A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 3. I hope you've been enjoying the story so far. Thank you to the anonymous Guest for leaving a review.

We're at the midway point of the introductory arc. More character moments, and maybe even a bit of foreshadowing. Well, I'll not delay any further. Let's get to the actual story.

Please read and enjoy.

Re-sketch

Chapter 3: Bustin' Up on the Beach

Hikaru blinked at the sunlight that streamed in through the windows. Her entire body ached as she sat up—she didn't remember falling asleep, and she sure as hell didn't feel well-rested. But it was the smell hanging in the air that eventually roused her from bed, something sweet and buttery and…

Were those pancakes?

She trudged down the hall, rubbing the last grains of sleep from her eyes as she made her way down the stairs. She found Kairi ladling pancake batter into a pan on the stove.

"Good morning," Kairi said as Hikaru stepped in. "How are you feeling? Up for a shopping trip today?"

"Oh… Right, sure," Hikaru said. She always did enjoy a good browse through the stores. "Do you want any help with that?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I got it. But if you want to help with the eggs and bacon…"

"Sure," Hikaru said, and she moved to take her responsibility in breakfast duty.

They were out of the house by ten o'clock, Kairi leading the way to the shopping district. Hikaru took a moment to enjoy the sunshine and breeze on their walk while Kairi pointed out all the different buildings and places.

"The theater's just a block over if you ever feel like catching a movie—there's a nice little café next door too. Right down this street is Sora's house, third on the left. Riku lives a couple blocks over. Oh, and this is the high school," she added, pointing to the Destiny Islands High School campus across the street. "Sora and I are still in middle school—third years. Riku's a year older than us, though, so he's going to be a high school first year. It'll be weird without him around." Kairi paused. "What grade are you?"

"I'm not sure," Hikaru admitted, scratching her head. "Depends on where you are, I guess—whatever grade 15-year-olds are supposed to be. I'm mostly homeschooled. Moving around all the time makes public school hard to keep track of."

"Homeschooling?" a voice came from behind them, making them jump. "That's pretty awesome."

"Sora!" Kairi said. "Wow, you're up early for once."

Sora grinned, linking his hands behind his head. "You guys coming to the island later?"

"Maybe. What do you think, Hikaru?" Kairi said, turning and pointing out to the sea where an island stood visible not too far away. "That's where we usually goof off during break. It's also where we found you."

Hikaru blinked. "Sure," she said. She wanted to check out the place where she washed ashore—maybe she would find something they missed.

"Guess that means we'd better get to shopping." Kairi laughed. "Okay, let's go! You're coming along too, Sora," she added, hooking an arm around his and dragging him down the street.

"What? No, wait, Kairi! I don't wanna go shopping… Hikaru, help me!" He flailed his free arm, giving the biggest sad puppy eyes she'd ever seen.

Hikaru stood there for a moment, letting it all sink in. Then she choked back a laugh, a rush of vitality flooding through her body, the weight temporarily lifting from her shoulders. She hurried after them with a smile on her face.

"Thank you so much, Kairi," Hikaru said as they left the store, bags in hand. Hikaru had gotten just the basics, nothing fancy. Luckily she had her boots, even though they needed a good cleaning from all the seawater.

"No problem," Kairi said. "I've been meaning to pick up a new bathing suit anyway. Gotta love summer."

Hikaru smiled. "And thank you too, Sora."

"It wasn't so bad. I got some food out of it," Sora said, chomping down on his pretzel. "You guys sure you don't want any?"

"Maybe a little," Kairi said.

"Yeah, that smells delicious," Hikaru added. "And unhealthy."

They divided up the pretzel just as they approached the driveway to Kairi's house and saw Riku coming down the sidewalk towards them. "Hey Riku," Sora called, "catch!"

Riku blinked, catching the last piece of pretzel and staring at it. "Uh… Thanks?" he said. "So, you guys done already?"

"Yep," Kairi said. "We'll be out in a second—hold on!"

Destiny Islands was, admittedly, pretty amazing. Hikaru wandered barefoot up and down the beach, feeling the sand between her toes and the cool ocean water against her feet. The breeze was pleasant under the beaming sun, rustling through the trees as the seagulls cried. It was so perfect, it was a big cliché. The type of thing one would see in postcards and movies about tropical paradises, but never like how it truly was…

She only wished she'd actually found something of use to her predicament.

She crouched down and picked up a shell from the sand, rinsing it out in the water before examining it closely. It was almost petal-shaped, with a three-pointed tip on one end, glinting pale pink, gold, and blue in the light. She couldn't help laughing as she held it up to her head. Tricolored, like her hair… sort of.

She tucked the shell into her pocket and turned back towards the center of the island. This part of the beach was deserted—further down, she could see Tidus and Wakka having a mock battle on the dock. She took a deep breath of the salty air and placed her hands on her hips, looking around for the others. Her eyes eventually landed on the tiny raised island from which a large palm tree grew. Worth a shot.

She made her way to the little island through the abandoned shack. She was walking across the wooden bridge when she spotted Riku and Sora facing off with wooden swords. She paused mid-step, watching them for a few moments. Sometimes Sora would stagger, sometimes Riku would roll back. They leapt around, fighting to gain the upper hand, taunting each other and laughing until Sora teetered too close to the edge and was knocked back by the hilt of Riku's sword.

"W-waaaaah!"

SPLASH!

Hikaru's eyes widened. Riku peered over the edge of the island, laughing heartily while Sora flailed in the water below. "You've gotta do better than that, Sora!" he said.

"Riku, you jerk!"

Hikaru rushed over, peering down a good distance away from the edge. It was some ways down—high enough to make her head spin without making her lose her balance. But when she saw that Sora was just fine and busy flipping Riku the middle finger, she relaxed. "That wasn't very nice," she said, looking to Riku.

"He's used to it," Riku said with a shrug and a smirk.

"Screw you, Riku!" Sora shouted.

"Well, aren't you cocky?" Hikaru said, tilting her head. "You know what, Riku? I'll take you on."

"Huh?" He blinked, turning to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Don't be a wimp, Riku!" Sora called. "Hey, Hikaru! Catch!" He tossed his wooden sword up into the air. It landed on the ground at Hikaru's feet. "Show him who's boss!"

"Thanks, Sora," she said, picking up the sword and shaking off the excess water. "And of course I'm up to it. Unless you're afraid of losing." Oh, she was probably going to regret this.

Riku laughed. "Alright, but I'm not going to go easy on you just because you're a girl." He raised his sword into the air. Hikaru jumped back, gripped her sword in her left hand, one foot forward and the other back, though the weight was off compared to what she was used to.

"Got'cha!" a memory echoed in her head, and she nearly stumbled back at the ghost of a sharp poke in her chest.

Hikaru snapped back to reality just in time to block Riku's oncoming blow. Her arms shook under the strength behind the move, and her shoulder was beginning to cramp up—damn, this guy was strong! He was grinning at her, a confident, cocky smile. She managed to push back, and she took the opening to swing.

He blocked, the wooden blades sliding across each other before he twisted his sword around in an effort to knock Hikaru's out of her hands. But she pulled back, stepping away and regaining her footing. I need to be faster than that.

"Hah, not bad!" he said, spinning his sword around in one hand.

A smile threatened to break over Hikaru's face, but she felt strangely exposed without a mask. She adjusted her grip, edging forward, keeping her eyes on Riku's hands and feet and turning to watch his face every other moment.

She hazarded a step forward, moving to catch him in the chest, but he turned out of the way. Their swords clashed together, parrying the blows, counterattacking, searching for an opening, once—twice—

"Too slow!" Riku stepped forward, prodding Hikaru in the chest and making her stagger back. The smirk on his face disappeared the moment she felt the ground disappear under her feet. "Whoa, watch it!" Before she could tumble over the edge of the island, he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, tugging her back onto land. "You okay?"

"I'm… fine," Hikaru said, the blood slowly returning to her limbs and face as she held a hand over her heart. It was beating madly, and she still felt the tingling in the place where she had been poked by the sword. "I guess I should've been more careful. Thank you…"

"No problem. Don't want anyone getting hurt, right?"

"Gee, thanks," Sora said, rolling his eyes as he climbed back up onto the island. "Where was that chivalry when I was being pushed into the ocean?"

"So you want to be treated like a damsel in distress?" Riku asked.

"Oh, I'm a damsel in distress now?" Hikaru placed her hands on her hips.

"Err…"

"Joking, joking," she said. She walked over to Sora and offered a hand to help him up.

"Thanks. So you lost, huh?" Sora asked, shaking out the water in his still-spiky hair.

"I had my butt handed to me," she said.

"That wasn't the first time you've had a swordfight, was it?" Riku asked.

"No, not really," Hikaru said. She crossed her arms, leaning against one of the palm trees. "My parents taught my brother, and when I was little, I used to practice with him…" She cut herself off abruptly, blinking as her throat tightened. "But I'm not that good," she went on, shaking her head. "Aki's been practicing for ages, and he's a natural. If I do it, it's just for fun. Plus, when it comes to beating something up, whacking things with a big stick seems a lot easier."

Riku and Sora had a chuckle at that.

"Hey, guys!" Kairi came jogging across the bridge, stopping when she reached the island. "Are you guys goofing off again? Oh, Sora, you're all wet!"

"Sorry, Kairi," Sora said. "We were just sparring."

"And you didn't invite me?" she said with a huff and a smile. "Well, come on. There are towels somewhere around here, and your spare clothes are in the cove. Can you two look for material for the sail?" she added, turning to Hikaru and Riku. "I think there's some cloth and rope up in the tree house."

"Roger that," Riku said.

Hikaru, Riku noted, had become quiet after the swordfight. He wondered if it was because she was upset that she lost, but no, he was pretty sure it wasn't that. She stood in front of the ladder, the seconds ticking by as she looked up at the tree house.

"Is something the matter?" Riku asked.

Hikaru didn't respond at first. "… It's… pretty high up," she said, her voice tight.

Riku blinked, then chuckled. "Afraid of heights, are we?"

"S-shut up," she said, blushing as she turned away. The smile still hung onto Riku's lips. He climbed the ladder on his own, grabbing the cloth tarp that hung on the wall and the coil of rope curled up on the floor. He started back towards the raft once his feet returned to solid ground, and Hikaru followed close behind.

"How long have you guys been working on this raft?" she asked after a moment.

"Since summer break started," Riku said. "But I've had the idea for a long time. We were just waiting until school was out to do it."

"You must want to leave pretty badly," Hikaru said. "Isn't it kind of dangerous, going out on a raft in search of… well, in search of another world?"

"What's life without a little danger?" Riku asked. "I've wanted to leave this place for a long time. To see what else lies out there. The places… and people." He found himself looking out across the sea.

"Huh…" Hikaru followed his gaze.

"What about you?" Riku asked. "You've seen a world besides yours—do you want to explore the rest?"

"I don't know," Hikaru said, still staring out towards the horizon. "Exploring sounds fun, just going around to see what kind of places there are out there… But I… kind of just want to go home."

Fair enough. This whole ordeal must have been a shock for her. She had been separated from her family, and unlike Kairi, she remembered them. Riku didn't know what it would be like to be separated from Sora and Kairi, and he didn't want to imagine it. He wondered if he would ever get homesick if they ever got off the island…

No. No, there was so much to see. Leaving would be worth it if he had that chance to explore, to learn about what lay beyond the sea…

"Ah…"

He blinked, turning to Hikaru and seeing her hunched over with a hand over her chest as she teetered off-balance. His eyes widened, and he grabbed her shoulder to steady her. "Hikaru? Are you okay?"

"I feel… dizzy…" Her legs gave out under her. Riku managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

"Hikaru? Crap, Hikaru…!"

"Hold on!"

Falling.

"Don't let go!"

She was falling.

"Three—"

And all around her…

"Two—"

… a million shooting stars…

"One—"

… lit up the darkness.

We'll soar into the twilit sky

Above the crystal walls—

"Can you tell me a story?"

... ... ...

"Once upon a time, there was a world of brilliant light, where gardens flourished with beautiful flowers and waterfalls fed the earth. It was a world full of wonder and life, but also of a deep, terrible darkness. One day, a girl decided to leave this wonder and terror behind to see what else lay beyond. But the girl had created a special charm, made in the shape of a magical guiding star, and she knew that no matter how far she traveled, it would always lead her to safety. It would always lead her home."

... ... ...

"It's called a Wayfinder, because it will always show you the way…"

Hikaru opened her eyes. She stared at the orange light and the shadows cast across ceiling, the seconds ticking by until she finally registered that she was in her room—well, the room she was staying at in Kairi's house. If she had been in her own room, it would have been more of a relief. She glanced towards the window and saw the faint evening glow beyond the curtains. The clock on the wall read six-thirty. She had been out for nearly two hours.

"Ack… My head." She pushed away the bed sheets and sat up slowly, taking deep breaths until her mind began to clear. Her fragmented dreams were already slipping away into oblivion, and she looked around the room, trying to sort through her thoughts. Her charm was sitting on the table, the lamplight glinting off of its broken silver chain.

That's right… it's called a Wayfinder. She reached for the wooden charm, cradling it in her hands. It was made of five flat wooden pieces, plain and unpainted, though carved here and there to give it texture and shading in the light. Threads and a shiny red stone core linked it together to form the shape of a star. A mimic of the one from Mom's story. In and of itself, it didn't seem like anything special, but Hikaru had a sentimental attachment to the old charm.

She closed her fingers around it, holding it close to her chest. She couldn't stop the tears that prickled in her eyes. Mom…

The door opened suddenly. Hikaru nearly dropped her charm, but she calmed down when she saw it was only Kairi holding a bowl of soup. "Oh, you're up," Kairi said, surprised, then relieved. "Thank goodness. We were really worried."

"What happened?" Hikaru asked, quickly rubbing her eyes as Kairi walked over and handed her the bowl. Her stomach was cramping like her chest and growling for food. She accepted the soup gratefully, smelling the tomato and basil that wafted up in the steam. "Thank you."

Kairi bobbed her head, sitting down on the bed next to her. "Riku said you got dizzy and passed out. You must have overexerted yourself today."

"Yeah, maybe…" Hikaru stirred her soup, lowering her gaze. "Sorry for worrying you guys and causing so much trouble."

"Don't be sorry," Kairi said. "You're not feeling well—you don't need to apologize for that. But are you feeling better?"

"A little." The headache was almost gone. "Where are Sora and Riku?"

"They went home. After bringing you back, we waited around a while to see if you would wake up. You were pretty out of it, though, so they left before they were late for dinner. They'll be glad to know you're all right."

"Mm…" She hoped they weren't worried—she didn't want to give them more trouble than she'd already caused. Hikaru sipped a spoonful of soup, letting the flavors register before her eyes widened. It was tangy and herby and salty and a little sweet. And most importantly, it tasted great.

A few seconds of slightly awkward silence passed, broken only by the ticking of the clock. Then Kairi said, "What's that you have there?"

Hikaru glanced down at her Wayfinder that was sitting on the bed. "Just an old charm my mom gave me a long time ago."

"It looks kind of familiar," Kairi said. She pointed at the charm. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead."

She picked it up carefully, examining it. "You know, this is kind of like something I was going to make for the trip," she said. "Do you know what Thalassa shells are?"

Hikaru shook her head.

"They're these shells that wash up on the beach here sometimes. Legend has it that sailors made charms out of them to hope for a safe journey. I have some shells with me right now." Kairi set the Wayfinder back onto the bed and rummaged through the pockets of her skirt. She pulled out a few shells that Hikaru recognized. "I still need a couple more, though…"

"I found one of those on the beach," Hikaru said, pulling the thin shell out of her pocket. She handed it to Kairi. "Here, take it."

"Oh, no, it's yours. You keep it."

"I don't have anything to use it for, though. Come on, Kairi, take it. Think of it as… as a thank you for helping me out so much the past couple days." Really, she owed them much more than a seashell. Hikaru wasn't sure how she could pay them back.

But Kairi smiled, finally accepting it. "Thank you, Hikaru," she said. "I'll be sure to put it to good use. Anyway, are you up for moving around a little bit? We could go downstairs and watch a movie or play some video games."

"Video games sound fun," Hikaru said.

"Let's pick something out, then. And don't worry—I'll be sure to go easy on you."

"Oh, confident, are you?" Hikaru said, following her out into the hall with her Wayfinder in her pocket and her bowl of soup in hand. "I'd be careful if I were you. I've been told that I'm a fast learner when it comes to video games."

"We'll see about that," Kairi said cheekily. She giggled, and Hikaru couldn't stop herself from laughing too.

If there was anywhere in the world… in the worlds… that I could have ended up, I'm glad I ended up here.

A/N: Wayfinder, huh? Maybe it's more than a story...

I'm pretty satisfied with how this one turned out. It was mostly character interactions and friendships (with a spattering of ambiguous hints and cryptic foreshadowing, of course), but I have a soft spot for those casual slice-of-life moments.

One thing I'm not quite content with is the formatting. Some of the paragraph breaks aren't as clean as they are on the file. Oh, well. It's good enough.

How was the chapter? Was it entertaining or boring? Let me know if you enjoyed it. I'd appreciate the feedback.

Thank you for reading.

Bonus Content: Character Journal (part 2)

Luna Kannazuki

The mother of Hikaru and her siblings. Stern and restless, she expects her children to persevere, though at times she expresses a softer side. Other than that she was hurt in an accident years ago, little is known to her children about her early life.

Liam Stonewall

A calm and relaxed man who is the father of Hikaru and her siblings. Originally from a small town called Hart's Haven, he now travels the world with his family.

Uncle James

Though not actually their uncle, he is a close friend of the Stonewall family, having known Liam since childhood. He lives in Hart's Haven.