Rein woke up and found herself lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. She sat up and looked around the room. She removed the blanket from her body before getting out of bed. She noticed her bag and shoes on a chair and put on her shoes. Just when was about to grab her bag, she started to feel light-headed and started to fall back until she felt someone's hands on her shoulders holding her up. She looked up and blushed at the sight of a brown-haired guy looking down at her.
"I see that you're awake. But since you're still feeling a bit light-headed, I suggest that you get back into bed and get more rest." Rein was completely caught by surprise when the guy suddenly picked her up like a princess and carried her over to bed before lying her down on it. "I was told that you wouldn't be awake for another while."
"Who are you? And where am I?"
"You're in a hotel in Traverse Town. I found you outside the building unconscious and brought you here."
"Thank you for doing that for me. My name's Rein."
"Leon. What were you doing out in the streets with those Heartless out there?"
"Heartless?"
"They're these shadow creatures that go around stealing hearts. It's nearly impossible to defeat them. You were pretty lucky that you didn't end up in the Second District. That area has a whole bunch of Heartless going around. But the worse area is the Third District."
"I think I have faced these Heartless before. Back at home. But I don't know if it's still there since it was already disappearing before Sora and I ended up here. Oh my gosh! Sora! Is he alright?"
"I don' know who you're talking about. There was no one else around when I found you. Just hope that the Heartless haven't found him. Your friend won't stand a chance against them."
"Poor Sora. But he has this key-like weapon. Will he be okay as long as he has it. He was able to destroy the Heartless when we encountered them back home."
"Sounds like your friend has the Keyblade. That's good to know." Leon started walking to the door and was about to open the door but not before saying, "You should stay here and rest for a while longer. I'll go look for your friend and bring him back here."
Leon closed the door and left Rein alone to think about everything that has happened. After a while Rein decided to get out of bed, grabbed her bag, and walked out of the door.
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Sora walked out of a building where, like the other places he went to, found no sign of Rein. Even some of the people he asked haven't seen her anywhere. Ever since he woke up in an alley, he's been looking all around town for her.
"They'll come at you out of nowhere." Sora stopped to look around until he saw Leon standing nearby. "And they'll keep on coming at you as long as you continue to wield that Keyblade." Leon pointed at the Keyblade in Sora's hand as the said boy stood with his guard up. "But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. I guess Rein forgot to mention that the wielder of the Keyblade was just some kid."
"Rein? You've seen her?! Where is she now?!"
"Rein's resting in a hotel. She'll be fine once she's done resting. Now about that Keyblade." Leon brought his arm down as he started walking towards Sora. "How about we have a look at it?"
"What? There's no way you're getting this! I want to see for myself if Rein's okay."
"Alright then, have it you way."
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"Sora! Sora!" Rein had been calling out for Sora while looking for him for a while now and still no sign of him. "Where could he be? Huh?" Rein stopped walking when she started to get a strange feeling. "I feel like I'm being drawn towards something. I better check it out."
Rein followed to where the strange feeling was leading her until she stopped in front of a large door leading out of the hotel and into the Second District.
"Leon warned me about a whole bunch of Heartless in the other districts. But the strange feeling feels stronger than it was before. Like it's leading me this way."
"Help me!"
Rein was startled and looked around to find who suddenly called for help. Seeing no one else around but her, she thought might've just been hearing things.
"Someone please help!"
"Who keeps calling for help?"Rein looked around again but still couldn't find the one calling for help. "What's going on? I could've sworn I heard someone." Rein looked towards the door leading to the Second District. "Maybe that voice has something to do with what's leading me here. Only one way to find out."
Rein opened the door and walked into the Second District. She closed the door behind her before heading towards where the strange feeling was leading her.
"Someone! Please help me!"
Rein stopped walking and looked around until she heard someone running from behind her. She turned around and saw a woman running towards her in fear until she tripped and fell to the ground. Before she could do anything, Rein was shocked when she witnessed the woman's heart float out of her body. Her heart floated towards and merged with a small piece of darkness before, creating a Heartless wearing a knight's helmet.
"What was that? That woman's heart...became a Heartless. Is that how a Heartless is made? I have to Sora, fast!"
Rein started running back to the door she used to get into the Second District. She was lucky not to run into any Heartless on the way. She finally made it to a large door and just when she walked into the First District, she heard some metals clashing like a fight was going on nearby. After what she just witnessed she should've just continued looking for Sora, but something was telling her to go towards the fight. She closed the door before going to find out what was going on. By the time she got to where the clashing was coming from, she saw Sora fall back and was now unconscious due to exhaustion.
"Sora!" Rein rushed over to Sora and knelt down beside him before holding him up to sitting position. "Sora wake up! Are you okay?! Sora!"
"Don't worry." Rein looked up at the black-haired girl standing next to Leon. "He'll be okay. I'm guessing that he passed out due to exhaustion. Some rest will do him some good. Let's take him back to the hotel. Leon's strong enough to carry your friend there."
"Leon doesn't have to do that." Leon walked over and carried Sora over his shoulder as he started walking back to the hotel. "Leon wait. You don't ha—"
"Don't worry about Leon." Rein felt a hand on her shoulder and looked back at the black-haired girl. "He can bring your friend there safe and sound. My name's Yuffie, by the way."
"My name's Rein."
"Yuffie. What were you doing out here anyway? You were supposed to stay at the hotel."
"Well when I went to check on Rein, I found her missing. I figured she went out to look for her friend, so I went out to make sure she doesn't run into any Heartless. I just happened to be nearby when you and her friend fought each other. But it's a good thing I was around because Rein showed up a little while after."
"Didn't I tell you to stay in your room while I went to look for your friend? *sigh* Let's head back to the hotel so your friend can rest up there." Leon, Yuffie, and Rein started heading back to hotel but not before Yuffie picked up Sora's Keyblade. "Try not to do any more reckless stunts like that. It's too dangerous to go around unarmed. Especially when the Heartless can suddenly appear anytime anywhere."
"I'm sorry for leaving like that. I was just worried about Sora. Luckily I didn't run into any Heartless. Well...except that one I saw in the Second District..."
"The Second District? What were you even doing there? That area has Heartless hiding in every corner. I bet Leon didn't warn you about the bunch of Heartless going around in that area. Shame on you, Leon."
"I did tell her. I didn't expect her to actually go out into the Second District on her own after hearing my warning."
"While I was looking for Sora but then I suddenly felt this strange feeling. It felt like it was trying to lead me somewhere. When I saw that it was leading me towards the Second District, I was hesitant on going there because I remembered your warning. But then I suddenly heard a cry for help. I didn't see anyone else in the area. I thought I was just hearing things, but I kept hearing that cry for help. I thought it might have something to do with that strange feeling and continued following it. When I entered the Second District, I..." Leon and Yuffie stopped and looked back at Rein when she stopped walking and was looking down. "...I saw someone's heart merged with darkness and become a Heartless. Or at least I think it's a Heartless. It looked different from the one's I saw before."
"Heartless can come in different shapes and sizes." Yuffie walked over to Rein and placed her hand on her shoulder. "But that's usually how Heartless are made. You were pretty lucky you were able to find your friend and Leon without running into any Heartless. Let's continue heading back, yeah?"
Rein nodded her head before she, Leon, and Yuffie continued heading back to the hotel. When they arrived at the hotel Leon took the Keyblade from Yuffie and went to put Sora in a vacant room while Yuffie and Rein went into the room Rein was in earlier. Rein put her bag on her bed before sitting on the edge of it. Yuffie grabbed the chair and placed it next to Rein's bed before sitting in it.
"Rein, about what you said earlier. You said you felt a strange feeling that led you to the Second District. Did you find out what it was?"
"No, I didn't. I was so shocked by what I saw that I immediately ran out of there because I was worried the same thing might happen to Sora."
"Well...do you feel it now?"
"Um...no. Now that you mention it. I think I stopped feeling it after I saw that person's heart become a Heartless. But I'm not sure. I was too shocked about all that to notice."
"That 'feeling' you felt as well as that 'cry for help' you heard might be that person's heart. I've heard about an ability like that. It's one of the abilities of the Guardian of Hearts." Yuffie and Rein looked towards the door just as Leon walked into the room and closed the door behind him. "Your friend is in room next door. He'll be fine after he gets some rest."
"That's good. So are you saying that I might be the Guardian of Hearts? How is that possible? How come haven't felt this ability before?"
"It's the only explanation for you knowing that someone's heart was in trouble." Yuffie moved to sit next to Rein on the bed so Leon can sit on the chair. "At least that's the only explanation we know."
"As to why you're having that ability now, it's probably because of everything that's happened. The power of the Guardian of Hearts must've been dormant inside you until you were at a point where your heart was in great danger." Rein looked down and placed her hand against where he heart was before looking up at Leon for him to continue. "Usually you can control which heart or hearts you want to keep an eye on. But since you sensed a random heart without really intending to means that you haven't fully mastered that ability yet. You're supposed to have other abilities as well, but I guess you'll have to become stronger in order to figure out what your other abilities are."
"I see. I think I might've already discovered another ability, but I didn't think it might have something to do with being the Guardian of Hearts. While Sora had the Keyblade to fight the Heartless, I create some kind of invisible barrier that repels them."
"Sounds like you discovered another Guardian of Hearts's abilities. At least with that you're not too defenseless."
"It's a good thing that you're actually accepting all of this." Yuffie got off the bed and started heading towards the door. "We should go check on your friend. He should be waking up soon."
Rein nodded her head before getting off the bed as she and Leon followed Yuffie to the room Sora was resting in. Yuffie went into Sora's room first and Rein was about to follow until Leon told her to wait.
"What is it, Leon?"
"There's something you're not telling us."
"I...Before all that happened, the Heartless showing up and our home being overcome by darkness, I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. I thought it was just nerves because we were almost done building the raft my friends and I were going to use to travel to other worlds. So I kept it to myself. If I knew that was what that feeling was," Leon noticed Rein was clenching her fists as tears started to form in her eyes. "I-I could've warned everyone. I should've done something. Anything!"
"Even if you knew. There was nothing you could do. It's just something you can't prevent. No matter what you try to do." Rein looked up at Leon when she felt him place his hand on her shoulder. ""You shouldn't really let the past hold you back. What's done is done. If you keep holding onto the past, then you might lose track of what's happening now." Rein nodded her head before wiping off her tears. "Good. Now let's check to see if your friend's awake."
Rein and Leon walked into the room and found Sora sitting on the bed, and Yuffie standing next to it. Just when they walked in, Rein smiled a little bit when Sora mistook Yuffie as Kairi.
'I hope that Riku and Kairi are okay. Wherever they are.'
"I think you might've overdone it, Squall."
"That's Leon."
"Sora?" Sora looked behind Yuffie to see Rein standing next to Leon. "Are you okay?"
"Rein! You're okay!" Rein smiled at him before walking over to stand next to the bed. "I've been looking for you. I woke up in an alley and couldn't find you anywhere. What are you doing here?"
"Leon found me. He's the one who carried you here after you passed out. You looked pretty exhausted after you fought him."
"I guess I was. There aren't any of those shadow creatures around, are there?" Sora looked around until his gaze remained at his Keyblade leaning against the wall. "The Keyblade..."
"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that that's how they were tracking you."
"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work too long. Still hard to believe that you, of all people, is the chosen one." Leon picked up the Keyblade before it magically disappeared form his hand and into Sora's. "Well, I suppose beggars can't choosers."
"Why don't you start making sense?! What's going on here?"
"You should sit down for this." Leon gestured for a chair next to the bed before Rein sat down on it. "There's a lot to explain."