Sora stares at the betrayer's smile while pain ravages his chest. Each tooth of the strange sword strums his heart as they rip through it. The girl twists the keyblade. Something inside him breaks. Agony races along his blood vessels and delivers itself to the rest of his body.

The sensation of falling asleep and awakening assaults him at the same time. Everything he sees shifts between black with white outlines and white with black outlines. His nerves crawl with fire, and he writhes in a useless attempt to shed the suffering. The keyblade vanishes in a blink of light.

The cloaked girl watches the pain infused dance from the edge of her vision as her trained sight focuses on the behemoth closing in. It strides up beside her and Sora with brazen abandon. She shuts her eyes and lowers her head as it raises a foot to crush them both.

She hears a booming crash as the leg comes down. She hesitates to look knowing the boy must have been the first target. A deafening roar blasts her ears. Her hands clamp to her head as her eyes fling open.

The right leg of the creature hangs limply at its side. A dark gash runs along it from foot to shoulder. The fading image of flashing steel traces the wound. She tears her gaze to the sky. A figure in a black cloak like her own finishes swinging a Keyblade nearly as long as its wielder. The fleeting path of the strike shimmers away as the person ascends upward over the enemy.

The cloaked figure twists around, and she sees the moonlit face of Sora beneath the hood.

The monster roars again as energy gathers in its horn. It takes aim at Sora. He raises the golden bracketed guard around the hilt of his keyblade above his head. As he descends from the apex of his leap, he smashes the silver blade against the point of the horn.

Cracks splinter along the spine. It shatters and rains dozens of shrapnel pieces over the street. The keyblade ignites the energy housed within. The force expands outward in a white hot flash, consuming everything in blinding brilliance.

###

Sora feels the touch of fingers running through his hair. They massage his scalp and brush the strands from front to back. His eyes blink open and find the blue ones of the girl.

Her back leans against a shed with her legs straightened before her. His head rests across her lap. She no longer wears the black cloak. In its place is a white dress with thin straps over the shoulders. His clothes have returned to normal as well.

The sky beyond her fills with dawn's light.

He croaks out a few words.

"Did I win?"

"No, but the heartless did retreat from its injuries."

"That's good at least. Are you going home now?"

She shakes her head.

"I'm still too weak to return."

"Where is your home?"

"Far away from here."

They both observe the exhaustion pulling down the other's face.

"Then you can stay at my place until you recover."

"Are you sure? I'm really not worth the trouble."

"Don't say that. You saved my life. Thank you."

She puts a hand over her mouth, and her eyes dart away.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"No one's ever thanked me before. Fighting the Heartless is my job. It's something I'm supposed to do."

"Well that sounds like an important job to me. You deserve to be appreciated for it."

Her eyes pinch shut. A watery halo traces their lids when they open.

Sora cringes as his aching muscles pull him to a sitting position. He twists enough to look at her.

"What's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yeah, I'm Sora."

"My name is … Naminé."

"Naminé."

The sound of her own name flushes her with warmth. A tiny reverberation flutters in her chest. She places a hand below her collarbone, but the sensation is gone before she can even be sure it was there.

"Let's get out of these people's backyard before someone sees us."

Naminé snaps out of a trance as Sora leans a hand against the shed wall. The numbing pain of overworked muscles slows him as he uses the shed for support to get to his feet.

Naminé rises beside him, wincing from the burns on her back. She stares at her knees where the lacey trim of her dress floats, waiting for the pain to subside. Her toes curl in and out of the teal sandals strapped across her feet and around her ankles. With a final big breath, she tilts her head back and looks at Sora.

"Uh, this way," he says.

Sora takes the lead with Naminé at his side.

They share no words as they hobble to his house. Their eyes play tag, but their heads never turn. Naminé's sandals slap against the pavement the entire way.

When they reach Sora's house, he pushes a finger against his lips.

"My parents get home late and sleep in on the weekends. We'll sneak down to the basement. Are you thirsty or hungry?"

She nods.

They creep through the kitchen. Sora grabs some pizza and juice boxes from the fridge before they tiptoe downstairs. They sit on opposite ends of a couch, and Sora offers her the refreshments.

"What are these?"

Naminé holds up a slice of pizza and a juice box to her face.

"Pizza and juice of course."

"Oh, I've never seen these before."

"Try 'em," says Sora, mumbling through the slice he munches on.

She raises an eyebrow before shrugging her shoulders. She imitates his motion and takes a bite. Her eyes spread open.

"Thish iz rilly good," she says.

"Eh tuld you."

They stuff themselves until they are full.

"So this one is juice?"

"Yeah, it's a drink. Pull that straw off the back and you can get into it."

She peels off the plastic wrapped straw and stares at it, then helplessly looks at Sora.

"Like this," he says, punching his own straw into the box.

She does the same and takes a sip. Her mouth pulls back and puckers.

"Woah, it's really sweet."

"But it's good right?"

She takes another sip and smacks her lips.

"Yep!"

Their infectious grins spread across their delighted faces.

Sora's recedes after reaching its peak and settles into a neutral position. Naminé's smile drops away immediately at the first sign of unease from him.

"Did I do something wrong?" she says.

"Why would you think that?"

"You were happy and now you're sad."

"I'm not sad."

"But you're not smiling anymore."

"People don't smile all the time, even if they're happy."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

A hundred questions race in his mind about last night.

"So I've been wondering something."

He pauses, but Naminé does not invite his question.

"Who are you, and what are Heartless?"

Naminé clasps her hands in her lap and stares at them. Her eyes squint as if to shield themselves from something.

"I am a Nobody."

"Hey, what did I say about that kind of talk?"

"No, I mean that's what I am. A Nobody. Nobodies don't have Hearts like humans do. We're monsters."

"You don't seem like a monster to me."

Naminé recoils and eyes Sora's face. She studies every pore of his skin as if searching for a hidden truth behind the veneer.

Sora watches her eyes dance about, confused by the distrusting expression she gives him. She finally turns her head aside while still casting a wary glance his way.

"So what do you mean by heart?"

"Hearts are where a person's memories and emotions are stored."

"Are you saying you can't remember things?"

"I'm not talking about simply being able to recall events. It's more complex than that."

Sora puzzles over her explanation. Naminé squirms, unable to come up with the words. After a moment, the scrunches of her face relax.

"Tell me a happy memory of yours," she says.

"Uh," he says, "I remember the first time I beat Riku in a fighting game at the arcade."

He smiles.

"Riku was really sore about it for like a week."

"And do you remember the whole fight?"

"Um, the start is a little fuzzy, but I remember the last hit that won the game for sure."

"That's what your Heart is for. Memory by itself is imperfect, but the feelings from significant moments are etched there."

"So do you have any happy memories?"

"All of my memories seem the same. If I told them to you, it'd be just like I was reading off a list of things that happened. No emotions, just facts."

"I see. Well I tell you what, I'm sure going to remember meeting you."

The lightness from earlier flutters through Naminé's hollow chest again.

"Wait," says Sora.

He swishes his lips side to side.

"If Nobodies don't have Hearts, then what does that make Heartless?"

"Heartless are the creatures formed when a Heart is consumed by negative emotions and gives in to its darkness. In this state, they seek to feed on the Hearts of others.

"Their victims usually become Heartless too after the trauma of the attacks fills them with negative emotion. If they aren't stopped, they will spread like a plague. The only thing that can vanquish them are weapons like the Keyblade which we Nobodies wield in battle against the darkness."

"Why is it your job? I mean didn't I just fight one with a Keyblade?"

"People with Hearts are not allowed to fight the Heartless because they risk becoming one themselves. It takes great strength to battle them. And the stronger the Heart, the more powerful the Heartless it could create should they fall in battle and lose themselves to darkness.

"But if a Nobody dies, we simply disappear. Soon to be forgotten. Because we don't have attachments to anyone and feel no emotions, we are the perfect soldiers against the Heartless."

The weight of her words rest on Sora's mind.

"So if Heartless were once people, then that thing I fought, it was a person once?"

Naminé nods.

"So could I … you know … kill them?"

"Not with a Keyblade or other purifying weapon, no. They release the darkness caging the Heart so it can return to Kingdom Hearts."

"What happens to a Heart when it passes on?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone does. I just know that it is my job to save corrupted ones and send them to whatever awaits through the gates of Kingdom Hearts."

Sora inhales for another question, but a shadow runs over him. He looks to the tiny basement window peeking above the ground. A couple taps rattle the glass.

"Kairi?"

He moves to the window. He looks her in the eyes, but hers stare at Naminé. His stomach somersaults as he glances over his shoulder at Naminé. She looks at the ground and slides one hand after the other down strands of her hair. Kairi's eyes finally make their way to him. Her face sinks with an unmistakable hurt. Sora points up towards the front door. He rushes up the stairs, missing one and stumbling his way to the top.

His socks slip and slide across the wood flooring of the entryway to his house. He grabs the doorknob for support and takes two deep breaths. The hinges creak as Sora opens the door.

Kairi stands with her arms across her stomach. Her nails scratch at her forearms. She does not meet his eyes.

Sora's gaze falls to her feet while letting the door remain in front of the left side of his body.

"Kairi, I—"

"I was worried sick about you Sora!"

Her hands form fists and rise as her shoulders widen. Sora dips his head as her glare lands firmly upon him.

"I thought something horrible happened to you. I snuck out of my house to look for you when you never showed up. And then I couldn't find you and had to go home and couldn't sleep. And first thing in the morning, I come over here and find you with … with … some girl I don't even know. Sora?"

Sora raises his glance to meet her frantic lilac eyes.

"I was coming over, I swear. I just … I ran into this girl who needed help. And there was no time to think. I just acted."

"And you brought her to your house?"

"She didn't have anywhere else to go, I swear."

"So what happened?"

Sora hesitates.

"It was the spirits again. Only this time there was a really big one too."

He watches her eyes search his face.

"You swear?" she says.

"I swear. This girl … she seems to know about them … these spirits. I think she can help me."

Kairi deciphers the tones of his voice. She lowers her arms and relaxes her shoulders. She slides a distracting strand of hair over her right ear.

"I'm sorry for getting so hysterical."

Sora opens the door all the way.

"Don't be. I should have called again to let you know what was going on."

"No, it was late. You would have woken my fosters."

"Maybe, but I should have taken a moment to think about you in all of this."

Kairi lifts a corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, you should have."

She lets out a single giggle. Sora unclenches his stomach and smiles.

"You really think she can help?" she says. "With the spirits I mean."

"I do."

"Good. I'm glad. I was worried for a second I was dealing with a real ladies' man."

"Oh no, no, nothing like that."

"Well that's good. Okay, I guess I'll take off for now. Don't be late for practice."

She waves over her shoulder as she jogs off. She is half way down the driveway before Sora can respond.

"I won't!"

Sora rolls around the door and leans back so his whole body closes it. He jumps at a ghost peering from around the corner of a wall. The sliver of Naminé's pale face and white dress vanish.

Sora moves towards her but is stopped by her voice.

"Who was that? She seemed mad. It's my fault isn't it. I messed things up for you."

Sora purses his lips and shuffles the rest of the way over to her. He finds her sitting with her back to the wall, knees cradled to her chest in her arms.

"It's not your fault," says Sora. You didn't have anything to do with that."

"Then why was she so mad? You were supposed to meet her, right? People get mad when you don't do what they expect."

Sora stares at the front door.

"Trust me. It's not your fault. I screwed up, that's all."

"If you say so. What did she mean by practice?"

"Oh, we're on a strikeball team together. We're hoping to win the summer league."

"Is that the game with the nets?"

"Yeah, do you guys have it where you come from?"

"No. I've simply seen humans playing it during my patrols for Heartless."

"Oh man, you have to try it. It's super fun."

"But I won't be any good at it."

"Who cares. The point is to enjoy it. Don't you have fun where you come from."

"Some of the Hearts we guide to the afterlife play games before they move on, but we Nobodies never do. We either train for battle, or fight Heartless. That's it."

"Wait, really? Are you not allowed to do anything else?"

"Nothing is preventing us, but no one wants to be around us. Fighting Heartless is the only thing that gives our existence meaning so that's all we do."

"Well let's find you something else to do, starting with strikeball."

Naminé puzzles over Sora's words as he gestures for her to follow. She rises and steps through the backdoor onto a wooden deck.

Sora places his foot on top of a ball sitting on the boards. He slides his toes down the back of it to create spin. It rolls up the ramp of his foot. His ankle flicks forward, and the ball flies up to his hands.

"So the rules are simple. You can move by dribbling the ball like this."

He bounces the ball between his hand and the deck several times.

"If you pick it up, you can't move anymore. So you've either got to pass it to a teammate or try to score. If you hold it for more than five seconds, the other team automatically gets possession of the ball."

Naminé nods.

"In order to score, you must hit, or strike, the ball into the opposing team's net. A strike is defined as hitting the ball with any part of your body while you are not in contact with it. So basically, if I'm holding the ball, I can drop it to try for a kick, or throw it above my head to spike it with my hand. Does that make sense?"

"Sure, so if someone passed me the ball, I could hit it out of the air before I catch it to try and score."

"Exactly! You get it. The only other rule is that you have to shoot from outside the scoring line around the net. Only the goalie gets to be in there. Want to practice?"

Naminé nods her head. Sora shoves the ball with two hands to pass it to her. His eyes flap open when her arms do not go up. He threw it too fast for her to catch!

In a blur, Naminé's hands snap up and pin the ball between her fingertips. The effortless efficiency of her movements leaves Sora gawking. He smiles and bends his knees while spreading his arms out wide.

"Good. Now practice dribbling. I'll guard you, and you try to get past me to the edge of the deck."

She says nothing as she twists her palm down to start bouncing the ball off the planks. Her stance lowers to match Sora's.

She steps one way, and he shuffles to cut her off. She spins the opposite direction and switches the dribble to her other hand. Sora steps across himself to keep up with her fluid motion.

For a moment, he swears he sees the faintest smile on her lips. Before he can examine more closely, she steps towards him, dribbles the ball between her legs despite the dress, and sprints around him. He does not bother to chase.

She reaches the edge of the deck and picks up the ball. As she turns around, she holds it over her face so only her eyes peep above.

"Are you mad?" she says.

"Are you kidding? No way! That was awesome! Let's practice shooting now."

They move out to the yard where a regulation sized net rests with a shooting line painted in the grass around it. She shows off more of her athletic aptitude by scoring goal after goal both by herself and off passes from Sora. His smile widens further after each one.

"Wow you are something else," he says. "If we need a substitute for one of our games, I'm nominating you for sure."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I might look like them, but I'm not a real person. They would figure it out pretty quick."

"Nah. You'd fit in perfect with us. But I know how you feel. I've always been a defender but really want to play forward like Hayner or Olette. I kind of feel weird asking to be something different."

Naminé studies his face as he speaks. She notes every twitch of his eyes and mouth.

"Why don't you?"

"I don't know. It feels like I need to have something ready to prove I'm even worth considering. I've been working on a special shot, but it seems stupid."

"Let's see it."

"What?"

"The shot you've been practicing. Show me."

He watches her pick up the ball.

"I don't know. I'm not very good at it. I'll probably just mess it up."

She throws the ball to him.

"Shoot the ball past me, and maybe I'll be your substitute."

Sora grins.

"Alright, sure. Why not? Get ready. It's a heck of a shot."

Sora dribbles to the side. Naminé sticks close, never letting him gain any ground. Sora picks up his dribble and lifts the ball high overhead. He spins as he does. The ball releases from his fingers and rises higher.

When his back faces Naminé, he bends his knees and launches into a backflip. Naminé can only stare as his foot comes around to kick the ball beyond her reach.

Sunlight from above strikes her eye. Sora's face disappears in the glint. For a moment, she thinks she sees a different face in the heavenly haze. A gasp escapes her throat as the acrobatic display reminds her of one she had seen before.

Sora's face materializes through the glare, and his foot smacks the ball. He completes his flip. His head twists to follow his shot. The ball swishes the net.

Sora fist pumps before running in a wide circle around Naminé hooting and hollering. He forms a number one on both hands and waves his index fingers erratically.

"I call that one the Sphere Shot!" he says, calming down from the victory lap. "So will you be our team's substitute now?"

Naminé turns aside.

"Uh, speaking of them," she says, "don't you have practice or something."

"Oh crap you're right! Uh, do you want to come or wait here?"

"I don't want to go. That girl scares me."

"Okay, that's cool, but you will be here when I get back right? You won't disappear on me will you?"

Sora watches the corners of her lips curl up, but her eyes do not match their beguiling intentions.

"Yes Sora. I'll wait right here."

"Okay. If you're not comfortable with people, you can hang out in our play fort over there."

He points to a square building the size of a room. A slide curves down from its second floor balcony.

"That doesn't feel like a very good solution though," he says.

"It's fine. It's no different than the barracks where I usually live."

"Okay, if you're sure."

She nods, and Sora dashes into the house to get ready. As he rides his bike down the driveway, he looks over his shoulder at his house. He does not let his glance slip as he crosses the street. Not until the house disappears behind a corner does he finally look ahead. An inexplicable ache in his heart claws with every beat.