Chapter 1: Message In A Bottle

A spikey, light brown haired boy stepped into the brisk ocean water, the water covering him just above his ankles. The boy had gotten back to Destiny Island not even three days ago. The darkness was all gone and there was peace in the worlds, no more evil. The blue-eyed boy still couldn't help but feel somewhat changed, especially his heart. He knew he hadn't lost himself to the darkness, but he felt as though some of his heart had. He hadn't seen anyone since he had come back, no one seemed to be around.

Fifteen year old Sora had now fought in the greatest battle in the history of all the worlds. He'd lost many friends and memories along the way and almost himself. But there was one thing he hadn't lost... his heart. Even though Sora had temporarily forgotten about her due to a little blonde girl tampering with his memory, he still had a deep and passionate love for Kairi. He hadn't seen Kairi since he first left Destiny Island so long ago. The now glossy blue-eyed boy missed Kairi very much and was actually surprised that he couldn't find her anywhere. When he first came back to the island, he went on a deep search for her... But he couldn't find her anywhere. He looked for his parents as well, but was later told by an old neighbor that they had died when the island was torn apart.

This saddened Sora a bit, knowing that he should have been there with them on this island instead of fighting in unheard of worlds. Many of the people who had lived at Destiny Island had either left or died, Sora didn't know all of them but he still felt bad he didn't get to say goodbye or anything.

Now as Sora stood in the rising ocean tide, his feet beginning to sink into the wet sand beneath his feet. The sun was beginning to set now; vivid pinks, purples, oranges and blues blanketed the horizon. Sora hadn't viewed a sunset in a very long time so he was very pleased to observe one again. He sat down in the chilling water, not caring if his clothes got wet because they were old and were beginning to not fit him. A tired, weak smile crept across his frowning face as he recalled when he, Kairi and Sora had watched the sunset together the night Sora was chosen as a keyblade master.

He and Riku had talked about wanting to go to other worlds, wanting something more than just the stupid island on which they lived. We certainly got our wish... Sora thought sarcastically. But at what cost? Riku still hadn't returned and he deeply wondered whether or not Riku had survived being consumed by the darkness. It pained Sora's heart to know that he could have done more to protect his best friend, but he hadn't.

The spikey-haired boy let out a long sigh, when would he ever see any of his friends again? He prayed it would be soon, he missed them all so much. He wanted to tell Kairi all about his adventures and give her back the good luck charm she had given him so long ago. He had promised he'd come back for her, and he had... Finding her was just going to be harder than he thought...

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A skinny, medium length brown haired, fifteen year old girl stood on the beach. The water was up to her knees, just five inches away from the bottom of her little blue dress. She held a glass bottle with a note stuffed in it in her hand. She let out a sigh and prayed that the bottle she was sending would reach Sora. She had sent a bottle to him everyday since she regained the memory of his existence again. It hurt her heart a lot that Sora had left her and Destiny Island behind. The blue-eyed girl knew that her cute spikey-haired friend had promised to come back for her one day, but lately... that seemed like nothing but a lie to her. She knew the wars between the worlds and good and evil were over, so why hadn't Sora come back? Kairi had known that Riku had a slim chance of coming back because he wanted off Destiny Island so bad, but Sora? Sora didn't have an excuse, he promised he'd come and get her.

Kairi kissed the side of the bottle, "Please.. please just this once... Let Sora somehow find this message and bring him back to me... Please." Tears began to stain her cheeks with blacks curvy lines as her mascara and eyeliner began to run. "Please, I'm begging... Bring Sora back to me safe and sound."

She kissed to bottle again before setting it in the water to be carried off into the ocean. Kairi sniffed and began to wipe her face with her hands. She used some ocean water to wash it off, the salt stinging her eyes along with her tears.

The petite girl walked out of the water and knelt at the shoreline, watching the bottle drift away until she saw it no more. She looked out at the horizon, the sun was almost completely gone. Just like when Riku wished he could get off of the island... Right at this moment he said he wanted off the island. Kairi thought, Maybe if I wish to have Sora come back to me, maybe my wish will come true.

"Bring Sora back to me," she said through a shaky voice.

She watched the sun sink behind the ocean, darkness beginning to cover the sky like a blanket. She rose from where she knelt, brushing the sand off of her as best she could. Kairi began to walk away from the ocean, stopping once to look and see if Sora was walking out of the water to come back to her as he promised. When he wasn't there, she dropped her head and continued back to her house. Tonight was going to be another next to sleepless night... Another painful night knowing that Sora wasn't going to come back to her...