A/N: Well this is the second chapter. Most of these chapters are going to be surprising long! So prepare for lots and lots of reading! I'm trying to make this long and short at the same time you know. Not to mention I get a buzz out of typing this story and it becomes very hard to end the chapter. So that adds up to my difficulty level. Anyway let's have Sora take it away with the disclaimer so we can get this chapter started!
Sora: Okay well here we go, (I'm so excited this is my second time doing it!) Flowerlady- Aerith does not own Kingdom Hearts. If in some twisted way she did own Kingdom Hearts Riku would have a girlfriend and I would be with Kairi!
Riku: What's that supposed to mean?
Me: Oh nothing other than your…. loveless. But I'm sure one of our lovely reviewer girls would love to date you!
Riku: Why does it sound like your selling it for the highest bet?
Me: Because I am! Okay! Ten dollars do I get a ten-dollar offer? You! Great anyone got eleven dollars? Got one! Okay twelve dollars?
Kairi: -snickers-
Is This Just Another Lie
- Sweet Reunion -
"This airport is stuffy and I can tell your sweating Kairi, why don't you take off that jacket before you get it all smelly?" Selphie suggested as she waited for her and Kairi's luggage to come through the baggage claim. Kairi agreed. She didn't want Sora's jacket to be smelly she wanted his scent to stay on it forever, as it had for these long eight years. She took it off and folded it neatly before putting it in her backpack.
"Kairi hurry up my weak arms can't carry both of these heavy, heavy suitcases! If I bend down any further people might see up my skirt!"
Kairi could have sworn she saw every male human in the building look Selphie's way. This time Selphie had been serious about the suitcase thing; it was strange how attractive Selphie could be. "Sorry," Kairi replied taking her suitcase away from Selphie. "Let's get going, if we want a good apartment that is, everyone knows getting places at night is always bad."
"Okay let's go Kairi all these stares are starting to freak me out." Kairi nodded and turned around starting to head toward the exit. She kept her eyes on her feet not wanting to make contact with anyone at the moment. Her auburn bangs were covering her eyes, which turned out to be a bad thing. She couldn't see where she was going.
Thud
Kairi blinked, she had just bumped into someone. All she could see was a crown necklace; it reminded her of the one Sora used to wear. She let out a sigh. "Sorry," she mumbled moving aside and quickly walking away with the suspicious brunette behind her.
The man she had bumped into was none other than Sora. He scratched his spiky head. "For some reason that brunette woman seemed familiar," he mumbled to himself as he searched around for Riku, Yuffie, Roxas, Rikku, Yuna, Paine, and Tifa. It would be good seeing them again.
"Sora!"
The brunette man turned around to see Yuffie, Tifa, and Rikku waving to him. He grinned and ran over to the women. "Yuffie! Tifa! Rikku!" Sora exclaimed in his slightly more matured voice. He pulled them both into a hug making them loose their breath.
"Sora…you're crushing…our lungs!" Rikku gasped struggling to get away from his strong grip. Sora mumbled and 'oops' and released the girls. He watched as they panted. "I didn't think a pipsqueak like you could've gotten that strong, Riku described you as skinny but look! You're so muscular!"
Sora blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "What can I say? I'm a growing boy," Sora laughed. Yuffie chuckled and pulled him into a headlock. Sora yelped trying to get away.
"You still can't escape my noogies though!" Yuffie laughed messing up his spiky hair. Sora squirmed trying to get away.
"You're messing up my hair!" Sora cried trying to pull his head away from her fist of doom.
"Like it was ever combed."
Yuffie released Sora so he could see Roxas smirking at him. Sora ran over to Roxas pulling him into a 'man' hug. "Roxas!" Sora exclaimed pulling away. "Its good to see you!"
"Same to you buddy," Roxas replied. They smashed their knuckles together starting their secret handshake they had created while they were sugar-high in a chat room.
"What no greeting for us?"
Sora looked over and saw Paine and Yuna waving at him. Sora ran over to them and gave them both gentle hugs. He didn't want to repeat what he had done to Rikku and Paine. Besides the fact he already knew about Yuna's shoulder problem. "Hey Yuna, any problems with that shoulder of yours lately?" he asked.
Yuna shook her head. "Everything's been fine you don't have to worry about me," Yuna replied with a smile.
"I still think you should sue."
Riku walked over to Sora and shoved him. "I know your mad at me Sora but you don't have to ignore me," Riku grumbled pretending to be mad at his best friend. Sora grinned and gave another 'man' hug to Riku. "What is it with your man hugs?"
Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry for hanging up on you the other day I was just mad," Sora replied holding his head down. "It scares me not knowing whether I'll be able to fulfill my promise. I mean I didn't receive a single e-mail from her this entire eight years! She probably hates me."
"Maybe she wanted you to e-mail her first?" Rikku suggested shrugging. "Then again I would've e-mailed you if I was in her position. I don't know maybe she just forgot about your relationship Sora."
"No! I know Kairi she wouldn't do that," Sora replied with a slight growl. "There's a reasonable explanation for everything. Kairi would never forget about us, I know she wouldn't."
"Well anyway! What do you say we head out?" Roxas stated walking towards the exit door. "I mean not that this emotional moment isn't pretty and everything but I'm starving!" Sora laughed and nodded following the blonde boy out. He had left his suitcases to Riku as revenge for bringing up Kairi.
Naminé grabbed her one suitcase from the baggage claim. She had bought a hair clip to keep her hair from covering her eyes. She now had it in another messy bun. She breathed in the American air. It had been awhile since she was in Americas. "Maybe one day I can go to Alaska and visit Roxas," she thought out loud.
She exited the airport catching a glimpse of a blonde boy getting into a car. She shook her head mentally slapping herself for thinking it was Roxas. "Maybe I should get some food," she mumbled to herself running over to cab. She quickly asked for a ride and got in being driven towards the nearest restaurant.
Olette, Hayner, and Pence slouched on a bench as they waited for their baggage. "Man why does it have to take so long?" Hayner whined. Unlike Pence and Olette he had nothing to do. Olette was drawing outfits in her sketchpad trying to make a new fashion line while Pence was making more lists.
Finally the luggage from their flight started to appear. "Yes," Hayner exclaimed grabbing Pence and dragging him towards the baggage claim. Olette was too busy in her sketching to notice that the boys had left and another now sat in the place of Hayner.
"Haynie-poo what do you think of this?" Olette asked turning around. She screamed seeing a blonde boy staring at her. "What did you do to Hayner and Pence!" she cried hitting the man repeatedly with her sketchpad.
"Ow!" the man cried trying to cover with his hands. His blue eyes widened. "Olette!" he exclaimed staring at the brunette. She stopped hitting his head and blinked.
"How do you know my name?"
"It's me Tidus!"
"Tidus!" Olette cried pulling the blonde into a hug. Axel and Wakka turned around to see a brunette hugging Tidus they smirked.
"Looks like the two lovers are finally reunited," Axel teased poking Tidus in his side. "After all those disturbing dreams you had over the years now you can actually do them with Selphie."
Tidus blinked and shook his head. "Guys this isn't-."
"What do you mean lovers reunited!" Hayner exclaimed furiously. "She's dating me!"
"Ouch Tidus looks like you have competition for Selphie," Wakka said rubbing the back of his neck. He studied Hayner. "This guy doesn't look like much though I'm sure you could beat him any day." Hayner growled but then stopped.
"Selphie?" she questioned before laughing. "That's Olette knuckle-brain and I'm Hayner and this is Pence."
"I know!" Tidus exclaimed glaring at Axel and Wakka. "They always jump to conclusions."
A grin appeared on Wakka's face. "Pranking buddy!" he cried pulling Hayner into a brotherly embrace. "I missed our pranking days so much you know! How have you been man?"
Hayner smirked. "I haven't been doing anything other than real estate," he replied. "I'm a sophisticated business man I have no time to play practical jokes on people. So I suggest you find a new pranking buddy." Hayner turned around giving Wakka the cold shoulder. A few seconds of pure silence passed before the two started laughing and palling around like they used too.
Dagger patiently sat in a blue chair reading the current issue of the Oprah magazine. Unlike her two male companions she could wait to get on the plane. Zidane sat beside her impatiently tapping his foot on the ground, while Vivi sat in his chair loudly humming. Dagger's eyes narrowed as she tried to concentrate on her reading. They were distracting her.
"Dagger is it here yet!" Zidane whined. He was acting like a two year old. Whatever happened to maturing, as you got older? He only seemed to get more perverted and whiny. Vivi had an excuse of course. He was cluster phobic, the longer he was some place the smaller the room seemed to get, in his eyes anyway.
"No it's not here yet," Dagger barked back holding her head. "You guys are giving me a headache couldn't you just sit still for two minutes?" Zidane and Vivi shook their heads in response.
"Flight AA32 has arrived."
Zidane jumped up out of his chair with his bags already in hand. "Come on Dagger let's go!" he exclaimed grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the chair. Vivi jumped out of his chair and kicked Zidane in his shin. "Ow! Vivi!"
"That's for forgetting me," Vivi muttered grabbing his backs and walking in front of them. "You know you guys embarrass me sometimes." Dagger and Zidane looked at each other with baffled expressions before following the their friend.
Naminé quietly ate her dinner trying to ignore the loud sounds coming from the table a few tables from hers. She closed her blue eyes trying to concentrate on her food instead of the voices. She couldn't shake the fact that they sounded strangely familiar; regardless they were annoying her to death.
Sitting at the table were none other than Roxas, Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Rikku, Yuna, Tifa, and Paine. "So are you saying you got us the large house for all of us to live in!" Sora exclaimed shocked that Riku had that kind of money, but he was an orthodontist.
"Isn't it great?" Rikku asked patting Sora on his back. "We can all be family! If only the others were here. Wouldn't it be great to see them again, we could put all our money together and buy a big mansion and we all could live together."
Yuna smirked, it was the first time anyone had seen her smirk. "Or do you just want to see Axel again?" Rikku blushed.
"Yuna!"
They all laughed as Rikku quietly banged her head on the table. "Don't worry I'm sure he's saving himself for you as well, besides you know how Axel is. It took him months just to come up with a way to say 'I like you'," Roxas stated.
Tifa took a bite out of her steak. "You're one to talk, couldn't even tell them about your secret relationship," she replied. Riku and Yuffie laughed. Roxas rolled his blue eyes. He happened to see a blonde woman a few tables down covering her ears.
"Hey guys I think we're disturbing her," Roxas said pointing to the woman. "I'll go apologize before you guys start talking about who wore briefs in Hawaii." Roxas excused himself from the table. He walked over to where the lady was sitting and sat across from her. "Hey."
Naminé looked up and started to stare. "Hello," she mumbled. 'Why does he look so much like Roxas? I'm probably scaring him. No one wants someone to stare at them.'
"I'm sorry if me and my friends are disturbing you. We can be a little loud at times," Roxas laughed smiling at her. "Please forgive us."
"It's okay," Naminé replied with a smile.
"Thanks."
"Can I get your name?"
"Roxas."
Naminé's heart stopped for a minute. "R-Roxas," she squeaked trying to hide her shock. "Do you remember a Naminé?"
"Of course I remember Naminé, but how do you know her? Did something bad happen to her in Japan?" Roxas asked slightly alarmed. All these years he had hoped to meet with her again, but if something had happened he might never get to see her again. He was suddenly pulled into a hug. "Huh?"
Naminé laughed. "Roxas you were never bright were you? Silly it's me, Naminé!" Roxas grinned returning her hug.
"Come on you got to go see the others!"
"Others?"
"Yeah you know! Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Tifa, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, I'm sure they'll be glad to see you." Roxas grabbed her hand and escorted her to the table. "Hey guys!"
Sora turned around to see a blonde woman standing in front of the table. He blinked. "You know Naminé won't forgive you if you got yourself another girlfriend, what would she say? Of course then again she might not say anything, she might slap you and run off."
Roxas and Naminé laughed. "I am Naminé, dimwit," she replied smiling at her old friends. They all gasped and looked at Naminé, she had become a young lady. Her clothing was so different from what she used to wear, and her hair it was messy but at the same time it was neat.
"Naminé!" they all exclaimed.
Kairi fell on backwards on her new bed. It was comfy and smelled very clean. She looked to her left and saw Selphie ripping the sheets off of her new bed. Kairi rolled her amethyst eyes; as usual she needed to have yellow sheets. "Selphie I think I'll go to bed," Kairi mumbled standing up. "I'll take a shower in the morning."
"All right that means I have nights from now on!" Selphie squealed running over to her suitcase so she could go in the bathroom. Kairi had already taken care of her needs in there so she wouldn't need it till the morning. Kairi changed into her light blue pajamas and turned off the lamp.
Kairi don't tell me. You're thinking about Sora again aren't you? You know what little missy? I'm going to find you a man tomorrow so you can forget all about him! Just go to sleep okay I don't want to get fired!
Kairi nodded and closed her eyes. She probably needed sleep anyway, but she didn't want her Anti-form to find a man for her. There was only one man in this world that was for her, and his name was Sora. She was slightly doubted he still cared, after all he never returned a single e-mail that she sent.
Did he still care about poor Kairi? He promised he would return to her, but it's been eight years. Was she supposed to just stall her life and wait for him? Sora probably forgot about her, he probably found a new woman to love. They were probably married and already expecting their first child.
"Where am I?" Kairi looked around seeing she was just a vast expanse of white. She started to walk around maybe she had gone crazy? Maybe Selphie had gotten tired of her and sent her to a mental establishment.
"Kairi."
Everything went black. She frantically looked around. She whimpered and hugged Sora's jacket. "Who's there?"
"Kairi."
The voice it sounded so familiar. Kairi's eyes widened. She felt two warm hands wrap around her from behind. She turned around to lock eyes with the most beautiful cerulean eyes she had ever seen. "Sora, you're here."
"Of course I am, I told you I'd come back for you," Sora replied softly caressing her cheek. "You just have to find me."
"No! But you're here right now!"
Sora smiled sadly and shook his head. "No Kairi, this is a dream. I'm not here with you. You have to wake up and you have to find me in Colorado. I'm closer than you think."
Kairi shook her head a few tears fall down her cheeks. "No Sora, I want to sleep forever so you're always here with me!" she cried burying her head in his chest. He gently stroked her hair.
"Kairi it's time for you to wake up."
"Are you serious!" Tidus exclaimed staring at the real estate agent. "Ten thousand dollars for that piece of junk! You're out of you mind I demand a lower price if your going to sell that house to me!"
The real estate agent laughed nervously. He didn't like seeing three angry men staring at him with pure hatred in their eyes. "How about we talk this over tomorrow, it's already night!" the agent exclaimed trying to make up excuses so he could leave.
"Whatever but we're staying this house for the night, thanks for the keys," Axel stated snatching the house keys from the agent and running towards the house. The agent nodded and walked back to his black minivan.
"What a rip off artist," Wakka growled watching Axel unlock the house. "There's no way a six room house could be ten thousand dollars man." Tidus nodded.
The blonde put his hands behind his neck. "So we're supposed to meet Hayner, Pence, and Olette at Walmart tomorrow right?" he asked stepping into the already furnished house. The other men nodded shocked that the house had already been furnished. "Maybe this is why it was ten thousand dollars…"
"Is it too much?"
The three men turned around to see a black haired woman close the front door. She had gray eyes and her skin was slightly pale. She was wearing a purple business suit with black stockings and shoes. The boys shook their head staring at her.
"Name's Lulu, I work at your new company. You could say I'm your new manager. We like to welcome our new employees with a new house, that is if they have just moved here, so have a look around and I'll see you tomorrow morning at eight," Lulu said opening the door again and walking out. Tidus closed the door behind her.
"Wow they sure know how to make you comfortable," Axel said scratching his head. "Boy did we pick the right company to work for! Hey I wonder if they bought food for us, I'm starved."
Wakka rolled his eyes. "I'm just tired brother, I'll see you two in the morning ya." Wakka grabbed his bags and made his way up the stairs. He would be the first to pick out his own bedroom.
Tidus stood there in awe. He was still in shock that they actually bought them a house, and furnished it. "Yeah, Axel I think I'm going to go to bed too, see you in the morning," Tidus abruptly said packing up his bags and running up the stairs.
The red-haired man shrugged. "More for me," he muttered pulling out a box of Coco puffs from the cabinet. "I'm coo-coo for Coco puffs!" he exclaimed mimicking the commercial that he always watched.
A week later -
"Poopy-head cashier, they charged me way to much for groceries. But I suppose it was worth it, after all Sora needs his depression food!" Rikku chimed. "Now I forgot again which way was the house? Man I wish Yunie could have gone with me, she's pretty much memorized these streets."
The blonde woman continued to venture through the city only getting more lost. She stopped walking and looked around. She couldn't see anyone around; it was like the 'wilderness'. She let out a frustrated sigh. "Isn't anyone here!" she shouted.
"Yes! And he's trying to relax!"
She turned around to see a red haired man sitting on the ground. Rikku laughed nervously. "I'm so sorry," she apologized scratching her head. "It's just that I'm lost and I can't find…my house."
"What's your name?"
"Rikku."
The man jumped up. "Well hey Rikku long time no see," he smirked walking over to her. She blinked not recognizing him at all. "You do know I'm Axel right?"
"Axel!" she squealed making him cover his ears. Axel winced. Had she not changed at all? Her squeal was still deadly, and her face still had the same childish look to it. Not to mention she still had her bad sense of direction. "Wow the years have been good to you Mister Muscles!"
Axel rolled his eyes. "You can borrow my cell phone and call whomever your staying with," Axel said pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "Whom are you staying with anyway?"
"Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Tifa, Yuna, and Paine of course. We all came here together. Do you have any roommates?" Rikku asked dialing their phone number into Axel's phone.
"Tidus and Wakka."
A/N: It's sweet that Naminé and Roxas met each other again! And in a restaurant too, of all places! It's a good thing Axel had been in that deserted spot don't you think? Rikku could've gotten lost for all of eternity and then Sora wouldn't have had his depression food!