III. d a w n.

The fluorescent lights. The white ceiling. He was in the staff room of the library, sprawled across a couch with a cooling cloth on his forehead. Sora blinked once, twice, three times. Everything was so hazy, a swirl of colours and shapes. When he turned his head, the outline of the low coffee table took shape in his vision. There was a small foam container on top of the table which smelled of baked potato.

Sora shut his eyes for a moment.

Where…?

What… what happened…?

He sat up abruptly, letting the cooling cloth fall from his head and regretted it afterwards when a sudden head rush hit him, causing his vision to blur. He clutched his forehead and was aware that the bandage plastered there was gone and his skin was smooth and undamaged. Wasn't there supposed to be a…

Suddenly, images flashed through his mind. Vivid images. The balcony, the fight, Axel, dragon, the library was…

The library was… Oh god-!

Sora stumbled out of the couch and staggered outside only to find the library empty and quiet as it was. He zigzagged through the rows of book-lined shelves, his feet skidding across the shiny marble floors and his mind burning with questions: Was the fight over? Are Leon and Aerith back? Did they see what happened? How long was I out? Are those people coming back to ki–?

Before long, he arrived at the Fiction section at the end of the library, his heart beating with apprehension and–

Sora's eyes widened with absolute disbelief.

What the–?

What lay before him were eleven rows of bookcases lined with a variety of books arranged in alphabetical order. Between some of the bookcases were reading desks, their chairs neatly tucked under. The carpet was spotless. There were no signs of damage, no signs of a struggle or a fight. Certainly none involving dragons and oversized Catherine wheels. Sora glanced up and saw the balcony overhead, with its thin wooden railings, still there, still intact and not destroyed at all. It was fine. Everything was alright, in tip-top condition, like everything he experienced did not happen at all.

Weird.

"But… but why…?" Sora whispered as he cautiously stepped into the aisle and stopped at the desk which had supposedly broken his fall. He ran a finger across the smooth surface and wondered: Why wasn't the library destroyed? Wasn't there a…? Shouldn't there be…? Where the hell was Riku?

He stared at the eerie scene again and suddenly felt an unpleasant shiver go up his spine. Slowly, he backed away from the bookcases, the desks and especially the sight of the balcony, the same one in which he swore he saw collapse before his eyes, before turning around to run, leaving the untouched scene of stillness behind him.

Nothing… nothing happened…

"Sora!"

Sora skidded to a stop and realised he was by the front counter and Aerith had emerged from behind it. She rushed to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"You're finally awake!" she cried out, her voice echoing around the library. "Are you feeling alright? You collapsed, Sora! When you got Riku his book, you fainted on the spot. Riku found my number under the counter and called us! And Leon-! He practically, practically zoomed to the library in two seconds flat, Sora! He was so…" she paused as her eyebrows furrowed with worry.

Sora stared at the woman in disbelief before he was able to open his mouth and speak, "What…what did you say happened to me…?"

"You fainted!" Aerith exclaimed, her voice near hysterics. "Leon blamed it on exhaustion. Thank god Riku called us or something else–"

Sora, amidst the confusion he was now in, cut into Aerith's sentence: "But the library was destroyed, Aerith! The balcony collapsed and there was this fight and Riku was involved and I was nearly killed because the-the balcony, I fell off it and then I woke up and everything's like it never happened and–"

"Sora," Sora stopped talking when Aerith felt his forehead. He blinked when he recognised the confusion in her eyes. "What are you talking about…?"

What am I…?

"Ouch!" a small utterance escaped Sora's lips when he felt something hard tap on the crown of his head. When he turned around, Leon behind him, holding up a book he had just used to rap Sora's head with. Meeting the older man's gaze, Sora saw the expression of distress on his face. He grimaced slightly when those grey eyes scrutinized his own.

"That's for worrying me to death," Leon growled at him as he lowered the book. "What the hell happened to you, Sora?"

Sora swallowed. "I'm not so sure…"

His gaze wandered over to the direction of the first floor balcony and he recalled showing Riku the book he wanted, all before the chakram appeared out of nowhere with its spikes glinting dangerously. Then there was Axel, red-haired and menacing; Roxas, who had physically hurt him and then Riku... a dragon.

But nothing had happened to the library. Aerith and Leon said that he had collapsed from exhaustion. Could it be…? Could all that be just a dream? A realistic nightmare induced from his physical and mental exhaustion? Was it due to the shock of the near car crash he had last night? Could it be that the events in which he had experienced were all… just all in his head?

Leon's exasperated sigh broke Sora's train of thought. The older man was frowning, opening his mouth and closing it again as if struggling to form words. Staring hard at Sora for a while, he gave it another try, "I know you told us not to nag anymore, Sora, but I really think you should give yourself a break, okay?" Sora stiffened slightly when he felt Leon squeeze his arm. "You hear me, Sora?" the older man said, his voice laced with seriousness.

"What Leon means," Aerith offered helpfully, "is that you take a couple of days off work. Get some rest. That sort of thing."

Sora realised that the expression on Leon's face was so intense – the lines of worry and distress appeared so prominent – that he couldn't help but look away in embarrassment and guilt. Was Leon really that worried about him?

"But you feel okay now, right?" Aerith asked.

Maybe…

Sora turned and gave her a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

…It was all just a stupid dream.

"Hmm, I'm glad," Aerith sighed, putting a hand over her heart.

Leon shifted his stance, an indication that he was now dropping their current topic, and held out the book to them. The frown was still lingering on his face but the air about him was different now. It was the air of a librarian on duty. "You two had better take a look at this," he began, his voice stern and serious. "I found it in the Fiction section. I don't know what could have caused this."

Aerith snatched the book from Leon's grasp. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed in horror. "Who could… who could do such a thing?"

Sora was equally horrified at the state of the book in question. Seeing that Aerith was too busy shooting questions at Leon, he took the object from Aerith and examined it. It was badly damaged, the cover image indiscernible. He flicked through the pages only to find some of the leaves coming apart and some of them torn into shreds. There was only one page that was untouched. It had the picture of a body of water shadowed by the shade of woodland. The caption underneath told him that it was a reservoir in Twilight Town.

Reservoir… Twilight Town?

Riku.

Oh my god-!

Wasn't this book shredded into pieces when that chakram narrowly missed him? He saw it happen! And it was still like this. But why the hell is it–? Did… the dream… no, it can't be–?

It can't be–!

Sora opened his mouth.

"Where's Riku?"

Both Leon and Aerith stared at him, probably startled at the seriousness in his voice. "Riku?" Aerith said. "He left a while ago. He said he was going to look at the town for a while."

Clutching the damaged book in hand, Sora whirled around and ran out of the library.

He found the lone figure standing on top of a cobbled staircase in the Marketplace, a tall and unmoving form whose long silver hair was fluttering in the cold breeze. Sora stopped at the foot of the steps to catch his breath for a while. He had been looking for Riku all over Hollow Bastion for nearly an hour and it was nearing dusk soon. The weak sun was sinking on the horizon.

Readjusting his hold on the book, Sora quickly climbed the stairs and charged at the taller boy, grabbing his sleeve. Riku turned to look at him, his expression nonchalant yet expectant. It was as if he had known Sora was coming all along.

"You!" Sora yelled and roughly shoved the damaged book at the taller youth's face. "I don't know what kind of hocus-pocus jumbo you did but I demand to know what the hell is going on! What happened in the library? Did those people really come and try to k-kill me? Was there really a fight? Was the library destroyed? Why is it okay now? Why did Leon and Aerith say I collapsed? Did I really collapse? What the hell did you do to me? Why did you come and mess with my head? I want the truth right– right now!"

In the whole thirty seconds after the outburst which left Sora panting for breath, Riku merely looked at him with an air of calmness. He gently pushed the book away from his face and stared at Sora and his bedraggled appearance. His eyes, Sora was shocked to see once more, was aqua blue, calm and composed.

"You want to know the truth?" Riku answered quietly. He made no effort to pull away from Sora's grip. Instead, his eyes continued to stare into Sora's own, the calm blue colour full of absolute nonchalance. "Everything that happened did happen. The damage to the library was real. There was a fight and yes, you were nearly killed."

"Then why is the library–"

"In one piece?" Riku finished for him. "I restored everything as it was… but by the state of this book, I might have missed a few things. Nonetheless, it took a tremendous amount of energy to do so which is why I had to resort to using the Mutiara's power. I also healed your physical wounds. You weren't too badly injured but your friends were extremely worried about you, especially the man, who seems to dislike me for some reason."

Sora found himself struggling to form words. "S-So everything did happen after all?"

"Yes, it was real."

The book slipped from Sora's hand and landed on the cobbled floor with a thud. Sora was staring up at Riku in disbelief, unable to accept the absurdity of the situation. He finally let go of the other's sleeve.

"Tell me," Sora began quietly, his voice ready to break into hysterics. "What in hell's name are you?"

The sky above them continued to burn a faint dusty orange, leaving the residue of darkness behind. For a moment, the sun's weak rays gilded the town rooftops, washing over the two boys, making Riku appear almost incredible under the golden shine.

"I'm a dragon," was the straight reply, frank and concise. "And I'm on the run because two people are hunting me down for the Mutiara. I'm searching for the Lake that will take me back to where I come from."

"Where you come from?" Sora commented. "Which is?"

"Another world."

"Another–?" Sora felt his heartbeat quicken at what he was actually hearing. "How did you get here in the first place?"

"I'm not sure myself," was the other boy's reply. "I only know that something pulled me away from my dimension and brought me into this one. The next thing I knew, I was being chased. I didn't know what to do at first but as time passed and you came along, I realised that I found whom I was looking for all this time. You're the one who'll show me the way back."

Sora felt his mouth go dry. Wha–?

"Sora." Riku continued to speak and Sora felt himself shuddering at the way his name came out of the other's mouth. "You need to leave this place soon."

"What?"

"You're in danger now. You realise that the people you saw today plan to eliminate you once they catch you. If you stay here any longer, your friends will be in danger as well. It's best that you go away altogether."

"Are you seriously telling me I should leave Hollow Bastion?" Sora said incredulously. "But I've never been out of town before. The last time was years and years ago! Besides, where can I go to?"

"To Twilight Town," Riku answered as if the answer to that question was obvious. "You need to help me get to that reservoir. No one else can do it."

"And you are the Boy…the Boy destined to lead the Dragon back to Heaven."

Axel's words echoed in Sora's head, clear and precise.

"He's chosen you and you've already shown him the Lake he's looking for. Now you have to play your role. There's no escaping it."

This…is really not happening.

"But I can't just leave!" Sora found himself shouting at Riku, his voice suddenly high-pitched with distress and his composure now in pieces. "I don't want to be involved in this at all. Listen- listen you, this is the craziest, stupidest, most outrageous thing I've ever heard and… I don't want this! I don't want to do it! It's your own fault you got into this mess so why don't you sort it out by yourself and stay out of my life for once?!"

Riku remained silent at the fiery outburst, watching the other pant for breath. Sora was increasingly aware that his face was hot. He glared up at Riku, challenging him, trying to disguise the feeling of embarrassment at his sudden outburst. It was Riku's fault he was nearly killed in the first place. It was Riku's fault that Leon became extremely worried about Sora's condition. It was Riku's fault that–

Riku suddenly spoke, finally shifting his eyes away from Sora to stare at the distance, "I've been on the run for two years now, just hiding from them. When I met you, I knew that I needed you. I knew that you could help me."

Sora harrumphed irritably, "Why's that?"

Riku's eyes, the blueness gilded by gold, landed on his own again. "Because there's something about you, Sora," he answered quietly. "And it tells me you've also been waiting for something to happen. That's why I could see them that time. I could see your thoughts."

My thoughts?

A small gasp escaped Sora's lips. That time when the car… he said, Riku said he could see…

For once, Sora realised that he was at a loss for words.

What if it's true? He found himself wondering. What if I am the Boy? What if the feeling that passed between us when I dropped him off at the inn was a sign? What if all that I'm doing in the library is not working but waiting? Waiting for something – this – to happen? What if – what if…

"You've wanted to leave this place, don't you?" Riku spoke as he continued watching Sora.

"N-No–" Sora began answering but his words faltered and died. He felt that it wasn't the right answer. It wasn't as if he hated practising the same routine everyday. It was just…there was nothing left for him to do, no excitement, nothing to look forward to. Working in the Borough & Bailey Library felt more like working in an airtight box buried in the layers of grey snow. The inertness he was going through in his life at the moment was like the long winter months. Even when he convinced himself that he preferred the tedium and sameness of everything, it wasn't enough. Working in the library and living like this was not enough. The restlessness he often felt at times while working, stimulating him do more and more tasks in the library was not enough. Something was seriously missing there.

Sora averted his gaze away from Riku's, only to rest it upon the darkling horizon. He realised that the landing he and Riku stood on provided the view of Hollow Bastion and its cobbled buildings and its chimney-clad roofs with its wisps of smoke curling lazily up into the sky. Beyond the maze of twisting black rooftops, Sora could see the wild highway that led out of Hollow Bastion, marked by a grand arch. He felt his stomach twist with unease and fear at the thought of leaving the place so familiar to him in order to face something unknown, foreign and possibly dangerous. But there was something else, a much stronger feeling inside him – excitement at the prospect of the upcoming journey, this adventure into the unknown.

Sora took a deep breath and exhaled.

Oh god, I must be crazy.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Riku's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "I'll be waiting at the grand arch for you at dawn." The next thing Sora knew, Riku had brushed past him and was already making his way down the cobbled steps, leaving him by himself. Sora watched as the other disappeared from his view before resting his wrists on the railings of the landing, exhaling another cloud of white condensation.

What should he do now?

Hearing a babble of voices below him, Sora peered down to see the shops of the Marketplace shutting up and shoppers leaving the area. A group of people were chatting right below him, their voices loud enough for Sora to hear:

"So have we found our star yet?"

"The Boy? Yes, we've found someone. The guy who dresses up as the Dragon picked him for some reason. He's quite an unexpected fellow too, that boy. Said he never danced in his life but he looks perfect for the job."

"That's great! We'll send in the costumes for the Dance to you tomorrow. This year's Festival is going to be one to remember."

Sora nearly laughed out loud. He almost regretted not auditioning for the Festival today. That way, he would never have expected to be playing the role of the Boy for real.

"Tomorrow? You're leaving tomorrow?"

Sora cringed at the tone in Leon's voice before he told himself to breathe and answer as calmly as he possibly could: "Tomorrow at dawn, to be exact."

Leon furrowed his eyebrows into something that almost resembled a frown before Aerith reached over and placed her hand upon his arm and sent the other a look.

"Remind us again why you're going away?" she asked, her eyes soft with understanding.

Sora squirmed slightly. He hadn't thought of a plausible excuse for his sudden decision but then he suddenly recalled Leon's advice.

"I'm taking a break," Sora forced himself to speak boldly. "I've been thinking about what you said and I think you guys are right. I've been working too hard."

"Where will you be going?"

"Twilight Town."

To Sora's surprise, he saw Leon look taken aback for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, the man finally spoke, "You're sure you really want to go?"

A feeling of unease twisted in Sora's stomach. He gave the other a stiff nod, "Yeah."

With that, Leon abruptly stood up from his seat. A strange look had settled on his face but it was too vague for Sora to read. The man murmured without looking at him, "You should go home and get yourself ready. Aerith and I will close up the library."

Once Leon left the staffroom, Sora felt Aerith touch his shoulder. "Don't worry about him. He's just a little shocked to hear the news. Hurry home and sort yourself out! Be careful when you drive!" Aerith gave him a smile and he returned it, half-sincere.

At home, Sora wasn't sure how he managed to prepare himself for tomorrow's journey. His mind was buzzing with questions and possible answers. He moved in a sort of daze, sauntering around the house to fetch and shove things into his duffle bag. There was always a voice in his head reminding him that he was really going to leave everything behind – the kitchen counter where he used to do his homework on; the wine stain on the living room carpet, courtesy of the first glass he tried two years prior; the bookshelf in which he arranged Cloud's collection of books (not that his brother had time to notice when he was on his rare visits home). What on earth was he getting himself into? What lay for him on the horizon ahead? Adventure? Danger? Death?

The next thing he knew, he was laying on the living room couch with a pillow mark on his cheek. The clock on the mantelpiece glowed the time of the day: it was almost dawn.

The snow seemed to have thickened overnight when Sora stepped outside his house. In the still darkness, the air was very cold that he could feel his fingers grow numb in seconds. He rubbed his hands together, blowing into them and, with duffle bag in hand, made his way to the little black car that was buried in snow.

"Sora!"

Sora almost gaped in surprise. Standing by his car, wrapped up in thick coats and scarves, were Aerith and Leon, their cheeks and noses red from the cold. Leon looked particularly grumpy being woken up so early in the morning while Aerith was her usual breezy self.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Sora asked, hardly believing they were there in front of him.

"Don't be silly, Sora!" Aerith smiled. "We're here to see you off, of course! Don't think we're letting you go without saying goodbye yet!"

Oh…

Unexpectedly, Sora felt a sudden warmth wash over him at her words. He realised that, depending on the circumstances, he wasn't going to see his two colleagues for some time. He shyly stood back, unable to reply, unable to look at them. He gasped when he felt a pair of arms embrace him and a pink ribbon floated in view.

"A-Aerith," Sora stammered out, feeling his face heat up. He could even see Leon smirking in the background. "Th-Thank you." It was the only thing he could reply to something like this.

"Now you be careful on your journey," Aerith said as she ended their hug. "Call us once you reach Twilight Town. Oooh, I can't believe you're finally going!" She smoothed back a tousled lock of brown hair and leaned in to kiss him on the forehead. Sora tried not to cringe and instead, looked up and smiled at her tender gesture. He was surprised to find her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"I'll put your things in the car," she said, taking his duffle bag and holding up a shopping bag full of food. "I've also bought some things for you. It's never too late to be prepared!" With that, she pushed Sora to Leon and went off to the car.

Leon's silence made their moment together awkward for a while. Sora cleared his throat uncomfortably, his thoughts racing through his head: Leon, who always worries about him… really, why wasn't Leon stopping him from going too soon?

"To be honest," Sora was surprised that Leon's first words were quiet. He was muttering them as if he didn't want to be overheard. "I'm not really convinced about all this. I have a feeling that something's up and you're not telling me the whole truth."

Sora tensed at this. Leon suspected him? What if he finds out that Riku's involved? Then he'll definitely–

But Leon had continued talking, determined to say what he wanted to say, "Aerith and I, we had a long talk last night and I realised situations like this can't be helped. I'm not your parent or your brother or your family and therefore, I don't have the right to stop you from doing what you want. But I do know this; I can't be selfish. I can't keep you around forever, making sure you don't get into trouble. At some point, I've got to let you go. I have to respect the fact that it's your life, Sora. I'm just here to help you when you need it."

Sora stared at Leon, not in shock but in understanding. He realised that he understood Leon better now and the struggle the older man had gone through to accept Sora's abrupt decision. He didn't know what to say except give the other an affirmative nod.

Leon looked at him for a while before he began pulling up his sleeve, revealing his leather band bracelet. Sora stared in shock as the older man pulled it off his wrist. What was Leon doing? He never took that bracelet off. It was precious, valuable to him…so why was he–

"I want you to keep this," Leon lifted Sora's wrist in order to slip the accessory on. He pulled the two ends of string and ran his thumb over the leather band, "so you could deliver a message to someone, okay?"

"Le-Leon…" Sora was speechless at the gift. Leon was giving him this? Why… "Wait. What do you mean by 'a message to someone'?"

The other merely gave him a nonchalant shrug. "You'll find out when you get there."

Sora blinked down at the leather band around his wrist with the two dangling string ends, each tied with a small wooden bead. Pride Rock, right? That's where Leon got it from. This was an important object to him. Important to Leon.

"I'll take good care of it," Sora said, smiling genuinely up at the older man. "Thanks, Leon– huh?" he stopped because he was surprised that Leon had put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it affectionately.

Leon's grey eyes stared into his own. There was a heavy sigh and a small, sincere smile was given.

"We love you, Sora. Don't forget us."

It was at that moment that Sora felt his throat tighten all of a sudden and an overwhelming feeling of something took over his form. He hiccupped and realised that it sounded almost like a sob. He turned away, his face burning with embarrassment when he realised that his eyes had become strangely wet. He quickly blinked the wetness away, put his hand, with the wooden beads of the bracelet dangling in view, on Leon's arm and squeezed back a silent reply.

Above them, dawn finally broke as a strand of light pierced the dark sky.

"Damn it."

Sora refrained himself from hitting the steering wheel with his fist. He was sure that the lane he just took was going to lead him to a dead end. He reversed the car and drove back the other direction, spilling melted snow over the sides of the road. The car protested his abuse with a screech but Sora ignored it and forced himself to remain calm. All he needed to do was find the main highway again. He was sure that the road signs would tell him where the hell was Twilight Town.

Sora regretted throwing away the road maps he had a couple of years ago. Now he was lost in the middle of nowhere with an unresponsive guest who was crouching in the back seat and not offering him much help, no less.

"Riku, do you remember which way I turned?"

"Hm?" Riku snapped out of his trance and blinked at Sora from the rear-view mirror. Sora avoided staring at Riku's eyes for too long. It reminded him so much of the time he nearly crashed the car. Still, he wondered why they were blue – his eyes…

"Well?"

"I don't know."

Oh. Great.

Sora checked his watch and found that it was nearing three in the afternoon. In a little more than an hour or so, it was going to get dark soon and a million times colder. Sora cursed under his breath again. He should find some small town to stay for the night. To do so, he had to find the stupid highway and fast.

Sora stepped on the accelerator and felt his heart stop when the car engine spluttered loudly and died, leaving them in silence.

"No way, this is not happening. Not now," Sora couldn't care less that Riku could see his increasing distress. Sora turned the ignition and got a series of dry knocks in return. What had happened? Sora kicked his door open, made his way to the bonnet of the car, cautiously eased it open and was almost hit by an enormous cloud of hot steam. He backed away, swearing.

Now what?

Riku emerged from the car and Sora gave him a glare in return.

In the end, the two figures ended up trudging across the thick snow, Sora dragging his duffle bag with him while Riku cradled the shopping bag in his arms. Sora felt too irritated to induce a conversation with Riku. After all, it was Riku's fault that they ended up lost in the middle of nowhere.

The air was growing even colder as several minutes passed. Sora had to dig into his duffle bag for a pull-on hat to cover his head and ears. He eyed the long path ahead of them and then glanced at the side. A small woodland stretched alongside the road. What lay on the other side? More woodland or perhaps the highway? Nonetheless, he felt exhausted from the effort of walking in the snow and trying to keep himself warm at the same time. The next time he checked his watch, they had been walking for nearly an hour and the sun had already begun its descent from the sky.

Damn it.

Sora dropped the duffel back onto the snow and sat on top of it. He was goddamn cold, his cheeks stung, his fingers were numb, his nose was runny and there was Riku, standing there in front of him, with cheeks and nose unblemished, who was not even wearing gloves and who didn't appear to be cold at all. Sora kicked at a pile of snow and let out a frustrated sound.

"Are you alright?" Finally, Riku decided to say something.

"No, I'm not," Sora snapped back at him before holding out his hand. "Give me the bag, I'm hungry."

As Sora grumpily nibbled on a biscuit, Riku suddenly crouched in front of him and Sora leaned away, almost startled to see Riku's blue eyes strangely bright. Furthermore, the corner of Riku's lip was twitching upwards, as if to smile. Sora blinked in confusion, not to mention, unease.

"Whoa, Ri–"

"You wanna race?" Sora's mouth remained open as he tried to register exactly what Riku had just voiced out.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Do you want to race me?" Riku repeated again, at a much slower pace. Sora stared incredulously at the other boy. Was Riku serious? It was hard to tell. His face was difficult to read. The only clue that could suffice for the sincerity of that suggestion was the brightness in those blue eyes.

A gust of cold wind gusted past the two figures and Sora found himself sneezing.

"Do you seriously think I want to race you in our present condition? We're lost, dammit. Why even say that in the first place?"

Riku tilted his head slightly, as if to think of an answer. "You were looking upset," he replied. "I thought a run might cheer you up a bit."

Sora gave the other a glare before turning his gaze away, now very irritated to be stuck with the other boy. He grabbed another biscuit and stuffed it into his mouth.

The next thing he knew, the pull-on hat he was wearing was gone and Riku was standing in front of him, dangling it with one hand. Instantly, Sora knew what the other was planning.

Sora pointed his finger at Riku in warning, "Oh no, you're not– don't you dare–"

But what Riku did instead was raise his eyebrows at him, turn around and take off into the snowy woodland.

"DAMMIT! COME BACK HERE!" Sora's bottled-up frustration had finally burst. Blinded by anger, he shot after Riku without a second thought into the clump of trees, his booted feet tossing up snow and his shouts thrown up into the quiet cold air. He could see Riku up ahead, dodging past the trees. Sora ran forward, his legs pumping him onward and he could see that he was catching up to the taller boy. He willed himself to run faster. Riku was not going to get away with this, he told himself. Once I catch him, he'll be–

Despite the cold wind blowing his hair back and the fact that he had to dodge every tree and root in his way, a sense of excitement was building up inside of him. Sora realised that he hadn't felt this way for some time. This feeling… the thrill of this chase… it made him feel alive. Could it be… was this what Riku meant when he said he wanted to cheer Sora up?

When he was just a few metres away from Riku, he almost tripped over when the silver-haired boy sprung away from the path and, unbelievably, ran up the bark of a tree.

"HEY!" Sora yelled but couldn't continue because Riku had leapt off the branch of the tree only to land on another. The pull-on hat was still in his grasp. Sora felt his irritation for the other boy go up a notch.

"NO FAIR!" His voice rang across the naked branches and he could have sworn that he heard Riku laughing at him.

Sora continued running, ignoring the aches in his legs and the stitch that was developing in his side and focused on Riku's form above him. His breaths were coming out in pants and sweat drops were forming on his forehead. He realised that he wasn't so cold anymore.

"Come on!" he yelled to himself. "Almost there!"

Spotting Riku was heading towards a dense snow-covered shrubbery up ahead, Sora spurted forward, determined to reach there first.

Almost… almost…

Riku leapt once more–

Yes!

Sora burst through the shrub, feeling the sharp ends tug at his clothes, and found himself in the middle of the road. And a slippery road to boot.

He slipped on the thin layer of flattened snow, seeing his vision flip upside down. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, panting for breath and there was pain sailing up his body, paralysing his limbs. Not again, he thought as he stared up at the sky which he now noticed had darkened. He realised that all his anger, irritation, all the energy he had before was already spent. He was left physically exhausted.

After several seconds, he carefully got back up, rubbing his sore limbs. Why was a road doing here anyway–

Suddenly, a set of bright lights pierced the growing darkness, blinding him with its brilliance. The sound of an engine roaring broke the silence of the evening and before he knew it, something was hurtling towards him at full speed. It appeared so abruptly that Sora didn't have time to react.

Tires screamed against the ice, filling the evening air and something solid slammed into him. He felt himself thrown sideways, his breath knocked out of his body and pain hitting him like a lightning bolt. He tumbled along the icy road before he rolled to a stop. Pain seared up his side, especially on his elbow.

Silence. All before Sora heard the sound of voices shouting and screeching. He forced his eyes open and realised that he wasn't in the middle of the road anymore. Pushing himself up, he saw tire tracks swerving across the road leading to a jeep parked by the side. Something was lying in the middle of the road. Sora recognised the blue windbreaker.

Riku!

Riku had saved him once again. Sora staggered towards the unmoving body and in passing the jeep, he could hear the voices of a man and a girl arguing inside. He crouched over Riku and touched the other's shoulder. Behind him, the doors of the jeep were kicked open and loud voices disturbed the silence again.

"Oh my gawd! We killed someone! This is so, so bad! I knew I shoulda driven instead! You're already losin' your eyesight, Old Man!"

"Don't you dare call me that, you s__ little brat! He just appeared in the middle of the b___ road like a f__ ghost so don't you blame s__ on my eyesight, you little ___!"

Riku was blinking up at Sora in a slight daze and to Sora's astonishment; the taller boy sat himself up as if he had just woken up from sleeping. Sora's words fumbled out of his mouth, "But how–?"

"Dammit, f__ kids, are you alright?" Sora jerked at the coarseness of the voice (not to mention the language) and looked up to see a blonde man and a teenaged girl standing above them. They looked shaken from the incident; the man's hair stood up in one end while the girl was fiddling with her hands. Sora blinked at them. They made a strange pair.

"We're fine. You didn't hit us at all," it was Riku who answered. He stood up, pulling Sora with him. Sora realised that the other's jaw was tense, his blue eyes narrowed with wariness.

"So what in f__'s name are you doing here?" the man growled at them.

This time, Sora was able to speak again. He was relieved that they were both alive and were saved from freezing to death in the middle of nowhere, "O-Our car… it broke down… somewhere a long way back."

"Is that why you're standing in the middle of the road?" the girl exclaimed. Her hair was short and black and tied back with a bandanna. "What is wrong withyou two? You could have just waved! It's a safer way to get our attention!"

"F__ right. You scared the s__ h__ out of us," the man growled, shakily fishing an unlit cigarette from his pocket and shoving it into his mouth. He glared down at them. "Tell you what. We'll give you __ punks a ride. We're headin' back to our place anyhow. If you don't feel like __-"

"Hey! Old Man! Be nice!" the girl slapped her companion's arm, earning a scowl from the other. She pointed to herself and grinned, "Sorry about that. He isn't usually this friendly. It's just the shock of thinkin' we mighta killed someone, that's all. Oh, and by the way, I should introduce myself. I am the great princess of Awesome– Owww!" she howled in pain when the man slapped upside her head.

"S__ brat. Introduce properly, will you." The man chewed on his cigarette stick and scowled at them. "Let me be honest with you. I hate introductions. But seeing that the situation calls for it, I've got to do the honours. The name's Cid Highwind and this is Yuffie Kisaragi. And it's real f__ nice to meet you two and yadda, yadda. Now that that's done, you should all get your a__ into that goddamn jeep before we freeze to death out here."

Sora felt his eye twitch with unease. He had a bad feeling about this.

Author Notes

Hello! For the maelstrom reviewers:

DieChan, mochiusagi, Sky91, spiritfire, music-is-luv, SuperFriendlySoraFan203, Chronos Mephistopheles, DeeLoli, Kanpa.

THANK YOU, DEARS!! –dedicates this chapter to you all-

Here are some things I'd like to share:

1) This chapter, "dawn", obviously means the beginning of the day. It also represents the beginning of Sora's journey as he breaks away from his current, inert situation and finally steps into motion.

2) The bracelet that Leon gave Sora is actually pretty important later on. The fact that Leon looked "taken aback" when Sora told him he was going to Twilight Town is kind of a clue. We will hear the story behind it in the next chapter or so. The scene of Sora's departure is supposed to be a touching one because Sora, as we have seen so far, does not seem to acknowledge the care that Leon and Aerith give him. In this scene, Leon points it out to him and Sora is shocked at the realisation that he doesn't even have words to answer.

3) I'm not sure myself at what happened to Axel and Roxas. It is assumed that they lost the fight against Riku and fled from the scene.

4) We are getting a glimpse of playful side of Riku's character in the scene where Sora chases Riku. Riku is rather strange and mysterious in this story (not to mention incredibly OOC, tweaked to suit the purposes of this story) and he seems to constantly surprise Sora with his spontaneity. Hence the invitation to "race him".

5) I realised that Sora is not just prone to getting into little accidents. Ever since he met Riku, he's now prone to life-threatening situations. Also, notice that so far, Sora has never once called Riku by his name. It's always "you".

6) Cid and Yuffie were a bit tricky to write. I wasn't entirely sure if I should sprinkle swear words all over the place so I stuck with this technique "__" instead.

To you, Reader, thank you for reading this story!

Feedback and comments are, of course, very much appreciated.

I would love to hear what you think so far. 'Till next chapter then!