A/n: I haven't written anything for a while, so bear with me. I'm a bit rusty at this.

Here With Me

Chapter one

The sun shone brightly on Destiny Island as usual. There was not a cloud in sight. The sea sparkled, lapping gently and on shore. Only one person was on the beach at this time though.

Kairi lay back on the soft sand with her eyes closed, enjoying the heat of the sun on her skin. It had been a while since she could relax on the beach that she loved. It felt so good to be there after all that had happened with the darkness. At last she was home.

But something felt missing.

There was nobody to talk to anymore, excluding Tidus, Wakka and Selphie. They weren't the closest of friends. Too busy having play-fights with their old weapons. Just like Riku and Sora used to do. She opened her eyes and looked into the sky, a glint of sadness in her eyes. When would he return?

"Sora…" she uttered quietly.

She sat up. Her hands absently ran through the sand as she gazed out to sea. She could still remember what happened that day…

Even though there was no breeze, Kairi shivered as the memories floated back into her head.

"Kairi!"

"Sora?"

"Kairi! Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too. I'll come back to you, I promise!"

"I know you will!"

…I know you will…

A tear ran down Kairi's cheek, and she made no effort of wiping it away. She could still see Sora's face slowly moving further away, so out of reach.

And what about Riku? Was he okay wherever he was?

Their little group was so divided, and it hurt Kairi's heart more than anything.

Without really thinking of where she was going, Kairi found herself walking towards the secret place. She always went there when she wanted to be alone, even though hardly anyone was out. It just seemed like private place. Only she could go there.

Her footsteps echoed through the small cave. It was nice and shady here, the air felt damp, and there was moss growing on the walls, but the chalk drawings still remained.

Slim fingers trailed gently across the chalky wall and stopped when they reached a certain picture.

A sad smile tugged at Kairi's lips.

It was, of course, the picture of her and Sora giving each other paupou fruit.

Something flickered in the corner of her eye and Kairi turned to find a door. Didn't the door disappear?

"How'd this get here?" she asked nobody in particular.

Curiosity urged her to try and open it, but it was locked.

Could this mean the worlds can be unlocked again? Maybe Sora's on the other side…

She leant down to the keyhole and peered through it. Nothing. Only black. She was about to turn away when a glowing yellow eye suddenly looked at her from the other side.

Kairi's stomach sank and she fell backwards onto the floor, staring at the keyhole.

Heartless!

They were on the other side!

Without saying a word, she scrambled silently out of the secret place to her house, almost bumping into Selphie on her way.

"Kairi? Are you okay?" Selphie asked in a concerned voice but Kairi was already too far away to bother.

She was ignored.

---

Sora kept his eyes on the dirt pathway as he walked. He didn't know where he was going, and his vision wasn't clear, but anywhere was safer than where he'd been. The keyblade was held loosely in his tired fingers, the end scraped lightly on the ground. His eyelids were half closed and there was dry blood on his face from a cut just below his eye. The black clothes he wore had many tears; one of the sleeves had been completely ripped off, showing his bare arm that had lots of nasty gashes.

Donald and Goofy had already gone back to Disney Castle, so Sora was by himself when he was on his way back to Destiny Islands. He wasn't used to battling alone.

Sora's whole body ached. He was fighting for his consciousness as he stumbled further on the path that seemed to go on forever.

It can't be much longer… almost there… keep going…

With great effort, he lifted his head and winced at the pounding pain. He attempted to ignore the soreness when he tried to focus on what was in front of him. A winding path with dried grass at the sides.

Something moving caught his eye. He blinked, trying harder to focus. A shadowy figure was wandering around a door. A heartless! It seemed unaware that Sora was nearby, examining the white door in front of it.

Maybe the door led to a safer world?

Sora quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. A very small amount of clear liquid was inside. It was all that remained of his last potion, only to be used if desperately needed. He opened the lid and downed what was left in one small mouthful. Before it could take any affect, the heartless had stopped looking around the door. Its antennae were twitching, and it seemed to be trying to sense something. It jumped around to see Sora not too far away.

Sora felt a small burst of energy and his body seemed to ache less. He lifted the keyblade and began walking up the path confidently. He still felt terrible, but he'd learned that heartless would be reluctant to attack if you seemed stronger.

His grip tightened on his weapon when the heartless started running towards him. It was only a few seconds before Sora swung the blade at the creature, but it was fast and jumped out the way. Its pale eyes narrowed and it rammed into the unexptecting Sora from the side, knocking him to the floor.

Heartless aren't known for their intelligence. In fact, they're quite dim. This heartless was no exception.

When it hit Sora, it knocked its head and now it was stumbling about stupidly.

Sora staggered slightly to his feet, clutching his side.

The heartless had recovered quickly and was about to make its second blow. Sora tried to dodge, but he was too slow for the swift heartless and he was hit in the face with rather powerful punch. At first he couldn't feel the pain, but I came to him gradually like a slowly reacting poison.

He could feel his energy dropping again.

Using the keyblade to keep him up, he watched the heartless moving towards him slowly.

Just wait for it…

It started to sprint now.

Just at the right moment, Sora swung the blade catching the dark creature in the middle. It instantly disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Finally…

His knees buckled and he fell on the path, panting. Exhaustion gripped his body with cruel fingers. Sora closed his eyes and lay down. He would catch his breath and then go the door.

It was only a couple of moments before he opened his eyes again when he heard a strange noise. He saw up and looked around him. What he saw made his heartbeat triple in the space of two seconds and his mouth to go dry.

Down the path where he had been travelling was a huge black mass of heartless. It was like a massive black fog, slowing making its way to where the door and Sora was. The only things that made it distinguishable from that were the little glowing eyes.

Sora looked over to the door. It wasn't that far. If he hurried, he might be able to get through before the heartless got a chance to attack. He wouldn't survive battling that many of them.

He climbed to his feet and started running. He could hear the heartless clicking and talking in their unusual language, they were already getting closer.

When he finally reached the door, he grabbed the handle and pulled, but it was locked.

Turning, he saw t he heartless about two hundred yards away. He faced the door again and held up the keyblade.

"Come on!" He yelled.

A sparkle of magic came out of the keyblade and shimmered over to the keyhole. As soon as a click could be heard, indicating the door was open, Sora pulled it open as fast as he could. He stepped into a dark area and slammed the door behind him.

Leaning against it so nothing could get in, he held the keyblade out and let the magic lock it again. The handle turned and the heartless tried to get inside, bit they were too late. The door was locked.

Sighing wearily, Sora slid down the door and onto the floor. He looked around the room he was in. It all seemed familiar. It was too dark to make anything out, but there was a recognizable atmosphere.

"Hello?" he called. Nobody answered.

It didn't seem dangerous. There was something about this place that made him feel safe. Too tired to do anything else, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. If anything decided to snake up on him, that would be it. He was too weak to defend or attack anyway.

Sora drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

A/n: Well, there it is. My first KH fanfic chapter. I've got the next chapter planned, I'm just hoping I don't procrastinate or get the block. Reviews welcome!