Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square-Enix/Disney.

It's been so long since I've been able to just sit back and relax.

A week's passed since I got back to the islands, and it's been crazy. Everybody—and I mean just about everybody—has been after me, wondering where I had disappeared to for over a year. I can't leave the house without a hoard of people interrogating me!

Just leaving the house is an issue of its own. Understandably, mom's been a little…clingy. I don't really blame her; I mean I did disappear for so long. But, between her and the mob that seems to always be on my case, getting a little time all to myself can seem harder than fighting a thousand heartless! Not that I would trade now for then.

So, here I am, sitting on that bent over paopu tree on what we dubbed the "play island" when we were younger. I guess we've kind of outgrown the "play" part in the title—it's more of a "hangout" island, now. Although, I'm here alone. Mostly 'cause I just needed to sneak away and get my alone time. I mean, it's great seeing everyone again, and I don't exactly hate all the attention, but it's starting to get a little overwhelming.

It's crazy how nothing's changed about the island, though. The atmosphere is exactly how I remember it. I close my eyes for a moment, and take in the familiar scent of the salty ocean water. I can feel the breeze against my skin and hair, and I can hear the waves come crash on the beach shore. When I open my eyes, I see the sunset.

Now, I've seen plenty of sunsets while on my journeys, and of course, all of them were beautiful to look at. No other world has anything on a Destiny Islands' sunset, though. The sky is always so clear here, and you can see the way the red, orange, yellow, pink and purple just fade into each other so perfectly. Not to mention the way the sun reflects off the sea; it lights up the whole world.

"Boy, did I miss this," I say out loud to myself. I fold my arms behind my head and lay back on the tree trunk. I think I'm going to take a little nap. Although my bed at home might be more comfortable to lay down on, nothing beats the complete peace I feel while I'm out here.

"Sora, Sora, you haven't changed at all," says a voice, after what seems like two seconds. She sounds a little disappointed. I know exactly who it is before I open my eyes to look at her.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Kairi?" I ask. I pretend to be really mad about her intruding like that, but I know she sees right through it.

"More than a year of fighting Heartless, Nobodies, and all kinds of enemies, and having to go out and try to find Riku and me twice, and you're still the same lazy bum," she sighs. She's got her arms crossed, while she's shaking her head in disapproval. The big smile on her face gives away the fact that she's messing around, too.

"Well, you did tell me not to change," I reply in a defiant tone, while I stick my chin up and cross my own arms.

That makes her giggle, and I end up dropping my act and laughing with her, too. Her laugh is and always has been one of the most beautiful sounds to my ears. Gosh, sometimes I wonder how I even made it through that year without her.

When our snicker-fit ends, Kairi walks around the tree and up to the edge of the islet, her back towards me.

"The sunset sure looks beautiful today," she observes.

"Yeah, it's exactly how I remember it," I agree. And, I have to admit, having Kairi here now…it just got, like, a hundred times more beautiful.

"I remember the first time I saw a sunset out here," she says, turning around to face me. "It was a couple of days after I first came here, and you and Riku came to my house and brought me out here."

I smile back at her. "Yeah, I remember the day as if it was only yesterday—I can't believe it's been ten years!"

"Oh, do you, now?" she questions me, as she climbs up to sit on the trunk right next to me.

"What, don't believe me?" She's definitely trying to challenge me or something.

"Well, Naminé did jumble up your memories. Who knows what you can and can't remember?" she smirks.

"Hey, she put my memory back together just fine!" I know she's just messing around, but she is starting to get on my nerves.

"Alright, fine. Tell me about it. From the very beginning." She still has that smirk on her face.

I pause for a moment to gather all the memories. I'm confident Naminé put 'em all back together perfectly—everything I can recall seems about right.

"Alright, here's the story. From the very beginning."

A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed it~ I intend to make this a short, three-chapter fic, so follow if you like what you've read so far. I'll be uploading the rest soon!

And as always, I love feedback and constructive criticism so I can improved (especially since this is only my second fic)

Thanks!