Hi! I've gotten to another new chapter, though I haven't rewritten last chapter yet. I have to warn, my chapters are so out of order that they're all over the timeline at this point, especially this chapter. Getting glimpses at different points from KHχ[Chi] to KHUx, non linear like. You know, this is one idea I've had written before many of the others, it's a way to get the story moving along. It was inspired by the Union X summer vacation missions.

*NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: It takes place AFTER KHIII*

NOTE 2: Lots of retelling of the experience of "Player" in KHχ[Chi] - KHUx but in Sora's View

NOTE 3: Sora is NOT Player, he's just got similar experiences. Player exists somewhere doing the main story, but they don't cross paths... I Think...

DATE: November 11, 2022

.

He was getting homesick. How long had it been since he saw the peaceful shores of the little islands? How long had it been since he saw his dearly beloved friends? What, a few months? A year? He lost track of time here in Daybreak town, falling into the pattern of normalcy, completing missions day by day, and searching for a method of escape by night. As much as he loved being here with new friend as well as some familiar ones, he longed for home.

[Insert Name Here] had noticed Sora's behavior over the past month, how he sometimes looked off toward the sea, melancholy painting his face. He was present, but always seemed far away. Was he missing home again? She recalled the last summer, as much as he was happily partaking in the events, he had seemed off. One time when they were hanging out with Ven, Ellie, and their Chirithy, Moogle was selling sea-salt ice-cream earlier than usual. Sora took the opportunity to get a few sticks for everyone. He complained that he wasn't fond of the mixture of salt and sweet, but he ate it anyway. Said it reminded him of his brother back home. It was interesting to hear the first time, since he hardly opened up about his life before he came to Daybreak Town. For as much as he talked, he spoke little about himself. The times he did say anything, it was about a place called Destiny Islands and his years growing up as an island boy, spending the days playing and sparring with his childhood friends like Riku and Kairi, as well as Wakka, Selphie, and Titus. Anything about how he knew about the Keyblade beforehand, his amazing skills and methods, and the adventures he had before arriving here, those stories were always vague.

Her thoughts wandered too far again. Focus, she had to focus on how to cheer Sora up. A couple of wielders passed her by, all talking excitedly about plans for the summer. One of them, a girl with a pirate heart bandanna, talked about the ferry boat ride to the islands for their upcoming missions for the summer. The boy with a star designed filled afro commented that the rest of the group would enjoy this, also saying they'd get to swim after the mission was over.

A lightbulb lit up above her head, exclaiming aloud, "That's it! I know now what to do for Sora! I'll find a mission taking place on the islands. Then when we finish, we'll spend the day having fun, just like at his home, Destiny Islands. He's sure to love it!"

So off she dashed, straight away for the summer assignments and missions board. There she looked high and low, until she found it, a mission taking place not at the island, but by the ferry. Perfect opportunity to disguise it as a typical mission then surprise him with a vacation day at the islands. He would be none the wiser and she would have completed her main goal, lifting his mood.

But wait. How was she going to get him to pack some proper beach items if this was suppose to be a surprise? Oh!

"Hey Chirithy!" Immediately, in a puff of smoke, she appeared.

"Yes?"

"I need a favor." She clapped her hands together begging, "Can you please tell Sora's Chirithy about my plans to surprise him with a vacation after the mission tomorrow? Also to convince him to pack up his items somehow?"

"Ohh?" Chirithy's brows raised in interest.

"He's been feeling down lately. You know how he gets around this time of the year, right?"

"Yeah, I remember. The way he got over the ice-cream, or when he see a sunset out on the horizon, then there was the time—"

She lifted her hand in a stop motion towards her, "We get it Chirithy, Sora's distracted and unfocused during this time. But I want help him. What better way than to take a trip to the islands? It may not be his home, but we can enjoy a day just like if here were still there."

"Sounds like a fun day. Oh, what about Ven and Ellie? Planning to invite them?"

"I want to invite them too, but Ellie told me before vacation began that her group had some plans this summer. Ven… We haven't seen him much since he became a Union Leader. He's probably got important leady type duties and stuff."

"Ohh, so it will be just you two together then? You're really doing so much for him, huh? Are you sure you don't like him?" Her Chirithy spoke teasingly.

"Chirithyyy!" She groaned, "That won't work on me anymore. I see what you're doing. I've learned from Ellie. But no, I don't like him like that. Also, you two are coming along so it's the four of us."

"De~ni~al!" Still teasing her wielder in a sing-song way.

"Chirithy, Sora's a good friend and the best group partner I've had since coming her. We help and support one another in and out of battle. Sora's my good, no, best friend at this point. I can't see him as anything else."

"You'll change your mind one day, I just have a feeling you will." The little Chirithy was posing confidently. She could only huff as she crossed her arms disapprovingly at her words.

After their little tiff, [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy got right to work. She stopped by Sora's place and made plans with his Chirithy on how to get him to pack for [Insert Name Here]'s surprise plans. They worked something out where they convinced him to take a large bag and pack some water since their mission may take all day. His Chirithy had convinced him that [Insert Name Here] was preparing food for tomorrow's all day mission. He agreed, and as he packed, his Chirithy secretly snuck in his swimming shorts, a towel, and an inflatable beach ball. Meanwhile, [Insert Name Here] was cooking up some nice meals, baking treats, choosing her swimsuit for tomorrow, and double-checking her bag was all packed. Once she confirmed it was all in order, she was ready to go.

The next day, Sora arrived at the lighthouse early, waiting for [Insert Name Here] to get there. When she arrived, she handed him a copy of several missions they were doing that to be occurring in the same place. It was a defeat all these powerful heartless in and atop lighthouse. Apparently, for these missions, they had taken residence up inside, which was not good. So in they went, going their separate ways as they tackled the heartless one by one. A few shadows here, soldiers there, a full body or two, then many bosses showed up. There were multiple, but they swept the place and cleaned house.

As they came out of the lighthouse, Sora noticed that the sun was still pretty high in the sky. He wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't even noon yet from the way it looked. "Oh wow, looks like we finished our mission early!"

[Insert Name Here] looked up to the sky, noting that Sora was right. Perfect. "Oh, I really thought it'd take us the whole day. Now what do I do with our lunch?"

"We could, eat at the park and have a picnic?"

"Oh! That's an idea! But, instead of the park, how about we head out on the ferry?"

"The ferry?"

"Sure, why not? We can have a picnic on the boat or we eat at the destination where it drops us off."

"Wait a minute," but before Sora could question further, the horn on the ferry blared loudly through the air. [Insert Name Here] began to panic and grabbed his hand, running to get a seat on the ferry. Fortunately they made it on time and were able to get a seat before the boat left the dock. She sighed in relief and quickly took off her bag, inspecting the contents.

"Phew! The food is all good! Do you want to eat now or later, Sora?"

"Later. But [Insert Name Here]," She looked up at him as he continued, "Were you always planning to go onto the ferry?"

She scratched her cheek, sheepishly chuckling, "Yeah. I thought I could surprise you with a fun vacation today. I, well, we all notice how different you've been acting lately. So, I thought, instead of focusing on that, we would all work together to plan a day of fun at the islands outside of Daybreak Town."

"[Insert Name Here]…" He whispered. It was quiet, but she caught it, he sounded a little surprised but in a good way. She smiled.

As the ferry sailed gently over the waters, Sora and her played a few games of rock, paper, scissors and a few rounds of I spy. These were often their goto games when waiting for a long time somewhere. They had fun. Sora seemed much brighter than he did earlier in the week. She was glad to share some fun games with him to pass the time.

It was a little past noon when they arrived at the island. Sora inhaled the air, smelling the sea breeze. A sweet smile formed on his face as he gazed at the beach and the waters. He took a moment to take it all in, eyes filled with a longing and satisfaction all at the same time. For a moment, he was lost in the memories of the days on the play island. For a little moment, he wasn't there with [Insert Name Here], but he was there with Riku and Kairi racing on the beach to see who was faster between the three of them. Kairi always lagged behind them, coming in third place, despite having a head start. Still, those days were precious memories he held dear. Wow, he really changed. He was starting to feel like a grandpa with all the "looking back fondly on the olden days" he was doing.

[Insert Name Here] lightly slapped his back as she ran further out, causing him to focus on reality again, "Come on, Sora! Let's walk a bit and get a good spot on the beach!"

"Okay! You pick!" He yelled out to her because she had run so quickly far down the beach.

So began the search for a spot. [Insert Name Here] decided she didn't want to stay where all the lounge chairs and umbrellas were, so they agreed to get a spot that was more secluded. For a little while they walked the beach, searching for the perfect place to set down their items. While on their search, they ran into a few wielders and a couple of heartless by the shore. Both decided to help them out, after all, with the amount of heartless running amok, the other wielders who were enjoying their vacation here too wouldn't be able to rest easy. So, with the wielders on a mission and the ones who were originally here to relax, like they were, they spread out to get the job done quicker. It took effort, but eventually, the beach was swept clean of the intruders.

Finally, they now could enjoy their little vacation. [Insert Name Here] had found a great place hidden away by some bushes and palm trees. She set the blanket down and he aided her with all the food. It was a little later than the usual lunch hour, but that didn't stop them from enjoying the meal. The little sandwiches, couple of rice based dishes, and a dessert of sliced fruits was a simple meal, still truly satisfying. When they finished and cleaned up, the duo and their Chirithy spent their time playing games like beach volleyball, seeing who could make the tallest sand castle, and swam around in the waters. Sora had won their title competition, his years of living on an island were considered an unfair advantage by her. The truth was, she was just a lot shorter than him. For the swimming challenge, it was a close race according to their Chirithy. She snickered as he complained that he was out of practice. Like she'd believe he use to catch fish with his bare hands in the ocean. The Chirithy even had their own fun in the form of swimming lessons, Sora's Chirithy was surprisingly a quick learner. Though [Insert Name Here]'s Chirithy ended up relying on the floaty, not figuring out how to float.

After they got out of the sea and were laid back on the blanket, Sora watched the sun slowly approach the horizon. He remembered the sunset of Destiny Islands. Daybreak had beautiful morning skies, but the sunset here couldn't compare. Twilight Town was a close second when it came to that everlasting sunset. Maybe, when he got back home, he could find Daybreak Town among the worlds and show Kairi the beauty of its dawn.

"[Insert Name Here], thanks for taking me out here." No response, he glanced over at her noticing she had dozed off. Their Chirithies, who she was cuddling, seemed to have snoozed as well. He could let her rest for a little bit. So back he turned to the beautiful twilight sky.

As he gazed up admiring the beautiful blend of colors, pure white cracked lines suddenly appeared in the air.

"Huh?" He sat up, refocusing his eyes.

This time, he saw several dots and squares, it reminded him of the static on the television or the grain on the old movie films. It fizzled out rapidly and the sky was back to normal.

"What's going on?" Sora looked around, not finding anything out of the ordinary, until he looked at the bushes. The ones behind him suddenly looked strange. Where they were once nice and pure green, now, they had some weird colorful lines that erratically moved. Sora decided to investigate, entering the bushes. But as he did, he found himself lost in a maze of green foliage. It wasn't that thick when they came through here the first time, but now it was like a forest. Pushing every branch and leaf out of the way, he felt like he was walking in circles in a sea of nothing but green. Everything was looking the same.

A strange glimmer of light happened to catch Sora's eyes, he ran in the direction hoping it would lead back to [Insert Name Here] and their Chirithy sleeping on the beach. But when he pushed past the bushes, for a moment, he was blinded. He blinked rapidly, trying to see again. As he did, his eyes went wide.

"What?" Sora's head jerked in every direction, taking in the sight.

"How?" His jaw dropped in shock, eyes grew even wider, nearly ready to pop out of their sockets.

This beach. Its familiar color and grain of the sands as the waves lap gently onto the shores.

This place. Its familiar giant trees, the swaying palms, the natural spring waterfall, the natural ring resting peacefully on the waters.

The structures. The little house shack, the various treehouse, and the bride standing nice and strong as if he had never left.

He knew it.

He's known it for a long time.

But how was it here? How was he here? Was he back? Did he somehow manage to find a way out? But what about Chirithy? What about [Insert Name Here]? Ellie? Ven? The dandelions? Daybreak Town? What happened to them? Sora's thoughts were speeding a mile a minute, not understanding what just happened to him. He was so distracted that he almost didn't hear,

"Oh hey, you're not suppose to be here."

A loud voice, it rang out. It was unfamiliar, but the voice was strangely friendly and playfully teasing at the same time.

Sora quickly swung his head around, looking for where the voice came from until… His body trembled in fear at the sight before him. There up on the tree, where they sat gazing, wondering what life was like out there, the tree where they enjoyed the sunset, where he enjoyed his last moments before disappearing, "No, it can't be."

The figure sitting there, appearance obscured by that all too familiar black coat spoke in that same playful tone, "Oh, but it is!"

"You're from the…" Sora couldn't even utter the name.

.

Well, that took an unexpected turn at the end there. From a nice surprise by [Insert Name Here] trying to cheer Sora up to an unexpected location and meeting with a mysterious person in the black coat. Oh, just how will this go? For now, I'll be leaving this on a cliffhanger.

Again, I'm sorry my chapters are all over the place. I'm creating these stories as I go and what feels the most natural during the moments I end up writing. Sometimes my chapters are in order, the next, we're skipping to a different part of the timeline. Well, when I do end up finishing this story, I'll make sure to reorder the whole story to make sense.

For now, this is all I got to share! If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions, or any comments for this story, feel free to let me know. Thank you all for reading! :D