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Broken

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He still remembered the etchings they had made. They were still there, in the secret place. And he remembered the latest addition to them as well. But as relieving and delightful it was, it just wasn't enough, at least not for him. A drawing is only a drawing. But it will never be the real deal.

Who knows what they felt then? Maybe it was a false feeling caused by the stress and tension of the time. Or perhaps the feeling ran through their friendship since childhood. And now he should be delighted, that the feeling was able to be made a reality. But he wasn't sure if it would happen.

Regardless of whether or not the feeling was real, he was still broken. When the island was first overcome by darkness was when he first lost a piece of himself. Then was the castle with the loss of memories, causing him to lose another piece of himself. Finally was the fight against the Organization as they tried to control Kingdom Hearts, where he lost yet another piece of himself.

When he returned, he recovered the lost pieces. However, they did not mend to form who he used to be. They were there, but his spirit was broken. And who knew whether or not it could be fixed? Only time and the living of a normal life would tell. But as fate would have it, his life could never return to the normality it once had.

~.~.~

Sora glanced at them with an empty look in his eyes. There they were, Kairi and Riku, sitting on the shore, talking about whatever. He normally would have joined them, but he just wasn't the same person he used to be. He wanted to be the same, goofy Sora that was Kairi's childhood friend. But now he has changed, and sadly, he did not spend so much time with her.

Every night he had a nightmare about his past adventures, and it was tearing his spirit up even more. He began to lose control over himself, as the slightest of movement could trigger a reflex, usually a keyblade at the throat. He had once done it to his best friend, Riku.

He was leaning against one of the many trees on the beach, glancing at the ocean.

Riku walked up behind him, concerned about his best friend. Reaching his arm out, he said, "Hey Sora—"

Upon instinct, Sora grabbed his hand, flipped him over and pointed the keyblade at his neck. When he realized what he just did, the keyblade fell out of his hand and he fell to his knees.

"What the hell?" was all Riku could say.

"Riku," said Sora, "I'm so sorry. I… I don't know what I'm becoming…"

Sora hated what he had become. It was because of this that he no longer hung out much with his two best friends. What pained him the most was not being able to spend time with Kairi. But that's what happens when you are broken.

Sora's thoughts continued to drift, and he failed to notice the figure that was approaching him from behind. But he heard a familiar voice say, "Sora. What's going on?"

Sora sighed. "Riku, you know what happened before. It's not the best thing to come from behind when I don't expect it…"

Riku shook his head. "I don't care about that, Sora. I care about you and Kairi. And when you're like this, not only am I bothered by it, but Kairi is torn."

Sora turned around to look at his best friend. "Well, tell Kairi to forget about me…"

Riku suddenly became furious and grabbed Sora by the collar. "Why you—"

To Riku's surprise, however, Sora kicked him off, did a flip onto a tree, and jumped toward him. When Sora landed, Riku found a keyblade at his neck. "Sora…"

"Don't use that kind of force against me… ever." Sora looked away, sighing. "Seriously… don't…"

Riku got up from the ground and summoned his own keyblade. "Maybe I have to. I'm going to knock some sense into you."

For a second, there was a glint of darkness in Sora's eyes. "Try me."

Riku charged, his keyblade held out in front of him. Sora simply pointed his keyblade forward. Riku raised his keyblade, ready to strike. Sora barely moved, and said, "Firaga."

Riku's eyes widened as he was hit back by fierce flames. Sora's magic had definitely improved. Grunting, he got up and stared at Sora. Sora was very calm, for some reason. Usually he was all fired up.

"Damn… Sora, what the hell is going on…?" Riku asked again. Sora gave no answer this time. He just stood there, waiting for Riku's next move.

~.~.~

Kairi had stayed at the shore after Riku left. She was thinking about none other than Sora, especially since he had been acting very strange lately. She couldn't remember the last time she sat down and had a nice discussion with him.

Whenever they passed each other, he would always avert his gaze. He never looked her in the eyes anymore. He would no longer smile that same goofy smile she loved. He was no longer up to his childish antics. He was no longer the same Sora.

A tear rolled down Kairi's cheek as she remembered that day before the darkness consumed Destiny Islands. She remembered when she and Sora sat at the beach. She had told him to never change… and for a while he hadn't… until now.

She wasn't the only one who noticed, of course. Riku had seen the condition Sora was in, which slightly changed the way he acted as well. Riku wasn't as cheery anymore, because he was worried about Sora.

Kairi looked around, wondering where Riku went. She suddenly heard the sound of flames coming from not too far away. She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was… but she knew. Riku had gone to knock some sense into Sora.

Worried, Kairi ran to the source of the sound, hoping that her two best friends were all right. When she got there, she quickly hid behind a tree. She didn't hear much, so she took a look.

~.~.~

Sora and Riku were standing, facing each other. Riku had burn marks on his clothes.

Riku suddenly yelled and shot a dark beam at Sora, who blocked it using his keyblade. Riku continued to push the dark energy forward. Sora managed to deflect it, and it hit a paopu fruit on a tree. The fruit burst into many pieces.

Sora finally spoke. "If you were to gather all of the pieces of that fruit together… the entire fruit would be there, but the fruit wouldn't be the same, would it?"

Riku glanced at the pieces of the paopu fruit. "No. The pieces would all be there, but the fruit would still be in pieces. What's your point?"

Sora looked at Riku. "…my soul."

Riku looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Sora looked down at the ground. "When you gave into the darkness… when the entire island was consumed… I lost a piece of myself."

Riku didn't say a word and kept listening. Sora continued. "In the castle… Castle Oblivion… I lost another piece…"

Riku glanced at what remained of the paopu fruit they destroyed. He then looked back at Sora, waiting for him to continue. Sora sighed. "And when I continued to look for you… and had to fight the Organization… I lost yet another piece of myself."

Riku nodded. Sora looked back up at him. "When we returned to Destiny Islands, I regained the pieces of myself that I had lost. But, like the paopu fruit…"

"Your soul isn't mended," Riku finished for him. Sora nodded. He then walked away, toward the town. Riku stared at him for a while, before walking in a different direction.

~.~.~

Kairi sighed as she sat down and hugged her knees. She now somewhat knew what was wrong with Sora. She didn't completely understand it though… how is it that the pieces aren't mended?

She began to ponder, and then decided that everything Sora had been through ended up affecting him somehow. The Sora she saw today was the result. And she didn't like it.

"Sora… I'm going to mend your soul somehow." Kairi walked toward the town, where Sora went. It took a while for her to find him. He was very good at not being found.

She eventually saw him though, and he was sitting on the rooftop of an ice cream parlor. Having an idea, Kairi walked into the ice cream parlor. In an attempt to cheer him up, she was going to get him sea-salt ice cream. It was his favorite.

She got the ice cream and walked outside. To her relief, Sora was still sitting on the rooftop. Taking a deep breath, Kairi called out to him. "Sora!" she yelled.

Sora looked down and saw her holding two sticks of sea-salt ice cream. He stared at her interestingly.

"Sora, get me up there!" Kairi shouted. Sora jumped down and picked her up. He then jumped back up on top of the roof. Kairi smiled at him and handed him a stick of ice cream. "It's your favorite."

Sora had to admit that she looked pretty cute when she said that. But he couldn't feel that way about her. He just couldn't. There was a chance that the feelings they had felt during past times were false. She could have forgotten about the drawings in the cave and everything.

When Sora drew himself giving a paopu fruit to her, and Kairi drew herself giving one to him… he almost felt as if they intertwined their destinies. But he could've been wrong.

Kairi looked at him, worried. "Sora…"

Sora looked at her. "Kairi…"

She sighed. "Eat your ice cream! It's going to melt!"

Sora was unable to suppress it. He started laughing. He hadn't laughed in a while, and it felt good to have that feeling again.

Kairi was confused. "What's so funny?"

Sora smiled for the first time in weeks. "I was having all these serious thoughts… it was tense… and you bring up something as simple as ice cream melting. It seemed pretty funny to me."

Kairi smiled as well and hugged Sora. Now it was his turned to look confused. "Kairi…?"

Kairi hugged him tighter. "Sora… I… I told you to never change, and I was worried that you did… I'm so glad to see you smile…"

Sora returned her embrace, letting out a sigh. He really did love her. She was the only one who was able to mend his broken soul…

Kairi pulled back and looked into Sora's eyes. Sora stared at her for a while… before snatching her ice cream. "Hey!" shouted Kairi. Sora threw both his and her ice cream into the distance.

Before Kairi could protest, Sora leaned forward and sealed their lips, unable to contain it any longer. Kairi was shocked, but she chose to give in. She had loved Sora for a while now.

When they pulled away, Sora pulled her in to an embrace. "Kairi… ever since we got back, I had doubted that this moment would ever happen…"

Kairi smiled at him. "You remember our cave drawings, don't you? We drew ourselves giving paopu fruits to each other. I think that had to say something, right?"

Sora smiled as well. "You drew yourself giving it to me while I was gone. Your feelings could have changed by then."

Kairi shook her head. "They never changed, Sora. And they never will."

"Hey!" shouted a familiar voice from below. Standing there was an annoyed Riku, with two sticks of melting ice cream in his hair.

Sora grinned. "Damn, I have good aim."

Riku growled. "I knew it was you… no one else can throw that far besides me."

Kairi sighed. "Lighten up, Riku."

Riku gave her a smile. "No worries, I'm alright. Here, this is for you two."

He threw them a paopu fruit. Sora caught it and blushed. "...a paopu fruit?"

Riku nodded. "C'mon, Sora, you two just kissed. Are you telling me you can't share a fruit together? Seriously, give me a break here! It annoys me when people don't follow their hearts."

Kairi glanced at Sora, and then looked back down at Riku. "When did you become so sensitive?"

Riku froze. "Uh… I don't know. I But that's beside the point. Sora! If you want to mend your soul and be happy again, share that paopu fruit with Kairi!"

Sora looked uncertain. "But what if… something happens between us? The paopu fruit is supposed to intertwine our destinies and we're supposed to remain together forever."

Kairi looked at him, slightly annoyed. "Do you doubt me? I love you, Sora. I want to be with you."

Sora looked at her, a bit shocked. Sure, she loved him… but love could be a big word, especially when a paopu fruit is involved. He didn't doubt Kairi though. So he nodded. "I love you too Kairi."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Spare me the mushy stuff and just eat it."

Sora and Kairi began eating the fruit together. It tasted amazing, better than any fruit they had before. Riku smiled as he watched them. Eventually, the young couple finished the fruit.

Riku's smile became a grin. "Sora, are you whole again?"

Sora looked at Kairi for a moment, and then looked back down. "Riku… there's just one more thing that has to be done before I can be whole again."

Riku tilted his head in curiosity. Kairi also looked at him questionably. "Sora… what do you mean there's something else?"

Sora stared at Riku for a while. Riku stared back, confused. They stood like that for a few seconds.

Finally, Sora started to speak. "Riku… before I can become whole again… you have to wash that ice cream out of your hair. You can't become a part of my soul looking like that."

Riku stared at Sora blankly for a brief moment, before starting to laugh. Kairi soon joined him, followed by Sora himself. Kairi was just who he needed to mend his soul… through his heart.

~.~.~

He still remembered the etchings they had made. They were still there, in the secret place. And he remembered the latest addition to them as well. A boy with spiky hair and a beautiful girl were holding hands, surrounded by a heart. A drawing is only a drawing, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

There was no more confusion. It was not a false feeling like he had feared. The feeling had existed between them since childhood and they carried it throughout their lives. And now he was delighted that the feeling was made a reality. He was right not to doubt their destiny.

Now that he had confirmed the feeling he had felt, his soul was no longer broken. When the island was first overcome by darkness was when he first lost a piece of himself. Then was the castle with the loss of memories, causing him to lose another piece of himself. Finally was the fight against the Organization as they tried to control Kingdom Hearts, where he lost yet another piece of himself.

When he returned, he recovered the lost pieces. However, they did not mend to form who he used to be. They were there, but his spirit was broken. But Kairi was able to fix it. Her love for him was the best antidote that he could ask for. As fate would have it, his life never really did return to the normality it once had. But he was much happier this way.

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We all want to know how well we are doing, right?

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