Sooo…this chapter makes me seem like a complete and utter Kairi-hater. But, I'm not!!!! Like I've said before, I really enjoy Kairi's character, honestly, and I have no idea where it came from. Guess I've been reading too much "evil Kairi" fan fics lately…::shrugs::…

Anywho…enjoy!!…

WARNINGS: language…angst…sexual situations…

Disclaimer: the characters of Kingdom Hearts belong to Square Enix and Disney…

Part Three:
Reminiscence…

It didn't take long to pack my bags. I went straight to it after I found the strength to stop crying and shove myself out of the bathtub. It took me less than half an hour to pack a single suitcase, shrug on a jacket, and grab the first bus that happened to stop at the station that was close by.

I don't know where I was going or how far I would be able to make it on the seventy-five dollars I had in my pocket. I hoped that it was enough to make it back to the islands where I had grown up. It would be nice to see my parents, and it was useless for me to stay in Radiant Garden anymore, anyway. What was the point if I would never be able to have Sora? He was all I had left to live for, and now that Kairi had taken him away from me, there was no reason to stay.

I sighed heavily and let my vision blur as I watched the dark world outside the bus window pass me by.

I wondered if Sora would miss me. Probably not. Kairi would come up with some bullshit story to make him believe that had I never really cared about either of them, just so she could fill him with hatred and spite in case I ever did return. That was just how she worked now.

It was easy for me to remember the days when the three of us were close friends. Sora, Riku, and Kairi. That's how it always was. It was almost like the three of us were connected at the hip. None of us went anywhere without the others. Sometimes it was tiring, but it was nice to know that there would always be people that I could rely on if I ever needed anything.

I don't know where it all went wrong, though. I remember falling into a pit of depression when I was fifteen that lasted for the better part of two years. Sora was there for me the entire time, and though she was there for me in the beginning, Kairi moved onto bigger and better things. She was too preoccupied to take care of me, or at least that's what I had told myself.

I think that Kairi was actually jealous of the amount of time Sora was spending with me. She and Sora had started dating when they were fifteen, a year after I had fallen into the pit and at the time when I was starting to realize just how strong my feelings toward my best friend were. I also have the feeling that, while it took me a little while to realize that I was really in love with Sora, Kairi knew it right from the beginning. She hated the feelings I had for Sora and, because of that, over time began to hate me as well.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and ask Kairi what I did to her that was so horrible. It's not like my feelings for Sora had forced her into a fierce competition. No. Back then, I had still seen Kairi as a close friend and I never would have done anything to take Sora away from her, even though it meant sacrificing my own happiness in the long run. It was painful, but I was willing to do anything for a friend.

It wasn't until my eighteenth birthday that I really started to return Kairi's ugly feelings. It was supposed to be a wonderful day, though laid back at the same time. The three of us had planned to go to the amusement park and spend the day hanging out and riding rides and doing all the fun things we never really got to do as kids. Unfortunately, a downpour of rain started to fall before I was even able to leave the house to pick up the other two, and the bigwigs at the park decided to close down for the day.

Okay, so maybe that doesn't sound too horrible. It really shouldn't, because that wasn't the worst part. I decided that I would just spend the day at home and the three of us could do something on a different day. I called Sora first and Kairi just so happened to be at his house. He agreed to the plans, but just as I was hanging up with him, my phone rang again and it was Kairi. She said to forget about moping around all day and to get my ass over to Sora's. I agreed. I shouldn't have.

I could have driven to Sora's house with my eyes closed, so the heavy rains didn't hinder my trip at all. I pulled into his driveway and ran up to his front porch with a smile on my face, still a little surprised that it had been Kairi who had insisted that I come over.

I didn't even bother to knock, too used to letting myself into Sora's house to remember the common courtesy. Instead, I pushed open the door and walked right inside. The sight I was met with is one that I never want to see again.

Kairi had Sora pinned to ground while she rode him passionately. They were both still mostly clothed, but the amount of pleasure that was showing on Sora's thrown back face only meant one thing. Their moans twined together in the air to form a vicious demon that was intent on tearing my sanity to shreds. The image would haunt my nightmares for years to come.

With wide eyes, I stumbled backwards and into a table, knocking a fair amount of fragile decorations onto the floor. The glass shattered and Sora was immediately pulled from the lustful reverie he had fallen into. His eyes were the size of platters as he shoved Kairi off him and took care to hide his personal parts. Kairi just stared at me with wide eyes that would have looked surprised to anyone else, but to me they were full of cunning and evil.

"R-Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora stuttered while he fumbled with his fly. "I thought you said that you were going to stay home."

I frowned and looked him over. "I was until your girlfriend called and suggested I come over instead of moping by myself," I hissed, making sure to say 'girlfriend' with extra venom.

Sora frowned cutely and turned his attention onto Kairi, cocking his head to the side. "Did you really, Kairi? Why didn't you say something so…so…you know…"

Kairi made her eyes as wide and innocent as she possibly could, forcing tears to her eyes. "I-I did, Sora, but I didn't know that he would be right over. I mean…it's pouring outside. What kind of idiot would drive in this kind of weather?"

I snorted. "Oh, so I'm an idiot now, Kairi? Thanks so much for you wonderful compassion, you conniving little bitch." I turned on my heel and went to the door. "I'm leaving. I'll learn to knock from now on. I'd rather not have to see my best friend fucking his bitch girlfriend again."

"Riku!"

I ignored Sora's voice and went to my car. I ignored him running out of the house after me. I ignored his pounds on my window, screaming for me to just let him explain…to just let him talk to me and we could fix what had happened. I wanted to ignore his tears, but I couldn't and a sharp stab of pain tore through my heart when I saw him collapse in his front yard as I drove away…

…And now here I was. Almost four years had passed since that fateful day, and I was running away from Sora and my feelings…again. I couldn't help but laugh at the thought. Life was so fucking unfair that it wasn't funny. Why couldn't Sora see that his fiancée was a horrible little bitch who didn't care about anyone but herself? Why couldn't the gods above just give him a break? Why couldn't they let him be with someone who would really love him for all eternity? Kairi was only still with him in spite of me. I could see it in her eyes that she really didn't care for Sora, and it drove me insane.

Sighing quietly, I rested my forehead against the glass of the bus window and closed my eyes. None of that mattered anymore. It was time for me to get over what had happened in the past and start a new life, a life away from Radiant Garden and all the bad memories that resided there.

""

It was dark again when I next woke. I don't know what had possessed me to wake up, other than maybe the fact that I had slept straight through the entire day and my body didn't need anymore rest. I could have blamed it on the rain, but even at home I had been able to sleep soundly through a thunder storm. The sounds of the rain and thunder just helped to lull me into sleep faster.

Groaning, I yawned and stretched out as much as I could, cringing as my back popped in several different places. When the pain settled, I slouched down into my seat and pulled the thin bus blanket tighter around my body to ward off the sudden chill in the air. I hastily scanned the bus around me to see that everyone else was asleep, even the girl who had stolen the seat beside me that had been empty when I had fallen asleep.

I felt a small smile flit across my lips as I watched the girl sleep. She was young, probably no older than eighteen, with shoulder length pale blonde hair and headphones stuffed into her ears. The way her pale skin seemed to glow in the moonlight made her look like an angel. Hell, she was pretty enough, and she radiated an air of innocence. The innocence was probably fake, but there was no way for me to tell while she was sleeping.

The girl groaned quietly in her sleep and twitched a little bit, and I turned my attention to the wet world outside the window just in case she was waking up. When there were no other movements after a couple of minutes, I sighed and turned my attention back to her. She had only moved a little bit, just enough to wiggle one of her headphones out of her ears. The small bud had fallen into her lap and I could hear the music easily with the silence on the bus.

"…How many times have you told me you love her? As many times as I wanted to tell you the truth. How long have I stood here beside you? I lived through you, you looked through me… Solitude, still with me is only you. Oh, solitude, I can't stay away from you…"

I felt my eyes widen as I listened to each word that poured from the headphone. The woman's voice was so beautiful…so haunting. The sound of it sent chills rippling down my spine and tears to my eyes. Wanting to hear more, I carefully grabbed the bud from the girl's lap and slipped it carefully into my ear, closing my eyes as the words flooded over me.

"…How many times have I done this to myself? How long will it take before I see? When will this hole in my heart be mended? Who now is left alone but me?…Solitude, forever me and forever you. Solitude, only you, only true…Everyone leaves me stranded, forgotten, abandoned, left behind. I can't stay here another night…"

I was crying and I knew it, but there was nothing that I could do about it except to just let them flow as the song continued, picking up as it neared the end.

"…Your secret admirer. Who could it be? Can't you see all along it was me? How can you be so blind as to see right through me?…Solitude, still with me is only you. Solitude, I can't stay away from you…Solitude, forever me and forever you. Solitude, only you, only true."

The song ended and moved onto another one, sung by the same woman with the same haunting voice, and I pulled the headphone out of my ear. The tears that had started to fall while listening to the song refused to stop and I quickly found myself burying my face into my hands to stifle my sobs.

If there was ever a song to describe how I felt about watching Sora being carried away by Kairi, that song was it. The words were so beautiful, and the voice of the woman who had been singing sent chills down my spine.

'How can you be so blind as to see right through me?' I laughed inwardly and wiped at my face in annoyance. I had been crying too much lately. 'Really, Sora. How could you have been so blind? And how could I have been so stupid?'

I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head on the pillow behind me. Here I was, trying to run away from Sora, Radiant Garden, and all of my feeling attached to them, and a simple song was able to make me break down again. I could have sworn that I had felt myself growing stronger with every mile that was spaced between me and that place. I guess I must have been wrong.

"You like Evanescence, too?" a soft voice asked.

I frowned and opened my eyes, only to be met with the gentle smiling face of the blonde girl beside me. She pulled the other headphone from her ear and stopped the music, shoving the small MP3 player into her purse before turning to me with the same smile on her face.

"Is that who you were listening to?"

She nodded happily and, now that she was awake, I could tell that the innocence she had radiated while sleeping wasn't really there. "Yeah. Isn't Amy Lee's voice so beautiful? Like a thousand angels singing from heaven. It can really get to you sometimes." She smiled again and looked at me softly. She had seen me crying. Dammit.

"Yeah. I don't know what came over me," I lied.

She smiled gently—knowingly—and held her hand out to me. "I'm Naminé."

I returned the smile and took her hand. "I'm Riku," I said, shaking her hand gently. I don't know why, but I liked this girl already.

Naminé laughed and ran a hand back through her hair, making it look even messier than it already did. It didn't take long for a bus trip to completely dishevel a person's appearance.

"Well, Riku, where are you headed? You've been on this godforsaken bus for longer than I have."

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to Destiny Islands. My parents are there. I figured it was time for me to pay them a visit."

"Ah…so you're going home, huh?" She smiled sadly. "Then that makes us opposites. I'm running away."

I frowned, wanting to ask why she was running away from home and wondering just how old she really was. Some kids nowadays looked much older than they really were. Was this girl one of them?

"Soo…it looks like we're going to the same place, friend," Naminé said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "And it looks like we're going to be spending a couple more days trapped on this stupid bus together."

I laughed. "Yeah. I guess I forgot just how far Destiny Islands was from Radiant Garden."

Naminé smiled and stretched her arms nimbly above her head. When she was done, she sighed heavily and turned in her seat so she was facing me. "Radiant Garden, huh? I always wanted to go there. I just never had the time. What's it like?"

I shrugged, not liking where this conversation was headed one bit, but I couldn't leave her without an answer. "Okay, I guess. It's definitely not all that it's cracked up to be, though. I can promise you that much. The people are like people in any other city. Some are absolutely horrible while others are…too kind for their own good."

She cocked her head to the side and brushed a strand of hair that shrouded her face behind her ear. "Oh. I see. So maybe our reasons for going to the Islands aren't as different as I thought."

I frowned and glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged and smiled sweetly, turning back around in her seat so she was facing forward and grabbing her fallen blanket from the floor so she could cover herself. "You're running away too. And I think I know why, seeing how you broke down while listening to 'Solitude' like that."

I continued to glare at her. "You don't know anything," I hissed.

She shrugged and closed her eyes, eventually drifting back off into dreamland. I wanted to stay mad at her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. She did tell the truth, after all. I was running away…running away from anything and everything I had ever held dear to me.

Grumbling quietly to myself under my breath, I cast one last glance at Naminé before settling down into my chair. There wasn't anything to do besides stare blankly out the window, so I decided that sleep would be the next best thing.

TBC…
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A/N: Sooooo...there it is. Hehe...I LOVE Namine!!! ::spazs:: Seriously, though, she's an awesome character to write and I'm kicking myself in the face for not adding her into "Awakening" more. ::sighs:: Oh, well. There's always parts two and three to add her into more. Hehe...

Anywho...Sorry for any typos and all that jazz. I actually took the time to sit down and edit this chapter, but you never know. I probably missed something here or there. But, I hope you liked!!...

See ya in the next chapter!!...