A/N: I told you, I don't hate Sora... It's just that I want to make him more human, because there's no way in hell somebody could be that happy and still be human. This chapter's short and has no Nobody's Perfect chapter partner. If you don't like hearing Sora cry, then don't read this chapter. Ahhh, the joys of tragedy...

Summary: It's the little things that hurt the most. Between love and duty is a decision he will regret for the rest of his existence.

Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts I wouldn't be writing here, I'd be making KH3. So there.

IX: Shattered

She ran, not caring if her full skirt caught on brambles or branches scattered on the path.

She ran, not caring if people were calling out her name.

She ran, not caring where she went, not caring how she looked with tears streaming down her face.

She ran because she couldn't face him. She wanted to run away from the hurt; from the memory of a broken promise, from the intention of breaking the promise. He left because he didn't care how the people he left behind felt. And as she collapsed on the white sand she knew that he had to, because he was born with the heart of a Wielder.

She could never love him. Duty would always come first. Even if she was a princess of light. She threw her head back and screamed.

"Kairi!"

She sobbed even more. It was so unfair!

"Kairi, please, don't cry!" Sora ran up to where she had dropped on the sand. "Please..."

She looked up into the cerulean eyes she had so often dreamed about; that now she had almost forgotten how they sparkled with life. She couldn't help it. She raised her hand and slapped him.

"How could you! How could you leave just like that! How could you forget what we shared together and just throw it away!" she howled, pounding on his chest. She had expected him to recoil and back away, but he didn't. Instead he just stood there, taking her blows like a tree caught in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. That somehow infuriated her more.

"And now you waltz in as if you were just gone yesterday, and that we're all oh-so-happy to see you!" she whirled around, turning her back on him, maddened by his continued silence. She fought the urge to scream again.

"You're just going to stand there! You're not even going to tell me you're sorry?"

He bit his lip as he looked to the side, those little orbs of light hovering behind him, their light almost dim, she thought. She stared at him, pleading silently that somehow, this would turn out to be okay, that Sora would just come home and stay with her.

"I---I have no reason to be sorry, Kairi."

She stood there for perhaps ten seconds, stunned by the words that had just come out of the Keyblade Master's trembling mouth. Tears started to cloud her vision again. Her heart sank as he offered no counter-statement, something that would say that he didn't really mean that. She realized that the statement had that note of finality so foreign to Sora's personality.

"You don't mean that." She whispered. "You don't, Sora..."

He took a deep breath and reached for her hand. She pulled her hand away and stared at him, her eyes filled with reproachfulness.

"Sealing Keyholes is what I was born to do, Kairi. I had to leave because it was my duty. I don't need to be sorry for that."

She waited for him to say more, but he fell silent, his expression unreadable under the faint light from the stars.

"I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, Sora. I still do... please, leave the Keyblade be..." she pleaded with him, clasping her hands together as she fervently willed him to say yes.

Her heart skipped a beat as he suddenly closed the gap between them and wrapped his arms tightly around her. His heart was pounding madly as she leant her head on his chest, savoring her triumph over the King. He was going back home and staying here, with her, forever.

"Sora..." she said, her voice muffled in his clothing. She gasped as she felt little drops of water fell on her bare shoulder. Sora was crying.

"I can't." He said quietly, his arms tightening around her back as more tears started to fall. "You have to understand."

She broke free of his embrace and stared at him unbelievingly.

She couldn't love him. She had fallen in love with someone she could never be with, not unless something drastic happened. That feeling hurt. A lot.

"That's what you have to say? You can't!"

"Listen to me..." he trailed off, his hands gesturing helplessly. He had nothing to say in his defense.

"Leave me alone!" she shoved him back as she ran away, ignoring Sora's cries behind her.

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Riku stared into the darkness where Destiny Island's Keyhole stood hidden. He thought he had just heard Ansem laugh in his head.

Sora had just literally fallen into their evening. He had no intention of being seen, he had just fallen accidentally.

He had really no intention of coming back.

Kairi had stormed off earlier this evening, crying harder than Riku had ever seen her cry before. The mere sight of Sora made sure of that. He could almost feel Kairi's anguish. And he wanted to kill Sora for that. But he knew it wasn't Sora's fault, and he was suddenly glad the Keyblade didn't choose him. He was still a Wielder, but he wasn't a Wielder that balanced light(Kairi) and darkness(him). He sighed as he started to walk out, racking his brain as to where Kairi had run off to.

Something collided with him. Yes, that seemed to happen to him a lot lately. His heart jumped when he saw it was the very girl he was searching for.

"Riku!" she sobbed into his chest. She was shaking badly all over.

Anger flared in him. How could Sora do this to her? "Shhh... Kai, it's alright, I'm here..." He said soothingly, patting her back awkwardly.

"He--he... ohh he hurt me so much..." she said, her voice breaking as she clutched the front of his shirt, threatening to rip it (and honestly, Riku didn't care, she could tear it into tiny little pieces if she wanted to). He felt her tears soak into the fabric.

Did he dare? Of course. He was mad at Sora, thank you very much. Heart pounding, he enveloped the sobbing redhead in his arms, praying that she wouldn't pull away. Of course, she was too distraught to do that. Instead she sobbed even harder.

"Sora's a jerk, Kai. Don't mind him... leave him to whatever he wants." He whispered, stroking her hair. Kairi's sobs had calmed down into whimpers. Riku relished the feel of her leaning against him, forgetting how he usually stayed away from her and Sora's relationship (not that they had one now).

"He doesn't know how much he hurts people when he just leaves them," she whimpered. "He doesn't feel deeply... If he did, he wouldn't leave, Riku..."

He continued stroking her hair as he closed his eyes. She only leaned on him more, their breathing heavy.

A prince and his princess.

Sora made a little choking noise.

Sora!

His eyes snapped open. He had been so absorbed in Kairi's scent that he didn't smell the Wielder's. Kairi started whimpering again.

"Sora?" Guilt was so much of a powerful feeling as he stared at Sora. The brunette was standing stock-still as he processed what was happening. He seemed to deflate right before their very eyes. He drove out of Final Form back into his original black outfit. Which kind of suited the situation. He could see the remorse reflected in his cerulean eyes. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked weakly (and for some reason he clutched Kairi more).

"Long enough." He said in a dangerously quiet voice.

"This isn't what you think it is, Sora."

Sora bit his lip. "I--this is...It's okay. I knew this would happen." his voice cracked, the tears at the edge of his eyes betraying his apparent calm. "This was part of the price I had to pay...I just never thought...you and Kai..."

"This isn't what you think!" Riku almost yelled as he released Kairi. "Sora, I'd never come between..."

The expression on his face was almost too hard to bear. He looked as if the world crumbled around him as his mouth worked, but no words came out. Trembling, he summoned the Keyblade, and for a split second Riku thought he'd kill them (or so he heard, Naminé had told them Sora was a force to be reckoned with when he was mad). The silver of the Kingdom Key coalesced into the sky blue of the Oathkeeper.

"You took care of her. I'm grateful for that," he choked out, his eyes shut tight as he removed the keychain. Kairi gasped and bit her lip as the thalassa-wrought keychain separated from the Key, returning it to its original brilliant silver. He chucked the star at Riku, who caught it and stared at Sora, mouth hanging open.

"The--the thalassa shell belongs to the holder of the maker's heart...and I guess it's rightfully yours, Riku."

"Sora, are you insane? You're giving my keychain away?" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, tears threatening to fall again.

"Please... Kai, Riku." he said pleadingly, a tear tracing a path down his cheek. "I'm sorry for being stupid. I'm sorry for making the biggest mistake in my entire life. I accept this consequence of what I've done."

"Sora, shut it and take this keychain back," Riku said loudly, frightened at the note of emotion in Sora's voice. He never knew Sora could say anything like that.

"Don't be stupid, Riku, if he wants to give my heart away, fine." Kairi seethed, clutching his arm.

Sora's eyes widened with the gesture as he let the Keyblade dissolve into specks of light.

Riku glanced at the steely resolve set on Kairi's tear-stained face. He swallowed nervously. At the way things were going, they may never be close friends again. Yes, Kairi might become his girlfriend, but he could never risk losing Sora's fiendship. Not after what he had done to pull Riku out of the darkness eclipsing his heart.

"Kairi, it's not his fault---"

"I'm gonna...go," Sora cut in, the quietness of his voice startling them. The Key to Kingdom Hearts spun around and vanished into the night.

The face of the keychain in his hand seemed to smile even wider.

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He knelt on the sand and clawed at the grains of whiteness, his tears marring the dunes of perfection. His breath caught in his throat as he continued sobbing on the beach, the sounds of his whimpers blown away by the wind.

He did make the biggest mistake of his entire life. For once, he didn't follow his heart.

And paid the dearest price for it.

Sora Hikari's heart had been shattered, and his spirit had been broken.

Another star winked out of existence in the night sky.

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Well? I told you this chapter was sad. And I just kinda noticed, Roxas' theme is like the complete opposite of Sora's. Try listening to the two. This chapter has Roxas' theme as an inspiration, natch. (dodges backhands from Sora's fangirls).

So you know the drill. Read, REVIEW and get a free cookie. Flamers are accepted. Also, I'm still undecided on the ending. Let me hear your views, okay? Thank you.