Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Or Sora. Or Riku… *sigh* but I wish I did!
"When will grandmother call me?"
A small red-haired girl stood in front of one of her maids, arms crossed and frowning, as she sat through yet another dress fitting.
"In time, my lady. Now stand up straight, you're going to ruin your posture slouching like that," replied the middle-aged woman, sliding some more smooth fabric on her arms.
The child sighed and obeyed, as she day dreamed about the last story her grandmother told her.
****
A little boy was lying down on the beach, eyes closed, and totally oblivious to everything around him. He was enjoying a dream about pirates and sword fighting, and didn't hear his best friend approaching.
"Boo!" He yelled and the younger boy scrambled up, eyes wide open.
The older silver-haired boy started laughing so hard that he almost fell over.
The younger brown-haired boy proceeded to throw a coconut at his friend's head, but he missed.
"It's about time you got up, sleepyhead. Wasn't there something you wanted to show me?"
The younger boy glared at him for a second, before he jumped up, remembering, "Oh yeah! There's a huge monster down in the secret place!"
The older boy raised an eyebrow and tried to look unimpressed, but inside he was brimming with excitement. A Monster! Something exciting was finally happening on their dull little island.
****
The little red-haired girl sat in front of her window, with her head rested upon her shoulders, wishing she could go outside and play.
It was so boring here inside the palace. All you could ever do was curtsy to the elders. Obey the maids. Sit inside your room with nothing to do.
Just then there was a knock on the door, and she sat up. Another maid entered and curtsied simply saying that her grandmother requested her presence, and exited.
Grandmother! Oh she was so excited she could hardly breathe! The little girl ran out of her room, and slowed to a stop when she reached the library.
The door was open and she peeked inside.
"Come in child," she heard her grandmother say.
She walked in and smiled as she saw her grandmother. She sat down at her knee, and looked up at her, ready for another story.
****
The two boys walked out of the dark cave disappointed. It turns out there had been no monster waiting for them inside the cave.
The younger climbed up the ladder and sat on the edge of the curving bridge.
Suddenly a boy with crazy orange hair and a strong accent came up to the silver-haired boy and asked, "Hey Riku! Me an' Tidus are gonna play another game. You up for a match?"
He shook his head and answered, "No thanks, Wakka. I think I'm just going to kick back awhile."
Wakka shrugged and ran back down to the beach.
Riku sat down on a barrel and stared off into the sea. The brown-haired boy tried to see if his friend seemed angry at all. He didn't look angry. But with Riku, you never knew.
****
The little girl's grandmother had long since left the library, but she simply sat there, thinking about the story.
It was a simple story, people fighting over light. The birth of darkness. How light would always be there.
But for some reason, this story scared her. She didn't know why, it was just a story. But when she thought of even the best of people fighting over something so pure, and creating something so… evil. It made her shiver. She didn't want to think about it, so she wandered around the library.
When she turned the corner though, she found a young man in a white coat entering the library. She recognized the coat, only Master Ansem's students wore them.
They were usually very cheerful, and always had a smile for anyone, but this man did not look happy. In fact he looked quite angry.
He was mumbling something and crushed a piece of paper in his hand, before he noticed her there.
She have a little gasp at being discovered, and felt embarrassed at being caught spying.
His eyes narrowed and widened after a moment, as if at that moment, an idea had struck him. He smiled slowly and suddenly said, "Hello Princess, what a coincidence, I was just looking for you."
"Y-You were?"
He nodded and said, "Yes, actually, I have something to show you in the laboratory."
She frowned, feeling a little suspicious. She was never supposed to go in there.
He must have noticed her hesitation, because he explained, "Your mother asked me to take you there and show you something."
She slowly followed him into the completely white room. She saw cases with hearts floating in them, and all sorts of sketches.
He took her to a very strange looking device and lifted her up onto it. He looked at her and said, "Now Princess, you're going to feel a little strange, but that's natural." He handed her a cup with a pink liquid in it "Take a sip from this, it will make you feel better. But only a sip."
Her favorite color was pink, and the drink smelled nice, so she took it from him and started drinking. It tasted very good too! She forgot about his instructions and started gulping it down.
She noticed he was typing something in a very strange looking board, but evidently it was not working, because he started to slam down the keys very quickly.
The young man saw that she had drank almost all the liquid, and snatched the glass back from her. "No! Stupid girl! Why did you drink all this? Now what am I going to do?!" Startled, she almost fell over. But before she had time to, she felt very strange. She felt almost as if she had been flying. The room faded away, and she saw the dark sky, dotted with shimmering stars.
It felt like this would last forever, until she landed on something very hard.
"Oof!" She cried out.
She didn't notice the little boy on the beach, staring wide-eyed at what he had just seen.
She must have been lying there for some time, before he approached her and crouched down in front of her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and squinted up at the stranger.
She heard his voice suddenly. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked.
She fully opened her eyes and started to sit up. He was kneeling in front of her, and he looked about her age.
She nodded and looked around her. She saw trees, sand, and a huge ocean. Where was she?
"What's your name?" The boy asked.
She looked back at him, and into his eyes. They were a deep shade of blue, like the sky starting to get dark.
"Kairi."
"Well, nice to meet you Kairi. I'm Sora," He grinned as he held out his hand.
She smiled and clasped his hand, "It's nice to meet you too, Sora."
****
Sora took her to the Mayor's office, and tried to explain how she had fallen from the sky, like one of the stars, but the mayor just chuckled and shook his head.
"So what's your name, m'dear?"
"Kairi," Sora answered for her, grinning.
"Well Kairi, where are you from?"
She would have answered him, had she an answer to give him. But as she searched her mind for a location to name, she found none. She couldn't remember anything!
"I-I… don't remember." She finally answered, looking down.
****
Kairi was the talk of the town for days. The little red-haired girl who had fallen from the sky. No one could figure out where she was from, so they made up stories. Some people said she was from another planet. Some people laughed and said that she was probably just from another island.
The mayor had taken her in as his own daughter, and tried to make her feel more at home, but it was no use. She would just sit on her bed, staring out the window for hours on end.
The mayor began to grow worried, and felt that she needed company her own age, so he called Sora and Riku to his house.
"Kairi, there are some people that wish to meet you," the mayor said, peeking into her room.
She was about to get off her bed, but suddenly someone ran into her room, smiling. She looked closely at him, and realized it was the boy who had found her when she first came to the island. Sora.
The mayor led them outside, and she saw a silver-haired boy leaning against the house. He turned and looked at her, unsmiling. He had blue eyes too, but his were lighter than Sora's; they were like the sky, just after a sunrise.
The mayor stood behind her, gesturing to the new boy in front of her, "Kairi, meet Riku."
****
After those first few lonely weeks, Kairi was always smiling. Or at least, whenever she was around Sora and Riku. It had taken some time to get Riku to accept her, but after he had, she was his second best friend.
Day after day was spent playing tag in the sand, swimming for hours in the sparkling blue waters, and sitting on the curved trees, staring at the magnificent sunsets.
Eventually, Sora and Riku became very curious about Kairi. Where had she come from? Could she remember anything? Had she really come from another planet? How did she get here?
But to all their endless questions, the only response they got was an 'I don't remember' from Kairi.
But Kairi didn't like thinking about those things. It made her feel alone, isolated from others. She did love the mayor, but she yearned for her own parents. The only things that kept her from feeling lonely were Sora and Riku.
Sora was like an endless array of sunshine, always keeping her smiling. He was energetic and always goofing around. Riku was the complete opposite. He was competitive, calm, very stubborn, and very protective too. To Kairi, he was the big brother that she never had. To them, Kairi was a bubbly girl who loved to laugh and tease them, but was also level-headed; the perfect balance between Sora and Riku.
****
One day, they were just standing on the beach, when Kairi suddenly grabbed Riku's hand and then Sora's hand. They both looked at her with a confused expression, but she just pulled them down with her, so they fell down onto the sand, hand in hand.
"I want it to be like this forever," she whispered.
And it might have been like that forever, but Kairi had forgotten her grandmother's story. Even the best of people can fight for the light. And even the best of friends can turn to darkness. Light can always lead to darkness. But there will always be light in the darkness.
But for that moment, none of them were worried about light, darkness, or even tomorrow. For that moment, they laid there in complete peace, oblivious to the trials that awaited them. For that moment, it was just three best friends lying in the sun.
(A/N) Whew! Well, it's finally finished… I think. I hope that everyone likes this; it took about two days and a lot of aggravation to write. There are some things that I think I need to explain.
First off, I know this isn't how things happened in the game. I think Sora mentions that a new girl is at the mayor's house after they leave the Secret Place. I made Sora find Kairi, because I remembered that from the manga, and it fit with my story more.
Also, I have no idea how Kairi got from Radiant Garden to Destiny Islands… I know that she fell from the sky, but that's it. So I made up the rest (putting her on one of the teleportation devices seen in KH2). That pink liquid that Kairi drinks was something I made up for Kairi to lose her memory. In my story, Xehanort wants her to drink a little sip, just so she'll forget his little experiment, and won't tell anyone. Especially since Ansem is pretty irritated with him.
I'm sure that when Birth by Sleep is finally released, there will be answers to all my questions, and most everything in this story will be wrong, but that's okay. Just so long as someone enjoys it, I'm fine with this.
Woah… I wrote kind of a lot… he he… sorry about that!