"Sora…don't ever change."

            Kairi held her hand against the clear pane of glass, surveying the scene below with soft eyes.  A light drizzle had begun outside and the sun was all but set behind the gray clouds, yet she could see Sora still digging his hands into the earth of his new garden.

            Very early that day, the unbelievable had happened.  Sora had rejected her love.  The shock soon wore away and she was left with a shattered heart.  For the entire morning Kairi had cried alone in her room, the rest of the world unimportant.

            She was in her room still.  She had come out for a moment when Nadia had called to her.  Riku had been around when the door creaked open, taken one look at her face, and stormed off angrily.  He hadn't returned since.

            "…remember what you said before?"

            Kairi had run out of tears but not hurt.  She sat on the bed and held her dried face in both hands.  She was crying invisible tears.

            "I'm always with you, too."

            A sigh filtered through her fingers.

            "I'll come back to you…"

            She felt so…raw on the inside.

            "I promise!"

            These words in her head now had been in her thoughts thousands of times before.  Never had they stung like they did now.  Never had she so clearly felt them echoing painfully inside her ears.  Never had her reply seemed so mocking.

            "I know you will!"

            "And you did come back," Kairi whispered.  "But not the you I fell in love with.  Someone with cold eyes and revenge in his heart took your place, Sora.  Someone full of regret who curses the past…"

            Ach, what am I doing, talking to an empty room?  And, indeed, the room was empty and dim.  No people, no light but the very, very dull glow of the clouds outdoors.  No sound except a light drumming on the roof.  The rain.

            She looked to this haze outdoors and noticed water splattered the window she had been gazing from mere minutes before.  The drizzle was picking up.  Was Sora still outside?

            I don't want to see him! she told herself.  If he came inside and I would have to deal with him.  It's better if he stays out there, even if it's raining…

            She went to the window.  He was there, still planting—or whatever it was.  From this height, it was a little hard to tell exactly what he was up to.  It didn't matter anyway.

            "Sora…don't ever change."  Those words she had a spoken as a fourteen-year-old girl, that plead of an uncertain heart delivered by the lips of a naïve child…  Those words haunted her now every time she thought of Sora.

            "Oh, I don't care about him!" Kairi screamed.  She couldn't take it anymore—dwelling on him and the knife he had stabbed into her heart.  Not for another second.  She had been missing him for an endless ten years, and now he was back to smash the feelings she had so lovingly offered him.

            "I don't care, Sora!  I don't care about you at all!"

~*~

            "Papa…?"

            Riku paused, his fingers loitering on the doorknob.  Damn, caught in the act.

            "Where're you going?"

            "Nowhere, Nadia."  He turned around and flashed his daughter a guilty smile.  Not anymore, anyway.  He had just come home and now was thinking about leaving again.  If Sora showed up, Riku wasn't sure what he would do to him…

            "Papa," she said quietly, holding up an arm.  "Pick me up!"

            He bent down and looped this small arm around his neck, then put his own arms under her knees and around her back.  He lifted her to his height and spun.  Nadia was left to scream with delight.

            He set her back down and she stumbled a little, giggling and dizzy.  "Nadia can fly!"

            Riku knelt next to his daughter and played with her hair.  "Now, what are you doing here so late?"

            "Hungry," she replied slowly.

            "Mommy hasn't gotten your dinner yet?"

            Nadia shook her head quickly.  "Mommy's in her room."

            "Still?"

            "Yup."

            Riku sighed and came back up to his full height.  It wasn't like Kairi to neglect Nadia.  She must be really depressed.  Well, I took care of that.  Try and step one foot in this house, Sora, and I'll—

            "Dinner?" prodded Nadia, poking her father's knee.

            "Of course.  Go and set the table for us two."

            "Okay!"

            He followed the girl into the kitchen and began to prepare the evening meal.  He would bring Kairi something later after Nadia was settled down to sleep…

            "Papa?"

            "Yes, Nadia?"

            "Where's that guy?"

            "You mean Sora?"

            "Yeah."

            "Far from here, I hope," Riku muttered under his breath.

            "He was outside diggin' holes."

            "In the garden?"

            "Yeah.  But not now.  He's gone."

            "That's good," Riku said.  At that time, he didn't think that what he was saying could influence his daughter.  At that time, he was still picturing throwing Sora off a cliff.

            "He made Mommy cry."

            "He did."

            "Mommy cried a lot."

            "I know."

            "Papa, are you mad at me?"

            "No, no, Nadia.  I could never be mad at you.  You know that.  I'm mad at Sora for hurting Mommy's feelings."  Incredibly mad.  I would have liked to kill him for what he did to Kairi.  Bastard.

            Riku looked at his daughter's expression.  She seemed so fragile as she gazed back at him with a mixture of trust and uncertainty.  Her eyes seemed so big and pure to him.  She was unspoiled by the cruelties of the world…

            He put down the food and took his daughter back into his arms.  There was simply so much love in him for this girl.  Now he was letting his own anger and jealousy get in the way of parenting…  Burdening her with matters she over which she had no control…

            "Nadia, I don't want you to worry about your mother and Sora, all right?  These are grownup problems."

            "Is Mommy okay?"

            "She will be.  I'm going to take good care of her."

            She cuddled up to the man.  "'Love you, Papa."

            "'Love you, Nadia."

~*~

            Sora looked at the house on the cliff, the house that overlooked both the sea and the village.  He looked at that house where Kairi lived, where Riku and Nadia lived as well.

            He gave one last look and proceeded to leave that house, at least for tonight.  He had planted his garden and now the rain had come to water in his small batch of crops.  Later, perhaps in a few days, he planned to find another lonely evening when he could do more work.  He didn't want to give up on his garden.  It meant a lot to him now.

            Maybe it was all he had left.

            Sora turned his back on civilization and walked through the drizzle to the shack where he and his friends had once stored supplies for a raft that would take them on the journey of their young lives.

            The place was abandoned that night.  The shack was a place for children's fantasies and those do not thrive well on dark and stormy nights.  It was a gloomy, musty, and terribly cramped room, but the roof was intact, and that was all Sora was after.  To his surprise (and luck), a new generation of children must have been planning adventures; a few ropes, boards, and even raggedy blankets lay tucked into a corner.

            He lay on the sand floor with the old blankets wrapped around him.  He could not lie on his right side; that was where his jaw ached from Riku's well-aimed punch.  Sora stretched out on his back instead and left his hands folded behind his head.

            He remembered that afternoon when Riku had attacked.  The silver-haired man's hard lips had not spoken any words, but his glare had screamed thousands of them.  Sora might have retaliated, but he knew the punishment was just and had accepted the blow without contest.

            Kairi must hate me now, he thought.  I can't understand myself.  I missed her more and more when I was gone.  When I heard she still loved me, I was happy…for the first time in years…

            He closed his eyes.  He could remember the feel of Kairi's lips against his, the warmth of her body in his arms as she cried into his chest.  He wanted that warmth next to him for the rest of his life.

            I don't want to live alone anymore…

            His memories were powerful things, and now they swept him back to an underground tunnel where the water ran over rocks and the stones were cool beneath his feet.  Kairi was standing next to him.

            "Don't forget.  Wherever you go, I'm always with you…"

            Those words they had exchanged as optimistic children.  Sora longed for the sting of tears in his eyes but he could only let his hardened shell snicker with contempt.

            Does Kairi still believe what we said?  About being together?  About returning to the island and everything being the way it was when we were kids?

            He now was sitting on a dock, swaying his feet back and forth above the waves.  The sun was setting brilliantly in front of them.  The world seemed big and bright.  Infinite possibilities lay just ahead…

            "Sora, don't ever change…"

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Short chapter, but it's the middle of finals, you know (I've been complaining about them coming for weeks and they finally came.  Two days of sophomore year left!)  I had Honors Bio today and don't have my other hard ones until Monday (Honors U.S. History and Advanced Algebra).  Tomorrow I have only a presentation for Journalism and Spanish written final, and I hardly need to study hours for that.  ¡Español es muy facil!  This weekend I'll be cramming in history, though.  Can't say I've enjoyed the course—would have been 10x better with a more engaged teacher.  X_X

In case you're interested, I sort of have an idea for a sequel to Dreams Before Yesterday.  It will probably feature Nadia.  I already have a great title for it, too.  Oh ho ho!  Bet you can't wait to find out!  There's going to be a few more chapters before this is done, though.  Gotta resolve things between Sora and Kairi!  I'm in a very Sora/Kairi mood; I was watching a tape I made with a few scenes from KH (my copy is loaned to a friend at the moment).  Oh, the ending is so sad…  But my favorite scene of all time is when Sora changes back from a Heartless and ends up hugging Kairi.  I must have squealed so loud when I first saw that.  It makes me feel all happy inside to watch it again ^.^

…And don't tell me I'm crazy for taping scenes from a video game.  I've taped the ending sequences of many games so I can watch them at my leisure…  I'm not that weird!!!

Wow, I think my ramblings are almost longer than the chapter.  Shutting up.