Another day, another mission done. And like every other day, she postponed her return to castle with a trip to the world with the island. For some reason, the little island felt like home. And after all, she needed to get a seashell for her sleeping friend. Upon arrival, she was cautious, sometimes there were others on the island. But she heard no voices and saw no boats at the dock. She must be alone.

The sun was setting over the ocean, drowning the water in hues of red and orange. Xion began to search the shore for seashells. She was rather fond of thalassa shells. As she looked down at the sand, she felt a strong urge to take off her shoes. She had never taken her boots off anywhere but her room and wanted to know how sand felt underneath her bare feet. She sat down on the dry sand away from the swell of the tides and pulled off her boots and socks. She lay them down beside her. Feet now bare, she ran her toes through the sand with a gasp of surprised pleasure. The sensation was different than holding sand in her hand. Happy, she decided to lay down on the sand. Her coat was going to be a mess and she might get in trouble but it felt so nice. The sand was warm and soft and the sound of the waves hitting the shore was so relaxing. Before she even knew it, she was fast asleep on the shore.

Her sleep was restless. Her dreams were full of flashes of people she didn't know. Drawing on cave walls, racing along the shore. She was falling through the water, landing on some sort of platform, there was a voice. The raft, a storm is coming. The girl started to thrash in her sleep, confused moans escaping her lips. She broke from her sleep in a heavy sweat. Opening her eyes, the world was swirling around her. Above her, she saw what looked like the ghost of a girl looking down at her. You lazy bum. The face looked so familiar, the face faded away and the world slowly moved back to its normal state in her eyes.

She sat up in a pure panic, what was going on? That must be what they call a nightmare. Some of the other members complained about them sometimes. Xigbar had told her it was a bad dream. But that seemed like more than a dream…. And what she saw shouldn't be scary. It made her feel weird, which was different than scared? She had no heart and no one to ask now that Roxas was sleeping.

The water was now lapping around her ankles, soaking the bottom of her pants. The tide had risen since she had fallen asleep and only a few glimmers of red remained from the sunset. She panicked. Saix was going to be so cross with her returning from her mission so late. Roughly pulling on her boots over her wet pants, she stashed her socks in her pocket and quickly tried to get as much sand off of her as possible with an aero spell.

Xion opened the dark portal trying to ignore the aftermaths of the nightmare: the sweaty palms, aching chest, and chills running up and down her back. Before she stepped through, she grabbed the first shell she saw on the ground and placed it in her pocket. After all, that is why she had come to this world in the first place.