Darkness. That was all that surrounded her. A girl, with blonde hair with darker blonde roots and violet eyes. She was falling. She tried screaming into the darkness but nothing came out of her mouth, and no one answered. 'Where am I?' She thought 'How did I get here?' Questions kept running through her mind. But there were only 4 things she could remember. Her name, her age, her birthday and a very vivid memory from when she was 6. She started to fall faster. She tried screaming, tried to reach out for something, anything to save her. But all around her, was darkness. Eventually she blacked out.

The bright sun shone down on the Destiny Islands. The bright blue sea glistening in the morning sun, the sand sparkling against the sun's rays. It was just another ordinary day. But something was different. Three children pulled up to the dock of the play island, exited their boats and tied them up. The eldest and tallest of the three, a boy with silver hair and aquamarine eyes looked over towards the sand and saw a figure lying face down. The other two children, a boy with brown spiky hair and deep blue eyes and a girl with auburn hair and blue eyes saw their friend running over to the figure in the sand. "Riku?" The boy cried out but the silver-haired boy didn't hear him. All that mattered was the body lying in the sand.

'Hello? Can you hear me?' Came a voice. The figure in the sand was a young girl, she felt the warm sun on her exposed skin. Slowly she opened her eyes and groaned at the sudden bright light that met her pupils. Eventually her eyes focussed and she found herself looking up at the voice. Violet eyes met aquamarine ones and the girl's heart jumped. "Are you ok?" The voice spoke, it was soft but mature. The girl took in the boy' s appearance. He was wearing a yellow and black shirt with blue jeans with black braces crossing against his chest and down his back. He had silver hair that stopped just at his shoulders. He helped the girl sit up. She looked down at her clothes to find that her white shirt had kept in tact but the black leggings that she wore had one of the legs torn off from the knee down and she was missing her shoes. Next, she looked around to see where she was. The crystal clear sea first caught her eyes, then they wandered towards the sand and the greenery behind her, tall trees and wooden structures littered the back of this little island. Her eyes wandered to the separate island in the middle of the water, connected by a wooden bridge to the main play island, her eyes fell upon a tree whose trunk had grown sideways and growing amongst the leaves were star-shaped fruits. She heard the voice again

"Are you okay?" The boy asked again. She looked at him and finally found words to speak.

"Y-y-yes. Just feeling really dizzy and confused. Where am I?" She asked the boy.

"You're on a place called Destiny Islands, this is our play island, my friends and I row out here from the main island to play when we can. Where did you come from?" The boy explained smiling at the girl, she could talk which was a relief. The girl looked around and tried to think but all that came to her mind was the 4 things she could remember, her name, age, birthday and the memory from when she was 6. She softly shook her head.

"I can't remember" she said softly, lowering her head "I can't remember anything" she added. The boy's face looked shocked, but then softened as he stood up and held out his hand.

"Don't worry. You're safe now. We'll take care of you. Do you at least know your name? He asked. He was happy when the girl nodded.

"My name is Ashley" The girl replied and took the boy's hand as he helped her to her feet.

"I'm Riku. And those are my friends, Sora and Kairi" the silver-haired boy responded gesturing to his two friends who had finally approached their friend and the strange girl.

The three friends, Sora, Riku and Kairi tried to see if there was anything else that Ashley could tell them but she only could recall her name, age and birthday. She decided against telling them the 1 memory that she had retained because it was a secret she said she'd keep. It turns out that she is the same age as Riku, 14. And Sora and Kairi were 13. The three friends knew that Ashley would need to get some help so they cut their day short and the four of them went back over to the main island and to the mayor's house to report Ashley's appearance on the islands.

This was just the start of Ashley's journey with the Destiny islands trio.

The mayor was surprised to see Ashley but seemed to understand her situation. As it turns out, Kairi had arrived on the islands 8 years ago in the same predicament, but judging from Ashley's clothes, they probably weren't from the same place. However, the mayor was a kind gentleman and had already taken in Kairi and was happy to do the same with Ashley.

Ashley looked around the spare bedroom in the mayor's house, it was very basic but the walls were coloured yellow, a colour she realised she liked. She grabbed the soft towel that was laying on the bed and headed to the bathroom. She turned the shower on and just stood underneath it, letting the warm water run down her body. 'How could this have happened?' She thought to herself 'and why can't I remember anything? Apart...' She paused in her thought. The memory from when she was six.

She recalled walking, no, running through a forest. The trees becoming so thick and close together the deeper she ran into it, until she stumbled across a body. A girl who wore strange clothing. A white robe with a pink hood which covered her face so Ashley couldn't see it clearly. Ashley found that she was still breathing and a faint pulse so she stayed by her until she regained consciousness. "Don't strain yourself, you seem injured. Are you ok?" Ashley asked the girl as she sat up.

"Yes I am. Thank you for staying with me"

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"How did you know?"

"Well your clothes are different and everyone knows everyone in this place"

"Very perceptive. I come from a land faraway"

"Wow! I want to see what's beyond my town someday!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. There can't just be all that there is here. Plus I want to protect my friends and family from any dangers that might be out there."

"Yeah." The strange girl paused for a second but then Ashley sensed a smile and the girl looking down at her. "Somewhere out there is a world much bigger than you can imagine." And the girl knelt down to Ashley's level, held out her hand and summoned a giant key, turned it around a held the hilt of the sword out to Ashley "In your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." She said softly. Ashley looked at the hilt, held out her hand and grasped it gently. Immediately she could feel a strange tingling sensation throughout her body. 'Magic' She thought. The mysterious girl dismissed her Keyblade "You can't tell anyone about this, or else the magic will wear off and you might not ever gain the power" she added. Ashley looked over at her, smiled a big toothy grin, nodded and the two of them walked back through the forest towards the entrance.

Ashley sighed at the memory as she turned the water off, she stepped out of the shower feeling a sudden chill hit her body, she dried off, wrapped her hair into the towel and proceeded to get dressed into the outfit that Kairi had lent her, it was a simple ensemble of black cargo pants that cut just below the knee, a light blue vest top and a pink cardigan with sleeves that just covers the shoulder. She looked into the mirror to study her new outfit. Smiling at how clean and presentable she looked, she exited the bathroom and went to her room, she closed the door and lay on the bed, sighing in the process. Her mind kept wandering back to her memory. Why was it the only memory she could remember? She sighed again as she sat up and looked out of her window to see the sun setting across the island, the red, orange and yellow colours mesmerising her. She got off the bed and went over to the dresser and proceeded to comb out her damp hair, parting it slightly to her right side. Her hair was just touching her shoulders but she didn't mind. She went back to the bed and sat watching the bright colours turn into blues, purples and blacks as the night set in and the stars came out. After a while of staring, she changed into a pair of yellow pyjamas, a t-shirt and shorts combo, and crawled under the covers and let her mind drift off into a dreamless slumber.