I beg of all you people reading my stories NOT to kill me for never updating. Real life got in the way, I SWEAR! I've had tennis after school everyday since March 1st, have had WAY too much homework, and work in general. Note to those of you looking for jobs... NEVER work at a Taco-bell that's next to the freeway. It's instant doom during the dinner rush. Anyway... I'm really sorry, but I can't promise consistent updates for a while yet. I will give what I can WHEN I can, and I hope you all will continue to read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts- if I did, I would have made it in English before Japanese...

XOXO

Chapter 1: Connections

-Sora POV-

Kids are lucky. They don't have a care in the world. They're free to run on the beach, hang out with friends, and just relax.

Us... Riku, Kairi and I. We aren't so lucky anymore. Well, that's not entirely true. We can still travel to our play island when we manage to get some free time. We still walk to school together, see each other during lunch and in the halls, and even find time everyday to just goof off for a while and let off some steam. It's nice not having to worry about being attacked the second I let down my guard. It's nice to have my two best friends back with me. It's nice to be back home after a two years of fighting...

But then why does something feel wrong? Ever since Riku and I came back to the islands, something inside me just doesn't seem right. I can never explain it, either. Kairi says that I've changed recently, that I've been brooding more than she thought possible. Its this tugging in the back of my head that I never felt before that's throwing me off balance, I think. That's how I found myself rowing out to our play island. I don't consciously know why I'm going alone, but my instincts are screaming at me to go.

After half an hour of paddling, my tiny boat finally touches land. Quickly and smoothly, I tie it to the dock so it won't be carried away by the current. I can never believe how much I actually missed home. I never really thought about it until Riku and I were nearly trapped in the realm of darkness. I guess you can never appreciate what you have until its gone.

While lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice a figure with blond spikey hair donned in a black coat standing in front of the paopu tree.

-Anonymous POV-

Blue waves crashing against the stone of the platform I stood on top of. A cloudless sky filled with many different colors stretched for miles up above me, signaling that it was early evening. There's a light breeze that makes my gravity defying blond locks sway ever so slightly, my black clothing following the same pattern. This place, where ever it may be, is beautiful.

Suddenly, I hear a click getting progressively louder coming from behind me. I guess footsteps on the wooden bridge are making the noise. Ever so slowly, I turn to face the other person. A boy that looks to be near my own age, with spiky brown hair, blue eyes, slightly tanned skin and wearing a black ensemble with yellow and red hems. is approaching. I don't bother calling out to him; he looks too deep in thought to give me any of his attention. I turn back around to face the sparkling waters spread out in front of me. How I wound up on this sliver of land, I don't know, but I'm grateful anyway. The footsteps stop and both of us just stand there lost in our own contemplations. After several minutes of quiet, except for the 'swish' of the waves, the boy finally addresses me.

"Hey, are you new around here?" he asked while eyeing me curiously, suspiciously. "I don't think I've seen you around here before," he finished in a low mummer.

I pause briefly before I reply, not entirely sure how to respond to his question. It feels as though I've been to this island before, this very spot even, but memories that far back are nothing more than a hazy blur. "I'm not sure..." is my ingenious reply.

A bit perplexed by my vague response he continues to pry for an answer. "Not sure? You don't know if you've been here before?" he continues to ask rudely.

"I think I have, but I'm not one-hundred percent sure. My memory is a bit fuzzy right now."

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to rude. I'm Sora, by the way," he introduced in a friendlier tone, holding out his hand for me to shake. Sora... Sora... 'That rings a dim bell' I say inwardly, afraid to voice my thoughts. I can figure out why his name sounds familiar later. Doing the polite thing, I introduce my self as well.

"My name is..." I trail off. What am I called? It starts with an 'R' I believe, but-

"Sora!" A voice interrupts my thoughts. I spin around and see a girl with shoulder length red hair, pale skin, blu-ish purple eyes, and covered in a pink dress running up the beach towards us. Trailing behind her at a much more leisurely pace is a tall boy with long silver hair that covers his eyes. He, like the girl, also has surprisingly pale skin for an islander. He's clothed in a pair of baggy blue jeans and a black vest under a yellow and white vest.

"Kairi! Riku!" Sora shouts back in response. I turn back to face him, only to let my jaw drop to the sandy ground. The person who was just shy of depressed a few moments ago was jumping up and down, waving his arms like a hyper-active kid who just ate five pounds of candy. The girl- Kairi?- slowed down to a jog due to fits of giggles. The other boy- Riku?- just shook his head several times, a smile threatening the corners of his mouth.

I could already tell I wasn't going to fit in here.

XOXO

Don't kill me for having a painfully short chapter. This is what I like to call a 'Plot Bunny.' They're awful little things that give your head ideas you can't follow up on. The chapters will get longer with time, but for now... well, I'd rather not go there. Reviews force me to write, so let me know what you think! I hope to see you next chapter and until then - JA MATA NE!

~Nobody-XV