Title: Runaway Sky
Author: Megan G. aka Toady-chan
Rating: T
Genre: Romance/General/Angst(?)
Series: Kingdom Hearts
Pairing(s): Riku x Sora, Cloud x Leon
Summary: Sora decides he is fed up and runs away. He never suspects that he would meet a certain silver-haired boy, who ends up showing him that life isn't as bad as he thinks.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Notes/Warnings: Mentions of rape, character death, language, shounen-ai.
Status: Incomplete

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Runaway Sky
Chapter I
To Canada We Go

"I've had it!" the spiky-haired brunet shouted angrily at his parents, before running out of the room and stomping up the marble staircase for all he was worth. How dare his parents refuse to allow him to go to Kairi's party just because her parents wouldn't be there! He wasn't a child, he didn't need supervision twenty-four/seven. He couldn't believe they didn't trust him to be able to take care of himself! He was no longer a child, he could defend himself. At least, he hoped he could.

"Sora! Get back down here right now!" his father yelled up the stairs, but Sora ignored him.

"We're simply doing this out of concern for you!" his mother chimed in, trying to sweet-talk him back downstairs. Sora ignored her, as well, and simply slammed his door shut, causing the hinges to sound their angry protest to the treatment.

The brunet flopped face first onto his large, cushiony bed, and stretched out his arm to grab a pillow, with which he let his frustration out on. After he deemed the innocent, feathery object beaten to a pulp, he sighed heavily and simply stared at the ceiling. He felt a little guilty for yelling at his parents, but still. He wasn't a little kid anymore, they couldn't hide him away from the world forever. He had to get out there on his own, experience things, make his own mistakes and learn from them. He was older now, he had put his past behind him; why couldn't they?

Get out there on his own... Thoughts of running away suddenly claimed territory in Sora's mind. His hand slid to his belt as he felt for his cell phone. Unhooking it, he brought it to his face and stared at it. He could easily run away. Tonight, if he so desired. Sora sat up, his large blue eyes darting toward his dresser where he hid his wallet. He had more than enough allowance saved up for a plane ticket out of Japan, plus hotel expenses and lots of spending money. Coming from a very rich family had its perks, you know.

He wanted to. Oh, he wanted to... He could, he really could. But should he? He idly thought of his parents' reaction to his disappearance. They no doubt would fall to pieces, but it would teach them Sora could take care of himself. Sora could prove to himself that he could do it. The plans formed in his mind, from what the note he left would say, to where he would go and what he would do there. Attending a foreign school sounded pretty fun... He could do anything he wanted without his parents there. Hell, he could pretend to be someone completely different. Though he doubted he'd go that far, but it was a neat idea.

"Where should I go...?" the lone teenager thought, his deceivingly innocent eyes looking upward at the ceiling while he placed a finger on his chin in thought. 'China? Nah, don't know Chinese. Um... New York? That's kind of overused, I think. Though I do know enough English to get by. Wait... Canada!' Sora laughed quietly to himself at his brilliance. He could run away to Canada, snipping out a bit of a cliché. He'd never heard of anyone running away to Canada before.

Sora stood up and stretched, yawning a bit. He didn't sleep that well last night, due to the excitement over Kairi's party - which he wasn't attending, he thought angrily and stuck his tongue out at his empty room. Speaking of Kairi, should he tell her he was leaving? She'd probably try and talk him out of it... But she was one of his best friends, she deserved to know. The teen debated with himself for a few minutes before grabbing his phone and dialling not Kairi's number, but his best friend, Cloud's.¹

"Cloud speaking."

"Hey, Sunny!" Sora said cheerily. He loved teasing Cloud with the nickname 'Sunny.' He said that with Cloud's light blond hair, he looked more like a sunny day than a cloudy day. Cloud always retorted that he wasn't any kind of day whatsoever.

"I should've guessed it was you." the older boy said with a slightly amused undertone. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," the brunet said casually, peeking out his door to make sure his parents weren't eavesdropping. "Just planning an unscheduled trip to Canada."

Cloud nearly choked. "Canada! What are you talking about?" he demanded. He knew Sora very well, and knew that he was definitely one to make rash and idiotic actions without thinking things through thoroughly.

"You heard me. I'm gonna run away to Canada."

"You can't be serious. Did your parents refuse to let you use the private yacht or something so you're going to get back at them by running away? To Canada?" Cloud paused for a moment. "How original is that? I mean, come on. Canada?" he added in disbelief.

"Canada isn't a cliché, New York is! ...I think." he put his finger to his chin in thought again, ignoring Cloud's sarcastic reference to his rich lifestyle. "Well, I like my idea. I think I'm gonna go tonight."

"And why...?"

"Because my parents won't let me go to Kairi's party!" Sora pouted, although his blond friend couldn't see it.

"Oh no, the world is ending." Cloud said sarcastically, and the younger blue-eyed boy could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

"C'mon, Cloud. I gotta do this! They think I'm a little kid that can't take care of myself-"

"They're right!" Cloud interjected.

"Ignoring that." the younger muttered. "I have to prove to them that I'll be fine on my own. I don't need their protection all the time."

"Sora, this really isn't a good idea. You have no clue what you could be getting yourself into. To be honest, your parents have protected you so much that you don't know all of the horrors out there. You're especially at risk. I mean, look at you! You're an adorable, naive little kid-" Sora attempted to cut him off, but the blond plowed on. "-with giant blue eyes that scream innocence, and spiky brown hair that begs to be ruffled! It scares me the things the sickos out there would do to you if they got their hands on you. I know you haven't forgotten what happened, Sora. No matter how hard you try, you can't. It could happen again. Please, stop this foolishness right now." Cloud knew full well Sora was serious about this, and wouldn't hesitate to run off and get on a plane right now if he could. Honestly, he was quite scared for his best friend.

Sora was silent for a few moments.

"Come with me, then." he said quietly, seriously. He knew that Cloud knew better than he did what was out there, and his speech did spook him a bit, but he was determined to not be deterred.

"What?"

"I said, come with me. I have to do this with or without you, I need to. I have to prove it to my parents. ...To myself." Sora leaned against his bedroom door, and slowly slid down until he was sitting with his knees to his chest. He was now speaking much quieter than he had before.

"Sora, I can't just up and leave my mom."

"She'll understand. I trust your mom, she's like you; you both understand me."

"Sora..."

"I'll wait for you until eleven, but I have to leave by then if you're not here. Please think about it. 'Bye." the brunet took the phone from his ear and pushed the button to hang up. He had to do this, with or without someone by his side.

.x.

Dinner for the Hikari's was chatty as usual. His parents took notice of Sora's sudden cheerfulness, though they were accustomed to it. Sora had always been like that; positively fuming one minute, laughing his head off in glee the next. They were just relieved he wasn't angry at them anymore. Little did they know, he was still angry, just planning to do something about it without their knowledge.

Sora glanced at the clock that hung on the dining room wall, noting it was nearing eight in the evening. He half wished the time would just hurry up and fly by, while the other half was begging for eleven o'clock not to come. He was getting fidgety, desperately wanting to go, while at the same time wanting to just stay safe at home. What Cloud had said kept going through his mind, but he tried to push it away. He knew when his best friend got here, things would look up and he would feel better.

"Sora, sweetie? Is everything okay?" his mother's gentle voice snapped him out of thought. He hadn't even realized he had zoned out.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just went off into la la land." Sora flashed his trademark toothy smile that brimmed with cheer. Risa smiled back, and resumed her conversation with her husband while Sora finished eating.

After a few more minutes, the little brunet had cleaned his plate. He then excused himself, before running up the stairs two steps at a time - which he usually did anyway. He securely closed his door and went over to his large walk-in closet to root around for the suitcases hidden somewhere amongst the junk. Letting out a sound of triumph, he heaved a large brown suitcase out from behind some long-forgotten boxes and brought it into the open. His ocean-coloured eyes scanned the racks of clothing as he thought of which ones to bring along.

"Well, I don't know how long I'll be there..." Sora thought aloud. "Oh, I'll buy more clothes when I get there." he decided, grabbing some of his favourite outfits and folding them neatly into the case so they wouldn't get wrinkled.

Quite some time had passed before Sora checked his wristwatch, and when he did, he realized he had been picking out clothing for nearly an hour. His parents would soon be up to say goodnight. He hurriedly put the suitcase just out of eyesight, and closed the door to his closet. He then strode over to his bed and set up some homework, tracing over something he had written earlier.

Right on time, there was a gentle knock on the door before it was opened quietly, his mother's head poking in. "We're going to bed now, honey. Love you. Sweet dreams." she said with a loving smile.

Sora smiled back. "Love you, too."

Risa left and closed the bedroom door securely again.

"That was quick. Good." Sora grinned to himself, before getting up to get his suitcase from the closet. He retrieved his saved-up allowance from the dresser drawer and leafed through the wallet, making sure it was all there, and placed it in another compartment of the case.

The teenager continued packing things he would need, trying to pack light without forgetting anything important. He did so until eleven o'clock finally rolled around, and he held his breath as he stared from his cell phone to the clock. If Cloud was coming, he would be here any minute; and if he wasn't, he would be calling any minute.

Suddenly, the sound of several small rocks making contact with his window made him start, and he ran over to find the source of the noise, his heart lifting in hope that he would see his friend out there.

Sure enough, as Sora lifted the window open and stuck his head out into the cool night air, a spiky blond head and light blue eyes greeted him with a grin. "I can go for a month, as long as I check in with my mom once in a while."

"Yeah!" Sora pumped his fist into the air in excitement, managing to bang his head off the window in the process, to which he whimpered in pain.

Cloud shook his head. "So, you coming out or am I coming in?"

"I'll be out soon, gimme a minute."

After a few moments of silence, banging and cursing heard at different times, Sora was headed out the front door. He took a deep breath before his foot actually touched the outside, mentally preparing himself.

"Having second thoughts, Sky?" Cloud asked, leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed over his chest; there was a black suitcase placed near his legs, the brunet noticed.

"N-No..." Sora mumbled a little, but smiled at the use of the name 'Sky.' He knew his name in English meant sky, and for some reason, he liked being called that.

The older teen uncrossed his arms and went over to his friend, gingerly placing a hand on his brown-haired head and ruffling his cinnamon-coloured spikes, to which Sora lamely attempted to cease. "If you don't want to go through with it, I understand."

"No! I do! I'm doing this, no matter what." he grabbed Cloud's hand and took another breath, before forcefully stomping out of his house and onto the moist grass. He flashed a toothy grin, giving the blond a thumbs-up. "Let's do this!"

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- Toady-chan

1: In the fanfiction Stranger Than Fiction (go look it up, 'tis really good), Sora and Cloud are best friends, and I became very attached to the idea. :3