Sora's Job Quest
A Kingdom Hearts fanfic by Raberba girl

Summary: Sora has decided on the career path of his dreams - synthesizing items with the Moogles! Will he make it into their ranks? Or will the challenges of job hunting be enough to overpower our favorite Hero of the Keyblade?

Note: Because FFN is stupid, I had to alter some of the formatting.

o.o.o

The Moogle's pom-pom bobbed in surprise. "Pardon, kupo?"

"I wanna apprentice with you guys!" Sora repeated enthusiastically. He was in Traverse Town, talking to the head of the Synthesis Guild. "I wanna synthesize items and stuff!"

"'And stuff,' kupo," the Moogle repeated dubiously. "Um...well, we're not really hiring right now, so..."

"You're not?" The young Keybearer's adorable crestfallen expression was too much, even for a non-human entity, and the Moogle gulped.

"Uh...well, you can fill out an application, I guess...but really, we've got all the help we need right now, kupo," it added hurriedly as Sora's face transformed into a blindingly cute smile.

"Really? Thanks! People can never have too much help!" Sora gushed, swiping up the form that the Moogle handed him. He scanned it quickly. "Cool, I'll get this filled out right now!"

"Uh, wait, kupo," the Moogle managed. "In addition to the application, you need a résumé, a cover letter, your school transcripts, and three- no, four letters of recommendation." It was pretty sure that the Keybearer had no idea what those things even were, much less already had them on hand. This would be a good thing, since the only creatures in the synthesis business were Moogles, and somehow they had to stop this block-headed human from pushing his way into the monopoly.

Apparently the Moogle had guessed right, because Sora was now looking at it blankly. "A rezzu-what? Is that like a new Keyblade model?"

The Moogle repressed an urge to giggle in relief. "Maybe you should go ask Merlin, kupo," it suggested.

Sora brightened. "Great idea! I'll be back soon!"

"Good-bye, kupo!" the Moogle said, watching as the boy raced out of the shop. Hopefully the whole incident was over now.

o.o.o.o.o

"Hey, Merlin!"

The wizard jumped as the door to his cottage banged open, prompting a delicate-looking set of test tubes on the table in front of him to suddenly emit crackly bursts of light. "Confound it, I TOLD everyone to leave me undist-! Oh. Oh, it's you."

Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Merlin. Did I mess up your experiment?"

"Oh no, no," the wizard said briskly, striding over to the Keybearer. "Nothing of value lost, at least not when the fate of the worlds is at stake. What's the problem, dear boy?"

"Well, see, I wanna get a job doing item synthesis, and they gave me this form thingy to fill out, but they also said I have to have a bunch of other stuff like...like a rezzu-whatsis, and some letters or whatever, and I thought you might know what they were talking about."

Merlin stared at him. "Am I to understand, young Sora, that you've come barging in here because you need help getting a job, and not because the worlds are once more in dire peril?"

"Uh...yeah, I need help getting a job," Sora said, sounding a little confused.

"Agh...! But...! Urgh...!" After some angrily incoherent stuttering, Merlin finally sighed and regained his composure. "All well...bound to happen sooner or later, I suppose. Now then, I suppose you don't happen to know anything about writing a résumé, do you?"

"I still don't know what a résumé even is!"

"Hm, yes, I see...looks like we've got a lot of work to do," Merlin sighed.

o.o.o

SORA
1415 Paopu St., Destiny Islands
keyblade_master (at) tronlink (dot) net

WORK EXPERIENCE

-Acquired all 70 synthesis items

-Completed all 50 synthesis material collection lists

-Twilight Town: Delivered mail, transported cargo, performed entertainment, posted fliers, exterminated bees, disposed of debris

EDUCATION

Destiny High School, freshman

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

-Keyblade wielder, two years

-Led up to three other party members in intense battle sequences in twenty worlds

-Successfully located and assisted in the rescue of ten missing individuals

-Encouraged three disheartened heroes

-Took problem-solving initiative with inhabitants of 100 Acre Wood in ten instances

ACTIVITIES

-Collecting item synthesis materials, two years

-Battling Heartless, two years

-Battling Nobodies, one year

-Completing missions such as Olympus Coliseum tournaments, two years

NOTABLE BOSSES DEFEATED

-Xemnas, Superior of the In-Between, Organization XIII

-Heartless of Xehanort

-Hades, King of the Dead

-Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

-Maleficent

-Xaldin, Whirlwind Lancer, Organization XIII

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

-Other skills: Swimming, fishing, climbing, sailing, flying, skateboarding, singing

-Interests: Item synthesis, helping people, making new friends, visiting old friends

o.o.o

Sora flopped back in his chair and groaned as if someone had just stabbed him. "We're...are we done...?" he whimpered, his eyes glazed. The sky outside the windows was black, and the clock on the mantelpiece proclaimed that it was past midnight.

Merlin, who looked a bit haggard himself, got up and stretched awkwardly. "Yes, I...I don't think we're going to get your résumé any better than that," he said faintly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, young Sora, I must be getting along to bed now...immediately, I think..."

"G'night," Sora moaned. He dragged himself out of the chair in front of Cid's computer and limped over to the printer, where he picked up the (hopefully hopefully hopefully) final copy of his résumé and stared at it. "Now, you be a good boy and get me a job, okay?" Sora told it, too tired to sound as stern as he meant to. Then he stretched hugely, yelling at the ceiling. "Man, I've never worked so hard on anything in my LIFE! I can't BELIEVE we spent hours and hours on ONE PAGE! Give me a fight with Xemnas any day!"

"It's a fight with a wizard that you're going to get if you keep making that racket," Merlin called grumpily as he leaned over the wash basin to clean his teeth.

"Thanks for everything, Merlin," Sora called back with a tired smile. "I'll be...I'll be back tomorrow." Then he trudged out to go find an inn and crash for the night.

o.o.o.o.o

"Good morning, Mr. Moogle!"

"Kupo!" Radiant Garden's resident synthesis master yelped in surprise. "Oh...uh, hello, Keybearer," it said nervously as it saw Sora walking up.

"Hey, so I was talking to the guy in Traverse Town, and-"

"Yes, we are all aware of your...career interest," the Moogle murmured unhappily.

"Oh. Cool! Well, sorry I haven't got all the stuff you asked for yet, it's taking a little longer than I thought; but don't worry, I'll get that application and everything turned in really soon!" Sora said cheerfully, looking refreshed and back to his usual high spirits after getting some sleep.

"L...Looking forward to it, kupo," the Moogle said weakly.

Sora waved again and continued on to Merlin's house. "Merlin, are you up?" he called, pushing the door open even as he was still knocking.

"What? Ah, Sora. Yes, of course I am." The wizard smiled in slightly harassed greeting, then set down the stack of books he had just fetched and made irritated faces at his sugar pot. "When, WHEN, confound it!" He flapped his hands at the enchanted vessel, which huffily slammed its lid back on and scampered to safety on the other side of the table. "Blasted thing," Merlin grumbled, swiping off the mound of excess sugar in his cup. "Would you like some tea, Sora?"

"Nah, I just want to get to work and get this over with," the boy said, hopping into the computer chair. "So, what now?"

"Ah, well, let me see, there was..." Merlin fiddled with a bunch of papers and notes until he found what he was looking for. "An application," he read, mentally checking off items, "a résumé, a cover letter, school transcripts, and four references. Let's see, so we've got that blasted résumé finished, and we've sent, ah, a-mails to a few people for those recommendation letters-"

"E-mails," Sora corrected.

"Whatever; we'll give them a week or two to respond- I say, did you stop by your hometown this morning to pick up a copy of your transcripts?"

"Yup!" Sora said proudly, waving a sealed envelope at the wizard. "So that's two down and three to go! Guess I should finish filling out the application while you write the letter, right?"

"Now, if you think I'm going to be writing your cover letter for you, you will be sadly disappointed, my dear boy!" Merlin exclaimed disapprovingly.

"Aw, Merlin, you know I can't write." Sora snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "I know! I'll get Jiminy to write my letter for me."

"Now, Sora," Merlin said sternly, "you are going to sit there and write your own letter like a man, or do you not want to get this job on your own merit?"

"Uh...I don't really get it, but I'll try, Merlin."

"That's the spirit!"

o.o.o

Deer Mooguls,

Hi! I'm Sora and I'm a KEYBLADE WEELDUR! I rilly rilly rilly want to do item sinthethes for a living cuz wen I was going threw all those worlds trieing to save everyone I kept having to pick all these stuff up from enimees and I take it to you guys so you cud sinthiszie rilly cool stuff for me! Thanks so much for all the wepans and armer and axesseris and items you made for me the last cuple years! ULTIMA WEAPON is my favrite! I rilly want to nowe how to make that stuff for myself that wud be awsum. Plz hiyer me!

Sinserly,

Sora

o.o.o

"Finished!"

Merlin looked up to find Sora triumphantly waving a piece of paper at him. "Really?" the wizard said. He would have been pleasantly surprised, except that yesterday's experience had taught him more than he wanted to know of the Keybearer's incompetence in matters like this, and he was rather dreading what he would find on Sora's piece of paper. "Well, then, let's take a look."

Merlin stared at the letter, aghast. "Sora, my dear, dear boy, you cannot submit this atrocity!"

"What's wrong with it?" Sora asked in bewilderment.

"Why-! Of all the-! Confound it-!" Merlin growled and shook his head, trying to calm himself. "Now, see here. Don't you remember what I told you yesterday about using a standard size and style for the text?"

"But I thought that was just for résumés," Sora protested. "You mean I have to write the letter in boring font, too?"

"Of course, of course, my boy!" Merlin cried, exasperated. "You cannot submit a professional document in size 20 Comic Sans MS! And, dear me, did you even use that infernal 'Spell-check' on this?"

"I tried," Sora insisted. "But some parts didn't make any sense and it said my name was spelled wrong even though it wasn't- See, look." He picked up a paper ball that he had tossed over his shoulder earlier, uncrumpled it, and showed it to Merlin.

o.o.o

Deer Moguls,

Hi! I'm Sore and I'm a KEYBLADE WEELDUR! I rally rally rally want to do item syntheses for a living cut went I was going threw all those worlds treeing to save everyone I kept having to pick all these stuff up from enemies and I take it to you guys so you cud synthesize rally cool stuff for me! Thanks so much for all the weans and armor and accessories and items you made for me the last couple years! ULTIMA WEAPON is my favorite! I rally want to now how to make that stuff for myself that wood be assume. Ply hiker me!

Sincerely,

Sore

o.o.o

"Hm, yes, I see what you mean," Merlin grumbled. "Well, I say, we've certainly got to do better than this, Sora! Now, let me see..."

o.o.o

Sora
1415 Paopu St.
Destiny Islands

Synthesis Guild
406 West St., First District
Traverse Town

To Whom It May Concern:

I am Sora, wielder of the Kingdom Key, and I am interested in taking on an apprenticeship in the field of item synthesis.

As a Keyblade wielder, I have had the opportunity during my numerous interworld travels to collect many items used in this line of work, including rare pieces such as Gales, Mythril Crystals, Twilight Crystals, and Orichalcums+. My interest in this field has grown from cooperation with several of your representatives, when I agreed on more than one occasion to seek out recipes and synthesis materials not only in exchange for the produced items, but also to complete collection lists and assist these Moogles in experience accumulation. It is my understanding that you now have several Level 9 Primo Moogles in your ranks due both to these efforts and to my support as a regular customer.

Although I am a resident of Destiny Islands, I have access to several Gummi Ship models, which can travel quickly between worlds. I will easily be able to perform duties either at the Traverse Town headquarters or on collection trips. I have extensive battle experience and am confident of my ability to defeat any enemies carrying synthesis materials.

I enjoy building relationships with others and have made many friends throughout my travels. I am eager to get to know the Moogles of the Synthesis Guild on both a professional and personal level, and to apply my skills and interests to further the Guild's work. I look forward to hearing back from you about an apprenticeship opportunity.

Best regards,
Sora
Keybearer

o.o.o

Sora flopped face-first over the table and fully stretched his arms out in front of him, practically drooling with happiness as he gazed at the final copy of his cover letter. "Yaaaaaaaaaay, it's done." Glancing over the words, some of them with meanings he was not sure of, he thought that the letter writer sounded like a completely different person, not like him at all. He sat up and grinned over at the wizard. "Ha ha, you ended up pretty much writing it for me after all, Merlin."

"At least I made you work for it," Merlin grumbled, pouring himself a huge cup of tea and this time not minding when his sugar pot dumped an obscene amount of sugar into it. "Tea?" he offered wearily, sinking into his easy chair.

"Nah. Do you have any ice cream?" Sora asked hopefully.

"Hm...unfortunately, no. I think Yuffie finished off the last of it the other day." Merlin glanced at the windows, which were golden with late afternoon sunlight. "Now then, I suggest that you take a little break and then start on that application."

"Whaaaat?" Sora whined. "But I thought we were done for the day! That letter took FOREVER!"

"Well, it's your career, not mine," the wizard huffed. "The application is the last thing you have to do, other than waiting for your references to respond. Might as well get it done now."

"I guess you're right," Sora agreed, looking glum. "Hm...speaking of references, I should probably check my e-mail again." Sora was delighted with his brand new e-mail account. He had asked Tron to set up for him the day before, when Merlin had said he would need a form of communication where anyone could reach him no matter where he was.

Unfortunately for his job prospects, the only new messages he had received were from other friends like Kairi ("this is so great, sora! now i can talk 2 u even when ur far away!"), Riku ("why havent you been hanging out with us loser"), Olette ("cool! hey sora, u wanna go shopping sometime this week?"), and Pence ("Hey, I've been talking to your friend Tron, he's great! We're trying to work out a way to expand the computer network to even more worlds than we've presently got connected").

Smiling, but still a little disappointed, Sora logged out and then hurried to go buy an ice cream from Uncle Scrooge, who was just getting ready to close up shop for the day. He walked around licking at it as twilight began to approach, and caught sight of Cloud being emo in a corner of the marketplace.

"Hey, Cloud!" Sora called enthusiastically he walked up. "You want some ice cream? I bought extra."

The spiky-haired swordsman glanced dubiously at the ice cream bar in Sora's hand, then down at his own dark outfit and elfin good looks.

"Aw, come on, Cloud," Sora insisted. "I won't tell anyone you stopped being cool for a few minutes."

"...It's not like I care," Cloud mumbled, taking the ice cream and giving it a small lick. "This is good," he noted morosely.

"Hey, Cloud," Sora asked casually, leaning against the wall, "did you get the e-mail I sent to your phone?"

"Yeah."

"You did?" Sora said in surprise.

"Of course I did." Cloud took another lick of ice cream. "I never respond to messages on my phone. I just like to listen to them and read them. They make me feel..." Cloud sighed, his distant expression swimming with a wistful longing.

The Keyblade bearer understood at once. "You should answer your messages," Sora told him confidently. "If you talk to people, then you'll hear in their voices how much they care about you."

Cloud glowered. "I didn't say I wanted to be cared about," he growled.

"Everyone wants to be cared about!" Sora stated matter-of-factly.

"I'm not the kind of person people would want to care about." Cloud snapped off too large a chunk of ice cream between his teeth and suddenly gasped, crushing a palm against his forehead.

"Brainfreeze?" Sora said sympathetically.

"...This sensation has a name?" Cloud ground out, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"Yeah. You get it when you eat ice cream too fast. It'll go away in a second." Sora took another lick. "Man, you should eat more ice cream, Cloud. I can't believe you've never had a brainfreeze before!"

"I've never had a lot of things," Cloud moped, licking his ice cream very gingerly this time. "A home...family..."

"Love?" Sora suggested obligingly.

Cloud closed his eyes, momentarily lost in a blindingly emo moment.

"CLOUD! You're DOING it again!"

Both young men looked up in surprise as Yuffie somersaulted into view and waggled a finger at Cloud. "Geez, I turn my back for two seconds and you're off being mopey again. For one thing, you did have a home and a family!"

Cloud blinked. "Oh yeah." Then he frowned. "I used to. Before Sephiroth completely shattered my life, my dreams, and my illusions, set them all ablaze, and smirked mockingly at me with his malignant emerald gaze before stalking away over all the burning pieces."

It was difficult to hear him, because Yuffie was talking over him in a no-nonsense tone. "Plus, you've got TWO girls who are crazy about you, not to mention a bunch of friends who really wish you'd answer your stupid phone once in a while." She blinked. "Cloud, are you eating ice cream?"

Cloud stared at her, then at the melting dessert in his hand.

"Sorry I don't have one for you too, Yuffie," Sora apologized.

"That's okay," Yuffie said, her mouth slowly stretching into a truly evil grin.

"Please don't tell anybody," Cloud whispered pitifully.

"Don't worry, I won't!" Yuffie assured him, in a tone that said she was going to send a mass text message to everyone they knew as soon as she was alone.

"It's okay, Cloud," Sora said, patting the older warrior on the back. He finished the last of his ice cream and tossed the stick into a nearby trash bin. "Well, guess I'll see you guys later, I've got a job application to fill out."

"Good luck!" Yuffie called.

o.o.o.o.o

Days passed. Sora, delighted with the fact that he now had his transcripts, a complete application, and final copies of his wretched résumé and cover letter, waited eagerly to receive his letters of recommendation so that he could submit the whole mess. He soon got a letter from Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, which was complimentary but rather short.

o.o.o

My very dear Moogles,

I can't tell you how happy I am to recommend this young man. He is a very kind, energetic boy with such a beautiful determination to protect our worlds. He treated the poor dear souls in his care with much respect and affection as he called on them for help during his adventures. I know that my dear Cinderella adores him, and I am quite sure that you will, too.

Best wishes!

The Fairy Godmother of Princess Cinderella

o.o.o

"All right! One down and three to go!" Sora whooped as he added the letter to the basket of paperwork in Merlin's house (he was afraid that he would lose it all if he kept it himself). "I'll be a synthesis master in no time!"

Unfortunately, it did not seem to be that easy. Sora was not very good at waiting, and after receiving no other responses for what felt to him like an eternity, he set out to seek out some responses on his own.

"Good morning, Uncle Scrooge!"

"Oh! Why, hello there, Sora."

"Hey, Uncle Scrooge, did you get a chance to write a letter of recommendation yet?"

"Letter of...?" The old duck looked puzzled and irritated for a moment, then brightened. "Ah! Yes, I remember now, you asked me the other day. Well, don't worry, I talked to that pom-pom creature for you, told him he ought to hire anyone who'd come up with something as brilliantly crazy as sea-salt ice cream!"

Sora tilted his head. "Oh - actually I didn't come up with it, it's just that everyone seemed to be in on the sea-salt thing except you, and you're so interested in ice cream and all that I thought you'd like it."

"Yes, well, brilliant, absolutely brilliant," Scrooge said, taking an appreciative lick of the ice cream bar he held. "I say, would you like one on the house, Sora?"

"Sure!"

For a little while the two of them enjoyed their desserts in amiable companionship. "So," Sora finally mused, remembering why he had come, "you said you'd talked to the Moogle...I wonder if that's all right, or if he wants an actual letter."

"He'd better not," Scrooge grumbled, chucking his ice cream stick in the trash and turning back to the ice house. "I've got too much to do to be writing letters and whatnot."

"Oh." Sora thought a minute, then polished off his treat and walked over to the Moogle. "Hi there!"

"Eep! I mean, er...how may I help you, kupo?"

"Hey, um, I was just wondering if Uncle Scrooge can still count as a letter, even if he didn't actually give you one."

"Pardon, kupo?" the Moogle said, politely playing dumb.

Sora waved his hands helpfully. "You know. Like, he recommended me. So that counts, right? Even though he didn't write a letter?"

"Er...sorry, kupo," the Moogle said nervously. "I'm afraid you have to have four letters of recommendation, not just four, er, recommendations. Kupo."

"Hm..." Sora thought some more. "Maybe I'd better go ask the others..."

o.o.o.o.o

"Good morning, Leon!"

"...Hi, Sora." The gunblade master watched warily as Sora grinned and waved, walking into the study with Yuffie.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Tracking the movements of this terrorist group," Leon sighed, looking back down at all the maps and reports that covered his desk.

"Terrorist group?" Sora peered down at it all. "So you guys are having trouble in Hollow Ba- I mean, in Radiant Garden, that's not from Heartless?"

"That's correct," Leon said. He lay down the green pen in his hand, picked up a purple one, consulted one of the reports, and made a mark on the master map he was constructing, which was rather colorful by now.

"Wow! I didn't even know that could happen," Sora exclaimed interestedly. "You want me to go hit them with the Keyblade for you?"

"No thanks, it's fine," Leon said quickly. "I actually...I actually have a really good feeling about this, it's just a matter of locating Rin- of locating their headquarters, so that I can get their activities under control. Good thing Aerith offered to do some recon, I've got my hands full as it is..."

"Hey Leon, Sora's come to ask you something!" Yuffie said mischievously.

Leon sighed and laid down both the report and the pen. There was no use putting it off any longer. "About the recommendation letter?"

"Yeah! Didja finish it, Leon? Hm, but I guess I need to give Aerith some more time, since she's out working, right?"

Leon winced and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "Look, Sora...it's not that we don't want to help. We're all really proud of what you've accomplished so far, and we want to support you. It's just that right now isn't really the best time..." He eyed his work meaningfully.

"Oh," Sora said. Even the spikes of his hair were drooping.

Leon rolled his eyes. "Look, I'll try. If I get a spare moment, or need a break, I'll see what I can come up with - but no promises."

"Okay," Sora said.

"But you have lots and lots of friends, Sora," Yuffie pointed out. "Isn't there someone else who can write you a letter?"

"Well, I guess I can try to e-mail some more people," Sora said thoughtfully. "And- Oh! I can ask Merlin! See you guys later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Sora!" Yuffie called, waving as Sora dashed out of the house.

o.o.o.o.o

"Gah-! If-! Did you-? For heaven's sake, I said no!"

"Aw, come on, Merlin! You're really good at writing and stuff, you can write me a good letter!"

Merlin frowned and waggled his finger sternly. "I think I've done quite a lot for you, young man, including virtually writing your cover letter."

"Pleeeease?"

Merlin was a crotchety old man, but even he was not wholly immune to Sora's Puppy-Eyed Stare. "Now...now, now, Sora, I..." Merlin slapped a hand over his eyes. "Dash it all! Look, boy- Just - first see what you can dig up on your own. You've got plenty of friends, I'm sure you'll do well for recommendations. If, however, you still find yourself having trouble, I..." He sighed in surrender. "I will write you a recommendation. But only if! And not a moment sooner!"

"Okay," Sora said. "Thanks, Merlin."

The old wizard softened a little. "Don't worry, my dear boy," he said, putting a hand comfortingly on Sora's shoulder. "There's still time. I'm sure some letters will start trickling in any day now."

With renewed determination, Sora sat down and made a thorough list of people who might be able to write him good letters, and he sent e-mails to all the ones with Internet connections. Then he boarded a Gummi ship and set off to visit the others in person.

About half an hour after his departure he received a response from Stitch, but unfortunately it was in an alien language and ended up unnoticed in the spam folder, where it was automatically deleted twenty-four hours later.

Meanwhile, Sora landed in Agrabah, got happily distracted for a while by the peddler's newest skateboard challenge, then fought his way through groups of Heartless to the palace...

...where the door was still locked. "Still?" Sora pounded on the door. "It's been, what, five games now, and they haven't gotten around to designing the interior of the palace yet?" Just for kicks he tried his Keyblade on it, but as usual, the weapon only worked on locks that served as plot points. "Argh!"

"SORA! I KNEW THAT SPIKY HEAD LOOKED FAMILIAR!"

Sora had not finished turning around before he was swept up in a giant blue hug. "Urgh...good to see you too, Genie," he grunted, trying and failing to breathe.

"I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU! It's been boring as all get-out ever since Al and the princess left. I admit, I've been feeling a teeeensy bit lonely - BUT I WON'T ANYMORE, NOW THAT YOU'RE HERE! Let's go have fun, Sora! We'll bring Rugman and the monkey, too! And maybe the bird, I dunno; whaddaya think about Iago tagging along, eh?"

Sora coughed and wobbled, trying not to fall over; each sentence had been punctuated by a poof of smoke and the genie's abrupt short-range teleportation. "Uh - fun sounds good- but wait a minute, are you saying that Aladdin and Jasmine are gone?"

Genie flopped over in a caricature of Utter Gloom. "Yeah...trying to sneak off on another attempted honeymoon, poor things."

"Whoa, they got married?" Sora exclaimed, happy for his friends but also a bit disoriented from Genie's theatrics.

"They've been married," Genie insisted, "ever since the end of the first movie! Er, game. But those goons up at Disney keep putting off their onscreen wedding, trying to milk out more adventures for Al!"

"Gee, that's tough," Sora said sympathetically, trying very hard not to daydream about a honeymoon with Kairi.

"It's all about MONEY!" Genie declared angrily, poofing into a manically-cackling green imitation of Scrooge.

"I know what that's like," said poor Sora, because he did. "So...I guess I'm not gonna be able to talk to Jasmine, huh." He sighed. "Oh well..."

"What's eatin' ya, little buddy?" Genie asked, poofing way too far into Sora's personal space again.

"Eep! Uh - well, nothing, it's just that I kinda thought the princess could write a letter of recommendation for me," Sora said sheepishly.

"You need a RECOMMENDATION? Well, why didn't you say so, pal!" Genie then dove right into a colorful, fast-paced musical number about Sora's awesomeness that rather delighted the boy, though when the flamboyant genie finally finished, Sora blinked and found himself back at square one.

'...Oh well. Better move on to the next world,' he decided, and headed back for the Gummi ship - that is, after being obliged to join Genie in some raucous Heartless-slaying, a humorous skit in which Genie played six out of nine roles, and some practical jokes on Iago.

"That was really great and all, but - I'm serious, Genie! I really have to go!"

When Sora had finally managed to extricate himself, he headed off to Traverse Town. Gepetto's house was dark and a little dusty, as if no one had been home for a while. After asking around, Sora discovered that the clockmaker was off searching for Pinocchio, who had given in to temptation again and run away in search of fun. Sora slipped a note under the front door just in case, then set out for Beast's Castle.

When he arrived, he was greeted enthusiastically by the servants, who treated him to lunch and another song-and-dance number, which Sora enjoyed. This was a good thing, since it meant that he was still feeling pretty cheerful when he discovered that Beast was off sulking somewhere and that Belle had apparently gone to look for him. "Hm...well, can you ask them to write a letter for me when they get back?"

"Of course, mon ami!"

"Thanks, guys." Sora smiled, knowing that he should probably go, but he was unable to help eyeing the vast dining table again. "Hey, you got any more of that gray stuff?"

The visit to the Land of Dragons was a little more encouraging. Although Mulan and Shang were away on a mission, the Emperor said that they were due back soon, and that he would pass along Sora's message. He also hinted that he might personally be able to contribute.

It was with slightly higher hopes that Sora finished the rounds at Yen Sid's tower, but neither the great magician nor the three good fairies had reappeared after providing Sora with the last adventure's exposition, instructions, and new clothes.

"I guess everyone's taking the chance to get their own errands and adventures out of the way before my new one starts up," Sora mused as he scribbled out a note. "Man, my timing must be lousy."

When the tired young hero returned to Radiant Garden, he grabbed a bar of ice cream as a pick-me-up and ambled over to Merlin's house. Then he nearly dropped it in surprise when he opened the door to find the Greek messenger god waiting for him (the wizard, perhaps fortunately, was not at home).

"Finally!" Hermes exclaimed, swooping up to the boy.

"Whoa!"

"Ahem! To Sora of Destiny Islands, from Philoctetes of Olympus Coliseum," Hermes announced ceremonially, presenting a scroll. "Though you know," he added more informally, sounding a little annoyed, "you shouldn't go world-hopping so much. I had the dickens of a time trying to find you, even with my divine powers!"

"Sorry." Sora eagerly unrolled the parchment and began to read it as Hermes disappeared.

In the message, Phil agreed to help, but only in one month's time, since that was when the current tournament would be over and at the moment he had his hands full with that. Unfortunately he had not been able to contact Auron, since the deceased warrior had not been seen since the last time the Keybearer had visited that world.

Sora was aghast at the thought of waiting a whole month, so he hoped fervently that someone, ANYONE, would respond sooner.

o.o.o.o.o

The next morning, Sora received an e-mail from Daisy Duck. Apparently the king was off on a mission with Donald and Goofy, and all three of them would be unreachable for an indefinite period of time. The queen had gone on a tour to oversee the realm in her husband's absence, and would be busy for at least the next week.

There was also a message from Dr. Finkelstein's address, which actually turned out to be from Jack Skellington (the mad scientist was the only one on that world with anything resembling a computer). This e-mail was only slightly more encouraging:

o.o.o

HELLO, SORA!

I AM SO HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU!

HALLOWEEN THIS YEAR WAS ABSOLUTELY MARVELOUS, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! YOU WOULD HAVE LOVED IT! :)

I GOT YOUR MESSAGE, AND I AM SO EXCITED TO HELP YOU OUT, SORA!

I'VE PLANNED A SPECIAL RECOMMENDATION FOR YOU, AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO WORK ON IT! I ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON IT BEFORE THE END OF THE WEEK, SO DON'T WORRY! I AM WORKING BOTH NIGHT AND DAY TO GET THIS READY FOR YOU! :) I WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS IT'S DONE! :)

BEST WISHES! HAPPY LATE HALLOWEEN, AND MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS!

SIGNED,

!JACK, THE PUMPKIN KING!

o.o.o

"Eek...somehow, I have a bad feeling about this," Sora laughed ruefully. "Good old Jack; good to hear from him, though."

He logged off and went to take a walk, then checked his e-mail again. Of course nothing had come in after so short a time, so he went to beat up some Heartless. When that did little to relieve frustration, he headed for Twilight Town to sign up for odd jobs, which unfortunately made the frustration worse instead of better.

"Look, kid, I'm not ripping you off," the latest employer said as he handed over Sora's pay.

"Huh? Oh, no, I wasn't mad at you," Sora assured him. "It's just - twenty posters in under thirty seconds! Seriously, it's impossible, even when you can fly! The ONE time I did it had to have been a fluke, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE I TELL YOU!"

"Whoa! I never said you had to do it in less than thirty seconds!"

"Not you, the cricket!"

The man gave him a very strange look, so Sora smiled at him and decided it was time to leave.

He went to Destiny Islands to see if spending time with Kairi would cheer him up, but he had forgotten that the school year had already started up again. Faced with a choice between getting chewed out for playing hooky for over a year (again, since he had already gotten a lecture when picking up his transcripts), or returning once more to Radiant Garden to check his e-mail, Sora picked the latter.

Nothing, except a chatty message from Olette. Which was fine, but it was not exactly what he needed at the moment.

"Why is this so hard?" he exclaimed. "I have, like, a billion friends, but I can only get one recommendation letter?" He logged out of his account with more violence than was strictly necessary in his grip on the mouse.

"Ouch!"

Sora blinked and peered at Cid's computer screen, which was wavering. "Huh?"

The display smoothed out, then dissolved into a blue background with a familiar face looking out of it. "Is something wrong, Sora?"

"Tron!" the boy cried happily. "Hi. Yeah...I mean, it's not a big deal, it's just that I'm having more trouble than I thought I would trying to get people to write recommendations for me."

"Ah - you need recommendations in order to apply for a job?" Tron sounded enthusiastic. "Do you think I could possibly give it a try? I've read thousands of them, and I've always wanted to write one myself."

"Really? You'd do that?" Sora cried gratefully.

"Of course! It would help you, and friends help each other, right?"

"You're the best, Tron!"

"The best, eh?" the computer program mused with a chuckle. "I'll get to work on it right away!"

"Great!" Sora said, feeling lighter than he had in days. He leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head, smiling.

"All right, I've written it! What do you think?"

Sora blinked and sat up again. "Huh? You wrote it already?"

"Yes! I apologize for taking so long, but I wanted to spend a few nano-seconds going over it again, just to make sure-"

"Tron, you're AMAZING!" Sora eagerly scanned the text of the letter that Tron put up on the screen for him. Then he ran yelling for Merlin, and dragged the wizard back to the house so that he could read the letter, too. "Isn't Tron AMAZING?"

"This certainly is impressive," the wizard admitted, tugging thoughtfully at his beard. "It...it rather makes it sound like you would be the greatest potential synthesis master in history, Sora."

"I know, right? Tron, I totally owe you!" Sora said happily. "Two down, two more to go!"

o.o.o.o.o

The last two letters came in the form of expensive-looking, sealed scrolls from the Land of Dragons a couple of days later. However, when Sora took his basket full of paperwork to the Synthesis Guild headquarters and proudly presented it, his hopes were dashed.

"What is this, kupo?"

Sora blinked. "What's what?"

"This," the Moogle insisted, holding out the elegant scrolls. They were both covered with lines of beautiful Chinese script.

"Uh...they're letters of recommendation from the Emperor of China and his best army captain," Sora said in confusion. "They're kind of pretty, don't you think?"

"Very nice calligraphy," the Moogle agreed, rolling up the scrolls again and thanking its stars for the new excuse it had found to not hire Sora. "However, the letters are in Chinese, kupo. We - er, that is, those of us stationed here at headquarters - are not fluent in that language. Do you have any replacement letters to fill the quota?"

Sora stared at the Moogle blankly. "You mean...I have to get two more letters?"

"That is correct, kupo," the Moogle said in a relieved rush. "It looks like...well, we can't find any fault with the rest of your application paperwork...but we do need two more legitimate letters of recommendation, kupo."

Sora swallowed. He had received a short note from Beast, which had promised to send a recommendation soon, but the Chinese ones had come in first. "Um...can you maybe give me a little more time?"

"No problem, kupo!"

"Okay. See you guys later." Sora trudged away, scuffing his shoes along the pavement.

His upbeat attitude was slipping, and Sora was feeling more depressed than he had since the last time Kairi had been kidnapped. Donald and Goofy were not here now to remind him to keep smiling no matter what. The bright light and hardworking atmosphere of Radiant Garden did not suit his mood, so on an impulse, he boarded a Gummi Ship and set sail for the World That Never Was.

The empty buildings and deserted streets, the hauntingly beautiful theme music, and the perpetual night sky lit by the remains of Kingdom Hearts were all strangely soothing. Sora smiled a little as he hopped on a skateboard and breezed past hordes of minor Heartless, heading for the castle. As he passed the holo-Moogle stationed at the edge of the glimmering bridge, Sora paused and stared for a long moment.

"May I help you, kupo?" the Moogle asked politely.

"...No," Sora said softly. "Not right now, thank you." He headed up into the castle.

Fighting Nobodies as he ascended was certainly more difficult than it had been when he had had friends at his side, but this was not the first time Sora had fought alone. He kept doggedly on until he had reached the Proof of Existence, its air inexplicably chilled with sadness and loss.

Sora looked around at the twelve grave-like portals. Apparently the Dusks had been busy since the Keybearer's last visit, for the place had been cleaned up and repaired somewhat, allowing Sora to do more exploring.

Luxord and Saïx seemed to have covered their rooms with illusion for the battles where they had met their ends, because Sora accidentally broke through and discovered that the chambers were actually not empty at all. Luxord's looked a little like the storage room of a casino, with card decks and piles of dice and dozens of clocks scattered among various gambling machines. Saïx had apparently been fond of chew toys.

For a while Sora happily distracted himself by going from room to room to investigate. He picked through Axel's video games, and then through the drawers of a room that seemed to have belonged to a woman. Some of the undergarments were rather mind-boggling, not that he realized they were undergarments at first.

Demyx's room was filled mostly with scattered sheet music and a tank full of decaying fish corpses (apparently the Dusks were not intelligent enough to realize that Demyx's orphaned pets would require feeding). There was another room that consisted of little more than a bed, a tidy library, and a desk with an inactive laptop on it, where nothing held Sora's interest except the bookcase full of manga.

One room was crowded with computers and laboratory equipment, the whole place giving Sora a bad feeling. He grimaced and tried another room, which turned out to be full of dead flowers. The odor of rotten roses hit his nose and gave Sora an even worse feeling, so he hurriedly went back out again.

Eventually he turned to the only portal that had not gone red. Sora laid his hand on the cold metal of the rebuilt gateway and paused a moment, looking at the weapons engraved on the threshold. Two Keyblades. The Key of Destiny. Feeling sad, he stepped through.

The room was completely devoid of personality, except for an old ice cream stick lying on the nightstand. Sora's heart sank as he looked around, and the emptiness made him suddenly tired. He lay down on the cold white bed and gazed at the gutted moon of Kingdom Hearts for a long time. Eventually he spoke, though mostly just to break the silence. "This is a disaster," he groaned. "I'm never gonna-"

He suddenly shot straight to his feet, a huge smile growing on his face. An absolutely brilliant idea had just occurred to him, one he could not believe he had not thought of before, considering where he was standing right this moment. "Hey...hey, Roxas!"

There was a long pause, and Sora worried that his Nobody could not hear him. Then, from within the depths of his own mind, came a very wary, "What?"

"Roxas! Yay, you can hear me!"

"I can hear you all the frickin' time. It's exhausting."

"Oh. Sorry. Anyway! Hey, Roxas, can you write me a letter of recommendation?"

There was a sense of incredulity. "You want me to write a letter of recommendation for you?"

"Yeah! It's perfect, I'm sure you know me better than anyone else does!"

"That's because I AM you, you dolt!"

Sora frowned. "So what's the problem?"

"...Sora, I'm not gonna write you a letter of recommendation."

"But why-? Oh! I see, you're worried because you're part of me now and can't really write anything yourself. Don't worry, Roxas! You can just tell me what you want to say, and I'll write it down for you."

The only reason Roxas did not argue further was because he did know Sora better than anyone else, and he knew that it would save a lot of time and headache to just give in to his "other" from the start. "Fine. But I'm warning you, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything."

o.o.o

Hi,

My name is Roxas, and I'm a former member of Organization XIII, as you can probably tell from the X in my name. As you can also probably tell from my name, if you take out the X and re-arrange the other letters, you get the name of my Other. That's right, I'm Sora's Nobody, which means that I know him better than anyone else does, and I know that he's really good at saving the worlds, making friends, helping people, and being a dork. Not in a bad way, though. His dorkyness is the kind that seems to make some people like him a lot. I don't really care, because I have more fans than he does, and anyway, I've got Naminé, who I, unlike a certain thickheaded Somebody, am not afraid to get reasonably sentimental with.

Anyway, Sora probably wrote in his rezumay that he defeated half of Organization XIII (I'm it's last surviving member, and I don't really count because for one thing I'm an ex-member, and for another thing I reunited with Sora), so obviously he's good at fighting. (Seriously though, don't ask me how. His arms are really spindly. More than mine.) He's also really, really good at making friends. This guy will make friends with every single person he lays eyes on, as long as they don't try to kill him or hurt his friends or something. Just ask pretty much anyone in any world. If you hire him, Sora will very soon be your friend, and the friend of everyone else he works with. Sora's also good at helping people. In fact, that's how he gets into trouble a lot. Take me, for instance. I wouldn't exist if Sora hadn't stabbed himself with a Keyblade to save Kairi and turned into a Heartless, so I guess I should be grateful that Sora is kind of dumb. Actually I'm not supposed to exist anyway because I'm a Nobody, but you know what I mean. Sora may not be very smart, but if you need help, he will do it, no questions asked. Including the question, "What would you like me to help you with?", which I really think he should start asking before he agrees to whatever it is people want him to do for them. I'm pretty sure he forgets a lot that I am part of him, and so I get dragged into whatever he decides to do.

Anyway, Sora is really good at hitting bad guys with a Keyblade, and he's really really friendly. You should probably hire him because if you don't, he won't stop bugging you about it.

Sinsirley,

Roxas, The Key of Destiny

o.o.o

"Hey, I'm not a dork," Sora said indignantly.

"Excuse me, but do you, or do you not, run around the woods playing games with stuffed animals, at age fifteen?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Or laugh at Goofy's jokes?"

"Of course I do, they're funny!"

"Or sing cheesy songs with mermaids?"

"You also said my arms are spindly! And that I'm not very smart!"

"If I had just 10 munny for each time you and your doofy friends stand around, adopting poses of deep concentration before you finally realize the painfully obvious..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I told you at the beginning. No sugarcoating."

Sora shook his head and decided to drop the issue. "Oh well, at least I've got one more recommendation!" He looked happily at the letter he had just written with his hand but not with his own brain. "Thanks so much, Roxas! You're the best Nobody ever! Except when you say I'm dumb."

"Thanks," was the dry response. Then, "...You need one more of these things, right?"

Sora sighed. "Yeah. I guess I'll just have to wait for Beast to-"

"Get out another piece of paper."

"Huh?"

"Just do it. Gives me a nice chance to talk to him again, anyway."

o.o.o

To Whom It May Concern:

I am Axel, Number VIII of Organization XIII. This letter shouldn't really exist, since for one thing I'm a Nobody and therefore I don't exist, and also I'm currently stranded in the Realm of Darkness waiting to get rescued in Kingdom Hearts III. However, since Roxas is such a good friend of mine, I decided to do him a favor and write him a letter of recommendation even though I'm not really in a fit state to do so.

Roxas is a great guy. He makes Nobodies like me think we have hearts again. When Roxas is around, you feel like life has meaning again. He's also really dependable. Like, when it's his turn to buy the ice cream for everyone, he always remembers and he never cops out like I do. He's also really determined to do the "right thing", like when he grew a conscience and left the Organization, or when he killed his other best friend in order to save the world or something.

Also, you can ask Naminé, I'm sure she has lots of nice things to say about Roxas too.

So my point is, Roxas is great, which means that somewhere deep inside, his Other (Sora) is probably worth hiring.

Regards,
Axel
Number VIII, Flurry of Dancing Flames

o.o.o

Sora stared at what he had just written. "You killed your own friend?"

"...I really don't want to talk about it."

"But how could you do something like that?"

"I SAID I REALLY DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT."

"Um, okay." Sora frowned. "And what does Axel mean by getting rescued? You mean he's not really dead?"

There was the faint impression of a smile. "You're me, Sora. That means you'll figure it out eventually. We'll be waiting."

o.o.o.o.o

The Moogles looked up in horror as Sora came bursting through the doors of the shop, waving two pieces of silvery paper with glowing blue print. "I got them! I got the last two letters of recommendation!" He threw them down on the counter in front of the head Moogle and waited breathlessly.

The Moogles all looked at each other, wanting to cry.

"These aren't really the best letters," one of them pointed out helpfully, after scanning the sheets of paper. "Quite unprofessional."

"Oh - guess I should've had Merlin edit them first," Sora realized. "I'll be right back!" He reached for the Nobodies' letters, but the head Moogle stopped him.

"Wait, kupo." It sighed heavily. "Listen, Sora. It deeply pains me to have to say this, kupo, but we can't...um...we're not..."

Sora's eyes were very wide and very, very adorable.

"We, uh..."

"It's no use, Boss," another Moogle said in a small voice. "We have to hire him. We have no defense against the Puppy Eyes."

"Really?" Sora exclaimed. "You'll let me be an apprentice? W00T!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the doors swept open again, admitting three well-known figures.

"Your Majesty! Donald! Goofy!" Sora cried joyously. "Look, I got a job!"

"Sorry, Sora," Mickey said seriously. "We've got important work to do."

"Huh?"

"A-hyuk! Hi there, Sora!" Goofy called.

"We're gonna go on another adventure!" Donald added excitedly. "You ready to fight some more Heartless and Nobodies, Sora?"

Sora stared at them. "Uh...well, see, I just..."

"Kupo! Good luck on your journey!" the Moogles were all cheering. "Be sure to visit us any time you need items synthesized!"

"Um, Your Majesty, is there any chance I could stay just a little longer and start my apprenticeship before going on another adventure?"

"There's no time, Sora! The worlds need you! Everyone's counting on you - you're not gonna let 'em down, are you?"

Sora clenched his hands a little and bowed his head. Then, suddenly straightening, he smiled and summoned his Keyblade so that he could pose with it. "Of course not," he said confidently. "Lead on, Your Majesty! Let's go save the worlds again!"

"Together!" Donald proclaimed.

"A-hyuk!"

Sora smiled and held out his hand. "All for one and one for all. Right?"

Three more hands were laid over his. "RIGHT!"

So Sora set out on a new adventure, and he only looked back once.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: I got the idea for this during a frustrating job search, where I relieved stress by playing video games. The idea of Sora trying to write a résumé and other Kingdom Hearts characters writing letters of recommendation for him struck me as hilarious. XD I constructed the rest of the story in order to not offend FanfictionDotNet's INCREDIBLY DELICATE sensibilities, but in this case, I think it actually turned out much better that way, rather than just the résumé and recommendations with no context.

Although my own job search didn't go exactly the way Sora's did, a lot of it was similar, lol. (I did, by the way, eventually get hired a few days ago, long after I wrote the first draft of this story.)

Almost everything in this fic works with canon, but there are a few small discrepancies I couldn't resolve. Hopefully they aren't too big a deal.

Heh, for Sora's first attempt at a cover letter, most of it is what Microsoft Word actually offered me when I curiously put the initial draft through spell-check. :p

The recommendation letters by Roxas and Axel, btw, have some intentional errors in them to keep their writing style in-character.

Poster Duty - it's one of the two requirements I was unable to fulfill when trying to complete Jiminy's Journal. (The other was meeting the goal for the Titan Paradox Cup.) However, when I was looking it up to make sure I got the information right for this fic, I found a YouTube video that shows someone acing the stupid thing - five times. -_- Guess I'll memorize one of those routes and try it again, even though I was convinced it's an impossible task...