Sora ducked his head as he entered the cave, then paused.

Have I really grown that much?

Stepping outside again, Sora turned to face the entrance. Resting a hand horizontally on the crown of his head (he had to force down a few unruly tufts of hair in the process), he brought the edge of his hand forward to meet the rock. The brunette was rather astounded to find he was a full inch taller than the cave opening. Regarding this new discovery with a pause and acknowledgement of his long absence, Sora entered the cave once again.

He was greeted by the silent familiarity of the old hideout. Numerous pictures and scribbles lined the walls –memoirs, of a lasting kind. Those messages engraved into the wall would not fade for a long time.

Suddenly, the keyblade's chosen found himself washed over with heavy sorrow. So much had changed since that last day. His heart threatened to give way to the overwhelming emotion as his gaze ran over what he had left behind so long ago… the plans they'd made… to sail out to the sea to find new things… They had been daring but naïve and unknowing of the peril that loomed on the edge of their world. They'd been so carefree. If he had only known…

His mind swam as his eyes finally stopped on the very last image he had depicted before being swept away. And he was surprised again.

Kairi.

Kneeling down, he ran his calloused fingers over the equally rough stone wall. Nearly two years before, he had added to an already existing picture what he had thought would be his final message… before a boat journey across the ocean that surrounded the island. As Sora's fingers traced the rough lines, he realized it had been answered. And his 'final message' had been anything but.

"Sora?"

Sora whirled around on his heels, keyblade appearing in his hand automatically. "Who's…?"

"Hey –whoa," Riku exclaimed, holding up his hands. Long silver bangs covered most of his startled expression.

"Riku." Sora visibly relaxed, freeing his grip on the keyblade. It vanished from his hold with a small spark of light. Then his face turned to a questioning frown. "What are you doing here?"

Hands returning to his side, the aqua-eyed teen turned his eyes to the many pictures carved into the cave wall. "Reminiscing on past memories," he said. His eyes flickered back to Sora. "You?"

Sora's gaze wandered back to the picture he'd been looking at only a few moments before. "Same here."

Riku, having the advantage of height, peered over Sora's shoulder at the above mentioned drawing. The barest trace of amusement crossed his eyes. "I see," he stated.

Sora sniffed. Riku knew full well not to push him further on the current topic. So he changed it.

"The King's supposed to send someone for us today."

That caught his attention.

"That was today?!" Sora turned to him, cerulean eyes wide. Riku stifled the urge to groan.

Looking agitated, the brunette went on. "Well, we can't just be standing around here!" If Riku didn't know any better, he would've said the look on his childhood friend's face was panic. "The King could come at any time!" Sora was already making his way toward the exit as he said this. "And… and…" He stumbled.

"Watch it." Riku (again having the advantage of height) stepped over the impeding rock (stone? pebble?) and pulled his friend onto his feet. "And what?"

Sora's little trip seemed to have shut him up. "Nothing," he mumbled.

Eyebrows furrowing slightly, Riku persisted. "And what?"

"It's nothing, alright? I just need to do something before the King gets here, and, I, well…" Sora said hastily, trailing off. Suddenly his head snapped around, his eyes focused on something far off. Following his gaze, Riku squinted against the sun to focus on a quickly nearing figure.

Judging by the movement and foremost color of the approaching blur of a shape, Riku could easily determine that it was–

"Kairi." Riku lifted an arm in a welcoming motion to indicate his and Sora's location. The strawberry-colored form bobbed lightly as Kairi noticed the gesture and made her way over. His brow furrowed a little more. "What's she doing here? I thought she was supposed to stay home while the Gummi Ship picked us up."

"She was…" Sora stared at the approaching silhouette with increasing apprehension. It was only when Kairi was a few meters away that Riku put two and two together.

"You didn't tell her," he said slowly, "did you?" He looked down just as Sora stiffened. Sighing, Riku crossed his arms. "You didn't." Sora yielded him no attention. Staring hard at his male companion, Riku asked, "Why?"

"I…" –Kairi ran ever closer –"I don't…" –She was only a few steps away, and in a whisper almost inaudible Sora sighed, cerulean eyes brimming with sadness–

"I don't have the heart."