Surrendered Innocence

Disclaimer: Yadda yadda ya. Not mine, etc, etc, etc. Is it any wonder these things are so popular to put jokes into?

Chapter Two

Kairi awoke in her bed slowly, taking in a long breath of the familiar ocean air. Sitting up, she went to her window and pushed it open, filling her lungs again as she looked the small harbor village over. There was a charge in the air today. It was a whisper on the wind; an electric feeling that touched everything. It put an extra spring in the morning shopper's steps, added a sharpness to the gull's cries. Something was going to happen today. The constable could feel it, looking at everything with sharper eyes, restlessly twirling his baton around and around by it's string. The merchants could feel it, their eyes glittering at the hope that this would be the day they made a big sale. It was knowledge that rung true to your very bones. Today was going to be special.

Kairi went through her daily routine with extra speed, fixing her simple breakfast in record time. As usual, the mayor and his wife had already left for the day, busy with the daily tasks that occupied their time. Today was her free day, a day when she didn't have any chores that needed doing, didn't have to go to the crèche and watch over the children for the money that kept food on the table and paid the generously low rent the mayor and his wife charged for her room here. Today she could do whatever she wanted.

Sometimes she would take her free days and spend them window shopping, gazing at all the beautiful dresses and ornate jewelry and knick- knacks that filled the windows of the shops and decorated the stalls of the merchants in the bazaar. Always, though, even on those days she worked, she would go over to the island and spend a little time there. It was her private retreat, a break from the "adult" world. Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka still occasionally went over to the island, but not nearly as much as they use to. On most days, she had the entire spot to herself. She especially enjoyed walking the beaches. It always soothed her mind.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------

The smell of smoke was everywhere in the small cockpit, threatening to choke him. The snap and fizzle of burned out electronics was drowned out by the roar of the atmosphere tearing away at the ship. He didn't need his eyes to know what had happened. The engines had blown. They were plummeting through the atmosphere, burning up. Pushing himself upright, Riku realized he must have blacked out for a moment. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all talking at and too each other, slight panic in their voices. Trying to keep it out of his voice, he asked

"What's going on?"

"The controls are fried!" the duck squawked at him. They had figured on as much, but he still found he had to swallow past a lump in his throat. Why was it the controls always got fried at times like these? Taking a deep breath, he turned his eyes towards Sora, knowing instinctively where he was.

"Impact?" he asked in as calm a voice as he could manage.

"We got about five minutes." Goofy's voice called over to him from his seat. Riku waited for Sora to finish what he was doing.

"Yes!" the brown haired boy yelled in excitement, his necklace jingling as he jumped in his seat. "We're right on course. We'll fly right over the village and our island and land smack dab in the ocean."

"I'm rather hoping to not be in here when this tub hits the water" Riku said dryly.

"Yeah, let's get out of here!" Donald agreed enthusiastically, checking to make sure that he was strapped in properly. Riku did the same as he heard the others do a quick once-over on their belts.

"Ready?" Sora asked. Getting an affirmative from everyone he pumped one hand in the air and shouted "Then let's go!" and slammed his hand down on the red eject button.

With a shudder, the cockpit launched itself free of the doomed gummi ship, passing through the thick plume of smoke created from both burning up in the atmosphere and the smoldering engines. There was a boom, and then silence, the cries of the gulls still out of earshot from this height. The hum of the small engines that kept the cockpit from freefalling provided the only sound.

"Wow" he heard Sora all but breathe. It was times like this that he felt the deepest sadness over his now lost vision. It must have been a truly breathtaking sight. The islands would still be small specks below them, the huge, blue ocean seeming to stretch out below them forever, the white and green of beaches and trees the only break from the omnipresent blue. He wondered how close to touchdown they were. As he turned in his seat to ask Sora, he felt the cockpit lurch.

"Sora?" he ventured, hoping his voice didn't sound as worried to them as it did to them. The cockpit lurched again, violently this time. Damn his eyes! If he could see, he might be able to do something himself. Instead he was forced to sit here, ignorant and helpless. "Sora, what's going on?"

"Something's wrong with the engines" Sora said in a rush, his words tumbling over each other. "They coulda been damaged when the main engines blew. We're.." he began before another lurch cut him off. This time, the engines did not come back on.

The next few moments were pure pandemonium, Sora, Donald, and Goofy yelling back and forth at each other, full-blown panic in their voices. The last thing Riku remembered was yelling Sora's name over the rattling and shaking of the air against the tiny cockpit, trying to get the younger boy's attention long enough to tell him what was going on, and then a giant whoosh that was accompanied by blinding pain. After that, there was only the true blackness of unconsciousness.

Author's Note: Chapter two up for all my loyal and splendid reviewers. Thank you all! Let's hope I can continue to write a story you'll all enjoy. Of course, I'm sure I can if I continue to get reviewed. What? Have you ever seen a chapter where the author didn't plug you at least once to R&R? I didn't think so.