to the shore where everyone else was and then it split apart to form two walls of water, an opening into the wall and a new pathway created. Without a moment to lose, all of the Thieves rushed straight down the path and into what the heroes realized was the lair of the Forty Thieves.

"Let's move!" Aladdin exclaimed once all of the thieves were in side. He, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Abu hopped on while Iago clinged onto the back of Carpet for dear life, while the magical rug quickly flew towards the lair just as it began to close and the ocean walls crashing into each other and filled up behind them. Iago, Donald and Goofy were screaming along the way and panicking.

"Hold on, guys!" Sora shouted.

"We're not gonna make it!" Goofy screamed, fearing the worst as the opening slowly but also too quickly almost closed.

Fortunately, Carpet made it through just before the entrance closed right behind them, though it did end up crashing onto the ground, and accidentally tossing Sora, Aladdin, Goofy and Abu off and onto the ground hard. All of them groaned as Sora pushed himself up, on his hands and knees while shaking his head before looking up. His eyes widened in awe; it was like an ancient ruined city underground or inside a cave, with Arabian Statues and pillars, in gold and stone, with a thin layer of mist surrounding the collapsed and destroyed buildings.

"Whoa...!" The sixteen year old boy murmured in awe, just as Aladdin looked up and held an identical reaction to his younger friend.

"You can say that again, Sora. This place is incredible." The former Street Rat agreed, only for him and Sora to be tapped on the shoulder by Goofy. When the two of them and Abu turned to see what he was pointing at, Sora had trouble trying not to laugh, because both Donald and Iago not only had their eyes covered with their eyes, but their tails were firmly stuck between the two rocks of the entrance.

"Did we make it?" Donald quivered, unaware of this and not willing to look just yet.

"I'm too scared to look." Iago shuddered in a high-pitched whiny tone.

Both Goofy and Abu approached their two trapped friends and thought hard, before had an idea. The former grabbed Donald, while the latter grabbed Iago, and they pulled hard until with a good yank they went flying out and landed in a small pile. Though the two birds of the group saw that...their tail feathers were still stuck in the wall, leaving their tails bald. The two of them saw this and gave deadpan and very annoyed looks.

"Oh. This is attractive." The parrot remarked sarcastically, before he and Donald stormed over to the wall, yanking their feathers out before plonking them back into their rightful places.

"This is exasperating." Donald groaned, using his Curaga to help with the restoration process, while Sora gave a soft laugh and Aladdin just shook his head with a smile.

"Let's get moving. The sooner we find my father and save him from the Forty Thieves, the better." Aladdin informed the others who all nodded in agreement, except Iago who gulped in fear at the reminder of this.

The parrot then flew up and landed on Sora's shoulder, asking nervously. "Uh, is there any chance you and Donald can freeze the Forty Thieves into an ice-cube or something like that?"

"We'll be fine." Sora reassured. "We've fought 1,000 Heartless a long time ago."

Iago's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"Yeah! The three of us handled it all together!" Donald declared proudly, a little too loudly because the others quickly shushed him when his voice echoed through out the chamber. He smiled sheepishly when he realized this, and muttered softly. "Sorry."

"Besides, these guys are no where near as tough as Jafar was." The Spiky haired teen continued.

"You had to remind me, didn't you?" Iago groaned, rolling his eyes.

With that in mind, the group of seven ventured into the lair, passing by and walking up the stone ramps. Despite their attempts to remain quiet, Heartless appeared which forced those who can fight to defeat them without being alerted by the Forty Thieves. They followed the only path they could find and came across a towering statue of a golden minotaur head mounted to the wall. Donald paused and looked around nervously, as did Goofy, Abu and Iago...the parrot who bumped into the duck's leg which caused both to tumble and roll down another ramp and into a small river.

"Hey, watch it!" Donald snapped, glaring at Iago while standing up, shaking the water out of his feathers.

"You're the one who was holding up the traffic, pal. I want to get in, get out, and go home." Iago glared back, squeezing the water out of his feathers, before muttering fearfully. "Actually, I wouldn't mind skipping right to the go home..."

"Ah...Searching for a lost relative, are we?" A calm but cruel voice echoed behind them, causing the group to slow to a stop in their tracks, and turned around, only to see Saix appear with the same look as he always had. Sora, Donald and Goofy's eyes widened as they recognized him instantly, especially since the last time they saw him was in the World that Never Was, or in Donald and Goofy's case when they saved Mickey and Riku to help them and Lea to rescue Sora, the Realm of Sleep.

"Saix!" Sora hissed angrily, as he and his two companions, and even Aladdin who, not having met the blue haired man before but did recognize the black coat, stood in defense stances. Abu shrieked and hid behind Aladdin's shoulder, while Iago hidden himself behind Goofy.

"Uh oh...! Other than the black coat which isn't good news anyway, except maybe the kid's missing friend, that scary look with the scar on this guy's face just screams bad news already." Iago gulped, nervously.

Saix ignored the bird, and simply spoke to Sora. "You have come thus far to recover most of your power, but you are still falling behind of what you should be doing."

Sora just scoffed at the remark. "Like you're the one to talk! I can't believe you let Xehanort get to you just when Axel had been looking for you!"

"What makes you think of that? You know more than anyone that he has intended to look for a way to bring back Roxas; a foolish accomplishment that can never be made reality. Unless you wish to sacrifice yourself once more to make his wish come true." The Nobody pointed out.

He didn't let Sora let out remark of his own, because he turned his attention to Aladdin and continued, "The same way you are foolishly walking right into a truth much colder than you think."

"What are you talking about? I'm here to look for my father and save him from the Forty Thieves. You can't talk like that!" Aladdin snapped.

"You are just as clueless as Sora, Street Rat. Have you ever considered why he left you, and how he came to be with the Forty Thieves? It is not a kidnapping as you think it is."

"Leave Aladdin and his dad out of this!" Sora interjected angrily. "Besides, what do you know? As if you can see the past!"

The blue haired man smirked a little. "I don't need to. All your friend has to do is see for himself. However..."

Snapping his fingers, the ground rumbled which forced Sora, Donald and Goofy to stumble forward a bit just as a stone wall suddenly rose behind them and forced Aladdin, Abu, Carpet and Iago who screamed in alarm to back up and were now blocked off from their friends, and reached up to the ceiling. The trio spun around and were dismayed by the sudden separation, realizing that they had fallen into yet another trap.

"Aladdin! Abu! Iago!" Sora cried out, as he, Donald and Goofy tried to push the wall as hard as they could, but found that it was too thick. They then tried punching it and using their weapons, but it was no use.

"Sora! Are you guys okay?" Aladdin called from the other side, as he and the others with him tried to do the same thing, but couldn't.

"Yeah, we're fine." Sora called back, and while he wished he could break through these calls, it's apparent that Saix did something to it which made it impossible. Plus they couldn't risk in causing a cave-in. So there was no other choice left. "You have to go on ahead and find your dad."

"No! I'm not leaving you behind!" His friend protested.

"We'll catch up to you! I promise!"

The former Street Rat clenched his teeth. He really didn't want to go on without Sora, Donald and Goofy, not when they came to see him marry Jasmine. Aladdin blamed himself for this mess. He never should've asked them to come along if he'd known this 'Saix' guy would come around and separate them. Eventually he realized that Sora was right. They can handle the member of Organization XIII. They should be fine. It's his father who was in dire trouble.

"Alright. Just be careful!" Aladdin reluctantly replied, then nodded to a just as reluctanted Abu and Carpet and the even more terrified Iago before all four of them went up ahead, leaving Sora, Donald and Goofy to handle Saix.

"You are too meddling for your own good." Saix spoke once more, causing the trio to glare back at him. "Time is running out for you, unless you want to run the risk of the Princesses of Heart falling into our hands. It's better that you leave this world."

"Hey! The three of us were invited to the wedding!" Sora grunted, and Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement after they all summoned their weapons.

This only amused their enemy, because he just smirked again. "How very generous. Then perhaps you should prove if you can keep to your promises."

Before Sora could ask what he meant, Saix held out his hand as a blast of Darkness hit the ground underneath the trio, which it soon formed into a large hole and with the wall now crumbling and becoming rubble, they fell into the hole which soon formed a stone maze lair. While Donald and Goofy began to panic, Sora glared up at the blue-haired man who remained where he was. The trio then fell right through as they felt a deja vu from the Kuzco Empire and Arendalle.

Just as they fell through, the floor closed up back to normal as the wall was gone.

Aladdin felt guilty for leaving Sora, Donald and Goofy behind, and twice had to force himself not to turn back as there wasn't a thing he could do, especially with the stone wall Saix had brought up. But he knew that there wasn't much of a choice, so he, Abu, Iago and Carpet were on their own. So the four of them peered around a corner and one of the tents built up to see the thieves holding a meeting, and the grey skinned man, Sa'luk, was talking, and he wasn't happy.

Especially since a table nearby was empty.

"...We could have had all the loot from the wedding. But we followed the king's plan. This is what we have to show for our trouble in Agrabah." He was saying, before punching the table so hard that it was snapped in half. "NOTHING!"

Some of the thieves who were more loyal to the clawed man yelled out agreement while most more loyal to Cassim shared glances as they saw how ticked off Sa'luk was and while they were just as annoyed about their failed attempts during the wedding, to them the most important thing was that none of them were captured.

"Your time draws to a close, Cassim." Sa'luk warned darkly as he approached the other man, who now had his mask off and revealing his face; the face that was just like what Aladdin and his friends saw earlier.

"...My father." Aladdin whispered in realization, but at the same time still didn't get the connection.

"If you're talking about spilling my blood," Cassim began with an raised eyebrow, unaffected by the deadly threat. He folded his arms, seemingly more amused. "Well, I just don't see that happening."

"Then let me open your eyes!" Sa'luk sneered as he raised his claws, only to be suddenly blocked off by Aladdin who leaped in and pulled out his sword at the larger man, with both the thief and Cassim, who was stunned to see that the boy he fought earlier had suddenly come here. What was this young foolish man think he was doing?

"Run! I'll handle him!" Aladdin told him, and quickly explained. "I'm Aladdin; you're my father!"

'What!?' Cassim thought, stunned and disbelief. Did he just hear right? Could it...possibly be? Was this why Aladdin looked so much like him...because he is his son? Whom he hasn't seen in a long, long time? By then, Sa'luk easily swiped the sword from Aladdin's hand and then shoved him to the ground, which caused the dagger he had earlier to fall out. Cassim picked it and found that it had the same hand print as the medal pin on his cloak. It was then he knew Aladdin was right.

"I don't know about your father, boy, but I'll send you to meet your other ancestors." Sa'luk sneered, and was about to strike when Cassim grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.

"Let him go." The King of Thieves ordered. "The boy is my son."

Aladdin smiled in relief, while the other thieves murmured in confusion and disbelief.

"I gave this dagger to my wife years ago." Cassim explained as he held up the dagger to show it. "I told her to give it to our new born son; Aladdin."

"So it's true?" One fat thief asked, amazed.

"Amazing! The boy is the son of the King of Thieves." Another thief muttered.

Aladdin's eyes widened as he was caught by surprise this time. So his father wasn't kidnapped after all? Did that mean...Saix was actually right? So they actually met again during the during and neither one even knew it? He stood up and asked softly in disbelief, "You are the King of Thieves?"

"Like it or not, we are blood." Cassim said, handing the dagger back to his grown up son. He then said in disbelief, and growing relief. "But look at you; You've grown up so quickly. I'd thought I'd never see you again."

This made the younger man smile, though that still left the question on why his father left in the first place and eventually become the King of Thieves. But before Aladdin could get the chance to ask, Sa'luk intervened and shoved the reunited father and son apart as the grey-skinned man was disgusted by this.

"Blood, smchlood! The boy is an intruder. We has found our secret lair, and knows too much!" Sa'luk declared, as the other 38 thieves, realizing that he was right, all gave out their own words of agreement, just as two have captured Iago, Abu and Carpet. "He and those with him must all die!"

"DIE!?" Iago exclaimed in fear. "No please, mercy here, mercy! I mean, come on, Cassim! He's your son! Me and the monkey are his friends! Not to mention that there are other friends too, and they're fighting an intruder who isn't a friend to anybody and is just as much trouble!"

"Hmph. Mercy? Well, that is your forte, isn't it, Cassim?" Sa'luk responded, "What will be your decision?"

Cassim paused. He couldn't show any weakness, but at the same time, he'd just been reunited with his son who came this way just to find him. While it was foolish, he had to admit Aladdin had shown great courage. It was then that an idea formed into mind.

"Well, the boy could..." He trailed off, then shook his head. "No."

"What? What can the boy do?" One thief asked.

"Nothing. Nevermind."

"What!?" Sa'luk exclaimed impatiently as even he found himself eager to hear what Cassim had to say.

The King of Thieves thought again, and then finally decided to spare everyone from the dread of silence and declared. "The boy could face 'the challenge.'"

"Ah! The challenge! I almost forgot." The thieves all spoke at the same time, as the two then released three of Aladdin's friends.

"That's that. My son will face the challenge, and if he succeeds, his friends will be spared as well, including those who are facing the other intruder, which actually saves us the trouble in handling him later." Cassim declared.

Sa'luk sneered with a grin, "While I agree with the other intruder part, I shall be the one to test the boy."

"...Where's Sora when you need him?" Iago groaned, already having a bad feeling about this. That Saix guy sure picked a bad time to separate the kid and the other two from all of this.

This was going to be a disaster. He just knew it.

When Sora opened his eyes, he expected to be seeing a darker lair within the lair of the Forty Thieves and his head to ache. Instead, he found himself staring at the dark cloud sky which was familiar. On top of that, he was standing and as he looked around, his heart froze as he saw, to his dismay, the floating bodies were blue and almost invisible, and hearts hovering of Riku, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Roxas and Xion.

To make things worse, he realized that this was the platform that towered over the huge desolate land of thousands of Keyblades. Was this another dream? He hoped that it was.

"You disappoint me, boy."

"What?" Sora quickly glanced up, and his heart dropped to his stomach this time, freezing much colder than he ever felt. Because not only was an elderly man standing at the very top of a rock that towered over the platform he was on, but also, to his dismay, Kairi who, as he'd seen in his most recent dreams, in the pink new outfit and new hair style, forcefully levitated in front of the man, arms spread out and both them and her ankles shacked in darkness that kept her chained. She struggled to try and free herself.

"Kairi!" Sora cried out.

"Sora!" Kairi cried back, sounding very afraid, silently pleading him for help.

"What you need is...motivation." The man, whom Sora was certain was Master Xehanort, sneered evilly with a twisted cruel grin. He then turned to the struggling Princess of Heart, and told her. "You are done, Princess. Farewell...Vessel of Light!"

"Let her go!" Sora shouted, quickly jumping and leaping to try and save his friend. But even with his newer abilities and restored powers, Xehanort had already raised his Keyblade to strike Kairi at the back.

"No, please...!" Kairi whimpered, terrified as she glanced over her shoulder. But the response she got was an evil chuckle as Xehanort was disgustingly taking pleasure with all this. So she could only turn back to Sora just as the latter was almost there.

"SORRRRAA!" Kairi screamed, only managing to get one arm free and reached out for her friend, silently sobbing. Sora even almost touched her hand with his own as he desperately reached out...only for her to scream as Xehanort thrust his Keyblade at her back and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself.

While it looked as though he missed, Kairi did end up vanished as she then glowed in pink before vanishing without a trace...gone right before Sora's eyes.

"KAIRRRRRIII!" Sora screamed in utter distraught, devastation and heart-break by the time he reached the top, only to be smacked by the sudden appearance of Ourobos who hit him with it's arm, and he screamed out in pain before crashing back onto the platform in a roll and then skid to a stop. He missed the irritated look on Xehanort's face, and instead pushed himself up slowly, sobbing as Kairi...

She was gone. Xehanort had just killed her!

"A pathetic sight. What a waste." Xehanort's disappointed voice lured Sora to glare up at him, tears falling freely, heart-broken and furious.

"Why? How could you do this!? WHY HER!?" Sora screamed furiously.

"I told you. You aqquire motivation." Xehanort simply replied, smirking once more. "But then again, perhaps there is no need for you. You and all your precious 'friends', especially the Princess who has fulfilled her destiny and only purpose, to ever lasting darkness! You have no place in existence!"

Before Sora could even consider attacking, Xehanort simply vanished into darkness and to his horror, the Ourobos now towered over the horrified teenager. As he could only watch, the giant Heartless-Monster clutched his hand and all of the hearts of his also already deceased friends were absorbed and then crushed by the monster, while their bodies disappeared into nothing.

"NOOOOOOO!" Sora screamed, feeling utterly shattered by now. This couldn't be happening...Every single one of them...they were all gone. Before he could even cry even more, the Ourobos towered over him and then lunged right at him with it's hand, ready to grab him and absorb him next.

Fear struck into his heart as Sora, helpless and not knowing what to do, could only scream before he was caught and then...

His world went black...

"...Sora?"

'Who...?' Sora weakly thought to himself. Vague memories of what happened came as a blur to him. He felt tired. What happened? Where was he? The voices sounded familiar. Blinking his eyes open, the blur in his vision began to clear, and the next thing he knew, he saw two strikingly familiar faces; one was a boy who looked identical to him, only in shorter, golden spiky hair. The other...she looked like Kairi, but with short, black hair. Both of them were wearing black coats...from Organization XIII, kneeling over him.

Almost instantly, he felt really wide awake, or as awake as he assumed. And...memories of what just happened came flooding back. Sora sat up and turned to the other boy, recognizing him as his Nobody, one who deserved to be his own person.

"Roxas!" He exclaimed, in a mixture of relief and guilt. As Roxas nodded with a soft and relieved smile, Sora then turned his attention to the girl who held a relieved but sad smile, her hood down like when he saw her in her memories.

"...Xion." The spiky haired teen murmured. Her memories of her depressed moments and sadness ached his heart enough, but to see her like this in person...it hurt even more. At the same time, however, it only made his determination to save her much stronger too.

Xion nodded. "It's...really nice to meet you in person, Sora."

Sora was about to ask when he realized that he'd been lying on a very familiar glass platform. As he looked around, he realized that he was once again in his Station of Waking. "...Am I dreaming? Or did we...?"

"Everything you just saw after you passed out was just another nightmare." Roxas explained. "We saw it...It was horrible."

"Kairi must have seen it too, because...she was right there, but she managed to wake up." Xion added, and when Sora looked at her, puzzled, she continued. "I'm not sure why, but...I could feel it. The connection the two of you have has become so strong that you're now sharing the same dreams."

"So...Kairi's okay. But she saw that nightmare...from her point of view?" Sora asked, horrified. He couldn't even imagine how she was really feeling if she was seeing his nightmare from her nightmare-captive self. But did that mean Xehanort somehow found a way to intervene and try and destroy their connection?

Even worse...he couldn't save her, even if it was just a dream. But...what if it will actually happen?

"Sora." Roxas spoke up, causing his original to glance at him. "We know that you're trying to save us." He then shrugged, sheepishly. "Actually, this is the first time Xion and I could connect with each other and you."

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head slightly.

"We couldn't communicate even though we are inside your heart." Xion spoke this time again. "Sadly, this is the only time we can face each other like this. When you wake up, we'll both be cut off from each other again. But...that's just how it is."

Sora could sense more than hear the tears in the poor girl's face, and felt Roxas's pain as well. They missed each other, and he was pretty sure that they missed Axel, too. Still, he was determined that they would all be together again, outside of his heart and body. They deserved it after everything they went through. That still left one thing on his mind, though, when he thought about it.

"Xion, can I ask you something?" Sora hesitantly asked. When the black-haired girl shared a glance with Roxas who, his expression turning into a mixture of sorrow and anger, nodded, she nodded as well. "How did your heart end up inside me? What happened to you? I've been trying to figure out what Namine told you meant, and what you found out about yourself, and figure out a way how to save you."

"I don't think you can save me, Sora. Not unless I get a vessel like you're working on for Roxas, and what Xehanort did with me when I was still...well, I guess you could say I was still growing my own heart like Roxas, Namine and Axel at the time." Xion shook her head in sadness.

"I don't get it."

"You don't remember, but...you went into Castle Oblivion, where your memories were replaced with fake ones."

"Um...Isn't that where Riku met Namine?" The teenage boy asked, a bit dumbly. Xion was right, though.

"Yeah, and you did, too. But you don't remember." Roxas answered this time. "I only went inside the front enterance looking for Xion, but...I almost passed out and Axel had to take me to Twilight Town."

"I saw that memory too." Sora acknowledged. "But...what's that got to do with Xion?"

"Everything." Xion breathed shakily. She felt terrified to say this, but after everything that's happened, and both she and Roxas were fully aware that Sora had seen both their and Ventus' memories, she knew, it was time for him to know the truth. "I...I wasn't born a human, or a Nobody. What I really am...is a replica."

"What!?" Sora exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief. Did he just hear right? Xion...is a replica!?

The black-haired girl nodded, and tried to avoid the fury and hurt in Roxas's eyes as she continued. "I was created to serve as Roxas' replacement, and to absorb his powers and your memories...the memories of Kairi. That's why I look like her, because of your memories of Kairi. But...over time when I began to go on missions with Roxas while Axel was away, my heart developed on it's own and none of us even knew it. I didn't even know that I was just a replica until I began to see your memories, and then I went to Castle Oblivion."

"And that's where you realized you weren't Kairi..." Sora summed up, as he remembered seeing that memory in Agrabah.

"Xemnas, Saix and Xigbar knew, because they wanted to combine me and Roxas to become another version of you, Sora. Axel must've found out a bit later, and when he did...he didn't want me to know, because he and Roxas didn't think I was just a puppet. It's because of that, your memories halted and would've made you stay asleep forever and Roxas began to grow weaker. Riku doesn't remember, but he, Namine and DiZ found out that, in order for you to get your memories and power back, Roxas and I had to return to you." Xion continued.

"So Riku knew about this? How come no one even remembers you until now?" Sora asked, shocked by this information.

"Because once I was gone, there wouldn't be any of me left, even from everyone's memories. I asked Namine and Riku to look after Roxas until...until his time was right. But then...Axel was forced to take me back, and Xemnas reprogramed me to absorb Roxas. I didn't have a choice, but I'm glad...that he defeated me." Xion explained.

"Before I had to fight Xion, I left because Axel wouldn't tell me...because he let Xion go in the first place, and tried to protect me since she'd became so strong. But at that point I wanted to find her, and figure out who I was. Before Riku captured me and I saw Axel again before I rejoined you, the last thing he said me..was that he would miss me." Roxas said, sounding like he wanted to cry as the painful reminder of what happened came back to him.

Sora felt guilty for this. "That means..."

"I returned to you after Roxas defeated me. All that's left of me now is my heart...even if I'm still just a puppet." Xion nodded, shuddering as she struggled to hold in her emotions, the urge to cry so strong that Sora felt useless.

"You're not a puppet!" Roxas protested, tears already visible in his eyes. "Xion, I told you before. Both you and Axel are my best friends! I don't care what anybody says about you, or I'm just Sora's Nobody to be like this forever, but you're you."

Sora could see that both Roxas and Xion were struggling not to cry, and it hurt him even more. It wasn't fair, for either of them. While he realized this was what Xion's past-self in the replica built to host her early developed self meant, that didn't change his opinion on her either. He'd seen how close Xion was to Roxas and Axel, just like Sora was to Riku and Kairi, and Ventus to Terra and Aqua.

"He's right." Sora nodded in agreement finally, causing his Nobody and Replica to glance at him, now their turn to look puzzled. "Who cares about who created you? Neither of you guys are me or Kairi or anybody else but yourselves! Both of you have hearts, and it's my fault that you guys and Ventus are stuck inside me."

He then stood up as he then held out a hand each for them to help stand up. Roxas and Xion gazed him as they saw the determination in Sora's face. Sharing a glance, the two then stood up with his help.

"You both deserve to be your own selves, and that's what you are." Sora continued reassuringly this time, and while he still felt uneasy about the nightmare he saw, his determination to save Roxas and Xion and everyone else remained. "I'm not sure how to get the new bodies for you guys, but I'm gonna save you."

"You will?" Xion asked, with a mixture of hope and worry.

Sora nodded.

"You sure seem to be determined to get us out, Sora." Roxas couldn't help but tease.

"Aw, c'mon! What right do I have in keeping you and Xion and Ventus stuck here? If it were up to me, you guys wouldn't have came back to me with your hearts fully intact in the first place." Sora pointed out with a smirk. "I don't care if I had to spent another year or ten years taking a nap if the others had more time."

He then remembered what Ansem the Wise mentioned after saying that the rest was up to him before his death, and Sora shrugged, a bit uneasily. "And I think Ansem the Wise knew that too before he died."

"...Yeah." Roxas nodded, relcutantedly. "Sora...Sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"It's no biggie." Sora reassured, just as area brightened in light, alarming him and the other two.

"You're waking up...The others need you." Xion realized. "You still have to help everyone."

"...Y-yeah. But I promise I'll figure something out to save you! Just...give me a little more time, okay? I'll even do my best to convince your past self to stay away from Xehanort." Sora promised as he felt himself feeling drowsy again, only this time he was aware that he was waking up to the real world. "Both of you."

"If you need help, I'll be there too." Roxas promised as well.

"And I'll do my best to guide you when you see my other self." Xion promised, then quickly added. "And Sora? Kairi will be alright, because she has you."

While Sora didn't get what Xion meant about Kairi having him, he smiled warmly and looked at both of him, saying. "Thank you...Well, see you soon."

The next thing he knew, his vision went white...

"Sora! Wake up, Sora!"

"Gah!" Sora jolted upright, panting as he was startled awake. At first he felt a bit confused, until memories of what really happened came flooding back, because the area he, Donald and Goofy, who were both kneeling beside him in worry, were in, was a dim lit, lair like cavern that resembled to the lair of the Forty Thieves and the labyrinth of the Cave of Wonders.

"Are you okay?" Goofy asked, worriedly.

"Y-yeah. Sorry, just had another nightmare." Sora, realizing what happened, and sighed in relief even though he felt shaken by the dark vision. As his mind tried not to drift to the horrible moments, he also remembered what else he saw and his eyes wiened in realization. "And then I talked to Roxas and Xion."

"You did?" Donald asked, surprised.

"Yeah! I learned a little bit more about them." Sora nodded, then sighed as he then remembered Xion's identity and while he still hasn't seen those memories, he knew that that they would only confirm her words even more. "I even found out who Xion is and...what happened to her."

"Was she somebody's Nobody?" Goofy queried.

"No. Though like with Roxas and Namine, and even Axel, Xion's heart grew on it's own." Sora replied, placing a hand to his chest. It hurt knowing that she'd been artifically created to absorb Roxas, and the more her own heart formed, the more aware she became and felt terrified; both for herself and Roxas and Axel. If he had to guess, Xion left because she didn't want to lose or hurt her friends even if it meant she'd be forgotten until now. And the fact that Axel had let her go before he'd been forced to retrieve her just proved that the redhead cared too.

Even if Roxas had been angry and confused at the time, which also hurt.

"Well, who is she?" Donald asked, impatiently.

Sora sighed. "I...It's not my place to say. I don't think she'd like that."

"Huh?" Donald and Goofy asked, confused. Why wouldn't Sora tell them? He wasn't about to do what both Riku and King Mickey did, was he?

"What's really important is that she's herself and Roxas is Roxas. I'm still gonna save them; they just need replicas to put their hearts into." The spiky-haired teen said.

Goofy quirked an eyebrow. "But uh...what did happen to Xion?"

"Let's just say...she lost her body and her heart went inside me. She was really upset when she told me because...like I said, it's not my place to say." Sora replied, apologetically rubbing the back of his head.

"Sora..." Donald murmured.

"I know. I'm doing what Riku and the King did." The teenager grumbled, shaking his head. "Sorry guys, but Xion's been hurt for so long, I don't want to make things worse. Please?"

While Donald thought it was best if Sora did say what Xion was afraid of and maybe there was a way to make her feel better until they somehow saved her, Goofy on the other hand felt like he understood the reason and the way how Sora mentioned that Xion was upset made him feel sorry for the poor girl.

"Garwsh, she must've been so scared and sad." The Captain of the Knights muttered sympathically.

"...So was Kairi in the nightmare." Sora muttered, hanging his head low. "Not sure how or why, but Roxas and Xion saw the nightmare too, and they even figured out that the connection between me and Kairi is strong now that...we might be sharing the same dreams lately."

Even though Xion reassured him that Kairi would be fine because she had him, Sora was still worried sick about her. If he felt absolutely terrified about what he had witnessed, and hoped that would never happen, Kairi must be feeling just as terrified if she was witnessing it in the Timeless Realm. He hoped that Merlin would be able to help her and Lea.

"Anyway, I guess we'd better figure out how to get outta here and find Al' and the others." The spiky-haired teen finally declared, standing up and tried not to look at the concerned looks on his two friends faces. He glanced around and sighed after looking up. "Knowing Saix, he's most likely trying to do what the rest of those has-beens have been doing lately."

"Aw...It's like that icy maze Larxene trapped us in all over again." Goofy groaned.

"Hey, at least we're not gonna freeze." Sora reassured, placing his hands behind his head, then gazed up ahead and found that there was a little bit of light down the tunnel. From flaming torches most likely, but it was better than nothing. "Let's get going."

Despite their concerns, Donald and Goofy knew that Sora was right. Plus, their only pathway at the moment is the one right in front of them. As Sora lowered his arms, he took the lead with his companions following, wondering what to expect here in order to reunite with Aladdin, Abu, Iago and Carpet.

Fully unaware of what their friends had discovered.

A/N: Sorry for the lack of battles and the chapter being short, but I'll try and make it up for it. And while the nightmares are pretty dark, well...let's just stay that one of the parts may happen, but it's definitely not as bad as it looks like at the moment.

(1) I just couldn't resist in putting in the references of the Aladdin TV series, since I love it so much. I wish it was out on a DVD Box Set along with my other favorite Disney TV shows.

See you in the next chapter!