Disclaimer:I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.

Author's Note: I suppose I'll finish this story. ;D Also, I decided to change the name of this story to "Shattered" instead of "Forgotten Memories." Seems more epic. XD Speaking of which. I suppose some of you would like to know what N/E means when I explain something. Instead of doing A/N, like a good author would do for "Author's Note," I do N/E which is "Noting Epoch." Hey, it's a suspenseful moment in the history of the story, so you know! XD And just so you know. I was at first going to call this "A Short Story" but then I got tangled in with the memory titles which serve a better purpose. :o So please send the story around by telling peeps about it. Pwetty pwease? :3 Anyways, enjoy! :D
Shattered
Chapter 2: Not Just Bruises Can Heal

(Started: April 11th/Finished: 11th :o)

Kairi walked along the shoreline with Riku. Her feet were lightly caressed by the gentle waves. Her arms were bandaged and Kairi was already starting to brighten up. Kairi put her arms up eagle-spread and walked against the waves, as if she was walking on a rope. Riku looked at Kairi and raised an eye-brow.

"What are you doing that for?" he asked. Kairi only smiled, not looking up. Her eyes were fixated on where she took each step.

"I'm trying to balance myself with the earth," she answered. Riku never took his confused look off of her. "The light waves put much force into each wave, believe it or not. I am trying to level my self-awareness to earth level to where I can heal faster." Riku was finally catching onto what Kairi was saying.

"So, basically you are saying just be as calm as the earth. To be almost like the earth itself?" Kairi nodded, closing her eyes and tilting her head up to where it should be if she were to walk normally. The wind gently blew through her hair, making it wave slightly. Riku stared at Kairi as she smiled from the wind's grace. If you minus all of the bruises and cuts, Kairi would actually look like an angel. Actually, she already looked like an angel. A hurt angel. At least that's what she looked like through Riku's eyes. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how.

Riku looked at Kairi for a few more minutes. Kairi looked so familiar to him, but why? Kairi spun around in a small circle, laughing to herself. Her eyes were still closed, yet her feet swiftly made a graceful path that looked like an elegant dance. Then it hit Riku. He knew where he had seen Kairi before.

"Wait, you are Rinoa Kotoko's daughter, aren't you?" Kairi opened her eyelids, revealing her silver-blue eyes. She turned to face Riku. They were 5 feet apart from each other, and Kairi tilted her head a little to the right, closing her eyes yet again. Kairi crossed her arms and sighed.

"Hai," she answered. (N/E: Noting Epoch!!! XD Anyways, in case some people don't know, 'Hai' means 'Yes' in Japanese) Riku stared at Kairi as she opened her eyes.

'No wonder,' he thought to himself. He looked at Kairi's eyes. Her blue, icy eyes were companied with a swirl of silver in them, giving her an icy, but calming look. She had the same facial structure and figure just like Rinoa. Though Kairi's hair was red and Rinoa's hair was black, they still had highlights. (N/E: Yeah, that's right. I gave Kairi highlights. They aren't the "punk" kind of highlights though. Just thin strands are different) Kairi had a few thin strands of hair that were blonde. Her streaks were just like Rinoa's thin and just made your hair more natural. And the thing was, was that they were natural. Kairi's hair was the same length as Rinoa's was too. She could've been Rinoa's twin sister, if only they were the same age.

Now, Rinoa was a very famous person, none the less. She was a performer at a so called stage called Kimita Stage. (N/E: Yes, I'm including a stage in this one as well. Think of it as somewhat a pervious sequel to my other unfinished story, but not exactly. Oh, just get over with it and enjoy! XD) Kimita Stage is, well, a stage in which it's like a circus, yet a play. Rinoa was the top star along with her partner, Genesis. (N/E: Fangirl moment! XD Sorry, just had to get Genesis to do something. I mean, he isn't included in everything, so I'll make him Rinoa's partner in a circus thing… yeah. XD Plus I had to put Rinoa as a star in here. It all just fits in. And no, this isn't going to be like my other story, which I will eventually finish. :o) They both reached to the top together, but Rinoa fell from the top stars and died. She was practicing for a deadly maneuver with Genesis and they were succeeding well, but Rinoa hurt her shoulder during practice. And on the day of the show, when she pulled away from Genesis at the final move, her shoulder crushed from the pressure and continued to crush to her neck and vertebrae. She was able to catch the other trapeze in time, but she died when she fell on the stand where she able to get off. (N/E: Something similar to this might happen in my other story. Details will be kept to me though. XD Damn! I gave you a spoiler. Lol)

Kairi looked at Riku strangely. He was just staring at her.

'What's he doing?' she thought to herself. Riku suddenly shook his head and looked down.

"I'm sorry," he said. His face began to turn red. Kairi still kept the same look on her face.

"For… what?" she asked. Riku looked back up at Kairi.

"It's nothing. I mean, I'm sorry that you lost your mother," he answered. Kairi sighed with relief. She had thought it was something worse.

"Oh, don't be sorry. That happened years ago, but I do miss her," she said. Riku nodded, but continued to stare at Kairi. But not just Kairi, but her bruises and all.

"You know Kairi," Riku began. Kairi looked up at him.

"Hm?" she replied. Riku looked Kairi in the eyes.

"I don't believe a surfboard did that to you," he said. Kairi gasped. Riku came over to her and gently put his hands on her shoulders, making sure not to hurt her. "I've seen the worst cases of wounds, and the one you have on your shoulder could only be caused by a person," he said. Kairi was stunned.

'How did Riku know?' Kairi looked back into Riku's aqua colored eyes. "Please, Kairi. Let me help you. Who did this to you?" Kairi bit her lip.

"I… I can't," she answered back. Riku gently shook Kairi.

"Why not?" he asked with concern flooding his voice. Kairi started to quiver.

"I promised," she answered. Riku's concern never left his face. He let his right hand drop to his side.

"You… promised?" he asked. Kairi nodded. Her face was now looking down at the ground and her hair concealed half of her face. A few tears were spotted rolling down her cheeks. Riku wiped them away from Kairi's cheeks. Kairi gasped and looked back up at Riku. Riku looked taken back a little.

"What? You act like you never saw anyone kind in your entire life," he said. I turned to my side.

"That's because, I haven't really. Not since my mom died," answered Kairi. (N/E: Wow, such an awkward story. :o Most of you are probably wondering where Sora is. Well then, hold your horses! XD) Riku stared at Kairi as she looked into the waves. Riku felt sorry for her. She was in so much pain and she wouldn't let him help. He decided to change the subject.

"Where do you go to school?" he asked. Kairi looked at him and smiled, happy to be off of the previous subject.

"Destiny High." Riku's jaw dropped.

"You serious?" he asked. Kairi nodded making Riku laugh. "So don't I." Kairi and Riku laughed at each other for a while. "It's strange I never see you around," he said. Kairi returned looking at the waves.

"Eh, I'm here and there. No one really ever notices me, so I'm used to it," answered Kairi. Riku sighed.

"Want me to take you home?" he asked. Kairi jumped a little. "Whoa! Didn't mean to offend you," he said while waving his arms. Kairi giggled.

"No, it's not that. It's just…" Kairi looked down at the sand. Then, she looked up at a house up on a hill next to the end of the beach. "My house is right there, and I don't really want to go home right now." Again, she was confusing Riku, so he gave her a look. Kairi looked at Riku.

"What?" Riku shook his head while raising an eyebrow.

"You are definitely an interesting one," he said with a smirk. Kairi put her hands on her hips and gave Riku the 'Oh-no-you-didn't' look.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked. Riku started to walk off and shrugged.

"Nothing. Just saying that you are weird." Riku started to laugh as Kairi just stood there. Then she laughed at him.

"Don't make me snap in the 'Z' formation!" yelled Kairi as she ran after Riku. Riku only laughed at her reaction. Kairi slowed down and stopped to look back at the ocean. The wind started to pick up and waved her hair to blind her face. She only took her hand and wiped it all behind her ear. Riku walked back over to Kairi and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. Kairi turned around to face him and gave him a faint.

"Here, why don't I take you to lunch. My treat," he said. MY face brightened up as he said those words.

"Alright," I replied. I started to walk towards him only to stop. I looked down at my feet. I still wasn't wearing any shoes. "Erm…" I said.

"What?" Riku asked. I looked up and smiled innocently at him.

"May I remind you that I'm not wearing any shoes?" I said. Riku chuckled.

"That didn't bother you before though, did it?" I looked down. "Man, you're starting to remind me of the Little Mermaid," he said. I looked back up at him.

"Huh?" Riku smirked as he looked back up at me.

"It's only as if you have a limit to where you can go and you can't say everything. Like you can only go a few places without having to worry about something. And then, when a simple, public thing or so, you worry and can't go without that one thing." Kairi stepped back a little.

'Man, he's good,' said Kairi in her mind. Kairi decided to smile to reassure Riku. "Don't worry, I just need some flip-flops. The hospital was only next to the beach, but going to a restaurant or something will cause me to need some shoes." Riku shook his head but smiled.

"Alright, while you go over to your house, I'll stay here and wait," he said. Kairi looked up at her house and just stared at it. "What, you scared?" Kairi gave a faint, shaky laugh.

"Actually, I am." Riku stepped back a little bit from shock.

"What for?" he asked. Kairi looked at her feet. She couldn't just tell him the reason why she couldn't go home was…

"I have some family problems and… I ran away," answered Kairi. Riku's mouth was open ajar.

"You… you ran away?" he asked. Kairi nodded. "How bad was it?" Riku caught Kairi looking at her bruises and gently holding her arm with the welt on it.

'So that's how bad, huh? She ran away because…' Riku looked up at the house on the hill. "How about I help you sneak into your room?" Kairi looked up at Riku and eyes him.

"You'd do that?" she asked. Riku nodded.

"Of course! What are friends for?" Kairi smiled and turned to walk towards her house.

"I think we can get in by that tree over there. It's right in front of my bedroom window. Do you think you could help lift me up into the branches?" Riku nodded.

----

Riku helped lift Kairi up onto the first branch. She grabbed the low branch and slowly pulled herself up onto it. She looked back down at Riku who winked at her. Kairi nodded and continued to climb up the tree.

"Be careful!" yelled Riku as he watched Kairi reach for the window. Thankfully, the window was Kairi's escape from last night so it was still open. Kairi aimed herself at the window so she wouldn't fall. Then, she jumped and landed in her room. She quickly saw her black flip-flops and was just about to slide them on, except she was interrupted. She heard voices downstairs.

"What was that noise?" asked a female. She heard a grunt.

"I dunno. But it may be a robber. It came from that runt's room. Maybe she finally came to her senses and came back to finish her punishment." Kairi began to panic. She looked out the window and threw her flip-flops down at him. Them hit Riku in the head and his hand went to the target point.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked while Kairi was still in my room. She quickly waved my hands at him to shush him.

"My parents heard me! They are on their way up here." Riku saw her distress as she turned around. They were walking up the stairs. Kairi quickly jumped out the window and grabbed the branch.

"Whoa! Careful!" yelled Riku. Kairi's parents were almost at her door. If she didn't get a move on, they'd notice her and it'd be over.

"They're coming. I won't make it down in time!" yelled Kairi. Kairi still managed to slowly climb down though. Riku looked left and right and then finally looked back up at Kairi.

"Kairi, jump!" Kairi nearly let her grip go from the branch when he said that.

"What?!" Riku shook his head.

"Just do it! I'll catch you!" Kairi looked back up at her window. She knew she had to or else she be in more trouble than she had to be. Kairi looked back down at Riku and closed her eyes.

"I trust you," she whispered and then jumped from the 24 ft tree. (N/E: Yeah, big tree. I know. I have one the exact length at my house. And it leads to my room window as well. And yes, I live by the beach too. :D I basically just described my house. ^^; Just don't stalk me. XD) Riku ran to where Kairi had jumped and held out his arms. Kairi crash landed into Riku's arms as he caught her. Kairi was breathing hard as she had just jumped from the tall tree. Riku held up the flip-flops.

"All this just for you to get your shoes," he said with a smirk. Riku set Kairi down on the ground and they both ducked and hid behind the bushes. Kairi's father just looked out the window but saw nothing. He gave a loud grunt and mumbled to himself, shutting the window hard. Riku and Kairi popped out of the bushes and somewhat laughed to themselves.

"Sorry I had to put you through that." Riku shook his head.

"Oh no. It was a pleasure helping you climb up a tree to get your flip-flops and then give you a quick escape by making you jump," chuckled Riku. Kairi giggled at the remark and put on her flip-flops.

"It's a good thing I got everything else the night before," said Kairi. "I took everything I could that was near me at the time. Then I just ran out." Riku looked at Kairi, but with a little angst.

"You bring everything… except your flip-flops." He raised an eyebrow. Kairi started laughing at Riku. "Gah!" Riku pointed at my feet. "I swear," he began. Kairi pulled him onto the beach.

"Now you can continue with whatever it is that you were doing," Kairi said. Riku stared at Kairi. Kairi turned around to face him. "What were you actually doing before you spotted me?" Riku scratched his chin and looked up at the sky. Suddenly, his gaze fell back upon Kairi and his eyes were wide.

"Oh my gosh, I was heading over to my friend Sora's but I got distracted!" Riku put both of his hands on his head and shook his head violently. He then stopped and looked back up at Kairi. "Not that the distraction was bad though." smiled Riku innocently. Kairi laughed and waved at him.

"Well, go meet your friend. I'm sure he'd like to know what happened to you," said Kairi. Kairi started to turn around, but ended up turning back around to Riku's voice.

"Kairi," Riku said.

"Hm?" replied Kairi, curious to see what Riku had to say. Riku just stared at Kairi for a while, but was released from his trance.

"Why don't I call up Sora and ask if you could come too? I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with it. Plus, I'd feel bad if I just left you here." Kairi looked down and smiled.

"Thanks. I'd appreciate that," answered Kairi. She really felt happy that Riku was so concerned for her, but she didn't really know why. Riku smiled and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed a number and quickly put it up to his ear. It rang a couple of times, but someone picked up. It was a boy's voice.

"Hey Sora," said Riku. You could hear the other boy yelling on the other line. Riku brought the phone away from his ear showing how loud Sora was. Kairi laughed as Riku returned the phone to his ear. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry, got distracted."

"By what?" you could hear Sora say. Riku sighed.

"You'll see when I get there. I'll bring the distraction with me, if that's alright with you," he said. Kairi crossed her arms.

'Man, couldn't he have said it with a bit more sensitivity? I'm a distraction, huh?' Kairi thought to herself. Kairi turned around and started walking off. Riku's mouth gaped open as he yelled.

"Wait!" he yelled.

"Wait for what?" asked Sora on the other line. Riku shook his head.

"No, not you. The distraction!" Sora couldn't be seen, but had a dumbfound look on his face.

"It moves?" he asked. Riku sighed.

"It's not an it. It's a she," replied Riku. Sora smiled while on the other line.

"A she, huh?" asked Sora. "Well, there are a lot of them around here." Riku sighed again.

"I found her completely wrecked. She has cuts and bruises everywhere. Even has a giant welt on her back. I took her to the hospital. I was walking to your house when I found her on the beach sleeping." Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Poor thing. Alright, bring her over," replied Sora. Riku smiled with relief.

"Alright, I'll be there in a sec. Hey Kairi! Let's go," he yelled as he hung up. Sora blinked and looked at his wall.

"Kairi?" he asked himself. Why did it sound so familiar to him? Sora shrugged and closed his cell phone. Sora stretched and laid out on his bed, wondering why the name Kairi sounded so familiar to his ears.

"Geez Kairi, why'd you start walking off like that?" asked Riku as the two walked down the street. Kairi smirked.

"Because I was defined as a distraction, it, and she. What do you think?" laughed Kairi. Riku slapped himself in the head.

"Men always need to be more cautious around woman, as it seems," he said. Riku apparently forgot about Kairi's presence, yet again.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Kairi as she placed her hands on her hips. Riku laughed shakily and kept on walking.

"Nothing! Just speaking out loud again," answered Riku. Kairi shook her head as they walked up to a house. Kairi looked up at it as she walked onto the porch.

"Is this Sora's house," she asked. Riku nodded. Riku knocked on the door three times. We waited for a few seconds when a woman in her late thirties answered the door.

"Oh, hello Riku," smiled the woman.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Yakata," replied Riku. She seemed very pleasant. Then she looked over at Kairi, but still had a smile on her face.

"And who are you, my dear?" she asked politely.

"Kairi, ma'am," she answered. Mrs. Yakata smiled and stepped aside from the door.

"Such a lovely name. I take it you must be friends with Sora and Riku?" Riku nodded to Mrs. Yakata.

"Yeah, we were supposed to be here awhile ago, but we kinda got distracted," said Riku as he scratched the back of his head. Riku and Kairi walked into Sora's house and made their way upstairs. Kairi had no clue where she was going so she just followed Sora's lead.

Riku and Kairi reached a closed door as Riku knocked on it. We could hear shuffling from inside the room and soon enough a boy with light brown spikes and blue eyes opened the door. He smiled at Riku, and noticed Kairi as well. And to Kairi, Sora was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life so far. Kairi broke out of her trance as Sora came closer to her. He had a weird look in his eyes. Kairi tilted her head and looked up at him.

"What is it?" Kairi asked. Sora only stared back down at her.

"Kairi?" he asked. Kairi nodded.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked for the second time. Sora gave a faint smile, but it soon disappeared.

"Kairi, don't you remember me?" he asked. Kairi went wide-eyed.

Author's Note: Oh cliffy!!!!! It also has fluffiness, so yeah. And remember, this is a Sora/Kairi fanfic, not a Riku/Kairi one. So yeah. XD Anyways, man, that was a long chapter. My hands are cramping from all of that writing. XD Lol! So, please read and tell me what you think. If I get to chapter… 6 and I have less than 10 reviews, I'm not continuing with the story. And I mean, 10 reviews from 10 different people. Sorry to those who do review and all, but you on;y count as one person. XD Well, let's see where this all takes us. How does Sora know Kairi? Does Kairi know Sora? Why does Riku care so much for Kairi? Stay tuned to find out. ;D

Kadaj: That was a lousy and cheesy promotion.
Nik-chan: Shuddap! *bashes Kadaj on top of head with vase*
Kadaj: Ubacubnubee. *mumbles*
Nik-chan: *raises eyebrow and slowly backs away*