Opening AN: These are basically going to be a series of short one shots/drabbles for KH (mostly gen./friendship), based off of a prompt list I found somewhere, that deal primarily with the different Disney characters and their worlds and Sora's interaction with them. These are coming as my first real foray into the KH-writing fandom, so I'm still getting used to the characters. Also, stylistically, these might get annoying (because of fragments, random formatting, etc.). Ha ha. My style fluctuates depending on what I'm reading at the moment, I think, and these first few are from a time when I was reading a lot of fragmented-poetic-type stories, so...I apologize for any confusion while reading. Updates will be really random, sorry - I'm not regular with anything. But, hopefully these will be enjoyable to someone.

title: ocean
world: atlantica
disclaimer: kingdom hearts © squarenix, ariel/part of your world lyrics © disney

"Sora…have you ever been…up there?"

"Up where?"

"Above the water…"

Ariel fingered the ballerina music box again.

"Out of the ocean…"

The ballerina twirled to music that neither of them could hear.

"Out of here…"

She looked up at the crack of sunlight seeping through the hole in the grotto.

Sora watched her a bit sadly. Here, the ocean was a world of its own.

Up there…that was another world entirely. A world of men. Of grass and sand.

Of new things.

Things Ariel could never get close to, things she could never experience.

Because she wasn't part of that world. The ocean…that was her home.

But, oh, how she longed to be part of something else…

"No…" Sora said after a moment, not really lying. But not really telling the truth.

"What would it be like, I wonder?"

Her arms stretched above her head, towards the surface so far away.

Grabbing the sun.

And Sora remembered, faintly, a friend reaching for the horizon.

Holding stars in the palm of his hand.

"Don't you want to know what's out there? Beyond the island, beyond us?"

"What's so good about out there?" he asked.

What was wrong with home? What was wrong with here and now?

"Because it's not here. Because it's new. Because there's more. And I know it."

She smiled at him, ambitious and curious and eager.

When's it my turn?

Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above?

And Sora knew why he liked Ariel so much.

And why he was so afraid of her.

"C'mon, Sora. Wouldn't it be an adventure?"

"Don't you think it would be an adventure?"

But never an adventure they could take together.

Wish I could be…part of that world.