"No!" Sora had jumped up from his sleep, soaked in sweat. He looked around, seeing he was sitting on the warm, soft sands, and looking at the bright blue sky and ocean of Destiny Islands. Sora sighed. "It was just a dream then... but why did it feel so real?"

"Hey, Sora!" Sora started to stand up to see who was calling him, but fell back down due to his own clumsiness.

"Hehe, are you okay?" Sora turned around to see a girl with blonde hair wearing a white dress looking to see if he was okay.

"Naminé?" Sora asked with his voice shaking. "Naminé?" The girl responded. "It's me, Kairi." Kairi looked at Sora with a weird expression. "Maybe I should go get Riku."

Sora looked up at her. "N-no, it's fine, but just before, you looked just like..." He closed his eyes, shook his head, and looked at the girl again. He saw the red-haired Kairi looking over him. "...Naminé... I guess I was imagining things...Oh!"

Sora finally stood up and looked at Kairi again. " I had this weird..."

"Wait... What am I thinking!? There's no way Kairi could have a Heartless!"

"Are you sure you're okay, Sora? And what did you have that was weird?" Kairi looked confused. "Well..." Sora started. "It's nothing, sorry, Kairi."

She put her hands on her hips. "Sora..." He put his right hand on the back of his head. "It's nothing, really! We got a lot to do today anyway!" With that said, Sora ran off in the direction towards the boat he came to the islands on.

"Sora..." Kairi watched him as he ran off. "What happened to you?"

***

Riku was sitting on the paupu tree staring at the shining blue ocean. "Nothing has changed here..." Riku started. "But elsewhere.... those things that were described in the King's letter are out destroying other worlds. But what are they that even the King can't fight them alone? Did we really defeat the Organiza-- ahg!"

Riku covered his eyes with his arm from a bright flash of light. When the light dimmed, Riku opened his eyes and found himself staring in darkness.

"What the...? Where am I?" Riku looked around hoping to find something, anything, ad succeded by finding a teenage girl. He ran up to her as fast as he could.

"Hey, uh..." Riku tried finding something to say. It's not everyday you get transported into darkness and find someone else in it. "How did you get here?" he asked. The girl turned around, letting Riku see what she looked like.

The girl had brown hair that fell just a bit below her shoulders. She wore a shirt somewhat like Riku's black one, only difference was it was white, and it was zippered up to just above her chest, leaving her neck revealed. She wore two bands, one abover her right hand, and one below her left shoulder, both being white. She also wore blue jeans and white sneakers.

Riku moved a bit closer to see her eyes. They were as brown as her hair, but something was wrong with them. They showed that she had been in the darkness for too long, and she hardly saw any light.

Riku got a bit worried. "Are you okay? I think I should get you out of here." Silence was the only reply, which made Riku a bit nervous. "Could you at least say something?"

After a few minutes Riku decided it was hopeless and started to turn around to leave. "If..." The girl started, which made Riku turn back around. "...You found out who... What I am, you would refuse to help me."

"I don't think so." Riku said while he held out his hand. "What's your name? Mine's Riku." The girl looked up at Riku. "...Hanako." Riku tried to identify her age. "She can't be more than fourteen..."

"Umm..." Hanako looked around while Riku snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah?" He responded. "We... should probably start looking for a way out..." "Heh, that would probably be a good idea."

***

"Did you find him yet?" Kairi tried yelling to Selphie. "Not yet..." Selphie responded as she ran to Kairi. They both sat on the soft sand exausted. "Where could Riku have gone!?" said Selphie as she looked up at the bright sky as closed her eyes. "He was just sitting on the paupu tree half an hour ago! And his boat is still near the dock! I don't get it."

Kairi shook her head and sighed. She wished she could tell Selphie everything. About the Heartless, Nobodies, Keyblades, Ansem, Xehanort, and even about Kingdom Hearts. The only thing stopping her was the letter from the King. It had asked Sora, Kairi, and Riku not to tell anyone about anything on Destiny Islands.

"Riku's disappearence..." Kairi starting thinking to herself. "I think it has something to do with the new threat King Mickey told us about. He said he would tell us in person... But does that mean Destiny Islands is at danger of disappearing again?"

***

Sora sat on the spot where he, Kairi, and Riku had started building the raft one year ago. "If Destiny Islands is going to disappear again, what am I going to do...? And now Riku's missing! What if this is a set up by someone? And if it is, who? The Organization is gone..."

His thoughts were interrupted by someone calling out to him. He looked around but couldn't find anyone. He stood up and looked again and found Riku running up to him, but with someone else too. "...!"

"Riku!" Sora grabbed Riku's face and pulled it to make sure he was real. "Ow!" Riku pushed Sora off and hit him over the head with his fist. "Cut it out!"

Sora rubbed the top of his head then looked at Riku again. "What happened? Where were you? Are you okay? And..." He turned to Hanako and stared at her in shock. Riku looked at Sora. "I know she's cute but it's rude to stare." Sora blushed and turned to Riku. "No, that's not it! It's--" "Haha, suuure." Riku interrupted. "I'll go get Kairi, it'd be a pain to explain what happened twice." He then ran off to get Kairi leaving Hanako and Sora.

"Alright..." Sora looked at Hanako. "Who are you really? Did you send me that weird dream? Are you..." He looked at the ground, nervous, yet wanting to find out the answer. "...Really Kairi's Heartless?" She looked at Sora then to the shining ocean. "Well... I'm sory for being rude to you before, I had no time to explain. And as for those questions, the time is not now."

"Huh?" Before Sora could ask her anything, Riku had returned with Kairi. Riku explained what happened when he was in the world of darkness and how he met Hanako. Kairi put her hands on her hips. "It's a little hard to believe, but after all we've been through I think it would be kind of dumb to say you were lying, right Sora?" She looked at Sora for an answer but it looked like he was in deep thought.

"...Sora?" Kairi asked again. "Huh?" Sora looked at Kairi. "Oh...right. Yeah." "Are you okay?" Kairi asked worried. "Y-yeah." He responded. "Just thinking a bit too much, especially about the letter the King sent us." Hanako looked at Sora confused. "King? Letter? Huh?"

"Oh, right." Kairi crossed her arms over her chest and continued,  "Hanako doesn't know about anything." Riku thought something over for a few minutes the said, "I think it's okay to tell her. We made a promise with Mickey, but I think she's connected with us and Kingdom Hearts. I don't think me going to the world of darkness was for nothing."

"You have no idea how right you are Riku." Sora thought to himself. Well, I've got to stall them until I can find out if we can trust her or not.

"I guess that's a good idea but..." Sora tried looking for an excuse and succeded in finding one, "It's getting late, and it would take a while to explain so we should wait until tomorrow." Everyone nodded in agreement, and Kairi grabbed Hanako's hand. "I think there's a shed somewhere where you can stay for the night, I'll show it to you!" They left leaving Riku and Sora.

Riku shook his head. "I'll never understand women. I'm gonna go make up a story about Hanako, we can't hide her from Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie forever." With that said, Riku started walking over to the trio.

Sora looked over at the shining blue ocean and the setting sun. "Tomorrow..." He sighed. "I have until tomorrow."