Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, that rightfully belongs to Square Enix and Tetsuya Nomura!


Chapter One


After a long, exhausting school day Yuki usually finds herself sitting on Destiny Islands, next to a curved palm tree to stare at the water. She loves listening to the waves, and seagulls as they flew across the sky. The days always end like this, with a sense of her doing this before, and maybe it's because she does this every day.

As she relaxes, her three friends, Sora, Riku, and Kairi liked to head off together to work on their raft. Their "secret" project that isn't really that secret. It was the talk of the school, and she has no doubt that Selphie started that rumor that they were going to leave the island. Leave the island ... Yuki frowns at the thought as she stares at the horizon. Since Kairi came, Riku and Sora have been obsessed with the idea of finding her real home, and exploring other worlds other than their own. Were there even other worlds? She didn't know.

"Boo!"

Yuki yelps as someone approaches from behind her to tickle her sides. She's so startled she nearly falls into the ocean, but she manages to catch herself before she falls, holding on to the palm tree for dear life and frowns when she recognizes the hearty laughter behind her. Only one person in the whole town has silver hair that she knows of.

"Really, Riku?" She scoffs, and pouts, but even she can't help but smile at his laughter. Riku hasn't laughed like that in a while lately. Not that she noticed or anything. "I thought we've already discussed this before. Don't -"

"Sneak up on you, it freaks you out," Riku mimics her as they say it at the exact same time, and laughs, waving a dismissive hand at her half-hearted glare. "I know, I know."

"But you still do it," she huffs.

"Sorry, just couldn't pass up the opportunity," from his tone, he sounded anything but sorry. "So, you seen the two lovebirds yet?"

"Sora's sleeping again," she says as soon as she notices a boy sound asleep on the shores, recognizing that messy, brown hair of his, bright red outfit, and yellow shoes. "down by the shore, do you see?"

She moves over so that Riku can look. She doesn't have to with how tall he is, but he leans over and squints at the shore, and shakes his head, sighing heavily. She isn't even sure how Sora can sleep so soundly with the overlapping waves, and the water brushing over him like that. But he doesn't even budge.

"Why am I not surprised?" Riku scoffs. "He's getting lazier every day. You seen Kairi?"

Hmm. Usually wherever Sora is, Kairi's sure to be with him. Those two were attatched to the hip.

"I think Kairi said she's going to hang out with Selphie today," she frowns, hardly seeing the two girls anywhere on the beach like they usually were, sometimes they would be near the docks, playing with seashells. She can't even remember the last time she and Kairi truly hung out together.

"I'm kinda surprised you're not with them," Riku admits.

"Please," she scoffs, sticking her nose up. "Me and girl talk? No thanks."

Truthfully, she's glad she decided not to hang out with Selphie and Kairi today. No doubt those two were talking about the legend of the paopu fruit, it's Selphie's favorite legend.

"You sure you're a girl?" Riku asks with a laugh, earning a soft punch on the arm from Yuki.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

He merely laughs, and she leaves it alone, listening to his laugh, until she notices a girl with bright red hair, wearing a purple tank top and a purple skirt walking towards sleeping boy on the shore, and startles him awake. Yuki frowns at the interaction, and doesn't like the tightness she's feeling in her chest.

"Come on, let's go see what they're up to," Riku suggests.

She'd rather not. But ... it's been awhile since the four of them all hung out properly. She smiles as he offers to help her up from the floor, and she accepts the help, following after him towards the shore. She had offered him some help before with the logs he's carrying, but he'd declined, saying she couldn't even lift the crates that were scattered about the island. Which is begrudgingly true, they were heavy enough that she and Kairi had trouble carrying them together.

"Hey!" Riku calls to the two on the beach, and both look over at the exact same time. "Aren't you guys forgetting about me?"

She's sensing a hostile tone beneath the playful teasing their way, and she tenses. Maybe he's noticed how often Kairi and Sora were hanging out together too.

"So, looks like I'm the only one working on the raft," he tosses the log he's carrying towards Sora who crumples underneath the weight of it. Yuki giggles softly at the boy's misfortune, and Sora glares at her. She decides to help out after feeling guilty for laughing at him. "And you ..." Riku addresses Kairi with a pointed look. "You're just as lazy as he is."

"So you noticed," Kairi smiles innocently at Riku. "Alright, let's work on the raft together, I'll race you!"

"What?" Sora asks with disbelief.

"Are you kidding?" Riku's just as in disbelief as Sora. Yuki agrees with them, she and Kairi rarely win against a race between them. Once Sora and Riku compete, it's impossible to win.

"Go!"

And though they complained about the race, Sora and Riku jump up, quick and ready. Yuki shares a knowing smile with Kairi, who nods her head as if to tell her she understood, and the two girls chased after them, Kairi giggling as they did.

This world will disappear soon ...

Yuki nearly freezes and trips over her feet as a familiar, feminine voice speaks in her mind. It's not her own voice, and it's not her friends, who are still wrapped up with the race. She hasn't heard that voice since ...

Are you really okay with that?

Disappear ... what?

"Hey, Yuki!" Kairi calls to her, cupping a hand over her mouth, waving. "If you don't hurry up, you're gonna get left behind!"

"Coming!" She calls back, waving at Kairi.

If her friends had noticed her distraction, they never said anything. But ... the return of that voice had dampened her mood. She did not end up winning the race. Not that she even wanted to in the first place.

"Seriously, Riku, do you have to win at everything?" Yuki whines as she catches her breath. Riku merely sends a smug grin her way.

"Hey, not my fault you guys are sore losers," Riku shrugs.

"No, you're just a sore winner," she mutters under her breath, and Sora mumbles an agreement next to her. "So what do you guys need help with today? Maybe Riku can help out again!"

"Oh, no," Riku dismisses, leaning against the tall, rock structure. "it's my turn to take a break. You slackers get to work on the raft today."

She, Sora, and Kairi head towards the raft, and she's barely listening as Kairi gives some instructions to Sora about the supplies needed for the raft. She quietly watches Sora rushing through the palm trees, smacking the bark with a wooden toy sword as he waits for the coconuts to drop onto the sand.

"One of these days, I'm going to do something so awesome, it's going to wipe that stupid smirk off of Riku's face," Yuki scoffs.

"You won't!" Kairi laughs.

"I won't," she agrees. It's nearly impossible to compete against Riku, who was nearly good at everything he did.

An awkward silence overcomes the two girls, as Kairi works on the seashells in her hands. Yuki sits on the raft, and stares as the water rushes through the wooden planks, Riku and Sora must have worked hard to tie together.

"I can't believe we're really leaving the island in two more days," Kairi says wistfully.

"You excited?"

"More nervous than anything," Kairi admits. "I'm excited we're going to find my home ... but at the same time ... I'm happy here with all of you, you know?"

Yuki glances at the raft she's sitting on thoughtfully. Truthfully, it wasn't just Kairi that made Riku and Sora want to leave the island. They both have wanted to leave ever since they were children. And now they were actually leaving in two more days ... she didn't want them to go. She often thought of destroying the raft, but Riku and Sora have worked too hard on it, and it would make her feel guilty.

In two more days, huh, she thought with dread. Two days felt like too soon.

Sora interrupts her thoughts thankfully as he approaches them, supplies that Kairi asked for in both his arms, gasping for breath. Kairi had teased him about being out of shape, but he had argued he shouldn't be since he's trained with Riku every day. Yuki remains quiet the whole time, suddenly not in the mood to join up with them anymore. She tells them she isn't feeling well, and decides to head home early.


Yuki wakes up the next morning with tears in her eyes. She quickly wipes them away, and glances down at her hand, watching as they fell. Nightmare. She glances over at the window, and frowns when she notices it's still dark out, but some pink stands out from the sun rising in the horizon. She hasn't had a nightmare like that since she was a kid, and Kairi arrived at the islands. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down. Her parents would still be asleep at this hour, and they knew she'd usually meet up with Sora and Riku at this hour.

She's standing at the docks, watching the sun rise, and waiting for her friends to show.

"Somehow, I knew I'd find you down here," Riku's voice startles her, and she whirls around, meeting his bright green eyes. He's an early riser just like her, and usually the first of the three to show. "Nightmares?"

He knew her far too well for her liking.

"Yeah," she sighs. Might as well tell him the truth, he'll find out either way.

"Me too," he admits.

She tries so hard not to show the surprise on her face, but as she turns around to stare at him again, she's certain it's showing. He never openly talked about his troubles to anyone, which she always thought wasn't good for anyone. Bottle up emotions like that and they'll show up unpleasantly one way or another. Like she's one to talk though, she's just as bad as he is.

'You'd always come back here, right?" she asks.

"What brought that up?" Riku asks.

"Since you're leaving tomorrow," she answers. "is there anything you'd miss?"

"Nah," he answers, and it's like a slap to her face. If he felt that way ... then maybe Sora did too. "I guess ... if i did miss anything ... I'd miss this."

Too late. Damage has already been done.

"Riku, Yuki!" Kairi's cheerful voice interrupts the awkward silence that has overcome the two of them. Yuki whirls around and sees the red-haired girl smiling, jumping up and down, and waving at them. Sora's nearby, huffing and puffing as if he'd ran all the way to the docks. She's never been more happy to see her and Sora. "See, Sora? I told you they'd be here, you're so slow!"

"Gimmie a break, Kairi," Sora whines. Riku laughs, and Yuki joins in, more softly, not really putting much heart into it.

"You guys ready to head to the island?" Riku asks.

"I'll race you there," Sora grins as he jumps into one of the rowboats, and Riku shakes his head at him, but follows.

"Hey, you okay, Yuki?" Kairi's voice startles her, and she realizes that she's one of the last to head for the boats. Her voice also catches Riku and Sora's attention and they both look over in concern. "You look really pale."

Now that Kairi has mentioned it, she's been feeling off since she woke up.

"I'm fine, Kairi," Yuki tries to be her more cheerful self so not to worry the others. "You're imagining things!"

"Okay..." Kairi's skeptic, however. Curse Kairi and Riku for their observational skills.

Luckily for her, they both left it alone. Hardly in the mood to help them out, and now realizing she really isn't feeling that well, enough that she turns down a game of blitzball with Tidus and Wakka, she decides to stay in her favorite spot on the curved palm tree. Being near the water always made her feel better, and she's lucky enough that their whole island is surrounded by it.

It's nearly sunset by the time she starts to feel slightly better and more herself again, and since the others haven't joined her at the tree yet, she thought about calling it quits for the day and head to bed early, hopeful that she'd feel better tomorrow.

"Hey, Yuki," Kairi approaches her with a smile, and her arms placed behind her back as she walks, "Sora and Riku got competitive again today. They had a race by the coconut trees, just to name the raft."

"Riku won?"

"Of course," Kairi nods, and joins her on the palm tree, thanking her when Yuki helps her up. "But, truthfully, he only won because Sora fell from the tree tops. The raft is now named Highwind."

Yuki sighs. Those boys and their dangerous games.

"I can't believe you guys beat us here," Sora whines. Both girls whirl around to see Sora slightly behind Riku, leaning with his palms on his knees, staring at both of them in disbelief.

"You're slow!" Kairi teases him.

"Am not!" Sora huffs.

"Didn't we already go through this this morning?" Riku interrupts, unimpressed.

Yuki smiles as she and Kairi scoot over to make some room for the two boys. Riku offers to stand, and he folds his arms across his chest. Sora joins the girls, and lays down on the curved spot, arms behind his head as he stares at the sunset. Sora had brought up other worlds, and she decides to tune out the conversation when they begin to talk about Kairi's world.

"You guys are really leaving tomorrow," Yuki states as it goes quiet between the three, and they glance over at her in surprise.

"You can always come with us, you know," Sora says, tilting his head so that he can see her.

"Please, all four of us on that small raft? No thanks. " She scoffs. "We can barely fit on this tree."

"We'd miss you though!" Sora argues. "It wouldn't be the same without all four of us together."

She'd miss them too. She smiles weakly. A sudden wave of exhaustion overcomes her, and the world is tilting on its side.

"I'm ..." Yuki tries to get up from her spot, and she hopes that she can make it to the docks in time without throwing up. "I think, I'm gonna head back early."

She's aware of Riku asking her something, but a sharp pain, and a flash of a world covered in complete darkness, another world with a heart shaped moon, beach covered in night and stars flows through her mind. She cries out, and finds herself falling off the tree, and into the water, Sora's gloved tip hand is trying to reach her, but she hits the water with a loud splash. She sees a flash of silver hair jumping in after her before blacking out.

This world is going to disappear soon ...

We need your help.

Find someone else, she calls back to the voice weakly.

It's too late ... you're already chosen.

" -ki! Yuki!"

And her eyes open as soon as she feels pressure on her chest.

Yuki jumps up, gasping for breath, and hacking out any water. She's cold, and her blue shirt and shorts, and hair are completely damp. Riku's hovering nearby, hand on her back, staring at her with worry in his green eyes, and a frown on his face.

"Thanks, Riku," she says weakly. He nods, though still hovering as if waiting for her to fall over or pass out again.

"You gave us all a heart attack," Sora's the first to hug her, and then Kairi. She winces, but thankful for the warmth.

She's back on the island, with the sun setting and no heart shaped moon in sight. She sighs with relief.

"Seriously, what's with you lately?" Riku demands. "You've been acting weird."

"Kinda like when we were kids," Sora trails off, and frowns. She doesn't like when he frowns. It looks weird on him.

"The voice came back...they need help..." she answers quietly, and the boys both tense, and give each other knowing looks. "Haven't heard that since..."

Yuki glances over at Kairi, who frowns at her.

"Voice?" Kairi asks curiously. She's out of the loop, and Yuki had thought about explaining everything to her, sensing no judgement.

"I'm beginning to dislike the voice," Riku admits, "it keeps pushing you towards the water."

The four friends quiet. She realizes he's right, she remembers standing in the water waiting all night when they were children, and she doesn't even know how to explain what's going on with her, who exactly needed help, or what she's even seen in the vision.

"You sure you don't want to come with us on the raft?" Sora tries to change the subject, and she's grateful for it.

"Thanks for the offer, Sora, but no thanks," she declines. Besides, she isn't so sure how much of Sora and Kairi's googly eyes she can take if she were to go with them, she can hardly stand it now.

Only one more day to be with them.

May as well make the most of it.


Tara Mccann - Thank you so much for your review!