AN: I do not own Kingdom hearts, sad but true

I posted my rough draft by mistake this was supposed to be the one that was posted, sorry for those of you who read the other one.

Reunions

Prelude

By Wildfire

Ever watch the water? It goes in, it goes out, in, out... it never stops. You ever wonder where the water goes when it goes out? Like on the other side of the world is water going in when this water goes out? Or does it just get higher in the middle of the ocean when it goes out? Suppose it really doesn't matter, it's just how it was.

My hair fell over my eyes as I let out a deep sigh. It's still as unruly as ever, brown tuffs sticking up in every direction. It's been almost five years since I returned to this world, since I returned home. Things had been odd when we arrived back; my mom had hugged me first with smiles and tears, and then demanded to know where I'd been for those two years. That had been an interesting explanation, a complete lie actually, but interesting nonetheless. Riku's parents reacted totally different; they were furious with him, telling him how much he'd missed in school, and how dare he worry them like that. Things were difficult for Riku anyway. He always felt guilty for succumbing to the darkness. We weren't back home even a month before he went to college. I'm not sure how he got in without being a high school graduate but he did, on something called a GED. I had to test into my senior year to make sure I was ready for it. I made it, barely.

Riku went to some far off college, I just went to one on the island over. I went for two years earning my associates before coming back home. Riku never came home. Well, no, he did, once the first year gone he came back for Christmas. I guess things were still too awkward for him though as he never came back. I used to get an occasional letter from him but those stopped a while ago too. In fact, I haven't heard from him in almost two years. Two years for Riku, three for the last time I heard from Donald or Goofy. I missed them terribly. I'd do anything to hear Goofy's 'ah huck' or see Donald lose his temper.

I looked up and blinked a few times before noticing Kairi down by the docks. She was tying her boat up. I was surprised to see her. Well, not really, she always tracked me down eventually. It's just rare to see anyone on our play island any more. That was another weird thing, when I had left all of the kids had practically lived on this little island. Now... well, now I was really the only one to come here, and at twenty two I was hardly a child. Twenty two... I hated that, I wished I could go back to when I was little again. It's not that I minded being in Kingdom Hearts, I met so many wonderful people. But now I felt lonely, no Aladdin or Jack to speak to.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Kairi sat down beside me smiling. She tucked her hair back.

Okay, maybe I'm not totally alone. "Nothing," I flopped back on the sand to look up at the blue sky.

"Liar." She laid down beside me a little bit more gracefully.

We just laid there for a while, basking in the silence. Kairi... she was my world now. Not that we were dating. I suppressed the urge to giggle at that thought. Oh, we had tried dating. Pretty much right after I returned home actually. It wasn't horrible, we held hands and talked... but it was as if we were still just friends. Kissing had been disastrous, I would laugh every time, and she'd get so mad. I smiled at that memory. We struggled through it for six months, the both of us desperately trying to make it work, but it wasn't going to. We both loved each other, but not as lovers. Wakka and her had been dating off and on for the last two years. Wakka! I never predicted that one! I mean, come on, Wakka!? I tried dating a few other girls on the island but they never worked out. In fact I usually broke it off within a week. Kairi was convinced I must be gay. I think I must be asexual.

"You know, Donald and Goofy would be furious with you," Kairi said absently, her finger drew little circles in the sand.

"What? Why?!" I turned to look at her. I'll admit I was a little alarmed at that statement.

"Well, you chased Riku all over, going to countless worlds and then you lose him in your own world... pretty shitty."

Kairi just cussed... that was rare. I huffed and moved back onto my back. "They were hardly countless." I could recite each one. "And I chased you over those worlds too. Plus Riku's not in danger. He doesn't need my help." It kind of hurt to say that.

Kairi let out her own huff "He's hiding. He doesn't want to face what he did so he ran away. He's being a coward!"

"That's not true! He's working on getting his degree! He's just really busy!"

"To busy to pick up a phone? Or give us his current address? He would have earned his degree last year. He's hiding." She sat up, arms crossed. "Even his parents don't know where he is!"

"Well, he's probably working on his Masters!" Kairi herself had just moved back to the islands. She had gone to college with me but she stayed for her Bachelors. Of course she had been home during the holidays and for summer and even some weekends. "Some people do go past just a Bachelors degree."

"Either way he's still hiding." Kairi stood up and offered me her hand. "Come on, your mom sent me to get you. Dinner should be ready now."

Yes, I lived with my mother still. No, I have no excuse. My stomach growled. I smiled sheepishly, Kairi laughed taking my hand.

"You goof!" We walked hand in hand back to the docks.

****

"Alright. Shrimp pasta for you, fish and chips for the little angel and crusted salmon for her sister." I winked at the family, a little five year old and her parents. Her mom smiled at my "sister" comment. "Anything else I can get for you right now?"

The husband waved me off and I headed to my next table, my smile never faltering for a second. Bigger smiles meant bigger tips. Not that I ever had any trouble smiling. I refilled an ice tea before moving to the kitchen. "How's my cod nuggets coming?" I leaned on the counter.

"They'll be out in a minute Sora! Keep your pants on- wait, wait I take that back, take 'em off." The cooks all laughed. There're three of them. All male, and they all loved to tease me. I don't really mind, I enjoyed it most of the time. As long as it's just words, though sometimes Jake, he's kinda the ring leader, took it too far with groping. Something, unfortunately, Connor and Frank had started picking up as well. It's not that I blame them really, Kairi blurts out to everyone that I'm probably gay, and to top that off I'm only 5'7, something I'm highly bitter at. I mean, my mom's taller than me! My height's even with most of the girls. All the guys here seemed to be at least 6 foot tall, if not taller. I let out a sigh as I waited for the nuggets.

Jake placed them in front of me, with a wink and slow lick of his lips. I rolled my eyes as I took the nuggets.

"All right, here's your appetizer, let me refill that, coke right?" Smile, smile...

The rest of the night went by at about the same pace, soon I found myself stacking chairs and stifling yawns. I yelped loudly when a pair of arms went around my waist, thrusting me back into a hard chest.

"You never did take those pants off…" Jake's hand dipped lower to where the top of my apron was. "I was getting so..."

"Get off me!" I rammed my elbow back into his side. Not hard enough to actually hurt him, I didn't want to hurt him, but just enough to let him know I was serious.

He grunted, moving back. Surprisingly he kept his hands settled on my hips. That was new; normally he'd laugh and ruffle my hair as he walked away. The guy had a weird since of humor.

"What are you doing tonight? Frank's going out… I'll have the apartment all to myself."

I suppressed a groan. This teasing was getting out of hand. "Sleeping, in my own bed." I move away grabbing another chair. I still hadn't looked at him, I didn't need to, I knew he'd be smirking. Plus if I looked at him he'd probably lick his lips at me or something. The guy was weird, how was this funny? Not to mention he's like twice my age!

"Someday, my little minx, some day you'll say yes." His footsteps echoed away.

Minx? Wasn't that a cat? The man was weird. I finished stacking the chairs before clocking out. I waved goodbye as I started my walk home. Home... my eyes drifted to the sky, the stars, different worlds... what was Simba doing? Had Donald and Goofy checked on any of the worlds since we left them? Was Leon okay? What about Cloud? I kicked at a rock. I hated this, why couldn't I go see them? Why did I have to stay here, trapped on this world? Sometimes I could get Kairi to summon her keyblade, but she really wasn't any competition and she usually got mad at me when I beat her down so fast. I was so out of shape... well, not really, I do run and what not. I was still in shape; I just didn't get any practices with the keyblade. Riku could have helped me practice... Riku. Why did my thoughts always return back to him? I found myself slightly mad at him after my talk with Kairi… he was being cowardly. I stopped at the ocean, looking out at it.

"Well, at least the waves sound the same."

I smiled; I could still hear his voice. Had his voice changed? I walked down to the beach staring out into the sea. Was he even close to the water anymore? Did he miss the sound of the ocean? Did he miss me? I kicked at the sand. I kept hoping that one day he'll just return. Just turn up smiling, flipping that gray hair of his over his shoulder. Smiling at me and telling me I haven't grown. Yeah, that's what he'd do. He'd offer no excuses, no apologies; he'd just come back and go back to normal. Everything would be all right again. Kairi would scold him and he'd just laugh it off, we'd go back to playing together. Everything would be okay. Riku could probably figure out how to go see the other worlds again. I'd see Donald and Goofy and Jack, maybe I'd visit Tarzan, or Ariel! I kind of liked being a fish… I saw the ocean in a whole new light. I wonder if my ocean had mermaids in it? Probably not. My world was boring. I'm boring. Wake up, eat, talk, kill time, eat, go to work, eat, wander home, sleep, wake up... it's always the same. I even take people's shifts on my days off. I'm boring. I haven't had a day of in... Well the last time was when I talked with Kairi on the island… two weeks ago? Maybe three. Who knows… who cares? It's all boring.

I looked around before calling my Keyblade, and I struck aimlessly into the darkness. I longed for something to strike at. I sighed, twirling the blade. I missed using this... when I had been using it, I had been so focused on my mission. I never enjoyed it. I never enjoyed the adventures I had, the friends I made... People should have adventures when they're old, so that way when they return there's nothing left but to die for them. When you have adventures when you're young it just sucks because you get back and have to somehow make a 'normal' life. Kairi did fine in that. But then she wasn't ever really there. During my first mission she was asleep, the second she was here, home. As I lost memories, she made them. When I woke up, she didn't even remember me, not really. She played a bigger role during the last days of Kingdom Hearts but it hadn't been her life. Not like it had been for Riku and me, who had traveled and knew it, who had lived it. Was Riku happy in his 'normal' life? Probably Riku could make anything work.

I tightened my grip on the Keyblade. I hated this! I let out a frustrated cry, pointing my blade out to the sea to let loose a simple fire. I watched as it flew out over the water, slowly disappearing. Stupid... I'm just so stupid. I let the Keyblade vanish; there was no reason to hold on to it. There was no reason for the Keyblade even. No reason...

Time to go home. I gave one last look at the sea.

"Well, at least the waves sound the same."

***

I groaned, opening my eyes slowly. It had been over a month since I last called the Keyblade; every day I felt stupider for doing it. I turned over and pressed my head into the pillow. I had the day off. Kairi insisted that I took it. Had to take my birthday off. I've grown to hate my birthday, Riku's would be two weeks later. For two weeks we'd be the same age. My head turned slightly to look at my closet. Every year I bought him a gift, I used to mail them to him but then I got one back saying he moved. I never got an updated address, that had been two years ago. I still bought him his gifts though. He may return.... Not that I hoped... Ok I did hope! And every year I was let down. He never returned for my birthday. Not once! We had once promised to always spend our birthdays together no matter what. Kingdom Hearts had of course broken that promise but I had hoped that maybe now that we were home again... Danm I'm stupid.

"Sora! Breakfast!"

Breakfast. I smiled slightly as I adored breakfast. A loud yawn emerged from my lips. Sometimes I thought of moving out. I made plenty of money to support a small apartment. And from living at home I had a very nice savings built up. But why? At least at home I got three good meals a day, mom talked to me, it's not like I needed privacy or anything. Being asexual has that benefit at least.

"Sooorrra!"

Hmm, she's impatient today. She must have something special planed. I yawned again before rolling out of my bed. I scratched my head as I headed down stairs in my pajama pants. I froze at the kitchen door. My mind was completely blank. The most wonderful thing in the whole world was sitting at my table! He smiled, his eyes shining. His hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail. He wasn't wearing anything special, just jeans and a black t-shirt. There was nothing special about him. "Ri-Ri-Ri-"

"Ku." He finished for me, and stood up. "Sora... you look the same," he looked me up and down. "I know-"

I never let him finish that sentence as I had rushed forward and now had my head buried into his chest. I could hear him grunt before he hugged me back. I could have stayed there forever, listening to his steady breathing and the beating of his heart. I probably would have too if it hadn't been for that tiny voice.

"Dada!"