When You're Strange

Chapter 1

Tourists

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He was falling, falling into the darkness. It was too dark to really see anything, but the wind rushing by him was enough of an indication as to what was happening. Without warning he was hit with a cushion of air that halted his movement. As it dissipated he was gently brought to the ground. The darkness dissipated as well, revealing a cloudless sky and a field of flowers. By the colors and light in the sky, he could tell dawn would soon be coming. He turned to watch the approaching sunset, and within moments the glorious ball of light rose from over the horizon. However, as it rose higher he began to feel a burning sensation, and the flowers around him began to wilt and crumble. The sun began to grow increasingly bright and the burning sensation grew to pain. He held up his hands to shield his eyes and they ignited. Soon they were merely bone. He ran from the light, from the pain, toward the night that faded along the horizon. Soon the darkness began to creep towards him and with a sudden burst it rushed forward, covering the earth and sky. Despite the pain he turned once more and ran toward the light, for the darkness had always been his enemy. But it was too quick and it soon enveloped everything. He instantly blacked out…

When he awoke the sun was shining high in the sky, but it was no longer the painful ball of terror it had been before. He inspected himself and found nothing to be out of place. As he turned his head he saw the darkness slowly creeping back across the horizon, not making any attempt to overtake him or anything else again.

What's going on?

Sora…

He turned, attempting to find the voice's source.

Sora!

It grew louder, yet he still saw nothing.

"SORA!"

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Sora opened his eyes just soon enough to see a shoe sole land on his head.

"OW!"

"Lying around again, huh? Lazy bum."

After rubbing his forehead he looked up to see the beautiful face of one he recognized.

"Give me a break, Kairi," he responded. "Besides, I've saved you and the entire universe, twice. I think I deserve to be lazy."

"That was four months ago!" she said with a pout. "And if I'm not mistaken, you were asleep for a year between those two quests. Is this gonna be your routine? 'Save the universe, then sleep until I'm needed again?'"

"Ok, ok, fine. I'm up." He sat up and turned to face her.

The wind blew her hair ever so slightly, giving her a majestic look. Her brilliant blue eyes showed her pleasure in his response. The smile she wore was soft and welcoming, just like what he was used to. She wore the same pink and white outfit she was wearing when he found her again those four long months ago. She looked as beautiful to his eyes then as she did now.

"So what's up?" he asked.

"'What's up?' Do you know what time it is?" she asked impatiently.

"I have absolutely no clue. I did just get up after all."

She rolled her eyes. "Alright then. Let me give you hint."

Her smile changed to a playful smirk as her eyes hardened. She took an offensive stance while summoning her keyblade.

"Oh," was his response.

"Come on, Sora. Get up."

He sighed and obeyed. He took his own stance while summoning his weapon. She nodded in approval.

"One thing before we start," she said.

"What?"

"I want you to really come at me this time."

"But Kairi…" he began.

"Sora, how many times do I have to tell you?" she said angrily. "I don't just want to stand by while you and Riku do all the fighting. And I'm not going to be a damsel in distress anymore. The only way I'll be able to be of any use if you take this training seriously and stop holding back so much!"

"Then why don't you ask Riku?" he complained.

"Ugh, he's worse than you are. He couldn't take a swing at me to save his life. Besides… I like doing this with you more." Her eyes softened briefly as she said those last words. "Come on. Treat me like I'm Riku."

"If I did that I'd probably be making some snide remarks about how you should get another haircut," he joked.

She giggled at that. "You know what I mean. Besides, you're one to talk. What with that cactus growing on your head."

"Oh, now you're gonna get it!"

"Oh yeah? Give it to me then!"

The fight was underway. Sora lunged at Kairi, who sidestepped and launched an attack of her own. Sora easily parried her blow and swung at her. The dance of clashing keyblades continued. Sora was more defensive, allowing Kairi to be more aggressive and pressure him. Despite this Sora held his own and Kairi found herself unable to force Sora to move. They clashed once more and then began to grind their weapons against each other.

"Ok. So you're starting to get good," said Sora with a smirk.

"'Starting to,' huh?"

Kairi shifted her weight forward, causing Sora to shift off balance. Kairi took advantage of this and kicked Sora's foot out from under him. The loss of footing combined with Kairi's force caused Sora to hit the ground, with Kairi pouncing on him. Despite all this their weapons still remained locked together.

"How's that?" she asked, her grin widening.

"Not bad," he answered, his own grin appearing on his face. He quickly wrapped his legs around her and threw his weight to the side, rolling both of them until now he was on top. He placed his keyblade to her neck. "But not good enough."

Kairi attempted to roll back to the previous position but Sora wouldn't let her. After some struggling, she sighed in defeat.

"Ok. You win."

"You bet I do."

"Oh, very humble. And did you have to put me in such a compromising position?"

Sora didn't even notice until she mentioned it, but with the position they were in one would've thought that they were about to go at it… outside… in broad daylight. Sora blushed and smirked at the same time.

"As if you're that upset by it."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but smiled all the same. Her face was also turning red.

"I guess as long as its you it's not too bad."

They both laughed, but neither made an attempt to move. Over the four months that had passed it was obvious the two were together, even if they never specifically said so. There was hardly any time when the two of them were apart, but despite this they were still taking it slow. Although they did give each other a quick peck on the cheek they had never exchanged a real kiss, and as she lay there in front of him he found his desire to remedy that problem growing. Almost without his knowing, he found himself slowly inching towards her. His heart began to race as he neared her face as the thought of rejection began to enter into his mind. But the doubt was held at bay, as she didn't make any attempt to resist. She closed her eyes, welcoming him. Their lips were just inches apart…

"HEY!"

The two turned to see the silver haired boy standing not too far away.

"Get a room you two!" he shouted.

Thoroughly embarrassed, Kairi shoved Sora off of her and quickly stood up, hiding her face in her hands.

"Damnit, Riku!" Sora shouted. "Stay out of other people's business!"

"If you didn't notice you're not exactly in a place that could be called 'private,'" he answered smugly. "There'll be no live porno's on this beach."

"It wasn't gonna get that far," Sora muttered.

"That's right," Kairi added, and then turning to Sora with a flirtatious look she said, "That kind of thing is reserved for the bedroom."

Sora immediately turned beet red and turned to hide his face from both of them. Riku howled with laughter.

"Man, even after all this time you can still make him as red as a tomato! I wish I could do it as easily as you could, Kairi!"

"It's a girl thing," she shrugged.

When the color in his face finally died down, Sora turned back to his friends.

"Seriously though," Riku started. "If you're gonna try something like that out here, at least wait until nightfall when no one can see you. Besides, it'll probably be more romantic that way."

"Who died and made you the date guru?" Sora asked. "Besides, since when do I take your advice?"

"You don't. That's why you're always doing something stupid!" he smugly replied.

"Oh really?"

"Wanna settle this, porcupine?"

Sora smirked and took a ready position while Riku did the same. Kairi took a few steps back to give the boys some room.

"On my count!" she shouted. "One… two…"

Suddenly a dark swirling mass appeared just a few paces away from the three. It dissipated and in its place was a figure clad in a familiar black hooded coat. The person was lanky and tall. Riku, the tallest of the three friends, only came up to his chest. At the current moment, the figure was not facing them. The figure took a deep breath and let out a content sigh. With a triumphant fist in the air he shouted,

"JACKPOT! BEACH WORLD!"

His voice was obviously masculine and held a sort of cockiness to it. After taking a moment to scan the horizon he turned to the three of them. The hood was still up, covering his face.

"'Sup? Any of you locals feel like giving a tourist a look around?"

Sora quickly raised his keyblade skyward and shouted, "THUNDER!"

The bolt came down where the man stood, and in a flash he was gone.

"Now that was just rude."

Kairi turned to see the man standing behind her. She jumped back toward her friends and took a defensive stance with them.

"You, my friends, are not getting good points for being hospitable," he continued, seeming to be unfazed by the sudden assault. "Now what was that all about?"

"Careful, Sora," Riku warned. "This one's gonna be really hard."

"'Sora?'" the cloaked man asked, cocking his head to the side. "As in 'Chosen Hero of the Realm of Light Sora?'" The figure scanned the boy up and down. "Of course! I should've recognized from what I'd heard! You really do look like a hedgehog!"

"Hey!" Sora yelled, feeling angry and slightly embarrassed.

"And that makes the emo with bleached hair Riku-"

"This is my natural hair color, you ass!"

"-And so the chick must be Kairi."

"Don't call me chick!"

Them man let out a devilish cackle. "This really is my lucky day!" he exclaimed with glee, completely ignoring the responses he received. "Time to get to work!"

The three friends surrounded the man, preparing to attack.

"Not here, my amigos. This place is mucho pequeño for what I have in mind."

With a have of his hand another dark portal opened.

"If you'll all come right this way please."

"Why the hell would we do that?" Kairi shouted.

"Hmm… Good point, luv. You don't have any reason to obey me, do you?"

As he finished he stepped trough the portal, which vanished as quickly as it came. The three dropped their stances now that the man had left. Kairi was the first to speak.

"What was up with-?"

But she never finished. Another portal opened behind her and two hand shot out, one covered her mouth while the other grabbed her wrist.

"You're coming all the same, though," said a cold voice.

The two boys had just enough time to call out her name before she was pulled in and the dark doorway closed.

"Damn it!" Riku seethed. "I can't believe we got caught off guard like that!"

Sora just stared wide-eyed at the spot where the spot where she had been.

"No…" we whispered. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Sora lashed out at a nearby palm tree, toppling it with one blow. It fell to the ground with a large "thunk." Before he could continue Riku grabbed his friends shoulders and held him still.

"Cool it!"

"HE TOOK HER!" Sora screamed in a blind rage. "I'LL KILL HIM!"

Riku violently threw his enraged friend to the ground.

"Save it! We need to figure out a way to get to them first! We don't even have-"

At that moment another corridor opened, yet no one stepped out. Sora sprang to his feet and ran for the passage, but Riku caught him.

"LET GO!"

"It's a trap, stupid!"

"I DON'T CARE! I'M STILL GOING!"

"I know, and so am I! But just CHILL FOR A SECOND!"

Sora did all he could to suppress his emotions. When he was sufficiently calm, Riku let him go.

"It's obviously a trap, but we're still going. But we're going together and calmly so we don't get caught off guard again."

Sora took a deep breath to relax.

"Ok," he answered. Riku nodded in response. The two comrades faced the passage and prepared themselves.

"On my count," said Riku. "Ready?"

"GO!"

The two rushed forward into the unknown.

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Uh-oh! Kairi's been kidnapped again! And after insisting she never wanted to be the damsel in distress again! Don't worry women's right's activists, Kairi is not just going to be the pretty face who stands on the sidelines like she did in the games. She will have a very active role. What does our mysterious villain want with our three heroes? And what is up with his personality? Check for updates to find out! Don't forget to review!