Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

AN - I am so increadibly sorry that this took so damn long to post. My computer was having issues, but you get slight romance in this chapter and major romance in the next! I promise!

Chapter SIX: Hope Reborn

Riku awoke only to find Kairi sitting in a chair next to him. She was wearing a black cloak, just like Sora's. In fact, it was Sora's. Naminé's dress was being repared and an enhanced version was being made for Kairi, along with identical white sandals.

He tried to sit up, but screamed in pain and fell back into the bed. Kairi's eyes shot open and she let out a long yawn. "Riku you're awake! You'll never believe what happened! Sora's a King now! I still can't tell what he's the King of, but I know he's a King! But he doesn't seem to remember me. Or anyone for that matter. He only knows the people here." she explained in a hurry.

"He's not a King. Not exactly." Roxas chimed in from the doorway.

"He's the Ruler of the Realm of Darkness." Naminé added, stepping out from behind him.

"It's like a step up from king." Roxas added. Riku's eyes darkened.

"You brainwashed him." he snapped, acusingly.

"No no no... We temporarily hid his memories." Naminé explained, using air quotes.

"You stupid wench, put 'em back then!" Riku shouted.

"SHUT UP ASSHOLE!" Roxas yelled back. "She could have erased them completly, but she didn't! She'd be murdured if they found out. So keep your damn mouth shut." he hissed. Riku was about to snap back but stoped himself just as Sora walked in, followed by Zexion.

"Dammit Roxas you're late... Again." Zexion said, obviously irritated. Roxas sighed and waved goodbye to Sora and Naiminé before dissapearing through the doorway.

"Kairi, the dress you wanted is finished." Sora mumbled. Kairi blushed, stood, and walked over to him, taking the package and walking into the adjoining bathroom to change. He then directed his attention at Riku, and threw one of Zexion's cloaks at him. "When you get better, just wear that." he mumbled then sat next to Naminé. Ten minutes later, Kairi's head peaked around through the doorway.

"Naminé... C'mere for a second..." she said, then shut the door behind her. The blonde witch stood and followed, quietly shutting the door behind her. The clock ticked away, then four minutes later Kairi appeared through the doorway, wearing an elegant white dress. The sleeves were made of white fishnet like material, and so were the stockings she wore. They dissapeared into the dress. The front resembled Naiminé's, almost to a fault. Kairi's was slightly longer and the straps tied around her neck. In the back, there was a 'v' shaped spilt that reached down to her lower back and was required to be laced together. All in all the top part of the dess was skin tight. Her sandals were white and matched Naminé's. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, with strands hanging in her face and around it. Her bangs were angled to the side and on top of her head was a slim silver crown. Sora blushed as soon as she walked out.

"To bad you're not on our side..." was all he mumbled before he walked out of the room. She watched him leave in silence.

"Sora don't dawdle! We have work to do!" Luka said. Sora turned to face him. His bright blue eyes stared at Luka haughtily.

"Not now." he muttered. Luka rolled his eyes, and smoothed his cloak.

"Very well." he snapped, then vanished again. Sora turned to face the ocean, and realized where he was. A dreary grey world in which he imprisoned himself. He pulled his hood back slowly, as if to get a better view at the lifeless water. He didn't notice Naminé approach him until it was to late.

"You're here again?" she asked, giving him a small smile. Sora nodded, not saying a word. "This reminds you of your home, doesn't it? Your real home." He turned his head and stared at her, slightly unsure of what to do. "I brought them here for you. I restored your memories. Luka's furious with me for it, but I couldn't let you go through with the plan. I could have erased Riku's memory too, let you kill Kairi. But I knew that that wasn't the right thing to do at the moment... You remember the promise we made right? When you leave, will you still take me with you?" she asked, slightly worried. Sora didn't even pause to think. He couldn't imagine living without her.

"Yeah..." he said quietly, turning to stare back at the ocean. A few minutes passed, and he could tell she was staring at him. Suddenly, he caught a slight movement from the corner of his eye as she wrapped her slender arms around his waist. She was standing behind him now. Her chin rested on his shoulder, gazing at the ocean. "Naminé..." he began, but she tightened her hold on him. He clamped his mouth shut.

"I know this'll be hard on you Sora, but you have to act like nothing's changed. Your memories aren't fully restored yet, but it's still enough to cause serious problems. Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Zexion, Donald, Goofy, Luka... You can't let anyone know what we just talked about." she whispered.

"He loves you." Sora blurted suddenly. Naminé sent the back of his head a confused look.

"Who? Luka?" she asked in shock.

"Roxas. If he saw you right now, he'd kill me." he explained.

"Oh..." she whispered, letting go of him. Her blue eyes sank to the sand. "I'll-see-you-tomorrow." she said a little to quickly, and ran the opposite direction. He didn't watch her leave. Instead, he collapsed to the ground and propped himself up with his hands. He rolled over on his back and stared up at the starry sky. A few minutes later, he was inturupted again.

"Sora?" a voice asked, from only a few feet away. He cursed himself for letting everyone sneak up on him today. He tilted his head upward to see who was calling for him. Kairi was standing a few feet behind him. He just laid there, staring up at her, awkwardly upside down. "Um... Can I sit here?" she asked quietly. He paused, then nodded. She smiled slightly and sat next to him. After a few minutes, he got uncomfortable, and sat up. "It's just like old times... Sitting on the beach together... Oh Sora I wish you could remember it... The Destiny Islands were, no, are, amazing. Your home, my home... We belong there, together. Don't you feel it?" she whispered.

Suddely out of nowhere, the light ocean breeze returned. It had been months since he'd felt it last. Sora smiled, a full smile, and turned to face Kairi. "Yeah... I do." he mumbled. She blushed and looked away. He gave her a funny look.

"What?" he asked.

"You're gorgeous..." she blurted. Sora smiled gently, and kissed her forehead.

"You're beautiful." he retorted. Kairi couldn't fight it anymore. She'd finally found him. The tears fell freely as she buried her head into his shoulder.

"You do remember it don't you?" she asked nervously, between gasps of air.

"A little. There's blank parts, some are a little unclear." he said sweetly, trying to calm her down. She groaned and pushed herself away from him.

"You're a King now." she reminded him. "You can't flirt with a princess." Sora frowned.

"I'm not a King! I told you! It's the 'Ruler..." Kairi beat him to it.

"'The Ruler Of The Realm Of Darkness'. I know. Exactly my point. You're like, the Overlord of Evil. I'm the Princess of Heart. I'm good, you're not. Things like this don't work. You know that." she reminded him again. "Plus, you're engaged to her now, right?" Sora's head shot up in shock.

"Who? Naminé? No! I'm not engaged to anyone. Why'd you think that?" he said defensivly, waving his hands in front of his face. Kairi sent him a strange look.

"The rings." she explained, picking up his left hand. Sora's eyes followed her's to the small silver ring that he wore on his finger. He couldn't help but smile.

"Kai, that's not an engagement ring. It's a charm. Kinda like that keychain." he said, fingering the small Oathkeeper shell charm that was chained to one of the belts she wore.

"It's good luck?" she asked doubtfully.

"No, not that kind of charm." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Naminé just gave it to me a few days ago. Before you and Riku showed up. I forgot her once, apparently she thought the rings would prevent that from happening again."

"Oh, I see." she mumbled. There was a slight hint of agravation in her voice, which confused him.

"Kai, what's wrong?" he asked, leaning back to prop himself up on his elbows. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, sighing nervously.

"Nothing!" she spluttered. He frowned slightly. Kairi was just about to get up to leave when she felt his fingers brush across her's.

"You're lying." he said, staring out at the water.

"Am not!" she yelped defensivly, snatching her hand back and standing quickly.

"Yes you are." Sora grumbled, standing too. "Kai..." she glanced back at him and smilied. Suddenly, before he could blink, she'd kissed his cheek and turned to run away.

I'll continue it in chapter 7. YAY!