Wonderland is as wondrously whimsical as always when Sora, Donald and Goofy cross under the heart-shaped archway and enter the Queen’s courtyard. The air is humid, and carries familiar fragrances of lilies, roses, and daffodils from the nearby Lotus Forest.
Sora turns toward the smell, looking eager to explore the never-ending maze of eccentric nonsense, when Donald clears his throat.
‘Sora, stick together.’ Donald reminds the teen, looking stern. ‘Don’t get lost again!’
‘Hey, it only happened one time.’ Sora defends himself. ‘I was talking to this flower, and then some birds with shovel noses walked by and-‘
‘Aw Donald, we’ll be fine.’ Goofy cuts them off. His voice carries a calming undertone as if he’s heard this argument before. ‘We’re only here to get some materials.”
‘Yea, see? No big deal.’ Sora concurs with Goofy, easily letting the subject drop as he laces his fingers together behind his head.
The trio pass by a duo of card soldiers on their way into the Lotus Forest. Thankfully no words are exchanged, and the outsiders are granted permission to enter, having long since reconciled their past transgressions with the Queen of Hearts and her legion of guards.
Once the soldiers and courtyard are out of sight, Donald gives a suspicious glance to Sora, but ultimately has no time for further squabbling as the three friends begin hunting for Heartless.
‘Man, they just don’t stop, do they?’ Sora complains sometime later. His breath is labored, as he had just finished taking out a rogue pack of Large Bodies. ‘Well, at least we’re getting some good materials, right guys?’ He joyfully picks up a few shards from the ground, before turning towards his friends.
Only to realize that they are no longer there.
‘Hey, Donald? Goofy?’ Sora asks while dismissing his keyblade and looking around in confusion. ‘…Aw man, not again.’
Sora’s shoulders slump, recalling exactly what Donald had said earlier.
‘Donald! Goofy!’ He calls again while trying to orient himself in the eerily quiet forest.
His voice echoes through the empty woods, bouncing off bark and overgrown leaves before finally disappearing into the air. But as Sora stops to listen closely, only the faint sound of whistling can be heard from deeper among the trees.
The noise sparks Sora’s curiosity immediately.
‘Hey, what’s that?’ He asks, unable to help himself from following after it.
The closer Sora ventures towards the whistling, however, the faint sound of singing becomes more clear among the strident cacophony. When Sora finally stumbles upon the source of the noise, he is surprised to find himself in that one courtyard with the long pink dining table and the mysteriously empty chairs.
Only this time, the chairs are not empty.
The table is filled to the brim with a smorgasbord of jams, cookies, scones, and muffins. There is an abnormally large multitude of brightly colored tea pots huddled about as well, their whistles and steam emitting a thick cloud of smoke over the joyful scene.
As Sora squints through the sweltering fog, he can barely make out two figures singing at the head of the table. They are precariously sloshing around hot cups of tea while merrily enjoying their secluded tea party.
‘A Very Merry Unbirthday~! A Very Merry Unbirthday~! A Very Merry Unbirthday to Us~!’
‘Who even are these guys?’ Sora asks as he dares to get a closer look at the smartly dressed rabbit and green suited man. ‘Hey, they look like the guys from that painting that used to be here!’
His eyes dart to the empty spot at the front of the table. Had they both escaped the painting somehow? Sora wouldn’t be surprised if so, given he had done something similar with Donald and Goofy when trying to explore every inch of the Bizarre Room.
Speaking of Donald and Goofy, where were they anyway? Maybe Sora should head back and keep looking…
The teen is so caught up in his thoughts that he barely notices as the general cacophony of the courtyard begins to dissipate along with the smoke from the steaming tea pots.
Sora startles when one of the strangers, the rabbit with the red suit, calls out to him.
‘Young man! Don’t you know it’s very rude to sneak into a party you were not invited to?’
‘Huh?’ Sora asks, unsure of how to respond as the smoke completely clears, leaving him looking as if he had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. ‘Oh hey, I didn’t mean-‘
‘It’s very rude.’ The other man in green scolds him while casually buttering a piece of toast. ‘Very very rude indeed.’
‘Sorry, I was just trying to find my two friends, and uh, I heard your singing and thought I’d check it out.’
‘Hm, two friends you say.’ The rabbit says with a suspicious side eye before casually hopping across the precariously full table, appearing unbothered about whatever is knocked over in the process. ‘Well, if they’re your friends, then who are they?’
‘Their names are Donald and Goofy.’ Sora answers. ‘They look like-‘
‘Where are they from?’ The man in green asks, coming closer.
‘Well. That’s complicated, I guess. Uh…’
‘How old are they?’ The rabbit cuts him off while dumping an entire container of sugar into one abnormally tiny cup of tea.
‘Um…’ Sora appears stumped. How old were Donald and Goofy? He had no idea.
‘What is their favorite food?’ The man asks.
‘Favorite color?’ The rabbit inquires.
‘What are their hobbies?’
‘When is their unbirthday?’
Sora’s head spins with each rapid-fire question. Did he even truly know anything about Donald and Goofy? He had thought he did, but now he wasn’t so sure.
However, one question in particular catches his attention.
‘Wait, unbirthday? What’s that?’
The man in green gasps.
‘What?! What’s an unbirthday??’ He repeats the question in an incredulous manner.
The rabbit at least has a calmer response as he looks Sora up and down before gesturing to the empty seat beside him.
‘Come, sit down and have a cup of tea.’ He says. ‘It’s very simple.’
‘Oh, you remind me of Alice.’ The man in green says as he dips a saucer plate into his tea before taking a bite of the glass with an audible crunch. ‘You children are so naive about the world.’
Sora is momentarily dumbfounded by the display before shaking his head and sitting down.
‘Hey, I’m not a kid.’ He complains. ‘My name’s Sora.’
‘Child, there is no need to get upset. I am the March Hare.’ The rabbit introduces himself as he takes a sip of tea while standing upside down as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
‘And I’m the Mad Hatter.’ The man in green hands Sora a broken cup of tea, before casually leaning back in his chair. ‘Now, you were asking about unbirthdays?’
Sora looks at the cup in amazement. It’s sliced right down the middle, but somehow the piping hot tea is still contained inside. He takes an experimental sip, before promptly burning his tongue.
‘Uh, yea? What are they?’ He asks, struggling not to show a pained face as he puts the cup down.
‘Well, you have a birthday, don’t you?’ March Hare explains with an air of condescension. ‘Then what do you think an unbirthday is?’
‘What do you think an unbirthday is?’ A small voice is heard from Sora’s left, causing him to blink with surprise as a small mouse in a purple suit pops their head out from one of the teapots.
‘Oh!’ Sora exclaims after a moment or two of thought. ‘So, you mean, an unbirthday is just a day that’s not your birthday?’
‘Precisely!’ The March Hare claps with his ears, causing all the tea pots nearby to whistle in celebration of Sora’s victory. ‘It’s all of our unbirthdays today, so we were having a lovely party.’
‘Say, child, tell me, is it your unbirthday too?’ The Mad Hatter asks with curiosity.
‘Uh…’ Sora’s brain takes a moment to process the question, before his blue eyes suddenly widen. ‘Wait, today’s March 28th, right?’
‘Yes. March.’ The March Hare hums. ‘My favorite time of the year.’
‘Then uh… no.’ Sora says, his voice low with realization. ‘No, it’s not my unbirthday.’
…
The table grows quiet for a few long, uncomfortable moments, before the Mad Hatter speaks up.
‘Well look at that, an actual birthday.’ He says, his tone melancholic as he dramatically takes off his hat.
‘That’s too bad, child.’ The March Hare tsks with a shake of his head. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Sora asks incredulously. ‘Your birthday is a really great day! You have cake and candles and presents and you spend the whole day with your friends.’ He explains earnestly. ‘Me, Kairi and Riku, we would spend all day on the play island for my birthday, and we’d build sandcastles and do scavenger hunts, and then my mom would call us home and we’d always have a chocolate cake. And… and this year we…’ Sora trails off, a sinking feeling suddenly forming in the pit of his stomach.
This year… what could Sora even hope for? Kairi was still missing, and Riku… wasn’t himself anymore. Not to mention, their entire home is gone. Nothing but an extinguished star in the sky. All of his family, his friends back home… gone. Nothing but memories now in his heart.
‘Oh Sora, you’re so silly. That’s an unbirthday.’ Mad Hatter giggles.
‘Say, that does sound like an unbirthday.’ March Hare says with an accusatory tone. ‘Everybody knows that nothing happens on your actual birthday.’
‘What? You’re not making any sense at all.’ Sora is baffled as he shakes his head and stands up to leave, having had enough of this conversation. ‘You must be talking in riddles or something, just like the Cheshire Cat.’
‘CAT!’ The mouse inside the teapot suddenly screams in terror, causing Sora to cover his ears in response to the shrill sound. The mouse escapes and frantically runs across the table, sending the entire courtyard into a panic induced frenzy.
When Donald and Goofy eventually come upon the scene of the unbirthday party, they find three figures covered from head to toe in a mixture of jam, tea, butter, and sugar. Sora is noticeably out of breath and is struggling to wrangle a small mouse with two other strangers.
‘Hold him down!’
‘Put the jam on his nose!’
‘Jam! Jam! On his nose!’
Only when Sora has slathered an abundant amount of jam onto the poor mouse’s nose, and has caused everyone to calm down, does Donald decide to speak up.
‘Ahem.’ The court magician says loudly with crossed arms.
‘Ah! Donald! Goofy!’ Sora sighs with relief as he rushes over to his friends.
‘Sora, what happened?’ Goofy asks, his tone gentle but stern in that parenting sort of way that Sora’s mother would use whenever he got into trouble.
‘Well…um…’ Sora scratches the back of his head sheepishly, before grimacing as his fingers come back sticky with sugar and jam.
‘I’ll tell you what happened.’ March Hare says while gingerly fixing some broken tea pots. ‘That child nearly ruined our party.’
Sora makes a noise as if to protest but thinks better of it.
‘Sorry…’
Donald looks at Sora with a disappointed stare, before letting out a sigh, his gaze softening in response to Sora’s guilty expression.
‘Well come on, let’s get you cleaned up.’
‘Cleaning up’, it turns out, consisted of a mixture of Donald’s water and aero spells, leaving Sora with wind tossed hair and soggy socks, but looking much cleaner all the same. The trio do not talk as they make it back to the Gummi Ship, the atmosphere between them much heavier than any of them are used to.
Goofy is the one to eventually break the silence.
‘Sora, you know we’re not mad at cha. We were just worried is all. We didn’t know where you’d gone off to.’
‘I know.’ Sora says and absentmindedly kicks a rock. ‘It’s not that.’ He pauses, causing his friends to look at him in concern. ‘I just can’t believe I almost forgot something really important.’
‘What was it?’ Donald asks as they arrive back at the green glowing circle that will lead them to their ship.
‘My birthday!’ Sora says, the words spilling out of his mouth from the stress of this realization. ‘It’s today, and I’ve never forgotten it before. I always spend it with Riku, Kairi and my mom. But that’s impossible now. After everything that’s happened…’
Donald and Goofy share a look, before Goofy puts a comforting hand onto Sora’s shoulder.
‘I know things aren’t the same as they used to be.’ Goofy’s voice is gentle. His eyebrows upturn as if knowing that nothing he could say would take that pain away from Sora. ‘But I think me and Donald may have something that can make it a little better?’
‘Like what?’
Tilting his head in confusion, Sora looks from Goofy to Donald, who has a small smile on his face as he nods towards the green circle.
Sora follows their lead and enters onto the Gummi Ship, only to gasp in wonder at the sight before him.
Balloons, party favors, banners, ribbons, cupcakes, and confetti decorate the interior of the ship. The bright balloons reflect off the glass of the cockpit, illuminating the room in a multitude of color as Sora approaches and grabs a red one out of the air.
‘Wow! You guys…’ Sora says, at a loss for words as Donald and Goofy join him aboard the ship.
‘We knew it was your birthday.’ Donald says with a small bit of smugness in his voice as he waves his hand dismissively. ‘And we knew you’d get lost. It was the perfect distraction.’
‘Oh gee, thanks for the faith in me!’ Even so, Sora is unable to stop the thousand-watt smile from coming over his face as he bats his balloon into the air, watching with glee as it careens across a purple one before settling against a corner of the ceiling.
Sora turns to Goofy, though, as his friend approaches him with a small box.
‘Donald and I got ya a little something.’ He says, giving the present to Sora. ‘We know it won’t be the same today without your friends, but we hope you like it.’
Sora makes a face, feeling touched, before gingerly tearing off the ribbon and wrapping paper. He peeks into the box curiously, before gasping as he completely takes off the lid.
‘Is this…?’
‘It’s a keychain.’ Donald explains as Sora takes it out with a mesmerized expression.
The keychain is shaped like a grey heart with golden embellishments, and it shines brightly in the light as Sora twists it this way and that. There are hinges on the backside also, and when Sora curiously snaps it open, he blinks with surprise upon realizing it’s a locket. One side has a golden engraving of a trinity mark, and the other holds a small, framed photo. It’s a picture that the three of them had taken back in Traverse Town, back when they first met.
‘It’s for your keyblade.’ Goofy hums, tearing Sora’s speechless self away from his present. ‘Everyone in Traverse Town helped us get the materials to synthesize it.’
Sora is at a loss for words, unable to do anything else but summon his keyblade. With shaking fingers, he removes the old keychain to clip the new one in its place.
To all of their surprise, the keyblade flashes bright, before transforming into a long sword, with metal spires alongside the edges glowing in a stunning gradient of gold and aqua. This keyblade feels stronger in Sora’s hand than any other he has had before, and he moves aside to give it a good swing, enjoying the way the new keychain jangles as the sharp crown-tipped blade flies through the air.
‘Guys, thank you. This is…’ Sora struggles to form words. His back is turned to Donald and Goofy as he swipes at his misting eyes. ‘I love it.’ He says, holding the keyblade close, before blinking as the lights overhead turn off.
‘Happy Birthday to you~! Happy Birthday to you~! Happy Birthday, dear Sora~! Happy Birthday to you~!’
Sora turns around and is greeted with the sight of his two best friends holding a birthday cake. The lit candles flicker in the low light, giving him a glimpse at the frosting design of the three of them putting their hands together back in the 3rd District of Traverse Town.
‘Donald Duck!’
‘Name’s Goofy!’
‘I’m Sora!’
The words ‘All For One, And One For All’ is elegantly written at the bottom.
Sora looks between Donald and Goofy, who both give him encouraging smiles. This birthday may not be anything like he’s used to. But he’s here now, spending it with friends who care about him. And what more could he really ask for?
Sora blows out the candles without much further prompting, sending the Gummi Ship into their own party filled with laughter and merriment as the trio of friends know that they will always be together.
Forever and always.
Years later, in a large city with tall buildings, Sora is sitting alone atop a skyscraper. A grey and gold heart keychain is held tightly in one hand.
‘All for one, and one for all…’
End
Dream Eater Allyphant Creations 
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