Author's Note: If you're reading this, it probably means that ff.net got fixed! Yay! ^_^ I re-wrote the second chapter since it was, well, short.

Thanks to Phoenix Eternal and Ari Powwel for the first two reviews! I was very flattered!! ^__^ I especially liked the fact that it made you cry (not that I'm coldhearted or anything!), since it let me know that it had some kind of emotional impact on you. Thanks! You sure made my day! n__n I hope I didn't take too long with version two of this chapter!

Disclaimer:      Can't pay your lawyer, remember?

On with the story!

            'Katami!' came a voice. A young mother stood in a brightly lit kitchen, chopping a crispy, green head of lettuce with a rather large carving knife. 'Get down here and set the table!' She looked up at the ceiling, chuckling, then continued her arduous task of chopping vegetables. The beeping of a microwave traveled through the air, letting her to know that her soup was ready, as the 'thump, thump, thump' of feet shook the walls and the faux chandelier in the dining room. A cat mewed softly and a mourning dove cooed from outside the kitchen window.

            'Mom,' replied Katami as she ran into the kitchen, out of breath. Wispy blonde hair flew into her eyes and mouth, but she promptly spat it out, pulling a face. 'What was it that you wanted me to do?' A perplexed look plastered on her face, she scuffled over to a chair, pulled it out and sat down at the kitchen table. Her pastel yellow T-shirt and blue plaid pajama pants billowed lightly as a breeze flew in through an opened window. She let out a yawn and tucked her dyed hair behind her ear, tired, but still holding the same unknowing expression as before. Feeling itchy, she scratched gently at her neck, her fingers tugging on a small charm that hung off a silver chain.

            'Help me set up the tables for lunch, please,' requested her mother, slicing up a tomato. She placed it, along with the aforementioned lettuce, neatly between a piece of turkey and two slices of bread. Another turkey sandwich sat ready yet unattended to on the grey, marble counter. 'Didn't you hear me earlier?' Her pink apron untied itself from around her slim waist as she turned towards her daughter, knowing the answer but still expecting some sort of excuse from the teen. It was tied back on absent-mindedly, nimble fingers working the string into a bow before extracting a container of chicken noodle soup from the microwave.

            'Eh... no?' Katami replied uneasily, her answer more like a question. 'I was asleep... What?' she asked, seeing her mother raise an eyebrow. 'Can't a girl get some sleep around here?'

            'It's noon!' She shook her head, laughing to herself, and began dolling out the soup. 'Just set the table.'

            With a groan, Katami got up and began placing the utensils and dishes. Only two sets.

            She was an only child, and her parents divorced nine years ago, when she was six. Most of her time was spent either at school or at a friend's house, while her mother went off to work during the week. Today was Saturday, but since it was sometime in July, she wouldn't have school anytime soon. In fact, she'd planned to go over to her friend's house after lunch.

            A brown coloured cat jumped up onto the table just as Katami set down the last fork. 'Skye!' she scolded, picking him up and setting him down on the ground. He looked up at her with wide, adorable eyes and an innocent look on his kittenish face. 'You're not allowed on there!' A wide grin spread itself across her lips as she pet the purring feline over his soft, fuzzy head. His blue eyes closed and his tail wrapped around her fingers delicately as he rubbed up against her shin, craving affection. She giggled.

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            Blue eyes opened again at the sound of, 'Are you still daydreaming Sora?'

            Kairi looked down at him. 'You lazy bum!' she laughed, sitting down beside him on the sand. It was just like old times, when they used to dream and wonder about exploring new worlds. The sand was beneath their feet, the wind whistled through their hair, and the sun beat down on them. Selphie, Tidus and Wakka returned once the Destiny Islands were restored, unknowing and continuing life as if nothing had ever happened. They never seemed to notice that Riku was gone, however, and to them he never even existed.

            'Riku?' Tidus had once asked, confused, when Sora mentioned his name. 'Who's that?'

            'Huh?' Sora fell back with surprise at his friend's reaction. After a moment of hasty thinking and fidgeting, he looked toward the ground, blushing slightly with embarassment. 'Oh, um, never mind. It was someone I met with Kairi. Err, my cousin,' he'd replied with an unsteady voice, putting his hand behind his neck and laughing. Obviously it was a lie, but Tidus had bought it.

            However, that was behind him now - no one remembered Riku save for Kairi and himself. It bothered him that there was no one he could talk to, to reminisce in the past with him, and on days like these he would lay down on the sand by himself. Looking out at the ocean, he'd see Riku, holding his ever-unattainable hand out to him, a smile on his face. The frothing water made him think of Riku's silvery hair that would glisten and shine in days past. Everything seemed to trigger his memories. But they'd done everything together, so what was there to forget?

            'Kairi,' Sora said, sitting up and gazing out at the ocean. It seemed large and widespread, calm but dangerous, an adventure waiting to happen. 'Let's take the raft and go, just the two of us.'

            'What?' she exclaimed, standing up. Sora began to walk to the water's edge, kneeling down on the wet sand.

            'That's what you said, right?' He turned around and flashed her a smile, but it quickly faded as he turned his attention to the ground again. His fingers grazed the sand.

I can't wait, once we set sail. It'll be great... Kairi's words echoed in his mind as he remembered his last night on Destiny Islands. His gaze returned to the water. 'And suppose...' Riku's words rolled off his tongue as he remembered all three of them being together, looking out onto the sunset.

            'Oh, Sora,' said Kairi sympathetically, walking over to him. 'There are other worlds. You don't need to look anymore.' She kneeled down beside him, looking out, just as he did. Riku... she thought, also remembering her last moments with him. She looked towards Sora again, trying to keep their spirits up. 'No matter where we went or what we saw, we knew we would always come back here. Right? That was our pact, to come back here. But…' she sighed, '…Riku hasn't.' She looked down at the ground, sadly.

            'So let's go!' Sora became a bit more cheerful at that thought. 'Let's go find him.' He stood, clenching his hands into a fist, determined. It was the same look of determination and perseverance that Riku last saw, and something that Kairi admired – the fact that Sora was so stubborn and slightly thick-headed, but for all the right causes.

            'How?' she asked, taken by surprise for the second time that day. 'We can't jump worlds anymore, Sora. They've all been separated.'

            Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there… right? …They've been secret because they've never been connected. Sora remembered overhearing Aerith's discussion with Donald and Goofy from within the green room, in the hotel in Traverse Town. It was the night when he first learned of the journey that lay ahead of him, when his life first began to unravel. But in a flash the memory was gone, just like Riku and all of Sora's hopes of finding him. Separated? he thought, suddenly realizing that Kairi was right. A breeze blew through his hair, burning his cheek where a tear had fallen.

'Don't worry, Kairi.' He shook his head before looking down at her, wearing a goofy grin. 'We'll find a way…And we'll come back here, all three of us.' With that, he walked over to the secret place, leaving Kairi to herself on the beach.

            When she looked down at her feet, she found Riku's name scribbled in Sora's messy handwriting in the sand, only to be washed away by the crystal clear, blue waters of the ocean.

            Sora crouched down low as he entered the Secret Place by the waterfall. His brown hair shone as droplets of mist sparkled in the sunlight, but soon lost its shine as he ducked into the shade. Roots shot out of the soil beside him, and he immediately recognized each and every one, having memorized them and their exact placement during his childhood. He began to stand up straighter as the ceiling rose above him slowly, although his movement was sub-conscious and pre-programmed – putting his hands on the edge of the tunnel and raising his head, his eyes locking onto the strange little door with no doorknob. Lifting his face to the ceiling, he found himself gazing at the sky through a small hole that allowed sunlight into the even smaller cave beneath it.

            To his right, he saw the pictures he and Kairi had drawn when they were little, his arm extending and giving the gift of ultimate friendship – the Paopu fruit. But something had been added since he last edited the picture.  Another arm, her own, gave one back to him.

            His eyes burned and his cheeks turned wet as yet another memory was rekindled.

            Deal? The winner gets to share a Paopu with Kairi.

            'How can I be the winner,' asked Sora, looking at the picture engraved on the stone wall. 'if I've lost…you…?' He hung his head and his tears fell freely, tapping the ground faintly. But to Sora, the sound and everything else in his world seemed distant and far away. When he looked up again, he saw Riku's pictures, filled with monsters, heroes, festivals and happiness.

            'Can you imagine what we'll find out there?' Riku had asked him when they were smaller, much enthusiasm in his voice and excitement in his eyes. He smiled a smile that spread all across his face, and as he did so, Sora could almost imagine angel wings spreading out behind him. They grasped each other's hands, promising then and there that one day, they would explore all the worlds together.

            Sora reached out his hand, wishing that all time would erase itself and that he'd find himself grasping on Riku, making the promise that would change his life forever. It didn't happen. Instead, he realized that time could not erase itself and change; he had to keep it going and change it himself. Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff. Suddenly he remembered Kairi's reluctance to help him find Riku. Didn't she miss him too?

            'Let's go.'

            As he whipped his head around full circle, he came face to face with her, her eyes warm and understanding, a small smile on her cherry lips. She'd changed her mind, after all. He gave her an elaborate nod and was the first to run out of the Secret Place, sending back a shout.

            'C'mon, Kairi!' His voice was cheery and full of excitement as he ran out into the sunlight. She let out a laugh and followed him out. They raced and ran, following each other into the small shack that led to the small bridge between Riku's small island and the main island.

            Sora laughed out loud for the first time in a long time, panting and out of breath as he waited for Kairi to catch up with him. Her head began to peep out of the shack's doorway just as he turned his head to the Paopu tree. He frowned. Riku used to always sit there, staring out at the water and hoping for an escape, and now Sora was going to bring him back. But what if… he thought, clenching his red shirt tightly, what if he doesn't want to come back? The idea of that happening hurt him, clamped onto his heart and pulled it out of him; a truly gut wrenching feeling. No, he convinced himself. He wouldn't do that to me…

            'Sora!'

            …would he?

            'Sora!' Kairi repeated. 'Are you ready?' A concerned expression came over her face as she noticed Sora's hurt complexion. 'Are you going to say goodbye to anyone first?'

            'No,' came Sora's soft reply. He did not look up at her, nor did he say anything to explain his answer. He just couldn't say goodbye anyone. It was too painful. Selphie, Tidus and Wakka weren't even the same people anymore. They didn't remember all the fun times they had together, all the heartaches, the arguments, the renewing of friendships or Riku, so would leaving them really be abandoning the friends he knew and loved? After a moment, he lifted his head just enough for his gaze to pass through his brown locks of hair and into Kairi's eyes. A seagull cried and another wind blew past, but it was all ignored and replaced by this moment of sadness and tension.

'It's funny,' he said nonchalantly, 'how this place, the Paopu island, holds the symbol of undying friendship and bond…' Seeing no reaction from Kairi, he turned to the ground again, mumbling to it, as if no one else where nearby to listen to him. '…but is the place where I lost him. Where he held out his hand and I couldn't grasp it.'

Once again, he remembered their childhood promise to explore new worlds, hand in hand. How they were torn apart, fingers reaching but never meeting.

'Where I received this in compensation.' In a sparkle and a flash, the keyblade, Oathkeeper, appeared in his right palm, dangling loosely at his side. He lifted it up, the Paopu keychain flashing in the daylight, and compared it to the real thing that hung from the Paopu tree, ripe.

If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives, no matter what. C'mon, I know you want to try it.

'Why did I have to throw it away?' More tears fell. 'Toss away our friendship…like it was a piece of junk!' Sora kicked at the ground, dust flying, tears falling. Breathing in a sigh, he turned back to Kairi.

You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can come back here. Right?

Don't worry Kairi… We'll come back… all three of us.

He nodded, pouting, but still set on returning with Riku. He'd bring him back to them, even if he had to search the ends of the Universe. 'Let's go. We can't let fear stop us.'

Kairi held onto Sora tightly as he raised the keyblade high up in the air. A beam shot up into the sky, piercing through the atmosphere and tearing open the barrier that stood between them and the other worlds, a gold sparkle shimmering, descending from the clouds like a heavenly snow.

            'Hey, Sora!' greeted Tidus as he crossed the bridge. 'I was wondering if I could borrow—' But they'd vanished without a trace.

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PipHobbit: I hope you liked the second chapter of LaR! And thanks to Ari for Beta-ing this story! So, what exactly was Tidus asking to borrow? shrug Who knows? Yet another unsolved enigma…

Oh yeah, can anyone tell me how to post a .doc file and still have italics? They always seem to go away when I do it...