A/N

I'm not sure if this really makes sense…but as a result of reading Absinthian's fic, depth (which I highly recommend by the way!) I was inspired to write my own Sora x Ariel. I don't think it's quite as good though... it turned out to be a Sora x Ariel with tid bits of Sora x Kairi. My apologies!

Warning: I apologize for any OOC' ness!

Disclaimer: There's no way I own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any profit from this. I'm simply using them for my own sick and twisted purposes.

'thought'

flashback or dream sequence

Tiring

By: Youkai Hime90

For a few perfect moments, everything is like it was back on the island. Sora is young and carefree, grinning from ear to ear like old times and his pretendKairi is here beside him, very much happy and not alone. For a split second, Sora can remember what it feels like to hope and just smile.

Memory is a strange thing, and maybe Sora can't remember it right anymore. Maybe, it never really happened that way at all. Maybe Selphie never cried his name, and Riku was never taken by the darkness, and maybe (oh god) just maybe, he never failed Kairi and felt her heart deteriorate in his arms for that last, fleeting second.

Maybe, he could always be carefree and brash like any other normal boy his age.

The water is serene and tranquil and the current carries him, for the burden of the fate of worlds is not on his shoulders and Sora is just Sora, not the key bearer, not a junior hero, not a broken tragedy. Sora is Sora and he doesn't have a care in the world. He floats higher than ever and kisses the waves, for he has no gravity.

"I want to see other worlds," Ariel says.

And Sora returns to reality and sits and listens patiently as she lists the countless reasons why she could never be content beneath the sea. Her deep chalcedony irises are distant as she sighs with utter longing before turning to face him with stars in her eyes.

"I wish I could be just like you. You get to see so many new places and meet so many people…it must be wonderful. Sora…what's it like?"

"What?" he asks, not understanding what she meant.

"I mean…what's it like to go between worlds and have legs?"

Before the oh, so lucky boy can respond Ariel is called over by none other than Sebastian, who insists that she needs to practice for the next musical. After pressing a soft kiss against his cheek, she brings a finger to her lips as if to say---shh, this is a secret---before swimming off in the direction of the palace.

Moments later, as the brown haired youth stands on the golden sandy bank, with the foamy waves lapping at his toes his heart is heavy in his chest and he returns to earth reluctantly. A pair of legs is his gravity and he sighs softly as the sea breeze caresses his face. The pain of yesterday is raw and the ocean waves call to him longingly as he turns away, because Sora has a duty. The mermaid's soft voice echoes hauntingly in the back of his mind.

"I mean…what's it like to go between worlds and have legs?"

Of all of Ariel's oddities this one perhaps baffles Sora the most.

Because, Sora is sure that, if he had a safe haven to return to, where people loved him and it was safe to hope and dream, he would never ever leave that place again.

(Gentle fingers stroking his hair as he falls asleep. The clash of wooden swords in the air loud and deafening. Ice blue eyes innocent and playful. Large, laughing azure orbs and a big bright smile beckoning him to play, soft red hair tumbling past her shoulders.)

Sora is sure, that he would never leave their side again.

He frowns, the answer sliding from his lips before he has time to consider it. "It's…it's tiring."