Chapter 2 – Found
Years pass in the blink of an eye for Sora as he, Donald and Goofy go on numerous adventures across the starlit worlds scattered across the sky. He’s conquered everything in his way; gigantic titans, underwater monstrosities, devious nightmares, and even the famed Master Xehanort himself.
But although Sora’s gown so much and has traveled through what feels like the entire universe and back, he’s still never bumped into that one world that he’s so desperately been hoping to find.
Once Ansem; The Seeker of Darkness was defeated, the worlds returned to normal, and Traverse Town disappeared completely, taking Jewel and the rest of the dalmatians along with it.
Sora knew that it was coming. Still, he was heartbroken beyond belief when the trio flew upon where the town used to be, and nothing was there to greet them but asteroids and the dark void of space that stretched on for miles and miles.
Ever since then, Sora has been determined to find Jewel, despite Donald and Goofy’ gentle protests.
‘Yea, so what? I’ve done the impossible now ten times over!’ Sora protested as they had been following after Leon towards the bailey of Hollow Bastion. The three friends had just woken up from an unexplained, yearlong sleep, and were still mesmerized with how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time. ‘I know I can find Jewel, and I will!’
‘What about letting her be with her family?’ Goofy softly reminded him.
‘Well, that was when we all thought that we wouldn’t…’ Sora paused, a dark shadow having come over his eyes. ‘A-anyway, that doesn’t matter, since we’re all here and still together! What’s stopping me from finding her now?’ He stopped and turned around on a set of newly constructed stairs to look down at both of his friends with an earnest expression. ‘I’ll find her, and then we can be together again, like we were before!’
Donald shared a look with Goofy, before shaking his head.
‘What if she’s with her family?’ The wizard prodded.
‘Yea, she’ll probably be with Pongo and Perdita?’ Sora had said, it coming out more like a question as he didn’t know what Donald was getting at.
‘No, I mean…’ Donald paused, causing Sora to tilt his head with curiosity.
‘Her human family, Sora.’ Goofy said with a soft tone of voice as he frowned. ‘She had a collar, remember? She mighta been somebody’s pet.’
Sora grew quiet in response.
‘Well… I…’
What if she did, have a family?
Memories of his time spent together with Jewel flash across Sora’s eyes, reminding him of the companionship and joy she had brought him when he needed it most.
Could he really take that away from another person? Of course… not….
‘I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.’ Sora had said instead, deflecting the difficult question by regaining his jovial nature. ‘No use worrying about it now. I have to find her first.’
Amidst their conversation, footsteps could be heard approaching them, and Sora took the opportunity for distraction as he turned around and saw Leon. He ran towards his friend, eager to get along with this second journey to reunite with Riku and Jewel, and finally head on back to Destiny Islands.
Despite Donald and Goofy’s reservations, they searched alongside Sora in every nook and cranny of each world they could find, including dozens of other, unexplored worlds that Yen Sid’s maps and Merlin’s knowledge had graciously informed them of.
But they never found her.
Somehow, someway, it was as if Jewel and the rest of the dalmatians had simply vanished from reality…
There was exactly one time when Sora had thought he might have found something, back during his Mark of Mastery exam.
He had just arrived in the sleeping version of Traverse Town after being separated from Riku, and the first thing Sora had done upon waking up in that familiar world was run the beaten, remembered path from the First District all the way to the Dalmatian House.
‘Master Yen Sid said that some of the worlds me, Donald and Goofy saved never came back from the darkness.’ Sora mumbled to himself as he threw open the doors to the Second District and jumped over the railing to forgo the stairs. ‘What if… Jewel’s world never returned? Or, maybe there’s a clue or something! There’s gotta be!’
Sora’s heart had soared when the familiar blue glass door of the apartment came into view, causing a smile as bright as the sun to come over his face. He paused outside the door, his chest heaving and his heart pounding with anticipation as he knocked three times out of habit.
He waited a few seconds, but there were no puppy yelps or barks to greet him, nor any lights shining through the glass. Not one to be deterred, though, Sora slowly opened the door, and felt his stomach tie in knots as he flipped a switch on the wall.
The apartment was engulfed in light, and all of the warm feelings in his chest had vanished in an instant as he looked around with confusion.
The whole apartment was abandoned, nothing but bare walls and floor. Even the chalkboard that he used to write on was gone, with only the nail it used to dangle from being left behind.
‘What…?’ Sora had whispered in confusion as he gingerly walked further into the apartment, flipping on switches as he went. A sort of expectant, uncomfortable lump formed in his chest and throat when he finally reached the dining room.
The door creak loudly as he put the smallest amount of pressure on it, and it felt like a knife had been twisted in Sora’s heart as he looked around the darkened room. Any will to turn on the light was gone as his gaze locked onto where Jewel’s favorite chair used to be.
There was nothing there, only four small indents left on the orange carpet.
Sora had felt that painful lump in his throat grow unbearable when he had all but collapsed onto his knees on the floor. The light from the previous room shined on his back as he reached out and hesitantly touched the spot where Jewel used to sit, leaving a shadow on the floor.
Memories rushed through his vision and his face twisted with grief.
‘Jewel… where are you?’
That pain never left Sora as the Mark of Mastery Exam eventually came to a close, and he had set off with Donald and Goofy to restore his lost powers. This journey had proven more difficult than any other he had traversed thus far, but in an entirely different way.
As rather than testing his renowned physical prowess and skills as a keyblade wielder, Sora was instead pushed to what felt like his limit both mentally and emotionally.
Every jab and jibe his enemies made about his lost powers had caused his self-confidence to dwindle, and try as he might, he could not force it to naturally rise back up again.
Donald and Goofy were always there to help him out of his slumps, of course, but they could only do so much. Even Kairi and Riku, who were only one click away via Gummi Phone, could not seem to lift his mood either during his worst bouts.
‘Sora, what’s wrong?’ Kairi had asked one afternoon during a phone call between herself, Riku and Sora.
‘What are you talking about? Nothing’s wrong.’ Sora deflected as he sat down on one of the unoccupied chairs outside Little Chef’s Bistro in Twilight Town.
Donald and Goofy had already gone off to watch the movie that was playing in the square, but Sora had deigned to hang back and call Riku and Kairi; a decision he had started to regret making at that moment.
‘Like I’d believe that.’ Riku snorted. He shook his head as the wind rustled both his hair and the flower beds of Radiant Garden in the background. ‘You still worried about your lost powers?’
Kairi blinked and gave Sora a sympathetic look as she settled back against a tree in Merlin’s secret forest.
‘You’ll get them back, we know you wi-‘
‘No, that’s not it at all.’ Sora shook his head, hating the concerned looks that Riku and Kairi were sporting. ‘Just, it’s something I gotta deal with on my own.’
They didn’t understand, and Sora couldn’t properly explain it to them. This journey was supposed to be all about him and regaining his lost powers.
But that was just the problem, wasn’t it?
It should have been easy. He’d already done this once before, too, after waking up from that creepy sleeping pod in the old mansion. But it wasn’t the same as last time.
This time, it was Sora’s own fault that he had lost his powers.
If he hadn’t have been so careless during the exam, none of this would be happening, and he would already have the Power of Waking by now.
Sora knew that, and it was severely fueling a feeling of guilt in his chest, crippling his ability to just shrug his shoulders and move on like normal. And the longer he hesitated, the harsher he was on himself, and the stronger the feeling became.
So how was he supposed to make them understand? He didn’t have the words, and the one friend who could understand him, was nowhere to be found…
With no other options, Sora silently pushed onwards through every new world with a smile on his face. His friends needed him, and he would be there this time, even if he had to sacrifice himself in their place.
But there was one instance on that third journey, when everything got the best of Sora. Back when he’d encountered a familiar-feeling pair in the Kingdom of Corona…
The streets were bustling with tourists and townsfolk alike as Sora had been aimlessly wandering around town. He, Donald and Goofy were there on a return trip to check up on how Flynn and Rapunzel were doing, and just so happened to arrive right in the middle of a festival to celebrate the return of the lost princess.
Sora must not have been paying too close attention to where he was going, however, as he almost collided with a younger boy while trying to outmaneuver the crowd.
‘Oh, sorry! Didn’t see you there!’ Sora had immediately apologized in response, ready to take the blame.
His eyes had widened, though, and something caught in his throat as he noticed the small Cocker Spaniel puppy nestled within the boy’s arms.
That was… the first dog that Sora had seen since he and Jewel had been separated.
Both the boy and the puppy had looked up at Sora curiously in response, seeming to notice the older boy’s odd staring.
‘No problem!’ He said anyway. ‘Say, you’re new around here, right? Did you come for the festival?’ The boy questioned curiously as the small puppy wagged its tail and wiggled in his arms.
‘Uh, yea…’ Sora could only say stupidly, his attention having shifted between the two of them. ‘Say, who have you got there?’ He asked before he could stop himself.
The boy had looked at him for a moment before a happy grin spread across his face.
‘This is Lady!’ He introduced as he hugged her close. ‘She’s my bestest friend in the whole world.’
‘You’re best friend in the whole world, huh?’ Sora had parroted with a mumble, his eyes suddenly far away.
The boy moved a little closer to Sora, probably having picked up on his melancholic tone.
‘You wanna pet her? I promise she’s real friendly.’
As if to emphasis her human’s point, the small pup yipped up at Sora and pawed in his direction.
Sora had gaped quietly, and could only nod stupidly in response, before slowly reaching out with hesitant fingers. Lady was nothing like Jewel appearance-wise, but even so, when she nudged Sora’s hand with her nose, a surge of pain came over his heart as he suddenly saw nothing but black and white spots.
‘Thanks…’ Sora said after a few long moments of silence. ‘You hold on to her, okay? Don’t ever lose her.’
‘I won’t, promise!’ The boy had said, seeming none the wiser to Sora’s inner turmoil. ‘See you! Enjoy the festival!’ He moved Lady’s little paw in a mock wave goodbye as he turned and headed farther back up the road.
Sora absentmindedly watched them go, before he looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers, as if to trying to commit the feeling to memory.
It had been so long since he had last seen Jewel. He had clearly changed since then, and was no longer the same boy that he once was.
Surely, Jewel had changed too…
Would she even recognize him now? Would he even recognize her?
Sora had been so lost in his own head, that when Donald had eventually found him some time later, the wizard had understandably been startled to see the usually happy teen just staring off into the distance in a small alcove on the side of the street.
‘Sora?’ He called, sounding worried in response to the expression on his friend’s face.
It took Sora a moment to look at Donald, and once he did, the wizard was visibly shocked to find tears in the corner of his blue eyes.
‘Donald… I’m never going to find Jewel, am I?’ The teen finally forced himself to admit, the words feeling like harsh sandpaper as they made their way out of his throat. ‘You and Goofy were right. She’s gone… She’s really gone.’
‘Oh Sora…’ Donald only said in response, and pulled the teen down for a hug, as right then, after a whole year and a half of searching literally hundreds of worlds, Sora’s hope had truly run out…
That moment could not feel farther away for Sora now as he slowly wakes up months later to his empty apartment in Quadratum. A groan leaves him as he slowly sits up and stretches his arms over his head while the morning sunlight filters through the fancy floor to ceiling windows of his bedroom.
The pristinely clean hardwood floors are cold against his feet as he gets out of bed and changes clothes before heading towards the immaculately decorated kitchen.
Everything about this apartment is clean and organized. Unlived in.
Strelitzia had said it was because of the cleaners that came by every week, but Sora couldn’t see the point. After all, he was hardly ever here as it was.
Speaking of which, Sora isn’t at all surprised when he finds a note on the floor by the entryway. Strelitzia must have slid it under his door like usual.
He grabs some breakfast from the fridge and reads it over.
“I’m heading out for the day. A new portal opened up last night. You should check it out, seems like it could be a new world.”
Sora hums as he takes a sip of his orange juice.
‘A new world…’ He reads the words again, lost in thought. They haven’t seen one of those in a long time now.
Usually, whenever a portal opened up in Quadratum, they had about a 50/50 chance of it leading to another world, or a dead end filled with Heartless.
At least, what’s what it was supposed to be. Lately, the odds seemed to be nothing but goose eggs.
When Sora had first found himself here, after defeating Master Xehanort and saving Kairi, Strelitzia had found him lying unconscious atop a random building. The portal that had brought him here had been long gone, though, and there was evidence left behind that a great battle had taken place there.
It took Sora several days to wake up from his slumber, and once he did, Strelitzia had shown him the ins and outs of Quadratum and explained that she had apparently ended up in this place too, in the same way as he did.
‘I’ve been trying to get back home ever since…’ Strelitzia had said that morning over coffee in her apartment.
She had described Quadratum as being on the other side of the worlds that they knew, as if they were somehow on the wrong side of a coin.
‘This world. It’s connected to so many others. Too many, actually.’ She shook her head with a frown. ‘And I’ve realized that it makes things very difficult to find the one place where you want to go.’
Sora had taken those words in for a moment or two, before a question crossed his mind.
‘You say it’s connected to other worlds. By what exactly? You mean by like, the lanes between or something?’ He asked curiously.
‘Something like that.’ She had hummed. ‘Portals appear sometimes in the city. No one else can see them but, I can. I’ve used them to travel to other worlds, but none of them have taken me back home yet…’ She then had looked at Sora with a contemplative expression. ‘You’re the only other person that has arrived in the same way I did. I was hoping that… you could tell me how to get back home, but it looks like we’re both stuck here now.’
Sora’s face had fallen as he watched her slump back in her chair, looking defeated after years of searching. He could understand the feeling wholeheartedly…
‘Well, then we’ll just have to keep looking.’ He had said, his resolve absolute and his tone cheerful in an attempt to lighten her mood. ‘If we work together, we’re sure to find one that leads back to a world on our side. I just know it!’
Strelitzia had hesitated, as if not wanting to keep hope for something that may never happen. But Sora’s optimism had always been infectious, and she was unable to stop a small smile that graced her face.
‘Okay. Thank you, Sora.’
The two of them had been working together ever since to find any trace of their own side of the coin, but nothing’s come up yet. Their efforts were not a total waste, though, as Sora was able to make new friends in those portals along the way, including a family with a magical house, a girl who held the heart of the ocean, and a warrior princess searching for the last dragon.
Sora had been lucky so far, too, in that he hasn’t actually needed to use a disguise spell to keep the world order. Donald wasn’t here with him, after all, and although Sora had thankfully never lost his powers after saving Kairi, he still couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around casting one of those intricate spells.
The thought of Donald caused a pang to enter Sora’s chest as he finishes getting ready for the day and heads out into the bustling city.
How long has it been since he’d last seen Donald and Goofy? Or Riku and Kairi?
Time doesn’t flow the same way on both sides of the coin, as both Strelitzia and Sora had learned when swapping stories of their adventures. But still, be it two months on his side, or a whole year on theirs, he missed them all terribly.
He often sat on the roof of his apartment building and looked up at the night sky, wondering if they were somehow looking up at the same stars.
It was very lonely here, too. Especially since Strelitzia wasn’t around a lot of the time either, as she was always busy working during the day or scoping around for portals at night with her magic.
Sora had told her, that he would gladly get a job himself to help pay for his own apartment, but she would always brush him off.
‘I own my own flower shop. It’s really nice actually. Reminds me of…’ Her words had trailed off when she had explained it to Sora. ‘Well, anyway, please don’t worry. I have more than enough. And if you go and look in the portals for me, that would be plenty payback.’
Still, Sora had made it a point to find and learn as much as he could about these new worlds, to somehow make it up to her for everything. And this new portal that he was going to today would be no different.
All too soon, Sora is brought out of his reflective thoughts as comes across that very portal.
It’s pink like all the others he’s encountered before, and floats ominously before him in the dark downtown alleyway that he’s found himself in.
‘Well, this is it.’ Sora mumbles to himself and cautiously peeks around the area for any onlookers, before summoning his keyblade. ‘Here’s hoping I find something good!’
With a flick of his wrist, and a little hope in his heart, he aims the blade at the portal and dives right in.
Sora grunts a little bit as his feet touch down onto solid ground, and one of his ankles unceremoniously gets tangled in a pricker bush. He looks around and notes that he seems to be in some sort of park, with the pink portal thankfully out of sight among some dark trees and bushes.
Or unthankfully, if the small cuts on his ankle had anything to say about it.
‘Well, at least it’s a new world and not just another portal to nowhere.’ Sora shrugs and casually shakes his ankle free before emerging from the leaves to take a peek at where exactly he’s ended up.
There are normal people walking around, enjoying the nice day in the sun with their family and friends. Ducks and geese can be heard mingling together as they explore the river’s edge, while newly turned Autumn leaves rustle alongside the crisp winds.
‘It looks like I still don’t need that disguise spell after all.’ Sora says with a relieved grin. ‘That’s good. I’m four for four at least.’ He hums before quickly getting to work by socializing with the locals.
Not even ten minutes later, he ran into two nice old ladies who were kind enough to give Sora some information.
As it turns out, he was in a place called London, in Regent’s Park to be exact.
‘Say, so has anything unusual or interesting been going on around here lately?’ Sora opts to stick with his usual spiel when probing for the reason why a portal had ended up here of all places.
It’s been working like a charm so far, as usually he either gained some intel about the Heartless causing havoc or learned about someone that needed his help.
‘Oh no, everything is right as rain.’ One of the ladies says, though, effectively stopping his plan in its tracks as she throws some seeds to the gathering ducks by her feet. ‘There’s been no trouble or anything here for a long while.’
‘Really?’ Sora asks with a surprised look on his face.
Did this world not have any problems for him to fix? That would be a first.
‘Yes, I’d say not for a few months now. When that fiendish woman tried to hurt those poor little puppies.’ The other lady says, her face downtrodden. ‘That Cruella De Vil. She got what was coming to her, that’s for sure!’
‘Puppies?’ Sora asks, tilting his head to the side. He was unable to stop himself from making a face, as the word kind of stung to bring up.
‘Dalmatians!’ The lady clarifies with a smile.
‘There was 99 of them, in fact!’ The other woman nods, causing Sora to turn towards her so fast that he nearly gives himself whiplash. ‘It was the darndest thing. There were so many little tikes. Gosh, they were only this big.’ She leans over and hovers her hand in the air, oblivious to Sora’s sudden state of unbridled, frozen shock. ‘Oh, but Rodger and Anita adopted them all. They just couldn’t separate any of the little ones from Perdita, I’m sure.’
‘What!? P-Perdita?!’ Sora exclaims as finally finds his voice, his blue eyes comically wide and his heart beating about a mile a minute. ‘Is it really her??’
‘Yes. Her and Pongo.’ She clarifies, and Sora feels as if he is going to keel over right then and there. ‘They’re kind of a local legend around here. They all live up the hill there.’
She points behind them to a hill in the distance, causing Sora to follow her gaze. If he squints, he can just make out the roof of a very large house looming among the trees.
‘Just head east of out of town and follow the signs. It’s a bit of a trek without a vehicle, but their house is rather unique. You can’t miss it.’ She says with a chuckle. ‘People from all over the country come to hear their story. If you’re looking for something interesting, young man, I’d start there.’
Sora is running faster than he had ever thought possible, his mind racing alongside his body as he pushes his legs to go faster, faster, faster. He desperately huffs air into his lungs as he follows the road, his blue eyes continuously glancing in the direction of that house he saw in the distance.
Hope is flaring in his chest for the first time in ages as he catches sight of what looks like a sign further up the road.
He forces his feet to a halt as he comes closer, taking the time to carefully read the words through his spots muddled brain.
‘Dalmatian Plantation… I can’t believe it.’ He breathes.
There was no way. It couldn’t be, could it? But… that lady had said Perdita and Pongo. It had to be them, right?
‘Please…’ He whispers as he places a hand over his fragile, desperate heart. ‘Please, don’t let this be a dream.’
Sora follows the sign’s directions like a lifeline, adrenaline coursing through his chest when he finds another one, and then another, until eventually he is led across a bridge and a large Victorian house comes into view.
Sora instantly stops in his tracks, knowing he has made it to the right place on account of the enormous black spots painted onto the all-white abode.
He stands there for a moment, stunned, before more black and white figures catch his eye over the sound of water flowing beneath the bridge.
‘What? It’s…’ Sora gasps at the sight of what is probably dozens of dalmatians playing around together in the front yard.
He doesn’t know how long he stands there like a gaping fish before he slowly shakes off his surprise and forces his rooted feet to walk the rest of the way towards the house.
The air is knocked out of his lungs as he looks over each dalmatian with care, looking as if he’s seen as ghost as his gaze unconsciously searches for a necklace of black spots. When none of the dalmatians outside are proven to be Jewel, however, Sora instead turns his attention to the intricate wooden sign by the front porch.
‘Dalmatian Plantation.’ He reads, stunned. ‘Where our 101 population can roam…’
The last words on the sign cause Sora’s mind to short circuit.
‘Tours and Adoptions please inquire within.’
As if pulled along by an invisible thread, Sora walks the rest of the way onto the pristine porch and politely knocks at the front door.
‘Coming!’ He can hear someone shout from inside. But even with the preemptive notice, Sora still looks like a deer caught in headlights as a young woman answers the door.
‘Oh, hello dear.’ She says, looking Sora up and down. ‘Are you here for a tour of the plantation?’
‘Um… yea.’ Sora says, not knowing what else to say in that moment as he nervously reaches up to scratch the back of his head. ‘Uh, I heard about what happened from some ladies in the park and…’ He points towards the wooden sign, as if that would somehow explain everything.
‘Oh, I see.’ The woman says, stepping out onto the porch to join him. ‘Well, we are certainly glad that you came to visit. My name is Anita, it’s a pleasure to meet you…’ She pauses, tilting her head politely to the side.
Sora shakes his own head to come back to his senses, having forgotten his manners.
‘Oh! My name’s Sora. Nice to meet you too!’
Anita smiles at him, before pointing her arm towards a flower field by the side of the house. There are even more Dalmatians, both adults and puppies alike, frolicking there in the newly turned Autumn sunshine.
‘Well then, Sora, let’s get started, shall we?’
Sora is unable to keep his eyes off of every single dalmatian that comes across his path as Anita gives him a full tour of the large property. Admittedly, he can only muster up half of his attention span to listen to her story, before slowly growing more invested as her tale grows to be outrageous.
‘What?!’ Sora exclaims, unable to stop himself from flinching in shock during one important part of Anita’s story. ‘Cruella wanted to make all of the puppies into fur coats?! But that’s crazy!’
‘Oh yes, I couldn’t believe it either.’ Anita nods, her expression solemn as she gives one of her dalmatians a pat on the head.
The two of them have gathered quite a crowd as they had been observing the large adoption board hung up in the backyard. By the happy expressions on both the humans and dalmatians in the photos that littered the board, Sora could easily that all of the dogs here are well loved and cared for, and great efforts were taken to match each dalmatian with a truly loving home.
‘Cruella and her men bought eighty four puppies from around the country, and then stole all fifteen of Perdita and Pongo’s puppies too. Just so that they would have enough for the dog-skin coats.’ Anita continues and shakes her head. ‘And oh, they both were so upset. It truly was an awful time for all of us.’
Sora feels his stomach drop as he looks down at the grassy ground underneath his feet.
The puppies, all 99 that he had rescued alongside Donald and Goofy, they had just been reunited with their parents after escaping from this Cruella person, only to be separated again when their whole world fell apart.
No wonder Pongo and Perdita were absolutely miserable when he had first met them back in Traverse Town.
To lose their puppies not once, but twice…
Anita thankfully seems none the wiser to the second separation, however, as she continues on with her story.
‘Somehow, Pongo and Perdita found the missing puppies, and they all came bursting through our door one day as if nothing happened. We still don’t know how in the world they did it.’ Anita hums, her eyes far away with a soft smile. ‘We informed Scotland Yard right away, and they found Cruella to be the culprit after all.’ She leads Sora away from the crowd of young adult dalmatians and over to a playpen, where there are about a dozen puppies running around and roughhousing together. ‘Ever since then, well, we had our 101 dalmatians, and needed a bigger house, so we bought and renovated this one.’
Anita then directs Sora’s attention to the large spotted mansion.
‘Everyone in town helped us buy it too, and our story was printed all over the papers.’ She says before turning back to the playpen, indicating with her hand that he can pet or pick one up if he likes. ‘It’s all been happening so fast, and we have had so many visitors that we started doing tours, adoptions and even rescues too. Like these little ones that just came to us the other day.’ She smiles, but curiously notices that Sora does not take her up on the offer to interact with the puppies for some reason.
‘That’s amazing.’ Sora instead says in a quiet voice, looking dumbstruck.
To think, the 99 small little puppies that he had rescued were living such luxurious lives. After everything that he knows they’ve been through, he truly could not be happier for them.
Speaking of which, his gaze trails once again over the dozens of dalmatians that he could see in the backyard, before his shoulders slump as there is once again no sign of Jewel.
Eventually, the tour comes to an end, and Anita and Sora circle back around to the front yard. There is a man standing there waiting for them in the driveway, looking as if he had just gotten home from a stroll with the two adult dalmatians at his side.
‘Rodger, darling. How was your walk?’ Anita asked as she approaches him.
‘Splendid! Although Pongo here caught sight of something, and you know how that goes.’ The man, Rodger, says. He unclips both dog’s leashes and wraps one of them around his arm for emphasis to some inside story Sora was not privy to.
‘Oh, I see.’ Anita giggles, before shaking her head.
It takes Sora a few moments before the man’s words catch up to his brain.
‘Wait, Pongo?! It’s really Pongo?’ Sora exclaims. His outburst catches both adult’s attention, but his gaze is set on the two dalmatians by Rodger’s side.
They are a little bit older now than Sora remembers, but he would recognize those blue and red collars anywhere.
‘Pongo?… Perdita?’ Sora is unable to stop himself from calling to them quietly in disbelief, causing Anita and Rodger to grow silent as both canines look up to stare at the teen.
Memories of the first time they’d met, and the last time they had seen each other flash through Sora’s mind. The two of them had always been a constant, steady presence during his first journey, and seeing the two of them once more causes his eyebrows to upturn as nostalgia gathers upon his face.
After a few moments of tense quiet, Perdita approaches Sora, and he reaches a hand towards her slowly, still afraid that this might all be some sort of cruel prank.
Perdita curiously sniffs at his hand, and he can feel his breath catch in his throat in response. But before he can even blink, she abruptly barks and jumps onto him to rub her nose against his cheek.
‘Hey! Hahaha!’ Sora laughs as Pongo answers with a bark of his own and joins Perdita by attacking Sora with doggy kisses. The two dalmatians effectively push the teen down onto the ground as their tails wag about a mile a minute. ‘I missed you guys too!’ Sora grins, unbothered as the two of them lick his face.
‘Ah…’ Both Anita and Rodger are stunned by the display.
Anita in particular looks shocked, as if she has never seen Perdita act in such a manner before.
‘Our dogs know you, Sora?’ Anita asks, blinking owlishly. ‘How?’
Sora laughs a bit more, giving both dalmatians pets as he is caught up in the moment and simply responds with the truth.
‘Yea, I helped them rescue their puppies.’
He realizes his mistake, though, as soon as Anita suddenly gasps and covers her mouth in shock.
‘You did?! So, you know how they got home?’ She asks with surprise. ‘Please, can you tell us everything that happened?’
… Oops.
Rodger and Anita end up inviting Sora onto the deck in the backyard for tea, both looking very eager to hear the story that they have told so many times from a completely new perspective.
Sora, for his part, realizes how badly he had put his foot in his mouth as he struggles to keep the world order. At least Perdita and Pongo were there to give him some silent strength as the two dalmatians stuck by his ankles underneath the table.
‘Well, let’s see…’ He starts, before pausing to thank an older lady as she comes by to give him a cup of tea. She only smiles at him kindly before disappearing back inside the house. ‘I met Pongo and Perdita by accident. I just came across them one day in an abandoned house.’ He says, knowing that honesty is the best policy in situations like these. With omitted details, of course.
‘Cruella’s hideout was in an abandoned building, yes, but it was also all the way out in the country.’ Rodger says with one eyebrow raised. ‘There weren’t any other houses around for at least a few miles. And in the dead of winter, no less.’ His tone holds both suspicion and curiosity. ‘Whatever were you doing out there, boy?’
‘I uh…’ Sora scratches the back of his head. ‘It’s a long story but, there was a really big storm, and I was lost, and I couldn’t find my family or friends.’ He says, trying to ignore Anita’s shocked expression and pitying eyebrows. It was such a long time ago now that he almost forgot how worrying that must sound to a normal person. ‘I couldn’t find them, but I found these two instead.’ He looks down at the Pongo and Perdita with a nostalgic smile.
Anita and Rodger are quiet, their silence urging Sora to continue. He grabs his cup, taking in the fancy silverware laid out on the table while trying to figure out how to piece everything together in a way that would make sense.
‘I found a few puppies not too long after that. Well one of them literally found me first, actually.’ He says, his eyes suddenly growing soft as he is made to recall that fateful day back in Wonderland. ‘She kept jumping right on my foot if you can believe it, and ran away whenever I tried to grab her. Then, when I eventually did get her, she just licked my nose without a care in the world!’ He chuckles to himself and closes his eyes as a small bittersweet smile comes over his face.
He doesn’t see when Anita leans towards Rodger to whisper something in his ear.
‘I brought her and a few other puppies back to Perdita and Pongo, and… just kept running into them when I was looking for my friends.’ Sora huffs out a breath before he opens his eyes, and the blue shine of his irises turn melancholic. ‘Not too long after that, I found one of my friends that I’ve been looking for and we had to leave. And I never saw any of them again until now.’
Rodger and Anita are silent for a few moments, seeming to have a whole conversation with just facial expressions alone, before Rodger looks back at Sora.
‘Were you in Cruella’s hideout the whole time?’
Sora never technically said that was where he was, but for the sake of easing everything over he just nodded.
‘Did you run into any trouble? Her thugs must have been snooping around.’ Rodger says. ‘Did they find you?’
‘I never saw anybody like that there.’ Sora shakes his head, technically not lying again as thankfully no enemies had ever made it into the Dalmatian House.
‘That mansion was huge. You saw it in the paper, remember.’ Anita chides Rodger for his third-degree questionings, easily taking Sora’s story as truth. ‘They might have been on completely separate floors and missed each other entirely.’
‘Hm, I suppose you’re right.’ Rodger hums, taking a puff of his pipe. ‘Is that all you recall, Sora?’
‘Yea.’ Sora nods, his expression dim as he glances at Anita. ‘That’s all I know. Sorry, I have no idea how they made it back to your house.’
‘Well, that’s alright.’ Anita says and reaches across the table to place a hand on his shoulder. ‘That’s more than alright, actually. Sora, thank you for all that you’ve done for Pongo, Perdita and all of the puppies. I can’t imagine what might have happened if you hadn’t been there.’
‘Yea, me neither.’ Sora says and a small, bittersweet smile comes over his face as he looks down at the two dalmatians by his feet. Perdita has her chin resting on one of his shoes, and Pongo’s back is pressed up against his leg as he is laying down in the shade of the table. ‘I really can’t imagine what would’ve happened if I never met these guys.’
His gaze is caught though, as a group of dalmatians suddenly run by the porch, and his eyes instinctively trace over them to look for a necklace of spots.
Anita watches Sora for a few moments before humming to get his attention.
‘Sora, can you tell us more about that puppy you found? The one that jumped on your foot?’
‘Huh?’ Sora tilts his head to the side before pausing heavily.
This entire time, a part of him has just been itching to ask them outright where Jewel was. But another, stronger part of him, was deftly afraid to know the answer.
Both Anita and the sign out front said that adoptions happened here. Very many in fact, if the bulletin board he had seen earlier was anything to go by.
What if… Jewel had already been adopted? He wasn’t sure how he’d react to the answer.
‘Well, she…’ He swallows and shoves his hands into his pockets. ‘She had a blue collar on.’
Rodger hums.
‘Yes, all the girls wear blue collars, just like Perdita.’ He explains, ‘All the boys wear red, like their rambunctious father here.’ He looks down at Pongo, who is too busy snoozing to pay much attention to his owner at the moment. ‘Anything else?’
Again, Sora pauses before he takes a deep breath in, mentally preparing himself. Like usual, he decides to jump headfirst right into the deep end.
‘Her name is Jewel. That’s what her collar said.’ Sora explains, unable to look either of them in the eye as he feels like a frog has lodged its way into his throat. ‘She has a necklace of spots.’ He gestures around his own neck for emphasis. ‘And she is… She was…’
Words leave his mouth and brain at the same time as all of the pain from these past few years hits him full force.
He thought he had getting over this, that he had been getting better, but Jewel still haunted him every day. He still saw flashes of her in the corner of his eyes, and had to catch himself from calling out her name. He still felt her weight on his chest whenever he laid down. He still reached for her whenever he was having a bad day. He swore sometimes he could hear her barking, or the sound of her nails pattering against the floor.
His foot still ached from where she used to jump on it… and there were still tiny teeth marks embedded on his crown pendant…
Sora didn’t want to admit it to himself, but the pain was still here, and still as fresh as it was the day that he had lost Jewel. It stings at his tongue now, and he is only able to look down at his lap while trying to keep sudden tears at bay.
Anita looks at Rodger and places a hand on her heart, both of her eyebrows upturned. There is recognition in both of their eyes.
Silence fills the air, and only the sounds of rambunctious barking and the squeaking of chew toys can be heard for several moments before Anita eventually stands up.
‘I see.’ She says and dusts off her apron with purpose. ‘Well then, let’s get looking.’
‘Huh?’ Sora asks unintelligently as he looks up at her in surprise.
‘Hm, Jewel.’ Rodger taps his pipe against his chin and makes a thoughtful face. ‘Jewel, Jewel, Jewel. Well, she must be around here somewhere.’ He says and stands up as well. ‘Tell you what, Nanny and I will start looking about inside. How about that, Nanny?’ He turns to address the older lady from before, who Sora just now notices had been listening in on their conversation through the screen door to the house.
‘What? Oh yes, that sounds like a splendid idea, sir.’ She says and nods with a smile. ‘She’s sure to turn up.’
‘Alright, then Sora and I can continue to look outside for her.’ Anita hums in agreement, before turning to look at the stunned teen that is still rooted in his chair. ‘Right, Sora?’
Sora gazes at each of them, pondering if any of this is real or not, before he quickly stands up from his chair.
‘Ah, yea!’ He grins, wishing that this raging fire of hope in his chest never burns out. ‘Yea, let’s find her!’
When Anita had said that they would be looking for Jewel, Sora was completely expecting to be led on another lap of the property, but instead he finds himself ultimately dumbfounded when they head further towards the river that he had crossed earlier.
Hidden there among the tall trees and bushes stands a high wooden fence that Sora had never noticed before. There is a sign on the door, noting that the area beyond is private property.
Anita unlocks the door for Sora, and gestures for him to go on inside.
Sora cocks his head, his eyes searching hers with hesitancy. When he finds nothing there but a small, genuine smile, he cautiously walks forward into the fenced off area.
The fence runs along the riverside, forming a half circle shape to encase a good size of the yard that he had been touring through all day. There are dalmatians here as well, but Sora immediately notices something deathly important about them.
Among the 99 puppies that Sora, Donald and Goofy had saved, there were only about a handful that that they knew by name; only a few that had those distinct red and blue collars that none of the other dalmatians wore.
If Sora thought hard enough, he could still remember their names; Lucky, Thunder, Rolly, Patch, Pepper, Penny, Cadpig, Freckles, Purdy, Wizzer, Dipstick, Two-Tone, Fidget, Spotty… and Jewel.
The significance of where he has just entered hits him in the stomach, and Sora doesn’t have to count the dalmatians in front of him to know that all fifteen were here.
‘Now let’s see, who could that be?’ Anita grabs his attention as she points to one dalmatian in particular that is lounging by the river’s edge. ‘Why don’t you go take a look, Sora?’
Sora instead gazes at Anita, a moment of fear and hesitance unconsciously passing his blue eyes, before he slowly nods and wills his feet forward.
The dalmatian doesn’t look up at Sora as he approaches, instead watching some ducklings that are playing together in the crystal-clear water.
Sora can feel his heart beating all the way up in his throat as he steps closer. His blue eyes look them over cautiously, and when he finally comes to a stop right next to the dalmatian, they slowly lift their head to look up at him.
…
Time stands still and Sora gasps, nearly taking a step back with shock.
Right there, clear as day, is a black necklace of spots.
This story is dedicated to my precious kitty, Pikachu, who passed away while we were separated in two different countries. I could not give her a proper goodbye, and still miss her immensely to this day. Unlike hers and mine, Sora and Jewel will have a happy ending. I promise.
Bonus Scene:
On one particular, ordinary day, Sora, Donald and Goofy make their regular visit to Traverse Town to check in with everyone, and have some much needed repairs done to their Gummi Ship.
Sora, however, had been having a not so ordinary day of his own. The beginnings of a cold had been making themselves known as the teen had been feeling uncomfortably hot and disoriented for nearly the whole day.
So, Sora was not at all surprised when Goofy had put a worried hand to his forehead during dinner.
‘Gawrsh, you gotta fever, Sora.’ Goofy frowns and pushes some of Sora’s hair away from his forehead, taking in the teen’s fatigued expression.
‘Wha??’ Donald gapes, pausing with his fork halfway towards his mouth. ‘A fever?’
‘I’m fine! Really.’ Sora protests and pulls away from Goofy’s hand as if he’s been burned. ‘Besides, I promised Jewel I would be back today to see her.’
‘Hmph.’ Donald tuts and gets up, gesturing assertively for Sora to lean down to his level.
The teen reluctantly does so, and makes a face when Donald takes his turn putting a hand to Sora’s forehead. The wizard unsurprisingly hums in agreement with Goofy.
‘Sora, why didn’t you tell us that you’re sick?’ Donald chides, his worry showing through his bossy attitude. ‘You’d better rest once you finish your dinner.’
‘Hey wait-!’ The teen tries to protest.
‘And eat ALL of your carrots this time.’ Donald says with a tone of finality as he sits back down.
Sora can only sit there, looking dumbfounded with his mouth hung open. He hasn’t been admonished like that since leaving his family on Destiny Islands.
‘Aw, best do as Donald says.’ Goofy places a comforting hand onto Sora’s shoulder. ‘Besides, Jewel will still be there tomorrow to see you. I promise.’
‘Hmm…’
Still, Sora is unable to stop himself from pouting in response, even as his head aches and his throat is growing incredibly sore.
He hasn’t seen Jewel in nearly two weeks now, after all, and he had really been looking forward to seeing her!
But, if he was really sick then… he wouldn’t want her to catch it, right? Could dogs even get sick from humans? Best not to find out.
‘Alright.’ The teen agrees, though the look on his face is anything but happy. ‘Tomorrow then.’
Once tomorrow finally arrives, however, Sora is frustrated when he notices his cold has not gotten better, and has instead gotten somehow worse.
His head is pounding much more than yesterday, and his nose is sore and running as he coughs the morning away. He doesn’t even have the stomach to finish his breakfast, either, as he feels exceedingly nauseous and is worried that he just might throw it up later instead.
Donald and Goofy unanimously sentence him to another day of bed rest, causing Sora to groan as he pulls the ocean themed blankets over his head.
‘But I promised Jewel.’ Sora mumbles, distraught. ‘And I want to see her.’
‘I know.’ Goofy sits down next to Sora on the waterbed in the blue room of the hotel. He slowly rubs the teens back through the blankets, trying to comfort him. ‘But Jewel would want you to get better, right? And you gotta rest to do that.’
Sora only groans again in response, knowing that Goofy is right but hating this illness anyway.
A few days of bed rest later finds Sora now able to keep down some soup that Aerith had made for him, and the aches and chills had flared down to a minimum as Donald had announces that his fever had finally broken.
Even so, the teen was disappointed to be told that he still needed to rest, that even though he was feeling better, it didn’t mean that he was completely better.
Donald and Goofy took pity on the poor teen, though, and had decided to venture out to obtain a surprise for him.
The two of them were still gone with Sora had woken up from a nap later that day, leaving him feeling confused. Donald and Goofy had been ever present at his side for days now, after all, so it was a bit startling to be left alone all of a sudden.
Sora sits up, clutching the blankets around himself as he prepared to go looking for them, when the door opens, and Donald pokes his head in.
‘Oh Sora, you’re finally up.’ He quacks with surprise.
Sora hums, then immediately regrets the action when his throat hurts a bit as a result.
‘Yea, where did you guys go? To get more soup?’
‘No.’ Goofy pokes his head in too, and Sora can’t help but think that that their behavior is a bit odd. ‘But we did pick up a little something for you, since you’re feeling better.’
‘Huh? What is it?’ Sora tilts his head to the side, before gasping with surprise when Goofy opens the door to reveal Donald standing there with a cute little dalmatian puppy in his arms.
‘Jewel!’ Sora calls in excitement.
Jewel squirms in Donald’s grasp before the magician finally put hers down onto the waterbed.
The puppy comically sways along the dips and waves of the strange bed as she bounds over to Sora’s waiting arms. She licks his nose once he scoops her up, causing the teen to laugh as he pulls her under the covers with him.
‘We got you some more soup too.’ Goofy holds up a paper bag. ‘And some veggies and fruits.’
‘Thanks guys.’ Sora says sincerely, feeling truly grateful to have them both in his life.
The three of them spend the rest of the day together, with Jewel helping to nurse Sora back to health as the two of them snuggle together in the soft blankets.
The next day, Sora was feeling truly better than ever, and could even make the trek to visit Jewel himself, before he finally recovered completely and set off with Donald and Goofy for new worlds ahead.
A few years later, Sora is frustrated once more as he feels those same beginnings of a cold come over him again.
It hits him full force the very next day, just as he knew it would. Even so, he is unable to stop himself from groaning when he wakes up with that same sore throat, cough, nausea, and runny nose.
Among the pounding fog in his head, Sora can almost feel Goofy’s warm hand on his forehead and hear Donald’s chiding voice telling him to rest. But when his tired eyes look around the room, Sora quickly grows disappointed upon remembering where he was.
‘Right…’ Sora whispers and turns over, before growing surprised when he comes face to face with a little black nose.
Jewel leans her head on his bed, her tail wagging back and forth as she looks at him in greeting.
‘Hey, good morning girl.’ Sora says, before a thought comes over him and he scoots over, for once encouraging Jewel to come up onto the bed and under the covers with him. ‘Well, at least I have you now, Jewel.’ He whispers and kisses her forehead, before the two of them snuggle the day and night away until the sickness is gone again once more.
Dream Eater Allyphant Creations 
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