Disclaimer:  I do not own anything related to this story.  I am gaining nothing from the creation of this fic. *pouts* As unfair as it is.

Author's Comments:  Hi everyone, and welcome to my very first Kingdom Hearts fic!  Do not expect anything great in this first chapter, I need it to anchor off my plot line, which will be shocking and full of suspense!  At least, that's what I'm planning, who knows, it could flop…Hah.  Anyways, please enjoy, and remember to review!

Kingdom Hearts II

Chapter 1 – Fantastically Good

Sora…

The voice was more persistent now that Sora was standing on the white sand of the beach.  Salty sea air, an all-too familiar smell when living on an island, surrounded him as he stood on the shore, searching out the source of the mysterious voice.

Shielding his eyes from the glaring sun, he saw that his friend, Riku, was standing out in the middle of the shallow water.

"Riku!" Sora called, waving madly and grinning.

Riku turned around to face Sora, and at the same time, an enormous wave formed behind him and began crashing towards shore.

"Sora," Riku replied, holding out his hand.  "Take my hand!"  Riku was shouting now over the roaring noise of the huge wave.

Stretching out his arm, Sora reached out and tried to grab Riku's hand.  But he was being held back by some invisible force…Straining against it, he just barely managed to touch Riku's fingertips when the giant wave crashed over them.

"Sora!"

~*~*~

"No!" Sora heard himself shout.  It took him a few minutes to realize that he was not surrounded by the salty water off the coast of his homeland, Destiny Islands.

"Sora?" a voice asked.  It belonged to one of Sora's companions, Goofy, who was peering at him, concern written all over his comical face.  "Gawrsh Sora, are you alright?"

"Fine," Sora mumbled.  He looked around their small, tree surrounded campsite.  His gaze lingered on the sleeping form of Donald, and he smiled as Donald emitted a huge, earth rumbling snore.

"I can stand watch now Goofy," Sora announced, getting to his feet and stretching.

"It's okay Sora, you should probably get some sleep, you haven't been getting much lately, what with all the nightmares you've been having…" Goofy trailed off when he saw the pained look on Sora's face.

"Riku has been calling to me," Sora admitted.  He went and sat down next to Goofy.  "Ever since we closed the door, he has been calling to me.  He wants to be free, and I can't help him anymore then I can help your King."

"We'll find them both," Goofy said with a smile.  "King Mickey relies on the three of us for good reason…he knows that we'll get to them, and I think so too." 

"I guess so," Sora replied sullenly.  He forced a grin and made sure Goofy saw that he was 'smiling."

"Besides," Goofy continued, looking to cheer Sora up, "you'll get to see Kairi again tomorrow."

This time, Sora's smile was genuine.  After traveling for a year, he would finally get to see her again.  He hadn't stopped thinking about her, ever since the day where he had sealed Kingdom Hearts.  Barely unable to contain his joy, he settled on smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.

All they needed now was boat to get them to the small island. 

"Uh, how are we going to get to the island?" Sora asked.

"Gawrsh, I don't know Sora," Goofy said.  Sora's smile drooped a little.  "But I'm sure we can find someone who will help us in town."

"I-," Sora was interrupted by Donald, waking up and yelling angrily.

"Will you two be quiet!? Some of us are trying to get some sleep!"  With that, he slumped back down and was asleep two seconds later.

~*~*~

Sora woke up late the next morning.  So late, in fact, that Donald was just about to empty a bucket of water on Sora's head.  Thankfully, the youth managed to get up just in time.

After eating a quick breakfast, the three companions set off to the nearby town, in search of a boat.  Following the salty smell in the air had led them to the docks, and they began their search for craft to transport them to Destiny Islands.

"So, how exactly are we going to afford this boat?" Sora asked.  He stretched out a kink in his shoulder and crossed his arms up behind his head.

"How about we borrow one instead?" Donald asked.  He was pointing over to a sign near the dock that proclaimed they could rent a boat.

"Yeah!" Sora cheered.  The three of them ran over to a smaller boat and looked it over.

"This one'll do," Goofy announced, satisfied with the condition of the boat.

"That one will cost you 500 munny for the day," boomed a voice from behind them.  It was so menacing, that Sora almost conjured the Keyblade, but decided against that idea.

The three of them turned to find themselves faced with a very large, muscular man, smoking a pipe.

"For one boat?" Donald exclaimed.

"Sure, and I'll let you have it for the while day," the man answered.  He rolled the pipe stem around in his teeth.  "You can have an extra oar too, since there are three of you."

Donald was about to reply, but Sora jumped in front of him.  "We'll take it!" he cried, handing over the munny.

Still grumbling about the bad deal, Donald resisted the urge to whack Sora with his staff and go into the boat.  The boat actually wasn't very bad; it was not as tipsy as Donald expected and he was delighted to see that there was already food packed in it.

"Off we go!" Sora shouted as he started the boat.  The motor made a loud noise, and then hummed to life.  Jamming the controls forward, he propelled the boat forward, out of the dock area and into the vast, open ocean.

~*~*~

After a few hours, the island appeared on the island.  The sun had just started to descend from its highest point in the sky, and the lower it got, the closer they got to the island.

"And the closer I am to seeing Kairi," Sora thought.  He smiled, despite himself.  It was too good to be true, after searching for what seemed like the longest time.  At times he could still hear her voice, spoken to him from a far off place…Although, he hadn't heard it lately...

"There's the island!" Donald cried, jumping up and down.  This stopped when they hit a small wave and water splashed the duck.  Shaking his feathers dry, he glared at the ocean and muttered something angrily.

As they got closer, Sora could make out the dock where he knew his old boat was tied up.  Along with Kairi's, and Riku's.  The last thought made Sora twinge with inner pain.  He would find a way to free his friend and the King…

Landing on the island proved easy.  There was plenty of space to tie up the boat and the fine white sand helped to hold it steady as Sora and his friends got out.

Sora ran up the familiar path, not even pausing to reminisce.  Turning a corner, he didn't even check to see that Goofy and Donald were behind him.  Climbing up a ladder, he didn't even both to knock as the door as he strode into Kairi's house.

"Kairi?" he called.  Running to check all the rooms, he found the kitchen and sitting room empty.  "Kairi, where are you?"

Slightly worried now, he went to the last room, Kairi's room.

Upon entering, he noticed that it was a mess.  Clothes were everywhere, drawers were open and the chair in the corner was upturned. 

Sora took a few slow steps around the room, taking everything in and trying to think logically.  It was then that he noticed the envelope, addressed to him, sitting on her dresser.  Grabbing it, he was about to open it when suddenly, he was hit with an immense amount of pain.

Clutching his heart, he fell to his knees, the envelope still clutched in his fingers.  He knew what the pain meant; something was wrong with Kairi.  The pain worsened, and he cried out loud as he started to lose consciousness.

As he began the familiar fall into oblivion, he couldn't help but think, "This was all too good to be true."