Normal narration
"Speaking"
Thoughts
Flashback
"Flashback speaking"
"Voices that may be coming from the small talking device or the voices in Sora's head"
The voice
"The voice speaking through other people"
"Sora narration"
Title Stuff
Writings (Letters/Journals/etc.)

Insert: Drawing Days by Splay (Katekyo Hitman Reborn Opening Theme #1)
Kingdom Hearts: Anime Mix
Written by: KingoftheLizards/Brazilianmafioso
Chapter 2: On the Eve of Disaster (Destiny Islands, Part II)

AN: Hello! Hey, ah, it's only been *checks watch* 7 years? Haha... I started writing again, and I've been updating on Archive of Our Own. I might move this story to my new Fanfiction . Net account. You know, maybe clean up a little?

Wow, 7 years. I'm an adult now. That's weird :/

"Sora?"

The sound of splashing water met Kairi as she turned the corner near the Secret Place, a small cave entrance next to the serene pool enclosure.

"Sora?!" she called out again, with no response. Huffing in exasperation, she put down the supplies she was carrying to kneel by the pool and gather water into a couple jugs. She forcefully capped the last one and shot up to glare at the cave entrance.

"Seriously? He does realize we still have to get the rest of the supplies and get ready to set sail tomorrow, right?"

Kairi huffed and stormed towards the cave.

Sora gazed fondly at the drawings on the wall. His eyes softened as he crouched down to touch the crude, yet cute, depictions of the faces of two children.

"This is our secret place! Just for me and Riku!"

A young boy with an earnest face stuck both his arms out, waving them around, his white shirt creasing with every exaggerated expression.

"I mean, no one's s'posed to come in here, y'know?"

The young girl's eyes widened with curiosity, and she admired the surroundings and the boy in front of her.

"Whoa! That's so cool!"

The boy blushed as he determinedly stuttered out, "Ye-Yeah! But I'm making an exception for you, Kairi."

Sora brushed his hands over the two drawings as he remembered the day he and Kairi had sat for hours, using their tiny hands to create each other on the cave wall.

Before we go...

Absently, he picked up a rock and started scratching at the wall.

It had only been a few minutes, his now-older hands able to better handle the drawing with more precision. He was so deep in concentration that he almost did not hear the low voice behind him.

"This world has been connected…"

A cold feeling came over Sora as his eyes widened, heartbeat racing, sweat beginning to pour down his forehead. He got up and turned around quickly.

"Who… Who are you?" He couldn't help but let his voice betray some of his fear, but he wouldn't back down.

"Tied to the darkness," the voice continued. "Soon to be completely eclipsed."

Sora glowered at the robed figure that had appeared before him.

"What's that… What's that supposed to mean?" His hands trembled. "You're not making any sense… Wait, where…"

Seemingly now realizing the figure had appeared out of nowhere, Sora glanced around, nervous.

"You, where did you come from?"

"You do not yet know what lies beyond that door."

Quickly glancing at the mysterious door that had always stood in the Secret Place, Sora gave a short nervous laugh. "I, I really don't know what you're talking about."

"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

Frozen in place, he couldn't think of any words to say. The figure had appeared before him with no warning and had awakened some sort of primal fear with on the boy that he couldn't describe.

"Sora?"

A jolt ran through him as Kairi's voice broke the hold the fear had over him. Relieved at the break in tension, he turned to her and grinned.

"Oh! Kairi, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."

"Haha, yeah okay," she grumbled sarcastically. "What are you doing here?"

"Whoa! No need to be so hostile," he joked as he began pushing her out of the cave.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?! We need to-"

"-get ready for tomorrow! Yeah!" He forced himself to laugh. "That's why I went to go look for those awful, disgusting mushrooms you wanted! I even found the edible ones!"

He didn't hear Kairi argue back with, "Of course they had better be edible!" His attention was taken by the empty space behind him.

He's gone…

Sora wandered the island in a thoughtful daze.

"What was that…?" He put his hand to his chin, thinking, unaware of his surroundings. Was he from… another world?

"Water."

"Huh-?!" Sora didn't have time to react as his right foot left the dock he did not realize he was walking on, losing his balance and tripping straight into the shallow ocean water.

Selphie watched his actions with amusement, kicking her legs over the edge of the dock. She giggled as the boy lifted himself up and attempted to wring the water out from his clothes and hair. Absentmindedly twirling the curled-out end of her hair, she looked out dreamily at the middle island, eyes landing on the tree that housed the star-shaped fruits for which their islands were famous.

"Did you use it?"

"Huh?" he said a bit too forcefully, a mix of embarrassment and frustration turning his face red as he twisted his pant leg. "What did I use?"

"The legendary power of the paopu fruit?" she chirped. "They say if you share it with someone you really care for…," she started and placed her hands together as if making a wish, "it binds you together forever and ever through eternity-"

"Wha-What?" Sora's eyes were comically wide as his face became even redder. "You, uh, you believe in that stuff, Selphie?"

"Of course! You have to believe in something, and anyway," she turned side-to-side, hugging herself, "It's just so romantic!"

Eyes darting back and forth, he chuckled nervously. "Uh, haha, yeah, sure is. Listen, I, um, I have to go. Okay, bye!" he called as he took off as quickly as possible. Selphie didn't even take note as she continued daydreaming.

"That stuff is so stupid!" he grumbled under his breath, flustered and running at full speed to the other side of the island.

"Tree."

This time, Sora looked up, but he couldn't stop himself before crashing head-first into the palm tree in front of him. A coconut fell from the tree, striking the boy's head.

A hand gently grabbed the coconut and tucked it under his arm. Riku pulled out a paper with a smug smirk.

"Coconuts, check."

If Sora wasn't born into a "Rated E for Everyone" sort of world, he would have had a few choice words for his friend.

"What're you doing here?" he asked, trying to hide his embarrassment for about the seventeenth time that day, rubbing the sore spot on his head gingerly.

"Checking up," the other responded nonchalantly, trying to balance the fruit on one finger and then catching it gracefully before it fell. "Kairi said you seemed kinda spooked today." Riku stopped playing, and looked him in the eye.

"You, uh, do you want to talk about it?"

Sora raised an eyebrow at Riku's behavior. "Is the great Riku showing pity for us lower peasants?"

"C'mon, man. Seriously."

"I know." Sora's blue eyes closed as he grinned at the other boy. "Thanks for seriously being my best friend, Riku."

With a small, knowing smile, Riku nodded. "Seriously." He then faced the ocean from their spot on the beach, his face growing darker, losing its light amusement. "And we'll be seriously leaving tomorrow."

Sora's own smile dropped a bit. When had his friend become like this? He used to be content simply within their island home, but now… Sure, the brunette also wanted to see new places, new worlds, to explore as far as he could go, but he didn't want to forget the beautiful home in which he'd spent his whole life. After their journey, he wanted to come back someday and tell everyone, his family, their small town, even the tiny dog that lived with one of his neighbors, he wanted to tell everyone about the cool adventures he had had with his two best friends.

He wanted to keep laughing with Riku and Kari, forever.

But now Riku laughed less and less. He only had one thought on his mind: escape.

He didn't want those thoughts to replace his friendship. He didn't want to be forgotten, left behind-

Sora slapped both hands on his face, the sound startling Riku, who turned back to see the other's face now red not from embarrassment but from the two handprints on his cheeks.

Sad thoughts gone. Positivity!

"What-"

"The raft! Our raft still needs a name, y'know?"

Riku blinked in confusion but then placed one fist on his other hand. "Oh, right!" He thought for a few moments. "What about Highwind?"

Sora puffed out his still-red cheeks. "Bzzt. Lame."

"Wow, okay, thanks. What would you name it, then?"

In a similar manner to Riku, Sora placed a fist in his other hand, immediately coming up with an idea.

"Super Ultra Turbo-"

"Denied."

He gaped. "What?! Are you serious? You didn't even hear-"

"I don't need to. I already know it's something dumb." An idea came to Riku, and he smirked. "We could always do the usual to decide."

He groaned. "Riku, that's not even fair." He slouched over. "You know I've still never beat you in a race."

"You never know. Today could be the day," he stated matter-of-factly, shrugging.

"Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh." Sora drew the disgruntled sound out as long as he could. "Whatever, fine, I don't care about the name anyway."

"Don't be like that, Sora." Kairi's voice attracted the attention of the two boys as she came into view, over one of the wooden platforms that lined their hand-crafted obstacle course. "Your boundless, almost futile, positive confidence is one of your best traits," she said in a comforting voice, smiling.

"Um, wasn't that actually just an insult…"

"Hey!" Riku called out jokingly. "And what's one of my best traits?"

Kairi seemed to ponder for a moment, tapping her finger on her chin.

"Anyway, are you guys going to race? Do you need a judge?"

"Ouch," Riku chuckled as he grasped his chest in feigned hurt.

She shot a mirthful grin back at him and Sora. "So how are we gonna do it this time… How about we do the track where you have to tag the star around the corner? I trust you guys to only make your way back if you actually touch it." There was a subtle threat hidden below those words. She wouldn't allow cheating.

Both Sora and Riku shuddered.

As Kairi continued explaining the rules, Sora turned to Riku, regaining a little of his confidence.

"So, uh, how about if I win, I get to be captain." He nodded to himself, liking the sound of that. "And then we also get to name the raft 'Super Ultra Turbo'-"

"That second one's denied."

"Are you kidding- Anyway, if you win, do you want to be cap-"

"If I win, I want to share a paupu with Kairi," Riku interjected, cutting him off.

Bright red colored Sora's face as he sputtered at Riku's proposition and tried to piece the dots together.

"What-I mean, what, um, but-"

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," he teased.

"Well, um, wait a minute…"

Unaware of their conversation, Kairi excitedly raised her arm.

"Got all that? Then, on my count…"

Trying to swallow his shock, Sora prepared himself, getting into a sprint-ready position.

"Three!"

His heart was pounding in his chest.

"Two!"

Maybe Kairi was right. Maybe today was the day he might win… He had to win! …Did he really have to win? He didn't care about that myth anyway… Why was he so nervous?

"One!"

Sora glanced at Riku, and as soon as the teasing smirk met him, he looked away.

Kairi brought her arm down.

"Go!"

Riku clapped his hand on the distraught Sora's shoulders.

"Guess we're naming the raft Highwind, huh?"

Sora glared at him, a small pout on his face.

It would've been cooler to name it Super Ultra Turbo-

"As for the other thing…," Riku started.

A sense of despair coursed through Sora, but he didn't know why. Did he really care if he couldn't share a fruit with Kairi?

"…that was a joke."

Sora's brain short-circuited, and he just stared incredulously at Riku, mouth agape.

"I thought, but you said, but I-"

Riku laughed as he tousled his hand through Sora's hair. "Yup! See you later, Sora! Make sure you actually put some work in today. See you tomorrow." And with that he was gone.

Still frozen in place, he didn't react as Kairi sidled over, hands behind her back.

"Well, Riku got everything on his list, so I guess he's going back home to pack the rest of his things for tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah, uh-huh."

Kairi raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner.

"So! What were you and Riku talking about?" she inquired innocently.

Sora's eyes couldn't focus on a single object. They just starting darting rapidly, spasming.

"P-P-P…Boys!"

If Kairi knew that his face was heating up to about a trillion degrees, she didn't let on. She was kind of confused, though.

"Like violence! Boy kinds of stuff, you know? Haha…" His face was sweating. "Like, y'know. Hitting stuff until it dies…" His voice got progressively quieter and trailed off at the end.

There were a few moments of silence, and then…

"Pffft, seriously?"

The girl couldn't help but cover her mouth as she began roaring with laughter, a warm smile across her face, a tear coming from her eye. "You two are just so weird, you know that?"

Sora had just dodged a bullet, but he was almost glad it happened. Kairi's elated expression created a warm swell in his heart that made him feel light and bubbly.

Sora always loved the sunset, the way the light sparkled and danced on the ocean, the dazzling glow of the day's end. He sat down on the dock to admire it for just a bit before he had to take his boat and head back home. Hearing soft footsteps, he glanced up at Kairi.

"Mind if I join you?"

He patted the spot next to him. "You know you don't have to ask?"

Nodding, she sat down, moving her legs over the edge of the dock.

Silently, they watched the sky over the horizon, the sun slowly setting, painting myriad hues of red, orange, and yellow across their world. The only sounds came from the waves lapping up the beach and-

"I heard you walked straight into the ocean today."

He almost threw himself straight into the ocean once again just to escape this line of conversation.

Kairi turned to him, her eyebrows creased in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Sora took a few seconds to register her question, initially thinking that this conversation was going in a different direction than he had thought.

She repeated. "Are you okay? You…," she paused, "…seem like you actually have thoughts going through your head these days."

Sora faced her with a deadpan half-lidded stare. "I mean, I think I'm doing okay besides that comment just now." He sighed and tilted his head back, looking straight upwards, his hair shifting slightly with the breeze. "But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm fine. Maybe I'm just a little nervous."

"That makes sense," she agreed. She was quiet for a few seconds, taking time to sort out her thoughts. "Do you… Do you think Riku has changed?"

Yes, he mentally replied immediately. "What do you mean?" He wasn't quite sure what she was thinking.

"Well…" Kairi looked down at the water, hair falling in front of her eyes. Her voice betrayed uncertainty.

"Are you okay?" he asked, parroting her earlier question.

Biting her lip, she didn't answer right away, choosing instead to brush the hair away from her face.

"What if we…" She looked straight into his eyes, her own eyes now filled with an emotion that Sora couldn't place. "Sora, let's take the raft and go." Determination, maybe? "Just the two of us."

Sora broke out of his reverie with a slight blush. "Huh?"

She gave a small laugh and quickly looked back out at the ocean. "Just kidding."

As she placed her hands on her lap, he knew she wasn't telling him something, but… if she didn't want to tell him, that was fine.

"What was that about?" He leaned over to see and gauge her expression, but her face was serene as she faced the setting sun. "You're the one who's changed, Kairi," he joked.

"Maybe…" There was a slight nod. "I think I was a little afraid at first, too." She kicked her feet playfully over the edge of the dock, watching them and then moving her gaze back out to the horizon, to the future. "But now I'm ready. I know I'll miss this place, but no matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here."

She turned to Sora, beaming radiantly.

"I'll always have somewhere to come home to. Right?"

Sora returned the smile, his earlier worries evaporating.

"Definitely."

"That's good," she nodded, closing her eyes. "Sora, don't ever change."

He furrowed his eyebrows again, not understanding. "Huh?" He reached his hand up a little as Kairi took both feet up onto the dock and stood up. He stopped himself. Her eyes were somewhere else as she looked outward. She was too far away from him…

"I just can't wait to set sail. It's going to be so fun."

…But she wasn't too far away that he couldn't catch up.

Sora stayed for a little while after Kairi had left, watching the sun fade beyond his view. Then, he finally picked himself up to start his way home.

He smiled to himself as he rowed the small wooden boat away from the dock, easily gliding through the rippling waters. Maybe both his friends were ahead of him, but he'd always find a way to meet them at the finish line.

An intimidating silence surrounded the Hokage's office, a silence made all the heavier by Naruto's intermittent repeated question: "Guys, what's going on here?" For the past three minutes, no one could bear to look at each other – except Sasuke who made the conscious decision to stare emotionlessly out the window – which only added to the oppressive, stagnant atmosphere in the room. Every breath was a gunshot ringing out, reminding each individual that others were present, and yet no one could provide answers.

The Hokage was gone. Tsunade was missing.

Haha, she's not missing, Sakura's inner-self monologued. Just on another world! Isn't that crazy? Her projection punched the air, as if shattering the world around her. Yeah, right?! Other worlds? What the hell is going on?!

Naruto finally looked at the others again.

"Guys, seriously, we can't stay quiet forever. Where is she? What's going o-"

Frustrated tears forming in her eyes, Sakura punched Naruto straight in the chest, shaking the room around them, Shizune and Sasuke's eyes coming to rest on the spectacle before them. Although not a strong hit, the blow took the ninja by surprise, causing him to lose his balance and fall straight on his butt.

"You idiot! You think we know?! All you're doing is stressing us out even more!"

He took a few seconds to recover from the shock. With arched eyebrows, the blonde looked down sheepishly. "I… I know, Sakura. I'm sorry. I'm scared, too, y'know?" He shook his head. "I don't know what to do either."

A pang of regret hit her. "Naruto, I-"

"Hey, what's up? I'm back."

A puff of smoke briefly filled the middle of the space, quickly dissipating to reveal Kakashi holding an open book. A brief, silence followed again.

"Where were you?" Sasuke asked, glancing over disinterestedly.

"Well…" Kakashi scanned the room with a serious expression. "It just got so serious, suddenly, that I decided I had to finish this chapter before going for-"

Sakura turned her fist on Kakashi this time, only for it to hit the air as he swiftly dodged.

"I'm joking, of course."

"No, you're not."

Kakashi flinched. He couldn't tell her that while he was out checking on something, he did decide to speed-read through the rest of the chapter. He could multitask.

Sighing, he closed the book.

"We need to talk, everyone."

As if on cue, a knock came at the door, and one of the guards politely stuck his head in to say something, but Kakashi cut him off.

"You can let them in whenever they get here."

The guard nodded and closed the door.

Before the silence could start up again, Naruto quickly piped up.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on?"

He sighed. This is already turning out to be a longer day than I wanted it to be. Directly facing the expectant faces, he began.

"I want to tell you a story."

The expectant expressions turned to confusion.

"A story, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

He nodded. "It starts a long time ago, when the World was united."

"This world? Like the Great Nations?"

"Okay, how do I put this." He thought for a second. Tsunade, soon after she had become Hokage, had confided these details to him, something she had said she hoped he would never have to share, and yet now, here he was. "More like the whole universe?" This wasn't a truth he could break lightly. "This world, our world, is just one of hundreds, maybe thousands. Who knows how many."

I guess the supposed 'end of the world' is as good a time as ever to tell them. Especially if Tsunade had deemed Naruto important enough to send on this mission.

"I'm not too good at telling stories, just reading them, so I guess I'll get straight to the point." He sighed as he noticed the intensity of focus his audience placed on him. He wasn't good at entertaining. "That once-united World shattered into many worlds when people began fighting over the light that kept it together. Because of that, well, shadows grew over their hearts, and the spreading darkness engulfed the World in war."

"That's when it shattered?" Sasuke interjected.

"Yeah, that's when the World shattered into millions of tiny pieces, and those pieces were only kept intact by certain people, children, who still held on to the light."

His one visible eye closed, showing he was smiling in the way only Kakashi could, as he clapped his hands together.

"And one of those lights is now our world! Pretty cool, right?"

Everyone present stared dumbfoundedly at Kakashi.

Sakura raised her hand, as if to ask a question. "Yes, hi, Sakura, here. So, ah, what exactly does this alien story have to do with anything?"

Smile still plastered on his face, Kakashi pointed to her dramatically. "Great question! Glad you asked. Now, let's say someone – someone bad – knew about the light that lie at the center of each world." He checked to see that everyone was following along and then continued. "Now, let's say that someone decided they wanted to steal that light, or let's just go ahead and say 'heart,' from every world."

All at once, his expression became serious. "That would send the world into darkness."

"The stars-" Sakura sputtered out, softly gasping after releasing the breath she did not know she had been holding. "The stars have been disappearing," she whispered as she recalled Tsunade's letter.

"Bingo. And that's why-"

"I'll go."

Everyone turned to Naruto as his voice cut through the tension in the room.

The blond placed his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner and grinned.

"I mean, wouldn't 'saved the whole universe' look cool on my Hokage resumé? Granny Tsunade asked me, anyway, probably knowing that."

Sasuke finally moved from his spot next to the wall over to Naruto, where everyone expected him to slap Naruto in the back of the head, or something similar. However, he simply stood next to his teammate, straightened his back, and looked Kakashi in the eye.

"I'm going, too."

Naruto let his arms down and looked at Sasuke with surprise etched onto his face.

"Someone has to keep this loser in check."

Before a fight cold break out, Kakashi coughed to get their attention, causing the two to stop and look at him expectantly. He felt proud, despite himself, of his students for immediately rising to a challenge like this one. He smirked.

"Let's get to the mission briefing, shall we?"

Chapter 2: End

Insert: Gomen ne, Iiko ja Irarenai by Miku Sawai (Kill la Kill Ending Theme #1)