You know how when you start something it ends up evolving into something different than what you had originally planned? That's how this came about.
Okay, so this 'story' chronicles the rewritten portions of The Beginning portion of The Annals of Darkness series, and is to be used only for its own entertainment enjoyment and for continuity purposes extending to Part III:The War and beyond. You can compare and contrast to the original TheBeginning and The Beginning v. I.I to your heart's content!
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or any of the things used in this fanfic that are not of my own creation.
-A-D-
The Annals of Darkness
Part I: The Beginning v. I.I
Chapter I: Return to Destiny Islands
Waves lashed against the surface of the white sandy beaches of Destiny Islands, the white surf from them breaking as they flowed back and forth, timeless and unchanging. The Sun was already thinking about setting, dipping slowly towards the western horizon, where you could see naught but the ocean.
But the waves were not only lapping against the beaches of the five islands of Destiny Islands (Felra, Dunash, Straca, Nova, and the unnamed island where children from the nearby islands of Felra and Dunash played), they also broke upon a boy with long chocolate coloured and spiked hair, being smothered by an unnaturally large and a anthropomorphic dog and duck. His cerulean eyes were filled with happiness at seeing his friends again, but the fact that they were both lying on top of him and seemingly attempting to strangle him out of love forced the boy, Sora, to wipe all other thoughts from his mind and focus on one sole desire.
His desire to get them off of him so he could breathe!
He struggled to remove Donald's feathery hands from his throat and tried to get himself into a sitting position in order to look around. Keyword was that he tried. For at least ten seconds all that the boy was able see and feel were the salty waters of the ocean that Destiny Islands rested upon as well as the hands and faces of his two animal friends. It was apparent that at their joy of seeing him alive and well after defeating Xemnas, the leader of the Organization XIII, the latest group of beings to try and attain the power of Kingdom Hearts, that they had apparently forgotten that even though he wielded an enormous key-shaped weapon and held phenomenal power within him, the boy still needed to breathe good old wholesome air.
Sora finally freed himself from their combined weight and opted to get a glance at his surroundings as he sat up. Unfortunately, Donald and Goofy started to hug him and rub their faces against his the moment he was free from the water, chuckling and giggling the whole while.
Sora didn't really mind that they were behaving as they were. He was enjoying their reunion too, no matter how short of time had passed since he'd seen his friends. There was a very small part of him buried deep down however that was only slightly annoyed that they weren't giving him the chance to look around at him home world for the first time since he'd been forced to leave it with its previous destruction.
He, Donald, and Goofy settled down and looked over to their right, to see a boy almost seventeen with long hair that seemed to be a cross between silver and lilac in colour and a very large mouse king known as King Mickey, having just separated from a hug, with the boy looking only a little bashful at having been nearly caught hugging. The boy's name was Riku, and Sora's best friend. Sora looked back in front of him to see his longtime and best female friend Kairi standing just out of the water's reach, smiling at him. The Sun's bright light filtered through her auburn coloured hair and struck her face, her creamy skin gaining a radiance that Sora hadn't seen (or even noticed) for a very long time.
Kairi cocked her head slightly and she giggled slight, revealing more of her beautiful smile. Sora's stomach began to do cartwheels as his cerulean eyes took in her smile and the gleam in the girl's indigo irises.
That was a little weird, Sora thought, his face body having gone numb on him. He almost began to wonder if fighting Heartless and the Organization for so long had caused such feelings, but then he nearly laughed to himself. He liked Kairi; he knew that he like liked Kairi, but the difficult part to decide was whether he was actually in love with Kairi. Before he began such a train of thought however, the sight of Kairi standing in front of him reminded him of something. He looked into one of his back pockets and pulled out the good luck talisman made of thalassa shells that he promised to give back to her when they'd parted in Traverse Town. There was a strange tingling sensation that Sora realized he'd felt every time he'd looked at this charm since leaving Kairi after closing the door to Kingdom Hearts pulsing through his body as he gazed fondly at the charm in his hand. Never mind that the girl was standing in front of him, his mind still filled with the sight of her smiling at him.
Kairi…
He looked back up at her to see her, still smiling ear to ear. But there was something pulling at him, something or someone that felt quite familiar. Sora smiled and realized who it was. His Nobody Roxas wanted to see Naminé, the Nobody of Kairi who now resided within Kairi as Roxas resided within him. Sora allowed the force pulling at him to win, and relinquished control of his body to his other. He looked out of eyes that were shared between the two of them, and he saw the auburn haired princess in front of him melt away into a blonde girl in a simple white sundress.
Naminé…
He saw her for only a moment, and he felt a surge of contentment come from the blonde that was within him as his other slipped control of Sora's body back to him. The blonde girl melted back into the auburn haired friend Sora knew, and he became numb once more to everything around him. The merry-making, joy spreading animal friends, Riku's small smirk as he observed Sora and Kairi staring into each other's eyes, even the wet feeling of the water he was still sitting in. All he could see was Kairi, everything else was a blur, or maybe that was some of the seawater in his eyes.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his gloved hand, and looked back at Kairi, suddenly realizing as he tried to speak that his tongue was exponentially dry.
"We- we're back." He finally managed to splutter out. Kairi bent down and offered him a hand.
"You're home." Was all she said, still smiling sweetly. Sora grinned again, and clasped her hand in his, still holding the talisman. Kairi pulled him up but Sora stood a little too quickly for both Kairi and his own legs, and the two of them ended up in a light hug as Sora fought to steady himself. He felt his face growing hot as his body pressed against Kairi's and quickly turned away before she could see the pink in his cheeks.
Kairi, though, had also begun to blush, and lightly pushed him as she turned to her right. This way Sora and the others wouldn't see her face. However Kairi's push, though light, was enough to send an already unstable Keyblade Master face first into the ocean. Again.
Well, at least the water's nice and cool, Sora thought as everyone, including Kairi, looked over and started to laugh. Sora flipped over onto his back, chuckling to himself. His sense of being no longer numb, he stood back up and made sure he was steady before chancing a glance at Kairi. She was still smiling at him, but he was able to notice a tiny flush of pink on her cheeks. Shrugging it off as embarrassment from the previous situation, he looked around at the play island.
A sense of torturous longing overtook him as he soaked in his surroundings. The wooden buildings he, Riku, and the others had played in, the dock, the little islet with the paopu tree, the vines that covered the secret place, they all rushed into him in a single moment. His eyes watered and a tear threatened to fall as he took everything in.
He was home. He was really home.
So many things meant home to him as they assailed his already besieged mind. His house, his boat, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, his other friends, the Ice Cream Parlor (he'd unfortunately have to break the news to them about Sea-Salt Ice Cream), his skateboard and other possessions. Riku and Kairi, his mom…
Mom!
Sora's eyes widened in shock and fear at the thought of his mother, giving sudden new meaning to the phrase 'dry as a bone'. His eyes could barely bring in the fact that Riku was now standing next to Kairi and the two of them were looking at him curiously. Sora's face had to be white as a sheet, like he'd seen a ghost.
"What is it Sora?" Riku asked quickly, not his aqua eyes not budging from Sora's face. "Don't tell me that we didn't finish off Xemnas and he's standing right behind us." Sora almost laughed at the absurdity of Riku's statement. Kairi didn't either, but glanced behind them just to make sure that the former leader of Organization XIII was not standing there, just in case.
"My mom is going to kill me!" Sora moaned at last.
Riku raised an eyebrow and chuckled slightly. "Oh, is that all?" Sora frowned at him while King Mickey laughed.
"Welp, we'd better get you guys home then, it is starting to darken out here," he said in his high-pitched, squeaky voice that can cause a person to laugh if they've never heard it before. Sora began to feel warm inside just at the King's assurance that he was home. He still felt a little fear of what his mother would do to him when she found out that he had been swimming in his clothes. Scratch that, he was terrified of what she'd say to him after she settled down from seeing him home again, period. He did not count out being grounded for a month.
"But, your majesty," Kairi began as she started looking over Sora and Riku, as well as taking a glance at the docks, "we only have the two boats that Sora and Riku left here back when the islands were taken. How are we going to get everyone across?" Mickey's face became pensive as he began to think of a solution.
Sora looked inquisitively at Kairi, hiding his surprise that his boat was still tied up at the docks. "What about your boat?" Kairi looked at him and then past the docks to the beaches of their home island of Felra.
"I wasn't over here when Axel came to kidnap me," she said. "I was still over there."
"Why weren't you here?" Riku asked. "We always used to come here." Kairi shook her head and looked down.
"I don't know," she said at length. "I guess I never knew just how you both would be coming back, but that when you did you would appear on this island. So if I waited on Felra, looking out to sea and towards here a bit, if I saw both boats coming back with a person rowing in each, I'd know you were both home." Sora nodded slightly to this reasoning and noticed Riku doing the same before his older friend glanced at the docks.
"How are our boats still here anyway?" he asked. "I know that they're strong, but they've been sitting in the water for over a year now."
"Yeah," added Sora. "Think of all of the storms." Kairi snorted slightly and the two friends looked at the third member of the group.
"Well you didn't think I'd let the boats of my two best friends rot into nothing so that they'd have to swim home to me did you?" she asked. "I took them out of the ocean and put them up on land."
Sora blinked at her. "You did that, when they were probably half-filled with water? When did you get strong enough to do that?"
Kairi kicked him in his shin with her purple sneaker and Sora heard a snigger in the back of his mind while he hopped on one foot, clutching his not actually wounded shin in comedic pain. He knew it at once to be Roxas.
"It did take me some time," she admitted, giggling slightly at Sora's antics. "But at least I went and did it unlike a certain lazy bum I know."
"Hey, I would've gotten around to getting my boat out of the water eventually," whined Sora as he stopped hugging his shin. "You know if I was actually here to do it."
"But you weren't," Kairi said accusingly. Sora flailed his arms out wide at the narrowing of Kairi's eyes.
"Gawrsh it isn't his fault Kairi," Goofy said, coming to Sora's rescue. "Sora wanted to come back to see yah."
"Yeah!" Donald jabbered. He pointed a feathered finger at Riku. "It's his fault we took so long."
"Mine?" Riku asked. "Why would it be my fault that Sora didn't come back to see Kairi if he obviously missed her so much?"
Sora tried desperately to ignore the heat that had risen to his cheeks again as he looked at Riku. "Because I was looking for you Riku, so that both of us could come home to the islands and Kairi together. We were all apart for so long, I wanted to make sure we were all together and safe. But you said, and I quote here, 'I didn't want to be found.'"
"And did the Organization mean nothing compared to coming home?" Riku asked smugly.
"Just a minor detail on the side," Sora said. "On my checklist I had written: 'Number one: Find Riku. Number two: Come back home to Kairi and Destiny Islands. Number four: Defeat Organization XIII'."
"What was number three?" King Mickey asked, both unexpectedly and curiously.
Donald answered before Sora could. His voice had turned sly and he was glancing subtly at Kairi. "I know what it said." Sora quickly glanced between Donald and Kairi, his eyes swiftly widening in a sudden, yet brief display of fear and anger. But he wasn't being careful enough to avoid being seen in the maneuver and Kairi looked between him and Donald.
She raised a closing hand to her chin, hiding the lower part of her jaw from view as she looked coyly at Sora. "Does it have to do with me?"
"It sure-"
"Donald!" Sora hissed, spinning around and grabbing his feathered friend. Both knew very well that the third item on Sora's list was 'Ask Kairi out on a date', and Sora was very keen on not having her know that the thought was even in his mind. He could hear Goofy and Riku chuckling behind him, but right now all he cared about was making sure that Disney Castle's court magician understood entirely that Sora did not want him dabbling in his love life.
"If my memory serves me right," he continued in a low voice that only Donald, and possibly Goofy and King Mickey with their acute ears (maybe even Jiminy Cricket as the Royal Chronicler resided within Sora's pocket), could hear. "I seem to remember that you've forgotten about your date with Daisy."
Donald narrowed his eye at Sora. "You wouldn't dare..."
"If you say so much as one word," Sora continued dangerously, letting his sentence hang in the air ominously. Both friends glared at each other for a few seconds before nodding to each other in understanding.
King Mickey broke their attention towards him with a sudden snap of his gloved fingers. "Well Princess Kairi, I have it. Sora and Riku are probably tired from defeating Xemnas, but I'm sure that they can handle it. They'll take up the oars in the boats first with Donald and Goofy, and then row back here, where they will switch off with the two of us."
"Please, just call me Kairi." Kairi said in a slightly exasperated, slightly humored voice while her cheeks took on a faint shade of pink. She wasn't used to being a princess, and Sora didn't blame her. She hadn't even found out until the previous year after she'd regained her heart, through him.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Goofy asked, striding forward towards the docks first, "let's get going then, ahyuk! Come on guys!" Sora nodded and followed Goofy over to the docks.
True to Kairi's word, he and Riku found their boats drawn up and sitting on the docks, high and dry with the wood still strong, even if there were one or two barnacles on the undersides. Tired as Sora's arms were from fighting off Xemnas and probably a few hundred dusks (though he would never admit it to anyone that he was tired), he and Riku flipped and lugged their boats into the surf underneath the docks and took Donald and Goofy over with Donald in Sora's boat and Goofy in Riku's. Thirteen minutes later they had returned to the docks on the play island with Kairi and King Mickey waiting for them.
"Beat you Sora!" Riku exclaimed in victory as he gave a great heave of his two oars and defeated the boy with chocolate-coloured hair in a race back.
"Who cares?" Sora grumbled, his arms straining as he slowed his boat down for it to softly graze the side of the wooden dock. He wiped some of the sweat from his brow and looked up at Kairi to see that she was glancing at King Mickey in apprehension.
"Are you sure that you're going to be able to row both you and Riku to shore your majesty?" she asked. King Mickey laughed.
"Don't worry Kairi," he said. "I'm a lot stronger than I look."
"Believe him when he says that," Riku added, carefully sliding over to the other side of his boat and taking a few deep breaths. Sora crouched off of his seat in his boat and gingerly made his way to another seat so that a carefully moving Kairi could grab hold of his oars. The boat was swaying more than he'd have liked it to.
Kairi finally managed to get herself seated and at least marginally comfortable with her hands grasped around the hafts of both oars. "Ready?" she asked, looking towards the other boat. Sora looked over at Riku's boat to see King Mickey looking at both of them and nodding his head to show that he was ready. Both shoved off with the oars together and began rowing both boats over to where Donald and Goofy were now waiting.
Sora kept his eyes closed and simply felt the wind on his face, tasted the salty air and spray in its scent. He could forget the aching feel in his limbs and the dreading feeling of what awaited him at his house in what would likely be the form of his mother when she remembered that he had vanished without a trace. All the while he listened to the swish of the oars as Kairi rowed the two of them over.
He cracked an eye open at Kairi as her breathing began to huff. She noticed him peeking at her and grunted. "You know, you could help me instead of just being a lazy bum and sitting there."
Sora laughed. "I've just saved the worlds for a second time Kai, don't I ever get a break?" Kairi stopped rowing and shoved the oars at him.
"Nope," she said, crossing her arms and smiling at him. "Row." The boat slowed as the resistance the water gave brought an end to its forward motion, Sora and Kairi both staring at each other, each with slight smiles as they waited for the other to submit.
Don't give in, Roxas said. We just beat the Superior and about five hundred Dusks with Riku's help. Kairi's rested up in a cell in The Castle That Never Was. Don't give in to Naminé!
Sora had no intention of giving Kairi the satisfaction of making him row them both across to shore. He was prepared to sit silently in this boat and wait for her to take up the oars and row him back home. There was also the fact that the longer they kept this up, the more time he got to spend with Kairi even though they weren't doing anything.
The minutes passed slowly, and still neither of them moved for the oars. Sora was sure that by now Riku and King Mickey had already made it to shore and were wondering why it was that his boat had ceased moving and that he and Kairi were sitting motionless in it.
Kairi started to move, and Sora's hopes soared that she had lost her resolve to make him row again. Roxas was already smugly celebrating in his mind, but then both of their thoughts froze and Sora's eyes swiftly went to Kairi's hand as it softly touched his leg before going to her eyes in confusion.
He immediately regretted it.
Kairi's eyes had gained a slight shimmer as they watered slightly, and her lower lip was trembling in a slight pout. The indigo of her eyes stunned Sora as the Sun's light flickered off the moisture in them.
"Sora please?" Kairi asked, her voice taking on the sweetness of honey and the frailty of a soft summer breeze. Sora jammed his eyes shut to keep himself from looking at the demon known as Kairi. The touch of her skin, the sound of her voice, the look in her eyes…
Sensory overload! Roxas yelled. Sensory overload! Damn you sweet Naminé!
Sora's eyes slowly opened again, and unfortunately the first thing he saw was Kairi's face.
"Arg!" Sora said, forcefully drawing his eyes away. She's too damned cute!
Sora groaned and took up the oars, the strained feeling in his arms returning in full as he forced his muscles to work for him again. He grimaced as he watched Kairi smiling smugly and giggling at him. She won this round, curse her flirting.
Sora noticed Riku's eyebrows rise when they arrived on shore and frowned at him. "What?"
"Kairi's got you whipped Sora," Riku whispered as Sora began tying his boat off. Sora fumbled slightly on the rope and kept his face turned to the ocean, not wanting to reveal the blush that was rapidly developing on his cheeks.
"I am not whipped," Sora lied in a hiss, glancing furtively at Kairi as she waited with King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy while Sora and Riku both tied up their boats.
"Sure you're not," Riku said with a roll of his aqua eyes. "You just rowed Kairi over here instead of the other way around like we'd agreed upon."
"Well, she told me to," Sora muttered. "And she pulled out the watery eyes and pouting lip."
"Ergo, you are whipped," Riku repeated. "You'd jump off a cliff if Kairi told you to."
"That's not true!"
Riku chuckled slightly as his fingers grasped hold of the rope and pulled to tighten the knot. "So that's where you draw the line?"
"No I mean it's not true that Kairi would tell me to jump off a cliff," Sora said. He blinked as Riku stared at him and shook his head. "What?"
"You are so clueless," said Riku. He jerked his head towards the other four as they waited for them. "Come on, let's go."
"Yeah," Sora said, tightening the knot that kept his boat restrained. He looked towards Kairi just as Riku started in front of him. She was smiling at him, and when Sora caught sight of her smile in the sunlight he felt his heart flutter and grow warm. Shaking his head at himself, Sora smiled back and tried to conceal the fact that his heart had begun to beat at least fifty percent faster than it had before.
"So should we go home now?" Kairi asked.
Sora's heart rate dropped down to normal levels at the thought of his mother. He gulped and cleared his throat, though that couldn't stop his voice from cracking and stuttering. "How about we show the King, Donald, and Goofy around Felra for a bit?" he suggested with a nervous laugh.
"Why?" Kairi asked, tilting her head slightly. "Your mom has to be worried sick about you."
"You wouldn't mind going to meet our parents, would you guys?" Riku asked, the corners of his mouth still turned up slightly from the smile Sora had given Kairi.
"Let's think about this for a second," Sora said quickly before any of their friends from Disney Castle could answer. "Kairi, Riku, what do you think your mom and dad are going to say when you get home, unannounced, after vanishing without a trace or word?"
The faces of both of his friends after his question were more than enough of an answer, Kairi's nervous and forced laugh only proving it.
"So," Riku said. "We have two choices. We either go home and get yelled at and grounded, or we give Mickey, Donald, and Goofy a tour before we go home and get yelled at and grounded."
"How about we give them the tour," Kairi said quickly. "I don't really look forward to facing daddy anymore."
"And I'm the only one who thought about this?" Sora asked incredulously.
"Don't rub it in Sora," said Riku.
"Gawrsh Sora," Goofy said quietly as they began to walk on the cobblestone road, "is your mother really that scary?" Sora gave a goofy, anxious grin.
"She's horrifying when she's angry," he said through clenched teeth, rubbing the back of his head.
"And your parents Riku?" King Mickey asked. He shrugged.
"They're pretty lenient," he said, "but they've probably worried themselves into a state since I never came back when I told them right after dinner that I was going to go and check up on our raft."
"Kairi?" Donald asked as they walked past the first few houses on the outskirts of the city. Sora glanced at the buildings while Kairi withheld her answer for a few seconds. The residences were nice, wooden paneled houses painted a variety of light colours to keep out the sun's oppressive heat during the summer. Most were split-levels, with one upper story, a main floor, and a basement to withdraw into during violent summer storms and when the heat was too much on the main and upper floors for even the air conditioning to defeat. Wooden decks and porches were built in shade in front of many of the homes, and only one in close to three hundred of the homes in Felra had a garage or a driveway. Cars were an extreme luxury on Destiny Islands even in the city often afforded by only the very rich; even those of important station like the mayor did not have a motor vehicle.
"My dad's the mayor of the islands," Kairi said, Sora noticing that her tone was slightly downcast like it always was when she discussed her father, "so his office tends to keep him busy a lot, and he doesn't always pay me much attention, as if he'd have rather preferred to take in a son rather than a daughter. He really only takes interest in me to show his disapproval of a boy I casually mention asked me out, or when I get a bad mark in school But mom is great, except when my grades were slipping a little last-"
"Wait what?!" Sora said suddenly. "Who asked you out?"
Riku, Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey shared significant looks with each other, looks that went unnoticed by Sora or Kairi as the girl looked at the Keyblade Master again.
"Does it matter?" she asked. "I didn't date any of them for longer than a week, and I wasn't seeing anyone when Axel came."
"Oh," Sora muttered. His anger deflated and he scratched the back of his head. "That's good then."
"Why?" Kairi asked, stopping in her tracks and turning around completely to face him. Sora felt his heart start to race and his cheeks soared in temperature as hot blood flowed into them.
"Is that jealousy you're feeling Sora?" Donald asked.
Sora glared at him, but his voice was flustered. "NO I'm not jealous! I just- I just didn't want to come home and find that Kairi had gotten herself a boyfriend while we were gone." The volume in his speech had steadily decreased as the words spilled out of his mouth, and he turned his gaze away from Kairi, embarrassed that he'd said that.
Idiot Sora! He exclaimed in his mind. Idiot, idiot, idiot!
Kairi's voice forcibly returned Sora's eyes to her as she spoke up, shyness in her tone that wasn't often there. "Would it be bad if I had a boyfriend?"
"No, no it wouldn't be bad," Sora said quickly, trying to ignore the silent laughter Riku was sending his way or the look on King Mickey's face. "You'd be happy Kai, and I'd be happy that you'd be happy. It would just mean that it wouldn't be just you, Riku, and me anymore."
"Oh," Kairi said, her voice showing her understanding. Sora looked curiously into her eyes, he imagined that for a slight second there was a bit of disappointment in those indigo oceans. But it was gone almost as soon as he'd thought it and Kairi smiled. "Well lucky for us that didn't happen then. It can still be me and my two best guy friends again."
"Don't forget us, ahyuk!" Goofy said. Sora laughed and threw his arms around Donald and Goofy.
"Aw, we could never forget you guys," he said. "We've been through too much together."
"Hey what's that place?" Donald asked, pointing a feather at a building.
"That's the ice cream parlour," Kairi answered. Sora glanced up at the sun, feeling the familiar heat beating down on his tired limbs. He couldn't remember how many days ago it had been since they'd tried Sea-Salt ice cream produced by Scrooge McDuck.
Minutes later the six of them were strolling through the city of Felra, ice creams in hands, paid for entirely out of Sora's pocket. He and Riku had both gathered quite a lot of munny off of the Heartless and Nobodies that they had defeated, and so it just seemed natural to Sora to treat his friends with the spoils. They had just defeated Organization XIII, and celebration was in order!
"What would a shadow be doing with five munny anyway?" Sora wondered aloud.
"Huh?" Kairi asked, licking her chocolate flavoured ice cream bar as they sat around a couple of benches underneath trees in a nearby park the trio had spent time in their child years playing in.
"I mean, what would a Heartless buy with their money?" Sora continued. "They'd likely try to steal the heart of the shopkeeper before they'd even get anything."
"Do you think that Heartless would have shops of their own to buy things?" Goofy asked.
"Oh come on," Donald quacked. "What would a Heartless need to buy? They don't eat, they don't wear clothes, they don't own anything."
"What about Nobodies then?" Kairi asked.
We needed munny, Roxas voice spoke in Sora's mind. We had to eat, and so did the lesser Nobodies. Plus it was nice occasionally to wear clothes other than that black cloak.
"Roxas says that Nobodies actually had a use for the cash they carried on them," Sora summarized.
"Does he now?" King Mickey asked. "You can communicate with Roxas?"
Sora noticed Kairi grimace beside him and looked at her. "Naminé says 'Of course he can talk to Roxas.' She's talking to me right now, and it is a little hard to try and talk while she's- Naminé I don't!"
"Don't what?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow. Kairi's face flushed for some reason and she looked sharply at Riku.
"None of your business Riku!" she spat. Riku glanced at Sora and the two of them shrugged before returning to their ice cream. Sora looked down at the bar of vanilla flavoured frozen goodness and sighed.
I really need to tell them about Sea-Salt ice cream, he decided. Vanilla had been his favourite flavour, even more so than chocolate, but the ice cream just seemed bland and disappointing now since he'd tried Sea-Salt in Radiant Garden. His nose twitched and Sora looked at Kairi and his disappointed frown turned into a smile.
She still smells like strawberries.
Kairi caught sight of him looking at her and ran a finger against the edge of her mouth. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked anxiously. Sora shook his head and realized that he'd just been staring at her.
"No," he replied quickly, blushing and looking away.
Smooth Sora, very smooth.
"Shut up Roxas," Sora whispered.
"Well I do believe that congratulations are in order," King Mickey said suddenly, standing up from where he sat on the grass. He raised his ice cream bar in front of him like it was his Keyblade and said in a clear voice, "I shall dedicate this ice cream to Sora and Riku, who have brought peace to the worlds with the downfall of Organization XIII. May they be around much longer than this." He promptly bit down into it, and Sora laughed as King Mickey shivered.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have done that," he said, holding a hand to his head.
"They feel your gratitude all the same your majesty," Kairi said, smiling at the chuckling Sora and Riku. Several children playing in the park passed by them as they ate, looking curiously at the residents from Disney Castle for a few minutes before continuing in their play.
They finished their ice cream in good spirits as the afternoon sun's heat was kept at bay by the shade of the trees they sat under, and discarded the sticks in a nearby waste basket. They had barely taken a few steps onto the cobblestone road again when a slightly familiar barking entered Sora's ears. He had just been able to turn around in time to see a yellow dog pounce onto the King, yipping and barking happily.
"Aw Pluto!" King Mickey said, while he chuckled constantly at the dog's licks. "So that's where you are. Sto-stop Pluto, that tickles!" Pluto got off of King Mickey and the monarch hugged his dog, his white-gloved hands beginning to stroke him. Sora smiled as he watched the King and his dog. He had wondered before just how much Pluto meant to him.
King Mickey withdrew from the embrace and Pluto surprised both him and Sora when he barked and leapt onto Kairi, felling her to the ground as he began to lick her face.
"It looks like Pluto made a friend," Goofy laughed as Kairi giggled, "ahyuk."
Pluto got off of Kairi and Sora helped her back to her feet as she wiped some of the loving slobber off. "You have something on your face now Kairi," Sora teased as she got steady on her feet.
"Not funny Sora," Kairi retorted, playfully punching him in the shoulder.
"Hey what's that building down there?" Donald asked, pointing from the top of the hill. Sora, Riku, and Kairi came over to the crest of the hill where the court magician was standing. Both Kairi and Riku groaned.
"That's our high school," they said simultaneously.
"Great," Sora moaned. "School. Blech!"
"What's wrong with schooling?" Jiminy Cricket asked as he popped out of Sora's pocket. He took off his top hat and wiped his green forehead with a white gloved hand. "Whew, it's like an oven in there."
"Sorry Jiminy," apologized Sora. "But, when am I ever going to need something like chemistry or physics to fight evil?"
"Think like that Sora and you won't be at the top of your game if they ever come back," said Riku. Sora grimaced.
-A-D-
The three islanders spent the rest of the afternoon showing Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, and Jiminy Cricket around the main island of Felra and its many sights such as the blitzball stadium and the different places where their parents worked, briefly passing by each of them in the off chance that one of them would look out and notice any of them. They showed their friends fabric store where Kairi's mother Janet was the assistant manager, the convenience store run by both of Riku's parents, and the expensive restaurant where Sora's mother was the head chef. The mayor's office in the city's centre they also passed by, feeling that it would be interesting for a King to see the place of office of Destiny Island's elected leader. They also stopped by the headquarters of the Guardians, an organization that defended the islanders from the threats posed by fiends that wandered the forests, plains, hills, and seas amongst the five islands. Sora and Riku joked that together they could probably take on and whip the pants off of the entire force of Guardians on this island even if they all banded together against the two Keyblade Masters.
"Don't forget Garda," Kairi warned as they made their way back through the streets towards Sora's house.
"Garda doesn't stand a chance against us," Sora said.
"Who's Garda?" Jiminy asked.
"He's the leader of the Guardians," Riku said. "And he's the strongest and best fighter they've ever had."
The sun had set by the time they reached Sora's house, and his legs had grown tired when his eyes finally caught sight of the lit electric lanterns on the house's front. The lanterns looked just like he'd remembered them, and so did the crooked window on the second story that looked out northwest towards the play island. His bedroom window.
Sora felt his voice crack in his throat as he shuffled his feet on the cobblestone road, looking with awe at the house that was exactly as he'd remembered it. "I'm home," he croaked quietly, causing everyone to look at him as his body shook slightly. "I'm really home."
He felt hands touch his shoulder and Sora looked to see both Riku and Kairi standing there beside him, Kairi's sweet smile and Riku's slight one and nod giving him a bit more strength to carry his feet towards the porch. The slapping sound of his shoes against the wooden boards creaked in his ears. He hadn't even left the house by the front door, he'd escaped through the window in his room.
Sora paused and stared at the white screen door in front of the mahogany front door, its brass knob shining at him in the light given by the streetlamps and faint starlight. He'd never really noticed before the carvings made into the wooden door, but his heart ached in the familiarity as it struck him. But what was he going to find on the other side? How much would his house have changed? Would his mother have changed at all?
"Sora?" Donald began quietly after Sora stood for a full minute, just staring at the door.
"Huh?"
"Are you going to open the door?" he asked, tapping his foot. Sora gave a quiet, embarrassed chuckle and pulled open the screen door. Goofy went to hold onto it and Sora removed his black fingerless gloves and placed his hand against the cool brass doorknob, just to feel it. He turned the knob slowly and pulled.
Sora frowned and pulled again. "It's locked," he said, staring at the door. He let go of the doorknob and began searching his pockets frantically. "Where is it?" he muttered, shoving his hands through one pocket and then into another. Potions, keychains, ethers, and different amulets he found, but his probing fingers couldn't find it.
"What are you searching for Sora?" King Mickey asked.
"My house key," the Keyblade Master answered simply. "Where is that thing? Arg! I must have left it in my room!"
"Why would you need your house key Sora?" Kairi asked, unsuccessfully holding back a giggle.
"Because I can't unlock the-" Sora stopped and laughed, shaking his head. "Boy am I an idiot." He summoned the Oblivion into his hand and pointed the Keyblade's tip an inch away from the lock above the doorknob. A tiny beam of light shot from the tip and into the locking mechanism, followed swiftly by a click as the door unlocked. Sora dismissed his Keyblade and placed his right hand onto the doorknob and twisted it again.
"Now it opens," he said triumphantly, opening his front door. Pluto barked encouragingly.
All hail Sora, said Roxas, the Keyblade Master who was almost defeated by his own locked front door!
"Very funny Roxas," Sora said sarcastically as he took a step inside.
"What did he say?" Riku asked.
"He mocked me," answered Sora.
"Sounds like him," Riku said, nodding. Sora sighed and nodded as well, taking a look down the front hallway. Light assaulted his eyes, coming from the light above the doormat that he was now standing on. The hall painted in soft blue nearly brought tears to his eyes as they strayed over the pictures hanging from the walls. His ears finally picked up sounds coming from the kitchen, just down the hall and to the left, the wall immediately on Sora's left concealing the dining area and part of the kitchen. It sounded like someone was cooking.
"Who's there?" a female voice asked, a slight hint of unease within it. Sora's heart gave a funny squeeze as he heard the voice, it hadn't changed at all. "Janet is that you? You really should not be doing this. You have been sick after all and I've told you before that I'm fine." Sora heard the sounds of the woman putting something down and beginning to come towards the hall where he waited anxiously. "And I'm sure that Kairi will turn up soon, probably hanging off that son of mine. I'll be very surprised if they haven't kissed yet. It's obvious they feel something towards each other."
Sora and Kairi blushed and looked at each other, and Sora only felt more embarrassed when he realized that he was blushing. His friends' quiet laughing didn't help him, and Sora suddenly acted without thinking.
"Mom!" he whined. "You're embarrassing me!" His eyes widened and his blush only deepened when he realized what he said. The wooden floor underneath them trembled slightly as a woman rushed into sight of the hall. She was roughly five foot-nine, had shoulder length chocolate hair, and eyes that were just as blue as her son's. She was garbed in a red t-shirt and a pair of tan coloured shorts, bare feet slapping against the hardwood floor of the kitchen and hallway. The woman froze as she laid eyes on Sora in disbelief.
"Hi Mom," Sora croaked anxiously, his voice trembling as the tears in his eyes that emerged upon seeing her threatened to fall.
-A-D-
Well, that is the re-written first chapter of this whole shebang. I'm rather proud of this one, partially because it's hard to go back and rewrite something that I wrote over two years ago and has been an integral part of a story that has grown far beyond my wildest fantasies when I began.
Please enjoy.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk