I'll Protect You No Matter What

Mickey's Guidance & Strange Sadness

My Pov

We reached the station and almost instantly, I felt as though we were being watched. That's when these weird white creatures seemed to spiral out of the ground. I noticed the sigil on their heads. That looked like the Mark of Mastery Sigil! Whatever these things were, we had to take them down.

"Well, we can see this as practice for getting back into the swing of things." I said. I summoned Starlight. We had to have been fighting for twenty minutes, but even after we defeated one group of them, another group showed up. Where were they coming from. Sora, Donald and Goofy collapsed from exhaustion. I guess their bodies still needed to recover and adjust. I couldn't let these things hurt them, but I wouldn't be able to keep fighting for much longer. I could barely stand as it was. The rest of them charged right at me.

"Hikari!" Sora cried. I held up my Keyblade to defend Sora and the others. Just then, someone jumped around destroying the rest of the creatures. I looked at the person. It was Mickey! Sora got on his hands and knees and looked to make sure it was Mickey, but Donald and Goofy flatten him.

"Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"Shh! You've gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." Mickey said.

"Mickey!" I exclaimed. He turned to see me and was shocked.

"Hikari!? Is that really you?" Mickey asked. I nodded. "I don't believe! DiZ said you'd never wake up!"

"I know. I'm happy to be awake. And I'm glad I got to meet you again! I never did thank you for saving me and Kairi all those years ago." I said.

"Huh? Your Majesty, you and Hikari have met before?" Goof asked.

"Yes, but I don't have time to explain." Mickey said. He took out a pouch and handed it to me.

"Your Majesty..." Donald said. I turned to see Mickey leaving.

"Mickey, is Riku safe?" I asked.

"Yes! He's fine!" Mickey said. I sighed with great relief.

"Was that really the King?" Sora asked.

"It coulda been... Yep, I know it was!" Goofy said.

"Now we know he's okay!" Donald said.

"The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right? But then we met him somewhere else along the way." Sora said.

"Uh huh." Goofy agreed.

"But we just saw him..." Sora said.

"Yeah." I said.

"And if the King is here, that means Riku's here!" Sora said. My heart fluttered at mention of Riku.

"He's gotta be!" Donald agreed.

"Well, me and Hikari are gonna go look for Riku. Then the three of us can go back to the islands together. Kairi's there waiting for us!" Sora said. She's been by herself for a year. I felt guilty leaving my cousin alone.

"Let's go! Donald, Goofy, what are you guys gonna do?" I asked. They both got the funniest looks on their faces.

"Gawrsh, Hikari. Do you have to ask?" Goofy asked. Both me and Sora started laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny!?" Donald snapped.

"Your face!" we pointed at them and said in unison. They looked at each other and realized how funny they looked. We all busted out laughing. I missed this so much.

"What do you say, guys? Let's stick together for one more journey." Sora said. We all nodded to this. He put his hands behind his head. "To... where again?" I face palmed myself. He looked at me with that innocent look in his eyes. "What?"

"Do you have short-term memory lost, Sora?" I asked.

"We hafta board the train!" Goofy said.

"Oh yeah!" Sora exclaimed. He was hopeless. "C'mon!" We hurried into the station.

"Sora! Hikari!" Hayner called. We turned to see Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing, but..." Hayner said.

"We came to see you guys off. It just seemed like something we oughta do." Pence said.

"That's sweet of you guys. Thank you." I said. I heard a train whistle.

"You should hurry and get your tickets." Olette said. I pulled out the pouch of munny that Mickey had given to me. Olette pulled out the same pouch. How were there two? I shrugged to myself and bought four tickets. Suddenly I felt sad. I could tell Sora was feeling it too.

"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again..." I said.

"Why not?" Donald said.

"I can't explain. It's just this feeling I have in my heart." I said. I gripped the spot where my heart was.

"You're thinkin' too much!" Goofy said. Sora placed a hand on my shoulder.

"He's right! We'll see this town again Hikari." Sora said. We went to the platform where the train was. "Okay, let's go!" Donald and Goofy stepped into the train, waving good-bye to the others.

"Bye." I said, waving.

"Hey, Hikari. Are you sure we haven't met you and Sora before?" Hayner asked.

"Positive. Why?" Sora asked. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno." I said. All of sudden, I felt sad. A tear came from my eye. I looked at Sora and the same. Then we snapped out of it. Where did that come from?

"You two okay?" Pence asked.

"Yeah. Put it all together." Sora said. He patted his cheeks a couple times. "Right... See ya." We boarded the train and the doors closed. I sat down in one of the seat while Sora stood with his head resting against the door. I looked at the pouch. I squeezed it and felt something in there. I pulled out two crystals, one white and one blue.

"Sora." I said. I handed him the blue crystal and he looked at it.

"You know... I'm sad." Sora said.

"We'll come back." Donald said.

"Yeah. We can visit Hayner and those guys again." Goofy said. We both nodded. Soon, the outside changed to a green scenery. I scooted over so Sora could sit next to me.

"Sora... do you mind it I lay my head on your lap and sleep a little?" I asked. He looked at me kind of funny at first, but nodded. I curled up in the seat and laid my head on Sora's lap. He started to stroke my hair, just like Ven always did. I closed my eyes and I remembered how Ven would always let me sleep in his lap.

Flashback(12 years)

No one's Pov

Ventus sat outside on the castle steps. On his lap, a four year-old girl named Hikari. She was fast asleep as it was night. She was peacefully sleeping in Ventus's lap, smiling. The smile was a sign she was having happy dreams. Ventus himself was smiling. To him, Terra and Aqua, Hikari was the definition of purity. She was sweet, gentle, warm and kind. She was never envious or hateful toward anyone. Ventus looked at the small child as she slept. He affectionately stroked her hair. Realizing how late it was, the fourteen year-old gently moved Hikari into his arms and went back inside the castle.

I'm guessing in BBS, Ven is 15. Just a guess. Also for Hikari's voice actors; for ENG, it's Andrea Bowen and her JAP voice actor is Eri Kitamura. For a better idea, she sounds exactly like Aerith from the 'ReMind' DCL & Mitty from Made in Abyss.