Updated: 11-19-11 Minor spelling and structure revisions along with a bit of clarification. I noticed a bit of rambling and decided to clean it up. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Contempation

The wind caused tree branches to gently tap against Sora's bedroom window. His cinnamon spiky hair was smashed in odd angles as he rolled over in his bed, he seemed to be struggling to find a comfortable position. Moonbeams slipped through Sora's open window, illuminating his face which held an expression of discomfort. Outside, the full moon created an array of dark shadows across the landscape of Destiny Island.

It had been a few weeks after the huge battle in the Land That Never Was and Sora was taking a well deserved break; the King's Letter had said to expect an assignment in the coming weeks. The gang had been trying to rest up as much as possible. Much of their time had been spent with their families. Donald and Goofy had taken up residents at Sora's house. While Sora's mother and father were relieved to have their only son back, they had been a little wary of the pair of King Micky's knights. Sora's parents had shared the various news clippings with headlines that read "THREE CHILDREN MISSING!" The whole of destiny island thought they had been dead for the first year of their adventure. When Kairi had returned to the islands after the battle with Ansem, she had done her best to reach out to Sora and Riku's parents to reassure them that their children were still alive. Though nothing compared to holding their sons again.

The breeze moved Sora's hair across his face, tickling his cheek. Still sleeping, with a light bit of snoring he rubbed at his face. His feet hung off the end of his obviously too small bed which was not a surprise; he had grown so much over the past two years, that his bed could no longer contain his lanky legs. His parents had promised to purchase a new bed for him as soon as a shipment came in from the mainland. Most of his evenings were spent describing his adventures with Goofy and Donald to his attentive parents. Goofy and Donald did not hesitate to chime in with their own commentary.

This left Sora without any free time to spend with Kairi and Riku; he had missed his friends dearly but understood their families needs to see their long lost children. Sora, most of all, wanted to spend time with Riku. He had spend so much time looking for his silver-haired friend that Sora was beginning to find it difficult to be patient with their respective families.

But tomorrow was supposed to be a special day. Sora, Riku and Kairi had made plans to finally meet up for lunch. Sora had stayed awake many hours that night in anticipation of getting to see his important friends again; until he finally dozed off into a less than peaceful slumber.

As of late Sora had been struggling with a feeling of guilt in the pit of his stomach. While his well deserved break was necessary to rest his aching muscles and his tired body, his heart and soul belonged back out on the battlefield; the familiar cool metal of the keyblade between his fingers and palm. Every other night Sora would wake with a start, having summoned his keyblade to his hand to vanquish the Heartless that haunted his dreams.

Sora still dreamed of the world of Darkness; the Heartless that scudded and scurried about behind those great doors and what Riku must have faced in the darkness. Of course, Riku had still had King Mickey to guide and protect the two of them, but in the deep crevasses of the brunette's heart, Sora knew he would have been terrified had he been in Riku's shoes. Sora had yet to over come the few times he transformed into Anti-Sora.

The Keyblade wielder been pushing himself so hard that he had started to waver and wobble between light and dark. Sora always knew what side he belonged on, but he could never truly take hold of the part of himself that would take that one step in the wrong direction.

Sora knew that he needed to speak with his best friend alone. He needed Riku's insight to the internal struggle that lay just beneath the surface of his azure eyes, but Sora did not even know how to begin the conversation. After all of their fighting and struggle to find each other, Sora knew that while Riku would be the only one on Destiny Island who could put his feelings into perspective, he feared that it would upset Riku to talk about the darkness.

As the sun began to rise, the birds began a familiar song as they greeted the day, Sora slowly opened his azure eyes. He was excited but still gave a hearty yawn as he stretched; cracking his ankles and toes in one motion. He ran his fingers through his hair as he left the comfort of his bed. Sora dressed himself in a white t-shirt that hung a little loose to his frame and red shorts that sagged just a little. The spiky haired boy had been borrowing a few clothes from his dad, as most of Sora's no longer fit him. He slid his crown necklace over his head; it landed with a soft thud over his heart.

After tip-toeing into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread and a single piece of fruit, a ruby red apple. Sora carefully slid out the door, out into the sun. His dad's sandals sat outside in the warm morning sun, which Sora carefully stepped into as he started off toward Riku's.

While munching on his bit of fruit, Sora began to try to collect all of his thoughts together. Riku was like Sora's brother. He could feel, now more than ever, that he would love Riku as his brother, no matter what the silver-haired boy did or became.

Those long days of searching for his friend had left Sora with a feeling of drowning; as if his sadness was trying to escape his body through his mouth and throat and that sadness threatened to choke the breath from the brunette's lungs. Not to mention the guilt of being unable to prevent his friend from falling into darkness in the first place. Sora had yet to be rid of this feeling even though he knew that Riku was back on Destiny Island and safe from the darkness of the worlds.

Sora rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, so absorbed in his thoughts he did not realize that he was not the only one taking a morning stroll.

"Long time to see." A voice called from up ahead.