This spacefiller brought to you

by the amazing brain wizards

who design this website. Keep

up the great work.

DISCLAIMER:
The following content is the intellectual property of
Square Enix and the Disney Corporation as well as
any participating organizations which may own the
designs and/or ideas that are features. The author
claims no ownership or contribution to any ideas or
characters, and writes only with permission of the
ffnet website.

WARNING:
The following content is rated M for Mature, and may
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is
purely coincidental.

Shoreline

"Sora? What are you doing?"

Kairi emerged from the base of the shed and walked across the bridge. Sora sat against the paopu tree with his back to the ocean, tools and material spread out between his legs. He looked up from his work and waved at her, beckoning for her to come over. She approached him and knelt down in front of him.

Resting on his knee was a long wooden shaft with a rounded oval form. The end closest to Sora's body was the least developed, thick and jaggedy without definite shape. As it went along, it narrowed down into a fine point. Sora was carving the wood out in numerous slivers that formed a curly brown pile between them. Kairi looked between him and his work inquisitively. "What's this?" she asked.

"Nothing, really." Sora tried to put on a cool face. "I'm making wooden sword like the one I had before."

Kairi laughed. "You haven't changed."

He blushed, failing to maintain his composure, and glanced at her worriedly. "Not even a little bit?"

"Nope," she replied with a smile. "Not a bit."

Sora stopped working and looked at her. She stopped laughing as she realized that something she'd said bothered him. "What's wrong, Sora?"

He put on a wry smile and set down his tools and unfinished sword. "Well, y'know, I was just thinking..." He stood up and looked over his shoulder at the setting sun. Together they walked to the other side of the paopu tree. Kairi peered at him, trying to read his sun soaked expression.

"About what?" she prodded, a little anxious.

He looked back at her and scratched his cheek modestly. "I was hoping that I'd become stronger than my old self."

"Stronger?"

"Not just power... I want to be wiser, too. So that I can do anything." Sora took her hand in his and looked back at the vast ocean. She continued to watch him silently, deep in thought. "For you..." He added, after a little while.

"You really want to change that much?" Kairi asked him, sighing as she leaned against the trunk of the tree while his eyes darted to her disconcertedly. "Can't I convince you to stay the way you already are?"

He didn't say anything. He only closed his eyes and shook his head to say no. She was glad he wasn't looking at her then, wondering if it was visibly obvious that she was sulking. Kairi gripped his hand a little tighter. "When did you start thinking about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Strength. When did you start thinking about wanting it?"

Sora thought back. Back to his battle with Xemnas, when he was briefly reunited with Riku and Kairi for the first time in a very long time. Back to his promise at the End of the World, after he, Riku, and the King had sealed the Door to Light. All the way back to that time, in the cave. He shrugged, too nervous to say what was on his mind. His eyebrows knit together in frustration, his facial features tightening.

That kind of look didn't suit him...

"Sora." She called out to him fervently. "Let's take the raft and go. Just the two of us."

"Huh?" As Kairi tugged him across the bridge and led him through the shed, Sora felt he was experiencing something unusual. It was a feeling of misplaced euphoria, or nostalgia, he didn't quite know... As the door separating the beach and the cove slammed shut behind him, he snapped out of his memory induced stupor. "Didn't we talk about this, before? H-hey, wait up!"

Kairi wasn't listening. She was already hopping across the broken bridge, giggling as Sora pursued her awkwardly from behind. He caught up to her as she tried to scale the zip-line tower. She took both handles in hand and waited for him to grab one, taking pause as his strong arm wrapped around her waist. He smiled reassuringly, oblivious to his gesture of affection.

They took off together. She screamed excitedly as they soared down the line. When Sora let go, she clung to him as they fell together into the soft bed of sand beneath them. Kairi quickly spun over and pressed his arms to the sand, heart pounding, face glowing with an energetic and youthful smile. "K-Kairi...?" Sora's eyes fluttered, disturbed either by her hair as it draped itself over his face, or entranced by her radiating beauty.

She struck her tongue out at him at blew a raspberry, abruptly getting to her feet and yanking him up to his. "Look! Look!" she cried, pulling him onto the old raft. "The raft is still here!" It had been pulled ashore and tied to several trees. She untied the knots, and while Sora pushed it into the water, Kairi grabbed an oar and jumped aboard.

It didn't take long for the current to pull them out a fair distance from the island, or for Kairi's mirthful laughter to tone down. The sun was very low in the sky now, and so Sora took off his shoes and dipped his feet in the water. She sat next to him, treading the water idly as the raft rocked back and forth. Sora was grinning ear to ear.

"That's the Sora that I know..." She murmured tiredly.

His merriment gave way to concern. "What's gotten into you, anyway? You okay?"

She nodded, intertwining their arms together and clasping his palm in hers. Then she closed her eyes and leaned against him, nuzzling his shoulders until she found a comfortable place to rest her head.

"Have I changed, Sora...?" she asked. He hesitated, but nodded. She let out a frustrated sigh. "I see. It's not fair if I force you to be a way that you aren't..."

With her free hand, she felt Sora's cheek and ear. They met and locked eyes. "Y'know, I was a little afraid at first. But now, I'm ready. No matter where I've gone or what I've seen, I knew I could always come back here. Right...?"

He blushed and nodded wordlessly.

"Sora?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to change together... with me?"

"Okay." Sora nodded. Kairi put her hand over his face. "Hmm?"

"Shh." With a deep breath, she leaned very close and kissed him. She kept her hand over his eyes, clinging to him as he jerked away in surprise. But it was not even a moment before Sora accepted it, even pushed against her, instinctively wrapping both arms across the expanse of her back. The raft was swinging back and forth. Her heart was racing. She was holding her breath, and didn't know why, and it made her dizzy, but she didn't want to let go of this moment.

Her instinct to breath inevitably overcame her instinct to love, and as her fingers tingled back to life, Kairi covered her eyes and laughed nervously. As she lay down, Sora propped himself over one arm and gazed at her beautiful face with youthful wonder. One eye opened tentatively, then closed again. Taking him by the wrist, she pulled him lower.

"Kairi...?" They both felt breathless.

"Mmm...?"

"I'm not sure what I should do."

She bit his lip playfully and smirked. "Act like you know..."

He thought about it for a moment, and decided to kiss her again. He liked doing that. A different part of him moved his hand beneath her shoulder to cradle her head against the raft. Her body tensed apprehensively, reacting to Sora's touch as it meandered along. His palm against her cheek was delightfully warm. Of his own volition he pressed closer into her zone. But he was hesitant, the feeling of dominance strange and overwhelming. Love wasn't quite like fighting. It brought out conflicting desires to give her everything she needed and take away whatever he wanted at the same time.

Sensing his restlessness, she gazed at him sweetly, tauntingly, daring him or, rather, asking him to go further. Seeing this, feeling the flow of raw emotion between them, ignited a rolling flame in his eyes. That flame traveled from Sora to Kairi, illuminating her stare with a sparkle worthy of the stars.

Water came over the edge of the raft as Sora pushed it ashore and immediately set about to secure it in place. "Kairi, we're back." He called, turning to see what was keeping her so quiet. But she was sitting against the mast, her head rolled to one side, her face calm and peaceful in slumber.

His lips curled into a wry but satisfied smile. After he had tied the last knot, he draped his jacket around her slender frame, pulling a strand of hair from her lips and tucking it neatly behind her ear. She mumbled softly, groaning louder as he hoisted her onto his back. He walked them all the way to the docks, where he gently set her along the center of the boat and rested her head in his lap.

As he started to row the boat across the expanse of ocean that separated the island from the mainland, he gazed up at the cool night sky overhead, anticipating with idle amusement the scolding he would get from Kairi's parents when he took her home. Those stars above him, the many other worlds that he had yet to see, seemed to twinkle with a kind of understanding. Sitting here in their tiny little boat reminded Sora that he was so very small. He wanted to enjoy understanding those worlds almost as much as he enjoyed coming to understand Kairi. Deep thoughts in mind, Sora looked out the across that wide open sea and reflected silently on the future ahead.