Part 2-Chapter 7: New beginnings ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Mmph" Kairi mumbled through her pillow.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE- smack!

"That's better.." Kairi grumbled. After a few minutes of trying to save her moment in her warm, comfy bed, she managed to roll out onto the floor. Stumbling to her dresser, she went through her clothes, trying to pick out a nice outfit for once.

'I'm actually happy to go to school! Hah....I'm such a dork' she thought, smiling to herself, she picked out a denim skirt and a dark green shirt.

After gathering her books and cleaning up, she ran downstairs. "Good morn-" Kairi stopped walking when she smelled a familiar scent. She looked up and gaped at the sight before her... "Blueberry pancakes!" she yelled. Mary looked up from cooking and smiled. "They're your favorite, right?" Kairi nodded enthusiastically. 'I can't remember the last time Mary made me food- this is awesome!' She gazed at the wonderful stack of pancakes on the table. She ran over and sat down anxiously, and began to inhale her breakfast. "Fwanks" Kairi managed to say inbetween bites. Mary laughed, "No problem."

After eating, Kairi grabbed her backpack and headed to the door. She heard Mary behind her, "Wait! Just to let you know, I'm going to be at the coffee shop until 6 today." Kairi turned around, "Why? Are you a caffeine addict or something?" she giggled. Mary shook her head, "No, I got a job there! I figure my old bones can handle serving coffee for a few more years." Kairi smiled, "That's awesome! Maybe I'll come by and visit." Mary smiled at her granddaughter. "That would be wonderful Kairi."

Kairi waved goodbye and ran out the door. While walking towards her high school, she looked around at her surroundings. Some birds chirped in nearby trees, and an old lady walked by her with her little dog. 'This is going to be a new day for me. A lot has changed in just a couple days, but I am ready.' Kairi thought to herself.

She arrived at school on time for once, walking into her physics class 5 minutes early. "Hi Mr. Thomas!" she waved. Her teacher looked up from his computer surprised. "Uh, Good morning Kairi," He said awkwardly. Kairi smiled and took her seat, waiting for the bell to ring. After a few students walked in and sat down, chatting silently to their peers. Kairi was about to reach in her bag to pull out her books when she saw a spiky haired Sora come in. Her heart leapt as he smiled when he looked up to see her and jogged over. "Hey Kairi!" he said. He leaned down and kissed her, receiving a few whispers from her classmates. Kairi just blushed and kept her eyes on Sora. After he sat down they began to talk about recent events. She was just finishing telling him about Mary's new job when the bell rang.

Kairi took notes attentively, actually caring about her grades for once. Mr. Thomas kept looking at her strangely. He seemed incredibly surprised with her, probably because all of this time he thought she had ADD or something.

The first few classes went surprisingly well, as she continued to amaze the teachers.

After her morning classes she and Sora walked hand in hand to the cafeteria. They walked by a few tables, receiving a few gasps and whispers as they saw the "oh so popular Sora" holding Kairi's hand. Following Sora, Kairi nervously sat down at his table. Three boys, and two girls were sitting there, whom Kairi only recognized from the halls. "Hey everyone, this is Kairi." Sora announced. "She is gunna sit with us from now on, okay?"

A boy with blonde hair, and blue eyes looked up at her. "Hey, name's Tidus." Kairi smiled, "Yea, you're the blitzball player right?" Tidus nodded. "Yep! Just made varsity too!"

Kairi sat down looked around nervously, not used to sitting with anyone. A boy next to Tidus looked up at her surprised. "Umm... hey Kairi." Kairi looked at her former silver haired friend. "Hey Riku." Riku used to be one of Kairi's best friend. She, Sora, and Riku used to hang out at the beach all the time. That is until high school came around. It "wasn't cool" to hang around the freak from another world, so Riku just stopped talking to Kairi. Although he never made fun of her, unlike the other preps he hung out with, she was still hurt that he ignored her.

Riku just looked at Kairi guiltily for a moment. Excluding Sora, who understood Kairi's relationship with Riku, the others at the table looked at the two teens, confused.

There was a large awkward silence before another voice came from her left. "Hey, you're the girl from a different world, ya?" 'I was waiting for that' Kairi turned around to a brown haired, brown eyed guy who she knew was named Wakka. "Yeah..." Kairi said, preparing herself for the worst. After a few seconds of silence throughout the table, a girl squealed, "That is sooo neat!" Kairi turned to her in shock. "You think it's...neat?" The black haired girl giggled. "Totally! I mean I have never met anyone from another world!" her dark eyes shined excitedly. "I'm Yuffie, by the way." She giggled again, "You gotta tell us your story girl! But...just hold on one sec." She looked towards the soda machines. "I'll be right back. Must...have...caffeine...heh." She got up and skipped towards the soda resource.

"Don't mind Yuffie, she's addicted to caffeine." piped up the second girl. Her brilliant green eyes shined through her dark brown hair. "Oh and my name's Aerith." Kairi giggled, "Nice to meet you. And I don't mind Yuffie, her hyperness kinda puts you in a good mood." Aerith laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it."

After a few minutes of chatting, Yuffie returned with her precious Mountain Dew and Kairi began to tell the crowd about how she was found washed up on the island. "So my parents and I were flying here from our world, to visit my grandmother, but there was this horrible storm. Both of my parents died." She said sadly. "And I was-"

Her story was interrupted by an angry voice from behind her. "What the hell is that FREAK doing at our table?" Kairi rolled her eyes, recognizing that painfully annoying voice anywhere. "Nice to see you too, Selphie." Kairi said, turning around to meet a disgusted face. Selphie opened her mouth to say another one of her insults when Sora cut her off. "Selphie, go get a fucking life." Kairi looked at him surprised. He glared at her, "Just because you're jealous of Kairi, who actually has been some place other than here, you don't have to ruin her whole life." He said angrily. Selphie looked at him and huffed. "Well...well... Hmph!" she turned around and stomped off.

"Serves her right." Wakka said relieved, "That girl was annoying as hell."

"Yeah sorry about that Kairi," Riku said.

Kairi just giggled. "You don't know how long I have been waiting for a moment like that! Did you see her face?" The group nodded and laughed.

"So Kairi, you never finished you're story!" Aerith said, excited.

"Yeah! Come on, I wanna know what happened!" Tidus spoke eagerly.

"Oh!" Kairi exclaimed, touched that they actually want to listen to her. "Well I was washed up on the island, unconscious. A boy, who would later be my best and only true friend, was playing nearby, and found me and woke me up."

"Ooo! Who was the boy, do we know him?" Asked an energetic Yuffie. Kairi grinned and nodded looking up. "Sora." Some people gasped.

"That is sooo romantic!" Yuffie squealed. Sora just smiled and Kairi blushed.

The group continued chatting, mostly small talk, for the rest of the period.

The day went by better then Kairi could have ever hoped.

After school, Kairi, Sora, and Riku were walking home together.

Kairi inwardly smiled as a cool breeze swept around them, and the sun beat down on her back.

A shaky voice interrupted her thoughts. "Hey, uhh...Kairi?" Riku said hesitantly. Kairi looked at him concerned. "What's wrong Riku?

She gasped as his blue-green eyes looked up at her, shimmering with tears. He spoke softly, "I know I don't deserve it, but... could you ever forgive me? I can't believe I dumped you as a friend back in freshmen year."

Kairi was silent for a moment, surprised at how up-front he was being about it. After a minute she looked at him meaningfully, seeing all of the emotion in his face. "It hurt me a lot, but I understand the pressure of maintaining a social life." She noticed that Sora drifted back, trying to give them some privacy. She continued, "I mean, I'm probably the one person who would understand social pressure the best. I realize how important it is, as I had no friends for a while and it ruined my life. You left me to save your own life. I understand completely, and I forgive you."

Riku sighed, "Thank you. But still, no matter what, I shouldn't have left you like that." He stopped and turned to her. "I missed you Kairi, friends?" Kairi smiled. "Friends."

Riku breathed a sigh of relief, and hugged her. Kairi was stunned at first, but returned the hug. They continued walking and Sora caught up to them, wrapping his arm around Kairi's shoulder. "I see you two have made up." Sora laughed. "Yep!" Kairi said happily.

"Hey!" Riku said playfully. "The three musketeers are back in action!" He jumped up and did a hero pose, making the other two laugh.

"Remember our spy games?" Sora asked. Kairi giggled, "Yeah we were convinced that we were the real musketeers, and would sneak up and spy on random people, pretending we were super heroes!"

"Haha, how could I forget." Riku sighed.

After a few minutes they walked up to Riku's home. "Well I'll see you guys later!" Riku said and turned towards his house. Sora and Kairi waved goodbye as he ran to his door.

They continued walking, making small talk, and eventually made it to Kairi's house. "Well," Sora said, turning to her, "I gotta run. Tidus said that there's a spot open for the blitzball team, and I wanna try out."

Kairi smiled, "Good luck!" Sora nodded and kissed her. He began to walk away when Kairi stopped him. Sora looked down at her concerned, "What is it?" Kairi suddenly leapt into his arms. Sora laughed and held her there. "Thank you." Kairi whispered. Sora looked down at her. "What for?"

"For bringing my happiness back," Kairi said simply. "Today was the best day of my life." Sora just grinned and kissed her. He squeezed her hand and began to walk away. "Love you!" He called. "I love you more!" she replied.

Turning towards her front door, still smiling, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door, since Mary was gone. Her smile faded however, when she opened the door and was about to walk in, when she suddenly felt a shiver.

She cautiously stepped into the house, recognizing the familiar feeling. She looked around the house but saw nothing. 'Why does it feel like my heart is being surrounded in darkness?' "It couldn't be..." she said to herself.

She heard slow footsteps behind her, surprisingly close. She spun around to meet a pair of large yellow eyes and gasped in horror.

A/N: cowers don't hurt me! I know, I know, I abandoned this story. But I got inspired again! I thought I would just leave it at the last chapter but you know what, screw it. Woohoo! I got a whole new story planned out so just you wait.... Mwahaha