10 Years Later: April 14th

Daytime:

Velvet walls, a long-nosed man, a clearly female figure wreathed in blue flame? By far the strangest daydream Kairi had ever had in her short life. Rubbing her eyes, the sixteen year old red-head looked out the window and gasped in awe as she saw the beautiful tropical paradise that will be her home for the next year take shape before her eyes.

"Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking." a voice rang from the plane's intercom system. "The time is now three p.m. and we are making our final approach towards Destiny Islands. Please return your seats to their full upright position fold the tray tables to their proper folded position, and please fasten your seatbelts."

At that instant the fasten seat belt sign flashed to life and Kairi got to work. Once finished, she removed her head phones and put the old Walkman her grandmother had given her into her carry on and waited for the plane to make its descent. Feeling a twinge of pain in her head Kairi began to rub her temples.

"Must be the jet lag." she told herself as the pain subsided. Finally after a half hour of landing and the captain making his final announcements and welcoming his passengers to their destination Kairi was finally off the plane and she rejoiced in finally being able to stand on her own two feet after twenty hours of non-stop sitting.

With her luggage in hand Kairi began to head to main lobby where the family taking her in for the year were surely waiting for her. As she reached the bottom of the escalator a very colorful sign adorned with palm trees and the star-shaped paopu fruit displaying her name caught her eye.

"I guess that's my ride."

Before her foot even touched the floor Kairi found herself bound in another's arms.

"Oh my goodness! You must be Kairi! Welcome to Destiny Islands! You're so much more beautiful in person than in your photo! Was the plan ride comfortable? Do you need help with your luggage? Do you want to get something to eat before we get home?"

Overwhelmed by the questions Kairi's head began to spin. Just as she was about to answer a new voice saved her from her captor's grasp.

"Easy, you're going to make the poor girl faint."

Finally feeling the arms around her recede, Kairi looked up and got a good look at who tackled her so. Before her eyes was a kindly woman with brown hair tied up in a pink ribbon complimented with a pink dress and red jacket.

Next to her, stood a tall black haired muscular man in the uniform of SOLDIER's renowned First Class division. He seemed nice enough with his big goofy grin but what really caught Kairi's attention was the large Buster Sword strapped to his back.

"I'm sorry to have smothered you with questions right after you landed dear, we were all so excited to meet you." the woman explained with an embarrassed smile. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Aerith Fair, and this is my husband Zack."

"Nice to meetcha kid!" Zack winked. "Welcome to Destiny Islands. I hope your year here will be illuminating. Must be a big change coming all the way here from the big city in Radiant Garden."

"It'll take some adjusting, but I'm excited to be here!" Kairi replied before taking a deep bow. "Thank you for taking me into your home."

Picking up Kairi's luggage, Zack began to laugh. "No need to be so formal. We're just as excited to have you here with us. Our son wouldn't stop talking about it for the past week. Now then, you must be exhausted after your long trip. I'll take this here and we'll take you home. It's about a hour's drive from here if we get out before the rush hour hits."

With a smile, Kairi thanked her hosts and followed them to their car, a medium sized blue van the same shade as her eyes. Little did she know that this was the first step of a journey that will forever define her life.

"So Kairi, what do you do for fun?" Zack asked as he turned into the highway.

"Oh, um well...I guess I like hanging out with my friends." Kairi replied as she snapped out of thoughts she could no longer recall.

"I see. Well, you'll definitely be doing a lot of that here. We're not exactly the biggest community out there and all the neighboring islands are quite small. I hope you won't get bored of the beach."

"No way!" Kairi cried. "I love the sea and even if this place is small it's part of something much bigger right?"

"Now there's a surprising answer coming from a kid your age." Aerith giggled as she tightened the bow in her hair.

"Guess I'm full of surprises Mrs. Fair."

"Whoa there kiddo!" Zack interjected. "Our home is your home, you don't have to be so formal it feels weird. You can just call us Zack and Aerith. Mr. Fair just makes me seem old."

"Um, okay Mr.-um, Zack." The word felt strange in Kairi's throat. All her life she was taught call all those she met with the proper honorific as warranted by ettiquette. But, if that's what her foster family wanted then she would honor their wish. "So um...you guys said you had a son?"

"Two." Zack answered. Both of them are actually in the same grade as you. They would have been here to greet you, but they got thrown into detention...again."

"Don't be too hard on them Zack, you know they act out around this time of year especially Roxas ever since...ever since..." but Aerith couldn't bring herself to say it. Even though it's been ten years since that day, the wound was still just as fresh.

"I know, I just...I just wish I could see inside their heads sometimes you know."

Feeling awkward about the whole conversation Kairi took out her Walkman and turned it on. Pulling up the hood of her sweater, she looked out the window watching the cars pass by as the voice of Utada blocked every sound around her out.

Evening

After a short tour of the basic layout of the house Kairi was left to the room Zack and Aerith prepared for her in order to unpack her things and settle down for the night. The first thing she saw upon opening her suitcase was a small pink diary she bought in order to keep a record of her time on the Islands.

"Guess I'll write something."

Fishing out a pen from her desk, Kairi picked up the diary and began to write. Within seconds, Kairi found herself asleep her exhaustion finally taking her. It wasn't long until she reopened her eyes, but what she saw wasn't the walls of her new room at all. Instead she found herself surrounded by walls made of velvet.

"Where am I?" Kairi asked herself as she scanned the area around her. It was definitely a throne room of some kind, but there was no door leading out. Overwhelmed by a feeling of claustrophobia Kairi began to search desperately for a way out. Suddenly, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard a chuckle coming from behind her. Turning with a snap Kairi's eyes widened as she saw a bizarre looking old man with an extremely long nose sitting on the throne of the room. To Kairi, the man looked almost like a gremlin. Next to the man was a strikingly handsome young man no younger than herself dressed in a blue butler's suit.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room my dear young lady." Long Nose said in a smooth silky voice that didn't quite suit his grotesque appearance. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. It has been quite some time since we had a guest. This is Victor. He is a resident here, like myself."

"Charmed." Victor replied in a refined gentlemanly accent.

"What exactly is this place?" Kairi asked. "I remember falling asleep in my room. This has got to be some kind of prank right?"

With a chuckle Igor began to answer. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a "contract" may enter."

"There must be some mistake, I never signed any contracts. I can't even co-sign for a car."

With a wave of his hand, a small table appeared in front of Igor. Laying upon it was the paper work Kairi signed in order to take place in the foreign exchange program.

"Henceforth, you are a guest of the Velvet Room. All I ask is that you abide by your contract and take responsibility for all the choices you may make."

Confused and full of questions all Kairi could do was just nod in understanding. Satisfied with his guest's answer Igor waved his hand one last time and a door filled with the brightest light opened behind Kairi and began to draw her through its depths.

"Until we meet again, Farewell."

Suddenly, everything went white and Kairi despite her struggles was pulled back into the depths of sleep's embrace plagued with more questions than she ever thought she could have.