SORA
~ A Distant Morning ~

Sora awoke to the sound of his own beating heart.

He let his eyes stay closed for a few moments before accepting the fact that he would not be getting back to sleep.

It was that dream again.

The one where he drowned.

He sat up, lifting his covers off, as the ceiling fan continued to sway about, never making the air cool enough.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, the images of a dark ocean swallowing him whole still in his mind. Outside, the trees swayed gently in the wind, and the night was finally beginning to fade away.

But he still had time. He didn't dare to look at his bedside clock. The teachers and staff had urged them to get a good night's rest.

In a ways, Sora did find it slightly funny. He knew there was no way he'd be able to sleep soundly. And yet he had tried to anyway.

He scanned his room, trying his best to reconnect with reality.
He needed to forget about those images still pressed into the back of his head.

The ship models still sat on his shelves, the remnants of all the foolish ambitions he had held when he was twelve. He was planning on dusting them over - someday.

From the wall above his desk still hung the wooden mask he had found drifted ashore when he was - well, truth be told, he had forgotten how old he had been. But he could still remember when he found it with Selphie and Zell, how they had remarked about how it must have belonged to some ancient warrior.
Riku...Riku had urged them to turn it in to the Island Patrol. It was an "illegal artifact", he insisted.

Sora found himself smirking, and then wincing at the memory.

He had hung that mask up in his room and held it there for years without so much as a single Patrol Guard asking questions.

Guess some things were so irrelevant as to not grab their attention.

Sora gazed at it now, its spiral shaped eyes painted facing upwards. He had done his best to not handle it too much; a feat that still surprised him. Even when he was a little kid, running around the island in pursuit of grand imaginary quests, he knew that the mask was special. Maybe not to him specifically, but it must have been to someone else.

Below it, on his desk, sat his night orb. It was glowing a soft blue, as streams of white ringed around it in a steady, rhythmic motion. It was supposed to help him sleep. Supposed to help him get that "good night of rest."

He hoisted himself out of bed and went to shut it off.

Today was a big day. But he knew that he could never truly be ready for it.

He made his way downstairs, the scent of the beach drifting over him as he reached the living room. The windows were all open, allowing morning to seep in.
The wind carried with it the faint ringing of a chime over the rhythm of the ocean's waves and the morning cries of the seagulls.
His mother was asleep on the couch, a cup of hot tea in her hands.
"Mom…"
She tilted her head along a bit before coming to. "Hnh – huh? Sora? What are you doing up so early, baby?"
Sora sat down on the bench by the doorway. "I couldn't sleep. But what are you doing? You didn't need to get up so early."
His mother chuckled. "I wanted to get a good start on your big day. I already ironed your robes and set your medallion up."
"You didn't need to –"
"I finally figured out the best way to do it earlier this morning. I just roped it through the open slit of your pocket. I still don't get why they didn't provide a chain or anything, but – what's wrong?"
Sora shook his head. "I didn't know if I should wear it."
His mother's eyes widened as a look of pure dismay came over her face. "Well why not? All the other parents are sure to be flaunting as many ribbons and medals as they can on their kids robes. Why should yours be any different?"
She took a loud sip of her tea before continuing. "Are you really still hung up about what that delinquent said?"
"Tidus isn't a – it's just that…I still don't know why Counselor Trepe gave it to me."
"You're a good student, that's why –"
"It has to have to do with my being sick last year. That's the only explanation. I shouldn't get a medal for that."
His mother was quiet for a moment before speaking in a softer tone. "You're a good student, baby. That's why she awarded it to you. There's no other reason. Stop caring about what a delinquent might think."
"Tidus isn't a delinq –" he sighed. "I'm heading out."
His mother frowned as he stood up. "Now? You still have a couple of hours left."
"I can't just sit here. I'm going to feel tense."
She took another loud sip. "Alright. I'll bring your robes out to you, then. I don't want them to get ruined by the sand."
Sora nodded before heading out the door.

As he walked along the trail, he recalled a saying his grandfather used to say.
How the color of the sky in the early morning was a prophecy just waiting to be told.
Sora looked up at the sky now, unable to truly discern what its pale blue color could possibly foretell.
His grandfather had said a lot of things.
The waves continued to beat against the shore as his mind once again raced with images. It was going to be one of those days. One where no matter what he did, what he told himself, he'd be unable to forget.
He still saw them.
Those pale, gaunt figures with bulging eyes staring at him intently, never blinking. The insects with innumerable amounts of limbs and joints, orbs of white heat set deep into their skulls. Silhouettes of figures whispering in an unknowable language.
But it was only a dream.
He had to keep telling himself that. He had to believe it.
He continued on, trying to focus on the nearby sites as a distraction.
There were other houses like his lined up along the shore. Most of them stood quiet. Few of them were home to Academy students, and the ones that were surely saw them still sleeping.
He passed by the small shops that stood on either side of the now parted road. There stood Lorne's Sub Paradise, motionless now when during the night it saw flocks of students crowded around it. If Sora ever went, he was sure to go earlier in the day.
Along with the other shops in the plaza, Lorne's was somewhat serene in its solitude. It was a calming sight. One Sora felt like he was privileged to see.