Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (II), Sora, Kairi, Riku, etc.

Author's Note: Umm…happy holidays! And…um…I'm tired. And…um…oh, yeah, I hate my teacher. Okay, that's it for me. And…um…I'm not spoiling the surprise, so…I can't talk much.

Warning: NO!!! NOOOOOO!!!! (takes deep breath in) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… (etc.)

Quick Author Babble: It's nearing the end, guys. Very close.

Chapter 24: The Train That Never Arrived

Kairi skipped happily home. What a day at the train station! It was positively the most wonderful day of her life! She smiled fondly as she remembered Axel. It was lucky they were at the train station, otherwise…

Kairi screeched to a halt.

Why were they at the train station?

Kairi shrugged. Oh, well—it couldn't have been that important if she'd forgotten what it was. It's not like anyone else brought it up either.

"Kairi, wait up!"

Kairi stopped and saw Yuffie running up to her, scarf billowing in the wind.

"Oh, hi, Yuffie!" chirped Kairi, smiling.

Yuffie didn't look happy at all, however. Her face seemed very shadowed.

"I can't believe you," she said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Kairi said, smile falling from her face.

"Couldn't you have found a better time to make out with Axel?!" Yuffie screamed, suddenly outraged. "I mean, jeez, this was a big opportunity for him and you just threw it in his face!"

"Who?" asked Kairi in confusion.

"Who?" snapped Yuffie, voice suddenly dangerously quiet. "Who?! I can't believe this! Why do you think we were at the train station in the first place?!"

Kairi turned very red as she faced the truth of it all.

"Uh…er…"

Yuffie's glare became even more piercing.

"You don't know, do you?"

"N-Not…really."

Yuffie was suddenly fuming. She burst into rage.

"YOUR BEST FRIEND!!!" she screamed. "HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND, AND YOU JUST FORGOT HIM?!"

Kairi took a few steps back at the loud voice. Finally, Yuffie regained her composure and looked at her.

"Never mind," she said with a sigh, turning away. "I can see there's no getting through to you now."

She began walking away, and Kairi held out a hand to stop her, when Yuffie turned to face her again.

"Oh, and by the way…" she said, "Sora told me to tell you that he says goodbye."

Kairi froze and watched Yuffie walk off into the snowy scenery. At the name "Sora" she felt like she couldn't move. She'd forgotten Sora?

Kairi shook her head. Impossible! Like she'd ever forget her best friend!

But the more conscious side of her was saying it was true. Kairi felt her bottom lip tremble. How could she do such a thing?

And what was that whole "goodbye" bit about? Sora was leaving?

Suddenly Kairi's mind clicked. He'd gotten a huge scholarship opportunity, and he'd be gone for…a week.

And she hadn't even said goodbye.

Kairi felt like kicking herself. How could she forget something as important as that?

And suddenly something else Yuffie said hit her:

Couldn't you have found a better time to make out with Axel?!

How the heck did she know?! Kairi knew Yuffie couldn't have been around, or there definitely would've been an excited scream. And how did Sora know Kairi wouldn't be around so he couldn't say goodbye to her in person? So…

Kairi felt her stomach twist into knots.

Sora saw them.

For some reason, Kairi found this far, far worse than Yuffie seeing. This was bad—so, so bad. Why'd she have to like Axel so much, anyway? Why'd she have to be so vulnerable around him? Why did Sora make her feel so guilty?!

All these thoughts made her sick to the stomach. Slowly and heavily, Kairi trudged home.

"""

Kairi looked up at the ceiling, lying on her bed in a sort of defeated manner. She felt so confused—so nauseous.

Sora…Axel…Sora…Axel…

She ran the names through her head so many times she felt dizzy. She closed her eyes. No, she wasn't supposed to think about Sora at all. This was her happy moment. Axel was the one who was supposed to be in her head now.

Kairi felt like swearing. Her life could never be that easy, could it? The only thing she could do without thinking was staring up at the ceiling.

Yuffie had sounded so mad. That must've meant Sora had been really mad too.

Kairi thought of the raven-haired girl. Yuffie had never seemed so angry in her life. She screamed so hard she'd turned red in the face.

Kairi groaned and turned over. She hated herself. She buried her face in her pillow. How hard was it to say goodbye, maybe even with a hug? Not hard at all. It contained barely any effort, even!

"Kairi, sweetie," Mrs. Ire's voice said cautiously from the other side of the door.

"What is it?" Kairi grumbled, not too into manners right then.

"It's getting a little late," Mrs. Ire said. "Please go to sleep. Tomorrow may be Sunday, but we don't want you to get jetlagged."

"Yes, Mom," Kairi grumbled.

She listened to the footsteps fade away and cautiously, quietly, snuck out of her bedroom and into the bathroom. After quickly brushing her teeth, she quickly jumped into bed before anyone saw her.

She looked at the vase across the room. Kairi could swear it was glaring at her. Slowly, she got up, swept across the floor, and looked into the vase at all its little notes.

She was reluctant at first—was it really appropriate when she was thinking about Sora enough already? But finally she stuck her hand in and pulled out the note.

And wilt thou have me fashion into speech,

The love I bear thee, finding words enough,

And hold the torch out, while the winds are rough,

Between our faces, to cast light upon each?

I drop at thy feet. I cannot teach

My hand to hold my spirit so far off

From myself…me…that I should bring thee proof,

In words of love hid in me…out of reach.

Nay, let the silence of my manhood,

Commend my man-love to thy belief,

Seeing that I stand unknown (though wooed)

And rend the garment of my life in brief

By a most dauntless, voiceless fortitude,

Lest one touch of this heart convey its grief.

Kairi sighed. She wished she could say "I promise to be there for you", but the words refused to come out.

Kairi collapsed on the bed and hid her face in her pillow, cuddling Truda close to her, who had snuck into her room without her noticing.

What was she going to say to Sora when he came back?

"""

Kairi sat eating breakfast next Saturday, Naminé blabbing on about something or other, Mr. Ire reading the paper, and Mrs. Ire politely listening to Naminé talk. It was a normal morning, until someone rang the doorbell.

Kairi looked around at everyone. No one seemed to be making a move to the door—Mr. Ire was too absorbed in the newspaper and Naminé and Mrs. Ire were too into their conversation.

Finally, with a sigh, Kairi got up and walked over to the door. She opened it to see Olette standing there, emerald eyes twinkling excitedly.

"Oh…hello, Olette," Kairi said, forcing a smile onto her face.

"Sorry if I bothered you," Olette quickly apologized, "but Sora's coming back today, so we're all meeting at the train station at three to greet him. You…want to come?"

Kairi suddenly felt extremely nauseous at the thought of Sora coming back. What was she going to say? "Hi, I'm sorry you saw me making out with Axel"? Or, better yet, "Yeah, sorry I forgot about you. How was your trip?" It would be even worse if she didn't show up though. She'd have to face him sooner or later.

"Of course," Kairi replied, smiling at Olette.

"Great!" Olette chirped. "See you later!"

As Kairi closed the door, she felt like she was going to die. Why was it whenever she wanted time to slow down, it always sped up?

"""

It was fifteen minutes to three. Kairi swore she was going to lose her mind. She felt like she was going to pull out her hair any minute now. Kairi paced around the room. What was she going to do? WHAT WAS SHE GOING TO DO???

Okay, the first thing was to calm down, she told herself. She collapsed on the couch and tried to breathe slowly. Up and down…up and down…

It wasn't working. Maybe she needed some TV to relax. Yeah, that's right…good ol' TV…Maybe she could find an episode of Friends or something. She got a cup of water from the kitchen to keep her health intact.

She clicked on the TV, only to find it on the News Channel. Kairi groaned.

"Dad…" she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

What was with her dad and the news, anyway? Nothing interesting ever happened on Destiny Islands.

She picked up the remote again and was about to change the channel when something caught her eye. She slowly put down the remote as a picture of a train crash appeared behind the newswoman.

"This afternoon, along the shoreline of Red Sky Beach, the train conductor of the Destiny Train Line hit his head and fell unconscious when the train unexpectedly lurched forward, which resulted in utter disaster," the newswoman said.

Kairi's eyes widened. Wasn't Destiny Train Line the train Sora had been riding? Kairi tried to picture the name of the train station…She closed her eyes. Wasn't it Destiny Train Station or something like that?

Kairi felt like she was going to throw up. No, it couldn't have been Sora's train…it couldn't have been! Kairi grabbed her glass of water and started chugging it down.

"Reports say the train was coming from Destiny Islands Airport," the newswoman continued, making Kairi's spirits sink so low she almost cried. "Though there was much damage done to the train, hospital reports say there were few major injuries."

Kairi smiled in relief. Thank goodness! She could feel the air returning to her lungs.

"Only one death has been reported," the newswoman stated. "Let's all send our hearts out to Sora Roma, a good student, friend, and child, who died this afternoon."

Kairi froze. She could vaguely feel the glass slip out of her hand and smash to pieces on the floor.

"Kairi? Kairi!"

Naminé's voice seemed distant. Even when Naminé grabbed Kairi's shoulders and shook her violently she barely noticed.

"Sora…" Kairi said slowly. "He's…"

She felt her body crumple as she burst into tears. She felt Naminé wrap her into a comforting hug.

"He's dead!" Kairi found herself shrieking. "He's dead!"

"Kairi, darling!" cried Mr. Ire, racing into the room.

"Oh, Kairi, dear, what's wrong?" Mrs. Ire asked sweetly, rubbing her daughter's arm as she cried into Naminé's shoulder.

Naminé looked up at her parents, paler than usual.

"Mom, Dad, I think…" she stuttered, as if she desperately wanted to hold in the next few words, "I think she just said Sora's dead."

"What?!" shrieked Mr. Ire. "This is an outrage!"

"Oh, dear, that sweet boy?" stuttered Mrs. Ire, suddenly turning a sickly green. "Oh my, I'd better check on his poor mother…Oh, the poor dear…First her husband, now her son…"

Kairi had a pain in her stomach and eyes from crying so hard, and she felt this terrible, sickly feeling as if she was going to throw up. This couldn't have been happening. Sora wasn't dead. He couldn't have been. He just couldn't have!

"Ssh…Kairi…" Naminé said softly.

"Pumpkin…" Mr. Ire soothed.

Kairi didn't reply. She was crying way too hard for that.

"""

"Sora's…dead?" Yuffie repeated slowly.

Knowing Yuffie as one of the most loyal friends Kairi had, she'd been the first to turn to. They were standing outside her house. It had been an hour after the designated train arrival and everyone had just given up and gone home. Kairi wasn't even afraid of Yuffie being mad at her anymore. She was too lost to be afraid of anything. She hung her head low, looking down at her pink sneakers.

Yuffie stared at her, agape. Finally, she shook her head furiously. Kairi looked up at her. Yuffie's eyes seemed glazed over with hidden tears.

"You're lying!" she screeched. "Sora would never go down that easily!"

"I'm not taking this any easier than you, okay?!" Kairi shrieked, suddenly angry now. "But…but…"

She felt warm tears spilling down her face.

"He's gone, alright?! Dead!"

"Kairi…" Yuffie said softly, kneeling down.

"I just…can't believe he's gone," Kairi replied. "And the last thing he saw me do…The last thought he had of me was…God, he must've hated me!"

"Ssh…Kairi, let's go inside," Yuffie said calmly.

She led Kairi into the living room and they sat down on the couch.

"Mom!" called Yuffie. "Can you make some tea?!"

"Make it yourself, you lazy butt!" an older, female voice replied.

"But Kairi's here and we have some things to talk about!" Yuffie shouted.

There was a long, pitiful sigh.

"Oh, alright," said the voice in defeat.

Yuffie turned to look at Kairi.

"Are you sure…?" she began, but Kairi cut her off.

"I'm sure," she sniffed. "It came on the news."

"I can't…believe this…" Yuffie said, shaking her head as if she couldn't register what was happening. "How did he…?"

"Train crash," Kairi replied bluntly. "He was the only one who didn't survive."

Kairi could hear Yuffie's voice coming in rapid, short breaths.

"This…this…doesn't make sense!" she yelled, voice suddenly loud. "How could he…? He was the strongest…How…? Ugh!"

She hid her face in her hands, and Kairi could feel her heart throbbing again.

"Have you told anyone else?" Yuffie asked.

"Only my family," Kairi replied.

"I'm sorry, Kairi," Yuffie said. "I just…don't know what to say…"

If Yuffie didn't know what to say, then Kairi knew she had no hope in the entire universe of feeling better. Goofy suddenly ran into the room, overlarge feet slapping on the ground.

"Where's Sora?" Goofy asked. "He said as soon as he got back, he'd come play with me, which is today! Ah-yuk!"

"Get out of here, you little brat!" Yuffie shrieked, voice rising to a level that made Goofy's big eyes grow even bigger.

"Mom!" cried Goofy, running into the kitchen. "Yuffie called me a brat!"

"You didn't have to yell at him like that, Yuff," Kairi said. "He's just a little kid."

"I'm sorry," Yuffie apologized. "It's just that…this whole Sora situation makes me so mad…and him just mentioning him all the time…who does he think he is?!"

Yuffie sighed.

"Who cares about him, anyways?" she asked, turning to Kairi. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kairi replied. "I'll be all right."

"Good," Yuffie said, "Because I'm not."

Kairi felt even worse at her words.

Ahem! Q & A time! Let's take a look at some of these questions/interesting remarks!

Do not hate Kairi. She is pure innocence.

"Love at first sight" is just another way to say "I'm stupid and desperate."

Jealousy is the worst emotion known to mankind.

Yes, Evrae is that thing you have to fight before you save Yuna from her marriage. I hate that thing, but it's not nearly as bad as Seymour. Whenever he comes on screen I feel like shouting, "Oh my God, just die already, you stubborn (beep)!" But I don't, 'cause that's inappropriate.

Yes, Sora is/was/were! (:p) hurt.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for telling me how to beat zombie Evrae! I officially love you!

I'm glad you think it's AWESOMENESS (on a stick).

Yes, it's cliché, but clichéd stuff rocks (sometimes/when I feel like it)!

Yes, YUFFIE KNOWS.

Shouldn't lose him? Sorry, I don't understand the question, is all.

Lance Ba—I mean, Sephiroth—is now ready to kill me…again. Dang!

Riku…is officially…dead! (Takes out gun) BAM! No, just kidding, but Riku isn't really my top priority right now. Sorry, but it's true.

Okay, um, yeah, um, sorry, um, OH MY GOD!!! EVERYONE'S GOING TO KILL ME!!! AAAHHHHH!!!

Okay…

Um…

Bye.

I mean, goodbye.

You know what I mean.

Read and review!