Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 1

Beginnings

A young man walked a long the boardwalk looking at the blue sea. It was dawn and there was a light breeze that made his spiky brunette hair wave this way and that. He sighed. His latest journey had reunited him with his friends, but he was the missing the thrill of running around with everyone defeating the Heartless. He had been having a recurring dream lately that was unclear. It showed him fighting the Heartless, but always ended with a mysterious figure, whose face was always a blur, appearing out of the darkness and walking towards him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard someone calling his name. Who would be up at this time of day? he thought.

He turned around a saw a beautiful young woman, with flowing red hair waving at him. There was also a very tall, masculine figure with silver hair standing behind her. He had his hands in his pockets and looked very tired. As the man stood, the woman ran and wrapped her hands around his mid section. She wore a light pink, strapless shirt and a pair of tight navy blue jeans. She looked up at him and said, "Good morning, Sora. Why are you up so early?"

Sora smiled as he said, "I could ask you and Riku the same thing, Kairi."

Kairi let out a low giggle and Sora looked up at Riku. Riku shrugged and said, "She forced me out of bed."

Sora laughed for the first time in ages. He had been so caught up in this dream that he hadn't really seen much of anyone. Riku suddenly got a confused look on his face as he stared out at the sea. Sora turned and Kairi followed suit. There was a small bottle floating towards them. Sora uninstinctively jumped into the cold water. Kairi called after him, but he didn't hear, because he was almost drawn to the bottle. When he got close enough, he grabbed it and headed back to shore. Kairi and Riku were waiting on the shore and looked at him like he was a lunatic.

Riku was the first to speak to him, "Why did you get all crazy for the bottle? The currents could have easily swept you out to sea!"

Sora was staring at the front of the bottle. He turned the bottle around and the others gasped. On the front was the shape a mouse's head. King Mickey's seal. Sora immediately ripped the cork out of the top and shook out the paper. He quickly, but carefully opened the sheet and they all looked at it:

BE CAREFUL.

They all pondered what that meant, when suddenly there was a bright light. They looked at what know resided in Sora's hand. In place of the bottle was an odd shaped blade in the shape of a key. This could only mean one thing...the Heartless were back.

There was a low growl behind the three of them. They slowly turned around. Sora's teeth clenched. There was a group of Heartless on the beach. Kairi's hand suddenly glowed and a Keyblade appeared. She gripped it with both hands and was about to fight when Sora put his hand in front of her. She glared at him. "I can fight just as well as you, Sora."

Sora looked at the heartless that were slowly creeping up on them. He then looked at Kairi his face was gentle as he said, "I know that, but if anything should happen to you..."

His voice trailed off and before Kairi could say something, the Heartless attacked. Riku was instantly in front of them he held his hand out in front of him and it was encompassed in darkness. He gripped the darkness and it took shape of a Keyblade. Just as the Heartless were about to jump, Riku lashed out destroying a large row. Sora dashed quickly into the battle, not stopping. Kairi jumped and landed in the center of a group of Heartless. She spun around with elegant grace and destroyed all of the Heartless.

Suddenly a large black vortex appeared in front of them. A huge dragon-like Heartless appeared and flew into the sky. The three Keyblade wielders staggered back, not even Sora had faced one this large. Suddenly two figures flew threw the air. They both had large blades and their blade connected with the Heartless' head, smacking it to the ground. A third figure in a red cape flew through the air and drew an odd gun. He pulled the trigger once and the bullets flew into the Heartless. The heartless instantly disappeared.

The first figure had long brown hair and a cross shape scar across his face. His blade had a hole at the top and a revolver-like handle. The second figure had spiky blonde hair and a large sword wrapped in cloth. The third figure had a gun with three barrels attached and wore a red cape. He had spiky black hair and a very gloomy look.

Sora instantly recognized two of the figures and was filled with question. "Leon! Cloud! How did to get here? What happened between you and Sephiroth, Cloud? How's everyone at Hollow- I mean -Radiant Garden?"

Squall smiled, "Good to see you too," he then got serious, "First off Donald and Goofy are in the Gummi Ship. And Cloud, well he hasn't said anything much since he got back. Of course I can't blame him, after what happened to Aerith."

He flinched as he said that and changed the subject, "There is an urgent matter we need to discuss, but we should talk back at Merlin's house."

He turned to go, but Sora had two more questions, "Who is that?"

Leon turned to the one in the red cape. He looked back at Sora and said, "That's Vincent Valentine, an old friend of Cloud's."

Sora struggled to get out the other question he had, but finally asked, "What happened to Aerith?"

Sora, Kairi, and Riku all listened intently to what Leon had to say. Even though Riku and Kairi might not have remembered Aerith a lot, they still knew how much she contributed to the defeat of the Heartless and Organization XIII. Leon sighed and said, "Aerith...well, Aerith is dead."

Chapter 2

Reunion

Sora's mind spun around him. He fell to the ground in shock. All he could do was sputter, "W-w-what ha-happened?"

Leon didn't say anything and continued to walk away. Sora found his voice, "WHAT HAPPENED!"

Kairi had tears in her eyes and Riku show no emotions on his face. Leon stopped and turned, his face somber. He looked from the three of them over to Cloud. He turned back the three of them and said, "I'm sorry, but not now. Maybe later, okay?"

Sora slowly and reluctantly nodded and got up. He turned to Kari and Riku and motioned them forwards. Kairi had a slow stream of tears flowing down her cheeks and Riku continued to walk past them. Sora slowly took Kairi into his arms and comforted her.

Kairi and Sora turned as a strong breeze picked up. A strange looking ship floated down and blew sand all around them. The Gummi ship landed and the hatch opened. Two figures stepped out onto the ground. Sora ran over and hugged the two of them. He smiled, "Donald. Goofy."

Goofy proceeded to say, "Hi Sora, ahuk!"

"Hi Sora!" squawked Donald.

Sora instantly felt a flow of joy spreading through him and looked back towards Kairi. She had wiped her eyes and was trying to look a little happy. Sora realized that everyone except Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and himself were on board. Donald and Goofy quickly got onboard and Sora motioned for Kairi to come. Kairi was quiet when she said, "I hardly knew her, but I miss her."

Sora pulled her closer and hugged her. Then they both turned and stepped onto the gummi ship. As the ship took off, Sora realized something. He quickly blurted out, "What about the others on the island, the Heartless are still there!"

Leon looked over his shoulders, his face calm, and said, "Don't worry. King Mickey, Tifa, and Yuffie are there."

His face calmed and he sat down. He suddenly realized he was extremely tired. He tried desperately to stay awake, but sleep quickly crept up on him and he slowly drifted off.

Sora was jolted out of his sleep and fell to the ground. He looked around the cramped ship and asked, "Where are we?"

Leon stepped forward and said, "Were else, but Radiant Garden."

Sora got up and looked out the window. In the past year, Leon and everyone must have rebuilt Radiant Garden to it's fullest. Instead of the large tower with the Heartless Emblem on it, there was a beautiful castle shining brilliantly in the sun. Sora realized that they were descending and quickly turned around to the hatch.

They ship rocked as it landed in the square. When Sora, Riku, and Kairi stepped out of the ship, they realized that the square of the lower town didn't look anything like the castle hulking above them.

They looked at Leon in earnest and Leon slowly said, "There was a massive attack by the Heartless here shortly before we left to Destiny Islands.

As Leon turned away, Sora realized something. He walked over to Leon and asked, "Is that when Aerith...?"

Leon nodded and walked away, everyone but Sora followed him down through the streets. Sora was lost in thought, thinking about how the Heartless could have come back. His thoughts were again interrupted when Kairi called out to him. He nodded and jogged over to them.

They didn't have to go far until the first signs of the Heartless showed. A group of Heartless scurried past them and disappeared into the walls. The rest of the walk was more of a run in desperation to get to Merlin's house. As they turned the corner Vincent spoke in a hushed tone, "Sora, Kairi, Riku. Go on ahead. We'll be all right.

At first Sora didn't understand, but suddenly hundreds of Heartless streamed around the corner. Sora instinctively called on the Keyblade, but when it appeared Cloud spoke up, "GET INSIDE SORA!"

Sora was startled by the intensity of his voice. He reluctantly turned and dashed over to the house. He flung open the door and dashed inside.