All At Once

by thedeliverygod

Nothing's like before. [PostKH2 Sokai fluff]

This story resulted from a very strong urge to write fluff because I read a whole bunch of Sokai fan fictions and out of the majority of them, Kairi died. Now I know I'm guilty of doing that in at least four of my own, but it utterly depressed me & I promised myself that in future fanfics that aren't planned yet I am never going to kill her off again; unless I somehow get the feeling that it's a masterpiece or something haha.

But anyways, I just went to Projekt Revolution two days ago (Linkin Park concert plus a lot of other bands if you don't know) and let me tell you it was awesome. I got autographs from Styles of Beyond & The Bled (& The Bled threw a chocolate cake into the audience & it got all over me lol). I am SO sore for that concert; but it was the most amazing thing. And I've totally lost my singing voice for like the next four days from screaming the lyrics at the top of my lungs XD. Oh well.

And let me tell you how much I was picturing the concert part of this fanfic while I was out there sitting on the grass, waiting for the bands to play XD. I was like "Where's my Sora?" sniffle. Oh, and re-reading this I noticed it sounds a lot like Shattered Dreams...Maybe it's just because my writing style has finally defined itself. Who knows.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy. And yes, I have to be politically correct with my disclaimer.

Disclaimer (This is going to be a long one, folks. I have a bad habit of putting trademarked things into these things.): I do not own Kingdom Hearts, I do not own "All at Once" by the Fray which this fanfic is named after, I do not own "Everything" by Lifehouse which select lyrics appear in quotation, I do not own Twilight by Stephanie Meyer which is mentioned as a movie instead of a novel, and I do not own The Hills Have Eyes which is also mentioned.

All At Once

There are certain people you just keep coming back to;

She is right in front of you.

Seated next to Kairi and dangling my legs off the edge of the dock, it was almost as if everything was the same as before; almost.

"I think we should go see that fireworks and concert thing they're doing tomorrow." She continued to babble on; I merely nodding my head and not really comprehending what she was saying. Riku had left hours ago, proclaiming soon after we returned home that watching the sunsets was just not as entertaining as it use to be. The sunset itself was not too entertaining but I certainly could not complain about the extra time with Kairi. My only problem was that being alone with her made me unable to focus and often got me into trouble with her.

"Sora?" Staring at me with an angry pout, she asked, "Did you hear a single word I just said?"

Parting my lips, I racked through my brain to recall any word that she had said. 'Fireworks.' I remembered, then guessed, "You were talking about going to that end of summer thing that they're doing tomorrow?"

Lips curling back into a smile, she turned back to face the ocean, "Yeah…But, Sora?"

"Mm?" I looked out towards the ocean too, so that I could stay focused on her words.

"Could we go just as us? Without Riku, I mean." Turning my head towards hers I saw her eyes dart back towards the ocean, "I just--Hm…"

Laughing at her nervousness although my own heart was racing, I replied, "Sure. I can't promise he won't be there on his own, though; pretty much the whole island is going." Kicking my feet against the dock and looking towards the sky, I added, "Besides, we haven't done anything alone besides this in years. It'll be nice having some Sora and Kairi bonding time." I flashed her a grin, causing her to laugh.

Still giving occasional giggles, she asked, "Do you remember when we use to have sleepovers?"

How could I possibly forget? Back in the days when I could sleep in the same bed as her and have our parents not think a single thing about it. With a grin, I nodded, "Yeah."

"We should do that tomorrow," Kairi suggested, laughing before adding, "For old time's sake."

Flushing a bit, I questioned, "Uh, do you think our parents would let us?"

The redhead shrugged, "It's not like we're dating or anything, so there's really nothing for them to worry about."

Ignoring the pang of disappointment and giving a small smile, I replied, "Yeah." First stretching out my arms in a yawn, I asked, "My house or yours?"

Tapping a finger against her lips in thought, she then answered, "Yours, with your massive move collection; so we can stay up all night."

Laughing, I replied, "Alright." Noticing the considerably darker sky, I pointed out, "Hm. We should probably start heading back."

Looking up herself, Kairi replied, "Oh, yeah." Both of us starting to prepare our boats for the trip, she reminded, "Don't forget to ask your mom."

Giving a nod, I answered, "I won't. Just in case, call me after dinner or whatever."

Taking a seat in her boat and beginning to row away, she called out, "Kay."

Focusing on battling the waves with our ores, neither one of us spoke on the way back until we hit shore. Tying my boat down, I gave a light wave to Kairi as I began to walk off towards my house, "Bye."

Looking up from the knot she was tying, she gave a smile and repeated before looking back down, "Bye."

Finding the silence of walking home alone to be to awkward, I began to hum a song to myself. Finally, life was back to normal; or at least as much as it could be after my journey. Thinking back to the letter I had received from the king days earlier, I thought, 'I can't believe my job as a key blade master is done. "While the need for keybearers still exists, your journey is finished and new destined ones will take your place." He said.' I wrinkled my nose; he made it sound like I was much to old and torn for the task. Though I was completely satisfied with living the life of an islander, I had to admit I was going to miss the trill of the traveling; not to mention Donald, Goofy, and all of the other friends I had made. It pained me to know that I would never see them again; but if it meant that everything was okay, then I guess I could deal with it.

Walking into my house and inhaling the delicious aroma of my mom's cooking, I called out, "Hey, I'm home!"

"Hi, honey." She answered back before opening the door the oven and pulling out chicken.

"Well, I was going to ask you what smelled so good but I think I know now." I commented with a laugh and received one back from her as she continued to work on dinner. Letting a minute of silence pass by, I began, "Hey, Mom…?"

"Yes?" She asked in a questioning tone, still not bothering to look up.

Pausing and taking in a sharp inhalation, I finally continued, "Me and Kairi were talking today about how we use to have sleepovers when we were kids and we were wondering if it'd be okay if we could do that again," I quickly added, "For old time's sakes."

Looking up slightly, she asked, "With Riku too, of course?"

Laughing nervously, I lied, "Of course!" We could always tell her that he was sick tomorrow.

Smiling and handing my plate to set the table with, she answered, "I think that's a great idea! I'm going out of town tomorrow for the night so it'll be nice for you to have some company."

"O-oh, you are?" I answered from the table with a flush of my cheeks. Kairi and I alone in my house; oh the possibilities. 'Possibilities that probably won't happen.' My mind reminded me, causing me to sulk silently.

"Mhm. I promised your aunt that I'd come down and visit, but I told her you had plans so that I wouldn't have to drag you along with me." She stated with a laugh, placing all of the food in the middle of table and taking a seat, "Besides, you do have plans now so it's not really lying."

Grinning and picking up a fork to begin eating, I replied, "Yeah, lucky for you."

The rest of dinner was meaningless chatter; mostly both of us asking how each other's day was and what we did going into slight detail to replay the parts that were interesting or amusing. Ever since Dad died, it had been a little awkward with just the two of us sitting at a big table. Not that it was not big for three people, but it just did not seem to matter when he was seated there. 'It's been four years now…' I trailed off mentally as I made my way up the stairs to my room; staring at the photographs of the three of us that hung on the wall.

When my Dad had first died, I hated seeing those photographs every day; hated it more than anything in the world to be reminded that he was gone. Back then, every time I walked up the stairs to my room I wanted to scream out to the smiling still images of him, "Why did you leave us? Why!?" I finally came to comprehend that it was not his own fault over time, though it took a lot of self convincing. Now I just wished I could hear his voice again, teasing me about how Kairi liked Riku better while he messed up my hair. Of course, he was only joking about the Kairi liking Riku; he knew how competitive we were over her and knew that it struck a nerve with me. He also knew it struck a nerve with both me and Kairi when he swore that we were going to be married one day.

"Ew! No way!" We would both yell while making all sorts of gagging noises, causing him to laugh. I chuckled to myself, 'Oh, how things have changed.'

Collapsing backwards onto the bed and recalling my journeys in the past two years, I wondered, 'Would you be proud of me?' That was a stupid question. What I really wondered was, 'Would you actually believe me?' Giving a light laugh, I slowly fell into a slumber.

Waking up the next morning to an empty house and seeing that there was a new message on the phone, I felt a pang of guilt, 'Oops. Kairi was suppose to call me.'

Not bothering to listen to the message, I automatically dialed her number. She picking up on the second ring, I quickly said, "I'm sorry; I fell asleep. I did ask her, though."

"And?" She questioned.

"Two things," I started, biting my lip before continuing, "Mom's not going to be here because she's going to my aunt's. Second…" I gave a slight pause, exhaling, "I kind of told her that Riku was going to be here too." Hearing silence on the other line, I began to defend myself, "I didn't mean to lie. She just gave me this look--"

Hearing a giggle through the receiver, I eased a bit, "It's okay. Geez, you acted like I was going to tear your head off."

"For a second there I wasn't sure." I admitted with a laugh.

I could just picture her rolling her eyes. She quickly changed the subject, "So when does that thing start today?"

"I think a flyer said five," I collapsed backwards against the wall, finishing, "but I'm not sure."

"I think five's right." She answered in a sure tone.

Nodding, I replied, "Alright, I'll be at your house at four thirty so we can start walking there."

"Mkay," She paused as if uncertain what to say before just finishing, "Bye."

I shrugged it off, repeating, "Yeah, bye." before hitting the end button. "That was kinda weird." I commented to myself, beginning to walk away from the phone before it rang again. Figuring it was Kairi again, I teased, "Have some deep dark secret to tell me?"

"Uh, no." The voice on the other line was Riku.

Mouth hanging open at my mistake, I muttered, "Wrong person."

Snorting a bit, he questioned, "Who did you think it was?"

"…Kairi." I answered hesitantly.

"Ah," He replied before changing the subject, "Well, hey, I was thinking the three of us should go to that end of summer--"

"Already going." I cut off his suggestion, beginning to feel a tad guilty.

He laughed, "You finally got the guts to ask Kairi out?"

"No!" I replied a little too defensively, adding, "It was actually Kairi who suggested we go alone; but she didn't say anything about it being a date. It's not like that."

"Sure, sure." Riku gave another laugh before adding, "Well, maybe I'll see you two there. Talk to you later," He hung up.

Walking away from the phone again, I muttered, "Stupid Riku."

I spent the rest of the day flipping through TV channels. To be honest, I was nervous; really nervous. "This is stupid." I muttered, turning the TV off and tossing the remote on the table. Seeing the time was three-thirty, I decided it was probably time to start getting ready. Blasting the radio loudly, I took as slowly as it was possible to find my clothes and put them on. Still a few minutes before four, I shrugged and exited the house. 'I'm sure it'll be much more fun to be bored to death at Kairi's then here if I get there too early.' I commented, still keeping a slow pace so that I would not be too early, if I was early at all.

Raising my knuckle to the door to knock, I was surprised when the door was swung open. "Hey, Sora!" She greeted with a wide smile.

Grinning back, I commented, "Waiting for me, eh?"

She rolled her eyes but answered, "Yes, I was."

"I was bored, too." I stated so that I was sure not to get on her bad side before we left.

"C'mon, let's go." She stepped out, closing the door before grabbing my hand and pulling me down her porch's steps, adding, "It wouldn't hurt to be a little early. We'll beat most of the crowd, at least."

"Alright," I answered as I was dragged along. Making it quite a way down the road, I noticed that our hands were still clasped together. Smiling to myself, I thought aloud, "I wonder what kind of band they'll have."

"Hopefully something good." She answered as she continued to look forward.

"If it's locals then there's no way." I stated with a wrinkle of my nose, causing her to emit a laugh.

Looking to me, she replied, "I'm sure there's at least one good undiscovered band on the island, somewhere."

I shrugged, "If you say so,"

Reaching where the event was supposed to take place and spotting the various stands, Kairi exclaimed as she tugged me forward, "Oh, it's just like a carnival!"

"There goes all my munny." I muttered, earning another laugh from her.

"I'll spare you and spend my own." She answered in a giggle as we continued forward.

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Just kidding, Kai." Receiving a raised eyebrow, I quickly added, "If you pay me back, of course."

Laughing she answered, "No, not that. I gave you that look for calling me Kai," I felt her hand tighten around my own as she looked away, "You've never called me that before."

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, "Really?"

Shaking her head and turning back to me, she replied, "Nope."

"Weird. Seemed like an obvious nickname." I stated as I gave a thoughtful look, hoping my blush was not too obvious.

"If you say so," She mocked my words and stuck out her tongue.

With a roll of my eyes and starting to walk again, I stated, "Very mature, Kairi."

"I know." She flashed a grin, accidentally bumping into someone and having to exclaim, "Oh! I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." The stranger gave a smile before walking on.

Blinking, I commented, "Wow, people must be coming from all around; I didn't recognize them. It's gonna get really crowded soon."

"Guess so," She answered with a backwards glance; the stranger completely out of sight.

"C'mon, let's go find a spot near the stage. If the band sucks we can just go waste munny on those games until the fireworks." I tugged on her hand that was amazingly still within mine. 'Maybe everything between us could change tonight.' I let out a breath of air, blowing my bangs out of my face for a second, 'Or maybe I'm just getting my hopes up; like always.'

"Kay," She answered with a wide smile, allowing me to pull her through the crowd and towards the stage. Coming to a stop at the perfect place, not too far but not too close to the stage, Kairi let out a groan.

"What?" I gave her a confused stare.

"I just realized we didn't bring anything to sit on." She gave a grimace to the ground.

Laughing at her expression, I replied, "Wow. If you really hate the dirt that much, you can sit in my lap like a five year old."

"Ha ha," She replied, sarcasm dripping like venom in her tone; though I could have swore I saw the color of pink grace her cheeks.

Sighing and giving up at an attempt to make it funny, I stated, "We can track down Riku later if you really want something to sit on; he's going to be here."

Frowning a bit, she asked, "You talked to him?"

"Oh, yeah. He called me right after I got off the phone with you." I scratched the back of my neck with my free hand, wondering whether it was a mistake or not to mention him.

Eyes filling with worry, she questioned, "He wasn't…mad, was he?"

I quickly shook my head, exclaiming, "No, no! He teased me about getting the guts to ask you out, actually." Feeling my face begin to warm up again, I added, "But I told him it wasn't like that."

"Ah," She answered, not giving another word.

Deciding I was tired of standing, I sat down; pulling her down into my lap with me. "See? Not so bad, is it?" I asked in a laugh, making sure her back was not close enough to feel my heart pounding through my chest.

Leaning her head back against my shoulder, she admitted, "It's comfortable, I guess…"

"At least I've found my purpose in life; to be a chair." I joked, careful not to let my voice crack form the anxiety racing through me; it was pretty hard to fight off the urge to kiss her when she was so close. Luckily the band's introduction saved me with the distraction.

A few songs passing by, Kairi pointed out, "They're pretty good."

Nodding, I replied, "Yeah, I'm surprised."

The sky quickly became dark and the band announced that it was their last song; a slow, wave your lighters kind of song that they said was a cover of another band, "You're all I want, you're all I need; you're everything, everything…"

I bit my lips at how closely I could relate to the lyrics. "Kairi?" My voice was barely above a whisper in her ear.

Though she was enraptured by the song, she still replied, "Hm?"

Taking one of my hands and turning her head gently, she faced me with curiosity. Smiling and closing my eyes, I tilted my head downward. Moving my lips against hers, I felt her arms wrap around my neck as she began to return the favor. Securing a hand around her waist and the other under her legs, I pulled her closer to me. We probably would have gone at it for a few more minutes if not for the large 'Bang!' of the first firework. Breaking away, we both looked up to see the fading red sparks.

"I don't have to say it now, do I?" I asked with a laugh, through my heavy breathing.

Giving an amused sigh, Kairi's eyes seemed to sparkle as she said, "I love you, Sora."

"Guess I have to now," I smiled, ignoring the loud cracks and bangs of the fireworks and answering, "I love you, too."

I was glad it was crowded that night because we managed to escape without catching a glance of Riku. Besides the fact of it being a bit embarrassing, it also saved me from giving him the satisfaction of being right; even though he was wrong, but he would not believe that.

My hand clutched around Kairi's waist as we entered the house, words of her and my mother repeated in my head.

'It's not like we're dating or anything.' 'With Riku too, of course?"

Biting down on my lip, I thought, 'Oops…'

"Something wrong?" She titled her head against my shoulder with a concerned look,.

"Nah." I gave a reassuring smile, adding a lie, "Just trying to remember where the sleeping bags were."

"Let's just forget about those until we start getting tired." I had to chuckle at her wording as she pulled me into the living room, earning a stern look from her. "I meant the sleep deprived tired." She retorted as a blush grazed across her face.

"I know, I know." I gave an apologetic smile before adding, "It's just the way you worded it was funny."

Ignoring me and pulling open the cabinet door to the DVDs, she muttered, "Hm…No romance movies, Sora?" Turning around and facing my wide-eyed stare, she laughed, "Just kidding; I wouldn't make you watch those."

Letting out a sigh of relief, I loudly let out, "Phew."

"How's this?" She asked as she held up 'The Hills Have Eyes'.

"Uh, it's good; but I think it's a little too gory for your taste."

Shrugging, she set it on top of the entertainment system, continuing to flip through the movies, "Twilight?"

"Something about vampires. Mom bought it and I've never watched it." I gave a shrug and watched a smile come upon her face as she read the back of the back.

"Sounds good." She placed it on top of the other movie, turning to me, "Why don't you pick out some?"

Shrugging again, I replied, "I've seen most of them, doesn't really matter to me."

"Well, okay…" She continued to search through my movie collection, pulling out a few more before announcing that she was done.

Glancing through the titles, I commented, "Good taste; but I still don't think you're going to make it through Hills Have Eyes."

"We'll see," She replied, popping that 'Twilight' movie into the DVD player, "Let's watch this one first since you haven't seen it. That way you won't fall asleep on me."

Turning off the lights and giving a faked yawn, I answered, "Unless it's boring."

Giving a light pull on her wrist to lead her to the couch, she rolled her eyes as she stated, "It won't be."

"Sure." I answered in an amused tone, pulling her into my lap again.

Snuggling into my chest, she commented, "See? We don't need sleeping bags; we can sleep like this."

"Except for I'd wake up in the morning with back pains." I added, though I probably would not mind because it would be worth it.

Giggling, she apologized, "Sorry, I didn't really think about that."

"It's okay; I was just thinking it'd be worth it." I admitted with a flash of a grin, she laughing again. Turning to the TV, I added, "Oh, hey, the title screen's on." By the end I had to admit the movie was pretty good aside from the fact that it was mostly a romance.

"Wow, Edward was sexy." Kairi gushed with a light bout of giggles.

"Just because he's a vampire," I rolled my eyes. With a smirk, I stated, "I can be one, too." I opened my mouth wide and tilted my head towards her neck before I was shoved away.

"Stop it, goofy…"

"Goofy?" I tilted my head in confusion before exclaiming, "Oh! I'm so use to using it as a name instead of an adjective."

"I'm surprised you know what an adjective is." She replied with a grin.

"I didn't my spend my whole time in English staring at you; I did pay attention sometimes." I joked with a pout.

"How sweet," She answered sarcastically before grabbing a DVD box and exchanging the movies.

"Which one now?" I asked curiously, not being able to catch the title.

"That Hills Have Eyes you said I wouldn't make it through." She replied as she took her place in my lap and nestled into my chest again.

Shrugging and wrapping my arms around her, I stated, "You asked for it."

She managed through the first thirty minutes with wincing and the occasional closing of her eyes before burying her head into my chest and muttering, "Alright, alright; turn it off."

Turning off the TV and DVD player, I kissed her forehead and whispered, "I warned you."

Looking up, she answered, "I know." Reaching her head up to kiss my lips, she admitted, "I'm too stubborn to admit my own limits."

Nodding and tilting my head back down to hears, I answered quietly, "I've noticed."

As she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a small smile, I closed the distance between us; my hand subconsciously traveling from her back to her waist, and her hand through my hair. I was not even sure if I was in control of myself anymore, noticing Kairi was now beneath me and I was hovering over her; my tongue tracing the outline of her lips. Allowing entrance past her lips for a few minutes, she broke away and caused me to give her a questioning stare.

"Let's not get carried away." She replied with a light giggle, adding, "Especially since it's suppose to be fore 'Old time's sake'."

Grinning, I answered through slightly hard breathing, "Hah, you're right." Sitting up and turning back to the TV, I asked, "So, another movie?"

She shook her head, closing her eyes and stating, "I think it's a good time to sleep."

I repeated Kairi's statement in a high-pitched and mocking voice, "Let's stay up all night watching movies!"

Looking up with a light glare, she merely responded, "Shush."

"Just kidding," I replied as I grabbed the blanket that lingered at the opposite end of the couch, throwing it over her only to have to lift it up again to find my place next to her.

Turning over and taking the blanket with her, causing me to have to fix it again, she called softly, "Sora?"

"Hm?" I blinked my eyes open in the darkness.

"It was worth it; wishing on everything I could for you two to come home that year when you were both gone," Burying her head against my chest, she added, "I'm so glad you kept your promise."

Hugging and pulling her closer, I answered with a smile, "Me too."