Shadows of Sleep: Final Mix

Epilogue

Sora's eyes slid open, confusion passing through him. His head hurt, but he didn't know why. He didn't remember hitting it, and he didn't think he was sick or anything.

Though there was that feeling in his stomach, kind of like he was about to be sick, but at the same time, he didn't think that was it. He looked out of the window in his room, staring out at the small island that Riku's father took them to so that they could play.

Sora couldn't say why, but he felt the urge to go out there, or at least down to the beach. He didn't think he could get all the way to the little island on his own.

He thought about waking his mother for a moment but decided not to. Still, he peaked into her room and saw that the lamp was still on, a photo album still on her lap, though she was asleep. There were tears coming from her closed eyes, and Sora wanted to go to her for a moment, but something was pulling him, tugging him along. He couldn't explain what it was, but he couldn't ignore it.

He stopped for a moment though to stare at the picture. It was a strange picture of him. It almost looked like he was supposed to be playing with someone else, but there was no one in the photo. He just shrugged.

Sora carefully made his way down the stairs and put on his sandals. He frowned at the locks, because he wasn't tall enough to reach them. For a moment, he would have sworn he saw a giant key hovering beside him, but when he looked, it was gone. The door was completely unlocked now though. He just accepted it at face value.

"Thank you ghostie," he said before pulling open the door and rushing outside. It was dark out, but he didn't feel afraid at all. He felt very sad, but at the same time, he felt excited about something.

He ran towards the beach, kicking up sand behind him as he went. It was a really clear night, and it was warm, so he didn't even think about running back for a sweater or anything.

Sora stopped at the edge of the water and stared up at the sky above him. It was dark, the moon was just barely visible that night (a crescent moon, but he didn't know that), and the sky was lit up with thousands of stars.

"Wow," he whispered, but then his eyes shot to one star in particular. It was pulsing oddly, and then he realized that it was because it was moving. Not just moving, coming towards him!

Sora watched as the light streaked down towards Destiny Islands, but as it approached the water, the light started to dim and it started to slow down. His eyes widened a bit when he saw a small girl with red hair in the light.

He felt a tug in his heart, like he knew who it was, but he couldn't remember. She fell into the water, and he rushed in after her quickly, the cold waves splashing around him.

With a strength that someone his age shouldn't have, he managed to grab her in the dark, icy water and start pulling her back to shore, even with their wet clothes weighing them down. He pulled her up to the sand, enjoying the warm air as it hit him.

She didn't look good, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing. He thought for a minute about what his mother told him to do if he ever saw that, but he couldn't remember. Then, like something could hear his confusion, there was a flash of light and the little girl started choking up the water that she had swallowed.

Sora just assumed that the ghost was helping him again.

He pulled her up so that she was sitting. One thing he did know was that it was bad to be lying down with anything in your mouth. His mother had scolded him many times for it.

She let out a small sob and held herself tightly, shaking from the cold water. Her indigo eyes looked into Sora's, and he felt himself flushing a little bit.

"You okay?" he asked her.

She nodded her head but was still crying.

"What's wrong? What's your name? Where did you come from?"

"I—I don't know," she said, breaking out in tears. "I can't 'member anything."

Sora didn't know what to do, so he did what his mother did when he was crying. He reached out and hugged her tightly. She instantly responded by hugging him back.

"You don't remember anything? About bout your name?"

She hugged him tightly and choked out, "Kaiwi."

Kaiwi? He pictured that fuzzy brown fruit with the yummy green center, but he was pretty sure that was called a kiwi. He could have been wrong though. He thought about it for a moment before saying, "Kairi?"

"Yeah."

"You mess up your Rs," Sora said with a laugh. "That's okay, I can helps you. I'm Sora."

She looked up at him through her tears and said, "Sowa?"

"No, silly, Sora."

"So—rah," she repeated, as if she had said the name correctly before. "Sora. I like you name."

He blushed and she smiled before asking, "Whewe am I?"

"The bestest place in all of evers," Sora answered. "Destiny Islands!"

She nodded before shivering a bit.

"You cold?"

"Yeah."

"My mommy can help. You can come with me." He stood up, and she stared up at him with a look of wonderment. He stared back for a moment before holding out his hand. She glanced at his hand before reaching out and taking it in her own. He helped her up and then led her back towards his house.

"Sora?" Kairi whispered suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Why awe you cwying?" she reached forward and wiped a tear off of his cheek. "I should be sad, not you."

Sora looked at her with a surprised look before putting his free hand over his heart and saying, "I dunno. I feel sad, and I dunno why. My friend Riku said that maybe peoples are hurting and need my help, but I'm not sure. Riku's a little weird."

"I think he sounds smat," Kairi replied, and Sora felt a wave of something (jealousy) pass through him. "Maybe you could look to see?"

"Look where?"

"In you hawt."

"That's what he said to do."

"So close you eyes and do it."

Sora stared at her for a moment before letting his eyes slip shut, his hand still holding on to hers tightly.

VVVVVV

Sora opened his eyes and found himself on a huge, stain glass floor. He looked around all the blue and yellow shakes everywhere, but he couldn't tell what they were from his point of view. Surprisingly, he wasn't all that frightened about ending up in such a strange place, he was just curious.

Suddenly, a light in the darkness above him caught his eye. He turned to it, wondering if it was like Kairi and if it noticed him, so he called out, "Hey, can you hear me?"

"I hear your voice," the orb of light answered back at it came towards him. "It cut through the darkness around me."

Sora stared in awe at the floating orb that was talking back to him. For some reason the voice felt warm and familiar. It made him feel happy to hear it. He reached up into the air for it eagerly.

"I followed the sound into a sea of light, and found myself here, with you."

There was something almost affectionate about the voice, and that made Sora smile.

"You gave me something back when I needed it most," the orb said to him. "A second chance."

"I did?" Sora asked curiously.

A small laugh came from the orb and it said, "Yeah, you did. But now I need a new place to stay where I can sleep safely."

"Are you sad?" Sora wondered, frowning a bit. He could practically feel the sadness coming from the light, but he still thought it was polite to ask. He sensed the light hesitating to answer him.

"Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?"

Sora smiled warmly. He wanted to keep this light safe, to keep it close, though he didn't know why. He was sure that this was what he was feeling sad over, this little light.

"Sure. If it'll make you happy again," he answered.

"Thank you."

Sora closed his eyes and drew the orb closer to himself, letting it enter his heart. Automatically, the sadness went away, and he felt an air of warmth and protection around him.

Everything would be fine now.

VVVVVV

Sora opened his eyes again and found himself staring at a curious Kairi. She tilted her head slightly and asked, "Did it wok?"

He smiled at her and said, "You and Riku are both really smart. Come on, my mommy can probably make us hot chocolate or something to keep us warm, and tomorrow you can meet all of my friends too! You might not remember your home, but here can be your home instead."

She looked a little sad when he started talking, remembering that she didn't remember anything, but she smiled brightly at his words.

"I'm home?"

"You're home," he said with a nod, pulling her along after him.

He couldn't wait to tell Riku that he had found a new friend on the beach. That was so much cooler than the hermit crab that he had found.

For a moment, he thought he saw someone with spiky blond hair smiling at him, but he blinked and the person was gone. He couldn't explain the little orb of light, and he couldn't explain why he had felt sad before, but it didn't matter all that much anymore.

Maybe it was better that way.

"A far off memory like a scattered dream. A scattered dream like a far off memory. I want to line the pieces up, yours and mine."

The End

Krystal Lily Potter