AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first fanfic, so try not to flame me too badly. This story may seem slow at first but bear with me, and hopefully you won't be disappointed. I officially own nothing; there may be some original ideas/characters in this story, but they are all for the most part based on that existing within the realm of Kingdom Hearts. Also, this is non-canon, but I will try to keep as faithful to the characters as possible. Read and review.
The life of a warrior has never been easy, especially for one so young.
Most people his age would have been playing with their friends, hanging out at the movies, maybe even going on dates. God, he was only a boy then…a child, really. He had grown up alone, his parents dying when he was still so very young. Right then, the world had been ready to swallow him whole, but his resolve was too great. He found respite in the handful of children his own age on the Destiny Islands, and slowly, the sheltered orphan felt he could be happy again. It was what they all loved most about him; that big goofy grin that somehow told you that nothing else mattered.
Sadly, like all things in life, it wasn't meant to last forever.
In an instant the perfect world he knew; relaxing lazily on the beach, the cool breeze from the ocean caressing his face, the smell of salt and palm trees, the warm sun and the clear blue sky…it was all gone. In its place there was darkness that went on forever. His home, his friends…ripped from right in front of him. Suddenly he was that little boy again, standing in the threshold of his home, waiting for the family that would never return.
That's when it happened…that's when he received the Key.
For the first time in his life, he had to fight to keep…no…to reclaim what was so precious to him. He had to trust those he barely knew, and fight those he'd known his whole life. There seemed to be no end to the darkness, to the Heartless that followed, but he knew that there was no one else who could bear this burden. He had been chosen, and he would see this through to the end. In the endless abyss, his light kept him going; that beacon of hope shining quite literally within his own heart. He sacrificed himself to give back all that had been taken, swearing to return to the home he had both lost and loved…promising to return to his light.
Nothing was ever that simple.
A wise man once said that only the dead have seen the end of war; but for the Keybearer, death was not an option. He pressed on; fighting back the darkness, fighting to gain back the memories he had lost, fighting to get back home. The closer he got to vanquishing the darkness, the further he got from his light. Such was his fate, he thought, until the day he was finally allowed to go home. Sure, he had been back home since that first fateful day he received the Key, but he had never really returned. There was always some loose end that remained, some enemy not quite dead and gone. This time would be different; there was no more darkness, no more missions for the Keybearer. He could finally begin to live once more, and he hoped that his light still burned for him.
The sky looked as if it was lit on fire; the sun was dipping below the horizon and bathed everything it touched in an orange-red glow. It had been three years since Sora had last seen a sunset like this one; in fact, out of all the worlds he had visited in his travels, none of them could compare to the sight of Destiny Islands. A few seagulls fluttered out overhead, making a few faint chirps as they faded into the distance. The cool island breeze tousled the already gravity-defying spikes of soft brown hair atop his head. For a moment, he just stood there. He held his eyes shut and inhaled deeply, a smile creeping across his face. When his eyes opened, they seemed to glow with the horizon; deep blue sparkling with the glow of the sun, like twin stars. He looked straight up and waved, his signature grin plastered across his face. Overhead, the humming engine of the Gummi Ship intensified. A couple of hands waved to him from the cockpit moments before it streaked across the night sky like a bolt of lightning, disappearing in a distant flash. He lowered his head, taking another deep breath, and made his way down the beach.
There were distant voices shouting, and he could hear what sounding like bare feet slapping against sand and the occasional splash of water. His feet sunk into the soft white sand of the beach as he moved forward. Again, the grin plastered across his face. He was relishing every moment of this, every sensation, every smell and sound. In the distance there was a mess of orange spikes steadily poking up over the sand. The spikes slowly grew into a tall and bulky young man with a dark tan. Sora immediately recognized him as he waved his hand in the air, the faint sounds of a thick island accent trailing behind him. It wasn't long after that that a few more started to become visible; a mess of long brown hair bouncing back and forth with a yellow sundress clinging loosely to a skinny form, a set of messy golden spikes and a big dopey grin attached to the equally skinny form of a boy with a pair of board shorts slung low around his hips. They were waving wildly and shouting. Before long, the big orange-haired one was charging down the beach like a raging bull. He tackled Sora around the waist, wrapping his arms around him tightly in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground.
"Sora!" He shouted. "Great to see you, man! Glad to be back, ya?"
"Good to see you too, Wakka…" Sora managed to squeak out, trying to breathe under the crushing hug.
The one with the messy golden spikes skidded to a halt behind Wakka, tapping the big guy on the shoulder. "He just got home, man, try not to break him in half."
Wakka stopped, grinned sheepishly at Sora, and set him down in the sand. He took a few steps back, rubbing the back of his head.
"Thanks, Tidus." Sora said as he reached his hand out.
Tidus took his hand and pulled Sora in for a hug, playfully hip-checking Wakka out of the way as he did so. Wakka stumbled to the side, tripping over his own feet, and almost doing a face-plant in the sand if it weren't for the skinny brunette who came up to his side, trying to steady him. She smiled, shook her head, and went over to hug Sora tightly with Tidus sandwiched between them. She released her embrace with a giggle and waved to Sora before taking off back down the beach.
"Where's she off to in such a hurry?" Sora asked as he, Tidus, and Wakka started walking slowly after her.
"That's our Selphie." Wakka said, rubbing his hip with a bit of a wince.
"She's going to get the others." Tidus said, stopping for a moment to look behind Sora. "Say, man, uh…where's your bags?"
Sora flung the bag at his side up over his shoulder. It looked like it was barely the size of a pillow with a small drawstring attached. Sora always travelled light, as if the thought of packing too much would make his friends forget about him while he was gone.
"Is that it?" Tidus asked.
Sora nodded, giving his patented Sora smile.
"What all could you possibly fit in that thing? It's smaller than Selphie's purse!" Tidus said with a chuckle.
"Oh you know, just the essentials," Sora said as they continued down the beach. "Shampoo, body wash, toothpaste…"
"…Tissues, hand lotion, dirty magazines…" Wakka interrupted obnoxiously.
The three of them began to laugh. It felt like forever since Sora had actually laughed. Sure, his crew had run on "happy faces", but there was nothing that compared to having a laugh with a few childhood friends. Suddenly, Sora stopped dead in his tracks; his eyes widened and he was completely silent, his mouth open as if to speak. Tidus and Wakka seemed puzzled at first until they noticed what it was that had caught Sora's attention; locks of crimson-red hair being tossed about by the wind, belonging to a slender and pale-skinned girl who stood watching them, one hand pressed lightly over her mouth. Her eyes sparkled fiercely in the light of the sunset, as if tears were forming in them. Without a second thought, Sora had let his bag fall heavily into the sand and he was running across the beach to her. Tidus and Wakka looked at each other without saying a word, their expressions sliding from the usual happy-go-lucky.
Sora reached the other end of the beach, slowed his run to a walk, and took a deep breath. There she was; after all this time, Sora was able to come home to find his light waiting for him. The girl standing before him stifled an audible sob, tears spilling freely from her eyes as she flung her arms around him. She collapsed into Sora and he gripped the small of her back to steady her. She was sobbing now, shaking against him, her tears soaking the fabric on his shoulder. Sora rested his cheek against the crown of her head, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply. He wanted to savor this moment; her scent was so warm and alluring, like lavender and chamomile, he could never quite figure out what it was. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she finally spoke.
"I never thought you'd come back…" She started, her voice soft and almost broken-sounding. "I never thought I'd see you again."
"Shh…it's OK, I'm here now, Kai." Sora said soothingly.
She pushed back on him for a moment and locked eyes with him, gazing into those endless pools of blue. Sora felt his pulse start to quicken. He began to think back to the last time they had seen each other, the kiss they had shared, that brief moment of bliss before he was forced to leave his light once again. To his surprise, she loosened her grip on him and took a few steps back, her hand returning to her mouth. Her tears and sobs had subsided, but there was something he could sense in her that was not quite right. A million things flashed through Sora's mind, and he tried to push them all away. He was home, he was here with Kairi, finally they could be together; this was supposed to be a happy moment for all of them.
"Hey Sora!" A familiar deep voice called out, shaking Sora from his daze.
Sora looked in the direction of the voice to see the face of his oldest friend. Sora stepped towards him, without speaking a word they both embraced tightly.
"Good to see you again, brother." He said, his voice slightly muffled by the hug.
"Likewise, Riku." Sora replied.
Riku's arms were wrapped tightly around him. His friend stood tall and rigid, yet comforting. Sora sensed something wrong. It was in Kairi's eyes, in the way Riku was embracing Sora, in the way the entire island had seemed to fall completely silent. Sora slipped from the embrace and looked over his shoulder at Kairi, her hand still pressed to her lips, trying to hold back an explosion of emotion. It was then that Sora saw it, sparkling on Kairi's finger, reflecting the now dimming light of the sunset; a diamond ring.
Sora blinked a few times, then realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Riku kept a firm grip on Sora's shoulders as if afraid that Sora was going to run. Sora looked from Kairi back to Riku, seeing a look of profound regret buried in his friend's emerald eyes.
"Are you two…" Sora started, his voice cracked and barely audible.
Riku just nodded; it was all he could do. To everyone's surprise, Sora stood strong, took a few steps back from Riku, and his patented Sora smile crossed his lips again. There was a collective sigh of relief in the gathering of friends there.
"I'm happy for you two," Sora said calmly, his voice smooth and soothing. "Truly, I am."
Sora looked back over his shoulder, noticed Tidus and Wakka standing not far behind them. Tidus had Sora's bag slung over his shoulder, which he quickly tossed back to Sora. Sora shouldered the bag and continued a few steps down the beach before turning back, flashing them his smile.
"C'mon, let's get something to eat, I'm starving." He said, motioning to them.
The friends gathered there started to move on down the beach, clamoring on and generally talking Sora's ear off. Kairi remained still for a moment or two, briefly meeting Sora's eyes as they passed. He seemed to be happy for her engagement to Riku, she genuinely believed that, but there was something that was missing from those glowing blue eyes of his. She had seen the color momentarily drain from his face, as if he had just been punched in the gut, no matter how brief it had been or how expertly he had hidden it from the rest of the group.
She knew something wasn't right…