/DISCLAIMER/
I don't own any of the following characters, locations, items, or any other Square Enix or Disney objects. These stories are based off ideas from the game and in my head.
They were sitting on the rooftop of the cafe. From there, they could see down the hill, and the rest of the island. Kairi and Sora were sitting a bit lower down on the roof, far enough not to be able to hear the conversation that was going on between Riku and the girl, Lireal. Even though Sora had been with Axel more than Lireal, they had decided that Riku was better suited to explain what had transpired throughout the last year or so.
Kairi swung her legs gently over the side of the roof, her hands gripping the tiles. She watched the ocean ripple as a wave crashed against the side of the island. The sky was an assortment of oranges and reds. They had walked around town with Lireal when she had gotten off on her break, and they had all carefully avoided the subject. But when the sun started to set, they found themselves back at the restaurant, and had ended up on the roof talking. She glanced over at Sora.
He was looking down at the town, the street lights being lit carefully by an older man and a few people milling about. His eyes were clouded over as he watched the scene. She knew what was going on. Well, it was more like her Nobody counterpart did. Kairi nudged her friend gently. His head snapped up, a look of surprise on his face. But when he realized what was going on, he smiled widely and shook his head, letting her know she was okay.
"I wonder what happened to them," Sora said. But to Kairi, his voice seemed a bit different, but only slightly.
"I'm sure that Olette is keeping them in line," Kairi replied carefully, but she noticed that even her voice sounded ever-so-slightly different. They both knew that Namine and Roxas seemed to be speaking, even though all "four" of them knew the three friends at Twilight Town.
"We'll see them again," Sora continued, but his voice seemed a bit doubtful. "I mean, everything here can't stay normal forever, can it? Not for us, because we...we're different. Something'll happen again, won't it?" He was afraid. Afraid that his adventures would be over forever, even though he desperately wanted to settle in to his old life again.
"It will. When we're ready," Kairi replied, smiling and nodding her head affirmatively. Sora grinned and looked up the roof in the direction of the other two.
"So what do you think?"
"Of what?"
"Of her."
"Oh. Well...she does look like him. And she had one of those tear drop tatoos."
"Yeah...but she said that he had visited her recently. How do you think...you know, that he did that? And when? He always seemed to be around during that whole thing."
"I don't know," Kairi answered with a shrug and a hopeless shake of her head. "I didn't even know he was from around here. But I've never known everybody on the island, there's a lot of people here. Like," she gestured to the cafe, "I didn't even know about this place until a few months ago."
Neither one of them said anything. Sora sighed. "I can't...I can't believe he was really here all along. Do you think...do you think the Heartless..."He stumbled for words, not wanting to really say it out loud.
Her face saddened. "They must have. When he was protecting her during the storm."
"What do you think happened to his Heartless?"
Kairi shrugged again. "There's no way we can really know. Unless his Heartless became something stronger, like Xemnas's Heartless, then his Heartless has probably become destroyed...or just another figure among millions."
They heard the slow, steady footsteps of someone coming down the roof towards them. They glanced around to see Riku picking his way among the roof tiles. He sat down on the other side of Kairi. "She wants to talk to you," Riku said, not looking at Sora, more at his shoes. Sora looked back up the roof. Lireal had her knees tucked her chin and she was looking in the opposite direction. Sora got cautiously to his feet, climbing his way up towards her.
"Hey."
"Hey. I'm sorry about...your brother. He was a really great guy."
"Ha. I've heard 'what a clever boy' and 'your brother's a jerk', but never that one. But I 'spose he always did have good intentions...at heart, really." She laughed, in a sort of spiteful way. "Funny, huh...'at heart'...he never told me exactly what happened, but I could tell from what he wasn't saying about what had happened. There were a few rumors circulating around town about what happened to some people during the storm. Lae wasn't the only one that that happened to. For awhile, people were talking about two boys and a girl that had suffered the same fate. Guess that must've you been three. I was hopeful when Kairi came back a month or so after the storm. But then I started getting the letters...and I knew that he wasn't coming back."
"I'm sorry...I..."
"It's okay. It's...it's not your fault. Riku said you were...with Axel when he...was gone."
"Yeah, he even saved us."
"Really?
Sora grinned. "Would've been lost without him."
"Oh...could you tell me about it?"
"So is she okay?"
"I think she will be. She wanted to know everything. I don't know what'll happen after today, if she's going to hang out with us, or what."
Riku and Kairi were looking up at Sora and Lireal as they talked. Sora seemed to take a deep breath, and then started talking some more, Lireal listening raptly. "Are you happy to be back Riku?" Kairi asked tentatively. Unlike Sora, Riku had seemed a little less comfortable being back on the island.
"Oh yeah, sure," Riku answered quickly. He looked at her for a moment before smiling. "It's nice to be back. Hey Kairi?"
"Yes?"
"Do you ever remember what happened when you were in that...'heartless' state?"
"Oh. You mean before Sora rescued me?"
Something flashed across his face, but it was so brief that Kairi couldn't quite figure out what it had meant. "Yeah...before...then."
"Oh," she said, a look of determined thought coming across her face. "Hmm...only a few bits, here and there. But, I guess, not really."
A different look quickly passed over Riku's face, but this time she could catch that it was a mixture of regret and relief. Riku tucked his hands behind his head and leaned against the slanting roof behind him. "Well, wouldn't want you to remember anything unpleasant," he said after a few minutes.
"But Sora told me that you tried to save me too," she said after a moment of thought.
Riku seemed to be uninterested in the conversation, but he snapped his head over to look at her. "Oh really?"
"Mhmm," she answered.
"Oh." Riku said, and he glanced away back to the ocean again.
"Thanks Riku," Kairi said.
Still not looking at her, Riku replied, "No problem." As he continued to watch the ocean flow back and forth, he felt something soft land on his cheek, a kiss. Shocked, Riku sat up straight and looked around. He couldn't see her anywhere. He heard foosteps below and watched Kairi daintily step off the rain gutter that she had slid down.
