It was late afternoon when Kairi left the clothing boutique she worked at. The sun was setting and painted the sky marvelous shades of reds and oranges toward the beach, but still allowing night to sneak in from the east with purples and blues. So, Kairi headed to the beach to enjoy this last showcase of colors. Besides, she didn't feel like going home just yet.
As she walked down the sidewalk, Kairi hear running footsteps coming her way, along with Sora's voice calling her name. She turned around just in time to see Sora slow down and skid to a stop in front of her. He was panting and sweating as if he'd been looking for her for hours, but after a few moments to recover, he still managed to give her his charming grin.
"Hey, Kai." He finally said.
"Hey, Sora. Are you okay?" She was a little concerned because of the afternoon heat.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sora said cheerfully. "Anyway, are you still mad as me? You didn't talk to me or Riku in the car earlier." His eyes show that he had been worrying about this all afternoon, so Kairi gave him a soft smile.
"No, I'm not mad at either of you. Plus, Riku already asked me to forgive him back at his house.
"That's great." Relief replaced Sora's worry. "But I would still understand if you were still mad at me, This is a big deal with Riku. He was really close to Ichigo, and when I think about it, she was like a little sister to me too Anyway, are you okay? This all sort of came out of no where."
""I'm fine, Sora." Kairi said, still retaining her smile. "It's just sort of odd thinking that Riku had a little sister, and she looked a lot like him."
Sora laughed. "And sometimes she would act like him too. One time, I told her I wouldn't spar with her, and when she saw me on the dock later, she pushed me into the ocean.
Kairi joined Sora's laughter. Her mind began to piece the scenario together and play it in her head. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, so she could talk again. "Well, besides checking up on me, is there anything else you want to share? Any long lost siblings I should know about?"
"Na, I'm an only child as far as I know." Sora chuckled. "But I do want to talk a little more about Riku."
"Oh, great" Kairi thought in the back of her mind. The two started walking to the shore. "Alright, Sora, go ahead."
"Well, if you couldn't tell from earlier, Riku was really close to Ichigo, and now that I think about it she was like a sister to me too. Anyway, everyday we'd go out and one of his parents would tell him to look out for Ichigo. So when she disappeared, Riku blamed himself the most and he didn't feel any better when a rumor came out that she had drowned in the ocean. You know how Riku is. He takes his promises seriously, and he felt like a failure when he couldn't keep this one."
"Yeah, he takes his promises seriously. I guess I understand a little bit better now." Kairi said, and turned to Sora. "But when I came here, he seemed fine."
Sora smiled. "I think that's because you helped him remember that time was still moving and that he had to move on a little bit."
Kairi hadn't thought of that. "Maybe that's why he thanked me back at his house."
When Kairi and Sora reached the beach the sun was only a red sliver in the sky. As she looked over the glittering sea, an odd thought struck Kairi.
"Sora…if Ichigo had drowned wouldn't her body have washed ashore?"
Sora swallowed hard and became uneasy, but he answered the question. "Ummm…yes, i-it would have and when Riku thought of that he gained a little bit of hope that she was alive. But even if she was alive, he knew she wasn't going to come back."
"But he never forgot her."
"No, and you know what else, Kai? When we got lost in those other worlds, I think Riku looked for her too, while he searched for us."
"That's why he was so depressed when he came home. Beside feeling guilty about giving into the Darkness." Kairi paused. "Do you think Ichigo is alive, Sora?"
Again Sora became uneasy. "I don't know, Kairi. Maybe she is, there isn't any thing that's says she's dead. Well, I just wanted to tell a little bit more about where Riku was coming from."
"Thanks, Sora." Kairi sighed, almost in relief. Not that she was glad something bad had happened to her friends. It was relief that her friend wasn't in trouble or something serious. Kairi's only hope now was that Riku would start to act more like himself now that he had Ichigo off his chest.
XXXXXX
Riku had just returned to his quiet home after spend the rest of his day at a near by cove. The house was just as he left it, not that he expected anyone to be there. Both his parents, business man and a nurse, worked fairly long hours, so a silent house was nothing new. Yet Riku had an eerie feeling of loneliness shadowing over him after being with his friends in the same house just a few hours ago.
He remembered the picture of Ichigo he had left on the table and went to the sunroom to retrieve it. Through the many windows of the room, Riku watched as the final piece of sun light slowly sink below the horizon, beginning to reveal a dark blanket of stars. The light reflected brightly off the golden picture frame in the corner of Riku's eye.
Riku picked up the photo and studied the last image of him and his sister together.
"Damn it, Ichigo. What happened?"
A reflection in the picture caught Riku's attention. It was the dark image of someone, or something, in an Organization cloak standing right behind him. Riku swiftly turned around to face the cloaked intruder, but no one was there. Riku looked back at the picture but the reflection was gone. Riku was alone again
"I guess it was my imagination." Riku thought, and with the picture in his hand, he left the room.
