Chapter 20

Sora felt like he was lying on a beach. He could feel the sand beneath him, the sun on his face, and the waves gently washing up against his feet.

He sat up slowly with a groan, but kept his eyes closed. He felt like he was home, but ... that was impossible. The last thing he remembered was fighting Ansem, then watching as Lya had to destroy everything. So why did he feel like he was home on Destiny Islands?

He opened his eyes and realized that he was home. "How...did I get here...?" he said out loud. He stood up and looked around. There was no one there, so he headed for the dock to see if he could find anyone.

Riku was tying his boat to the dock as Sora ran up to him.

"Riku!"

"What is it, Sora?" he asked in an impatient tone.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked.

Riku stared at him, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sora started talking almost too fast to be understood, "Because we went to Disney Castle and found Donald had changed time, so we went to Timeless River to fix everything, and we met Lya, then Ansem came back and was controlling you again..." Sora stopped when he realized that Riku was giving him a funny look.

"Sora, I think you've been out in the sun too long," Riku said as he continued to stare at Sora like he was crazy.

"B-but, it just happened...don't you remember?"

"Um," Riku looked uneasy, "look Sora, I have no idea what you're talking about. I just came to give you this letter. Some girl showed up and asked me to give it to you. She said she was sorry she couldn't say good-bye in person. Although I have no idea how she knows you, I've never seen her before." He held out a folded piece of paper to Sora, then went back to his boat.

Sora unfolded the paper and read:

Dear Sora,

I guess I didn't have to destroy everything after all. Don't worry, everything is back to the way it should be. But you and I are the only ones who remember anything. It's better this way.

I know I owe you a better explanation than what I gave you before, so here it is. I'm from a place called Hyrule, which I know you've probably never heard of. I ran away a few months ago because I had a fight with one of my best friends. I thought that he would never forgive me, and to be honest, I didn't think I would be able to forgive myself. So I left, and I tried to find another place where I could fit in, but as I'm sure you've figured out by now, there aren't many places that can handle having me around for very long.

I just wanted to thank you, because if you hadn't helped me, I would still be on the run from my life. This whole experience made me realize that I can't do that. And now I know that my friend has forgiven me. So I'm going home.

I'm really glad that I got to meet you, Sora, even if it wasn't under the best circumstances. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to let me know.

Your friend,
Lya

Sora smiled and put the letter in his pocket.