Sora looks out over the waves, gently crashing into the shore of Destiny Island's smallest landmass. To the seventeen year old, it's the perfect place, as beautiful and pristine now as it was during his childhood. Closing his eyes, he takes in a deep lungful of sea air.

Once upon a time, this place had seemed so small to him. Not only this islet itself, but his entire world. He and his friends had longed to go beyond it, explore what else the universe had to offer.

But he was younger then, ignorant of just how comforting a small existence could be. Sora's world had been taken from underneath him, a legendary weapon and grand adventure put in its place. Thus his longing reversed itself, and all he had wanted was to return home.

It had been a long, grueling struggle of over a year. Along the way he had faced unfamiliar new situations, and monsters of all kinds. He'd made new friends, experienced the betrayal then redemption of an old one, and even found love in a girl that had been his friend.

But only months ago he had returned home, triumphant and happy. What followed may have been deemed boring by some, but Sora had relished the chance for things to be normal. After all of his hardship, the Keyblade wielder was just glad to finally be home.

And now today, for the first time since his return, he is leaving once again. Thankfully, he gets to skip the destruction and devastation part this time.

"You look happy," Kairi says as she walks up the beach to him.

He turns to give his girlfriend, also the (relatively amateur) owner of a Keyblade and one of seven Princesses of Heart, a wide grin. She smiles right back, her deep blue eyes lighting up.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he replies, looking up into the bright blue sky once again. "It feels like it's been forever since I saw Azlyn and Telary."

The pair in question had been his staunchest allies during his journey to defeat darkness and return home. Loyal servants of King Mickey of Disney Castle (though they'd actually been thieving fugitives when he'd first me them), the pair were his best friends. Or his non-Destiny Islands best friends, at least.

"I mean, sometimes I talk to them on that video chat the king set up for us," he continues. "But it just isn't the same as actually having them with me, y'know?"

"Mmm," is all Kairi has to say to that.

"It's just kind of strange, I gotta say." The Keyblade wielder begins pacing up and down the beach, rambling all the while. "I go from living with them on a small Gummi ship, flying from world to world and battling evil, to having to see if they're available for a fancy phone call. As much of an adjustment as always being around those two was, it's just as hard to be without them y'know?"

"I bet."

Sora frowns, turning to look analytically at Kairi. The first thing he notices, of course, is that she looks absolutely beautiful. He's always thought that, of course, but today she seems even more radiant. She's dressed in a purple off-the shoulder dress with a flowing skirt down to just above her knees, her long auburn hair tied back in a bun. Her shoes are short heels that perfectly match the rest of the ensemble.

But beyond simple beauty, the girl seems off somehow. Something in her eyes, maybe. They're definitely less shining and enthusiastic than they normally are. Her arms are crossed, the fingers of one hand tapping against the opposite elbow.

"Are you okay?" he asks, approaching with a concerned frown.

Kairi tilts her head to one side, eyes wandering like they always do when she's in deep thought.

"I feel fine," she replies after a minute. "I just… Well." Silence follows, whatever the girl was going to say kept off her tongue. She just stands on the beach, fingers tapping.

"Kairi…" Sora says softly, walking up to her and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong? If I didn't know better, I'd say you look kinda nervous."

The redhead averts her eyes, thinking again. After a moment, she looks back at him. "I guess maybe that's it."

"Oh." Sora steps back, frowning as he thinks on his girlfriend's words. They don't seem to make any sense, which is so unlike Kairi his mind is already jumping to 'clone/robot' theories. "Is it about the wedding? I know it's royal and fancy and all, but I don't…"

"The wedding is fine," Kairi interrupts, letting her arms drop to her sides. "I'm actually really excited about that. Not just the whole royal thing, but also meeting Aladdin and Jasmine."

Sora can't help but grin a bit at the mention of his special friends from Agrabah. The desert world had been one of his favorite places to visit, and that certainly hadn't been the case because of his deep fondness for sand. He, along with Azlyn and Telary, had become friends with Aladdin and his bride-to-be (who also happened to be the kingdom's princess) very quickly.

Well, it seemed to Sora that he became friends with almost everyone he met very quickly. But Aladdin somehow held a special place in his heart. Probably because the two are so alike in morality and attitude.

"They're gonna love you," he tells Kairi, hoping to maybe quell her nerves just a bit. "Why wouldn't they, you're awesome!"

Kairi giggles, ducking her head. "Yeah, thanks Sora." When she looks up, all traces of mirth are gone. In their place is that same apprehension. "But, once again, it isn't them I'm nervous about."

"Genie, then?" The big blue lug, a formerly all-powerful wish granting being whose powers were now reduced to flashy displays and bizarre transformations into people and things no one understood, could be a bit disorienting. But Sora thought he'd prepared his girlfriend well enough for those antics. "Or is it the sultan? Because hey, I've never met him either…"

Kairi sighs, loudly enough to curtail the Keybearer's reassuring rant.

"It's not anything like that," she says after a second of visibly gathering her courage. "It's actually, uh… Oh, never mind!"

"Kairi, please just…"

"It's Azlyn and Telary, okay!" the redhead blurts finally.

Sora tilts his head, shocked and confused. "What do you mean by that? You know Azlyn and Telary super well! Heck, Tel's your brother!"

"That's the problem." Heaving another heavy sigh, Kairi turns away. A moment later, she turns back. "We don't know how to act around each other!"

"That's ridiculous!" Sora argues, not noticing how that just makes his girlfriend's eyes narrow. "You seemed fine when we…"

"When we were battling hordes of evil creatures in a race to save the universe," she interrupts, hands on her hips. "Interaction is easy when you've only got a few seconds to talk before you're in danger again. After that…"

"You didn't seem so awkward when they left for Disney Castle again. You two had a very nice hug, I remember."

"That was fine." Kairi idly kicks at a small mound of sand the wind had just finished piling up. "We said we'd talk again, through the video link." A deep breath. "Well, we tried that. Twice."

"Not good?" Sora asks, as if the answer isn't apparent.

The Princess of Heart shakes her head firmly. "Some 'hi, how are you' stuff, one or two attempts to talk about the past that neither of us remember very well, and a whole lotta silence."

Sora frowns. "You didn't talk about the wedding?"

The Keybearer isn't referring to Al and Jasmine's wedding now, but rather Azlyn and Telary's upcoming nuptials. Along with being Sora's staunch companions, the pair had been best friends since the days they'd both lived in Radiant Garden with Kairi. During Sora's last adventure to defeat Organization XIII, the pair had finally announced their feelings for one another and subsequently gotten engaged.

Secretly, Sora gave himself the credit for getting the whole ball rolling. Not that he'd tell either of his friends that, of course.

"Only in the general 'things are happening' sense," Kairi answers with a shrug. "I don't know, maybe it's just something that'll pass after a while. I think that maybe there's just this one big roadblock, and if we can figure out how to get past that…"

"You will," Sora says, beaming his best smile at the girl he loves. He goes to her and takes her hand. "No matter how awkward things are now, you two are family. Remember that, and you can get through anything."

Kairi returns the smile, but hers is thin. She supposes it can't hurt to think like that, though Sora is admittedly prone to relentless positivity bordering on naiveté. In this case, that may be just what she needs.

"And if things keep being weird, just make sure to stick around with me," the boy continues. "It's just too bad Riku couldn't come. Well, won't come. I just think he's being silly."

"I dunno, Sora," Kairi says with a slight shrug. "I think 'never go to the wedding of anyone you've ever kidnapped' isn't the worst policy in the world."

The Keybearer shrugs. "Whatever, I guess. His loss."

Any further conversation is cut off by a buzzing in Sora's pocket. Immediately his eyes light up, and he draws out a small plastic box. It's a transmitter, designed to signal that Azlyn and Telary's Gummi ship is approaching.

"Oh man, yes!" Sora basically sings, smiling down at the little device like it's the best Christmas present ever. "This is gonna be great!"

"Uh huh," Kairi agrees halfheartedly.

"Plus, I can finally get back at them for all their intense PDA!" He turns to Kairi with an exaggerated look of disgust. "Seriously, you should be glad you missed most of it. Whenever they thought I wasn't looking, they'd just be all over each other. Well, wait until they get a load of what being disgustingly in love looks like from the other side!"

Two flashes of light blink into existence on the sand in front of Sora and Kairi. As they begin to coalesce into twin beams, then a pair of bodies, Sora flings his arms out wide. Surely Azlyn and Telary have been waiting for one of his famous hugs for a long time now.

"…Which is just gonna make us look stupid!"

The transportation sequence ends, Azlyn and Telary now standing on the island in the flesh.

Azlyn, her blonde hair still worn long around her shoulders, wears a short-sleeved blue dress in two pieces, her navel exposed above the long skirt. Telary is wearing a basic black suit and tie, with his red hair closely cropped to his head.

Neither of the pair seem to even notice Sora, too busy arguing.

"For the last time, it is a perfectly serviceable gift!" Telary shoots back, throwing his arms wide in exasperation. "From one castle to another…"

"Makes us look like we come from a cheap kingdom!" Azlyn yells, fists clenched tightly. She turns to Sora and Kairi, barely noting the fact that the Keybearer's arms are still spread wide. "What are you two gonna give Al and Jasmine?"

"Huh?" Sora replies, letting his arms drop to his sides.

"Now that is just a terribly rude question!" Telary snaps at his fiancée. "You can't just…"

Azlyn rolls her eyes. "I know, I know. I'm just this loud, obnoxiously rude…"

"Don't go putting words in my mouth, I never said anything of the sort."

"Oh, but I can tell you're always thinking it!"

Sora has had enough of this. Placing both hands on his hips, the Keybearer yells, "HEY!"

Azlyn and Telary freeze mid-argument, turning toward their friend. After a moment, Telary's expression morphs into a sheepish grin.

"Uh, sorry about that," the wizard apologizes, scratching guiltily at the back of his head. "We just… There was kind of a…"

"Aw, who the hell cares anyway?" Azlyn cuts in. Without another word, she steps up to wrap Sora in her arms.

That at least seems to break the tension, and soon the two pairs are exchanging greetings. Hugging Azlyn is nice, if so tight it's nearly painful. Sora hardly minds, well used to the blonde girl's manner by now. After the knight steps back, Sora closely observes Kairi and her brother's hug. Seeing it, he can hardly keep from wincing. It seems the awkwardness wasn't just in his girlfriend's head.

When partners are exchanged, Sora allows Telary to fully draw him in. The tall wizard's embrace is as warm and gentle as the man himself, lasting maybe a few moments longer than is strictly "manly". But, that's just Telary. When the hug is over, Sora almost laughs at seeing Kairi rubbing her back with a small frown.

"Okay, now that that's over," Azlyn says, ignoring the frown from her counterpart. "Seriously, what are you guys bringing?"

Thankfully Telary chooses to not say anything this time, only stepping back with his arms crossed.

Sora reaches into his outfit's pouch, drawing out a yellow star-shaped fruit. "We decided to go symbiotic."

Kairi rolls her eyes, gently taking the paopu away from the Keybearer. "He means symbolic. You know the legend."

Azlyn nods. She turns back to Telary and, in her first non-hostile interaction with the man that Sora has seen, says, "Well, I guess we won't end up giving them the cheapest gift, eh?"

"What's this present of yours anyway?" Sora asks before Telary seizes his scolding opportunity.

"A very nice serving bowl," the wizard says. Azlyn makes a face, but he either doesn't notice or isn't willing to engage at the moment.

Sora nods. He hardly sees how such a small thing could cause the pair's enormous argument. Noticing the lingering tension, he decides it could use some breaking.

"So, did you steal this bowl?" he asks with a grin. "Or do you just do Gummi ships?"

Telary smiles, and Azlyn gives a little sort of amusement.

"Piss off, Sora," the knight says with a fond eye roll.

"It was a favorite of the king's," Telary explains, with a grin. "But Queen Minnie apparently has some new china she wants to start using, and the bowl just doesn't fit in. So she gave it to me and told me to put it somewhere the king will never find it."

"Well, should we get going?" Kairi asks. Sora nearly jumps, before guiltily realizing that he'd pretty much forgotten that his girlfriend was even present.

Telary looks over Sora with a frown. "Wait a minute. You aren't just wearing that are you?"

"Honestly, Tel!" Sora scoffs playfully. Closing his eyes, he concentrates. Light surrounds his current, casual outfit. After a moment it fades, leaving behind a suit very similar to Telary's. The benefits of wearing clothes made magically by fairies are many.

"We're all ready then," Telary says, grinning. "Good. Let's get a move on, shall we?"

Well folks, here we are! The official next story in the Keys to the Kingdom universe. I put in quite a bit of setup here for the main interpersonal conflicts of this story, so we're all ready for Disney-movie-and-Heartless mayhem in the next chapter. I know it may be upsetting for all of you to see Azlyn and Telary fighting like this, but c'mon, it was pretty much inevitable. and I assure you, everything will work out for the best.

Anyway, even though this was just a setup prologue chapter, I hope everyone's excited for what's gonna happen next! Until then, I wish you all the best!