Simple Dreams

"Why is everything here either white or black?" Sora asked, coming back into the drawing room. He was fiddling with the hem of a white shirt he'd found. Along with that, he now wore a black vest and black pants. "Or really pale colors, but not even that was among those clothes."

"I don't know," Namine said. "I was fascinated when they gave me colored pencils to draw with."

"I guess I should be grateful there were clothes around I could change into," he said. He dropped into a white couch nearby with a warm smile on. "We should take you back to my home island when we can! It's a place full of color, and a lot different than the illusions this castle makes of it."

Did she deserve to leave? Whether she did or not, she had to keep positive. Sora wanted her to be that way. So Namine smiled back. "That would be nice. Do you miss it?"

"Yeah, sometimes," Sora said. "Places start to look the same in here no matter what card you use. It'd be nice to be in a place without walls again. So you ready?"

"It's more of if you're ready," she said. "Are you sure that you don't want to be doing something else? It might be easier on you."

He shook his head. "Nah, it's all right. Goofy and Donald haven't come back, so I don't want to go far from where they know I am."

"Right. Well, do what you like then." She looked back to her sketchpad and turned to a new page.

Instead of focusing on what she drew, Namine shifted her mind to look into Sora's heart. She wasn't as prominent as she had once been here. At one time, it was all pale, white with faint images of remembered places. Things were still pale but the bright colors were returning. Golden sands warm under one's feet, long stretches of blue sky and bluer sea, rustling rich greens of leaves, yellow-green of coconuts, the scent of salt and palm… he was still thinking about his home world.

It made the memories of his home island brighter. Namine grasped a chain, finding a pale link from her own work. Undoing it was simple, melting it like butter. Finding the link that should be there was harder; discarded links were disorganized deep in inactive parts of his memory. Some sparkled as his mind was trying to reconnect the links himself. What pieces were similar?

"The food we manage to find here is bland too," Sora said. Links connected to food shone brighter, including the discarded ones. "Just about anywhere else I've been has all manners of tasty foods; you should get a chance to try a bunch. Like there were those coconut bars yesterday, but they were stale and practically tasteless. But if you get out to some real coconuts, they've got some milk and, uh I guess it's a nut? The white stuff inside the shell with the milk, they're both great fresh. It's like," was that the right link? "Like watermelon."

"Coconuts and watermelons taste similar?" Namine asked, not seeing him with normal sight.

"What? No, they don't." He shifted in the couch. "Why'd I even say that? The coconut meat stays separate from the milk, while a watermelon's fruit is full of juice and seeds. The watermelon's sweeter than the coconut; it's a fruit, so they taste differently."

"Sorry, I might've confused you for a moment," she said, undoing the link she'd just made.

It was somewhere close here. Other chains seemed like more natural links; watermelon to watermelon, coconut to coconut. Once Namine remade the chains with matching links, Sora's thoughts passed along that way smoothly. No hitches or skips meant it must feel natural for him. As she kept hold of the one link, she felt like it was bent a little. Maybe it had to do with her?

What was the word for the image here? "What about… it's a food inside a soft flat shell, with fish, a creamy sauce, lettuce, and, hmm..."

His thoughts searched and came upon the single link she was holding. "Uh, do you mean fish tacos?"

"That sounds right," Namine said, smiling. Other chains shifted, trying to come close to the fish taco link. She searched for a match among those, something to do with her. "What is that food?"

Sora chuckled. "It's basically what you said. Sometimes my dad would make them." Mention of his father made some breaks obvious. Some memories made their own connections, but they didn't seem like the link. "He made good ones, although he liked to make them spicy. And I mean real spicy, like they'd be a big fiery burst in your mouth when you'd think a fish taco would be cool and smooth."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing to eat," she said. Briefly clasping one of the stronger links, she could taste that spicy heat. It was overwhelming, blocking out any other taste that might be with it. The bent link she held onto was a better sensation, warm and sweeter, like… ranch dressing?

"It's exciting, though. Me and Riku used to dare each other to eating just the spicy ones. But mostly, we'd eat one and leave the rest for Dad cause he really likes spice. And, uh..." his thoughts hung in place. They were trying to clasp pieces she'd moved.

Like the one she had. "She didn't like the spicy ones?" Namine said.

Links about the spicy food dares reached out for the piece she had. She set it back in place; it closed up on its own so Sora's thoughts could continue on. "Right, she didn't. Sometimes she'd agree to a little heat, but stuck with the regular ones. She really like the ones that a street vendor near the school would sell. Of course, that lady made the best fish tacos on all of Destiny Islands. If the school cafeteria had a bad menu one day, we liked going to buy some from her. It was close enough that we had plenty of time to walk over, eat outside, then walk back in time so we wouldn't be tardy." His voice shifted to a soft murmur as his heart tried again to find her name.

As always, it made her false links stand out all the more as he searched. It was a mess of remembered and misremembered things, bright colors and pale. Her mess, but she was was going to fix it. "I'd like to try one, as long as it's not the spicy one."

"The street vender makes spicy ones sometimes, if she gets the right fish. But she doesn't put as much peppers into the tacos as my dad. Man, but my friend..." he tried, but held off trying to connect to continue his thought, "I hope we can all be together soon. I'm sure you both will be friends too."

"Yeah, that'd be great," Namine said.

"There's so much out there, even just on my little home world. Like," his thoughts hiccuped, "getting sea salt ice cream after work." He tried finding something, but his thoughts were reaching into an empty spot in his heart. Could he find that side of his heart? "Wait, that's not right. Sounds like it'd be good, though."

"Maybe some other world has some," Namine suggested. Something came alert in Sora's thoughts, unconnected to memory. She was busy making links that looked promising; working with that hole wouldn't work, she already knew that.

"Someone's coming," Sora said.

"I'm still working on you," she said. It took some time for her to get her focus back out of this work.

He got up and opened the door. "Oh hey guys!" he said happily. From the memories that brightened up, it was his friends Donald and Goofy. The colors and camaraderie were distinctive with how long Namine had been looking through Sora's memories.

"Howdy Sora!" Goofy said. "Look who we found!"

"Riku?" Various chains lit up, but there was a bit of uncertainty.

"No, just his copy," Riku said. Now that he was here, Namine could recognize him as such from the slim weight of his memories. There was only a few days, echoes from the original, and illusions from what she had implanted in him. "I did run into him."

"Really?" Sora's memories of going through Castle Oblivion lit up. For some reason, he wanted to avoid forgetting those memories. It was his choice, so Namine tried to keep those chains together. It meant linking them with other chains. When Sora's own heart tried adjusting his memories, though, they ended up interlinked all over the place. That could be how memories were supposed to be. "Where is he?"

"And what about King Mickey?" Donald asked.

"They both left already looking for something. Riku did say that he's going to get after you later for leaving Kairi alone."

A deluge of light and images filled Namine's mind. Mornings spent joking around with his friends on the walk to school, backyard picnics with fireworks, star-gazing making them talk about other worlds, lazy days on a secluded beach: so many good times, some bad times made better, all clicking into place just knowing one person's name. Kairi was in so many of Sora's memories, a source of hopes and dreams. With her arrival, he and Riku learned of the existence of other worlds. Sora wanted to see the other worlds with his friends. He had a lot more friends now, but he was still hoping that he could have those adventures with Kairi and Riku.

Was she going to have friends to adventure with like that? She'd hurt so many people and there was no good way to use what power she had. Although Sora trusted her somehow. He was a good person. And Namine needed to keep cheerful for him; she had to match this hope and optimism. If she thought of what Sora said rather than what Marluxia had said, she might be able to be cheerful.

"Namine?"

"Huh?" That was the Riku copy. "Sorry, give me a moment." Although getting out of Sora's heart now was helpful; there was too much going on in there for her to do much work in restoring his memory. She looked up from her notebook and found him standing nearby. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were not in the room. "I was working on his memories, so I couldn't pay attention fully."

"They mentioned that," he said, shifting uneasily. He was in his casual outfit, similar to one Riku wore. "Um, did you hear that my name is different? It's Kiru now."

She smiled, trying to dispel the unease. It was nice to see that he was alive, but he might hate her too. She had crushed his heart. But then, it was either that, or he or Sora would have died. "That's a nice name. Did you choose it?"

Kiru shrugged. "I accepted it. Sora was the one who came up with it, saying it was similar but different. Like how I should be now."

"That's great, I'm sure you can do that," Namine said. "I'm really sorry about everything, I shouldn't have hurt you like that."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "We were dealing with people who thought of us as as toys. But now we've got to be responsible for ourselves."

Right, although it meant that there was no one telling them what to do. "We do. Although after I fix Sora's memories, I don't know what I'll do."

Kiru nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't sure what to do when Riku spared me. I can't match him. And right now, only Axel is alive of those who used us. I can't match him either. While I could try getting stronger, that could take a lot of time to do that. For now, I," he rubbed his head and seemed bashful for some reason. "Do you mind if I go back to protecting you?"

"Huh?" Namine clutched her notebook close. Did he mean that?

"Well it's all I knew for a while," he said. "I'll get Sora to show me how he got to be strong, then I'll be able to make sure nobody can take advantage of us. You'll see."

She'd still get her own hero. If Kiru did stick with her, she would have a friend she could depend on. "Sure, that's be great," Namine said, actually feeling like smiling this time. "It'd be nice to get out of this castle and see other worlds. Like Sora was telling me about foods from other places, like fish tacos."

There was a flicker from his false memories. "It'd be nice to know things like that for myself." he smiled back at her. "Once we help him, we'll be able to do whatever we want."

Excited at the thought, she kicked her feet out some. "Yeah, we could. Although what I want is to find something good that I can do for others, not hurt them."

"We'll figure out something," Kiru said. "I believe in you."

Namine didn't know why he'd believe in her, but did it matter why? Sora and the others believed in her too. "Thanks. Um, where did they go?"

"Sora said that he saw some games in the storage area, so they went to find one to pass time with." He shrugged. "Whatever he wants to do. The king said to stick around here, at least until they can find somewhere safer. There's another guy that's actually looking out for us right now; you might meet him at some point. But they don't want to bring Sora in on their plans until his memory is fixed."

"All right, I hope they're people we can trust," she said. "And it would be good if you could help distract Sora, in games or in practice. It's easier when his mind is focused on something else." Looking down at the picture she'd drawn, she saw a town street where the fish taco stand was. "Although, his own heart might know what's best for him. I thought I'd wait until he remembered Kairi's name to mention it."

"Sorry, did I mess that up?" he asked, glancing aside guiltily.

"Don't worry about that," Namine said. "Because the moment you did, his heart found the true memories with barely any nudging from me. It was overwhelming, and yet there was this warm joy I got to feel as he did." And she felt a little bit of that herself looking up at the boy standing near her. "So it's fine. It'll still take a while, I think, whether we leave it to him or if I help. But, I want to help, however I can."

"Sure, I've got things to make up to him as well," Kiru said. "And to Riku. But don't worry, I'm going to be here for you most of all." He even bowed to her.

She laughed at it without realizing it. "Sure!"

They'd find a way to be themselves and be happy, without trampling on other people's hearts or identities. It seemed like a difficult thing. And yet, Namine felt a greater sense of hope than ever before knowing that Kiru would be her one true hero.

There really was a difference between the colorful illusions of Castle Oblivion and the real living world of Destiny Islands. The colors changed through the day; the fresh air was somehow energizing. Here by the sea, the waves rolled and the seagulls cawed. The walls were less confining and the sky seemed boundless. While there were some patterns here, they were subtle and more pleasing to find.

People here kept mistaking him for Riku; Kiru pretended he didn't know who they were talking about. And they would then comment that he was different after they'd spoken to him for a little while. That had to be a good sign that he was finding himself. Although he still wanted to spar against Riku at some time, just to see how far they both had come along.

At a bench on a dock, he found Namine trying to draw the glowing sunset. She had a different kind of strength than him, calm and enduring. She was more cheerful lately. When they'd arrived here, her eyes had been sparkling in looking over everything. She was familiar with this place from seeing it so often in Sora's memories, but it was just as new to her as to him. She'd even gotten brighter with her clothing. Instead of a plain white dress, she was currently wearing an orange dress with white flowers swirling around the skirt. She had a straw hat as well, to keep the sun out of her eyes.

Not wanting to disrupt her, Kiru sat down quietly on the bench with her, setting the plate with fish tacos aside for them to eat when she was done. He couldn't think of anything more he wanted at this moment. Was it all right to have such simple dreams? Just to stay together and not cause anyone else trouble… if they were happy like this, though, it didn't matter what others thought.

It didn't matter which of the countless worlds out there they were on. Namine would draw the beautiful things and he would keep her safe. Together, they wouldn't be alone.

A/N: Written for a gift exchange, the requester wanted to see something with Sora choosing not to sleep after Castle Oblivion. And then I didn't like seeing Replica Riku get discarded so quickly, so I made a happy ending for him and Namine.