Kingdom Hearts 3.5: Passions of Light

Chapter 3: Homecoming

(24Hour/1 Day Timeskip)

Akari POV
Umbra and I waited for the Sora and his friends , outside the Mysterious Tower. Standing on the are of the floating island where we could see the Mysterious Tower and its entrance.
The first ones we had seen were the Wayfinder Trio. They arrived flying through the air wearing their Keyblade Armors. They fleeted around in the air until they landed in front of the tower's stairs. They looked at the tower while their Keyblade Armor disintegrated from their normal clothes. Terra ans Aqua seemed to speak about something until Ventus say us and waved at us. I waved back at them. When I glanced at Umbra, he looked tired. Can't blame him for being sleepy, we DID stay up all night to make sure the house was nice and ready. I hit his arm lightly with my shoulder and he shook his head, trying to wake up. Terra, Aqua and Ventus approached us.
"You look tired" Aqua told me. She seemed to noticed that my eyes were tired as well. "Just a little bit, we wanted to make sure everything was nice and neat for all of you, at least for the next couple of days" I told her. "Oh, how nice of you. Surely, you didn't have to" Aqua said. "It was the least we could do" Umbra said. "So, what did you guys do while we prepped the house?" I asked. They all shared a look and smiled softly. "We made a small ceremony for Master Eraqus, then we payed our respects and left things right at the Land of Departure" Terra said. 'Eraqus? Is that the friend that Xehanort made in my dreams?' I thought to myself. "M-My condolences" I said. "Thank you" Aqua said. "It's a good thing that you were able to do that, now that the conflict has come to a pause" Umbra said. "Yeah, seemed like the right thing to do" Ventus said. Suddenly, the glint of an object lured my attention to Aqua's waist. It was a silver star-shaped pendant with blue crystals. "Hmm, What's that?" I asked. "Oh!", Aqua said slightly having forgotten that it was there, she picked it from her waist belt and showed it to me. "This is one of our Wayfinders. I remember making them as good luck charms for Terra's and my Mark of Mastery exam. I heard that somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit...and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. Technically, I think they were supposed to made with seashells, but I did the best with what I had. Something so that, as long as your friends hold on to them, nothing could ever drive you apart" she expalined to me. I looked at it with admiration. I didn't know what I liked most about it, what it meant or the skill it took to make it. "It's beautiful.." I said, not looking away from it. "Thanks" Aqua said. "I would have thought you guys would have left them there, with his Keyblade" Umbra said. "We wanted to, but we agreed to do it once this is all over" Terra said. "Solid choice. I think your master would appreciate it" Umbra told him. Terra nodded at him with a small smile.
My eyes stayed glued to Aqua's Wayfinder. She put the Wayfinder back on her belt, savely stashing it away. I looked at her and she smiled at me back. "H-Hey, where's Chirithy?" I asked, really out of the blue. Chirithy suddenly popped up on Ventus' head. "Right here!" Chirithy giggled. Ventus and Chirithy laughed as Chirithy rode his hair. I could not bare to smile at the sight.

Umbra touched my shoulder and pointed my direction towards a passing Gummi Ship. On it seemed to be everyone else. The Gummi Ship landed closer to the tower and out came those left to arrive. Roxas, Xion and Lea were using their normal clothes instead of their black cloaks. A nice change for them, if I may say so myself. Sora, Riku and Kairi approached us first with small satchel bags in hand. Close behind them were Donald, Goofy and King Mickey. The Wayfinder Trio moved yo the side to let the new group join us.

"Hope we are not too late" Sora said. "Not at all, you're just in time" I said. "Phew, I thought we were going to be late" Sora said. "Maybe if he hadn't spent half the night and half the day arguing if you guys had a beach or not in your world, then we might have arrived earlier..." Riku ranted. "But what if there is a beach?" Sora asked him. "What if there isn't any?" Riku said a little annoyed. "But if there is and we didn't prepare dor it?!" Sora asked loudly. "Akari and Umbra said that everything would be prepared for us!" Riku said loudly. I leaned towards Kairi who was closer to me. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with this" I whispered to her. "Don't worry, I'm accustomed to this" Kairi whispered back. I straightened my position again as Sora and Riku kept arguing. I looked at Umbra who was also whispering something to the Wayfinder Trio. I couldn't hear what he told them, but I was glad to see it might have been something funny, based on their reaction. "So, do you have a beach?!" Sora's voice broke my concentration. "Huh?" I asked him. "Do you guys have a beach?" Sora asked again, calmer than before. Umbra and I shared a mischievous grin and looked at Sora. "I guess we'll have to see" Umbra and I said, at the same time and trading a fist bump. Sora released a heavy sigh, while Riku held the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "Look, Sora, we'll do it like this. If there is a beach, I won't get in the water for an hour. If there is no beach, you'll have to wear your beach attire outside for an hour. NO sunblock" Riku said. "No fair, Riku! If I lose, I end up paying more than you do" Sora said. "Deal or no deal?" Riku asked, extending his hand to Sora. "...Deal..." Sora sighed shaking Riku's hand.