At Journey's End

Synopsis: [after KH2] Sora returns to his home after being gone for a year. What he finds when he returns isn't quite what he expected.

Author's Notes: I wrote this because Riku mentioned in Kingdom Hearts I said "we might never see our parents again". It left me wondering if they ever did and what would happen if they did.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Kingdom Hearts or Disney, nor do I own any of the characters except for my own.

Main Characters: Sora, Sora's mom and dad. Mentioned: Roxas.

Words: 1, 086

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Sora walked up to the dark, wooden door slowly, dragging his feet, almost as if he was trying to stop the inevitable. He stopped at the door, too afraid to open it. He stood there for several long minutes, not sure about what he would find on the other side. This was the hardest thing he had done on all of his journeys. He couldn't understand it, it couldn't be that hard; could it? Well, he couldn't go back so he had to go forward.

Swallowing hard, Sora pushed open the barrier that was shielding him from what lay beyond. The door eased open and creaked like it always had. A smell that he remembered so well hit him and as he looked around, he saw that nothing had changed. Softly, he shuffled down the dimly lit hall.

"Hello?" a warm voice called from a room off to the side; the kitchen.

Sora stopped dead in his tracks and felt his throat go dry. He knew that voice, he loved that voice. That voice had comforted him everytime something had upset him.

"Hello?" There was the sound of soft footsteps approaching. "Is anyone-"

The person stopped as they came out of a doorway that led onto the hallway. A woman with straight brown hair and soft, hazel eyes was staring at him, the dishcloth in her hands forgotten as it slid through her fingers.

"My God…Sora?" she whispered hoarsely.

Sora nodded numbly, unable to say anything. She walked over to him, clasped his shoulders and looked into his eyes. The moment blue irises met hazel ones it seemed that everything became real to the woman and she knew that this was no illusion.

"Sora…it's really you…"

Tears rolled down her smiling face as she pulled him into a hug. Sora could feel himself crying as he hugged her back tightly. He had longed for this for such a long time, dreamed of being held like this once more; like he had been when he had been a mere child.

"Mom…I…I missed you…so much…" he choked out between tears. She ran a hand through his spiky hair and pulled him closer.

"Sora…I thought I lost you when-"

"Who are you talking to?" a man's voice asked as he came into the hall via the back door.

He thought that his wife had finally gone crazy, and was now talking to herself. She hadn't taken Sora's disappearance very well; after all, it was her only child. The man in question had messy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He froze however, at the sight in front of him; his wife holding the child that they had lost.

"It can't be…Sora?"

"Dad," Sora murmured, his tears starting up again.

Slowly, he pulled himself out of his mother's arms and ran into his father's open ones. Sora felt his dad's strong arms encircle him and remembered just how strong his father was; strong enough to protect him against anything.

"You're here…you're back," the man said, trying to cope with the magnitude of the situation.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll never leave again," Sora cried, his body shaking.

His mom pried him off his father and held him; she was naturally more comfortable with handling a crying boy. His dad was content to simply place his hands on Sora's shoulders.

"I'm never going to leave," Sora promised. "Not again."

"It's alright Sora, it's ok," she whispered.

Sora nodded and began to wipe his tears away, letting himself drift out of his mom's arms. Both parents waited patiently for their son to compose himself, still overwhelmed themselves. How many times had they prayed and dreamed of Sora returning to them? How many nights had they cried over their loss? And now, things were how they had imagined them, with only one small change.

"You've grown," his father said.

"More than you know," Sora replied, flashing his trade-mark smile.

"That's a good thing," was the answer.

"Uh…is there something you want to tell me?" Sora asked, now slightly nervous. What if his parents had replaced him? Did they even want him anymore?

"How do I tell you?" his mom said sweetly, smiling softly to let Sora know that it was nothing as drastic as he had been imagining.

Almost as if on cue, crying came from upstairs. Sora glanced at his parents wildly before dashing up the stairs and then running to the spare room, which was where he traced the sound to. He could hear his parents climbing the stairs behind him. Sora pushed the door open and instantly saw a crib under a window opposite the door. Sora stepped, ever so slowly and quietly, over to the crib and looked in.

The crying instantly stopped as questioning blue-green eyes met curious blue ones. Sora bent over the crib's bars and lifted the baby out as carefully as he dared. The baby - it was a boy, Sora just knew it - had a tiny amount of blonde hair but seemed content to just stare into Sora's eyes.

"Well, what do you think?" Sora heard his mum ask, from the doorway where she was hovering almost nervously. Sora didn't know what he thought. "Oh Sora, he won't replace you," she said worriedly, misreading his expression.

"I know," Sora said, smiling at both his parents. They instantly looked relieved. "So, what's his name and how old?" Sora asked, placing his finger in the boy's hand and smiling as his finger was held in a tight death-grip.

"He'd be three days old," his dad said.

"That young?" Sora said, surprised.

"As for a name, we haven't really decided yet. Maybe you'd like to…" his mom hinted.

"R…really?" Sora stammered in disbelief. When they nodded he began thinking hard.

"Call him Axel," a voice prompted.

"I was thinking more along the lines of Roxas," Sora replied, and then smiled as he felt Roxas' delight and amusement.

"As cool as that would be, call him Axel. Got it memorized?"

"I'll be sure to teach him to say that," Sora promised and then looked up at his parents. "Axel?" he asked, seeking their approval.

Sora's dad nodded instantly with a huge grin on his face; he liked the name. His mom had to say the name a few times to get a feel for it and then nodded, smiling that sweet smile she had. Sora nodded before handing Axel to his mom. He then looked his little brother in the eyes and said:

"Your name's Axel…got it memorized?"

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THE END

A/N: yes, that is the end. Hope that you enjoyed it and thought that it wasn't too lame or predictable. Now a few things I must say:

1. Yes, this is actually a chapter from my other fanfics Kingdom Hearts III: Final Darkness but it also worked as its own story so I uploaded it twice.

2. My good friend FMPlord asked why Axel had blue-green eyes and I guess that's because Sora's mom had hazel eyes and hazel is kind of brown and green mixed together. So, mixing the green part of his mom's eyes and the blue eyes of his dad, you get Axel's eyes.

3. FMPlord also pointed out that a three-day-old baby would have blue eyes because all babies do at first and I know this but I wanted to give you an idea as to what Axel would look like when he was older. Basically, a cross between Roxas and Axel.