That Fateful Day

by link no miko

A strange awakening, new family, and new friends. A turning point in the lives of three young children. [pre-game one-shot]

Hi!  This is my first attempt at a KH fanfic, and I'm pretty sure this isn't the first of this type of fic.  Yeah, I know, so original.  But it came to me on my way to math class at 9 in the morning, and it stuck.

            Anyway, it's first person (obviously), and I just wanted everyone to know—I know double negatives are bad to use, but I used them anyway (if you spot where they are, congrats!  If not, then that's just great too.  ^-^x). 

            Anywho, this is a pointless fic with no plot, but I wanted it to be cute.  So if it is…please let me know so I won't beat my head over it. 

            And here it is!

It was cold, and it was dark.  That was strange, because the last thing I remembered was a gentle warmth, and being in a dimly-lit place.  But this cold…it scared me, made me tremble.  I whimpered, but heard no sound.  The cold and the dark ate my voice before sound could form.

            I wanted to get out of here!  I wanted to be back home, with my mommy and daddy.

            …What who were they?  I couldn't remember.  I was forgetting many other things as well, like my name, where I came from…

            And I found that didn't bother me.

            But the cold and dark did, and I began to panic again.  I tried to open my eyes, but there was nothing so see—there was simply nothing there.

            Except the cold and the dark.

            And then, all of the sudden, it melted away.  I saw a shining light, pulsing like a heartbeat.  I had to shield my eyes because of the brightness, and then I realized I had my arms—my body—back again!  I was so happy, and the light grew brighter.  I like to think it responded to my joy, warming me.

            The light spread out, chasing away the cold and the dark.  Replacing those were heat and sun.  I had to close my eyes at the brightness—the brightest bright I had ever seen.  Even the giant glowing lamps back home weren't this bright, and they illuminated everything.

            That thought stopped me though.  Where was home?  I couldn't remember, just like I couldn't remember my mommy or daddy.

            And I found that I still didn't mind that fact.

            A shadow suddenly blotted out the brightness above me, and I remembered my fear from earlier—from the dark scary place.  Was the cold and dark coming back to get me?  A whimper escaped my throat, but the shadow only moved, letting some light back onto my face.  Because of that light I realized this shadow was an old man.  He wasn't a scary shadow like back at the home I barely remembered.  …Actually, I couldn't even remember why a show should scare me.  Shadows couldn't hurt me.

            …Could they?

            The shadow-turned-old-man smiled gently at me, and I smiled back.  He helped me up, and I gladly let him.  Something about him made me trust him, like him.  I knew he would never hurt me.

            "Why hello, little one," he said kindly as I stood.  I brushed some strange kind of dirt off of me as he said it, then stopped, not even answering his greeting.  He must have noticed my strange expression as I stopped, because he bent down and picked up some of the strange stuff.  "This is sand, my dear.  …Have you never been on a beach before?"

            I shook my head no.  I had never heard of a beach.  "What's that?"

            "A beach is a place where the land meets the water, and where young children like to play.  Was there nothing like that where you came from?"

            I shook my head.  "No…but there was a huge waterfall that flowed upwards.  I would always sit and watch it, everyday."

            His eyes widened in shock, but then he smiled again.  "I've never heard of anything like that before.  This island has a waterfall, although I'm afraid it might not be to your liking.  It only falls down."

            "Oh…  Can I see it anyway?  I like watching waterfalls…" That was something I knew for sure, even though my memories of where I came from were hazy at best.  Could there really have been a waterfall that went upwards?  That didn't seem possible to me anymore, but it was real, wasn't it?

            The old man chuckled.  "Of course you can.  But you might have some trouble.  There are two little boys who have claimed the waterfall as their own spot.  They may not like someone else being there."

            I frowned and scrunched up my face.  Boys were silly.  "I still wanna see it."

            "Then we'll take you there tomorrow, how's that sound?"

            I tilted my head to the side, curious.  "We?"

            He nodded.  "My wife and I.  She's right over there."  He pointed to a lady a bit away, waving over towards us.  I smiled at her as she came closer.  She was old, too, like the man.  They both had white hair and were stooped, but I could feel kindness coming off them in waves.  I imagined they must be like grandparents, and in my head, I began to think of them as such.

            When the old woman was close enough, she looked me over, a bright smile on her face.  "Hello there, hun.  Who might you be?"

            I opened my mouth to answer, but then stopped.  Who was I?  I knew I had a name—everyone had a name.  But my memory of the time before the dark and cold place was almost gone.  I searched around quickly, suddenly scared of that emptiness in my mind.  How could I forget something like that?"

            "Kairi," I heard myself say suddenly, then snapped my mouth shut.  I remembered my name, but I was afraid if I kept my mouth open, that memory would vanish like all my others had.

            "Kairi…" the old woman said the name slowly, then smiled.  "What a lovely name.  And where are you from, Kairi?"

            "I…" I didn't know.

            "She said she was from a place where the waterfalls flow upwards," the old man supplied, and I smiled at him.  How could he have believed that?  Water didn't flow upwards—that was silly.  "I told her about the waterfall here on the island, and she told me she wanted to see it."

            The old woman nodded again, then held her hands out to me.  "Would you really like to see the waterfall, Kairi?"

            "Yes!"

            "Then I'll take you tomorrow, dear."  She took my hands in hers, her eyes full of love and kindness.  And a little bit of sadness, too.  I wondered about that, but she pulled away.  "Oh, I'm sorry, my dear.  We've both been very rude.  My name is Anna.  This is my husband, Matthias, the mayor of Destiny Islands."

            I nodded, then frowned.  "Destiny Islands…?  What's that?"

            "That's where you are, dear."

            "…What's an island?"

            The old man, Matthias, laughed out loud.  His laugh was big and loud, and made me smile.  "Oh dear, you don't seem to know that much, do you…?  An island is a small piece of land in a large body of water.  This island is part of a chain called Destiny Islands."

            "Are islands always this hot?"  The bright sun, which before had felt so good after I came out of that darkness, now began to burn a bit, and I didn't like it much.

            "No dear.  Only these islands."

            I nodded.  I still didn't quite understand, but they were nice and were trying to help me.  And I was alone here.  But I didn't feel lonely with them.  While I had just met these two people, they were very kind to me, and treated me like family.  I could no longer remember where I came from or who my own family was, but the kindness I felt from these two took away any fear or sadness I felt.

            I wasn't alone here.

A few weeks passed, and I finally forgot everything from before coming here.  Grandma Anna kept her promise and took me to the waterfall, and was really surprised that the two boys Grandpa had warned me about weren't around.  So I sat and watched the water for hours, lost in its movements.  The falling water calmed me, made me happy like nothing else did, and I enjoyed my time there.  When Grandma told me it was time to go, I asked if I could come again.  She told me anytime.

            When we got back to the big house Grandpa Matthias and Grandma Anna lived in by themselves, Grandpa was there to greet us on the porch.  I ran to him and he hugged me tight, then pulled away.

            "Kairi, can you go and get washed up?  We have company here to see you."

            I blinked, tilting my head to the side like a bird.  "Company?  Who?"

            He only smiled at me and then shooed me away.  I grinned and ran into the house, going up the stairs two at a time to my room at the top.  Grandma and Grandpa had given it to me after I first came to the house, and it was already decorated and everything.  The bed had pink covers, and there were stuffed animals all over.  I'd asked them why a room was already set up, but they both looked sad and didn't answer, so I never asked again.

            Once in my room, I hurried to change, but stopped when I heard voices.  I recognized Grandpa and Grandma's voices right away, but there were two other ones I had never heard before.

            They sounded like boys.

            Curious, I crept towards the door, opening it a bit.  I could just see two heads—one brown and one silver—standing next to my grandparents.  The boys were talking, but they didn't sound very happy.

            "Aww, a girl?  You said you had a new friend for us…" Brown-head spoke, and I frowned.  Just 'cause I was a girl didn't mean anything.

            "And you even let her play at our waterfall," Silver-head said, sounding just as upset as Brown-head did.  I frowned some more.  The waterfall didn't have their names on it, now did it?

            Grandma smiled at them.  "Now now, Sora, Riku, she's very nice.  But she's new here, and needs friends her own age to play with."

            Brown-head (I guessed his name was Sora?) crossed his arms over his chest.  "But girls have cooties."

            "And she'll only get in the way.  Girls don't like to play the same games as boys."  Silver-head, or Riku, said, also crossing his arms over his chest.

            I was really mad by then.  These boys were such meanies!  Why would Grandma and Grandpa think we would ever be friends?  Closing my door loudly, I ran to my bed and jumped on it, burying my face in my pillow.  I never wanted to leave my room again—not with those boys here.

            My door creaked open, though, and I lifted my head a bit.  Sora and Riku stood in the doorway, their eyes wide and looking curious.  I sat up and scowled at them.  Sora blinked, then scowled back.

            "Get outta my room, now!"

            He crossed his arms over his chest, standing as tall as he could.  "Why should we?"

            Ooh, how dare he ask that?  I was so angry!  Picking up my pillow, I growled at them.  "Because it's my room and I say so."

            Riku blinked this time.  "How is this your room?  You're not gramma and gramps' kid."

            I stuck out my tongue at him.  "I am now.  They found me."

            "Found you?"  Sora moved into the room, but I pretended to begin to throw the pillow and he stopped.  "What you mean, they found you?"

            "Grandpa Matthias and Grandma Anna were walking on the beach when they saw me lying there," I told them.  That was the story my grandparents told me—I just left out the part where they saw a bright flash of light and then saw me lying where the flash was.  "I don't have any family, so they said I could live with them.  Why does that matter to you?"

            Sora shrugged.  "'Cause they haven't had a kid around for a while.  Not since the accident."  He opened his eyes wide when he said that, and muttered a soft "oops" before Riku punched him in the shoulder.

            "Stupid, you weren't supposed to mention that."

            "I didn't mean it!"

            I blinked and dropped the pillow, forgetting I wanted to chuck it at Sora.  "What are you talking about?  What accident?"

            Sora blushed and Riku shrugged.  "You know.  The accident.  We don't know anything about it really."

            "Actually," Sora said softly, scratching the back of his head, fluffing his unruly brown hair, "Mom told me about it…"

            Both Riku and I looked at him, surprised.  Riku spoke first.  "Really?  What happened?"

            "Uh…" Sora began, and we both crowded around him, our eyes bright.  For the moment, I forgot that I didn't like these boys and wanted them gone.  "Mom told me I wasn't supposed to talk about it…"

Riku shoved him playfully.  "But your mom's not here right now, and I wanna know.  Dad won't tell me at all."

Sora smiled a bit and nodded his head.  I guessed Riku was the leader of the two, if he could get Sora to disobey his mommy.  "Mom said they lost someone really close to them…  She told me she dr…  Drow…" He paused and scrunched up his face, trying to remember.  I guessed he finally did, 'cause he drawled out a word I hadn't heard before.  "Drownded.  Yeah, she drownded."

            "What's that?" I asked, and both boys looked at me like I had two heads.

            "Drownded means you…" Riku leaned in close to us, whispering.  "It means you die in water."

            My hands flew to my mouth, and I felt tears in my eyes.  Now I knew why Grandma and Grandpa always looked sad when they saw me, and why a room was already set up for a little girl.  "How old was she…?" I asked from behind my hands.

            Sora shrugged.  "A bit older than Riku.  But Mom said that happened ten years ago."

            Ten years.  That was a long time, even older than me.  That was almost ancient.

            Sora and Riku were looking at me funny, and I lowered my hands, but I still had tears in my eyes.  "Grandma and Grandpa didn't tell me anything about that…" I said, and suddenly my room didn't feel like my room anymore.  I didn't wanna stay here, if this was full of memories of their lost grandchild.

            Surprisingly, Sora smiled at me.  His smile was warm and bright, and made the hurt in my chest go away.  "It's ok.  Mom says when people die, no one likes to talk about it."  His smile disappeared a bit.  "I don't like talking about it, either."

            "So let's not and go do something instead," Riku said, making the bad feeling in the air go away.  Sora nodded, a different smile than the one he'd given me on his face.  Riku and him ran out the door, leaving me behind.  I opened my mouth to say something about how rude they were, but then Sora came back, holding his hand out for me.

            "C'mon Kairi!  We'll show you around the island."

            I smiled as I took his hand, and he pulled me from my room.

            "You're gonna have so much fun, Kairi," he said as we caught up to Riku, waiting for us outside.  We had stopped for a bit so I could tell Grandma and Grandpa where we were going.  "We'll show you where you can find good places to climb, and swimming holes, and we'll even let you play at our waterfall."

            "I'd like that," I said.  I didn't ask what swimming was, because I didn't want him to think I was stupid like when I'd asked about what drownded meant.

            Riku nodded at us, a smirk on his face.  "And I can show you how I can beat Sora in everything."

            "You cannot!"  Sora let go of my hand to clench his fists at his side.  His cheeks puffed out like a rodent's, and I laughed.  They both turned to me, but Sora spoke.  He sounded sulky.  "What's so funny?"

            I shook my head.  "Nothing, just you two are awful funny."

            The boys rolled their eyes and we started walking away, me in the middle of them.  We didn't talk for a bit until Riku asked what I guessed they both wanted to know.  "How old are you, Kairi?  And where do you come from?"

            I kicked my feet in front of me, lifting the sand and letting it slide between my toes.  Grandma Anna had given me these strange shoes called sandals, and I found I liked them a lot.  The feel of the sand on my feet always made me smile.

            "I'm six—" I began, but suddenly Sora leaned around, almost tripping so he could point to himself where I could easily see.

            "Me too me too!"

            "Wow, really?"  I found myself liking these boys as he nodded at me, his spiky hair going everywhere.  Riku smirked again, but I could tell he was really happy right now, too.

            "I just turned seven a few months ago," he shared, and I turned to look at him.

            "Wow, really?  That's so cool.  Do you get to do any fun stuff?"  Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't let me stay up late, and I couldn't help with some things around the house 'cause I was little, but if Riku was seven, then…

            Riku stopped and turned to us, a huge smirk on his face.  "Yeah.  I'm allowed to stay up till nine before I have to get ready for bed."

            Both me and Sora stopped dead, our mouths hanging open.  Sora was the first to speak, his voice whiney.

            "Man, I didn't know that!  When did that happen?"

            "A few weeks after my birthday."

            Sora grumbled and kicked the sand.  "I have to be ready for bed by eight…"

            I nodded and kicked the sand with him.  "Yeah, me too…"

            Riku only smirked some more, and then we continued walking.  The island was bigger than I ever thought it could be, and soon I was tired.  I started to fall back, and then sat down on my bottom.  The boys didn't notice and kept going.

            "So Kairi, what do you wanna…" Sora trailed off when he noticed I wasn't between him and Riku, and turned around quick.  He looked like he was scared I'd disappeared.  When he saw me sitting a few yards away, his face softened and he jogged over.  "What's wrong Kairi?"

            "I'm tired.  This island is too big."

            Riku joined us, leaning down so his weight was on the balls of his feet.  Sora sat down next to me.

            "It's ok, Kairi," Riku said kindly.  "We can rest here."

            I smiled at him.  They were both being so nice to me, I totally forgot that I was supposed to not be liking them.

            "So uh, Kairi," Sora began, scratching the back of his head.  He liked to do that a lot.  "You haven't told us where you're from yet."

            "Oh," I said softly, and they looked at me, waiting.  I didn't know how to answer, though.  I couldn't remember anything from before I woke up and saw Grandpa and Grandma.  And I was worried.  What if I told them I wasn't from any of these islands?  Would they hate me for being an outsider?  "I'm not sure…not from around here."

            "Are you from a different island?  Dad says there's eight."  I shook my head and Riku frowned.  "Well then where?"

            "I don't remember…" I said slowly, watching them out of the corners of my eyes.  They didn't look like they hated me…yet.  But I wanted to tell them what Grandpa Matthias told me about when I was found.  Would they believe me though…?

            Making up my mind, I leaned in, and the boys leaned closer to me.  "Grandpa Matthias said that…" I paused, worried, but then rushed on.  "He said I came out of a ball of light.  He told me that when him and Grandma Anna were taking their walk on the beach, they saw a light, and when Grandpa got near it, I appeared."

            I watched their faces, waiting and holding my breath.  They didn't say anything for a long time, and I started to fidget.  They must have thought I was a liar.  I half didn't believe the story myself, but if Grandpa said it, then it must be true.  He would never lie to me.

            Finally, after forever, Sora smiled that huge, bright smile at me.  "You're from another world, then?"  I nodded slowly.  "Awesome!  Hey, Riku, did you hear?"

            "Yeah," the older boy said, his usual smirk replaced with a real smile.  "That's awesome, Kairi.  What was it like?"

            I stared at them.  They didn't think I was weird, and they didn't hate me!  "Um…I don't really remember…" I thought and thought, then blurted the first thing I could think of—the same thing I'd told Grandpa.  "But there was a waterfall that flowed upwards…" I no longer believed that, but wouldn't it be really pretty if it were true?

            Both boys breathed out the word "cool," their eyes wide with wonder.  I smiled shyly, and they both smiled back at me.

            I didn't not like them anymore.

            The rest of the day, we ran around the island.  Riku and Sora showed off their sword fighting skills, which Riku won, and then we all had a race.  Sora won by a little bit, but I was way behind them.  I didn't mind though—I'd never had this much fun, even before the dark and cold place.  I never wanted the fun to end—I never wanted to be away from Sora and Riku.

            But the day had to end, and as the sun started setting, Sora walked me back to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Riku had already left to go home—his daddy had come by, saying he needed Riku to help out with something.  Me and Sora were both sad, and kinda jealous.  Riku got to do so many more things 'cause he was seven.

            "Hey Kairi…" Sora said when we finally reached the door.  I turned and smiled at him.  Smiling kinda hurt my face a bit, 'cause the skin had "tanned" (that's what Riku told me), but I didn't mind.  I loved to smile at Sora and Riku.

            "What?"

            "Well…" His face turned a bit red, and I blinked.  He wasn't tanned like I was, so that seemed a bit strange.  "We…we had a lot of fun today."

            "Yeah!  Thank you for showing me everything."  We both paused, shuffling our feet.  "Um…" I started after a few minutes, holding my hands behind my back and swaying from side to side.  "Would it be ok…if we played again tomorrow?"

            Sora's smile was the biggest and brightest I'd ever seen yet.  "Of course!  Actually, I was gonna ask you if you would wanna play…  Riku and I…  Well, we decided we'd show you the most secret, most well protected place on the island."

            I titled my head.  "Really?  What is it?"

            "We call it the Secret Place.  Only me and Riku are allowed there, but…  We'll let you in too, 'cause you're special."

            My cheeks warmed up at that, but not because of my tan.  "Th-thanks…"

            "See you tomorrow?"  He backed up a step, his right hand scratching the back of his head.

            I nodded.  "Yeah, see you tomorrow!"

            He grinned a goofy grin, then turned and ran.  Well…he tried to.  When he turned he tripped and fell, but got right back up and started running across the sand, kicking up clouds behind him. 

Suddenly he stopped and turned around, running backwards.  He put his hands to his mouth and yelled out to me.  "And I was wrong—you don't have cooties!"

He turned around again after that, almost falling on his face, but he caught himself and kept running.  I giggled and put a hand over my mouth.

            I was so very happy to have my two new friends.

            Inside, I found Grandpa and Grandma sitting in the living room.  Grandpa was reading a book, his small glasses on the front of his nose, and Grandma was knitting something.  They sat on the couch beside each other, and they looked up when I shut the door.

            "Oh, Kairi dear, you're back already?"  Grandma set her knitting down and went to stand, but I hurried over and crawled onto the couch between them.  She leaned back against the couch when I put my head on her shoulder.

            "Yeah.  Me and Sora can't stay up too late, remember?  It's already seven-thirty…"

            "Well so it is," Grandpa muttered, closing his book and taking off his glasses.  "You're a good girl, Kairi.  We never would have noticed."

            I smiled a huge smile at them, trying to copy Sora's, and they smiled back.

            "Did you have fun, dear?"  Grandma asked me, hugging me tighter.

            "Yes!  And they said I can play with them tomorrow, too!"

            "I'm glad then, my dear."

            I sighed and leaned into Grandma more, closing my eyes.  I still remembered what Sora had told me about their granddaughter, but I didn't want to mention it.  I was sure they were still sad about it, so I decided I would just stay here with them until they weren't so sad anymore.  Earlier, when me and Riku and Sora were all sitting around, eating fruit for a snack, I had remembered something from the time before the dark and cold.  There was an old lady, kinda like Grandma Anna, and she had talked to me.  She told me that sometimes, sad things happen, but there's always a light at the end of it to bring back the happiness.

            I decided I would be a light for Grandma and Grandpa, keeping them happy until they found their own.  I didn't know them very well yet, but I already loved them like my own family, and wanted to stay with them forever.

            Don't worry, Grandma, Grandpa.  I'll stay here with you forever.  I won't ever go away.  I promise.

            I said those words silently as my head started to feel heavy, and I knew I was falling asleep.  I felt Grandpa pick me up and take me to my room, where Grandma tucked me in.

            "Goodnight Grandma…" I said sleepily, turning over onto my side.  "Love you…"

            I felt her stop suddenly, and then her hand brushed bangs out of my face.  She kissed me softly on the forehead, then stood and went to the door.

            "Goodnight, my dear.  We love you, too."  I heard the door close softly, and right before I feel asleep, I heard Grandpa speak.

            "Thank you, Kairi."

            I smiled.  Maybe they had found their light.

Final Note: The talk of a light at the end of sadness—I made that up.  It has nothing to do with what Kairi's grandma said in-game.  Just so you guys know.