Chapter 7

Sora wandered down the streets of Radiant Garden in the general direction of Merlin's house. He knew that Merlin was probably back by now, and that he and Riku were probably waiting for him, but he didn't care. He wasn't quite ready to go back and get caught up in all of the action again. Even though this little adventure wouldn't have the same level of excitement that his last adventures had had, he had to admit, he had enjoyed the time at home, with nothing more important to do than eating ice cream and sleeping on the beach.

He sighed as he leaned back against a wall, with his hands behind his head, and looked around at the surrounding streets. The peaceful state of the town amazed him. Only a few months ago, it had been over-run with Heartless, but now it was quiet and peaceful. He was proud of the part that he had played in helping to get it to this point.

Sora started walking again, and thinking about the past few days. The truth was, he had missed the quiet life he had on Destiny Islands, and even though he had been home for a few months, it wasn't long enough. He wasn't quite feeling up to another adventure just yet.

He turned down another street and ran into a girl who was coming from the opposite way.

"Oh! Um, sorry about that," he said as he tried to help her to her feet. She shook her head and pushed him away. As she stood up, her wavy dark hair fell over her face, and she glared at him from her dark eyes.

"Why don't you watch where you're going next time?" she said in an elegant voice that had a slight accent to it. She took a step backwards so she could study him. "Who are you anyway?"

Sora was slightly stunned by her quick change of mood. Just a few seconds before she had looked like she was about to attack him for running into her, but now she looked calm and inquisitive. He hesitated when he realized that her dark eyes looked like they were hiding something. "Um, I'm Sora." She flinched, just enough to notice, and turned and walked away. "Wait! You didn't tell me who you are!" he shouted after her.

"I know." she said over her shoulder as she turned down another street. Sora ran after her, but slid to a stop when he realized that the street she had gone down was a dead end. And she was nowhere in sight.

"What the..."

"Hey! Sora! C'mon! Merlin's going to take us back to the Castle!" Riku said as he ran towards Sora. Sora turned to look at Riku, then back at where the girl should have been. He decided not to say anything about her until they got back to Merlin's house.