To the annoyance of several it was another day at the least before Soul Society came into contact again. Kairi had gone off with Mickey to help him in his tasks, Donald and Goofy went back home to straighten things out with the other pilots and engineers for more ships if needed, while Sora and Riku went to Radiant Garden to talk to Cid and Leon. They made preparations under the assumption that they would get no help from the Soul Reapers, while having the necessary plans and resources ready to the side for quicker gathering if they could help. Even if just Ichigo was allowed to go and they could only use one ship, Sora would take it and go without hesitation. Merlin was trying a few spells to see if he could find the new nobody that way, but had determined he was out of range. That at least put the nearby worlds out of the running, and they thanked the wizard for his help.

"Man, all this stuff about Keyblade Wars and crap goes right over my head." Axel grumbled, he had decided after the big fight he would stay at Radiant Garden to help out for now since unlike Demyx he had no real reason to stay with the Soul Reapers. "I had no idea Xemnas had plans like that for Kingdom Hearts, he always just went on about restoring everything to what it was supposed to be."

"It looks like that meant purging everything in darkness." Riku said to the Fie Nobody with a scowl.

"No kidding, I'm both surprised and not, because he never told us much but he definitely seemed crazy enough."

"Any chance you know places Toshiro might have gone?" Sora cut in with a question.

"Don't look at me, you knew him way better, I was just trying to get back at them for Roxas, got it memorized?"

"Yen Sid thinks he might go somewhere with no people, or at least somewhere that could handle his powers so he doesn't hurt anyone." Riku offered a hint, hopeful.

"Isolation, huh? Sorry guys, we avoided the natives in general, I wouldn't know anywhere he might try to hide for something like that." Axel shrugged and the other two slumped, giving up for now.

"Sounds like a tough journey ahead." Cloud spoke up. Everyone seemed to be gathered in Merlin's place, except for Cid who was busy working elsewhere on their request. Tifa, Yuffie and Aerith were nearby Cloud, with Leon just a bit away, and Merlin himself at his table.

"Yeah, but we have to get him back." Sora's determination on the topic never wavered, only the method of how to find Toshiro made him nervous.

"You will, I'm sure of it." Aerith responded in her sweet tone.

"And you'll get to make new friends along the way." Tifa added on with a smile.

"Oh, hey, what if you tried to find him using Hyorinmaru?' Axel piped up, an idea coming to him.

"The problem then is finding Hyorinmaru." Riku pointed out. "We got separated from him fighting Xemnas, there's no way to know where he went."

"A fair idea though, considering his behavior is still submissive to his other half, unlike most Heartless, he is undoubtedly finding his way back to his side as we speak." Merlin stated, his head nodding as if to agree with his own thoughts. "But following him would have required being at his side the moment he began his search, which was impossible. However…"

Everyone turned expectedly to the old wizard, waiting to hear his answer. Sensing all the eyes on him, Merlin looked up from his musings.

"Now look here, staring doesn't make the mind think any faster." He huffed.

"But we want to know if there's a way to find him!" Sora argued.

"There is a possibility of tracking the dragon's trail, but that's only if he left one. As a Heartless, he can travel easily through darkness, if he does so exclusively it would be impossible."

"How could you track him?" Cloud asked, curious.

Merlin hobbled over with an attitude of 'why isn't this obvious' right up to Sora.

"You have his Keyblade power, don't you?" The wizard poked at Sora's chest. Nodding, the brunette held up the four-pointed star keychain. "That right there is your way finder for Hyorinmaru AND Hitsugaya, let that Keyblade be your guide and try to follow the trail the dragon took. It won't be easy, especially if he travelled through the darkness like I mentioned, but it should help."

"Thanks Merlin!" Sora's excitement was through the roof with this new breakthrough.

"It's too bad he wasn't nearby, but that's all we have to go on for now, I used that keychain as a center for my searching magic."

At that moment, Cid walked back in, stopping their conversation for now.

"Alright kids, ship is ready when you are." The old pilot grinned.

Almost as if following some unknown signal, the phone in Sora's pocket began to ring loudly. It was the one Yoruichi had given them, held by Sora for now since he was the unofficial leader for the search party. The young Keybearer was in such a hurry to answer the ring he almost dropped the device twice before he managed to get it open and answer.

"Hello?"

"Sora? Get back here as soon as you can, kid, we're going on a rescue mission."

The brunette beamed, letting the others nearby who couldn't hear relax as it was no doubt they had good news.

"You got it!"

And elderly looking man stood at the highest point, looking down at the chaos below with a sneer. Several were looking back up at him with scowls. Despite his appearance, he was anything but weak, and he had several at his side capable of fighting for him. So far, everything was going just fine. This world's people were strong, very strong, but that didn't change the fact that he would be in possession of the ultimate power; Kingdom Hearts. No matter what got thrown in the way, he could still get there.

"Xehanort!" It was one of the men that had been sheltering the target of his goals, one of the… pirates, if he remembered right. The world was riddled with them, just as much a plague as any Heartless, but somehow the Heavenly Guardian had come to travel with them and, dare he say it, become friends.

Not that it mattered, Toshiro Hitsugaya was within his grasp, a collar once more around his neck, emotionless and obedient at his side.

Above the world, the shining Kingdom Hearts beamed down on them all, darkness eating away at its edges. One of the pirates was trying to get closer, a special ability he had the only threat Xehanort saw fit to avoid, sending one of his comrades to stop him.

Everything was going just fine.

And yet, as seemed to be common, something went wrong.

Namely, a ship soaring through the skies right towards the battlefield.

"We found you, Toshiro!" Sora cheered, steering the Gummi Ship down towards the ocean filled world.

Xehanort smirked.

Well this would be way more fun.

So, first off, I want to thank anyone who still has this in their followed stories or what not, and had the patience to keep it there and not give up on me. I thank those who sent me encouraging messages and eager for more comments as well, coming back after these years to see those warmed my heart after everything that has been happening to me over the years. I don't want to go into too much detail, as that would make me seem desperate for attention, but one thing had basically stacked on top of another until I had no energy or motivation left to continue anything. MY boyfriend has been a huge help getting my confidence back and I set some boundaries with the people who had, for a good year or two, destroyed any motivation I had to write as they demanded my attention for roleplays and characters I didn't much care for but felt obligated to do because she had no one else. I've also lost several members of my family and my mom is in poor condition, so I needed to take time to overcome that grief. And college is, well, college, i'm sure many readers know the struggles, so i'll just leave that as is.

I truly thank anyone who has stuck with this story from the beginning. And to new readers, I hope you enjoyed, and ignore the rant above as it wouldn't really affect you. Just know that there is more to come, and once I catch up on some things for college, I can hopefully feel confident in posting those too.

Thank you and enjoy.