A/N: I would like to apologize for not writing anything for a while. I just needed ideas to flow back.
They had left that night under cover of the door to light which was still open, as if the door had known they had to leave. It had then carried them like sparkles of bright light to Yen Sid's tower. When they materialized, Riku told Sora why they had come here.
"The letter said we needed to come here to take our….." Riku paused here, as if the words he were about to utter were foreign to him. "….. Mark of Mastery Exams….." he continued. "Mickey said that the real Master Xehanort might have come into being again."
"What? He's back?" Sora looked surprised. "There's just no way to finish him off, is there? I hope we'll be ready to fight him soon…"
Riku laughed. "Hello? Have you forgotten who we're training under? We'll be ready to face and finish him off before you know it."
"Yeah, you're probably right…." Sora said, but he looked a little worried to Riku.
Suddenly, the reason Sora looked so worried hit him like a ton of bricks. "Hey, don't worry. Kairi will meet up with us soon."
The rest of the way up to the Sorcerer's Loft was traversed in silence, but each had something on his mind.
Back on the Island, Kairi made her way to the schoolhouse for her last day of school. She couldn't stop thinking of how much pain she would have to go through with Sora and Riku being gone for yet another year and another summer. She was still having trouble coming up with a way to meet her two friends.
"Let's see, I could… no, no, I couldn't do that…. I don't have the right materials to make a Gummi Ship and I don't know how to make one anyway."
Suddenly, a cold feeling ran through Kairi's whole body. The next moment, she fell to the ground, unconscious. In a haze, she thought she heard a voice. Darkness closed around her, but she felt that this wasn't a dream. Objects came into focus, and she found she was in a dimly lighted, strange place.
She was standing and for a second, found it hard to breathe, as though her soul had temporarily left her body. She heard the once close to inaudible voice call out to her. "You… I've seen you before…What was your name again?"
"Huh? I don't understand… Where am I? Who are you? I can't see you," Kairi said, confused.
"My name isn't important. Besides, if you try to remember me, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon," the voice said. "You will soon find out where you are."
What do you…?" Kairi began, but the voice cut her off.
"Call out to the light," it said simply.
"The light? What light?" Kairi asked.
The things around her once again got hazy and she once again lost all feeling in her body. "The light in your heart…" was the last thing she heard the voice say as she slipped into unconsciousness yet again.
She once again heard a voice, but in the inner recesses of her mind she knew the voice didn't belong to the mysterious figure in that strange place:
"Kairi… Kairi… Kairi!" With every shout of her name, the voice sounded more and more familiar. She finally opened her eyes and noticed she was lying on the ground. Selphie's green eyes were peering down at her.
She sat up, but as if she were still in a daze, she spoke in a quiet, despondent tone.
"Selphie…? What happened…?"
"You tell me! Did you fall asleep while walking to school or something?" she laughed. "You're home now. When I told the teacher about you, she said to bring you home. You don't have to go to school the last day, isn't that cool?" She laughed again.
"Home…" Kairi thought. She looked down and saw she wasn't lying on the ground, but on a sofa out on the patio. She must have been out for what at least felt like a long time, but in reality was a short amount of time, she thought, judging from the way Selphie had mentioned the teacher and the school.
Then, the mayor, her father, appeared at the door. He had a relieved expression on his face when he saw Kairi.
"Oh, thank goodness! Kairi… You're awake… I've been so worried. You are going to be the death of me someday, what with the strange way you showed up here, you were so frightened. Now, you are going to spend the rest of the day in bed to ensure this doesn't happen anymore today. Thank you for your help, Selphie."
Selphie turned and smiled at the mayor. "No problem. Always happy to help!" Then she turned to Kairi and said, "And… uh… Kairi, be more careful, okay? Anyway, you know where to find us when you wanna hang out! See ya!" She left smiling.
The mayor looked at his adopted daughter anxiously and there was a sympathetic tone in his voice.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked, evidently being over-concerned, as Kairi hadn't mentioned leaving for anywhere, and what's more, she hadn't even said a word.
"Yeah, dad, I'm fine…. Just a bit groggy is all," she finally spoke up.
"Well… Okay, if you say so…" He gave her a weak smile and then walked out of the house, as Kairi made her way to her room.
Very soon after as sleep was about to legitimately take her in its claws and she was closing her eyes, she thought she the voice of the mysterious figure say:
"The light in your heart…. Call out to it…"
During this time, Sora and Riku were hard at work… listening to Yen Sid talk about the Heartless and the new threats they were about to face as well as how to be prepared for all that might befell them. Not that they were asleep or anything. They were really quite awake, as this was all very important.
"…. and what's more you must be alert when you are up against those that wish to harm you. You will profit from the techniques I am about to teach you, then," he finished.
Riku and Sora looked at each other and flashed hopeful smiles at each other. The true road to their becoming real Keyblade masters was finally about to begin…
