Opening Night
By Ariana Aislinn

Heh, just a silly little oneshot drabble! This was written as a gift for Perhelediel, but also for me - we both have major performances coming up this week! Perhelediel has opening night of her musical tomorrow (good luck, break a leg!), and I have a major choir concert coming up on Sunday with a big solo, which will be on my choir's CD when it's released. Ack, the pressure! So this is a little fic to wish us both good luck. I hope you enjoy it!

Standard disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Squaresoft and Disney, not me.

A flip of a fin, a little twist to the right, and a burst of speed sent Sora darting through the water. It was strange - water offered more resistance than air, so it wasn't quite like flying, but he certainly had more freedom of movement than he ever had swimming off the shores of Destiny Islands.

He sped up a little, then tried to roll into a somersault flip. The momentum was there, and the somersault was neatly entered, but something happened when he came out of it and his body twisted in the wrong direction. Instead of a tail swish and graceful uncurling from the somersault, Sora swore colorfully as he veered to the right, flailing awkwardly in the water. His head bumped an outcropping of rock, and he sank slowly toward the sandy seabed, rubbing his temple and muttering to himself.

"Hahaha!" Donald chuckled, pointing and doing a lazy spin as he laughed.

"It's not funny!" Sora muttered. "Just shut up, will you?"

"Aw, Sora, calm down, willya? Donald was just having a little fun." Goofy smiled benignly, lazily bobbing up and down and occasionally flicking his flippers a little to maintain his balance.

Donald waved his squid tentacles, pushing forward through the water to join them. "Yeah, what's eating you, Sora? I didn't mean anything by it."

Sora sighed. "Sorry, guys. Guess I'm a little touchy."

"What's wrong?" Goofy continued to drift languidly.

"You know…I'm not really sure." Sora sank slowly down to rest against a smooth stone that stood half-buried in the sand. Grains of sand and sediment billowed up gently as he disturbed their rest, glinting faintly gold in the reflected sunlight that played about in these shallow waters. Sora crossed his arms and looked downward, thinking. "Maybe…maybe I'm just nervous."

Donald grinned. "You? Nervous? Whatever happened to the brave Keyblade master?"

"Oh, he's still here!" Sora couldn't help but smile back. "But uh…fighting Heartless is different, you know? You gotta think and plan, yeah, but there's instinct too. All I have to do is just give it my all, and I know things'll work out okay. But this time…there's too much to remember! Just trying harder won't help. You know? I have to really feel it…and I just don't think I get it."

"Sure ya do! You've been doing great! You never miss a beat, Sora." Goofy hummed happily to himself.

"Ha! Well…okay, maybe I'm not so bad about it. But uh…well…it's okay now, but when we get in front of everyone, what am I gonna do?"

Donald laughed. "Oh, I get it! You've got stage fright!"

"Hey! I do not!"

Goofy chuckled, doing a slow barrel roll as he circled Sora, causing little ripples in the water around his sea turtle shell. "Sounds like ya do, Sora. Don't worry though, lotsa people get nervous about performing in front of crowds!"

"Ha. Not the Keyblade master, though. Whoever heard of a hero getting stage fright?" Sora made a face.

"Goofy's right, Sora. Everyone gets scared sometimes! And sometimes it's the stupidest things, too. I bet you could take on a thousand Heartless at once, but maybe a bunch of people watching you is just one of the things that puts you on edge!"

"Heh. I suppose you're right. I still feel silly, though." Sora gave Donald and Goofy a lopsided grin that slowly turned mischievous. "Hey Donald…what's your secret fear?"

"Who, me? I haven't got one!"

Sora raised one eyebrow skeptically. "Are you sure about that?"

"Positive!"

Sora grinned, shaking his head. "What about you, Goofy?"

"Gawrsh, I dunno!" Goofy floated upside down, an expression of deep concentration on his face. "Hmm…well, there is one thing, but it's kinda dumb."

"Spill it!" Donald insisted eagerly.

"Well, ya know back at the castle when we'd sometimes have blackberry pie for dessert, right in the middle of the hottest part of summer? With fresh ice cream on top?"

"Mmmmm. Yup!" Donald nodded, a dreamy look on his face, and licked his lips.

"Well, I'm always afraid I won't get a piece! I just get real scared that the door to my room'll be locked and by the time I get down to dinner, it'll be all gone."

Donald laughed, spinning a little in the water so his squid legs all whirled outwards, making him look like a bizarre, blue and white star.

Sora grinned. "Makes perfect sense to me, Goofy! But now you're making me hungry!"

"Me, too! My stomach's all rumbling just thinkin' about it. Daisy makes the best pie in the world." Goofy smiled blissfully.

"Eheh. Yeah…" Donald chuckled uneasily.

"What's the matter, Donald?" Sora poked him in the stomach. "Thought of something that scares you?"

"Ack!" Donald wrapped his arms around his midsection, fending Sora off. "Stop that! And I did not!"

"I'll betcha I know what it is! See, whenever Daisy makes her blackberry pie, when we come down to eat, Donald always has red marks on the back of his hands. He always tries to steal a piece before dinner, and Daisy always whacks him with a spoon."

"Hey! Goofy, you be quiet!"

Sora laughed, falling backwards with his arms wrapped around his middle. He did a reverse somersault, coming out of it with a little flourish and a spin, still chuckling.

"Hey Sora, that was pretty good there!"

"Oh yeah? You really think so?"

"Sure!" Goofy nodded. "Ya know what I think? I think ya just have to stop thinkin' so hard. Just like when you fight the Heartless. Just do what comes natural to ya and you'll be fine! You got rhythm, and ya got music - what more could ya need?"

"Yeah! Goofy's right, Sora. You'll do great! You just have to remember to have fun. Remember - happy faces!"

Sora laughed again. "I guess you're right. After all, this is really going to be fun. I never sang or danced much back on the islands - Kairi did all the time, but I was too nervous to try it. But I guess I really do have a knack for it, if I can just practice. Not that I ever expected to be dancing in the water!"

"Nope, me either!" Donald quacked. "But this is gonna be a blast. Let's go through the finale one more time before rehearsal! Remember, only a couple more days before the concert."

"Yup, we gotta get busy! Sebastian deserves for us to do our best." Goofy nodded emphatically in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right!" Sora grinned. "As long as we do our best and have fun, it'll all work out. And we'll make a great memory in the process, too. One more thing to share with Kairi and Riku someday, right? And with the king!" Sora did a little twirl in the water. "Let's get practicing! This performance is gonna be awesome."

Donald struck a pose, and Goofy started tapping out a beat. Sora laughed and started moving to the rhythm, humming to himself.

This really was going to be a great performance.

Giggles Yeah, Atlantica in KH2 is a little cheesy and silly, but fun nevertheless. And come on, Sora sings! At least I didn't make this a songfic. ;) Against the rules and all, you know.