The Songs in Our Hearts Book One: Reaching Out

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Change of Plans

With the Mermaid Lagoon turning out to be void of anything but Heartless, Harmonia was beginning to think that either this Wendy person got smart and went into hiding or turned into one of the Heartless herself. Either outcome would not have been surprising. The girl was tired of searching every nook and cranny for some random girl Maleficent was not even sure she needed. Much like Riku, she would much rather look for her brother, or at least help the boy look for his friends. They had been searching the area just past the lagoon for about an hour now since this spot was more heavily wooded.

Harmonia let out a frustrated sigh as she looked behind another bush only to find there was no one. She glanced over to Riku. He didn't seem to be having much luck either.

"Anything?" she called over to him.

"Nope, just a big pile of nothing," he grunted, kicking some dirt. Harmonia could hear his footsteps approaching. As they searched, she could not help but think about the Heartless they had just encountered. She knew Coda had magic at least to help defend himself, but what if he got overwhelmed somehow? Harmonia began playing with the strap of her flute case again. She should have gone home instead of going to the cliff. It was her fault Coda might be in danger right now.

A hand on her shoulder caused the girl to jump. Looking behind her, Harmonia saw Riku and quickly muttered, "Sorry," to him. Riku looked at her, confused.

"You don't have to apologize for that, you know," he informed her, running gloved fingers through his hair. Harmonia was about to apologize again when Riku gave her a smirk. A soft giggle escaped her lips.

"So, think we should move on?" she inquired, getting ready to walk to the Gully.

"I guess so, but how about we stop looking for Wendy and look for our friends instead?" Riku suggested. Harmonia thought for a moment. They weren't getting anywhere looking for Maleficent's target right now, but if the fairy found out, she might punish them.

"Aren't you worried about what Maleficent might think?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm more worried about our friends. With the Heartless around, they're in danger," he explained, casting his gaze downwards. Riku had a very good point. As far as they knew, his friends didn't have any way to protect themselves. They had to hurry if they wanted to make sure their friends were okay. "What do you say?" Riku asked, wearing a confident smirk on his face.

Returning the gesture with a small grin, Harmonia answered, "Okay, I'm in." Riku let out a light laugh before walking further down the path. The flautist followed him, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of Sora, Kairi, or Coda between the trees. As far as she could tell, there wasn't anyone there. On the bright side, there weren't any Heartless in the area.

Neverland was oddly empty for such a beautiful place. On their way to the Gully, they had noticed man-made structures, but there was no sign of anyone using or living in them recently. It was as if the world had been deserted. Harmonia frowned at this thought. If all the residents of this world were turned into Heartless, what were the chances their friends survived if they were even in this world?

Pulling herself up on a branch, Harmonia climbed up a tree to see if she could get a better vantage point. There might be a camp deeper in the woods that they could not see from the ground. As she climbed, she could not help but laugh to herself as she recalled Coda's fear of heights and how upset he would be whenever she hid in a tree. She missed those days in the forest. Once she found Coda, Harmonia decided that they would spend all day there and play games like they used to when they get back. She smiled with excitement at the thought, but then remembered how far she was to actually finding him.

Making it as high as she could climb, the fourteen-year-old scanned the surrounding woods. From what Harmonia could tell, there were no signs of any campsites, but it looked like there was a clearing up ahead. That must be the Gully, Harmonia guessed, judging by the water pooling in from various falls.