DESTINY ISLAND

Kairi jolted up from her bed to the sound of screaming. She looked around; nothing seemed to be the matter. It must've been early morning because nobody else seemed to be awake. Kairi looked into everyone's rooms and saw that they were all asleep in their beds. The scream must've just been all in her head, in her dream perhaps.
Kairi stumbled upon the room near the end of the hall; the door was closed and probably hadn't been touched in ages. A sign hung on the front of it that read, 'Sora's Room'. Kairi let out a small smile and stood there for a moment looking at it as she ran her fingers over its ancient surface. She slowly reached for the doorknob and opened the door trying not to make too much noise. Kairi slowly stepped inside looking around as she went, trying not to miss anything. It was exactly how he left it, of course, a mess. His clothes scattered about. Kairi reached down to the floor and picked up a large wooden sword. She remembered how Sora used to go around, challenging the others to fights. He could easily beat Wakka, Selphie, and Tidus. Riku, though, now he was a challenge. Of course Riku didn't currently stand the slightest bit of a chance now that Sora was this epic hero and all. Kairi sighed and put the sword back down and looked out the window over to the island. It looked too peaceful and untouched, the same, it looked like nothing had ever happened at all. Which was possible, maybe Sora was just in the bathroom or something and would be coming back into his room any minute now.
"Kairi?" Kairi jumped and turned around in terror. Her eyes met Wakka's at the door. She fell silent, not like she was talking before or anything, but you know. "What are you doing in here? It's 3:00 in the morning." Wakka stated with an element of concern in his voice.
"I. I couldn't sleep." Kairi responded blankly not quite sure why she was in here either. "But I could ask you the same question. Why are you in my house?"
"Oh, Sora's mom said that I could stay for a little while. Um, to talk and stuff" Wakka responded rubbing his eyes.
Kairi nodded slowly, her eyes were still pink from crying and her cheeks were soar. "I wont ask what you were talking about." Kairi responded lightly as she sat down onto Sora's bed slowly.
"I'm worried about you. You need to get some sleep." Said Wakka as he followed Kairi into Sora's room.
Kairi agreed but she knew she wouldn't be able to with the thought of Sora never leaving her mind. It was tough.
"I can't talk to you anymore Kairi, you're depressing me. Please, just try to get some sleep tonight." Said Wakka as he slowly walked out of the room. "If you need me, I'll be on your couch." Kairi nodded solemnly and followed Wakka out with her eyes. After she knew he was gone she crept over to the door and closed it softly as she turned on the light and walked over to his bed once more, this time wrapping herself in the covers and taking in the sent of him. It hadn't faded at all. She slowly drifted into a sleep, this one thought, was not completely dreamless.

Kairi slowly stepped into a large black room. It was the secret place of course she knew that, but it must have been night because it was completely dark. She stumbled over a root when she attempted to step forward and fell to the ground. Slowly she felt her way to the exit and tried to escape with out falling flat on her face again. Eventually she stumbled out as the sweet colours of the sunset, or sunrise, it could have been either, met her. Suddenly a familiar form popped up in front of her as she stumbled back a few inches. He looked at her and then smiled that famous smile of his. "Hey Kairi, what were you doing in there?" he questioned intently, the smile unable to fade from his face. Kairi was in awe, she couldn't find the words. Slowly she reached out to touch him, she was a bit hesitant and half expected her hand to go straight through his head. She was shocked when it stopped at the surface of his cheek. "Kairi. What are you doing?" Sora asked a bit confused, the smile now gone from his face. 'Could this be real?' Kairi asked herself as she pulled her hand back quickly. She then took Sora's hand in hers and traced his palm slowly with her fingers. He watched intently in a state of deep concentration, or confusion in the like. Kairi was very puzzled she drew her hand back at her side and stared at him, deep into his eyes as he stared back. "Kairi. huh, I don't" Sora began gently as Kairi abruptly enclosed her arms around his neck in a profound embrace. He hugged her back still in a state of uncertainty.
"Sora. I-I thought I'd never see you again!" Kairi exclaimed as a ball began to form in her throat.
"Why'd you think a thing like that.?" Sora questioned pulling away. He reached up to whip the tears from her face and smiled sweetly. Now Kairi looked confused but had a hard time showing it threw her tears.
"Will you stay forever this time?" Kairi asked tenderly. Sora looked down for a second and then looked back up.
"I love you," he said quietly. Kairi shook her head rapidly from side to side.
"You have to remember Kairi." Sora began.
"no." Kairi said, tears beginning to come again.
"I will always be with you. Always." Said Sora as he began to walk back.
"No!" Kairi called running up to him.
"I'm sorry." Sora replied as he slowly turned around. Kairi touched his shoulder he turned around to face her again and took her hands in his own. Kairi was silent, her mouth open slightly, a torrent of tears rapidly surged down her cheeks. "You c-can't go." Kairi tried to force the words barely able to fight the ball in her throat. Sora leaned in and kissed her cheek.
"I'm sorry Kairi." He repeated and began to walk away as he slowly faded into the darkness.
Kairi stood there with a loss of words. "No." She muttered lightly. "No!" She quickly ran into the surf and turned around trying to find him. "NO!" she cried once more. Suddenly everything went black and Kairi awoke in the daylight of a bedroom, Sora's room. A mixture of sweat and tears poured down her face. She noticed she was still underneath the covers. She ripped the covers away from her and ran down the hallway passing Wakka, as he was brushing his teeth, on the way. Kairi swiftly ran outside and took a rowboat to the island as quickly as her arms could take her, the tears refused to end as she went. She finally got to the island and ran to the secret place.
"He was here!" Kairi exclaimed turning around. Wakka was running after her quickly. "HE WAS HERE!" She shouted as her voice broke. Wakka ran up to her and took her in his arms. Her cries got louder as she fell into his embrace. Wakka hushed her as he, once again, gently rocked her back and fourth. "He was here," said Kairi one last time, quieter this instance, though.
"It was a dream." Wakka tried to comfort.
"No! He was real. I touched his face. I know he was real!" Kairi exclaimed through the tears. They both fell silent. Kairi gave into herself and fell onto Wakka resting her head on his shoulder. "He was," she said softly unable to speak any louder.
"Let's just take it easy today. Alright kiddo?" Wakka questioned looking down onto Kairi. She nodded in agreement as he began to escort her home. Kairi was completely silent as they rowed back to her house; Wakka stared at her in a state of misunderstanding.
"What time is it?" Kairi asked in a quiet, raspy voice.
"Ten o'clock." Wakka responded as he stroked once more and gently set the paddles down onto the boat floor. He stood up and climbed onto the dock. "You coming?" Wakka questioned as Kairi looked out over the ocean, the light blue water sparkling out of control before her. Kairi shook her head no and continued to look out across the horizon.
"Ok, I'll be in the shop if you need me." Kairi nodded slowly. She didn't quite understand why Wakka was doing all this. It's like he felt some kind of obligation to help her or something. Above all, at least it was nice. Kairi sighed loudly and Wakka began to walk away.
By now all the tears were gone from Kairi's face, it was still mildly red underneath her eyes and her hair was a mess. Kairi didn't know what to think about, she, of course, couldn't help thinking about Sora and what he was doing right now, but she decided that she needed to get her mind off it. 'Hmm.' She thought to herself. 'Let's think about. Riku?' Then it hit her, what had happened to Riku. I mean, it was all her fault. If Kairi had never been taken in the first place, then Riku wouldn't have had to go and help her. The fact of the matter was that Riku chose the wrong side, and instead of saving Kairi, he was hurting himself in the act. And now thanks to her he was gone. And if Riku weren't gone then Sora wouldn't be gone either because, really, the only reason he left was to go find Riku. So in some bizarre way it all came back to it being her fault. Everything was her fault. If Kairi had never even come to Destiny Island in the first place Riku and Sora wouldn't have wanted to go off and see other worlds and if they hadn't wanted to then they would still be at home perfectly in one piece without Kairi there to mess it all up. Exactly. It was a lonely thought indeed. Suddenly Kairi stood up and got out of the boat. She settled into the warm water that rose just above her waist and began to swim. She floated on her back and let the tide take her out deep as she stared up at the sky into the sun. The rays not seeming to affect her, only causing her to squint slightly. She let her face get wet to wash away her tears. Her clothes were plastered to her body and making small pools on her stomach.
Tidus and Selphie walked up onto the dock and watched as Kairi slowly drifted away.
"Do you think she's broken?" Tidus asked Selphie turning to look her in the eye.
"No, I think she just needs to feel free." Selphie replied in an airily tone.
"Awe." Tidus nodded with his mouth open. "You think she misses Sora and Riku?" Tidus questioned.
"Well, duh, what do you think." Selphie exclaimed. "Just don't mention their names around her. She's despairing and probably can't get her mind off of them anyway."
"Oh, that's sad." Said Tidus. "Do you think there's anything we can do to help?"
"Not unless you can magically pull Sora down from the sky. Besides, right now, she just needs to be alone. Wakka can help, he knows how it feels." Selphie replied sadly.
"Yeah," Tidus agreed nodding and taking Selphie's wrist. "Come on, let's go." The two walked away leaving Kairi to herself once again.