:AN: Updates! –cheers- I suck at angst. Sorry. This chapter doesn't fit my genres and it's short, but please don't shoot me.

Sin's Remorse
Chapter two

The day felt like an arbitrary twist of reality mixed with a tight blend of shallow desire. She could feel it saunter in with the warm, morning breeze as it swept her long, auburn hair off of her bare shoulders. Kairi felt somewhat forbidden, if that could even begin to describe the emotions that ran through her on this particular day. Yes, forbidden is a good word. She sat somberly in her night attire awaiting the arrival of her post, as she did ever morning out on the front step of her porch. It was ritual. She sighed longingly, picking at the peeling, cream-colored paint on the busted-up railing to her right. It creaked slightly as Kairi pressed a finger against it. She sighed again.

Now, if you are an intelligent intellectual, which I am sure you are, then you should probably know that mail does not usually arrive before ten o'clock on most normal days. Five o'clock in the morning is certainly much too early to be anticipating such an arrival. It was bizarre, and perhaps a bit creepy, how Kairi would sit outside on that step for so long. Though, it wasn't like she was expecting an important letter or package. She hardly even received mail in the first place. Her persistent insomnia kept her constantly awake, allowing her to sleep for no more than an hour or two at a time and she found nothing better to do. Watching the sunrise usually seemed to calm her. She would sit, staring out over the horizon, pondering her thoughts, listening to the waking birds as they sang their teeming songs. It was good for her, regardless of all the time it left her to her own twisted thoughts, it was good. There were worse things; of course, that she could be doing that one must take into account. Anyway. She sat, she listened, she felt. It may not seem like much, but it was hers; the morning was hers.

The sun had just begun to rise out over the dark horizon. Pale pinks and violets had already begun to reflect off of the sea's glassy surface. This morning was very calm, almost eerily serene. Even the birds were relaxed, barely even chirping as they flew about. The ravens, which were usually the worst, didn't even seem to be making sound at all. Kairi pursed her lips together and played, suddenly, with a black string that was wrapped and tied in a bow around her ankle. She pulled the loops lightly so that they fell loosely over her uncovered foot. She took a deep breath as her eyes wandered out over the beach, far before her. She felt it call her name. The warm waves that lightly lapped against the shore in the surf seemed to attract her aching feet and the breeze seemed to whisper softly to her, gently leading her over to the smooth sand. Kairi could not resist this longing desire. She rose to her feet and began to walk slowly down her pebbled walkway. She followed it to the street and hopped across the cool tar, reaching her destination within moments.

The beach had always felt forbidden to her, as if she were not allowed to walk across its sanctified surface. She was not good enough. Perchance it was too good. Regardless, she sauntered on. She did not like this feeling, a feeling of ill welcome. Ever since her childhood she had felt this way. She hated the beach, the sea, and the sunrise. She wanted to leave it, get as far away as she possibly could. Though, somehow, she knew that she could never escape. As long as she was still able to think, she knew, she could never forget. It was this beach that she longed for so deeply that it hurt. She hated it so much that she could not live without its sinful temptation. This was her prison.

Kairi walked out slowly across the sand. She loved the feeling of its softness against her sore toes, the way it seemed to cradle her weary feet; so warm. She walked out further for a while, just trailing on, watching the surf as it kissed the shore so tenderly. She moved closer to it, allowing the cool waves to crash against her ankles and wash over her sandy feet. The sun slowly rose higher, casting a golden light over the entire world. It was dim, but it washed everything with a sense of peaceful harmony. Its composure seemed to blend together perfectly this morning. There were no contrasts, except of course for her. She did not fit in the picture. If the beach were some sacred heaven then Kairi appeared to be a demon, crossing over into an unwelcoming and hallow territory. She dementedly enjoyed the feeling it gave her. It made her feel powerful, twistedly intoxicating, like it was a sin, but she could do it, therefore it was great.

Yet, Kairi considered herself, still, to be no older than eleven. The way the sun seemed to seep through her, washing everything she had ever known away. She was eleven again. She was the contrast, yet, it was a balanced contrast. She seemed to blend in entirely, oddly enough. There was a distinct pureness about this morning that seemed to bleed into Kairi's soul and she felt it. The sudden feeling of remembered innocence overwhelmed her and she stopped, closing her eyes for a moment. A clean grin surfaced at her lips as her deep violet eyes reopened, staring out in wonder. She headed back up the seaside, out of the surf and into the middle of the beach. She spun herself down and sat, her legs stretched out before her as she dug her hands deep in the warm sand.

The dawn was radiant as warm tones spilled over the horizon. An aura of pale pink and deep gold was cast around everything that remained uncovered by the drifting night. The sun was cast straight before her, shedding a warm and purifying heat onto her unburdened form. Kairi grinned as her newfound innocence spread over her face. She sighed lightly.

She had wandered down the beach so far that her house was no longer in sight. In fact, no longer was any sign of civilized humanity in prospect. She closed her eyes lightly and shifted her weight over, letting herself fall onto her back. Her long, auburn hair ran out around her, slipping over her shoulders and down behind her exposed back. Her dark crimson, silky nightgown blew slightly in the light breeze. It was a breeze so light that it was nearly impossible to feel. She sighed again, taking in the sweet smell of morning.

Kairi was in her late teens; she had lost count over the long, tiresome years. Seventeen seemed reasonable enough, perhaps almost eighteen. Time seemed only to just slip away these days, simply without notice or much care. She had made a promise, a promise to herself. She didn't want to count the minutes until her savior came back to rescue her from this hollow life that she now lived. She had also promised herself that she would not cry nor fall into any unnecessary depression, though some things we really cannot handle. Anyway. It had been nearly four years now, four years of tormenting sorrow. By now, Kairi felt as though she had been waiting for a thousand eternities. Every moment that had passed felt like a month, if that. Her heart beat with the hour. Her mindless suffering only grew worse as the days passed. Everyone told her that it would get easier; they told her that she would move on. It never struck them that maybe she was different, maybe she didn't want to forget. Maybe she tried, but she couldn't. Maybe… Maybe legends are more than just stories made up to entertain children and lonely adults…

Kairi sighed and rolled over, staring out across the beach's surface, resting her head gently on the hot sand. She winced against the sun's sudden profusion. She blinked and kept her eyelids shut; sleep pulling at her weary body. The warmth washed over her so cleanly that she felt as though she was wrapped up in the protecting arms of someone dear to her. The only sound came from the gentle waves as they crashed down upon the surf. It was a simple solace.

It's strange, how a small change of setting can bring so much. Kairi, for example, had not spent a single night in the past four years of her life actually sleeping. But now, as the sun rose high into the late morning sky, she was wrapped within a deep and slightly unburdened sleep. It was bizarre. Just as waiting for ones post is slightly more productive than doing such things as slitting ones wrists; sleeping is much more productive than many things such as wasting ones time anticipating the arrive of the mail man. Regardless, Kairi never meant to fall asleep, nor did she mean to sleep for such an extended period of time. It had been nearly three or four hours and still she did not wake. Kairi had never truly meant to even set foot on the beach in the first place. The early morning scenery had always captivated her and, perhaps, thought about meandering down it numerous occasions. She had not meant to stay, but the overwhelming feeling of sinful innocence that it brought her was almost like a longingly anticipated offense. She did not deserve such a convivially warm incident, but she did, however, need one.

:AN: Sorry, again, for another short chapter. I think the next one will be longer. I'm still mixing ideas… I'm not sure I liked this chapter. It was kind of… bad. I'll try to finish this story… I'll work on it. Review if you'd like. Lei likes to know how you guys feel. But I know, for some bizarre reason, you don't always like to review… Or maybe you just don't like to read her stories. Hmmm… Ponders what would happed if she wrote a SR fic… Sure people like datt. Yuck. Lei promises to never write slash. Never. Only Harry Potter slash because it's funny :). Sorry. I suck at writing angst. This was not angsty at all! I should post my other one. I think I will. You should read it.