When Akari first opened her blue eyes she found herself on a fountain. Water was gushing next to her and she turned slowly, blinking. As she sat up, she glanced around. The young girl seemed to be in the center of a square, with ramps that led up and out into the town. Flowerbeds lined the corner of the square and looked very well tended.
"Are you new here?" A voice asked suddenly. Akari jumped back in surprise, a small gasp escaping her throat. She turned to find a smiling young girl standing there, blue eyes wide. She seemed the same age as Akari and had red shoulder-length hair. The girl was wearing a white dress
and a pearl teardrop necklace was tied around her neck. She was giggling and Akari frowned.
"Hey!" The girl laughed but tried to hush herself.
"Sorry...I couldn't help myself!" Eventually, Akari also let a small laugh loose and they laughed together. The small girl held out a hand.
"I'm Kairi!" The dark haired girl took her hand.
"Akari!" They shared a smile and suddenly, Akari felt herself being pulled.
"Come on! Come on!" Akari let Kairi drag her, confused.
"Where are we going?" Kairi smiled and kept dragging her.
"To the castle! They have the best flowers! My grandma was gonna teach me how to weave them!" That sounded very interesting to Akari.
"Ok! Let's go!" Suddenly she was running and Kairi was gesturing which way to go. They ran up the stairs and through the town.
"Younglings! Watch your step!" An old man called. Kairi waved back at him but kept running.
"We will Mr. Merlin!" Akari glanced back and glimpsed the man for a second. He had a long gray beard and wore a blue hat and robe. He waved at them, holding a brown stick and Akari laughed before following Kairi up more stairs. Eventually, Akari was exhausted and Kairi seemed slightly out of breath.
"There are a lot of stairs…" Kairi mentioned breathlessly, a small laugh on her lips. Akari nodded.
"No kidding." Still, she grabbed Kairi's hand and tugged her up the last few flights of stairs. There!
"We made it!" They cheered and ran over to the garden. The castle loomed over them but they both were too enamored by the flowers to care.
"Won't the owner of the castle care?" Akari asked Kairi as the redhead prepared to pick them. She shook her head.
"Mr. Ansem lets everyone pick the flowers. He says beauty should be shared." Akari shrugged and proceeded to pick flowers. As soon as they grabbed a handful, Akari turned to Kairi and showed her the bundle.
"That looks great!" Kairi exclaimed. She pulled out a flower from her own stack. "It's just missing one thing." The young redhead gently placed the dandelion into the stack of daisies and roses. Akari looked at her confused, but Kairi merely giggled.
"Dandelions are wishing flowers. When you blow it, make a wish, and the seeds will scatter them everywhere so that your dreams will come true."
She paused, and then added on, "at least, that's what my grandma says!" Akari stared at the dandelion in wonder. She took it out of the bouquet and grabbed Kairi's open hand. Together they held the dandelion.
"Come on! Let's make a wish!" Akari encouraged. Kairi nodded in agreement and together, they blew on it. Thinking of their wish, the seeds burst off the stem and flew off, drifting into the air. Akari and Kairi looked at them in wonder before turning to each other grinning,
"Friends forever?" Kairi held out a pinkie. Akari nodded and latched her own pinkie around Kairi's.
"Friends forever." She felt it again. That warmth. It was like a ray of light. Suddenly Kairi screamed and pulled Akari away.
"Ah!" Akari gasped as she was tugged next to her friend, who clung to her fearfully. A strange shadow like creature was there. Its eyes were red and its body was purple. Kairi and Akari both began screaming but Akari still grabbed Kairi's hand and bolted.
The creature chased them and they found themselves backed up against the castle wall.
"NO!" A woman cried out. She swung her arm out and in a flash of light, a weapon appeared in her hand. The creatures immediately turned to her and in the heat of the distraction Akari grabbed Kairi's hand and ran over to the woman. They both placed their hands on the weapon fearfully, looking up at the woman and she looked back at them with a defensive, caring gaze.
"There's no way I can fight like this…" The woman muttered and just as a monster leaped at her, she raised her hand to block.
No attack came and everyone looked up in surprise at the mouse who had leaped and attacked the creature in midair. He wielded a weapon similar to the woman's and turned back to speak quickly.
"Hurry! You have to get those girls somewhere safe!" Aqua, unsure, caught her eyes on the mouse's keyblade.
"Who are you? Why do you have the keyblade? The mouse looked back for another second.
"I'll tell you later! Right now we gotta stop these things!" Aqua nodded and grabbed Akari and Kairi, running down the stairs. More monsters suddenly appeared in front of them. She put them down and summoned her weapon again.
"I've got these! You two, run!" Kairi and Akari ran down the stairs and to the side, jumping over the small river and turning to hide behind a castle wall. They watched as the woman quickly dispatched the monsters before turning and running back up the stairs to the strange mouse. A chill went through Akari as she suddenly realized what they were holding.
"A keyblade? She stared in shock. She flexed her hand, realizing she had touched it, been drawn to it.
They might be in league with that shadow guy… but they're helping me?
She was very confused but as they heard loud noises, Kairi tugged Akari out of their hiding places and ran over to a garden. Akari looked at her in surprise as she leaned over and began picking flowers.
"We should thank them!" The redhead said and Akari suddenly understood and ran over to help. As soon as they each grabbed a few, the two girls ran back up the stairs. The monsters had all vanished, save for one, which the woman was now chasing. Kairi and Akari ran over to the mouse and watched the woman.
She jumped into the air and swung down her keyblade, slashing right through the creature. It vanished into nothing and the woman turned and walked over to where the mouse and two girls were standing. She kneeled down to their height.
"Thank you. My name is Aqua. I train under Master Eraqus." She said, introducing herself.
"And I'm Mickey!" The mouse replied enthusiastically. " I used be Yen Sid's apprentice. I came back to him for some more training!" He explained. Aqua nodded and then looked up at the two girls, standing behind Mickey. She smiled.
"I sense light within these girls. Do you think that's why they were attacked?" Mickey nodded.
"Yup! I think you might be absolutely right. If you ask me, they must be pretty extraordinary." Kairi and Akari looked at each other and then Aqua in amazement. The woman nodded in agreement.
"Yes. I'm quite certain they're children we're supposed to protect."
"Let's join forces! Mickey held out his hand. But before Aqua could respond, a bright light gleamed from Mickey's pocket.
"Oh no! Not now!" He exclaimed as the light began to glow brighter. Akari and Kairi both gasped as they were blinded by the bright light. Mickey's voice was somewhere there. "Don't worry! I'll be okay!" The light suddenly dissipated and then a tiny spark began to fly up into the sky. Mickey's voice was coming from it.
"See ya real soon!" He shouted as the light spiraled into the sky. It kept twirling and working it's way up until it vanished with a twinkle.
Everyone was surprised. Then Akari and Kairi both offered Aqua their flowers. She looked at them, surprised.
"Here!" Kairi said, holding them out.
"Are these for me?" Aqua asked gently. Akari nodded and Kairi explained.
"We picked you some flowers! Thank you for saving us!" Aqua took them and smiled.
"Oh, they're lovely. You're both so sweet." The two girls blushed.
"My name's Kairi! Nice to meet you!" The redhead greeted.
"My name's Akari." She stepped forward and dipped her head. Aqua smiled again.
"Nice to meet you too! I'm Aqua!" She paused. "Kairi, Akari...about that light-" She tried to explain but suddenly, Kairi's name was being called. Kairi turned to see her grandma standing at the top of the steps, waiting for her.
"Oh! Grandma!"
"Wait! Kairi! Just a minute?" Kairi turned back to her and Aqua also gently grabbed Akari's hand, pulling her next to her friend. She lightly touched Kairi's teardrop necklace and it glowed. Then she turned to Akari and smiled.
She tapped Akari's heart twice and Akari stared in surprise as a drop of light appeared in front of her. The young girl raised both of her hands as if to catch it, but the light guided itself to her neck and in a tiny sparkle, a silver teardrop necklace appeared around Akari's neck. A small gasp escaped Akari's lips and Kairi giggled in delight.
"It looks just like mine!" Aqua nodded and then touched the charm, it glowed, just like Kairi's and Akari and Kairi met gazes in wonder before turning back to Aqua.
"I just cast a spell on you both. One day, when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe." Akari and Kairi both glanced at their necklaces.
"Thanks!" They said together, and Kairi smiled before running off to her grandma.
"There you are…It's time to go!" Her grandma said cheerfully, looking at Kairi with kind eyes. The young girl nodded.
"Kay...oh…" She turned around and waved at Aqua. "Bye!" Aqua smiled and waved back. Then the younger girl ran back over to Akari and grabbed the other girl's hand. "Akari, we'll meet again, right?" Akari nodded and grabbed Kairi's hands.
"Of course!" Kairi nodded and ran back over to her grandma, waving bye to Akari before slipping her hand into the older woman's. Akari listened as Kairi and her grandma walked away. She could hear Kairi asking her grandma for a story and her grandma laughing before beginning to tell the tale. As they left Akari's sight, the younger girl turned to Aqua.
"You saved me...didn't you? In the darkness." Aqua glanced down at the girl in surprise before nodding.
"Yes!" Akari smiled.
"Thank you!" She fingered her new necklace and then looked up at Aqua, who was holding the flowers delicately. The younger girl tilted her head eyeing the flowers and Aqua's hand. She hesitated before asking a question.
"Um...Aqua?" She said the older girl's name hesitantly. Aqua kneeled down.
"Yes?" Akari fiddled with her fingers.
"Why do you wield a keyblade?" The question surprised the young woman.
"Huh? How do you know about the keyblade?" She asked. The girl looked down, turning away.
"I...I met a...a boy. He was wearing...some kind of strange mask and he also wielded one." She looked up at Aqua's face but the woman was lost in confusion.
"A masked boy? It couldn't be Ven or Terra…" Akari stared at her in surprise.
"Who?" Aqua shook her head.
"Never mind. Thanks for telling me." She turned to leave but Akari opened her mouth again.
"Wait! The boy told me, darkness could give me power. It could give me one of those." She pointed to Aqua's hand, where her keyblade usually was and Aqua turned around, stunned. "But the darkness scared me, so I ran away, but I found myself here. And now, you have one of those weapons…" The young girl began crying but Aqua ran over and soothed her.
"Hey, don't worry. That boy was wrong." The girl's tears turned to sniffles as Aqua continued to explain.
"The keyblade is a weapon of light. It dispels darkness. Only someone with darkness in their heart would say that." Something sad though caught Aqua's eye. Deep in the poor girl's soul, a shard of darkness had been left. She rubbed the girl's soldier and slipped a flower in her hair.
"Hey...never forget, you have friends and a shimmering light." She placed a hand over Akari's heart and the girl stopped crying and looked down.
"Really…?" Aqua nodded.
"Yes. Now let's get you home." She said but suddenly, a giant monster flew over her head.
"What!" Aqua covered Akari as the wind picked up and then rose. She summoned her keyblade, and Akari was shocked as instead of the blue and silver keyblade, a pink one, covered in flowers appeared in Aqua's hand. It was as if the flowers had become a keyblade. Aqua too was surprised but she turned to Akari and nodded.
"Akari, stay here. I'll get you back home when it's safe." She ran off down the stairs, leaving Akari alone. The young girl looked at where the woman had run off and then raised a hand, imagining her own keyblade.
"A keyblade...is a weapon of light?"