Ashley opened her eyes. All she could see was darkness. She sat up and took in her surroundings to find that she was standing on a stained-glass platform with an image, an image of her, blown up and covering most of the platform and in smaller circles around her were her friends, Sora, Riku and Kairi. Her violet eyes lingered over each of her friends. Especially Riku, they had become the best of friends since she arrived on the islands.
From out of nowhere, she heard a voice "Within you lies untold power, if you give it form" and from the ground, three stone pillars, a different weapon; a sword, a shield and a magical staff on top of each one. The voice spoke again "What power do you seek?" It asked Ashley. Ashley wandered to each weapon and inspected each one carefully. But she eventually went with the sword as she preferred attacking with offensive tactics. "The power of the warrior, invincible strength. Is this the power you seek?" The voice called out again. Ashley nodded "Yes" she began to say but before she could finish her words the sword disappeared and she felt a strong power resonating in her heart.
'Could this be me unlocking the power that I was given 9 years ago?' She thought to herself. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the floor was beginning to fill with darkness. She only realised when it had reached her and she started shrinking into the blackness "Don't be afraid" the voice spoke out "You have a destiny. A destiny that will soon come to fruition" The voice kept speaking out
"What destiny?" Ashley called out to the voice as she struggled against the sinking darkness.
"All in good time child. Now it is time to awaken" the voice whispered back as the last of the darkness swallowed Ashley and everything went black again.
Ashley opened her eyes. She sat up and looked around herself, she was in her bedroom. She yawned, rubbed her eyes and recalled the dream she had "That was weird" she mumbled as she looked out of her window at the rising sun across the islands. She had been living here almost a full year now and with it, had made new memories with her best friends Sora, Kairi and Riku. But today was a special day, not only was it the first day of summer vacation but it was also her 15th Birthday!
The blonde girl jumped out of bed and grabbed her towel and clothes and went straight to the bathroom to get ready. She emerged 15 minutes later, her hair wrapped out in her towel and wearing a white t-shirt with a v-neckline that was tucked into her yellow skater skirt. On her feet were white sandals with flowers over the straps. She went into her room and sat down at her dresser. She unwrapped her hair and let it fall, it had grown slightly but she had had it cut a couple of days ago to celebrate finishing school for the year. She grabbed her comb and began parting it and combing all the tangled out. She then reached into a drawer and took out a black headband with a bow on the side and gently placed it in her hair, the bow positioned to the right. With a smile on her face, she stood up, discarded her towel and pyjamas into the wash hamper and went downstairs for breakfast.
"Morning birthday girl" the mayor said smiling as Ashley entered the kitchen, the smell of eggs and bacon cooking away on the oven wafted into her nostrils.
"Morning David" Ashley said hugging the kind gentleman. Despite him taking Ashley in last year, she couldn't bring herself to call him dad. It didn't feel right.
"So what's the plan for today?" David asked as he served up the breakfast as Kairi came into the kitchen, she was wearing a white tank top and purple shorts with a purple sash wrapped around it. Around her neck was a pearl necklace. She smiled and hugged Ashley.
"Good morning Ashley!" She exclaimed and held out a small, neatly wrapped package to her friend "Happy Birthday" she said as Ashley took the package. It was wrapped in yellow tissue paper with a blue bow holding it together.
"Thank you Kairi" Ashley said taking the present and turning back to David "Umm, we're hanging out with Riku and Sora on the play islands today and then having dinner round Sora's this afternoon." Ashley explained as she tucked into her birthday breakfast. David smiled at the girls as the three of them ate their breakfast in silence. David then gave Ashley her gift too, a box wrapped up in purple and pink paper with stars dotted over it. Ashley thanked David again for the present and the two friends left the house to walk to Sora's house to meet Riku and Sora.
"I can't wait to see what the boys have gotten you for your birthday" Kairi wondered. Ashley just nodded as she was lost in thought as she thought back to her dream last night. She was so lost in thought that she didn't realise Riku was standing right in front of her and she walked right into him. He caught her and held her to stop her from falling over. Ashley looked into his aquamarine eyes as she finally snapped out of her daydream
"Sorry Riku!" Ashley blushed massively as they both stood upright looking at the wide grin on Riku's face.
"You should be more careful where you're going Ash" Riku chuckled as he ran a hand through his shoulder length silver hair "Daydreaming I presume?" He asked her. Ashley's blush just increased.
"Yeah, just thinking about a dream I had last night" she mumbled looking away from him seeing Sora and Kairi standing behind Riku snickering "And what are you two laughing at?" She said pouting at the two before starting to laugh herself.
"You really are a klutz Ashley" Sora said as he put his hands behind his brown, spiky hair, a goofy grin spread across his face. "Oh by the way, Happy Birthday. I'll give you my gift to you later at my house" he added.
"Same" Riku chimed in "So are we going to go have fun today or are we just going to stand here until we die of old age" he joked before running towards the dock. Ashley ran after him, leaving Sora and Kairi walking closely behind
"So do you think he'll tell her tonight?" Kairi asked Sora.
"You know what he's like, not much with expressing his feelings, but I think with what he got her for her birthday will be a start" Sora replied picking up the pace as they neared the dock. They saw Riku and Ashley get into their boats and begin to row out to the play islands. Sora and Kairi then reached the docks and begun to follow suit.
The rest of the day was spent with the four friends playing on the play islands, mainly Sora, Riku and Ashley sparring with their wooden swords, Ashley was a really good swords woman and had managed to surpass Sora by beating him multiple times. Her matches with Riku however normally ended with her on her back and Riku on top of her or there would be the occasional draw. Today she finally managed to beat Riku though as she knocked his wooden sword out of his hand and sent a round house kick his way, her foot making contact with his stomach, a move she had been practicing with Sora and Kairi when Riku wasn't around. Riku fell flat on his back and Ashley held her sword at his head, signalling the match was over. Riku smiled as he got up. "You've gotten better. I'm impressed. Since when did you know how to kick like that?" He asked chuckling as he rubbed his stomach.
"I'm always full of surprises" Ashley remarked giving a twirl and bowing to Sora and Kairi who were clapping and cheering from the side lines. The four friends chuckled as they walked over to the paopou fruit tree. Sora, Kairi and Ashley sat on the branch while Riku leaned against the trunk of the tree as they starred out towards the ocean.
"So summer vacation, what's our plans for this one?" Kairi spoke up, excited to see what their summer had in store for them.
"I dunno" Sora quipped "We'd be able to spend more time here which will give me plenty of time to practice my sparring techniques so I can finally beat Riku" he proclaimed which earned a cheeky scoff from Riku and a giggle from Ashley.
"I don't know either, maybe the four of us could take the ferry to one of the other islands, see what's out there" Ashley suggested, she hadn't really gone to any of the other surrounding islands here and wanted to see them to compare them with the island she's been living on for the past year.
"Better yet, let's journey farther than that." Riku said seriously as he looked up at his three friends.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.
"Well, it's obvious that Kairi and Ashley don't come from this world. How about we spend our summer vacation looking for their home worlds. They've got to be out there somewhere, right?" Riku explained. Ashley's eyes twinkled at the idea.
"That sounds like a great idea! Journeying to see other worlds, that would be fantastic!" She agreed "And it'll be great to find your world Kairi" she added. Sora and Kairi had the exact same look of determination.
"Yeah! Let's do it. But how will we journey to other worlds?" Sora said excitedly. The for of them pondered for a second.
"How about a raft?" Ashley suggested. The other three friends smiled and agreed that they would build a raft and journey to other worlds! A real adventure!
They discussed how they were going to build the raft on the way back to Sora's house for Ashley's birthday party. Sora's parents greeted them as they walked through the door wishing Ashley a happy birthday. The best part of the night, they were allowed to get pizza for dinner! Ashley's favourite food. The four friends dug into their feast excited for the next week where they would build their raft and sail to other worlds. After they had eaten their fill of pizza, Sora's parents brought out her cake. It was any chocolate lovers dream as it was a chocolate sponge cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings scattered on top. Everyone sang happy birthday to her and Ashley made a wish 'I wish to see other worlds with my best friends, Sora, Kairi and Riku' She wished to herself, took in a deep breath and blew all of the candles out in one go.
Everyone cheered and then they moved onto her presents. Ashley started with the one from Kairi. Inside the small box was a lucky charm, made from Thalassa sea shells that she had made, the shells that made up the charm were coloured light yellow and light blue and really complimented her outfits which were always a mix of yellow, white and light blue. She opened the present from David next, inside was a bag, dotted with yellow stars, big enough to fit all of her school books for next year in it... or her supplies for their trip to other worlds. She then opened up the present from Sora. It was wrapped in a similar box to David's present but it was much smaller. Inside the box, a large bag of Ashley's favourite candy, lemon sherbets. Ashley's eyes widened when she saw the bag and hugged Sora to say thank you before sharing a few out amongst her best friends. She looked around to see there was one present missing. Riku's, she looked over at the silverette who rubbed the back of his head "I must've left it back home. Would you like to come with me to get it Ashley?" He asked her gently.
"Of course I would Riku." She exclaimed standing up. Sora and Kairi smiled.
"We'll stay here and clean up. We still have to watch that movie Kairi picked out" Sora explained as his hands went behind his head and sending them a goofy grin.
"Ok, we'll be right back" Ashley said oblivious to the plan that her three friends were carrying out in front of her.
Riku and Ashley left Sora's house and walked down talking about their day and plans for the raft before Ashley realised that they weren't going to Riku's house but walking towards the docks, the sun just beginning to set. "Umm, Riku, where are we going?" Ashley asked looking at Riku who looked really nervous.
"Oh umm, it's a surprise." He explained as he got into his boat and gestures Ashley to do join him. Ashley got into his boat and Riku rowed then out to the play island. When they docked, Riku got out and began walking towards the paopou fruit tree, motioning for Ashley to follow. His hands dug deep into his pockets, nervous and trying to plan what he was going to say. Eventually the two of them reached the paopou fruit tree and sat on the branch.
"So what is this surprise Riku? Huh?" Ashley asked hands on her hips looking at him. His eyes were closed as if he was lost in thought. Eventually he took in a deep breath, opened his aquamarine eyes and turned to Ashley.
"This" he said softly as he pulled out a small yellow box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful blue and purple gem encased in a silver heart on a chain. "Happy Birthday Ashley" he added as Ashley looked at the pendant as it sparkles in the sunset. She was at a loss for words.
"Ri-Riku. It's beautiful. But it must've been expensive" she finally managed to say unable to take her eyes off the jewel inside. Riku just rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, a slight blush forming on his cheeks.
"Not really but when I saw it, I immediately thought of you." He explained as he took the pendant out of the box and undid the clasp. He motioned Ashley to turn around so he could put it on her. Ashley obliged and held her hair away from her neck so Riku had better access to the skin without catching any hair or skin on the chain. Once the clasp had been shut and the necklace was secured, Ashley let her hair fall down and turned back around to face Riku, the jewel catching the sun's ray's and making it sparkle.
"Thank you Riku. I love it" She exclaimed looking down and holding the heart. Which made Riku smile and let out a breath he had been holding in.
"I'm so glad you do. Listen. I guess it's also a promise that I want to make" the silverette said gazing up to look into the girl's eyes.
"A promise? Of what?" Ashley asked as she looked up at him with her soft, violet eyes.
"Well seeing as we're going to be journeying to other worlds. We might face some dangers. I want to protect you from them. I want to fight any all the monsters and dangers that threaten to tear us apart. I won't ever do anything to destroy our friendship nor let go of the close bond I share with you. And Sora and Kairi" Riku proclaimed as he held her hands gently "I promise that to you Ashley." He added as he saw tears begin to form in her eyes.
"I promise that too Riku. I promise to always protect you, to be by your side through thick and thin, and Sora and Kairi too. Nothing will tear the four of us apart. No matter what we face. We'll always be there for each other!" The blonde also proclaimed as she squeezed Riku's hands lightly. The two of them smiled as they began to lean into one another. Until Riku cleared his throat.
"We'd better get back to the others. They're probably wondering what's takin is so long." He managed to say as he hopped off the branch and held out his hand for Ashley. Ashley nodded and jumped off too and took his hand as they walked back to the boat and headed back to Sora's house. Her heart was filled with so much emotion as the promise they had both made to each other, bound by the pendant around her neck, stayed in her mind. Nothing could tear the four of them apart. Together always!