It's a Wonderful World or Something like that Chapter 1, a kingdom hearts fanfic

It's a Wonderful World… or Something like That

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdoms Hearts nor anything pertaining thereof. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and all rights pertaining thereof belong to them. This is a pure work of fiction that belongs to me.

Intro

When a person can only see the wrong in the world and doesn't want to put any effort into living the life they have, it's pretty safe to say that this person is on the verge of depression. In the worse case scenario, suicide. Yeah. Okay. But the truth is everyone gets that way once in a while. So it's not necessarily a psychosomatic behavioral belief. It's just that people sometimes need some kind of reminder about all the good things in life. And who better to give it than the Grim Reaper himself?

Despite all the different beliefs out there and the holy after worlds that they entail, everyone can agree that people die. Now, who comes to get your soul and carries it to the great beyond could be a little different for people according to their beliefs and that's cool. I myself couldn't believe it either at first when old Grimmy boy decided to pop up for a visit, so I don't expect everyone to believe this story. Just at least learn from it. Any time you feel like giving up, remember the girl who almost did and the hefty price it could have cost.

Chapter 1:

Screw the movies! It's not a Wonderful Life!

It's easy to forget that you may live for a purpose of some kind. But it's an understandably forgotten fact. I mean, after all, if you're just taking up space and not being productive to society then you're basically equivalent to a landfill. Maybe not so stinky and grotesque but taking up all the good usable space nonetheless. I feel like that a lot of the time. Not like garbage mind you, well… maybe sometimes, but mostly good for nothing.

But there was a time I didn't feel that way. In fact, I think it may have been a promise made all the way back when I was just a kid that makes me feel this way now. It's still as binding now as it was then; like a contract written in blood in which I had to sell my soul to accomplish the deed I promised to do. In a way, that's kinda accurate. I mean, I didn't even know the little boy who was lying in that hospital bed all frail and sickly, but I felt like I owed him… something.

My mom was making her rounds again, so I wouldn't get in trouble for bothering a terminally ill patient (meaning I wouldn't get caught snooping around in the terminally ill ward). I went in, slowly, trudging slightly. He watched me enter his room with curious, big, soft, light blue eyes. He was just a kid, maybe a little younger than me and there he was sick and dying. I saw a lot of people like him in the hospital where my mother worked. They were all close to death but he was different. He was dying, but he was still brimming with life.

"Hello," he said.

"Hi. I'm Kairi," I replied.

"I'm… Sora."

"What's up? How come you're all alone? Don't you have any family? Why aren't they visiting? It's visiting hours you know." Sora's pale chapped lips spread across his face in a wide smile.

"I'm an orphan," he said simply, "I used to live in a foster home before I came here."

"How long you been here?"

"Couple 'o years. I just got back in a few weeks ago. They released me so I could spend my birthday with my family but I only got friends who live at the orphanage with me."

"… Oh. How old are you?" Sora paused in order to think like he didn't know the answer straight off the bat.

"Ten. I just turned ten years old."

"Oh! Happy belated birthday! I'm twelve."

"You look really grown up. I thought you were older."

"No. Just twelve. Um… are you lonely?"

"… A… little…"

"Well. How about I visit you sometimes? My mom's a nurse here so I come here a lot. I'll come visit with you as often as I can. It may not be all the time though since I can get in trouble for disturbing the patients."

"That'd be nice. Thank-you Kairi."

"Sure. Well I gotta go. Bye Sora."

"Bye." It was hard leaving him. He was just a small child, laying in that room all alone and deathly ill. So I stuck to my word and visited him often. We got real tight and he became my best friend.

He was very refreshing for the soul and that's what I liked most about Sora. He was so optimistic and very charismatic for being chronically ill. A lot of other people liked him too. I'm not gonna lie, I kinda wanted him to be my secret. But he was too good to be kept to just myself. And I guess that's why it was so hard on me to say good bye. I mean, it wasn't not expected. I knew how sick he was. But still, it's never easy to lose a friend.

Around Christmas that year, Sora had grown sicker. I visited more often and even though he was still a bright child, there was this weariness in his eyes. One day I visited and it wasn't the usual kind of visit. Sora was asleep when I came and he was paler than usual. Usually, he was always awake and waiting for me with a beaming grin on his face. A foreboding feeling filled my stomach as I watched him, an indubitable sign that an end was soon to come.

"Sora?" I shook him a little. He stirred slightly and opened his eyes a little.

"… Kairi? Hey."

"Hey. You sleepy? I can come back later…" He smiled daintily.

"No. I'd definitely be asleep later. We can hang out now." So we did. In a way… it was a little depressing. Not that it wasn't fun, it was just that there was this thought invading my mind that maybe Sora wouldn't be there later. We talked about all the things we wanted for Christmas. Sora didn't want much. He just wanted to be let out to enjoy the holidays with his friends. I asked him what he wanted me to get him and if he'd hang out with me if he was released. He said, "Of course I would! You're my best friend! And as for what I want… Well… It's real simple."

"Yeah?"

"I want you to promise me that you'll live your life to the fullest Kairi. I want you to live life enough for the both of us. Okay? Promise?" He put his pinky out and I hesitated to take it.

"Why are you talking like that Sora? Is something the matter?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little sick Kairi. And if I never get out of here, I want to make sure that my best friend is living well enough at least. So how about it?" It still didn't feel right. But I interlocked my pinky around his and we shook our intertwined hands together.

"Now, repeat after me. I solemnly swear…" I couldn't. A knot was building in my throat.

"Kairi! Say it!"

"I… I solemnly swear…"

"To live out my dreams…"

"And to live life to the fullest…"

"Until I'm six feet under and pushin' up daisies."

"Until… I'm… six feet under and pushin' up daisies…" We stopped shaking our hands and kept them still, pinkies still connected. By now I was crying. I didn't want to lose Sora even though I knew it was going to happen. But most of all I didn't want Sora to lose out and know that he was. He was staring at me with misty blue eyes, not the regular gleaming blue that I loved to look at and I cried harder.

"It's okay Kairi, because I promise to be with you always okay? Even if it's not in body, I still promise to be your best friend."

"I… I wish… you… you wouldn't talk that way…" Sora laughed a little and pulled me close. We hugged. I wrapped my arms around him tightly. I didn't want to let go. I didn't want him to go. Sora's embrace was a little loose. I could feel him fading.

"I love you Kairi. Don't forget that."

"Me too Sora!... I love you too…" He kissed him chastely on the forehead and I hugged him tighter.

I stayed with him until he fell asleep and then I watched him for a little bit. I noticed that his breaths were beginning to get longer and slower. I held his hand. It was cold. When a nurse told me to get out, I left reluctantly. Later that night while I slept, I dreamt that I was at a beach and the sun was shining brightly. A soft and comforting breeze blew. It felt like a hand was rubbing itself through my hair reassuringly as the wind blew my hair around. Then I heard a voice whisper, "Till next we meet." When I awoke the next day, I went to the hospital and Sora's room was empty.

Maybe I had obsessed over it, but I took my promise with Sora very seriously. I worked really hard at school and I tried to be the best person I could be. I truly lived enough for both of us as I seized great opportunities and made lots of friends. And I kept myself motivated by telling myself that when I saw Sora again, he'd be proud of me for keeping my promise. For living. But, it wasn't so simple. Gradually I got weary. I missed him a great deal and I didn't understand why I was alive and he wasn't. The bad in the world seemed greater than the good. I didn't understand why I needed to be living especially with all the people getting killed on a daily basis. I didn't see why I got to be happy while others suffered. I didn't understand why I lived when the world wasn't such a nice place to be living in. I actually started to believe that life wasn't wonderful and that Sora got the better part of the deal.

A/N: I know. I know. Why start a new story when I have yet to finish my others? Okay, and I ask why not? If ya got a good idea why let it spoil in your head? Besides, this one isn't long and will be finished soon. So I'm not wasting your time or mine by starting another story that won't be finished (not that the others won't be completed). Yay! And lastly, this story was inspired by Square Enix's newest game Subarashiki kono Sekai.