NOTICE: Please see Chapter 19 for more info about the future of this fic and its "successor." If you don't care much about the details, you can find it on AO3 under "Kingdom Hearts: From Ashes Arisen"

Sora was almost never home anymore and neither was Riku. She was getting sick and tired of it. Both had to leave many times on long missions fighting things that they refused to tell her about. Kairi wanted to go with them, but Sora refused, despite his previous invitations for her to come with him. She hardly remembered what had even happened. Now here she was standing on the beach, watching the waves lazily roll in and fall back out to sea. There was no breeze today, but it was still the early and chilly hours of the morning. What was out there besides the Heartless and the Nobodies that was so bad, she couldn't come? She wasn't weak like she was two years back, when they were both fourteen. She had her own Keyblade and was getting a little used to it. The salty air came a little close to comforting her, but it was still not enough.

"K-Kairi?" A voice asked her. She whipped around and faced a thin, lanky sixteen year-old boy with spiky chocolate-colored hair. Anger found its way into her eyes and she gave him one of her rare death glares. But he didn't shrug it off and lift her mood with a few jokes, like the normal Sora would. He just stood there, staring back at her, no emotion leaking into his bright cerulean eyes. That anger she felt, disappeared after a short-lived staring contest. She looked down to the sand, feeling a bit regretful. It wasn't like he'd been avoiding her, the worlds needed saving and he was there to save them. She put on her best "angry but I'm trying not to be" face.

"Sora! You're back already? I missed you!" she cried, hugging him. He stumbled back, but held onto her after a bit of hesitation. He tried to ignore the sharp pain, but it got to be too much. "What's wrong?" she asked. He shook his head, and put on a false smile.

Don't worry Kai I'm just not feeling myself because I feel like shit from all the work and nobody's telling me anything!

"Nothing."

In your dreams, Sora, in your dreams.

"How long are you staying here?" she asked. He hoped his voice wouldn't express his thoughts too much.

"I don't know, they didn't tell us." he said, voice nice and even.

"Where's Riku?"

"Still in the gummi. He has some things to sort out." Sure he does. Sike! He's visiting the digital therapist, that or, he's still got a hangover.

"Oh."

They continued to talk, sharing (one partially lying about) what each had been doing while the other was gone. The sun now was high up in the baby blue sky, warming their faces as they sat on the warm, soft sand. Every now and then, a thalassa shell would wash up next to them. Then it would be swept back out to sea, then wash up again on the shore of another island. As they talked, Sora looked at the Princess of Heart. She could go home, to her real home, but she stayed here with him and Riku. She deserved better than this (that and he wanted vacay all to himself), and he knew it too. They both lay back on the sand and stared up at the sky. Sora closed his eyes and remembered what Riku had told him before he came. "You told me to make sure you didn't bring Kairi with you, and I'm doing my job by telling you to not be tempted. Even if they show up. We can handle this, you and me both. Right?" he had reminded him. Sora didn't feel any temptation, just relaxation. How good it felt to just lie under the sky with the girl he secretly loved next to him. Pay extra attention to that word; secretly.

He turned slowly and faced Kairi. She had her eyes closed and was breathing steadily. He sighed, and turned over so he was on his stomach like her. She's so beautiful when she's asleep. he thought. No! Bad Sora, bad! No feelings, just relaxing, don't have time… Gah! He sat up and watched the sun, now having risen high. He stood up and shook some sand out of his clothes. She murmured something in her sleep but it was unclear to him what she had said. Trying hard not to wake her (or trigger perverted thoughts), he lifted her up in his arms. He'd been training a lot lately and was close to being almost as strong as Riku, who could probably lift his two best friends at the same time. She stirred and tried to turn, causing him to freeze. Please don't wake up, please don't wake up! he thought. His pleas got louder as her eyes fluttered before she yawned. He felt his eyeballs nearly roll back into his head.

"Stop freaking out; just say the word and I'll tell Namine." Roxas told him. Sora mentally rolled his eyes at his Nobody's stupidity.

"No! Remember? Whenever me and Kairi are together, you and Namine are together."

"Riiight... ok, just hope neither of them wakes up."

MEANWHILE...

Riku rubbed his eyes before sitting up. Another nap on the cold floor did no good for the major headache he had. Last time he let Yuffie talk him into going to a bar with no regulations. The Radiant Garden age requirement was twenty-one, and he still had about four years to go. The alarm clock continued ringing, and he heard the annoying sound reverberating around the room. He yawned and shut his eyes tight. He was shoved by two small, but female hands. Oh god. Did one of the Riku-crazed fangirls follow us again?

"Riku! Get up, already!"

Selphie? Here we go…

"You're in my spot."

"No, I was here first. You cannot make the guy with a hangover move."

"Watch me." she shot back, and kicked him in the ribs until he groaned and rolled over involuntarily. Curse her for knowing how defensive he was. The space he had occupied was now filled with Selphie, or he thought so until he opened his eyes and took off the blindfold. There she was, a look of extreme disdain on her face, dressed in all goth clothing; black lacy tank top, black skinny jeans, black leather boots, and a dark grey hoodie. Her once-sparkling turquoise eyes were highlighted by smoky eyeshadow. Purple lipstick added a touch of color. She opened her eyes and sat up, when she realized he was watching. She glared at him. "Can I help you?" she asked, her caramel-colored pigtails swishing around. This was not Selphie. She was bright and bubbly, not dark and that. She had a crush on him, not a deathwish.

Only one explanation, he thought while tackling her and holding her pinned to the floor. She's a Silhouette. I feel sorry for her, there's no cure for a collapsed heart

"Get off me you freaking pervert!"

"Ha-ha, I get that a lot."

"I don't have munny but I have a fleet of Heartless ships waiting right outside this world, and they will attack on command if you don't get your sorry ass off me."

"Nope."

"Heartle—" she tried to scream, but he did a pressure point on her. She got weaker as he pressed harder. Her eyes were half-closed, and he was able to rush outside to the cockpit. He asked Tron to place her in the Pit Cell with the other subdued Silhouette from Twilight Town. The security/operating system program used the transport ray thingy to send the Silhouette to its new holding area. King Mickey appeared on the message screen, resembling the video chat program inside Space Paranoids called "Skype".

"Riku, how's your vacation going?"

"Mickey, to tell you the truth, I feel like crap right now."

"Why? What happened?"

"One word. Hangover."

"You were drinking?"

"Yeah, what's the issue?"

"Nothing, just—" Donald ran into the frame of the screen and knocked the King to the side.

"Sorry your Majesty but we need to talk to Sora. RIKU WHERE'S SORA!" the duck shouted. Riku cowered under the control board at the front of the gummi. His head felt like it was being split in half.

"HE'S SOMEWHERE WITH KAIRI! DON'T SCREAM AT ME OR I WILL HAVE THE PLEASURE OF KILLING YOU BEFORE MY SUBCONSCIENCE! Oh crap, did I say that out loud?" Riku shouted back.

"Okay, thanks." Donald replied, stepping through the hologram. Tron seemed to have a glitch that allowed magic-users to step through without immediate detection. The duck was wearing what must have been normal uniform for Royal Mages at Disney Castle, because it just would've been plain weird to wear those clothes as normal.

"Not so loud! Do you know what I feel like?"

"No, and I don't want to. Just give me the munny you owe for breaking Highwind." Cid interrupted, the volume in the room skyrocketing in Riku's mind.

"…" Cid I hate you sooo much right now. When I get back from my vacation…

"…" What was that all about? All right, Riku needs to finish talking and then I can get outta here.

"Okay… what were you saying?"

"I got wasted last night and I have this huge hangover, so if you could please repeat the silence from before that would be fan-freaking-tastic." Riku finally piped up, shutting off the gummi's computer system. The whole gummi powered down, except for the hardly-ever-used air-lock which was manual, and the door with the ramp and pull-out stairs attached. The Teeny Ships had been set to deploy, and were zooming off the islands in a heartbeat. Yup, they're gone.

Okay, so first chapter isn't that great, but at least view the second chapter before you click the "Back" button in your browser. Thanks a bunch.

:D FK