Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. From here on, the story gets darker. It had to happen. Reviews are love!

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Chapter Eight: Wake of a Storm

I felt like the summer was going to waste. I hadn't talked to Sora or Riku for a week. They had gotten the message that I was angry with them, and I was letting them sweat about it. Why shouldn't I? They were so…stupid….stupid boys…

Still, I missed talking to them. The week went by slowly and boringly. I hung out with Selphie, but she just liked gazing out at the ocean and talking about boys.

I didn't answer Sora's calls and Riku didn't call anyway. Apparently his parents had him on lockdown again. I was worried about him, but I was more preoccupied with being angry. I wasn't supposed to be angry, for some reason. I, Kairi, was supposed to be the giggly, fun-loving, happy one who always forgave and was always smiling. Well, I was sick of that.

It was ten o'clock on the Saturday night concluding my week long silent treatment of the boys. I had gone to be early, exhausted from listening to Selphie giggle and squeal about her latest crush: Mike from second period business class.

I was lying on my side, staring at the second hand on my clock as it ticked slowly in a circle. My cell phone had eight missed calls from Sora in the last half hour, but I'd turned it off two minutes ago. Now the house phone was ringing.

If that was Sora, so help me…I thought, sitting up and moving to the door. I pushed it open a crack and peered out into the hall. My dad appeared, lifting the receiver out of the cradle.

"Hello?...No, she's already asleep…Whoa, Sora, slow down…What?...How long has…all right have…hey, calm down…We'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up and headed back towards the living room.

"Dad?" I asked, stepping out into the hall, "What's going on?"

Dad looked at me, not even surprised I was still awake, "Get dressed, we've gotta go."

"Go where?" I asked after him.

"Zura, Sora just called."

"Paul, what—"

I could hear them talking in low tones. Now my alarm flags were raised. What had Sora said? I hurried back into my room and threw on some clothes without looking at what I was putting on. Then I charged down the hall, nearly toppling down the stairs as I took them three at a time.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Mom and Dad were pulling on their coats and checking the batteries in several flashlights.

"We're going over to Tara and Don's house." Dad said as Mom handed me my heavy coat.

"Why? What happened?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch.

"It's Riku." Mom answered.

"What? What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" I demanded as we headed out the door.

"He's missing. No one knows where he is. His parents are terrified. We're going to help look for him. Come on." Dad said, herding us out of the house.

The cold night wind was like a slap in the face. It was freezing out here! It couldn't have been more than thirty degrees. I hugged my coat closer as we all clambered into the car. Dad drove through the empty streets to Riku's house.

"When did he disappear?" Mom asked.

Dad shook his head, "Sora was too rattled to tell me the time of day. It sounded like he's been missing for an hour already."

"Out in this?" Mom beckoned out the window, where the wind was whipping at the trees and frost was already forming on the grass.

There was a small group of neighbors crowded on the front lawn of Riku's house. Chris, Sora's dad, was handing out flashlights and bellowing at everyone over the wind. My parents and I parked on the street and jogged over to where Tidus's mom was comforting Tara. I moved on to where Wakka and Sora were talking, bundled up in thick coats against the wind.

"Kairi." Sora looked pale and his eyes were wide. "Have you heard anything?"

I shook my head, "No news. I just found out."

"I tried your cell, but—"

"I turned it off." I said, ashamed. If I hadn't been so determined to be angry, I would have known about the situation sooner. "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter. We have to find Riku now." Sora said impatiently, glancing around.

Wakka nodded, "Let's just hope we find him soon, ya? This weather isn't kind."

Soon the crowd had split into groups of three and sent off to search for Riku. I partnered up with Sora and his mom, Daylia, and we headed towards the North side beach. The wind was merciless and the cold attacked every inch of bare skin on our faces and necks.

We scanned the shore with our flashlights and hunted through the trees and around the rocks. The result was moot. There weren't footprints or any signs of Riku being here.

"Riku!" Sora yelled, his voice muted by the buffeting winds.

I cupped my hands around my mouth, "Riku, where are you?!"

Daylia was calling out nearby as well, but for all the good it did, no one answered.

"Hey, Mom, Kairi, you don't think—" Sora looked out towards the other island.

Daylia pulled her hair out of her face, "I don't think anyone could make it over there in this."

I instinctively looked over at the pier. A boat was missing. My heart lodged itself in my throat. "Guys, one of the boats are gone!"

Sora and his mom jogged over to me to see for themselves.

"The wind could have knocked it loose, but if it was Riku…" Daylia looked around, "Wait here, I'm going to get some of the others."

"That'll take too long!" Sora snapped, "We should go right now and—"

"Absolutely not. You'll drown in this." Daylia said sternly, "Now wait here." She headed back up the path.

Sora groaned aloud and ran his hands through his hair. As soon as his mom had disappeared around the corner, he stepped forward.

"What are you doing?" I asked, teeth chattering.

"I can't just wait here."

"We don't know if Riku took the boat."

"All I don't know is if my best friend is out in this storm. You think he's in a mind to know it's storming?" He barked, glaring at me.

Truth hit home, "You think—you think he's lost it?"

Sora climbed into the boat and set the oars in place, "What else would possess him to go out in this?"

"Sora, please—"

"NO, Kairi! I can't stand around and wait. We're wasting time!"

I bit my lip and then climbed in after him, "Then I'm coming with you."

Sora pushed off the shore and started rowing into the tempest. All I could do was hold onto the edges. It usually only took ten minutes to row out to our island. Tonight, it seemed to take an hour. I lost track of time, the wind was too wild to talk, and all my energy was on staying in the boat. Waves were washed up over us, drenching us both in the icy water. This only gave the wind more power to freeze us.

Sora's pace with the oars never slackened, but stayed in that hurried frenzy until the boat rocked against the sandy shallows of our island. I more than gratefully disembarked onto solid ground. Soaked to bone and freezing, Sora and I trudged up onto the shoreline, gazing around in the pitch darkness.

"Riku! Where are you?" Sora yelled.

I grabbed his arm and pointed. The missing boat was knocking against the entrance to the cove. Without exchanging a word, we both sprinted over the beach, under the bridge, and through the entrance to the cove.

The makeshift crossing bridge was rattling in the wind, but we jumped and hurried across it without thinking about the safety of it. We flashed our lights around in arcs, seeing nothing but thrashing bushes and swirls of disturbed sand.

We called out for him, screaming his name over and over to the winds, but no one answered. I followed Sora over to the ledge and jumped down. My shins screamed in protest but I straightened, looking around.

The shoreline continued, leading into several coconut trees in the grove. A strange sense of deja vue settled over me and a spike of confusion struck my chest. The raft? No, part of our raft was sitting where it had been the night the Heartless had come last summer. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it wasn't OUR raft, but another one, incomplete and not very well crafted. Beside it was—

"Riku!" I shrieked as my light's beam caught him.

Riku was kneeling beside what was supposed to be a mast. He was tying boards together in tight knots and rolling them together. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but the cold and the wind seemed to not be bothering him at all.

Sora reached him before I did. "Riku? What are you doing?" He grabbed his shoulder.

Riku didn't look up, didn't even acknowledge the grip on his shoulder. His hair was plastered to his head and he was soaked, but the wind was dying down, if only minimally. Sora grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him around.

He had been building a raft? My insides churned. Why had he been doing that?

Riku's lips were moving, but the dying wind stole his words.

Sora looked at me, "He's delirious. He thinks it's last summer." He looked down at Riku, "Snap out of it. That was last year."

A sudden bright light nearly blinded us. I shielded my eyes and looked out to sea. I saw the bow of Chris's small yacht with a search light mounted on it.

"Hey, they found him!" Tidus was yelling as he climbed over the edge and jogged over to us.

"Guys?" Riku asked suddenly. We both looked at him. He looked confused, "H-How did I get here?" Sora looked at me sharply, but I kept staring at Riku.

Riku's father, Don, was sprinting away from the boat with Wakka's dad. They didn't ask anything but hastily wrapped a still confused Riku in heavy blankets.

"Are you guys all right?" Tidus asked, handing Sora and me dry blankets as well.

Sora rubbed my shoulders as we followed Tidus up into Chris's boat.

"Is he all right?" Sora asked, shaking from the cold.

Adrenaline alone had kept the cold at bay this long. Now it crashed over us both like a wave.

Wakka's father beckoned, "You all get in here outta the cold."

We obeyed. The wind had all but stopped now, but the cold seemed to have increased. Little pinpricks of cold poked at my face and I swatted at it.

"Kairi…" Sora started, staring out the window. I followed his gaze and my jaw dropped.

Snow was falling outside, lighting on the half-constructed raft and the rails of the yacht.