Riku put a hand on Sora's shoulder and pulled. As they walked away, they heard Emi turn to Karen and ask "Are you okay?" But then Karen did something surprising. She pushed Emi away and screamed "Wait!"
Sora stopped and turned around. In front of him, Riku did the same. Karen stood in front of a surprised Emi, her eyes pleading. "Please," she begged. "You can tell me stuff about my family?" "Well, no," admitted Sora. Karen wilted and Emi sneered. "But," he added quickly. "We can take you to a place where we could find something."

Karen thought, quirking her lips and putting her hand to her forehead. "You aren't just messing with me are you?" she asked. "No, never," said Sora. "I couldn't lie about something this important." Karen looked over at Emi expectantly. "Nooo," said Emi, shaking her hands and head. "No way." She was surprised Karen would even ask, even though she hadn't said a word. They were friends like that... capable of comunicating without the use of words. That was one of the tests of true friendship.

They were interuppted by footsteps coming from around the corner. "Aw, crap," said Emi, grabbing Karen's sleeve. After a small pull, they took off running, and Sora went after them. Riku huffed and rolled his eyes, running after his compulsive, brunette friend.

Emi and Karen ran fast, really fast. They reached a drain pipe and Karen nimbly scaled it, flinging herself into a second-floor window. Emi was about to start climbing when Sora turned the corner. "Go away," she hissed as Riku caught up. She turned her back to them to climb, looking up and squinting against the light from their room. Karen waved her off from the window. "Let them up, Emi. What if the headmistress finds them outside our window?"

Emi ground her teeth and muttered "Fine." She scaled the pipe. Sora followed and Riku took up the back.
They all tumbled into Karen and Emi's room. Karen dashed over to the light switch and flicked it off. Emi scrambled to her bed, climbing in and pulling the covers over her head. She stepped on Riku's fingers on the way there. Riku sat up on his knees, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his crushed hand to his chest. "Holy crap," he hissed in pain. "Shut up," said Emi and Karen, simultaneously.

Karen insisted from her bed that they go hide in the closet. So they did. Riku held his injured hand as they ran. Sora and Riku huddled together in Karen's closet. They were orginally going to hide in Emi's closet because it was closer, but they'd been turned out by the drums. From inside the closet, they heard bedsprings and floorboards squeak. Emi muttered. "Crap. Seifer," and she walked to the window. She didn't even bother being cute anymore. "Go away, Seifer," she yelled. But from the sound of it, he didn't obey her. A very bad choice on his part.

Seifer stood below the window. Emi planted her hands on the window sill and leaned out. "I've been thinking about you ever since you ran off," he yelled. "I think about you all the time!" "Darn it, Seifer, yamete! Cut it out," Emi yelled back. "Don't make me spit on you."

"Come on," called Seifer, hitting his knees. Emi rolled her eyes. This was turning into some sort of warped Romeo and Juliet. "Please. We can make this work! I need you!" "No, you don't," Emi yelled. "You just got a taste of me and now you're coming back for more. Go. Away." She slammed the window shut, the pane protesting. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

Karen sat up in her bed and gave a small giggle. "'You just got a taste of me and now you're coming back for more'? What sort of.... what?" she asked, laughing. Emi laughed sarcastically and walked over to the closet. She opened it and stepped backwards as the two boys tumbled out. Sora looked up and her and Emi leaned down. "When are you leaving?" she asked.

They all sat on Karen's bed and talked. Sora had to explain everything. Their two years of adventures, hearts and keyholes and doors and darkness and light... all with Riku's help of course. Emi was her usual cynical self. She sat with her back poker staight against the headboard, arms crossed.

But Karen ate it up. She listened to Sora's stories with wide eyes, an eager smile spreading across her face. "And, this is all true?" she asked. Sora nodded. "Can I see...oh, what was it? A key...blade? Can I see it?" "Uh, sure," said Sora. He hopped off the bed and ran off into the middle of the room.
In a huge, melodramtic show that made both Riku and Emi roll their eyes, Sora summoned his Kingdom Key keyblade. It appeared in his hands in a sparkle of light. Karen's heart raced. Even Emi sat up, surprised. But for Karen, it was different. Her fingers tingled peculiarly, excited.

"Wow," she breathed. She slid off the bed slowly and Sora put his arm down, smiling. Karen walked over and Sora held his hand out, offering her the giant key. Karen ran her hand across the silver shaft of the Keyblade, her eyes shining. Sora offered it to her again, and this time she took it, holding it front of her. For a split second, the keyblade changed. Only Karen and Sora seemed to notice, though. The keyblade turned all silver and the shaped morphed. There were streaks of blue in it, but then it went back to Sora and turned to it's original self.

Karen looked wide-eyed at Emi, over her shoulder, smiling. Emi's green eyes were wide, too, unable to believe what had just taken place. "He," she stammered. "He just pulled that out of thin air!" Karen stuck her tongue out at her friend. "He's not lying," she said, as a-matter-of-factly.

Karen looked back at Sora. "So...you'll really take me to find my parents?" Sora frowned. "I can't garauntee we'll find them, but we should defienitly find something about them." Karen nodded. "Okay. It's better then nothing... and who knows? Maybe we will find them. But... I do have one question? How do we get there?"

Sora frowned again and shrugged. He walked her to the bed, the keyblade dissolving in his hand. "I don't know, actually. But, there is one more, teeny-tiny thing I sort of...forgot about," he said, wincing. He looked at Riku, sitting on the foot of the bed, and back at Karen, who had crawled acorss the bed to sit against her friend. Her head rested on Emi's shoulder. Sora didn't know how to tell them without totally shocking them.

He was already pushing it with all this other stuff. But they would have to find out sooner or later.
Emi looked at him intensely, but with a different intensity than Karen. She had the clearest, bluest eyes... Sora realized he'd only seen eyes like that on four other people. Kairi, Namine, himself and...Roxas. "How can I explain this and you'll believe me?" he asked, putting his hands on the bed and leaning over. Riku twisted around and looked straight into Emi's eyes.
"You're lving inside a computer," he said, bluntly.

Suddenly, he found himself on the floor, laying on his stomach. He was pinned to the floor by the back of his head, his nose pushed into the floor. "What...sort...of...crap...is...that?" hissed Emi, who was sitting on his back. She was sort of heavy. Sora whirled towards them and Karen crawled to the edge of his bed. "
"I'm not lying," insisted Riku, his voice muffled by the rug. "I'll show you...if..you get off...me," he added, gasping for breath. Emi got off of him, but hovered, looking down at him with her hands planted firmly on her hips. Sora turned to Karen and pleaded. "Please. You have to believe us. The King told us you were very, very important to the world...s. Worlds."

Karen swallowed. "Me?" she said. "Important... worlds? There are...more than one?" Her voice grew higher until she was almost squeaking. Sora nodded vigourously. "I'll take you to them, if you don't believe me! So many, many worlds, and they're all so different from this one! Riku and I are from a different world, and the King and Donald and Goofy are from another and..."

"There are so many plans to make. Loose ends to tie. School, classes... Karen! You have dance lessons and I have band and...therapy! And...the headmistress!" ranted Emi. Well, admitted Emi to herself. I wouldn't mind being rid of all those things...and Seifer... but...but... "We'll take care of it," said Riku. He was crouching on one knee. Emi pursed her lips at him, huffing. Karen shook her head but said "Yes. We shouldn't worry about it." "Please," pleaded Sora.

Karen looked up. She said, quite adruptly, "Okay, I'll do it. I'll come with you." Emi's jaw dropped. "What?" she said in disbelief. "W-why?" Karen smiled gently, speaking to her friend but looking at a relieved, grinning Sora. "Because these fine young men need my help," she said,

Emi slapped her foreheas a total of five times, regretting already what she was about to say. "I can't let you go, not alone. And, Seifer... I'll be glad to be rid of him. So, I guess... I'm coming too. I'm not asking. I AM going."

She collapsed into the bean bag chair for the second time that night, holding her head, unable to believe all this. Sora looked at Riku. Riku nodded and walked to the window, flinging it open. Sora turned to the two girls. "So, you two get some rest and we'll be back in a while. Then, we can all go to the real Twlight Town.
Karen sat on her bed, swinging her long dancer's legs. "The real Twilight Town... that is SO weird." Riku climbed out of the window and with a jaunty wave, Sora followed.

The two girls talked as they got ready for bed. Emi was in her favorite pajams, plaid flannel pants and a tank top. She lay on her bed on her stomach, her hands tucked under her sharp chin. Karen was in the bathroom, unneedingly washing her perfect face with a wash cloth. Emi played with the hoop earring in the upper part of her ear, pushing the little green bead around.

"So," she said with a yawn. "You really think you'll find some stuff about your folks. Lucky, lucky you. You really trust them?" Karen folded the cloth and hung it over the faucet. As she straightened her tooth brush in the cup and walked to her bed, she reassured her friend. "Sora has... and air of honesty around him. I really don't think he would lie about something like this."
She climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. "I'm glad you decided to come with us, Emi." Emi rolled her eyes, but laughed and smiled. She flicked off the lamp and they lay in the dark. "I couldn't let you go alone. You and two hot boys? Pfft... couldn't let you have all the fun."

Sora and Riku were sitting on the roof of the school. "So, what do you think?" asked Sora. "I think this is weird. But Karen seems nice she reminds me of... Anyway, that Emi girl is a bit violent though." Sora laughed and Riku shook his hurting hand. "I like them," said Sora, leaning back. Like Riku, Karen reminded him of somebody. She reminded him of Kairi. He looked up into the night sky and noticed there were no stars.

"Huh," he said, a little chuckle. He looked at Riku. "Get some rest. We're gonna need it," he said. Riku turned on his side. "Can't believe I'm sleeping on a roof," he mumbled and closed his eye.
Sora waited until Riku's breathing was slow and steady before he closed his eyes. "Kairi," he breathed, and then fell asleep.

When Karen Kano's cell phone rang for the second time that night, she smirked. What was wrong with Emi now? She was probably calling to complain about kissing Seifer. It couldn't have been that bad, thought Karen as she grasped her little black cell phone in her hand. "Hey," she answered. "Hey," said Emi. "There are two cute boys looking for you. What do you want me to do?"

Karen bit her lip. "Uh, I don't know. It's past curfew. Strange boys. You can't bring home," she said, twisting one of the long strands of hair that framed her face around her finger. "Okay. Let's meet in the courtyard by the fountain. And don't worry. If these yahoos try anything, I have my drumsticks."

There was a small silence and Karen giggled, imagining Emi giving those poor boys her death glare, which was about as efficient as that torture device thing on Star Wars. "I swear, I'll beat the crap out of them," she added, for good measure. "Ooookay, Emi. See you in a second," "Right. See you in a sec," said Emi. Karen hung up and finished her piece of taffy.

She got out her swirly chair and slipped into her boots. She shoved her phone in the pocket of her skirt and ran a comb through her hair. "What are two cute boys looking for me for?" she asked herself. She shrugged at her own question, giggled, and decided not to ask anymore questions. She walked to the door and locked it. Then she walked to the window.

She and Emi were trained professionals when it came to climbing out of windows. They were only on the second floor. All she had to do was slide over to the drain pipe and slide down. No sweat, unless your clothes got hung on the rusty bolts, which seemed to happen to Emi a lot.
When Karen hit the ground, she smiled. Another sneak out success. She took off running in the direction of the school's courtyard.

The school was a large, square brick building. It had the ugliest bright yellow shutters around the window and decorative brick patterns on the corner. The roof was also yellow. They went a little overboard with the school spirit. In the back of the school, there was the courtyard. It was a garden with a little stone pathway, a fountain, and a flag pole. Emi lead Sora and RIku through the small, dark garden. "Enh," she huffed. "She should be around her somewhere."

She leaned back and cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed "KAREN!" "Shoot, Emi, I'm right here," said a voice from behind the fountain. Sora's heart suddenly felt...weird. That voice! He knew right then and there this was the girl they were looking for. A small girl in a purple skirt and jacket stepped around the fountain and walked over to them. Sora knew, he just knew that this was her. This was the hard part.... convincing her that she was.

"Karen, this is Sora and Riku," said Emi, pointing to the two boys standing next to her. Karen waved at them. But she looked a little worried, her brow furrowed the tiniest bit. "Hi, Karen," said Sora, walking up to her. "I'm really sorry to bother you, but I really need to ask you some questions."

"What are you...like, police?' asked Karen warily, taking a step back from Sora. She looked over at Emi, who had an eyebrow raised. "What did you do?" Karen asked her. "We're not police." said Riku. "Aren't we a little young, anyways?" Karen and Emi sighed with relief. "We just need to ask you some questions about your parents research," said Sora happily. "Tell us what you know. Better yet, are they around? We were told to find you, but doesn't it make more sense to ask them?" He laughed. The laugh quickly turned into a nervous titter when he noticed Emi glaring at him and Karen... Karen looked like she'd been punched in the face. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were confused.

Karen's started feeling sick when Sora asked about her parents. Emi stiffened, thinking this was some sort of practical joke. Karen finally stammered out. "My parent's....research? Maybe you've got the wrong Karen. It's a really popular name, you know."

Sora shook his head. "Karen Kano, right? Daughter of Brixey and Jordana. They were scientists. Don't you remember? The King said you were sick when you were little." Karen hung her head, looking away, tears welling up in her clear blue eyes. "I was sick but... my parents... I don't have any. I'm a ward of the state."
She put her hand to her forehead. Emi stepped in front of her, her arms straight down beside her. She'd whipped out her drumsticks and the were clenched tightly in her hands. Her purse had been dropped to the ground, and she'd kicked her shoes off. Preparing for a fight. Her bright green eyes were ugly with anger.
"No, her parents are around, you jerks. Is this some sort of joke? Because if it is, it's not funny," she hissed. Riku was suprised, Sora equally surprised. Emi was so...protective of Karen. "It's no joke," assured Sora. "And it's no mix-up. Why would I lie about something like this? Look."

He searched his pockets for the letter, but found nothing. He looked at Riku, who shrugged and shook his head. Emi growled. Sora looked at her apologetically. "We had a letter that explained ever--" he tried to say. But he was interuppted by Emi screaming "Leave, you jerks!"