To start things off… I do not own any of the rights to the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Chapter 1

The water lapped up over the beach as he sun set in the horizon. Sora sat next to Kairi with their backs against a tree trunk. Kairi was dozing softly on Sora's shoulder. He sighed, since they had come back to the Destiny Islands things had been different between him and Kairi.

The first thing they did was share a paopu fruit, in an attempt to stay in each other's lives and bind them together forever. That was over a year and a half ago. They had both changed since then, growing closer over the time they shared together. Kairi was desperately in love with Sora, and Sora with her. When you dedicate your entire existence to finding someone and then accomplish that goal, I mean, who wouldn't be wooed by that?

Sora looked down at Kairi. She had gotten a haircut, her hair was just down to her shoulder. There were some braids down the right side of her face with some glass beads woven in. He chuckled to himself; they had mini paopu fruits inside of them. His hair had grown too, it still spiked in its general directions in the front, but now the back and sides sagged down near his own shoulders. He had even grown a few inches since his last adventure.

The sun was almost set and he nudged Kairi gently. She stirred and opened her beautiful blue eyes. He kissed her and motioned towards the horizon. She smiled and returned his kiss. She wound her fingers in his and watched the sunset with him. Once the sun had gone down they both stood and stretched. Sora led Kairi to his boat and rowed the two of them back to the mainland, chasing the lingering light of dusk.

Halfway to the mainland a storm rolled in without warning. The sea tossed and turned and soon it was all Sora could do to keep them afloat. Finally, it was too much; the sea gave a giant heave and flipped the little boat. Kairi struggled to stay afloat as Sora called out to her in the dark waters.

"Kairi!" he could see the dock close by, "get to the dock, Kairi!"

"I can't make it! It's too far!" she coughed and yelled.

Sora swam harder than he ever had before, as he came closer to where Kairi was a huge wave crashed over him driving him under. He opened his eyes under the water and saw Kairi's leg get snatched by a shadowy object. He broke the surface and heard her scream out.

"SORAAA!"

He dove under and looked around frantically, to his horror he witnessed Kairi being pulled towards the bottom by the dark object. He swam towards her and reached out for her hand. Their hands met and then slid apart as she was pulled into a portal of darkness and out of the Destiny Islands.

Sora broke the surface and the storm had disappeared. He was desperate, Kairi was gone, and he didn't know where to look. He swam for the mainland, and his house.

He ran inside soaking wet, his mother had just enough time to admonish him for getting her carpet wet and tracking water through the house, before he ran back downstairs.

"Sora, what is going on? Where did you get those clothes?"

"Kairi's gone, Mom, the darkness took her! I have to get her back!"

"Woah, calm down and tell me what happened."

Sora related the tale of the capsized boat and the no-warning-storm.

"This still doesn't tell me where you got those clothes."

The clothes in question, Sora had picked out shortly after he had gotten back to the Destiny Islands. A pair of black sneakers with white shoe laces, pants with a top half of dark red and bottom half of black, with a white trim on the bottom. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a white stripe going across his chest and a black vest with a white shoulder guard over his right shoulder. To finish it off he had a small bag strapped to his left hip, filled with potions, and with keychains hanging from the side.

"I got them after I came back, in case something happened, I wanted to be prepared. I need to leave Mom."

"Ok, I won't keep you any longer, go find her Sora, but please be careful."

Sora was already out the door and sprinting down the road towards the dock. He gained the dock and raised his hand. The kingdom key appeared in his hand, a welcoming feeling after the past year and a half. He pointed it at the sky and sent out of beam of light, tracing a crown in the stars.

He plopped down on the dock looking at the dark waters. Kairi was taken right out of his own hands; he couldn't do a thing to save her. Even after everything he had been through, he still wasn't strong enough. His hands shook with anger. He banged one down on the dock, cracking a board. He reached into his bag and pulled out a set of gloves, black with red half-fingers and a white stripe over the back.

Suddenly a bright light shown down on him from the sky, he looked up to see a gummi ship floating above. The light picked him up and he floated inside. Once inside he looked around, it was just as he had left it a year and half ago. He sat down at the pilot's seat and plotted a course for a place he knew he could find help… Radiant Garden.

End…Chapter 1