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.
Whoa, it's been 6 months since I last updated…? Well, sorry for the long wait, guys. And I didn't die, thanks for asking. I have been very busy even though it's summertime.
On a different note, Animesrock145, I can't thank you enough…your reviews are SUPER appreciated.
Some things I would like to correct though are the blank points in the last chapter, if you didn't catch them. (Skip the following rant if you don't want to hear it, rant is outlined with these [brackets].)
[If you recall it was Sunday when Sora received the letter from Donald and Goofy, and he left on Monday, in which case he has to go to school. I'm going to say his mom called him in sick; also, when Kairi ventured to the island it was one o'clock, and in most cases school is still going on then, so we'll say she and the others just skipped 5th and 6th periods.]
(Rant is over.)
Phew! Now, with everything out of the way, Chapter 10…adieu.
This Chapter's Song: All of Me
Artist: John Legend
~ Chapter 10: All of Me ~
As soon as they returned to the Castle through the portal, Chip and Dale were the first to greet them.
"Hooray! You're back!" exclaimed Chip happily.
"So, what was on the other side?" asked Dale.
"Well, uh…" started Goofy.
"All I'm going to say is, I never want to go back there again!" said Donald.
"Yeah…" said Sora absentmindedly.
"Okay…?" said Chip.
A brief moment of awkward silence followed.
"Uh, we'll get going now. Thank you again for helping us, Sora!" said Dale quickly.
With that, Chip and Dale quickly scurried out of the Hall of the Cornerstone.
"We should get going, too," said Donald.
Donald and Goofy turned to leave, but Sora just stood there for a moment.
What did he mean when he said that? thought Sora.
WHO is inside me?
Shaking his head, he hurried to follow Donald and Goofy out of the Hall. Instead he slowed to a walk, realizing something...
The only person I know who's inside of me is Roxas. Does that man know about him, or is there really someone else inside of me besides Roxas that I don't know about?
He might have to ask Roxas about that later on. Meanwhile, the man's cryptic words still rung in his head and they continued to baffle him. He sped up to catch up to them, trying to get his mind off of this…
But he couldn't. Even when he walked with Donald and Goofy after he caught up with them he was still pondering the man's words. Come to think of it, he didn't know his name, let alone know him, so how can that man know who Sora was? Who was he exactly…?
"Hey, Sora?" said Goofy.
"Huh?" said Sora, still absorbed in his thoughts. He noticed they were now in the Courtyard; it seemed like only a little while ago they were in the Hall of the Cornerstone. The sun shone, making the Courtyard vibrant with bright green grass, colorful flowers and shrubs that took various shapes of familiar characters.
"Are you okay? You're kind of quiet right now…" said Goofy. He walked under the shrub arch, opened the door of the grass castle that revealed a staircase and went in.
"Yeah," replied Donald, following Goofy, "usually you'd be jumping up and down after a huge battle like that. Then after that you'd pull out those pink pom-poms out of your pocket and dance around like a cheerleader…"
"Hey! I don't do that," said Sora, following them both. Then he added under his breath, "all the time."
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Donald with a hint of concern as they continued walking down the spiraling and seemingly endless flight of stairs.
"Well… " said Sora, hesitating, "…do you know who that man was?"
"Gawrsh, we wouldn't know, Sora. That was our first time going in that portal, remember?" said Goofy, momentarily tripping over a step but managing to recover in time.
"Yeah, but he said 'I can feel it…we have met before,'" replied Sora.
"Maybe he was just trying to psyche you out," suggested Donald.
"I don't know…hey, Jiminy? Do you know anything about him?" said Sora, glancing at his shoulder while continuing to walk.
Jiminy hopped out of Sora's hood and onto his right shoulder.
"Well, let's find out," said Jiminy, rummaging through his bag to find his Journal. After he found it he opened it and started leafing through the pages,
"Hmm…" said Jiminy, looking through his various entries to see if it said anything about the man anywhere. When he reached the last page to that familiar message "Thank Naminé.", he said, "Nope! I didn't find anything about him, though I'm going to jot some notes about him right now."
"Okay, sounds good," said Sora, directing his attention back to the stairs below him.
Flipping to a fresh page, Jiminy dated the entry and then wrote,
A man connected to the portal which appeared in Disney Castle.
The armor covering his body can master the Keyblade's power much more than Sora can.
The click of his pen signaled that he was finished writing. He put his pen inside his Journal on the current page like a bookmark and closed his Journal, then tossed it into his bag.
"Okay, done!" said Jiminy.
With that, he jumped back into Sora's hood as the group reached the bottom of the stairs. They walked along a short hallway then entered through a crown shaped opening and into the familiar Gummi Hangar.
"Alright, let's make this very clear," said Donald, "Sora's NOT driving the Gummi Ship."
"Okay, I get it Donald. Do you have to keep reminding me of the time I took control and crashed the Gummi Ship into a meteor?" said Sora, rolling his eyes.
"Yes, and don't forget it," said Donald firmly while Goofy just chuckled.
With that, they all climbed aboard the Gummi Ship and made final preparations. After they were all settled in, Donald gave the thumbs up to Chip and Dale, who were waiting in the observation deck. They rendered a salute, and began the launch process by pulling a lever.
The Gummi Ship roared to life and began its ascension. During that time Sora's thoughts immediately drifted to Kairi, whom he wanted to see so much. She was so far away, in what seemed like a distant land…what could he do without her by his side?
What would I do without your smart mouth?
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
You've got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind?
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright
As soon as it faced and became level with the door they were supposedly blasting off through, Sora heard Donald groan. He wondered why he was groaning.
The answer came soon enough: the hangar door in front of them opened, and Sora expected to take off then and there, seeing the illuminated runway and thinking Donald hated the instant acceleration. Instead, a red arrow outlined with green lights flashed, and for a split second Sora knew why Donald hated the takeoff. Before he knew it the Gummi Ship (as well as his stomach) instantly dropped and everything was submerged into total darkness, yielding screams from everyone (except Goofy, who seemed to be laughing). When they finally saw light, the thrusters engaged and they blasted off into the vast galaxy, heading for their destination, Destiny Islands…home.
It was about five o'clock when Donald and Goofy dropped Sora off at the Destiny Islands. Surely he would find something to do to kill the time...
First, he had to go home and tell his mother that he returned. He made his way to his house and arrived there within minutes. Opening the front door he walked inside to find his mother drying her hands after finishing the dishes. At the sound of the front door opening, she immediately looked over to see who it was. When she saw that it was Sora, she hugged him tightly, like a mother should when her child has just come from a long and perilous journey. After releasing him from basically a death grip, she offered him food to eat. Almost instantaneously he said no, but in a polite way. He then told her that he would eat something later. Nodding her head, his mom went off to do something else.
With that out of the way, Sora went upstairs to his room and started to change out of his clothes and into nothing but his swimming trunks. He wanted to surprise Kairi sometime today, but something told him he should take a swim first. When he was changed, he took a towel and made his way outside, closing the door behind him and walking to the dock.
When he arrived, he immediately dove into the water, fully submerging himself and feeling the temporary sharp cold.
My head's under water
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind
Sora swam for about ten minutes. After that he got out of the water, dried himself with the towel and made his way back home.
An hour and a half later he was back into his usual black shorts and coat, himself all clean from the swim, heading for Kairi's. As soon as he got to her front door, he hesitated for a moment, then knocked on the door...
Only a day had passed but Kairi felt like it was forever since she last saw Sora. Call her crazy, but things worried her: if he got hurt, whether or not he would come back…
Sora will come back, I know he will, Kairi kept thinking to herself, I know he will…
And she was exactly right. She didn't know when he was coming back, but he promised her he would.
The sun was beginning to set on the Destiny Islands, the horizon splashed with a beautiful bright orange. It was about six forty-five as Kairi fiddled with a lock of hair while standing and looking out of her bedroom window, seeing those in the neighborhood spending their time outside doing various things; the kids playing with one another, neighbors mowing their lawns, other people sitting on the sidewalks talking among each other. She was supposed to be doing her homework, with her math textbook lying on her desk but she instead left it alone. She didn't feel like doing any homework right now…
"Oh, hello!" Kairi heard her father say downstairs. She figured, with her father being the mayor and all, another citizen came to pay him a visit to talk about something they didn't agree with in the town.
"Kairi! Someone wants to talk to you!" her father called.
Sighing heavily, Kairi tore her gaze from the window and made her way downstairs. When she saw her father next to the front door slightly ajar he was smiling.
"This boy really wants to talk to you," he said, then walked off without saying anything else.
Kairi was a bit confused with this gesture but dismissed it as she went to open the door, wondering who really wanted to talk to her so much. She probably thought it was the boy two houses down who got his scooter stuck in a tree again...
When she opened the door, she was surprised at who it was.
It was Sora, hands in his pocket and his face plastered with that goofy smile she always loved.
Kairi was speechless.
"Hi Kairi," said Sora, his smile unwavering.
She still stood there, soaking it all in. He was here, he was really here…
"Kairi, are yo-?" Sora started to say, but he wasn't able to finish his sentence as Kairi launched herself into his arms, and clung onto him like she was never going to let go. This surprised him, but he returned the hug just as fiercely. The thought of Kairi being far away was nonexistent now; she's in his arms right now…
They swayed for a little while until Sora could hear a sniffle from Kairi. He broke away gently from her to find that she was teary eyed.
"Kairi, what's wrong?" asked Sora with tremendous concern.
"I'm just so h-happy you're here," said Kairi, sniffling and wiping away a tear.
Sora took her face in both of his hands, and, using his thumbs, wiped away the fresh set of tears that were about to run down. Then he brought her closer as he gave the most softest of kisses on her forehead, with Kairi closing her eyes at the gentle contact.
"Me too," whispered Sora.
Kairi giggled as Sora pulled her into yet another hug. She was so cute, even when she cried.
How many times do I have to tell you
Even when you're crying you're beautiful too
The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood
You're my downfall, you're my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you
"I promise to give my all to you," whispered Sora.
"And I promise to give my all to you," Kairi whispered back.
Sora smiled, even though she couldn't see it.
"I love you, Kai," said Sora.
Kairi giggled again, liking the new nickname her dearly beloved bestowed upon him.
"I love you too, Sora," replied Kairi.
'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you, oh oh
After what seemed like an eternity, Sora and Kairi broke away from the hug. Kairi turned and closed the front door, then took Sora's hand into hers as they walked off her porch, not knowing where they were going next. It only mattered that he was with her as they walked in the view of a beautiful sunset.
END OF CHAPTER 10
Oh lordy! With school starting up again, I don't know if I can last. I still have to do my summer homework (heh, like Hayner and the gang) which is read two books for my AP Literature class. I read the first, working on the second!
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter! I thought it was kind of cheesy. And sorry it took so long, I will try my really, really, super-duper, extra, ultra, mega best to update frequently! Please take a peek at my newly updated profile and shoot me a PM for suggestions or review this story for your thoughts/suggestions on it. It makes me happy to know you guys are also still alive :P
Again, please review! It means a lot! :D
Thanks, everyone! See you at the next update… (: Smiles! :)