So I'm going to be honest, I almost didn't want to continue this story on this site and move it exclusively over to AO3. This chapter has been up on that site for a couple of weeks now, but I've decided that I'm going to continue this story here as well. As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, let's go ahead and dive in.

"Ah Mr. Haruki, it's good to meet you. Or do you prefer going by Sora?"

"Ah, Sora's fine. It's nice to meet you too Hound Dog." Sora looked at the pro hero across from him, trying to relax a bit. He wasn't used to talking to people about his issues, but he had accepted this was a unique situation. Plus, he didn't want to have to keep his feelings bottled up for months or even years if it came to that.

He had spent most of the day so far in the staff room at U.A., specifically so he wouldn't wander off and get into trouble per Aizawa's instructions. He knew there were some rules that he hadn't been told about yet, but after seeing how large the school was, he had hoped he'd get to see more of it.

Then again, almost no one knew about his living with Aizawa and Yamada and the less questions he got about why he was at U.A. when he wasn't even a student there, the better. At least that's what Aizawa had told him that morning after they arrived and he wasn't going to argue against it.

"So, how are you feeling today Sora?" Hound Dog's tone was a calm one despite his more gruff appearance, though Sora had actually felt a bit relieved. Even though it wasn't exactly the same, the pro hero's appearance reminded him of Goofy a little. And he'd take any reminders of home that he could get.

"I'm…" Sora was fidgeting with his fingers a bit, taking a deep breath. "I could be doing better. Woke up from a really bad nightmare this morning and with everything that's happened in the last week or so, I feel like everything is slipping away."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I've lost my powers…" For the third or fourth time, at this point he's having a hard time keeping track of how often it's happened. "I've been seperated from my friends and I don't even know if they're okay right now. And I can't do anything here to try and help you guys out, something about vigilantism."

Sora had been looking up what he could online, thankfully his Gummiphone was fully compatible with this world's network and he had been able to connect to it with no issue. He was sure Aizawa or someone would give him a more concrete explanation at some point, but for now he'd learn what he could.

Hound Dog simply nodded as he wrote some notes down on his notepad. "So you feel powerless?"

Sora didn't reply for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah and I hate feeling like this. I feel like I should be doing something, anything. But I'm just stuck, I can't do anything to help my friends back home. All my strength came from them and without it, without them, I'm worthless."

"Sora, you're not worthless, regardless of whether or not you have your strength."

Sora shook his head in disagreement, resting his hands on his knees. "But without it, what good am I?"

Hound Dog held back a sigh as he wrote some more notes on his notepad. "You still want to help people right?"

"Of course I do."

"You're not worthless. You're a very kind and caring young man who would do anything for the people you care about. Even for complete strangers if they extended a hand and asked for help. That's a very admirable trait if I say so myself."

"That's nothing special though, most people would do that." Sora felt his stomach twist as he said that, he knew he was downplaying himself, but he didn't feel like he deserved to be raised to that high a pedestal. Something that Hound Dog definitely disagreed with.

"Sora, most people wouldn't, regardless of whether we had laws against public quirk usage or not. I know the situation where you come from is different, but a lot of people tend to leave things to pro heroes here. Regardless of how bad a situation is. A lot of stories for the big heroes start with them moving without thinking and saving someone. One I believe you share given how things started for you."

Sora didn't respond to that right away, thinking back to the fateful night his adventure had started. Sure, he had started that night trying to make sure the raft wasn't damaged in the storm, but it quickly turned into trying to survive. But when Riku and then Kairi had been in danger, he had tried to save them. And failed. His journey started the day he lost them both. He would be lying if his first journey hadn't been for selfish reasons, to simply get Riku and Kairi back.

But in the process of that, he helped a lot of people, saved them from the forces of darkness. Something that repeated during his second journey, started to find Riku and Mickey, but he had done the same again. While himself, Donald, and Goofy could have just moved on as soon as they found out Riku and the King weren't there, they all stayed until the issues in whatever world they were in were resolved.

"Yeah, but...I mean, most people aren't given the same chance that I was."

"You're right, your circumstances are a bit unique. But consider this, many people here have an incredible power with their quirks, yet still turn to villainy. There are those who think that because their quirk is strong, they should be in power. There are some who think it gives them permission to torment those weaker than them. And from my understanding, there were those like that where you come from as well. They had an incredible power and could have used it to better the world and yet they chose to either destroy or terrorize it instead." It was taking every bit of Hound Dog's control to remain calm as he thought about all the villains he had seen over the years.

Sora frowned a bit as he thought about it from that perspective. Xehanort had been trying to create a new world through the Keyblade War, but he had been doing so in order to achieve a balance between light and darkness. Just the way he went about it had been completely wrong.

There were plenty of others though who had fit the mold that Hound Dog was talking about, with Maleficent being one of the first to come to mind.

"I mean...yeah, you're not wrong."

Hound Dog simply nodded at his response. "Now, I know it's hard not knowing how your friends are doing. But you would agree that your friends are capable right?"

"Of course, they're some of the strongest people I know." Sora's belief in his friends was absolute, even if he didn't have that same kind of faith in himself at the moment.

"Then you're going to have to have faith in them. I'm sure they're doing everything they can to find you right now. I know it's hard, especially when you don't know what could be going on back home. Especially when you don't have a definitive goal to work towards."

"Of course I have a goal, get back home."

"And do you know what you have to do to do that?" Hound Dog raised an eyebrow as he asked that question, before Sora sighed.

"Not really, aside from healing my heart. But I'm not even sure what I need to do to do that." It was true, it wasn't like he had gone into a coma or anything. He wasn't sure how to heal his heart, especially if he couldn't dive into it.

"I see. And you can't really do any heroic activities here until you at least get your Provisional License. You could always do some community service, but I think you need to try and get a sense of normality. You've spent over a year focusing on one goal after another, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds right."

"While you have spent that time pursuing ideal things such as saving people, when was the last time you took some time for yourself?"

"Well, the night before we headed to the Keyblade Graveyard before the final battle with Xehanort." Hound Dog was not satisfied with that, he could hear the implication that it was only a few hours.

"And before that?"

"I...hmm…" Sora tilted his head as he tapped his foot a bit. "I think when I dove back into the Realm of Sleep to see the Spirits again. Was there for a day or so. Before that was after defeating Xemnas, was back on the islands for a few weeks before that whole adventure."

"I see. Well, based on all that, I have a couple of recommendations for you. I know you're waiting to test to see where your current school year level is, but I think regardless of the results, you should attend a public school. I think being able to spend time around people your own age without having the weight of the world on your shoulders will do you some good."

It had been sometime since Sora hadn't had to worry about the worlds being in peril or his friends being in immediate danger. Even though what he had felt yesterday could have been a warning that something was wrong, he could easily be overthinking things. Or fearing the worst when there was no proof that the worst was happening.

"By all means, feel free to sign up for some local community service during after school hours, but I would strongly recommend making some friends both in and out of school. I know it'll be easy for you if your past experiences are anything to go by, but I think making new friends will help you take your mind off of what could potentially be happening back home. I'm not saying to forget about them, not at all. But constantly worrying about them is only going to hurt your recovery in the long run."

"I...I'll try on that last part."

"That's all anyone can ask Sora. Now is there anything else you want to talk about while you're here?" Sora glanced down at the question as he had several thoughts running through his head right now. He knew this wouldn't be easy for him, he would always worry about his friends no matter what. But trying to decrease the amount of worry, that couldn't hurt right?

"Actually, do you have a sheet of paper and a glass bottle? There's something I want to do that I think will help. I can have Aizawa take me to where I wanna go to drop it off."

Hound Dog simply nodded and flipped his notepad to a blank page, ripping it out and handing it and a pen to Sora who smiled. "I'll try and dig up a glass bottle for ya."

With that Hound Dog stepped out of the office to leave Sora alone for a few minutes as he began to write.

I know you guys must be worried sick about me ever since I vanished and I'm not sure when this letter is going to reach you, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm safe. I've lost my powers so I'm not sure when I'm going to make it home, but I'll get there someday. I'm sure everyone is trying to find me right now and while I don't know how you guys can reach this place, I'm hoping this letter will help guide you all, one way or another.

I'll be doing everything I can on my side to try and get my powers back so I can make it home. No matter where you guys are, I'll be keeping you all in my thoughts and I know you'll be doing the same. Just make sure you all take care of yourselves, if I make it back before you find me, I don't want to find out you all ran yourselves raggad on my account.

Don't worry, I'm gonna be taking care of myself, some of the locals here took me in and are gonna be helping me through all this. And...tell my folks that I'm doing fine, I know my mom's worried sick about me.

And Kairi...when I get back, if you'll have me, I wanna go out, just the two of us.

Sora

That evening once classes had let out, Aizawa, Yamada, and Sora were at Dagobah Beach. The former had a hand on Sora's shoulder as he looked out at the waves, a solemn expression on his face.

"Kid, you know if you don't want to do this…" Sora simply nodded as he held the bottle in his hand, letter rolled up and inside with a crown emblem on the outside part of the rolled up piece of paper.

"I know. But this is all I can do right now to try and reach out to them and let them know I'm at least okay. Who knows, maybe it'll lead them to me if they get it." It had worked once before and while this was a different set of circumstances, Sora had to trust his feeling on this one.

The young man began to walk towards the edge of the beach, water brushing up against his shoes as he watched the waves, a sad smile on his face. "At least no matter where I go, the waves sound the same."

The brunet knelt down and sat the bottle in the water, watching as the waves began to carry it off into the distance. A few tears dropped into the water as well, before he wiped them away and began to walk back towards his guardians who were waiting for him.

"Little listener, are you sure your letter is gonna even get to them? I mean, how can a bottle traverse worlds?" Hizashi didn't want to dampen his ward's hopes like that, but he was confused about how all this worked still. The question was immediately met with an elbow to the ribs by Aizawa who was glaring at him.

"Well, there's one sky, one destiny. It may take a while, but I know my message will get to them someday." Sora had a smile on his face as he clung onto that hope. He knew he'd be reunited with his friends someday, but for now the least he could do was make sure they knew he was safe.

As the trio walked towards a small car, Aizawa glanced at Sora. "What did you write in that letter anyway, problem child?"

Sora chuckled a bit at the question, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it's supposed to be a secret, but I guess I can give a hint. It's an oath to return. It's hope." For his friends and for himself.

And with that, Sora has started on a path of healing emotionally and mentally from everything he's had to deal with and while it will be a long one, he'll be better off for it. No questions from the reviews to answer this time, so until next time, take care.