"S...Sora…?"

The Earth might as well have started crumbling beneath my feet; my knees weakened at the very sight of the tall and tanned boy.

It was like time stopped. Not a soul was on that beach except for the two of us, and neither one of us knew what to say.

His face was frozen in shock; he gaped his mouth open but didn't dare make a sound.

I could only hear my heart raging inside my chest - the muffled pounding in my ears. We stood there, our faces plastered with dumb expressions of surprise, locked in a trance.

He still had the same deep, light blue eyes I remembered.

The same blue eyes I'd always see in my dreams.

That's what caught my attention first. Even though he had changed and matured so much, looking into his eyes was like looking at the same boy I knew seven years ago.

His hair seemed spikier and shorter than the droopy ones he dawned as a kid. It was also a few shades lighter, more of a light brown than the rich chocolate before. He'd lost weight around his face, his jaw line strong and sharp, I felt my teeth clench.

His skin had a sun kissed, radiant glow from life in the sun. His arms were toned, shoulders broad, a fit and muscular build, yet still a slender figure... and his six pack…

Stop checking him out, stop checking him out, stop checking him out!

The way he looked at me, the softness in his masculine face, almost like a puppy…

Oh god…

"You're back…," he finally spoke, trying to process it himself.

"Yeah," I dumbly replied before a moment of silence. I didn't know what to say. It wasn't like we would be running and jumping, hugging each other. We hadn't seen each other, let alone talked in seven years; and besides, we weren't the same kids we were back then either.

"For good?" his eyes looked deep into mine. It felt like part of him was trying to secretly communicate with me, pleading for me to say yes.

Before I could even answer, I was snapped back into reality as one of the guys he had been with jogged over. "Everything alright?" his friend asked, confused as to what was going on. This boy had golden blonde hair spiked in a swift side motion, and soft light blue eyes. He also seemed to be slender, with a bit of an athletic build. He then eyed Namine who I completely forgot was standing next to me, probably confused out of her mind, and smiled.

"Namine!" he smiled confidently, going up to pull her into a quick one armed embrace. "I didn't know you were coming down here today, you should have told me."

"W-well it wasn't planned or anything, I was actually at her house," she spoke frantically. I didn't even have to look at her to know her face was a blossom cherry right now. The sad part was so was mine."This is Kairi," she cleared her throat and straightened up with confidence as she placed her elbow on my shoulder and let her arm dangle."She's an old family friend of mine. She just moved back to the island so I'm visiting at her place, we've been catching up."

I averted my eyes and noticed the other guys that they were with as they watched from a distance, wondering what was going on too. I tried to see if any of them had long silver hair, but they didn't.

"Hi," I gave a kind, light smile to the boy who extended his hand forward for me to shake.

"Hey, name's Roxas!" he introduced himself, " Hope your head's all good. Sorry for my idiot friend," he nudged his head at Sora, "His name's -"

"Sora," I closed my lips and smirked, looking back at the new version of the boy I once knew, "I know."

Sora scratched the back of his neck, nervously, glancing at his feet.

Roxas looked confused out of his mind, glancing from me to Sora, and back at me.

"You okay?" Namine turned to me, her eyes basically reading 'what is going on here?'

I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. I looked down at the orange frisbee still in my hands and back up at Sora, nodding to Namine in reassurance. "Here," I passed him the frisbee.

I could hear their group of friends calling out for them to come back already.

"Hold on!" Sora yelled over his shoulder, in annoyance. He looked back at me with a pained expression.

There was a lump in my throat that felt like a giant pill to swallow. There was so much we wanted to say to each other but just couldn't figure out how to. This was so sudden and awkward, I just wanted to shrink down into the sand and hide.

This was becoming overwhelming and I just wanted to…

"I... have to go," I announced.

"Wait," he held his hand out, but I frantically turned and walked off.

"I'm sorry guys! Roxas, I'll text you! See ya later!" Namine apologized, then ran to catch up and trail behind me.

I didn't want to speak, not until we were off the beach and away from them. I just kept walking, my fists clenched in anger at myself.

"Kairi, what is going on?!" she hissed.

Why did I just make a fool of myself?

Why did I have to leave like that? Why why why…

Truthfully, I don't know why. I didn't know what else to do. It's strange to leave something one way, and to come back and find it to be a completely other thing than before.

My mind is all sorts of confused and messed up right now and I didn't need all of his friends around to make a mockery of myself.

If we were going to catch up, it wasn't going to be right then and there.

He probably saw me checking him out too…. Oh my god Kairi…

Namine and I finally set foot on the path that led through the neighborhood and up the street to my house. I hit myself on the forehead, muttering to myself, "Stupid...stupid…."

"Okay, are you going to explain?" Namine desperately whined from out in limbo.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a long minute, then focused on the setting sun in the distance.

"Remember how I use to tell you stories about the boys I would play with, back when we were kids?"

"Yeah," she looked at me, questioningly. "Wait…," she put the pieces together, "Sora was one of the kids you used to best friends with?"

"Mhm."

" I had no idea! I mean, it was so long ago I didn't even remember their names. But Sora?!"

The way she responded was making me nervous. "Is that bad?"

"Well...how do I put it. I don't know him well enough to make an accurate judgement call. I've only mutually hung out with him a handful of times because of Roxas. I mean, I've heard a few things. Let's just say he's popular with the girls around here..."

So, not too good.

I couldn't imagine the sweet natured boy with a shy goofy grin, that use to treat me like a princess, suddenly becoming some sort of a bad boy.

You would think hearing this information would make me feel like I just dodged a massive bullet, but it didn't.

Instead it only made me feel worse about acting so dumb in front of him.

"I could be wrong though! Like I said, I don't know him well enough. Seriously though, are you okay?" she paused and faced me, looking at my reddened face.

Running a hand through my hair, I shrugged my shoulders and nodded. "I guess I'm alright."

What is wrong with me? I guess I'll just have to wait and see things for myself.

We headed back to my house and Namine ended up having to leave not too long after. Any lingering guests that were still there eventually disbanded too as the sun disapeard. I helped Cloud and Tifa clean up as best as I could, but I was mentally exhausted and confused with life.

"Did you have a good time today?" Tifa asked, closing the sliding door as she stepped in from the pitch black yard.

"Yeah," I spoke from where I was putting away leftover food. I was never really an open book when it came to my feelings, so mentioning the fact that I ran into Sora at the beach today and was now in an internal turmoil, was not about to happen. I would put a smile on my face and pretend like it never happened.

Better to keep those things to yourself.

"How was it seeing Namine again?" Cloud chimed in.

"It was really nice, just like old times," I tried to remain positive.

At least I have Namine in all of this mess, I suppose. But there really was no evading the situation. I would see Sora at school, and sooner or later, I would run into him since Namine is, sort of, dating one of his close friends. I need to get over it already, nothing is the same, what did I expect?

"Good," Tifa smiled happily, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Cloud and I have work in the morning."

"We got a spare key to the house made for you," Cloud mentioned.

"That way you can go out and have fun; meet people. I'm sure you'll fit right back in," Tifa reassured me. "Anyways, Cloud will leave the key on the kitchen table so if you do plan on going anywhere, don't forget it and please lock the door. Goodnight!" she faded into the hallway, Cloud following.

"Night, kid," he waved off.

Ha...Yeah…"Night," I weakly called back.

I sat in the living room for a little bit, deciding to try and watch some t.v. to get my mind off of things, but after going back and forth between a few episodes of random shows, I realized it was no use. Might as well just call it a night.

I went upstairs to hop in the shower and wash the sand and beachy smell off of my smooth skin. I was pretty much over with the day, making the shower as fast as possible and quickly heading back to my room.

After getting into some comfortable clothes that I could sleep in, I was about to flop onto the bed, when I paused at the window. It was a beautiful full yellow moon tonight and I had to take a moment to admire the calming solitude it offered me,

Subconsciously, I looked out to the small island that sat desolate across the water, I guess I looked out of habit, curiosity, or lingering feelings.

I let out a long, stifled sigh. The image of Sora from earlier today crossed my mind...The look of shock when he saw me, and how confused and pained he was when I left...Whatever.

Something moved.

I jumped a little bit, startled, not sure if I was imagining things or not. You could just barely see, but the moon was so full and bright today that you could faintly make out the shore of the little island and the boarding dock.

I swear…. As distant as it was...I know I saw something move over there…

Is somebody on the island right now?

I glanced over at my clock. It's almost midnight.

I started to feel tense, waiting for whatever it was to move again, anticipating it like a scene in a horror movie.

I kept staring out the window for a couple more minutes, but didn't see anything happen again after that. I know I wasn't seeing things though. Somebody was doing something over there. I wasn't going to wait around forever though, so I walked over to the bed and slid under the covers.

Can I wake up tomorrow and be seven years old again?

"The door has opened."

I spun around, startled by the unfamiliar voice. "Who's there?" I called. "Sora?" my voice instinctively called for his name, a habit formed from my youthful dependence.

A dark and sinister laugh echoed through the secret place.

"He can't save you. Your heart belongs to us. Darkness will soon consume his heart, and then...well then, it will consume yours as well, Princess."

A dark, hooded figure appeared from the shadows, their face masked by the darkness.

I started to step back, nervously. The hooded figure began to tremble, it's body shifting into another being. It was almost as if it were morphing into some sort of creature.

It's body twitched and jolted in sharp angles, expanding upwards. It was turning into a giant black shadow beast with glowing yellow eyes, caving in on me.

I inched back, more and more, not realizing that the ground was starting to crumble and fall apart.

That sinister laugh echoed once more, "Surrender to darkness!"

No...No...I won't...

And with that, the Earth crumbled from beneath my feet and I started to fall backwards.

What's going to happen to me?

Is this what death feels like?

Am I becoming darkness?

A million questions entered my mind in that first second, it was as if time were moving so slow. Then a hand appeared, and the next thing I knew I was holding onto it for dear life.

"Kairi!" the voice called.

"Sora?!" I looked down at the black emptiness below and back up to see him staring at me.

"Listen to me Kairi, do not let go. I have you. Just hold on and try to lift yourself up, okay?"

"Sora, I can't!"

"You have to try, Kairi!"

I tried with every fiber of my being but I physically could not move. It was like I was paralyzed.

My hand was starting to slip. "Sora, I can't hold on much longer."

"Pathetic fools," the beast roared, "In the end, you will both fall to the same fate."

I could vaguely see two other people trying to fight the beast, but it wouldn't hold up much longer. It started to come at Sora.

" You have to fight back... I can't let you get hurt because of me…"

"No! I'm not letting you go!" he yelled.

The beast was practically hovering over him now, ready to pounce at any moment. I needed him to fight back. I didn't want him to lose to this darkness.

So in that moment, I let go.

And I could see the horror on his face as the cold wind whipped my hair frantically as I fell for what felt like an eternity.

Falling...Falling…

But as I stared up above, there was a light.

Like a reflection shining off of metal.

A keyblade?

And suddenly I was pulled into an embrace, as another body pulled me to them, their arms wrapped around me as we fell together.

"I told you not to let go," Sora's voice whispered in my ear.

And then everything went black.