Chapter 1: Prologue

In the shadows, a light of truth is revealed.

When hearts are open, true bonds are forged.

A heart that trusts can overcome any barrier.

Strength lies not in appearances, but in the courage to be oneself.

Kairi began stirring from her slumber as she felt the ocean waves crashing onto shore and lapping around her body. The chilly waters made her wake up faster.

"Huh? Where am I?"

Kairi looked around and saw that she had been laying on the beach of Destiny Islands. It was dark, the moon providing the only light on the island.

"Why am I here? I was just in my bed, sleeping."

But Kairi didn't have much time to think. She gasped as she was suddenly surrounded by a horde of Heartless Shadows and Neoshadows. Wasting no time, Kairi summoned her Keyblade and swung it with force.

The Heartless were defeated with ease, but as Kairi eliminated one Heartless creature, two more took its place. It was as if Kairi was facing the Hydra at the Olympus Coliseum.

"They just keep coming!" she panted.

She was beginning to feel the effects of the seemingly-endless battle. But she pressed on, even using a few magical abilities she picked up from her mentor, Master Aqua.

But the Heartless continued materializing in large numbers, to the point where they nearly enveloped the entire island.

Kairi realized that if she kept on fighting, the Heartless would devour her and the islands. It was time for drastic measures.

"That's it! Thunder!"

Kairi pointed her keyblade up towards the sky and summoned several large bolts of lightning to rain down on her dark foes, eliminating them all in one fell swoop.

With the Heartless finally gone, Kairi fell to her knees, tired and out-of-breath. Her hands and arms sore from all the swinging.

"Impressive," said a raspy, booming voice.

Kairi spun around, her eyes narrowing as she recognized the sinister figure standing before her.

"You!" she said, menacingly.

There…stood Master Xehanort, his presence exuding a chilling aura of darkness. His yellow eyes stared down at Kairi.

"Most impressive indeed," he said again, his voice dripping with condescension. "You've done well under the tutelage of Master Aqua."

Master Xehanort snapped his fingers, summoning another horde of Heartless, much to Kairi's dismay. "And yet, you're still nowhere on his level," he said with a wicked grin. "When the Heartless invaded your island home, the boy managed to fight them off with ease. Even when untrained in combat, he managed to do well to protect himself."

Reluctantly, Kairi continued on with her fight against the Heartless. But the previous fight had left her exhausted.

"If this is the best you could do even when trained by someone far more capable than you," continued Master Xehanort, "then do you really expect to be able to save him?"

Kairi, fed up with his berating, flung her keyblade towards him with all her might.

Master Xehanort simply deflected it with his own keyblade. "Getting desperate now, I see," he laughed. "As if you can stand against me in battle."

Master Xehanort raised his hands up and clutched his fingers in a claw-like manner, causing the Heartless to disappear.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of Kairi's troubles.

She looked up and saw a massive tidal wave rapidly approaching Destiny Islands.

With one last menacing guffaw, Master Xehanort quickly teleported away, leaving Kairi to her doom.

As the tidal wave rose higher up in the air, Kairi spotted a wooden hut nearby. She charged towards it, hoping to get inside for some kind of protection. But as she got closer to the hut, it seemed to move away from her.

Kairi managed to get her fingertips on the handle of the door, but she was too late. The tidal wave came crashing down and swept her away into the sea!

Kairi tumbled helplessly in the churning sea, the force of the water pulling her deeper and deeper into the abyss. She flailed her arms around, trying to right herself so she could properly swim. But the current was too strong for her to overcome and pulled her deeper into the ocean.

…

…

"Kairi!" shouted a voice.

Through the swirling chaos, she looked up and caught a glimpse of someone swimming down towards her. Their figure was illuminated by the moon overhead. Kairi couldn't make out their face, but she could make out their spiky hair.

Kairi knew right away who it was.

"Sora?" Kairi asked herself.

"Kairi!" the voice shouted again.

"Sora!" cried Kairi.

Sora reached out to her, his expression filled with concern and urgency.

"Kairi!" Sora's voice echoed, sounding so close yet so far away.

Desperation clawed at her heart as Kairi swam fiercely towards him. But the current was still too strong. No matter how hard she fought, the water kept dragging her back, separating her further from Sora.

"Kairi, grab my hand!"

Sora tried swimming closer so Kairi could reach up and grab his hand. Even with her muscles sore, Kairi pushed through the current with all her might. Her efforts paid off as she managed to lightly grace Sora's fingertips.

"One more push!" Kairi told herself.

Kairi summoned every ounce of strength left in her body, pushing against the relentless current with all her might. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she ignored the pain, her focus solely on reaching Sora.

"Just a little more," she whispered to herself, determination fueling her strokes.

With one final, desperate effort, Kairi surged forward, her hand finally clasping tightly around Sora's.

Sora then let out a cry of agony, as if he was struck in the chest, and he disappeared in a flash of light.

"No!" screamed Kairi.

Just then, the water around her began to swirl more violently. A whirlpool formed beneath Kairi's feet.

The sea continued to rage, the water closing in around her, pressing down with an overwhelming force.

"...Sora!" Kairi's voice was a whisper now, her strength ebbing away.

In her final moments of consciousness, she felt the dark depths of the sea engulfing her completely, pulling her into its cold embrace.

All of a sudden, something slammed into Kairi's head.

"Ow!"

Kairi yelped as she fell out of her bed, banging her head against her nightstand.

She lay on the floor for a moment, trying to free herself from her blanket that had wrapped around her body. Eventually, she managed to wiggle out, allowing her to sit upright and gather herself.

She glanced around the dark room and realized that she was in her bedroom. The soft glow of the moonlight filtering through the window brought a sense of calm, a stark contrast to the chaos she had just experienced.

Her heart was still racing, the intensity of the nightmare lingering in her mind. She rubbed the sore spot on her head, wincing slightly.

"It was just a dream," she murmured, trying to calm herself down.

Kairi looked down at her hand. The sensation of the swirling water and the desperation of trying to reach Sora felt so real that it left her shaken.

"Just…a dream," she murmured again, this time sounding more disappointed.

She sighed and got to her feet. Still feeling frazzled, she opened the door and peered outside.

She was not at Destiny Islands, but rather the Land of Departure, the castle home of Aqua, Terra, and Ven. She had been staying in a guest room, which she was graciously provided to her while she was being trained by Aqua.

Kairi stood at the window, staring out at the quiet courtyard, trying to calm herself down so she could go back to bed.

But despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but think back to her dream. Master Xehanort's words wouldn't leave her mind. She could still hear him berating her.

After a while, Kairi closed her window and turned back to her bed.

She fixed her blanket and laid back down, but not before picking up the charm Sora had given her from the floor where it had fallen.

Clutching the charm tightly, she whispered to herself, "Sora."

Little did Kairi know, Aqua was at her door, dressed in a tank top and pajama pants. She listened in as Kairi tried to go back to sleep. She could have sworn that she heard Kairi slamming her head against her bed angrily. A moment later, Aqua could have sworn she heard Kairi softly crying herself to sleep.

"Oh…Kairi," she whispered sadly, as it wasn't the first time Kairi has had these nightmares.

TO BE CONTINUED