Prologue
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A wind passed through her red hair like soft hands as her eyes opened to find herself, somehow, in the middle of a large grassy plain. The moon was full and practically every star that existed was in the sky then, not so much as one rouge cloud blocking the light, so it wasn't difficult at all to see. All the same, however, Kairi was unsure of how she had arrived here, and looked around for any clue to that respect. She had finished panning the horizon, when the breeze changed direction, and began to pick up. At the same time, a figure appeared standing not too far off, seemingly all black except for white gloves.
"Hey!" the girl called after it, watching somewhat eagerly as it slowly turned around to see who had called. A brief gust of wind came from behind her, and seemed to blow the figure away as if it were sand. Alone once again, she looked to the sky as if it had whatever answer she was seeking at the moment. A star shot straight upward in the sky, leaving a white line that separated the starry expanse into two hemispheres. The wind suddenly stopped, and in the distance a storm was forming, thunder already roaring through the sky.
A hand came from nowhere to tap her on the shoulder, making her jump and assume a rather comical defensive stance as she turned to see what it was, finding the figure from before. Up close, she could see that it wore a silver expressionless mask, topped with a bowler hat, more eerie than humorous.
"You called?" the being asked, apparently male.
"Oh," she said, remembering, "Yes, um... Where am I?" The figure fanned his arms out, gesturing to everything, and lightly looking around.
"We are in Anywhere," he explained, putting one hand in his pocket, making another waving gesture with the other. "This is where dreams go."
"How did I get here?"
"Well I think that's a bit obvious." Kairi looked at him quizzically, and he continued. "You're dreaming. That or someone's dreaming about you. Maybe both." A light chuckle escaped Kairi at the though of just who might be dreaming about her.
"What about you?" she asked.
"What about me?" he repeated.
"Who are you?"
"My name's..." the dark figure proceeded to say his name, but all that came out was a distorted low groaning. "Crap!" he shouted with realization. A loud tearing noise suddenly shot through the sky, and the figure started to look around nervously. The ground began to shake, and Kairi also started to look around.
"What's going on?" she asked nervously. The figure tried to answer, but all that came out was distorted low rumbling noises. Eventually, Kairi noticed the place in the sky where the shooting star was before. The white trail it had left was beginning to open, tearing away to reveal pure white. The red-haired girl had to shield her eyes due to the almost painful brightness.
"Hey!" she blindly called to the figure, "What's going..." she turned to see if he was still behind her, to find that he was, but he seemed to be getting blown back by the change. "...on?" she barely was able to finish when she got a good look at him. The figure was changing as well. The mask and bowler hat were gone, as well as the gloves, and in turn he was all black, save for a dull yellow light coming from his eyes. Black vapor seeped in awkward strands from all but his left leg as he struggled to fight against a nonexistent wind.
When he saw her looking, he struggled to reach forward, more vapor coming off the closer his hand got. He attempted to call out, but now all that was left of his voice was a creepy moan-like creaking. The non-wind began to push harder against him then, and he fell forward, barely able to catch himself and hold his place as the force still pressed against him. In one last attempt, the figure reached for Kairi, trying to crawl toward her, and calling her again, but he was soon torn from the ground and sent flying into the all white horizon.
--
Kairi shot forward in her bed, reaching an arm out as she did so. She was soon able to register where she was though, and slowly retracted her hand. The brown haired boy stirred next to her, then sat up as well.
"Is everything okay Kairi?" he asked. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"It was... just a dream." she said, gathering her thoughts. She steadied herself, looking down in thought.
"Wanna talk about it?" Sora asked, his hand finding hers easily; a gesture she always found comforting.
"No." she answered, shaking her head again before laying back down. "It's fine." Sora followed suit, facing away from her. He was about to close his eyes, when he felt her arms wrap around his stomach. "Sora?" she beckoned quietly, resting her head on his shoulder. "If something happens, promise me you won't go away again."
The boy hesitated, then gently unhooked her hands before rolling over to face her. He placed his hand just above her hip before speaking.
"Kairi..." he looked into the girl's eyes as he spoke, and already she began to look away, sadness creeping onto her face. "All I want is just to stay with you. I don't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to when this.. all of this.. started. What kept me going was the hope that I would see you again." Kairi lightened up a little at those words, looking back into the boy's eyes, now glistening in the moonlight. "I don't believe anything will happen. We beat the Organization and Maleficent. And we closed off all the worlds from the Heartless." He brought his hand up from her hip and started to softly rub her cheek. "There's no reason at all why anything should happen. But if something does..." he paused, frowning. "If something does happen, you know I can't make that promise." Tears started to form in Kairi's eyes, and she started to look away, but Sora lifted her head back with a finger. "I promise I'll come back though. I'll always come back to you, Kairi."
Sora wrapped his arms around the girl's waist, pulling her closer to him, and kissed her, which she immediately melted into, tears still gradually flowing, but starting to clear up. "Let's just not worry about it right now." the boy concluded once the kiss had broke. Kairi was content to leave it at that.
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