DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from Kingdom Hearts. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this story and I would be doing KH3….

This is a one-shot that I wrote when I noticed that there are so many Kairi haters out there, so I decided to spread the Kairi love a little bit.

This is placed in KHII.

Hints (?) of SoKai.

And I also want to say THANK YOU to Bond Of Flame08, a wonderful authoress who is my beta-reader and helped me with this story! This is dedicated her!

Hope you enjoy!

~Truths that won't become lies~

Why was she always left aside? Why was she always the princess in danger who had to be rescued? Why couldn't Sora take her in on the big adventure he was experiencing? Kairi knew that it was a real battle and a dangerous trip, but she didn't mind. Together, they could beat whatever came in their way; nobody or nothing would stop them. But no, she was trapped in the islands, knowing that her friends were far away from her, and knowing that there was the risk for them of not returning home, ever.

She missed Riku. He was quiet sometimes, and he was always thinking about how small the islands were, but he was always there for Kairi and Sora, no matter what the problem was. Sure, he gave up to the darkness, but he could overcome it. She was certain of it when he held Ansem back in Hollow Bastion. And, after all, he also wanted to help her wake up; the only problem was the way he decided to help her. She wondered where he was, if he felt fine, if he regretted thinking about leaving his home. Kairi wondered too if he was with Sora.

Sora.

After seeing the drawing that Sora had added to the Secret Place; their Secret Place, she couldn't hold back a tear, thinking about all the things that he had done for her. He gave up his heart so she could have hers; he embraced the fact that he would turn into a Heartless so she could wake up. Kairi could never thank him enough, and she knew that she would be there for him no matter what happened to them. The most important thing was that her heart would always belong to him. The letter she had written expressed her feelings towards Sora in a subtle way; she hoped that he would catch it. The letter said nothing but the truth. A truth that would never become a lie like the majority did. When she was a little bit younger, when they were busy building the raft, Kairi was confused about her feelings towards that innocent brunet who laughed with her. Kairi's thoughts were clear now and the proof to that was in the Secret Place.

Suddenly, something soft and star-shaped fell into Kairi's hand; she smiled when she saw it was a Paopu fruit. She was sitting where two years ago the three friends were talking about going to new worlds and have adventures. She wished that they could have stayed forever like that; together, safe, childish. But things change, and changes make people grow up and learn all kinds of things.

Kairi knew that of experience. Every time that she saw Selphie, Tidus and Wakka together, she felt happy for them. They still had a sparkle of immaturity in their eyes, but when she saw hers, there was more sadness than happiness, something that the two empty spots in the Paopu tree had left. Whenever she saw the three friends that were almost always together, the sadness increased. She used to remember that Sora, Riku and she were just like that; inseparable. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. She had to stay strong, for her friends, for herself.

Days passed, and Kari was always waiting. Now, she went every day to the little island where she used to play with Sora and Riku. She hoped that they would return when she was there. Kairi hoped that she could be the first to welcome them back home, to hug them and never let them go. She wished that she could tell Sora the way she felt. She wished that he would say what he truly felt about her; she was sure that he felt the same way.

Selphie had noticed that Kairi was acting weird, always looking to the horizon and the sky, like something would suddenly fall from it. Selphie wasn't dumb, she knew that it had something to do with Sora, the boy that everybody had suddenly remembered. The very same boy that Kairi wrote a letter to before throwing it into the water, far far away over the gentle tides. She tried to ask Kairi about it, but she would just shake her head and change the subject. She was worried for her friend.

Every day, she would distance herself more. She was quieter, but she had a smile always. Selphie suspected that the smile was for hiding her real state of emotions, so that everyone thought that she was the same as always. But Kairi could never fool her; Selphie was one of her best friends! She tried to take care of Kairi the best she could so she would be her usual self.

One day, Kairi went missing.

Axel grabbed Kairi firmly by the arm and dragged her into the Portal. Kairi tried to resist but he was too strong for her. The portal closed and let her alone with Axel, the startled faces of Hayner, Olette and Pence were left behind.

Kairi screamed at Axel, she demanded to let her go, she bit his hand but he wouldn't let her go. She didn't understand why he kidnapped her; she thought that it was for a dark purpose.

"WHY? Why are you doing this?" tears slipped down Kairi's face as she hiccupped sadly. She wouldn't be able to reunite with Sora. Now, she had been kidnapped again.

A thick silence dawned on the two, save for the dark sounds of the world around them. Finally, Axel weakened his grip on Kairi's arm.

"Because I want to see my best friend," Kairi's jaw almost dropped when she heard this.

He did this for his best friend? Then he could have asked Kairi for help and all the problems that she had been through would have been unnecessary! She didn't have a drop of darkness in her heart; she was kind, which would never change, and it was the truth, she would have helped him right away!

"So we want the same thing, I want to find my best friend too! Why can't we work together?" Axel's expression showed no emotion as he sighed in a tone that Kairi didn't understand.

"It's complicated…."

Footsteps not their own echoed in the empty space, and the two of them looked up in alarm.

"So here you are Lea.You thought that you could betray the Organization and not have problems?" a hooded man just showed up, saying those words. Kairi had no idea of what was going on; she just knew that it was a bad thing, due to the fact that Axel's face was now extremely tense.

"What's going on?" the man turned to see the redhead girl, his hood fell. He smirked; so this was Axel's plan.

Kairi didn't like the man, he seemed intimidating, and the huge 'X' shaped scar didn't help. She hid behind Axel; she trusted him, even just a little after learning of his goal.

A battle begun, Axel attacked with fire, the man turned berserk and mercilessly assaulted the two of them.

A heavy sinking feeling in Kairi's heart told her that this battle wouldn't end well.

Saïx, the man who was fighting Axel if Kairi had heard his name correctly, was very badly wounded. But Axel was injured too; badly. Suddenly, Saïx ran to Kairi and pushed her into another portal, closing it before she had a moment to scream. She was shocked when she saw she was in a cell; she was trapped. She noticed something yellow panting beside her. She turned and saw Pluto. She had almost forgot that the dog came with her, all the things that happen kept her mind so busy that she didn't noticed it walking by her side all the time.

Well, at least she had company.

But now, she wouldn't be able to continue her search. She would have to wait for someone to help her. Kairi wished that she could do something; she wished that she could escape or even fight to gain liberty. She hated being the princess in danger, and that was a truth that wouldn't become a lie.