Chapter 1

It was a quiet morning on Destiny Islands. The cool breeze and the bright sun created a lazy, relaxing atmosphere. It had been about a month since Sora had woken up, defeated Organization XIII, and found Kairi and Riku again. He was happy to be home, and was currently relaxing on the beach, letting the water on the shoreline splash against his toes.

"Sora! You're so lazy! Come help me get some coconuts from the trees!" Kairi shouted at him, scaring him out of his trance.

"What do you need coconuts for?" Sora asked, getting up with a groan and slowly making his way to Kairi.

"I'm making something special for my 'dad', just to thank him for taking me in back when we were kids. I never had time to do things like this before, y'know, with all the adventure planning and everything with you and the Keyblade."

As she said this, Sora summoned the Keyblade. He threw it at a coconut dangling from the branches of a nearby tall palm tree. The coconut fell, landing near Kairi's feet, as the Keyblade reappeared in his hand.

"How many do you need?"

"Just one's fine for now. Thanks, Sora." Kairi picked up the coconut at her feet. She smiled, then turned and headed over to the paopu tree and sat down.

Sora watched her working, bent over her project in concentration. He then returned to his spot on the beach, the Keyblade vanishing from his hand. As the minutes passed, he found himself slipping into sleep. Soon enough, he was out cold.

A few hours passed, then Riku appeared at the dock. He had just rowed over from the mainland and was tying his boat up. After the boat was securely tied, he passed Sora on the beach and headed towards Kairi.

"Hi, Riku!" Kairi waved at him as he approached. She hid her project beneath a paopu branch, then moved over on the trunk of the tree to create a space for Riku.

As he sat down he asked, "Why can't I see what you're working on? It's a surprise for your 'dad', not me."

"I don't want you blabbing all about it to him. I want the surprise to remain a SURPRISE."

"Okay, fine. So, what have you and Sora been up to? Has he been sleeping all day?"

"Yes, but I don't blame him. He hasn't been getting much sleep lately. On the nights we sleep on the island, I've heard him talking in his sleep. He's been having nightmares. One night, about a week after we all came back, he was talking so much that I could actually understand what was happening in his dream. Someone named Ventus was telling him about someone named Vanitas and about people named Aqua and Terra. They were talking about what happened to Ventus and those other people, and about how Sora became wielder of the Keyblade."

Riku jumped up at hearing this. He knew exactly what Kairi was talking about, and remembered it vividly. That night, so long ago, when Ventus came to Sora's heart. Sora had asked Riku what to do, and he had said to let him in. Later, Sora had told him all of Ventus's story.

"Ventus is part of Sora's heart," Riku tried to explain, "so he can talk to Sora. They were talking in his dream, I guess."

"I think I get it," Kairi said. She stood up, then said, "Sora's slept for a pretty long time. I think it's time for me to wake him up." She jumped off the platform where the paopu tree was and jogged over to Sora.

As she knelt down beside him, she noticed how deeply asleep he was. His breathing was heavy and he was completely still. It was unusual for him to be so deeply asleep in the middle of the day. She was almost afraid to wake him, this was the best sleep he'd gotten since his year-long memory retrieval.

"Hey, Sora. Wake up." She whispered into his ear, softly pushing his shoulder. He didn't respond. "Sora, wake up." She said a bit louder, giving him a small shove. Still, nothing. "Sora, WAKE UP!" She screamed, but his eyes remained closed, breathing remained deep.

She stared at his face for a moment, confounded about what was happening. A shadow passed over him, and she looked up. Riku stood above them, looking down upon Sora.

"Something's wrong with him." Riku said, and Kairi burst into tears.