The Lost Princess

Epilogue

Roxas walked just behind Naminé down the tastefully decorated hallway. He held Goofy in his arms, not wanting the troublesome little dog to ruin any of the former Queen's finer things, or go terrify Donald the duck. Curiosity was the main emotion that dominated his mind at the moment. The Queen had called Naminé and insisted that she and Roxas come over as quickly as possible.

He knew this most likely had something to do with Kairi's absence from the ball last night. Many people had whispered about it, but never once had the former Queen seemed worried. In fact, she almost seemed happy that Kairi never made an appearance.

Naminé knocked on the door in front of them, bringing Roxas out of thoughts. Goofy barked a bit as the Queen's voice echoed from inside the room. Leading the way, Naminé opened the door and motioned for Roxas to enter before closing it behind them.

The woman stood away from them, facing the window with her hands holding something in front of her. She stood still for a moment before turning around and facing the two, and Roxas could clearly make out that the thing in her hands was a letter.

"The things that have happened in the past, haven't always added up," the old woman said. "And sometimes still, things happen that we can't explain."

"You're majesty?" Roxas asked curiously after a moment of silence.

"It would seem that, somehow, my granddaughter got to Radiant Garden last night. How, I will not claim to know, and how this letter got back here is too a mystery. I know she is alright though. I can feel it."

"What does the letter say?" Naminé asked.

Lareen smiled warmly before looking down at the letter and reading it aloud.

Dear Grandma,

Our destinies will always be intertwined on Destiny Islands, and I'll be home soon. Sora and I are going to take the long way back. Don't worry about how I got to Radiant Garden, just know that everything is alright.

Do me one favor please? Let Roxas and Namine know we're both okay, and that we'll be home soon. Oh, and make sure they take care of Goofy!

Until then, all my love,

Kairi

Naminé was stunned for a second before cooing and saying, "They eloped. How romantic is that?"

"What? I didn't hear anything about that in there," Roxas said quickly while looking over the letter as the former Queen handed it to him.

"It's what she didn't write, Roxas," Naminé replied.

The former Queen smiled at them and placed the note beside the glittering crown that had been returned with it. Nodding to herself as she listened to Naminé and Roxas talk behind her, with Goofy happily yipping along with them, she knew that her granddaughter had made the right choice.

Perhaps, just once, a kitchen boy could marry a princess.

VVVVVVVV

Riku sighed as he leaned against the roof, looking up at the darkening sky. He didn't really know what to do with himself now that he was free.

A small smile appeared on his lips at the thought. He was free, wasn't he? Even when Xehanort was gone, and before he had met Xemnas, he had always felt this pressure and urge to protect the dark Keyblade. Looking back, he realized it was probably a spell of some sort that Xehanort had used on him to make him completely loyal.

If that was true, he wasn't quite sure why it would have worn off, but he was thankful it did. He knew that, if he had been part of Princess Kairi's death, or even Sora's death, he would have felt horrible for the rest of his life.

Now, the question was what to do. Sora and Kairi made it clear to him that he was welcomed on Destiny Islands, and in the future it was possible that he might take them up on that offer, but for now he wanted to figure out what he wanted to do. That, and he was sure that they needed to be alone for a while. A nice, quiet, trip back to Destiny Islands was what they needed.

Although, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if anything would be quiet with them. They had received many odd stares from people because of Kairi's ruined, but somehow still beautiful dress, and because of Sora's blood stained clothes. This wasn't the main reason people stared at them oddly. They had been arguing rather loudly about getting on the train or the boat, because neither of them wanted to do either.

One woman had told them that there were cruises heading out to Twilight Town, and from there, Destiny Islands, that specialized in getaways. Knowing that there was a more comfortable option than a big steamer seemed to appease Kairi, and if she was happy, Sora was happy.

Riku remembered how Kairi had come up to him after talking to Sora for a few, quiet minutes. She said that they were going to return to Destiny Islands on the ship. She then asked Riku if there was a preacher or someone who could wed them then and there.

He had been stunned by this, but he led them to the one place he knew to go. It was difficult to find men who would marry couples at a short notice, but they did it. The man's employee had acted as the second witness.

Riku had waved them off, wishing them all the luck, and promising not to be a stranger.

Now, he wasn't quite sure what to do.

He sighed and jumped off of the roof. Originally, he thought no one else was there, but a startled scream proved that theory to be untrue.

He looked around and saw a girl with short black hair staring at him with wide, blue eyes. She looked up at the roof before looking back at him and saying, "You stuck that landing pretty well."

And he laughed. It was the first time in a long time that he had done so, and it felt great.

"My name's Riku," he said to her happily.

She smiled a bit and said, "My name's Xion."

Xion, now why did that name sound so familiar? Riku shrugged that thought off and said, "What brings you to a dark ally, Xion?"

"I'm trying to find a necklace I lost," she explained. "It belonged to my sister, and I feel horrible about losing it."

"I'll help you," he offered. "I take it that the necklace is really important to you?"

"Thank you so much! And yeah, my sister died in a car crash when I was little."

Again, he stared at her oddly, knowing that something was ringing a bell in his head. He shrugged it off once again and went to work helping Xion find her sister's necklace.

VVVVVVVV

Kairi hummed a bit as she snuggled into Sora's side. They sat on the deck of the cruise ship, one much nicer than the ones they had taken from Twilight Town to Destiny Islands. Of course, proving that you're a Princess had its benefits, because even if she didn't have money on her, they knew they would get paid well by the former Queen. That and any ship that didn't sink seemed to work out fine for them.

She let out a giggle when she felt Sora's hand tickle her side, and said, "Remember the last time we were on a ship?"

"And you almost drowned yourself?" he asked doubtfully. "And then how the entire ship was attacked and sunk?"

She smacked him lightly on the arm and said, "No, you big dope. Although, you were quite the hero when you got me to wake up." She shot him a playful look as she flicked his spiky bangs. "I was referring to when Roxas wanted you to show me how to dance."

"Mmm hmm," Sora hummed. "What about it?"

Kairi stood up in front of him and motioned for him to do the same. She quickly positioned his hands in the right spots, and they started dancing without any music.

Sora laughed as they moved in circles and asked, "Why do you want to dance so badly?" He avoided stepping on her toes, since she was only wearing a thin pair of shoes that a nice woman had given her earlier.

"Well, I left before the first ball I can really recall," she replied with a grin. "I'm glad I did, don't doubt that for a second, but still, I like to dance. Besides." She gave him a rather impish grin. "It's it tradition for a new husband and wife to dance together."

Sora pulled her close and said, "Yes, but both of us actually suck at dancing."

She giggled and said, "I can still like it even if I'm bad at it."

He grinned slyly and said, "There are also other traditions that go along with a wedding night?"

Kairi laughed and said, "Well we'll have to see about that, now won't we, Mr. Sora?"

"Yes we will, Kari."

She shot him a curious look at the use of the name that she had gone by for years. Sora grinned at her and said, "I think it's a good nickname."

"Hmm, I like it," she muttered as they continued to dance. "Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Kairi said as she moved closer to him, if that was possible.

"I love you too," Sora replied softly as he closed the distance between them in a deep kiss.

The End

Krystal Lily Potter