Disclaimer: I don't own any KH chareters or know what KH2's story line is or wil be. Let's say I'm just 'borrowing' them from Square Enix. Enjoy! ~Tazzin

Kingdom Hearts 2

deeper than thought

Prolouge: A summary

            Ever since Sora sealed the door to Kingdom Hearts, his world had been upside down.  He could barely remember when he, along with Kairi and Riku, were living normal lives on Destiny Islands.  Ever since he obtained the Keyblade, a weapon resembling a key which had the power to seal the keyholes, or hearts, of every world, his life was never the same.  Now, he was in a unknown world, all alone without Donald, Goofy, Kairi, or even Riku to keep him company.  Let me explain in better deatail.

            After Sora sealed the door to darkness, thus locking Riku and King Mickey behind it, he found Kairi had followed him to the door.  Kairi was standing on a bank of sand that was slowly pulling away from Sora.  Sora despertly tried to pull her over but all that resulted was Sora making a promise to Kairi stating, I'll come back to you, I promise.  After that, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were strolling through a glade when Pluto, the King's dog, appeared with a letter sealed by the king.  Thus, chasing after Pluto, Sora found himself at a crossroad, with Pluto no where in sight.  Donald and Goofy told Sora the right fork was best but Sora felt the left one would lead them to Kairi quicker. Maybe, as we might find, he was right, or, tragically wrong.  So we begin our journeys going down the left fork of the crossroads at night.

Chapter I: An all too real dream

     Let's take the left one!" demanded Sora, stepping down the path a little.

            "No! The right one will lead us to the King!" contradicted Donald, loving to fight with Sora.

            "Who said!"

            "I did!" Sora bent down till his was eye level with Donald then yelled in his face a simple sentence.

            "I'M THE KEYBLADE MASTER AND I SAY WE TAKE THE LEFT ONE!"  Donald wiped the spit from his beak and let Sora walk up the left path a while before he spoke.

            "That girl's gone to your head," he whispered, picking up his mage's staff and striding to where Goofy sat on a boulder, watching the two fight under the stars.  Sora stopped dead in his tracks, letting the wind rattle his chain of crowns that were attached to his shorts.  He slowly turned around and walked slowly over to where Donald was sitting next to Goofy and mumbled barely audible words into Donalds ears.

            "Her name is Kairi," with that Sora punched Donald hard on the shoulder. "We'll take the left one."  Donald sat there for a while rubbing his shoulder trying to numb the pain.

            "Ah, Donald," Goofy pipped up,"We better hurry and catch up with him or-Ayuick!"

            "Shush! Let's let him go by himself," whispered Donald as he put his small feathered hand over Goofy's mouth. "It'll serve him right for treating us like he owns the world because he twirlls that key around."

            "But Donald! He's gone!"  When Donald and Goofy looked around, Sora was no where in sight.

            Sora was aways down the path when he noticed the familar flopping sound of Donald's feet weren't behind him.  Sora spun around and found Donald and Goofy were no where in sight.

            "Donald! Goofy!" Sora's voice broke the silence but, nothing answeared.  Sora was about to run back to the crossroad when he heard a twig snap behind him.  What Sora found behind him was the last person he expected. 

            Kairi was standing with her back to Sora, facing the direction the path took.

            "Kairi?" he asked in a questionable tone, stepping towards her slowly.  When he reached her, she still wouldn't respond to her name.  Sora placed his hands carefully on her shoulders and turned her around.  Her eyes were downcast and she was holding something in her right hand.

            "Kairi? Is it really you?"

            Kairi look up at this, a sad look in her eyes.

            "Sora, don't forget the promise we made," She looked up into his blue eyes and pressed something into his open palm of his left hand.  She then closed his hand around it. "Where it in place of your's."  When Sora opened his hand, Kairi's necklace was there, the same necklace he made her for her tenth birthday.  Sora looked down at Kairi and found she was wearing his crown necklace which she made him for his tenth birthday.  Sora quickly put on Kairi's necklace and hugged her, saying a few sweet words.

            "I'm so glad your back," he whispered, hugging her a little tighter as though the tighter she was held, the safer she would be.  Kairi put her hands on Sora's waist and slowly pushed away from him.

            "I'm sorry, Sora. I am here with someone else."

            "Who?" asked Sora, glancing sround the path and the field on either side of it.  Kairi slowly started backing away from him till she was ten feet in front of him. Then Sora saw who she was with.

            Riku was about three yards behind Kairi on the path, his left hand on his hip.

            "C'mon Kairi we got to get home."

            "Riku?" Sora asked, thinking this was all to biazzare.

            "I'm sorry Sora," Kairi said as she turned slowly and ran towards Riku who lifted her up and spun her around.  Kairi started giggling and then Riku hugged her toght.  Sora lost it at this knowing his best fiend woulndn't do such a thing.

            "Riku get your hands off of Kairi!" Sora yelled stepping forward, only about ten feet from Riku and Kairi.

            "She's mine Sora. We even ate a papou fruit together."  Sora gasped at this and narrowed his eyes in anger.

            "I won't let you have her Riku!" Sora thrust out his right arm and thought about the Keyblade. In a flash it was in his hands.

            "You would fight me even if it endangered Kairi," scoffed Riku, setting Kairi down, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders.

            "I'll hurt you but never Kairi!"

            "Oh really?"  Riku snapped his fingers and about a dozen shadow heartless appeared encircling Kairi, who imediately started screaming.  Sora thought quick and threw the Keyblade at the heartless.  When the Keyblade left Sora's hands, Riku snapped his fingers making the heartless disappear leaving Kairi with her arms sheilding her face.  The Keyblade came whirling at her and Sora could do nothing to stop it.

            "No!!" he cried as the Keyblade was only a few inches from Kairi.  Then everything stopped.  The Keyblade seemed frozen in mid air a few inches from Kairi's face.  Kairi, scared beyond imagining, lifted her arms away from her face slowly.  When she saw the Keyblade, hovering a few inches in front of her face, she nearly fell backwards in effort to get away from it.  Sora held his breath thinking this was to creepy to be real but, it was.  He could feel the breeze through his hair, hear his chain on his shorts rattle, and, realest of all, he could feel Kairi's hug.  He could feel her warm body heat pass through him and smell the faint fragrence of strawberry shampoo in her hair.  It was all too real.

            "Well?" Riku asked, breaking the eeiry silence.

            "Well what?" Sora asked, picking his Keyblade out of mid air and laying it in the nearby grass.

            "I think he means," answeared Kairi, stepping between Riku and Sora who were less than a foot apart,"That when you tried to save me, you also endangered me.  You threw the Keyblade at me and then the heartless disappered leaving me there as your target. If Riku wouln't have stopped it, I would be lying dead with you crying and Riku saying 'I told you so'."  She directed her last words to Sora, who took it as an insult.  Riku, behind Kairi's back, stuck his tounge out at Sora who replied with cracking his knuckles.  Still standing between them, Kairi looked from one face to the other, thinking of what to do.  These were her two best and only friends she had and now they were fighting over her.  It was too much to bear.

            "I think we should go now," Riku said while still staring at Sora,"We wouldn't want to keep Sora here from saving the world."

            "What's that supposed to mean!?" yelled Sora, shoving Kairi out of the way so he could get in Riku's face.

            "You know dang well what it means!"  Kairi, having been shoved by Sora, fell down on the path, scraping the back of her legs on the tiny pebbles that lined it.  She looked at them to fing they weren't bleeding that bad but, she still felt a tiny drop of anger seep through her, growing as it spread.  She quietly stood up, dusted herself off, and walked down the path in direction Sora was heading.  Sora and Riku, too busy fighting over who was stronger and better in every thing, didn't even hear her leave.

            Kairi was about ten yards away from them when she slowly turned and stopped just to find Riku and Sora still fighting.  She was fuming with anger when  she saw something glisten in the moonlight.  It was the reflection off her necklace which she gave to Sora.  He had it around his neck and it seemed to bounce on it's own as Sora moved around.  Kairi smiled and a single tear appeared from the corner of her eye, slowing traveling down her cheek.  Then she snapped.

            Donald and Goofy had been traveling down the left path for about a half an hour and still, there was no sight of Sora.

            "Do ya think he disappeared?" asked Goofy, swinging his sheild around dumbly.

            "No, Goofy.  He couldn't have gone far."

            "What ever ya say, Donald!" replied Goofy, a little loudly,"What ever ya say."

            "STOP IT!" Kairi yelled, making Sora and Riku stop dead in thier tracks,"Stop yelling!"  Sora and Riku were both standing with thier hands firmly clasped around each others neck. 

            "Kairi?" Sora asked in a questionable tone, breaking away from Riku and stepping a few yards closer.

            "No, listen," she cast her head down, thinking, and when she brought her head up, she was crying really hard, enough to make her seem to shiver,"You guys always fought, ever since Destiny Islands and nothing has changed!  You still try to better in everything than anyone else," with this she looked towards Riku,"And you always try to..to," she broke off, thinking of nothing wrong Sora did to other people.

            "To what?" Riku asked anxsious to hear what she said about her friend.  Sora gave a dirty look to Riku then walked up to Kairi, feeling now was his time to show Riku who Kairi really liked.

            "Did you really eat a papou fruit with him?" he asked, wiping some newly formed tears from her eyes.  She shook her head in reply. 

            "She lies!" demanded Riku stepping a little closer.

            "Did you?" Sora asked looking deep within Kairi's blue eyes that reflected the stars radience.  She shook her head again and then looked past Sora to Riku, who had an unpleasent look drawn on his face.  Then she remembered something, something about her two friends that set them apart.

            When Kairi first arrived at Destiny Ialnds at the age of eight, she was always around Sora and Riku.

            When Kairi was found in the sand along the side of the beach, Sora found her first.  He asked if she was hurt or anything then asked her name and such.  She liked him imediately because of  his smile and shy attitude.  Then, later on, she met Riku.  He always appeared sneaky because he was older and answeared questions with questions.  She found this normal until one day when she found out Sora was the one to rely on.

            When Kairi was ten, she was walking down the path to the secret place in the morning when she tripped.  Sora who was getting water from the waterfall not far away, heard her trip and start to cry and rushed over as though there were a fire.

            "Are you all right?" he asked crouching down and looking at her new scrap that went from her right knee to her right ankle.

            "Yeah," she replied, still sniffing back tears while holding her knee,"It hurts though."

            "Wait a minute."  Sora went over to the waterfall and plucked a leaf from a nearby tree.  He then doused it in the pure water of the waterfall.  "This might hurt a little," he said as he slowly pressed the leaf on her wound.  She yelped a little and imediately  grabbed Sora's hand out of the blue.  Sora stared at her hand then  looked into her eyes, which were still a little pink from crying, and saw she was somehow calmer now.  His eyes grew wide and then her remembered her wound and looked away.

            "Can you walk?" he asked after a while, breaking the silence.

            "Yeah, maybe."  Kairi tried to satnd up but, when she did, her wound streched and she imediately sat down again.

            "Keep your leg straight and I'll help you up," Sora then flung her left arm around his shoulders and plaed his right arm across her's.  "Now grab my hand that's on your shoulder," Kairi did as she was told and soon, Sora and Kairi were moving thier way towards Sora's house so she could be properly tended to.  Later on, Kairi found out that Riku tripped her.

            While walking to the papou tree, Kairi passed the seaside shack which was used for storage.  From outside, she could hear voices.

            "How did it go?" one voice asked.

            "Not so good. I got intersepted."  Kairir knew this voice belonged to Riku and stopped, knowing that hearing this conversation would do her good.

            "How?" replied the other voice.

            "Well, I hid near the roots of the tree, in the shadows, like you said. When I looked, no one was in sight except for Kairi walking down the path. So, as you insturucted me, I stuck my foot out a tiny bit and WHAM! she hit like an egg against a wall. But, before I could help her up and say all that crappy stuff like Are you all right? and Let me help you up, he was there," Riku snarled over the word as he said it.

            "Who?" asked the other voice, sounding completely dumfounded.

            "Sora! He always seems to be there when something happens to Kairi. It's wrong I tell ya. He helped her up and they even-they even..." Riku trailed off.

            "They even what?" asked the second voice, seeming to miscomprehend every thing that was said.

            "I can't stand him! One day I'll get Kairi alone and tell her how I feel maybe, even share a papou friuit with her."

            "Don't set your goals too high," Kairi then heard movement and quickly ducked on the other side of the shack.  After that, she was wondering what was so special about this papou thing and then she heard her name being repeated over and over.

            "Kairi? Kairi! KAIRI!"  When Kairi opened her eyes, Sora was holding her by the shoulders, a worried look on his face.

            "Oh Sora!" she cried as she flung her arms around his neck and cried harder than ever.  Sora, never being in this position before, stood there with his arms at his side, wondering when it was going to stop.  Riku sighed and started tapping his foot in lack of patience.

            "Ah, Kairi?" Sora asked, chuckling slightly.

            "Yes?" Kairi replied, looking up at Sora, tears streaking down her face.

            "Ah, why are you crying? Did you get hurt?"  Kairi laughed at this, remembering the first words he spoke to her when he found her on the beach.

            "No," she replied, wipeing tears from her eyes,"I'm happy. Happy to be here with you and Riku."

            "Oh, well in that case," Sora looked behind him at Riku who rolled his eyes in a Why am I here? way. "Um Kairi I want to say a few things like, umm I-" At that moment it seemed as though the ground on which Sora stood on disappered.  Sora then felt himself falling and when he looked up, Kairi and Riku were too.  All of this was too real.  He could feel the wind though his hair and hear his chain clinking against his shorts.  And then, all was black.  He couldn't see an ich or so beyond his nose but, he did hear Kairi and Riku's voices.  Another weird thing was, he didn't remember feeling pain when he fell.

            "Sora, are you all right?" Kairi asked, her voice coming from his left

            "I'm fine. Where's Riku?"

            "Over here," he replied, sounding as though he was none too happy about thier perdicament, on Sora's right.

            "Okay, let's try to follow each other's voices so we can stay together."

            "Good idea, Sora," comented Kairi.

            "Wait a minute," Riku intergected,"I can't move!"

            "Neither can I!" replied Kairi, a panic like twinge in her voice.

            "But I-" Sora cut off and tried to move his feet but couldn't. "Me either."  Just as things were getting too real and too weird, a bright light entered the room and for a brief second, Sora caught glimpses of Riku and Kairi to his left and right.  That was the last thing Sora remembered.

            Donald and Goofy were aways down the path when everything started to feel out of place.

            "Ah, Donald? Do ya feel weird all of a sudden." Goofy  looked over to Donald, who's eyes were fixed upon the path ahead. "Ah, Donald?"  The next thing Goofy felt was the sensation of falling and then a bright light and that was all he could remember.

Chapter II: Hurtful Memories

     Kairi woke with a start sitting straight up in bed.  She just awoke from the most weirdest dream she ever had.  As she tried to remember, she realized that sweat was dripping down her neck and across her brow.  She shivered as she noticed it was still dark out and a cool breeze was coming from her bedroom window.  Kairi threw off her sheet and crossed her room to her window which over looked the island on which the houses were.  She shut it then climbed back into her bed, trying her hardest to remember her dream.  Then, almost as though it were the most obivous answear, she remembered that her dream was about Sora and Riku.

            "Sora," Kairi breathed the word as though it were almost a wonder within it's self.  A hazy look crossed over her eyes as she remembered the drawings on the wall of the secret cave.  She closed her eyes, trying not to cry but could not help it as a small tear came rolling down her cheek.  The her thoughts drifted to her dream.

            It started out that she was on this path in a grassy area.  The stars were twinkling over head and all was still till she heard a kind of jingling sound.  When she turned about Sora was there.  He rushed up to her and gave a big hug saying how glad he was to have her back and all.  Kairi didn't understand a word of it now but, in the dream, she seemed to understand it fully.  Kairi then, for some odd reason against her will, pushed Sora away and gave him her necklace.  Kairi then, as though she could not control her lips, said she was here, on the path, with someone else.  Just then Riku appeared behind her and she remembered him saying something about hurrying and going somewhere.  After that, Kairi rushed over to Riku, another strange action, and he swept her off her feet.

            Kairi, at this point, remembered one really weird thing in her dream.  She could feel things.  She could feel Sora's hug and the breeze through her hair.  Also, at one point in the dream she remembered that she had a sort of flash back, a look on old memories and these were memeories that were real, memories that she still had today.  Anyway, her dream ended with a bright flash and that's all she could remember.  Kairi, thinking nothing of it, pulled her sheet up to her chin and drifted back into a peaceful sleep, for she always had weirs dreams since Sora left her.  A few minutes later, she awoke.

            Kairi sat straight up in bed, eyes wide, and screamed the first word that came to her mind.

            "Sora!"  Kairi looked around her room, dimly lit by the moonlight, until she found her dresser.  She crossed the room and picked up a picture that she had since she was twelve on Destiny Islands. Breathing hard, she picked it up. It was a picture of her and Sora.  It was taken under the papou tree about sunset and Sora was smiling the way he always did.  He had his arm looped around her shoulders and was giving her a fake punch on the head, laughing all the while.  Kairi was laughing too and was trying her hardest to get out of his grip.  She held the picture in her hands, remembering that day.

            "Sora," she breathed again, a tear dripping offher cheek onto the picture.  Just then there was a knock on her bedroom door.

            "Kairi, are you all right?" it was the soft whisper of her grandmother probuly awoken from Kairi screaming out Sora's name.

            "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, crossing her room and placing the picture under her pillow.

            "Just a wondering.  I thought I heard you call me."  Kairi listened carefully till she heard her grandmother's door close then went over to her dresser and opened a dware.  She pulled out a pair of blue jean capris and a white blouse.  Kairi thought that if she went to the secret place, she might get some sleep.  It was, after all, two years since she seen Sora or Riku for that matter.

            Kairi had grown a little taller since then and was about five foot, four inches.  Her physical appearence also changed.  Her hair, although the same color, went down to her shoulders but, still framed her face beautifully.  She was still thin and had beautiful dark blue eyes that were almost like Sora's.  Plus she was sixteen.

            Kairi pulled off her night shirt and threw it on the bed.  She pulled on her capris and buckled the belt, pulled her blouse over her head and buttoned the middle.  Finally dressed, Kairi went over to the top of her dresser and went to grab for her necklace but, it wasn't there.  Kairi almost passed out at this.  That necklace, a simple necklace that consisited of a leather throng and a light pink crystal, was a gift given to her from Sora.  In it's place, though, was a necklace that consisyed of a silver chain and a silver crown.  The necklace, somehow familar, gave Kairi a weird feeling.  She remembered seeing it somewhere before but couldn't quite put her finger on it.  Anyway, she placed the necklace in her pocket and put on a pair of sandels.  Kairi stopped.  One thing was missing.  She grabed the picture undee her pillow then procedded out of her room to the hallway. 

            The hallway, darker then usual, had a cold chill to it and Kairi felt this chill seep straight through her bones.  She quietly crept down the hallway, as not to disturb her grandmother, till she reached the top of the stairs.  Then, skipping the steps that made loud creaks, she went downstairs and out the front door.  The brisk wind cut through Kairi the second she went out the door and almost forced her back inside.  Kairi, her mind set to go across to Destiny Islands, closed the front door quietly behind her adn made her way to the dock where the small boats were moored.  When she arrived, she found out she was not alone.  Selphie, a now fifthteen year old girl, was sitting on the dock looking out towards Destiny Islands.  She didn't hear Kairi approcaoh and when Kairi spoke, Selphie nearly fell off the dock.

            "What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, finding her boat on the left side of the dock,"It's freezing out here."  Selphie glanced at Kairi, a weird look in her eye.

            "I'm waiting...waiting for someone."  Selphie looked back towards Destiny Islands, the breeze ruffling her short, brown hair.

            "Who?" Kairi asked, climbing down into her boat and ajusting the paddles.

            "Tidus," she replied, rather briskly,"He was supposed to meet me here by sunrise but, he still hasn't come."

            "But it's not even near midnight and besides," Kairi glanced at Selphie to see if she was still listening," Aren't you cold?"  Selphie was dressed in nothing but a one pice yellow dress with no sleeves plus, the dress was only to her knees.

            "No," she replied, staring blankly at Destiny Islands as a star seemed to almost flicker and go out,"He warms me."

            "Who? Tidus?"

            "Yes. No matter what the distance, he will find me. No matter where we are, he will always be with me. No matter how long we are apart, I will always have a part of him. He will always be with me."

            "That's what I think about-," Kairi cut off, thinking it was better not to mention his name to Selphie,"His voice will never leave me and I'll always have a part of him with me and me with him. Anyway, I'd better get going."  Kairi then untied the tether to her boat and pushed off, drifting away from the dock slowly.  She pushed the water with her oars, floating away from the dock till it was barely visible.

            Kairi rode the small waves of the ocean's current till she reached Destiny Islands.  All was quiet except for the small rushing sound that the waves made as they crashed against the sides of her boat and the shoreline.  Kairi tethered her boat to the nearest peg on the dock and climbed out onto the dock.  She brushed herself off then walked quickly to the secret place, the necklace in her pocket jingling all the way.  Kairi reached the secret place opening and breathed deep, knowing what was inside.  She then parted the leaves that covered the opening and ducked inside.

            It was so cool in the cave that was the secret place it was almost cold and Kairi shivered as a cool breeze swirled down from the opening above.  Kairi then made her way slowly to a place beside a strange wooden door with no knob.  She knealt down and closed her eyes, knowing that the sight on the rock before her was a hard one to bear.  When she opened her eyes, she felt different.  The picture of Sora giving her her a papou fruit didn't make her cry like usual.  Kairi, two years ago, after being seperated from Sora, drew her giving him a papou fruit beside her scribble.  Ever since Kairi came to Destiny Islands, Sora treated her speacial.  He showed her the secret place and, in the coolness of the dark place, they drew scribbles of each other.  Kairi, being eight, didn't think that this meant anything but, now twice that age, she knew this meant more than any amount of money.

            Kairi stared at the picture, and, hearing Sora's voice in her head saying I'll come back to I promise!, couldn't help the tide of memories that flooded back into her mind.

            Two tears ago, Kairi woke Sora up from a nap on a beach.  He smiled his smile and Kairi giggled over one of his quick witted jokes.

            "Stop it," Kairi mumbled, knowing that if her memories went too deep they would reach the one memory that she feared most, the one of-

            Two years ago, a storm started over Destiny Islands and Kairi ran out of her house in order to save the raft.  When she got there, though, a tiny black creature was there.  It appeared harmless and kind of cute so, Kairi let her gaurd down and started to pet it when- she couldn't remember the rest.

            "Stop it!" Kairi said a little more fiercely, closing her eyes thinking it would make it stop but, to her agony, it made it worse.

            Two years ago, Sora sacrified himself for the sake of her life thus, renewing her lost heart.  Kairi then found out that the heartless who followed her, Donald, and Goofy through Hollow Bastion's corriders was Sora.  Then other small heartless appeared, circleing Kairi.  Kairi knealt down and hugged the heartless, trying to keep it safe.  In a flash the heartless was Sora and she was in Sora's arms which, though she never told, was the most safest feeling she ever fealt.

            "Stop, please," Kairi begged, crying a little at this moment.

            Two years ago, Kairi was in the secret place alone trying to find some mushrooms for the raft's supplies when Riku came in alone.  He said nothing till her knealt down beside Kairi.

            "What are you doing?" he asked in his cool calm voice.

            "Trying to find mushrooms for our voyage," Kairi replied, not even noticing that Riku had one had behind his back. "Aha!"  she exclaimed as she knealt down to grab the mushrooms which were sucurely embedded in the dirt.

            "Would you like some help?" Riku asked, setting down the thing he had in the shadows as he made his way towards Kairi.  Kairi, who was struggling with the mushrooms, didn't reply.  Riku then crouched behind her and put his hands on top of her's.  Kairi froze and knew this was wrong.  He then placed her hands on the base of the mushrooms and clasped them over the roots.

            "You gotta pull from the bottom," he explained, not the slightest bit of embarressment in his voice.  "It's alot easier."            

            Kairi could feel herself blushing and was glad when Riku stood up and moved away.  When she stood up, Riku was holding a papou fruit in his right hand.

            "This is for you," he said strolling over to her, placing it into her open palm of her left hand. "And this," he continued,"Is from me."  Then, holding both of her hands in his, he closed his eyes and got really close to Kairi's face.  Kairi could feel herself blushing and tried to back away but, Riku's grip was too strong and she had no choice but to stay where she was.  Riku was only a few centimeters away from her lips when she turned her head to her left.  Riku, instead of landing on her lips, landed on her left cheek.  He backed away, cursing under his breath that he didn't do it right.  He then left the cave and Kairi slumped down to the ground, forgetting about papou fruit tucked into her hand.  She started to cry when Sora came in.  Kairi moved quick and tucked the papou fruit into the shade of the treeroots.

            "Kairi?!" Sora asked alamered, crossing over to her and knealing by her.  "Are you all right?"

            "Yeah," Kairi mumbled between her tears and sobs.  Sora just knealt there, not knowing what to do.  Then Kairi leaned over till her head rested on Sora's shoulder.  Sora, completely taken back by this move, just sat there with Kairi crying on his shoulder.  And, that's how it stayed.

            "Stop IT!" Kairi yelled breaking the beautiful silence that was there, until now, in the secret place.  Kairi put her back against the rock wall and started to cry uncontrolably.  As she did this, though, the necklace shaped like a crown fell out of her pocket.  She looked at it and picked it up, remembering who's it was.

            "Sora," she sighed as she put on the necklace.  She then heard Sora's voice one last time before drifting off to sleep.  I'll come back to you I promise!

Chapter III:Slums

     Riku opened his eyes and quickly closed them again.  He reached over to his bedside table and felt around till he found his blindfold and, quickly tieing it over his eyes, he sat up, thinking about his past dream.  How is it even possible to have dreams? Riku asked himself as he went over to the window by his bed and to shut the tattered blinds that were letting in a terribly bright light.  How could he, a mere shell of a human, have dreams, detailed dreams at that, that had all the elements of a drama scene.  Riku scratched his head, not being able to figure it out. 

            With the blinds shut, he tore off his blind fold and looked around his delapdated room.  It was a shabby hotel room with cracks in the walls in such but, it was all he could afford.  Ever since Sora shut the door to darkness, ever since he couldn't see in light, ever since he lost her-.  He cut his thoughts off knowing he went to far.  He knew it was wrong to think of Kairi as his girl for Sora had snatched her first.  That was two years ago.  Riku was seventeen now.

              Riku sat on the edge of his bed ans stared at the dusty, decayed wooden floor.  He was trying to recollect his dreams when a soft breeze came from the crack in his window glass.  It  ruffled his light blue hair and slowly moved the blinds, letting light drift onto Riku's face.  Riku threw up his arms to sheild his face as his groped around on the bed for his black blinfold.  After tieing it again, he got dressed.  He stepped into his black boots and flung on his black leather pants.  After that, he put on his black robe with the hood pulled back.  After lacing up the front of the hood, he walked out the door.

            He walked down the hallway to the very end and was in a good mood so far because no one asked him the question he dreaded which was-

            "Do you need any help getting around town today, sir?" came a soft feminie voice.  Riku stopped dead in his tracks, knowing who that voice belonged to.  It was the manager's daughter.

            She was a tall, thin thing with long glossy brown hair and deep brown eyes.  She never got into trouble and rather took a liking to Riku, flirting with him all the time.  She was usually at the front desk but today she woke up late by the sounds of it because she was just coming out of her room.

            "No thank you," Riku replied rather briskly but, still in his calm tone, his back to her.  "I told you I'm not blind."

            "Oh, yeah, well if you still need me call. My name's Karena."  Riku stopped and turned slightly, his hands shoved deep within his robe pockets.

            "Could you repeat that and spell it."

            "I guess. Why?" she asked moving closer, a thing that frightened Riku slightly.

            "Just do what I say," Riku replied stepping back a little till he felt the back of his legs brush against the leg of the resptionist desk.

            "Okay. It's Karena. K-A-," the rest of it was a blur because at this moment, Riku remembered his dream.

            He was on Destiny Islands with Kairi and Sora was no where in sight.  She was sitting on the papou tree next to him and everything seemed normal till she asked Riku if he liked her.  He remembered stumbling over the right words then he said yes.  She then said prove it by recieting a poem out of thin air.  So, he did.

            "K is for the one I love, Kairi.  A is for the air you make all the better with your precence. I is for my eyes which see your beauty. R is for the rest of me to you. And I is for I love you."  Riku blushed thinking he did the most stupidios thing in the world.  Kairi, on the other hand, hugged Riku saying he so sweet.  Eveything was about to be picture perfect when Kairi saw something behind Riku.  Riku turned and found out it was Sora with Selphie.

            Sora sitting on the beach with Selphie by his side watching the sunset.  She had her head on his shoulder and he had his arm around her.  All was perfect till Kairi saw.

            "Excuse me, Riku," she said, sliding off the tree.  She then ran over to the beach, her pink skirt mimicking her movements.  When Riku looked down at himself, he found out he, like Sora and Kairi, were in the same clothes as they were before they even left Destiny Islands.

            Kairi sat down on the other side of Sora, oppisite of Selphie.  She just sat there and didn't say a thing, neither did Sora.  Finally, she broke the silence.

            "Beautiful sunset, isn't it Sora?" she asked, snuggling up close to him trying to get his attention.

            "Yes it is, Selphie."  He called her Selphie.   Kairi then took Sora's other arm and put around her shoulders.  Sora pulled his arm out of her grip, a wrong move on his half.

            "Sora!" Kairi said in a irratated voice,"What's wrong with you?"

            "What's wrong with you?" he asked back, finally turning his attention towards her,"You sure do seem close to Riku all of a sudden."  Riku felt himself swell with anger and he slowly slid off the tree but, stayed where he was.

            "Him? I was testing you, Sora. I was pretending to like him to see if you still would like me. I see you failed."  Kairi stood up and brushed the sand off her skirt then glared at Sora.

            "Failed?! I was testing you, too. So, I guess we both failed." Sora got up to and went over in front of Kairi, a weird look in his eyes.  Selphie, still sitting on the beach, forgotton, stood up and just walked away, thinking nothing of it.  Riku, on the other hand, went down to the beach but stayed out of thier way, wanting to see what happened.

            "I'm sorry, Sora," Kairi said, wraping her arms around Sora's waist and, giving him a huge hug, looked up into his crystal blue eyes.  Riku thought he was going to be sick.  Just as he thought he would spew up his dinner, the sky grew dark and small droplets of water started to fall to the earth.  First, it was a nice and light rain then it thinkened and became a downpour.  Sora, Kairi in his arms, looked up at the sky in disgust, thinking it took away all the romance.  Kairi, soaked to the bone, began sneezing and started to complain that if she stayed out here much longer she would catch a cold.  Riku, being soaked too, suggested that they stay in the seaside shack till the ran passed.  All agreed and made a run for the seaside shack.

            Once inside, they each took a seat on a crate and huddled together for warmth.  Then Kairi-

            "Sir, are you all right?"  Karena's soft voice brought Riku out of his dream and into realality.  He looked down and saw her standing in front of him, a worrid look on her face.

            "I'm fine," Riku replied, stepping around her towards the front door.  He placed his hand on the knob, ready to turn, when he stopped, thinking to ask Karena a question.

            "Why do you worry about me so much? I mean, I'm not blind or disabled and I have a girl."  Riku knew the last part of this was a straight lie but, since she couldn't see his eyes, she couldn't tell he was lieing.

            "I worry beacause I-I care. You're always alone and-"

            "Stop!" Riku demanded as he opened the front door a bit and stepped out,"I get your point."  With that he left and Karena wondered why he was so mysterious.

            Riku walked a few feet from the door and wondered where he would go today.  Someplace dark and not very crowded would do but, where could he go.  He knew this was a stupid thing to think for dark places were easy to find in the slum areas of Twilight Town.  Twilight Town was a rich town based around it's great clock tower.  On the outskirts were rich farmers but, between the outskirts and the main town, were the slums.  They consisited of people too poor to live in the rich area but too rich to beg.  Riku fell inbetween.  He had enough money to live in the few shabby hotels thier were but, didn't dare enter the rich part of town where people would look down upon him for the way he acted and dressed.

             Riku decided to go to a dark place on top of an abandended warehouse.  He crossed the many crowded streets that were lined with beggers and salesmen trying to pawn off worthless junk.  He turned down an alley on his right, which was a dead end alley, and went all the way to the end.  He then looked around till he found a ladder that was barely visible to any normal human.  The fact was, he wasn't human.

             Ever since Ansem, an evil man who posesed him, regained his real body, Riku was cast into a world of purity and light.  The purity ate as he dark filled heart and the light burned his eyes no matter how hard he closed them.  When he came to, he was in a dark place and seemed quite at home.  Then a small light appeared.  Riku was curious and went towards it.  It soon grew and his eyes started to burn.  He wanted to black out the light and that's when he found his blindfold.  Thus is the reason he wears it, to shut out the light.  He could see that ladder because of the way the light hit off it.

            Riku climbed the ladder till he reached the top of the warehouse.  He crossed the roof in a back and forth manner seaching to see if thier was any light.  When he was convinced that thier was no sign of light, he sat down on a nearby crate.  He looked around and quickly pulled off his blindfold.  He scaned his surroundings one last time before he dug deep within his robe pocket, searching for a piece of paper.  When he found it, he pulled it out.  It was a picture.  A picture of his friends, Sora and Kairi.  It was taken on Destiny Islands, about a month before the thought of building a raft,  in the waterfall's pool.  Kairi was in the middle, a sweet smile on her face.  Sora was on her left, his arm over her shoulders, with a broad grin on his face. Riku himself was on Kairi's right, his arm around her shoulders too, a solem look on his face.

            "Kairi," he whispered, tracing the area where she was in the picture.  He breathed deep, remebering his last words to Sora.  He wondered if Sora and her were even together.  He imagined them on Destiny Islands in the secret place, drawing on the walls.  He could picture them on the beach talking.  And, worst of all, he could picture them sitting under the papou tree, staring out into the distance.  He shook his head in disbelief and looked at Sora in the picture.  He felt a sour look cross over his face and he felt himself swell with hatrad.  How he hated Sora.  He always got eveything.  He got Kairi.  He got a Keyblade.  He got everything Riku wanted. Eveything.  Even the girl who turned both thier worlds inside out.  He stuffed the picture back into his robe pocket and tried to forget about the fact that he was all alone, without even the darkness for company.  He sat on the crate a while longer till he heard someone come up the ladder.  He looked over and didn't even bother to put his blindfold on.  Who came up the ladder was the last person Riku exspected.

            "Karena?!" he said with a bit of alarm as he fumbled to put his blindfold on for she never seen him without it.

            "You have pretty eyes," she commented as she crossed the roof and sat down next to him on the crate, tucking her brown hair behind her ears.

            "Why are you up here?" he asked after tieing his blindfold around his head, not even aknowledgeing the comment.

            "Just to be with you," she replied, edging a little closer to Riku.  Riku didn't like the closeness and scoutted away.

            "Thanks."

            "For what?" asked Karena.

            "The comment," Riku sighed.  He knew that who ever it was he ran into made a comment about his aqua eyes.  Karena said nothing but edged closer, this time resting her head on his shoulder.  She then sighed heavily as though she were in a sort of bliss like state.

            "I told you before, I'm taken," Riku interjected, pushing Karena away and standing up.

            "I know.  I don't believe you though."  Karena stood up too and followed Riku to the edge of the building.  Riku glared at her from under the blindfold.

            "What if I prove it," he hissed, thinking about using the picture in his pocket as fake evidence.

            "Okay. Do it!"  Riku sighed and reached into his pocket until he found the picture then slowly pulled it out.  He then showed it to Karena.

            "See.  That's me when I was fifthteen. That's Kairi, my girl, at fourteen. And that's," he paused thinking about what to say about Sora,"Um, Sora. He is Kairi's best friend."

            "He's your girlfriend's best friend?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Well, she ain't yours now. He looks like he already had a bond with her before you. Oh well, whatever you say, I guess."  Riku glared under his blindfold then tilted his head in the direction of the streets below, wondering if Sora and Kairi were looking for his now.  He wondered if Sora and Kairi were all right and if they even had the slightest thought of him.  He would soon find out.  Karena stared into the streets below, knowing Riku couldn't see through his blindfold.  She looked around till her eyed focused on a person dressed in a black robe that looked exactly like Riku's.

            "Who's that?" she asked pulling on Riku's robe sleeve.  Riku pulled off his blindfold and stared down into the streets, wondering who Karena was talking about.

            "Who?" asked Riku, squinting slightly in order to see in the dim light of the sun, overcasted by thick clouds.

            "That person. The one in the black robe,"  Karena pointed to a figure dressed in a black robe that was walking along street directly below where Riku was standing.  Riku squinted and could barely make him out but, he had the strangest feeling that this person was looking at him too.  Riku looked back at Karena, who went to go sit on a crate.  She was wearing blue leans and a white t-shirt and seemed in a good state for action.

            "Can you climb?" Riku asked, stepping away from the edge.  "Can you land on your feet if you jump from certain height?

            "Yeah, why?"

            "Well, that's the only way your going to get down."

            "What!?" Karena asked, standing up and making her way towards Riku,"Why can't I use the ladder?"

            "Someone will be comeing up it," Riku answeared, down casting his eyes knowing that the person in black was somehow going to come to him.

            "Who?" Karena asked, placing her hands on her hips in a irratated manner.

            "I don't know!" Riku snapped, raising his voice slightly,"You just have to go down another way."

            "I will," Karena agreed,"Under one condition."

            "What's that?" Riku asked, dreading the answear.

            "You have to take me out to the rich part of town when the festival starts. I've never been to it and probuly never will if my dad dosen't get any business for a while."  Riku griminced, hating the condition, but, knowing time was short, quickly agreed for he never been to the festival either plus, he had no idea what it was about.

            "Really? You'll do it?"

            "Yes just go down the other side," Riku ordered, losing his patience over her talkative manner.

            "Okay," she agreed, hugging him slightly,"But, how do I know how to get down the other side?"

            "Just go!" Riku snapped, sending Karena off to the other side of the warehouse roof.  She smiled a faint smile then jumped down, landing on something.  Riku sighed and looked over the edge of the building to find if the black cloaked person was there.  To his surprise, the person was nowhere in sight.  He was about to give up when he heard the ladder rattle.  When he looked over towards the ladder, a cloaked head was peering over the edge.

Chapter IV:A unknown area

     Sora slowly opened his eyes and looked around.  He assumed he was lying down because the only thing he could see was the pale blue sky and burning sun overhead.  He closed his eyes and sat up.  When he opened them, his head throbbed as though her had been whacked repeatently with one of Donald's warhammers.  To think of it, where were Donald and Goofy? 

            He rubbed the back of his head, where the pain was, and tried to dull it.  He opened his eyes and scaned his surroundings, trying to figure out where in the world he was.  All he could see for miles around was nothing but a broad expanse of grass.  He rubbed his head some more and decided he should try to get up.  He slowly pulled his legs in till he was in a crouching position then slowly raised himself.  He imediately felt as though the world itself were spinning a million miles a minute.  He tetered and almost lost balance but, caught himself at the last possible moment.  He looked direatly ahead of where he was laying before and found out that before him was a grassy hill.  He straightened up, ready to walk up the hill, when he stopped.  Something was different.

            Sora looked down and found out the ground was a long way down.  He concluded he must have grew but, how?  He felt two years older so that meant he was sixteen.  But, how in all of creation, could he go from fourteen to sixteen in one night.  He remembered being on a path in the middle of the night.  Kairi and Riku were there, too.  He remembered falling into darkness then a bright light.  He couldn't peice it together so, he just dealed with the fact that two years of his life were gone forever.  He then noticed his clothes were different, too.  They were praticly the same style as before but the main color was black which, in his case, suited his mood.  One thing was missing though.  Actually two.  His friends and a certain weight was gone around his neck.

            Out of habit, Sora reached up to feel the cold,slick silver of his crown necklace.  What he felt in return was a small roundish surface.  He looked at his necklace to find it wasn't his at all but Kairi's.  It was the necklace he gave her for her tenth birthday.  Tons of memeroies started to flood through Sora's mind and he just stood there and let them come for no memory was  hurtful except for maybe one...

            Kairi stood on a sandbank that was slowly moving away from him.  He grabed her hand as she fell but, she still left.  He made that promise.  A promise he stil kept and hope to furfill one day.

            He pushed the door to darkness closed but, it was too heavy.  He was about to give in when Riku appeared on the other side of the door and helped him pull it shut from the inside.  Right before Sora shut the door, Riku said one last thing.  Take care of her.  He still needed to furfill that, too.

            Sora was on Deatiny Islands gathering food for the raft.  He had to find some mushrooms on the other side of the island while Kairi looked in the secret place.  He was by some treeroots when Selphie, a young girl with brown hair and emerald eyes, came over to him.  This was the memory that was confusing.

            "Sora?" she asked in her sweat little voice,"Can you came here for a second?"  Sora looked up from trying to find mushrooms and went over to Selphie, who was standing by a boulder.

            "What do you need?" Sora remembered asking, crossing his arms in front of his cheast.

            "Can you move that boulder for me?"  Selphie batted her eyelashes in a flirting way.  Sora took no mind to it and moved the boulder.

            "Thanks!  You're so strong!"  Selphie then moved close to Sora and rubbed up against him.  Sora ignored it and moved away.

             Sora was walking towards the raft when her bumped into Riku, who had a tone of wood slabs in his arms.  Upon impact with Sora, Riku dropped them all.  Riku, now furious, glared at Sora.

            "Why ya do that?" he asked, pushing Sora away extreamly hard.  Sora, almost losing his balance, glared back.

            "I dunno," Sora replied dumbly, starting to pick up the wooden slabs.

            "What an intelligent answear," scoffed Riku,"Oh well.  Guess what me and Kairi did today?"  Sora dropped the wooden slabs and stood his full height which, at the age of fourteen, was five foot, five inches.  Although he knew Riku was messing with him, anything about Kairi was personal to him.

            "Riku if you layed so much as a finger on her I'll-"

            "What?  You can't beat me at sparring and since when are you Kairi's gaurdian?  Are you her boyfriend or something?"

            "No. Riku I'll kill you if you ever hurt her."  Sora stepped closer to Riku till they were only a fration of an inch apart.  He was about to do aomehting when he decided to find Kairi.  He then went to the secret place to find her crying.

            "Are you all right?" he asked, kneeling down beside her.

            "Yeah," she replied still crying.  She then placed her head on his shoulder.  Sora blushed but didn't move.  An hour later she stopped.

            "You wanna have lunch at my house?" she asked, getting up and wipeing her tearstained face.

            "Sure," Sora replied, following Kairi out of the secret place.  When they reached the dock, Riku was already there.

            "Where are you two going?" he asked, stranding up.

            "To have lunch at my house. You wanna come?"  Sora scowled at this, knowing it was going to be a diaster.  Riku, seeing this agreed, and they all clumbed into thier boats and paddled across.

            Once at Kairi's house, everyone took a seat at the table.  Both Sora and Riku wanted to sit by Kairi so she took a seat at the head of the table.  Kairi then began the saying of thanks.  They all bowed thier heads and clasped thier hands.  Sora sneaked a peak at Riku and found him staring at Kairi's cheast.  Sora glared and gave his leg a good swing.  He felt his foot collide with Riku's leg and was satisfied.  Riku yelled out in silent agony, forming the silent words on his lips of You little...  Sora then screamed in silent agony as he felt Riku kick him in the shin.  Sora scowled and wanted so bad for Kairi to end the thanks but, as it seemed to him, it seemed to take forever.  Sora formed the words of You'll pay for that on his lips then he swung his leg back, ready to kick.  Who he kicked was not Riku.

            "Bless thy food over the-OWWWWWWWW!" Kairi was halfway through a blessing when she yelled out in pain and brought her right leg up to her chest, rubbing her shin.  Sora's eyes went wide with terror at the mere thought of hurting Kairi.

            "Are you all right?" Riku asked, making his move.  He stood up and crossed to her but, she waved him away.  Kairi's grandma stepped away from the stove and crossed to Kairi, checking her shin.

            "It's bruised," she confirmed, looking at it closely,"Who did this to you?"  Kairi sniffed and opened her tear stained eyes.  She looked from Riku to Sora and back again.  Riku had a grin drawed across his face and Sora had a sort of sad look on his face and completely avoided eye contact with Kairi.  Kairi put two and two together.  Sora must have kicked her by accident but, why?  Maybe Sora and Riku were having a secret argument and, in the middle of it, kicked at eachother but, Sora missed Riku and hit her.  Kairi, still rubbing her shin, shrugged.  Kairi's grandma nodded and looked at Riku and Sora.  To her, she trusted Riku more do to he was older and possibly more responsible.  Sora, on the other hand, was young and possibly not very wise. 

            "I see.  Well I assume that one of you is the guilty one.  I won't punish either of you but, instead, I'll let your guilt eat you away.  Please, go outside and wait till I fix her."  Sora shuffled out of the kichen with Riku close behind him.   Once outside, Sora sat down on the road while Riku stood beisde him, snickering.

            "What's so funny?" Sora asked, fuming with anger.

            "Funny? Nothings funny.  It's down right hilarious!  You kicked Kairi the one and only girl on the island who pays any attention to you!"  Riku started laughing and almost fell over.  He laughed for a while then saw that Sora was staring at his necklace around his neck.  Kairi gave him that necklace.  Riku scoffed, rolled his eyes, and walked back to his boat, ready to go to Destiny Islands.

            "At least I don't suck up," Sora replied, getting up and heading towards to dock where the boats were.  Riku stopped dead in his tracks and let Sora pass him. 

            "How do I suck up?" he asked, sitting beside Sora on the edge of the dock.  Sora glared at him, his blue eyes full of anger.

            "You-you. Ah never mind," he stood up and walked to his house, mad at Riku for some reason.  Sora then remembered he stayed at his house, in his room, staring at Kairi's front door wondering when she was going to come out.  He remembered taking a nap then hearing voices, the voices of Kairi and Riku.

            "You all right?" Riku asked on the path below Sora's window,"I hear he whacked ya pretty bad."  Sora stuck his head out a little to get a better view of them.  Riku was walking beside Kairi to the dock, possibly going to Destiny Islands.  Kairi didn't respond.

            "Hello? I exsist you know."

            "Yes, I know," she spat,"Sometimes I wish you didn't."  Sora almost burst out laughing but, kept quiet.

            "That's not like you, Kairi.  Did Sora tell you to say that?"  Sora narrowed his eyes at this.  Sometimes, he hated Riku more than eating stewed beets.

            "Tell me? I don't take orders from no one ecspecially people like you Riku."  Sora laughed out loud this time but, in the process, he necklace losened and slide off his neck.  Sora watched in horror as it fell to the path below, right in fromt of Kairi.  Kairi glanced down and looked at it.  She was about to open her mouth and say something when Sora, fast as lighting, came barreling out of his front door, did a dive roll, and picked up the necklace.  Kairi had a puzzled look on her face and Riku was about to burst with laughter.  Sora quickly reclasped the necklace around his neck and stood up.

            "Hi Kairi.  Sorry about-"  Sora couldn't finish his sentence.  Kairi had a look in her eyes that resembled a sadness and a happiness.  She was sad about one thing yet happy for another.

            "Oh, Sora, you're so sweet!"  Kairi then gave him a big hug.  Sora just stood there, dumbfounded, while Riku stared open mouthed.

            Then he came back to realality.  He wasn't fourteen on Destiny Islands, he was sixteen in an endless grassland area with a hill in front of him.  He sighed and walked up to the top of the hill and felt his breath catch in his lungs.  He was grateful that the hurtful memory didn't pop up.

              A huge town lay aways down the other side of the hill.  It seemed quite rich with a huge clocktower and, what appeared to be, a not so rich area.  It seemed like a slum area and the tallest building appeared to be, from this distance, an abandoned warehouse.  He could barely make out a small figure atop it.  The person was wearing a long, black robe and seemed to have silvery hair.  Sora couldn't make out any facial expressions but, the hair struck a cord in his mind.

            "Riku had silver hair," Sora said to no one in paticular.  "Riku,"  when he said the name again, Sora auotmaticly clenched his fist.  He stared at his fist.  What was becoming of his and Riku's friendship?  They were no longer just pity rivals but worse, pure enemies.  Sora shook his head in disbeleif.

            "He's my friend, not my enemy so, why do I hate him?"  Sora sighed, not knowing the answear.  He then decided that the most logical thing would be to go into this town and find out if this person was Riku.  So, he walked down the hill towards the town.

            When he reached the town gates, a gaurd was posted near the main gate, also, it seemed quite dark.  Sora didn't think twice about the gaurd and walked right up to the gate.  The gaurd just stood there so, Sora reached up to touch the gate.

            "Not a very wise idea, sir," the gaurd commented in a feminie voice.  Sora looked at the gaurd and noticed she was a girl.  She had long silvery hair that trailed down her back and shoulders and the most stricking green eyes Sora had ever seen.  She was wearing a long black robe and her hood was thrown back.  In her right hand she held a staff that had a blade on the top.

            "Why not?" Sora asked, trying to keep his voice smooth and mesmorizing like Riku always did.  Unfountantly, it didn't seem to work very well.

            "You are not permitted inside Twilight Town's borders unless you have confindential business with one of the residents.  Do you?" she turned to Sora and he felt his heart jump.  She looked like a female version of Riku with longer hair.

            "Listen, I have business with one of my friends.  His name is Riku.  I think he's wearing a black robe or something."

            "I'm sorry, no one in the improved part of Twilight town fit that desription."  She sounded like a mesmerized person to Sora.  He rolled his eyes and, finally, noticed that the area around him was sort of dark.  It all looked as though the sun were setting but, it stayed like that.  The sun, from the time Sora approached the gate, didn't move a fration of an inch in the setting motion.  He puzzled over this and thought better of it.  Tranverse Town was always dark so why was it so unusual for this town to be.  He then remembered the gaurds words.  Improved? More like rich to me, thought Sora when he peered through the gates.  Some of the streets even had gold markings in them although they were abandoned.  So, I guess Riku's in the slums.  Sora pushed the gates of Twilight Town open a bit and was about to walk in when he felt someone grab the hood of his jacket.  He forgot about the gaurd.

            "Sorry, sir but, due to certain causes, I can't permit you inside the improved part of Twilight Town."  The gaurd slowly pulled Sora away from the gate and closed it.  Sora sighed. How I'm I ever going to get in there to see Riku? I guess a little charm won't hurt.

            "Please let me in.  I need to visit my friend. Anyway, how can you tell if Riku is in the improved part or not? It's not like you can scan the whole area for him."  The gaurd stared at Sora with her emerald like eyes.  Then she cried a little.

            "I'm sorry," she pleaded, letting go of her staff, which made a loud clank sound when it hit the ground. "But, a person in black dosen't belong in the improved area.  That's why I can't let you in."  The garud then slumped down on the ground, sniffling and crying at the same time.  Sora took the oppurtunity to see if he could sneak pass the gaurd while she was sobbing.  To bad for Sora, the plan didn't work.  When Sora opened the gates to town, they made the most hidious squecking sound one could imagine.  The gaurd, imediately awaken, stood up and strod over till she was in front of Sora.  She just stood there and thought she was going to be nice for once and let him go in.  He was wrong, again.

            Sora remembered falling down as the gaurd's fist collided with his stomach, knocking the breath away from him.  Then he remembered her words as he drifted away.   Have a nice visit in Twilight Town, sir!

Chapter V:Rich and poor

     K airi woke up to find herself in the secret place.  She could barely remember coming here the night before and puzzled over the fact of why she was there for a while.  She looked through the hole in the ceiling of the secret place and found out that the sun was about to rise in a few minutes.  She stood up and dusted herself off, about to walk out of the secret place, when she noticed someone else was there with her.  It was a tall person facing the entrace to the secret place.  He was wearing something similar to what Sora wore on Destiny Islands with the exception of it's color.  Black.  The person had a hair like Sora's too.

            "Sora?" Kairi asked, knowing that this was an illusion.  The figure turned to reveal beautiful blue eyes.  The eyes of Sora.  Out of habit, or more like an unvolintary motion, Kairi rushed up to Sora and flung her arms around his neck.  She had to stand on tip toe to reach it.  Sora didn't return the hug and just stood there, almost zombie like. 

            "I'm so glad you're back," she whispered, hugging him tighter.  He seemed to have a kind of sad look in his eyes.  "Are you all right?" she asked backing away from him slightly.  He just stood there in response.  Finally, he broke the silence.

            "I'm sorry, Kairi," he said in a voice that wasn't his,"I couldn't keep my promise."  He then pushed something into Kairi's hand and closed her hand around it.

            "I'm sorry," he repeated.  Kairi looked at the object in her hand.  It was her necklace.  She felt around her neck and found Sora's necklace wasn't there.  She panicked then looked at Sora.  His necklace was around his neck.

            "Sora why?" she asked although she had a million other questions buzzing around in her head.  He just stood there and looked at the sandy floor of the secret place.  Kairi sighed and put on her necklace.  Sora was never shy so, why, even in an illusion, was he shy?

            "Sora are you-" she cut herself off.  When she looked up, Sora was nowhere in the secret place.  "Sora? Sora!"  Kairi left the secret place and went out to the shoreline.  The sky was a mixture of blue, purple, and black, a sign that the sun was about to rise.  She walked out till she was almost standing in the waves.  The mist from the waves was cool and all was peaceful.  She stared up into the stars that were slowly fading.  Sora restored those stars, she thought.  A soft breeze swept across the beach and she felt so peaceful until, that is, she noticed something was missing.  She listened intently and din't hear the one thing she heard every morning.  Sora's voice.  His voice repeating the promise over and over.

            "His voice. It's left me," she whispered, barely aware of the fact that she said it aloud.  She stared at the stars again and noticed something.  A shooting star.  She was always told to make a wish upon one if she ever saw one and she did.  Her wish was simple.  Take me to Sora.

            Goofy awoke to find himself lying on his stomach.  He remembered falling and then a flash.  He slowly sat up and, when his eyes ajusted to the darkness, looked around.  He could tell his was in a small room almost like a cellar.  He could smell vegatables all around him.  One thing was missing though.  Sora and Donald.

            "Ah, Donald?" Goofy asked into the darkness.  No reply came.  He sat there a while longer until he heard a shuffling sound to his right.  He grabbed his defender shield and raised it in front of his face.  "Donald?" 

            "What is it Goofy?" came the gruff reply.

            "Donald!" Goofy yelled.  "Is it really you?!"

            "Pipe down!" ordered Donald in a half whisper,"You don't know what could be out ther waiting eat us!"

            "Aiyuck!" Goofy replied as he placed his hand over his mouth,"Sorry Donald."

            "That's better," whispered Donald, picking up his mage's staff.  "Where's Sora?"

            "I dunno," whispered Goofy, searching around the celler.  "Let's go find him."

            "Where do we strart looking, though?"  Donald asked tapping his foot in impatience.  "If I don't know where we are you sure don't."

            "Why don't we try the door?"  Goofy, for once, had a good idea.  Donald nodded and opened the door a crack.  All he saw was a brightly lite street with gold markings in the bricks.  Besides that, it was deserted.

            "The coast is clear," confirmed Donald, stepping out onto the brick paved street.  Goofy soon followed.  They were about to proceed when, almost like an alarm, a huge ringing sound was heard.

            "We've been spotted!" screamed Goofy, jumping sround.  "They found us!"

            "Shush Goofy or-" Donald stopped.  The moment the ringing stopped, tons of people streamed out of all the buildings at once.  They were all dreesed like each one of them was a millionare.

            "Quick back into the celler!" whispered Goofy shoving Donald in.  Donald tumbled across the floor till he hit the wall.

            "Goofy watch it!"  He looked back at Goofy who was holding the door closed.  He had one finger over his lips.  For once, Donald took an order.

            Sora could hear a ringing sound in the background of his unconsinous state.  He struggled to wake up but, lost everytime.  He felt as though his head was going to explode.  Slowly he opened his eyes.

            He knew for a fact that he was lying down on an upraised platform of some sort but, where?  He then remembered the gaurd that whacked him in the stomach.  He must be inside the town.  In a hospital or something.  He groaned and tired to turn over but, something wouldn't let him.

            "He's awake!" said a sweet voice, sounding almost like Kairi's.  "Oh, better not try to turn over so soon."  Sora looked around till his eyes focused on a approaching figure.  It was definitely a girl, that was easy to tell.  She had a reddish like hair color, exactly like Kairi's.  She was dressed in a pnk skirt and white tank top like Kairi's too.  To make matters worse, she had the same crystal blue eyes like Kairi.

            "Kairi?" Sora asked as he rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out if the image was real or fake.

            "Kairi? Who's Kairi?"  The voice suddenly changed.  It was still sweet but, not as sweet as Kairi's.  She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was quite tall from Sora's point of view.  She wore a apron that seemed trattered to bits and a simple brown smock underneath that went to her knees.

            "Where am I?" Sora asked.

            "Twilight Town," the girl replied, sitting down on a old whicker chair.  "Who's Kairi?"  she asked again.

            "A friend of mine," Sora replied, sitting up.  It felt as though the whole earth spun as he sat up on the bed thingy.  He sat there for a few more minutes and went to touch Kairi's necklace when he felt it was gone.  He panicked then felt something else around his neck.  He let his fingers trail over it until her reconized the shape.  It was his necklace.  The necklace of the crown.  But how on earth did it replace Kairi's necklace?  He disregarded the thought from his mind and slid off the edge of the bed.  The earth didn't spin as much this time.  "What's your name?" he asked braking the silence.

            "Katrina.  What's your's?"

            "Sora. What is this place?"  Sora asked jestering around the room.

            "I've already told you, Twilight Town."  Apparently, Katrina had a very short temple.

            "I know that. I mean this house."

            "Oh," she sounded quite imbarressed and started blushing,"This is a hospital."  He looked around.  It didn't seem like a very good hospital.  It only had one sick bed and only a handful of surgical instruments.

            "Do you own it?" he asked, remembering how poorly dressed she was.

            "No, my master does."  This sounded quite odd to Sora.  People didn't own people so, how did somebody own her?

            "Where's your master?" he asked his curiosity growing.

            "Well you aren't bright, are you?  Didn't you hear the clocktower ring? That means people, well the rich people, are allowed to go out into the streets and buy stuff and have fun but, us slum people," she then pointed to herself and jestered to Sora,"Have to stay here and watch over their many things.  Not all slum people are lucky enough to have a master though."  Sora's head was spinning.  Rich people owned poor people as slaves and lackeys.  Plus, they got all the fun.

            "Well, I better get going," Sora then went towards the door and placed his hand on the knob, ready to turn.

            "You're not going out there, are you?" she asked in an alarmed voice, standing up and striding towards him.  Sora looked at her as though she were nuts and simply nodded.  "You're going to risk your life?"

            "Risk my life? How?" Sora asked, feeling that this town was too odd and too complicated.

            "If us slum dwellers go out into the improved streets while the rich ones are out, our masters could kill us. When you were brought to this hospital, I thought you ran away and lost your ring, that's what I thought."

            "You thought wrong," Sora said briskly.  Improved.  If her heard that word again he was going to scream.  He was about to turn the knob when he stopped.  "What do you mean by 'ring'?"

            "You are dumb," she concluded.  "The masters ring."  She held up her thumb and on it was a golden ring.  Imprinted in the sides were the letters K.H. over and over.

            "Are those letters the initials of you master?"  Sora asked, knowing the answear.  She nodded.

            "Her name is Karol Halmasy."  Sora nodded back.  He had nothing to fear since he wasn't poor.

            "All right, bye now." He turned the knob and opened the door.  Tons of richly dressed peope were streaming through the streets adorned in gold, silk, and other rare materials.

            "You'll die," she said quietly, rolling her eyes.

            "I won't," Sora confirmed,"For I have the key. Plus, I'm rich."  He then stepped through the door onto the street.

            "He's a dead man," Katrina mumbled to no one in the room as he shut the door behind him,"He's a dead man."

Chapter VI: Friend or foe?

     Riku watched as the cloaked head turned into a full human form.  The person was wearing a black robe identical to the one Riku was wearing.  The only exception was the pullstrings for the hood.  This person had them while Riku did not. 

            Riku, when he first got his robe, cut out the pullstrings and made a bracelet with them.  he was thinking of giving the bracelet to Kairi but, since she never came and still hadn't, he wore it on his wrist.  Riku stared at the black robed person, noting every detail.  He wore black pants and black shoes with a silver buckle on the top.  The person had thier hood drawn tight around thier head and the only thing visible was some dirty blonde color bangs sticking out under the hem of the hood.  Besides that, he bore no facial expression at all.  Riku gripped his blindfold tight in his right hand then he spoke.

            "Who are you?" he asked in his coolest voice, taking a step towards the person.

            "I am an unknown, like your self."  Riku could tell by the tone of the person's voice that it was a guy, a guy who got straight to business.

            "I'm not an unknown or whatever you said," corrected Riku.  "I have a name. It's Riku. What's an unknown anyway?"  The unknown guy made a satisfied sound and crossed to the edge of the building that overlooked the street.

            "An unknown is one who lost to darkness," he continued, scanning the road below, his back to Riku,"Like you and me. We are trying to find the light in the darkness or, the darkness in the light. We have no hearts or emotions and like to keep to ourselves. We need no companions, only darkness."  Riku didn't like the sound of the guys voice.  It had an cold, icy ting to it that didn't settle with him right.

            "Well your nuts." Riku concluded, crossing over to one of the crates and, taking a seat, tied his blindfold back on over his eyes.  "I have emotions. Plenty of them for-" He cut himself off.  Should he tell a complete stranger who he loved?  He decided the answear was no and moved on.  "I do need companions but, none of the one I want are here. And I'm sure I have a heart, no, I take that back, I don't. I'm just a shell of a human but, I still have emotions and I don't try to find the drakness in the light or whatever you said. I'm fine I just want is my friends back."  At this, the unknown turned and faced him, his hood casting a shadow on his eyes.

            "You are right on somethings but, wrong on others. Now, do you want to be in the council?"

            "Council? What council?" Riku asked, turning his blindfolded eyes towards the unknown.

            "The Council of Darkness, my friend. It's an organazation consisting of unknowns like me.  There are six of us now and we need a seventh, you."

            "Why are you really here? And, why are you after me?"  Riku asked, slouching to hide his anticapation.  A council, eh, he thought, drawing images in his mind of darkness and evil.  Wait! He stopped he's pictures and thought.  What if Kairi dosen't agree or what if they harm ones you love like Maleficient?  What if-

            "You have so many questions," interjected the unknown,"All of them concerning things that don't matter to us. We won't hurt Kairi like Maleficient, who ever that may be. Plus," he trailed off, letting Riku think.  What am I doing?, Riku asked himself, I'm not evil or obssed with darkness so, why do I feel like I want to join?

            "Wait a minute," Riku said at last.  "How do you know about Maleficient?"

            "It's simple. I can hear your thoughts. They are so pure they ring out by themselves. It's silly how you put Kairi's welfare in front of your own. After you join the council, you won't need thoughts. How about it? Will you join?"  The unknown walked over to him and placed his hand in front of Riku's face.  Although Riku was wearing the blindfold, he could sense the presence and took it.  The unknown pulled him up and conrinued to ask.

            "Well?"

            "Well what?" Riku asked back, still thinking about how the guy could hear his thoughts.

            "Will you join?"

            "I don't know. I'm still waiting for my friends and-" he stopped.  If this council took place took place in a different world or something like that, he could get away from Karena, his main goal.  "I might, how 'bout we met here um, let's say, um..."

            "Two days from now around this time.  All right?"  The unknown turned towards the ladder and was about to procceed down when a thought crossed Riku's mind.  He was supposed to take Karena to the Twilight Festival two nights from now!

            "Wait I can't!"  Riku exclaimed. "I'll be taking this girl somewhere and-"

            "Stop!" The unknown ordered fiercly, his head still over the rim.  "One more thing, no commitement.  Okay?"

            "Comitement? What do you mean by that?" Riku asked getting slightly irratated.

            "You'll understand when the time comes," that was the last the unknown said before disappering over the edge of the warehouse's roof.  Riku stood there, alone, wondering what he meant.  Comitement? Comitement to what? Riku srugged and went towards the ladder, ready to go back to the hotel and eat dinner.

            After reaching the bottom, Riku took off his blindfold and crossed the busy street.  Along the way, he noticed two people that seemed to stick out.

            One was a girl dressed in blue jean capris and a white blouse.  She had pink sandels on and had redish like hair and was kind of cute in Riku's perspective.  She was with someone else, too. A boy.  She was hanging on his arm and seemed kind of scared.  The boy had browm hair and was tall.  He wore mostly black clothed and seemed lost in the town.  Riku kept watching them till someone yelled his name.

            "Riku!" He turned towards the hotel's door to find Karena in it.  "Come on, dinner's almost ready."  Riku stared at her then looked back at the two people he found earlier.  They were staring at him.  He looked at thier eyes.  They were both crystal blue. 

            "Sora's were cyrstal blue," He whispered to no one in paticilare,"And so were Kairi's."

            "C'mon Riku!" Karena said again, taking a step forward.

            "All right!" Riku yelled back.  He went into the hotel adn proceeded to his room.  He slammed the door behind him and sighed deeply.  Maybe that was Sora and Kairi? Maybe it wasn't?, was all he could think.  Then there was a knock on the door.

            "Come in," he said dully, taking off his robe and hanging it on the hook on the back of his door.  He then felt something different.  Why did he take off his blindfold in the light of the street?  Karena came in and gasped.  She hardly ever seen him without his blindfold but, without his robe, it was all too much.

            "Are you all right?" he asked, coming to her side.

            "Yeah," she replied, breathing hard.  She sat down on the edge of his bed and blushed.  Riku didn't see anything wrong.  He was wearing a grey t-shirt and his reagular black pants.  He didn't need his blindfold because he made sure his room was always dark.  He shrugged and sat down on her left, thinking of what was wrong.  She was still breathing hard and was blushing uncontrlably.

            "Are you sure you're all right?"

            "No," she answeared as she looked over at him.  In her mind, he was the sweetest thing.  He had silvery hair and beautiful aqua like eyes.  Plus, he was strong.  Without his longsleeved robe, Karena could see his arms.  They were muscular and huge to boot but, how did he have time to work-out?  When ever Karena found him he was alone in someplace dark.

            "Karena? Hello?"  Karena shook her head and focused on something else. 

            "Who were those people you were staring at on the street earlier?" she asked, clasping her hands under her chin.

            "I don't know. They just looked like my friends, Kairi and Sora, but, I'm not sure. It's been two years since I've seen them."  He looked at her and noticed her blush marks.  What's she so embaressed about?  Karena looked up at him and her breath caught in her lungs.  He is so hot!, the words were pounding in her head,Why don't I tell him how I feel?

            "Um, Riku, do you like me?" she asked, breathing hard.  She was so nervous but, why?

            "What do you mean by that? There's many definitions for the word like?" He was gruff but, she persisted.

            "I mean do you like me, like me? Like the stage before love, ya know?"  She looked up to find Riku staring at the floor.  "Are you all right?"

            "Yeah, it's just no one asked me that question before.  Not even Kairi."  He continued staring at the floor.  Karena looked him over till her eyes rested upon a bracelet tied around his wrist.

            "Who's is that?" she asked, pointing to the bracelt on his right wrist.

            "Oh that, it's um..." he trailed off,"It's a bracelet I made to give to Kairi if I ever saw her again. Looks like I never will though."  He sighed then stood up and put on his robe, he felt weird without it.  He zipped it up and searched inside one of it's pockets till he found the picture of Sora, Kairi, and him.  He looked at it with a hazy look over his eyes.  Then he remembered Karena and quickly stuffed the picture back into his robe pocket.  He tied on his blindfold and went over to Karena.  He held out his hand and she took.  He pulled her up and she stood there, a sad look on her face.

            "Oh, and about that question. The answear's maybe."  He then left Karena in his room, alone.  She swelled with happiness at his answear.  Maybe! He said maybe!  She was beyond happiness until she heard the front desk's bell ring. 

            "A customer, great!" she said sacasticly as she went to the front desk.  She got behind it then asked the usual things she was supposed to say.

            "Welcome to the Red Ruby Hotel, the best in the slums. How may I help you?" she receited all this without even looking up at the customers.

            "We'd like to stay in a room, please."  She liked the voice of the guy who spoke and liked him imediately.  When she looked up, she almost passed out.  Before her stood the two people that Riku seen on the street earlier.  She looked them over.  They seemed happy yet sad at the same time.  The girl was hanging on the boy's arm like she was scared to let go and the boy was slightly embaressed.  Karena nodded and started looked through her books seeing if thier was a room available.  She sighed when she saw that thier wasn't one available.

            "I'm sorry, we don't have any rooms available at the moment but, you can share a room with one of our current residents.  Would you like to discuss it over dinner?"  She looked at them to find each one nodding.  "Follow me please," she then lead them to the dinner room which was a huge room oppisite the hallway where the rooms were.  A large, oval shaped table rested within the middle of a large rectangular room.  This was the dinner table.  Karena lead them to the side of it and looked around.  Riku was at the head of the table on the left end while Goyell, another resident, sat at the head of the table on the right.  Raven, a quiet, evil looking girl, sat at the middle of the table.  She was leaning back in her chair so it was tipping and she had her black army boots on the table top as usual.  Her arms were crossed in front of her cheast and she didn't seem to notice the new commers.

            "Sit where ever you like," Karena said, jestering to the table.  She then left them and went back down the hallway.  She stopped halfway and entered a small room that was the kitchen.  Her father was slaving over the stove stirring the contents of a large steel pot.  Her father was short and kind of chubby.  He had a kind face with twinkling blue eyes and a mustach that curled at the edges.  He always wore a white shirt and green pants.  But, beacause of hgis weight, he had to wear saspenders to hold up his pants.

            "Father," Karena started nervously,"We need two more bowls of stew tonight.  We have two new comemers."  She waited patienetly but, when her father didn't respon she repeated herself.

            "Father we need-"

            "I heard ya!" he snapped back causing Karena to step back.  "Never bother someone who be cooking didn't you maother ever tell you that?"  Karena had a sadf look plastered on her face.  Her father never snapped at her and her mother, well she never knew her.  She then started to cry.

            "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that you were only a youngin' when she-disappered. Sorry."

            "Oh, it's no problem. I hardly remember her anyway. So, can I serve dinner before Goyell ruins the plates?"  In fact she did remember the small fragmants she had left of her mother but that was for later.  She had to serve dinner before Goyell broke another set of dishes.  She loaded all six bowls of stew onto a large tray and procedded into the hallway.  She had to make hast.  Goyell's pounding was begining to increase in intensity.  Any mintue four fine porcelin would meet with the floor.  Any minute.  The door way was closing in.  She was about ten feet away from it.  Only a little farther-

            CRASSSSSSSHHH!

            Opps, she was late.

Chapter VII: Back Again

            Sora didn't have the slighest clue what he was doing.  He wasn't rich and he didn't want to summon the keyblade for one reason: Heartless.  He didn't know if they even existed in this world but, he didn't want to take the chance.  He wondered about Donald and Goofy, hoping they were all right.  STOP!  A voice in his head screamed.  Donald and Goofy are his friends but, they aren't his best friends.  Kairi be safe.  Riku...be...ok.  These were his only thoughts but, now he concentrated on his surroundings. 

            Tons of richly dressed people were swarming through the already packed street.  All of them wearing fine silks and such.  He watched the people swarm by and wanted to try to find a gap in it.  He wanted to get out of this area.  He couldn't stand the brick paved streets inlayed with gold.  He justed wanted-

            "Kairi," he breathed the word without even knowing it.  A gap crossed in front of him and revealed the other side of the street.  A girl was there.  That girl was -

            Donald listened a a million footbeats sounded outside the door.

            "Let's go find Sora!" he exclaimed grabbing his mage's staff and taking a step towards the door.

            "Not such a good idea, Don," Goofy replied.  Donald snorted.  No one called him Donald except for Daisy and she was all alone, at Disney Castle.  He had to find Sora or he would never see her again. 

            "But, I gotta find him Goof," Donald whinned.  "Or I'll never see Daisy again."

            "We'll find him.  And Kairi, too."

            Kairi didn't know where she was.  She knew she was on a brick paved street that had gold symbols in the middle.  She crouched down and looked down at the gold.  She could almost see her reflection in it is was so pure.  She looked around and found out the whole street was deserted.  It was so quiet she could have probly hear a pin drop.  She looked around, trying to find a place where she could get some information.  There was a building directly across from her on the other side of the street from her.  There was a light on inside so she thought it would also have people inside.  She looked at the sign and red it carefully.  It was hard to read since the sign was solid gold. 

            ~Hospital~

          That's what it said!  Hospital!  She crossed the street and placed her hand on the knob, ready to turn.  A thumping behind her made her turn.  A boy with blonde hair was running from up the street.  Kairi couldn't get a good drescription of his face or his clothes because he was running so fast.  He was past her in seconds and went down the other side of the street.  Kairi shrugged and thought nothing of it.  She turned ready to turn the handle when she heard another thumpping og shoes against the bricks.  She turned, disgusted, ready to see who was here now.  It was a girl this time.

            She was tall and very skinny.  She appeared around Kairi's age and had bronzish skin and a hooked nose.  Her hair was a firey red color and was pulled in a ponytail behind her head.  Her golden eyes seemed to glow with anger as she ran a leather whip through her long, skinny fingers.  She wore gypsey like pants and wore a thsirt that was tied in a knot above her stomach.  She made the most annoyong clicking sound with her high-heeled shoes as they hit the brick paved street.  She was walking slowly and looking from side to side as though searching for something.

            "Come out, kid!" she yelled, looking over windows and such.  "Come out!"  She was seaching the deserted street and didn't even notice Kairi watching her till she was a ways past the hospital door. 

            "Are you one of the missing slaves?"  she snarled to no one in particular.  Kairi looked around thinking the girl was nuts.  There was no one in the street except for her and this girl.   "Answear," the girl commanded.  "How dare you disobey a slave driver such as me."

            "What do you mean 'slave'?"  Kairi asked, not knowing what trouble lurked at the end of this conversation or if she was even aknowledging her.

            "A slave-one who works for the rich. That's what you are. Now come with me and help me find this one kid."  Kairi stood her ground.  She was no slave and she definitely didn't work for anyone.

            "I'm no slave," Kairi said calmly.  "I'm trying to find out where I am. Any way-"  Kairi was cut off as the slave driver turned around and came up to her.  She was fingering the whip as though ready to us it.

            "You are a slave because I say so. Now come or I'll-"  The girl stopped a few feet away from Kairi.  She seemed to be listening for something but, the odd thing was, Kairi didn't hear anything.

            "They come," the girl said.  She then took one more look at Kairi before she scurried off in the direction in which she came.  Kairi stood very still as she listened but, she still couldn't hear anything.  Then she heard it.

            Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! 

            Kairi could hear the soft dinging of a clock from somewhere in the town.  Then it seemed as though millions of people came out of everywhere at once.  Kairi ran to the other side of the street where she first arrived in this world.  She watched as tons of people in richly dressed clothes swarm through the tightly packed street.  She inspected the women that passed her and noticed how richly they were dressed. 

            Tons of women had pearl earings and gold necklaces, sashes and embroiderided dresses, long braids and tight hair buns.  These women had it all.  All of them were walking erectly except for one.  She was bent over with a whip in her hand.

            She was different than all the rest in many ways.  She had a long plain blue skirt on that seemed to be made of silk.  She had a long sleeved blue silk shirt on with a brown vest on top of that.  Her hair was brown and rain down her back but, she had a red banddana on to help keep it up a little.  On her feet she wore tall leather boots and had a bag slung around her shoulder.  Her face seemed flawless although she was too far away to tell.  She was bent over talking to someone smaller than her.  Kairi leaned forward, trying to listen, but the  lady was in the middle of the street and too far away.   She did see who she was talking to though.

            It was a little girl with dirty, matted, brown hair.  She was sitting in the middle of the street crying as tons of rich people swarmed around them, not even paying the slightest bit of attention.  She wore a dirty brown smock and was being held to the other lady's face by her collar.  The little girl then started flailing and the lady began snapping the whip.  The girl wailed louder and then got out of the lady's grasp.  She scampered away leaving the lady yelling after her.  The lady sighed then looked in Kairi's direction.  Kairi felt her breath catch in her lungs.  She knew this girl. 

            The girl's face was the flawless face of Yuki, a girl who came to Destiny Islands a week after Kairi came.  She was so annoying the way she irratated Kairi. 

            A week after Kairi was at Destiny Islands, a girl named Yuki came.  She was the same age as her and Sora and she seemed shy at first.  Aftert about a week of her being there, she was a royal pain.  Sora was always with Kair and Riku so, Yuki felt left out.  She then tried to gain someone's attention, preferbly the boys'.  She first tried Riku but failed di the fact he thought she was annoying and didn't care about her at the age of nine.  She then shot for Sora.  Sora, at age eight, already liked Kairi and didn't care for anyone else.  Yuki failed but, there was always later.

            When Kairi and Sora were thirteen, Riku fourteen, and Yuki thirteen, she struck again.  She would snuggle up to Sora while the four of them were watching a movie in Kairi's house or sitting on the Papou tree.  She would bat her eyelashes at Sora when ever she talked to him and do other weird things.  Kairi, during that time, was about to blow up.  A girl she hardly knew was messing with Sora.  HER Sora!  Kairi was about to say something to her when all of a sudden one day she moved.  Kairi hadn't thought about her till now when she found her standing in the middle of this street.  Yuki looked at Kairi and narrowed her eyes before she moved on her way.  She's still mad about something, Kairi thought, kind of glad with the thought.  She then disregarded that fact and moved on.

            Kairi found out she was still in the same clothes as before.  She decided to find out where she was.  She looked across the street at the hospital and found out it's door was open.  Someone must have stepped out and the door shut behind that person.  Kairi jumped up to see who was there but didn't get far.  All of the other people around her wore tall plummed hats or were just tall in height.  Kairi scowled and put her back against the wall behind her.  She tried to block out the noise around her but failed.  She closed her eyes tight, not knowing that someone was beside her.

            "Hello?" a cool voice asked.  Kairi opened her eyes and almost fainted.

            Kairi.  That's who the girl was across the street, Kairi.  Sora acted quick and crossed to the other side through the gap.  He was there beside the girl who he was sure was Kairi.  She had her eyes closed tight as though trying to close out everything around her.

            "Hello?" he asked, hoping that this girl was his girl.  The girl opened her eyes to treveal the blue eyes of Kairi.  She almost fainted but, Sora caought her by the arm.

            "Are you okay?" He asked, propping her upright.

            "Sora are you real?" Kairi asked as she stood on her tiptoes.  Sora stood his ground as she placed her hands on his face.  He thouhgt this was a stupis question.  Of course her was real.  As though as to test, Kairi pulled his cheeks sideways.

            "Kaiwee stop!" he mumbled, pulling her hands away.

            "It is you!" she declared.   She then gave him a little hug.  Sora pushed her off.

            "Kairi, that's embarresing!" He whispered, looking around to make sure no one saw.

            "What, you don't wanna' be hugged by the only girl who likes you that you havn't seen for over two years?"  Sora was dumbfounded.  Kairi really came across mean by that statement.

            "No, not that, it's just-"

            "Just what?" she cut in.  She crossed her arms in front of her chest in a mad way.

            "Kairi I-"  Sora cut off.  If he talked any more he would get himself in trouble.  Kairi must have changed over those two years.  No, she would never change she just wanted to be with him.  He then thought to find his way to the slums and take Kairi along with him.  He held out his arm and looked at Kairi with a let's go look.  Kairi unfolded her arms and intertwined her right hand in his left.  She then locked fingers.  Sora gulped.  Something was definitely wrong with Kairi.  But then again, she was sixteen.  But, so was he and he sure didn't feel different.

            Sora looked around tiill he found another gap.  He then pulled Kairi into it and they went in a uphill direction.  To Kairi, this was the direction that girl with the whip came from but, Sora apparenly didn't know that.  Going was slow as Sora had to push his way through the crowded street.  Kairi looked at the many buildings they passed and found out about a hlaf of them were jewerly stores.  She sighed as she saw many beautiful things pass her by in the windows.

            "Where are we?" she asked after a while, still locking hands with Sora.

            "Twilight Town," He replied.  "The rich side of it."

            "Rich side? I don't follow."

            "It's hard to explain," he called as her swervered around a women holding about twelve boxes.  "There's a rich side and a poor side. We don't belong on the rich nor the poor side but, we're going to the poor side. Plus, poor people are rich peoples' slaves."

            "Why are we going to the poor side?" Kairi asked, tightening her grip on Sora's hand.  She knew that she wasn't rich but, she wasn't poor either.  Sora didn't ansear and she knew he was hiding something.   "Sora!" she said in an irratated tone.

            "All right," he replied as the fought through the crowds which started to thin out.  "We're heading that way beacause I thought I saw someone we know there."

            "Who?" Kairi asked pressing for information.

            "Do I have to say?" he asked glacing down at her.  She looked deep within his blue eyes and saw vengence and flames swirl within in them.

            "It's Riku, isn't it?" she said, looking down with a sort of sadness in her voice.

            "Yeah," Sora said as he stopped in the middle of the street.  He looked around with astonishment.  Not a soul was in sight.  The whole part of the street they were in was deserted.  Sora looked behind him and saw that not a single rich person passed that curve in the road.  He looked down to find Kairi scanning the area, too.

            "Kairi, umm, do like Riku still?" Sora asked this question with uncertainy.  Two years agao she liked him andnot Riku but, he didn't keep his promise.  He promised to come back to her not her to him.  "Kairi?" he asked again since she didn't respond.

            "I heard you.  I don't know. I love you and I still got a little something for Riku."  She paused.  Two memories popped in her head.  One in the secret place the other in the seaside shack.  Both had Riku in it.  She diregarded them.  Now was not the time for memories.  "But I love you the most," she finished.  Sora stood there for a moment then wrigrilled his hand out of her grasp.  He then walked towards a dingy looking part of the street. 

            Kairi ran after him and came up to his side. She grabbed his hand.  He looked down at her.  She only came up to his chin and she was still as pretty as two years ago.

            "Are you mad?" she asked as a small tear ran down her cheek.

            "Mad for what?"

            "Mad for me liking Riku a little."  She then broke out in tears and leaned her head against Sora's chest.  Sora stumbled back till his back hit the wall of a building.  He stood there as she held his hand and cried on his chest.  Sora rolled his eyes and sighed.   Why are girls like this, he thought, remembering how easy her feelings were hurt when she was younger.  It makes no sense. They cry at sheer command.  I don't care if she likes Riku as long as I come first on the list. I wish she would stop crying.  As by magic she stopped and looked up at him.  Her blue eyes were wet and her cheeks were tearstained.

            "Aren't ya gonna hug me?" she asked.  Sora looked around to see if no one was looking.  It also helped that they were in the shadows.  He then sat down on the ground and crossed his legs indian style.  Kairi still stood.  Sora patted the ground beside him and she shook her head.  He hoped it wouldn't have come to this but, he patted his lap.  She nodded.  He streched out his legs so they were straight and she sat on the left one.  He sighed and put his arm around her shoulders.  Finally, she spoke.

            "I like you new outfit. Where'd ya get it?"

            "I dunno," Sora replied.  Kairi laughed a little and started fingering one of the straps that went from his shoulder top to the top of his chest.

            "It's cute."  Cute! Sora's mind screamed,CUTE! IT'S COOL NOT CUTE!

            "How long are we gonna sit here?" he asked, feeling the leg she was sitting on fall asleep.

            "I just wanna catch up on some talk," Kairi replied, snuggling up against him.  Sora felt like he was going to be sick.  Now was not the time for 'cuddling'.  Now was the time for finding Riku and some food and a place to stay for the night.  "Can you explain to me this 'rich and poor' stuff?"

            "Sure I guess," he replied , finding nothing better to talk about.  "First,