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 TWO: Don't Worry
"Sora ..."
"...Kairi?"
"Oh ... Sora ... please ..."
"Kairi! Is that you?"
"One more day ..."
"What are you talking about? Kairi? Kairi?"
"Ow!" Sora awoke with a sharp pain in his chest and he bolted up into a seated position. "Ohh ..." he moaned, placing a hand over where the pain was, placing a hand over his heart.
I just can't believe it
How easily you slipped away
"You okay?"
Sora looked at the source of the voice, a silver-haired boy about a year older than he was who was sitting on a pile of rocks beside him. The boy was staring at Sora with piercing green eyes and a solemn countenace.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sora said as the pain subsided. What was that all about? he thought. I could have sworn I heard Kairi's voice. But that's impossible. I haven't heard her voice for so long.
After all that we've been through
I couldn't make you stay
The silver-haired boy's expression didn't change, and he continued to stare at Sora.
"Riku, I said I'm fine!" Sora shouted, getting to his feet and seating himself near Riku.
Riku raised one eyebrow and continued to stare at his friend. "Are you sure? You looked like you were having a seizure down there--"
"I'm fine already!" Sora shouted, cutting Riku's sentence short.
Riku cleared his throat and continued. "And you were talking in your sleep ... to Kairi."
Sora looked at him. He wished Riku would just learn to mind his own business. Then again, he probably thinks the same thing about me.
"It's nothing," Sora said, turning away. "It ... it was just a dream anyway."
"Yes, but a dream about Kairi," Riku snapped. "Remember the last time you told me you had a dream about her?"
Sora sighed. How could he forget? The last time he had a dream about her was the night before he and Riku were taken hostage in their sleep by the last surviving member of the Thirteenth Order and his minions. He and Riku were seperated and Sora was chained up. They had captured Kairi, too, and threatened to kill her if Sora didn't comply.
"We know what your weakness is, boy. She is your weakness. You will do anything for her, won't you? Heh, heh, how unfortunate. Now, surrender the Keyblade or we decapitate your prescious princess!"
Sora, who had been enraged by this, summoned all the strenghth he had and broke free of his chains. With Kairi as his motivation, he defeated his enemy and won his freedom ...
"Yes, she is my weakness, I admit it! But you have forgotten that she is also my strength!"
... only to find that the Kairi they had threatened him with was not real. She was merely a hologram.
It's all just a blur now
Memories I don't want to forget
but hate to remember
It was that day that Sora truely understood how he felt for Kairi, how he would do anything for her, anything to save her, anything to help her, anything to keep her safe, andything to be with her, anything to get back to her, anything!
But where was Kairi, his weakness, his strength?
I miss spending my days with you
She was safe in Destiny Islands, where she belonged, and Sora knew that he belonged there with her. He desperately searched the quarters of the member of the Thirteenth Order that had held him hostage for a portal, a way to get home, for he had seen the ways of the Order. He had seen how they traveled from place to place by portal, and he was hoping, praying, that there was one nearby.
Alas, after all of that searching, he found a portal, but not one that would take him home. Instead, it took him to this dark, secluded cave beside the sea, where there was nothing but darkness, rocks, and sand. Here, he was re-united with Riku. Here, they would stay for longer than either one of them wished. Here, they still were.
It was just the two of them, and it had been for so long. Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, and all of the others had left once their mission was complete, and now Sora and Riku travelled alone, searching for the door of light.
Searching ... waiting ...
But they hadn't found it yet. After all of that searching they still hadn't found it.
"You are the one who will open the door ..."
But how could he open the door if he had no door to open?
Sora was getting tired of looking, and he was sure Riku was, too. And what would happen when they found it? Would they be rewarded? Sora doubted it.
So what was the point?
Does your heart hurt as much as mine?
Riku chuckled, which brought Sora out of his trance. He turned to his friend and crossed his arms. "What's so funny?" Sora asked.
"Sora," Riku said matter-of-factly, "you have sand in your hair."
Sora shook his head and ran his fingers through his unruly brown hair to knock all of the sand out and then he turned back to Riku to ask, "Is it gone?" Riku only laughed harder. Sora jumped to his feet. "Oh, what now?"
"Your hair ..." Riku said between laughs, "...looks ... so bad ..."
The younger of the two, of course, could not see how badly he had messed up his already wild spikes on his head, and so of course he didn't think this was the least bit funny. In fact, it angered him. He stomped his foot, sending sand flying and shouted, "Shut UP, Riku! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He clenched his fists and held them tightly at his sides, breathing heavily.
Riku was silent, but he knew something was wrong, something that concerned matters more important than his hair. Matters like ...
"Is it Kairi?" the silver-haired boy asked his troubled friend.
Sora stared blankly at Riky for a moment, and then he quickly sat back down, but his elbows on his knees and burried his face in his hands. He was trying not to cry, he couldn't, especially in front of Riku, but ...
"Kairi ..." he moaned, gulping back the tears, trying to stay strong. He lifted his head and stared out upon the black waters. The sea here was so much different than the sea back home, the sea that Kairi was probably watching now.
I can't take much more of this
The distance between us isn't getting any smaller
"Sora, I'm sorry," Riku said, his voice more stern now, and he stared at the same ocean that Sora watched. Then, suddenly, he sighed and said, "I miss her too, but," he turned to Sora, "I know I don't miss her as much as you do."
Sora was silent, so Riku continued.
"I know how you feel about her."
The brunette turned to face his friend. "Is it really that obvious?"
Riku smiled and nodded. Then, seeing the sad look on Sora's face, he added, "Don't worry, we'll get home soon ..." He stopped there, though, for truthfully, he wasn't so sure anymore.
"You always say that," Sora began, getting to his feet. "Everyone always says that! But 'soon' has come and passed, Riku! And where are we? We're still not there! We're still not home!" He bent down, picked up a small rock, and threw it forcefully into the still watters. "I've been putting up with this for a year now, and frankly, I'm tired of it! I want to, no, need to go back!"
"Sora, calm down," Riku said, gesturing with his hands. He had never seen Sora act this way. "I know, I'm homesick too--"
"I'm not just homesick, Riku!" Sora said as he paced back and forth. "I need to be home, on Destiny Islands! I have people to see, promises to keep, words to say ... words that I have to say ..."
Kairi ...
"Sora, are you okay?" Riku was staring at his younger friend, who was standing completely still, his fists clenched, a blank expression on his face.
Suddenly, Sora began to tremble. He clenched his fists tighter and tighter and his muscles got stiff. His face turned bright red as anger built up inside of him. Rage burned in his blood, rage at himself, rage at all the lies he had ever heard, rage at the world.
I know I'm not helping by just sitting here
I realize not that losing you is my worst fear
"I want to go HOME! Damn it!" He shouted, kicking the sand with all of his power, covering himself in a cloud of debris. When the sand settled again, a wide-eyed Riku saw that his friend had fallen to his feet and was breathing heavily.
But don't worry
I'm coming back to you
I'll find a way to see this through
"Sora ..."
No matter what I have to do
"Please," Sora said to no one, "take me home. That's all I ask ... please."
I'm gonna get back home to you
Don't worry
Just then, a pilar of light appeared, hovering inches over the watter, filling the dark hollow with a warm glow, one that filled the two boys with a strange, unknown sensation. Sora looked up and watched as the pillar, which started off as a small stream in the air, grew wider and wider, stretching out in front of them, shining brighter and brighter as it expanded. Sora and Riku sheilded their eyes as the light grew unbearable to their sight. When the light dimmed enough that the two could look at it, they lowered their hands. Sora gasped. It looked strangely like--
"A door?" The boy stood so that he could get a better view. Is it possible? he thought. But, why now? Am I dreaming?
I'm coming home to you
I'll break down the door if I have to
"The door ... to the light," Riku said. The he turned his head toward Sora and said, in a definite tone, "It's the door to the light, Sora." Then he added, seeing the shocked expression on the brunette's face, "And unless we're both having the same dream, it's real."
The Keybearer couldn't believe his eyes. A million thoughts were running through his mind at once, like What, How? and Why now? But the most important question of all, the one that had to be answered first, was Where does it lead?
Suddenly, he turned to the silver-haired boy and held out his hand. "Come with me!"
Riku hesitated for a minute, contemplating Sora's recent actions. His mind was teetering back and forth across the line of the thought that Sora was crazy, completely out of his freakin mind! But what did he have to lose?
Nothing stands between me and you
"Okay," Riku said, and he got to his feet.
The two boys faced the door to the light, unable to see what lay beyond it, but their hearts and their minds told them that they had to step through to the other side. It was, afterall, their destiny.
And when I dream of you at night
I'll come back home to you in flight
And so, without looking back at the terrible fate that had befallen them in the past, without once glancing at the dark hollow where they had been trapped for so long without a glimmer of hope, they stepped through the door and were engulfed in the light.
I'll fight for you with all my might
and when I step into the light ...
Falling ... Falling ...
(A/N: yeah, so that was chapter two, sorry bout the one cuss word, but this IS rated T, and it was just to show emotion. i promise, i dont cuss excessively, in fact, i dont normally cuss at all, so theres nothing to worry about really in next chapters. it was just for emotion and intensity.)