Alright, so back when I was obsessed with the first game, I started writing this story. The Kingdom Hearts series are my favourite games, and being recently obsessed with Birth By Sleep, I've decided to rewrite it. :3 So let me know what you think! Now excuse me as I go write more of A Fallen Star because there's treats involved... :3

The Maiden Awakens

Chapter One - The Place Where It Begins

Hearts connected by light.

Lives connected by dark.

Love conquers evil. Evil conquers love.

A story set in motion by a small collection of children.

They pass each other, they wound each other, and yet they heal each other all in one.

Listen to this story. To the hearts that bind them together; intertwined destinies on the same path, no matter what road they choose.

Destiny Islands.

To the Gods, it's probably just a speck of land that they don't even think twice of. To me, its home.

It's been home for my whole life, for the fourteen years of my existence.

Dreams of journeys and adventures, the thoughts of all children gathered onto such a small piece of land. This little island was the one place children like me could go, and just be ourselves without our parents watching over us and protecting us from harm. Protecting us from lessons we need to learn on our own. A small village like ours was like this, groups of their own age playing with others.

On this small island was the only place we could let our minds and imaginations run wild. It was our freedom.

Two girls walked along the beach of the island, talking as they searched for their friend. They had been told he was here, after spending hours searching the village.

"Hey Kairi, look." The brunette whispered to her friend, and pointed to a sleeping boy with brown hair. His name was Sora. "He was right."

In fact, after the girls had met up that morning, they asked another friend where Sora had gone. "He was heading towards the island," he had said. "Probably sleeping like always."

The two walked down towards him, slowly so they wouldn't scare him. They were both planning to startle him anyways, but he sat up, yawned, and went back to sleeping. Kairi kneeled over him before he opened his eyes.

"Whoa!" Sora shot back up, his breathing fast. I knew we had gotten him. I smiled, looking over to my friend. Kairi giggled.

"Sora, you lazy bum" she started.

"We asked around when we couldn't find you," I scolded, my hands on my hips, standing over him. He knew I was teasing with this motherly gesture. "Everyone knew that we'd find you snoozing down here."

Sora shook his head, bursting into a barely understandable explanation of why he wasn't where he was supposed to be, and about the dream that followed. "This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn't breath, I couldn't -"

Kairi laughed, stopping him short. "Are you still dreaming? Silly."

I brushed my hair out of my face, the long brown strands blocking the feel of the sun. I loved the sun, and I loved the beach. Even when my father lectured me on my lack of clothing, I didn't care. Shorts, a tank top, sandals. Here, that was all I needed, even when the sun went down and it became cold, the breeze was still warm.

"It wasn't a dream!" He defended, his eyes leaving me and moving to the ocean. Like me, Sora loved the ocean. Most of my friends did, which was why we spent as much time as we could out here. Summer was ending, and we still had fall, but winter was still coming. Winter was a time, even in this tropical area, that everything was cold. Snow made the waters dangerous, and we were forbidden from going to the island. "Or was it… I don't know. I dreamed of a place… So bizarre…"

I smiled; using the time he explained his crazy dream to sit beside him, taking in the ocean like he did.

"Yeah, sure," Kairi laughed, dancing to the shore in front of us.

"Say, tell us what your hometown was like."

Turning to him, I gave him a confused look. "You're asking again?"

Kairi nodded. "I told you before that I don't remember."

"Nothing at all?"

"Nothing."

"Would you ever want to go back?"

She paused, her thoughts processing her answer. "Not that I know… Why would I want to go to a place I don't remember? Besides, I'm happy here."

Feeling like I had no part of this conversation, I began to draw shapes in the sand. I wasn't the best artist in the world, but I still loved to try. It started out as the Paopu tree on the small island ahead of me, but a quick breeze turned it into some sort of demented rabbit. I sighed.

"But you know," Kairi said just over a whisper, turning out to face the ocean. "I wouldn't mind going to see it, since I was born there…"

I nodded. "I want to see where you come from too, Kairi."

"Along with any other worlds out there!" Sora laughed, "We're going to see them all!"

Kairi giggled. "So what're we waiting for?"

Sora opened his mouth to say something clever, but the voice from a figure behind us beat him to it.

"Aren't you guys forgetting about me?"

Even knowing full well who it was, I rested my hands behind me and tilted my head upside down. Sora, along with this silver haired boy, had been my best friends far before Kairi came to the islands. Growing up, my father was a single parent and had to work a lot, so I spent a lot of time at Riku's with his parents. Because of this, Riku had become more of a big brother figure to me then a friend.

He was balancing a small log in his left hand, his right hand on his hip. While grinning, he started walking closer to us. "I guess I'm the only one working on the raft."

I smiled. "Why would we do any work when you're around?"

He rolled his eyes and tossed the log to an unprepared Sora. We laughed.

"The two of you are just as lazy as he is," Riku scolded, but with a smile still on his face.

Sora complained about Riku's comment, telling us it wasn't his fault that school drained his energy.

"It's the middle of summer!" I laughed. He whined about two months being not enough time for a teenager to recuperate, and Kairi commented on his lack of homework skills.

"Once the raft is done, we won't need to worry about school anymore," Riku said. We agreed in silence, all imagining no more lectures, teachers or homework. A journey with my closest friends, that's all I wanted. Everything else just came with it.

"Alright, let's go finish it together!" Kairi giggled, dragging us from our minds. "I'll race you!"

"What?" Riku complained, having just taken his seat at my other side. "Are you kidding?"

Kairi shook her head. "Nope. The first one to touch the door past the bridge doesn't have to do as much today."

Before she could tell the two boys to go, they had already kicked up the sand and were racing out of sight. I coughed, choking on the small particles. Once I was okay, I stood and followed Kairi, who had already gone after them.

By the time the sun had started to set, we were already sitting by the Paopu Tree on our small parent-free inlet. We did this often, almost every time the weather was nice. Sora and Kairi were both sitting on the tree with Riku leaning against it and me at the end sitting against the base.

The three of them were talking, almost the same conversation they've had every night since we started the raft. I never tried to join in, just listened. A while ago I had tried to draw this scene, the way the color from the sun lit up the sky and the clouds. It hadn't turned out anything like what I saw before me. I knew I was going to try again before tomorrow. I wanted to bring a piece of home with me.

"So… Kairi's home is out there somewhere, right?" Sora asked.

"Could be. We'll never know by staying here."

As they talked more, I felt my mind wonder. Riku had first told us about his idea of other worlds after Kairi came to the island. We decided that we'd wait until we were old enough, and now that we were, we wanted nothing more than to explore the outside world.

"But how far could a raft take us?"

"Who knows? If we have to, we'll think of something else."

I suddenly had this image of us stuck in the middle of the ocean, everyone panicking and trying to paddle back to shore. The humorous thought escaped my lips. Riku asked what was so funny, and I smiled and told them. They shared in my laughter.

We spent the next passing minutes just watching the water, before Kairi giggled and started up the conversation again. "So, suppose you do get to another world. What would you do there?"

Riku stopped, probably thinking of his answer. "Well, I haven't really thought about it. It's just…" He looked at them before turning to look down at me. I could feel my head tilt a little when our eyes met, a habit that came up when I was interested or confused. Riku chuckled. "If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds… then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"

"I don't know." Sora shrugged, placing his hands behind his head.

"It's possible," I said quietly. "Kairi came here from somewhere else, and someone has left the islands before."

The parents always denied it when we asked them questions about the child who had left the islands a long time ago. Many thought it was just a rumor to scare children from misbehaving, while some wanted to know more. Riku had always been in the group who wanted to know more about it, and I had once asked my father about it. Of course, I didn't get anywhere with that.

"Exactly. That's why we need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's always the same old stuff, day after day. So let's go."

We fell silent again for a couple more minutes, letting his words sink in.

"You've been thinking more about this lately, haven't you?" Kairi finally asked.

Riku nodded and turned to her. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't come here, I probably would have never thought of any of this. So Kairi, thanks."

Kairi laughed nervously. "You're welcome."

Sora added his own comments to the conversation, lighting up the mood a little. As they laughed, I was glad they didn't notice the look on my face as realization finally hit me.

"What's wrong?"

I looked up from my plate, noticing that someone had been talking to me. My father sighed and raised his eyebrows from across the dinner table. "It's nothing."

"You've barely touched your meal, sweetheart. Something has to be wrong."

I didn't answer and looked back at my plate. He was always able to read me, and it was next to impossible to hide anything.

"Does this have anything to do with the bag I found under your bed this morning? When I checked after you got home, it was back in the closet."

See? Nothing gets by him. I had taken the bag out early in the morning and started to pack while he had been asleep. "It's not a big deal."

"Don't lie to me, Amila." No one really used my full name, my father just used it on rare occasions. Like when he knew I was lying or when I was in trouble. "Did something happen?" He rested his chin on his hand, playing with the brown beard he'd finally started to grow. He was a young father, just turning thirty three. After a minute of thinking, he grinned and snapped his fingers. "I bet you were planning to stay over at Kairi's, right? What happened? Did she cancel?"

Even though that wasn't exactly what was going on, I decided to go with it. Better he think it's a sleepover gone wrong than his daughter changing her mind about running away.

When I didn't answer, his smile fell to a frown. "Is it because of those boys? Did they do something?"

I managed to pull him away from that idea before it turned into something worse. It wasn't their fault, or even Kairi's. It was mine. He seemed a little suspicious at first, but eventually changed the subject.

After all, some things you just can't forget.

The dream always starts out the same.

In… hand… this…

Shapes, dark faceless figures clashing against each other. Voices and names I can never remember. Clouded words behind the darkness.

So… you have…

Pain, eating away at my heart. Tears that fall into an endless abyss. Words that escape my lips that I have never said.

… through this… of taking…

And a girl; her face I never get to see, just her hair and white dress flowing against the darkness.

Someone reaches out to her, but I always wake up. The dream never changes, never gives away anything that would tell me what's going on or who they are. Just an endless loop.

… its wielder… one day be.

I stretched, feeling the wind through my hair and the wet sand at my feet. Kairi and I had met up back at the main island, but she had gone ahead to look at the raft. I had decided to take off my shoes and stand in the ocean, an action that always managed to calm me down. As I waited for Riku and Sora, I tried to clear my mind and think.

Tomorrow was the day we planned to leave. The raft had been finished yesterday, and today we were going to gather food and fresh water.

I wanted so much to go with them.

"Ami?"

Sora was on the shore, smiling when I saw him. I smiled back and stepped onto the beach, cleaning my feet before putting my sandals on. I told him that Kairi was waiting for us, so we agreed to go together.

Sora eventually broke the silence after we walked for a minute. Apparently I was just being an open book with my emotions, as hard as I was trying to hide it. "You okay? You seem really tired."

I smiled and tried to erase whatever he saw. "I'm okay. I was so excited I could barely sleep last night."

Sora watched me for a while, as if trying to find anything that could lead to a lie. After finding nothing, he grinned and agreed. "I know what you mean. It'll be great, once we set sail. Just the four of us!"

When I saw the excitement in his blue eyes, I felt horrible. I should tell him the truth, tell him why I couldn't sleep and why I was lying. Just tell him, my heart screamed. You'll ruin everything, logic yelled back. By the time my logic and my heart had finished arguing and I had opened my mouth to say something, Kairi had seen us and called us over. Sora ran to her without a second thought, and I followed seconds later. Logic had won.

I didn't want to be a burden.

"Here's the list of things we still need," Kairi told us.

As Sora and I read over the list, we decided to split the work. He would get some mushrooms and some fish, while I would gather some eggs, coconuts and fresh drinking water. I wondered how long that stuff would last, but knew it couldn't get too heavy.

"Hey Sora." We turned, only to see a familiar silver haired boy with a mischievous look on his face. "You know, we still need a name for the raft."

Sora grinned, understanding the meaning behind Riku's words. When he turned towards us, I giggled and shook my head. "Don't look at me like that; I don't want any part of this." I asked Kairi if she did, and her reply was the same.

Sora thought for a minute. "I think we should name it Highwind. What do you think?"

"I like Excalibur."

"How 'bout?"

"The usual?"

I looked from one boy to another, and then offered to referee. Whenever the two of them couldn't agree to something, they would race around the island. It was always a competition with them. Kairi and I never wanted to take part, so we always watched instead.

The two of us took our position at what we decided to be both the starting and finishing line. The boys seemed like they were talking, probably placing bets on what the winner would get.

When we shouted go, Riku had taking off with a flustered Sora chasing after him.

"Riku, that's not fair!"

Later that night, I was afraid to sleep. I had tried to pack again, to change my mind, but I couldn't. If I fell asleep, everything I knew would end so much faster. The thought made my stomach turn and my heart clench. Would I ever be able to recover from this?

I sighed and placed my sketchbook back on the bedside table. I couldn't focus on anything with my thoughts spinning like they were. I noticed the lights in the hall were still on. I knew my father was still up, waiting for me to fall asleep. He was always worried about me.

A crash of thunder startled me and made me jump. Confused with the sudden change of weather, I pushed the curtains aside and looked out the window. I could see our island well from my window.

Panicking, I flew off the bed and changed my clothes. I had to get to the island; I had to save the raft from the storm that circled above. If something had happened to it, my friends would never be free. My father called my name and tried to grab me as I ran past. Dangerous or not, I needed to do something.

When I got to the island, I realized I wasn't the only one who had the idea to check on the raft. Three other boats were tied to the docks, but I couldn't see anyone else. I called out names as I fumbled through the darkness, using the light of the storm to guide my way. A figure ran past the wooden shack, someone I couldn't make out. I started running to catch them, but tripped on the sand.

I tried to stand, only to realize that I hadn't really tripped. Something was curled around my ankle, pulling me down.

So much to do…

The voice made me panic, kicking at the thing that had a grip on me. It was like my dream, the voices and the darkness. I could feel myself shake, hear myself whimper.

So little time…

Something pulled at my wrist, pulling me further.

The door is still shut…

I looked at what held me, strands of black crawling up my arm, seeping into my skin. I struggled, trying to pull them off of me.

Take it easy.

I couldn't. It was pulling me so deep into the hole, I couldn't feel anything. Not even the tears that left my eyes as I screamed. I was so scared.

Don't be scared.

I could no longer see. It was like I was being pulled apart from the inside, wanting me in different directions. With one final tug towards the light, the force let me go.

The last thing I could remember was sinking into the darkness.

One day, we will be together again.

Alright, so there's the first chapter. :3 Please Rate and Review!

Chapter One – The Place Where It Begins