Dislcaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts – only my OCs. I also don't own the cover. My talented friend, Elizabeth, designed it for me.

Rewrote this prologue because it was cheesy and unrealistic as hell.

Enjoy the new version!

Prologue

A six-year-old girl with skin as pale as the snow itself lay beneath the glittering night sky. Her eyes were shut tightly – almost as if she were trying to block something out of her mind. Her tiny form shivered as a chill ran through her body, and she curled up tightly into a ball in an attempt the conserve the little body heat remaining.

"Where are you?" Her lips formed the words, a whisper upon the breeze passing by. "Ellie? Annie?"

No response was forthcoming. Her emerald eyes slowly opened to take in her surroundings. Nothing looked familiar. Where was she?

"Ellie?" She called out again. "Annie?" The volume of her voice increased as desperation kindled within her. "Come out, please!"

Silence.

A tremble went through her as she finally realized that she was completely alone in unfamiliar surroundings. There was nothing more she feared than loneliness. She fervently wished for someone, anyone, to come by.

Then, a voice called to her. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

She bolted upright. Caution battled with loneliness within her, and then the loneliness won over. She darted over to where the voice had originated from and tackled the source – a man with a spiked ponytail and a scar across his eye.

With a grunt, the man backed up in order to balance himself. This little girl, whomever she was, was very strong. He took a mental note of that before asking her a question. "Who are you, little one?"

He received no response, other than the tightening of his cloak in the girl's fists. "What is your name?" She shook her head from side to side. The man sighed and awkwardly stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her. Eventually, his actions worked and her shivering began to subside. Within a few minutes, she released her grip on his cloak and backed away.

"Who are you?" She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Where am I?"

"I am Master Eraqus, and you are in the Land of Departure. May I ask again what your name is?"

She hesitated, debating whether or not the man was trustworthy. At his encouraging smile, she quietly said, "Mai."

"Well, Mai, do you know where you came from?" Master Eraqus inquired gently.

She lowered her eyes. "No. I only remember Annie and Ellie."

"And who are they?"

"… My family."

Master Eraqus' eyes softened. "Where are they?"

The little girl's lip quivered and she fought back tears. "I don't know."

Master Eraqus paused for a moment. All signs pointed to Mai being from another world. It seemed as if she had lost most of her memory, and she was clearly too young to be on her own. "It looks like I'm taking on another apprentice." He muttered to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Come, Mai, let me get you somewhere warm where you can stay for a while. What do you think?"

Mai looked up at his welcoming features and blinked in speculation. "Okay, I guess."

She grabbed his offered hand and the duo began walking towards the lighted building ahead. Peering up at him, she wondered, "How long am I staying?"

"For as long as you need a home." Master Eraqus replied to Mai's surprise She smiled gratefully and nodded.

A home. She liked the sound of that.

Seven years later…

Seven years later, and Mai still called the Land of Departure her home. In the past few years, she had been adopted on as a little sister by her two friends, had gained a father in Master Eraqus, and had begun her training to become a keyblade master. She couldn't be happier.

But, at the end of what seemed to be a spectacularly run-of-the-mill day, her list of reasons to be happy would have another unexpected addition.

"Weird." Mai commented to herself. "Something feels different about today." She sat on a bench, watching as her two close friends sparred with one another. "What do you think, Aqua?"

"Little busy here, Mai!" Aqua panted, dodging a hit from Terra.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." The blonde girl waved a hand dismissively. "C'mon, Aqua! You almost let Terra get you that time!"

The bluenette resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I'm doing my best, Mai."

"Whose side are you on, anyways?" Terra gasped playfully, leaping back on defense. "You're supposed to be the neutral party."

Mai sent a cheeky smile over in their direction, nestling back into her chair. "I will be no such thing."

Master Eraqus, who had been watching the two train, rolled his eyes. Mai would learn… with time. Until then, he would just have to be patient. He leaned forward and massaged his temples as Mai proceeded to shout insults at the two.

Make that very patient.

He stood up then, deciding to put an end to the match, and to Mai's verbal jabs. "Enough, you two. Well done. Let's give Mai a chance to practice something other than her insults, now." He beckoned Mai to come over to the middle of the room. She groaned before sullenly getting up. She knew the drill.

It had been a year since they had first attempted to retrieve the keyblade, and there was still no progress. In that time, she had managed to become proficient with double fans, but that apparently wasn't enough for her rigid Master. But, in the end, she knew the practice would benefit her.

Aqua and Terra moved respectfully out of the way, whispering encouragements as they did so. Mai gave them a small smile in appreciation at their attempts before readying herself to delve deep into her heart.

As all the times before, Mai closed her eyes and imagined herself traveling through the dark passage that led to the source of her power. But, like all the times before, an invisible wall blocked her path. She cried out in frustration and blinked her eyes open angrily. "No luck." She muttered disappointedly.

Before anyone had a chance to say anything, they all heard a door creak open. The four people paused, locking eyes with one another. It wasn't a common occurrence to have visitors.

Mai, glad for the distraction, was the first to rush over to the balcony to see who had interrupted. She looked down to see a creepy-looking man and a teenage boy. Her interest peaked as she examined the boy further. He had blonde hair, the same shade as hers. He was obviously human, and around her age, but something seemed off about him. He almost seemed empty, as if all of his hopes and dreams, emotions and feelings had been taken from him. This was a broken boy.

Master Eraqus walked down cautiously to greet his guests. He exchanged nods with the creepy man and they proceeded back up the stairs, presumably to discuss who the boy was and what had happened to him. Mai, too impatient to wait for the full story, decided to go down and find it out from the boy's own mouth. She jumped off the balcony and landed right in front of him, ignoring Aqua's shout of warning. The poor guy didn't even bat an eye, and just looked up at her emotionlessly. The lack of feelings in his eyes made a cold shiver run through her body. However, she ignored the uneasiness she felt for the sake of curiosity. "Hi, I'm Mai! Who are you?"

She cocked her head to the side and made sure to smile warmly at him. He looked vaguely uncomfortable and glanced back down at the ground.

"Ventus."

At that moment, Terra had made his way down the stairs, albeit through a safer route. The brunet teen stepped back in astonishment. "Hey, you can talk." He stated in surprise. Terra turned back around to face Aqua, who was leaning over the railing in curiosity. "Aqua, c'mere!"

A smile stretched across the bluenette's face and she dashed down the stairs. She stopped in front of Ventus and introduced herself. "I'm Aqua, and this is Terra, who forgot to introduce himself. Please excuse his rudeness."

Terra rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, glaring at Aqua. Mai let out a giggle at his expression.

Ventus looked up at each of them blankly. "Mai… Terra… Aqua…"

Mai's entire countenance lifted up. "You remember my name!" She leaned forward and poked him excitedly. Terra sent her an amused glare while Aqua pulled her back reprovingly.

"Don't tackle him. He could get overwhelmed." Aqua hissed in her ear. Mai nodded reluctantly in assent, seeing the truth in her words, but also not regretting her actions.

"Hey, you're fine, aren't you, Ven?" Mai crossed her arms and waited for a response. A minute passed.

"… Or not." She said under her breath.

To clear the awkward silence that followed, Terra voiced a question. "Are you coming to train with us?" When no answer followed, he asked another. "Where are you from?" Mai examined the boy more. He was looking more and more confused by the second.

"Who's that man with you? Are you good with a keyblade?" Terra continued. At this point, Ventus was shaking and making pained sounds. Mai glowered at Terra.

"Hey, stop it! Can't you see you're stressing him out?"

Terra snorted. "Says the person who manhandled him earlier."

The two friends crossed their arms and speared each other with their eyes, but their glaring fest was abruptly interrupted when Ventus fell to the floor. Mai let out a squeak of shock as his arm landed on her foot.

"Are you okay?" Aqua asked in concern. Mai knelt down next to him, not knowing what to do. She stiffened as an angry voice came out from behind them.

"What did you do?"

It was the bald dude. Mai narrowed her eyes at the stranger. It only made sense that he would have been the one to put Ventus in such a state. He had glittering malevolent eyes that screamed 'bad guy.'

Terra obviously didn't feel the same suspicions. "Nothing, I-I just asked him some stuff!" He stammered guiltily.

The yellow-eyed man kneeled to the marble floor and picked Ventus up, as if daring them all to say something again. Mai held her tongue, but followed his movements with her eyes. Then, Master Eraqus stepped in front of the bald dude and Mai was forced to tear her eyes away from him.

"Ventus cannot tell you anything," Their Master stated, "becaue he cannot remember anything. Master Xehanort has come to leave him in our care."

Mai exhaled softly, a burning feeling festering at the back of her throat. She certainly knew how that felt. Poor Ven.

She pushed off the ground, standing up a bit shakily. Master Eraqus had been there for her, so she would be there for Ventus. No one should go through that turmoil alone. Besides, Baldy doesn't even count as company.

"I'll take care of him." Mai locked eyes with her Master determinedly. "I'll help him in any way I can, I promise."

Everyone in the room was rendered speechless at the words that came from the usually immature girl. Master Eraqus, himself, was the most shocked at her blatant display of empathy. She hadn't ever fully opened up before, presumably because of her lost memories, and an open heart was the key to mastering the keyblade. But this boy… Perhaps he was that key.

Master Eraqus paused and turned back to the stairs, trying to hide the pride shining in his eyes. "Well, I'll trust you to keep your word."

Mai nodded, the implications of her words hitting her all at once. Her heart skipped a beat, feeling the purity of her emotions. This purity emanated out of Mai's body in the form of a blinding white light, and she creased her eyebrows in confusion at the sudden feeling of cold metal in her palm. Something was in her hand.

When the intense glow had faded, Aqua was the first to look back at her friend. A smile spread across her face.

"Congratulations, Mai. Welcome to the ranks."