EDITED 6/17/2010

Author's Comments: Sadly, no Kingdom Hearts characters here. I promise you'll recognize a familiar appearance in the next chapter, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, its characters, or its story lines (as noted with an *). I own Imani and Aden.

I wake with a start, slightly out of breath and clutching my comforter until my knuckles turn white.

"Jeez," someone sighs. "Don't scare me like that. I thought you were having a seizure or something."

My eyes dart to the source of the voice. A boy slightly older than me shoots me a glare as he runs a hand through his dark side-swept hair. I can't suppress the flinch zinging through my body. "A-Aden…" I manage to croak out.

His chocolate-colored eyes soften as he looks me over. "You okay?"

As I take deep breaths, I let my eyes roam around me, the death-grip of my panic steadily loosening as I take note of the morning sunlight shining through the drab-colored curtains, the dresser spilling over with half-folded clothes, the shelf of books, Aden...

"Y-Yeah." I nod slowly, sinking into my bed as exhaustion weighed down my body.

"Mom and I were wondering why you'd always seem so exhausted in the morning this past week." The bed dips under his weight as he sits down. "You should've said you were having nightmares."

I choose to not answer, but a frown twists my chapped lips. My fingers fiddle with the end of the quilt covering me from the waist down as I avoid his piercing gaze. The blanket's starting to tatter…

"Imani?" His hand covers mine, giving a small squeeze. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Don't you have work today?" I ask.

"It's Saturday, sis. I don't start work until four." His fingers find my chin, forcing me to look him square in the eye. "We can talk all day if you want." Aden smiles reassuringly.

"Yellow orbs, huh?" Aden's eyebrows inch together as he bites into his toast. "What do they do?"

I swallow down the tinge of fear that caught in my throat before murmuring, "They come after me. All five billion of them."

"Oh..." He eyes the untouched food on my plate. "What about the voices?"

"I can't hear them anymore. The noise drowns them out."

"Then what happens?"

"I end up just standing frozen in place." My fingers tighten around the mug of lukewarm hot cocoa in my hands. "I feel them brushing against my leg a few times...All I can do is scream..."

"You don't have to go into detail if you don't want to."

"O-Oh." I shift a little, finally handing him the plate of food I know I'm not going to eat.

His eyebrows draw closer together almost as if to say I really think you should eat something, but he takes the plate and stacks it over his own. "Anything else happen?"

I stare at the wall across me, trying to pick out as many details as I can from memory without flinching. "Someone calls my name."

"Who?"

"I…I don't know. I think it was a guy's voice."

"You didn't see him? But he just called your name?"

"Well...He told me to fight."

"Fight?" His eyebrows shoot up. "Like combat?"

"Yeah. He was shouting, 'Imani! Fight!'" I imitate the voice as best I can in that same way he shouted. The rasp kind of takes away from the urgency, though...

"Did you?"

I glance away sheepishly. "I couldn't," I whisper.

He hums thoughtfully, letting my reply fade into silence. "Maybe you'll be able to fight tonight," Aden muses. "You said your dreams build on each other every night, so if you have that dream again tonight, then maybe you'll find something to fight back with. Or maybe you'll find out who's been calling your name."

My forehead creases in worry and my frown deepens. I don't exactly want to keep having this dream…

Aden's hand reaches out to ruffle my slightly tangled hair. "Hey. It'll be alright. They're just dreams."

I sigh, leaning into his touch. "Yeah."

Author's Afterthought: Please keep reading and be sure to review!