"Nadia, honey, wake up."

            "Papa?"

            The child rubbed sleep-filled eyes.  She started grinning as soon as she saw her father in the doorway.  It was still dim outside, but this man was more than enough to brighten any day.

            Nadia was wearing the old shirt with stains and holes that dragged on the floor in places.  She clambered out of bed, tripping over the folds of the thing.  "Papa," she laughed happily.

            Riku held a finger to his lips.  "Want to go on a walk with me?" he whispered.  "It's very early.  Go back to sleep if you want."

            "No, I wanna go," she replied.

            "Get dressed and come downstairs.  Be sure to tiptoe, okay?  Mommy's still asleep."

            "I'll be super quiet!" she promised in a harsh whisper, her childish face squashed up with earnestness.  Riku just laughed gently at the girl and slipped out, shutting the door behind him.

            When Nadia was dressed (in a yellow jumper and white t-shirt) and in the kitchen, Riku quickly fed her breakfast and the two left the house for the beach.  The sand was wet between their naked toes, and both man and girl laughed.

            "Hold my hand, Papa!" Nadia commanded.

            "Sure thing," he said.  Her small hand disappeared in his comparatively huge one, but he clasped it with a feather's tenderness.

            They walked along the shore, the water coming up in spurts and covering their feet.

            "Oohh—Cold!" Nadia shrieked.

            Riku smiled and, in one swift movement, hoisted the girl up to ride on his shoulders.  Her sandy feet hung down to bounce against either side of his chest, and she grabbed hold of his hair like it was reins.

            Holding the girl's knees tight against him, Riku began to run.  The wind sailed through Nadia's hair and she screamed with delight.  "Faster, faster!"

            Her father obliged and soon the child felt like she was flying high among the clouds.  Riku lifted her again, gripping her waist tightly, and began to turn round and round.  The colors of the world swirled and blended in Nadia's eyes.

            Riku smoothly spun down to the ground, setting the girl's feet on the sand.  Nadia, dizzy as could be, fell backward.  Her lungs were full of the morning's cold air and her spirits were racing higher than a sea gull.

            When the world finally leveled out, she sat up.

            "Want to build a sandcastle, Nadia?"

            "Okay!"

            They began to dig at the sand, piling up a good amount.  Riku flattened it into a smooth and secure cone, and Nadia started digging out turrets and windows.  She carved a moat using her whole hand and her father made a drawbridge to cross it.

            Nadia never stopped to wonder why they were up at six in the morning on a cold and cloudy day running races and building castles of sand.  She saw only sunny skies ahead, perhaps some puffy white clouds licking the top of the fortress they was constructing.

            "Think we need a princess in the castle, Papa?" she asked after they had been working for some forty minutes.  The thing was quite complex, now, complete with royal stables and the beginnings of a town.

            Riku had stopped working on the castle a few minutes ago.  He was now lying back with his eyes closed, his head resting on his hands.  "What, Nadia?" he asked, opening his eyes halfway.  "It's looking great, honey."

            "But do we need a princess?"

            Riku shook his head.  "You're the only princess I need, Nadia."

            She giggled.

            "Hey, Papa, are you tired?"

            "My head hurts a little.  I'll be fine in a minute."

            She chewed her lip a little.  "Can I help?"

            "Nah, just keep working on the castle."

            "Okay."  Nadia crawled around to the other side and worked on smoothing out the wall.  She was waiting patiently for the time when he would sweep her up in his arms again and she could fly.

~*~

            Sora woke early that morning.  He was fairly surprised he had ever gotten to sleep.  Riku's late night visit had certainly provoked a lot of thoughts, but now he finally had his mind made up.

            "People change.  But my love hasn't, Sora."

            "I know," Sora whispered.  I'll make it up to you, Kairi.  We can be together.

            He stood and did a few stretches; after a few nights of sleeping in soft beds, a hard floor didn't seem as bearable as it once had.  Sora folded up the blankets he had used and stashed them back into the corner.

            I hope your adventures go more smoothly than mine did, he thought to the children who owned these things.

            Sora left to find the sky gray above and the sand wet below.  The angry winds of last night had subsided, replaced by the sort of curt breeze that often preceded the dawn.

            Although…there seemed to be an extra bite to it today.

            Ignoring this, Sora rubbed his neck and started off for the house.  At the crest of the hill where it was situated, he turned and surveyed the island.  He could see Riku tossing Nadia into the air.  The smiles on their faces were enough to warm anybody on that cold morning.  He entered the house.

            There wasn't much of a chance, but Sora still looked.  He found the raggedy pile of clothes that had been found on him and clawed through them.  In a small patch of red fabric he found what he was looking for.  He hugged the precious treasure to his chest and proceeded to wait for Kairi.

            When Kairi came down to the study it was almost nine o'clock and Sora was finishing a book called The Prince and the Three Foxes that had been left open there.  He had had a lantern lit to read by; that's how Kairi discovered him.

            "Good morning," he said cautiously, setting the book on the table next to some glasses.

            Kairi lingered in the doorway, her arms crossed.  She was wearing a plain blue dress that had white flowers embroidered along the hem and no sleeves.  Her maroon-red hair was pulled into two braids on the back of her head.

            "How are you today?" Sora asked when Kairi didn't say anything.

            "Rested, thank you.  Do you know where Nadia is?"

            "I saw her playing with Riku on the beach."

            "All right," the woman replied, a hint of relief passing across her face.

            She's so beautiful, Sora couldn't help but think.

            "I hope you don't mind.  I was reading this book of yours," he said, gesturing at it, "About the prince and the foxes.  Quite interesting, really."

            The sides of Kairi's lip curled upward slightly.  "That's Nadia's book, silly."

            "Kairi…"  He stood.

            She pulled back a little, back into the darkness of the hallway.  "What do you want?"

            "I have to apologize…for hurting you."

            She turned her back to him.  Sora felt his stomach whirl.  She's not going to forgive me?

            "You're supposed to grovel."

            Sora fell to his knees immediately.

            Kairi turned around.  Upon seeing him, she giggled behind a raised hand.  "Oh, stop.  You look ridiculous!"

            "No, you deserve this," he told her, waddling forth on his knees.

            "Oh, honestly—!"  She was really laughing now.

            "Sora…"

            A yard or so in front of her, he stopped and bowed, throwing his hands in front of him and practically kissing the floor.  "Please forgive me, Kairi, for being the stupidest man in the world—no, in any and all worlds out there."

            She stood back and watched him bow like this ten times.  "Okay, okay!  That's enough!"

            He came to standing then, but did not move much closer.  He also refused to smile.

            "Sora?"  Her smile dissipated in confusion.

            Sora took her hand into his and slipped the cloth-covered item into it.

            "Take this," he whispered.

            "Wha—?"

            "I'm fulfilling my promise," he explained as the material fell away to reveal a sparkling orange and white star.

            Kairi gasped in surprise.  "My paopu locket!  How did you—?"

            "A promise is a promise, isn't it, Kairi?"

            Her eyes began to sparkle in the lantern light.  "I thought…  I thought you wanted to forget all that childhood nonsense…"

            "It wasn't nonsense, Kairi.  I was the one who was a fool, not you.  You were the one who stayed loyal to what we said back then."

            "But we've all changed, Sora.  You said so yourself…"

            He shrugged.  "Talking to you like this, giving you back your 'lucky charm'…  I kinda feel like my old self again."

            "Really, Sora?"

            "Really.  Hey, I wouldn't lie to you."

            Kairi fastened the star around her neck and it dangled over her chest.  "Thank you, Sora."

            "You don't owe me any thanks, Kairi," Sora told her earnestly.  "It's me who owes you everything.  I have ten years to make up for."

            She slipped her arms around his waist and held herself close.  "Don't worry about that, Sora.  We've got the rest of our lives together."

            They stared deep into each other's eyes until Sora finally bent his head down and delivered a long kiss on her anxious lips.

            "Everything is perfect," Kairi mumbled, rubbing her cheek against Sora's shoulder.  "I'm so happy."

            Sora embraced Kairi tightly, knowing that she would be his from now on.  Finally, his nightmare of ten years was ended.  The worlds had been saved, the Door opened, and Kairi's heart won.

            His struggle was over.  He kissed Kairi's forehead and then concentrated on breathing in the scent of her hair.

            "Never leave my side again, Sora."

            "I won't."

            "Promise?"

            "Promise."

            It was only then that they heard Nadia screaming.

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