A/N: I have edited this story and figured out the direction I'm going to have the story go so keep an eye out for updates if you like it. And, like my other stories I am working on making sure the chapters are at the very least ten pages long (Calibri 11 point font), so the chapters are hopefully a comfortable length.

DISCLAIMER: HEY! GUESS WHAT! I'M NOT TETSUYA NOMURA OR EVEN A SQUARE ENIX EMPLOYEE! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? IT MEANS I DON'T OWN AND NO I'M NOT MAKING ANY MONEY OFF THIS EITHER! SO THERE!

We're Back

"W-We're back," Sora said happily as he wiped a small tear away and looked up at Kairi who stretched her hand out for him.

"You're home," Kairi reminded him with a soft smile as she stretched out her hand to him and Sora took it as he placed her seashell lucky charm in her hand. Kairi smiled as she pulled him up and the two embraced in a hug once more.

"I missed you, Kai," Sora whispered quietly reveling in the feeling of holding her once more; when he did it in the World that Never Was he had been shocked with how much she'd grown over the last year. The little tomboy fourteen year old had grown into an amazing fifteen year old.

Kairi had always been cute to him, but the one he's holding in arms goes far beyond that…She is completely and absolutely beautiful. She is without a doubt the most beautiful princess he had ever seen in his eyes and he's seen a lot of princesses.

"I missed you too," Kairi spoke softly shuddering with delight at the feeling of him holding her once again. She had dreamt of this for so long that it was surreal to realize it was actually happening, and she couldn't be any happier.

Far too soon for both of them, the duo separated and Kairi turned to see Riku with his "I know something you don't" grin much to her embarrassment. She couldn't help the small cry of delight though as she hugged him…She finally had her boys back!

For so long she had wished for this exact scenario and she could feel her tears spill as Sora joined in for a group hug. "Sorry it took so long," Riku apologized.

He marveled the way his heart remained calm as he held Kairi…Had this happened a year ago it would have been hammering in his chest as he tried in vain to keep his cool. It was amazing for him to realize that he had truly moved on from the Princess of Heart.

Kairi shook her head at the apology; she didn't need one. They both had important things to do and she couldn't blame them for trying to save the universe. "I understand," Kairi whispered softly. "Next time though…Next time I'm going with you, understand? That's what we were supposed to do in the first place, right?"

"You're right," Sora agreed readily. "We built that raft to visit the Worlds together…I think it's time we actually stuck together don't you?"

Riku and Kairi nodded in agreement. "Especially you Riku…I'm getting really sick having to look for you!" Sora scolded teasingly as Riku mock glared while Kairi giggled.

"What's so funny, hyuk?" Goofy asked standing next to them causing the three to jump in surprise. They had forgotten that the king, Donald and Goofy were there too!

"Gah! Don't do that, Goofy!" Sora scolded clutching his heart in shock causing Goofy and Donald to laugh to each other. "Oh, you think that's so funny do ya? Well let's see how funny you think this is!"

Goofy suddenly found a ball of sand hitting him in the face. The result? Goofy had a pile of sand all over his head as he tried to spit out the sand. "Gawrsh, Sora that was mean!" Goofy grumbled but Sora only grinned until he suddenly found someone pouring sand down his pants.

He whirled around to see Riku whistling innocently much to his chagrin. "Don't act innocent, Riku! It doesn't suit a silver baboon like you!" Sora mocked and Riku glared.

"What was that? I'm sorry I couldn't hear you from way down there…" Riku said cupping his ear as if straining to hear.

"Are you calling me short?"

"Of course not," Kairi told him in mock outrage. "He's just saying you have a little problem is all."

"Oh…Wait…Hey! That's not funny Kairi! You're shorter than I am!" Sora pointed out grinning.

"By like a centimeter," Kairi grumbled.

"Being as tall as a girl isn't helping your case, you know," Riku told him leaning on Sora's head like an armrest. Sora pouted as everyone laughed at him…That is until Riku decided to use Kairi as an armrest as well.

Then she joined in the pouting until Sora tapped her on the shoulder behind Riku's back and they caught each other's eye. With a grin, the two fell to their knees in perfect unison and Riku was caught off guard causing him to fall backwards.

"Should watch who you use as an armrest right, Sora?" Sora didn't respond. "Sora?"

Kairi looked down to see Sora (having thrown off his fingerless gloves) shifting through the sand as if in slight awe. "Sora?" Kairi asked confused.

"I've missed the sand," Sora told her smiling softly. "I've seen a couple of other beaches in my travels but none of the sand felt like this…None felt like home…"

"I don't know about that, Sora," Donald quacked picking up sand. "It all feels the same to me."

"Yeah? Well, what do you know?" Sora scowled at him and before Donald could answer, the Keyblade hero picked him up by the jacket and tossed him into ocean.

"HEY!" Donald yelled indignant much to Goofy and Mickey's amusement. Sora ignored him as he was suddenly caught up in a headlock by one Riku.

"Oi! Let me go, Riku!"

"Apologize!" Riku demanded, but Sora refused to surrender! He had faced down Ansem of Seeker of Darkness! He had fought an army of one thousand Heartless! He had defeated Xemnas the leader of Organization XIII! Surely, a headlock could not def—wait! What's Kairi doing?

"No! That's not fair Kairi!" Sora laughed loudly as his love interest tickled him.

"Sora's right Kairi you should stop," Mickey told her seriously.

"You're majesty?" Kairi asked stopping much to Sora's relief.

"This is how you tickle someone!" Mickey told her diving at the spiky haired boy.

"What?" Sora cried out before he bellowed a loud laugh. "You're…ha ha…majesty!"

"Now apologize to Donald and Goofy," Mickey said with a teasing grin as he continued his relentless tickling.

"I'm…ha ha…sorry!" Sora laughed out his face turning a deep purple from laughing too hard. Mickey instantly stopped and Riku let him go causing Sora to plop down on the soft, hot sand.

He didn't get back up.

"Gawrsh, you didn't hold him too tightly, did ya Riku?" Goofy asked nervously.

"I…I didn't think so…"

Kairi eyes widened in worry and she put her ear to his heart to make sure to it was still beating…Only for Sora to release a loud snort. Kairi jumped up surprised, but grinned when she realized what happened. "Sora! You lazy bum!" Kairi laughed as she turned to the group. "He fell asleep!"

"Typical," Riku half groaned, half laughed. "Even after saving the universe he still can't stop falling asleep on the beach! But, you know that doesn't sound half bad."

"You know…I agree," Kairi agreed as Riku laid on Sora's right while she laid on his left each taking one of his hands happy to be together once again.

"I like the way he thinks." Mickey yawned loudly finding a spot under a coconut tree while Donald and Goofy looked at each other.

"A nap does sound nice," Donald agreed and Goofy nodded tiredly; the two plopped a little above Sora's head and laid down instantly falling asleep.

"Night fellahs," Mickey whispered smiling at all his friends before he too shut his eyes to get some much needed rest.

While everyone fell into their slumber, Sora was already dreaming…

Sora looked around to realize he was in the depth of a heart…From what it looked like it was possibly Destiny Island's heart. But, wait? Who is that?

Sora looked closer and realized it was him! When he was four years old!

Maybe this was his heart back then?

Sora couldn't really remember it being so long ago…But, what is his four year old self doing here?

"Hmm?" He and child Sora said at the same time when the light of heart floated before him.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Child Sora asked the heart confused and in wonder.

"I heard your voice," the heart said in a familiar voice.

'Roxas?' Sora questioned but no that can't be right…Roxas was his Nobody and Nobodies didn't have hearts. And anyway a teenage Roxas shouldn't exist back when he was a child, so…who was it?

"It cut through the darkness around me," the voice continued to explain as it floated before child Sora. "All alone, I followed the sound, into a sea of light and found myself here with you."

The heart landed into child Sora's hands and Sora continued to wonder who this light belonged to. Child Sora nodded with a slight grunt to show he understood. "You gave me something back when I needed it most," the heart told the child.

'I…I did?' Sora mused uncertain.

"A second chance."

"I did?" Child Sora asked unknowingly voicing his fifteen year old counterpart's thoughts.

"But…now I have to go back to sleep again."

"Are you sad?"

"Would you mind if I stayed here, with you?" The heart asked carefully and Sora felt his eyebrows jump into his hairline.

'Another heart? What am I? A bank?' Sora asked himself with a small grin pleased that hearts felt like they could trust him.

"Sure if it will make you feel better," child Sora told him not understanding or questioning the implications of such an agreement.

"Thank you," the heart said with genuine gratitude as it floated into child Sora and the four year old hugged the spot as if it could hug the light…

Sora was not the only one to dream however as Kairi realized within her own…

"AH!" A child screamed and Kairi looked over to see a four year old version of herself with a bouquet of flowers in a place she didn't recognize as a strange creature chased her.

'A Heartless?' Kairi pondered but upon closer observation she realized the blue creature was something else…Something she didn't know.

"No! Run!" A voice cried out and Kairi whirled around to see a blue haired woman look on in worry.

'Who is she?' Kairi asked herself but no answer came as she watched her child-self cornered into a wall while the creature jumped into the air only to vanish. Her four year old self rushed over to the blue haired lady as more creatures dived out of the ground.

Kairi was shocked at the sight of the woman...She was quite beautiful and the way she held herself was like how Sora and Riku held themselves now. She stood like a warrior.

The most shocking thing though was the blue Keyblade in her hand and as her four year old self clutched on to the blade out of breath Kairi could only wonder if this was more than just a dream.

The blue haired woman stood her back straight and her eyes narrowed dangerously as she watched the strange creatures poise to strike. Then one jumped and the woman held up her arm to protect herself…Only for someone to strike it down with a single attack.

'The KING?' Kairi exclaimed internally looking at the mouse in surprise. 'If this is really some sort of memory from before I went to Destiny Islands than my life back then was a lot more interesting than I thought…'

"Hurry! You've got to get that girl someplace that's safe," Mickey told the blue haired girl holding his Star Seeker Keyblade prepared to defend the way.

"Who are you? Why do you have a Keyblade?" The woman questioned the monarch.

"I'll tell you later. Right now we've got to stop these things," Mickey reminded the woman keeping a close eye on the enemies.

Child Kairi gasped in surprise as the blue hair woman picked her up and ran off to the safety; she did not go too far obviously worried about the king going against so many enemies at once. They were just far enough away to stay out of the creatures' sight and she told child Kairi to "stay here for now". When child Kairi nodded in understanding, the blue haired woman nodded and ran off to go fight with the king.

Kairi sighed a little annoyed when all she could see was darkness since her child form covered her eyes obviously afraid to watch the fight. It was not until King Mickey told her she was safe and the monsters were gone did she uncover them; the king led her back to the blue haired woman as child Kairi asked.

"Thank you, my name is Aqua," the blue haired woman, Aqua, told King Mickey and unknowingly Kairi.

'Aqua…It feels familiar…I guess this really is a memory,' Kairi thought amazed.

"I train under Master Eraqus," Aqua explained.

'Whoa! Hold up! Does that mean there are people out there that can train us how to use the Keyblade? Where were they this last year?' Kairi silently fumed thinking how much training might have helped Sora and RIku over this last year…How much they might have been able to help her learn to use the Keyblade.

"And, I'm Mickey! I used to be Yen Sid's apprentice. I came back to him for more training." Aqua nodded her head in understanding.

"I sense light within this girl," Aqua told Mickey as if her child self wasn't there much to Kairi's chagrin."You think that's why they attacked her?"

"Yup," Mickey said seriously and Kairi grumbled about always being attacked because she was a Princess of Heart. "I think you might be absolutely right. If you ask me, she must be somebody pretty extraordinary."

"Yes, I'm quite certain she's someone we're supposed to protect," Aqua agreed.

'I want to do the protecting,' Kairi thought scowling; she didn't want to be just some damsel in distress that everyone has to save.

"Let's join forces." Mickey held out his hand but suddenly a light in his pocket shined. "Oh no! Not now!"

The monarch was enveloped in a bright light much to her, her child-self and Aqua's shock. "I'll be okay," Mickey assured her as he blasted off like a shooting star. "See ya real soon…!"

"Here!" Child Kairi exclaimed coming out of her amazement and breaking Aqua's stupor as she handed the flowers to the blue haired woman.

"Are these for me?" Kairi nodded her head.

"I picked you some flowers. Thank you for saving me." Aqua took them with a smile.

"Oh, they're lovely," Aqua complimented. "You're so sweet."

"My name's Kairi, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you to," Aqua said back. "I'm Aqua…Kairi about that light…"

"Kairi!" An old voice yelled out.

"Oh Grandma!" Both Kairi's said at the same time in different tones; while child Kairi just sounded surprised to see the old lady, the fifteen year old Kairi cried in delight at the sight.

She really did miss her from what little memories of her she had.

"Wait, Kairi, just a minute?" Aqua asked before touching the place where her necklace was that she had to this very day and a light shined in her. "I just cast a magic spell on you. One day when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe."

'Does this mean she's the reason I'm on Destiny Islands? That I met Sora…and Riku?' Kairi gasped in shock at the unexpected revelation.

"Thanks," child Kairi told the woman with a beaming smile and Kairi couldn't help but completely agree as the little girl ran off to her grandmother…

Unsurprisingly, Riku's dreams were full of old memories as well…

Riku watched stoically as his fiveyear old self turned to a brown haired man on the kid's island. "Hey," child Riku said to the man. "Did you come from the outside world?"

"Huh?" The brown haired man said intelligently as the child's question surprised him. "Why would you say that?"

"Because nobody lives out here, and I know you're not from the main island."

"Smart kid," the man complimented. "So, how about you? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, my friend's dad took us out on the boat," the child explained. "This is where we like to play, but they won't let us row here by ourselves, not till we're older."

"Must be hard, huh, stuck in one place."

The child walked to the shores of the island and said, "I heard once there was a kid who left for good."

Riku still wondered what the man saw when he stared at his child form so stunned, but his five year old self didn't seem to notice. "So how did you get here, anyway?"

"Is there some reason you're interested in the outside world?" The man asked curious.

"Yeah. I wanna be strong one day," the child told him. "Like that kid who left, he went to the outside world—I bet he's really strong now. I know it's out there somewhere—the strength that I need."

"Strength for what?"

"To protect the things that matter," child Riku said grinning and Riku felt another pang of guilt…He wanted to protect Kairi and he did it in the worst way possible. The outside world? He was better off not going…

"You know, like my friends," the child continued unaware of Riku's guilt and the man nodded with a smile.

"Outside this tiny world is a much bigger one," the man explained walking over to the little boy and Riku watched unsurprised when the man summoned a brown Keyblade before him. He was not shocked as the man bent down and directed the Keyblade's handle as if for the child to take. "In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking it's wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend—no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

Slowly the child grabbed the hilt of the blade and as the two stood there absorbing the full implications of what had happened a voice cut through the silence.

"Riku!" A four year old Sora cried out and the child Riku let go of the sword to turn around and see his spiky haired friend waving to him from the docks. "C'mon, hurry it up!

"You've gotta keep this a secret, okay?" The man asked as the child waved to his friend and the man sent his Keyblade away. "Otherwise, all the magic will wear off."

Child Riku nodded his head and the man rubbed the boy's hair chuckling with the boy before the silver hair child ran to meet his friend…

Riku's eyes snapped open and if not for the sudden change of twilight to night, he would have thought he was still dreaming. He couldn't believe he was back here to actually stay here! No matter what anyone said a part of him always believed he would never be able to return home.

'I had that dream again…' Riku said focusing on that instead; he had had this dream ever since he defeated Ansem Seeker of Darkness at Castle Oblivion. He had asked King Mickey about it, but the only thing the mouse would tell him was that the man had performed the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony with him.

That meant he was truly meant to be the Keyblade wielder and not Sora…In all honesty he was glad he lost that chance seeing what kind of teenager he grew into. Had he inherited the Keyblade like he was meant to the universe probably would have ended up destroyed…

Anyway, he asked the king if he knew who the brown haired man was after describing him but Mickey had told him that he didn't. Except the mouse would not meet his eyes as he said that and Riku had the distinct feeling the mouse wasn't being entirely truthful. With that knowledge, he separated from the king to try and find more about the man.

It was a fruitless search and in the end he began to question if it was real or not when he ended up in Twilight Town to meet DiZ and Naminé. He told the memory witch about the dream and she smiled sadly at him.

"To lose is to gain and to gain is to lose," Naminé explained. "That is the law of Castle Oblivion. While I might not have affected your memory like I did Sora's does not mean the castle did not affect you. Most likely you just remembered something lost a long time ago in replace of something else. What you lost? I have no idea, but I hope it wasn't too important."

Riku sighed as he pulled his hand from Sora's grip and stood up with a stretch. It had been a long time since he last came here while Sora was asleep Riku realized as he walked into the club house. He had not been able to stop himself from returning here, but a part of him always felt guilty for that; his friends and family were waiting for him and he selfishly decided not to.

As he walked across the bridge he realized he could have left his mother a note to let her know he was alive or something, but…he had been afraid to face them after what he did. To be honest it still terrified him, but at least he had Sora and Kairi by his side this time…

All thoughts suddenly disappeared when he stepped on the small elevated island as he clutched his head and his eyes dilated…

"Are you..." the blurred figure voicelessly began to say as Riku held her.

"Riku," Riku told her. "Sora's friend."

"Sora?" the blurred figure asked voicelessly once again as sat up. "You know Sora?"

"Yeah." Riku stood up and held out his hand to help the figure up and it accepted it easily.

"Thank you," the figure said silently. "You saved me, but I don't know why you did."

"I guess..." Riku began as he walked past the figure. "I just felt like it..."

"You okay, Riku?" Sora asked suddenly with a nervous tone that jostled Riku out of the memory.

"Y-Yeah," Riku assured him as he stood up. 'Who was that? I can't remember at all, but for some reason I feel really sorry for the figure...Whatever…One unknown memory is bad enough and I don't need to add more to the collection. I'll just let it go for now.' "Just got lost in thought is all...Been awhile since I've been back here..."

"I know what you mean," Sora said with a laugh deciding not to push Riku quite yet as he sat on the tree pushing his dream to the back of his mind. "I can't believe it's over a year since I sat on this tree...Although it sucks that we missed the sunset!"

"We'll just have to catch it tomorrow," Riku said with small smirk that made Sora smile.

"Yeah, and the day after and the day after that and the day after that and the da—"

"I get your point you goof!" Riku interrupted with an exasperated sigh. "How you can be some great hero and still be an idiot completely baffles me!"

"It's a gift." Riku punched Sora on the arm as the two laughed carelessly for the first time in over a year or possibly even longer.

"It's weird," Sora finally said as their laughter died down and his grin turned into a small smile. "It's like nothing ever happened here when we know something did..."

"Yeah well we're the only ones," Riku said. "No one else remembers anything at all!"

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed in surprise. "You mean you've been back before?"

"Well...Yeah..."

"And, you didn't visit Kairi despite the fact you knew she missed you?"

"I almost did once," Riku admitted. "You know everyone forgot you while you were asleep, right?"

Sora nodded remembering how Yuffie told him that suddenly she, Leon and everyone else suddenly remembered him, Donald and Goofy when they arrived in Hollow—Radiant Garden. "Yeah, well Kairi didn't completely forget you," Riku explained. "It was small but she knew that there was someone else besides me who was gone...It was driving her crazy!"

Riku snickered a little despite the fact it wasn't a laughing matter before he sobered up. "Well, I was afraid she WOULD forget you if I visited her without you, so I decided against it. I wouldn't have been able to stand the idea of her completely forgetting you..."

Sora looked down, but he could smile a little. "Thanks Riku."

"What are best friends for?" Riku asked.

"A lot less than what you did for me...And, for Kairi," Sora told him but Riku waved him off.

"I owed you two anyway," Riku said with a slight shiver and a frown from Sora.

"Don't worry about that Riku...It's behind us now!"

"I guess you're right."

"I never thought I'd hear that," a voice said suddenly and they turned to see Kairi standing there with a teasing grin before she took her usual spot on the tree. "I had no idea that Sora could be right about anything…Ever."

"Hey!"

"A broken clock's right at least twice," Riku pointed out.

"Hey!" Sora cried again with a glare that caused Riku and Kairi to high five and laugh. "You guys are mean."

"Not when it's the truth," Kairi and Riku said in well practiced unison that caused Sora to glare some more.

"You won't believe what I found on the way up," Kairi said suddenly changing the subject getting Sora and Riku's attention.

"What?" The boys asked together curiously.

"Wait right here!" Kairi said as she jumped off the tree and ran into the little shack across the bridge. A moment later she came running out holding two objects.

Wooden swords.

Their swords.

"You mean they weren't destroyed?" Sora asked as he held his up...He thought it would be long gone after the Hollow Bastion thing when Riku took the Keyblade.

Kairi shook her head as she watched Riku swing the old toy. "Everything came back exactly as it was when the islands were restored...It's one of the reasons no one knows what happened. To the islanders nothing was out of place except two of their villagers were missing..."

"Neat," Riku said before he turned to Sora. "What's you say Sora? Up for a little match? Or are you afraid I can still kick your butt if you don't use your Keyblade?"

"Hah! You wish, Riku!" Sora retorted as he stood in his fighting position while Kairi took a seat on the bridge to avoid being hit.

"Go!" Kairi announced and Sora ran forward as he swung at Riku who parried it and made to stab at Sora who managed to roll away at the last second. As soon as Sora rolled to his feet he was forced to block Riku's strike and as they struggled against the two boys grinned nostalgically.

Soon Sora managed to push Riku off him and as Riku fell backwards he did a back flip and landed on his knee as he held his sword up to block Sora's hit. The second Sora's sword touched Riku's, Riku swung hard and forced Sora to back up.

Pressing his advantage, Riku jumped forward and slashed at Sora only for Sora to jump over it and land on the paupu fruit tree trunk. Sora grinned when Riku jumped on and they continuously bashed their swords together before Sora feinted and instead of striking tried to stab Riku only for Riku to jump off and try to slash at Sora's feet.

Sora expected this however and jumped to the other side of the small island. With a competitive grin the two ran forward and clashed their blades hard enough for them both to be knocked from their hands simultaneously.

"It's a tie!" Kairi declared with a clap.

Sora and Riku grinned at each other before pounding their fists together. "Sure have gotten stronger," Riku said proudly. "But, next time you'll lose for sure!"

"Not a chance!" Sora denied but the duo cried out in pain as they felt a sharp pain to their heads.

"Or maybe I'll win next time!" Kairi said as she stuck out her tongue and held Sora's wooden sword victoriously.

"Kairi!" Her boys moaned together as they clutched their heads.

"But, really...Can I join next time?" Kairi asked seriously. "I got to learn if I'm going to learn how to properly fight with this thing."

Kairi summoned her Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, and the boys felt a bit nervous.

"I dunno..." Riku started only for Kairi to look at him like a lost puppy. "Taking you to other worlds is one thing…We can protect you but you actually fighting…"

"Pwease Riku..." Kairi said in her best cutesy face.

"I dunno, Kairi," Sora said and she turned to face him. "GAH! Stop with the look Kairi! I'd like to teach you but you know overprotective your dad...Oh no! Riku! Our parents!"

Riku's face went completely white...He had totally forgotten about his family! Kairi wasn't that far off...it was like Sora had said, her dad was really overprotective and his daughter disappearing for a couple of months was not going to be a good thing. Sora was shivering as he remembered that he left when his mom had called him for dinner...Plus he didn't clean his room like he was supposed to!

In complete unison the three great heroes of the Worlds, the chosen wielders of the almighty Keyblade and three greatest friends ever thought the same thing.

'We're doomed.'