~Kingdom Hearts 3:Reconnect~

1.1.1

Sora's Story, Book 1, Chapter 1:The Path to Reconnection-Part 1

DISCLAIMER:I do not own anything in this piece of writing. I accept that all of the Disney and Square-Enix characters belong to them, not me. Though, I really do wish that I did own them, but I still don't. You know what that means? DON'T SUE ME.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, fellow fanfiction lovers/writers! I am excited to announce that I have finally been able to muster up enough information from Kingdom Hearts:Birth by Sleep, Kingdom Hearts:358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts Coded to create my version of how I think Kingdom Hearts 3, or its equivalent, will be like. Just to warn you, this fanfiction contains many, many spoilers for the whole series, including the games I previously mentioned and the main two. Which means that if you REALLY don't want to know what happens in those three games before you play them, I suggest you click on the back button right now. For those of you who already know what happens in these additions or you really don't care if you find out what big secrets are unveiled in these three stories, then continue on and read my version of Kingdom Hearts 3. And, I promise to those who have read my other fanfics for Birth by Sleep, like Destiny's Recall and BBS Zero, I WILL NOT STOP WRITING THIS ONE UNTIL IT'S FINISHED, EVEN IF IT TAKES ME FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. I hope that I didn't disappoint any of my loyal readers for those two stories. If I did, I apologize and I promise that I will finish this one. For those of you interested in extras like character descriptions, I will add them to my chapters as each character appears. My profile will also contain the descriptions if you ever feel lazy and don't want to run back to "Chapter So and So" just to find out what color this character's eyes are. But, for your interest's sake, I will put them at the end of each chapter. It helps to do that since I might spoil the return of...."certain" characters before you even read the story.

I guess that's all I wanted to say. Sorry that the note is really long.

~Eternal Symphonia~

"The worlds have been swallowed by darkness many times, but there seems to always be a Keyblade-wielding boy who has come to save them."

"Perhaps, if it were him...the boy who can connect his heart to anyone, then maybe...."

"Maybe he will be able to free us from our torment, to open the door and deliver our troubled souls into the Light"

"His name...His name is...."

I still remember the frost that crystallized within my veins when my eyes met the creamy, crinkled, and practically crushed parchment that was emblazoned with the one symbol that I could never forget. Most, when this seal is mentioned, think of an alignment of three, plain black circles that seem to resemble a head with two round ears. Funny, because that's exactly what it really was meant to look like. Usually symbols of someone that important really made your head twist with awe when they revealed to you their trademark. You would expect it to be something that you could respect, like a crest entwined with golden snakes, or a lion that was calling to the skies with a flag draped over its back. Something that screamed, "I am brave!", or "I am strong!" would be assumed. But no. Call me a weirdo, if you want, but there I was, feeling like my heart was going to start to sound like a war drum soon, just because I had set my gaze upon three little circles. If you were me, though, you would understand just how influential that mark was in my eyes. The fact that it affected me so proved that the King didn't even need some fake, stupid, apparently "inspiring" image just to let his name be known. Just a small clipping of what his appearance was truly like was all that anyone needed to recognize him easily.

Whenever I saw that emblem slathered upon anything, I knew almost instantly that it either belonged to or was property of King Mickey, the ruler of Disney Castle. This man was known to many as a Keyblade Master of the Light who had saved the worlds from eternal darkness more than just once. Yeah, yeah, I know, I had something to do with it. But if it weren't for King Mickey, I wouldn't have made it to meeting Donald and Goofy, or even seeing my friends, Riku and Kairi, again.

Blinding white light streamed into my window like water into the depths of a parched man's dry throat, allowing my thirst to focus on something other than my mind's blundering path to be quelled. The moon's pale shape cast shining glare as I raced after my thoughts, watching them rotate from all of my problems to many other things that seemed to catch my attention. Everything that had happened that day blared like neon signs in my head, confusing me on which way to turn, what to think, and how to escape from the lingering sentiment that had been bothering me ever since my eyes had met those three little circles on the letter that had appeared very mysteriously in the ocean that same day. At that moment, I could recall almost every single word that had been slathered on the paper with cobalt blue ink.

Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,

It's been a while since we last spoke to each other, hasn't it? I knew that you guys would be wonderin' how we're doing, so I decided to write ya.

Where do I start? Welp, I'll begin with how everybody's farin' at Disney Castle here. Donald and Goofy have once again taken up their duties as captain of the Royal Guard and Court Magician, and they're keeping up their work like they always used to. Well, Goofy still dozes off every now and then, but Donald always makes sure that he gets back to work in no time; even if he does have to shoot a bolt of lightning at him, first.

Queen Minnie and I are okay, and everything in our castle and Disney Town are perfectly fine. Chip and Dale keep telling me about how much they miss the horrible jokes that Sora used to tell whenever him and Donald and Goofy were flying in the Gummy Ship, and they've been bugging me to let you visit for a while. So, that's what I've done. In fact, the reason why I'm bringing you here to us is not for just this, but another that I have found out within the year of your absence.

It's going to be hard to say this, and, well... you probably won't believe me. But I cannot blame you, since it's my fault that I didn't tell you in the first place. I guess we didn't really have any time for that during your adventures.

A long, long time ago there were once many of those who had hearts that were filled with so much strength. A lot of people knew these as heroes of Light and Darkness, or in terms you would be able to relate to, Keyblade Wielders

I stole a quick glance at Riku, who had been my best friend ever since I was four, knowing that he was probably going to do exactly the same. And in fact, he did; his aquamarine irises coruscated with surprise and a tiny bit of curiosity when I looked into them. But before I could even ask what he thought about the recurring mention of these heroes of Light, he had already started to read the rest of the story. I obliged, and followed suit.

These Keyblade Wielders were renowned far and wide, and there were many, many Masters of the Keyblade at that time. These Masters were entrusted to continue this legacy of heroes, and therefore, they were also entrusted to teach others the art of wielding the Keyblade. In fact, I was one such of those students learning about the secrets of the heart and the Keyblade under Master Yen Sid. But, as I know, there were two other Masters that were in contact with my own. One of these Master's names was Master Xehanort, and the other...

The rest of the King's words faded into the background under the pressuring of my prickling curiosity. Now I really wanted to read the rest of this letter after hearing the sound of, "Xehanort".

...and the other was called Master Eraqus. Master Xehanort was known as a wise old man who owned a bald head, a silver goatee, and deep amber eyes. People both feared and respected this aged person, since he was a wielder of Darkness and also the oldest known Keyblade bearer alive. Many even went as far as to refer to him as the embodiment of sagacity, due to his vast expanse of knowledge. Now, while there was the Keyblade Master of Darkness, there was also the Keyblade Master of Light. This was Eraqus.

If I recall correctly, Eraqus was a wielder about the age of fifty with dark brown, almost black hair and glowing brown eyes. He was a kindhearted man who was probably the most charitable, compassionate, and considerate person I have ever met, surpassing even you, Sora. Even if you looked like a scruffy piece of starving street dirt, Eraqus would have been the one to hold his hand out to you and help. The Keyblade Master of Light trained alongside Xehanort, and the two were very familiar with each other. Though, they never got along too well. I guess that fits, since they were on opposite sides of the Light versus Darkness spectrum.

Master Eraqus was one of the Keyblade Masters training others, and thus he was blessed soon after his decision to teach with two young, lively, obedient apprentices. Their names were Terra and Aqua, Terra being a built, dark haired, cobalt eyed young man, and Aqua a delicate, sweet young woman with striking blue hair and light blue eyes. They trained for many years with Eraqus, and soon they were joined with a boy about your age with spiky blond hair and matching blue eyes named Ventus. These three were best friends, much like you, Kairi, and Riku. Inseparable these three were....not even the distance between the worlds that they traveled could keep their hearts apart. One day, though, Master Xehanort had disappeared and Eraqus grew concerned. He sent out Terra and Aqua to find him, but I assume Ven (Ventus's nickname) must have disobeyed orders to stay behind and followed them out to the worlds beyond their domain, The Land of Departure. I'm not really sure what happened between that and the end of their journey, but they had all failed their missions by the time I came along. Xehanort had sent his heart into Terra's body and Terra himself was lost within, turning into the Xehanort we all know and "love". Technically, Xehanort, the apprentice of Ansem the Wise, is Master Xehanort and Terra's heart within Terra's body and soul. Aqua, the young woman with the blue hair, was nowhere to be found. When I found out what had happened to these three, she had entirely disappeared into thin air. I can only surmise to the best of my ability that she had been thrust into another dimension, or another realm. Maybe even the Realm of Darkness. And Ventus...

Sora, before I even tell you what had happened to Ven, I 'm going to make you promise just one thing. Please, and I beg of you, please just trust that I am not lying to you.

Ven, well, Ven wasn't an entirely whole person. He was only the Light of someone else. Darkness and Light combine to make one person, right? Well, his opposite, his darkness, was known by the name of Vanitas, Master Xehanort's only apprentice. At the end of the three's final battle together, Vanitas revealed to Ven their connection and combined with him to create the original. After that, I assume Aqua had killed him and took Ven back. Ven's heart had traveled elsewhere though to fulfill the darkness he lacked. And, well, that elsewhere is inside of...another person now. Aqua had put Ven's body and soul in a place called the "Room of Awakening" within Castle Oblivion to keep him safe so that he could awaken once again some day and they could be together. And now, those three are waiting to be revived. To be freed from their torment.

I wanted to tell you all of this immediately. That there are memories deeply hidden within your heart, sleeping. Those memory fragments connect everything to the future.

Sora, Riku, Kairi...

The truth surrounding the Keyblade, passes through numerous connections that are inside your hearts. Sora, it all leads right to you. Everyone is waiting for you...The only one can could possibly heal their sadness is you. It's possible that all of your travels up until now, compared to the next journey, may have been quite easy. Everything that was previously thought to be accidental connected the door. A new departure seems already to be opening.

Sora, I am asking you to come with me across the worlds to start reconnecting all of those who have been embedded within the connections of your heart. Together, we can revive those people who are still waiting for your Light to save them. You have to put back together those who you are connected to, Sora.

Anyways, I'm sending a Gummy Ship with Donald and Goofy your way right now, as I write this letter. They'll pick you up exactly at noon the day after you receive this parchment. Make sure to bring most of your belongings, since you'll be with us for an unidentified amount of time.

For what you're going to tell your parents...well, I guess I'll just have to explain everything by letter when you get here. Maybe even you can write to them, Sora, so they don't think I kidnapped you, or something like that.

Anyways, it's about time I finished chatting and got on to focusing my efforts on making sure that the castle and my staff are all in order. Gotta be sure that everyone's doing alright.

I'm excited to see you again. I've been missing you, you know?

~King Mickey

I felt as if his ink encased words were singing a song that consisted of a bunch of burdening issues that I wanted nothing to do with. Pretty sure that the way I felt about this, "Reconnection" ordeal that he mentioned meant absolutely nothing to him, I actually didn't want to go on another adventure to save some random people I didn't even know. True, I did long to worry about something more than deadlines on homework and getting home in time for my curfew. But seriously, running off to revive some people that consisted of Xehanort's original and his friends?

"Well, Sora, think about it this way:" Roxas, my nobody counterpart delved into my train of thoughts.

"Maybe that "Terra" guy the King mentioned wasn't actually evil like Xemnas was. Maybe that Master Xehanort dude was the one who made Ansem the Wise's apprentice cruel."

Yeah, but that still doesn't make it my obligation to rescue a bunch of pansies that couldn't defeat an old geezer. I answered back to him within the depths of my mind.

"Where's the Sora that feels bad for everyone and hangs himself for it?"

I made it my number one objective to not respond to his annoying question. I mean, that part of me still existed, but I had grown up a bit in the past year, too. Within a few weeks' time, I would be turning sixteen.

"I'm sure he wasn't really trying to bother you. He probably just thought that you wouldn't care about such a thing due to the way you've acted about things like that in the past."

I ignored Roxas once again and began to ponder the letter that had met my hands that very day. Even before I had read it, I was almost certain that I would have to be thrust away on another journey. The feeling that drizzled off of his writing resonated within me constantly, allowing a foreign fear to eclipse my heart that had only been there once before, when I had thought Donald and Goofy had left me for good back in Radiant Garden when I was fourteen. It may have just been a polite invite to Disney Castle to bring a bunch of dead people back to life, but something was holding me back from believing so. King Mickey's proclamation of possible danger and another perilous struggle froze my heart in its beating tracks. I fought desperately to keep my attention at that part of the letter, but my mind managed to slip past me and utter questions about other ominous things. After reading that whole segment about the three apprentices of Master Eraqus, I had been too taken aback to even start to thinking about what it actually meant. Images of three young teenagers the same age as my friends and I flashed through my head. Scene after scene of many different events involving those known as, "Terra, Aqua, and Ven" flew by, one by one, the last being a slight little trickle of the three, looking like how I had imagined them as King Mickey described them, sitting atop a high rock in a place I had never before seen. This area was a peaceful grove of fleshy green grass that swayed in the gentle pull of wind. Rocky ledges and mountains surrounded by an expanse of cobalt blue clouds lay at the edge of this scene. The three were staring up at a starry sky, enjoying the sight of the flashes of light streaks racing across the horizon. Terra slapped his hand down on Ven's spiked hair and rubbed teasingly, causing Ven to yell with a smile on his face about how Terra should start considering to stop before he became angry. Terra obliged and lifted his hand off, and the three giggled like friends usually do.

Who are these people anyways? I thought to myself while pulling my blanket farther up on my body, noticing the cold that had been drifting through my window in a relentless pace.

That's weird, it's the middle of Summer on Destiny Islands. So...it really shouldn't be all that cold...

I shrugged the thought off and knelt on my bed at the base of my open window. Before closing it, I lifted my nose to let in the comforting scents of salt and sand, knowing that when I had been on my adventures I would have done anything, even dance in only a pink, frilly pair of girl's panties in front of the whole universe, just to let that smell entice my senses. I weighed both the urge to shut the window and warm up under my fleece blanket, and to keep it open and watch the distant sea lap at the shore. The latter won, but only because I knew that it would be the last night that I could admire the gleam of the moon shining on the waves. Resting my chin on my knuckles, I took in another deep breath of ocean air; it seemed to wrap its soothing fingers around my heart and gave a little squeeze of pleasure every now and then. I knew for certain then that when I was gone tomorrow, flying off in a Gummi Ship, I would remember sitting there and feeling like the most glad person in the worlds.

Truthfully, I couldn't have felt any happier than I did right at that moment, which really seemed to last an entire lifetime.

Suddenly, another frosty breeze blew through my open window. I shook my head and sighed, closing it while hearing the normal squeal of the lock.

I began to turn around and flop back to my pillow, but before I could even shift my knees the other way, a hand that sent chills through my every nerve rested on my shoulder.

Instantly I flipped around to meet whoever it was that had scared the shit out of me, ready to scream at them with an annoyed tone. But when I actually let my eyes rest on the owner of the hand that felt as cold as death, I only met another iris in the utter darkness of my room. Before I could even try to sort out the face of the man the moon shadowed over with gray clouds. We both stared at each other in silence, waiting for the other to make a move. Lightning crackled outside and let in only a flash of light, but it was enough to see the portrait of the man who had wrapped his fingers over my shoulder. And I'll be mature and admit it right now, I probably had just turned the floor of my room into a swimming pool made of pee.

The face that was peering harshly into my person with only one, open, glowing cerulean eye squinted hard in concentration. The other window into his soul that lay on his face was sealed tightly with many scars that I started to pity him for. No malice of any sort seeped out of the pool swathed with sky blue; it was more like looking down a rock wall to see a somber well of endless sadness and regret at the core, or bottom of the drop. I received a feeling that made me glance twice. It really appeared as if he had been wrongly accused of committing a horrible crime and was feeling the awareness of his self-doubt...as if he was thinking to himself quietly, Was it really my fault? Am I really the one who was wrong about everything?

I drank in a slow, deep breath, trying to ignore the pity that resonated in the depths of my heart for the guilt enveloped presence in front of me. I don't even know why, but I couldn't help noticing the tightening of my throat when his eye opened again.

Another flash of lightning made him cower back in fear of the bright light like he had lived in a dark, unknowing, lonely corner for years beyond counting. After the brightening of the sky had passed, not only his blue eye was apparent, but the other that had been marked with gruesome scars of battles past. Fear eclipsed my soul when I recognized the color of glowing amber, like a single ember in the pit of a smoldering black fire. Instead of seeing anguish like in the other iris, I recognized forbidding hatred that surpassed anything I had ever seen in my whole entire life. Nothing I have even ever imagined had that much loathing within itself. Though his amber eye reminded me entirely of Xemnas and Xehanort's Heartless, even their swathes of fire had not amounted to this much emotion. Well, especially not Xemnas, since he was a Nobody and couldn't even muster the ability to feel anything. The thought of the leader of Organization XIII reminded me of his very last words before his fade into Darkness...

"Don't you remember any other emotion besides anger and hate?" I asked Xemnas calmly as white and black swirls symbolizing the beginning of his downfall surrounded him.

"Unfortunately..." He paused to look down at his fading body. "I don't..."

The multi-eye-colored person who had been staring at me with the expression of apprehensive fear suddenly leaned closer to me. I drew back, my eyes widening in suspicion of his advancement. But even though every bit of logic screamed at me to back off farther and put more distance between us, my heart told me to stay put as he rested his mouth next to my ear. Shivers racked down my spine like the rattling of a glass window against a powerful storm when I heard his shaky breath; he sounded as if he were about to draw in his very last handful of air before the clutches of death caressed him.

"Free us from our torment."

Oxygen rushed into my lungs as I flew up in bed, my blankets all folding over themselves as I practically catapulted into the air that lay on top of me. Alarm and terror clawed into my chest with fiery talons, allowing my brain to not even pause and think of what had caused such a sensation to occur. Once my fear had calmed itself, I realized that the vision of that man had only been a figment of my imagination; nothing more than a dream that had given me the impressionthat it had actually happened.

Of course it was just a dream, Sora. Pull yourself together...I chastised myself in the echoing silence of my head. I almost believed myself when I recalled that what I had just said could have come straight from the mouth of my Nobody, Roxas, who, on occasion, usually decided to drop in on me and sing insults into my ears. Though, I was the only one who could hear him since he was a part of me.

"Geez, can you let me get in another hour or two before you start dreaming of freaks with multi-colored eyes?" My blond counterpart teased with a hint of joy in his tone.

Geez, can you shut up before I make us drink prune juice for breakfast? I questioned back to him, knowing that he absolutely despised prune juice. In truth, though, I actually loved prune juice.

Don't even start slinging geezer jokes at me.

"Sora! You'd better come down before your waffles get cold!" I heard my mother practically scream from the outside of my wooden door. Before I could even lift my head back up from my bed to stare at the closet, contemplating what I should wear on the journey to Disney Castle, my mom burst into my room and stomped straight over to my bed. She applied her angry, reddening fists on her hips as she rested her soft blue eyes on all of the clothes and piles of trash that were randomly scattered about on the floor. Though I had received the "pick up after yourself" lecture almost every day since I was four, she still insisted that a daily reminder was absolutely necessary. Call me ignorant, but every time I suspected she was going to initiate the chastise, I instantly let my attention wander to something else. This time, though, it was dispersed to the realm of Kairi.

Waves upon waves of loving and soothing feelings caressed my heart as I imagined the cerulean depths of her eyes looking into my own. The enticing picture of her oval face was laid across with words that I translated loosely into, "Sora", "How", "Many", "Times", "Slob", and "Idiot".

"Are you even paying attention!?" My mother's dark brown hair, scented with the comforting sweetness of strawberries, was shoved into my face when she put hers right in front of mine.

"Of course, Mom." I fibbed with a guilt ridden smirk. Since she was my mother and knew every ploy I could have used, she knew that I was lying. Plus, it didn't help that my eyes had been glazed over with the thoughts of Kairi's gorgeous face.

While my mother fidgeted about my room, attempting to pick up every single piece of dust that she could possibly see, I started to feel an oncoming bout of throbbing pain welling up in my heart. And, at that particular moment, I knew for a fact that I was experiencing the realization of how I might not see my mom ever again after this day. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and glanced up at the pink shirt encased woman who raised me from an infant to the teenager I am today. When my mom noticed that I was smiling innocently at her with a gleam of little boy Sora in my eyes, she beamed with delight at her child. While we were stuck in this son and mother moment, I reached my arms out to tell her that I wanted a hug. She agreed with a nod and wrapped her smooth arms softly around my back and reached her fingers upwards to stroke my hair.

"Sora, you're growing up too fast for me," She leaned back from our embrace to caress my cheeks with her hands, stopping to finish her sentence only when she knew that I had her complete attention. I told her that she did by staring straight into her eyes.

"When you were gone on your adventures, I missed you so much. Even when everyone forgot about you, I still, somehow, knew that there was someone very precious missing in my life."

I guess I'm going to have to tell her about everything that happened yesterday...I surmised, my chest's pulsating ache rising into constant agony. The whole time I was searching for either Kingdom Hearts, Xehanort, or my friends, I would occasionally picture the face of my mother and feel like I wanted to cry.

"Mom, I have to tell you something."

I stood on the shores of the main island, the one that made up the biggest portion of my home, my luggage feeling heavier than ever within my grasp. With the recognition of the sudden weight that had tugged on my arms, I glanced down at the meager amount of belongings I had brought.

A knapsack the color of the deepest shade of shadows was being suspended by a string the color of clouds. The tie had been tightened around my left wrist a couple of times, the end section of the material clutched by my fist. Many yellow straps were criss-crossed over the top of the black leather. A few buckles held down the pockets that usually flapped open if I had been too lazy to close them. It was like any other knapsack, but the one thing that distinguished it from the others was probably the few torn pieces of leather that had been ripped off from use. I didn't have much tucked away in it, since I didn't feel the need to bring anything more than a blanket, two other outfits besides the one I was wearing, a toothbrush and toothpaste, deodorant, the cologne I had received from Riku for Christmas (he told me he gave it to me because I smelled like the ass of a five-hundred year old cave man), a notebook to record my travels with so that I could show Kairi and Riku when I got back, a few pencils, and a couple bags of candy that Riku insisted I take just so I could imagine him stealing them from me like he always did when I was five. At that moment, standing in the glare of the rising sun, I felt as if I were a lost traveler, just waiting with a crummy sack of my belongings for some unknown ship to come and take me away from my home.

"Sora! Wait up!" a voice called from the distance.

I turned around to see what had summoned my attention. My friend was racing up to me with a determined look on his face. His flowing, long, silver, spiky hair trailed behind him while he slowed to a jog. I blinked for longer than a fleeting moment, and when I opened my eyes once again, they met two other irises staring down into mine. The aquamarine depths belonged to Riku.

"What are you doing here? It's not your job to bring these people back, you know? Only I can-"

"Do you think I even care? I'm coming with you, no matter what. I'm never leaving you again." Riku shot back with a mischievous shine in his eyes. I looked up at him to see a wide smirk etched across his face, and I knew instantly that he really meant it.

"Thanks, but how are you going to sneak past Donald and Goofy on the ship?" I asked.

"Sora?" He raised his eyebrow in question.

"Yeah?"

"I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to sneak past those two. Remember? You even said yourself that they aren't the brightest crayons in the box" He reminded me in a matter-of-fact tone.

I stood there with my rounded cheeks reddening in embarrassment at my stupidity. Riku was right. He could easily slipped past those two with effort in an amount less than that of flicking his pinky finger. But still, it felt wrong to bring him along without letting Kairi come along for the ride. Speaking of which, she was racing up the shoreline of Destiny Islands, her purple shoes showering sand in a wave behind her as she desperately ran towards us. Her pale, small hands were flung to her knees when she finally caught up to us, trying to catch her breath by bending over. I leaned over and did the same so that I could be at the same level as her.

"I thought...I thought you had left already when I went over to your house and asked your mom where you were."

"Come on, Kairi. Do you really think Sora here would have left without saying something really cheesy to us, first?" Riku interrupted the sweet moment between Kairi and I with a harsh slap on my back.

The angelic girl that I had had a crush on ever since the moment I had met her, elevated her oval, shapely face to crack a grin at both of us. Though she looked pretty glad that she hadn't missed my departure, I could tell that she had been crying due to the glimmer of the early morning sun reflecting off of the wet streaks on her cheeks. When she became aware of the fact that I had noticed the physical embodiment of her pain, she instantly widened her eyes and tried to rub the tears away.

"I'm sorry, but I just didn't want you to leave before I could say goodbye."

"Did you really think that I would?"

She only giggled with a shake of her head.

Suddenly, there was a slight rumbling booming in the distance beyond the play island. It kind of sounded like the chirping of a cricket mixed with synthesizer melodies. I know, that's not really all that great of a description. But, you know, it was kind of hard to describe the noise of a Gummy Ship and have you easily able to imagine it. Throughout my story, I'll probably start sucking at describing things that have happened in my life. Even ask Roxas or Riku: they'll gladly tell you all about the grades I received in all of the Language Arts classes during high school and the inadequate stories I've written about Kairi and I. But, don't actually. I'm just joking.

Please, just...don't even go there, whoever is reading this. The only reason why Riku ever found out about how I enjoy writing is because Kairi dared him to search my room one day and find out if I had a diary. He did, in fact, find my journal and notebook, and he couldn't resist holding it over my head whenever he wanted something. Even if I didn't give him exactly what he wanted, he never told anyone anyways. He was too nice for anything like that.

"There's your ride," Riku pointed over to the crimson and onyx, weird-looking ship that was speeding towards us. It was the Gaia, a vessel that Donald and Goofy showed to me once when we were on our adventures together. During that time, it was still enduring the tests of production in the Gummi Hanger at Disney Castle. I admired its sleek design, which resembled something similar to that of medieval building. The base of its body was a simple rectangle topped with a rounded triangle. Two wings that were smothered with decks made of wood stuck out of the sides, a white railing surrounding the edges of the perimeter. These wings were shaped kind of like one half of a heart, the part connected to the ship curving inwards before reaching out at an angle. The front of the pointed tip of the ship held a single window embedded within the cockpit, showcasing a pair of animals that were obviously a dog and a duck. It was pretty strange to see a funny pair of people like Donald and Goofy flying around in this dark spaceship. In the back of this monstrous ship, which was much bigger than any Gummi Ship I had ever laid my eyes on, there were a duo of bat's wings spreading out behind to accentuate the main ones on the sides.

A flush of air radiated out of the Gaia as it landed, a cold swoop ending it as the bridge popped out of the bottom to let the passengers outside. In order not to crush us, they had stationed the ship in the ocean, causing a spray of water to sprinkle out to the sides. The droplets shined in a rosy hue while they fell against the peachy red background of the sunrise. Donald peeked out of cockpit, upside down, his yellow bill being pretty much the only thing that I could see.

"Get moving! Sora's waiting for us, you big palooka!" Donald's scream echoed across the water as Goofy was pushed out of the ship. A splash in the water resulted from this, leading the dog to yelp from the apparently freezing temperature. Donald was not far behind, falling in the ocean as well.

A few moments passed before the duck and the dog both swam like no tomorrow towards us, their gasps of air filling the silence. Soon they were both standing in front of us.

"Hey, how have you been!?" I asked the pair with glee, my arms spread out to indicate that I wanted a hug. Both of them obliged and hugged me in turn, Goofy pinching my cheeks and Donald whacking me with his fist after scolding me for not writing.

"Well, I didn't really know exactly how to....send a letter. It's not like there's any kind of message delivery service that I could use."

"He has a point there, Donald." Goofy backed up my argument.

The pessimistic duck glanced a fleeting glare at his canine friend before adding an interesting tidbit to the conversation,"Well, that's all going to change soon. King Mickey and my Uncle have been working on such a thing for the past month. You know, after the whole data Sora business he mentioned? From what they've told me it's going pretty smoothly."

"Hey, that means that you could actually send us letters when you're away, Sora." Kairi exclaimed excitedly.

"I'm not exactly sure how close they are to finishing it, though," Donald replied to the auburn haired girl. When she processed what that meant, Kairi seemed to appear kind of downcast.

"Don't worry," I put my hand on her shoulder before continuing. "I'll come and visit every now and then."

"You promise?"

I grabbed her lucky charm out of my pocket and clutched it tightly, its five points etched across the center of my heart and nodded, hoping she would see it as something meaningful. Well, of course she would. Without this lucky charm, I'd probably be crawling around as a Heartless right now.

"I'm going to miss you." She hugged me gently, her arms wrapped around my back like the bow of a present. Crimson danced around my cheeks as I smiled and returned her embrace.

"I'll miss you, too." I said over the caterwauls of laughter and chuckling from Donald, Goofy, and Riku.

After saying my farewell to Kairi and finishing my discussion with Riku about how he could sneak onto the ship undetected, I made my way over to the Gaia and boarded the medieval looking ship. The clanging of metal rang into my ears, following my steps as I paced upwards into the structure of thick black material. Donald and Goofy waved to announce our departure.

"See you soon!" my holler chimed across the vast expanse between us. Riku only winked while Kairi practically had a heart attack, jumping up and down in both excitement and anguish. Below me was the very bottom of the ten-foot door of the Gaia, which was now rising upwards as the ship sprung into life like a choir of crickets. The whole time they were able to see me I waved back and forth, to and fro, until the mechanical noises and the moving of the panel stopped entirely.

Onyx was pretty much the only color that you could see in the whole entire cockpit within the Gaia. The room was a rectangle with rounded corners, opposite the end where the controls of the machine lay. To my right on the curved wall were three silky black doors, each about two feet away from each other. Above every one of them were signs that had words cast in a ghostly white hue. The two on the sides had the word, "Deck", written in cursive-ish, gothic-ish, and kind of...spiky font? I guess that's not really a good explanation. Like I said before, as you read my story, the final tale of Kingdom Hearts, you'll notice that I'm not really all that great at describing things.

A trio of milk white chairs sat in front of the controls on the right side of the room, each having their back emblazoned with a different symbol. On the right seat was a crimson image of a shield. Off to the left was a staff wrapped in cobalt blue. Last, but not least, was the three pointed crown flashing gold on the center chair.

"Wow, I like...I like what you've done with this place." I stuttered as the dog and the duck took their places in their respective chairs.

"Yeah," Donald mumbled before allowing his voice to increase in volume. "We had it specially designed when it was still being built in the hanger."

Without answering back, I took in the rest of the cockpit's appearance.

Overall, the whole room was about fifteen feet in length and eight in width. On the side I was facing at this moment, two ebony reclining chairs were spaced about three feet away from each other in order to leave space for the humble table in the middle. A few magazines were scattered about on the glass surface. Books of all sizes were lined up on a shelf overhanging the two resting places. Hovering off to the side was an eight foot tall refrigerator, also matching the common theme of charcoal.

Donald and Goofy stared at me with smirks on their faces, noticing that I instantly started marching over to the fridge when I had finally noticed its presence. Not that I was going actually eat anything. I really just wanted to make sure that it was stocked up with stuff that I liked. And, I'm glad to say, it was.

Rows upon rows of soda lined up like soldiers on the battlefield, all displaying an array of colors, flavors, labels, ingredients, sugar content (that I really didn't care about), and deliciousness. Every single flavor of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Dr. Pepper, Sunkist, and A&W seemed to exist on those shelves. Even my favorite, Cherry Pepsi, was there. As I glanced about the shelves of the freezing space, though, I realized that there was more than just an endless amount of caffeine and fat. Donuts, Oreos, bags of gummy worms, boxes of Pizza Rolls, packages of hot dogs, pudding cups, and my absolute favorite....Bomb Pops.

"How did you guys know that I love-"

"Trust us, Sora. All we knew was that you loved food in general." Donald and Goofy answered in unison.

Old happiness that hadn't been sparked since the end of my second adventure flared up within my heart at that moment. All of the thrills of traveling with my two friends and meeting new people, seeing foreign lands, and honing the power of the Keyblade flashed throughout my head. And with Riku coming along this time, by my side, what could possibly go wrong?

Now, as I tell you my story, I can assure you that I am not nearly as stupid now as I was back then, when everything seemed to be nothing more than a dream from which I could wake up from whenever I felt like it. Truthfully, I am actually kind of embarrassed. But before we continue the tale, let me tell you just one thing:

I was not prepared for what lay ahead.