The Strain of Life

She was never supposed to be introduced into their world. She was never even supposed to wake up. No one knew why she did, it just happened......just like magic.

-Five Months Earlier-

A scream rang through the halls of the large building, rudely awakening the patrons that had been put there to heal. Medical officials were rushing around, reassuring the frightened patients as they did their best to stop the ruckus.

"Where the hell am I?! What have you done to me?!"

The owner of the rough voice was a young woman in a private room who was busily pulling needles from her body, along with anything else that got in the way of her angry hands. She was frightened, she wouldn't deny that, but she was upset. Upset that she couldn't remember a damn thing.

"Please calm down, Miss, you're waking the others!"

"Others?! What 'others'?!" Screamed the enraged girl.

"The other patients of this hospital!"

"H-hospital? How.....did I get here?"

The nurse gave the girl a sympathetic look, filling the young woman with dread. Was something wrong? What happened? Was she in serious danger? Oh Gods, she was dying, wasn't she?

"Someone dropped you off here nearly seven years ago, Miss, when you were about eight....I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you've been in a coma most of your time here....."

"Seven years?" That seemed too long. "What happened?"

"You got yourself into a bit of an accident. Thats all we could tell. Sorry."

"Please," begged the girl. "tell me who I am!"

The nurse stared down at the young woman in shock, taking the time to study her features as she thought of an answer for her. Due to the good grooming of one of the morgue employees, she had shoulder length auburn hair with a pair of stunning amber eyes. She had rather pale skin and it was truly sad to see the scars her accident left. A jagged scar presented itself neatly upon the left corner of her lip and another scar showed on her eyebrow and chin. The most hideous, though, was the one that ran from her cheek bone to her collar bone. The scar was pink and nearly a quarter of an inch wide. There would be no way to get rid of it.

The young woman growled and demanded an answer from the nurse, tearing her abruptly from her thoughts. heh, the woman was left with nothing left to do but giver her a false name since they were under the impression that she had none.

"Your name....is Anna Laura Pastrana."

"Anna Laura Pastrana?" Why did the name sound so....foreign? "Where is my family?"

"Dead, I'm afraid. You're an orphan, luv, but we'll get you a family soon enough!"

Before an other word could be said, the nurse left the girl now known as Anna to her thoughts. An orphan? Lovely. She had woken up alone and that was the way it was gonna stay for a while. Tears collected in her eyes as she thought of what to do. Obviously not much since she was the estimated age of 15. Life was already hell.

"This will be your new home, honey."

Anna winced at the comment. She didn't want a new home, but she did admit that the place was nice. It was a nice, middle-class home right smack in the middle of no where on an island. The waters of the ocean had amazed her on their way inside, but she didn't think of that right now. She had already been led into her new room, being encouraged to unpack her things. The walls had the same color scheme as the ocean and there were light blue curtains hanging over the windows. This place was truly amazing.

"When you're done, would you like to go swimming? I'm sure the water is nice!" Came the chipper voice of her stepmother.

"Swimming?"

"Yeah! I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends!"

Anna squirmed in place. "A-alright.....I'm sure it couldn't hurt....."

The water was sparkling as it usually was and three teens were sitting on the tree of the little spit of land no more than a few feet from the water's edge, chatting away happily as they watched the waves off in the distance.

"Sora, Riku, what do you guys wanna do? I'm so bored!" exclaimed the tired Kairi, tossing the silver haired boy along with the brown haired on a curious glance.

"I dunno......Sora?"

"Beats me."

"You guys are no hel- who's that?" The young redhead pointed at a dark silhouette in the distance by the pier, turning the attention of the boys upon it.

"I dunno."

"Riku, is that your asnwer for everything?!"

The silver haired boy grinned. "I dunno."

Kairi gave an aggravated sigh and hopped off the tree and running across the makeshift bridge, obviously heading toward the unknown figure. Sora and Riku wasted no time in following her, their curiosity getting the better of them just like any other person on Destiny Islands. Anyway, Kairi could move quickly when she wanted to. She was at the pier only seconds ahead of the guys.

"Hi there! I'm Kairi....who are you?"

Anna offered no answer just quite yet. The sound of more footsteps made her frown and she turned on her heel to face them. Startled gasps sounded off from the small group and the auburn haired girl knew they were staring at her scars.

"What? Are my scars really that interesting?" Came the pained voice of the young woman.

"Huh? No!" Sora answered for the group, blushing in shame.

The teens averted their gaze and Anna suddenly felt......strange. She felt uglier than usual. Was she really that disfigured? Tears threatened to spill over the rims of her eyes, but she blinked them back.

"By the way....Kairi," came an annoyed voice. "my name is Anna. Now please, excuse me."

Rushing past the group, she was stopped short by a strong tugging on her wrist. Turning to scold the person grabbing her, she was breath taken by a pair of aqua eyes. Cold, aqua eyes. For a brief moment, she felt how powerful he really was and she yanked her wrist out of his hand. The moment she was free, she ran home, tears leaking from her eyes.

"What was her problem?" Kairi spat out, glaring daggers at Anna's back.

"I dunno...did you see those scars, though? I mean like, woah! They were huge!" Sora explained as though trying to jog the other two's memory.

"They were really.....nasty."

"Don't say that you guys. I'm sure it wasn't her choice to get them,"Riku growled. How could his friends be that way? Anna's obvious upset was over her scars. "she's really strong, too. We better keep an eye on her."

"Agreed!" Rang Sora and Kairi's voice in unison.

AN: Hi there...tell me if ya liked it or hated it, okay? I'm open to all suggestions and if I feel inspired enough, I'll add a chapter!