Disclaimer: I WISH I owned Kingdom Hearts! But... I don't... *starts wailing and yelling in Al Bhed*
Muse: -_-... Stupid girl... This fic is set 2 years after KH, even though it's painfully clear to see that. This is also her first truly serious fanfic... I don't expect much.
Me:*bashes Muse with Keyblade* I think it's a very good chapter!

Key:

~***~ - change of POV

*** - change of scene

//word// - a voice

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Kairi sighed longingly as she stood in the Secret Place, staring at the old picture. Sora giving her a paopu fruit, and her giving one back.
Sora had promised to come back... He still had her lucky charm. He had PROMISED...
"Kairi, it's been two years!" She yelled at herself in frustration, kicking the rocks aside. A tear trickled down her cheek as she leant down and knelt next to the picture. "Sora, where are you? What's taking so long?"

~***~

An aqua-eyed boy stood, looking out to a dark green, near black ocean. He sighed as wind whipped his face.
Riku had, somehow, escaped Kingdom Hearts. He didn't remember how, but he had a suspicion that the deep scar on his arm may be connected to everything. He didn't even know where exactly he was.
Somewhere very dark. The people were like shadows, but with detailed forms. And there was no sun... The darkness of everything was so strange, and sometimes he had to just close his eyes and think...
He flinched. He couldn't clearly remember, but Sora had been there... And Kairi...
All he remembered was names. So many names from a time that was one big blur. He wouldn't have minded the amnesia, but there was always a stabbing pain in his heart.
Riku covered his closed eyes with a gloved hand, deep in guilt.
He knew he should be able to remember, but...
An image of a brown haired boy and a red haired girl flashed through his mind.
"Sora... Kairi?" He murmured softly, wishing he could find a trace of the two in his abyss of blank memories.

~***~

Selphie, Tidus and Wakka hadn't actually noticed when Destiny Islands disappeared. Kairi believed that they had turned into Heartless, but didn't tell them - what they knew of the Heartless was enough to sicken. They'd hate it, being a Heartless...
But, Sora had become a Heartless, and he had...
A wave of sadness washed over Kairi, and she bowed her head. No matter what she thought about, it would lead to Sora...
What was he doing right now? Was he thinking about her? Was he trying to get back to her?
She couldn't tell, which was tearing her apart inside.
All she truly wanted was to have Sora and Riku back, so they could all be friends again, just like old times. She knew it was possible. It just had to be.

~***~

"Hey, Riku!"
He was distracted from his thoughts by the yell. Turning around, he merely sighed and shook his head. "What do you want?"
A girl a little younger than him stood there, with dark red hair and a short crimson dress. "Y'know, it's rude to say stuff like that!" She pouted.
Riku returned his gaze to the ocean. "Saeko, don't talk to me about being rude, ok? I've got enough on my mind than to think about that."
"Well then, what are you thinking about?" Saeko persistently tried to get information.
"I'm thinking about how nice it would be if you left me alone."
"But-!"
"Look, I'll talk to you later. I just need to be alone right now."
After a few seconds of silence, he heard her walk away.
Riku had, in a sense, "befriended" a few people in the two years after he had escaped Kingdom Hearts. They had been trying to help him remember the events that were locked away, but it seemed... Like they were keeping something from him. A few weeks ago, he had had a bone-chilling nightmare, filled with darkness and yellow eyes... He had woke up, screaming something...
'Heartless'.

~***~

For the rest of that day, Kairi had been trying to think of something to do. She couldn't just sit there, waiting forever... As much as she didn't like to think about it, Sora probably wouldn't be returning any time soon. So she had to go to him. Upon telling her friends, Selphie had immediately stated how romantic it was. Tidus and Wakka just told her that if there was a will, there was a way.
She believed that.

***

"Kairi, dinner!" Her mother called out from the kitchen.
No reply.
"Where is that girl?" The woman threw down her oven mitts and started up the stairs.
"Honey, she's probably just gone back to the other island, there's nothing to be upset about!" Kairi's father called up to her.
"Oh... Well, it's getting dark, I'll just leave hers out so she can eat later, then."

***

Against her better judgement, Kairi had agreed to go swimming with Selphie that evening, to clear her mind.
Surprisingly, she had been right. It started to rain the second they started.
"Whoops!" Selphie giggled, "I guess we better head back!" She swam back to the shore.
Kairi went to join her when...
Her foot hit something large and solid.
She screamed as loud as she could, terrified.
"Kairi!? What's wrong?" Selphie called, worried.
"There's something in the water!" Kairi yelled back.
//Sora.//
"Huh?" Kairi was suddenly overwhelmed by a feirce sense of calm. Whatever was in the water... Would help her find Sora.
She dived under, and her eyes widened.
'A gummi ship!'

~***~

The Shadowlands - the only words that could, even if only lightly, describe where Riku was.
A world plunged into darkness. He hated it.
Yet, deep inside, he felt like he deserved it.
And everyone there was a refugee, some of them having lost family members, others just downright refusing to speak about their past.
There was only one thing that made Riku uneasy was how everyone acted around him. As if they knew who he was, what he had forgotten - but wouldn't tell him.
People talked about him behind his back, that was for certian.
"They always will, you know that."
He looked Peryl in the eye. "How can you be so sure?"
"Riku, you're not meant to be here. You're from the light..." The woman seemed sad, but the distorted light that there was shadowed her face.
He didn't understand. "What does light have to do with anything?"
"Light is your key to freedom. Don't lose it." And with that, she left.


No matter what the time
I`m just alone
Destiny forgotten,
Even though I kept going.
Inside of the sudden light I awaken
In the middle of the night



A/N: I intended for this to be longer, but oh well... I'm glad I found the lyrics to Hikari.