Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts characters (c) Square Enix/Disney

Chapter One: Trick of the Light

The last person Sora saw was the person he would not remember upon waking up. The very idea saddened him gravely. Still, he smiled in hopes that she'd return the friendly gesture, for he wanted his last memory of her to be one of her smiling.

She did.

It was a timid, slight curve, but a smile nonetheless. Naminé was smiling at him.

Sora's face glowed with radiance and his heart fluttered. At least he was able to make her smile one last time before forgetting her. Even so, he promised himself that that smile would not be the last. He promised to meet her again and be friends for real. He had to find her, somehow, and he had to thank her. He would forget making such a promise, this much he knew, but his heart would find a way to remember. It had to, and he knew it would.

The pod in which he would sleep in closed gradually. His eyes closed with it.

He awoke on the warm sand of a nostalgic island.

"Is this..." He scanned the area excitedly before jumping up. "I'm back at the islands!" His next instinct was to call for his friends. "Riku! Kairi!"

He took a pause.

Receiving no answer from either of the two seemingly absent characters, he went to the shore and stared ahead at the endless ocean.

"How did I get here?" he wondered softly to himself. "Huh...wait, what was the last thing I was doing? I was with Donald and Goofy...uh...Donald stole the sandwich Goofy made for me and I got really mad...hm..." He gasped out loud and jumped in place upon coming to a realization. "I have to find Riku and The King! But where did Donald and Goofy go? Why am I here?" He searched frantically for anyone or anything that would help him seek answers.

He turned his back to the ocean and raced ahead, calling out to Donald and Goofy, but no one called back in return.

He concluded that he was alone and sank down to the ground to sulk.

His sulking lasted for a fraction of a second, not due to his naturally optimistic outlook, but due to the fact that everything was changing.

The transformation was as sudden as a star in the sky going out.

Where there was once a paopu fruit tree there was now a lily pond. The bright, afternoon sky was now glimmering with countless stars. The sand was now dew-wet grass, and the air smelled of lavender. Sora, amazed, leaped up into the air and stared, wide eyed, at the beautiful, yet unfamiliar world.

"What just happened?" he asked.

As if to answer his question, the urgent sound of bells rang in the air. Sora, sensing such urgency, turned in their direction. There, he saw a large castle painted far in the distance.

Without thinking twice, he ran to it.

His heart felt weak, all of a sudden, but he pressed on for that very reason.

As he eventually reached the entrance of the castle, he concluded that, once upon a time, he had been to that world. His mind spun with flashes of memories, memories that were not his own. He ran up the stairs and slammed the doors of the castle open without thinking to knock.

"I'm here! I'm here!" he exclaimed, panting in between his words.

There, seated on one of three thrones, was a man who smiled kindly. He stood and walked forward with a confident stride.

Sora walked towards him too, and the two met somewhere in the middle of the long hallway.

Upon closer inspection, Sora was able to see the sadness masked in the man's old, tired eyes.

His heart skipped a beat. He knew this man. Didn't he? No. He couldn't have. He pushed the thought aside.

"...Hey there!" he said, waving a flimsy hand. "I'm Sora!"

The man closed his eyes for a moment, as if amused by his introduction. "You're late, Sora," he said simply.

"What?" asked Sora, not knowing what else to say. He studied the man once more, glancing every now and then at the scars on his face.

The man sighed lightly. "I suppose, as they say, it's better late than never. Come. There is so much to do." He walked past Sora implying that he should follow.

Sora stood there for a moment, debating whether or not to follow the stranger, but soon found himself dashing after him. "Wait up!" he called.

The man kept walking, never turning to check if Sora was still behind him.

Sora took it upon himself to flood the man with questions as they walked. "What's your name?

Where are we? Where are we going? How did I get here?"

The man shot a glance at Sora and responded vaguely to Sora's questions. "I will tell you my name once your heart recalls it. We are in your imagined version of a world from your deepest memories. We are going to the room where you will temporarily reside in. You are dreaming, so none of this - neither the world nor I - are real."

A sound of confusion escaped Sora's mouth.

The man's smile grew wary. "I will explain, to the best of my ability, everything in depth tomorrow. For now." He stopped walking. "Rest well." He opened a door leading to a bedroom lined with books, a tiki mask, vines, and a toy boat hanging from the ceiling.

As soon as Sora saw the room, he felt warm inside. "Can you at least tell me your name? I have the strangest feeling that I should already know it," Sora admitted sheepishly.

The man refused to tell him. "You must remember it on your own, Sora. Then can we commence your training."

Sora seemed surprised. "Training?" he echoed. "Training for what?"

The man looked initially hesitant to tell him, but answered after thinking about how to word it. "We must train your heart to stay strong during the process of restoring your memories."

"Huh!?" asked Sora, shocked.

Thinking that he had perhaps articulated it incorrectly, the man shook his head. "I apologize if I startled you, Sora. Please, for the remainder of tonight, rest well. You will need your strength for tomorrow." He seemed to be holding back in a way. He was a reserved man who was careful to keep his distance that first night.

"Well, okay, if you say so," Sora agreed. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

The man nodded as his farewell and disappeared back into the hallways. His footsteps became fainter and fainter.

Sora, curious, peeked his head through the doorway and watched him walk away. He eventually faded into the background. When he did, Sora reentered the room and held a hand to his heart.

He thought long and hard, but was unable to come up with a name. Disappointed in himself, he sat on the bed and stared out at the starry sky.

"He said that I'm dreaming right now, but why does it feel so real?" he mused. "Could it be that I'm not dreaming at all?"

He awoke the next morning unable to remember falling asleep the night before. He yawned and stretched his arms and legs before jumping out of bed. His stomach growled, demanding to be fed. Temporarily, he chose to ignore the hunger and instead search for the man.

Eventually, after leaving the bedroom, he found his way to the throne room where the two originally had met.

It seemed as though the man had been waiting for him. "Good afternoon, Sora," he said as soon as he saw him.

"Afternoon?" repeated Sora. "It's afternoon already?" He came closer to him.

The man closed his eyes and nodded. "Yes. Usually, I would not allow you to sleep in on training days, but I chose to make today and today only the exception." He stood from his seat. "The weather outside is lovely today. Perhaps we should speak there."

"Okay," said Sora cheerfully as he followed him out.

Once outside, they sat across from each other in white seats.

"Now, Sora, before I attempt to explain anything to you, did you remember my name?" There was a hopeful look in his eyes when he asked it.

Sora fidgeted slightly in his chair. He hadn't. "No..." he confessed as he lowered his gaze. He looked back up. "But it'll come eventually, right?" he asked, smiling as he rested two hands behind his head.

The man showed no visible signs of disappointment, but his voice grew strained. "I suppose..." he said, and later dropped the subject. "Now, I believe I owe you an explanation. First and foremost, you understand that this is a dream, yes?"

"Yeah," Sora said with a nod.

"And you understand that nothing here is real?" further interrogated the man.

"Well..." said Sora. "I guess so, but, to be honest, it...doesn't feel like a dream at all." He unconsciously held a hand to his stomach.

"Oh?" asked the man, taking note of the universal "I'm hungry" sign, but saying nothing about it.

"How so?"

Sora proceeded to explain. "Well, I dunno, I just have this...strange feeling that I know you. Or at least...that I'm supposed to. But I can't even remember your name." He took a pause. "I don't think I ever remember meeting you, but at the same time I feel like some part of me did." His heart was aching.

The man's face grew tender. "Your heart seeked me out, of all the people engraved in your memories, to guide you through this heavy process. You are connected to many people, Sora. It stands to reason that one of those people influenced your heart's decision to choose me. Why me, I do not know. It is something you will have to ask yourself."

"I guess that, to someone connected to me, you're someone really important," Sora said thoughtfully. He smiled widely. "Maybe if you tell me your name, I can remember you more!" he exclaimed in a childlike manner.

The man was quick to say no. "You must remember it on your own."

Sora went "aww" in disappointment. "But what can I call you then?" he asked eagerly.

The man thought it over. "I suppose," he said, looking away, "if anything, you may refer to me as...Master, if you wish."

"Okay then, Master!" Sora said delightfully. He looked excited to say it.

The master smiled faintly. "Now, Sora, shall we continue with the explanations? It seems as though we got a bit sidetracked."

"Yeah," agreed Sora. He paused. "Wait, am I allowed to ask questions?"

"But of course."

Sora's tone grew serious. "Is there anywhere we can go to eat?"

The request took the master by surprise. "I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"Well...it's just that...I can't even remember the last time I ate!" Sora said honestly. He thought of the delectable sandwich he never got to eat. His stomach, as if agreeing with him, grumbled.

The master thought it over. "You keep allowing yourself to forget that this is a dream, Sora," he said. "Simply dream up a meal or dream that you aren't hungry anymore."

Sora looked distressed. "But how do I do that?" he asked, clueless.

The man shrugged. "I haven't a clue."

Elsewhere, in the white room where Sora slept, Riku listened halfheartedly as Naminé explained the process of fixing Sora's memory.

He ate a bar of Twilight Town's specialty ice-cream flavor: sea salt, as he listened to her. He didn't particularly like it - the mix of saltiness and sweetness confused his taste buds - but he didn't like seeing things go to waste (that, and the thing had costed him a whopping 150 munny!) so he continued to eat it.

For some time, Naminé's words went in through one ear and out the other. He stopped paying attention and instead stared at his best friend, who was frozen with a smile, and thought about the chain of events that led them both to where they were now.

"Riku?" asked Naminé, snapping him back into reality.

"Hm?" he asked.

"Are you still listening?"

"Uh huh."

"DiZ designed the pods holding Sora and his friends to think only of sleep," said Naminé, choosing her words carefully. "But...they can still be influenced from what happens outside."

Riku looked at her curiously. "So if I say something to him, he'll hear me?"

"He...might, but he wouldn't be able to respond. But...well..." She decided to go right out with it. "Can you not eat in here?"

Riku stood as frozen as the ice-cream bar he ate. "...Why?" he asked, eyes wide.

"It's just that if you eat in here, Sora will get hungry," Naminé explained, smiling.

"Are you certain?" asked the master, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," said Sora, grinning. "I don't know how or why, but I'm not hungry at all anymore!"

The master seemed amused. "You are the spitting image of a pupil I once had, Sora," he said, careful not to reveal too much. He cleared his throat before Sora could question him. "Now then," he said. "Where was I? ...Ah yes, your training. Do you still recall what happened at Castle Oblivion?"

Sora thought about it. The memories were already feeling foggy, but he remembered bits and pieces. "Yeah...kind of," he said, scratching his cheek in thought. "I remember that me, Donald and Goofy were looking for Riku and the king. And there people in black coats...Axel?...and this girl. She looked like Kairi. And then..." He gasped out loud. "My memories! I'm sleeping because my memories were all jumbled up, right?"

The master nodded. "That is correct. Throughout this journey within a dream your heart will suffer greatly due to this very memory restoration. You will forget things and remember them and then forget them again, but do not fret. I will patiently remind you of what you must forget and what you must remember. I will train your heart to endure the hurt you will encounter. I promise you, Sora. I will protect your heart at all costs." He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder.

The master's words touched a deep part of Sora's heart. He spoke without thinking, in a soft, trembling voice, yet with words that were not his own. "Thank you, Master Eraqus," he said. He looked into Eraqus's old, tired eyes. They seemed to be watering, but perhaps it was simply a trick of the light.