Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Kind reviews welcome!

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Chapter Eleven: The Nightmare Ends

They each took turns dozing for a few hours. The three of them were too scared to try to sleep. Kairi had to have a mild concussion and Sora had lost a lot of blood, and hypothermia was slowly setting in on all of them, so they decided to settle for dozing. When one of them began to nod off too far, one of the others would shake or nudge them awake again.

This proved more difficult as the night hours dragged on, bringing the stuttering calm after the storm's passing. Sora was finding it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open and his wits about him, even with the slaps from Kairi and the sharp barks Riku threw at him.

The wind had fallen to just a constant whipping noise against the rocks outside. The rain was falling in gentle patters now against the surfaces, sending little drips and drizzles from the holes in the cave's ceiling. It was difficult to see in the dark cave, and building a fire was out of the question, everything was soaked.

Sora found himself, not necessarily dozing, but sort of zoning out. He lost track of time, where he was, and who he was with. At one point he was sure he was hallucinating. The chalk doodles on the walls were stretching and sliding through his vision. For a moment, he thought he saw a giant golden keyhole gleaming on the knobless door at the back of the cave. Then he blinked, and it was gone, so he dismissed it from his thoughts.

Eventually Sora managed to slump off his rock and lay flat, which helped to ease the nausea a little. He wasn't especially cold, just sort of numb and unfeeling. That was probably the blood loss making its presence known. Riku had stationed himself near the tunnel's entrance, slumped in the most uncomfortable looking position Sora had ever seen, struggling to stay awake. Sora and Kairi had less willpower. Kairi was curled up between Riku and Sora, huddling close to whatever body heat hadn't been stolen by the wind and wet chill.

Several hours passed this way, until Sora unwittingly and unwillingly fell asleep, with no one else conscious enough to nudge him awake again. It was a blissfully dreamless sleep, no thunder or waves or wind to corrupt nightmares. It was the first true escape from the hell around him in several hours. It felt as though he had barely closed his eyes when he was jolted awake by screaming.

Eyes flying open, he jerked awake just as Kairi sat bolt upright beside him, looking around in a semi-conscious panic. After a second, during which Sora's heart skipped several beats, he recognized the screaming voice as Riku's. He was gone from inside the cave and his voice sounded like he was out on the beach.

"Hey! Over here! Over HERE! Look at the jumping boy over here!" Riku was yelling.

Sora and Kairi locked gazes. Had someone come already from the main island? Were they about to be rescued? Sora wanted to give in to that hope, but didn't want it to be ripped away from him. Maybe Riku had finally lost it and was out there yelling at a coconut or something.

The loud, blaring horn of a boat ended that train of thought.

Kairi got to her feet, stretching and groaning as her joints popped from lying on the floor. Past her, Sora could see clear sunlight filtering through the holes in the cave's ceiling, sending a few brave rays of light down into the cave.

"That's right, over here! Geez. Hey, you guys! Get out here! Wakka's dad's boat is here!" Riku yelled.

Kairi took a step, looked at Sora, and cupped her hands around her mouth, "We can't come out; Sora can't walk, silly!"

There was movement outside and Sora pushed himself up, careful to move his leg the least amount possible, straining his ears for the voices.

"No, no, I'm fine—Stop—Listen, Sora and Kairi are in the cave—What? Yes, it's blood, will you focus?!" Riku was barking.

A few minutes later, an adult emerged from the tunnel and into the cave where Sora and Kairi were. It was Kairi's father, Paul, a mild mannered but firm man. His eyes widened when he saw his daughter and Sora could see the relief sweep over his face.

"Oh, Kairi, thank God." He pulled her close before she could say a word.

"D-Dad." She stammered, her voice cracking.

Paul held her out and looked at her, "Are you hurt? You're freezing. Don't worry, we'll get you to the hospital and everything will be fine."

"Sora? Holy—son!" Sora looked up fast at his father's voice. Chris followed Paul out of the tunnel and was immediately kneeling beside Sora, looking too afraid to touch him. "Holy Lord, what happened?"

Sora felt a rush of emotions, relief being the first and foremost. Relief, joy, terror, exhaustion, frustration, and fear all wrapped into one mess in his head. Through the mass, he managed to hoarsely stutter, "Hurricane."

Chris released a relieved chuckle and leaned back. "We need a back brace!" He bellowed down the tunnel.

Sora blinked, "No, that's not nece—"

He had no say in the matter as Wakka's and Tidus's dads came in and loaded Sora onto a back brace board. They were careful to tie his leg down so that it wouldn't be jostled.

"Where—Mom—the island—" Sora kept trying to ask.

Chris rubbed Sora's arm, "It's all right, son. Everyone's all right. This could have been so much worse."

Paul had thrown his jacket around Kairi's shoulders and was leading his daughter out of the caves. Chris and Wakka's father lifted Sora up on the brace, carrying him out after Paul. Tidus's dad followed after them, holding the flashlight.

As they left the shadows of the cave, the outside sunlight hit Sora's eyes like knives and he blinked repeatedly as his eyes watered. The sky was virtually cloudless overhead, and the sun was just breaking over the waves on the horizon. It was almost impossible to tell that a hurricane had passed through here just several hours previous.

Then Sora saw the island around him.

"Oh…" Kairi gasped, lifting a hand to her throat.

Everything had been destroyed. The pier was just gone. The hut was an imploded mass of splintered wood. Seaweed and coconuts lay scattered across the beach along with shattered plywood and fallen trees. Half of the coconut trees were bowed and broken open, and the small bridge connecting Riku's island to the small island was shredded. The lone paopu tree on Riku's island was bowed and bent almost parallel to the island itself, but amazingly wasn't splintered or broken.

Wakka's dad's boat was bobbing a hundred yards offshore, and Sora could just barely see Wakka and Tidus leaning over the rails, staring in slackjawed horror at what had happened.

Paul was leading Kairi to one of the three boats the rescue team had run aground in the shallows. Sora's dad was talking to Paul, keeping a vice-like grip on Sora's wrist, as though afraid he would evaporate if he didn't keep a hold of him.

Riku was just standing on the beach, looking around with an expression of mixed disbelief and total calm. After all, it was just wood. Everything here could be rebuilt. No one had died. All three of them had made it though the storm. That had to count for something. Someone was climbing out of the boats and then charging up the beach towards Riku.

"Riku! Oh, my BABY!" Riku's mother, Tara, ran full pelt up the beach and flung herself at her son, throwing her arms around him and almost taking him to the sand.

Being a short woman, her head just reached Riku's shoulder, and her arms locked around his waist. Instead of going stiff or looking embarrassed, Riku melted into his mother's arms, holding onto her as if for dear life and dropping his head on her shoulder.

They really had been rescued then? This nightmare was finally over.

Sora relaxed for the first time in a week and his eyes found Kairi's. She offered a weak smile and was then shepherded into one of the boats by her father. Tidus's father looked to Chris.

"Paul's going to take Kairi to the boat. I'll take Tara and Riku. Do you and George have—"

"We've got Sora. You go ahead, ya?" Wakka's dad waved him off.

They all quickly loaded into the boats and started paddling towards the larger rescue boat. Everyone was impatient to get away from the mass of destruction on the small island. Sora felt embarrassed and useless as he was carried onto the boat and then lifted off of the small boat and onto the larger one.

"Do I have to be tied down like this?" Sora grumbled, having been deposited on the deck.

His father sat close by, cleaning off the gash on Riku's elbow. He chuckled, "What would you be doing otherwise? Tap dancing on the deck?"

"Oh haha. My leg was almost ripped off. If it had been, I'd throw it at you right now." Sora snarled.

"Testy, testy." Tidus's dad laughed, lighting a cigarette near the port rails.

Riku didn't say anything. He just stared out at the ocean as Chris wrapped a clean handkerchief around his elbow.

"That ought to do it until you can get it looked at properly. Thomas is a little backed up right now." Chris said, tying off the knot and giving Riku a friendly slap on the shoulder.

Riku flexed his arm absentmindedly, nodding his thanks and resuming his staring.

Sora decided not to press the matter. "Thomas?"

Thomas Gale was the head physician on the main island. He ran a small clinic out of his home with his wife Kora. Sora's mother, Daylia, was a nurse for Thomas.

"Yeah, there were some serious injuries. The hurricane never touched the main island, but it might as well have." Tara answered, leaning against the mast with her arms folded.

Sora cleared his throat, "Mom—"

Chris lifted a hand, "She's fine. No one on the island slept any last night. As soon as the worst was over, she was out to help the injured. I came with these guys to look for you three. There's—"

"Chris—" Tara said suddenly.

Sora followed her gaze and his eyes settled on his leg. The makeshift bandage around his thigh had loosened, and dark crimson was glistening fresh and wet over the stained cloth. As soon as it registered that he was bleeding again, Sora felt his head swim and his vision slide out of focus. Inwardly he cursed himself. If he passed out from blood loss right now, in front of everybody, he'd never be able to look at any of them again.

"Sora, hey—" Chris knelt down beside him. Riku turned his gaze from the ocean to Sora.

The nausea returned full force and the rocking of the boat didn't help at all. Sora turned his head, trying to focus on his dad beside him. This was proving difficult, as his vision kept slurring together in a mass of indistinct colors and shapes.

"I'm okay." Sora mumbled, his words tumbling out of his mouth.

"We're just ten minutes from the main land. Call Thomas and have him meet us at the shore." Chris was ordering.

Sora closed his eyes, shutting out the swirling colors and falling prey to oblivion once again.