Kingdom Hearts: 10 Years Later

Chapter 1

"Kairi!"

Kairi instantly looked up from having her head resting on the counter. She turned in her seat and saw her boss yelling at her to wake up and get back to work. Kairi nodded slowly with a deep sigh, got off her stool, and began wiping the counter off. She wore an apron over her clothes.

Kairi was working in a small cafe in Radiant Garden called Carl's. It wasn't a very good job, nor did it pay well, but it paid something at least. It kept food on the table. Food for herself. It was the same every night. Dinner for one.

Around ten o'clock at night, business slowed down, almost to a halt. She decided to take her break and sat down at one of the tables and drink a coffee. She just watched the nightlife of Radiant Garden from the other side of a window.

The bell above the door chimed as a customer walked in. Kairi didn't even look up. The man, with his long brown hair, black leather jacket, and gray pants walked to the counter and stood.

"Can I get some service?" he snorted.

Kairi, without taking her eyes off the window, replied, "I'm on break."

The man looked at her oddly, only seeing her from behind. She could hear him stomping towards her, his army-boots shattering her nerve. He took a forceful grip on the chair and swung it around. Kairi was ready to punch the guy, until she saw who he was.

She raised an eyebrow, "Leon?"

Leon managed a smile. He took a step back, examining Kairi. The man tilted his head to the side to move hair away from his eyes, then put his hands on his hips and chuckled, "Kairi."

Kairi sat her coffee on the table and stood up. "How long as it - "

"Ten years, give or take," Leon shrugged. "How have you been?"

Kairi slapped her hands on her sides while puffing out her cheeks, trying to act casual. She nodded with a goofy grin, "Okay, I guess. You?"

Leon ignored the question. "How did you get here, Kairi?"

"It was a few months ago," Kairi sat back down as Leon took the seat across from her. "I was stuck in my hometown, doing literally the same thing I'm doing now. So, I got out."

"We've not ran in to each other in the last few months?" Leon asked defensively.

"I've been to about a total of three different places," she shyly smiled. "Here, my apartment, the grocery store."

"You know, kid," Leon propped his feet up on the table, dirt falling off of his giant combat boots, "I figured you'd do something . . . adventurous. Not work in a cafe."

"Well, I mean, what is there to do?" she shrugged sadly.

"You could work for me and Yuffie," Leon suggested.

"What do you do?" Kairi asked.

Leon crossed his arms and said, "Well, we discovered that even ten years time does not completely wipe out the Heartless existence."

"There's still Heartless?!" Kairi nearly screamed.

Leon hushed her, leaning forward to whisper. "Not everybody knows that. The Heartless are very . . . interesting. At first, Yuffie and I watched them. We studied them. They don't eat, or drink, or sleep. It's like . . . they're searching for something, but haven't been able to find it, not even in ten years." He regained a more relaxed attitude. "There's no large groups, just stragglers. We exterminate them."

"And you want me to work for you?" Kairi laughed. "Leon, if you can remember anything, remember that I usually played the damsel in distress."

Leon laughed. "Yeah, well, give it a thought, okay?" Kairi nodded with an unsure look. Leon, though, changed the subject. "So, Kairi, where's everyone else?"

"Who?" she shrugged.

Leon said the S-word. "Sora?" Kairi looked down at her feet. Leon knew he had said the wrong thing. "I guess you don't want to talk about him? Break your heart or something?"

"Not exactly," Kairi shook her head. "Five years ago, Sora left."

"Why?" Leon became interested.

"It's a long story," her face became red. She obviously did not want to talk about.

Leon, however, was a persistant man. When he wanted a piece of information, he was going to get it. Leon said with a forceful grin, "I've got time."

"Some guys showed up in our town," she ran her finger around the rim of her coffee mug. "They wanted the Keyblade." Leon just nodded. Kairi continued, "I hadn't even seen the thing again until that point. For five years, Sora never used it. Then, he had to use it to defend us. We were walking down the beach at the time."

"Who were these guys?" Leon asked.

"One had red hair, one was bald, one had long, black hair, and one was a blonde girl," she shrugged. "All dressed in suits. That's all I remember about them." She took a sip of her coffee. "Anyway, Sora had to fight them for a bit. Eventually, though, they retreated. He told me that as long as he had the Keyblade, things would never be safe."

"Cliche'," Leon smirked.

"At first, he wanted to give it away, but it kept making its way back to him," she said with tears forming. "Then, he decided he would destroy it. One morning, I woke up with a note he had left on my pillow. It said he was going to find a way to destroy the Keyblade, then he would find me again."

"Destroy it?" Leon cocked an eyebrow. "Now why in the world would he want to do that?"

"He was so tired of it," Kairi began to cry softly. "I could see it in him. People constantly asked him about it, tried to get in a fight with him just so they could see it. It weighed him down. He told me that it felt like he was always holding it. It was too much responsibility for one boy." Kairi wiped the tears away. "You must understand, Leon, he only wanted to destroy it so he could live a normal life."

"I understand," Leon smiled. "And so, you never heard from him again?"

"No," Kairi shook her head. "Riku stayed around though. I told Riku I was leaving and he freaked." She managed a smile, laughing a bit. "I said my goodbyes to Riku and left that place. A part of me was hoping Sora was here."

"Just a part?" Leon asked.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "The other part is way too mad at him. I haven't seen him in five years. He didn't even say goodbye." She sighed.

"You know," Leon put his hand on her shoulder. "I bet he's looking for you right now." He then put his hands behind his head and laughed, "After all, that always seemed to be one he did the most."

The cafe's owner, Carl, then stepped out from the backroom. He angrily shouted, "Kairi! Your break ended five minutes ago! Come on, hun, let's go! Back to work!"

Kairi sighed as she stood up. She smiled at Leon, "It was nice seeing you, Leon."

"You too," Leon stood up, towering over her by at least a foot. "I'll let Yuffie know you work here."

Kairi laughed. She began to head back into the back room of the cafe until Leon called to her, "Oh, by the way." She turned back to him as Leon embarrassingly smiled, "Could I get a coffee?"