(Woo...all right, I'm finally updating this...I meant to do it two weekends ago, but it was my family reunion...and I had no chance of getting on the computer. Then last weekend, I was really tired from my camp...and then this past weekend was my field-trip to St. Louis.. I bet you guys don't want to hear about that ^^;

First, the shout outs!

Kanika Meskhenet- Ding ding ding! You've got it! Don't worry, sometimes the ones who look more into the detail of things will usually get it right!

RenesmeeScarlet- That wasn't it, but thanks for trying! Yeah, I'm trying to give her an actual personality, you know, things like that..

And the contest for figuring out what Hina's name means in Japanese still goes on!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in any way, shape or form. Also, I forgot to put this in one of my chapters, but I recently found out that Wayne Allwine (the voice of Mickey) died...in May XP But It was still so sad....RIP Wayne Allwine!

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Chapter Three: Training Tactics

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Kairi watched from beneath the shade of one of the coconut trees as the two boys stretched. Most girls would've thought she was watching them just for the heck of it-- which any girl would, but it was actually for something else.

Since King Mickey's letter, the trio had been planning their training regimen. How much to stock potions, accessories, elixirs and any other things that they might need. Well, today was the first day of the training, so they still had a lot of things to work on. Besides keeping Sora and Riku at the top of their game, there was also the need of how to get Kairi prepared.

That part of the problem had been on the auburn-girl's mind since she read the letter three days ago. Kairi knew that she wanted to help out the two in any way she could, but she wasn't sure as to how. Obviously, it would be with that keyblade that Riku gave her, so she knew that Riku wouldn't mind her helping out. But there was Sora.

A small smile came upon her lips as she remembered what he had said after they read the letter for the second time.

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Sometime while reading the letter, well, Kairi was re-reading it, Riku had left the two of them alone. She didn't actually notice that he was gone until she had lifted her eyes up from the page.

"Hey Sora, where's Riku?" She looked over at him and saw that his eyes were shut, as if they were closed in thought. Being as he was, Kairi figured he didn't see the tall blond leave either.

"What?" He opened them and looked around, now noticing the same thing his companion noticed. "Aw man..." He muttered under his breath, which made her giggle. He turned his head to look at her with a curious expression. "What's so funny?"

"You," she breathed, now giggling harder at seeing his playful-yet-curious face. It was one of the things she liked about him, his naive nature. She sighed before looking back at the message that was in the boy's hands, her eyes locking onto the small P.S. Note that King Mickey included. With a smile on her face, Kairi tilted her head in a questioning manner.

"Sora?"

"Hm?"

"What did the King mean by the last part of the letter?" And as if on cue, Sora's slightly tanned cheeks grew pinker and then red.

"Uh...well..." He reached with one hand to scratch the back of his head, at a loss for words while he held the letter in his other hand.

Again, Kairi giggled, but only softly as she could now see that he was having a bit of a hard time with admitting his fears. She already knew this, ever since that moment in the sewers a year ago when he told her that 'she'd be in the way.' Still, she wanted to actually hear the words; the simple yet complicated words that Sora would say that explained his feelings for her. But, she expected that it would be awhile before he'd actually get around to it. He was, after all, 'a lazy bum.'

"Hey Kairi? What was up with the drawing in the cave?" She was taken by surprise by his question that countered her previous question. She blinked a few times before blushing. "Did you draw that?" He went on.

"Um...well, yeah." She looked towards the sand and their shoes, now not wanting to meet his eyes. That, and her already pinked cheeks were darkening in tone as the seconds went by. "Why, is there something you wanted to say?" She asked coyly, trying to look at him with her eyes raised looking through her red bangs while keeping her head down, all at the same time.

"No...but thanks." Kairi's head shot up. She was so sure that he was going to say those three words...well, three different words other than the ones he had just said..

For a moment, she stared at him, Sora's face now blank of emotion just staring outward to the ocean. The way he looked; so calm, so much older and a little more sure of himself. He had definitely grown since she talked like this a year ago. But, he still had the same quirks about him that made sure, he was still the same Sora she knew.

"I don't want you to go."

Kairi blinked, hearing the comment coming from completely out of nowhere. "What?" He turned his head to face her.

"I don't want you to go," he repeated. "I don't want to lose you again, Kai...do you even know how sad I was when I heard that Axel whisked you away from the island.."

Kairi's eyes grew moist as he said this, and she at a lost for words. When she did try to speak, Sora went on.

"Still... King Mickey's right. You're needed in this journey, and I can't stop or change that..." Now, along with her moistened eyes, Kairi's cheeks stared heating up. "...But, even if you have to come, that's not going to stop me in protecting you....."

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Those words still warmed her heart, and every time she saw Sora, his voice would replay over and over in her ming. So what if he didn't say what she hoped for him to say? At least he was getting there...well, almost.

Finally, the two boys had stopped stretching, and had actually gone onto the training without her starting them off. Oh well, at least she was able to watch them fight anyway. The way they parried and shouted out witty banter almost reminded her of the duels they would have when they were younger. Only difference was, any technique lost or gained from this could help them in saving the worlds.

"Come on, Sora. You're not already at your peak, are you?"

"Please, Riku. I was just making sure that you weren't taking it so hard from my attacks!"

Kairi shook her head with a sigh. At least the two were their original selves when it came to fighting. After about a long hour or two, she watched Riku sink to his knees, Way to the Dawn far out of his reach, which signaled defeat.

Pointing a hand towards Sora, she yelled out "Sora wins!"

Riku smirked as he picked up his blade from the sand. "You just won because your girlfriend said so," he whispered to his opponent.

Sora's face went completely red, making the older teen laugh even harder. "What's that supposed to mean? I beat you fair and square. Admit it Riku, you lost only to my awesome skills," he added with a grin, while pointing at his own chest with his thumb.

"Maybe, maybe not," Riku shrugged as he pulled out a potion from his pocket. "In any case, it looks like I've taught you well." After drinking the potion, he patted the younger boy on the shoulder. "Good luck with beating Kairi, though."

As the said girl came closer, she noticed that Sora was about to have a panic attack. "Wha-what? B-b-b-but I..she..what?"

She shrugged as Riku walked away and Sora kept stuttering. "I called 'winner', right? And there's no better way to teach me how to fight, is if I don't learn how." She had a point, but as willing as she appeared to combat, there still hung an air of nervousness around her.

Sora on the other hand, felt just the opposite—somewhat. He wanted to help Kairi in any way he could, but hurting her was the very last thing he wanted to do. He looked at her with a solemn expression. It was bad enough that he didn't want her to come, but now he was going to have to hurt her as well? Even if should be healed with potions and his Curaga spell, there was no potion nor spell in the world that would heal his heart if he did wound her.

"Fine." He sighed, but then raised an eyebrow as he saw how quickly Kairi summoned her keyblade. Kairi only shrugged a response.

"Riku showed me while you were getting some more rings. That way, I wouldn't have to ask him every single time to summon it while we're in between battles." Then, with a frown, she added, "although I haven't gotten the hang of making it go away when I'm done."

Sora chuckled at this. "Yeah, it'll do that sometimes. But all you gotta do is...well, I'll show you after we're done, okay?" As Kairi nodded, Sora titled his head in curiosity. "By the way, have you figured out it's name yet?"

"No really...it appeared in my mind once, but I forgot...slashing away at the heartless was too fun, that it went in one ear and out the other," she said with a shy grin.

Sora took the keyblade, holding it once in his hand as a voice appeared in his mind before he gave the weapon back to Kairi. "I think the name is... Islet Memories."

Kairi waved the keyblade around in her hand, mulling over the name. "Sound nice--"

"OI! Are you two going to stand around and flirt all day, or are you going to fight?" Riku yelled from his spot. The pair stared at him, both faces turning redder than Kairi's hair before looking in opposite directions.

After awhile, they face each other, Sora rubbing the back of his neck while Kairi rubbed her arm.

"Yeah...so..." Sora began, now looking towards the sand.

"Um...ready when you are." Kairi agreed, now finding the sky very interesting.

"All right, then. Ready? Set...Begin!" Riku shouted, and the two took to their stances, before Kairi rushed at Sora. Holding the keyblade, she swung it at him, but he dodge-rolled away.

Now it was Sora's turn, and he spun around to hit her with the Kingdom Key, but she had twirled around and was now behind him. The move was so fast, it was almost faster than his Reversal move.

'She's quick,' he thought. 'That's very good for her, it'll help her if she doesn't have a lot of strength.' As he tried to swing at her again, he barely hit her knee as she jumped backward. This time, he rushed forward at her, using the Explosion ability and as she tried to jump again, the aftermath lifted her higher than she wanted to go. Kairi flailed her arms before landing on the sand, now all shaken up.

When she regained her composure, she saw Sora heading towards her once again. This time, she did another jump, but pointed Islet Memories at him and heart beams shot out from the tip. They grew larger and began to circle Sora, enclosing him in a circle and getting closer with each timed beat. He managed to jump out at the last second, but his left foot was still caught by the hearts as they exploded in a fury when colliding with each other.

"Wow." He whispered, still flinching from the pain in his lower leg, but it would be healed later, he could still fight. Seeing that the girl had finally landed once again, he ran towards her, now using sliding-dash to get a hit in her. The sound of his keyblade was deafened by a cry.

"Ahhh!" Sora stopped immediately, whirling around to see Kairi bent over. She was clutching her right arm as she kept her face down and turned away from looking at him.

"Oh-my-gosh, Kairi!" Sora rushed towards her, craning his neck to try and get a better look at the injury he caused. However, as he tried to get closer each time, she turned away even further. He wanted to know what had really hurt, and why she was giggling—wait, giggling?

It all seemed to go quickly, as soon as he even laid a hand on his shoulder, Kairi quickly used Swift Heel—the new ability she used earlier, and was now behind Sora once again with the blade up against the back of his neck.

The sign of defeat.

As Riku claimed Kairi the winner, all Sora could do was blink rapidly for a few minutes. She tricked him! He hadn't hurt her at all and she used his sympathy against him; she used it to her advantage in defeating him.

Kairi giggled at this, unable to resist laughing at his widened eyes and gaping mouth.

"S-s-sorry," she choked out in between breaths. "But your face...it's hilarious!" After awhile Sora too, regained his composure and laughed with her as well. Once the giggles had ceased, Sora was the first to speak.

"But, why? I thought I'd hurt you or something."

"Oh...well, Sora...sometimes, you worry too much." She shrugged. Then, as she stepped closer towards him, she whispered, " but that's one of the things I love best about you."

As soon as she had said it, the color of red once again grew upon the boy's cheeks, more than usual. Their faces were so close, yet only mere inches apart....Sora couldn't tell if his head was moving forward, or if she was moving in closer...Their eyes began to close until...

They quickly jerked away, now hearing Riku's footsteps coming closer as the shoes made soft thudding noises on the sand.

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As usual, the trio ended the day sitting upon the large, bent, Paopu tree, watching the sun set. Like previous years, they sat in their usual spots: Sora and Kairi both on the tree trunk, while Riku leaned his back against it. Only this time, Kairi sat in the middle between them.

There wasn't much to talk about, with it being the first day of actual training, yet there was a lot going through the young teens' minds.

Sora was, again, the first to speak against the silence, voicing a thought that might as well been on their minds at that moment. "Hey Kai....?"

" Yes?"

"That move you did...when were were battling....what was that? Y'know, with all of the hearts and everything?"

Kairi turned her focus away from the sunset, and towards the sand below them. "Oh that." She paused for a moment, trying to think about the question and the event. "I really don't know...I think that was another ability I learned or something."

Sora shifted in place before responding. "Well, it's gotta have a name....How about...'Heart Attack'?"

Riku shook his head with a sigh. " That's really funny, Sora. But don't you think that's a little too--"

He was stopped as Sora and Kairi both, began laughing at the new name, enjoying it's pun and intended meaning. Riku smirked as he looked at the pair with fondness and knowing.

'Those two were really made for each other....'

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((And there you go, chapter three...finally ^^

Anyway, I just want to clear something up: I know how most people say that Kairi has blue eyes, but sometimes she has violet, and I kinda think that's prettier...plus, Tetsuya Nomura keeps changing the color (not that I don't mind) so I'm keeping it the latter.

Also, yes, unlike most gamers, I keep using Kingdom Key but I change keyblades with the drives..... .......don't look at me like that!

Oh, and I suppose it doesn't help that I start school next Thursday, but I have most of the chappies written out, so that's good.

Read and Review!))