A/N: Welp. Sue me. Such a cliche title! XD This is a project for English from like... Months ago. Its supposed to be about a hero and his fall? Something like that... So I chose Kingdom Hearts for this topic! :D

The funny thing is... My teacher knew this was Kingdom Hearts. :'D He's like: "Okay... So the weapon. A key blade... Wait wait. I know where this is from... A video game! Don't tell me...! Kingdom Hearts!"

Okay. On with the story. OOC characters and so on. I own nothing.

Your heart isn't really consumed in darkness, but instead, covered. It's not much of anger and rage, but more of confusion and sadness in between. You may envy someone's life because their heart is pure, clean and kind, but your heart can be like that if you try. Darkness becomes light, and light fades into darkness.

The waves silently lap at the shore as Sora and Kairi sat at the bent paopu tree, watching the sea, as if waiting for someone to return. Sorrow were in their eyes as Kairi looked at her friend, Sora.

"Do you think Riku will ever come back?" She asked softly, turning to him.

The fifteen year old was quiet for quite sometime before he answered truthfully to Kairi, "I'm… Not sure." Was his final answer. He really wasn't sure if Riku would come back on his own, or if Sora had to go find him.

He hand only remembered the last time he found Riku, his best friend…

"Riku!" Sora cried, grabbing onto his best friends hand and falling to his knees. His best friend had not looked like he did when he first disappeared from Destiny Islands. His heart succumbed to the darkness, it was like Riku gave up without a fight.

Tears built up around Sora's deep blue eyes and soon, they cascaded down his cheeks. "I've looked for you!" He cried once more. He wiped away salty tears with his upper sleeve and continued, "I looked every where for you!" He held tight to Riku's hand, not wanting to let go, in fear that he might lose him again.

And he did. Riku disappearing killed Sora inside.

"I didn't want you to find me…" Riku said to Sora. Instantly, Sora's tears stopped and he sniffled. How could Riku not want him to find him? They were best friends, right?

Sora shook that memory out of his head and he turned to Kairi, "I'm going to go look for him!" He said, leaping off the bent tree and walking past his auburn haired friend.

"I'm coming with you." She said, "You can't go alone, Sora." Her light blue eyes held something, something pure. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"No." Sora replied. "I'm going alone. Riku is my best friend and I have to find him."

"Well, he's my best friend, too!"

"Just stay here, Kairi. I'll be back. I promise." He told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her head was down. Kairi was upset.

Leaving her with her thoughts, Sora turned and walked away from her, his mind set on finding Riku.

After Sora left, Kairi ran back to her house. She found a piece of paper, and began writing. Hoping for both of her friends' safe return. She finished the letter and put it in a glass bottle, sealed it with a cork and ran off to the coast line.

From there, she placed it in the water and watched it bob away.

"Erm…" Sora said, looking around at his new surroundings. This place was WAY different than small town Destiny Islands. This place had a bunch of lights, buildings and shops. But not much people, strange enough. As he was looking around, Sora spied a sign, the name of this town. "Traverse Town…" He said to himself, sighing and began walking forward.

Where was he going to start? He didn't even know anything about this Traverse Town, let alone anyone in it. He stopped and looked up at the sky, strangely enough, Sora could still see the twinkling stars.

"Kadaj! KADAJ!" A male voice yelled, trying to get someone's attention.

Sora looked around, not sure if he should summon his Keyblade or not. He looked around as the voice yelled out the strange name. Looking to his left, Sora noticed a silver headed kid and a blond kid. Both were male by the length of hair.

And they were headed straight towards Sora.

Running away from the two, Sora headed to his right. Bad idea. As he turned, the blond one ran straight at him, knocking him down. Sora groaned as he attempted to get up. As he was getting up, the silver head tripped over the two lying on the ground.

Out of breath, the blond one poked the silver headed one, "Tag… You're it, Kadaj."

Growling slightly, Kadaj got up and helped up both Sora and the blond kid. He apologized to Sora, "Sorry about that. Cloud would do anything to win a game of tag."

Raising an eyebrow at the two, Sora asked, "And how old are you two exactly?"

Glancing at each other, Cloud replied, a blush forming on his cheeks. "Kadaj is going to be 16 in a month, and I'm 16… We did it to kill time…" He replied, quiet embarrassed with his excuse.

Sora nodded slowly, taking in that these two teens were, indeed, playing tag. "Well… I'm Sora!" He smiled, pointing to himself.

Smiling, Kadaj said, "I'm Kadaj and he's Cloud. What are you doing in Traverse Town?"

"I'm looking for my friend, Riku. He disappeared a year ago and I told my friend Kairi that I was going to go look for him."

"Well, we could help you look for him if you want, Sora." Cloud shrugged.

His blue eyes widened, someone was willing to help him find Riku? "Really?!" He asked, trying no to look too excited. But on the inside, he was giddy with joy, finally, he wouldn't be alone! Someone might actually know where to go!

Nodding, Kadaj smiled. "We'd be happy to help you look for Riku." He lightly punched Cloud on the shoulder and laughed, "It's not like we have anything better to do, anyways. Or else we'd be stuck playing tag or something like that."

Cloud grunted in affirmation. It really was Kadaj's idea to play tag. He was a kid at heart and Cloud wasn't sure if Kadaj would ever mature. He probably would when he's… Old.

"Great!" Sora said, he smiled and it soon faded, "Do you know how to get where he is? I'm not even sure where Riku is at." He crossed his arms and set his mouth in a straight line.

The first bump in their story and Sora was already frustrated.

"Don't worry!" Cloud said, uncrossing his own arms and pacing back and forth. "We can borrow a Gummi Ship from Cid."

"Or steal it… He won't know it's missing…" Kadaj suggested silently. He peeked his green eyes up and met Cloud's blue eyes.

"Really," Cloud said sarcastically. "I really do hope he doesn't notice that a huge red ship isn't missing from his house." His eyes snapped back at Kadaj.

"Exactly." The silver headed said, nodding his head.

Cloud sighed dramatically and mumbled something under his breath about using sarcasm and understanding it.

Chuckling lightly, Sora said, "Let's just go an ask. Cid can't be that cruel can he?"

Kadaj and Cloud stared at one another and then back to Sora.

"You don't know the half of it…" Cloud mumbled.

Cid kicked them out of his little home and told them that they couldn't use his homemade Gummi ship to go and find Sora's friend. If they wanted to go and look for Riku, they'd have to walk.

Which only led Sora, Cloud and Kadaj to one last thing. Stealing the Gummi Ship.

They waited until they heard the loud snores of Cid sleeping and then moved into action. Sora tip toed to the door of the ship and waited a long while, then he waved his hand, signaling to the other two that it was clear and they could move in.

Cloud silently opened the door and looked around, Sora hopped in and took the captain seat, while Kadaj took up the co-pilot seat. Cloud shut the door quietly and crouched next to them. "Do you know how to start this?" He whispered to Sora.

Looking at the controls, the lights and buttons, Sora managed a nod. "I guess…"

The blonde pointed to a green button that said 'START'. "Press that and slowly press on the-"

Before finishing his sentence, Sora pressed the green button and pressed down quickly on the brakes, causing their bodies to be knocked back against the seat. They all screamed and held onto something. Cloud held on tightly to Sora and Kadaj's seat as he screamed at Sora.

"I WASN'T FINISHED, SORA!"

"YOU TOOK TOO LONG!"

"WE WERE TRYING TO SNEAK THE GUMMI SHIP OUT QUIETLY. NOW CID WILL KNOW FOR SURE WE STOLE IT."

They were off to a normal speed now, no one was yelling, Sora knew how to work the Gummi Ship and Cloud was less frustrated with Sora.

"So," Kadaj said slowly, looking at his friend and Sora. "Where to first?"

Sora stared straight ahead and shrugged. "Where ever this Gummi Ship takes us, I guess…" His brown spikes bobbed up and down as he shrugged.

There was another pause of awkward silence.

"There's a world coming up, Sora." Cloud said, pointing forward and looking at Sora. "We could land there and see if Riku's there…"

Remember when I said Sora got the hang of flying a Gummi ship? I never said anything about him landing one.

"Great job, Sora." Kadaj clapped sarcastically, "You managed to wreck a Gummi Ship." He crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at the brunette.

Sora rolled his blue eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh, bite me. You probably would've wrecked one too." He looked around at the world they were in.

It was sprinkling and it was dark. There were tall buildings everywhere, neon signs buzzed quietly in the dark, the only lights in this world. There seemed to be no sign of intelligent life around. As he looked up, Sora noticed a heart shaped moon in the sky.

"Come on," Sora said to Cloud and Kadaj, he moved ahead and walked down a deserted street. The silver head and blonde follow behind. "Let's check this way…"

Riku was quiet. He barely spoke over three words since he arrived at this world, The World That Never Was. It was his choice to leave Destiny Islands. When Riku was younger, he was curious about exploring others worlds besides Destiny Islands. He knew it would be long and possibly dangerous, but he didn't care, curiosity kills the cat.

A low chuckle was heard behind him and the teen turned his attention to the chuckle. He spotted an older man, maybe in his late 20's or early 30's, with silver hair, spiked in the oddest fashion. His name was Xemnas.

"What?" Riku growled, turning his attention back to the window.

Xemnas chuckled, "I just thought I'd tell you that you're happy-go-lucky friend is here." He placed a hand on his forehead in the most dramatic way possible. "Oh dear! A keyblade bearer in the area! Whatever will we do?" He smiled and walked away from Riku's door.

Riku's hands were clenched tight and he was shaking. He didn't know what was worse, Sora coming to his world when he clearly told him not to go and find him or Xemnas, who was being a drama-tard. Again.

The three approached a white castle and stood in front of it for some time.

"Who's going first?" Cloud asked, his attention still on the castle.

"Not me." Kadaj replied. "I survived a Gummi Ship crash, no thanks to a certain brunette." He said, emphasizing the word 'brunette' which was clearly meant for Sora.

Ignoring the comment, Sora stepped forward, summoning his keyblade and turning to the other two. "I'm going in alone. Thank you both for helping me get here. I'll repay you. Somehow."

No argument was followed by that.

With that, Sora walked, stride was confident, his attidude? Fearless.

He walked through the long corridors, silver hair flowing behind him. His sea-green eyes set ahead. Sora doesn't listen, does he? The kid had ears but never used them. He even promised that he wouldn't go looking for Riku anymore, no matter how long he was missing.

Did a promise mean anything to Sora?

Everything was white, grey or black inside the castle, like someone was too lazy to even think about color here or there. It was slightly chilly inside and Sora wished he had a coat instead of his blue coat that reached his elbows. A little cold couldn't stop him though.

On certain occasions, Sora did have to use his keyblade. Creatures, not even creatures that looked like they should belong on this Earth, would appear in front of him. He didn't even know how to describe them. There were tiny little fellas that were black and had striking yellow eyes. Their antennas were crooked and they could sink down to the ground and swiftly move anywhere.

There were even these creatures that looked like samurais. In order to fight them, Sora had to battle stance them before approaching them, or else he'd have to trap them in an empty room.

He wasn't scared or anything. Sora, once again, didn't know where to go. He could easily take the wrong turn and end up getting himself killed. But Sroa didn't care if he was hurt or anything like that, all he wanted to do was find Riku and go home.

As he was walking down the hallway, Sora heard footfalls, and they didn't sound far either. He summoned his keyblade and waited for the worse.

A body tackled Sora to the ground and his fear immediately kicked in. He struggled to get the person away from him, his eyes clenched shut and he pushed away the person.

"Sora! Sora!" The person yelled, they seemed angry. The voice sounded really familiar.

His eyes were still clenched shut. No way was Sora going to open them.

"Sora! OPEN YOUR EYES. Its me, Riku!"

At that moment, Sora stopped fighting and opened his eyes.

At that moment, he took in Riku's features. His sea green eyes, silvery white shoulder length hair, some of it falling over his eyes. There was that little scar on his forehead that he got when he fell off the bent paopu tree when they were younger. This was Riku! This was actually Riku!

"Riku…" Sora said softly, he was in awe, he was surprised.

The older got up and helped his friend up. They were in a moment of silence when Sora realized that Riku was still taller than him. They were quiet and soon, Riku yelled, "I told you not to come and look for me, Sora!"

Riku never yelled, and this caught Sora off guard, because Riku never yelled at him.

"I gave you direct instructions, Sora! 'Don't come looking for ME!' Is that too hard to even understand? Even Selphie can understand that, and she's not even that smart!" He looked down at Sora, his eyes filled with hate and regret. Regret that he even said that to his best friend.

Sora stood in silence, letting the words sink in. Don't come looking for me! Was Riku really serious? Did he really not want Sora looking for him? He looked up to the taller one, "I'm… Sorry, Riku." He said quietly, his voice lowered down so low that you had to strain to hear. "I should've listened to you. Its just… Kairi and I wanted you home. It's just not the same at Destiny Islands without you…" He turned on his heels and slowly began walking away from Riku.

Riku hesitated before he said, "Sora… Wait." He grabbed the smallers shoulder and that seemed to stop him. His head was down, he slowly raised it and his blue eyes met Riku's sea green ones. "I'm sorry, Sora." He said. "About what I said…" his hand was taken off Sora's shoulder, "I didn't mean it."

"So… You're saying that I'm smarter than Selphie?" Sora said, that bounce in his voice was back, he already forgiven Riku.

"Wait… You forgive me?"

"Of course! I can never stay mad at you for long! I have important stuff to tell you. Who else am I suppose to tell them to? Kairi?" He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, "As if."

Riku stayed quiet for a second then chuckled. That was true. Yes, Sora could talk to Kairi like a friend, but there were things that he couldn't tell Kairi. Sora couldn't talk about sports with her because she would always make a distained face when he did.

A blue and black portal appeared in front of the two friends and they looked at each other, Riku in a ready fighting stance, Sora decided to take this into action and get in his own.

Out came a man, with silver hair, spiked in the oddest fashion ever. He smiled evilly down at the two teenage boys and then chuckled.

"Xemnas…" Riku sneered. His own keyblade appeared in his hands, his sea green eyes never leaving the man in front of him.

Sora had no idea who this Xemnas person was, but by the looks of it, he sounded and looked like bad news.

"The two keyblade bearers, here at last!" His voice boomed off the white walls surrounding the three of them, Xemnas raised his arms and all of a sudden, black shadows began to surround Sora, Riku and Xemnas, leaving them in complete darkness.

At first, Sora didn't know what to think of this. He didn't know whether or not to fight, or to wait. When the shadows cleared, they were in a wide space, it was grey and it looked like it could go on forever.

Sora and Riku searched around for Xemnas, their keyblades at hand incase they were needed. A deep chuckle was heard behind them and they spun around quickly.

In Xemnas' hands were two red sticks, Ethereal Blades. They shone bright and his choice in weapons looked dangerous.

Riku was the first to run at him and slice him with his keyblade, Way To Dawn. Xemnas easily stopped the attack with his Ethereal Blade. This time Sora ran at him and got him on the arm.

Xemnas dropped the blade that was holding Riku's keyblade in place and held his arm. The man looked at Sora, a look in his eye that screamed, 'you are dead'. Quickly regaining his composure, Xemnas grabbed his blade and ran at Sora. Riku jumped between the two and stopped his attack, Xemnas just pushed Riku back and continued at Sora.

The brunette stopped the attack with his keyblade, the sound of metal against metal rang in their ears. Sora grinned at Xemnas then pushed him back with all the strength he could muster.

Catching himself in mid fall, the man looked between the two teens who didn't look one bit of exhausted. They readied themselves for the next attack and were quiet surprised at the next move.

Xemnas cloned himself and distracted Riku away from Sora.

Meanwhile, the real Xemnas caught Sora in an orb of energy, an orb that collected his energy in the process.

This caught Riku's eye and he attempted to get to Sora, but Xemnas' clone attempted to stop Riku on his own. Here Riku was, fighting off a clone of Xemnas when his best friends life was being taken away right before his eyes!

Thinking too quick, RIku threw The Way To Dawn at Xemnas to cut off the energy. As soon as the keyblade hit him, the clone disappeared and Sora dropped to the ground.

Riku ran to his best friend, Sora was getting up and was at his knees when he smiled at Riku, "Thanks."

The fight wasn't over yet, Xemnas looked enraged, Riku's keyblade reappeared back in his hands and the two best friends ran at him. Being weakened from the Keyblade being thrown at him, Xemnas attempted to stop this oncoming attack but to no avail. The keyblades hit him at the exact same time and the silver headed man fell to his knees. He looked back at the two keybladers and rasped out, "It's not over yet…" And faded away.

Sora and Riku had won.

A few seconds later, a bright light lit up from out of no where, blinding the two teens. Next thing they knew, they were on a darkened shore, the waves lapped at the sand softly.

Riku was the first to go to the shore and sit down, then Sora followed him.

"So this is it…" Sora whispered. "This is where it all ends." He shook his head, his brown locks bouncing lightly.

The older teen looked at his best friend, he never heard Sora talking like this before. He was always so happy and optimistic and nothing brought him down. May this was the end…

"Don't think like that, Sora."

They sat in a silence. Sora said nothing back to Riku. If he was going to die, he'd have to make the most of it.

"Riku…" He said softly, "I was always jealous of you… How you were so brave, how you're not scared of anything," That bit at Riku, Riku had a fear of the darkness, a fear in which he had not conquered. "And… I'm really glad you're my best friend."

"I'm jealous of you too, Sora." The older said, "About how you can always follow your heart."

Again, they stayed quiet.

A bottle bobbed in the water and soon, it came to a stop at Riku's feet. He uncorked the top and shook out the paper. His pretty eyes scanned the paper before handing it off to Sora, "Sora,"

"Hm?"

"I think its for you." He handed him the paper.

Reading it himself, Sora read out loud, "Thinking of you, wherever you are…"

We pray for our sorrows to end,

And hope that our hearts will blend.

Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows?

Starting a new journey may not be so hard,

Or maybe it has already begun! There are many worlds,

But they share the same sky.

One sky, one destiny.

-Kairi

After reading, a light shone in front of them. Sora whispered, "The door to light…" He quickly jumped to his feet and held his hand out to Riku, a look of hope and happiness in his blue eyes. "Come on, we'll go together!"

Riku smiled slightly, he got up and said, "Yeah."

Together, the two heroes walked into the Door to Light.

If felt like they were falling. The wind blowing through their hair and soon, they plopped into the water. They tasted the salty water and looked around, hoping to see where they were at.

"Sora! Riku!" Called a female voice.

Sora turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw his friend, Kairi. She was waving at them from the shore of Destiny Islands. Sora laughed and began swimming to shore.

When he could feet the sand underwater beneath his shoes, Sora began running and stopped short in front of Kairi. She smiled at him and he smiled at her. Riku caught up to them and Kairi latched on to both of them like a leech to human skin. When she pulled away, Sora smiled at her.

"W-we're back!"

Another soft smile from Kairi.

"You're home."

WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY. Read.. Review. And stuff like that! :D Sierra out!