There was a feeling of falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. Ever deeper into the black abyss. She could see herself, or rather, she could see the person she was dreaming through. She had dreamt through him many times. The blue-eyed boy with the sun-kissed skin and a smile that shined like the stars. This time was different though. This time she felt more like herself and less like the boy of her dreams. It was almost as though he could sense her too. Like he could see her above him, falling after him as though they were birds playfully chasing each other.

The abyss was beginning to become brighter. A light shining amongst the darkness. Huh. That's funny. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that she had been here before.

They landed gracefully upon a platform of stained glass depicting a beautiful young woman. Yué could feel the light and purity coming from the woman. She knew that this was her heart, and she could feel within the boy that he may not know exactly where they were he at least understood the meaning.

They admired their surroundings for a short while before the voice came, urging them not to be afraid. They took a step forward, and all around them appeared the pedestals, holding a shield, a staff, and a sword. The voice came again, telling them to choose.

Yué, for the first time since she and the boy had begun to share dreams, decided it was time for her to finally speak. "I think you should pick the shield."

The boy paused, but he didn't seem startled to hear her voice. He knew that she had been there all along.

"Whyyyyy?" he whined, and Yué wanted to roll her eyes. She knew that he was younger than she was, but not that he would be like this. "The sword's so much cooler!"

Yué huffed, but relented, "Fine, you can do whatever you want. You're the one that was pulled to this place anyway."

The boy grinned so hard Yué felt like she could feel her own grin starting to split her face. He bounced happily in the direction of the pedestal that held the sword and reached out to touch it. Just before his fingers grazed the blade, he stopped.

"What're you waiting for?" she asked, "Isn't that the one you wanted?"

"I-"

"It's okay. I'm sorry if I sounded upset before. I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to."

"No, no, it's fine," he remarked, drawing his hand away from the sword. "I think I will pick the shield."

He backed fully away from the pedestal, turning around and marching towards the shield. His hand reached out to grasp it, and both of them gasped as he held it in front of him. Something about this just felt... right.

The voice returned again, asking which power he would give up.

The boy placed a hand on his chin like he was in deep thought even though she knew that was most definitely not happening. "Any ideas, oh mysterious girl?"

Yué snorted, "I think I'll leave this one up to you, bouncy boy."

She felt him nod, and he walked towards the pedestal that held the staff.

The voice echoed all around them, "You have chosen the power of the Guardian. You have given up the power of the Mystic. Is this the form you choose?"

For the first time in all of their dreams, the boy stiffened in anxiety. While Yué had always had a weird life, she knew that the boy's had been fairly calm and peaceful. This was a new experience, and she felt within her own heart that this was only the beginning of their adventures.

"It's alright," she whispered, "I'm here with you."

She grasped his hand and felt him squeeze her fingers in silent thanks. They then both looked up into the darkness, trying to find the ephemeral being that awaited his answer.

"Yes. This is the form I choose."

The voice accepted his answer, and the pedestals fell into the ground. The stained glass platform began to shake before it shattered and sent the two falling once again into the abyss. Yué saw the boy held out his hands, trying desperately to reach out for her. She managed to grasp onto his wrist, and he pulled her into himself to protect her from the fall.

They did not fall for long. Soon enough another heart appeared to catch them, once again the heart of a pure young woman. The boy placed them slowly on the stable ground and Yué silently hoped that this one wouldn't fall out from under their feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked, making sure that she was steady before he fully released her from his arms.

She gave him a brief but thankful smile, "Yeah, I'm okay."

The boy held the shield out in front of himself and Yué, looking at it quizzically.

"What do you think I should do with this?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to send her a goofy grin.

Yué crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow, "Gee, I don't know. Maybe you should try and hit something with it."

The boy stuck out his tongue at her, and the voice came to grace them with its words of wisdom.

"Fight. Protect yourself and others."

"Um, Mr. Voice!" Yué shouted, "I was just kidding about the whole whacking things with a shield thing! I mean is that really necessar- WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE THINGS!"

"Hey! Language!" The boy shouted, readying himself in an attack stance.

"That's seriously what you're worried about right now?!" Yué retorted, she herself preparing to attack the black slinky creatures. They were dark, and not just in appearance. Their entire beings radiated an aura of evil and hatred and other negative feelings. However; something about them was familiar to her, and that was what made her the most scared.

"No!" the boy yelled, holding out his arm to stop her from moving any further forward. "Stay behind me! You don't have anything to defend yourself with. Let me handle it!"

Yué huffed in frustration but agreed. She knew how to handle a sword, and was somewhat knowledgable in basic spells, but they were vastly outnumbered and she would only get in the way so she stood in her spot and watched the boy bash the beings over the head with his shield while she would cast fire if one ventured too close to herself or the boy.

The last of the creatures were defeated, and the boy huffed in relief before looking up at her in curiosity. "Where'd the fire come from?"

"Uh, from me," Yué replied. "It was magic."

He grinned in excitement. "Cool!"

The darkness appeared again, spreading all across the heart. The two looked up at each other, their eyes widening as the darkness overtook them and sucked them down. They reappeared again on another heart, a door positioned in the middle.

Yué stood, the boy doing the same, and they both approached the door.

"Where do you think it goes?" asked the boy.

"I don't know."

They each grabbed onto a door handle and pulled, a blinding light shining through and encompassing them.

When they opened their eyes, they were out on the ocean, but Yué could feel that they were still in the darkness. The voice came to them again, telling them that it wasn't time for the door to open until it knew more about them. She was starting to get really tired of them showing up and saying something cryptic. But why this place? Why this world?

She looked over at the boy and saw him smiling serenely. He must know about this place.

"Where are we?"

The boy laughed, "I'm home! Selphie, Tidus, Wakka! It's me! Sora! Oh, you'll never believe the dream I just had!"

Yué grabbed onto his arm, "Sora, wait! I don't think you're home just yet."

He turned around to look at her, surprised to see that she was still there. If she was there, then that meant that he really was still dreaming.

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right."

They went around to each of his friends, who all had a question to ask. The girl, Selphie, asked Sora what he thought was most important. The taller boy, Wakka, asked Sora what he wanted out of life. Lastly, the other boy, Tidus, asked Sora what he was afraid of. With all three questions answered, the voice spoke and informed them that their adventures were soon to begin.

Sora's home faded away, and they found themselves standing on another pure heart, both of them feeling much more confident. More of the dark creatures appeared and they stood back to back fending them off, Sora more assured that she could protect herself with her magic. With the beings gone, more of the platforms appeared, connected to each other by a path of stained glass. Their ascent saw more of the creatures appear, but they knew that they were capable of defeating them.

A light appeared before them, Sora walking into its beam. His shadow appeared behind him before it took a form of its own. A great monster that rose high before them, its heart missing from inside of its chest.

They backed away in fear, but there was nowhere to run.

Yué steeled herself against her fear and faced the creature with bravery. She turned to Sora with a courageous smile on her face. "We can take him!"

Sora nodded, and they readied themselves to attack.

The large beast fought, smashing its fist to the ground to summon a pool of darkness that the smaller of its kind would pop up from. It would then rear back, shooting spheres of darkness from the emptiness where its heart should be. The two persevered in their fight and the monster was defeated, but they once again felt into the darkness with an understanding that they would not see each other on the other side.

"Wait!" Sora yelled, clawing his way through the darkness towards her. "I don't even know your name!"

"It's Yué!"

Yué jolted upright in her bed. She could almost still hear Sora's voice still in her head, telling someone to give him a break.

A knock echoed on her door, and she rose from her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she went to see who could possibly want her at this hour of this morning.

She opened the door and found her best friend Max Goof standing before her. Letting out a small hmph she opened the door wider to let him. "You of all people know that I don't wake up this early in the morning." She grinned playfully, waiting for him to retort but Max's expression was still somber. Her smile dropped, "Max? What's wrong?"

"It's Mickey. Something's happened."

Yué's eyes widened, and they took off through the halls of Disney Castle towards the library where Queen Minnie would be waiting, Yué's heart full of fear for the King.

*3*

Heeeeeeeeey guys. So I came up with my OCs when I was just about to turn 14, so uh... almost 6 years ago. Yay. It's been a long time coming.
I'm not going to promise an update schedule because I am a busy college student, but I going to try my hardest not to abandon my babies.

um...

Random Fact: This fic didn't have a name until I was revising and I just so happened to be listening to Run by Joji so thank you Francis of the Filth

Fun(?) Fact: (I said this earlier in the teasers) Vanitas is a word commonly used in formal descriptions of pieces of art to describe its emotional emptiness and darkness. Oh, Vanitas. So emo. - thus spoke the art history minor.

Thank you so much for reading! This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be, so that's a good sign for me moving forward. I hope you enjoyed it.
-Boo Xx