VictorianPearl: I'm taking a small break from writing CCS fictions to write a couple of Kingdom Hearts fictions. This fiction is post Kingdom Hearts II. This idea came to me sort of randomly, but I've got lots of good ideas for it. I'm typing it as I feel, but I'll probably post after I've gotten a few chapters down. I'm really looking forward to this fiction and I hope you will all like it.
Summary: It has only been about a month after the end of Kingdom Hearts II. Even though the Heartless have been sealed away, their Nobodies have been left behind to terrorize Twilight Town. It is now up to Sora, Riku, Kairi, and some other friends, to stop the Nobodies and save the town.
Golden Rays
Chapter One: Sunburned Hearts
It was a lazy day on the mother island of Destiny Islands. That was just the way Sora liked it these days. There had been so much going on during the fight against the Heartless that there had never been time to relax before. Remembering those days made Sora treasure these ones even more.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi had just gotten out of school and they were now traveling down the dirt road to the docks. The sun was straight overhead in the sky, beating down its warm rays. The ever lapping waves of the ocean set the scene to the peaceful atmosphere.
Sora had never realized how much he had actually missed school. Although he had always remained fairly carefree and naïve during his battle with the Keyblade, he didn't realize that a large part of him had been forced to grow up. Going to school and doing such routine things helped him bring back his true nature. It might have been helping Riku more than Sora though.
If what had happened to Sora had forced him to grow up, then Riku was well beyond his years. He had been mature for his age two years before the journey, but now he was to compare with. With Sora and Kairi's help though, he was quickly loosening up.
The three best friends chatted as they came up to the docks. King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all visited fairly often, or at least the latter two did. King Mickey had come to visit often at first, but now his duties as a king were catching up with him and he was finding less and less time to visit. The three didn't blame him though, it was perfectly understandable.
"I'll race you there!" Sora called behind him, jumping in his boat, causing the waves to thrash a bit underneath him.
"With you, it's always a race," Kairi commented, giggling, "You don't know how to relax, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Sora asked, leaning back in the boat. 'This is relaxing."
"You haven't caught on yet, Kairi." Riku said, climbing down into his boat. "With Sora, you just have to smile and nod."
"Yeah, that's what you say now," Sora commented, "but you always race me. It's not like I win all the time."
"I have to let you think I'm playing along." Riku said coolly.
Sora opened his mouth, but Kairi cut him off. "Come on you two, you enjoy racing and we all know it, so stop arguing, it will save us more time that we can imagine."
The three friends laughed good naturedly at the conversation. Kairi slipped down into her boat and gently pushed off, already quite some ways behind Riku and Sora. She rowed her boat at a slow pace, not wanting to wear herself out. When she got to the island, Sora was doing cartwheels of victory for winning the race. Riku made some sort of comment about how immature he was, but Sora knew better.
"So where are we going to do today?" Kairi asked her two friends.
"We're going to the little island with the poupu trees." Riku said.
"I'll race you." Sora challenged.
The two were off again, a blur of black and yellow. Kairi laughed as she began to run behind them. She was making her way to the bridge when something caught her eye. There in the water was a bottle with a message in it. Kairi ran out into the waves and picked up the bottle. She immediately saw the King's insignia on the paper and began to run up to the bridge.
Kairi ran across the bridge to the little island where Sora and Riku were now relaxing on the bent palm tree. She ran up behind them and dropped the bottle into Sora's hands.
"It's from the king!" Kairi announced.
Riku turned his attention to watch as Sora pulled out the stopper and shook out the paper inside. He unrolled the paper and the three best friends read it together. Sora read it twice over, just to be sure.
Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,
I'm sorry to inform you that your journey is not yet over. I hate to bring you back from your island after so short a time, but I fear it is inevitable. Although you have sealed away the Heartless, it seems that Twilight Town is still being attacked by the Nobodies left behind.
I have visited the town and they need your help. None of the other worlds are having any of these problems, just Twilight Town. I will be sending a gummi ship for you with Donald and Goofy. I had wanted to see you soon but I hadn't thought it would be like this.
Your Friend,
King Mickey
There was a silence after everyone had read the letter. Sora's eyes didn't come off of the paper. Riku and Kairi glanced back and force between each other, waiting for Sora to say something.
"Well," Sora started, "it looks like we get to visit Haynar and the gang."
"Looks like it." Kairi commented.
"You're not upset, are you?" Riku asked.
"Upset? No, I'm not upset." Sora said. "I'm glad we have a reason to go and visit them. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but whatever works." Sora sent Kairi and Riku a big smile.
Kairi hugged Sora around the waist. "I'm so glad. I want to be able to fight with you two. All I ever did before was watch, that's why I was kidnapped by Axle in the first place."
Sora nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we'll all go and help them out. Mickey didn't make it sound too serious, so I'm not exactly full of worry. Plus, I'm excited to have a go at Struggle."
"That's what you're excited about?" Riku asked incredulously. "You're excited about Struggle."
Sora nodded, wondering why Riku was asking such an obvious question. "Of course I am, aren't you?"
Riku crossed his arms. "Well…maybe a little."
"Hey, whatcha doing there Kairi?" Sora asked, leaning forward to read the paper she was scribbling on from her book bag.
"I'm making a shopping list." Kairi said. "Olette and I are going to have to take a trip around the market."
"And just whose munny do you plan on spending?" Sora asked curiously.
"I have some of my own." Kairi said innocently. "But you collected so much on your journey, I just though I might borrow a thousand munny."
"A thousand?" Sora gaped, almost falling off of the bent palm tree. "When you say borrow, do you actually plan on paying me back? I do want to save some of that munny for the future you know."
Kairi rolled her eyes jokingly. "Isn't that future going to be with me though?"
Sora immediately blushed. "Well, I um…yeah, but-I…"
Kairi and Riku laughed. "Don't worry, Sora." Kairi assured. "I'll pay you back…eventually."
Riku and Kairi laughed some more as Sora narrowed his eyes slightly. "Alright, but you don't sound so sure."
The three hung out for about an hour before Riku pestered them back to the docks. He wasn't really pestering, he just kept reminding them that they had homework and should go and finish it. Sora kept arguing that it was Friday and that they had all weekend to finish it, but Riku would have none of that. According to our white haired friend, now that they would be leaving soon, they would have to get as much work done as possible so that they weren't completely behind when they got back.
"Come on Riku." Sora said, slapping his best friend on the back. "Kitoro-sensei doesn't care about our work. She's practically in love with you. As long as you give her a good story, she'll let it slide."
"All the more reason not too." Riku said. "Just because you have the power to do something, doesn't mean you have to use it all the time. Just like you and the Keyblade, Sora. Even though you can unlock any lock, do you go around unlocking everything like a maniac?"
"Of course not," Sora said, "I have privacy to respect."
"Exactly," Riku said, "and I have trust to respect."
Sora looked at Kairi, who shook her head, and he finally gave up. It wasn't that he minded doing homework much, he just liked to pester Riku about Kitono-sensei whenever possible.
Riku had begun to untie his boat as Kairi and Sora were walking up to theirs. Sora reached down for his rope and felt a sharp pain in his chest. He instantly recoiled and clutched his chest. He breathed and waited for the moment to pass.
Kairi noticed that something was wrong with Sora. "Are you alright, Sora?" She asked.
Sora nodded, and went to reach for the rope again. This time the pain came even sharper than before and Sora fell onto his knees on the dock.
"Riku," Kairi cried, alerting her friend of what had happened. She ran from her boat to Riku, who was now beside Sora.
"Hey Sora, what's wrong?" Riku asked, placing a hand on his friend's back.
"My heart," was all Sora managed to whisper before he slumped forward to be caught by Riku.
Kairi dropped to her knees and grabbed Sora's hand as Riku flipped the younger boy onto his back. Sora was not unconscious, but he didn't seem to be all there either. His eyes were half closed and he mumbled something about "hearts".
"Riku, what's wrong?" Kairi asked.
"I don't know." Riku replied. He tried shaking his friend's shoulders. "Hey Sora, snap out of it."
When there was no avail, Kairi tried. "Sora, please come back." She squeezed his left hand with her right and placed her left hand over his heart.
When Kairi placed her hand over his heart, that seemed to bring Sora back. He blinked his brilliant blue eyes a couple of times before taking a deep breath. He looked around at everyone.
"What just happened to me?"
Riku shrugged as he helped his friend sit up. "We'll have to ask when Donald and Goofy get here, maybe they'll know something."
"Yeah…" Sora trailed, placing his right hand over his heart. "It felt like something was tugging at me. It was like something was trying to break away from me, and I didn't mind."
"Did it hurt?" Kairi asked slowly, her hands now buried in her skirt.
Sora shook his head. "Not much, it was just weird."
The three looked at each other for a few moments in silence. Riku was the first to break it.
"Come on, let's get back to the island. We'll have some food before we start homework, which should help you feel better."
Sora nodded in agreement. "You know just what to make me feel better, Riku."
"It's not exactly a big secret." Kairi said, giggling.
Sora scratched behind his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
They each got in their boats and headed back to the mother island. Riku stayed slightly behind Sora's boat, just in case Sora went falling again. There was no falling though, and everyone made it back to the mother island without getting too wet. They all went to Sora's house and ate his mom's awesome cooking before settling in Sora's room to finish their homework.
It only took an hour to get everything finished, and by that time, everyone was ready to go home and have a second dinner. Sora walked his two friends outside. Riku said goodbye and headed to the left, where as Kairi headed to the right. She was a little ways down the road when she turned around and ran back, launching herself into Sora's arms.
Sora was surprised by Kairi's actions, but he didn't at all mind them. He tightly wrapped his arms around her and held her for a few moments. Kairi stood on her tip toes and whispered "goodbye" into his ear before kissing him on the cheek and running away.
The former Keyblade wielder brought his hand to his cheek as he watched his childhood crush, and now, girlfriend, run off into the twilight to her home. Twilight…just thinking about it got him excited. Twilight lead to thinking about Donald and Goofy, which lead to thinking about Nobodies, and forgetting the earlier pain in his heart.
Sora turned to go back inside and eat some more of his mom's awesome cooking along with his dad. After dinner he would call Riku and talk to him, and then he would call Kairi. Yep, the rest of this evening sounded pretty relaxing. He was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
VVV
VictorianPearl: And there is chapter one. I plan on making the other chapters longer, but this was just the kick off. I'm not sure how often updates will be. Hopefully, since I'll have at least four or five of these pre-written, I'll get one chapter a week. Please R&R and tell me what you think.