Disclaimer: Please have pity on me and don't sue... I am but a pathetic fanfic writer, who owns nothing but her copy of Kindom Hearts I and II, and Chain of Memories for GBA... Well, that and if I DID own KH, it would no longer be 'G' rated -shiftyeyes-
Warning: Yeah. Well. We know the pairings by now, they're in the summary if you forgotted... apart from that I can't really think of anything. -shrug-
Sora headed out of the train station with an air of certainty, towards the main street, but upon reaching the road he could not decide which way to turn. He had just walked this route in reverse just the other day, but now he had lost all sense of direction. He hadn't managed to get a hundred metres from the station before finding himself unsure of his surroundings. It just made Sora realise how out of place he really was. Had this world really changed that much since he left? Or was it that he had forgotten so much?
He looked left and right, searching for just a hint of something familiar to use as a bearing, but both directions looked the same to him. Just city buildings and apartment blocks.
Kairi's house was about a quarter of an hours walk from East Station, he remembered, a large house by the oceans coastline. From the balcony outside her bedroom, Kairi could even see the islands out in the bay… The little isle out in the bay where Kairi and the others had spent so much time when they were younger. And just for a moment, Sora found himself wishing just once that things could go back to the way they were. Was it really all that time ago, all those years?
"Hey, Kid. You okay?" Sora was dragged out of his thoughts by a voice from behind him.
He mentally cursed at Kairi for staying back at school late with that Selphie girl for some sort of committee meeting about a dance. Sora found himself very wary of strangers since her reawakened from his artificially induced 'sleep', completely forgetting that Leon and his other Twilight Town friends were strangers too once.
As he spun around, he was faced with a rather unusual looking girl. Her black hair was braided into haphazard cornrows, before being pulled back into a crude ponytail behind her head.
"You're a student too?" Sora inquired hesitantly, nodding to the blouse and blue tartan skirt she was wearing, although she had obviously tossed a heavy black coat over it as she left school.
She just nodded in reply, before adding, "I was just passing, and I saw you looking so lost and out of it. Normally I would have just walked on past, but your that Kid, right?"
Sora concealed a sigh. News of his return had spread all over the school like wildfire, in just the short day since he had come back. He tugged at the hem of his trademark shirt, definitely not part of the regulation uniform, thinking of the rumours that he had heard in the past hours.
"… I'm sorry. You probably don't like the rumours, huh?"
Sora thought back to one particular rumour he'd heard, that he'd been sent to a detention centre for years, and grimaced.
"Anyway. I'm Lulu." She finished.
"Sora. But I'm sure you knew that." He replied bluntly.
"Yeah." She replied, "Need some help?"
"I am a little lost…" Sora admitted, "I'm trying to get to Kairi's house… You know it? So much has happened to make me forget…"
"Yeah. I know it. Don't feel like you have to justify yourself to me, Sora."
He found himself walking side by side with the strange girl in comfortable silence, as they made their way towards the outskirts of the town. Sora found himself in amazement of just how fast the scenery could change, leaving him to wonder if it was always so.
"What made you offer?" Sora asked when he tired of the drawn-out silence,"You don't seem the type given to random acts of charity."
"True." She admitted bluntly. There was another pause as they continued walking, before the girl added dismissively, "You interest me."
Sora wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or not.
"You and Riku left at the same time?" Lulu asked, her black eyes presenting an unreadable expression.
"Riku..." Sora breathed quietly, "… I didn't know anyone but me and Kairi remembered him."
Lulu took a mental note of the soft expression on Sora's face at the mention of his friend.
"I miss him." Sora half-whispered, "Nothing's the same here without him. Like something's missing."
Sora paused and gave a sudden forced laugh. "Look at me. Why am I telling a stranger all of this?" He grinned insincerely.
"…Not at all. In fact, it's important to fight for the things you feel strongly about. I'm sure you of all people know that already. So what's stopping you? You have a choice, Sora, and it's up to you to make the right one. Because nobody but you will have to live with the consequences." She gave off the air of one who knew more than they were telling.
The two didn't talk after that. Not out of anger or bad feeling directed against the other, but rather from a sense that everything that needed to be said had already been exchanged between them, an alien feeling to the normally excitable Sora.
So, as strange as it may have seemed, Sora wasn't at all surprised when girl parted ways without another word.
Before him the worn dirt path lead down the hill towards the ocean, and the small picturesque cottages suddenly became familiar to him. The mayor's house was visible in the distance, perched precariously on the edge of a hill. Sora realised that it didn't look anything like home.
…
Sora threw the controller down in disgust, flopping over so he was spreadeagled on the floor. Girls weren't supposed to be good at games. They especially weren't supposed to beat him twelve times in a row at Soul Calibur. He glared dangerously at the console, causing Kairi to giggle in amusement from her position on the carpeted floor.
Ever since Kairi had returned home, she and Sora had planted themselves in front of the Playstation 2. Even so late into the evening, there was no sign of Kairi's adoptive mother or father. When she was questioned about this, she just shrugged and replied, "It's always like this."
"Hey Sora, wanna take a break from getting beaten?" Kairi questioned, jokingly.
Sora laughed, "I was only going easy on you… You are a girl, you know."
"You're more of a girl than me." Kairi frowned in mock-seriousness.
"Hey!" He shouted, receiving only a cushion tossed at him in reply.
She collapsed carelessly onto her back, only to sit back upright as she was struck by a sudden thought.
"We've got to get you some new clothes eventually… You can't wear those old things forever you know."
"Listen, Kairi." Sora turned to her earnestly, ensuring he captured her eyes with his gaze so she couldn't turn away, "Don't you ever get the feeling that things aren't right?"
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, confusion across her face, "You're back where you belong. That's all that matters, right?"
"Not that." Sora sighed in disappointment. He'd hoped she'd understand, it was almost as if he'd expected something, "You remember Riku."
"…Of course." She said hesitantly, unsure of where the conversation was headed. Like she was afraid of something.
"So if you remember him being here, with us, how can you act like everything's just fine without him?"
"But you're here Sora. Nothing and nobody else matters right now."
Sora's face fell slightly, and there was an awkward silence, before Sora came out with something that completely blindsided Kairi. Something she, somehow, never expected.
"I can't stay."
"W-what do you mean, Sora?"
Kairi could feel her dreams slipping through her grasp, crumbling apart between her fingers like sand on a beach.
"Sora! You can't say that and really mean it! You just… can't." Her voice was filled with unrestrained emotion.
"Stop! Please Kairi, just stop and listen." Sora responded, his voice pained, "I really don't understand you anymore. It was always just the three of us; you, me and Riku. Now something just feels wrong… like something's missing… and you just don't care?"
"Sora, just trust me. We can make it all okay. We can make this work, I promise." Kairi pleaded.
"But… what about the three of us? It all meant nothing? All those memories of us three, and you don't even care what happens to Riku?"
"No! Not nothing… It didn't mean nothing. But you can't right forever, nothing lasts forever. Even friendships, Sora. Riku made his mistake, his decision, and that's something that we can't change. Life doesn't have to be perfect, just good enough. Maybe if you just tried, you could see that." Tears sprang to her eyes, but she brushed them aside.
Sora fell silent again, the words spoken earlier by the girl he'd met echoing in his mind.
"…In fact, it's important to fight for the things you feel strongly about. I'm sure you of all people know that already…"
"I'm sorry, Kairi, but I just can't believe that. My friends are precious to me, even if you don't feel the same, even if you don't care about Riku. You tell me nothing lasts forever, but I can't just give up." Sora stood to his feet, making it abundantly clear that he wanted the conversation to end.
Behind Kairi's now-blank exterior, her mind was racing frantically. Hearing these words; seeing Sora's face so determined. Kairi knew that it was only a matter of time before Sora realised what she already knew.
She had tried so hard to protect Sora, the boy too naive and innocent to catch the true meaning conveyed by Riku's too-friendly stares and outwardly innocent little statements. Kairi had always known, ever since she had first found herself on the island, and it tore her up inside. Soon she knew Sora would realise… and then she would loose him forever. It hurt her so much, that realisation.
After all her work and all her effort, maybe there really was nothing she could do to protect him. Even if it was only from himself.
A soft "why" slipped from her lips.
"Kairi?" Sora inquired, almost worridly, knowing nothing of the turmoil of thoughts in Kairi's head. He turned back towards her instead of walking away as he was poised to do.
She did the only thing she could think of under the circumstances – the only thing that might possibly make a difference to Sora. She simply smiled with tears welling in the corner of her eyes once more, and whispered a sentence so softly that Sora could only just hear it.
"Promise, Sora… Promise me you'll come back to me. When this is all over, just say you won't forget."
Grinning back in his charismatic, almost carefree way, Sora replied, "Of course! We'll all be together again, just the three of us, like before."
Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait! xDD. I was really lazy. By the way, the song used for this chapter title, if you don't know already, is D-Tecnolife. It's a Bleach opening, and one of my favourite songs. Go check out!
Well I'm going on a trip to the Philippines, so I promise I'll have lots of great chapters for you when I get back... What else are planes and hotel rooms for? And I'm so glad its the end of school! Only one more week to go, and then no more exams and assignments...
I'm really looking forward to Supanova... I'm cosplaying as Itachi, if anyone cares and actually knows what Supanova is... -shrug- Anyway...
READ AND REVIEW!! -points to button- ... I'll give you cookies??