A/N: And so I update again, jolly good souls! I think three chapters is the most I've ever devoted to one fiction written by just myself… yaaay, meeeee…

Soo, tonight I get to go to my cousin's house and just sit there… BORED… OUT OF MY MIND… because of all the little children running around screaming 'UNDERPANTS'… wish yer ole' buddy good luck. XD

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY! In light of the… er, new year… I'm going to update ALL my fics.

Random people:coughcough:

Dude. Eye descriptions are fun. XD I talk to much. Yes, yes, okay, on with the fic, I suppose.

(Um… okay, so… I never updated this… DON'T KILL ME FOR BEING 4 MONTHS SLOW, AHKAY?)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, bish. RUB IT IN, WHY DON'T YOU? ;-;

Beyond These Walls

Chapter Three: A Meeting of Wonders

Kairi stood panting, huddled against the back door. The door knob to the front door turned slowly. Kairi held her breath and pulled off her coat stealthily, gently placing it on the coat rack and dashing off to her room. She let her breath out and wiped her brow. That'd been too close.

"KAIRI!" He called again. "DAMMIT, KAIRI, GET UP HERE."

Kairi tried to keep her deep and heavy breaths steady and calm as she jogged up the stairs again.

"Y-yes father." She said, out of breath as soon as she reached him. His face was red in frustration.

"Girl, you come when I call you the first time." Girl. He'd called her girl. Well, it wasn't a first, but it still hurt. He couldn't even call his own daughter by her first name. Kairi winced. "Yes, father, I'm sorry. I was distracted by my Kanji studies." She bowed. More lies. It's was practically what she lived on to keep the skin on her bum.

Kairi's father raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Yes, well, there's a time for studying, and there's a time for obedience. Now, tend to the dishes, unless you want me to serve tomorrow's breakfast on filthy plates."

Kairi held in a sigh and a nasty look until her father was out of site. She hated doing the dishes. She especially hated doing the dishes when there was a perfectly good dishwasher that her father refused to let her use. She shuddered, picking up a dirty dish and rinsing it off before scrubbing it with a rag. Cool water and leftover spaghetti sauce did not mix.

After about a half hour of wiping off leftover, soggy foods, Kairi dried off her now pruney hands and squeezed excess water from her shirt. She quickly rinsed any debris from the sink and tiptoed downstairs so she wouldn't wake her now snoring father.

Slipping under her silk sheets, she curled herself up into a ball, sinking deeper into the mattress to keep warm. All that flashed through her head that night, and the many nights to follow, were the images of that boy. How she loved those dreams.


The following Wednesday, Kairi could hardly keep in her emotions. She was far more cheery than usual. She washed the dishes extremely quickly, finished her History homework in a beat, did extra chores and practiced the guitar for the first time in weeks. This peaked her father's suspisicion.

"Kairi… you seem… happy…" He approached with caution. Kairi fought back the smirk now tugging at the corners of her mouth. He didn't want her to know that he never saw her happy. "Is there something I should now about?"

She kept a straight a face as she could and bowed low with respect at her father. "No, Papa, everything is fine." And she skipped off to her bedroom.

Back in the kitchen, her father's brow was still raised. "…Papa?"


Finally, her father's hand was resting on the shimmering golden door knob, ready to turn it. "Kairi, I'll be gone for about a half an hour, seeing as I've got to make a stop at work. Nanna will keep an eye on you while you're outside, won't you, Nanna?" He stroked an old cailco cat affectionately, who purred in turn.

Kairi did her best to look disappointed. "Yes, father." She sighed dramatically as he left, and as soon as his car was far from the view of their Victorian windows, she jumped in delight and hugged Nanna warmly.

"Oh, Nanna, you won't tell father if I'm out a little bit longer than usual, will you?" She begged the cat.

Nanna meowed happily in return, the 'universal' sign for 'Your secret's safe with me!'. Nanna loved Kairi as much as she loved Nanna, but she kissed up to her father to save Kairi's butt and keep her trust with him steady. It was almost like Nanna was human, and sometimes, Kairi swore she was.

Kairi smiled, her current disposition screaming anticipation, and ran to the coat tree with a skip and a hop as she pulled on her blazer and tugged on her sneakers.

Excitement pulsed through her veins as Kairi burst the through the backdoor, feeling numb to the sweet autumn air. All she needed to do was wait for that spiky haired boy again.

And so she stood there, hands shoved warmly in pockets, eyes squinting and watering against the fierce wind. Chilly breezes nipped at her cheeks, turning them a bright pink, stabbing her skin with imaginary needles. Any moment now… he'd come.

Kairi waited for about five minutes, when she decided to head back inside, heart completely sunken. Her first sign of civilization—of a friend—and she'd gone and blew it. Well, that was Kairi for you. Couldn't hold on to another human being if she tried. She sighed and held back her tears when she heard a rustle in the bushes and a whispered curse.

"Who… who's there?" She asked cautiously, but unneccessarily. There was nobody else who'd be creeping in their bushes.

"It's me!" Came a familiar voice. Kairi glowed with happiness. The boy had come back, just as he said he would. "Can you, er, help me out? I'm stuck."

Kairi laughed in spite of herself and rushed over to where the source of the voice was coming from. She grabbed his arm and helped him out. The boy smiled and brushed himself off. Kairi stared at him in disbelief. This boy was wearing red a red short sleeved and knee-cut jumpsuit with a tiny steel grey and navy short-sleeved jacket over it. He scratched the back of his head. "Something wrong?"

"You're crazy." Kairi blurted out absentmindedly. She shook her head. "I mean, how can you WEAR that on a day like this?"

He shrugged. "I just do." He began to walk around, kicking stones everywhere in a bored sort of fashion. Kairi folded her arms. "I never caught your name, you know."

The boy looked over and smirked. "Oh, I suppose not." He held out his hand. "Sora." He smiled.

Kairi took it happily and shook it. "I'm Kairi."

Sora looked around her yard. "I haven't seen you around before." He said simply.

Kairi shook her head, her happiness washed away, replaced by hollow gloominess. "Yeah… well… my dad doesn't let me out much."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "How come?"

Kairi furrowed her brow and looked to the side, shoulders hunching up to her ears to keep them warm. "Just because."

Sora just stared at her, no mistake in his expression that be didn't believe her, but thought it best not to ask anymore. His jaw dropped in shock. "Wait, so that means you've never been to Jake's?"

Kairi tilted her head to the side. "Who's Jake?"

Sora smirked again and laughed at her naivete. "How much time you got?"

Kairi obliviously smirked back at his. "Your grammar is atrocious." She stuck out her tongue. "I have about twenty minutes left."

"Great, that should give us enough time." And he grabbed her hand and took off.

Kairi was stunned; nobody she knew grabbed her spontaneously, well, other than her dad. But, she didn't do anything about it. There was something about this stranger that she liked. Something warm and comforting.

About 30 feet behind her back yard was an old road and a bike. Sora climbed onto the seat, strapping on a helmet. (A/N: Remember kids, always wear your helmet:D) "Hop on." He said.

Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Where? On the back?"

Sora smirked and swung his leg over, getting off. He paced back and forth behind her, looking at something. "Hmm, I think your butt is small enough." He smiled innocently and climbed back on.

Kairi felt her cheeks turn a bright red. How dare he look her over like that? "Little pervert…" She mumbled under her breath. Kairi, amazingly, fit herself onto the back of the bike seat as Sora peddled off up the street.

Besides the fact that Kairi was sitting behind some stranger pervert guy she barely knew, and that she was going to have fifty more scars on her back by the time she came home, she felt amazing. Wind filtered between strands of her slightly-magenta hair, sending it flipping crazily in the air, like little men dancing the can-can. Well, men don't dance the can-can. I hope they don't at least.

And if Kairi had been able to look into his eyes, even for a split second, so that she'd be able see what lies beyond them for just a fleeting moment, she'd see he was trustworthy. This experience was what he lived for; helping others. (A/N: YES IT'S CHEESY, BEAR WITH ME)

Even over the roar of the engine, Kairi could still hear the sounds of pedestrians chatting, laughing, enoying themselves. Kairi smiled in spite of the tears now stinging her eyes. How jealous she was of them, always together, always happy, never isolated and lonely. Her first real-world experience with a complete stranger. She laughed, whole-heartedly for the first time in her life, and let out a loud whoop.

Sora revved up the motor, accelerating forward. The traffic was thin; they were speeding and nobody cared.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of complete and utter bliss, the motorcycle came to a hault in front of a tattered but wonderful scented place. Kairi smelled the air in wonder of what could smell so… delicious.

Sora helped her off the bike gently before removing his helmet. the wisps of Kairi's fine hair were windswept and tangled from the hemlet sitting there for so long. Sora's hair, amazingly, still kept that gravity-defying shape. Kairi stared at him for just a second before her eyes (and lungs) filled with laughter. Soon enough, Sora caught her case of the giggles and before you knew it, they were leaning on each other for support. For just a small moment, just a fleeting moment, her twinkling eyes and his truthful ones met, and she knew.

He wasn't going to hurt her.