Chapter 1: Lady in the Light

She never understood exactly what she did the day she refused to cooperate with the blonde man, but she felt as though whatever it was had been permanent. She felt as though there should have been no return, no second waking, however when a flash of light seared through the darkness around her, she suddenly was again.

She cringed away from the light, shielding her face with her arm. "Mm," she groaned, much like a child being woken up from a pleasant nap, "too bright." Before her, the searing light dimmed into the form of a softly glowing orb, though she still hid her face.

"...Too bright...? What?" an unfamiliar feminine voice asked, and the orb's form shifted, lengthening and taking on a more humanoid figure that gave off a slight blue glow.

Slowly, the girl began to lower her arm. "Suddenly the darkness turned all white and... Just too bright..." she replied quietly, looking towards the figure out the corner of her eye.

"I didn't realize, I'm sorry. I'm not sure how it happened, either, but hopefully I'm not as bright now?" the voice responded, and the figure's head turned slightly. "I can't see myself glowing, nor can I see you...but I can feel you. I haven't felt this much light since..." The figure shook its head as the voice drifted off. "Never mind that, who are you?"

The girl frowned as she mentally searched for an answer, and could find none. "You're just giving off a little glow now," she replied, "it's not so bad that way. As for who I am...I'm not sure. I wasn't awake long, all I've ever been called is 'little sister.' Who are you?"

As she watched, the light-figure reached up to put one of its hands against its face slowly, as though thinking. "My name is Aqua, Keyblade Master, and former student of Master Eraqus. Do you really not remember having a name? I sense there's something...special...about you. You give off this strong feeling of warmth and positivity, the sense something good's about to happen... I haven't felt those things in a long time..."

She shook her head slowly before she remembered that "Aqua" had mentioned not being able to see her. That was when she spoke up. "I really don't, Miss Aqua. My big sister had a name, it was Anya, but not me...or if I do, she, nor the mean blond man called me by it. The man just wanted to use us for bad things, but I would think Anya would have used my name."

"Such a shame, a light like yours is...I'm sure you were special to someone," Aqua murmured, "you said there was a man who wanted to use you for bad things, what did you mean by that?" The girl closed her eyes, remembering the last time she'd been awake.

"He asked me if I wanted to help him rescue someone in need, but Anya was convinced he wanted to use us to hurt people. He didn't look nice, I didn't trust him, and he had a big man holding Anya back. When she tried to call for help, the big man covered her mouth so whoever she was calling for couldn't hear her-I think the name was Ienzo. So when he asked, I told him no, and I went back to sleep, but it felt like a sleep I shouldn't have woken up from..." The figure's dim glow brightened, something the girl's mind told her was a reaction of surprise, and its hand rose to its mouth.

"You poor girl... But, if it was supposed to be permanent, how...?" She shook her head again before answering quietly.

"I don't know any better than you do. Maybe I'm meant to really help that person now, but then why did I have to meet you, first? Are you in need? Do you need to be rescued? Are you that person? The blond man didn't tell me who he wanted to use me to hurt..." The figure's glow had since dimmed, but flared up again.

"I am. I'm trapped in a world with one other, but I'm not sure that you're meant to rescue me... I admit that it's odd that we're able to speak like this, but if you aren't here already, how would you be able to-" she was surprised when Aqua's voice gave a sharp gasp, and the already bright glow flared like an exploding firework, so bright that the girl had to turn away again. "Light! I haven't felt this much light since Ven, if you're like him, I wonder... Is Xehanort trying to..." At the mention of the name 'Xehanort,' something clicked in the girl's mind.

"Ienzo hasn't helped wake her up, maybe you should take us to Xehanort or have him come to us, Even?" she heard Anya's voice whisper in the back of her mind.

"Xehanort cannot help your sister, Anya." the voice of the blond man replied firmly, to which she felt a faint twinge of anger, and of desperation.

"But he helped us before, when we were sick, maybe-"

"Enough, Anya. Xehanort will not be visiting, nor will you or you sister be visiting him. She will wake soon, and once she has, the only visit she will be making is to Terra." She felt confusion bloom within her-that wasn't what they had been told, she didn't know who Terra was, but she most definitely knew-

Who was Xehanort again?

This question was one she didn't voice. Instead, she found herself telling Aqua, "The blond man's name was Even. I don't know anything about a Xehanort or Ven, but I...think I vaguely remember him telling Anya that I was supposed to visit a Terra when I woke up." It was this that got the biggest reaction yet, Aqua gasping and flaring up the brightest she had yet.

"Terra?" she asked, "You're sure the name was Terra?" The girl could hear what she thought might have been excitement, maybe hope creeping into her voice.

"Yes, I'm almost positive it was Terra, why? Do you know what he was talking about? I don't remember knowing a Terra." She struggled to try remembering anyone beyond Anya and the men she called Even and Aeleus, and found she could not.

It took a long time for Aqua to answer, but finally she did. "Terra was...a good friend of mine. He was a good man, too, always training hard, helping Ven, sparring with me... And then some things happened, and he was mislead, then taken over... The darkness took a greater hold over him than the light did, and even though he wanted to protect us..." The figure shook its head slowly. "But what did this Even guy want you to meet him for? What could you have done...? More specifically, how could you have hurt him...?" As Aqua mused aloud, the girl seemed to put the pieces in place.

"You said I was light, didn't you? And Terra was overtaken by darkness? Even said I was supposed to rescue someone in need, and Anya said he wanted to use us to hurt someone. Maybe I was meant to...undo what the darkness did? But what good would that do? Would something like that even work?" She didn't know the answer to most of her questions, however something told her she knew the answer to the very last one.

Yes. Something like that would work.

"I don't know," Aqua replied, "I don't know the answers to any of those questions. I just have more more questions myself...and hope I probably shouldn't have."

"Why shouldn't you have hope?" The question slipped out of her mouth without much thought, and Aqua sighed.

"Because if you could, that means Terra could have a second chance. If he gets a second chance, the possibilities... But then you also said that there are people who want to hurt him..."

"They're gone. Or, they left me. I can feel that much, and even if they weren't gone, I wouldn't let them hurt him. I'd protect him, like I protected him the first time," came the steely reply that surprised even the girl who spoke it. It was chased by an almost nonexistent "...That is, if I could rescue him now."

Aqua made a soft noise, and the figure reached out one of its hands slowly, then seemed to think better of it, and pulled back. "You're so kindhearted, but..."

"The least I can do is try. I don't know why else I'd be talking to you now if I wasn't meant to at least try to save him for real this time." The glowing figure's shoulders sank.

"I don't sense any darkness in you," Aqua said slowly. "If you were only meant to bring Terra back, it might take all your light to get rid of the darkness that took hold of him... If you do this, there may be nothing left of you in the end. You could be sacrificing yourself..."

The girl smiled back. Had Aqua been able to see her, she would have realized that the girl had no intention of changing her mind. "If I can't wake like a normal person and live out my life, I'd like someone to be able to. I don't want to go back to living in the dark sleep world, where I can't do anything. If I can give him a second chance, and he can do something with it, I'd rather be able to do this one thing instead of nothing," she replied. Aqua was silent a long time, and the light figure stood motionless.

Finally, she spoke again. "If you insist on giving him a second chance, let me give you a name. That way I know who to remember, and we all know who to thank...if..." As she watched, the light-figure shuddered, and something told her it was upset.

"I would like that very much," she whispered back. It seemed she was gaining much today-a second chance to wake, a chance to save, a name...

"Rayna." The single word was firm, but sudden, taking her by surprise.

"I'm sorry?" She frowned, trying to make sense of what Aqua had just said.

"Rayna," the voice repeated, more slowly this time. "Unless you don't like that name? I could try-" the girl cut her off excitedly as she realized it was intended to be her name.

"No, no! Rayna... My name is Rayna..." Her confident smile stretched into a childish beam. "I love it, thank you!"

"No, thank you, Rayna. Thank you for being willing to give Terra a second chance. Even at the risk of yourself." The excited glow of the light figure had dimmed greatly, so that it barely glowed anymore. The newly named Rayna only wished she could see the woman behind it, and that Aqua could see her, and her smile.

"I just hope it works," she answered quietly. For the second time in her short life, the world around her began to fade.

"I hope so, too. And I hope you live-I...I'd like to meet you in person one day." Aqua's response was barely there.

"Me too," Rayna replied as the glowing figure and the nothing world they'd been in disappeared entirely.

And, once again, she opened her eyes.