A/N: Alright, this is a longer chapter, so you can't be too mad at me for taking so long to write it. Anyways, there's a bit of fluff, so enjoy it. Thanks so much to all my reviewers! I do this for each and everyone one of you. Oh, and expect a little something special come this Sunday. Anywho, on with the story and God bless!

Disclaimer: If only Sora was mine… but, alas, he is not nor is Kingdom Hearts.

Chapter 4: A Flood of Memories

By the time Kairi had reached her house, she was an emotional wreck. She had no idea why she had even agreed to work with Sora. Maybe it was the anger she felt over Riku and Sora trying to control her life again. Maybe it was the sadness she felt for the years lost that she should have been at the island with Sora and Riku. Or maybe it was the excitement she felt because of the same reasons. She had loved the island and couldn't wait to see it or her partner…

Nope. Kairi refused to go down that road again. She had been hurt once beyond repair and had no intentions of doing it again.

Kairi entered her house and plopped down on the couch, books in hand. After sitting there for a moment, contemplating the unfairness of life, Kairi finally pulled out her notebook for Mr. Leon's class with the intentions of finishing both papers before she had to meet Sora. After flipping through her book and finding enough information to write the paper on war tactics, Kairi grew restless, her nerves getting the best of her. Usually writing could calm her down to the point of forgetting her problems, but today there was no hope. Kairi still had about an hour and a half before she had to meet Sora, but she suddenly had an overwhelming desire to go to the island beforehand. She could have a look around and then write the rest of the dream paper there, just like she used to do when she was little. Sighing, Kairi grabbed her notebook and a pen and left the house. She walked the short distance to her family-owned dock and looked at the small row boat that was tied there. Somehow it had managed to survive that horrible night when Kairi's heart had been broken, but so had Kairi. It had been six years since she had been in that boat and she was rather unsure that she would even remember how to row the thing.

Ignoring her doubts, Kairi climbed in, picked up the oars and began to paddle, falling into a rhythm that propelled the small boat forward. The sun had sunk a bit lower in the sky signaling that sunset would be upon her in a few hours. The water around her had turned a deep aquamarine from the sun's rays and a slight wind had started to blow, catching her reddish-brown hair. It was going to be a beautiful sunset.

As Kairi rowed and the island got closer, the feeling in her stomach grew worse. The island was beautifully framed by the lowering sun's rays and the pristine water, and yet, it still had an ugly feel to it which Kairi expected had more to do with the events that had conspired last time she was here. Reaching the dock, Kairi stepped out of the boat and tied it up, glad that no other boats were here. Stepping off the dock, she automatically took her shoes off, exhilarated by the feel of the warm sand against her bare feet. She walked to the water's edge and let the crystal clear water lap up against her now sand-covered feet, soaking her pants. She walked the length of the shore and then noticed the little shack that set close to the waterfall. The shack had looked old when she had played there years ago, but now the wood was weathered and the door hung crooked.

Kairi walked over to the shack, notebook and shoes still in hand. Investigating the door, Kairi grabbed the knob and turned. To her surprise, the door slowly creaked open. Although the outside of the shack was worn-down, the inside was in perfect condition. Kairi walked slowly up the stairs, memories of the last time she was here flooding back to her. She could feel her heart quicken in her chest as she pushed open the door that lead to the bridge where her heart had been shattered.

Stepping out on the bridge, Kairi looked out over the ocean to see the sun reflecting orange and yellow in the crystal surface. Kairi's favorite time of day had always been the few hours before sunset. The world just seemed to be at peace with itself and Kairi found that to be very soothing to her not always calm soul. That was partly why she had suggested that Sora and her meet at this time. She felt like she could handle Sora better and whatever emotions he brought up in her. Besides, Sora had always looked so nice in the sunset hours, his eyes taking on a deeper blue than usual…

"No," said Kairi out loud. Enough was enough. "You don't like Sora. That's just something you've conjured up in your imagination," Kairi explained to herself as she walked the length of the bridge to the small patch of land on the other side. "You're just lonely. You miss Sora and Riku, but they don't want you around. That's all."

As Kairi stepped out on the sand again, a small tear rolled down her cheek. It had been years since she had last cried. She had her writing to pour her heart into now rather than tears. But even that seemed to be failing her now. As another tear rolled down her cheek Kairi reasoned with herself that it had to be the island making her cry. The stupid island and her stupid memories were bringing the stupid tears on. Kairi looked over at the tree that hung crooked on this small spit of land trying to ease her heart when a small star-shaped fruit caught her eye: the paopu fruit. The yellow fruit represented never ending love and hope, basically all the things Kairi could forget about having in her life. For the longest time, Riku had joked about Sora sharing one with Kairi, but that's all it was: a horrible, terrible joke.

A slight breeze blew, strands of Kairi's hair falling across her face. Kairi wrapped her arms around herself not from being cold, but rather, to stop the inescapable feeling of loneliness.

"Kairi, are you alright," asked a boy gently. Kairi turned around and found that she was gazing into the blue depths of what were Sora's eyes. Somehow the spiky haired boy had managed to sneak up behind her. "Are you cold?"

"I was a little chilly, but I'm fine now," she said quietly, hoping Sora wouldn't see through her lie. "Hey, what time is it," asked Kairi wondering exactly how long she had been standing there in her daze. It was also a pathetic attempt at normal conversation.

"Oh, I'm a little early," replied Sora casually, coming to stand beside her. Kairi shifted her feet until she had put a little more distance between Sora and herself. She didn't feel comfortable with him being so close. He was a part of her past and she didn't want him to get close again. At least she tried to convince herself of that.

Sensing her uneasiness, Sora walked to the edge of the island and looked out at the ocean. "I can leave until its time for us to meet if you want me to," said Sora, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Kairi's heart dropped. Just because he had broken her heart gave her no reason to be mean to him. She was better than that.

"No, it's ok," said Kairi with a sigh, cursing her conscience and ignoring the fact that Sora hadn't even wanted to work on the project with her. "We can go ahead and work on the project if you want."

Sora smiled. "Alright. Where do you want to go?"

"How about we just stay here," said Kairi as she looked out at the ocean. If she couldn't stand being around Sora, she could at least jump and take to swimming back to the dock…

"Sounds great," said Sora as he jumped up on the bent tree. "So what are we supposed to do now?"

"I think we just sit here and talk," said Kairi, thinking back over Miss Aerith's assignment.

"You know," said Sora with a chuckle, "this is a pretty easy assignment." Kairi nodded her head in agreement. Of course, maybe that was the point. Maybe it was the simplicity that made the assignment so inspiring.

"What do you think of the assignment," asked Kairi suddenly. "I mean do you actually think it's possible?"

Sora looked up at the sky for a moment before answering. "You know, at first I thought it was kind of stupid. I mean how can anyone hear something with one's heart? But then, I got to thinking and I realized that I had done it before."

"Really," asked Kairi, intrigued, as she pulled a strand of hair out of her eyes where the wind had deposited it.

"Yeah," said Sora with a sad smile as he looked at Kairi. "I could hear you crying on the inside no matter what kind of expression you wore on the outside."

Kairi's eyes widened before she looked away to the ocean. She would not let Sora see the turmoil that raged within her no matter how astute he was. "I'm fine, really," she spat as she walked to the edge of the little island and sat down her legs dangling. "I don't need nor desire your sympathy."

Sora, realizing how sore a spot he had hit, changed subjects. "So why did you choose the island as a meeting place to begin with," he asked, staring at her back. She had now drawn her knees up to her chest. She looked so helpless and Sora's heart ached to resolve the problem.

"I don't really know," said Kairi quietly. "I was so mad and it was the first place I could think of."

"Oh, mad at me and Riku?"

"It doesn't matter," said Kairi before Sora could divulge any more information. "It's not the first time I've been mad at the two of you and I assume that it won't be the last."

Both sat in silence for a moment, watching the sun sink lower in the sky and enjoying the warmth it cast on their skin. In the distance, they could just make out a pod of dolphins.

"So, how long has it been since you've been to the island," asked Kairi, breaking the silence.

"Actually I was here the other day," said Sora thinking. "I come here a lot to think. To me, this place holds the same meaning as the tree you sit at during lunch."

Kairi felt her face grow hot from embarrassment. Sora had been watching her. Maybe this whole time that she thought no one cared, Sora had. But if he did care, why had he hurt her so when he said that they couldn't be friends? It didn't make sense.

Sensing that Kairi had realized he had been watching her, Sora pressed on. "Kairi, look at me."

Kairi slowly turned her head until her blue eyes meet his. "Kairi, I just want you to know that…"

"SORA!"

Kairi and Sora both turned to see who had yelled his name. Over at the dock, Selphie and Riku had just finished tying their boat up and were walking the length of the beach to the little shack. Moaning, Sora shook his head. They had ruined everything!

"Well, I'm going to go now," said Kairi, quickly gathering her books off the ground. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You don't have to leave just yet," said Sora jumping off the tree. He grabbed her hand as she started to walk off. Kairi turned to face him, surprise in her bright blue eyes.

"Please," said Sora quietly.

"It's better this way," Kairi said as she gently pulled her hand away from Sora and quickly walked across the bridge. She met Riku and Selphie at the top of the stairs and muttered a quick "bye" before continuing down the stairs and hitting the beach. There was no way she would be able to handle being here with both Sora and Riku. When Kairi reached the dock she looked back long enough to see Sora waving at her while Selphie shouted at the top of her lungs about something.

"At least she's happy," Kairi muttered to herself as she untied her boat and jumped in. Kairi hand still tingled from where Sora's warmth had been just a moment before and her nerves were officially shot. She needed to put some distance between Sora and herself. Picking up the oar, Kairi rowed into the sunset.

Riku had to work hard to hide the smile that kept trying to show itself on his lips. Selphie sat on the opposite end of the boat and had talked about Sora the whole time Riku had been rowing. Selphie's boat was being repaired so Riku had agreed to pick her up and from the moment she had gotten in the boat she had talked about what a wonderful boyfriend Sora was going to be. She had to be the luckiest girl in the world!

Of course, Riku played his part beautifully. He would agree or nod his head at the appropriate places and that just prompted her on more. When they finally reached the island, Riku was more than displeased to see the two row boats already sitting there. He had purposely left half an hour early just to make sure Sora and Kairi wouldn't be alone.

"Sora and Kairi are already here," said Riku quietly while Selphie took a deep breathe as she readied herself to start up another full blown conversation. She suddenly realized what Riku had said.

"What," she asked releasing her breathe in surprise. "I didn't know they were coming to the island too."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. It was supposed to be a surprise actually," said Riku making it up as he went along. "Sora had hoped that you and he could watch the sun set together after we got done."

Selphie squealed, reaching an octave that Riku had never thought possible as they pulled up to the dock. Riku, even though conniving at times, jumped out of the boat and tied it to the dock before helping Selphie out.

"Where are they," asked Selphie, looking towards the beach. Riku looked the beach over, then the bridge, and finally the tiny piece of land where the paopu tree sat. It was there that he saw Sora sitting on the tree and Kairi sitting with her knees drawn up to her slender form, chin resting on her knees. Although he couldn't make out Kairi's features, she looked beautiful sitting there with the oranges and yellows of the sun washing over her small frame and reddish brown hair. Riku could almost sense a sadness coming from her. She was a broken angel and it was partly his fault. How he wished he could hold her and make it all better. If only he could have been her partner…

"SORA," yelled Selphie, when she too saw Sora sitting on the paopu tree. Riku threw his hands over his ears to keep from sustaining permanent hearing damage. Both Sora and Kairi turned towards them as Riku and Selphie began to walk across the beach. Riku noticed that Kairi quickly gathered her things and began to walk across the bridge only to be stopped by Sora. When Riku and Selphie reached the top of the stairs they met Kairi coming down. She muttered a quick goodbye as she went down. Selphie stepped out on the bridge and marched straight over to Sora, wearing a huge grin on her face. Riku stopped on the bridge to watch Kairi as she walked across the beach and then approached Sora to find him wearing a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry, did we interrupt something," asked Riku, his point coming across quite clearly.

"Not really," said Sora, eyeing him evenly.

"Hey, look at the sunset," exclaimed Selphie turning her back to Sora and Riku. The moment her back was turned Riku noticed that Sora looked over at Kairi and waved before she got in her boat and paddled off.

"Well, I guess I had better go," said Sora jumping off the tree. "You two need to work on your project."

"But, Sora, I thought you and I were going to hang out afterwards," said Selphie, a pout forming on her lips.

Sora had a quizzical look on his face until he noticed the slight grin on Riku's face and realized what he had done.

"You know, we were but I don't really feel all that well at the moment. Maybe we can tomorrow. I'll see you later."

Sora walked across the bridge leaving Riku to stand with a sulking Selphie. Riku groaned inwardly. His plan had backfired and now he was in for an extremely long evening.

"Well, let's get on with it," said Riku taking Sora's place on the tree, hoping to hurry the project on.

"Sora makes me so mad," said Selphie, tears in her eyes. And so began the three hour conversation on Sora, Riku trying hard to stay awake through the whole ordeal. Whether Sora would ever know it or not, he had definitely repaid Riku back for all the injustice he had done to Sora.

A/N: Leave a review and I'll get back to you! Hey that rhymed…