Hearts Reunited

Louis looked really annoyed as he walked out of the Save Point and into the beach of one of the islands in Neverland. He had been piloting the Gummi Ship towards Radiant Garden, intending on escorting Will, a friend from before the Convergence. But then the two ran into a small fleet of Heartless ships on the way and had to fight them. While he was doing well with his piloting, his friend disagreed with how he was dealing with the situation, distracting him enough that the ship got hit a few times. Louis had no choice but to lose their tail, managing to reach Neverland and losing them in the process.

"I said I had everything under control, Will!" He yelled out, hearing his friend also warp down from the ship. "We would've been in Radiant Garden already and you already getting your ship if you hadn't panicked like that and just trusted me!" Louis sighed, still feeling annoyed over the situation. "We'll have to wait for a while for the self-repair to finish patching up my ship."

(Shine and Sorin only)

Will warped down to the beach, also looking equally annoyed. "How is this my fault?! You're the one who was piloting so recklessly! What, did you think ramming speed would save us?!" He retorted, remembering how Louis was flying around, sometimes straight towards the shots and barely avoiding them in time and also to make it difficult for the Heartless ships to hit them. "If I hadn't taken control at that moment, we would've been blown up by those ships!" Will sighed, collapsing down on his butt under a palm tree.

"Look, we're alive, the ship's damage is minimal and I'll accept this break from your reckless driving." He said, stretching his arms. "It's in the past so let's just relax and look around." Will got up and patted Louis' shoulder. "Look, I'll buy you lunch when we get to Radiant Garden as an apology, okay? Okay." He added, knowing that his friend's stomach would not allow him to say no to a free meal.

Ever since her encounter and meeting with Greg, Jess had been looking into what he suggested and found success. Turns out Jess can make spells in the form of talismans by drawing the right runes on it as well as putting her magic into it. The downside was that it was something Jess would need to draw up in advance or draw them in the middle of a fight. Still thanks to that and talking over with Merlin Jess managed to figure out the Cure spell and spent an hour just drawing up several of them. After all a healing spell was something that would always be useful to have on hand. Plus now that she knew how to use more spells now. It was now the beginning of the journey of a new master magic user.

At the moment Jess was taking a break from studying the books Merlin had lent her. It was the most studying Jess had ever done in her life so taking some time in the sun was a nice break. One of Jess' fox ears twitched as she picked up a pair of voices out on the beach. It wouldn't have interested Jess too much except she recognized one of the voices. It was enough to make her completely freeze up for a second before barreling out toward the beach.

"WILL!!" Jess shouted as she leaped at him in a tackle like hug

"Look, do you seriously think you can bribe me with food?!" Louis retorted, glaring at Will. He didn't want to admit it, but yes, he could be easily bribed with food, his stomach giving it away with a small growl. A look of annoyance crossed his face and glared at his friend, who he knew would be both grinning and rolling his eyes. "That means nothing." Before he could say more, he watched as Will was suddenly pounced on by someone.

Louis' reactions from his two years spent with SRPA and the Sentinels kicked in and he pulled out his M6C Magnum. He aimed the gun at the attacker and yelled out. "Step away from him! Now!" Louis aimed the gun at the person, who was... nuzzling Will? The sight of that deflated the tension he was feeling and lowered the gun, as he saw it was a girl with pink hair, fox ears and a tail. His gaze went to his friend, which turned into a glare. "Keter.... What the hell's going on?"

"Yes." Will quickly replied, he knew Louis very well, that the latter was an utter glutton despite his fit figure. He smirked as he heard his friend's stomach growl, essentially betraying his actual intention. "Riiiiiiight. Your stomach growling doesn't mean you're hungry. It means it's hungr- GAH!" Will yelled as someone tackled him from the side, sending him back to the ground. Groaning in pain, he looked up as he saw fluffy fox ears and pink hair.

That snapped him out of his daze as he looked at the face of the fox person, seeing it was a girl. A very, very familiar girl. But before he could say her name, Will saw Louis pull out a gun all of a sudden and waved his arm. "Whoa whoa whoa! Where did you get that gun?! Put it away, she's harmless!" He looked away as his friend asked what was going on and frowned. Will seriously doubted Louis would believe him but decided to say it anyway. "It may be hard to believe.... But this is my girlfriend." He looked at Jess, making her look at him. "Is it really you, Jess?"

It seemed that Jess completely forgot about the other person Will had been speaking with as she kept nuzzling up to him. Now she wasn't normally so affectionate in front of someone else but after being separated from him for so long and the fear that she would never see him again changed that. Still ignoring the other person Jess lifted her head so she could look Will in the face with a wide smile, her tail moving so quickly as she was unable to hide how happy she is.

"Yeah it's me. I got a bit of a changed look but it's me. Though I rock it, don't you think?" Jess said her smile turning into a smirk. It was at this time she finally acknowledged the other person with them. Seeing the weapon he had with him, Jess' eyes narrowed as she felt her magic flow, ready to cast a spell at a moment's notice. She could never be too careful after all, with how dangerous the worlds could be.

Louis placed his gun away, his glare directed at Will as he sighed in annoyance. "I don't believe you.... You really haven't changed a bit. I mean what are the chances someone you know would end up, what glomping you?!" Whatever else he was going to say didn't come out, the words that were building up suddenly deflated, remember that the girl just appeared out of nowhere to pounce on his friend and nuzzle him. His previous assumption no longer held water as he stared at his friend.

"You're not bullshitting me, right? You didn't pay this girl to pretend to be your girlfriend long term, did you?" Louis asked. He crossed his arms, knowing the accusation wouldn't be taken well and waiting for the complaints to pass before he continued. "Considering how well I know you Will, you can't blame me for reaching this conclusion. I still remember some of your shenanigans back in high school." With another sigh, he looked at the girl, who had her guard up towards him. "Louis Delgado's my name. What's yours?" He asked, showing no reaction to the possibility of her attacking him.

Will frowned, at first confused over what Louis meant. But then the meaning of what his friend said got to him and he frowned in response, staring at him. "Hey!" He yelled out, feeling offended when Louis explained himself. "That still doesn't mean you should assume something about me immediately!" Will still couldn't deny he brought some of this himself, especially with some of the pranks he played back in high school on his friends.

He looked back at Jess and shook his head. "He's fine, Jess. He's no danger. As he said, this is Lou, a friend from high school, from before I met you." Will explained, taking her hand with his own. "I've told you about him, his sister and the other people I was friends with a lot. He was giving me a ride to Radiant Garden when his reckless driving got us stuck here for a bit while his ship fixes itself."

"Oh right your friends with all the weird nicknames!" Jess exclaimed, releasing the magic she had prepared for a spell. Will had shown her some pictures of his old friends but there was no way she could have recognized someone from a bunch of photos that she had seen a couple of times. Since Will trusted him so much then Jess had to be nice to him. After all Will really did miss them from when he talked about them.

"I'm Jessica Mireu. Nice to meet you Louis." Jess said. A part of her was slightly annoyed by his presence, mostly because she wanted to spend time with Will now that she knew he was here. She would have kept cuddling up to him but Will would have stopped her while Louis was here.

"Oh yeah Will look, I got magic!" A ball of fire appeared in the fox girl's hands as she eagerly showed off. "Merlin told me I had a talent for magic but I other than some basic spells I was having trouble working them out but I got some help and now I know I can cast spells using talismans. I already figured out how to do Cure with them." Since Jess rarely got excited over things back home, it would be a surprising sight.

"Likewise." Louis replied to the fox girl, Jessica. "And sorry for whatever trouble this genius here had caused you and will definitely cause you in the future." He blinked as he watched her conjure a ball of fire out of nowhere, her gaze at Will and obviously showing off to him. Louis, as much as he wanted to, could no longer deny that his friend definitely was in a serious relationship with someone.

"Well, at least we know who's the one with powers in your relationship, Will." Louis grinned at his friend. "But hey, at least you have a weapon. Maybe you can be a tank while she takes care of the rest." He continued, ribbing on the only one of the three Convergers in the area for not having powers. Louis only meant it to be playful and his expression made it obvious. "Just don't cut yourself with it when learning to use it."

Will heard nothing of what Louis said. Not about his apology over any trouble he may have caused to Jess nor his joke about who wears the pants in the relationship. Not even Jess showing off some magic got a reaction, mostly because he had been caught off-guard by his girlfriend being excited by something. Will knew she always shrugged off a lot of things back in the Realm of Reality, so her showing excitement had surprised him.

He finally shook himself out of his stupor and nodded at Jess. "That's great, Jess. A whole new world of possibilities for you to explore." Not having heard the powers comment from Louis, Will simply looked at him and explained. "Back home, there weren't many things that interested her. So her being excited was something unexpected. I guess I don't have to wallow over never seeing you again, Jess. Way for both of us to dodge a bullet there."

"Don't worry I'm used to it." Jess told Louis. The two of them both gotten into a lot of trouble just with how they normally acted so Jess didn't expect things to change no matter what might happen while they are Convergers.

Looking back to Will, Jess' smiled happily at him. Like he explained to Louis, nothing really was able to excite her back in the Realm of Reality. It was never for a lack of trying though, Will had pushed her to try new things but it was never really able to keep her interest. Unlike learning real magic. There was just nothing like it that Jess could compare it to. Not just the casting of spells but the process of learning them. And now that she figured out she could use talismans there was so much more she could learn and create. It was currently the second most exciting thing to have ever happened to her, the first being having found Will again and that they can be together in these crazy worlds.

"Yeah I was so scared that I never was going to see you again."

Louis made to open his mouth but suddenly closed it. The joke he was about to make was pushed out of his mind, because he realized how it would sound. Instead, he simply decided to let these two have their moment, especially after hearing the words Jess said to Will. Louis simply stepped away as quietly as he could, moving closer to one of the palm trees. He leaned against the tree and sighed, keeping an eye on the beach.

While it may seemed peaceful, Louis knew better than to drop his guard anywhere. He knew Heartless could appear at any moment, yet the fox girl's words made him think of his own family. Would they miss him? Would they know he even ever existed? Would he ever see them again, his parents, his sister? Sighing, he shifted his gaze back towards where the couple was.

Will did notice Louis suddenly move away and rolled his eyes. If he really wanted to give both Jess and him a private moment, he wouldn't be standing to the side where he could still see them. Still, his gaze shifted back to the fox girl and he smiled back. "Me too, Jess. I mean running into you know didn't give me the time to actually consider the implications of never seeing you again. I think I was about to when we ran into each other again. And then I find my girlfriend became a hot fox girl with magic powers." It was at the mention of magic powers that caused his smile to vanish.

Because he remembered his own power situation, or the lack of having a power. Will simply took out his bladed tonfa and showed it to her. "This is the only thing I got since becoming a Converger. And it was a recent thing, mind you. Like Netzach said, we were on our way to Radiant Garden to get me a ship." Placing his weapon away, he sighed again. "Sorry for being a bummer. Here we are, seeing each other again after we thought we'd never do so again and here I am, bitching about not having powers..." Will looked down and a bit guilty at that.

"It's fine. You might have just not figured out how to actually use your powers yet. When I first arrived I was having a lot of trouble casting spells other than Fire, Blizzard and Thunder. Then I met this guy Greg who was a Converger too. He was really nice and helped me figure out I could use talismans to cast spells." Jess said before she quickly pulled out one of them. The slip of paper wasn't moved at all by the wind and on it was a complex looking magic circle drawn on it.

"This one here is a Cure. After all a healing spell is one of the most important when you are going out and adventuring. See this part here? This was the hardest part as it regulates the healing as if you don't keep an eye on it, it could over heal and that could end up with things like cancer and that never ends well." Jess said excitedly. The more she spoke the faster she did and the more excited her voice got. Now that she found Will again she seemed to want to show off as much as she possibly could. She also once again forgot about Louis, though normally she wouldn't have as her excitement over seeing Will again and being able to show him what she had learned seemed to have overridden her common sense.

Louis glanced up at the sky, looking away from the lovey dovey couple for a moment. Despite having chosen his spot to keep an eye on the two, his gaze wasn't focused on them right now. Strangely, he noticed a shadow covering the sun, getting larger until the sound of something hollow hitting something hard due to gravity sounded. Louis simply stood there, looking annoyed as the perpetrator of making a coconut fall down to his face landed in front of him.

A moneky shaped Heartless with the emblem on the chest was bent down, facing away and smacking it's butt in a mocking manner. As he glared at the Powerwild, a couple more aerial Heartless appeared, looking like pirates with artificial wings for flying and gliding, surrounding him, along with three more of the monkey Heartless. "This is completely unfair." Louis commented as they went on the attack...

And one of the Powerwilds was sent flying away, back crashing into a palm tree then slowly sliding down to the ground. "You guys need more of you on your side to deal with me." He cracked his knuckles then took out his M6C Magnum. "Let's dance." Louis hoped to make it quick, without involving Will nor Jess.

"Right. Not figured it out. How does one figure out if they have powers or not?" Will asked rhetorically. He didn't say more as he watched Jess bring out a piece of paper with a magic circle drawn on it and begin explaining how it worked. He had to admit he was a bit intrigued at how much his girlfriend knew, even correctly mentioning how overhealing was dangerous and so on. "You've done your research."

Will once again glanced over to where Louis was standing then did a double take. For he saw his friend surrounded by several Heartless and just punted a Powerwild right towards a palm tree. Which just happened to be close to where Jess and him were standing right now. Will quickly pulled his girlfriend behind him and took out his tonfa. "Stay behind me, Jess!" He said as a few more Air Pirates appeared floating besides the monkey shaped Heartless.

It was sweet than Will was trying to protect her, but it just made Jess roll her eyes. Seriously she had just shown him that she could use magic and he was still getting in front of her. The fox girl gently pushed past him as an orb of fire appeared in her hands.

"I can take care of myself you know Will. This isn't my first fight." Jess told him before flinging the ball of fire at one of the monkey Heartless. The fire knocked it down and it wasn't able to get up before Jess and thrown another couple fireballs at it. Glaring at the Heartless that had interrupted her reunion with her boyfriend, Jess raised her hand in the air and called down several lightning bolts that brought the Air Pirates down to the ground.

"Good to know bullets work on Heartless." Louis commented as he shot down an Air Pirate with four shots. He grimaced as he looked over to where Will and Jess were, seeing Heartless also attacking the couple. This was not what he wanted to happen, especially when the latter had shown no signs of any powers nor abilities. All he could do was let his friend's girlfriend protect Will while he dealt with the Heartless facing him.

Louis winced as he got bodied by one of the Power Wilds facing him and the other two made to pounce at him. He managed to roll out of the way of their attacks and backhanded an Air Pirate that tried to drop kick him. But another aerial pirate Heartless jabbed at the side of his head then flinched when it saw Louis' glare. This gave the latter an opening to punch the Air Pirate head on then finished off with one shot from his Magnum.

He quickly jumped out of the way from a thrown coconut from one of the Power Wilds then grabbed a loose stone and threw it at the monkey Heartless that had attacked him. It hit the shadowy simian creature in the head hard then another shot from Louis' gun eliminated it.

To the couple, if they glanced at Louis, it appeared as if he was getting faster and stronger as the fight continued on.

Will was annoyed when Jess just pushed past him and fought using her magic. Yes, he knew she could defend herself casting spells, as she was doing now. But Will figured she was forgetting an important detail of being a magic caster, in that they were squishy and she wasn't even wearing anything to protect herself, nor clad in a defensive spell.

As such, he pulled her back, stepping forward, twisting his bladed tonfa to the sharp half pointing ahead and stabbed the weakened Air Pirate that Jess shocked. Will then looked back at Jess with an annoyed expression. "You're. A. Mage! Magic casters go down quickly in melee! Let me at least get their attention so they don't stop you ca-"

Will was interrupted as he got hit on the back of the head by a coconut. Wincing, he turned around and saw the Powerwilds were essentially making mocking movements towards him. Will mostly didn't care if people insulted him, he was used to it, sadly. However, a creature born from the darkness of a person's heart in the shape of a monkey mocking him with waving arms, butt smacking and gyrating motions? That was an entirely different subject altogether.

"I refuse to take that from an ape like you!" Will yelled, pointing a finger, actually furious. From behind him, a large wave suddenly rose from the water and crashed down at the area where the three Convergers and the Heartless where fighting. Half of the latter were battered by the crashing wave, eliminated, the other half washed away a few feet.

As for the Convergers, both Louis and Jess ended up hit but only got wet. Will was the only one who wasn't visibly affected by the water. The latter quickly glanced back at Jess, annoyed. "You really couldn't wait until casting such a spell before I even make a move on the Heartless."

He turned away and took advantage of the distraction to attack one of the Powerwilds who was still dazed, hitting it a few times with the blunt end of the tonfa then finishing it off with a slash from the blade part. Will would make his complaints known after the shadow creatures were taken care of.

Jess just smiled at Will as he pulled her back. While she did appreciate the concern she also wasn't a typical mage. She had no need to stand still and cast, which for most mages, was what made them so vulnerable. It was something she had actually considered as she thought about how she would fight. With how mobile she could be, Jess had to learn to fight like that hence why she was willing to move in closer than she really needed to be.

Still the wave was unexpected but Jess was able to put it together that it was because of Will. After all with the kind of universe they were in, it only made sense that an outburst of anger like that would trigger his powers. It didn't look like he had noticed though, too angry at the Heartless. Still not that the remaining ones were disoriented by the wave it made them easy pickings for Jess to blast with a variety of fireballs, ice chunks and thunder bolts.

Louis shot down another Power Wild and got ready to deal with its counterattack when a massive shadow suddenly loomed over the area. He only had time to see what made it, a large wave from the ocean before it suddenly crashed down over the beach where the three Convergers had been fighting the Heartless.

Once the water subsided, Louis stood there, wet and spat out some of it and looked around. Around half of the shadow creatures had been taken out, the other half dazed from the sudden wave. Glancing to where Will and Jess were, he saw the latter flinging spells with abandon while her boyfriend had to contend with melee combat.

One of the few Power Wilds made to pounce on him but Louis quickly grabbed it by the face and flung it in the direction of one of the stray fireballs, eliminating it. He then raised his gun and fired at the last two Air Pirates, taking them out since they had been weakened by the wave, the others already taken out due to the fox girl's spells.

Will simply walked away, still feeling peeved from earlier as Jess and Louis took out the remaining Heartless. He simply placed his bladed tonfa away and slumped down. "Who knew fighting Heartless would be so draining? I feel like I ran a marathon." What he didn't know was that his sudden outburst was the result of his tiredness.

After all, he had just awakened to his power for the first time to make a large wave crash down on the Heartless. The fact that it also happened when Will least expected it meant he felt significantly tired from the unconscious use of it. He looked up back at Jess, no longer annoyed but simply down. "In the end, you won't even let me protect you. I know you can use magic but at least let me be your shield, Jess."

With the last of the Heartless down, Jess took the time to get the water out of her tail. It was one of the small annoyances of her new features but it honestly wasn't too bad now that she had magic. With that taken care of, Jess walked over to Will and put a hand on his shoulder. "Will you don't need to go out of your way to protect me. Just watch my back for me okay?" Jess said as she comforted him. "Plus we now know what you can do. Hydrokenesis is a pretty powerful ability."

The power to control water was not something to look down on though it all depended on what Will's limits on it were. Could he control ice and steam or was he just limited to water in its liquid form. Can he generate his own water or would he need a source? These were all questions that were going through Jess' mind now that they were no longer in danger.

Louis stretched his arms as he walked over back towards the couple, having finished off the Heartless on his side. He had been wondering where that wave had come from when he caught the tail end of Jess' words. He blinked, wondering what she meant by hydrokinesis but also reached the same conclusion as he glanced over at Will, who was looking down for some reason. "Him?! Really?!" Louis looked at the fox girl, unconvinced by her words. He did acknowledge it was possible Will could have water powers but then why did nothing happen when they tried it in San Fransokyo earlie-

"Oh yeah... Middle of the city and we left immediately." He suddenly remembered, interrupting his current thoughts. Louis was still skeptical about his friend having powers though. "I think it's more likely you used a powerful spell to deal with the Heartless and overdid it. I mean this guy can barely fight a wet paper bag." He added jokingly but frowned at the looks he was getting from both of them. "My bad, sorry. But unless someone here can figure out how that wave happened or how he triggered his powers, we'd only be speculating."