Hey all! This is the revised version of my first Fanfic "The Road to Dawn". I will complete it before the end of Senior Year, and I really hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to review, but please no flames. Enjoy!

Humans prefer concrete idealism. There must always be an explanation, no matter how ridiculous.

But can it be that destiny be the only true justification?

Our hero waits inside the pod

and that who lives is only a fraud

For her true destiny is interrupted by slumber

the only thing that can keep her from going under

and while she sacrificed everything she had

her mind wanders like a nomad.

One of the four, she searches three

And at the end she will truly see

That all things come at a price

And hers will come.

It will come thrice.

…

It was a warm and late afternoon. The sun was on its way down, the cool breeze began to sift through your fingers, and the day was coming to an end. Atop a tall clock-tower sat four children, each at the age of adolescence. At the far right side sat a girl with doe-like green eyes and brown hair. Beside her, a thin boy with ash blonde hair spiked upwards. Beside him, a chubby boy with black hair and ice cream all over his face. Finally, at the far left side of the group sat a girl with long black hair and daunting red eyes.

This was Akira.

The red-eyed maven was deep in thought. Something deep in her mind was bothering her, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Something from the past, like a distant memory. It was unnerving, the feeling, and she'd been thinking about it for quite some time. Nostalgic was a good word to describe it as. But she couldn't-

"Akira! Do you want the ice cream or not?!"

The girl with the long back hair blinked several times and turned to the source of the shout. It was the ash-blonde boy, Hayner, who currently held a blue popsicle in his hand, shoving it towards her. She scratched her head meekly, meeting him halfway. "Yeah, sorry."

"I swear Akira, you're really out of it these days." Hayner grumbled as they exchanged ice cream. Akira rolled her eyes.

"Geez Hayner, you need to chillax," joked Pence, "Just like this popsicle. You need to keep your cool."

"Yeah yeah yeah, eat your ice cream big boy," Hayner answered. The girl with big green eyes giggled, as did Akira.

"Oh, come on, Hayner," The green eyed girl urged, "Just give the girl a break. She obviously is not looking forward to school starting soon!"

"Shut up, Olette," Akira answer, shaking her head with a chuckle. "You know how much I love school."

The four teens laughed carelessly, their giggling blowing off with the very wind that brought their free spirit. Akira smiled at her friends, the cool breeze toying with her long locks of hair.

It was dark. The constant beeping of humming machines filled the tense silence. Only a few blinking lights illuminated the small girl watching a screen before her. Her blue eyes dutifully scanned over every detail that arose from the screen. She toyed with a strand of blonde hair on her right shoulder, biting her pink lip.

"Has she fully regained them?"

The small girl jumped, letting go of her hair. She turned back to see a man wrapped in robes, from his face to his toes. She exhaled a bit and turned back to the screen. "I'm sorry, DiZ, you frightened me." She typed in some more encoding onto the screen with the keyboard that rested in her lap, absently adding, "No, she is still being treated."

"Good." Diz replied, exhaling himself. He crossed his arms and watched the screen before him, paying no heed to the girl in front. The girl sighed as she typed a few more things and leaned back, her eyes running side to side, analyzing the data on the screen.

"I need to warn her..." she whispered to herself, "Or this won't be completed the way it is supposed to."

"You will do no such thing," The man interrupted. The blonde turned to him again, eyes wide. He continued. "You may have hindered the processes of Sora and Roxas, but not to her. We cannot let the darkness consume her once more."

The blonde girl sighed. "You know it was necessary. She needs guidance. She needs to know."

"No, Namine," DiZ replied. "I will not allow it. Not to her."

Namine closed her eyes in disappointment, biting her lip once more.

"I wanna be- with you two."

"I'm not afraid of the darkness."

"I'll come back to you- I promise."

"I guess my summer vacation is-over"

"You were never supposed to exist."

"You're home."

"You can't make me do this!"

"I'll fight you! I'll fight you if I have to!"

"GAH!"

Akira's scarlet eyes opened, her irises dilated. She craved the air around her, breathing it in in heaves as she tried to wake herself up to the reality around her. She clutched her sheets beneath her, then held her head in her hands.

"So many images…so many I can't recall…"

She shut her eyes forcefully and tried to make sense of all the moving pictures in her head, all of which seemed to be in her perspective, all of which seemed to confuse her even more.

"We don't want to lose her again. We can't afford yet another mistake."