Hello there, darlings! It is with great joy that I can finally say that my mind has finally concocted a decent Kingdom Hearts story. Seriously, I have been trying to think of something good for about five months or so. This story, like so many others, takes place right after the closing of Kingdom Hearts II. I know this idea has been used before a whole lot, but I have my own unique take on what happens next. I finally got the inspiration after unlocking "Blank Points" on Birth by Sleep. Sora is just too adorable oh my god. Anyways, on with the story!

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would have "kiss Kairi" as one of Sora's reaction commands.

(*)

W h e r e T h e y W a i t F o r H i m

C h a p t e r 1 :

T w o S y l l a b l e s , N i n e L e t t e r s

(*)

"You're home."

Two syllables.

Nine letters.

Two simple words had never sounded so beautiful.

He was home.

He was home.

He was finally home.

Home was where there were no Heartless.

Home was where there were no Nobodies.

Home meant no more Organization XIII, no more Maleficent, no more Pete, no more Xehanort, no more Xe mnas, no more lethal battles, no more Kingdom Hearts…

Home was where Kairi was.

And now, home was where Sora and Riku were.

What seemed like moments ago, Sora and Riku had been content to be the darkness, seeing as the Realm of Light was now safe. Kairi, the King, Donald, and Goofy were all in the light, safe and sound. Their job was done. Xemnas was finally defeated. But, as Sora had learned in all of his recent adventures and near-death experiences, things pretty much never turn out the way you plan them.

For example, they didn't plan on having a message in a bottle from a very familiar person wash up on the shore.

Sora read those sixty-one words out loud. Then, he was almost blinded by an expanding pillar of light out in the middle of the waves they had been listening to. Riku had said that the waves sounded the same as home.

"Light." Riku had stated.

"The Door to Light!"

Sora jumped up from his sitting position on the eerie shore.

"We'll go together." He extended a gloved hand to his best friend.

"Yeah."

The two walked into the blinding light…

And then…

There was a great splash as they hit the water hard.

And then, the familiar sound of waves had returned.

And then, the familiar voice of Kairi as she called out their names had returned.

"Sora! Riku!"

Home.

Sora couldn't believe his eyes.

After everything.

After the endless fighting for their lives.

"You're home."

(*)

"What happened to you two?" Kairi questioned, as they sat on their favorite bent paopu tree. "I remember calling your names as I was swallowed up by the darkness again. And then I was back here, alone."

It was only the three of them again, just like it used to be. Donald, Goofy, and the King had reluctantly said their good-byes. Sora had taken it pretty hard, especially when it came time to say good-bye to his long-time companions. Donald and Goofy had been there pretty much every step of the way in their long and dangerous journey. They had saved each other many a time. They kept him going even though he had wanted to quit. Who wouldn't be upset when the good-byes had to come?

The King had said something about him being sure that this wasn't a final good-bye, and that they would meet again without a doubt.

And then, they were off to Disney Castle.

To their home.

"Let's just say Xemnas had a few extra tricks left up his sleeves." Riku stated, drumming his fingers on the trunk.

"A few deadly tricks, that's for sure." Sora added, locking his fingers behind his head as he always did.

Kairi brushed her now-longer burgundy locks away from her blue eyes.

"Hmm. Destiny sure has put us through a whole lot, hasn't it?"

Sora and Riku looked over at her and nodded.

Sora laughed to himself.

"Well, I guess that's what you get for living in Destiny Islands."

The other two laughed along with him. Sora had missed this more than anything. The sound of laughter from his two best friends.

Riku sighed. "Honestly, at times, when all I could see was darkness, I almost forgot what home looked like. I'd been away from it for so long." He looked down at his feet dangling above the ground.

Kairi sighed too.

"Well, I can understand that. Even though I came back here, I still forgot things."

She turned her head to face Sora.

"Sora… well… e-everyone on the islands forgot about you for a while."

At this, Sora was startled. His head snapped and faced Kairi, his own blue eyes meeting hers. She could see hurt, disbelief, and confusion swimming in them already.

"Wha…?"

Kairi held the gaze for a few seconds, and then looked down at the ground as Riku had. She had to say it. But she couldn't do it while looking him in the eye. It hurt her to tell him the truth. But she had to go on.

"I slowly began to lose all my memories of you. I don't know why… but I could remember you, Riku. But not Sora. I kept forgetting more and more. And then, finally, I couldn't… I couldn't even… remember Sora's name."

Sora felt like he had just taken a beating from a Berserker.

What? Kairi had… forgotten him!? How could she… didn't she know he…

"I felt awful about it. I'd gotten so angry with myself. I even told myself I wouldn't go back to the Island until I remembered. And then, when almost all hope was lost, I remembered! For the longest time, Sora, I even forgot your voice. One day, I heard it again."

She looked back over at the Keyblade Wielder.

"Starts with an S. Right, Sora?" She smiled at him, just like she had always done before all of this happened, and winked.

Yeah, Kairi still had the same effect on him.

She still made his heart jump in his chest.

Sora was confused, though. Sure, he'd been away for a really long time… far from any English class, that's for sure. But that didn't mean he had forgotten how to spell his own name! He scratched the back of his head as Kairi continued.

"The day before I finally heard your voice again, I had written out a message to whoever the boy was that I couldn't remember. When I did remember, I sent it off into the ocean hoping it would get to you someday. It's too bad you…"

Sora pulled out said piece of paper from his pocket and unrolled it. Riku looked over at Sora and nodded, a slight smile on his face.

Sora cleared his throat and began reading it again.

"Thinking of you, wherever you are…" He began. "We pray for our sorrows to end. And hope that our hearts with blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish."

"And who knows? Starting a new journey may not be so hard." Kairi had interrupted him, continuing the letter. She looked into Sora's eyes once more and grinned, as he was no longer looking down at the paper. "Or maybe it's already begun. There are many worlds. But they share the same sky. One sky…"

"One destiny." The three of them finished together, Riku joining in.

The silver-haired one smiled at the two.

"You know what, Kairi? I think you helped bring us back here."

Kairi shifted her focus over to Riku.

"What? How?"

"As soon as Sora finished reading your letter for the first time, the Door to Light appeared to us. And then, the next thing we knew, we were here."

Again, Kairi smiled.

"Hmm… well, I'm so glad you two are back. You have no idea how much I missed you guys." She jumped down from her perch in between Sora and Riku onto the sandy beach of their Island, sticking the landing.

"Everything was so quiet around here without you two. I had to put up with Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka all by myself!" She giggled, putting her hands on her hips to show that she was proud of this accomplishment.

Again, her laughter was joined by Sora and Riku's as they too left their spots on the paopu tree.

"We missed you too, Kairi." Sora said truthfully, as he rubbed the back of his neck. But in the back of his mind, Sora knew that what he had said was an understatement. Kairi had no idea how much he, personally, had missed the Princess of Heart. It takes a lot to get the all-powerful Key Bearer and savior of all worlds onto his hands and knees and beg the enemy to take him to her.

(*)

"So… which world was your favorite? I'm sure you got to see them all, just like you wanted to."

Sora and Kairi sat on the edge of the dock, just as they had done before the storm that changed their lives. Their feet hung off over the side, both pairs of shoes reflecting and glistening in the clear blue water that was now tinted with the brilliant colors of the sunset. He'd missed these sunsets.

Especially watching them with her.

"I didn't get to see them all, Kairi. But I did see a lot." Sora answered, not really sure which one was his favorite. There were, like he said, a lot of them. And he had wonderful friends that he would never forget in every single one.

"What were they like?"

Kairi was pretty curious, seeing as for most of her friends' journeys, she was either out of the picture, imprisoned by the enemy, or unconscious. She was curious, yes, but she also enjoyed spending some time with just Sora. She didn't really know where Riku was, but she wasn't really looking for him either. She and Sora hadn't been alone together for a very long time; far too long in both of their opinions.

Sora smiled and looked up at the now appearing stars in the sky. Once again, his hands found their way to their spot behind his spiky hair.

"Well… wow… where do I even start?" Sora started, laughing. He eyed the stars again, as if he was looking for an inspiration. And then he began his long list.

"Hmm… well there was one world where everything was black and white, including me. In another one, we were underwater and I had a mermaid tail! And then there was one where everything was all about Halloween and Christmas and…"

Kairi listened intently as Sora kept describing world after world. She was in awe. He really had seen everything.

"Oh, I almost forgot! There was another world inside a world. And it was all a computer program." Sora looked over at Kairi and gave her his signature goofy grin.

Kairi smiled back at him. She had missed that grin.

It was then that Sora realized just how different Kairi was from the last time they sat at this spot, watching the fading sun over the horizon. She had matured and calmed down a lot; probably because Sora and Riku weren't there for so long. She had grown, as Sora had. And, although Sora would only admit to himself, she was even more beautiful than before.

"Sora," Kairi started, staring off into the sunset again. "Why would you ever want to come back here, even after seeing all of those amazing things?"

"Huh?" Sora said quickly, kind of taken aback. Not that he didn't know his reason. Oh no. There was one simple answer; a one word answer. And Sora certainly knew what it was. But, obviously, he couldn't say it. No way.

"Oh, come on man! Now's your chance! Say it!" a voice shouted from within Sora.

"R-Roxas? Is… uh… was that… y-you?"

"Correct. Because we met each other and fused together, I can now talk to you inside your head. Cool, huh."

"Uhm…"

"So, the slayer of both Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas can't even confess his feelings to the girl he sacrificed his heart and journeyed all across the galaxy for? Wow."

"Roxas! I'm… uhm… not very good at… that kind of stuff. Believe me."

"Sora? Did you hear me?"

Sora snapped out of his conversation with his Nobody and turned his attention back to Kairi. He was blushing like mad. He remembered the last time he had blushed like that. Goofy and Donald certainly didn't let it go unnoticed when Will and Elizabeth had embraced all romantic-like in Port Royal. Sora's face had developed a red-ish glow as he thought about the person he would like to wrap his arms around like that.

And now, the annoying red-ish glow had returned.

He silently prayed that the sunset's reddish tint had camouflaged it before she noticed.

"Y-yeah. Sorry. I kinda… kinda zoned out for a second." Sora said to the redhead, adding in a nervous laugh for emphasis as he rubbed the back of his neck again.

"Sora, just say it. Trust me."

"I… I just… ugh. I just can't, Roxas."

Kairi laughed and elbowed him affectionately.

"Even after all the time when you were off playing hero, you haven't changed a bit. You're still the same lazy bum."

And with that comment, Sora's stomach now had a serious case of the butterflies.

"Man, Kairi. Do you have any idea how fast Sora's heart is racing right now, thanks to you?"

"Huh? Oh. Roxas, seriously. Stop it!"

"Hey. I'm just trying to help."

"You're really not helping right this second."

He blocked out whatever Roxas was in the process of saying to respond to Kairi, who was still laughing. Her laughter was just so… contagious. And it was music to Sora's ears.

"Don't you remember what you told me, Kairi?" Sora bravely asked, his heart racing (as Roxas had annoyingly pointed out).

Kairi smiled again and nodded, shifting her gaze once again back to Sora.

"I told you to never change. And you didn't. Even after everything you went through. You're still… Sora."

She reached into her pouch that was attached to her dress and pulled out her lucky charm (AKA Oathkeeper). She held it close to her heart and closed her eyes as Sora watched her.

"You kept all of your promises. You… you came back. You're finally back home."

There was that beautiful word again.

Home.

(*)

Meanwhile, while Sora and Kairi were off on the dock, Riku had done some exploring. He hadn't lied when he confessed that he had almost forgotten what home looked like. So he decided to re-familiarize himself with his beloved Destiny Islands.

And, during so, he happened to stumble upon the good old Secret Place.

Which, oddly enough, in turn, verified all of his suspicions about the couple-that-isn't-a-couple-but-definitely-should-be-a-couple couple that was currently admiring the sunset.

The corners of Riku's mouth rose upwards to form a smirk.

This was going to be fun.

(*)

Well, I was planning on making this a oneshot, but I looked down at my word counter and I saw that I'm almost at 3,000 words already. Geez. So I'm going to have to break this into chapters. I'm not sure how many yet. So keep reading. I may actually make this have a plot! Haha.

I've seen so many KH stories where Sora and Roxas can talk to each other. So I decided, well, why not? In KH2, I really didn't see Roxas as the funny one of the two, but still. I love writing their conversations.

Keep reading. Drop a comment, maybe? It would make my day.

Have a wonderful day, beautiful.

Love, Liz.