More than Friends

Summary: Sora, Kairi and Riku are really good friends. They've always had good times together, especially on the island. What Kairi doesn't know is that Sora likes her – a LOT. Will Sora's feelings toward her ruin his friendship with Riku, and possibly Kairi?

Rating: T

Genre: Romance, Friendship, Angst (but that's later on…)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. Square Enix is just too awesome for me. I also don't own any songs; they go to their respective owners. I do own the plotline though.

I hope you all know what's about to happen and to be honest I don't know if what's about to happen from this point on may be original canon, before or after, but I most likely have to deviate from it. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! The story continues…to Chapter 8!


~ Chapter 8: The Portal ~

Sora woke up on Sunday morning, around nine o'clock. He went through his usual routine, despite today being a weekend, and eventually made it downstairs. He went into the kitchen to find his mom sitting at the table already, sipping from her coffee mug.

"Mornin' Mom," said Sora.

"Good morning Sora," she said.

He sat down across from her and noticed that there was a letter on the table with his name on it.

"Mom, what's that?" asked Sora, pointing to the letter.

"Oh, I don't know what that is. Some people by the names of Donald and Goofy came by and wanted me to give this to you," she replied.

"What? Really?!" said Sora in surprise. He didn't expect that.

He reached over and grabbed the letter and quickly opened it. It read:

Dear Sora,

It's been a while since we've last seen each other, but there's a problem over at the Castle. Chip and Dale reported that a magical dark hole appeared in the Hall of the Cornerstone yesterday, and they don't know where it leads to or if it's dangerous. They asked us to find you so that you, Goofy and I can check it out. We're going to go over to Destiny Islands tomorrow to pick you up, so meet us in town.

Donald

After he finished reading the letter, he sat there and thought about it.

"What did it say, Sora?" his mom asked.

"I have to go and help out my friends tomorrow," said Sora.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"Those people that gave you the letter earlier. Their castle may be in danger," replied Sora.

"Okay. Well, be safe, Sora. I don't want anything to happen to you," she said with concern.

"Don't worry, Mom; I'll be fine," said Sora.

And she left it at that. With a nod, she returned to drinking from her coffee mug, only to notice that her mug was empty and went to refill it. Sora proceeded to read the letter in his hands again.

A magical dark hole appeared in the Hall of the Cornerstone yesterday… those words rung in his head, because the last time they were at the Hall of the Cornerstone really big thorns covered the place, all by the workings of Maleficent. Merlin conjured a door leading to the Timeless River, and they had to stop Pete from stealing the Cornerstone of Light and engulfing the future Castle into darkness. He eventually sealed the door to the past so no one could abuse it. Now he had to return to the Castle and see what was up… well, he could see the King and Queen while he was there, say hi to everyone else.

Then his thoughts drifted toward Kairi. He knew that he could face danger, but how would Kairi react? Surely she would understand, considering the magnitude of the situation? Sora sighed. He'll have to break the news to her today, so he got up and went upstairs and got dressed. He walked downstairs and went to the living room, picked up the phone and called Kairi. It rung a few times, then Kairi answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kairi, it's me," said Sora.

"Hi, Sora! You sound…different. Is everything okay?" asked Kairi. He could sense the worry in her voice.

"Yeah, everything's fine," said Sora, "I just want to talk to you about something. Can we meet up later?"

"Sure, wanna come over around noon?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah, that would be great," said Sora.

"Okay, see you then," said Kairi.

"Bye, Kairi."

"Bye, Sora."

Sora hung up. He put the phone back in its cradle and walked up to his room.


Three hours had passed and it was already noon. Sora left his house and set out for Kairi's. When he arrived he knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later Kairi opened the door.

"Sora!" said Kairi as soon as she saw it was Sora. She hugged him. Sora returned the hug and when they broke apart Kairi gave Sora a peck on the lips.

"Hi, Kairi," said Sora.

"Come in," said Kairi, gesturing to him to come inside. He did, and Kairi followed behind him and closed the door behind her. She led him to the living room and then he sat down on the couch, with Kairi sliding right next to him.

"So, Sora, what did you want to talk about?" asked Kairi, taking and gripping his hand.

"Well, I have to go somewhere tomorrow," replied Sora.

"That's it? You're just going somewhere?" asked Kairi, a little surprised and obviously confused.

"I wanted to tell you that where I'm going might be dangerous. Do you remember Donald and Goofy?" said Sora.

"The ones that came back with us from that other world?" asked Kairi.

"Yeah. Their castle might be in danger, and I have to check out what's happening over there," replied Sora.

"So you have to go away again?" sighed Kairi.

"Look," said Sora, taking both of Kairi's hands into his own, "I'll be fine. It's just-"

"I don't want you to get hurt," cut in Kairi, "you always end up going on some adventure and I have to sit here and feel like I'm left out."

Sora sighed.

"I don't want you to get hurt either. This is something I have to do," said Sora.

Sora gripped Kairi's hands a little more firmly.

"You're always in my heart."

"And you are in mine," said Kairi.

They moved closer and gave a small yet passionate kiss.

When they broke apart, Sora got up and started to leave, but he was stopped as Kairi tugged him back and she pulled him into a strong and heart-warming embrace. Sora was slightly surprised by this gesture but returned the hug.

"Don't leave me…" said Kairi in a quiet yet audible tone.

"We'll always be together…" replied Sora.

They stood there, still hugging like they weren't going to let go any time soon. Eventually they did, and Kairi told Sora to be careful, for it would break her heart if something happened to him. He assured her that he'll come back to her, safe and sound, and he'll always be thinking about her. With a kiss goodbye, Sora left.


After they landed in the Gummi Hangar Sora, Donald and Goofy disembarked the Gummi Ship. Donald was somewhat annoyed with Sora, and Sora didn't know why. All he did was try and drive the Gummi Ship, but he almost crashed into a meteor…oh, that's why. The last time he did drive they crashed.

Moments later the trio arrived in the Hall of the Cornerstone. Chip and Dale were already standing there, their backs toward them. When they approached, they turned around.

"Oh Sora! Nice work!" said Chip.

"But look at that," said Dale.

Both Chip and Dale turned around, directing Sora's attention to where they faced. Behind the Cornerstone of Light was a magical dark hole.

"A big light appeared and that hole opened," said Chip.

"And we don't know where it leads to," said Dale.

"Where do you think it leads to?" asked Goofy.

"I don't know. What do you think, Sora?" asked Donald.

Sora took a deep breath.

"I don't know either. But let's go through it and find out what's on the other side," he replied.

Sora motioned Donald and Goofy to follow him as he walked toward the portal. They were just inches away from entering when they stopped.

"Be careful!" both Chip and Dale said.

"Thanks, you guys!" said Sora, turning and waving to them. Then he faced toward the portal and walked through.

END OF CHAPTER 8

Again, no idea if this is the chronological order, but just go with it… :)

I hope you liked the chapter! Please review, it makes my day… stick around for the next chapter and see what's next! Shoot me a PM for suggestions to improve or anything else!

Thanks, everyone! See you at the next update… (: Smiles! :)