A/N: This is meant to be an epilogue to KH2 [Well, a fan one, anyways. but also a prologue to another story. This'll be rather short, but I hope you enjoy the chapters that it contains!
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chapter 001 - never forgotten
Nothing could describe how much I missed home. No words seemed to roll off of my tongue when I wanted to tell the world that I wanted to see home again, more than anything.
But, how do you prepare for the moment you return home, especially when you're fast asleep and flying through the sky?
It was overwhelming at first. Too much of one thing. I could see it, but I just couldn't force myself to believe it. But, they brought everything into view, out of a blurry sight. I could see that arm waving wildly, yet I couldn't force a smile onto my face for a moment. Was it real?
I let out a laugh. Yeah, it was real.
This wasn't some stupid dream about my island! This was the real thing! I could see everything: the secret place, the little island with the paopu tree, the shack, the dock, everything!
I couldn't help it. I just ran, laughing and smiling. She smiled, too.
"We're... we're back!"
"You're home."
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There it went. Gone, with a single spark like a star in the sky. The sight of it made his stomach turn, in a strange lonesome-sort of way. He could never manage to explain it.
He stared up at the afternoon sky, wondering. What will it be like after being gone for a year? At that moment, though he missed it so much, it felt strange to be back home again.
"...Riku?" Sora questioned, tilting his head up to sight the tall, silver-haired teen, "Will you miss them?"
Sora's tone sounded rather forlorn, which made Riku uneasy. He never sounded gloomy about anything, so this was rather odd; though, he knew that the keyblade master probably sounded like that lots of times when he wasn't around. But, how'd you fix that?
Riku immediately gave a scoff as silver bangs fell over his aqua eyes, "Why would I miss them? Only a wuss like you would be sad about that..."
"HEY!!"
Riku gave a grin. That definitely knocked him out of that gloomy state. Though, the brown-haired boy was probably going to plot against him for saying that now...
"I am NOT a wuss, Riku!" Sora angrily exclaimed as Riku let out a laugh, "I cried once, okay? ONCE!"
"Yeah... when I was around."
"Shut up!"
"Hey, guys!" a female voice came from behind the two teen boys. Just the sound of it made Sora's face turn pink, but when he turned around, he blushed even more.
Kairi, the person he missed the most while he was gone. While Sora and Riku were off fighting and saving worlds (Well, that was Sora's job, anyways.), Kairi was stuck here without them. The thought made Sora feel so guilty and terrible, but the grin on Kairi's peach-toned face made the guilt disappear from sight. Though, it also made his face turn red, which Riku was going to pick on him about eventually.
"Everyone on the island wants to see you!"
"...Whaaaa?"
Sora had to do a double take, and he only looked confused at the change of subject. He saw that Kairi gave a nod, which was NOT a good thing.
"Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, and..."
Sora could feel those anime-styled sweatdrops running down his face as she named all of the people on the island in a list. He didn't mind seeing Selphie, Wakka, Tidus, and everyone else again, but there was one person he was worried about...playful
"...Oh! And your mom wants to see you, Sora!"
"AHH!" Sora screamed unintentionally, feeling now lost in a swirl of anxiety, fear, and apprehension, "SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!!"
"...I swear he wasn't this insane while you were gone," Riku said aloud to Kairi as he gave a sigh.
Kairi looked just as confused as Sora did five seconds ago. She merely blinked as she watched Sora try to hide himself in his vest.
Neither Riku nor Kairi knew why Sora was so upset, but he knew very, very well: he left his mom when she was calling him. He jumped right out the window, because of some weird thunderstorm that was about to destroy the island; though, he didn't necessarily know that at the time! He didn't know he wouldn't be coming back, but he knew that his mom was probably going to unleash a horrible wrath when he returned home. How he wished to be in that gummi ship right now, riding off with King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy back to Disney Castle.
"What's wrong, Sora?" Kairi boldly questioned, placing a hand on his shoulder in hopes of calming him down. He only jumped.
"N-Nothing!"
"You call that nothing!?" Riku scowled.
"YES! YES I DO CALL THAT NOTHING! I just... um... there was this crab, right? And it--"
"Yes, and it climbed up your leg and tried to--"
"I do NOT want to hear that, Riku!"
Riku gave a playful grin, his eyes hiding beneath his bangs as Kairi glared up at him.
"Let's just get going... It's almost dark."
And, at that, Kairi headed off towards that small dock that kept each of their boats there; funny, they were still there after a year, too.
"...Was she always this bossy?" Riku questioned in a whisper.
"Yeeeeah. Didn't you notice? She made me climb up a tree! For an egg!"
"I HEARD THAT!"
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It felt rather surreal. His deep blue eyes had to blink several times to take it all in. Was it actually real? He wasn't quite sure.
Memories seemed to come swarming in. Everything that happened on this island during that fourteen years. He could remember everything, even though it seemed so far away. Some good, some bad. Yet, all of them made reality set in.
"...Is this a dream?" Sora questioned, his eyes seeming to spark as he gazed forwards.
Suddenly, there came a point of pressure on his arm that just wouldn't stop burning. That is, until he moved out of the way.
"OW!" Riku had pinched him! That stupid silver haired... guy pinched him!
"Stop being so weird, Sora," he simply replied, giving a groan, "You're being weirder than I ever was..."
"No, I'm not! It's not my fault it's weird being back home!"
"SORA! RIKU!"
That high pitched voice only could belong to one person. And, no, it wasn't Kairi.
The two boys were immediately 'glomped' by a currently unknown figure that came flying their way. With twin gasps, they stood their ground as arms kept themselves wrapped around their shoulders.
"I missed you guyyyyyyys!"
"Uhhh... hi... Selphie...?" Sora sounded, and looked, rather confused as the brown haired girl begun to purr when she leaned closer to the boy; obviously, he was too naive to understand what exactly she was trying to do.
That short, brown hair with the twin ends that seemed to flip up from the ground and into the sky were a trademark. But, a pair of sea-green eyes and a cat-like smile could also be considered Selphie's marks.
Yet, Sora still didn't understand why she was petting him. And purring. Still.
She giggled, jumping backwards rapidly away from the two boys. Yet, as she landed, two more boys were standing next to her.
"Why're you guys taller than us, still!?" That voice wasn't nearly as familiar as...
"Ya just short, Tidus..."
"I am not!"
Sora blinked for a moment, abruptly shifting his eyes over to the pair of boys who couldn't have been mistaken for brothers but definitely looked like best friends. He looked stunned for a moment. How tall did each of them actually get?
He really didn't know what to say. The trio had gotten taller, they all looked so much older, but he didn't know what to talk about next. No wonder he got a few weird looks from his friends when he said:
"Uhhh... your voice got deeper, Tidus?" It sounded more like a question, though it was meant to be a statement. The perplexed look upon Sora's face might've cued that questioning tone.
"...I think he knows that," a voice came leaning in, a whisper coming from a certain older boy standing nearby.
"I KNOW!" Sora sounded infuriated now. Everyone just gave a small snicker.
It was finally time for Riku to speak up. With hands in his pockets and a bored-out-of-his-mind expression on his face (That, or he was glaring), he looked like he had suddenly became the coolest guy on the islands without anyone's consent; though, he was already the coolest in the first place. Everyone failed to notice one thing: what happened on his journey.
He was afraid that everyone would treat him horribly if they found out the horrible things that happened to him. Someone like him, falling into darkness? Sure, he was an anti-hero, but that just seemed a little too villainous, or too stupid, for him.
Thankfully, though, not one person knew; except for Sora and Kairi, of course, and they already accepted what happened. Yet, with Sora acting all weird for the moment, Riku had to be the brave one and deal with his fears for the moment.
"How's the island been?" he finally perked up.
Tidus gave a grin, "Everything's fine! You guys just ran off... That was the weird thing..."
"...It wasn't destroyed?" Riku sounded puzzled now.
"Why would it be destroyed?" a small laugh escaped from Tidus' mouth, "That's just weird!"
Both Sora and Riku stood up straight at the same time. Destiny Islands wasn't destroyed? That's crazy! They saw it. They were in the middle of it. That was the reason they disappeared in the first place! That's how the keyblades, worlds, and Heartless showed up in their minds. That's how those things happened to all three of them. Were they joking?
Now rather baffled, the very first thing they could think to do was glance over at Kairi. She did what they didn't expect: put her index finger to her mouth, almost as if she was telling them to be quiet. But, when she whispered 'I'll tell you later', a sigh invisibly escaped from their mouths. They weren't going crazy! That's great!
"...But!" Wakka's voice filled the air immediately, "Summer's almost o'er! There's only three days left from tomorrow!"
"WHAT!?" Sora exclaimed, "I went running around, came back here, only to come back to school in three stupid days! THAT SUCKS!"
"Yaaaa. Tidus and I have been playing bliztball the whole time. Kinda sucks, though..."
"I think I'm starting to pwn you now, though!" Tidus randomly exclaimed.
"So that's what you were snoozing about last night, ya?"
"No, I wasn't!!"
Suddenly, the light grew dim. As if someone had blown out a candle that didn't exist.
"Wow! It got dark fast!" Selphie exclaimed.
The thought struck Sora quickly. What would happen if it was late coming to somewhere when it was dark? Curfew... that thing all of them hated?
His mom.
The boy froze up at the idea. His mom was going to be so angry with him for leaving! It made him feel pretty sick to his stomach, wishing he could jump back on his little makeshift boat and sleep in the Secret Place for tonight.
But, he had to face it sometime.
"I gotta go..." Sora said abruptly, his feet moving faster than his mouth.
"Oh! Okies! Bai, Soraaaaa!!" Selphie was the only one he could hear, and that trademark giggle only made the knot in his stomach grow tighter.
He wondered if she hated him for leaving. He wondered how lonely she was without him there. He wondered how angry she would be, or if she wouldn't be angry at all! So many thoughts came to mind that his feet tried to pull him to a stop.
No avail. He wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. Not until he returned home...
And, just like that, there it was.
Right before his eyes was that little house he had lived in for fourteen years of his life. But, that one year wasn't spent in this house: it was spent on worlds, on a gummi ship, and with so many friends. He missed those friends, wishing they were here to help him when he was so afraid. There was nothing more terrifying than a parent's wrath... Not even the Heartless, the Nobodies, all of those bad guys, and all of Organization XIII put together into one huge brawl could be more terrifying than facing what awaited beyond that rectangular door.
Like many of the other houses, it was small. It looked like a cottage, only with two floors instead of one. It was simple in shape and design, yet it held so many memories in the wood inside and out. Those memories seemed to be his only comfort, especially when he realized...
No lights were on. No lamp lit by the window. No candles flickering. There was no source of light anywhere.
That scared him. That terrified him. It was more terrifying than the thoughts of facing his mom. What if there was nobody inside of this house?
His heart pounding, he rushed through the unlocked door and into the unlit house. He couldn't help but scream.
"Mom! MOM!!"
He sounded so scared. So terrified! He couldn't help but scream her name, desperately. He was desperate. He was so horrified...
"MOM! PLEASE!!"
The creaking of a wooden floor came into the darken room. Was that his feet or something else's? Was it even someone else's? Maybe it was some animal! A cat or a dog or something!
Nothing. There was nothing there. Just an empty room in an empty house.
"...Mom?" He sounded desperate again. The boy gave a sniffle. Was he crying? He honestly didn't know.
A light switch could be heard clicking as the light overhead came on. He couldn't tell if he turned on that light or not.
"Sora?"
A voice. A voice.
His face was buried in his hands a moment ago. But, now? His eyes were all red, as well as his cheeks. He had been crying, but he refused to show it. Sora's mouth open wide, his jaw almost dropping to the floor. He couldn't believe it...
Long red hair with a tint of brown. Deep blue eyes, just like his. Taller than him, but he was nearly as tall now...
He took no hesitation. The keyblade master ran straight forwards into his mother's arms, burying his face in her apron as if he were still five years old.
"You're alright..." he shook, his voice muffled, "I was really worried, mom..."
She looked confused. Perplexed. She didn't really understand why he was so upset. But, she went along with it.
She wrapped her arms around her son as he gave another sniff. She pet the back of his spiky hair and whispered only one thing:
"Not nearly as worried as I've been," she replied with a chuckle, "I missed you so much..."
"Me too."
