Written as a challenge set by Ginger Ninja!

I don't own KH or any of the characters.

Freefall

Overwhelming panic slipped down his spine, his skin shivering as he desperately tried to shimmy his way down the cliff, his fingers digging into the dirt in a desperate attempt to keep himself attached. He gritted his teeth together as a clump of dirt came away in his hand, his fingers instantly, in a panic, moving to find a new hold. He blew out the breath he had been holding in, resting his head against the cliff as his panic subsided a little. It'll be fun, she had said. It would be a really pretty sight, and she was sure that nobody else on the islands even knew about it. Except now that he thought about it, it had been stupid of him to have even believed that in the first place.

She had played right to his weaknesses and had known exactly where to hit.

"Sora, be careful." Her voice trembled a little even though the care behind it was clear.

He winced, making sure that his hands really were secure in the dirt and turning his head down to look at her, a bright grin plastered on his face. "I'm fine. It's just a little bit further and I will be right with you." He hoped. Either that or his grip would finally break and he would land on top of her, which hopefully wouldn't be the case for either of them.

Kairi nodded, biting her lip as another shoot of pain ran up her leg. Her cheeks were flushed and there were still tear tracks drying on her face. It had been Kairi's idea to set out on this little adventure, claiming that she had heard of a secret island where untold treasures were bound to be hidden, her face grinning brightly and practically hopping up and down on the spot as she told them of the tale, and even though the treasure part was highly unlikely the three best friends had decided that finding the island would be an adventure all on its own. The weekend was set, Kairi would prepare the snacks, Sora would wrangle some drinks and Riku would plot the route.

It was on the Thursday that the plans had started to crumble as Riku was grounded, which really, Sora thought now, had to have been a sign. The silver headed boy and oldest of their group had been forced to stay at home for the weekend and so both Kairi and himself had decided to wait until the three of them were back together to go exploring. Except that had been before the pair of them had been sat on the beach and set upon by boredom, and in two ten year olds, boredom was a sickness with only one cure.

So together the two of them had decided to set off on their own, sandwiches and drinks securely stocked in a bag slung over Sora's back as they picked their way through the thick vegetation of Destiny Islands. They had been walking for ages, carefully watching their steps as they left the general pathway and snuck their way through the undergrowth. The plants and trees twisting their limbs together to make the trek as difficult as they could. Several times they had had to stop as one or the other untangled their clothes from sticky vines, or needed help to jump over a particularly big branch. Neither of them speaking aloud their new affirmed suspicions that it seemed possible now that they really would be the first to discover the island, or at least the first two in a long time. The possibility drifting away if either of them voiced it.

It had been when they had finally come free of Destiny Islands plant life when disaster had struck. They had been walking carefully along a cliff line, both leaning over the side to spot the wildlife that scurried about undisturbed at the bottom, but both making sure not to encounter its edge, soil and stones crumbling away if a toe even touched it. Kairi had been pointing out parts of the island that she could see, her hand gesturing in a direction that she thought their houses were hidden in, Sora had agreed with her, although had really believed, but not voiced aloud that their family and friends were back in the direction they had just come from.

Both had become excited, giggling at how jealous Riku would be when he found out they had discovered a new island, a whole new place in which the three of them could play, but promising that as soon as Riku was allowed back outside they would take him to their new hideout. Showing him the way to their new playground.

Kairi had walked to the edge, her eyes squinting in an effort to spot a blur that she thought could be Riku's house, tip toeing nearer to the cliffs lip and not looking where she placed her feet. She had been on the verge of the cliff, Sora spotting her steps and shouting out a warning. The red head had swivelled around, the cliff crumbling, disappearing beneath her feet and taking her with it.

Sora had leapt forward with a cry, Kairi screaming as the ground disappeared, his fingers brushing hers, but not close enough and too slow to grasp. For a second after she had gone he had remained lying on the ground, ignoring the grit that dug into his skin, small cuts and grazes already working their way into his knees, all that he had been able to do was stare at his hand, the fingers that had been unable to catch and cursing the idea that they had even come here alone to begin with. Tears pricked at his eyes, a sob wrenching its way out of his throat, "Kairi!"

There had been a second of silence, though it had seemed an eternity, before a small cry came from below the cliff. "Sora!"

Sora had blinked, scrambling up from the ground and rushing to look over the cliffs side. On a ledge not too far, but a climb even for an adult sat Kairi, hands clutching her ankle and tears intermingling with dirt on her now ashen face. "Sora, my ankle's hurt!" She had sobbed, looking back up at him with watery eyes.

Sora had nodded, his hands still shaking at the thought that she had gone. "Is it cut?" He had leaned further over as if looking for any sign of blood. "If you can just stand on it a little then I think we might be able to meet each other half way and I can pull you up."

Kairi had shook her head, mouth trembling. "It really hurts, I think it's b…br… broken."

Sora had thought back to the many times when he himself had been hurt, remembering what his Mom always asked when he insisted it was broken. "Do you think you can move it a little?"

Kairi nodded, slowly taking her hands away and with a bite of her lips, jiggling her leg. A cry of pain rushing out of her mouth followed by a flood of fresh tears. "I-it hurts."

Which was when Sora had truly started to panic. Kairi was crying and he couldn't reach her, he cast his head back to look for some sort of rope, the first thing an adventurer packs but something neither of them had thought necessary. He wished that Riku was here, because Sora was sure that his friend would have been able to come up with an idea to help Kairi up, maybe with the two of them they would have been able to reach her.

"Kairi, I'll have to go and get some help."

The girl had looked up at him, fear plainly written all over her face. "You're going to leave me?"

Sora had flustered, "I need to get some help. I can't reach you on my own."

"Please don't, Sora. I don't want to be on my own." She had shook her head, more tears falling as her eyes squeezed close. "Maybe someone's close by. Maybe someone is walking this way right now."

So Sora had stayed, muttering words of comfort in between shouting for help, but after ten minutes and his throat croaking shouts, both realised that no help was going to come. Kairi pleaded with him not to go, her skin looking paler by the second and making his stomach do flips. What if he couldn't find his way back to her? What if he got lost on his way for help?

So Sora had made his mind up, surveying the cliffs crumbling edge with a wary eye, whispering a quick prayer and then scrambling into position as he lowered himself over the side of the cliff. Which was where he was now, holding onto anything he could grasp, all of his breath swept out of him as he edged his way closer to his friend.

Kairi's tears had long since stopped as she now watched over him warily, heart skipping beats every time his grip slipped and he tumbled just a little faster and closer to falling himself. She could tell that he was frightened, maybe even more so than herself, not to mention exhausted as his arms shook as he tried to hold on.

"Just a little further," She coaxed, "Move a little over to the left," He was far to close to landing on air. "No, your other left." In just over a minute Sora's feet touched solid ground once again, taking in a hurried breath and then running over to her side. He knelt on the ground, wrapping his arms around her in a smothering hug and then moving his hands carefully to her ankle.

By now Kairi's ankle was a big blotch of colour, cold blues and angry purples making the swollen skin look nasty. He tutted, his eyes tracing back the way he had come as if searching for a way out. He had made it down the cliff, but that now left the problem of how to get back up.

"I might be able to stand up if you can help me."

Sora looked back at Kairi, looking at her possibly broken ankle and sighing. Even if she could stand up there was no way that Kairi would be able to climb back up on her own. But then they couldn't spend the rest of their lives waiting to be rescued on the cliff. There was really only one thing for it.

He knelt down on his knees, his back facing Kairi. "I'll give you a piggyback."

Kairi blinked. "What?"

"We've done it before." Sora assured her, "It's either that or I carry you all damsel in distress style." Which he really didn't think he would be able to manage as well as climb the cliff.

"But if we wait?" Kairi looked hopefully up, her eyes nervously falling back down to the ground. "You had enough problems getting down. What if we fall?"

Sora shrugged, putting on his most confident smile. "I don't think that anybody is going to come and we won't fall. I won't let that happen." He grinned, allowing Kairi to slip her arms around his neck and then carefully hoisting them both up. "I'll have to use my hands to pull us up, so you'll have to dig your legs around my middle as much as you can."

"But-"

Sora continued, not giving Kairi a second to back down. "Have you got a good grip?"

Kairi nodded, burying her head into Sora's hair and making a squeaking sound. "Good, whatever you do, don't let go." He made his way to the cliff, hoisting up his knee and digging his foot as securely into the soil as possible. Holding his breath, he took his arms away from their supporting position on Kairi's legs, praying she could keep her grip, and placed them tightly around a thick, secure vine sticking out of the soil.

The first few steps went without a hitch, Sora's confidence in his climbing abilities growing, it was much more easier climbing up when you could see your destination for yourself, but that was where the vine disappeared, his hands now having to search and push themselves further into the crumbling soil in an effort to hold on. Once or twice he slipped, his heart leaping to his mouth and Kairi's thumping frantically against his back.

His feet skidded down the rock face, fingers clawing desperately for a hold as he panicked that they were going to die. It would be all his fault, he had been stupid to come on this trip and he had been ridiculous to try and rescue Kairi on his own, but then his fingers found a hold and their freefall deceased. Kairi's soft whimpering sounding in his ear as he paused to breathe once again.

It wasn't long before he started his ascent once again, afraid that his grip might loosen and aware of Kairi's arms closing tighter around his neck and threatening to cut off his air supply. His fingers stung from the scrapes when they fell, his legs bruised when they clipped a rock, his waist he was sure internally damaged from Kairi's death grip with her one good leg.

Then suddenly his hand grasped at air, he twisted his head up, eyes widening as he realised that they were finally at the top. His hand slamming down and grasping a thick clump of grass. With as much effort as he could muster he hoisted them both up, his other hand now free and able to help in the struggle.

Half way secure with just their legs dangling, Sora collapsed on the ground, struggling to breathe as all of his energy seeped out of him. "Kairi?"

The red head lifted her face out of Sora's hair, pulling herself onto secure ground and then twisting to help Sora safely up as well. The pair collapsed on the ground, both breathing heavily as they shook with fright. Suddenly Sora started to laugh, his body shaking and laughter infectious as Kairi started to giggle as well. For a good two minutes the pair continued to giggle, neither one looking at each other as their close escape caught up to them, suddenly leaving them in an uneasy silence as they realised what could have happened.

"We should get home." Kairi lay on her back, ankle still throbbing painfully and increasingly aware of how late it was becoming and long it would take them to get back.

Reluctantly Sora nodded, pushing himself up and wincing as he caught the sight of Kairi's ankle, dirt smeared all over her skin and clothes. Kairi caught the look, taking in his own appearance and smiling. "You don't look so good yourself."

Sora smiled, taking a quick glance at his stinging hands and trying to dust some of the stains off of his clothes. He was really going to get a lecture off his Mom. "I guess I'm going to have to carry you again."

Kairi frowned, knowing that both of them were exhausted and that it wasn't the easiest trek home. "I could probably hobble if you help." but Sora was already on his knees, waiting patiently for Kairi to wrap her arms around his neck.

He lifted her up, supporting her legs and taking extra care not to jostle her ankle.

"Thank you, Sora."

The brunette paused in his steps, twisting his head in an effort to stare at the girl slumped on his back. "But we didn't even get to see the island."

Kairi sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I know, but, thank you anyway."

End.

Let me know what you think...