Authors Note: I am going to automatically assume that anyone who is reading this story is already acquainted with the KH series at least on a basic level. For example: Having knowledge of the characters appearances, and the legend of the Paopu. The only real changes im making to the series are that one. The power of the Paopu is a very literal very real thing. Meaning that any two people who share the fruit are bound together on a major scale. And two. I probably wont be using anything of what's been revealed for KH3 so far. The first chapter is pretty much all drama and romance, I'm a huge Sokai fan, so I had to get them hooked up right away, but with that out of the way expect more humor and action to make its way into the story. Now, on to your regularly scheduled program.
Authors Note 2.0: I should also be noted that I have deviated from KH on another couple of minor points. I hated that they made Rikku and Yuna into annoying little fairy things, so they are human in this. Also, Tifa is not searching for cloud, and her and the previously mentioned 2 are residents of The Destiny Islands...Im also not making her a bitch as most people who write a KH fic seem to do. Also for those of you who dont know anything about Kingdom Hearts. If you Google image search any of the characters you will get plenty of pictures. Just make sure that for Sora Kairi Riku Namine and Roxas you get pictures from Kingdom Hearts 2 and not 1. Also the legend of the Paopu is that two people who share one will have their destinies entertwined and be together forever.
It should also probably be noted that:
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)( )(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\) Indicates the initial or a change in P.O.V.
And -/\- /\- /\- /\- / \- /\- /\- /\- /\-/\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\-/\- /\- indicates a scene change or if it says "End Of Chapter" in the center...the end of the chapter.
Disclaimer: I dont own the Kingdom Hearts series and wont throughout the creation of this story. If I did it would be less childish and more violent and romantic...Not that I dont love the games of course.
Chapter 1: Fruit and Foreshadowing
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)(Third Person P.O.V.)(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
Kairi gasped out another breath as she raised the bottle toward her two friends
"Look" she breathed out before Sora removed the glass from her grasp.
Sora, her best friend and secret love since childhood. They had grown up together, playing games and exploring the island they had played on as children. As time wore on, her feelings for him had developed into something different. Not bad, just new. With the coming of hormones, and puberty she had began to look at Sora in a different light. Instead of his constantly upbeat attitude seeming goofy, it was more charming. Instead of his brown spiky hair appearing wild, she found it cute. At first when she started having these thoughts, all she felt was revulsion, thinking that she should not see one of her best friends in such a light. Once he had been a little scrawny, but three years of adventuring had toned him to the point of being downright…well, hot. However, eventually she had just resigned herself to being completely, and hopelessly, head over heels in love with him.
As he and their best friend Riku scanned the parchment bearing king Mickey's seal, their faces slowly began to harden. Watching this, she started to fear the worst.
"What is it?" she queried at last when she could no longer bear the silence "what does it say?"
"Here" he spoke softly as he handed the letter over to her.
As she began reading, her heartbeat quickened…
Dear Sora Riku and Kairi
I would first like to personally thank the three of you on behalf of all the worlds for what you have done for us. All of you have done your part to insure the safety of the universe, nearly getting yourselves killed, and there is no way to thank you enough. We will soon be having a banquet in your honor here at Disney Castle. I imagine that you will want some time to catch up with all your friends and family, so it will not held for another two weeks. On that exact day, a gummy ship will arrive to bring you here. You may bring anyone you wish to the party with you. Until then, rest, relax, and have fun.
Your Friend
King Mickey
"Wow…" was all Kairi could say at the end. She didn't understand, if that was all, why did the two of them look so grim? She decided it was best to voice her question aloud.
"I don't get it guys. What's the big deal? The two of you look like your staring at Xemnas' ghost or something."
"Something's wrong" Riku said, intense as always, and Sora nodded. Riku was not quiet necessarily, but when he spoke, he usually had a point to make.
"How can you tell?" she asked tilting her head a bit to one side.
"Look at this part here Kai" Sora said pointing at a line on the letter she still held in her hand.
As he made the motion, their hands touched, and she could not help but feel a small trill in her heart at the slight contact.
Quickly returning to her senses she looked down to where he was pointing.
On that exact day, a gummy ship will arrive to bring you here. Until then, rest, relax, and have fun.
…On that exact day
…Until then…have fun
Suddenly it all made sense, and the crushing blow of realization made her knees buckle. As she slid to the ground she let the paper slip from her fingers, and a gust of wind blew it out to the shimmering ocean. Something was wrong, and they would not find out what it was until the banquet. Fear gripped her heart as she realized that Sora and Riku might be taken from her again, and tears began to fall down her face and onto the soft sand.
Suddenly she felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her. She buried her head into the owner's chest and wept softly. She would recognize this embrace anywhere. It had comforted her on many occasions, and now was no exception.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Sora's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
He could feel the wet spot on his chest widening as Kairi's tears continued to fall, and instantly began searching his mind for a way to comfort her. Sora had faced down countless enemies. Beings of darkness, and nothingness, some so frightening they would make most grown men flee on the spot. Nevertheless, no matter how many adventures he went on, the sight of his princess in pain would always scare him more than anything else. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, and that everything would be ok, no matter what. But he knew he would have to settle for the latter half of the sentence.
"Kairi, please don't cry" he half pleaded half begged "everything will be ok, I promise."
He could feel her shaking her head against his chest, and she looked up at him with tear stained eyes. He thought to himself, a little guiltily, that she looked absolutely amazing, even when she was crying. Her eyes seemed to glisten with the tears that spilled forth, and he thought that the slightly trembling lower lip was unbearably cute. Oh, how he longed to kiss those lips! If they were half as soft as the rest of her skin, the faintest touch would send him into bliss. He was (a bit reluctantly) pulled out of his reverie by the sound of her voice, pained, and filled with sorrow.
"No, no it won't. They'll take you away from me again" she said quietly, barely above a whisper. "You and Riku" it seemed like she had added Riku almost as an afterthought, but he was probably just imagining things.
He raised her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, and spoke to her. How he loved her eyes. They were the same color as the sky, calm, and relaxed. They gave him the feeling that he was flying, and he never wanted to touch the ground again. He made his next words as clear as possible, hoping she would get the message.
"I would never let that happen again. I spent the last two years trying to get home to you, and there is no way I would let anyone separate us again." "I love you too much to survive it," he thought to himself.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Kairi's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
She looked up into his gaze, so full of meaning, so full of purpose, and just did not know what to say. She was so happy to hear him say those words that her tears of fear and sorrow turned to those of joy and happiness and she clutched his midriff again. Sora on the other hand, did not catch the mood change. Believing she was still miserable, he decided to take slightly more drastic action to return his love to her normal, smiling self. He was completely oblivious to the fact that she was already happier than she had been since his disappearance two and a half years ago.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Sora's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
As Kairi began to cry anew, Sora could feel his own heart breaking at the sight.
"What can I do?" he though furiously casting about the smile islet where they were for some sort of help.
He glanced up at Riku who only shrugged and raised his hands in a defensive manner. Riku had never been any good with his own emotions, let alone those of another. Sora gave his friend an exasperated look, but Riku just crossed his arms and leaned back against the Paopu tree, stoic as ever.
"THAT'S IT!!" he thought excitedly as he stopped rubbing Kairi's back to stand.
"I'll prove it to you" he stated simply as he rose, and began walking towards his silver haired friend.
Summoning the Oathkeeper Sora leapt ten feet straight up and cut a star shaped, yellow fruit, down from tree in front of him. Item in hand he walked slowly back to Kairi where she remain in a kneeling position in the white sand. Dismissing his Keyblade in a swirl of light and color, he knelt down next to the shaking form in the sand. He didn't speak, fearing he would say something foolish. He simply took a bite of the fruit, chewing slowly, and extended it to the vision of beauty before him. It felt, for all the world, as if he was holding his heart there in place of the star. If she rejected this action, they would never be anything more than friends. In fact, their friendship may never recover.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Kairi's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
As she felt Sora rise from where he was, she fought the urge to forcibly draw him back down next to her and keep him there.
"Why is he walking away?" she questioned herself furiously, drying her face with the back of her hand. Then she heard him speak those three words "I'll prove it." Not the three she had been hoping for all these years, but almost as powerful in their own right. However, it was the following action, not the words themselves that truly astounded her. She watched tentatively as he walked over to the Poapu tree, and cut down a fruit, knowing she should not hope this was actually happening the way she had always dreamed it would, but doing so all the same. With each step he took back toward her, she could feel a small glimmer of hope growing in her heart. It was like joy, love, happiness, bliss, and the promise of things to come, all wrapped in one, and it almost overwhelmed her. Finally, he knelt down beside her, took a bite of the Poapu fruit, and reached his hand out, offering it to her next.
She could see every emotion in his eyes, fear, anxiety, but most of all, love, love for her, and she started crying again on the spot. She could not help it, she was a teenage girl, and they were not made to stand up to these intense emotional situations well. (A/N Don't kill me for that comment) At the sight of her tears, Kairi could see that Sora was frightened, mistaking them once again for tears of pain…tears of rejection. Slowly he began to withdraw his hand, but she stopped him.
"No!" she cried, darting her hand out to catch his, and felt that tingle run down her spine again.
Taking the fruit from his palm, a million thoughts ran through her mind. Memories of things long past. All of the times Sora had saved, her, put his life on the line for her well being, and she knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she wanted to be with him…forever. And with that, raised the star to her lips and took a bite, sealing their fates together for eternity.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Sora's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
He could feel his eyes widening as he watched her bite into the soft flesh of the Paopu fruit. He had loved her for years, and now, no matter what, he would make sure that they where together for all the years he had remaining. He could feel emotions surging through his heart, pride, acceptance, and love, love beyond anything he had ever felt before. Seeing her sitting there, staring at him with absolutely no remorse for what she had just done, he couldn't help himself he had to confess his feelings, or they would rip out of his chest of their own accord.
"Kairi," he started staring into her eyes.
Her eyes reminded him of the sea, an endless blue that he could get lost in forever. No compass or map could rescue you, they were just too vast, but at the same time, being hopelessly lost was exactly what you wanted.
"I need to te-" and with that he was abruptly cut off by the feel of her lips against his.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Kairi's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
Kairi had had it. She just could not take it anymore. There he was, less than 8 inches from her face, staring straight into her eyes, having just made a commitment to be with her for the rest of his life (in a much more binding way than they knew) and all he could do was talk. Granted he was trying to confess his love for her, but that wasnt what she wanted now. Words just were not powerful enough. She needed something more. She needed him.
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Riku's P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
Riku had sat quietly, observing the altercation between his two friends, trying very hard to be invisible, so as not to interfere with the moment. True, leaving would have been a better way to accomplish that, but then he would not have been able to get everything that was unfolding before him on film. Riku was happy for his two friends; he had watched them dance around each other for the last few years, timidly, neither one wanting to confess how they felt for fear of losing the other. He had tried talking sense into both, but it had done no good, so finally he had surrendered to letting things take their natural course.
At one point in time, he may have wanted Kairi for himself, but somewhere along the way, he realized that it would never happen. She and Sora had just grown to close. He just accepted the fact that Kairi and him were not meant to be. But he still wanted to see her happy. So, he did the next best thing, he decided to be there for her, and try to get her and Sora together instead. Kairi had, after all, entrusted her heart solely to Sora for safe keeping when it had been forcibly removed from her body. It had been Sora who had saved her countless times from the heartless, nobodies, and Riku himself, despite his best efforts to do the same. Now, his two best friends were together. He could not be happier for either of them, but as he watched their kiss intensify, he couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Kairi really seemed to be taking the initiative, having now knocked Sora backward into the sand so that she could lie on top of him while they made out.
"This is getting out of hand," Riku mumbled to himself as he watched the two through the lens of the video camera he had brought with him. "AHEM!" he cleared his throat getting their attention. "Im still here you know"
(/)(\)(/)(\)(/)(Third Person P.O.V.)(\)(/)(\)(/)(\)
Sora, at least, had the decency to look a little embarrassed as he and Kairi reluctantly pulled apart. Chuckling softly to himself as he rubbed the back of his head and mumbled an apology. Kairi on the other hand simply glowered at Riku for interrupting their moment, but got up all the same.
"So what do we do now?" Sora inquired of his companions.
"I say we take the kings advice and just relax" Riku said calmly while walking toward the other two, having mystically stashed the camera somewhere on his person. (A/N Hes a ninja!) "After all, when was the last time we had two weeks to ourselves?"
Sora and Kairi nodded their agreement, as the three of them turned back to look out over the ocean.
"Its always so peaceful" Kairi said in a far off voice. "Even with some unknown threat getting closer, the water is still calm, and carefree." She sighed grabbing Sora's arm and leaning onto his shoulder.
"Well I say we follow its example, and worry about the new problems when we have to face them" Sora stated wisely looking back and forth between Riku and Kairi.
"Yea" Riku agreed as he and Kairi nodded at Sora's words. "Besides," he began with a mischievous look in his eye "I'm sure Kairi's already got some fun things planned for the two of you Sora."
Riku grinned ear to ear as he watched the insinuation hit his two friends slowly. Their faces growing redder by the second until they matched the sunset now lowering on the horizon. Only after they turned toward him, murder in their eyes, did he realize saying that may not have been such a good idea.
"LAST ONE TO THE BOATS IS A ROTTEN EGG!!!" he screamed dashing off towards the docks in an attempt to save his own life.
"RIKU!" Sora and Kairi screamed as they began to chase down the silver haired menace, who was now halfway down the beach laughing the whole way.
-/\- /\- /\- /\- / \- /\- /\- /\- /\-/\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\-/\- /\- /\- /\- / \- /\- /\- /\- /\-/\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\-
"Huh! So that's the best they have to offer?" came a gruff voice from the entrance of the teen's secret place. "A silver haired punk, a scrawny wuss, and a little girl? I don't even know why they bothered calling me in," the shadow said speaking to no one in particular.
"Do no let their appearance dissuade you, they have taken down far more foes than you could imagine" came a malevolent female voice
The second voice had materialized behind him, much as the person it belonged to had, and he quickly turned, summoning his war axe and maul in case of a battle. However, he recognized the figure stepping from the writhing mass of darkness before him.
"You" he snorted as she stepped up beside him. He noticed, with a little distaste, that the shadows seemed to deepen with her presence. The woman continued, blatantly ignoring his comment.
"They were strong before, but now that the Keyblade Master and Princess have joined, they could have untold power" she delivered this message with a maniacal twist at the ends of her mouth, not a smile, but not a sneer. The gesture could only be described as…well, evil. And the man had to admire that.
"I'll keep that in mind," he said, dismissing the comment immediately. They called him the best for a reason. Because no one was better than he was. Especially not some two-bit chump and his pretty little girlfriend
"But if I were you," he paused here for dramatic effect, and to open his own portal of darkness "I wouldn't be too concerned" and with that he stepped through, leaving her behind.
"Oh" she chuckled, that knowing curve returning to her lips "I never am"
-/\- /\- /\- /\- / \- /\- /\- /\- /\- Chapter End -/\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\- /\-
So thats the end of chapter one! I wrote that all at like 2 in the am, but im pretty happy with the way it turned out. If you have a complaint or concern with something written above, or if you just want to tell me I rock, reviewing is the best way to make sure your heard. But dont feel obligated to do so. I am also currently looking for someone to edit my chapters and all of the grammatical errors contained within. No matter how hard I try my grammar always seems to suck. But im learning! I will compose a Haiku for my first reviewer which will be posted before the next chapter along with a special thank you. And always remember, people judge you not by the size of your feet, but by whether your socks match.