Sora yawned and stretched as he stared at the sun sinking into the horizon near his island. It seemed to get prettier every time he came back here. The way the rays of the sun expanded across the sky, reflecting in the ocean water, turning it blood red. As it continued to sink, he saw the first few evening stars blink to life.

"Look, Sora! The worlds are approachable again!" Next to Sora, pointing eagerly at the sky, was his best friend Riku. Sora smiled. Riku had been obsessed over an idea that there were other worlds besides the one they both lived on. At first, Sora thought Riku was a little crazy. After all, how could there be other worlds if there was nothing but sea ahead of them? But, recently, Sora was beginning to think he was right. When Sora was feeling sad without knowing the reason, Riku suggested that someone from another world had connected with him and was grieving over something. Then Riku told him to reach out to that person and cheer him up somehow. Sora couldn't remember what happened after that…But he felt different and happier, so he must've connected to someone.

"Are you sure that the raft we'll work on when we're older could take us to the sky?" Sora asked his friend.

"Who knows?" Riku shrugged. "It may be impossible, but we have to think of something." Sora stared at him in amazement. How could Riku be so smart if he was only a six-year old? Sora was one year younger, yet he knew less than half as much as his friend. He had also beat Sora many times when the two competed against each other. They had a playful rivalry since the day they met, so they would either spar with their toy swords, race around the island, or finish building something first. On lucky days, Sora would beat Riku. But more often, it was vice-versa.

"Well, I think we should go back." Riku decided, already heading toward the main land where the village was. "You coming?"

"No, thanks," Sora shook his head. "I'm gonna watch the sun set for a few more minutes."

"Suit yourself." Riku shrugged. The silver haired boy got in his boat and started paddling back.

Sora found himself day-dreaming again. His heart connecting to someone wasn't the only strange thing that happened. He remembered seeing a really tall brown haired man on the island. At the time, he figured it was one of the residents. But when he looked back, none of the villagers looked like him. This man had the WEIRDEST armor, along with a piercing glare, and a giant key. Was he from another world?

Shing!

Sora's attention went back to the sky. The sun had completely set, and the darkness of the night was back again. But that wasn't what he was looking at. In the sky, falling faster than the speed of sound, were shooting stars!

Sora rubbed a hand over his spiky brown hair as he gazed, awestruck, at the fantastic display. Never before had he seen a meteor shower. His mother told him stars would fly through the sky until they hit the ocean water, so Sora imagined stars falling out of the sky and landing near the island, where he could catch them. But this was different. It had happened completely out of nowhere, and no stars that he recognized were falling. They were all golden and looked like glass flying everywhere when you break it. Sora pictured someone crashing through a window, invading his home, taking everything important from him, killing his mom and Riku, eliminating his happiness…

"Mmm…"

Sora gasped. He heard some kind of noise! Out of pure instinct, he looked around for his toy sword. Maybe it was the person crashing through sky of the meteor shower. He stomped his foot in frustration when he remembered he had left it in the secret place where he and Riku would hang out. If only he could just summon a weapon whenever he wanted to!

"Ungh…"

That sound again. Without realizing it, Sora shivered. If it really was the intruder, he was in serious trouble. "C…Come out wherever you are!" Sora shouted, failing to hide the fear in his voice.

………Nothing.

Sora forced himself to stop shaking. He was probably just imagining it like a bunch of other things. Even before that "connection" incident, he had been having the weirdest dreams…Pure dark creatures with dimly lit yellow eyes, and claws sharper than the sword he heard heroes use. In other words, they were completely like the night: Dark with little light, and sharper than day. Were the intruders those things? What if they were near him right now and he couldn't see him because it was too dark? Sora's pulse quickened as fear engulfed him. He followed his first instinct and ran toward the dock. If he rowed back to the island, he could get his toy sword and-

"WAAH!" Sora lost his footing and fell face flat on the ground. He shook the cobwebs out of his head and spat out a bit of sand. Whatever he tripped over, it hadn't been there before. Forgetting how scared he was, Sora turned to move the…the…girl?

Sora was paralyzed. Stunned. Shocked. Right at the shore, laying on the sand with the ocean lapping at its feet, was a girl. She was about his age, with shoulder-length wine-red hair draping over a petite pale face, and her eyes were closed. The white dress she was wearing was slightly soaked from the ocean waves. Maybe this girl was what was making that noise and not the intruders?

Sora's face felt hot for some reason, and his pulse quickened like before. Was he just afraid of her or something? It's not like she did anything. Feeling a tad worried when she didn't stir for a bit, he tip-toed to her and got on his knees.

"Hello?" He gently shook her.

"….."

"You okay?"

"….."

"Are you alive?" Sora felt scared again. This time he was just worried about this poor girl's life.

"…mmmph…"

Sora placed his hand on his chest where his heart was pounding. "She's alive." He sighed. Seeing her stir a bit more, he gently took her up in a sitting position. "Are you alright?"

The girl's eyelids clenched a bit tighter, until they snapped open. Sora stared at her; sky blue eyes vs. ocean blue eyes-but hers were storming with rage. Without warning she pushed Sora away from her. The young boy looked at the girl in shock. "What did you do to my grandmother?" She screeched.

Sora looked up at her in confusion. "What? I don't-,"

"LIAR!" She ran toward him and tried to punch him in the face. Sora hastily dodge rolled-a tactic he learned from Riku-out of the way. But the girl was still running after him. "Give her back! Give me back my grandma!"

She tried to punch again, but Sora grabbed her fist when it was inches away from his gut. She struggled to get it out of his grip, but Sora used his other hand to grab her wrist firmly. "I don't know what you're talking about!" He shouted, looking at her with pleading eyes. "Believe me! I don't!"

Sora felt the girl's struggles fading, but she was still strong. He saw with a jolt that when she glared at him again, their tears in her eyes. "You must be lying. You know where she is…" She blinked and her tears roamed off her cheek and into the dry sand.

Sora felt sympathy sharp as a sword pierce his heart. He didn't exactly understand what was going on, but at least he knew she was hurting somewhere. "I don't." He repeated. This time, he succeeded in hiding the fear in his voice. "I don't."

The girl's eyes were no longer storming with rage. Instead, they filled up with countless tears, until she started bawling into Sora's chest. "Grandma! They took her away! I couldn't stop them! Why!" She cried in between sobs. Sora had no idea what to do. One minute she was as tough as nails, the next she was confused and lost. For some reason, seeing her cry made tears come to Sora's eyes. He remembered when Riku's Dad left even though he promised he'd always be there for him. Riku held in his tears, but Sora started crying for him just because his friend was sad. Sometimes he felt like he was a walking mirror that only reflected people's emotions on the inside. He felt what they felt at first glance. And right now, he was a mirror again.

Sora wiped his own tears away and hesitantly put a hand on her back. She didn't seem to notice, so Sora ended up hugging her comfortingly. "It'll be okay…" He murmured soothingly.

"No, it won't…" The girl sobbed, her voice now hoarse. Probably from yelling too much.

"Well…Maybe I can help you. I'll take you to the main land; maybe my mom can help." Sora turned his back toward her. "Get on."

The girl sniffed and wiped her tears and runny nose before weakly climbing onto Sora's back. Sora groaned a bit. Heavier than she looks… Walking towards the dock where his boat was, he started toward the main land.