Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Today was a quiet day, same as always for the last year. The battle with Xehanort came to a happy end. Well, maybe not such a happy one. To get Kairi back Sora had to sacrifice himself. But was there truly nothing more that could be done to help in the ongoing search? Thoughts such as these have been tormenting Roxas' mind since he saw his somebody disappear on that fateful day. Was Xion feeling the same? Both of them had deep connections to Sora, was searching their memories all that could be done? Well, they weren't doing even that now because apparently the researchers over at Radiant Garden had some important matters to take care of that were involving Kairi. Kairi... Sora really must care a lot about her if he was willing to go to such lengths in order to get her back. He cares deeply for his friends and they care deeply for him too. Sora's friend Riku made Roxas and Xion go through a lot of terrible things and gave into his darkness just to get Sora to wake up. Can't say any of those things were right but the bonds connecting these three were truly exceptional.

” 'Ey Roxas! I'm talkin' to ya!” - The blonde shivers, taken aback by the sudden interruption.

„You better stop daydreaming and get going! Everyone's waiting for us, and Isa is gonna turn us into nobodies again if we keep the gang waiting any longer.” - Lea was already halfway down the stairway while Roxas tied his shoes. Better hurry. Despite no longer being Saix, Isa is still a force not to be reckoned with.

„Look who finally decided to show up.” – an icy cold voice sounded in Roxas’ ears. Well maybe not so icy anymore. Isa was very different from Saïx and it showed.

He always treated everyone's wounds, especially those Roxas got so frequently from Struggle matches and battling the heartless often seen on the outskirts of Twilight Town. He was way nicer than his nobody ever could’ve ever hoped to be. He stole Lea’s job of buying everyone sea-salt ice-cream and seemed to get along very well with Xion despite their not so joyful relations in both organizations.

Yet there was still one thing that did not change. Isa was always in charge of scheduling everything and could be a bit too strict when someone was late to a planned event or meet-up, which was exactly what Roxas did right now.

„I’m surprised it was you this time Roxas. Usually it’s this moron that’s too stupid to be able to use a watch.” – unsurprisingly, Isa gestured at Lea.

„Hey! Did you just call me a moron?! I’ll show you a moron!” – Lea shouted furiously at Isa while throwing his fists at him.

Roxas and Xion watched in silence until they heard Pence speak up.

„These two always act like an old married couple...” – everyone agreed and started laughing so loudly even the „old married couple” stopped their little battle.

„ Erm... well since everyone is finally here I say it’s time to head out.” – Isa somehow managed to quickly gather himself after the fight and, before anyone could make any remarks such as the last one, quickly made his way to the ice-cream stall.

„”I’ve gotta agree with blueberry hair over there. C’mon guys we should hurry before the stall closes!” – Hayner exclaimed as he was already halfway caught up to Isa.

Everyone giggled a little and began to run in order to catch up with Isa. Good thing they were still behind him or else they would’ve noticed his entire face looking like a tomato.

After everyone ate their sea-salt ice-cream (this time bought by Olette, having lost a bet with Pence and Hayner), the Sea-salt quartet waved goodbye to the Twilight Town gang, because the three teenagers still had a group assignment to finish.

“Well, who wants to go see the sunset at the clocktower?” – Lea asked the rest while walking in the clocktower’s direction, already knowing the answer.

“What even is that question!” – Xion and Roxas said in unison, catching up to their friend, with Isa not even bothering to walk a little faster.

The carefree three made their way to the group’s favourite hangout place but not one of them seemed to realize something was up. Isa caught a smell a bit too familiar and his intuition told him something wasn’t right. He did not realize that was the smell of a certain flower.

When Isa finally caught up to the rest of the group Lea already gave everyone another serving of sea-salt ice-cream.

“It’s not very healthy to eat THIS much ice-cream, you know Lea?” – Isa commented, refusing the one Lea was offering him. Seeing the chance, Lea chomped down the extra serving of his favourite dessert.

The four friends watched the sunset quietly when suddenly Xion asked Lea and Isa a rather unexpected question.

“Soooo… What was your life like? You know…, before the organization.” – Both of them were taken aback by the sudden question but were still more than happy to answer anything Xion asked them.

„Well, as you may already know, we used to live in Radiant Garden.” – Isa started.

„The place where the researchers live?” – Roxas interrupted Isa’s train of thought with another question.

„Yeah, but it was pretty boring there y’know. Barely any kids our age.” – Lea answered before Isa could speak up again.

„Lea here used to pick up fights with pretty much every stranger he met. It was pretty funny, watching him take on adults with nothing but his toy frisbees.” – Isa said, a bit annoyed he got interrupted. Again.

„The one time he took on someone around our age was when he took on Ventus. Little did we know how strong he actually was. Keyblade wielder and all. To this day I won’t forget this dumbass’ face when he lost.” – He continued, visibly amused by his friend’s annoyance.

„I think that’s enough about me, ISA.” – the redhead replied, trying to change the subject. He couldn’t let Isa embarrass him more. Roxas and Xion were giggling, imagining little Lea challenging adults and a keyblade wielder to fight him all the meanwhile holding little toy frisbees.

„Did you have any friends? Besides yourselves of course.” – Xion kept inquiring.

„There was this one girl...” – Lea started but immediately fell silent, both him and Isa suddenly having sorrowful expressions. Those expressions reminded Roxas of how he usually looked when he thought about Sora, a dear person he lost. Could something similar have happened to this girl they knew?

„Oh. Sorry I didn’t mean to -„ – Xion quickly took back the question, blaming herself for bringing up sad memories.

„No it’s alright, don’t worry.” – Isa reassured the girl – „We first met her when we broke into the researchers castle. She had amnesia and everyone there was trying to help her get memory back. That is, until Xehanort” – he visibly did not like having to say that name – „became Master Ansem’s apprentice. He began experimenting on the girl for reasons we never really got to know.” – Isa stopped and looked at Lea, his expression being more than enough of a sign to show the redhead to continue.

„So we decided to rescue her!” – Lea swiftly took on the mantle of continuing.

Everyone almost jumped with their friend's sudden loud exclamation.

„Buuuut to do that we couldn’t just sneak into the castle again. Everyone would realize she was missing and we’d be in waaay bigger trouble than just for sneaking in.” – Lea started telling the story with a lot more emotion than Isa did.

„We became apprentices to Ansem the Wise and spent a bit coming up with a rescue plan.” – Isa looked at his friend as he said that, Roxas and Xion immediately knowing who probably came up with most of said plan.

„As luck would have it, we couldn’t have chosen a worse time to be around the researchers and Xehanort.” – Isa raised his hand and gently touched the x – shaped scar, seemingly recalling a traumatic memory.

„Was that when...” – Roxas started, not sure whether he wanted to finish that question.

„Yeah, so I’m pretty sure you already know what happened later. She went missing just before that and we’ve been trying to find her ever since.” – Lea avoided talking about those events more than he had to.

„I- I’m sorry...” – Xion uttered, barely holding back tears, blaming herself and feeling extremely guilty for bringing up such painful memories.

„Oh Xion, don’t be! We would have to talk about it sooner or later anyway, it’s nothing you should blame yourself for.” – Lea started consoling the girl faster than anyone could blink.

„I want to help you! Help find your friend!” – Roxas suddenly shouted out of nowhere.

„I- I want to help too!” – Xion agreed with the blonde just as quickly.

„I-„ – Isa started but then looked at Lea – „we really appreciate it.” – he said with a rare smile.

„Okay, that’s enough sadness for today! Who wants more ice-cream?” – Lea broke the awkward silence and gave everyone another portion of sea-salt ice-cream that seemed to have materialised out of thin air.

„Where could we begin the search? Maybe Radiant Garden?” – Xion suggested and everyone else nodded in approval.

About 10 minutes after giving everyone yet another portion of sea-salt ice-cream, Lea felt he needed to say something.

„Hey Isa, you alright? You seem quieter than usual and your ice-cream already halfway melted, something bothering you? – The redhead finally spoke up after a few minutes of silence.

„I... don’t really know. Ever since we left the ice-cream stall I’ve been feeling as if something weird is going on. Or will. „ – His friend replied, still looking into the distance and paying no heed to the melting dessert in his hand.

„Now that you mention it –„ – Lea suddenly stops and everyone looks down.

A dark corridor appeared.

Out of that corridor a figure in an organization coat emerged. The four friends sat on the clock tower, each one as shocked as the rest.

„What...” – Isa could only only mutter under his breath. It was quite long since they saw anyone who wasn’t them using a dark corridor. The researchers would barely leave Radiant Garden and when they did, they’d use a Gummi Ship.

„Who could it be?” – Xion asked herself out loud.

„It surely ain’t one of the researchers... Despite being weird and appearing out of nowhere it can’t be Demyx, he’s too preoccupied with helping everyone at Radiant Garden and he always carries around that sitar of his.” – Isa frowned at Lea’s mention of the instrument – „ So that leaves us with...” – Lea counted his fingers – „Luxord, Marluxia, Larxene and Xigbar.”

„The rest of the second organization was travelling through time so we won’t see them anyway soon. The ones you just mentioned should’ve become human again some time after their clash with Sora, same as me.” – Isa continued and immediately had to run, realising his friends were already making their way down the clock tower.

At the Station Plaza Isa finally caught up to the rest and stopped them to revise a plan of action.

„I think we should split up. Roxas, Xion, you two should go through the Tram Commons and make your way through the sewers to the Forest. Me and Lea will cover everything else. If no one finds anything we’ll meet at forest and make our way to the mansion together. Remember to stay on guard and warn any one you come across that a possibly dangerous person is roaming around. Remember to check your Gummi phones frequently.” – Isa quickly said to everyone and took out his own phone when Roxas and Xion left.

„Hey! We should get going already! What are you even doing there?” – Lea impatiently almost shouted at his friend.

„Being the only one with half a brain „ – Isa snarkily replied – „ I came to the conclusion that we should inform the rest of the Guarians of the current situation. I’m writing them a message on the group chat right now. „

„Oh. Yeah, right.” – Lea realized and scolded himself in his thoughts for not thinking about that earlier.

                       The Guardians Group Chat

IcyColdIsa: Good evening.

IcyColdIsa: We encountered a problem over at Twilight Town.

Isa: An unknown person in an Organization XIII coat suddenly appeared out of a dark corridor. They made their way further down the town. Me, Lea, Xion and Roxas are currently investigating the person’s whereabouts and identity. I will inform everyone if the situation escalates and help is needed.

KingMickey: Oh gee, hope nothin’ bad happens!

MasterAqua: If you need any help don’t hesitate to ask.

ImNotRoxasVen: Yeah!

Trerra: We will bre there as fawst asd needed if d something happsens.

ImNotRoxasVen: You really need to learn how to write on the Gummi Phone Terra.

TwilightIsLiteratureIenzo: @IcyColdIsa @FieryHotLea @ImNotVenRoxas @AwesomeXion Don’t forget the Gummi Phone can take photos! It might help with the investigation.

Isa: Alright. I’ll get going then.

KingMickey: May your hearts be your guiding keys.

„You know you don’t have to be so formal with everyone, right?” – Lea reminded his friend.

„Yeah. Old habits die hard, I guess.” – Isa replied with a bit of a sorrow tone to his voice.

„Ok, that’s enough. We should get going „ – The redhead reminded his of friend of the current task at hand and hurriedly continued walking through the Back Alley to the Sandlot.

Roxas and Xion already covered pretty much the whole Tram Common and came across only a few clues. A nice lady near one of the shops said that a man dressed in black passed through here and seemed to be going in the direction of the sewers. The lady also mentioned that the man was severely injured and refused any help she or other people offered him.

„Guess we’re gonna have to go through the sewers to the Forest after all.” – Roxas said dissapointed. The hole that used to be in the wall was way faster, and there was way more heartless than he wanted to fight in such a cramped space.

The two teenagers barely entered the sewer passage and heartless were already attacking them. At least it’s only regular shadows this time. Xion quickly summoned her keyblade and with a few slashes and a powerful Firaga took out the first wave. The second one disappeared even faster with Roxas plummeting down, using Oathkeeper and Oblivion to send a shockwave made of light to make sure not one bug-like monster escaped. The two friends were complimenting each other perfectly while fighting. The girl made a rail with a swift Blizzaga, the boy using it to launch an attack on the frozen heartless on the other end. They covered each other’s weaknesses so well that one could even look at them and think the two were dancing.

It took only a few minutes to take out the heartless blocking their path, so they continued walking towards the Forest.

The two had only just came out of the sun-lacking sewers when they heard a familiar voice in the distance.

“Curaga!” – The voice shouted and a faint, green glow could be seen enveloping the figure in the coat.

Roxas and Xion bolted to the nearest bush and hid so as not to be noticed by the presumed, most probably ex, Organization XIII member.

“Fuck!” - Right after they did that the figure tripped over a tree trunk, which seemed to really anger the man and undo any healing the spell might’ve achieved.

The man slowly made his way to the Abandoned Mansion and Xion was already on her phone, texting Lea and Isa.

“Alright I think that concludes the Back Alley and the Sandlot. Let’s get going, Xion and Roxas might’ve found something –“ Isa started but stopped suddenly, something catching his eye.

“What is it? Did you find something?” – Lea hurried to his friend’s side in order to see what caught his attention.

“I think I know which member of the Organization we’re dealing with.” – Isa picked up the thing that caught his gaze and lifted it for Lea to see.

“Oh shit.” – the redhead couldn’t help but swear – “Good thing Namine went back to Radiant Garden yesterday.”

                    Sea-salt Family Group Chat

IcyColdIsa: @ImNotVenRoxas @AwesomeXion wait for us before you do anything.

FieryHotLea: I think we just discovered who the person we’re chasing after is.

AwesomeXion: I was just about to text you, because I think we did too.

AwesomeXion: We’ll tell you everything when you guys get here.

ImNotVenRoxas: Currently hiding in a bush btw

“Don’t move!” – Lea jumped out of the sewer exit, ready to fight anyone who might pose a danger to his younger friends.

“We're both alright, Lea.” – Roxas came out of the bushes, followed by Xion doing the same – “Didn’t you see the message? We hid and the person went in the direction of the abandoned mansion.” – charging headfirst into battle if anyone even thought of harming any of Lea’s friends was very much like him.

“Let’s recount everything we know so far, time is of the essence.” – Isa made sure to remind the rest of the group of the potential danger the situation they found themselves in posed.

“We found out the person is a man, is severily wounded and refused any help the residents of Twilight Town offered and apparently knows Curaga, but isn’t the best at casting it as tripping over a tree trunk seemed to undo the spell’s effects.” – Xion laid down everything she and the other teen gathered so far.

 “There’s also blood over there.” – Roxas added, gesturing to what seemed to be, the tree trunk the man tripped over. Such amount of blood couldn’t come from just tripping over.

“He must’ve sustained some pretty serious damage before coming here... but I think he’ll live.” – Roxas continued, everyone imagining what sort of battle the fellow must’ve gotten himself into.

“You certainly gathered more than we did! We only found- Right, what did we find Isa?” – the redhead turned to his friend.

“We found rose petals.” – Isa stated, him and the two teenagers already making their way to the Abandoned Mansion.

Everyone fell silent and stopped halfway. The man was standing right before the entrance. The group of friends hid behind one of the brick walls, making sure not to be seen.

“Alright it all makes sense but,” – Lea whispered to the other three as quietly as he could – “since when does Marluxia know Cure spells?!”

END OF CHAPTER

Chapter Text

Part 2-1

  The sound of the engine starting ringed in everyone’s ears and the many buildings basking in the warm orange sunlight of the sunset that is ever so present in Twilight Town became smaller and smaller with every passing second. Soon the passenger and pilot of the ship saw the boundless sky covered in stars, each one a world shining with the brightest light.

“We’ll arrive in Radiant Garden in around 5 hours.” – an upbeat, squeaky voice sounded in the ears of the only passenger of the ship – “You should catch up on some sleep. We departed pretty early, and taking into account the different hours across different worlds, the local time is going to be somewhere around 13 o’clock once we land. “ – the one behind the steers, King Mickey, reminded the passenger.

A little sleep would be nice. She thought. Having to wake up at 4 in the morning wasn’t the nicest experience, and her eyelids felt like they were made of metal.

And just like that, in a matter of seconds, Naminé drifted off into the sweet land of sleep.

She opened her eyes. This isn’t the King’s Gummi Ship, nor does it feel like a regular dream... Naminé was confused as she found herself standing on a large glass image of herself.

Is this...

My heart?

She remembered talking with Sora in his heart a year ago and seeing a similar image of him, so it wasn’t that hard to connect the dots.

Yet one question still lingered.

Why am I here?

Before she could think of an answer something white flashed in the corner of her eye. Naminé spun around, trying to see what it was, but saw nothing. Suddenly she felt something hit her back. It wasn’t a heavy enough hit to make her fall, but it still hurt like hell . Now knowing where the mysterious thing was, the girl turned around and faced the enemy.

A dusk.

Barely having any time to react, the nobody went in for another hit. Now seeing her enemy, Naminé quickly ducked and the white creature was taken aback when its arm swung and hit nothing. That gave the girl a few seconds to distance herself from her attacker and think of an escape plan.

But where could I escape? This is just a round platform, and this is no ordinary dream so I can’t wake up normally.

Since there was no other option, the girl took on a battle stance and readied herself for the next attack. But how will I fight? Sure I know some spells Xion and Roxas taught me but that’s not nearly enough to hold my own in a battle. I do know a bit about fighting from Sora’s memories and watching people in Twilight Town fight in struggle tournaments but I don’t have a weapon!

Just as those thoughts flooded her mind a weirdly familiar object appeared in her hands. No, it wasn’t her who was used to feeling its weight, rather she was familiar with it. It was Kairi’s keyblade?

The blonde girl was flabbergasted seeing the weapon in her hands but, being Kairi’s nobody, she didn’t spare it much thought. Naminé threw a quick Fire spell and charged in at the dusk, slashing the air as it managed to dodge all of her attacks. She made space between her and the enemy and remembered a technique Even observed Sora do using a blizzard spell. She concentrated and shot out the spell to the ground, creating a trail of ice leading to the enemy in front of her. She used the trail to close in on the distance and jumped off right at the end, slashing downward at the dusk and making it disappear completely.

Naminé stood in silence, trying to catch her breath. Even though that was just a regular dusk, the girl – having never actually fought a real enemy – was quite a bit tired.

Just as she finally calmed down, she was blinded by a sudden, engulfing light. Regaining her sight after a few seconds Naminé realized that the scenery around her had changed to that of Destiny Islands. Naminé has been here a few times but this island in particular had been visited by her only once - the play island. Since Sora's disappearance this became a place most of the Guardians did not dare visit, the memories of that day still all too fresh on their minds.

In the distance she saw three blurry figures. Having no other idea as to how approach the situation she found herself in, Naminé decided to quickly make her way towards the first one.

As she got closer, the, before blurry, person’s features became more and more visible. The red hair, the frail but strong posture and the pink dress made it obvious that standing before Naminé was her somebody, Kairi. Her “other”. 

“What do you want out of life?” - the dream Kairi, as Naminé called her other in her thoughts while in the weird dream, asked.

What do I want? 

She never thought about that. Even though she knew that even nobodies could have hearts and that her feelings mattered and were important, the girl struggled to come up with an answer. 

The two girls stood, looking at each other, the waves of the sea nearby being the only thing one could hear.

“I-” - Naminè began, slight hesitation haunting her voice - “I want to see what the world has to offer.” - she began, becoming more confident with each word - “And I want to do it with my friends.”

That wasn't so hard to say now, was it, huh? 

When Naminé calmed down a little bit she realized that Kairi was no longer anywhere to be seen. As such the blonde girl approached the second figure slowly, but steadily. 

Unlike her previous encounter,  the one standing before her this time was not a person she knew. Or so the young girl thought, as the feeling of familiarity was ever present while looking at the person. 

Naminé was standing in front of a woman not much taller than herself, whose hair was the same length and shade of blonde as hers, only difference being she wore her hair in a beautiful braid. The woman wore a long, white dress that covered her ankles and had a pink scarf wrapped loosely around her waist. 

“What is most important to you?” - the woman asked with a reassuring smile on her face, as if telling Naminé not to rush her answer and follow the guidance of her heart.

The young girl placed her hand on her chest and thought for a few seconds. This question was a bit easier than the previous one as she had already made up her mind about it a long time ago. 

“What is most important to me-” - Naminé took a breath, this time being confident in her answer from the start - “- is real friendship and the well being of my friends.”

The unknown woman did not disappear as quickly as Kairi did, giving Naminé a smile as warm as the ones mothers give their children when they are proud of their achievements.

Still quite a bit puzzled by the whole situation, but considerably calmer after her meeting with the woman, the girl looked in the direction of the last figure and made her way towards it.

As she walked the person's features were becoming clearer. 

A tall person.

A man in a jacket that surely saw better days.

And- 

Pink hair.

She couldn't believe her eyes. 

This- this must be some cruel joke-

Her breathing became faster, her heart beating in her chest so hard and fast the girl felt it could escape any moment. The world around her became distant, her fear reaching levels one couldn't consider possible. 

The man turned around.

It's him .

Naminé felt like she would collapse onto the ground any moment.

He did not utter a single word, only giving her a malicious smile.

The world turned black as she hit the hot sand.

“Hey Naminé! We've arrived!” - the upbeat voice of King Mickey sounded across the ship once again.

Namine shot up into a sitting position. Her face was covered in tears and sweat colder than Even's ice was running down the palms of her hands. 

Hearing Mickey's voice, she took a few deep breaths and gradually calmed herself down.

“I'm afraid you're gonna have to get leave the ship pretty quickly.” - the King said as he approached Naminé, the gummiphone in his hand slightly illuminating the surroundings with its blue glow. 

“Did something happen?” - she had experience quickly covering up her feelings so she was sure the King wouldn't notice her having cried not so long ago.

He did notice. He wanted to ask her about it, but the matter at hand was the first thing on his mind. Not like she'd tell me anyway, right? She has a lot of friends in here, I'm sure she'll tell them when she's ready.

“It would seem so. Yen Sid just texted me about an important matter he wished to discuss with me. It seemed quite urgent, so I'm departing as soon as I can.” - Mickey answered her question.

Is something bad happening? Maybe… no. I'm sure the dream I just had is in no way connected to that. 

She picked up her tote bag filled with clothes and seashells Xion gave her and made her way towards the gate.

As soon as she was far enough, Mickey turned on the engine and took off.

I understood it was urgent but I didn't think it was that urgent. This is really starting to freak me out. 

Right as she was close enough, two familiar figures greeted her.

“Hello Aeleus, Dilan.” - she stopped at the gate to greet the two guards.

“Good afternoon, miss.” - Dilan said with a smile, happy that the girl returned safe and sound. Aeleus gave her a small nod, smiling as well. - “Ienzo is waiting for you in the main hall.” - the black haired guard informed Naminé while opening the gate for her.

She stepped in and made her way to the main hall.

After almost a year of living in Radiant Garden, all of the scientists felt almost like family. All of them except Ansem The Wise.

She still didn't like him all too much.

“Good to see you safely made it back, Naminé.” - Ienzo greeted her with a warm smile.

Yeah. It's good to be back. Back home.

Chapter Text

“Is Riku still here?” - Naminé asked Ienzo as they slowly made their way to her room. 

“You just missed each other.” - he began - “A lot has happened while you were gone. Kairi woke up and we've made a lot of important discoveries. She and Riku went with the Fairy Godmother because they discovered something about Sora’s whereabouts.” 

Naminé was really surprised. Everybody has been working really hard to get Sora back and the knowledge that Riku and Kairi made significant progress in that direction got her in a really happy mood. One so good that she had already forgotten about her dream.

“So…. How was your stay in Twilight Town?” - the scientist tried to begin a conversation as they entered her room. Despite their friendship being quite good during the past year, sometimes things could be a bit awkward… Striking up a conversation could prove quite the challenge at times.

“It was really nice. Twilight Town is soooo pretty all the time and everybody there was so nice to me! Isa would buy us sea-salt ice-cream all the time. I didn't think such a combination of flavours would be so tasty! And I even went to the beach with everyone! Finding seashells with Xion was a lot of fun.”- Naminé was bursting with joy while recounting her stay. 

Seeing the girl so carefree made Ienzo really happy, especially since he knew fully recovering from all she had experienced wasn't going to be easy. 

“Need any help unpacking? - he offered.

“No need I can -” - she stopped she saw somebody running in their direction.

“IENZOOOOOO!!!!” - the loud scream came from Demyx who looked as if he'd seen a ghost. 

Despite being recompleted after the events of the Keyblade Graveyard everybody still used that name. Not like he really had much better options - he couldn't really recall much from his past still, and all of Ienzo's deductions (made by removing the x and rearranging the letters) sounded somewhat weird. Not like he really minded sticking to that name though, it still sounded pretty fucking cool.

“What happened?” - the scientist grabbed the other man's arms in an effort to try and calm him down.

“We- “ - he started, still trying to catch a breath - “we have a code black!”

“What…?” - Ienzo muttered under his breath, too taken aback to speak any louder.

“Even needs you in the main lab, now!” - Demyx turned around and started running to the lab.

“I could help too!” - Naminé threw in quickly as the scientist was turning around to leave. She watched and appetites even helped around in the lab, maybe I'd be of some use if it's such a grave situation?

“No need, don't worry Naminé, it's not something you should be concerned about at the moment.” - he responded.

“But-! Are you sure?” - the girl really wanted to help others in need, it's something she lately realized she had in common with Sora.

“Yes I'm 100% sure.” - turning around he remembered something - “Kairi left something for you on your bed, you should go check it out.”

“And really - don't worry, everything will be alright.” - he quickly added as he left.

Naminé was still not convinced that everything was fine, especially seeing how both Demyx and Ienzo acted but she decided to not think about it for now and check what the mystery thing left by Kairi could be.

The girl opened the door and on the bed she found a big paper gift bag. Naminé laid her things on the desk and opened the bag. 

Inside it there were clothes. A whole lot of clothes. An entire outfit even, complete with shoes and a purse! 

All these clothes… for me? How for Kingdom Heart's sake did Kairi afford all that?! Last time I checked she was pretty short on munny. 

She saw a small note inside the bag.

“Hi Nami!

 Long time no see, right? I just recently woke up and wanted to see you, since me and Riku are departing soon and I don't know how long we'll be gone. Imagine my face when I heard you were in Twilight Town! Sorry I couldn't say bye in person, but we were really in a bit of a hurry. Anyway - before I went to sleep I got you this! I didn't know how long I'd be asleep and I really wanted to give you a birthday present! I know it's been a few months since that, but I really wanted you to have it before I left. 

See you soon!

Kairi

Ps.: You're probably wondering how I afforded all of this. Well… I might have been taking Riku's spare change every now and then and stashing it away, hehe…. So I guess you could consider it a joint gift from both of us. Even though he probably got you something on the day of your birthday.”

Well, at least that solves the munny mystery . And you're telling me that's a Princess of Light?

The girl took out the clothes and decided to try them on.

Namine looked in the mirror - she was now wearing a short, pastel blue dress that looked similar to Kairi’s and Xion’s (it also had quite a few pockets). Underneath it a white shirt could be partially seen. She was also wearing medium length black leggins and black ankle boots with small white ornaments on them. The girl decided she’d wear her hair in a side swept braid from now on and put on a pastel blue, glittery headband she made a few months back. To finish off her new outfit she 

Then she heard a loud rumbling sound.

A single black coffee for breakfast wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Namine ran to the kitchen as fast as she could and started boiling water in the kettle. She made herself a huge omelette with cheese and tomatoes that she topped with some dill. The girl then took a cup and some tea and started pouring the boiled water. It was at that moment Namine realised something. Why is the entire kitchen empty? It’s usually crowded with all the scientists making themselves ungodly amounts of super strong black coffee at this hour.

“WHAT?!” - Ienzo’s voice filled nearly every hallway.

That’s when Namine remembered the important matter Even needed Ienzo for.

It looked like something important, but for Ienzo to scream so loud is really out of character for him. Something really bad must’ve happened.

The girl bolted out of the kitchen, not even putting her dishes in the dishwasher, towards the lab where Even, Ienzo and Demyx were.

She had no idea what unexpected news were waiting for her there.