AN: OK, I'm SOOOO sorry that this took literally FOREVER to get up, but to everyone's horror, school has started!!! @_@ *is dead* And I was lucky that I didn't have much homework this weekend to update this. Anyways, I'm very sorry again cuz I don't wanna loose the fans that I have (if any x_x)!! Thank you SOO much for your patience :)
Disclaimers: I don't own Kingdom Hearts unfortunately, and this is my own made up story with my little back of happy OC's ^-^ (ok, this chapter is to serious for the crazy and hyper me, so I'll be leaving you to it now *jumps out of window*)
Love is True
Riku was awakened by that dream he had just had. He was running, chasing the light through Kingdom Hearts. But it never seemed to get any closer. Then, he saw Ansem with a captured Mariha smirk and fade into the light ahead.
He now looked at his side where Mariha was still sleeping, clinging to his arm. He smiled. He wasn't as achy as before. There was only a small dull pain in his chest from all the water he had swallowed earlier. Other than that, he felt great. Then he heard a quiet moan from Mariha beside him. He tried to carefully remove his arm from her grasp without waking her, but as soon as he moved an inch she tightened her grip.
"I'm not letting you go again," she said, eyes still shut. At first Riku thought she was maybe talking in her sleep, having a dream.
"You're awake?" he said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to -"
"No it's not your fault," she said opening her eyes and tilting her head to look at him. To Riku's surprise, there were tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Seeing Mariha cry was still really new to him. She never did, so why start now?
"I just don't want to loose you," she replied then shut her eyes again and rested her head back down on his shoulder and, "I hate this! You know I do; I hate being so afraid and helpless like this! But I am afraid..."
"Mariha you're not -"
"HE did this! Ansem turned me into the one thing I hate the most! Not being able to do anything to help the one's I care about! Riku," she said and looked back up at him, "I almost let Natia kill you again. I thought last time, she would never appear again, but she did! If something like that happens again, I don't know if I'll be able to stop her. And I know I sound like a baby and a selfish babbling girl but... you're the only person, friend, that I've ever had! You have no idea what it would be like if that one person was taken away and you had to return to you're lonely, sad life in the darkness."
Finally she had to stop as sobs arose themselves.
"Come on now!" said Riku holder her close, "You're not any of those things! And you did help me. You saved me from death Mariha. If Natia hadn't broken that tank, I would've drowned completely."
Mariha just hugged him again then whispered, "Thank you, and sorry for all this."
"Don't mention it!" said Riku then began to stand up. As he did Mariha still sat and watched him.
"You ok enough to walk?" she asked.
Riku chuckled. "I could fight off a whole army of heartless right now!"
Mariha smiled meekly, "I can't believe you're so upsy after all you've been through."
Riku held out his hand to help her up and she took it. "Looks like we've done a swap of personalities. You didn't think Ansem could just take a feeling away and not put it anywhere," he said with a wink.
Mariha giggled a bit, at least she was getting into a more cheerful mood. Riku never thought the day would come when HE would need to cheer Mariha up.
"Ok, if all my amazing skills are still what they used to be, we should have two days left to find this light everyone's asking about," announced Riku looking around at his surroundings. He couldn't see Ansems fortress or whatever it was called anywhere. That was a good sign; he silently thanked Natia for flying them so far away.
"Any idea of where we are?" asked Mariha looking around as well.
"Nope," admitted Riku shrugging. They were surrounded in a large black plain of nothing at all. Kind of depressing really, "But have we ever really known where we were in this world?"
"I guess not..." said Mariha. Riku looked at her with concern but she wouldn't meet his gaze. Instead, she continued to look around, at nothing in particular since there was really nothing to see, through the dark land that surrounded them.
"Come on," said Riku and Mariha looked at him in surprise.
"Wha -now?" she stammered.
"Well, ya," said Riku, "We have to find the light before Ansem catches up to us."
"But are you sure you're well enough for us to go?" she asked.
"Come on! Don't be so worried!" said Riku, "I'm still alive right? And so are you."
"O all right already!" she said giving in and throwing her arms in the air. She then smiled with the best one she could muster up, "Lets go."
They walked side-by-side through the waist land that seemed to get rockier as they went. It wasn't long before the ground they walked on turned to gravel, then to fist sized rocks. They that a little trouble on these for with every step, the rocks would shift and roll under their weight.
It took them a while to get over the ever-rolling rocks, but when they did, larger rocks greeted them with razor sharp points sticking out in random directions. One slip and you'd be cut to pieces.
"Ah nuts," muttered Riku.
"Riku?" said Mariha as she came up beside him to peer over at the death trail ahead.
"Is this included in the things Ansem has made you fear full of?" asked Riku pointing to the path ahead.
Mariha took her gaze from the rocks to Riku, then back to the rocks. She wouldn't slow them down, she knew Riku intended to cross it, she couldn't, she wouldn't, let the fear she hated so stop them.
"No," she said without taking her eyes off the path and without blinking. Thought she see it, she sensed Riku look over at her, "I can cross, if you can."
She looked over at Riku with a fire in her eye. Riku nodded.
"Ok, but take it slow," he said and Mariha looked at him to make it clear she needed no pity, "One false move and we're minced meat," he added quickly.
Slowly but surely, the two made their way across the death path, carefully watching where they placed or set down their foot or hand. They began to get tired and their muscles ached from the slow, tense movements but there seemed to be no end to the razor sharp rocks.
Finally, when Riku though he was going to collapse, Mariha spotted a cave in a sheer cliff wall ahead beside a narrow passage of more rocks and pointed it out to him. They made their way over to the cave, a little hurriedly, and plopped themselves down in exhaustion. Unlike outside, it had a relatively flat rock floor. It was a little uneven in parts but where there was a ditch of some sort, there was usually sand that would almost fill it up making the whole ground look pretty much as flat as a pancake.
"So I guess we'll crash here, then continue when we're rested," said Riku. Mariha was a bit deeper in the cave, though it wasn't that deep to begin with, looking at the stonewalls.
"Sounds good to me," she replied looking over at him and smiling.
Mariha went to the very back of the cave and lay down. The cold, hard stone wasn't at all comfortable, but it didn't really matter to Mariha, she was too tired to care. Thought she was exhausted from the day's journey, she found it difficult to sleep. She was uncomfortable, but not because of the floor she was lying on, something else was bothering her though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She tried hard not to move around much despite her discomfort, and she kept her back to Riku who had settled down a ways away, about half way between the back and entrance of the cave. She didn't want to be dependant on him, though she knew she already was. She didn't want to make him feel like she needed any help. She didn't want him to give her false pity, or even real pity for that matter. So many things she didn't want to make him think or do. She knew he'd say he wouldn't mine, but still, most of all, over everything, she didn't want to lead the life of the stranger Ansem had turned her into.
From the other side of the cave, Riku could see Mariha movie around uncomfortably. He could tell by her reluctant movements that she was trying to avoid the help he would offer if she knew he was watching. Riku smiled and laughed silently at her to himself, she tries too hard. He got up from his equally uncomfortable position and quietly creped over to her. He sat beside her with his back against the rock wall and gently placed Mariha's head in his lap. She stopped moving that instant and her face relaxed into sleep. Satisfied, Riku did the same.
~*~
Sora just stood there, stunned for a moment even after Kairi had fled the cave, or what they called The Secret Place. I mean, he knew she had loved him, and he loved her back, but he had never really though about it. He had no idea how long he stood there, staring at the little tunnel that served as the entrance and exit to this tiny cave, finger over his mouth. She had kissed him, but surprisingly enough, he had kissed her back. Her lips were so gentle against his. He felt a feeling he couldn't explain or describe.
Finally, he came to his senses as he noticed the light dimming through the small opening in the cave's roof. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it from all these sudden thoughts and feelings that flooded it now. He slowly, not in any real rush so re-join the world if Kairi was embarrassed and hiding from him, walked out the cave, through the small tunnel to the exit. He looked out to the ocean. The sun had not yet touched its glistening smooth surface but was beginning to turn the sky from its daytime blue to a glowing flame of orange and red. The scene was truly beautiful and Sora was so glad to finally be back in it.
He looked around a bit as he walked more into the open, but Kairi was still nowhere in sight. Instead, he strode over to the docks, where amazingly, Donald and Goofy were still telling tales of their adventures to the awed Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. Thee three of them had seated themselves comfortably on the soft sand while Donald and Goofy stood up on the dock, adding actions as they told of when Sora single handedly defeated the god Hercules in the Coliseum. As soon as the noticed Sora approaching, Donald and Goofy froze and stopped talking to stare over at him. Noticing the sudden stop in the story, the three youths looked over to see what was going on. They saw Sora and wide grins stretched across their faces.
"Sora! These guys were just telling us about all that you've done after out Island disappeared!" exclaimed Tidus excitedly, "Totally awesome! So you're the Keyblade master!"
Sora managed to smile and nod. He didn't really want to talk to them about that stuff right now. He wanted to find Kairi.
"Wow!" said Selphie. Her eyes were shinning and she seemed to stare into space, completely speechless.
"Well then, we'll have to see how good you really are, man," said Wakka with a wink, "See if what they say is true ya?"
Sora knew a challenge when he heard it, but he wasn't in the mood right now. He quickly thought up an excuse to weasel out of it for today.
"Sure, I'll take all of you on! But you'll be sorry," he said genuinely grinning. He'd like nothing better than to whoop those three in a fight, well, almost nothing, "But it's getting kind of late, we'll do it tomorrow."
"Yea, ok," said Tidus with a yawn, "I'm exhausted. I was up all last night from that storm we had.
He yawned again.
"Alright then," agreed Wakka, "Come on Selphie, I have to borrow you boat. Mines getting fixed ya?"
Selphie didn't reply but continued to stare with her shinning daydreaming eyes. Wakka dragged her into the small fishing boat despite her lack of a reply and began to untie it while she just stood there, hand grasped together, still as a statue. Tidus jumped into his own boat then looked up at Sora who was on the dock now.
"Hey!" he called, "Come on then! I'll give you a lift!"
"Ah, no thanks," Sora called back, "I'll hitch a ride with Kairi, you're boat won't hold Donald, Goofy AND me."
"You've got a point," agreed Tidus, "Well, I'll see you later then."
"Yep," replied Sora. The two boys waved goodbye and Donald and Goofy hopped into the boat. Sora watched them leave, not moving from the dock until they were completely out of sight. The main island, where most of the residence and shops were, was in the middle of a circle of smaller islands that were also usually bearing a home or two on it. There wasn't a large population in all of the Destiny Islands so there was always unoccupied space. This island however, the one Sora was standing on now, was discovered by the small group of curious kids that still came everyday to pass the time. No adults ever came to it and no one really lived on it. It was more of a tropical playground for them.
As the two already small fishing boats were nothing but specks closing in on the main island, Sora hopped down from the dock and walked across the beach. The very bottom outline of the sun was now just skimming the surface of the horizon and the sky was cast into an even deeper red. Some of the clouds reflected a pink and purple appearance, which made the sky seem more like a painting than real life. Then, Sora spotted a little shadow of something by the paopu tree.
The tree was on a little island of its own just off the shore in the shallow waters of the ocean. A few coconut trees grew on it, but the paopu tree was the most unique part of that island. It seemed like a normal tree that had grown on an angle, giving it the appearance that it might have been pushed over and stayed there. At first glance you couldn't tell what was so special about its smooth gray bark covering its trunk or its lush green leaves that looked just like any other leaf, but its yellow star shaped fruit was the special part of it. In legend, if a person was to share the fruit with someone, there destiny's would become intertwined, always being a part of the others life, forever.
Sora almost chuckled when he remembered Riku had teased that the winner of their race would get to share a paopu with Kairi. Fortunately, Sora had won but was slightly more than annoyed when Riku laughed at him and said he was just joking, because if Riku had won, he WOULD have shared the fruit with Kairi.
Not funny, thought Sora but still smiled at the memory; soon, it would go back to that. Back to when they could fool around without a care.
Sora made his way up to the small plateau that was level with the mini island and connected the two with a wooden bridge. As Sora had guessed, there, leaning against the sideways tree and looking out at the sunset, was Kairi. This is what the three of them, Sora, Kairi and Riku, would do almost every evening to dream of adventuring to new worlds.
Sora came up behind Kairi and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled, and turned to see who it was.
"O Sora!" she began standing straight to face him, "I -"
"Shh," said Sora, putting a to his lips and cutting Kairi off. She blushed and looked at her feet.
"Sora," she said in a whisper, "I just missed you so much." She took a step to come close enough to lock him in a hug, "I didn't know how long you would be or anything."
Sora hugged her back, not saying a word. He wanted this moment to go on forever. He reluctantly released her as the sun set lower and he stared into her purily blue eyes that shone with affection.
"I missed you too Kairi," he said at last, "But I promised I'd come back for you, and here I am."
Kairi seemed to blush deeper. Either that of the suns dimming rays were casting the colours to reflect off her face.
Without really knowing what he was doing, Sora drew Kairi closer, not taking his eyes off hers as she did the same. He bent his head down and brought it closer to her, watching as her eyes grew the closer he got. Then, he shut them gently as he felt his lips against hers. Time froze, before it, a beautiful picture of their kiss as the sun sank into the waters.
When Sora released both of them from the moment he wanted to badly to go on, he opened his eyes and slowly, and rather hesitantly, brought his head up. Kairi's eyes opened as well, and there eyes still stayed locked together. Then, somehow, Sora couldn't really remember how, they ended up sitting, leaning against the paopu tree facing out to the ocean that now seemed one with the night sky. Kairi rested her head on Sora's shoulder, and after one last glance at the stars that dotted the sky, fell asleep. Sora waited. He stayed up, staring at the star-lit sky.
The worlds were safe. Kairi was safe. And tomorrow, only one day would be left until Sora would open the door, and release Riku. But no matter how Sora wished everything would be back to normal between them, he knew it would not be so. They all had changed so much since the last time they were all together, goofing off on this very island. Riku had always loved Kairi as had Sora himself, so how would Riku be with Sora and Kairi together? Surly he would have known about this outcome, but still, a new worry ran through Sora. But as Kairi slept soundlessly beside him, he forced all worry and doubt out of his mind and finally settled into sleep.
AN: Sorry again, and just a warning, I have no idea when the next time I'll be updating (should be within 3 weeks at max) but I WILL be finishing it so don't worry about that!! Sheeesh, who starts something and doesn't finish it anyways? Ok, later!
Disclaimers: I don't own Kingdom Hearts unfortunately, and this is my own made up story with my little back of happy OC's ^-^ (ok, this chapter is to serious for the crazy and hyper me, so I'll be leaving you to it now *jumps out of window*)
Love is True
Riku was awakened by that dream he had just had. He was running, chasing the light through Kingdom Hearts. But it never seemed to get any closer. Then, he saw Ansem with a captured Mariha smirk and fade into the light ahead.
He now looked at his side where Mariha was still sleeping, clinging to his arm. He smiled. He wasn't as achy as before. There was only a small dull pain in his chest from all the water he had swallowed earlier. Other than that, he felt great. Then he heard a quiet moan from Mariha beside him. He tried to carefully remove his arm from her grasp without waking her, but as soon as he moved an inch she tightened her grip.
"I'm not letting you go again," she said, eyes still shut. At first Riku thought she was maybe talking in her sleep, having a dream.
"You're awake?" he said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to -"
"No it's not your fault," she said opening her eyes and tilting her head to look at him. To Riku's surprise, there were tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked. Seeing Mariha cry was still really new to him. She never did, so why start now?
"I just don't want to loose you," she replied then shut her eyes again and rested her head back down on his shoulder and, "I hate this! You know I do; I hate being so afraid and helpless like this! But I am afraid..."
"Mariha you're not -"
"HE did this! Ansem turned me into the one thing I hate the most! Not being able to do anything to help the one's I care about! Riku," she said and looked back up at him, "I almost let Natia kill you again. I thought last time, she would never appear again, but she did! If something like that happens again, I don't know if I'll be able to stop her. And I know I sound like a baby and a selfish babbling girl but... you're the only person, friend, that I've ever had! You have no idea what it would be like if that one person was taken away and you had to return to you're lonely, sad life in the darkness."
Finally she had to stop as sobs arose themselves.
"Come on now!" said Riku holder her close, "You're not any of those things! And you did help me. You saved me from death Mariha. If Natia hadn't broken that tank, I would've drowned completely."
Mariha just hugged him again then whispered, "Thank you, and sorry for all this."
"Don't mention it!" said Riku then began to stand up. As he did Mariha still sat and watched him.
"You ok enough to walk?" she asked.
Riku chuckled. "I could fight off a whole army of heartless right now!"
Mariha smiled meekly, "I can't believe you're so upsy after all you've been through."
Riku held out his hand to help her up and she took it. "Looks like we've done a swap of personalities. You didn't think Ansem could just take a feeling away and not put it anywhere," he said with a wink.
Mariha giggled a bit, at least she was getting into a more cheerful mood. Riku never thought the day would come when HE would need to cheer Mariha up.
"Ok, if all my amazing skills are still what they used to be, we should have two days left to find this light everyone's asking about," announced Riku looking around at his surroundings. He couldn't see Ansems fortress or whatever it was called anywhere. That was a good sign; he silently thanked Natia for flying them so far away.
"Any idea of where we are?" asked Mariha looking around as well.
"Nope," admitted Riku shrugging. They were surrounded in a large black plain of nothing at all. Kind of depressing really, "But have we ever really known where we were in this world?"
"I guess not..." said Mariha. Riku looked at her with concern but she wouldn't meet his gaze. Instead, she continued to look around, at nothing in particular since there was really nothing to see, through the dark land that surrounded them.
"Come on," said Riku and Mariha looked at him in surprise.
"Wha -now?" she stammered.
"Well, ya," said Riku, "We have to find the light before Ansem catches up to us."
"But are you sure you're well enough for us to go?" she asked.
"Come on! Don't be so worried!" said Riku, "I'm still alive right? And so are you."
"O all right already!" she said giving in and throwing her arms in the air. She then smiled with the best one she could muster up, "Lets go."
They walked side-by-side through the waist land that seemed to get rockier as they went. It wasn't long before the ground they walked on turned to gravel, then to fist sized rocks. They that a little trouble on these for with every step, the rocks would shift and roll under their weight.
It took them a while to get over the ever-rolling rocks, but when they did, larger rocks greeted them with razor sharp points sticking out in random directions. One slip and you'd be cut to pieces.
"Ah nuts," muttered Riku.
"Riku?" said Mariha as she came up beside him to peer over at the death trail ahead.
"Is this included in the things Ansem has made you fear full of?" asked Riku pointing to the path ahead.
Mariha took her gaze from the rocks to Riku, then back to the rocks. She wouldn't slow them down, she knew Riku intended to cross it, she couldn't, she wouldn't, let the fear she hated so stop them.
"No," she said without taking her eyes off the path and without blinking. Thought she see it, she sensed Riku look over at her, "I can cross, if you can."
She looked over at Riku with a fire in her eye. Riku nodded.
"Ok, but take it slow," he said and Mariha looked at him to make it clear she needed no pity, "One false move and we're minced meat," he added quickly.
Slowly but surely, the two made their way across the death path, carefully watching where they placed or set down their foot or hand. They began to get tired and their muscles ached from the slow, tense movements but there seemed to be no end to the razor sharp rocks.
Finally, when Riku though he was going to collapse, Mariha spotted a cave in a sheer cliff wall ahead beside a narrow passage of more rocks and pointed it out to him. They made their way over to the cave, a little hurriedly, and plopped themselves down in exhaustion. Unlike outside, it had a relatively flat rock floor. It was a little uneven in parts but where there was a ditch of some sort, there was usually sand that would almost fill it up making the whole ground look pretty much as flat as a pancake.
"So I guess we'll crash here, then continue when we're rested," said Riku. Mariha was a bit deeper in the cave, though it wasn't that deep to begin with, looking at the stonewalls.
"Sounds good to me," she replied looking over at him and smiling.
Mariha went to the very back of the cave and lay down. The cold, hard stone wasn't at all comfortable, but it didn't really matter to Mariha, she was too tired to care. Thought she was exhausted from the day's journey, she found it difficult to sleep. She was uncomfortable, but not because of the floor she was lying on, something else was bothering her though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She tried hard not to move around much despite her discomfort, and she kept her back to Riku who had settled down a ways away, about half way between the back and entrance of the cave. She didn't want to be dependant on him, though she knew she already was. She didn't want to make him feel like she needed any help. She didn't want him to give her false pity, or even real pity for that matter. So many things she didn't want to make him think or do. She knew he'd say he wouldn't mine, but still, most of all, over everything, she didn't want to lead the life of the stranger Ansem had turned her into.
From the other side of the cave, Riku could see Mariha movie around uncomfortably. He could tell by her reluctant movements that she was trying to avoid the help he would offer if she knew he was watching. Riku smiled and laughed silently at her to himself, she tries too hard. He got up from his equally uncomfortable position and quietly creped over to her. He sat beside her with his back against the rock wall and gently placed Mariha's head in his lap. She stopped moving that instant and her face relaxed into sleep. Satisfied, Riku did the same.
~*~
Sora just stood there, stunned for a moment even after Kairi had fled the cave, or what they called The Secret Place. I mean, he knew she had loved him, and he loved her back, but he had never really though about it. He had no idea how long he stood there, staring at the little tunnel that served as the entrance and exit to this tiny cave, finger over his mouth. She had kissed him, but surprisingly enough, he had kissed her back. Her lips were so gentle against his. He felt a feeling he couldn't explain or describe.
Finally, he came to his senses as he noticed the light dimming through the small opening in the cave's roof. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it from all these sudden thoughts and feelings that flooded it now. He slowly, not in any real rush so re-join the world if Kairi was embarrassed and hiding from him, walked out the cave, through the small tunnel to the exit. He looked out to the ocean. The sun had not yet touched its glistening smooth surface but was beginning to turn the sky from its daytime blue to a glowing flame of orange and red. The scene was truly beautiful and Sora was so glad to finally be back in it.
He looked around a bit as he walked more into the open, but Kairi was still nowhere in sight. Instead, he strode over to the docks, where amazingly, Donald and Goofy were still telling tales of their adventures to the awed Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. Thee three of them had seated themselves comfortably on the soft sand while Donald and Goofy stood up on the dock, adding actions as they told of when Sora single handedly defeated the god Hercules in the Coliseum. As soon as the noticed Sora approaching, Donald and Goofy froze and stopped talking to stare over at him. Noticing the sudden stop in the story, the three youths looked over to see what was going on. They saw Sora and wide grins stretched across their faces.
"Sora! These guys were just telling us about all that you've done after out Island disappeared!" exclaimed Tidus excitedly, "Totally awesome! So you're the Keyblade master!"
Sora managed to smile and nod. He didn't really want to talk to them about that stuff right now. He wanted to find Kairi.
"Wow!" said Selphie. Her eyes were shinning and she seemed to stare into space, completely speechless.
"Well then, we'll have to see how good you really are, man," said Wakka with a wink, "See if what they say is true ya?"
Sora knew a challenge when he heard it, but he wasn't in the mood right now. He quickly thought up an excuse to weasel out of it for today.
"Sure, I'll take all of you on! But you'll be sorry," he said genuinely grinning. He'd like nothing better than to whoop those three in a fight, well, almost nothing, "But it's getting kind of late, we'll do it tomorrow."
"Yea, ok," said Tidus with a yawn, "I'm exhausted. I was up all last night from that storm we had.
He yawned again.
"Alright then," agreed Wakka, "Come on Selphie, I have to borrow you boat. Mines getting fixed ya?"
Selphie didn't reply but continued to stare with her shinning daydreaming eyes. Wakka dragged her into the small fishing boat despite her lack of a reply and began to untie it while she just stood there, hand grasped together, still as a statue. Tidus jumped into his own boat then looked up at Sora who was on the dock now.
"Hey!" he called, "Come on then! I'll give you a lift!"
"Ah, no thanks," Sora called back, "I'll hitch a ride with Kairi, you're boat won't hold Donald, Goofy AND me."
"You've got a point," agreed Tidus, "Well, I'll see you later then."
"Yep," replied Sora. The two boys waved goodbye and Donald and Goofy hopped into the boat. Sora watched them leave, not moving from the dock until they were completely out of sight. The main island, where most of the residence and shops were, was in the middle of a circle of smaller islands that were also usually bearing a home or two on it. There wasn't a large population in all of the Destiny Islands so there was always unoccupied space. This island however, the one Sora was standing on now, was discovered by the small group of curious kids that still came everyday to pass the time. No adults ever came to it and no one really lived on it. It was more of a tropical playground for them.
As the two already small fishing boats were nothing but specks closing in on the main island, Sora hopped down from the dock and walked across the beach. The very bottom outline of the sun was now just skimming the surface of the horizon and the sky was cast into an even deeper red. Some of the clouds reflected a pink and purple appearance, which made the sky seem more like a painting than real life. Then, Sora spotted a little shadow of something by the paopu tree.
The tree was on a little island of its own just off the shore in the shallow waters of the ocean. A few coconut trees grew on it, but the paopu tree was the most unique part of that island. It seemed like a normal tree that had grown on an angle, giving it the appearance that it might have been pushed over and stayed there. At first glance you couldn't tell what was so special about its smooth gray bark covering its trunk or its lush green leaves that looked just like any other leaf, but its yellow star shaped fruit was the special part of it. In legend, if a person was to share the fruit with someone, there destiny's would become intertwined, always being a part of the others life, forever.
Sora almost chuckled when he remembered Riku had teased that the winner of their race would get to share a paopu with Kairi. Fortunately, Sora had won but was slightly more than annoyed when Riku laughed at him and said he was just joking, because if Riku had won, he WOULD have shared the fruit with Kairi.
Not funny, thought Sora but still smiled at the memory; soon, it would go back to that. Back to when they could fool around without a care.
Sora made his way up to the small plateau that was level with the mini island and connected the two with a wooden bridge. As Sora had guessed, there, leaning against the sideways tree and looking out at the sunset, was Kairi. This is what the three of them, Sora, Kairi and Riku, would do almost every evening to dream of adventuring to new worlds.
Sora came up behind Kairi and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled, and turned to see who it was.
"O Sora!" she began standing straight to face him, "I -"
"Shh," said Sora, putting a to his lips and cutting Kairi off. She blushed and looked at her feet.
"Sora," she said in a whisper, "I just missed you so much." She took a step to come close enough to lock him in a hug, "I didn't know how long you would be or anything."
Sora hugged her back, not saying a word. He wanted this moment to go on forever. He reluctantly released her as the sun set lower and he stared into her purily blue eyes that shone with affection.
"I missed you too Kairi," he said at last, "But I promised I'd come back for you, and here I am."
Kairi seemed to blush deeper. Either that of the suns dimming rays were casting the colours to reflect off her face.
Without really knowing what he was doing, Sora drew Kairi closer, not taking his eyes off hers as she did the same. He bent his head down and brought it closer to her, watching as her eyes grew the closer he got. Then, he shut them gently as he felt his lips against hers. Time froze, before it, a beautiful picture of their kiss as the sun sank into the waters.
When Sora released both of them from the moment he wanted to badly to go on, he opened his eyes and slowly, and rather hesitantly, brought his head up. Kairi's eyes opened as well, and there eyes still stayed locked together. Then, somehow, Sora couldn't really remember how, they ended up sitting, leaning against the paopu tree facing out to the ocean that now seemed one with the night sky. Kairi rested her head on Sora's shoulder, and after one last glance at the stars that dotted the sky, fell asleep. Sora waited. He stayed up, staring at the star-lit sky.
The worlds were safe. Kairi was safe. And tomorrow, only one day would be left until Sora would open the door, and release Riku. But no matter how Sora wished everything would be back to normal between them, he knew it would not be so. They all had changed so much since the last time they were all together, goofing off on this very island. Riku had always loved Kairi as had Sora himself, so how would Riku be with Sora and Kairi together? Surly he would have known about this outcome, but still, a new worry ran through Sora. But as Kairi slept soundlessly beside him, he forced all worry and doubt out of his mind and finally settled into sleep.
AN: Sorry again, and just a warning, I have no idea when the next time I'll be updating (should be within 3 weeks at max) but I WILL be finishing it so don't worry about that!! Sheeesh, who starts something and doesn't finish it anyways? Ok, later!