Disclaimer: I do not/could never own the Kingdom Hearts series.
King Mickey sat writing yet another letter to Sora and Riku. Days earlier, Master Yen Sid had prompted him to somehow reach the two friends to tell them about the Mark of Mastery exam that was going to befall them as soon as they reached the Master. He finally laid his pen down and surveyed his work. The letter read as follows:
Dear Sora and Riku,
Yen Sid called me to his tower recently and conveyed some grave news. It seems as though Master Xehanort, Somebody of Xemnas and the reason Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, ever existed, my have come to being again. Yen Sid bade me tell you that you need to find some way to get to his tower and get ready for your Mark of Mastery exams. He will explain himself when you get there.
It was not as long as he would've liked to make it, but he supposed that it sufficed. He put he letter in an envelope and inlaid his seal on it. He had only to wish that the letter would be sent to Destiny Islands, and then it would be gone. He sighed, closed his eyes, wished and the letter disappeared. He went to talk to his faithful Court Magician and Captain of the Guard, Donald Duck and Goofy.
"Gee fellahs, how do you think those three are holdin' up?" the King asked, clearly worried.
"Gawrsh, Your Majesty, I'm sure they're doin' just fine! Knowing them, they're clowning around since they haven't seen each other for so long," Goofy said.
"Aw, I wish we could see them again…. It feels like such a long time since we've seen either of them." Donald chimed in.
Meanwhile, on the big island, Sora was sitting in the secret place, thinking. He knew this wasn't his usual perch, but he had to do some thinking and looking. It had been such a long time since he'd been here. Most of the days since he had got back from his seemingly never-ending journey had been spent drinking in the beauty of the home he again hadn't seen for so long.
He spent the most time gazing fondly upon that fateful picture, the one with the crudely drawn faces of two youths handing each other a paopu fruit, which he had only seen once since his return. He knew he would have to leave once again, and so, he had spent most of the past days spending time here to make sure he would remember the image.
He was thinking of Kairi, the love of his life, which was another reason he was there, to contemplate his feelings. "Maybe this time I won't see her again. Maybe Riku will fall prey to the darkness again….." But he quickly dismissed the second thought from his head. He knew for a fact that a) Riku had no intention of falling into the darkness again and that b) he had learned a lot from his previous mistakes. The first thought he still grasped however. This was because he knew that he was always in constant danger of being killed off.
Suddenly, he heard something behind him. He gave a jump (funny, he thought, he should be used to that kind of thing by now.) He heard a soft voice behind him.
"Don't worry, it's only me." Kairi was standing beside him now, smiling. She gave a chuckle.
"Gee, Kairi…. Do you have to do that all of the time?' Sora joked.
Kairi laughed outright this time. "You're weird, you know that? Come on, lazy bones. Riku is waiting for us down at the paopu tree."
Sora tentatively eyed his friend. "Hey, Kairi. Do you think that we'll have to leave sooner than we think?"
Kairi looked thoughtful. "Well, I guess it kinda depends doesn't it?"
Sora nodded as they brushed past the foliage covering the Secret Place. "Do you think that, you know…..? Something….. Might happen?" he asked with a nervous twitch as he awaited the answer.
"Well, yeah sure. Death is just a part of life, but don't worry. You're special Sora… I'm sure that my charm will protect you. It's worked all these other times."
He nodded. Sora and Kairi both unconsciously looked lovingly and longingly at each other. Suddenly, a voice broke the silence:
"Hey, cut out the lovey-dovey stuff you two!"
Both looked over at Riku with guilty and embarrassed expressions on their faces. They sat down.
"While you two were goofing off, I found something. Something important."
Kairi smiled. "And what might that be?"
"It's a letter from the King," Riku said.
"Another one?" Sora asked, half disappointed, half excited
"Yep. It says that we have to go to Yen Sid's tower right away. It's for a certain reason. I'll tell you all about it when we get there, Sora."
"Kairi….." Sora said, as he looked at the sand.
"Don't worry. I can wait. I've done it long enough. And I promise I will find some way to get to you."
"Okay…." Sora said, reassured. He smiled.
They were already ready by the time night was just beginning to fall. The three friends said a quick goodbye, to save time, but each of them knew that they would miss each other (well, that Sora and Riku would miss Kairi, at least.)
When the other two had been gone for several hours, Kairi visited the Secret Place for one last look at the pictures that night. Alone, she too surveyed the picture of the two youths handing each other paopu fruit. She brushed her hand against the picture, gave it a loving gaze and said:
"Soon, Sora. We'll see each other soon I promise," and she felt a well of hot tears spring from her eyes.
A/N: There's more (much more) on the way. Please review this story and keep checking back for more. Sorry if it seems somewhat rushed. I hope you liked it