The Promise
By: Samurainoble
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts®
Sora is alone. He has been fighting the Heartless for nearly thirty years, desperately trying to get home. He has tried many different gummies and worlds trying to get back to the Destiny Islands, but what will happen when he comes upon one that will take him home, but to that point thirty years ago that he left Kairi alone. Will he tell her the truth of his identity, that it will pointless to wait for him to come back to her, or leave her with the hope that will keep her waiting for something that might never come?
Sora leaned back in the pilot's seat of his gummy ship, the Ragnarok, trying to regain his energy. He was floating outside Gaia 25, one of the many worlds he watched over by himself, wondering why he bothered to go on.
Sora had been forced to mature quickly after he allowed Goofy and Donald to return to Disney Castle with King Mickey 28 years ago, leaving him (Sora) to protect the worlds from the remaining Heartless.
He pulled the Ragnarok into the port of Gaia 25 for repair. He flinched in pain when his left fore arm sparked a little. It was once a real arm, but it was taken by an Invisible years back, forcing him to have it replaced with a quick fix arm that needed an upgrade badly.
"Nice to see you back, sir." Emory Kai said to the gruff middle-aged man who walked into the repair shop.
Sora took off his silver black trim trench coat with the missing left sleeve and shoulder pads and walked up to the work bench where Emory did most of the repair work. Sora sat down in the chair next to the work spot and watched Emory get out the various tools he would need to repair the beaten up robotic arm.
"Would you like an upgrade from this form, Mr. Sora?" Emory asked.
"Nothing fancy. Just fix it and get it over with." Sora's voice was that of strong warrior, no longer that of a boy. His clothing was that as well, a red and black breast plate with a collar that hid his face all the way to the eyes which had been given to him by Phil, loose black pants with assorted belts and pockets containing hi-potions and the like, boots from Cloud, a glove on his right hand with silver knuckles, brown and gray bangs that covered the left eye with one sticking up slightly out to the right, and a long braid that he had never bothered to cut but took good care of. An eagle's feather was in the strands of gray and dark brown hair.
"Alright." Emory gave Sora the painkillers he would need and began the work, talking as he went.
"Those navigation gummi parts you ordered came in today. I've taken the liberty of sorting them out for you already."
"Thanks."
"I'm going to have to shut your arm down temporarily. You may feel some slight discomfort."
Sora cringed as Emory shut down the appendage. Sora's mind distanced itself from the "surgery" as he thought about the navigation gummies he had already installed. He had lost count of the vast numbers he had ordered and installed on the Ragnarok. Frustration and anger were all that kept him fighting the Heartless that went to attack the worlds the Navigation gummies took him to. It was his job plain and simple to protect the worlds from the Heartless, but he felt it was more of a curse than an honor. It constantly delayed him from going home, but how could he go home when he couldn't find his way? Maybe the new gummies Emory had gotten in would help.
"All done!" Emory said as he turned the arm's functions back on. "My computer couldn't repair your current software, so I updated your enemy detection software, automatic location device, shield/magic unit and clock."
"How much will it cost?" Sora asked.
"739 munnies."
Sora walked to the register, paid and Emory handed him a box that was small but had to be carried with both hands to keep it balanced.
"What's this?" Sora asked.
"The navigation gummies. I doubt you want to leave them here."
Sora began to leave but Emory spoke up once more.
"Could you answer a question, sir?" Emory asked.
Sora had his back to the young mechanic as he answered.
"What is it?" Sora asked gruffly.
"Where are you trying to go?"
Sora didn't move nor answer for a few seconds.
"Home." Sora finally said and left.
He was on his way to the gummi port, carrying his burden and wondering if these were the ones to take him home. As he passed the buildings crammed together and the people walking on the sidewalk, he got many odd stares. It wasn't something unusual, and he had learned to ignore it after a while. He was intimidating in appearance. He felt it was a good thing for fighting. When he was a boy, he wasn't threatening at all, which annoyed him. So he didn't mind the perception of him being a dangerous man.
But it did attract a lot of trouble. Like right then. Five Dark balls appeared in the streets, scaring nearly everyone away. Sora put down the box, took out his Ultima Weapon and the Dark balls immediately headed for him. He slashed through four of them and noticed the air next to the fifth Dark ball was somewhat fuzzy, like it was rippled. It was an Invisible, and it was getting to the box he had put on the ground. He got to the Invisible and killed it quickly. He had no clue whether it had done something to the gummis or not. The heartless were all dead and he quickly checked the box. Nothing had changed.
The new gummies were installed. There had only been three, two of which he knew were copies of ones he already had. The remaining was new though. It was a different make, intriguing the Key bearer. He sat down in the pilot's seat and looked over the large map of all the worlds previously visited and trying to find where the new gummi would take him. He found the warp point closest and began the sequence.
"Please let this be it." He said quietly to himself.
He pushed the lever on the control board forward and was immediately en route to the portal. None of the gummi ships he encountered posed a challenge, which almost made him think this wasn't it. Then the portal came up. He steered the Ragnarok towards it quickly and immediately went in. It felt like he was being stretched as he went through, everything around him becoming bright. The ship began to quake and finally he got out of the portal and found himself outside the very world he was looking for. It looked different from all the others he had been to.
"Is this it? Is my search really over."
He couldn't have made the ship go any faster as he began to pull into the world titled "Destiny Islands."
He had landed his ship on the beach where the raft once was. It was definitely his home. It hadn't changed at all, from what he remembered. But he had a bad feeling. Something wasn't right. This was a true world, right?
"Hey mister, you lost?"
Sora turned around in a startled motion, drawing his Ultima Weapon out of mere instinct. It was just Tidus. But it wasn't an older Tidus, just a kid, the one from when he last remembered.
"Oh you want a fight? I'm ready!" Tidus drew out his red stick and got into stance.
"Sorry, force of habit." Sora said as he sheathed his weapon. "Where is this?"
"This is one of the Destiny Islands. My name is Tidus. Whoa, is that your ship?!" Tidus pointed up in awe of the impressive Ragnarok.
"Yeah." Sora said with a disappointed tone.
"Are you from another world?" Tidus asked excitedly.
Sora didn't know whether to lie or not.
"Yeah." Sora's gaze went down to the familiar looking sand.
"Wow! I don't believe it! Kairi wasn't lying after all!"
Tidus looked around excitedly while saying "I got tell everyone! C'mon, you gotta meet everyone."
Tidus rushed off, Sora getting the hint to follow.
"This can't be real." Sora said to himself. "I better look into this."
Tidus led him around the beach shack towards where Wakka was sparring with Selphie. Sora was astonished to see how the island still looked the same, but of course, this was hard for him to understand. Was it he who was out of place, or the island? Questions later, he reasoned. He had to see what was going on.
"Yo, Wakka, Selphie!" Tidus yelled.
The two teens stopped their fight and looked at Tidus, but their attention immediately reverted from him to Sora. He wondered if they could tell it was him.
"Who the heck is that?" Wakka said.
Apparently, they couldn't.
"It's not one of our parents. Tidus, who is it?" Selphie demanded.
"He came from another world! Tell him, dude!" Tidus said expectantly looking up at Sora.
"I…got lost and found this place. My name is…Cloud Strife." Sora lied.
"Check out that weapon, he must be a warrior!" Wakka said pointing at the beautiful Ultima Weapon.
"Hey, where's Kairi?" Tidus asked.
"Oh, she's out there on the island, see?" Selphie said pointing out at the little island connected to the bigger one by the bridge. Sora remembered it from when he had dueled Riku and Tidus so many years ago. He could barely make-out the young girl looking out at the ocean away from them.
"What's she doing out there?" Sora asked curiously.
"Oh, she's waiting for Sora and Riku to come home. It's been like three weeks already since they went missing." Wakka said.
"Missing?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, Sora said he would find Riku then come home." Selphie said.
Riku. He remembered Riku. He was never able to find his older rival and friend.
"You wanna hear what happened before then?" Tidus asked.
"…" Could he bear to listen to his own story?
"Maybe…Kairi should tell you. She did experience it first hand." Selphie suggested.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You should go talk to her, Cloud." Wakka said.
"Just hop up on the shack roof and you can take the bridge out to her." Tidus said.
The three kids left him there. Sora knew too well how to get to that island. He ran to the shack, easily hopped up onto the roof and walked to the edge of the bridge. He put one foot on it. Then the other. He walked slowly across the old bridge and set foot on the island. Kairi turned around from hearing him step onto the island. She stepped back a bit in surprise. She shook her head as if denying something that had not been spoken.
"Who are you?" Kairi asked.
"I am Cloud Strife." The more Sora said it, the less he felt anyone believed it.
"Are you…from another world?" Kairi asked timidly.
Sora hesitated at first, but nodded.
"How did you get here? I thought the worlds were blocked off from all the others."
"They weren't."
"Then, he could be anywhere."
"Who?" He had a feeling he knew who, but he just had to ask.
"My friend."
"Who is this you speak of?" He knew it sounded more like a demand then he had wanted it to.
Kairi looked like she was remembering something painful. "His name was Sora. He was the Keyblade master. Well, one of them. The other was King Mickey. Wait, what is that you have hidden?"
He knew she was referring to the key blade he had strapped to his back.
"It's nothing." He lied.
"That's a key blade! Where did you get it?!" Kairi demanded.
"I…got it from someone as a gift."
"Was it a young boy with spiky brown hair?"
"No. I'm sorry, it wasn't."
Sora felt a pang at his heart when he saw the hurt look in Kairi's eyes. The eyes he missed for so many years.
"Why do you miss this boy so much?" Sora asked. He felt he had a right to know.
"I really don't think that's any of your business." Kairi replied.
"I will tell you where I really got this key blade if you'll tell me about this Sora you miss and why."
"Fine."
Kairi began telling him the story from that first day on the island to the fight with Ansem and to the point that she last saw him, he had remembered everything she spoke of. She blushed slightly when she told him about how she went to the secret area and found where he had drawn him giving her the paopu fruit. He reddened under the collar that blocked his face. She asked him if he would like to see the secret area. He accepted and followed her across the bridge over the shack to the little grotto. Kairi easily got through, but Sora had a bit of trouble. Sora followed the young girl to the section of wall, passing many carvings, which now that he looked at them reminded him of the first world's he had been to.
"This is the one." Kairi spoke up and interrupted the old man's thoughts.
Kairi stepped back and allowed him to kneel down in front of the crude drawings. He held back the emotion surging in him. It had been so long. He allowed his fingers to glide over the familiar images. He noticed something new though. He traced the hand reaching from Kairi to his own image with the paopu fruit going to him. (Did…she add this?) He thought.
"I added that when I got back. You're the only person who's seen this since that day." Kairi said hesitantly.
He stayed there like that, his fingers on the drawing of Kairi's hand. He rose up slowly and turned to her. His eyes were holding back tears that continually fought to get out.
"I-I had no idea…" Sora began.
"That's why it's important for me to find him." Kairi said sadly.
"…He…was important to you."
She nodded slowly. Sora debated inwardly whether he should tell her who he really was. If she missed him this much after three weeks, just think about almost thirty years. He would break her heart. He had to do something to prevent that.
"Now that I remember, I believe…I did run into this Sora once." Sora said.
"Really?" Kairi looked hopeful.
"Yeah. He asked me a favor. He told me to tell you not to wait for him, to just live your life and not continually wait for him. He said just to forget about him."
"Why would he say that? He said he would come back."
"He just wants you to be happy."
"I know Sora, he wouldn't give up on me, so I won't give up on him."
(Stubborn as always.) Sora thought.
"He also asked me to give this back to you."
Sora took out the Oathkeeper charm he had been given by his friend and held it out to her. It was taken care of, as if the years had never touched it. Kairi gasped softly. She hesitated to take it at first, but she obliged and looked it over. It was the same charm she had given the key bearer alright.
"Why would he do this?" Kairi had a light hint of a sob in her voice. "He told me never to forget. Never!"
"What if he never comes back?" Sora asked in a demanding tone.
"I'm never going to give up on him. I promised I wouldn't."
"Even if he might never come back for nearly thirty years?"
"I'm prepared to wait."
Sora looked away from he young girl, feeling terrible about this. She had so much hope in him.
"Could you do me a favor?" Kairi asked.
"Anything." Sora said.
"Wait here, I have to go get something."
Kairi ran off and left him to look around the cavern. He asked himself if he had done the right thing, telling her to forget about him, to not wait for him. He sat down on the cold ground and hugged his knees to his chest. He felt so clueless. She loved him, well kind of loved him. And he was forcing her to wait for him. He felt so cold-hearted. And powerless to do anything about it. He wondered whether he should tell her it was him, that he had kept the promise. But how would she react? He was an old man, she was a young girl, could she understand what had happened? Or would she care? He took out the Key blade and looked at his reflection in the weapon's shiny exterior. He was battle worn, dirty, and tired. His blue eyes were all he could recognize of his childhood self. Had it been so long?
He undid the collar that masked his face and looked at the once youthful but now aged Key blade master. He moved the bangs that masked his face. He had a large scar extended from the middle of his forehead to just below his hardened cheekbone with two smaller ones on either side of it. He was considered a handsome man when he was twenty, and was still so, but hardened and battle worn. He needed to shave soon. He heard light footsteps coming into the cave. He immediately put the collar back in its rightful position and stood up. It was Kairi. She had an envelope. She approached the warrior gingerly and held out the envelope.
"If you see him again, give him this." She said with a determined look on her beautiful face.
He took it and nodded. He felt he should leave the place he knew as home. He did not see any reason to stay. This was not the right place for him. He and Kairi got out of the hidden place and he began to head for the beach where he had landed the Ragnarok. But he stopped and turned to her.
"Yes?" Kairi asked.
"Sora misses you too, Kairi." Sora said and left her with that.
"Are you leaving already, Mr. Strife?" Tidus asked him as he was headed to the beach.
"Yeah. I'm not one to stay in a place too long. Not until I get home." Sora said.
"Alright. Bye Cloud!" Tidus said cheerfully.
"Bye Tidus."
Sora was in the pilot's seat of the Ragnarok now. He was about to take off, but the four children had followed him and waved up at him from the beach below. He waved down at them and put the ship on course to Ganymede 8. It was a long way from his current point, and he had put the ship on warp-drive to give himself time to read the letter.
As the magnificent ship left, Kairi remembered that look Cloud had given her when he said Sora missed her. Something was familiar about that look. The way his blue eyes seemed to long for her. Those eyes. They were Sora's eyes. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie had left her there at that beach. Kairi didn't understand why, but she had a feeling that that was Sora who had visited them.
"Come back soon, Sora."
"'Come back soon Sora. I miss you.'" Sora read aloud.
"'I know what you're doing is important, many people depend on you. I hope though that we'll see each other soon. I don't wish you to ignore your responsibilities, but remember me, okay? Remember me as I remember you. When I think about it, we're not too far apart. Physical distance can never separate people who care for one another. All I have to do is think about you, and that makes me happy.
"'I'm not going to forget you, or give up on you. So keep my charm safe, okay? And say hi to Riku for me. Love Kairi.'"
Sora looked at the star shaped Oathkeeper key chain that had been included with the letter.
(That's it. I'm going to make sure I come back.) Sora thought. (I don't know how, but I will.)
By: Samurainoble
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts®
Sora is alone. He has been fighting the Heartless for nearly thirty years, desperately trying to get home. He has tried many different gummies and worlds trying to get back to the Destiny Islands, but what will happen when he comes upon one that will take him home, but to that point thirty years ago that he left Kairi alone. Will he tell her the truth of his identity, that it will pointless to wait for him to come back to her, or leave her with the hope that will keep her waiting for something that might never come?
Sora leaned back in the pilot's seat of his gummy ship, the Ragnarok, trying to regain his energy. He was floating outside Gaia 25, one of the many worlds he watched over by himself, wondering why he bothered to go on.
Sora had been forced to mature quickly after he allowed Goofy and Donald to return to Disney Castle with King Mickey 28 years ago, leaving him (Sora) to protect the worlds from the remaining Heartless.
He pulled the Ragnarok into the port of Gaia 25 for repair. He flinched in pain when his left fore arm sparked a little. It was once a real arm, but it was taken by an Invisible years back, forcing him to have it replaced with a quick fix arm that needed an upgrade badly.
"Nice to see you back, sir." Emory Kai said to the gruff middle-aged man who walked into the repair shop.
Sora took off his silver black trim trench coat with the missing left sleeve and shoulder pads and walked up to the work bench where Emory did most of the repair work. Sora sat down in the chair next to the work spot and watched Emory get out the various tools he would need to repair the beaten up robotic arm.
"Would you like an upgrade from this form, Mr. Sora?" Emory asked.
"Nothing fancy. Just fix it and get it over with." Sora's voice was that of strong warrior, no longer that of a boy. His clothing was that as well, a red and black breast plate with a collar that hid his face all the way to the eyes which had been given to him by Phil, loose black pants with assorted belts and pockets containing hi-potions and the like, boots from Cloud, a glove on his right hand with silver knuckles, brown and gray bangs that covered the left eye with one sticking up slightly out to the right, and a long braid that he had never bothered to cut but took good care of. An eagle's feather was in the strands of gray and dark brown hair.
"Alright." Emory gave Sora the painkillers he would need and began the work, talking as he went.
"Those navigation gummi parts you ordered came in today. I've taken the liberty of sorting them out for you already."
"Thanks."
"I'm going to have to shut your arm down temporarily. You may feel some slight discomfort."
Sora cringed as Emory shut down the appendage. Sora's mind distanced itself from the "surgery" as he thought about the navigation gummies he had already installed. He had lost count of the vast numbers he had ordered and installed on the Ragnarok. Frustration and anger were all that kept him fighting the Heartless that went to attack the worlds the Navigation gummies took him to. It was his job plain and simple to protect the worlds from the Heartless, but he felt it was more of a curse than an honor. It constantly delayed him from going home, but how could he go home when he couldn't find his way? Maybe the new gummies Emory had gotten in would help.
"All done!" Emory said as he turned the arm's functions back on. "My computer couldn't repair your current software, so I updated your enemy detection software, automatic location device, shield/magic unit and clock."
"How much will it cost?" Sora asked.
"739 munnies."
Sora walked to the register, paid and Emory handed him a box that was small but had to be carried with both hands to keep it balanced.
"What's this?" Sora asked.
"The navigation gummies. I doubt you want to leave them here."
Sora began to leave but Emory spoke up once more.
"Could you answer a question, sir?" Emory asked.
Sora had his back to the young mechanic as he answered.
"What is it?" Sora asked gruffly.
"Where are you trying to go?"
Sora didn't move nor answer for a few seconds.
"Home." Sora finally said and left.
He was on his way to the gummi port, carrying his burden and wondering if these were the ones to take him home. As he passed the buildings crammed together and the people walking on the sidewalk, he got many odd stares. It wasn't something unusual, and he had learned to ignore it after a while. He was intimidating in appearance. He felt it was a good thing for fighting. When he was a boy, he wasn't threatening at all, which annoyed him. So he didn't mind the perception of him being a dangerous man.
But it did attract a lot of trouble. Like right then. Five Dark balls appeared in the streets, scaring nearly everyone away. Sora put down the box, took out his Ultima Weapon and the Dark balls immediately headed for him. He slashed through four of them and noticed the air next to the fifth Dark ball was somewhat fuzzy, like it was rippled. It was an Invisible, and it was getting to the box he had put on the ground. He got to the Invisible and killed it quickly. He had no clue whether it had done something to the gummis or not. The heartless were all dead and he quickly checked the box. Nothing had changed.
The new gummies were installed. There had only been three, two of which he knew were copies of ones he already had. The remaining was new though. It was a different make, intriguing the Key bearer. He sat down in the pilot's seat and looked over the large map of all the worlds previously visited and trying to find where the new gummi would take him. He found the warp point closest and began the sequence.
"Please let this be it." He said quietly to himself.
He pushed the lever on the control board forward and was immediately en route to the portal. None of the gummi ships he encountered posed a challenge, which almost made him think this wasn't it. Then the portal came up. He steered the Ragnarok towards it quickly and immediately went in. It felt like he was being stretched as he went through, everything around him becoming bright. The ship began to quake and finally he got out of the portal and found himself outside the very world he was looking for. It looked different from all the others he had been to.
"Is this it? Is my search really over."
He couldn't have made the ship go any faster as he began to pull into the world titled "Destiny Islands."
He had landed his ship on the beach where the raft once was. It was definitely his home. It hadn't changed at all, from what he remembered. But he had a bad feeling. Something wasn't right. This was a true world, right?
"Hey mister, you lost?"
Sora turned around in a startled motion, drawing his Ultima Weapon out of mere instinct. It was just Tidus. But it wasn't an older Tidus, just a kid, the one from when he last remembered.
"Oh you want a fight? I'm ready!" Tidus drew out his red stick and got into stance.
"Sorry, force of habit." Sora said as he sheathed his weapon. "Where is this?"
"This is one of the Destiny Islands. My name is Tidus. Whoa, is that your ship?!" Tidus pointed up in awe of the impressive Ragnarok.
"Yeah." Sora said with a disappointed tone.
"Are you from another world?" Tidus asked excitedly.
Sora didn't know whether to lie or not.
"Yeah." Sora's gaze went down to the familiar looking sand.
"Wow! I don't believe it! Kairi wasn't lying after all!"
Tidus looked around excitedly while saying "I got tell everyone! C'mon, you gotta meet everyone."
Tidus rushed off, Sora getting the hint to follow.
"This can't be real." Sora said to himself. "I better look into this."
Tidus led him around the beach shack towards where Wakka was sparring with Selphie. Sora was astonished to see how the island still looked the same, but of course, this was hard for him to understand. Was it he who was out of place, or the island? Questions later, he reasoned. He had to see what was going on.
"Yo, Wakka, Selphie!" Tidus yelled.
The two teens stopped their fight and looked at Tidus, but their attention immediately reverted from him to Sora. He wondered if they could tell it was him.
"Who the heck is that?" Wakka said.
Apparently, they couldn't.
"It's not one of our parents. Tidus, who is it?" Selphie demanded.
"He came from another world! Tell him, dude!" Tidus said expectantly looking up at Sora.
"I…got lost and found this place. My name is…Cloud Strife." Sora lied.
"Check out that weapon, he must be a warrior!" Wakka said pointing at the beautiful Ultima Weapon.
"Hey, where's Kairi?" Tidus asked.
"Oh, she's out there on the island, see?" Selphie said pointing out at the little island connected to the bigger one by the bridge. Sora remembered it from when he had dueled Riku and Tidus so many years ago. He could barely make-out the young girl looking out at the ocean away from them.
"What's she doing out there?" Sora asked curiously.
"Oh, she's waiting for Sora and Riku to come home. It's been like three weeks already since they went missing." Wakka said.
"Missing?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, Sora said he would find Riku then come home." Selphie said.
Riku. He remembered Riku. He was never able to find his older rival and friend.
"You wanna hear what happened before then?" Tidus asked.
"…" Could he bear to listen to his own story?
"Maybe…Kairi should tell you. She did experience it first hand." Selphie suggested.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. You should go talk to her, Cloud." Wakka said.
"Just hop up on the shack roof and you can take the bridge out to her." Tidus said.
The three kids left him there. Sora knew too well how to get to that island. He ran to the shack, easily hopped up onto the roof and walked to the edge of the bridge. He put one foot on it. Then the other. He walked slowly across the old bridge and set foot on the island. Kairi turned around from hearing him step onto the island. She stepped back a bit in surprise. She shook her head as if denying something that had not been spoken.
"Who are you?" Kairi asked.
"I am Cloud Strife." The more Sora said it, the less he felt anyone believed it.
"Are you…from another world?" Kairi asked timidly.
Sora hesitated at first, but nodded.
"How did you get here? I thought the worlds were blocked off from all the others."
"They weren't."
"Then, he could be anywhere."
"Who?" He had a feeling he knew who, but he just had to ask.
"My friend."
"Who is this you speak of?" He knew it sounded more like a demand then he had wanted it to.
Kairi looked like she was remembering something painful. "His name was Sora. He was the Keyblade master. Well, one of them. The other was King Mickey. Wait, what is that you have hidden?"
He knew she was referring to the key blade he had strapped to his back.
"It's nothing." He lied.
"That's a key blade! Where did you get it?!" Kairi demanded.
"I…got it from someone as a gift."
"Was it a young boy with spiky brown hair?"
"No. I'm sorry, it wasn't."
Sora felt a pang at his heart when he saw the hurt look in Kairi's eyes. The eyes he missed for so many years.
"Why do you miss this boy so much?" Sora asked. He felt he had a right to know.
"I really don't think that's any of your business." Kairi replied.
"I will tell you where I really got this key blade if you'll tell me about this Sora you miss and why."
"Fine."
Kairi began telling him the story from that first day on the island to the fight with Ansem and to the point that she last saw him, he had remembered everything she spoke of. She blushed slightly when she told him about how she went to the secret area and found where he had drawn him giving her the paopu fruit. He reddened under the collar that blocked his face. She asked him if he would like to see the secret area. He accepted and followed her across the bridge over the shack to the little grotto. Kairi easily got through, but Sora had a bit of trouble. Sora followed the young girl to the section of wall, passing many carvings, which now that he looked at them reminded him of the first world's he had been to.
"This is the one." Kairi spoke up and interrupted the old man's thoughts.
Kairi stepped back and allowed him to kneel down in front of the crude drawings. He held back the emotion surging in him. It had been so long. He allowed his fingers to glide over the familiar images. He noticed something new though. He traced the hand reaching from Kairi to his own image with the paopu fruit going to him. (Did…she add this?) He thought.
"I added that when I got back. You're the only person who's seen this since that day." Kairi said hesitantly.
He stayed there like that, his fingers on the drawing of Kairi's hand. He rose up slowly and turned to her. His eyes were holding back tears that continually fought to get out.
"I-I had no idea…" Sora began.
"That's why it's important for me to find him." Kairi said sadly.
"…He…was important to you."
She nodded slowly. Sora debated inwardly whether he should tell her who he really was. If she missed him this much after three weeks, just think about almost thirty years. He would break her heart. He had to do something to prevent that.
"Now that I remember, I believe…I did run into this Sora once." Sora said.
"Really?" Kairi looked hopeful.
"Yeah. He asked me a favor. He told me to tell you not to wait for him, to just live your life and not continually wait for him. He said just to forget about him."
"Why would he say that? He said he would come back."
"He just wants you to be happy."
"I know Sora, he wouldn't give up on me, so I won't give up on him."
(Stubborn as always.) Sora thought.
"He also asked me to give this back to you."
Sora took out the Oathkeeper charm he had been given by his friend and held it out to her. It was taken care of, as if the years had never touched it. Kairi gasped softly. She hesitated to take it at first, but she obliged and looked it over. It was the same charm she had given the key bearer alright.
"Why would he do this?" Kairi had a light hint of a sob in her voice. "He told me never to forget. Never!"
"What if he never comes back?" Sora asked in a demanding tone.
"I'm never going to give up on him. I promised I wouldn't."
"Even if he might never come back for nearly thirty years?"
"I'm prepared to wait."
Sora looked away from he young girl, feeling terrible about this. She had so much hope in him.
"Could you do me a favor?" Kairi asked.
"Anything." Sora said.
"Wait here, I have to go get something."
Kairi ran off and left him to look around the cavern. He asked himself if he had done the right thing, telling her to forget about him, to not wait for him. He sat down on the cold ground and hugged his knees to his chest. He felt so clueless. She loved him, well kind of loved him. And he was forcing her to wait for him. He felt so cold-hearted. And powerless to do anything about it. He wondered whether he should tell her it was him, that he had kept the promise. But how would she react? He was an old man, she was a young girl, could she understand what had happened? Or would she care? He took out the Key blade and looked at his reflection in the weapon's shiny exterior. He was battle worn, dirty, and tired. His blue eyes were all he could recognize of his childhood self. Had it been so long?
He undid the collar that masked his face and looked at the once youthful but now aged Key blade master. He moved the bangs that masked his face. He had a large scar extended from the middle of his forehead to just below his hardened cheekbone with two smaller ones on either side of it. He was considered a handsome man when he was twenty, and was still so, but hardened and battle worn. He needed to shave soon. He heard light footsteps coming into the cave. He immediately put the collar back in its rightful position and stood up. It was Kairi. She had an envelope. She approached the warrior gingerly and held out the envelope.
"If you see him again, give him this." She said with a determined look on her beautiful face.
He took it and nodded. He felt he should leave the place he knew as home. He did not see any reason to stay. This was not the right place for him. He and Kairi got out of the hidden place and he began to head for the beach where he had landed the Ragnarok. But he stopped and turned to her.
"Yes?" Kairi asked.
"Sora misses you too, Kairi." Sora said and left her with that.
"Are you leaving already, Mr. Strife?" Tidus asked him as he was headed to the beach.
"Yeah. I'm not one to stay in a place too long. Not until I get home." Sora said.
"Alright. Bye Cloud!" Tidus said cheerfully.
"Bye Tidus."
Sora was in the pilot's seat of the Ragnarok now. He was about to take off, but the four children had followed him and waved up at him from the beach below. He waved down at them and put the ship on course to Ganymede 8. It was a long way from his current point, and he had put the ship on warp-drive to give himself time to read the letter.
As the magnificent ship left, Kairi remembered that look Cloud had given her when he said Sora missed her. Something was familiar about that look. The way his blue eyes seemed to long for her. Those eyes. They were Sora's eyes. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie had left her there at that beach. Kairi didn't understand why, but she had a feeling that that was Sora who had visited them.
"Come back soon, Sora."
"'Come back soon Sora. I miss you.'" Sora read aloud.
"'I know what you're doing is important, many people depend on you. I hope though that we'll see each other soon. I don't wish you to ignore your responsibilities, but remember me, okay? Remember me as I remember you. When I think about it, we're not too far apart. Physical distance can never separate people who care for one another. All I have to do is think about you, and that makes me happy.
"'I'm not going to forget you, or give up on you. So keep my charm safe, okay? And say hi to Riku for me. Love Kairi.'"
Sora looked at the star shaped Oathkeeper key chain that had been included with the letter.
(That's it. I'm going to make sure I come back.) Sora thought. (I don't know how, but I will.)