Always on My Mind
Chapter 1
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Once upon a time . . .
There was a boy. A young boy, but he had a strong heart, and a great power. Dark, empty creatures sought to take away this power, but to no avail. Wherever the boy treaded through darkness, he brought light. He was on a journey to find his lost friends. He knew it would be a long and arduous journey. Still, he knew his heart would guide him down the path; his strength would help him go through the obstacles.
At last, the boy's heart led him to a great battle. He fought with all his strength, even though there was little hope in that dark world. But then that small hope summoned all the light to vanquish the darkness. The battle had ended, and the boy had finally found his friends. But it was sure that they would be separated again.
A door was shut. Locked and gone away – away, with one of his friends. The earth was crumbling, about to take another friend away. She was about to go home, but he didn't want to say goodbye yet. She didn't want to either.
The boy grabbed her hand and made a promise. He assured her, he would return home from this journey. The split earth was slowly creeping farther and farther away. The girl cried out with all her heart that she knows he'll come back.
He still held on.
"But will you remember this promise?" he asked.
"Will you still remember me?"
And then . . .
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"And then . . ."
There was complete silence; almost everyone's breath was held in. But finally an audible gulp came out – from the reader. A small cough followed as she covered her mouth.
"Um . . . I read that wrong. I meant to say, The End!" She then went to the teacher's desk to hand in her typed assignment, all while hearing groans and moans and other signs of disappointment from the small audience. But shortly after, relief filled the atmosphere when the students realized it was already the end of the period. The teacher quieted them down; she still expected a discussion, a review for the reader's composition to take place. As the girl who was standing before the class waited for any questions to answer, she had to take a good breath . . . and then she gave a small smile.
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Laughter echoed down the hilly road which the two girls routinely took to get home from school. "Haha! Kairi, at Creative Writing – that was great!"
Kairi smiled, but then she looked straight as they continued walking. "If you're talking about my story, Selphie, it had a plot that was too big for a short story, the style was changing toward the end, not to mention the ending was really lacking, and – "
"No, really!" Selphie finally interrupted. "I thought it was really good. You're just repeating whatever Mrs. D. babbled on about so you could 'improve on these points,' but still, it's your style of writing. She can't change that. But she knows good writing, and how she reacts, I can never get over." Selphie laughed out loud again. "Just as drawn in as almost everyone else, but with her mouth open like this:" She demonstrated, as if drool was going to come out of the corner of her mouth any second. "And then! When you suddenly ended the story:" She opened her mouth wider, and she raised her eyebrows in confusion.
Kairi laughed this time. She knew her friend was exaggerating, but she was always amused by her animated expressions. "Well, she might've been in shock if I told her it was all from a dream I had last night."
Selphie stopped walking, still holding the expression of surprise on her face. "R-really?!"
Kairi stood still too, for a moment. Then she slowly turned to face Selphie, showing a sheepish smile. " . . . I guess, it would be surprising if she knew."
Selphie finally closed her jaw and scrutinized her friend for a good few seconds. Seeing her being a little spaced-out, she took the chance to ponder for a longer time. Selphie was often bubbly in front of her and maybe not always realizing the obvious so quickly, but somehow, she was able to see right away that the way Kairi was acting was different. They finally started walking again, only a little slower. This time, Selphie didn't want to be the first one to talk. She just waited to listen to anything her friend wanted to explain. And that chance came.
"I . . . I've had a lot on my mind for the past couple of days." Selphie nodded, listening to her more intently. Kairi continued, with her eyes cast down on the road. "And that's why I didn't do the writing assignment, and it's really not like me to do that – that's what I think." Her friend nodded again in complete agreement.
"But then I had that dream . . . I woke up in the middle of the night and I wrote about it. I couldn't go back to sleep after that. . . . And you'll think that this sounds bizarre, but I think the girl in the dream . . . was me." Selphie was somewhat taken aback by this, but still Kairi continued.
She finally looked up, her gaze towards the horizon. The sun was slowly sinking into the orange sea, and Kairi continued to stare at it in deep thought. " . . . You know when you have a dream, but when you wake up, you suddenly forget bits and pieces of it? Why does that have to happen, when you have a feeling that those lost pieces are the key to knowing the story behind it all? . . . The story that makes the dream . . . more than just a dream." She turned around and finally faced her friend with a small smile. "That's all I want to know."
Selphie took a while to respond, but then finally she came out with "Wow, Kairi. That was really deep. You always come up with saying amazing things, you know that?" Kairi could only respond with a little laugh as Selphie grinned at her. She was glad she was able to let out everything she said, and she suspected that Selphie was pretty proud of herself to have listened quietly that whole time. But now Selphie was back to being Selphie.
"So, that whole story was a dream . . . and you think that girl was you? Wow . . . I always thought the story had a kinda romantic edge, but thinking that you're that girl . . ." She then let out a large sigh. "Hmm . . . then who is it?" she asked in a sly tone.
"Who?"
"The boy."
"Oh. . . . Hmm. I don't know," she said with a shrug.
". . . Oh, I know who. Come on, admit it! It's him, right?"
"Huh?"
"You know!" Selphie elbowed her lightly.
"Oh, no way!" she said with a laugh. "We're just friends. Really. Besides, I had a feeling that it's someone else."
"Oh? Who else, then?"
Kairi was about to open her mouth to speak, but then she paused. She had a surprised look on her face, but then she continued. " . . . Hmm. It's . . . a feeling, but . . . I really don't know." But then she was silent for a few seconds. She thought that she was going to say something else before . . . Wasn't she?
"It's . . ." She felt the hissing sound from her teeth, but nothing else came out. "S . . . Someone else."
When Selphie observed Kairi while she was talking, it appeared to her that she was struggling. "Hey . . . You okay?"
Kairi blinked at her, but then realizing her actions she glanced away in a different direction. "I'm – I'll be fine."
"Cheer up, Kairi!" Selphie said loudly, which nearly startled Kairi. "You're that worried about your dream? Maybe it'll come back tonight, and that time you'll remember more about it – who that boy is and how the dream ends – all of that." Selphie then looked around and realized they were standing in the middle of a 4-way intersection. "Oh, we're already here." It was where the two had to go different ways – Kairi would go left, and Selphie, right. "Just calm down, and try to get some sleep," Selphie advised. "Kay, see you tomorrow!" She waved goodbye, and Kairi did the same.
But after her friend turned around and walked off, Kairi remained in the same place. She turned her head in the directions of all the paths. She had to turn left, but that wasn't on her mind. Of course she knew how to get home; she had walked down this road every day from school. But something didn't feel right to her. Something was missing. Ends weren't meeting, invisible pieces were scattered in the air. Why, all of a sudden, did she feel she had to find a way to put those pieces together? Kairi wanted to know so badly just what was missing that made her feel this way. What made her feel so lost – lost in this very familiar place.
Then, she could only think about the dream and what Selphie said to her. How the dream ends . . . Those words ran across her head endlessly. She was by herself, standing in the middle of the crossroads, but struggling, she wanted to say it out loud.
"The dream does not end. I believe it's only begun . . ."
Chapter 1 - End
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A/N: I'm amazed that I started writing. oo I couldn't sleep one night, and then I suddenly had the urge to write. This was done in 2-3 days . . . but I've had this idea forever. I'm serious. ;
This is my first time writing a fanfic (with all intentions of writing it at my best and finishing it), and it'll be around 5 chapters in total. So anyway, please review! I would really appreciate it!! And I would be happy to answer any questions. :D