Return to Final Fantasy X-3 Chapter Forty-One



Final Fantaxy X-3
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: LEAVING HUNDRED ACRE WOOD

Author: Stormforce
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own either series.


After the group had left the swing area, they heard laughing and shrugged. If something was that fun then why not find out what it was, and try it out? This world was very different from the others, and the girls, plus the guys found it relaxing not having to fight the Heartless around every corner. The laughing grew louder as the group entered a small section with tree stumps in a line, and off to the sides.

There were two stumps a cut a foot from the ground; one cut about a foot and a half from the ground, and two more cut two feet from the ground. There was a tree stump to the right of the others that was cut about six-inches from the ground, and one near a small elevated section of land that was cut three feet from the ground. The only other stump was only two-inches from the ground, and had a large six-foot tall, five-foot round pot sitting on top.

"This here is my bouncin' spot!" Tigger said as he bounced over to the group, "We can bounce around here all day!"

"Nothing beats bouncin'," A small brown kangaroo said as he bounced over, "by the way, I'm Roo."

"Hello there." Tara smiled and sat down near a large Oak tree.

"You wanna bounce, too, Willow?" Tigger asked hoping Willow would agree, "It's lotsa fun!"

"I think I'll pass, but I'm sure Faith would love to go bouncin' with you." Willow smiled and stiffled her giggles when she felt Faith's burning gaze on her. "She's a very good fighter, and she'd pick up bouncin' real quick."

"To bounce with the finest, you'll need some pointers from the finest," Owl said as he appeared, "And Tigger and Roo are the finest bouncers in Hundred Acre Wood."

"Bounce this way, please!" Tigger said to Faith, and bounced over to a tree stump. "Here's a little warm-up." Tigger bounced from the first stump, to the second and third, and back to the second before bouncing to the third and fourth, and stopped on the elevated ground. "Now you!"

Faith shook her head, this was going to be easy. Doing just like Tigger had; Faith followed the same path, and landed next to Tigger. "Easy." she smirked, and followed him back to the beginning.

"Now it gets tricky!" Tigger bounced to the second, back to the first, and over to the taller stump on the right, before bouncing back to the second. From the second he bounced to the third, and back to the second, and finally on to the forth and on to the ground.

Faith sighed, and began following the same path, and slipped when she jumped from the first over to the right. "Try again!" Tigger called out and watched as Faith began again, and this time made it over to him, "You're doin' fantastical!" Tigger shouted happily as he bounced back to the beginning, "This will be the last one."

Once again Faith watched. This one was much the same as the last, but from the right stump Tigger bounced to the third completely bypassing the second one. Faith did the same thing, and smiled when she made it to Tigger's side without making a mistake.

"You've gotten mighty good at bouncin', Faith! Right, Roo?"

"Yeah! I think she's ready for the big one!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Tigger said and led Faith to the stump in front of the large pot, "We will be inside throwing rocks out, and you have to hit them back at the pot and break it."

"Okay." Faith nodded taking her blade out, and waited for them to begin.

The first rock flew out of the pot high into the air, causing Faith to jump a foot in the air, and knock it back. The pot rocked back and forth as the rock hit, and another came flying out. Again Faith jumped and twisted in the air, hitting the rock, hard, and watched as the pot rocked from side to side. Faith hit all but one rock, and smashed the pot five minutes later, causing Tigger and Roo to bounce around her in circles.

"That was great! You're one of the finest, now!" Tigger shouted causing the others to giggle.

"Yeah! Just let us know if you wanna bounce with us again, and pratice with breaking the pot!" Roo bounced up and down.

Faith smiled and walked over to the others, "I think right now I could go for a swim, whatcha say?"

"That sounds great!" Buffy hopped up, and began dragging Faith back toward the stream.

"Yeah, that is a good idea, and that stream was warm." Willow rose from the ground, and picked Tara up, and carried her over her shoulder as she raced Buffy back to to stream.

"Those girls." Donald sighed and stood to follow them, "We need to find that Keyhole."

"Don't worry, Donald." Goofy chuckled, "The Heartless haven't found this world, and I'm sure we'll seal the Keyhole before they do." With that said Goofy rose to follow the girls.

"Hey!" Donald quacked, "Where are you going?"

Goofy turned, "I'm goin' for a swim."

An hour after climbing out of the stream, and letting the bright sun, and the warm breeze dry their cloths; Faith pointed out another path that led past a group of trees. Just past the trees the group came to a muddy path, and saw Pooh walking around a tall clump of grass with his head down. Everyone carefully walked across the mud, so as not to fall, and stepped behind Pooh Bear.

"Whatcha doin' Pooh?" Buffy asked startling the bear.

"Shh." Pooh raised his finger to his lips, "We have to be quite, or they'll get away!" he whispered.

"Who?" Tara asked, making sure to keep her voice low.

"The people who took everyone away. See their footprints?" Pooh pointed to the mud where several footprints could be seen, "We were all sticking together to make sure no one got lost again. But then, I saw some footprints that needed following. So I did. Suddenly, everyone was gone. Bad people must have taken them away."

"Actually, Pooh, I think those footprinst are..." Willow stopped when Tara elbowed her ribs, "Umm, anyway, we'll help you look for your friends."

As Willow and Tara talked to Pooh; Buffy had walked over to the clump of grass, and pushed the weeds back, "Eeyore?"

The donkey looked up at the Al Bhed girl, "Hello." he said and lowered his head again, and began glancing from right to left.

"What are you doin'?"

"Lookin' for sticks to build my house...again."

"Sticks for your house?" Buffy asked surprised as she stepped through the weeds, and looked around. "This place already feels like a house." she said, and of course she was right; the weeds were at least six-foot tall and had leaned over to make a ceiling.

"Hey, this seems like a good place to gather everyone once we find them." Faith said poking her head through the weeds when she'd heard voices.

Willow told Pooh to wait with Eeyore while she and the other's searched around for everyone else. Donald and Goofy went to the right and up a small hill where they found Piglet hiding in a small hole. "Why are you up here?"

"We lost Pooh, and when I turned around everyone had disappeared. I w-was s-so s-scared."

"Don't worry. We're gonna find them." Goofy smiled and picked the small pig up, "Let's get you back to Pooh."

Faith had spotted Roo hopping from the ground to a large tree root, and bouncing higher as he looked around. "Hey, Roo, come on, the other's are over here." she shouted, and saw Buffy coming back with Tigger. She'd found him bouncing on a fallen tree, and trying to bounce from there to one ten foot up.

Willow and Tara had run into Owl, who was snoring away in an Elm tree, and asked if he'd fly down to the weeds, and wait. After Owl agreed it didn't take them long to spot Rabbit on a ledge higher up. Willow used the small tree roots sticking out of the land to jump up, and grab Rabbit before she hopped down. "Come on, the other's are waiting." she smiled, as she and Tara led Rabbit to the grass.

"Everyone's here!" Rabbit laughed, he had been worried. After they'd lost Pooh, and tried to find him; Rabbit had lost site of everyone else, and had been afraid something had gotten them.

Dusk had creeped up on the group as they had searched, and now was walking back toward the stream with Pooh and his friends following. The night air was still warm, and the stars lit up the night sky like thousands of small fireflies. Once the large group entered the stream area, they followed Tigger up the hill, and sat down on the grass.

"This is beautiful." Buffy said lying on the grass to stare up at the twinkling stars with a smile. "We should do this more often."

"I'm so glad we're all together again." Piglet said and lowered his head, "I didn't know what to do when I was all alone."

"Aw, Piglet, you gotta be brave." Tigger wrapped his arm around Piglet's shoulder.

"You weren't lonely at all?" Piglet stared up at Tigger with round questioning eyes.

"Lonely? Are you kiddin'?" Tigger grinned, "I'm a Tigger! The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one." He said, and hugged the young pig closer to him, "But I do admit, friends are awfully fun, too!"

"Think, think. Think." Pooh mumbled with his head down.

"Hey Pooh, what are you thinking about now?" Willow asked when she heard his mumbled whispers.

The yellow bear looked up, "Oh, well, I'm just thinking about what to think about."

Willow shook her head, as her giggles joined the others, "Well, we should be off." Faith said as she stood.

"Where are you going?" Rabbit asked sorry to see their new friends leaving so soon.

"We've got to look for our twins." Buffy said as she stood beside her lover, and motioned toward Willow and herself.

"Bounce on back again!" Tigger bounced over and hugged the girls, and Donald and Goofy.

"I hope you find your twins!" Piglet said hugging Buffy's leg, and laughed when she picked him up, and gave him a real hug.

"We will." Buffy whispered, and sat the young pig down, "And keep an eye on Pooh Bear, make sure he doesn't get stuck in Rabbit's house again, okay?" she gave Piglet a wink when he quietly giggled.

The group hopped down after saying their goodbye's and headed toward a light in the center of the meadow. "Girls, don't forget... We shall always be here. If you'd like to visit again, that is." Pooh called out as he and the other's waved.

The group disappeared from Hundred Acre Woods, and felt Willow's Keyblade shot the beam to seal the Keyhole, as they appeared in Merlin's house. After nodding to the magician, and Fairy Godmother; the group hurried back to the First District, and teleported back to the ship.

"All right!" Donald shouted as they appeared on the ship, "Let's head on to the new world!"

"Yeah, it's time to meet Maleficent face to face." Willow nodded firmly, and wrapped her arms around Tara, and saw Buffy kiss Faith before hopping into the pilot's seat. Both girls knew this was not going to be an easy place.


Continue to Final Fantasy X-3 Chapter Forty-Three


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