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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/prismhearts.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,450 @@
     1.4 +Author’s note: This is a story I wrote after finishing Squaresoft’s
     1.5 +beautiful game, Kingdom Hearts. This may or may not become a series,
     1.6 +so please, please tell me what you think. ^-^ This is only a one shot
     1.7 +right now, but if I get a positive enough response or if I just feel
     1.8 +crazy enough to actually write a series about this, I just might do
     1.9 +it. This is shortly after the end of the game. So you might not want
    1.10 +to read if you don’t like spoilers. ^^;; 
    1.11 +
    1.12 +
    1.13 +Prism Hearts
    1.14 +by Amazoness Duo
    1.15 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.16 +
    1.17 +
    1.18 +
    1.19 +‘Thinking of you, wherever you are.
    1.20 +
    1.21 +We pray for our sorrows to end,
    1.22 +And hope that our hearts will blend.
    1.23 +Now I will step forward to realize this wish.
    1.24 +
    1.25 +And who knows: 
    1.26 +Starting a new journey may not be so hard.
    1.27 +Or maybe it has already begun.
    1.28 +
    1.29 +There are many worlds,
    1.30 +But they share the same sky;
    1.31 +One sky, one destiny.’
    1.32 +
    1.33 +
    1.34 +Sitting on the end of a small pier, Kairi looked off into the
    1.35 +sunset. The beautiful colors that descended to the earth looked like
    1.36 +a painter’s most vivid dream. The sea reflected them, shifting
    1.37 +recklessly as if it was jealous of the attention the sky was
    1.38 +garnering for itself. But it wasn’t the sky that Kairi was interested
    1.39 +in. She was trying to look past it, for something brighter than even
    1.40 +the most beautiful sunset. She had done this often recently, so much
    1.41 +so that the others on the island had finally stopped questioning her
    1.42 +about it. They may think she was crazy or just daydreaming, but she
    1.43 +was busy searching. All she needed was the tiniest hint. And the
    1.44 +skies would stare back, teasing her with half-glimpses and images in
    1.45 +the cotton candy clouds. But she would not let that deter her. She
    1.46 +would keep searching forever if she had to.
    1.47 +
    1.48 +“I’ll be waiting for you. If you come here, you’ll find me. I
    1.49 +promise,” she whispered, her voice carried off by the wind to
    1.50 +destinations unknown. “Even if your ears can’t hear me, I know your
    1.51 +heart can.” Her hand rested on her chest, feeling the beat of her own
    1.52 +heart. When she closed her eyes, she could almost feel their rhythm,
    1.53 +all beating in unison. It didn’t matter how far apart they were.
    1.54 +Their hearts would always be one. 
    1.55 +
    1.56 +When she blinked her eyes open, he was there. Just as if he had
    1.57 +never left. His silver hair moved about in the light breeze. His eyes
    1.58 +were shining and determined. He was reaching out for her, just as he
    1.59 +always did. He was always reaching out for her, as if he could pull
    1.60 +her along with him, to some place far away. Her hand left her chest,
    1.61 +reaching out slowly for him. But before she could take his hand, he
    1.62 +was gone. With a weak sigh, her hand fell into her lap. So close, yet
    1.63 +always so far. It was like he was perpetually just out of reach. If
    1.64 +she could just reach a little further, they could be together again.
    1.65 +She knew Riku was far away, but she swore she could feel him
    1.66 +sometimes, as if he were right behind her. That’s why she kept
    1.67 +looking. Because she knew eventually they would be together again.
    1.68 +
    1.69 +A laugh reached her ears from the beach. It was laced with memories
    1.70 +and feelings. “Sora!” She whirled about on the pier, her back aching
    1.71 +from twisting so suddenly. Her hands lay on the deck as she gazed for
    1.72 +the source of the boy’s laughter. Her heart sank when she saw that it
    1.73 +was only Tidus, laughing at something Wakka had done. Shoulders
    1.74 +slumped, the young girl turned back to the empty sea. The vast
    1.75 +expanses that surrounded her encaged her as surely as any prison. 
    1.76 +
    1.77 +It was ironic that this had all began as an attempt to escape with
    1.78 +her best friends from this island, to taste the freedom and the
    1.79 +excitement of other worlds, to see all the beauty they had to offer.
    1.80 +And now she was trapped on that same island, her friends somewhere
    1.81 +far off. They were now distant stars to her, lost somewhere in the
    1.82 +heavens. She would sit up at night, peering into the moonlit sky,
    1.83 +striving for any glimpse of the two boys that held her heart up.
    1.84 +Sometimes she would mistake a falling star for one of them, hoping
    1.85 +they were returning to her. But her hopes were always dashed when she
    1.86 +didn’t find them running to her on their beach. 
    1.87 +
    1.88 +Her memories were still clouded, distant things that seemed to come
    1.89 +from another lifetime. She knew that she was a princess, but of where
    1.90 +she wasn’t certain. But those memories didn’t matter to her. The
    1.91 +memories that she cherished, that she held onto with all the strength
    1.92 +in her heart were of her days with Riku and Sora on the island, of
    1.93 +all of their moments together. Those were things she would never
    1.94 +allow herself to forget, no matter how painful they could be or how
    1.95 +lonely they might make her feel. They were her treasures, her little
    1.96 +gems that she would sneak looks at whenever she could. 
    1.97 +
    1.98 +The pier creaked behind Kairi, but she didn’t turn around
    1.99 +immediately. For the first few days she had turned at every sound,
   1.100 +every whisper that came her way, hoping that she would see the two
   1.101 +boys again. But now she wouldn’t let herself be distracted about such
   1.102 +things. She was trying to focus past all of the surface noise and
   1.103 +images, to see where the two were out there. 
   1.104 +
   1.105 +“Kairi?” A voice asked tentatively. Selphie waited for a moment, not
   1.106 +quite expecting an answer. With how out of it Kairi had been lately,
   1.107 +she wouldn’t be at all surprised. But she could understand. Love did
   1.108 +that sort of thing to you. Especially when your love was very far
   1.109 +away. 
   1.110 +
   1.111 +Kairi slowly turned, her legs still slowly kicking away from the
   1.112 +deck. She spotted Selphie waiting behind her. With Selphie was a
   1.113 +blonde girl with glasses and a long pink dress. The blonde girl
   1.114 +looked about a year or so older than Selphie. She could vaguely
   1.115 +recall seeing her before on the main island of the Destiny Islands
   1.116 +when she had been visiting with Sora and his parents. “Oh, hi,
   1.117 +Selphie,” Kairi said, a little sheepishly. She placed a hand behind
   1.118 +her head. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
   1.119 +
   1.120 +Selphie giggled, her hands behind her back. “Yeah, but you’re always
   1.121 +like that lately. Thinking about someone special?” She grinned wider.
   1.122 +Selphie loved romance. And watching it unfold on the Destiny Islands
   1.123 +was her favorite past time. And she’d been wondering for quite some
   1.124 +time what would become of the love triangle between Kairi, Riku, and
   1.125 +Sora. 
   1.126 +
   1.127 +Kairi sighed, looking back at the ocean waves beneath her feet.
   1.128 +“Something like that.”
   1.129 +
   1.130 +“Oh, this is Quisty. You probably haven’t seen her much. She spends
   1.131 +too much of her time studying. I practically had to drag her out
   1.132 +here,” Selphie stated with mock exasperation. She perked up
   1.133 +immediately, dropping the façade. “But it’s nice and romantic at
   1.134 +sunset on the beach and she needed a break from all those books.”
   1.135 +
   1.136 +Quistis sweatdropped, not quite sure what to say. She had indeed
   1.137 +been studying when Selphie had taken it upon herself to get her to
   1.138 +relax and had dragged her off to the island. Of course, she knew
   1.139 +Selphie too well to believe her pretenses about relaxing. Selphie
   1.140 +wanted a moonlit stroll on the beach or to sit and watch the sunset
   1.141 +together or something. And how could she have possibly said no to
   1.142 +that?
   1.143 +
   1.144 +Kairi giggled softly, looking at the two. It sounded like this
   1.145 +‘Quisty’ was the exact opposite of Selphie. Studious and mature, the
   1.146 +slightly older girl didn’t seem anything like the spunky and childish
   1.147 +brunette. But her smile slipped slightly as she saw them holding
   1.148 +hands. She missed Riku and Sora. She wanted to watch the sunset with
   1.149 +them again. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, smiling warmly
   1.150 +at the two other girls. “That sounds like fun. The sunset’s gorgeous
   1.151 +tonight. It’s perfect to watch with someone.”
   1.152 +
   1.153 +Selphie bit her lip, watching Kairi for a moment. “You really miss
   1.154 +them, don’t you? I’m sure they’ll come back soon. They must miss you
   1.155 +a lot, too. They’re probably both on their way right now. You’ll see
   1.156 +them before you know it.” She smiled brightly. There was always hope.
   1.157 +No matter how dark things were, there was always some light tucked
   1.158 +away in the shadows.
   1.159 +
   1.160 +Staring back at the pink and orange sky, Kairi nodded, smiling
   1.161 +softly herself. “I know. I can feel them. They’ll come back to me.
   1.162 +Someday. Besides, Sora promised me that he’d bring my lucky charm
   1.163 +back. And Riku risked everything to get my heart back. I know he
   1.164 +wouldn’t give up on me no matter what.”
   1.165 +
   1.166 +Tilting her head to the side, Selphie tried to see what Kairi was
   1.167 +looking at. It was almost like she was looking through the sunset to
   1.168 +something behind it. Finally giving up, Selphie looked at Kairi
   1.169 +again. “Remember what I said about Paopu fruits? How they intertwine
   1.170 +your destiny forever with someone when you share it? I can get you
   1.171 +one if you want. Then you can share it with one of them when they get
   1.172 +back.” She squeezed Quistis’s hand, feeling a giddy thrill run
   1.173 +through her. “I finally found someone to share one with. It’s
   1.174 +wonderfully romantic. You should really try it.” She could tell
   1.175 +Quistis was blushing, but that just made her want to melt against the
   1.176 +taller girl.
   1.177 +
   1.178 +“I will,” Kairi promised. She leant back on her hands, staring
   1.179 +straight up at the sky. “But I’d have to share it with both of them.
   1.180 +So the three of us will never be apart again. So we’ll always be
   1.181 +together.” Her blue eyes closed as she imagined them all sitting
   1.182 +together, sharing the star shaped fruit. 
   1.183 +
   1.184 +Selphie sweatdropped, looking down at the lost princess. “But which
   1.185 +of them do you love? Which one do you want to be with forever?”
   1.186 +
   1.187 +Blinking, Kairi slowly focused on the sky above. That thought
   1.188 +puzzled her. It seemed so simple, yet the answer eluded her. It felt
   1.189 +like a trick question. She rolled it over in her mind. But she
   1.190 +couldn’t imagine one without the other. It felt wrong, incomplete.
   1.191 +“Both of them,” she said at last, her voice barely above a whisper.
   1.192 +"I love both of them. I want to be with them forever.” And she was
   1.193 +satisfied with that answer. It was what her heart desired, what she
   1.194 +wanted more than anything else. That was why they were all still
   1.195 +together, why their hearts were all one, even if they were far apart. 
   1.196 +
   1.197 +~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.198 +
   1.199 +“Everything has been restored. Our world’s back to normal,” Aerith
   1.200 +said, relief filling her soul. For so long they had been cast out
   1.201 +into the universe, their home world a mere shell of it’s former self,
   1.202 +consumed by the Heartless. Now all of those hopes and dreams that had
   1.203 +grown inside of them were realized, brought back as if they had never
   1.204 +been gone at all. But what cost had been paid to return their home to
   1.205 +them?
   1.206 +
   1.207 +“Do you think they’re all right?” Yuffie asked after a moment’s
   1.208 +pause. She had been thinking the same thing. They had bound together
   1.209 +in order to stop the Heartless, but in the end they could only pray
   1.210 +the Keyblade Master could stop the outpouring of darkness. She felt
   1.211 +as if she should have been there herself. This was her home, after
   1.212 +all. She should have been fighting for it. No one else should have to
   1.213 +sacrifice themselves for her happiness.
   1.214 +
   1.215 +Leon shrugged, his arms crossed. “Who knows? I don’t suppose we’ll
   1.216 +ever find out. The worlds are separated again so we can’t know what’s
   1.217 +become of them.” Though he couldn’t voice it, he felt the same way
   1.218 +Yuffie did. He had spent so long mourning the loss of his home world,
   1.219 +blaming himself for not being able to save it. He had even changed
   1.220 +his name to distance himself from the pain. He had been willing to do
   1.221 +anything to fix his mistake. And a boy had done that for him. He had
   1.222 +to hope the Keyblade Master was all right somewhere out there. 
   1.223 +
   1.224 +“Hey, guess who I found wandering outside? Looks like he got lost.
   1.225 +Aerith, you seem to have a thing for lost puppies. Maybe you can
   1.226 +handle him.” Cid grinned as the brunette turned her attention his
   1.227 +way. He motioned behind him at a cloaked figure.
   1.228 +
   1.229 +“Cloud!” Aerith called out happily, hurrying to the blond man. Now
   1.230 +her home felt complete again. Now she truly felt like she was home.
   1.231 +Her eyes sparkled with diamond tears of joy. 
   1.232 +
   1.233 +“Aerith...” Cloud could only stare for a long moment. He felt so
   1.234 +exhausted after his long and lonely journey. He wanted nothing more
   1.235 +than to collapse at Aerith’s feet. Or better yet, in her arms. But he
   1.236 +could only stare, his heart thawing now that he had finally found
   1.237 +what he had spent so long searching for. “I never stopped looking for
   1.238 +you.”
   1.239 +
   1.240 +Aerith smiled brightly, taking the cloaked man’s hand. “I know,
   1.241 +Cloud. I knew you’d find me one day. I’ve always had faith in you.
   1.242 +That’s why I was never worried. Because I knew one day I’d see you
   1.243 +again. I was just worried you wouldn’t have the same hope. You can be
   1.244 +so dark sometimes.”
   1.245 +
   1.246 +Cloud’s emerald eyes shone as he held Aerith’s hand tightly,
   1.247 +reveling at just the simple fact of being able to hold it again. “It
   1.248 +was hard sometimes. But I knew I had to keep looking. I couldn’t
   1.249 +afford to give up. I knew you didn’t die with the planet. And I would
   1.250 +do anything to see you again.”
   1.251 +
   1.252 +Leon watched on, his arms still crossed. This was reminding him too
   1.253 +much of something he would prefer to forget. He hadn’t been able to
   1.254 +save her. He had given up hope of ever seeing her again. But this
   1.255 +man, this Cloud had kept searching even when it had been more than
   1.256 +likely that Aerith had died along with almost everyone else on Hollow
   1.257 +Bastion. He felt a cold wind blow across his soul at the thought. He
   1.258 +had been such a naïve child, believing he could protect the woman he
   1.259 +loved from something like the Heartless. He had been unsuccessful.
   1.260 +That was part of why he had changed his name. If he was someone else,
   1.261 +he wouldn’t have to think about losing her. Because Squall had lost
   1.262 +Rinoa, not Leon. 
   1.263 +
   1.264 +Sitting on the table in the library, Yuffie watched with mild
   1.265 +interest at Cloud and Aerith’s reunion. They really were back home.
   1.266 +With all of their friends. It was slowly sinking in. The world’s
   1.267 +greatest ninja was back home with all of her family and friends. No
   1.268 +more wandering and fighting. 
   1.269 +
   1.270 +Leon sighed, turning his back on the goings on. He wasn’t a part of
   1.271 +any of this. He felt awkward, like an outsider. But he had always
   1.272 +felt that way. He wasn’t good with people. Until she came along... He
   1.273 +banished the thought, walking away from his teammates. He walked
   1.274 +deeper into the library. He just wanted to be alone right now.
   1.275 +
   1.276 +“Aren’t you even going to say hello?”
   1.277 +
   1.278 +Leon froze. All of his cold mental reserve shattered like brittle
   1.279 +glass. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. It couldn’t be... He
   1.280 +slowly turned to face the voice, his heart still frozen in midbeat.
   1.281 +His eyes fell upon a girl in blue leaning against a bookshelf. He
   1.282 +felt dizzy and lost all over again, as if the floor had been yanked
   1.283 +out from under him. 
   1.284 +
   1.285 +Rinoa smiled at him, brushing back some dark hair as she advanced on
   1.286 +Leon. “You look different. But it doesn’t seem like you’ve changed at
   1.287 +all otherwise.”
   1.288 +
   1.289 +“...” 
   1.290 +
   1.291 +Rinoa giggled, finally reaching the moody gunblade expert. “I love
   1.292 +you, too, Squall,” she replied. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders
   1.293 +as she stood up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. 
   1.294 +
   1.295 +Leon slowly found himself regaining control as she kissed him, as if
   1.296 +his soul was reawakening because of her. He closed his eyes tightly,
   1.297 +holding onto Rinoa. All that he had thought he had gotten rid of had
   1.298 +only been hidden away. Forgotten, but not entirely gone. And she was
   1.299 +the key to unlocking it all.
   1.300 +
   1.301 +~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.302 +
   1.303 +Sora collapsed onto his back, staring up at the cerulean skies above
   1.304 +him. He yawned, stretching out on the soft grass. His entire body was
   1.305 +sore. It felt like they had been travelling forever. He just wanted
   1.306 +to lie down for a moment. But lying there, his weariness tore at him.
   1.307 +He didn’t want to get back up. He just wanted to lie there. 
   1.308 +
   1.309 +‘Sora, you lazy bum,’ he could hear Kairi say. 
   1.310 +
   1.311 +‘I know you’re stronger than that, Sora,’ Riku’s voice called out in
   1.312 +his mind.
   1.313 +
   1.314 +Nodding resolutely, he struggled back into a sitting position. There
   1.315 +was still too much work to do. He couldn’t go slacking off now. He
   1.316 +couldn’t let down Kairi and Riku. 
   1.317 +
   1.318 +“We’re never going to find that door,” Donald said exasperatedly,
   1.319 +slumping next to Sora. His legs ached. He was a lot shorter than
   1.320 +Goofy and Sora, so he had to work harder to keep up. On top of that,
   1.321 +he had to get back to Daisy soon. Or she’d kill him. He gulped at the
   1.322 +thought, resting against his staff. 
   1.323 +
   1.324 +“We’ve gotta find the door. We will find it. It’s the only way we
   1.325 +can find Riku and your king.” Sora looked up at the clouds, seeing
   1.326 +his friends in them, calling to him. That managed to reenergize his
   1.327 +spirits. They were out there. And they would be together again one
   1.328 +day. If there was one thing his journey had taught him, it was to
   1.329 +believe in the power of one’s heart. And there was a red thread
   1.330 +connecting his heart to Riku and Kairi’s. As long as he believed that
   1.331 +they would be together, they eventually would. He just had to keep
   1.332 +believing. 
   1.333 +
   1.334 +“Hey, Sora,” Goofy began. “You finally got that friend of yours,
   1.335 +Kairi, back, right? So why aren’t you trying to find a way back to
   1.336 +your island?”
   1.337 +
   1.338 +“Because I’m not going back without Riku. I have to find him. We’re
   1.339 +going back to Kairi together. I can’t leave him. And I can’t leave
   1.340 +you guys to find your king alone. We’re in this together,” Sora
   1.341 +explained. He could see Riku and Kairi smiling at him in the clouds.
   1.342 +“And even if I can’t be with Kairi right now, I’ll always be with
   1.343 +her. The same with Riku. But I want us to all be together again. So
   1.344 +I’m going to make sure it happens. No matter how long it takes.”
   1.345 +
   1.346 +“Gawrsh. Poor Kairi has to wait all this time while we’re off
   1.347 +lookin’ for that door.” Goofy shook his head sadly.
   1.348 +
   1.349 +Donald glared at Goofy, crossing his arms. “Poor Kairi? I wouldn’t
   1.350 +mind trading places with her. Let her find that stupid door.” 
   1.351 +
   1.352 +Sora laughed. “But you’ll keep looking with us anyway, right,
   1.353 +Donald? Remember, only smiles on this trip.”
   1.354 +
   1.355 +The duck looked over to protest but found himself staring at the
   1.356 +oddly grinning faces of both Goofy and Sora. Sighing, the mage gave
   1.357 +up. “All right, all right! Only smiles.”
   1.358 +
   1.359 +Sora stretched as he finally stood up. “Good. Then lets get going.
   1.360 +We have to go find Riku and the king. We can’t waste any time.
   1.361 +They’re probably waiting for us right now.” With renewed enthusiasm,
   1.362 +he began walking again. He had no idea where the door to the light
   1.363 +would be, but it hardly mattered. He’d keep looking until he found
   1.364 +Riku. 
   1.365 +
   1.366 +Donald sighed and slowly got to his feet. “Hey! Wait up!”
   1.367 +
   1.368 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
   1.369 +
   1.370 +Walking along the beach, Kairi was lost in thought. The island felt
   1.371 +so empty without Sora and Riku by her side. She found herself closing
   1.372 +her eyes more and more and wishing that they would be there when she
   1.373 +opened them. But they never were. So she wandered the island,
   1.374 +visiting all of the places that were important to her two best
   1.375 +friends, that held special memories for her. It was all she could
   1.376 +think to do. It wasn’t as good as having them there with her, but it
   1.377 +let her relive those moments they had together. Even if she did wind
   1.378 +up crying because of it quite a bit. She felt so alone without the
   1.379 +two of them. “Come back to me,” she whispered. 
   1.380 +
   1.381 +Something in the air caught her eye, drawing her gaze to the
   1.382 +heavens. Something was plummeting through the sky, falling like some
   1.383 +shooting star. It took her a moment to realize it was human shaped
   1.384 +and plunging towards the waves nearby. It finally crashed into the
   1.385 +aquamarine ocean, sending water splashing everywhere. Kairi ran to
   1.386 +the water, swimming as quickly as she could towards the figure. Her
   1.387 +mind raced with thoughts, all jumbling upon each other in their
   1.388 +confusion. Riku? Sora? Were they hurt? Was it them? How had they
   1.389 +fallen from the sky? Could she really drag them all the way back to
   1.390 +the beach? 
   1.391 +
   1.392 +Searching under the gently rolling waves, Kairi finally spotted a
   1.393 +prone figure in the water. She pushed forward, grabbing hold as
   1.394 +tightly as she could. Pulling herself up, she gasped greedily for
   1.395 +air, holding the figure close as she made her way back to land. Her
   1.396 +heart was playing a staccato beat inside of her chest as she
   1.397 +struggled wet and weak along the sand. She finally collapsed with the
   1.398 +fallen person, her curiosity and anxiety nearly maddening. Rolling on
   1.399 +her side while she tried to catch her breath, she found herself
   1.400 +staring back into blue eyes. 
   1.401 +
   1.402 +Sitting up as quickly as she was able, Kairi found herself staring
   1.403 +at herself lying on the sand. “What?” The sight gave her no relief.
   1.404 +It only served to raise more questions, confusing her further. This
   1.405 +didn’t feel like a dream. But how? This didn’t make any sense. She
   1.406 +could only stare at herself for a long moment, waiting to see if the
   1.407 +other her would do anything. Where had it come from? Why was it her?
   1.408 +What was going on?
   1.409 +
   1.410 +It took Kairi a bit before she noticed a difference in the other
   1.411 +her. There was something strange sticking out of her chest. Still on
   1.412 +her knees, she slowly reached toward the strange object. Her hand
   1.413 +jerked back when she saw the chest rise and fall. She finally worked
   1.414 +up the courage to reach out again, taking hold of what she now
   1.415 +realized was a handle. But for what? The girl that looked so much
   1.416 +like her didn’t seem to be stabbed or anything. But the handle still
   1.417 +seemed to lead to something. 
   1.418 +
   1.419 +“It will be okay, Kairi. I’ll always be with you. There’s nothing to
   1.420 +be afraid of. You just have to reach out and take my hand.”
   1.421 +
   1.422 +Kairi looked up in shock at the familiar voice. She could see Riku
   1.423 +looking down at her, holding his hand out for her. “Riku... I...” She
   1.424 +reached forward, trying to take his hand, to pull him close. But his
   1.425 +hand was gone before she could grab hold of it. “Riku...” She looked
   1.426 +back down at herself, her other hand still on the protruding handle. 
   1.427 +
   1.428 +“Find them,” her other self whispered. “They need you. They can’t do
   1.429 +it alone.”
   1.430 +
   1.431 +Kairi slowly found herself nodding. “We should be together. We need
   1.432 +each other.” She couldn’t just wait on her island forever. ‘This
   1.433 +time, I’ll protect both of you,’ she thought to herself. The her on
   1.434 +the sand smiled. Taking a firmer grip on the handle, Kairi pulled it
   1.435 +out of the other version of herself. In a storm of sparkles, the
   1.436 +other her was gone, and Kairi was holding a large key.
   1.437 +
   1.438 +“Open the door,” a voice whispered in her head. Who was it? She
   1.439 +couldn’t quite tell. Looking up, she could see a lone door standing
   1.440 +on the beach, apparently leading to nowhere. It had a large keyhole
   1.441 +on it. It almost seemed to beckon her. Kairi slowly stood up. If she
   1.442 +stayed here, her friends might be in danger. She knew they could
   1.443 +handle anything if they were all together again. Sora and Riku were
   1.444 +both lost out there. Maybe she could find them. She would find them.
   1.445 +Wherever they were. 
   1.446 +
   1.447 +Stepping forward, the young princess used the large, unwieldy key to
   1.448 +unlock the door awaiting her. As the door slowly opened, she knew
   1.449 +there would be no turning back. This was it. But her choice was
   1.450 +simple. She had to find them. Anything could have happened to them
   1.451 +out there, lost on any one of countless worlds. Without a glance
   1.452 +back, Kairi plunged through the door. 
   1.453 +