Finally up to speed on this story too! No more hiatus. XD I didn't take specific notes on this story, but I have the general outline and the high points. And, since this is supposed to be a short story, I guess there'll be a lot of 'OMGosh!' points too. XD lol!

Forbidden

A Kingdom Hearts Fanfic

Chapter Nine

Kairi opened the door to her room just enough to be able to look in the hallway. Nobody. Her mother was downstairs cooking a meal feverishly, excited that finally her husband was coming home. For her, in just a few hours, or more like seven, he would walk through the door and they could be a family again.

'Yeah right,' Kairi thought, stepping into the hallway and walking into the room across it. Somehow the thought of them sitting at a table, all smiles on their faces and laughing made her chuckle coldly. She barely even realized it. 'Like that crap will ever happen.'

The room she walked into was wide, empty, and cold. The skin exposed on her neck prickled and she pulled her oversized sweater closer to her nape. She felt the oil caking her body and she outwardly grimaced, but on the inside she still wasn't motivated enough to get a bath. What were a few pimples anyway? 'Stupid girls always worrying about their skin.'

Kairi sat down at the very corner, the darkest and furthest from the door she had closed behind her. The hardwood floor made no sounds under her bare feet and there she crouched, her knees drawn to her chin. She leaned her head against the white wall, closing her eyes. Only breathing in she could smell him.

'It's so weird,' she thought, 'It almost feels like you're here, right now Riku . . . I could open my eyes and I'd be sitting on your bed in the corner, and you'd be smiling and playing your dumb video games with Tidus. Laughing, having a good time . . .'

She brought in the scent further, suddenly feeling nostalgia. She almost felt a heavy welling in her stomach and her teeth bit down on her slip slightly. She felt weird. With everything that had happened, she missed him. Missed Riku.

She didn't just miss him. She missed it all. Riku, Tidus, Yuffie, Selphie, Mom, Dad- all of them used to smile. All of them were happy together. She rubbed her hands against her eyes, her bone-thin fingers curled into her palm. Her eyes stung and they were red.

'I hate things like this,' Kairi thought, more memories coming through. She felt so weak right now- she always felt weak, but now even more so she felt like she couldn't do much. She was trapped, remembering all the things and all the times when she was so, so happy. When everyone was happy.

Kairi pulled herself together and stood up. She walked across the wide empty room to the door. She wasn't really sure how long she had been in there, but it seemed like forever. Walking to the door felt like it took a long time too. She closed the door behind her and listened to her mother. She was humming.

Once she was out the nostalgia left her. The smell was gone, but a shock ran through her as she suddenly remembered the taste. Her body froze as she cupped a hand over her mouth. Why did she want everything back to the way they were before? She hated Riku!

She didn't bother to go to her room. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She ran for the bathroom.

Riku decided to go for a walk to clear his mind. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still up. The sidewalk was crowded with people coming home from work and school, but he brushed by them, more important thoughts running through his head.

Alone. He was fully, ultimately alone. Down and gone. Forever forgotten. With his father out of the way there was no one else in the world to bicker or bother him, or drown him in silence. He sat down on a bench. He had ended up at the park, right where he had talked with Sora not so long ago. It was the only place that felt remotely like home.

Riku relished in the clear, clean air of the park, closing his eyes and remembering home. For him the city was already unbearable; the air was dirty and the people were rude. He still hadn't registered into a school to finish off his senior year but he wasn't looking forward to doing it.

'There's only a couple people here,' Riku thought, sitting upstairs on the bench. The sunlight through the leaves refused to let him rest and relax and they agitated his eyes. 'They're okay . . .'

"Do you want something to eat before we go?"

Riku's ears perked up but he didn't open his eyes. He remembered that from from work. Cloud. He was a nice guy, one of the 'couple of people' that he found okay. He didn't talk a lot but he helped him around when he needed it so far. That and every once in a while they would hold an actual conversation. But, by doing that they also learned each other's touchy subjects that made things more awkward than they had to be.

"Sure, why not? Let's get something for Leon, too."

Riku open his eyes. The voice that answered happened to be Cloud's touchy subject, and the only thing he and Riku had in common with each other.

They were both standing at one of the those carts in the park; Riku couldn't really tell if they were at a food cart of an ice cream cart. Cloud was ordering but looking back, smiling softly as the two talked. Riku didn't know what they were saying anymore. Sora looked anxious but he was still smiling, and when he turned his head, their eyes met.

"Riku!" Sora called, waving the hand with the bouquet. When a petal fell from the flowers he ignored Riku, checking to see if they were okay. When he was finished he waved his opposite hand. "Hey, what's up?"

Riku didn't feel like yelling so much as Sora did. He didn't want to ignore Sora either; that would just be rude. Besides, the two of them were sort of friends. He never saw him at the post office much since Sora had school but he always saw him in the morning when he delivered papers.

He was a lot friendlier than Cloud, but at the same time every nice conversation they had always ended up with him stomping away from the apartment with a pout. Riku stood up and walked over, a small smile on his face. He honestly didn't mind talking to Sora, even if they argued. He gave a small nod to Cloud. He nodded back.

"I'm fine," he finally replied. It wasn't really true. He just didn't feel like explaining about his father to anyone, so he gave a playful grin. "And you, shorty?"

Sora frowned at the words, something that just wasn't the least bit intimidating. "I'm not short, I'm average. And besides, haven't you heard that dynamite comes in small packages?"

"Really small packages, in your case."

Sora stuck out his tongue. "I hate you!"

"Knock it off," Cloud said, turning around. He had three ice cream cones, two in one hand and one in the other. He handed the chocolate one to Sora, who was careful not to let them on the flowers. Cloud looked to Riku. "Leon doesn't really need ice cream . . ." He looked to Sora, who glanced at him questioningly. "Do you want to give it to Riku instead?"

"No way," Sora muttered. "He's not gonna eat it. He hates ice cream."

"I do no-" Riku stopped. A familiar feeling of déjà vu came inside him. It was barely over a week ago, but it was when he met Sora and they had gone to this park. It was the second time he was reminded of it today. 'I guess that's where he got the whole ice cream thing from.'

Riku shrugged. Who cares if they knew whether he liked ice cream or not, now that he thought about it. That was stupid. "It's okay, I don't want any." He was curious. "Who's Leon?"

Both Cloud and Sora looked at each other. After the same pause they both opened their mouths to speak, then they both shut. Cloud stayed silent and Sora took the lead. "He's my older brother, and he was Cloud's old best friend. Do you want to go meet him?"

'Was?' Riku didn't have anything better to do. He nodded. "Sure . . ."

X x x x x

I feel like I was more descriptive in this chapter than usual with this story, like I was slipping back into my old style. XD Still, I like how this turned out! Poor Kairi. –Hugs- She's so depressed she doesn't know what to do with herself. T.T

And Riku's changing! Remembering in the beginning of the story when he didn't care if he was being rude to Sora? And this time he does care! And he's curious about Leon. So, he wants to learn about someone else, he's just not willing to talk about himself. Alright!

Sky-Pirate-Tat- -Hugs- Thank you so much! I try to capture emotions as best as I can, especially since this is supposed to be a drama-story. XD I'm glad you're happy with it so far!

Kage-chan- lol! XD Well, now that I'm off hiatus I can update again! –Dances- Alright! XD XD XD

Kia Saphia- lol! XD No, I haven't seen that movie. But, I already have an idea of how I want to story in the end. I think it'll be a fitting ending, anyway. XD I hope! Let's just get there first. . . . XD

defuckt- I'm a lazy bum? Why? Well, anyway, thank you for the compliment on my writing!