Bittersweet Melody: by hikari-aozora

Bold: parts of the chapter's song

Italics: a thought or flashback

Underlined: emphasis on words

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the KH, KH2, or Final Fantasy Characters used, unfortunately ...

CHAPTER ONE: Thinking of You

"Kairi! Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you, I promise!"

"I know you will!"

But where are you, Sora?

"Guess who?" a voice said as a pair of hands were put in front of the girl's eyes.

"Sora ..." the girl mumbled, still quite in a daydream state. She wasn't really paying attention to the voice that had asked her this, nor did she really care that she couldn't see anything at the moment, due to the hands that had been placed in front of her sapphire eyes.

"'Sora?'" the voice said, repeating the girl's response in a slightly irritated tone. The hands were removed from in front of her eyes, revealing once again to the girl the sparkling blue ocean that lay before her. "Geez, Kairi. I mean, I know you've been out of it lately, but you could of at least gotten the gender right!"

Kairi, finally acknowledging the person who had blocked out her view of the sea, turned around to see a girl about her age with short brown hair and wearing a yellow sundress. The girl had her hands on her hips, one eyebrow raised, and was tapping her foot against the wooden planks below her that made up the dock of the small island they were currently on. "Oh," Kairi said quickly flashing her friend a smile. "Sorry about that, Selphie. You caught me in the middle of thought."

"So I see," Selphie said, sitting beside Kairi and dangling her feet off the end of the dock, just like the other girl. She leaned back and supported herself on her hands, taking in the same view as Kairi. Then she turned her head toward the girl. "You were thinking about him again, weren't you?" she said.

Thinking of you, wherever you are

There was a moment of silence that passed between them, which was broken by Kairi's sigh. Selphie took that to mean yes.

"I know you guys are tired of me just spacing out like this all the time," Kairi said, pushing a strand of her red-violet hair back behind her ears that had been blown out of place by the wind and turning to face her friend.

"Huh?" Selphie cocked her head to one side. "No, Kairi, that's not it at all. I mean, sure, you get lost in thought like this a lot now, but ... we all know why. We undertand what you're going through, Kai ... or at least, we try to, but you won't talk to us much anymore."

Kairi turned her head to stare at her feet, suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm ... sorry, Selph."

Selphie's eyes grew wide and she leaned forward to put a hand on Kairi's shoulder, thinking that she may have hurt her friend's feelings. "It's okay, Kai, its okay. I'm sorry for saying that. That was stupid of me. Sorry, sorry, sorry."

The girl turned to give Selphie a smile to assure her friend it was alright, and then she turned back to face the ocean. "Nah, you're right," she said to Selphie. "I really shouldn't shut you guys out like this. There's so much I haven't told anyone and maybe ... maybe I need to get it out, let it go ..."

Let it go? What am I saying? I can't ... I won't ... I refuse to ...

Selphie looked at Kairi worriedly. "Let it go? What do you mean?"

I can't ...

Kairi shook her head. "No," she said gulping down tears. "I didn't mean that. I-I can't do that ... I can't ..." She closed her eyes to keep the tears from coming. Just the thought of letting go forever saddened her. It wasn't just him, it was both of them. They were her best friends. She couldn't ...

I wont ...

The brunette patted her on the back. "I know, Kairi, I know." And Selphie knew it wasn't just because they were her best friends. Kairi loved Sora, it was so obvious! Kairi was constantly thinking about Sora, drawing his eyes, writing songs about him ... she was completely obsessed with this boy! Why Kairi didn't just come out and admit that she loved him was beyond her. Selphie knew that if Kairi would just say it, she would feel better, but Selphie knew not to interfere, not to interrogate the poor girl. Kairi had been through too much, and even though it had been a year since Sora left, Selphie knew that Kairi hadn't gotten over him.

And she wouldnt. She couldn't.

I refuse to ...

"I c-can't stop thinking a-about h-him," Kairi stammered, struggling to hold back the tears her heart was forcing out of her. She put one hand on her chest, abover her heart, where his heart once was, too. "H-he promised h-he would come back, b-but it's b-been a year and, he's n-not here." She needed him now more than ever. Before, after he left, when she would cry, she could almost feel his arm around her shoulders, comforting her. She could almost hear him say, "It's okay, Kairi. I'm here, don't cry. I'm not leaving." But now ...

His voice ... It's left me.

His prescence had left, and it was more than she could bear.

We pray for our sorrows to end,

and hope that our hearts will blend

She couldn't hold back the tears. They started to flow uncontrollably out of her. Try as she might, she couldn't stop them from coming. They blurred her view of the sea, which she had stared out upon every day for the year he had been gone. They smeared the azure sky that was painted above the sea before her, azure, the color of his eyes. The tears began to flow hearder, practically gushing from her eyes. She turned and burried her head in Selphie's shoulder and continued to sob, harder than she had ever sobbed before. She was letting it out ... all of it that had been bottled up inside for so long.

Selphie pulled Kairi into a friendly hug, trying desperately to comfort her. "Shh, Kairi, it's okay ..."

Kairi continued to cry for several minutes before she finally calmed down. She wiped the remaining tears from her face and smiled. "Thanks, Selph."

Selphie patted her friend on the back again and then stood. "You're welcome, Kai. Now, remember, if you ever need anything, I'm here for you, we all are. Me, Tidus, and Wakka ... yup! Need anything, and you can talk to us!"

Kairi sniffed and stood as well, towering a good two inches above Selphie. She gave her friend a quick hug and said, "I will. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it," Selphie said, and she walked off again.

Kairi turned to face the sparkling watters once more. The waves glowed in the setting sun as the sky grew darker. Though the tears had passed now, Kairi still thought of her two best friends as she stared out at the sea. It would never stop, the thoughts would just keep coming forever.

"Kairi! Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too. I'll come back to you, I promise!"

"I know you will!"

She remembered the last time she saw Sora, when he had said those words to her, and his hand had slipped away as the two landforms they were standing on grew further apart and the sea formed between them. They had moved farther and farther apart until he was no longer in view, which made her wonder if they were still moving, still growing far apart. Would it never end?

That night, the night that he had left her, the stars that had, over time, blinked out one by one, returned to the sky as the worlds they represented were restored. No more stars had blinked out since them. It was as if they had never gone away in the first place. They forever illuminated the night sky.

Kairi rubbed her eyes now, for she thought she saw a shooting star, which would be the first one she had seen since that night. Though she wasn't sure if her eyes were decieving her or not, she wished upon it. "I wish ..." she began, and she finished the rest in her head.

Now I step forward to realize this wish

It was the same wish, always the same wish.

Bring them home, please. I don't know how much more of this I can stand before I have to ...

She gulped.

... before I have to let go.

Another voice rang out in her head to contradict the one that had just made the wish. What are you saying? it screamed. You love him! You can't let him go! He'll come back, he promised he would! Just give it some time.

"But I don't even know if he loves me," Kairi said to herself.

Sure you do! Remember the drawing on the cave wall?

Kairi remembered about what she had found in the cave that she and her friends called the Secret Place the night the island had been restored. On the cave wall was a drawing she had done of Sora's head across from a drawing he had done of her when they were little. Yet, that night, she discovered something different. Sora had drawn a hand reaching out from below his head, handing Kairi a star-shaped fruit. It was a paopu fruit.

And you know the legend ...

"But Riku might have drawn that because he thought it would be funny," Kairi said. "Riku was always doing stuff like that."

You know in your heart what's true.

Kairi wanted to believe that Sora had drawn that. No, she knew it was his drawing. But then, why didn't he just come out and say it?

She shook her head. "It hurts too much."

And who knows

Starting a new journey may not be so hard...

"I'm killing myself from the inside by hanging on," she said, raising her voice a little. "It hurts, too much! You have to understand ... I-I have to ... even though it would hurt to, I ... I have to stop doing this to myself!"

No, you can't! Listen to yourself! What would Sora say?

"Sora wouldn't want me to suffer," she said, and then she gaped at herself. Had she really just said that? Where did that come from? Was that Sora talking just then?

One more day, please! Give it one more day! Just one!

...Or maybe it has already begun

Kairi sighed and stared into the waters below, into her own reflection, into her own eyes. "One more day," she said. "That's all my heart can take."

He won't let you down, Kairi. You know him. You know he wouldn't break your heart like that.

"The longer he is away the more fragile my heart becomes," Kairi told herself. "Before, when he was near, his heart was with mine, protecting it, keeping it steady. I had no fear of my heart breaking because he was always there to keep it in tact. But now, he is gone," she said, and she put both of her hands on her heart, "and my heart is weak. He's left me. His voice, his prescence ... it's gone."

He's not gone. He's always with you, too, remember?

"I know that's what he said, but," she began, "that day, he also promised he would come back for me and ... and it's been a year already!" She stomped her foot. "I'm tired of waiting! I can't stand it any longer! And Riku isn't here either! I remember the days long ago when it was the three of us ... and now," she sighed again, "now it's just me. I'm alone."

Alone? No, you have Selphie, Tidus, and Wakka, remember?

"It isn't the same," Kairi said, shaking her head. "It is enough to keep me going but, it isn't the same. Oh, I just want things to be back the way they were."

She stared out across the ocean and the sky reflected in it one last time as the sun set behind the waters, leaving her in what would be complete darkness if it weren't for the light of the moon and the stars. Kairi was sure that Selphie and the others would have rowed home in their boats by now, and it was about time she did too. But for some reason, she couldn't take her eyes away from the sky. The horizon seemed to be glowing in the moonlight more beautifully than it ever had in the past. There was something different about it ... as if the water was also reflecting the feeling in her heart at this moment and not just the sky.

There are many worlds

But they share the same sky

The sky always reminded her of Sora. The sky was the same color as his eyes at midday. That azure blue color was comforting to her, maybe because staring at the sky was like staring into his eyes. But it wasn't just that. 'Sora' in Japanese meant 'sky'.

Coincidence? or destiny?

"The sky, though it was the same no matter what world I was in before, is different here," Kairi said, again to no one in particular.

Maybe that's because it's his sky, the sky he is supposed to be seeing with me.

"One more day, Sora," she said, as if he could hear her. "One more day ... please, don't fail me now. I have faith in you."

One sky, one destiny.