It was a dark night for all the worlds, but for Destiny Islands it was also stormy. Thunder and lightning crashed and lit up the sky. The winds blew so violently that the trees rocked. Waves surged and crashed on the beach. And while Sora, Roxas, and Namine were away visiting King Mickey, Riku and Kairi waited the storm out together in the hut on the beach.

Somewhere over the ocean a light flashed, one that did not belong to lightning. A figure appeared and fell into the sea. They were injured, and with the waves as violent as they were, the figure almost drowned. But somehow they made it to solid ground. The stranger got up, clutching the injured shoulder, and stumbled to the beach cabin. Riku and Kairi were playing cards when they heard thumping on the door.

"I'll get it," Riku said getting up, "It's probably Tidas, Wakka, and Selphie wanting to join us." He opened the door and a girl collapsed into his quick arms. In her left shoulder was an arrow and dripping from wound was blood and an inky-black liquid. She was clad in a thin, white, stained nightgown that was knee-length.

"Oh my . . .!" Kairi exclaimed. The face, though pale and wracked with pain, was familiar to Riku. She opened her eyes, if only for a moment, to see who had caught her.

"Riku," she whispered and closed her eyes again. Riku picked the girl up and carried her in while Kairi shut the door.

"Do you know her?" Kairi asked perplexed.

"We met . . . once." He replied cryptically. The girl moaned.

"Well?" Kairi encouraged.

"Her name is Ari." Riku informed her. "Ari, what happened? How'd you get here?"

"We-we were at-attached . . . by h-heart-heartless. Hoards of them. I w-was shot by an-an arrow. The liquid you see is darkness. I-I . . . I don't know how-how I got h-here," Ari managed to get out.

"Stay still," Riku advised and he pulled Kairi aside to talk to her in private. "I've seen this before . . . the darkness spreads throughout the body like a virus and eventually consumes the heart. Now I can heal the wound but I need light to remove the darkness. I don't have that power, Sora does."

"But Sora's visiting the king he won't be back for three days and there's no way to get a message to him," Kairi stated.

"I know. . ."

"Well does she have three days?" Kairi asked, horrified.

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Do what you can." Kairi told Riku and he nodded and walked back to Ari. He knelt over her and wrapped his hand around the arrow.

"Kairi, cover your ears and look away."

"What?" She asked but complied.

"I'm sorry Ari, this is going to hurt," Riku whispered. He rips the arrow out and Ari let lose a horrible, bloodcurdling scream. She surprisingly stayed conscious.

"Riku!" Kairi scolded turning around again.

"It had to come out," He threw back. Ari moaned and cried out in pain.

"Hurry up and heal it." Kairi commanded.

"Not yet, I want to see how much darkness we can get out. Get me a sponge and a bowl of water?" Kairi nodded, rolling her eyes and left the room. She came back with the required items and Riku began to soak the poison up, careful not to drip on anything. Kairi watched over his shoulder, supervising and asking at two minute intervals if he was done yet. Riku would reply patiently "no". Finally, after twenty minutes, he had gotten all out that was possible. It was already in her blood system. Ari had fallen asleep from exhaustion during the cleaning.

"Do you know how long she has . . . before it takes her heart?" Kairi asks wringing her hands.

"Well it depends on the person," He said rubbing his temples, "and their ability to resist darkness. We will just have to wait."

"Who exactly is she and how did you two meet?"

"It's . . . a long story," Riku replied a little embarrassed and reluctant to relay the story to Kairi.

"Well we've got the time," She encouraged. So Riku told her about when he was looking for Roxas in The World That Never Was and he found him threatening Ari. After Roxas defeated him, Ari took care of him and dressed his wounds. She told Riku that she was here looking for her father, Ansem the Wise. It was then that Riku told her that he was dead by Sora's hand (for that's what he believed but later found out that her father was still alive). After Riku recovered he took the form of Xehanort and he and Ari parted company. Riku left out the part about Ari kissing him for he knew what Kairi would assume and he wasn't sure if he wanted her to know.

"Well now that we've cleared that up I suppose one of us will have to take care of her until Sora shows up and fully heals her. I think the storm's died down, so let's go back to our houses and get Ari some clothes and bedding so she's comfy."

As soon as the two islanders left Ari closed and locked the windows and door. She closed the shades so that it was as dark as night in the little beach hut. She had to make sure that she survived for three days. Ari thought that the best way to delay the poison was to be alone. No one to aggravate her.

When Riku and Kairi returned with the provisions for Ari, they found that she had barricaded herself in the hut. Needless to say, Kairi was furious. By the time they gave up trying to break in, it was morning.

"We just saved her life! What does she think she'll accomplish by locking herself away like that?" Kairi asked throwing her arms up in the air in frustration. Then her voice took on a calmer, gentler tone, "I'm worried is all, she's going to need help." The two were still outside the hut, Kairi was standing and pacing while Riku sat on a barrel.

"She thinks she has to be alone for this," Riku told Kairi.

"Do you think that?"

"No, but unless she's willing to let us in, there's nothing we can do."

"Well then I'm going to see if she's willing to let me in." Kairi knocked on the door, three sharp raps. "Ari," She said in her sincerest, gentlest voice, "Can I come in?" No answer. "Ari?"

"Leave me," said Ari's muffled emotionless voice.

"But-"

"Please," Ari pleaded, "Just go." Kairi gave a defeated shrug indicating she didn't know what to do. Riku sighed exasperatedly and got up and came to the door knocking on it a little.

"Ari, it's Riku, let me in," his voice was demanding.

"N-no," came the unsure reply.

"Let me in."

"No," She repeated sounding annoyed.

"Let me in, Ari," this time pleading.

Something hit the door and shattered and at the same time Ari screamed at the top her lungs, "NO!" Riku's eyebrows furrowed, shocked and a little confused. His eyes betrayed something that almost looked like hurt. But then he turned and walked away from the little hut, followed by a dumbstruck Kairi.

"She won't last three days like this," He said under his breath.