Author's Notes; Well, here I am again, with my second submission of fanfiction! Me, I'm actually an incredible fan of the Kingdom Hearts series; it is quite possibly my favorite video game of all time (personally Kingdom Hearts II is my favorite of it). It gives me that feeling of true fantasy, with darkness and light, a struggle against good and evil, and a key as a weapon. You don't see that everyday, now do you? Not to mention the characters are absolutely wonderful and create an even greater atmosphere for the game. Personally, I've always had a fascination with Sora and Kairi. Don't get me wrong, everyone, I love Riku a lot too. But Sora and Kairi's love is so obvious in my eyes, and for the longest time, even after completing Kingdom Hearts II, I wondered, "Why have I never written any fanfiction about my favorite game of all time?" So, without further ado, I give you my second piece of completed fanfiction ever. Another one-shot, but it should be a good read; I just edited it after being up until four in the morning finishing it. Enjoy!
Disclaimer; I do not hold any official authority over the characters of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Kingdom Hearts and all related trademarks belong to their respective owners at Square-Enix, Disney, and Buena Vista.
How long was the young brunette going to wade there? No one knew, and no one would ever know; nobody but himself. He didn't know whether to be sad or to simply live with what life had in store for him. Was there still going to be bliss in his life, down the road and into his older years? Of course, it would not be Sora without that aspect in his life. With his friends by his side, always… But there were just some things that he had to learn to cope with. His heart throbbed, it hurt, he had to be completely honest with himself. But there was no way that he was going to let this become a burden upon his friends, or himself in the long run of things. But the question was, why? Why was he there in the first place? Floating along the gentle waves with nobody else, in the dead of night…
It was moments like these in a teenager's life that made the Keyblade Master feel the need to relive those days of adventure and wonder. It was finally over though, he could live a normal life, there was no fighting, no darkness to vanquish, no Heartless, no Organization XIII; all of the sorrow and the threat of all worlds had been put to an end. He was back on the islands he had grown up with and learnt to love, and back with his friends. But there was a first time for everything, and so came the sensation of a heart breaking. He almost wanted to be different again, to experience adventure and tension through battles than have to lay there in self-pity over himself. Sora was disappointed, he truly was. Not with anyone else, but himself, in that he was reacting this way. In a way, he almost should have seen this one coming from a thousand miles away. And it all became clear with a simple sight of two close ones...
Hand in hand.
Missing you…
The one faithful night… The three of them, Sora, Riku, and Kairi, had stayed the evening and camped out along the outer islands amongst their homeland. Just like old times. They even had makeshift tents provided by the grace of Mother Nature herself. They had the works, a couple of flashlights, some matches to make a fire later if they wanted to (there was an abundant amount of wood to be had), and some snacks for the evening should they get hungry. They were already fifteen and sixteen years of age, and even so they were reliving their younger years, like little children. Sora felt that there was nothing that could disturb the evening; he had his friends by him and no one or nothing was going to change this… That was until fate seemed to force a cold, and hard, slap to the boy's face.
It was Sora's turn to watch the fire (as it so happened to be the last shift before they would call it a night) while the others could go out for a swim or go for a walk and talk about whatever would be to their liking. Which was fine, Riku and Kairi had already taken their turns going about the fire watch. All he would do was hum a beautiful tune, something to remind him of his days back in Atlantica…music star voice or not, he loved to sing, and he would never give up on singing. It actually put him at ease, upbeat tune or not. He half-laughed to himself as he couldn't help but remember Donald and Goofy, even they sang. Sora missed them so much…
"Under the sea♪ Under the sea ♪ Darlin' it's better, down here it's wetter, take it…from…," His voice was slowly faded off as his curiosity got the best of him, hearing sweet laughter off in the distance. It sounded familiar, like it belonged to the voices of a certain redhead and a silver haired boy; to his relief, it was. And they were coming back, he could see them off in the distance as they came back along the shores of the beach. He beamed in anticipation for them to return, so that they could share stories together again, and fall asleep to a brand new day of relaxation and peace. They were closer, smiling with each other, and it seemed like they were talking about something. They talked all of the time…he noticed that they were talking a lot more recently, and it made him feel so much happier knowing that Riku was opening up more to be able to talk more with her, with both of them for that matter. But what Sora would witness next was what was going to lead him down to the water…
Missing you…
He could see that the silver haired teen was holding something in his one hand…while in the other, his fingers were gently interlocked with Kairi's. It was enough for Sora to quirk an eyebrow in confusion. Riku never held someone's hand like that before, never being that close to someone. He knew that Kairi was the type of girl to be very loving to her friends, but before this, she had never done that with him either… It felt like he was experiencing something new for the very first time, and yet it was only the beginning. As the illumination of the flames highlighted their figures further more, he could finally get a grasp of what was in Riku's other hand. It was a good thing that they were too far away to see him, because his eyes widened considerately… It was a paopu fruit. He could see Riku smiling sweetly, sincerely, lovingly with the redhead as he took a bite from it. Already, he could feel a weight trying to cast his heart asunder but his will beckoned him to just wait and see what happened. He leaned inward, ever so slightly, not trying to appear as though he was eavesdropping as they returned, but he was close enough to read his lips, and he couldn't deny himself the silent gasp that escaped his lips.
"Here, take a bite."
And she did… They said that if someone shared the paopu fruit with someone else, that their paths would forever be intertwined, their hearts connected; it almost sounded like some cheesy love potion, but it seemed that they were all believers. His heart sunk, and almost as if in symbolism to a distinguish of the light in his heart, the fire seemed to even simmer down in the slightest as well. And yet his fist never clenched, his eyes never flared with anger, his lips never curled into a fit of disappointment. For the most part, they were so close that he had to smile. Sora was forced to smile for them, as they finally came back, with two bite-marks in a paopu fruit, hand in hand… It looked like Riku's bet with him over a year ago had come to fruition. He got to share the paopu fruit with Kairi…
Missing you…
So here he was…three hours of floating on his back in the calm waves, the cool water washing through his hair as he stared up to a different sea, in the sky, counting the stars. Sora had actually gotten up and left the campground as soon as they had arrived; leave it to Sora to be able to pass off any problems as if they were nothing, he told them that he felt like going to a swim, and that he would be back later. But really…how late would they have to wait for him to come back? Was Sora even going to come back? He almost didn't want to…with how he had reacted before. He was calm, and yet he felt that he might have overreacted. But the hints were fairly obvious, they were there, tormenting him and swaying back and forth up along the shores of his mind and eyes. Holding each other's hands; fingers intertwined, sharing the paopu fruit together, being intimately close to one another, laughing with one another... Her taking that bite into the fruit with Riku was the symbolism of the crack in his heart. There was no intentional cruelty; he could never accuse them of that.
But even while he was there for the few moments before he left, they were very close, closer than he had ever seen them before. Closer than what Sora and Kairi ever had together. They were concerned, and even for being cheerful about his excuse…to leave them like that was not like him. He was expecting them to try and drag him back to the group with them, and yet surprisingly, they let him go, they let him stay there to float, and count stars and reminisce about memories of past days and emotions.
But what was Sora even thinking about? In truth, he was baffling over what he thought he had with her. He thought that their hearts were so close. When it was all over, the moments where he felt that it was real, he soon found out that it was all a misunderstanding. The letter was what really cranked him for the moment. It was for him…for the boy that she couldn't even remember before. As he glanced up to the flawless moon, it began to manifest itself into a completely different shape, a trick on the mind but one of the most beautiful illusions yet.
"Thinking of you wherever you are… We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope for our hearts to blend. And who knows…starting a journey might not be so hard. Or maybe it's already begun. There are many worlds…" These were the words of Kairi, the most sincere words ever, a letter to him that actually reached him at world's end, in a realm of darkness. Her light shone through to him, and yet…
"But they all share the same sky…"
Her heart had blended with someone else's.
"One sky…"
Missing you…
"One destiny…"
"Sora…?"
The young brunette was suddenly snapped out of his daze as he stopped floating, only to shake off some of the water that was on him as he whipped around to the familiar voice. To his surprise… Sora didn't need this, not now. Not her, not Kairi. She had heard every single word, every remark, every tone in his voice, as he remembered her letter. There was no smile to grace her beautiful lips, and there was a tone of concern in her eyes that was plain to see. The moonlight shone off the water's surface, and gave Kairi an almost mystical aura to her. By god, was she beautiful, Sora always thought that she was. The rest was silence for a long time as the Keyblade Master turned from Kairi for a moment, chancing a glance over his shoulder back to the moon. Unless he was seeing things…
It was a heart, and in it's reflection he could see his friends. Riku and Kairi were there, smiling down upon him, so sweetly. Without even words it was like they were saying that they loved him. Would he ever be mad at them? Never; Sora couldn't, he never considered anger once, only a brief case of sorrow. At this time, Kairi nervously bit down on her bottom lip, unsure as to why he was still out here. It was so late… She did not want to be responsible for anything terrible to happen to one of her best friends; she wouldn't know what to do if she lost him. She took a step forward, not caring about her shoes as she waded through the water to reach out to him.
No matter what the time; Sora had decided, wherever one's heart would take them, he would never leave them. They were his best friends, and emotions would no longer be the same, but Sora felt that he needed this, as a lesson learnt and to be able to cope with this. He was going to have to, for them, and for himself. He was always going to be Kairi's hero, as was Riku. He had to never forget that, but there was one thing he would have to let go of.
Loving her…
Missing you…
"Are you okay?" He could feel her soft and gentle hand take his as she begged him to look at her. And what did Sora do? He did what he did best, he shook his head slightly, and softly smiled, a sincere smile as he turned around to face her.
A sole tear ran clearly down the side of Sora's cheek, as he continued to smile for the one he couldn't have, and said,
"Everything's okay."