Hello fellow readers! This in short is a Kingdom Hearts story that takes place after Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. In essence it's supposed be the upcoming game Dream Drop Distance but this is based off of what little info I have discovered about the game so far. However this mainly involves what I think should happen in that game, I don't intend it to be correct, this is a fanfic after all. And to give you a sense of what this is all about I have invited two of the keyblades chosen to speak with us today, Sora and Riku!

Author: So ready for a new adventure?

Sora and Riku: Heck yeah!

Sora: So what exactly happens in this story?

Author: You and Riku are going to take the Mark of Mastery Exam so that you can save those people that are connected to you.

Sora: Yay! Wait, I have to share the spotlight with Riku?

Author: Is that going to be a problem?

Sora: Possibly.

Author: Well to bad, suck it up! You are a keyblade wielder after all.

Riku: Don't worry Sora, you won't have to share the spotlight toooooo much, just enough for me to sneak in a snide comment here and there.

Sora: Hey!

Riku: Then again you might make so much of a fool of yourself that I won't have to.

Sora: Why you- (draws out Kingdom Key Keyblade)

Riku: (Summons Way to Dawn) Bring it on Sora!

(The two of them go at each other)

Author: Well that's…..just great, their goes the rest of this interview. Anyway while these to numbskulls duke it out let me remind you that I clearly do not own Kingdom Hearts or ANY of its characters, that glory stays with Square Enix and Disney! I don't have much for them to take from me anyway….

Note: This starts out at the ending of Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, so therefore this starts out with Data Namine and Data Sora conversing and all that, warning it is a little sad.

And without further ado have at it! (Oh and I might throw in a music suggestion as well at certain parts, your choice to follow it or not)

Kingdom Hearts

Dream Drop Distance

Prologue

A golden haired girl in a simple yet elegant, white dress stood in a vast ornate castle room. She had been waiting there for over a year now, for the day she would bring news to the keyblade wielders of the outside world. Her sharp blue eyes fell on upon the door, the one thing she longed for was for it to open, and see him walk through there. But she was only getting her hopes up, she knew he wasn't ready to hear this yet, but it was the only way everything could be set right again. Suddenly a loud creak caught her attention, the door was opening slowly, and finally he was here. He was wearing a red jumpsuit with a black and white vest, at his feet he was wearing a pair of large yellow sneakers.

The spiky light brown haired boy noticed her and asked "Who are you? I feel, as if I know you."

The girl smiled at his confusion. "Nice to meet you, Sora." She spoke softly.

"My name is Namine, you don't know me, but I know you."

"Umm… I don't really follow." Sora spoke.

His mouse faced companion then interrupted us. The mouse's large ears were rather round, with a tiny little button nose on his smiling face.

"I'll explain, Sora." interrupted Mickey.

After the King had finished explaining to Sora it began to make a little more sense to him as to why he was here. Then the matter of this meeting arose, the memories hidden within Sora. When they had asked Namine explained everything she did to them, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

"I'm sorry I put you through all of this Sora, but I thought if you learned how to deal with the hurt throughout this adventure, that you would be able to deal with these memories." Namine apologized.

Sora pondered over all of this for a moment then nodded his head. "Then I'm ready to accept them Namine."

Her eye's widened with shock. "Are you sure about that, as these memories are not ordinary, they could be incredibly dangerous when put in the wrong hands, they could even break Sora's heart."

Sora nodded again in agreement then Mickey stepped forward.

"Ill go with him too." His mousey voice squeaked.

Namine smiled at the two of them. "Thank you Mickey." She then waved her hand and a bright blue orb appeared before them, it was giving off an incredible aura.

"Now both of you touch this, and the memories of those people shall flow into your hearts."

Mickey and Sora looked at each other then nodded; they both reached out a hand and touched the orb. Suddenly Sora's cheerful face appeared to be in pain as he clenched his eyes shut.

(Play Xion's theme, aka Who am I)

"AAAHHHH, Urrr, Ughhh!" He cried out.

"Stay strong Sora!" Mickey hollered.

Namine could only imagine what the poor boy was going through, the pain and emotion tearing around inside of him, she knew he could make it through this, he had to.

Sora's eyes then opened wide, staring into what appeared to him, an empty abyss.

"I see…a sunset…..theirs two people there wearing black cloaks…one has spikey bright red hair, while the other has an amber tint to his…..their both sitting on a tower and eating ice cream." Sora smiled at this. "They both appear to be happy but the scene is… saddening." His facial expression then changed as the memory did as well. "Now I see a white room…sort of like this one… Hey Namine you're in this too, but…..who's that other girl with the black hair…something terrible happened to her… I can feel it. Tears welled up in his bright blue eyes, but he was so absorbed in this memory to even notice them. He then appeared to regain himself as the sad scene disappeared from his mind. "Now I see three people, a girl with blue hair, a tall muscular guy with thick brown hair, and a short boy with blondish hair, all laying on a hill watching some shooting stars." He spoke calmly. "Their all laughing, and seem to be having a good time, but…this was the last time they felt that…someone took that away from them…now their trapped as an evil one lives on…it's unfair…..he won." Anger then flared in his eyes but it left momentarily. Sora then lowered his hand from the orb; he had seen the hidden painful memories.

(End Xion's Theme)

Namine waited for him to regain his focus before speaking. "And their still connected, Sora, somewhere way down deep inside of you."

"Funny, I feel, as though I've met them." He spoke with that lost look in his eyes.

She nodded. "Yes, two of them you have met….as for the third… I never realized it but you and he share a very special connection."

"Yeah…"

Mickey thoughtfully put his hand to his face, the put it down. "Namine, you said Sora has to call these memories to the surface, is it time?"

The question she feared to be asked, but she spoke as honestly as she could. "I can't say for sure, but I do know, a day will come when they must rise from their sleep, and then the only one who can save them, will be Sora." A small smile crossed her lips as she finished speaking.

"The bond they all share, that's going to be the key right?" Mickey said to himself. "Don't worry, Namine, I'll make sure I'll pass this on to Sora, you know, the one in the outside world."

"Please do." Namine said gently.

(Cue Namine's Theme)

There was a pause between the three of them. Namine then tried to break up the tense silence. "Well…" she started.

"Just a second!" blurted out Sora.

"Huh?"

"Our promise, the one you made to the me I don't know, you kept it right?" He asked innocently.

Namine stared at the ground sadly. "I may be gone… but my promises to him are forever…and anyway…I owe him this much…for all the….all those people that I hurt."

His curiosity still lingered. "So then what happens to you? The one that's right here?"

Namine looked up into his eyes then let the truth out. "I'm really just data made to pass along this message….I shouldn't exist in this journal right now at all." She spoke solemnly. She paused to regain herself then continued. "And now the record of me will disappear, but when you pass this along to Sora, just remember to tell him the things that you've seen and felt, if you do that, then we'll be at rest, her and me too."

"Along with everyone connected to Sora," He observed. "Namine, you got it."

That small smile came upon her face again. "Thank you."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot."

"Mhm?"

Sora grinned then ran his hand through his hair. "I have a message for you to, Thank you."

Namine gasped in amazement, he had remembered her. Her smile was the strongest it had ever been as she then disappeared from them…..forever.

(End Namine's Theme)

Shortly after the King had returned from the data world in the journal he began writing a letter. He scribbled out everything that they should know, right down to the last detail. As the King wrote he thought of what their reactions would be like when they were reading it. When he had finally finished he stuffed the letter into a clear glass bottle and shoved a cork into the top. He then opened up a light a portal that led to the Destiny Islands and threw the bottle into it, hoping it would land near shore …. if he had aimed correctly.

Sora and Riku were watching the sunset on the island out by the crooked palm tree. Sora was sitting on the tree gazing at the sky in his black jumpsuit while Riku leaned his back against it while standing in his white vest with blue yet somewhat grey pants. Both of them were happy, this was all finally over, they had nothing to worry about now, their carefree days could recommence. Sora turned his around as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching them, those steps belonged to none other than Kairi. Her dark red hair was bouncing to and fro as she ran towards them. Sora jumped off the tree and walked up to her as she came to a stop; in her hands she held a bottle containing a letter with the King's symbol on it.

"I found this bottle laying next Wakka who was out cold at the time; apparently it had fallen from the sky and landed on his head, knocking him out for a while." She said while trying to conceal her smile.

All three of them looked further down the beach to see Selphie and Tidus helping out a dazed Wakka who was rubbing his wacky haired head. Kairi then handed Sora the bottle, as their hands graced each other, he blushed a little. Sora then gently pulled off the cork and shook the letter out into his open hand. Riku and Kairi then stood at each of his shoulders, all three of them reading what the King had wrote.

(Play Dearly Beloved, the Dream Drop Distance Version)

Dear Sora,

I wanted to tell you right away about memories from the past that sleep within you and about the people that will tie you to your future. Sora, Riku, Kairi, the truth behind the keyblade has found its way through so many people, and now I know that it rests in your hearts. Sora you are who you are because of those people but their hurting and you're the only one to end their sadness, they need you. It's possible that all of your journeys so far have been preparing you for this great new task. I should of known their were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events. And now Sora the door leading to your next journey, is ready to be opened.

PS: I will be arriving soon to explain the plan, be prepared.

Sincerely, King Mickey

When they had all finished reading their eyes slowly traveled off of the paper and stared right into the sunset. Kairi was the first to break the calm silence.

"So Sora, what are you going to do?"

Sora turned his gaze to Kairi's eyes. "These people that are connected to me, they need me." He spoke in a somewhat upset tone. "But they are responsible for making me the person I am today, Kairi, I owe it to them to end their pain and sadness."

Kairi was a little taken aback by this; he caught a hint of sadness in her eyes, even though she was still smiling. She then reached into the pocket of her pink dress shirt and pulled out a pink and yellow hued star-shaped thalassa wayfinder charm. Kairi grabbed Sora's hand, placed it in his palm and then closed it as she pulled it to her chest.

"Bring it back to me soon, ok."

Sora smiled as he nodded. Kairi then threw herself on him in a somewhat gentle hug, Sora then wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace.

"Be safe." She spoke softly, Sora then heard her sniff as if she were holding back tears.

Sora then pulled her away so that they could see each other. "I will Kairi, that's a promise." He then wiped away the tears that were forming in her ocean blue eyes and pulled her back into the embrace as he stroked her shoulder with his free hand. Once she had stopped crying, they slowly let each other go. Kairi then walked over to Riku, who was facing the opposite way pretending he hadn't seen a thing, while secretly enjoying it in his head. Kairi turned him around and gave him a small hug.

"Same goes for you Riku." She said with a giggle.

Riku just rolled his eyes and patted her on the back while smiling. "I will too, Kairi, and I'll promise to constantly remind Sora to return that charm of yours safely, or else I'll shove him off of the crooked palm tree and into the ocean when he isn't looking."

Sora then started to catch on. "Hey! Not cool Riku!"

Kairi then let go of Riku as the three of them laughed at each other.

(End Dearly Beloved theme)

Riku then began walking away from the two lovebirds. "Hey Sora, you better wrap things up and get ready to leave soon!" He then ran halfway across the bridge and jumped off and safely landed onto the sand.

Sora just rolled his eyes at him and turned back to Kairi. He offered her his hand. "Shall we go the usual spot?" She smiled and him and grabbed his hand with hers.

"I would love to."

(Cue Kairi's Theme)

The two of them walked hand in hand across the bridge and down the stairwell leading out of the shack and onto the beach. They walked slowly across the fine grains of sand, letting each step have its own moment. Finally they walked to the end of the dock with their boats attached to it, and sat down beside each other. The two of them continued to watch the sunset as it slowly sank below the ocean line. Kairi was leaning against Sora's shoulder, and he had his arm wrapped around her back.

"Sora, there are so many things I want to say to you, but their will never be enough time to get through them, so to sum it up, Thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For saving me, and for always trying to be there for me, but most of all, for never changing the way you are."

Sora blushed a little at this comment. "Well then your welcome Kairi, and Id like to say Thank you as well, for being my light in the darkness."

They then scooted closer to each other, and their embrace became tighter. As the sun was about to fall and eliminate the brilliant hues of orange, yellow and pink, Sora spoke up.

"Hey Kairi, have you ever wondered why the keyblade chose all of us, I mean, out of all the people in those worlds, were the chosen ones."

"Well, I have thought about it but there is one thing I do know about all of this."

"Really, what's that? He questioned while turning to face her.

"That the wielders of the keyblade chose the right people for the job."

He turned his face back to the ocean. "Yeah I suppose your right." There was a momentary pause before he broke the peace again. "Wait, you said the wielders of the keyblade chose us, are you saying that someone has to give us the ability to wield the keyblade?"

Kairi nodded. "I'm not completely positive but I have a vague memory of a girl with brilliant blue hair who wielded a keyblade once, she ended up protecting me from these strange blueish-redish creatures that attacked me, I remember giving her some flowers I had picked from the town garden's as well. I believe she told me something rather important, however I just can't remember, but I think she must have somehow given me some of her powers through that meeting. I often wonder what became of her; she was really kind and sincere…I hope I can meet her again someday."

Sora just stared at Kairi, still trying to absorb everything she had said. "Strange, I can recall something similar happening to Riku when we were younger, before you even came to the islands. A tall and somewhat muscular man with coarse brown hair showed up on this island one day, he too wielded a keyblade. I never got to meet him but I saw him hold out his keyblade to Riku when I was at the opposite end of the beach. I wonder if he even remembers that happened."

"Well then, who do you think is responsible for giving you the ability to wield the keyblade?"

Sora paused at this question, trying to recall anything that would give him the answer. "Funny, you would think I'd remember if something like that ever happened to me when I was younger, but the odd thing is….I don't. It's kind of saddening to me really, I definitely would like to thank them."

"Mhm, me too." She said with a small smile.

Suddenly Sora's chest grew very warm, and his heart was rapidly pulsing. "Ahh!" He gasped with surprise. He clutched at his heart with his free hand and began leaning forward.

"Sora! What's wrong?" Said Kairi as she grabbed onto him and sat him upright.

"I don't know Kairi, but it almost feels like…"

"Like what?"

He paused a moment to regain his breath. "Like when I realized your heart was inside of me."

Kairi was stunned at this remark, she couldn't tell if she should take this as he is just having a moment or that something was seriously wrong. "It's probably nothing to big Sora, besides their cant be another person's heart inside of you, you would have to remember something like that."

As his pulse fell back to its normal rate he lifted his head up and took a deep breath. "You're probably right again Kairi, I just wish that I had the all of the answers as to who these people are."

They finished watching the sun fall below the ocean line and out of their view for the night. Sora got up and lifted Kairi up with his free hand as well. As she stood up she tripped and began to fall, Sora swiftly caught her and pulled her up to his chest. They both laughed a little as they deeply stared into each other's eyes. Sora knew what he wanted to do next, but couldn't muster the courage to do it, not yet. "Well uh, we….we better get going home now." He nervously stuttered out.

Kairi still kept smiling as he bailed out on this opportunity, but was disappointed on the inside. "Yes, I suppose we should." They both got into one of the tied up boats and set sail towards the village, both were staring at the sky as it grew dark, with millions of stars shining with in it. When they reached the village shore, Sora stepped out of the boat and helped Kairi out of it. However when he was tying the boat back up he slipped into the water, thoroughly soaking the knees of his black jumpsuit and sneakers. Kairi giggled as he pulled himself out of the water and walked up the beach dripping wet. "Serves him right for chickening out." She thought to herself. When he had finished walking up to her he walked her home, hand in hand. They continued to smile, occasionally stealing glances at each other, until they had reached a small yet beautiful home. As she was about to walk up the steps and into her home, she paused.

"Something wrong Kairi?" Sora asked.

She then turned around. "I just wanted to thank you," She then walked up to him and passionately kissed his right cheek. "For a pleasant evening with you." Kairi watched as Sora's face grew rather red from all the blushing.

He then cleared his throat and then gave her a small hug. "Your welcome." He said sort of sheepishly, as he let her go; he watched her walk up the steps and into her home. As she was closing the door Kairi turned to face Sora and gave him a small smile. When she was sure he had left she closed the door leaned up against and exhaled. She couldn't believe that she had actually kissed him! That had made her day!

While Sora was walking home he was grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe it! She actually kissed me! She does like me!" He thought in his head. When he had finally reached home and had reached his room he spun around and threw his hands in the air. "Woohoo! She does like me! She does like me!" He yelled out.

(End Kairi's Theme)

"Sora! I know your hero and all now but that doesn't mean you get to go shouting and waking up the neighbors at this time of night!" His mom chewed him out.

After he had apologized to her he closed his bedroom door and locked it. Sora then took off his dripping jumpsuit and changed into a white t-shirt and black shorts that he found lying on his floor, just like they always were. He then jumped into bed and laid down looking at the stars in the sky, he couldn't fall asleep right away due to his excitement from her kiss, but soon his mind wandered off to the King's letter. "Who are these people?" He thought. "I wonder if I've met them before…..I think I have." As his imagination created various ideas of who these people were his eyes began to droop, and eventually he fell asleep.

…..

(Play Riku's Theme)

In the house next door Riku was sitting on his bed wondering the same thing as Sora. Except for Riku his thoughts were mostly focused around a black haired girl who looked exactly like Kairi. He knew she was one of the people connected to Sora's heart, but for all he tried, he couldn't recall her name. Memories of her kept replaying in his head as he struggled to come up with a name. "Who is she? And why can't I remember her name?" He asked himself out loud. Suddenly he had a vision in his head of her. He was outside of the beast's castle; he had just defeated this person who was supposedly part of the organization. Riku had then walked up to her as she lay on the ground; he removed her hood then pulled up the bandanna he had used to cover his eyes. He looked at her face and was in shock! She looked exactly like Kairi, with the exception that her hair was black. "Your face….Who are you really and why do you have a keyblade?

The girl had paused a moment then pulled her hood back down to hide her face. "Tell me first… why you are dressed as one of us?"

Riku had began to walk away from her at this question then answered. "To make sure my best friend sleeps in peace." He then walked towards her keyblade that she had dropped and picked it up. While examining it he said, "I don't know who you're supposed to be, but…. you can't fight fire with sparks, this keyblade, it's a sham, worthless." He said as tossed the keyblade behind him as if it were trash.

The cloaked girl then got on her knees. "My keyblade is not a sham! What gives you the right to say that? She then picked up her keyblade and charged straight him preparing to strike him down.

Riku just stood there and just as she was about to attack he quickly ducked under her blade and slammed his fist into her back, knocking her onto the ground again. "Find a new crowd, trust me…those guys are bad news." He said as he began to make his departure.

Just as he was about to summon a dark portal she called out. "Why? You're the real sham!" She then gasped a little from the pain of his attack.

Riku stood still from this statement; he knew it was the truth in his head. "Fair enough. I suppose you could say… I'm the biggest nobody of them all." He then continued walking away as she screamed in frustration.

(End Riku's theme)

The memory then ended and the scene changed, he was now back home at Destiny Island's holding the semi-conscious black haired girl in his hands. As he did so she was mumbling various questions.

"Who am I?" She paused. "What am I….doing here?"

She must be dreaming Riku thought to himself. He then heard the noise of portal being opened and saw an amber haired boy wearing a cloak running into it. "That must be Roxas." He thought. Suddenly he the girl stirred in his arms and opened her eyes.

(Play Missing You)

"Are you-"She asked but was interrupted by Riku.

"Riku, Sora's friend."

"Sora? You know Sora?" She seemed shocked and intrigued at the same time as she sat up.

"Yeah." He said as he stood up.

The girl did the same. "Thank you… you saved me but I don't know why…you did."

"I guess… I just felt like it." He then began walking away as if he were going to leave her here.

"Riku please tell me more, about Sora and that girl he's always with."

Riku paused to ponder on this question before answering. "You mean Kairi."

"Kairi that's right…. she's the one who looks so much like me."

"To Sora, she's someone very special." Said Riku as he stepped towards her.

The girl then put her hand to her forehead as she was explaining what she knew to him. "It's just that… I remember things about the two of them, but I'm nothing more but a puppet, something someone created, so why…would I have their memories?" She then walked over to one of the palm trees on the beach then turned to face Riku." "Do you know where Sora is?" She asked.

"That secret stays with me." He quickly responded.

Why's that?

The memory then stopped, Riku had spoken her name, it was coming back to him now.

"Xion." He spoke to himself. He then remembered the worst part, finding out that she had died to give Sora back his memories. A tear rolled off of Riku's face, he knew who she was now, and now he knew that he had loved her.

(If you haven't already, end Missing You)

Author: And End of the Prologue! So what did you two think?

Sora: I can't believe it! She actually kissed me!

Riku: Oh will you can it already lover boy!

Sora: What you jealous Riku?

Riku:…No…..I have someone else on my mind right now.

Author: I can see that Riku, so ready for the exam?

Sora and Riku: Heck yeah!

Author: Good…..Because if you think for one minute this is going to be easy then you are horribly wrong. (Laugh's evilly)

Riku: You better not make this too difficult. (Summons Way to Dawn, points it at author)

Sora: Right behind you Riku. (Summons Kingdom Key)

Author: Easy their fella's…..Well see how this will all turn out….eventually.

Riku: Just don't take forever to finish the first chapter.

Author: I'll try, I do have my own exams to do though so you know … be patient.

Anyway if you liked it or disliked this story so far please let me know by reviewing! I'm always open to criticism! Thanks for reading and I'll be back soon!